╭──────────.★..─╮ pins & needles ╰─..★.──────────╯
pairings: sam & dean x millie winchester (oc)
summary: millie wants her ears pierced, sam and dean improvise- the winchester way.
Of course, there were a lot of difficult parts of raising a child. Even more so if they weren't yours to begin with. Being parentified older siblings to be exact. No, Sam and Dean wouldn't trade it for anything else. Dean always found it funny, thinking back to himself finding it difficult to look after Sammy when they were younger. He had no idea what he was in for with a little sister, she always had something out of the ordinary to bring up. Like, one moment of many to come where she'd ask about something girly she wanted that her two brothers had no experience in.
"Can I get my ears pierced?" was the first thing Millie blurted out to Sam as he approached her at the front of the school.
He paused, face twisting in amusement. "Did y'have a good day?" He jokingly tried to change the subject.
Millie's shoulders slumped, being able to sense witty sarcasm coming off Sam's tone.
"Come on, Sam. I'm almost ten. Every girl in my class has earrings." Millie stood up straighter as if she could win her point by becoming more serious.
Sam slug his arm around her shoulder, guiding her to begin walking back to the motel with him.
"Where's Dean?" she noticed when they weren't walking to the impala which wasn't in sight.
"Thought I'd walk you today. Dean had to go grab some things, he'll be waiting for us at the room."
"Do you think he'd let me get my ears pierced?" She looked up at her big brother as they walked and talked.
Sam pursed his lips. "You sure that's something you wanna do? First your ears, next thing you'll be getting your nose pierced." Sam joked in a serious parental voice.
"No I won't! I'll never do that... Just my ears, I promise. Wouldn't they look so pretty?" Millie lashed back, like his thoughts were the craziest thing she'd ever heard.
Sam chuckled over her serious defense. "I don't know, kid. Let's see what Dean says."
Millie's brows frowned, she didn't respond and continued to walk. Usually, 'I don't know' wasn't a good start.
Back at the motel, Millie pushed through Sam to the door, eager to ask Dean her burning request. "Hey De! How was your day?" Millie swung her backpack off her shoulder, onto the chair.
Dean glanced back from the kitchenette suspiciously. "What'd you do?"
"What? Nothing. Nothing. At. All." Millie raised her eyebrows, ready to put on the sweetest face she could muster up.
"Then, what do you want...?" Dean glanced between her and Sam, sharing a short look with him. Sam shrugged, gesturing to Millie, ready for her to fire on all cylinders.
She paused then went again. "Can I pleeeaasse, get my ears pierced?" She blinked real cute like.
Well, he was preparing to hear worse. "Hm, where's this coming from all a sudden?"
She went on to explain how every girl in the fourth grade had earrings and how they looked so pretty on each and every one. She noted how some girls got to change theirs into dangly ones and all had different colors.
"That's a big responsibility y'know. You gotta clean them so they don't get infected n' stuff." Dean warned.
"I can be sooo responsible. I would take care of it all, you guys wouldn't have to help me do a thing." She stated confidently.
Dean sighed. "I believe you sweetheart. Just not sure dad would give me the green light."
"He doesn't have to know." Millie blurted out without thinking. She was getting to an age where her father's regular absence and lack of interest in their lives was becoming prominent. She didn't mean it in a mean way, just wanted to trust that Dean could allow such a decision.
Dean was quiet, he thought for a moment. "I don't know how much I trust bringing you someplace..." He murmured.
"For that, hell, you could do it." Sam joked.
Dean shot Sam an unusual look. "Y'know, that's not a half bad idea."
Millie looked back and forth between them. "What?! No way..."
"You want your ears pierced, kid? You got it." Dean clicked his tongue, half joking, half serious.
"Um, are you being serious?" Millie asked cautiously.
"I mean, hey. If you're up for it, sure. But you gotta be sure you trust me now, eh?" Dean clarified.
Millie sat in thought for a moment. Pierced ears? Done right here, right now? It is what she wanted after all, even though she thought that was a little crazy of Dean to suggest.
She huffed in agreement. "Okay. But please don't mess it up!" She whined.
Later that evening, Dean managed to gather up some supplies after looking up things to use when 'piercing at home'. He shook his head to himself, not believing what he was about to do. However, he loved seeing his little girl happy.
"Alright, hop up." Dean patted the table where he was preparing everything. Sam hoisted her up.
Millie sat criss crossed, rocking back and forth with excitement and nervousness.
"Wait!" She sprung up, startling both of them. "I don't have any earrings to put in." Her voice grew sad.
A smirk found its way onto Dean's lips. "Already got that covered, kiddo."
"You have earrings?! How? Can I see them?" Millie peered over her shoulder to the clutter of items scattered.
"Not- until I'm done. Let it be a surprise." Dean said, his patience and nerves wearing thin.
Dean reached over, wiping her ears sloppily with a cotton ball. He then dotted her ears with a sharpie and stood back, scrunching his face to ensure evenness which made Millie giggle.
"Here. Hold these to your ears for a few minutes." Dean handed her two ice cubes, then turned to sterilize a sewing needle.
"I can't believe you're actually doing this." Sam breathed with some nervousness to his tone, shaking his head at his brother. He shrugged his shoulders in return, making a gesture at Millie behind her back.
"You sure you know what you're doing?" He asked again, trying not to glance nervously at Millie.
"It's pretty straightforward, Sammy." Dean said, as if he had done this before.
"You ready, kid?" Dean stepped into view.
"Mhm." She hummed in hesitation. Her nerves shot up through the roof when she eyed the needle pinched in Dean's fingers.
"Wait!" She moved again. "Is it gonna hurt?" she asked, realizing she hadn't thought about that.
"I dunno, we've never pierced our ears before..." Sam trailed off.
"Sam..." Dean shot him a glare. "Not helping."
Millie's expression glazed over with worry. "It shouldn't be that bad, just two seconds, okay? It's a pretty soft part of your ear..." Dean explained, cursing himself internally if he were to fuck any of this up.
She took a moment, trying to ease her mind. Sam reached out and grasped her hand, squeezing it tight. "I'm right here, bug." He smiled.
She quickly gasped as Dean pierced through the first ear, not even seeing it coming with Sam's moment of distraction. "Oh." she breathed out in relief. The three of them laughed, Dean's being partly nervous laughter.
"One more time. You did awesome." He praised.
Dean lined it up once more and pierced through the second one. Mille let out the breath she was holding. "Is it done? Can I see?" She asked, trying not to bounce up at down. "Gimme a sec." Dean cleaned up his work. He backed up and grinned, "Go see." He nodded with a smile.
She jumped off the table, running to the motel bathroom. Her mouth dropped, eyes wide as she admired her new earrings. Tucking her hair behind her ears to reveal the two blue opal colored studs Dean found at the drugstore, she looked back at Dean beaming ear to ear.
Dean smiled back, feeling pretty proud of himself. Not being sure of the plan at first but seemingly satisfied with the outcome. It was a light in the mundane events of their everyday to see either of his siblings happy.
"Thank you, thank you Dean!" Millie came crashing into him. He returned the embrace, patting her back. "Course, sweetheart. You look beautiful." She smiled up at him.
"Just don't say anything to dad, got it? You hide that with your hair when he comes home."
"Deal." she shot him a thumbs up.
"Now let's do Sammy's ears." Dean laughed, so did Millie. "Yeah!" she turned to him.
Sam's brows furrowed, arms crossed. "No."
