Chapter Text
The armies stood ready, flags flying in the wind. The only sounds were the faint babbling of the judges, sitting close together at a table.
One side was short two members, but they weren’t afraid. They had the battle plan of the missing Sage, and the Lady, while well-beloved, hadn’t been able to fight for months.
Besides, the judges were the children of their Handmaiden.
The Handmaiden stood proud at the head of his troops, waiting for his Queen to give the word. His husband stood beside him, looking every so often towards the judges. There was always trouble when those two were bored.
Finally, the Queen’s consort raised her hand. The Handmaiden stepped forward, ready to give one of the three speeches he knew (he’d already used the Braveheart speech that month)…
Then his phone rang.
“Oh come on, man!” someone yelled from the other side.
“Shut up!” Queen Charlie said sharply. “We talked about this before, remember?”
The heckler fell silent. They’d all heard about the possibility of a character break today.
“Yeah, Sammy?” the Handmaiden was saying. He paled. “Yeah, we’ll be there in a minute.” He hung up. “Sorry, everyone. We’ve got to go. I’m about to be an uncle.”
Both sides erupted into cheers.
“Send Lady Sarah our love!”
“We all want pictures!”
Dean nodded distractedly as he dashed to the judge’s table and picked up his son.
“Daddy, what’s going on?”
Dean glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Cas had their daughter before heading to the Impala. “Aunty Sarah’s having her babies,” he explained. “We’re going to see them.”
The little boy clapped his hands with delight.
Sam held Sarah tight as another contraction ripped through her body. “You’re doing so well, honey,” he whispered soothingly.
Sarah panted and tried to smile. “You have no idea how I’m doing, but I appreciate the trying.” She winced. “Adam, how much longer?”
“Don’t look at me, I’m only pre-med!” Poor Adam had been home when Sarah went into labour, and once it was clear she wasn’t going to make it to the hospital, he’d been roped into helping. Sam had never appreciated his brother more.
Kevin was also home. He’d locked himself in his room to pray for Gabriel to “please come quickly!” (poor kid couldn’t stand seeing people in pain). As Gabriel’s prophet, he had the best chance of getting through to the archangel in time. As Sarah screeched in his arms as another contraction hit, Sam worried for the first time that he wouldn’t make it in time.
Women still die in childbirth.
But no. It couldn’t be. Not after the last seven years, after their wedding and the art gallery just above the bookstore…
Please Gabriel. Please hurry.
Gabriel appeared out of nowhere, looking a bit frazzled. “Sorry, kiddos. Bit of trouble on Asgard.” He put a hand on Sarah’s forehead, and she sighed with relief. “I didn’t think you’d be this fast.”
“Is something wrong?” Sam asked worriedly.
“No, everything’s fine,” Gabriel said soothingly, his hand going to Sarah’s stomach. “Kiddos are just excited to be born. They should be, family like this.”
Sam smiled, but his worry didn’t totally fade. Of course his twins would be lucky to have this family—they had an amazing mother, wonderful aunts and uncles, and two cousins (with another on the way, once Hannah was satisfied with her nest). But…would they want him? He’d had some practice with Mary and Adam, but that was being an uncle, not a dad.
“Sam. Focus up.”
Sam looked at Gabriel.
“You’re going to be just fine,” Gabriel promised, his voice unusually gentle. “Now let’s get your babies born, okay?”
The last few moments of the birth were a complete blur. Sarah crying out from pressure, not pain, Adam searching for the blankets Benny and Anna had made, Gabriel chanting quietly in Enochian...
Then—“Sam, hold your daughter while I get your son turned around.”
Adam took hold of Sarah as Sam let go, holding his arms out for the baby wrapped in a blanket crocheted with suns. The tiny baby looked up at him, and Sam felt himself start to cry. “Hi baby,” he whispered. “I’m your Daddy. It’s so good to meet you…”
He heard Sarah gasp and turned to see her reaching for a baby swaddled in stars. “Hi sweetheart,” she crooned. “Oh, you’re beautiful…” She brought their son to her breast and he latched on hungrily. Sam gently lay down beside her, holding their daughter so she could feed too. Sarah looked up at him, and Sam was struck by the love in her eyes, the love he never thought he would have.
