Keeping up with the Joneses

Part Twenty

Sara didn't sleep that night, but felt more at peace than she had in weeks. She got out of her bed at a quarter past four, quietly so she wouldn't wake Dean.

She shuffled to the closet, grabbing gifts that Bobby and Danielle helped her wrap in the days previous. Each gift had a corresponding sticker with the name that they belonged to. With a grimace, she pulled out a small tree that Bobby managed to pick up from the local hardware store. It had lights on it, but no ornaments.

She arranged the tree by the landing of the stairs, placing the gifts under it just like she used to for Joey. She brewed coffee once she was done, sipping it on the porch as she watched the sun rise. She heard rustling coming from inside the home, and she waited for everyone to be awake before she went inside.

When she was sure she heard four distinct voices, she opened the door slowly and peered in. Sam and Dean looked at her with wonder, while Bobby and Danielle shared smug looks.

"Sara, when did you do all of this? How did you do all of this?"

"Oh, over the past couple of weeks. I had some help." She nodded to Bobby and Danielle, who raised their coffees to her. "Also, invention of the century-- Amazon."

"Amazon?" Sam and Dean questioned at the same time, their heads tilting the exact same way.

"Online shopping," she replied, her voice sounding as if it was all part of her evil plot. She walked forward, placing her mug on the counter in the kitchen and went to pick up the gifts to hand out.

"Um, no," Dean said, grabbing her shoulders and sitting her next to the spot he was just in. "Ah, nametags," he remarked happily as he noticed the stickers on each of the boxes. He handed three boxes to Sam, one to Danielle, and one to Bobby. Three of them remained, which he carried back to his own spot.

"Okay," Sara said before everyone could start ripping into their gifts. "Everyone needs to take turns. Show off what you got, let me get the full effect of what you think. Got it?"

The room nodded, and she motioned for Sammy to start. He tore the paper from the biggest box, pulling out a solid colored button down shirt. He grinned, holding it up to himself. "Hey, thanks, Sara!"

She grinned, nodding at Dean to open his. He was a lot less gentle with the wrapping, tearing it open aggressively as though this would show his enthusiasm. He frowned slightly, pulling out a t-shirt with graphic letters on it.

Don't talk to me about Led Zeppelin. You'll never get me to shut the f*ck up.

Sam guffawed, slapping his knee as Dean looked at Sara with mock hurt on his face. Sara snorted, covering her mouth with one hand and patting Dean's shoulder with the other.

"Thanks, Sara," he said, trying to sound sarcastic. He looked back at the shirt, laughing quietly to himself.

Sara looked back to Sam, as the brothers had more gifts and she wanted to save Bobby's for last.

Sam raised his eyebrows, opening his next gift which was in a much smaller box.

"Wait, wait," Sam stopped, looking up to Sara. She snatched a box that was the same size from Dean's lap, who uttered a small 'hey!' "You guys can open these at the same time actually."

They looked at each other, Dean opening this gift just as aggressively as Sam carefully lifted his box's top.

They both looked at Sara when they saw what was inside. Each box held a simple, black ring. Sara took something out of her pocket, slipping an identical ring onto the middle finger of her right hand.

She showed them her hand, and both boys exchanged glances before taking their rings out of the boxes and placing them on their fingers. Dean placed his on the ring finger of his right hand, and Sammy placed his on his middle finger like Sara.