Author: Restive Nature
Genre: Crossover
Type: WiP
Shows: Dark Angel and Supernatural
Disclaimer: Neither show represented in this fiction belongs to me. Dark Angel is the product of Cameron/Eglee and Fox, whereas Supernatural is the product of Kripke and The CW. No profits are made from this fiction and it is intended for private enjoyment only.
Story Rating: PG-13 up to NC-17 for language, violence and sexual situations. (All higher rated material will be contained in its own chapter and clearly marked at the beginning of the chapter. PG versions of these chapters will also be available.)
Chapter Rating: PG-13 for language.
Timeline/ Spoilers: This story takes place predominantly in the Supernatural timeline. This means that the Dark Angel structure of post-pulse America does not fit in. The massive changes will be that Manticore is decades ahead of itself and the characters from DA are born much earlier than portrayed on the show. There is no Pulse occurring. Any other changes to the structures or episodes of the shows will be (hopefully) explained within the story itself.
Pairing: None at this time. (The pairing will become evident as the story progresses, but much further down the road.)
Summary: Change can be a choice and you never know where the road you choose to take will lead you.
When It Changes
Chapter Twelve
Birthday Blues
“Thank you again Mrs. Gallagher,” John called as he herded his family down the porch steps of Molly’s home. The woman stood in the doorway and waved them off. The children nodded to her, unable to wave since their arms were loaded down with gifts and leftover food from the Christmas feast the older woman had prepared.
“Take care John,” she called. “I’ll see you later Max.”
Max, waiting at the car, jumped into the back seat as soon as Dean was able to juggle the dishes in his hands to unlock the door. She took from him his packages and he moved back to help Sam in. Once everyone had finally made it into the car, she wondered if she should bring up the trip that the men had just been on. All three Winchester males were in a good mood. They were sated from the meal, in good humor about the gifts they had exchanged and surprised by the insightfulness of Molly’s individual gifts to each of them.
Quietly, she decided to broach things. Naturally nothing could have been said in front of Molly. And since Max had stayed with her while the males were away, and they’d only arrived back to Geraldine this morning, there hadn’t been a chance to talk.
“How was the trip?” she asked softly. She watched for their reactions. John just glanced up in the rearview mirror and then back out the windshield to the street. Dean rubbed at his eyes and Sam smiled ruefully.
“It wasn’t a complete disaster,” Sam finally answered.
“You got the ghost, didn’t you?” Max demanded. There were nods all around. “So what was the problem?”
“There was no problem,” John declared.
“Except for getting lost, running into a bunch of soldier wannabes, getting kicked out of our motel room and having to sleep in the car in the middle of winter,” Dean muttered under his breath, sounding extremely put out. Max chuckled lightly, the picture of it entering her mind as Dean had quickly rolled off his list of complaints.
“Yeah,” Sam concurred. “Winter in Wyoming, not fun.” He shared a smile with Max. “I can see why you didn’t want to go.”
Max nodded and ducked her head. She knew she had been pushing things when John had announced the hunt in Wyoming that they’d do over the Christmas vacation. She’d flat out refused to go and refused to tell them why. John was sharp enough on the uptake to figure out pretty quickly why Max had no wish to return to that state, especially when they’d picked her up just one state over. But at least he didn’t know the whole truth behind her fears.
“You ran into wannabe soldiers?” Max queried softly. That was the one thing that could drive fear into her heart. She needed to know more about this.
“Yeah,” John snorted. He didn’t continue until he’d completed a turn onto the main street where their home was located. “A bunch of kids running around in fatigues with paint guns.”
“They actually tried to scare us off,” Dean laughed. “I mean yeah, paint balls sting like a son of a bitch, but scary… hell no!”
“Where was that at?” Max asked, holding her breath, trying to sound like a normal, interested ten year old.
“Just outside Gillette, wasn’t it?” Sam asked his father. John nodded as he pulled the car alongside the curb. Sam picked up the story and continued as John shut the car off. “Anyway, this older guy came along and told us all we were in a restricted area. This is where we got lost. And he tells the kids to go home and to quit trying to scare the tourists. So without a word, they all take off running and this guy comes off with some lame excuse about parents not paying attention to their kids. So he showed us how to get back to the main road.”
The story was interrupted by the need to get inside out of the cold. Once again they transported food and presents as well as the baggage they’d all had. Once inside, Sam continued the narration. “So we got back to where we were headed in Gillette, only to find that the motel guy and his wife were having a fight because he thought that his wife was flirting with Dad when he checked in. As a result, all our stuff got tossed out of the room, the place got trashed and the cops were there when we arrived. Dad said he wouldn’t press charges, you know, and we’d find somewhere else to stay.”
“Of course that was the only friggin’ motel in the place,” Dean groused as he took the food into the kitchen. John just shook his head and moved to turn the thermostat back up. There’d been no need to have it running all the time with the house empty for a few days.
“So you ended up sleeping in the car,” Max surmised. She hid her smile. Dean could camp out and tough things out with the best of them, but he did like his comforts. And when he was deprived of them, he made sure that people knew his displeasure about it.
“It wasn’t that bad,” John interrupted. “It was only for a few hours and I stayed awake to run the car when it cooled down too much.”
“Yeah, but then I had to drive and I had a stupid crick in my neck from sleeping wrong,” Dean whined. John rolled his eyes and began making a pot of coffee.