“Our babies,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Sam whispered back, throat tight. “I love you all…”
It was awkward like this, but he managed to take her hand.
“Do you need anything, Sarah?” Adam asked gently. Gabriel was cleaning up, laying a hand on Sarah’s stomach once more.
“I could sit like this forever,” Sarah replied dreamily. Then she blinked. “Actually, I’d better get covered up a bit before everyone comes in. And…maybe some water?”
“Water coming up,” Adam promised. As he opened the door, Kevin poked his head in, his headphones dangling.
“Is it…is it over? Omigosh, they’re adorable!”
Sarah laughed. “The screaming’s over, Kevin. Come on in!”
Kevin came in and cooed over the babies. Their son finished feeding first, and they switched babies. Sam studied his son’s face. He looks like Dean, he realized. And then, he looks like me too.
Adam had returned with water and some fruit and the twins were both cuddled between them—
Then a stampede began over their heads.
Adam glared at the ceiling, and Sarah giggled. “I think our family’s home.”
Sam could hear Jody and Donna’s voices among the clamor, trying to shush the mob.
“They seem okay,” Sam noticed. His son actually looked sleepy.
“They’ve had a while to get used to it,” Gabriel agreed. “Oh, Balthazar called—he and the Braedens are on their way.”
The door swung wide and the family poured in, Dean leading the way with Adam Gabriel in his arms. Everyone was in Moondoor gear except for Jody and Donna. Charlie’s crown was askew and Benny’s quiver was upside down.
“Did you guys get any fighting done?” Sam asked. He was smiling—he couldn’t stop smiling.
“Nah, we got your call just before we started,” Dean said softly, tenderness in his eyes. “Look at you two, huh? As pretty as your mama, thank goodness.”
“Jerk.”
For a moment everyone just looked at the babies, all crowded into the small Bunker room he and Sarah had shared for seven years. Seven years leading to two new lives.
“So,” Meg asked in a would-be casual voice. “What are their names?”
“We should tell them, shouldn’t we sweetheart?” Sam asked Sarah. “After all, they’re the newest members of our family.”
“Yes,” Sarah agreed. “And they need to settle their bet that they don’t think we know about.”
The humans in the room blushed. Benny just shrugged. “Thought I could make some easy money.”
“Well, we’ll see,” Sarah said. She cradled their daughter closer as she fussed. “This is Abigail Ellen. We’re going to call her Abby, that’s what my—my mom went by.” She blinked hard, and Sam squeezed her hand.
“And—where are Bobby and Rufus?” Sam asked, distracted. They’d gone out for groceries about two hours before.
“Right here, son.” Bobby pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He beamed at the babies. “You both did good work.”
“Sarah did most of the work,” Sam said immediately.
“You did work too,” Sarah corrected him. Sam knew she wasn’t referring to the ecstatic moments of conceiving their children, or even the months where he hovered over her, making sure that she didn’t want for anything (until she told him to go away and let her breathe on her own). No, she was talking about the years before, when he shook in the nights and tried to believe that she could love him. That he could ever love her enough.
It was the hardest work he’d ever done, but today, holding their children, surrounded by their family, Sam knew it was worth it.
“Well,” Sam said, coming back to the present, “I wanted to name our first son—”
“What do you mean first?” Sarah cut in.
“Sorry,” Sam sputtered. “I thought you wanted more kids; if you changed your mind that’s okay.”
“I haven’t changed my mind,” Sarah replied. “But why are you so sure our next kid is going to be a boy? Maybe it’s a girl.”
“I think you might both be right,” Gabriel said casually.
Sam didn’t press that. “Anyways…I wanted to name our first son after the two men who raised me. Who made me who I am.” He held his son up. “Say hello to Robert Dean, everyone.”
Dean’s eyes filled with tears. Cas took Adam from him and Dean gently took the baby, cradling him between him and Bobby. “Hey little man,” he whispered. “Welcome to the family.”