Sam had almost finished off his beer by the time Ruby came marching out of the house with Emily in her arms. They seemed okay. They looked okay. The iron tight grip that had been strangling the neck of his bottle loosened drastically at the mere sight of the pair. Unfortunately, that was the only visible sign of Sam's tension melting away. His shoulders were stiff, his mouth had been set into a thin line, and his eyes could have been easily been replaced with a sign that said: This is My Kicked Puppy Look. And it was. Sort of. That was, if a kicked puppy were an over-sized Winchester who was in serious need of a decent nights rest and a one-way ticket out of the apocalypse.
Gratefully, Sam scooped Emily up and looked down at her. He twisted his mouth to the side and poked her on the nose and she turned in his arms with a giggle.
His posture changed a touch at that. Their daughter was too cute not to bring out a small smile in him.
"Yeah, I did." It wasn't much. Not by a long shot when compared to the extravagant party that Felicia Hardy and Tony Stark had probably thrown. They'd probably had fancy food and all sorts of impressive fireworks displays and a band and everything. Sam had cheap wine, an old picnic table, and a box of fireworks that he didn't even know how to work.
Oh, right. And a chip on his shoulder in the shape of the Devil.
"I know I haven't been all that great to be around lately," Sam told her, frowning down at Emily. Emily seemed to think it was funny because she giggled again. Someone was in a good mood. "And I thought - I dunno. I thought this would be okay."
People cared. Sam knew that they did. Maybe they cared too much. He wanted the help and he wanted to get better, but he was terrified that someone was going to make Lucifer turn his head their way the second they started. And then there was the vampire thing. He'd have to cut the vervain out of his diet, leave himself vulnerable to the other vampires so soon after they'd all just finished dealing with another vampire threat. He'd have to stay home again, probably.
But it was still something. And Sam wasn't about to start taking Ruby or Damon or whoever apart for trying when he was all but defeated himself.