“So what’d you do while we were gone?” Sam asked his sister. It had been a tense discussion, before they had left, what to do with Max. They were lucky that Mrs. Gallagher asked if Max could come stay with her since her children were all visiting their in-laws this year. She would have been welcome, but she didn’t feel like traveling through the cold weather. John had been reluctant, but could see no alternative. He knew that if he forced the issue of Max returning to Wyoming, the little girl would run. He just wondered when Max would start trusting them enough that the unspoken threat of her disappearance would abate. Although in this case, he didn’t really blame her. It wasn’t like he was all that eager to go back to Lawrence all that often. You always wanted to leave the bad places behind.
“Mrs. Gallagher taught me to knit,” Max informed them with a huge smile.
“Oh yeah,” Dean smiled suddenly, leaning back in his chair at the table, pushing it onto the back two legs. “That’s why she was grinning over that huge bag of yarn you gave her.”
“Not exactly,” Max shrugged. “See, when we went shopping, she was telling me that she needed to get some more yarn and that I should pick some out to work with. So while we were at the craft store, I got her to point out all the colors and stuff she liked. And then I bought them. So she thought they were all for me, since I didn’t really know what to choose.”
“Then you turned around and gave them to her,” John grinned. That sounded like something Mary would do. Max nodded.
“But not all of them,” Max explained, jumping up to open up her duffel bag. She withdrew a bag containing some skeins of yarn. “I had to have something to work with.” She spilled the yarn out onto the table and gestured at it. “Pick a color. Any color. I’ll make you the longest darn scarf since what’s his face on TV.”
“Doctor Who, Max,” Sam sighed. “His name was Doctor Who.”
“I know,” she replied smugly. “And he lived in the retard phone booth.”
“No!” Sam half-shouted, his cheeks going slightly pink. “It was the Tardis. The phone booth was called the Tardis!” He glared at Max, who looked sweetly innocent. “You know, for a so-called genius, you’re acting pretty dumb- oh!” Sam finally caught on to Max’s teasing as he realized that Dean and John were doing everything possible not to burst out laughing. Dean lost it finally and was laughing, slapping one hand down on his thigh. John let out a few chuckles and then helped Max to stuff the yarn back into the bag.
“Take this and your stuff upstairs and get unpacked, okay?” John told Max. She nodded and hurried up the stairs. San was about to ask what his father was up to, when he motioned the boys to stay where they were at. John held up one finger until; he heard Max’s door close.
“We still need to figure out what we’re going to do about Max’s birthday,” John informed them. This had been a major topic of discussion on their road trip. Her birthday was only a week away, on New Year’s Day and they had no idea what to do for her. If she’d been a boy, John knew exactly what they’d do. Find a shooting range and go fool around for a while, then pig out on fast food. Open gifts, and then eat store bought cupcakes. But that just didn’t seem right for a little girl, even if that girl was Max.
“Well at least we can get her some presents,” Dean sighed. They’d managed to pick up a little cash on the trip and their father was making a decent wage. “I still say we should get her some music,” he argued, clearly opening up an ongoing discussion.
“Mm-mm,” Sam disagreed. “Books. You know how she goes through them. And you saw the way her eyes lit up when Mrs. Gallagher gave her those L.M. Montgomery books.”
“That’s what she has a library card for dumb ass,” Dean retorted.
“Dean, language,” John chided. Dean tilted his head in acknowledgement. “And honestly, I think she needs something practical. Maybe some new clothes that she didn’t grab off the rack at the second hand store.”
“Yeah, but you heard her Dad,” Sam complained. “She likes that stuff.” John held up his hands before the argument got out of hand again. Each one of them was pulling for the gift that they had the most in common with for the girl.
“Why don’t we get her some gift certificates?” he asked the boys quietly, still aware of the girl’s position upstairs. He wanted this discussion over before she came back downstairs. “One from each of us?” The boys mulled it over for a moment.
“That’d be okay,” Sam conceded.
“But that wouldn’t let her get anything really great,” Dean decided. “I mean, we could pool our money and get her a gift certificate for the mall. Then she could have fifty stores to shop at.”
“They do that?” John asked of his son, amused. All this female shopping talk was funny, when being discussed solely by males. Dean and Sam nodded. “Okay, that’s what we’ll do then.” He waited for the boys to agree and then moved on to the next topic. “Now, what about a party?”
“I don’t think Max would like one,” Sam replied honestly. “I mean, she’s not really friends with that many kids at school.”
“Except for Farmer Joe’s kid,” Dean grunted. Sam rolled his eyes.
“His name isn’t Farmer Joe,” Sam protested. John glanced between the two boys, waiting for an explanation. “Mr. Protsma,” he supplied for his father. John nodded, having met the farmer in passing at the garage. He waited for any other forthcoming information.
“He sure likes to sow his oats,” Dean smirked. John raised an eyebrow and again waited quietly. Dean’s comment could mean a number of things.
“Justine told Max before school let out that her mom is having another kid,” Sam informed him. John just nodded.
“Yeah, you’d think that six was enough,” Dean scoffed. “But oh no, here they go again.”
“Dean,” John admonished softly. “It’s no concern of ours if they want more kids.” Dean shrugged. It was true, what his father said. But he honestly wondered what went through these people’s heads when they continually brought children into this world. Not that he was against people having kids. He just wondered if it might be better for the kids just to have a few. Less competition for attention, less squabbles, more money available. He put it out of his mind though as his father and brother continued talking.
“So a party with her class is out,” John clarified, feeling relieved. He really wouldn’t have known how to handle a bunch of ten year old girls in his house anyway. “What does that leave us?”
