Fallen Angel. (A Supernatural Story)

Chapter 3: Mr. Grumpy [EDITED]

A three year old Jean walks into the toy store holding her mother's hand. On her mother's other side is her father, whose left arm is wrapped around his wife's waist. Jean's twin brother, who is only older than her by 30 minutes, is holding onto their father's free right hand. Today is the twins' birthday and their parents promised to let them each pick out any one toy that they wanted.

Dean's face is lit up in joy, his green eyes glowing with excitement as he tugs on his father's hand trying to lead the man over to the toy guns. The man, John, lets out a laugh and allows himself to be pulled along. Jean and the mother, Mary, follow suit. Dean picks up a toy soldier and turns to show them in excitement, but a big bucket of plastic army men catches his eye and he ditches the action figure.

Jean's face is as excited as Dean's but she hesitates to leave her mother's side. Mary looks down at her daughter and smiles, "What's wrong? Don't you want a toy my Little Red?"

Jean nods her head then rushes over to join her twin brother. "Look, Jeanie! Isn't this cool!" Dean holds out the toy gun he's holding so that his sister can see it. She looks at the toy gun but quickly loses interest in it. She looks back at her parents to see John holding Mary close to him, one of his hands resting on Mary's belly. Mary and John both have huge smiles on their faces.

Something flashes to Jean's right and catches her attention. She begins to walk down the aisle where the flash seemed to have come from. She continues walking until she reaches a shelf full of angel dolls at the very end of the aisle. She looks around for her parents but they're nowhere in sight. Jean knows she's not supposed to wander out of her parents' sight and that she is going to be in big trouble later, but her curiosity draws her closer to the angel dolls.

She approaches the shelf of angels and carefully inspects them. As she reaches out to pick one up, a man speaks from behind her "Do you like angels?"

Jean jumps in surprise and quickly turns around to see a man of average height and weight with brown hair and beard watching her curiously. Normally in this kind of situation, she would scream and start yelling for her father; but this man's eyes are so full of love and kindness that it assures her that he means her no harm.

Slowly, Jean nods her head and says, "Mommy always says angels are watching over us." The man smiles at Jean as she turns back to the angel dolls. "They're very pretty."

The man's smile widens, "Thank you, I made them myself." He pauses for a moment as if considering something and then asks,"I don't normally do this, but would you like one?"

Jean's face lights up with delight, "Really mister?! I can have one?"

He nods, "Only if you promise to take care of him for me. These are very special dolls; the one you choose will protect and care for you. And when you get older he'll become your etam...that's kind of like your own Prince Charming. If you want to pick one out; I can tell you a little about each of them."

She examines the dolls for a moment then picks up a doll that has medium length brown hair and honey colored eyes. In one of the doll's hands is a lollipop and in the other a chocolate bar. He has three sets of blue wings. "That is Gabriel. He has quite the sweet tooth and loves to pull pranks on people."

Jean chuckles at that, but puts the Gabriel doll back on the shelf then picks up another doll. This one has short black hair and is carrying a sword. He also has three sets of wings but the color of his wings are pure white. "That is Michael. He is the oldest and a very loyal soldier. He will never fail to protect you or obey orders."

She frowns at the Michael doll, "He seems like a butthole."

The man chuckles, "I suppose that's true too."

Jean puts the Michael doll down on the shelf and picks up a third angel. This one has short dark brown hair and is wearing a tan trench coat over a wrinkled suit. A look of confusion is etched onto the doll's face and curiosity seems to shine in his bright blue eyes. Unlike the other two dolls, he only has one set of wings. They're a bright pink color, almost hot pink. "His name is Castiel. He doesn't understand a lot of human things, but he is fiercely loyal and his heart is in the right place."

She grins at the Castiel doll and gives it a big hug. "He's cute...and cuddly. I want..." she is holding the Castiel doll close to her and is turning to face the man when something catches her attention from the corner of her eye. In the farthest corner of the shelf is another doll, but it's too far back into the shadows for her to see it properly. She frowns and looks down at the Castiel doll then hesitates but eventually puts the doll down. She then tries to reach for the doll sitting in the farthest corner all by itself, but she can't quite reach it. However, she doesn't quit trying and finally her tiny hand closes around the doll. She pulls the doll out and stares at it transfixed. This angel doll has short dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and a big scowl on his face. He also has three sets of large hot pink wings covered with glitter that makes it look like the wings are sparkling. While she's looking the doll over, she can feel a funny tingling sensation running up her arms and then her body until it decides to settle somewhere near her chest. "I want this one, mister."

Jean turns around with the doll now securely grasped in between her arms. A look of utter surprise flashes across the man's face at the sight of the doll and he is momentarily left speechless. "Uh, he's not supposed to be there. He's a troublemaker and he has a very bad temper....He may end up actually hurting you instead of protecting you because he thinks it would be amusing. He really doesn't like humans."

Jean just shakes her head, "Maybe he just needs a friend, everyone needs somebody who loves them unconditionally and somebody that they can love the same."

The man nods his head at her words, "He will be a handful...he's prideful and stubborn. Things will be very difficult for you if you choose him." The man watches Jean carefully as he warns her; he can sense the bond that seems to have already formed between the girl and the angel, and it makes him uneasy. He's never seen a bond form so quickly before.

"I don't care, I want this one mister." She envelops the angel doll in her little arms as though she is protecting him. "I will call him Mr. Grumpy."

The man chuckles a little, "Okay, I can see that your heart is set. Promise me one thing though," he holds up his little finger so that she can make a pinkie promise with him. "Promise me...that you won't put him in a frilly pink dress...he would kill me."

A peal of laughter leaves the small girl's mouth at the image of Mr. Grumpy in a dress. When her laughter finally subsides, she grabs his pinkie with her own. "I promise mister, even though it would go really well with his wings."