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Castiel pulled up to the small bungalow still not quite believing his luck. He and Dean had spent the week exchanging friendly, funny, and occasionally flirty texts, and now he was going to the gorgeous man's house to watch movies with him and his adorable daughter. A week ago his life had been dry, boring, lonely, and now- well, he didn't want to get ahead of himself, but he couldn't deny the hope that was beginning to stir in his heart.
Emma opened the door and greeted him with excitement. 'Hi Mr Castiel! I helped Daddy made mac and cheese and garlic bread and apple pie. If you want we can eat on the couch while we watch Star Wars. What's your favourite Star Wars movie?' she asked as she led him down the hall.
Castiel had to take a deep breath just from listening to Emma talk at whirlwind speed with hardly a breath taken. 'Um, I'm afraid I don't have one. I've never seen any of them.'
Emma stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly, eyes wide. 'You've never seen Star Wars?' Castiel shook his head and Emma shouted, 'DAD! Mr Castiel has never seen Star Wars!'
Dean's head popped out from what Castiel assumed was the kitchen, a shocked expression on his face. 'Is that true Mr Castiel?'
'I'm afraid so. Should I leave now?' he asked with a grin.
'Absolutely not!' Dean replied. 'I hope you don't have any other plans, because we're watching the whole trilogy tonight.'
'Yes!' Emma hissed with a fist pump.
Castiel smiled down at her. 'No other plans,' he assured them.
'So we're not getting in the way of any hot dates or anything?' Dean asked casually.
'Daaaad, I already told you he doesn't have a girlfriend or a boyfriend,' Emma said to Dean as if he were an idiot, adding an eye roll to strengthen the message.
'No dates, and as Emma says, no significant other to go home to. I'm all yours for the night.' Dean's lips pressed together to supress a grin, making Castiel realise exactly what he'd said. 'I mean, for watching the movies,' he added hastily, cheeks already pink.
'Awesome! Daddy, can I take Mr Castiel to the living room please?'
'You can just call me Cas if you want.'
'Sure baby girl, make sure Cas picks a good seat on the couch.' He winked at Castiel and turned back to the dishes he was washing. 'Dinner'll be out in five minutes.'
Emma grabbed Castiel's hand and all but dragged him to the living room. 'This is the best spot for the TV,' she explained, pointing at a seat right in the middle. 'I'll sit on this side and Daddy will sit on the other side. I'll get the tables!' She opened a closet in the corner of the room and pulled out three TV tray tables, one of which was half the height of the others.
'So did you have a nice rest of the week after our breakfast?' Castiel asked as Emma busied herself getting the TV and DVD player ready.
'Yeah, it was OK I guess. We had dinner with Uncle Sam and Aunt Eileen yesterday.'
'Who's that?'
'Uncle Sam is Daddy's big little brother.'
'Um, how can he be both?'
'Because he's the little brother, but he's really tall like a gigantic moose!'
Castiel chuckled. 'I see. And was it a nice dinner?'
'Yeah. Not as good as when Daddy cooks, but Aunt Eileen said since he was cooking for you tonight she'd cook yesterday.'
'Oh! Did you tell your aunt and uncle I was coming over today, then?'
'Uh huh. I was telling them all about breakfast, and Aunt Eileen was asking Daddy all about you.'
'What did he say?' Castiel asked, extremely curious, but unfortunately Dean chose that moment to come in with a large tray of food. He set it down on the coffee table and began to dish out the plates; Castiel assumed the informative conversation with Emma was over, but she didn't miss a beat.
'He said you're cute and have a nice butt,' she replied matter-of-factly.
'Emma!' Dean snapped. 'I never-'
'Yuh huh! I saw you tell Aunt Eileen, and she said nice butts are an important part of a relationship.'
Dean's face was crimson, but he chanced a look at Castiel to see his reaction. 'Your aunt sounds very wise,' Castiel agreed as he gave Dean a bright smile. 'I reciprocate the sentiment.'
'OK, enough about butts, cute or otherwise' Dean said, trying to hide his grin as he pressed play on the remote. 'Let's get this show on the road.'
**********
Emma fell asleep ten minutes into Return of the Jedi, and Dean carried her to her room, insisting that Castiel keep watching. When the movie finished, Dean switched off the TV and turned to him.
'So, what do you think?'
Castiel turned as well, folding in his leg so he could fully face Dean. 'Very entertaining, thank you Dean. I've had a wonderful evening.'