“I don’t know,” Dean snorted. “Maybe one of us should just ask Max what she’d like to do,” he suggested in a long suffering tone. As much fun as sneaking about could be, in the long run Dean preferred to just get it done.
“Oh, I could ask Max about the kinds of parties she’s had before,” Sam offered. “You know, what her favorite birthday party was. Maybe they had something special they did every year, or something.”
“Yeah, I suppose so,” John concurred. “Why don’t you do that Sam?” The boy scrambled from his seat and was up the stairs before John could stop him. As the pounding footsteps faded away, John looked over at Dean in consternation. “I didn’t mean right this second,” he complained with a faint grin. Dean just laughed.
Twenty minutes later, when Sam returned to the kitchen, John and Dean could see immediately that something was the matter. He quietly took a seat at the table, shaking his head.
“What’s the matter son?” John asked gruffly, holding his coffee mug between both hands. Sam stared at the table, appearing dumbfounded. “Sam?”
“She’s never had a party Dad,” Sam answered honestly, a hint of sorrow in his voice.
“So?” Dean asked. Maybe just like their family, parties for birthdays were family affairs.
“No Dean,” Sam crossed his arms, looking mulish. “She’s never had a party, or anything. Not with her friends. Not with her family. She has never celebrated a birthday.”
“Oh right,” Dean scoffed and then took a sip of his own coffee.
“No I’m serious,” Sam pushed. He turned to his father. “She said that they never did any of this stuff in her family. And it makes sense…” he trailed off.
“What makes sense?” John demanded quietly.
“Why we had to explain Halloween and Christmas to her,” Sam provided. “And Thanksgiving and Dad’s birthday.” He glanced up and took in the shocked realization dawning on the other men’s faces. John set his cup down abruptly.
“She can’t have not known,” John said, confused. “I mean, she asked us about them, aside from my birthday.”
“No, that’s not right,” Dean argued. “She knew the historical reference to Christmas and Thanksgiving,” he clarified. He tilted his head up, staring at the ceiling. “Maybe Sam’s right. Remember how weird she was when we gave her gifts? You said she was like a kid at her first Christmas.”
“And she couldn’t believe that everyone had gotten her something,” Sam continued for his brother. Silence fell over the table, none of them looking at each other.
Finally Dean spoke up, “well, at least this means we won’t have to dazzle her with a spectacular party if she’s not expecting anything.”
“She’d be expecting just dinner out and a cake, if she’s expecting anything at all,” Sam pointed out, referencing what they’d done for John’s birthday recently.
“But on the other hand,” John sighed heavily, “wouldn’t it be nice to do something great on her birthday and really surprise her?” The boys nodded earnestly. They couldn’t quite wrap their minds around never celebrating a holiday. But on the other hand, how weird was it for Max to be celebrating holidays for the first time in her life.
“This can’t be the first time ever that she’s celebrated or gotten gifts,” Dean scoffed, still wrestling with the seeming impossibility of it. Sam shook his head and straightened up in his chair.
“Actually, she told me that her brother Zack once gave her a balloon,” he explained. “A red one. But then he made her get rid of it.” John and Dean knew by the inflection of the youngest male Winchester’s voice, that they were once again dealing with the elusive male in Max’s past, believed to be her real father. John swore mentally at the bastard who had been raising Max. Even the most devoutly religious people he’d come across celebrated something. Even with the Quaker’s they had quilting bees and barn-raisers, even if they didn’t celebrate National holidays.
“Well all we can do then is come up with something we’ll hope she’ll enjoy and do our best to make sure that she has a good day,” John finally decided. The boys nodded and that was the end of the conversation.
The next day, when John returned to work, he had a plan in motion. Most days, he was stubborn enough to go things alone. He depended on himself and no one else. Sure, he’d accept help from the boys or from trusted individuals that had proved themselves to him. And the thing about that, was that he’d developed certain connections for certain things. If he wanted to know something about cars, he called Bobby. If he needed to know about a spirit or religious matter, he called Jim. If he needed weapons, he called Caleb. So what he needed right now, was someone who knew about parties.
And since he didn’t know who in his new circle of co-workers would know about this sort of thing, he cast a general net with those he knew to be parents themselves. They’d gathered in the break room for mid-morning coffee, since things were slow. John waited until everyone had their drinks before he brought up the subject. And as soon as he did, there were so many options thrown out on the table for him. Skating, bowling, the movies, shopping… But his favorite by far was from his boss.
“You know, there’s a place up in the Falls,” he began, once the other men had settled down. “My kids love it. Moonwalkers.”
“Oh, the arcade place!” one of the younger mechanics exclaimed. He was in his early twenties and still enthusiastic about most things. John perked up.
“Not just arcade,” his boss explained. “They do parties, pizza, games and those ball pits.”
Tony nudged John with his elbow. “Think Chuck E. Cheese without the annoying dressed up rodents.”
John grinned. “You think they’d be open on New Year’s Day?” His boss nodded.
“You can always call and find out.”
“I’ll do that,” John nodded.
He waited until he was home, taking the phone into his bedroom. He made sure that all three children were occupied in the living room with the television or their books. Max was indeed working on a Dr. What’s his face scarf for Sammy, much to the boy’s embarrassment. He sat on the bed, and found the number in the phone book. He dialed and was answered by a perky voice on the other end.
“Moonwalkers, this is Theresa speaking,” the perky voice announced.
“Hello, this is John Winchester,” John introduced himself. “I was wondering if you were going to be open on New Year’s Day?” he jumped in without any other preamble.
