So let’s see, the person who nurtured Jack, who believed in him, who helped him understand what he was and to use his powers, the person who clothed, nurtured and fed him (because Dean at the time wasn’t interested in anything other than killing him), the person that panicked when Jack disappeared and did everything in his power to get him (and his mom) back, the one who Jack came to when Sam prayed for help, the one that tried to save Jack from his biological father and almost was killed in the process, the one everyone deferred to regarding whether they could take Jack hunting or not, the only guy to know Jack’s date of birth in the hospital. That’s the guy you’re saying hasn’t “earned” the title of dad?
Castiel, I’m going to give some credit to, he championed Jack when he was in the womb and defied Sam and Dean to do so, but what has he actually done for Jack in terms of active parenting since then? You know I love Dean, but no, a one day fun trip out and a hunt does not an active parent make, though he’s making up for it, and that was the point of the last two episodes. TO BRING HIM TO THE SAME POINT SAM ALREADY IS.
I know I’ve been somewhat triggered by this, but if that post doesn’t sum up parenthood, I don’t know what does. The active parent does everything and gets zero credit for it.
Guess what Genius? That’s the whole point. Having a child means being scared twenty-four seven, and doing it anyway. It’s the whole damn job description. ~Florence Zimmerman in The House with A Clock In Its Walls adapted by Eric Kripke.
Sastiel single parent AU, with Sam and his shy son Jack and Cas and Rebel!Claire.
They meet at a support group for single parents, both just having moved to the city with their kids (Claire and Jack are still smol, like, under the age of ten). They discover that they live not too far apart and since they get along pretty well they decide to set up a play date for their kids. Claire and Jack, despite having very different personalities, get on like a house on fire and are inseperable as they grow up. Now Sam and Cas don’t have a choice but to see each other again. And again. And again. And hoo boy, they’re starting to like each other. Cue the mutual pining.
Or!
Claire and Jack are in their teens and they’re both hella gay (or in Claire’s case, hella pan). Best friends since childhood, so they tell each other everything and basically consider themselves to be brother and sister. Only problem is that neither of them has the courage to come out to their dad, neither of them sure what kind of reaction they would get. And since they live in a small town, maybe it’s better to be save than sorry. Meanwhile, Sam and Cas have gotten closer over the years and at some point realized that there’s more than friendship between them. They’re really not sure how to tell their kids though. There’s a lot of sneaking around, miscommunication… but it’s all resolved in the end.
I can’t get the image of Sam Winchester in fuzzy pink bunny slippers wandering around the bunker at 5 am out of my head
Jack had wanted to cheer Sam up. That’s how it had started anyway. He knew Sam was sad and frustrated about all the dead-ends they kept running into in the search for finding a way to save Dean. And Jack understood that, he really did. He still felt bad about his part in all of that, even though everyone, Sam, Castiel, and Mary had all told him he wasn’t to blame. Every day he watched as Sam’s shoulders seemed to slope more, and the areas under his eyes began to look perpetually bruised, and that… that spark that he’d always seen in the man seemed to fade. He couldn’t fix the problem with Dean, as much as he wanted to, but he thought, maybe he could do something nice for Sam. Something that would help cheer him up.
With that in mind, the next time he and Castiel left the bunker to go on a “supply run” he asked if they could linger a bit at the Wal-Mart there in town. He looked all over, wanting to get Sam something that would both make him smile and be somehow practical, (he knew how practical Sam tried to be,) and eventually he found himself in the shoe department.
“What are these?” He asked the angel as he felt the soft texture of the the shoes that didn’t look like anything he’d seen any of the residents of the Bunker wearing before.
Cas tilted his head for a moment before responding, “They’re called slippers. They’re meant to be worn in-doors, to keep one’s feet warm when walking around. They’re supposed to be more comfortable than normal shoes. From what I understand.”
Jack furrowed his brows as he considered that. The floors of the bunker were mostly concrete, aside from the library’s which were wooden. They did tend to be cold, and more than once he’d wandered into the kitchen to find Sam sitting at the table with either an open book or his laptop, researching away, still in his sleep-pants and t-shirt, his bare feet seeming to curl up a little unconsciously from the cold as he was too driven to bother putting something on them. A relieved smile spread across Jack’s face as he realized he’d found what he wanted to get for Sam. “Perfect! What size should I get for Sam?”
