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There’s an Easter photostrip somewhere in the play room that always manages to make Dean both incredibly embarrassed and incredibly nostalgic all at the same time.
Joelle had always been a huge fan of the holiday, despite the fact that their little family unit was anything but religious. All she knew was that it involved bunnies and eggs and huge baskets of candy (her daddies and grandparents spoiled her, so what?), and that was good enough for her. So when Jimmy’s first Easter had rolled around, she had insisted that they had to make it special.
She had come running to Dean while he was cooking dinner the week before.
“Daaaaaaaddyy!” she called out as she ran into the kitchen, nearly smacking into her father’s leg when her socks slid on the tiled floor.
“What’s up, sweetheart?” Dean turned from where he was chopping up ingredients, managing to catch his daughter and pick her up, setting her on the kitchen counter next to him.
“What are we gonna do for Easter?” she asked, tiny feet swinging against the cabinet below her.
Dean rolled his eyes fondly, ever since they had started making Easter decorations in Joelle’s class the week before, she had been asking nonstop about the upcoming holiday.
“I don’t know,” he told her, “I guess that depends on what the Easter Bunny leaves for you, doesn’t it?”
He watched as his daughter’s brow crinkled in concern, an expression she seemed to have picked up from Cas, making it even more adorable.
“Hey,” Dean said, putting down his knife and moving to stand in front of her, “Why are you so worried about Easter, Joey?”
She looked up at him, her wide green eyes locking on his. “The Easter Bunny’s gonna bring stuff for Jimmy too, right?” she asked, and something in Dean’s chest swelled at her genuine concern for her little brother.
“Of course he will, sweetheart,” he reassured her, “The Easter Bunny brings something for all the kids. Johnny gets stuff every year too, remember?”
“Oh,” she said, realization dawning on her face. But the expression of concern hadn’t quite faded, so Dean continued.
“Tell you what,” he said, “We can do something extra special with Jimmy this year. What do you think? You have any ideas?”
A huge smile spread across his daughter’s face before she threw herself into his arms. He smiled too as he held her, not realizing just how much he was going to regret those words.
A week later and boy was Dean regretting what he had said.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he groaned, looking in the mirror.
“We’re doing this,” Cas said, coming up behind him, unable to suppress a grin at Dean’s reflection.
Dean turned around, a frown on his face as he looked his husband up and down, “Last I checked, I was the only one in a ridiculous freaking bunny suit.”
The outfit was, in fact, pretty horrible. When Dean had asked Joelle what she wanted to do for Jimmy’s first Easter, she had said that she wanted to go get a picture taken with the Easter Bunny. But when Dean had promised they’d go to the mall and do it the next day, his daughter had explained that it had to be a photobooth picture. Try as he might, Dean hadn’t been able to convince his stubborn little girl that the Easter Bunny wouldn’t be able to go to a photobooth, which had left him with one option: to become the Easter Bunny for his kids.
Which is how he’d found himself in a full body bunny costume, complete with what he thought was a vaguely terrifying head piece and a fluffy cotton-ball tail. Cas, the lucky bastard, was wearing normal clothes, though he had dressed up for the occasion in a pale blue button down and khaki slacks, complete with an Easter egg patterned bowtie.
He looked up at Dean as he set the last bit of his outfit on his head, a bunny-ear headband. “I’m not the one who promised our daughter anything she wanted for the holiday,” he pointed out.
“You should have seen her face, Cas,” Dean complained, “Had the puppy dog eyes going and everything. I couldn’t say no to that. You wouldn’t have either, don’t even try to deny it.”
Castiel looked up at the ceiling, pretending to contemplate that statement. Between the bowtie and the bunny ears, Dean thought his husband looks pretty goddamn adorable. Cas looked back at him then and leaned in to plant a soft kiss on the other man’s lips.
“I’m sure I would’ve done the same thing, Dean,” he said, “And honestly, as ridiculous as you look, the fact that you would do anything for our daughter, well, I’m lucky to have you, you know?”
Dean wasn’t expecting that, and dammit his eyes are totally not welling up at this chick flick moment. He wrapped his arms around Cas as he kissed him again. “I know, babe,” he said with a smile, “I’m lucky to have you too.”
They held each other there for a few more moments before Dean broke the silence.
“Now come on,” he said, “let’s get this whole thing over with.”
The whole ordeal wasn’t as bad as Dean had expected. I mean, yeah people stared at him as they walk through the mall, but at least he had the bunny mask on. Cas, on the other hand, was completely recognizable walking next to him. If he was honest, though, the look on Joelle’s face when she had first seen him made it all worth it.
At least until they got to Sam and Jess’s.
Cas showed Sam the photo while the kids were running around outside looking for Easter eggs, and Dean didn’t think he’d ever seen his brother laugh harder. He could feel himself blushing all the way to the tips of his ears.
“Dude,” Sam gasped through his laugher, “You dressed up as the freaking Easter Bunny??”
Dean shoved his giant of a brother, cheeks still flaming. “Shut up, bitch. I did it for the kids.”
Sam looked like he was about to make some smartass remark when Jess called him over to help with dinner.
Dean let out a sigh of relief, still thoroughly embarrassed by the whole ordeal. Cas saw this, of course, and wrapped an arm around his husband, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek and press his lips close to the other man’s ear.
“What you did for the kids was incredible, Dean,” he said, “And look how happy you made her.”
He lifted up the photostrip and both men looked it over, taking the time to really appreciate the photos for the first time that day.
The first shot is interesting to say the least. Cramming two grown men, one of whom was dressed in a full bunny suit, and two small children into a photobooth had been incredibly difficult. In the first shot, Castiel is half sitting on Dean/the Easter Bunny with both children in his lap. Cas looks concerned as he tries not to drop either child, and the Easter Bunny’s head is on at a strange angle, but Joelle has a brilliant smile on her face and Jimmy is sleeping peacefully in his sister’s arms.
The second frame is a blur of pastels as the family shifted around to get a better photo. The only thing in focus, hilariously, is Dean’s fluffy tail.
In the third picture, Cas and Dean have managed to squeeze in side by side. Dean’s holding Jimmy, who’s woken up enough to turn bright blue eyes to the camera. Joelle sits on Castiel’s lap, a pair of purple bunny ears perched on her head as she turns to grin at her little brother.
The fourth and final shot features both children sitting on the Easter Bunny’s lap. Jimmy’s asleep yet again, and Joelle is smiling gleefully at the camera. There’s just a tuft of dark hair poking in from the side of the booth, where Cas had tried (and failed) to get in the picture at the last moment.
As Dean looked at the photos, his embarrassment faded. He knew he’d be made fun of for years after this, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care. Not when he was the one who helped put that smile on their daughter’s face.
He turned to Cas and grinned, and his husband smiled lovingly right back.
“I’m glad we did this, bunny suit and all,” Dean said.
“Me too, Dean,” Cas said, smiling as he leaned in to press a lingering kiss to the other man’s lips, “Happy Easter.”
“Happy Easter, Cas.