“Yes sir,” Theresa replied with even more enthusiasm. “It’s one of our biggest days of the year, since kids are out of school and parents are off of work.” There was a pause before she spoke again. “Were you planning a party?”
“Well sort of,” John admitted. “You see, it’s my daughter’s eleventh birthday. We just moved to town recently and she doesn’t know that many kids.” It was sort of a lie, but the woman didn’t need to know that.
“Oh I can hear that,” Theresa was all sympathy. “Being the new kid is rough. But as I said, it’s a busy day for us every year. There’d be plenty of kids her age to play with.”
“That sounds good,” he decided. Then he asked about their party plans. Theresa outlined the simple party that they did. There was pizza, a cake baked in the shape of a pizza with decorations and the birthday child received ten free tokens for the arcade. The employees brought out the cake, singing Happy Birthday. John nodded, thinking that while it wasn’t overly extravagant, it was different. The price was affordable and Sam and Dean would enjoy the arcade. He just couldn’t see Dean getting into a ball pit with preschoolers. Although the kid could surprise him sometimes. He decided to go ahead with it and set up the reservation. Now all he had to do was inform the boys and see about getting to town to pick up Max’s gifts.
On the morning of her so called birthday, Max awoke later than normal. John had let all three children stay up late last night, watching the ball drop in New York at Times Square. Max hadn’t really understood the excitement in it all. It was just a light display, with people yelling and screaming, then singing badly, loudly and off-key. But the others seemed slightly into it, so she had gone along with things. They’d played board games and had snacks and aside from the whole New Year’s Eve thing, she had enjoyed herself.
She stretched out in the bed, under her covers, wondering what they’d be doing this day. John had the day off, and the kids weren’t due back to school for a few days. Maybe they’d be getting ready for another hunt, somewhere closer to home. Or maybe they’d do as they’d done previously and just laze around the house. In fact, until Max smelled breakfast cooking and hurried downstairs without even changing and was surprised as all hell when the three male Winchester’s had yelled out Happy Birthday, she’d forgotten that this was the day she’d chosen.
When John had asked her the date of her birthday, she knew in all honesty that she couldn’t tell him that she didn’t know. That was something she had learned quickly outside the walls of Manticore. It was a basic concept that all humans knew about themselves. When they were born and the fact that to kids, it was a big deal. So she’d lied and took the most convenient day, January first. She reasoned that it was an easy day to remember to tack on another year to her age. She never expected to have someone make something of it as the three men in her life were now trying to do.
She approached the table shyly, overcome by a strange emotion. John, Dean and Sam waited until she was seated to begin bustling about her. Without her lifting a finger, she soon had her meal. John slid a plate of pancakes before her while Dean retrieved something from a cupboard and Sam poured her orange juice and a glass of milk. Still smiling, so hard to keep the moisture in her eyes at bay, she waited for them to sit as well. But before she could reach for the syrup, John stopped her.
“You have something to open first,” he informed her with a smirk. He nodded to Dean, who slid a gaily wrapped package to her. Max’s eyes widened. Presents! She’d forgotten about that. “That’s from Mrs. Gallagher. She hopes you like it.”
Max glanced up at the males. All three were grinning and she realized that they were in on whatever the woman had gotten her. With care, she pulled the bow off the top and read the simple note on a little tag attached to the present. She slid a fingernail under the tape at the side while Dean gave an exaggerated sigh. They’d had this argument at Christmas. Ripping wrapping paper versus careful removal of said paper. To appease him, she stripped off a circle, the paper making a satisfying tearing noise.
“Oh!” she exclaimed in surprise. “It’s chokecherry syrup!” She laughed then, because it was becoming something of a family joke, Max’s love for the syrup and other fruits in general. Cherries were her favorite fruit to eat, but the chokecherry syrup held a special place in her heart. She’d gone through the bottle from Mimi in short order. She dug into it quickly and offered it to the others. Sam and Dean seemed hesitant, wanting it to last, for Max’s sake, but John told them to go ahead. Apparently, an older lady living in the area had great crops of them each year and her syrup was always available for purchase. John could get more.
Breakfast was satisfying with Dean and Sam hinting that Max would get their present later. They made her guess what it was, laughing at how accurate her guesses would have been if they’d each had their own way. Finally with breakfast over, John shooed her upstairs to dress, telling her to put on her new outfit she’d gotten for Christmas. Max obeyed, listening to Sam and Dean argue good naturedly over the dishes.
When she returned to the kitchen, John had another surprise waiting. John handed her a pair of ice skates, explaining that he’d borrowed them from her friend Justine. Max felt her heart sink a little that Justine had not been able to be there, since the girl was visiting her grandmother over the holidays. There was also a gift from her friend, a set of three different bubble baths that were all the rage at school.
The men took Max up to the ice rink and Max was gratified to see Dean and Sam had borrowed some ice skates as well. All three donned the pairs they had and set out intrepidly on the ice. It was Max’s first time ever, but with her natural grace and skills, she caught on quickly. They had fun, dragging each other around the rink, chasing each other, slipping and falling, laughing at each others falls. Eventually, some kids living nearby saw the commotion and came out to join them. Max learned to play crack the whip and exhilarated with the speed and the wind blowing through her hair.
When they finally made it off the ice, John was waiting there with a thermos of hot chocolate. He refused Dean’s offer to try the skates, citing his age and his enjoyment of seeing the kids out having fun. They went back for more, but slowly, as the lunch hour approached and the other kids were called home, they decided to head in as well. At least that’s what Max thought.
