The Runt of the Litter

Ladybug

Note: Hey, lovelies 💜I hope your week wasn't complete dog-crap, and if it was, here's a fluffy chapter to make you feel better.

I'm sorry, I know it's not Saturday anymore for some of you. But it's been a wild day and a bad week, and I'm counting us all lucky I finished this today at all. Hopefully next week's will be up earlier

Thanks a million for all the super amazing comments this week. Y'all are the absolute sweetest, and you never fail to make me smile 

This week's chapter is for garlicbreath1945, who is so amazingly kind and wanted to see Sam and Anna when she was little. Hope you like it. It's short, sweet, and quirky (three words which also perfectly describe a toddler Anna).

So, in this chapter, Anna is two, Sam is seventeen, and Dean is twenty-one.

Ladybug

"Sorry Dad didn't stick around," Sam told his little sister. Her hand was in his as they walked down the mostly empty sidewalk. "I thought he would for you at least. I mean, I know his track record isn't very good as far as birthdays are concerned, but... you've always been different." He looked down when Anna let out a happy sound and raised her arm to point at something up ahead. "You don't care, huh?" Sam grinned, following her finger to see what she was looking at. A brightly colored ice cream shop was set up just down the street.

Anna let out another happy squeal, this one loud enough to attract some attention, and Sam reached down and picked her up. "I don't know why I'm so mad," he told his sister. "Especially when you don't even know what day it is." He gave her a soft smile and poked her stomach, making her giggle and push his hand away with both of her smaller ones. "And it's nothing new for him."

"Ooh!" Anna exclaimed, pointing ahead of them again.

"Yeah, that's a cool building, isn't it? What color is that?" he prompted, more out of habit than anything.

Anna frowned thoughtfully, pursed her lips, and tapped her fingers against her chin. It was a mimicry of the thinking pose their dad and older brother made a lot. John would stroke the stubble on his chin, and Dean would just rest his chin in his hand, occasionally tapping his lips with his fingers. "Geeee," she cooed, waving her hand at the building rather than pointing again.

"Noooo," Sam said goofily. "What color is that? That's not green."

"Ba," Anna corrected, jumping a couple times. She tugged on Sam's hand, energetic and pleased with herself.

"Yeah, blue," Sam agreed.

"Ba ba ba ba," Anna repeated as they continued down the sidewalk.

"Yeah, blue," Sam repeated absently. He watched the ice cream shop get closer and thought how wrong it was that John wasn't there. Maybe Anna didn't get it now, but someday she would. And he didn't want her to grow up learning to get used to having an absent father. Like he and Dean had.

Anna crouched down on the sidewalk suddenly, and Sam felt the tug of her hand in his and looked down. Her nose was wrinkled in disgust and she reached out one little finger to poke at something. Sam quickly realized what it was, and he moved more quickly than he ever had on any hunt in pulling her away from it.

"Anna, that's yucky," he scolded while she pouted and whined at him for not letting her touch the object of her curiosity. "Ew," he said, shaking his head, trying to communicate to her that it wasn't something she wanted to touch.

Instead of receiving the message, Anna laughed exaggeratedly at the face he was making before immediately going back to trying to reach the dog poop on the sidewalk.