Note: The result of another prompt from Vesper.

Season: AU, hypothetically after all is said and done.

- - -

"Too Scary"

"Daaaad!" Whine. Too much whine.

"Baby, stop, you're starting to make my ears ring, and I'm trying to get this tracking chart done." Dean stuck a finger in his ear and cleaned out the wax for emphasis.

His twelve-year-old tomboy daughter pouted and kicked a chair leg. She stalked off.

'Great. Now she's mad at me. Well, tough...'

A half-hour later, shoulders aching and eyes burning from staring so long, he started to think maybe he was being a little harsh and stingy. He remembered Sam, when they'd been kids, all big-headed and wide-eyed. "Tell me a ghost story, Dean... please."

He wouldn't have thought it was so fun if he realized ghosts were real. Sometimes Dean told him to shut up and go look for Ghostbusters on TV.

Sam hadn't had much of a chance to be a kid. Neither had Dean, but did that mean that he had to go repeating mistakes over and over? Hadn't the curse gone on long enough? He wasn't about to spoil her, but didn't his daughter deserve a little piece of childhood?

He shut his journal and got up to go see if she was even still awake.

He tapped on her door, and she yelled, "Go away!" from the other side. "I'm asleep!"

Dean grinned and warned, "I'm comin' in! You better be fully clothed!"

A feminine screech that tapered off into a frustrated growl. He schooled his face and walked in. Anna was sitting up in bed, glaring directly at him. He asked, "Still want a ghost story?"

She tried not to smile, but it snuck out on her anyway. "Only if it's good."

"What, am I Santa Clause? Do I look like I'm gonna tell you about the Christmas Elves?"

She giggled, and he sat at her feet. "Once upon a time, there were two sisters. Samantha and Deanna."

"Daaaaad!"

He chuckled. "Trust me, this one's gonna be good."

-end-