They trekked home, Max’s feet tingling, her steps light. She didn’t know if she could ever go back to not celebrating her birthday. She had never known in all those years of Manticore, just what she and her siblings had been missing out on. It brought a sad smile to her face, wondering if any of her siblings had discovered the joy a real family brought.
But she quickly shook it off. Any life was better than the one they had at Manticore. She would be happy that they’d hopefully made it out and were now getting a chance at life.
When they arrived back home, Dean showed Max how to clean off the skates while Sam and John staged a little play in the kitchen. John continued calling out for what the kids wanted to eat. Sam kept shouting out ideas, but John kept saying that they were out of whatever Sam had come up with. Or Dean would protest that he didn’t feel in the mood for something or other. Max found it odd, since they’d stocked upon groceries just recently. She shrugged it off, assuming that perhaps the boys had eaten some of the stuff for snacks. Truthfully they ate weird combinations of food.
Finally John poked his head around the corner and asked Max and Dean if they were in the mood for pizza. Max nodded, not really caring what she ate and Dean enthusiastically agreed. They put the skates away and gathered their coats once more. They headed out and the boys went immediately to the car. Max was surprised, since the restaurant was in walking distance. Dean informed her that his feet were still cold so she shrugged and hopped into the car with Sam. But as John drove them down the main street, she started to wonder when he went right past both eating establishments.
“Don’t worry,” John chuckled. “The pizza’s better where we’re going.”
So they drove on and Max got into the mood, laughing over Dean’s funny faces he’d make whenever he tripped on the ice, with their older brother defending himself. He thought that it would have been Sammy, with his long, gangly legs tripping over himself. Finally, after an hour’s drive, John checked his directions surreptitiously and pulled into the Moonwalker’s parking lot, just off 10th Avenue South, the main drag of Great Falls.
Max glanced out the car window when the Impala pulled into a parking spot. She was a little confused. She read the sign, Moonwalker’s Arcade. “Uh, I don’t think you can get pizza here,” she informed John a little cheekily. He just smiled and climbed out of the car. The kids followed suit and John confidently led them into the building. John bypassed the long line of shrieking ids and harried looking parents and went straight to the hostess, a young woman with bright blue hair.
“Hi,” he smiled. The woman glanced up and smiled politely. “Winchester, party of four,” he told her. She nodded, her finger skimming down an appointment book on her counter.
“All right,” the woman nodded, her smile widening. She glanced them over and then centered on Max. “You must be the birthday girl!”
Max was startled, but she managed to nod. She had no idea what was going on. She’d heard noises of shrieking children and yelling parents coming from inside the building before she’d even gotten up to the main door. A first she’d wondered if the people inside were being tortured. But laughter permeated the air and she’d been able to relax. But now there was a woman she’d never met before who knew it was supposed to be her birthday. One glance at John and the boys and she knew that they’d planned this. She stepped forward, wondering what other surprises would be in store for her today.
“All right, you all get a blue wristband,” the woman, Kyla, her nametag proclaimed. “But you get purple, ‘cause you’re the birthday babe.” She pulled out the requisite bands and placed one around Max’s wrist. “You get these so that if you need to go outside for some reason, you can come back in without having to pay again,” she explained to Max. The girl nodded and smiled, it was a good idea to her. Kyla quickly attached the wristbands to the longsuffering males and handed John a slip of paper. “Just give that to the counter when you’re ready for pizza,” she informed him. She turned back to Max with something in her hand. “And Happy Birthday Max, from Moonwalker’s.”
Max took the proffered item, surprised to discover that some coins were being dropped into her palm. But upon a quick inspection, she realized they weren’t coins but a token of some kind. There was a spaceship on one side with the arcade’s name stamped on the other. “Thank you,” she got out quickly, not wanting to appear rude and embarrass John.
The older man rested one hand on Max’s shoulder and gave her a gentle push to get her inside. As soon as they opened the doors to the main room of what appeared to be a re-worked warehouse, the din from before exploded in their ears. Max’s eyes widened as she took in immediately a playground apparatus that made the school’s look like something for a flea circus. There were kids crawling all over rope walls, kids bouncing in ball pits, other children slithering through a maze of plastic tubes that interconnected with one another all the way up to the ceiling. Slides led down at various points and from various heights.
Even as she took this in, a smell assaulted Max’s nose and she turned her head to the right. There was an eating area and she could smell the promised pizza that she thought they had been going for. Beyond that area, she noticed a closed off room with the word ‘arcade’ blazoned over the arching doorway. She realized at once that the tokens she’d been give must be for use in that room. She glanced up at all three males, waiting in anticipation for her reaction. She couldn’t help the huge grin that settled into her face. “Awesome!” she breathed. She could see the relief on their faces that they had chosen her surprise well.
John was about to ask Max what she wanted to do first, when a child yelled out, pointing at Max. “Hey guys! She’s got a purple wristband!”
Max looked up in alarm at the other males but they were almost as mystified as she. Before they knew what was happening, several children had detached themselves from the play equipment and had converged on Max. They were able to make out most of what the kids were saying and John was able to relax. It was apparent that these kids were regulars at this place and knew about the purple wristband equaling birthday child. He watched Max relax as well as the kids wished her a happy birthday, asked how old she was and invited her to play. She glanced up at John and he nodded his consent for her to go play. With another blinding grin, she took off in the throng and attacked the playground equipment as if she were starving for fun.
“Let’s go find ourselves a table,” John smirked, motioning the older boys to follow him. Sam managed to snag a table in the eating area that had just been vacated. John noted that the service must be good here, because a waitress was right there to clean off the debris left behind. She gave them an apologetic smile and a quip about how popular the place was. John agreed and then asked the boys what they wanted to drink. He got into the short line at the counter and when his turn came, presented the young man at the till with the party orders.
