Daddy \ ˈda-dēˈ \ adorable
an SPN Reclist for Dad!Sam and/or !Dean
Let 's face it, being a good dad is an incredibly attractive trait in a man. When Sam and/or Dean are saddled with kiddos, whether the kids are their own or adoptive, and they 're caring, protective, patient, etc. it 's just a damn great read. So here are some of my favorites.
Last updated 1/1/2022. Let 's get started! 🤗 ❤️
Category: Gen
But All Endings Are Also Beginnings by Gillian Middleton, rated PG, 26k, Gen.Summary: Alternate universe story Dean and Sam reunite after four years apart. Sam is burying his past, and Dean is holding his future. Baby story
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3188594/
my thoughts: I love Gillian Middleton, and this fic was so sweet and interesting with just inserting a baby girl into the pilot outright. SO good!
How the Wild Things Start by Foolscapper. Rated Mature, Gen, 60k words. Summary: 9x23 diverging AU. "This is where it starts — the brightly lit ring, the screams, the glinting of knives, the baring of teeth. This, right here, is where it begins. Sam turns to Dean, Metatron just a hero's walk away, and Dean slams his fist into the side of Sam's face. It will bruise, but that's not the point. Sam will not face Metatron's blade and wrath, but that is not the point. The point is, Dean puts Sam's hands on his chest, the action sickly sweet like perfume left on a tacky, bloated corpse — and then he walks away. He leaves Sam, dreaming black dreams on the ground, just outside of the impala. Baby does not protect him when one of Abaddon's followers finds him. Baby does not scream for help or look for Dean when the demons drag Sam's unconscious body away.
When Dean leaves Metatron's burnt-out husk, his bones screaming ecstasy from the kill, he finds Sam gone."
ao3.org/works/4754549
my thoughts: this was a whole lotta Sam whump and angst that tore me up. Very Sam-centric, majority of this fic is Sam desperately wishing for Dean and somewhere along the way of forced slavery/cage-fighting with monsters, internalizing a self-hatred that convinces him to stay away from Dean; thinking Dean would hunt Sam down if he discovered what & where he was now... hunt Sam down... and his adoptive monster daughters! Such a satisfying happy ending. I would love a sequel of just comforting family life after all the trauma Sam and his girls suffered. But it was still such a riveting, emotional journey. Amazing work, foolscapper, this author is just so talented.
Category: Sam/Dean
I See the Moon by kaylennz. Teen+, Dean/Sam, 88k words. Summary: Sam had known how Dean felt about him when he 'd left for Stanford. His own feelings weren 't so clear. He 'd needed time away from it all, hunting, his father, and especially Dean. It took him five years and a degree he hadn 't planned on to realize there was only one person he wanted to share his life with. He 'd never considered the possibility that Dean would move on without him…or that something could happen that would erase him from his brother 's life completely.
ao3.org/works/799092
my thoughts: Daddy!Dean and broken-hearted!Sam looking for his big brother, and of course happy endings. This fic had a lot of wonderful moments. Also in my amnesia reclist .
Home Visits by dimeliora. Rated NC-17, Dean/Sam (unrelated), 18k. Summary: Dean Winchester is in the process of adopting a daughter when a government worker throws his delicately balanced world off its axis.
ao3.org/works/686647
my thoughts: man this is just a really sweet story, almost a fairy tale. I loved the OC, a traumatized girl named Hannah that takes such a shining to Dean. The familial drama that unfolds had me reading contentedly through the whole thing. Sam 's character was so supportive and loving (and ace! very cool). An emotional journey and lovely read. Also in my Mundane AU reclist .
A Life Most Ordinary by sonofabiscuit77. Rated R, Sam/Dean, 69k. Summary: Sam and Dean Winchester are two ordinary brothers living ordinary small-town lives. Okay, so having a mother who was brutally murdered by one of America 's most notorious serial killers and a father who was forever mentally scarred by the event is not that ordinary, but the rest of their problems: marriage breakdowns and relationship failures, job disappointments and sexuality crisis, and Dean 's two kids, 9 year-old Jonah with his disturbing passion for the music of Lady Gaga and 6-year old Simon with his severe hearing loss, well they 're all completely ordinary. The only thing extraordinary about Sam and Dean is how they fell in love.Written for 2010 spn_j2_bigbang challenge
ao3.org/series/34151
my thoughts: mundane AU of domestic bliss. I honestly didn 't think I 'd love this but I loved this. Their love is warm and their kids are interesting+cute, just an awesome story. Also in my Mundane AU reclist .
Category: J2
Model of the Solar System by Compo67. WARNING: incomplete (but I still read it and I don 't regret it), 80k words, NC-17, Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki. Summary: In a dystopian world, Jared struggles to survive. Bookers and patrol are out to get people like him on the streets. Shelter and food are difficult to come by, especially in his condition. He meets a stranger who gets more involved than he should–everything changes.
ao3.org/works/1241242
my thoughts: I went into this fic without looking at all the tags and just free-spiriting the read, you know what I mean? Like fantasy stories you 're just like "author, take the wheel" sometimes. And holy macaroni Compo67 drives us into a hell of a bleak, violent, dystopian world that peppers just enough love and hope into the story that it kept me devouring every damn word. Really harrowing depictions of homelessness (with a violent police force that has an open agenda to target the homeless no less) but then the most poignant depictions of unabashedly affectionate father-son love between Jensen and Jared's child in the midst of it. With this fic, you don 't find yourself pining for the slow burn of love so much as the slow burn of hope that Compo67 so artfully weaves into their world, characters, and plot.
When the World Ends; That Is When We Begin by truelyesoteric. Rated R, Jensen/Jared, 11k. Summary: Civilization as they knew it ended. That is all it took for them to admit what they really wanted.
ao3.org/works/612790
my thoughts: Fantastic world-building about the zombie apoc and the poignancy of J2 reuniting after it. J2 aren 't AU original characters like all the rest of these recs - their wives+kids get dead - but they 're not named and it didn 't feel mean or anti-wife/family to me. Author did a great job showing them as so hardened and battered but coming alive again with each other. Excellent fic. PS also Dean's kid is his adopted 'ward' in the camp. Also in my zombie apocalypse reclist