The Runt of the Litter

Grew Up and Learned the Cost

Note: Hey babes <3 Thanks so much for all the love!

This week's chapter was a request from @idk_kinda_gal who is just so awesome and kind and amazing <3 Hope you like it, love.

Anna is eleven.

Grew Up and Learned the Cost

Anna stopped sleep-walking somewhere around a month after their arrival at Lisa's house.

She turned eleven about six months in.

Dean woke her up for birthday pancakes. Anna smiled on beat as the familiar song played out. But she couldn't ignore the utter lack of rhythm to it all. Sam was missing, and so was the music.

Dean sang her an off-key rendition of the birthday song, and Ben stood right next to her chair, practically drooling over the stack of pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. "Move," Anna finally groaned when he leaned right over her shoulder. She gave him a little push, and he backed off with a disgruntled sound.

"Don't push," Dean chastised and set a plate in front of her. This one had a short stack just for Anna, and there were two candles in the pancakes, both shaped like the number one. "Make a wish," Dean encouraged.

Anna closed her eyes and felt the threat of tears like a blue crayon scribbling along the backs of her eyelids. She didn't want to cry. "I wish Sam was here," she said dryly.

Dean went quiet and she looked up in time to see him wiping discreetly at his eyes with one hand. "Me too, Rugrat," he said. "Blow 'em out, huh?"

Anna nodded, biting her lip. But she knew her wish wouldn't come true no matter how badly she wanted it to, so the idea of blowing those candles out only hurt. Dean leaned his head down next to hers and blew them out for her.

"Haven't had to do that since you were two," he joked and plucked the candles out of her breakfast. "Eat up, Sweetheart. I got a big day planned for you."

Anna frowned. "But you have to go to work," she said, not even lifting her fork. She swiveled in her chair when Dean walked back over toward the counter to refill his coffee cup.

Lisa whizzed into the room with her jacket already on. "Happy birthday, Sweetie," she said as she passed by Anna's chair. She gently touched the top of her head and then gave Ben a kiss on the temple, which he wiped off like it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever experienced.

"I got the day off," Dean explained, then grabbed Lisa's hand as she would have passed by him. They kissed sensually, and Anna looked away. Now that was the most disgusting thing she'd ever seen.

"What for?" Anna asked, turning back when she heard Lisa stepping back over to the table. She had a cup of coffee in her hand now.

Dean came over and leaned down to kiss her on the head before he sat down in the chair beside hers. "That, my little Rugrat, is a surprise."

Anna wrinkled her nose. "I hate surprises."

"No one hates surprises," Ben said all-knowingly across from her.

"You only think that cuz your dumb," Anna bit back.

"Hey," Dean and Lisa berated at the same time.

"Apologize," Dean ordered.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Sorry," she said. She didn't see why it was such a big deal. Ben called her names all the time. He usually got in trouble for that too, though. "What's the surprise?" she asked, poking at her pancakes with her fork. She dragged the tines back and forth across the whipped cream on her plate, making criss-crossing patterns like those used to play tic-tac-toe.