“Okay,” the young man, Tim, as his nametag proclaimed him, “party of four. Do you want us to start on the pizzas now? It takes about twenty minutes.”
John pondered a moment then nodded his head. “My daughter was getting pretty hungry, but I’m not sure she’ll be able to tear herself away from the fun.”
Tim grinned wryly as he typed in the order. “We get a lot of kids who end up eating cold pizza, but they don’t seem to care. It’s good either way.”
“All right then,” John chuckled. He did know from many nights that they ordered pizza that Max wasn’t particularly fussy about it. And on the extremely rare occasions that there was pizza leftover, she would eat it cold for breakfast, just like the boys did. He only had to wait a few minutes for the drink orders to be filled and he picked up the tray from Tim, who told him that a waitress would bring out their order and to let them know when they wanted the cake, since it was already ready to go.
Dean and Sam were sitting obediently at the table, waiting for their father to return. Both of their eyes however were attached to Max. Dean glanced up when he heard his father approach, acknowledged him with a grunt, but went right back to watching the little girl.
“She’s part friggin’ monkey,” he told his father with wry humor. John set their drink orders in front of them, handing them out with practiced ease before taking a seat himself.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she sprouted a tail,” Sam concurred. That got John’s attention. The boys were actually agreeing on something not hunt related. He turned his attention to find where Max had gone to. He couldn’t immediately pick her out from the kids among the lower levels.
“Look up Dad,” Dean hinted. John lifted his eyes until they landed on the wall where the rope netting had been set up. It climbed almost halfway up the warehouse wall and attached to a walkway. Max was there, hanging upside down, her arms swaying from side to side. John sucked in a surprised breath when he realized that she was hanging by one foot caught in the ropes. He moved to jump up and go rescue her, but Dean’s hand stopped him.
“She did it herself Dad,” he informed the older man. “She’s been hanging like that for the last few minutes.”
Even as Dean said it, John could see that Max was not panicking. She simply used the strength in her legs and abdominal muscles to pull herself upright once more. She pulled herself onto the platform and leaned over to call the rest of the kids up. Once they’d accomplished that, they started running and crawling through the elaborate maze of hollow tubes. John tried tracking Max in the throng and was pleased to see her come out the slide he’d predicted she’d be on. She waited for the rest of her playgroup to come out before she dashed over to the table they’d garnered.
“Hey,” she greeted, not panting like the rest of her new friends were doing. John smiled and pushed her soda towards her. She snatched it up and took a huge gulp. She turned to her friends. “What now?”
“Oh, let’s go hit the arcade,” one of them suggested, amid a chorus of pre-teen babble of approval. John hid a grin as he tried not to chuckle at the slang these children were using. He also wondered if he’d ever sounded that ridiculous to his parents when he was younger.
Max nodded. The arcade sounded good and she had the tokens plus her own money to convert to tokens, if needed, in her jean pockets. Even as she reached for that pocket, one of the girls complimented her clothes and Max said with pride that her father had given them to her for Christmas. It was a gift that John was not expecting this day. For appreciation at what a cool father he was to come from an external source. But it was coming off in waves from these children.
“Are you guys coming?” Max asked as she drew one more sip from her drink, looking at Sam and Dean.
“Go ahead boys,” John told them when they paused. He’d chosen this place as much for them as he had for Max. He didn’t think it would have been fair for the boys to have to sit all day on the sidelines.
“Pizza should be ready in about fifteen minutes,” he informed them as they moved off to the back room. The boys nodded and John was left on his own. He didn’t mind for the most part. True, it was harder to shut out the noise the kids around him made, but he was willing to put up with it for a little while. In turn, he simply drank his coffee and checked out the rest of the building.
There wasn’t much more to see. To his left, with his back facing the kitchen area, there was a store set up and John could see that children were trading in tickets for treats. Between the store and the kitchen was a sign leading to the restrooms.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, someone was bringing out two large, steaming pizzas. John was a little surprised at the size presented to them. As he mentally took in the dimensions of the pizza, he again realized what a good deal he’d made by booking the party here. He thanked the waiter and was told once again in polite terms to just let them know when he wanted cake, since it took a few minutes to get the Happy Birthday choral group together. John smiled at that. He wondered if he should go get the kids, leaving the pizza alone and vulnerable, or just dig in and hope the kids showed back up soon. His stomach growled and he mentally shushed it. He was a big supporter of families who ate together. But to his relief, the three kids quickly emerged from the arcade room.
Sam and Dean waited for Max to sit down first and while they seated themselves, John passed around the plates and cutlery that had been brought out. “So, did you win any tickets Max?” he asked, noting the twinkle in the girls’ eyes. She nodded grinning, but John heard Sam gave a disgruntled snort.
“What?” the girl demanded as she reached for a slice of Hawaiian pizza. The boys followed suit and dug into the meal.
Sam shook his head and took a bite of his own slice. John waited to see what the problem was before he began eating. “Just spit it out son,” he commanded.
“And he doesn’t mean the pizza Sammy boy,” Dean warned cheekily. John glanced at his eldest, noting the bright smile, so deep that his seldom seen dimples were threatening to break out. If Dean was smiling like that, then either Sammy had really embarrassed himself or Dean thought Sammy was getting too upset over nothing. It turned out to be the latter.