Dean mirrored Castiel's position, scooting slightly closer so their knees almost touched. 'Are you in a hurry for it to end?'
'Not at all,' Castiel assured him.
'Good,' Dean replied with a shy smile. They talked well into the wee small hours about anything and everything; Castiel told Dean about his large family, college, law school, and his job at the law firm, while Dean told Cas about growing up with a single dad, practically raising his brother Sam, technical school, and the surprisingly funny story of Emma's birth. He also explained his custody agreement with Emma's mother, Lydia.
'Yeah, it's not bad. I get every other week and Thanksgiving every other year, plus two weeks of summer vacation. And Lyds is pretty good about letting me take her out for special occasions, like if there's a concert I wanna take her to or something. And we always do Christmas and Emma's birthday together.'
'It's great that you and your ex-wife are able to have such an amicable arrangement.'
Dean chuckled. 'Lydia's not my ex-wife. She was a one-night stand, and the condom broke. When she found out that she was knocked up, she told me and we tried to date, but we really weren't compatible. So we decided to just be friends and co-parent Emma, and it's worked great.'
'That's incredible, Dean. Not a lot of men would have taken responsibility like that.'
Dean shrugged. 'I always wanted kids, but with my track record of dating, this was probably my best shot.'
'Unlucky in love?'
'Yeah. I've been told I aim too high.'
Castiel frowned. 'What's that supposed to mean?'
'Well, you saw me the other day. I'm a grease monkey. Emma's mom is an investment banker, she and her friends were slumming it at my favourite dive bar when we met. I tend to go for fancy types, you know, doctors, lawyers…' He looked up at Castiel through his eyelashes, and quickly looked away again. 'Anyway, it doesn't usually work out. They're happy to have a good time with me, but in the end a guy with a GED and a blue collar job isn't what they really want.'
'Sounds like you've dated a bunch of assbutts.'
Dean choked on his beer. 'A bunch of what now?'
'Assbutts,' Cas replied firmly. 'You're clearly a responsible, caring, generous man, you have essential practical skills, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with your level of education. You're one of the most beautiful people I've ever met, inside and out, and anyone who can't appreciate that is a stupid assbutt.'
Dean's cheeks turned pink as he rubbed the back of his neck. 'Come on now, Cas. Keep going like that and I'll think you're sweet on me or something.'
'You'd be right.' It was Castiel's turn to blush, unused as he was to being so frank. 'I understand with your daughter, dating is more complicated, but if you're interested in-'
The rest of his sentence was cut off by Dean's lips pressing against his own in a firm but chaste kiss. 'Sorry,' Dean said when he pulled back. 'I should probably have asked if that was-'
This time it was Castiel who interrupted with kissing, and he didn't pull away for quite a while. It was only when Dean began to push him downwards that he realised their position. He pulled back and put a hand to Dean's chest.
'We shouldn't,' he murmured, eyes closed as he leaned his forehead against Dean's. 'What if Emma were to wake up?'
Dean groaned softly. 'But I like kissing you.'
'I like kissing you too. But if we lie down, we might start doing more than kissing, and then we might move to the bedroom, and that's probably not a good idea.'
'Sounds like an awesome idea to me,' Dean pouted, tempting Castiel with soft lips on his neck.
'When does Emma go back to her mom's?'
'Tomorrow afternoon.'
'Maybe I can come back tomorrow night, then.'
Dean captured his lips again to show his enthusiasm for the idea. He tried to pull Castiel onto his lap, but was again pushed back by a gentle hand. 'Believe me, Dean, there's nothing I would like better right now than to take you to your room and turn you into a gibbering wreck, but for one thing I want to be fully awake enough to enjoy it, and for another, I don't want you to have to hold back your screams.'
'You're pretty sure of your abilities,' Dean grinned, putting a few inches between them in tacit agreement of Castiel's boundary setting.
'You will be too after tomorrow night.' They smiled at each other for a few moments longer until the spell was broken by Castiel yawning. 'Oh dear. I'd better go before I pass out.'
'You can stay if you want. It's a really comfortable couch, I've slept on it lots of times.'
'I wouldn't want to impose.'
'It's not imposing. Anyway, it's like three a.m., I don't want you falling asleep at the wheel, man.'
'Will Emma be OK with it?'
'Oh yeah, she'll be fine. She was talking all week about how I should have a sleepover with you,' he grinned.
Castiel chuckled. 'All right then. Thank you, Dean.'
