Disclaimer: I do not own SPN, but Jared and Jensen own a piece of my heart. :)

Author's Note: I haven't written in ages. I've missed it, but I just haven't felt inspired. This popped into my head as i was mowing the grass this week. I know I didn't do the idea justice. I'm so out of practice.

Snapshots of My Brother

Sam's son reminded him so much of his brother at times that it made his breath catch in his throat. As a toddler, it was in the way the small boy turned his head and in his expression when his face lit up with excitement. Sam had seen the same look on his older brother's face time and again. His heart clenched every single time, and he ached with the emptiness of missing his brother. Sam would tug his son into his arms and squeeze him tightly until he felt like he could breathe again. Then he'd press a kiss into the boy's soft hair and let him toddle on his way. He wished his brother could be here to see his namesake and watch him grow up.

As little Dean grew older, Sam could see even more of his brother in his son. The quick sense of humor made Sam's dimples show when he smiled and the snark and sarcasm that left the boy's mother shaking her head only made Sam chuckle and glance up to heaven, sure his big brother was egging his little nephew on. It was a comforting thought. Sam liked to think the Dean knew of the child that bore his name.

Dean's passion for helping others was evident in his young nephew's life. The boy was always out for justice for others and felt as if it was his responsibility to help those who were unable to help themselves. Sam found himself in more than one awkward situation when his son spoke up without thinking things through. It was so much like Sam's big brother that he had to bite back a smile or a smirk.

As his son grew older, it was all Sam could do to keep the boy from driving off in the Impala before he had a driver's license. Young Dean was obsessed with Baby. He loved to help his dad keep her clean and make her shine. Sam taught him how to take care of her by changing the oil and tuning up the engine, memories of Dean teaching him the same things replaying in the back of his mind. Sam's son sat in the passenger seat and sang along with the cassette tapes Sam played for him as they drove down country roads on lazy afternoons.

Then, they'd find a secluded spot to pull over. They would sit on the hood, lean against Baby's windshield, and Dean would ask all sorts of questions about his uncle as they shared sodas that had been packed in the old green cooler. Sam's son was desperate to know everything he could about the man he was named after, the man his father missed so much. He tried to dress like his uncle and he kept a picture of his Uncle Dean on his bedside table. The boy's quest for knowledge about the man he was named after was insatiable, and that filled Sam's heart with happiness.

Sam loved it every time he saw a bit of his brother shine through in his son. It was a soothing balm to his aching soul. He knew he would never be "whole" again until he was reunited with his brother in heaven, but the little glimpses of Dean he got too see here on Earth made the days without his brother a little bit easier to bear.