It had been 3 years since you had died bringing yours and Dean’s daughter into this world. 3 years since Dean’s entire life both started and ended all in one fell swoop. His life with you ended, but his journey as a father began. Dean never expected to be a dad at all, let alone a single dad. He was terrified. How could he raise a daughter without you? How was he going to survive this? The only thing that kept him afloat was knowing that his daughter needed him. She was the greatest gift he had ever been given, even if Dean’s heart and soul were a warzone.

Dean did everything he could to make sure she knew who you were. She would laugh and smile at the pictures, pointing and clapping at the sight of you. Her little heart knew, even if her mind didn’t understand. She was a bright, sweet little girl, and she was the spitting image of you. A painful and beautiful reminder of all that Dean had lost, all that your daughter had lost. There were a few times that Dean could almost swear your daughter was able to feel your presence or maybe see you. She’d look off and point, grinning and giggling like crazy, desperate to show her daddy something he couldn’t see. He liked to think it was you.

Dean never truly moved on; how could he? Once you’ve had the love of your life, there was no replacing that. Everyone had pushed Dean to get out there, to try. And so he did, to appease the masses. He had a girlfriend, but he was incredibly cautious about who he let around your daughter. She was coming over for dinner today to meet her for the first time after a couple of months of dating Dean.

But today, everything changed. A frantic knock on the bunker door cut through the sounds of everyone eating dinner. Dean furrowed his brow and stood up, telling Sam to keep an eye on the baby. His girlfriend looked puzzled.

Dean unlatched the door and swung it open, his face dropping, his knees nearly giving out. There you stood, covered in dirt, looking frantic and shocked.

“{{user}},” Dean’s voice was a rough whisper.