The Story of Sammi

Surprise!

A few days after Dean decided we were staying a little longer in Georgia, I made a shocking discovery about my past. The boys had decided they were heading out for a little while to pick up a few souvenirs from their trip, so I was alone and bored. I decided to rummage through some of my grandparents' old things, including some photos that had gotten left behind after grandma left for the assisted living home. Seeing some of those pictures brought back a lot of memories for me. There were pictures of my sister and me playing tag in the backyard, having tea parties with nana, and fishing with poppy. I even found a picture of mom and dad from happier times. There were the pictures of nana and poppy together, ones of nana with her ladies from the auxiliary, and others of poppy with some of his fellow fishers and hunters. One of those photos really caught my attention. It was a picture of poppy and a young man I grew up knowing as "Uncle" John. I remember he stopped coming around right before I headed off to college, but I never really thought much about it. I knew very little about the man, other than he had two children and he liked to hunt. I was still rummaging through the photographs when I heard the front door open and close. "Sammi, sweetheart," Sam said. "Where are you?" "I'm in the kitchen," I answered. Sam and Dean walked in and sat down at the table next to me. "Was your little trip eventful?" I asked them, leaning over to give Sam a kiss. "It was definitely interesting," Dean replied. "We made out pretty good on souvenirs, though." "Well then, mission complete," I said with a smile. "Are these photos of your family, baby?" Sam asked. "For the most part," I said. "There are some of nana and poppy with some of their friends." Dean had spotted the photo of poppy and Uncle John and picked it up to look at it. Something about the look on his face gave me a little chill. He looked at Sam and said, "Take a look at this, Sammy." Sam took the photo from Dean and said, "Oh wow." Confused as all hell, I looked from one brother to the other and said, "What's going on? You two look like you've seen a ghost. OMG! Is there a ghost in my house???" Sam handed the picture back to me and pointed to Uncle John. "That's our father, John Winchester." "Wait, what?!" I said with a screech. "Uncle John was your dad??" "Uncle?" Dean said. "We called him that because he was here a lot," I told him. "He and poppy were hunting buddies." "Your grandfather was a hunter?" Sam was confused. "Yeah," I told him. "He hunted for sport. Deer, ducks, stuff like that. Or at least that's what I thought until just now." Dean excused himself for a moment and left me and Sam alone. "I am so confused," I said to Sam. "I knew your dad for years and didn't even know it. I knew he had two kids and he liked to hunt. This is just all so unreal." Sam put his arms around me and said, "It's alright, babe. This is not such a bad thing. In a way, it means that you, Dean and I were destined to meet." "Well when you put it that way," I said with a smile. "It's still just unbelievable." Dean re-appeared shortly after, carrying a really worn out looking journal. He started flipping through the pages, then looked at me and said, "What was your grandfather's name?" "Jacob Carmichael," I said. "All of his friends called him Pops." Dean continued flipping through the book until, "I knew the name sounded familiar. Take a look at this." He turned the book so Sam and I could see what he was looking at. Sam read out loud, "Today Pops and I took down three demons. We were scared out of our minds, but we came out victorious. The old man's still got it after all these years. My boys could learn something from him." "Except you two never met poppy Jake," I said. "Or did you???" "Not to my knowledge," Dean said. "We grew up in hotels, that's why it comes so naturally to us. Dad always wanted to take us on hunts early on, but he didn't think we were ready." "This is still all so shocking," I said. "Your father and my grandfather. I knew your dad before I knew you two but didn't know it. It's a lot to process. And I'm STILL learning things about my mom and dad that I didn't know." Sam and Dean leaned in for a double hug. "We can learn together," Dean said. I just smiled and nodded, still trying to process what I had just learned about my own grandfather. "Just out of curiosity," Sam said, "when did our dad stop coming around?" "It was right before I left for my freshman year of college," I told them. "Which was about the same time you left for college," Dean said, looking in Sam's direction. "And you and Dad started hunted together," Sam replied. "So it sounds like Sammi's grandfather was like dad's mentor," Dean said. "I mean, not that he really needed it, since we come from a long line of hunters. But still, he obviously admired your grandfather very much, princess." "Oh my gosh!" I said in surprise. "What's wrong, sweetie?" Sam asked. "I just had a thought," I told him. "What if it wasn't the need for hunting skills that brought the two of them together? You said yourself that y'all come from a line of hunters, so your dad must have known how to hunt from a very young age." "I'm not following you, princess," Dean said. "What if the reason your dad stuck around my grandfather so long on all these hunts was to learn how to balance hunting and family?" I said. "Think about it. It makes perfect sense!" Sam was the first to respond. "She's right, Dean. Dad only hunted with Pops until right before I left for college. You and Dad started hunting together shortly after that. Pops knew how to balance the hunting life and the family life..." "I'll be damned!" Dean said. "Dad did get better at juggling the family life and hunting life shortly after you left for school. And he owed it all to Sammi's grandfather." "I still can't believe I knew your dad," I said with a smile. "Let's rummage through some more of my grandparents' things, see what other surprises we can discover about my past." The three of us stayed up late that night, trying to piece together the puzzle that was Samantha Weston.