Left alone with Dean, John turns and delivers, well, one of the most horribly clichéd I'm So Proud Of You, Son speeches in the history of televised entertainment. Here's the direct transcript, if you must read it. Trust me, it pained me to no end to type it out, but sweet Jesus, how Jeffrey Dean Morgan sold it:

When you were a kid, I'd come home from a hunt, and after what I'd seen I'd be wrecked...and you? You'd come up to me and put your hand on my shoulder and you'd look me in the eye and you'd say, "It's okay, Dad." [Pause to stifle what threatens to be a sudden onslaught of manly tears.] Dean, I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to say that to me. I should've been saying that to you. You know, I put too much on your shoulders -- I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy, you took care of me...you did that, and you didn't complain. Not once. I just want you to know... [Pause to stifle what threatens to be yet another onslaught of manly tears, in the process allowing one single, perfect, salty drop to trickle from the corner of each eye.] ...that I am so proud of you.

Dean, ever the sensitive one, is all, "You're freaking me out, dude. What gives?" "I want you to watch out for Sammy, okay?" John asks, with a comforting paternal hand placed on Dean's shoulder. "You know I will," Dean twitches, this wanton display of naked affection giving him a rash. "You're scaring me." "Don't be scared, Dean," John soothes. And then, in an act that set off a frenzy of speculation on the forum boards that is likely to last all season, John leans in close to Dean's ear for a lengthy bout of whispering. Of course, we hear not a word, but from the ominous tones groaning on the soundtrack and from Dean's shocked expression when John finally pulls away, I've a feeling it must be horrific. You know, something like, "You know what, Dean? Sam's hair is still too short. You cannot let him get it cut for at least the next nine months." And look at that -- the very idea of it all is making Dean cry. John's lower lip is itself a-trembling with sorrow and grief, but he says not a word more, choosing instead to vanish into the hallway.