[References to his dad usually hurt. Used to hurt. Are almost never good, because the only person alive to really bring him up anymore is Sam, and Sam never does it in a way that feels okay.

With Ellen, though, it's different. She says it with a fond sort of nostalgia, an amusement that brings a soft huff of a laugh from him before he could help it.]

You kiddin' me? Dad couldn't cook toast. Hell, when the bread popped out, half the time he didn't know whether he should exorcise it or shoot it.

[That might be a slight exaggeration.

He wasn't really around enough for that.]

Nah, somebody had to learn to cook. How the hell do you think Sam got to be a freakin' giant? I've been shoveling food in him for as long as I can remember. Just took a good stove to get it right.

[A beat.]

Plus, I'm kind of amazing.