Lawrence, Kansas
2005
4 days after Jessica Moore died
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Dean bounced his daughter gently on his knee as he and Sam waited for the doctor to come into the examination room. The nurse had swabbed her throat and taken her temperature, which had rose to a temp of 101.4 since the last time Dean had taken it, and now they were running some tests to see just what was invading the little girl's immune system.
"How you doing, baby girl?" Dean asked, brushing Natalie's hair away from her clammy forehead.
Natalie sniffled, rubbing under her nose and ducking her forehead into the crook of her father's neck. She shrugged pathetically, looking down at her pink sneakers. "I feel icky."
Dean tilted his head sympathetically and kissed his daughter's forehead, cradling her head gently against him as he rocked her gently side to side. "I know, baby. I'm sorry."
Sam couldn't help the way his heart swelled as he watched his brother and his niece. Dean was a little rough around the edges, let's be real, but this little girl seemed to soften the ridges of his personality. He assumed that was what parenting was like. When one little human who still had so much to learn about the world could take someone's personality, no matter how rough, and smooth it out. Make it better. Apparently that wasn't the case with their father, though.
"Natalie Winchester?" A voice asked from the door, and a woman in a white doctor's coat carrying a clip board entered the room.
Natalie lifted a small hand from her lap so she could wave at the woman, not lifting her head from her father's shoulder. "Hello."
The doctor smiled gently at the little girl. "Hi there. My name's Dr. Steiger. How're you feeling, Natalie?"
The little blonde girl shrugged. "Icky."
Dr. Steiger tipped her head and smiled sympathetically. "Yes, well, strep throat can make you feel that way." she said, meeting Dean's gaze.
Dean's eyebrows shot up. "Strep throat?"
Dr. Steiger nodded. "Unfortunately. She has all the symptoms and the tests came back positive."
Natalie whimpered and Dean hushed her softly, kissing her forehead as Sam spoke up.
"She was complaining about her stomach earlier too. Does that connect to it, or...?"
"Well, normally, no. But it could very well be part of it, or maybe just something she ate earlier in the week. We didn't find anything in the digestive area, so it's obviously nothing major. I wouldn't worry about it." Dr. Steiger shrugged.
"So, what do we need to do?" Dean asked as Natalie played gently with his fingers, which almost fit completely into her little fists.
"I'm going to prescribe some meds for her to take the rest of the week. If she's not better by the end of next week, bring her back in. If you'll come with me to the front I can go ahead and give it to you so you don't have to wait and pick it up?" Dr. Steiger offered, raising her eyebrows.
"That'd be great, thank you." Dean said, kissing the top of Natalie's head before looking over at his brother. "Mind taking her for a minute?"
"'Course not." Sam answered, gently taking his niece into his arms and letting her rest in his lap as she tucked her head into his shoulder.
"It's so nice to see both parents so involved in their child's life. You know, my brother and his husband have been trying to adopt for a while. What agency did you use?" Dr. Steiger asked, causing a mad blush to break out on the cheeks of both brothers.
Dean chuckled sheepishly. "O-Oh, no, no, we're not - I mean -"
Natalie giggled, interrupting her father. "No, no, that's my daddy!" she said, pointing at Dean. "This is my Uncle Sammy. He's my moose." she said, reaching up to gently pat her uncle's head affectionately.
Dr. Steiger, despite her obvious embarrassment for mistaking the brothers as a couple, smiled at the little girl and tipped her head. "Your moose, huh?"
"Mhm! Cause he's big, and tall, and he's really strong. He's comfy too." Natalie said, throwing her arms around Sam's neck and burying her head into the crook of it.
Sam had to bite his lip to keep his eyes from pricking with tears, his arms wrapping around his niece as he held her tight. Just knowing that this little girl loved him so much was enough to get him through the day.
Dr. Steiger laughed gently and nodded. "Well, I can see the resemblance." she said softly, sending Sam a smile before standing up straight and looking over at Dean. "Ready to go get those meds?"
Dean tore his eyes away from his brother and his daughter, nodding at the doctor. "Yeah, sounds good." he said, placing a kiss on his daughter's forehead and shooting a wink at his little brother before following the doctor out of the room.
Sam gently cradled his niece close to him, rocking her gently and brushing a hand through her hair. "You're so sweet," he murmured, kissing her head tenderly. "Did you know that?"
Natalie giggled softly, the sound raspy and hoarse due to her sore throat, but still vibrant and bright as usual. "Maaaaybe," she sang, gently clutching the collar of her uncle's shirt and leaning her head on his shoulder. She coughed softly into his shirt, and Sam couldn't help but wince at how rough it sounded.
"You're going to be all better soon. I promise." he murmured, rubbing her back gently.
Natalie nodded against his neck, sniffling once more and rubbing at her eyes. "M'sleepy." she hummed, yawning quietly.
"You can go to sleep, sweetheart. I'll be right here the whole time." Sam whispered, rocking the little girl gently back and forth.
Natalie nodded, snuggling her head into the crook of his neck. "Okay. Uncle Sammy?"
"Yeah, sweet pea?"
"I love you."
Sam smiled brightly and squeezed the little girl gently, planting a kiss to her forehead. "I love you too, baby." he whispered as he got to his feet and propped the little girl against his waist, pacing the room slowly as he rubbed her back gently.
Natalie drifted off, her head buried in her Uncle's neck as she let his familiar scent lull her into a slumber.
Not long after Dean was coming back onto the room, a small paper bag with a bottle of liquid medicine in it gripped tightly in his hands. "She asleep?" he asked softly, raising his eyebrows.
"Yep." Sam murmured back, swaying his niece gently. "Got the medicine?"
"Yeah. She needs to take it once in the morning and once before she goes to bed."
"Sounds good." Sam responded. "Hey, what time is it?"
"Almost five o'clock." Dean answered after glancing down at his watch. "Bobby bought soup the other day, right?"
"Dunno. Probably. We can pick some up for Nat on the way home just to be safe if you want?" Sam offered, raising his eyebrows.
"Good idea. I could use a burger." Dean said with a soft sigh, rubbing his forehead the way he did when he was stressed.
"Hey," Sam said softly, still cradling Natalie close. "It's just strep, man. She's okay."
Dean sighed, nodding. "I know. Still. I worry."
"I know." Sam said with a sympathetic nod of his head. "Everything'll be fine."
"Yeah, yeah." Dean murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. "Let's just go home, okay?"
Sam chuckled softly, nodding. "Okay, Dean."
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