'No problem, I'll just get you a blanket and pillow.' Dean returned quickly with the bedding, as well as an extra toothbrush and a t-shirt and shorts for Castiel to sleep in. Once Castiel had gotten ready for bed, they kissed goodnight once more, and he fell asleep with his lips still tingling.
**********
Castiel awoke to the sound of two voices singing some popular song. He sat up and stretched, surprised that the couch really had been as comfortable as Dean had promised and followed the noises to the kitchen. The most adorable sight greeted him: Dean and Emma, singing along to 'Shake It Off' and even doing a matching dance. Dean was in the middle of brushing at his shoulder when he caught Castiel's eye and froze.
'Please don't stop on my account, I was enjoying the show,' Castiel said with a wide smile, and Dean grinned back before picking back up at the next line. This was clearly a well-practiced choreography between the two of them, and Castiel's heart warmed to be allowed to see it.
When the song finished, both Dean and Emma were laughing and short of breath. 'Mornin' Cas,' Dean said. 'Sleep OK on the couch?'
'Yes, it was very comfortable, thank you.'
'Cas, we're having pancakes and bacon for breakfast!' Emma informed him.
'Sounds delicious! Did you sleep well, Emma?' She nodded and began setting the table for three. Dean pulled an enormous pile of fluffy pancakes from where they were being kept warm in the oven and moved the bacon from the paper towels where they'd been degreasing onto another plate. Both went to the middle of the table, where a bottle of maple syrup was already waiting; as the three of them sat down, Castiel felt as though his heart would explode, imagining what it would be like to wake up to this every morning. He knew it was far too soon to be thinking that way, but his heart didn't seem to want to listen to reason.
Breakfast passed companionably, with serious discussion about Castiel's first impression of the Star Wars trilogy, and he was pretty sure that Dean's insistence that now he'd have to watch it again to pick up all the nuances he'd missed (and which Dean himself would have to point out), was Dean's way of telling him that everything they'd said in the night was still on the table.
It was well past noon when Castiel finally changed back into his own clothes and got ready to leave so Dean could take Emma back to her mother's house. Dean wrapped him in a hug, taking advantage of Castiel's back being out of Emma's line of sight to run a hand up and down his spine.
'It's OK Daddy, you can kiss him if you want,' Emma said nonchalantly. They froze for a moment, and then Dean slowly pulled out of Castiel's embrace and turned towards his daughter, cheeks growing pink.
'Um, why would you think I want to do that, honey?'
Emma shrugged. 'You seemed to like kissing him last night.' Castiel and Dean were both blushing hard now, and they just stared at Emma slack-jawed. 'What? I had to pee. You guys didn't even notice,' she laughed with a hint of smugness.
'I'm sorry, Emma, if you were made to feel uncomfortable-' Castiel began, but Emma just huffed and rolled her eyes.
'I'm not a little kid,' she insisted. 'I know grown-ups kiss when they like each other.' She paused as something occurred to her, and she smiled up at them both. 'Are you guys boyfriends now?'
'Um, I think one date is a bit too soon to say that, sweetie,' Dean replied.
'Ugh, old people are so complicated. Ethan is my boyfriend and we haven't had any dates.'
Dean frowned. 'I'm sorry, Ethan is what?'
'I'd better go,' Castiel cut in, not wanting to get in the middle of that conversation. 'I'll see you soon?'
Dean pointed at his daughter to indicate he'd get back to the Ethan thing as soon as Castiel was out the door and turned back to his guest. 'Yeah, I'll text you later, OK? Thanks again for coming over.'
'Thank you again for the hospitality. I had a wonderful time.' He gave Dean a soft peck on the lips before making his way to the door. 'Bye Emma, it was lovely to see you again.'
'Bye Cas! See ya!' He waved at them both again and stepped outside, closing the door just as Emma said, 'Hey Daddy, maybe we can go on a double date with our boyfriends!'
Castiel laughed as he walked to his car, imagining Dean's scowl as he explained to Emma that she wasn't allowed to have boyfriends until she was at least thirty. He was still smiling when he got home ten minutes later, and that smile grew bigger when he received a text message from Dean.
Just taking Emma home now and running some errands. Come back at 5? Bring clothes for tomorrow ;-)
Should I bring anything else? he texted back.
Your appetite, your cute butt, and the abilities you were bragging about last night! ;-)
Castiel flopped back onto his bed with a happy sigh. Never mind a simple thank you; he'd have to send Zachariah a fruit basket.