Oh man. I was pulling a Sam. I was getting all tear-eyed. I love Dean. He deserves best brother in the universe award. No one loves their little brother more than he does. He was such a good mom/dad/brother to Sam. This was extremely good and I am SO glad I read it. *Sniffle* I'm okay.

Chica

so i got your message and decided to check out your other stories, and...absolutely amazing story here! i love this! it's full of very dean and very sam, very brotherly moments. each piece of memorabalia from their past highlighted their characters/relationships in some way. and the fact that dean was the one who read the parenting book... very touching! i love this.

I loved this! You captured the characters really well and just picturing a young Dean reading a parenting book to make sure little Sam reaches his true potential (which he did!) - so sweet! Very well done! :o)

Kelcor

That is absolutely beautiful. Made me cry (and I'm at work...not a good place to be in tears!). I can totally see that conversation taking place exactly the way you have captured it here.

Nice sweet story without being overly fluffy. I liked it.

Oh my god... seriously, i think i might cry. that was so sweet!

Another absolutely brilliant story! I LOVE the last line, so perfect and oddly poetic in a Winchester way! :D and dean’s attention span – 5 year old on a sugar high? Fabulous!

Aww, this is so cute. Totally awesome! Loved it. You potrayed Dean and Sam perfectly and it's always nice to read about such nice childhood memories:)

Man... I just... seriously that was just so damn cute.

Aww, Dean’s so sweet. Hugs for big brother. :D

Really awesome job!

Oh my God, this is a great perfect Supernatural moment. The reminiscing, the tears, the laughter, and of course Dean being Dean in the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this immensely.

I always love reading stories about the memories Sam and Dean have about their childhood, or even just the ones Dean has from before the fire. It's a good contrast I think, and it makes me wonder about how things would have been if events had gone slightly differently.

The idea of Dean playing baseball seems totally plausible. It seems to be an idea that several people have about Dean, but I've never been sure why, exactly. From what I can tell, it seems to stem from the slide thing he did in Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things. Sad that he never got to actually play, though. I think Sam would have wanted to see his games, too.

Sam's valedictorian speech was a great idea. I like that Dean gave his dad a copy, and that he helped Sam with writing it. That seems exactly like something he'd do, since he was kind of the one keeping their family together in a lot of ways.

Oh my gosh, I laughed so hard when Sam mentioned that Dean taught him to read from comic books! That's classic! And yeah, John's journal probably wouldn't have been the best idea for that. Talk about traumatic.

Dean's constant insistence that Sam could have a different life has always kind of saddened and amused me. Even if he didn't have his powers, he's a Winchester, and that's synonymous with doomed destiny. But he does have his powers, and that ties him up with supernatural stuff forever. It's nice that Dean still held out hope for Sam, though. Not so nice that he gave up on himself. But whereas Sam gave up on his own life and not on Dean's, Dean gave up on his own life and not on Sam's. Geez, they're messed up. But sweet, too.

I cracked up when Dean dove and jumped on that book! If his cover wasn't blown before that, it is now! And Dean playing all those games with Sam to make sure he was happy and learning - absolutely great. Even when John didn't pay attention to it, it was important to Dean that Sam be raised right.

Sam acknowledging who raised him was so cute and sad. I know John tried, and I love his character, but father of the year he was not. As tumultuous as their childhood was, I think they'd both be a lot worse off without each other. Sam and his dad would have practically killed each other, and Dean would have had absolutely nothing but hunting and trying to gain his father' approval. With Sam, he always had approval in some form or another.

Great story, and very well written. I love how you characterize the guys. And, of course, any mention of pie is a plus. :)

“Burger? Dude, haven’t you heard? I’m Brother of the Year. I’m getting a steak!” A beat. “And pie. Lotsa pie!”

haha best line in the story!

this was such a cool idea to write about! loved it

Aww that was lovely! Even before we got to the part where Sam found the parenting book I was thinking that Dean had already been a great father, and Sam really had learned from the best. I'd love to see Kripke give them a happy ending so they can both get to be dads for real at some point! (Hmm, I think I'd dreaming...)

I really liked the part where Sam suddenly wonders who had been around to help Dean achieve his potential the way Dean had helped him. I always wondered about that part in ITB where young John talks about being 'a mechanic from a family of mechanics', and whether that would have been the path Dean's life would have taken had things been different. He's obviously got a lot more going on in his head than even he gives himself credit for, so it was nice that Sam recognised that and acknowledge how smart his brother is here.

Wow. I'm crying, lol, does that make me weird? This was prefect. I've always wanted to read a fanfic where Sam finally realizes how much Dean did for him as a child. :]

Dean does deserve the steak and pie and so much more for what he did for Sam. Dean reading that book to help his little brother is definitely something that could have happened during their childhood. A revelation like that certainly deserved the "major chick flick moment" it caused. This is a beautiful story and congratulations on your nomination.