Not Just the Family Business

The Kids Aren't Alright

Trigger Warning: Eating disorders

"There she is!" Dean blew into a noisemaker with the year 1998 printed along the front of it as I walked in the front door.

Food littered the table in the dining room. Everything a girl could imagine from cheeseburgers to fettuccine alfredo with shrimp in it. Dean must've called every takeout place within the entire city of Sioux Falls.

"Wow, I should get surgery every day!" I giggled. "Sam picks me up in my Roadrunner, and Dean gets me all the takeout in South Dakota."

"Make sure you save room for the ice cream cake in the freezer," Sam said.

I turned to look at him. "That better not be a joke."

"Serious as a heart attack." Dean stood up and opened the freezer.

Tears flowed down my cheeks. "You guys."

"Come on. No tears." Sam rubbed my back.

"This is just so sweet. Thank you." I wiped the tears off my cheeks.

"Sam made sure we got all your favorites, too. We have orange chicken and fried rice from that Chinese place you like, a cowboy burger with no tomato, red curry with chicken from that Pad Thai place down the road, standard cut fries with some extra salt, fettuccine alfredo with shrimp, cup-and-char pepperoni pizza with extra mozzarella, and root beer with no ice," Dean listed off. "Oh, and a buffalo chicken salad from that healthy place you and Sam like."

Sam sighed then asked, "So, where are you starting?"

I looked up at him with a small grin. "The ice cream cake."

"Told ya." Dean pulled the cake out of the freezer.

After one gigantic piece of ice cream cake, a few bites of the cowboy burger, and a handful of french fries, I was stuffed. 

"I'm tapping." I stacked my plates up and pushed them toward the center of the table.

"That's it?" Dean asked.

"Well, maybe if you'd gotten me a burrito bowl from the Mexican place, I would've eaten more." I stuck my tongue out at him.

Sam chuckled. "You two are something else."

Dean motioned to the table. "All this food and she ate two things."

"Three." I stuck another fry in my mouth. "Besides, it's not like I'm going on hunts. And, I love Bobby, but the man is lost in a kitchen if he has to make more than eggs, and I'm not much better. Leftovers are always good."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look. I narrowed my eyes at them. Then Dean slightly shook his head.

I sat up straighter. "Alright, what's going on?"

"I'll clean up the food." Dean grabbed our plates and moved them to the sink.

"Doc said you need to sleep on an incline for the first couple of weeks, so we're going to make the living room your home for a while." Sam stood up. "Why don't you come test out the recliner to make sure it's comfortable."

"No. I want to know what's going on here." I moved to cross my arms, but just ended up awkwardly hugging myself with one arm instead.

Sam squatted next to me. "Melanie, please. I want to make sure you're comfortable."

As much as I tried, I couldn't say no to Sam's puppy dog eyes. Besides he was being so considerate. He would tell me what was going on when I needed to know, right?

I scooted my chair out with a sigh and stomped into the living room. I plopped myself down in the recliner and kicked out the leg rest. Once I positioned myself appropriately, I pushed the back of the chair down.