Dean slammed the door of Bobby’s house, fuming. He threw his bookbag on the floor, pulled the folded piece of paper out of his pocket, looking at it with a mixture of anger and fear.
Bobby came into the living room drying his hands on a small towel. “What cha got there son?”
“A note. Teacher says to give it to my parents. Cn I just give it to you?” Dean bit his bottom lip. He hoped the note didn’t want a meeting, but knew it probably would.
Bobby took the note, opened it.
We would like to schedule a meeting with you at your earliest convenience to discuss Dean’s behavior. We are concerned with some statements he has been making in class and hope you will make the time to address this issue and work towards a solution.
Bobby, looked down at Dean “What the Sam Hill did ya do now?”
“Nothin’, ‘s stupid” Dean stood shifting from one foot to the other “Cn I go play with Sammy now?”
“Yeah, go ahead. The kid’s been miserable all day without ya here anyway” Bobby waved Dean on into the dining room where Sam was sitting in his high chair chewing on a cookie.
As soon as he saw Dean, Sam’s face lit up. “DE!!! He smiled and wiggled happily. Holding his chubby arms out to be picked up by his big brother. “
“Hey baby boy! Miss me?” Dean picked Sammy up hugging him tight. Dean carried the giggling toddler into the living room, sitting him down carefully before joining him to play with the set of blocks.
Bobby sighed. He knew there was no way he could tell John about this. Even if he could get ahold of him, pull him off of the job he was on, talk him into coming back for this, what good would it do? John wouldn’t try to understand why Dean was doing anything, he’d just tell the teacher he’d make sure Dean straightened up, then come back and meter out some overly harsh punishment that would do nothing more than hurt Dean, teaching him nothing.
Bobby picked up the phone, dialing the school’s number. “Hello, this is John Winchester, I have a note here from my son’s teacher, and I ‘d like to schedule a meeting with her. Yes, I’ll hold.”
The next day Bobby took Dean to school. Dean could barely contain his laughter as he watched Bobby introduce himself as John Winchester to the teacher.
Bobby was suitably dressed in a pressed suit and tie, another source of great amusement to Dean who’d never seen Bobby in anything but a flannel shirt and trucker’s cap.
When they got to Dean’s classroom, Bobby told Dean to take Sam and go play with him while he talked to the teacher. Dean took Sam’s hand and the two of them went off to the classroom play area.
“Thank you for coming in today Mr. Winchester.” Mrs. Mercer shot a withering look at Dean “I’m afraid we have a rather serious situation on our hands.”
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that ma’am” Bobby tried to sound sincere “What exactly did the boy do that’s caused such a ruckus?”
“Well let me show you,” Mrs. Mercer produced a hand drawn picture, obviously done by a child, showing two male stick figures, a house, what looked to be a dog and a car. “Your son was asked to draw himself as a grown up. Then explain about his life. What he was going to be, where he’d live, and so on.”
Bobby looked at the picture searching for some clue that Dean had done anything wrong. “I’m afraid I must be missing something here ma’am, I don’t see a problem.”
“Well, Mr. Winchester, when I asked Dean to explain his picture to the class, he said the people were himself and his brother Sam. That when he grew up he and Sam were going to get married, live in a big house, with a dog, and drive around in the Impala all the time.” Mrs. Mercer had a smug look on her face “So I’m sure you can see why I was so alarmed. Something like this is an obvious sign that your son is very disturbed.”
Bobby frowned at the teacher “Maybe you better explain exactly what your problem with this is, because I’m still not seeing it.”
“Mr. Winchester! Surely the idea that your son not only wants to marry another man, but his brother cannot have escaped your notice. That is a clear indication of a very troubled child.”
Bobby sat for a few moments considering what this woman was saying. He’d been around long enough to know an intolerant bitch when he saw one. He also knew, Dean saying he wanted to marry Sam, that didn’t bother him as much as it probably should. He’d been around those two so much. Seen how the love they had for each other was so pure. Like nothing he’d ever seen before. He turned and looked over at the boys, playing together. Dean was amazing with Sam. Always patient, letting Sam have any toy he wanted, even if Dean was playing with it first. Always putting Sam first. As if that was the reason he was put on earth.
“Let me ask you something Mrs. Mercer, how long you been a teacher?” Bobby began
Mrs. Mercer huffed “I’ve been teaching over ten years sir, why?”
“I assume to be a teacher, you had to go to college and whatnot, right?”
“Yes, I have a Master’s Degree in education, where are you going with this?”
“Well, I assume somewhere in there you had a psychology class or two? And in that class, I’m pretty sure they talked about how in early childhood, little girls will say they want to marry their daddy, and little boys will say they want to marry their mom. So how far removed is it that, since Dean doesn’t have a mom, he’d want to marry the person in his life he feels the most connected to? Kids his age don’t know what marriage is. They don’t even know what it means to love someone that way. All they know is you marry someone and spend your life with them. Well Dean doesn’t love anyone more than he loves Sam. So, in his mind, he loves Sam, so he’ll marry him. What’s wrong with that?” Bobby raised his eyebrows and stared at the shocked teacher.
“Mr. Winchester, I – I well I” Mrs. Mercer stammered
“But then again” Bobby interrupted “If you’re commenting on Dean saying he wants to marry another man, saying that’s something he shouldn’t be saying, well I have an attorney friend who would love nothing more than to slap a lawsuit on this school for suppression of my son’s civil rights. If he’s gay and he realizes it at five years old, who are you to tell him it’s wrong?”
Mrs. Mercer was frozen in her seat. She opened her mouth, then snapped it closed.
“Yeah that’s what I thought” Bobby snorted “So I can assume this issue is resolved, correct?”
“Uh uh, yes? I mean, yes of course. I’ll be looking forward to seeing Dean back in class tomorrow.” Mrs. Mercer smiled weakly.
“Dean, get Sam and let’s go.” Bobby stood up watching as Dean took Sam’s hand and walked out to the car with him.
Those two? Together? He could see it.