“You gave away all your tickets,” Sam protested directly to Max. But the little girl just shrugged. Sam rolled his eyes and turned to his father. “She won like a ton of tickets and then she just gave them away.”
“So?” Max demanded. “It’s my birthday. I can do what I want. Right?” The last was directed at John, who as slightly startled at being suddenly thrust in the middle of their argument. He quickly swallowed his bite of pizza and nodded.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” he agreed.
“But Dad,” Sam whined. “She had a TON of tickets.”
“Yeah, of off like two tokens,” Dean whistled. “It was pretty amazing Dad.”
“Really?” John was surprised. He would have thought that she would have blown through those ten tokens in a matter of minutes. “What game were you playing?”
“That bowling thing,” Max answered. John knew immediately which one she was talking about. You paid your token, got a number of balls and then had to roll them up a ramp to try and get the ball into a certain hole, surrounded by a hoop. Most gave you points and that’s where the tickets came in.
“How’d you get so many tickets?” John wondered. Dean answered for the girl, whose mouth was full.
“One hole is a freebie,” he informed his father. “You hit it for fifty points and a free ball. Max had it totally dialed in.” Max happily nodded her agreement. She swallowed and reached for her pop.
“The only reason I gave those tickets away,” she drawled, including everyone wither words, but directing them mostly at Sammy, “was because those little kids were having such a tough time getting any tickets. Besides, I wasn’t the only one helping them out.”
“What do you mean?” John asked as both Sam and Dean looked guilty. Max giggled.
“Dean was helping kids at the basketball hoop and Sam was holding kids up so they could see the video games,” she announced rather casually. John looked at both his sons, wondering why on earth they were embarrassed to have been caught helping people. They did stuff like that all the time. Then he understood. They were manly men, or at least that was the image they wanted to project. And helping out little kids was kind of… teddy bearish.
“Besides,” Max continued, “I can win more tickets for myself. And someone told me that you can save up the tickets. That way if you don’t win a lot, you can use them the next time you come.”
“Well, we’ll have to see about that,” John pondered. He wasn’t sure that he’d be able to get the kids back up here for something like this. But perhaps, some time in the future. The family continued eating and drinking their fill. The moment that Max was done her drink, one of the kids from before, who seemed to be waiting for just that moment, raced over to grab Max and head back to the arcade. John watched with amusement as his own boys started getting ants in their pants and he excused them as well. He’d go get them when it was time for cake.
It didn’t take them long before they were back again and John signaled to one waiter that they were ready for the cake. Max seemed about ready to leave but was completely surprised when a group of four employees came out of the back, bearing a cake aflame with eleven candles. They were singing a familiar tune and Max wondered what was going on. Only when they headed for her table, did she understand. It also made sense of the foolish grins on the Winchester males. Max waited until the cake had been set before her and then burst out laughing at the silly message outlined in candy. Everyone in their vicinity had finished singing and Max took a deep breath.
She knew that she was to make a wish, but it was already one that she made in her heart every day. That her siblings were safe from Lydecker and that they’d made good lives for themselves. It seemed the most appropriate wish and she made it again. A tiny part of her believed that if it was possible for her, then on this day that John had made special for her, the magic in wishing and believing was all that more potent. She closed her eyes and let out her pent up breath, managing to blow out each and every candle.
The party continued as John helped Max cut the cake and serve it around. As they were sitting forward in their chairs to eat, Max caught sight of her teacher. She was startled in a way, since she’d rarely seen her teacher outside of school. But now here she was with her husband and two children, whom Max knew from school by sight. Before she could stop herself, she was waving at Mrs. D’Amato. The woman seemed surprised as well, but she turned to tell her husband something and then made her way over to the table. Her daughter, a second grader, followed along behind.
“Max, hi!” Mrs. D’Amato smiled as she unbuttoned her coat. She turned to the others. “Boys, Mr. Winchester.” They chorused back a greeting. She pulled her long coat off and folded it over her arms. “Happy Birthday Max. It looks like you’re having quite a party.”
“Thank you,” Max smiled back politely. “It was a surprise.”
“A good one?” the teacher asked astutely. Max nodded her head vigorously.
“Would you like some cake?” Max offered, knowing that there was more than enough to go around, even with Sam and Dean eating three helpings. Mrs. D’Amato smiled but shook her head, her hand resting on her daughter’s tresses.
“Thanks, but I don’t want to spoil our appetite for pizza and candy,” she explained. She turned to ask John about their Christmas and Max smiled at the younger girl. Making sure that her mother wasn’t looking, Max offered the girl a bite of cake. The girl hesitated, glanced up at her mother and then leaned forward to quickly snatch up the proffered treat. The girls giggled silently together.
“Mom,” the girl spoke up suddenly. “Can I go to the game room?”
“It’s ‘may I’,” Mrs. D’Amato corrected absently, “and yes you may.”
The girl turned to Max. “Can you come? I don’t want to go alone.”
“Sure Amanda,” Max acceded. She stood and the pair hurried off. John gestured for the teacher to take Max’s seat. She settled down gratefully and smiled at the boys.
“I sure do admire your sons Mr. Winchester,” she chuckled. Sam and Dean looked slightly startled, but John was beginning to get used to the direct nature the woman spoke with.
“How so?”
Beverly glanced again at the boys. “Well, I’ll just put it this way. My brothers would never be caught dead in public with me when I was Max’s age.” Sam blushed and ducked his head but Dean just shrugged.
“If she didn’t have them wrapped around her finger, they might be singing a different tune,” John joked.