Later, as Cas drove them back home, he glanced sideways at Jack more than once. “You’re sure that’s what you want to get him?”
Jack continued to grin. “Yes! They were the softest ones there, and had the most insulation. I’m just glad they had some in his size.”
“I’m shocked.” Cas replied, still a bit uneasy with Jack’s selection. He’d tried directing his attention to some sedate ones with a plaid design, but Jack had almost seemed entranced by the fluffy, pink ones with the rabbit heads on the toes.
“They’ll be the most effective, and therefore the most practical. And Sam likes practical things.”
Cas wasn’t too sure if that logic actually worked-out right, but there wasn’t much to be done about it now. Then again, he also quietly acknowledged that he was far from being an expert on human fashion. Maybe Sam would like them after all.
Sam was sitting in the library when he heard the door to the garage open and then close and sighed. Cas and Jack must be back from the food run. He felt a little bad about not joining them, but this research really couldn’t wait. He felt like he might be getting close to something with this summoning ritual. Besides, he thought with a slight twinge in his heart, Jack had assured him that he and Cas could take care of it all. It made sense… Cas WAS supposed to have served as Jack’s father-figure, just, things had kept getting in the way. He couldn’t begrudge them a chance to bond now that they had the chance. And it wasn’t as though he himself had been great company lately.
Shaking his head a little, he rubbed his temples with his hand, trying to relieve the almost ever-present tension headache that had been lurking there pretty much ever since… yeah.
“Sam?” Jack’s tentative voice from the doorway startled him a little, but he cast a smile, or the attempt at one anyway, back at the boy.
“Yeah. Get everything okay?” He wasn’t even sure what all they’d been low on, as he generally only remembered to eat when someone shoved a plate of food in front of him.
“Yes, we did.” Jack’s smile beamed out from his face like a ray of sunshine, and something much more genuine that before tugged at the corner of Sam’s mouth. Before he could respond, Jack walked towards him holding out an oblong box. “I got something for you. I noticed that you walk around barefoot a lot, and these floors can be cold, and I don’t want you to get too cold, and Castiel said that humans… that people,” he amended, “wear these to keep their feet warm indoors, and that they’re very comfortable.”
Brows furrowed with curiosity, Sam accepted the shoebox and opened it, his eyes growing wide at the sight of the largest, fluffiest, pinkest pair of slippers he thought he’d ever seen in his life. Jack continued talking as Sam’s brain, still whirring with sigils in long-dead languages tried to wrap itself around what he was looking at. “They were the warmest ones I saw there, and I know you sometimes get to researching and lose track of time, and I thought these would help keep you warm.” He tilted his head a little, watching Sam intently. “Do… do you like them?”
The doubt in Jack’s voice pulled at something inside Sam. He realized that Jack hadn’t been trying to ditch him, he’d wanted to go with Cas so he could surprise him with these. Jack still cared about him. Not only that, but he wanted to make things better for him. He found he didn’t have to force the smile that came to his lips, though he did have to clear his throat past the sudden roughness he felt there. “Yeah… Yes Jack.” He met the boy’s eyes, feeling himself needing to blink a few times to keep them clear. “I love them. Thank you.”
The next morning when Mary sat with Jack at the kitchen table, nursing her morning cup of coffee, she wasn’t surprised to see Sam stumbling in himself, going straight for the cupboard to get his own cup. What DID surprise her, and caused her to jaw to actually drop, was the fluffy, pink, honest to God bunny slippers on his feet. She glanced over at Jack who just beamed as he sipped his hot coco (still his favorite morning drink,) and nudged Mary with his elbow. “They’re practical, you see? Lots of insulation.”
She still wasn’t quite sure what to say, and when she caught Sam’s eye he just quirked an eyebrow, as if daring her to say anything. It was then that it hit her that of all of them, Sam was really the closest one to being a father to Jack. Because only a parent would wear fluffy, pink, bunny slippers proudly like that, just because their kid had gotten them for them.
cries, because this is perfect, and I bet those slippers look like this:
Sam says “I’m sorry” to Jack when they meet in the jail cell, and that’s he first time jack hears someone apologize. A few minutes later, jack asks Sam to tell the others “I’m sorry”.
Sam was already teaching Jack how to be human and he didn’t even know it.
Karate, SPN Demonic Octopus Guardian 