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Gabriel slammed the empty milk carton on the table. “I swear to god, whoever’s using stuff up without replacing it, I am going to kick your ass when I figure out who you are!”
Living with five guys was not easy sometimes. Meg snatched the carton from him and went to the refrigerator. “Did you even look? There’s a whole new gallon, right there. Same brand, same kind, so stop yelling at everyone when you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Oh. Huh. So there is.” Gabriel took it out and poured milk on his cereal. His face scrunched up as he put it back. “But that doesn’t explain why someone left an empty carton of milk in the refrigerator…”
Castiel took the carton from Meg. “I did that, because I’d assumed it was less likely to get thrown out there than anywhere else, and Claire needs a milk jug for a science project. I hope the battering isn’t too bad.” He examined it with a worried frown.
“What’s she doing with it?” Sam asked from where he was leaning against the counter with his coffee.
“I don’t know. All she said was science project. I should get this to her and then get to work.” Cas stole quick kisses from Meg and Sam. “Where’s Dean?”
“Already gone, he left early this morning, big on-site repair project down south,” Gabriel said. “May not be back until tomorrow, depending on when they finish up tonight.”
It was, technically, “tomorrow” when Dean got back at 2:39 in the morning. Sam and Cas were both asleep, with work in the morning, Meg and Gabriel were not asleep but were very definitely in bed. Dean shook his head. How Sam and Cas could sleep through all that laughter was incredibly difficult to understand. Dean sank onto the couch, put his feet up on the table, and let out a sigh.
Within seconds, there was a beer held out to him. “Heya, Chief. Hoped you’d get home tonight.” Dean took the beer as Benny took a seat beside him with a V-8. “Everything go okay?”
Dean popped open the beer. “Yeah… I keep telling Crowley, it’d be cheaper in the long run to just start buying new machines than hauling me and my crew down there to fix them every few months. The crew have started calling him the King of Hell, can you believe that?”
Benny grinned. “Can’t be too bad, he keeps makin’ work for you and your crew.”
“Speaking of… you about ready to come back to work? Jake’s been asking about you.”
“I talked to Lenore, she thinks it might be a good idea to get back to doin’ what I love, but you know what it’s like on the crew. Lotta temptation.”
Dean shrugged and held up his beer. “You’re around us all the time here. We keep all kinds of booze around. You know what could be at stake if you fall off the wagon, you’re strong enough to resist, you got me watching your back and Lenore to call and Aaron on the crew might be helpful.”
“Well then. Thanks for takin’ me back, Chief.” Benny clinked his V-8 against Dean’s beer.
“What’s family for?” Dean set his beer down and swung up into Benny’s lap.
Cas and Dean shared a bond of being the only ones partially responsible for children. Cas’s was his twin brother Jimmy’s daughter Claire. Jimmy had been in a coma for months, leaving Castiel in charge of Claire so that Amelia could focus on taking care of Jimmy and working. Dean’s was his ex-girlfriend’s son Ben, who hadn’t known a father until Dean came back into Lisa’s life, and didn’t want to lose Dean when he and Lisa broke up. Ben and Claire were about the same age, too, so when one came to visit, they tried to get the other one over as well.
Gabriel was their favorite uncle. He had an endless store of both mischief and candy. Cas and Dean both tried to rein him in, but Ben and Claire liked him too much.
Sam was the uncle they went to for homework help, or if they wanted to learn something. He wasn’t as much fun, but both kids treasured the time he would spend with them. If nothing else, he was a huge reason they were both straight A students, and he knew how to help them learn all kinds of neat skills. He was also a master at talking both Cas and Dean into letting Claire learn, for example, fencing (the sword kind) or Ben learn, for example, fencing (the kind that involved actually making fences).
Benny was the uncle with the best stories. The kids would listen to just about anything told in that warm voice with the Cajun accent, and Benny knew all kinds of tales, both in English and French. Their favorites were the tales he would tell about pirates – which he always claimed to be the hero of, but no one quite believed him.
They’d all been a little nervous about Meg as an aunt, but she was good at it. She was the one who encouraged them to find their passions, helped them explore new things. Sam might be the one who could get them lessons or tutoring, but Meg was the one who helped them find new things to try. She was also the one who was the best at handling discipline.