“Pot and kettle Dad,” Dean retorted, gesturing to his father and himself. “Pot and kettle.” John laughed. His son was right. He couldn’t deny the spell that the winsome child had weaved over them.
“Can we go back to the arcade Dad?” Sam asked softly. John nodded and the two bys got up to head off to that area. They were nowhere near as fast as Max had been, but John could see that they were eager for some regular ‘normal’ kid time. Time and activities that were few and far between in their world.
“So this was a family party?” Beverly asked as carefully as she could. John seemed lost in thought for a moment, but then nodded.
“Her friend from school was away,” he informed her. “I don’t think Max minds though,” he sighed regretfully. “She doesn’t seem to have made a lot of friends.”
Beverly nodded, also thoughtful. It was something she’d noticed as well. She didn’t know whether to chalk it up to Max’s advanced mind and nature or just plain shyness, or if she was still suffering the aftereffects of the horrible tragedies she’d been through. Or maybe it was a combination of all three. John continued talking softly. “She never really celebrated things in the past. Or was given the opportunity to.” Both adults wee surprised. Beverly by the revelation, and John by the admission.
John,” she leaned forward, her face serious, “in my line of work, I see a lot of kids with MIA parents. No matter what happens now, Max and the boys are better off because you choose to be involved in their lives. Just remember that.” She waited for him to acknowledge what she’d just said, then lightened her tone. “Ah, it looks as if my men are getting antsy. I better join them.” John nodded again and Mrs. D’Amato moved off with a smile to join her family in line for pizza.
John knew that she’d meant to be reassuring, but the words were like an omen to him. He had to be involved in the kid’s lives because he knew what dangers lay out there in the big bad world. And he would be doing them the greatest disservice if he didn’t arm them in any way possible against that knowledge. But he also knew that what they lost was beyond count, beyond measure. Just hearing their laughter ringing out was a cruel reminder of the harshness and fear that ruled their lives.
John had managed to put away the heavy thoughts that lay on him, though they were always in the back of his mind. But it seemed that the mood he was in had spread to the children a few days later when he returned home from work, the day that the kids returned to school from their winter break. No one greeted him as he entered the house, even though both Sam and Dean were sitting at opposite ends of the couch, watching TV.
John hung up his coat on the hooks behind the door and set his lunch box on the overturned milk crate that served as an end table. Still there was silence, but for the inane sit-com that the boys seemed absorbed in. “Hello,” he said sarcastically. The boys grunted at him. He cleared his throat and both turned slowly to gaze at him.
“Where’s Max?” he asked.
“Up in her room,” Sam answered quickly, not liking the menacing gleam in his father’s eyes.
“Did you do your homework?” he asked next. Both boys nodded, their eyes returning to the television set. That angered John just slightly. He strode over and slammed his hand on the button, effectively blinking out the mind-numbing crap they were staring at. “Al right, what the hell is wrong?”
“Nothing,” Dean answered shortly, though his tone betrayed his surprise at his father asking.
“Then what’s with the monotone twins act?” John demanded harshly. Both boys look chagrined and John realized that it wasn’t deliberate. He softened his tone. “Something happen at school that I should know about?”
Dean shrugged, as did Sam. “Everything’s fine Dad,” Dean told his father.
“Except Max,” Sam reminded him. He turned to his father. “She hasn’t said a word all afternoon.” John nodded and turned away from the boys. It was funny, he realized, how one person’s mood affected the whole household. He moved into the kitchen, then up the stairs to Max’s room. He knocked softly on the door, wondering why the light was out. The possibility of her having a seizure jumped into his mind, but was relieved by her response to enter.
He saw immediately the reason why she had the lights out. With the hallway light and the flickering blue light on the ceiling, John could make out Max’s form on the bed. “You okay kiddo?” he asked as he moved into the room. The light on the ceiling turned to green and John pinpointed it to originate from the bed. He flipped on the light switch and saw that Max was holding some kind of statuette. “Where’d you get that?”
“It was a present,” she answered quietly. John could hear the strange, foreign emotion in her voice. Like she couldn’t quite believe that her possession was really hers. “From my class,” she continued.
“That was nice of them,” John was surprised.
“They threw me a party today,” Max went on. “Mrs. D’Amato brought in pop and cookies and chips and stuff. And we played board games. It was fun.”
“So why are you so down?” John asked gently as he eased himself onto the edge of the bed. The light, a four inch high unicorn statuette, continued to change colors.
“I think they want to be my friends,” Max admitted softly after a moment.
“And what’s wrong with that?” John wondered aloud. Max shrugged one shoulder.
“Sam said it’s a waste of time,” she confided. “He said that by the time you made friends with kids, you just had to leave again, so there was no point in making friends.”
John was not at all taken aback by this sentiment, since he sort of believed it himself and Sam and Dean had both voiced that very opinion. But that didn’t make it alright to bring Max down after such a good day. But John couldn’t bring himself to lie to her either.
“Well,” he sighed, “that’s kind of true, what Sam said. We do often have to leave our friends behind.” He watched as Max sat up and chewed at her lip. “But true friends will stay in your heart forever,” he whispered. The words rang in his mind and he almost flinched. This was almost word for word what Mary had said when one of her dear childhood friends had moved away after getting married. Damn! He was going to be maudlin soon if he continued this heart to heart crap up.
“Like family?” Max asked, a quaver in her voice.
“Like family,” John agreed with finality. Max set the unicorn down and threw her arms around her father’s waist. John didn’t worry then about what was manly, what was macho. All he could do was hug his little girl back.
Chapter Thirteen
No comments:
Post a Comment