Title: 111 Rose Court
Author:
mysticallight6Characters: wee!Dean, wee!Sam, wee!Jimmy, John W., OC's
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship
Rating: K+
Summary: 1st in 'Knew You When' verse. A heartbroken family moves to Pontiac, Illinois in early 1984. AU
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the CW's Supernatural. I am not doing this for any sort of monetary gain whatsoever.
Welcome to the first edition of my new 'Knew You When' verse. This is an AU verse in which the brothers meet Jimmy Novak in their youth rather than later in life. Right now I'm concentrating on the young years and as such the ages here are as follows (this story takes place February 1984): Dean is 5, Sam is 9 months and Jimmy is 9. Updates to this verse are going to be a little spread out as I'm currently working on another larger fanfic at the present but don't worry - I'll try not to keep you hanging.
And finally, all mistakes are completely my own. Sorry.
Enjoy. :)
The Martin's moved out late the day before and the next morning a vintage Chevrolet Impala pulled up the cobblestone driveway of 111 Rose Court. It wasn't often that new neighbors came to this side of Pontiac, Illinois so early in the year. The family of three living in the house next door stood close together on the new neighbor's porch and their young son pushed the button to ring the doorbell. After a few minutes, the door creaked open and a small blonde boy somewhere around four or five years old stood before them. He looked up but didn't say anything to the strange people crowding on his porch.
"Hi there," a lady said after a beat, leaning down to him and smiling, "we're your next door neighbors. Is your mommy or daddy home?"
The young boy stared and turned, running off towards a back room.
"I didn't mean to scare him," a woman named Carol said getting up and looking to her husband in dismay.
James, her husband, sighed. "I told you we should've waited till tomorrow. Good thing the kid knows not to talk to strangers."
Just as the adults turned to leave, their son Jimmy pointed inside as a man walked forward while holding a squirming baby in his arms. The quiet boy suddenly reappeared from behind the man's legs, peering at everyone with shy curiosity.
"Hello," the man said adjusting the baby and extending his hand, "sorry about Dean. He's just being... My name's John and these are my sons - this is Dean (he put his hand on top of the older boy's head) and this little guy is Sammy." He bobbed the littlest boy making him giggle and smile.
"Hello Dean. Hi Sam," Carol said, tickling the baby's stomach, making him giggle more. "I'm Carol Novak; this is James my husband and our son Jimmy. We just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood."
John motioned his head sideways and invited the family of three inside. James waited until his family was over the threshold before politely shutting the door since John currently had his hands full. He walked forward to join the others but noticed a straight white line by the door. Bending over, James brought a morsel to his mouth and tasted. Salt? Maybe the last owners did it as a 'good luck in your new home' thing. That didn't seem like the Martin's at all though…
"You get lost Jim?" Carol asked from another room.
James found everyone in what was the soon to be family room where he watched John carefully lay Sam down on a blanket, on his back. Not even a second later Dean took a seat next to him and, while Jimmy wanted to stay with his parents, his mother pushed him near the other boys.
"Watch out for Sammy, Dean," John said, ruffling his elder son's hair.
The adults took seats on the couch and began talking about boring adult things. John excused himself after a second and brought out cups of water for the three guests and the man watched intently as James and Carol drank.
Sam reached out a pudgy hand to grab a rattle shaped like a bear but couldn't reach it on his own so Dean got it for him and shook it in front of his face. The baby giggled while kicking his feet in excitement.
Jimmy looked dejectedly back at the adults before giving talking a go. "So where'd you move from?"
Dean looked up and then down again, returning to entertaining his brother and completely ignoring Jimmy's question. Sighing, Jimmy picked up another toy, a small stuffed dog, and put that in little Sam's face. The baby turned his attention away from the rattle and on to the dog that he grabbed and hugged to his chest. Dean gave Jimmy a look, threw the rattle off to the side, frowned deeply, and crossed his arms against his chest.
"Dean, play nice," the boy's father said before returning to the adult conversation.
Taking advantage of Dean being distracted, Jimmy looked around the room and asked innocently, "Where's your mom - at the store?"
