Prologue
Jensen was seven the first time he met Jared and he outright hated him. Not only was the kid a sniveling six year old but, he was also a thief. Jensen couldn’t understand what his father had seen in Jared’s mother. The woman wasn’t pretty by anyone's standards, definitely not as pretty as Jensen’s mother. While Donna Ackles had the most beautiful (in Jensen’s biased opinion) flowing golden locks and the brightest green eyes he’d ever seen, eyes that he'd inherited, Jared’s mother was plain. Her hair was an unkempt curly brown and she had the dullest brown eyes this side of Dallas. Jensen was sure that Sherry Padalecki was a witch and that she’d bewitched his father into marrying her simply because she wanted his money. Jensen was already cynical at age seven because the life that he’d known was changed drastically when his father told him, “Jensen, this is Jared. He’ll be your little brother from now. Be nice to him, alright?”
Yeah, right! The world would stop turning before Jensen could even begin to think of Jared as anything but the thief that he was.
He sneered at the kid from behind his father’s back and quickly went to his bedroom to sulk. Yet, to his dismay, the kid followed him. His father always told him to never lock his door and he was wondering if the man would change his mind about the rule once Jensen told him about how the thief had invaded his privacy. His father probably wouldn’t but, it wouldn’t hurt to try.
“Hi, do you have toys that we can play with?” Asked the thief as he sat on the side of Jensen’s bed like he owned it. He probably thought he did.
Jensen just lifted his car magazine higher and curtly said , “’Course I do, but they’re mine. Who said we could play?”
“It’ll be fun. I don’t have anyone to play with at home … Uh… At my old home, I mean. My mother said this is my home from now on…”
“Yeah, right,” muttered Jensen.
“… But I really liked my old home. We had a huge lawn and a forest at the back... Except I don’t usually have friends to play with,” continued the thief obliviously. “So, can I play with you? Your father said you’ll be my big brother. I never had one so I guess it’ll be cool. I’ll share my toys too.”
“I’m busy,” snapped Jensen.
There was a pause and Jensen was sure that the little thief had left his room when a small sullen voice asked, “What’re you reading?”
Jensen felt a tug of sympathy in his heart but he hardened his resolve and turned his back on the thief. “Go away!”
“Jared, honey?!”
There was the big thief.
“Honey, don’t bother your brother. He’s probably tired. Come, I’m cooking pasta, you love it don’t you?”
“Yay!!” Screamed the little thief loudly and the pitter-patter of his little feet signaled Jensen’s peace for the night.
When his father called him for dinner a half hour later, Jensen refused, saying that he was tired and just wanted to sleep. His father probably didn’t believe him but he let it go, anyway, told him good night and kissed the back of his head before he turned off the lamp and left Jensen’s room with a long sigh. His relationship with his little step brother, aka the thief, didn’t get better the next day, or the next week, or the years after that because Jensen had made sure of that. Jensen was just a kid and he didn’t understand a lot of things that grown ups seemed to deem important but he knew one thing; now that the witch was there in their house, Jensen would never get his mother back no matter how hard he'd beg his father to let his mother return home.
Donna had left the house a year ago without so much as goodbye, leaving behind a confused six year old boy and an angry ex-husband. Despite leaving her family, she always sent Jensen a letter every couple of months, saying how much she missed him. Jensen always asked in his reply when she’d come back but, she always said she couldn’t and she never told him the reason why she left either. So, Jensen thought it was probably another grown up things that she thought he wouldn’t understand. It didn’t matter. He just wanted her to come back and for the three of them to be the happy family they once were. Sadly, it never happened. There was nothing in the world that could make Jensen hate Sherry and Jared, or in his words; the witch and the little thief, any less. They had completely ruined his life.