Dean didn't react for a few seconds. He took in several deep breaths and tears were forming at the corners of his eyes. He wiped them away but Jimmy still felt an uncomfortable chill as he turned his head and looked at the white wall.
And then he heard a quiet voice whisper, "She's gone."
Jimmy had to look back to be sure and, yes, it was Dean doing the talking. "Gone?"
"There was a big fire at our old house, in Kansas and...and she didn't get outside and….and daddy says she's gone."
Dean rubbed his eyes again but refused to look the other boy in the eye. Jimmy thought for a minute about what Dean told him. These poor kids - they didn't have a mom. All kids deserved to have both parents, especially the one who gave the best hugs and kisses! A sudden thought came to Jimmy and he perked up.
"Well then she went home to God!"
Dean sniffled and looked at the other boy, tilting his head slightly to the side and saying, "God?"
"Mhm," Jimmy said, now leaning forward, "She's upstairs with the angels up in Heaven."
Dean sniffled again and took a deep breath in and out before whispering to Jimmy, "Mommy always said angels were watching over me."
Jimmy shifted to sit on his knees and bounced a bit before deciding to say, "Well I think now she's upstairs helping them. Mom's are good like that."
"Mommy was the best," Dean said, giving Jimmy an enthusiastic smile but then he started to frown as a thought came to him. "Sammy won't get to know how great she was though…"
"Well, you are his older brother," Jimmy said after a minute of thought. "So it's up to you to tell him how great she was."
Jimmy smiled and once Dean did the same, Jimmy was glad he'd found a way to make the other boy happy. Dean looked at his little brother and waved the rattle he'd retrieved in the baby's face once again.
"Hey, I have an idea…"
The adults meanwhile were having an entirely different conversation on their side of the room.
"...Well, if you think it'd help. I-I just don't know what to do with him anymore."
"Doctor Christophe is a wonderful child psychiatrist," Carol said while giving John a light pat on the knee.
James leaned back in his seat and put his arm around his wife's back. He added, "Listen - a few years ago when Jimmy was around Dean's age, he would sometimes go off into, like, his own little world. He'd stare off into space talking to…the empty air in his room."
John rubbed his right hand against his stubble covered cheek and shook his head in exasperation. "At least he was talking though. Dean's barely said more than a few words since…since the fire."
"Well with Jimmy…sometimes he spoke English. Sometimes then he'd talk in this…made up language for hours at a time. He'd be sitting all alone in his room, facing the wall. Just him and his imaginary friend."
Their talking was drowned out by laughter coming from the other side of the room. The adults looked and their sons were both doing their best funny faces to make baby Sam smile and laugh.
"I'm winning!"
"No, I'm winning! You stink, right Sammy?"
"Well something stinks…."
"Eww, Sammy!"
"All right boys," John said, rising to his feet, "time for Sammy to have a bath and Dean, I want you to get ready for dinner."
Returning to sullen child mode and saying nothing again, Dean got to his feet and walked halfway to the kitchen and stopped.
"Can Jimmy stay for dinner?" Dean asked quietly.
It was the first time Dean directed a question to his father in over a month. John had a sudden urge to begin sobbing.
"Um, is it okay?" John asked the boy's parents.
Carol shook her head. "I'm sorry but Jimmy still has some homework to finish and then he's got choir practice at 7."
John looked at the older boy and watched as the hope died in Jimmy's eyes as he nodded in agreement and then looked at his own sad little boy who looked upset at having his new friend leave so soon.
"How about this weekend, at our place?" James said and Jimmy and Dean both looked up excited.
"Sounds good," John said, lifting Sam who, feeling ignored, began to make cooing noises.
"And we'll give you that number then too," Carol added and John just nodded.
"We'll do that then. Go ahead Dean - I'll be in the kitchen soon."
John shook hands with his neighbors and gave Jimmy a pat on the shoulder. The family let themselves out and the beginning of a great friendship began.
Little Jimmy had an imaginary friend ;)
I hope you enjoyed what I've written. More will come soon! Have a nice rest of your weekend.