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The Winchesters were never too big on holidays, especially birthdays. Dean stoped celebrating them around age seven, Sam asked to not celebrate his at eleven, so it has been years since there was anything more than extra pie and a ‘happy birthday’ thrown Dean’s way. And Dean was fine with that. They didn’t have money or time for parties, and they tended to be more of a painful reminder of the people they had lost than a party.
Dean isn’t sure why he thought this year would be the same, he has Sam, Cas and Eileen back, Jack visits when he isn’t doing his God stuff, and he knows that everyone he loves is happy at their homes or in heaven, yet he is yanked out of his sleepy haze when a haphazardly wrapped gift is shoved into his hands when he enters the kitchen.
“I know we don’t do gifts but I thought you would like this and that you could use it today so I wanted you to open it early.” Sam waved his hands, looking embarrassed and a little afraid that Dean would have a bad reaction.
“Oh, uh, thanks, Sam. Just let me- uh…” Dean walked over to the table, sliding onto the bench before curiously pulling off the forest green paper. He untucked the flaps of the small box he had found inside to see a mug surrounded by a folded piece of cloth.
Sam stood awkwardly at the head of the table, looking nervous as he watched Dean extract the gifts. When Dean read the black block letters on the side of the mug he burst out laughing.
“Dude! Where’d you find this?” Dean smiled, waiting for Sam’s reply but it was interrupted by Castiel, who had come to the kitchen to drink his two cups of coffee before having any human interaction.
Despite being sleep-rumpled and groggy, Cas seemed interested in what was going on at the table. He poured himself a cup of coffee before coming to stand by Dean’s side, reading the mug over his shoulder.
I RUN ON CAFFEINE, SARCASM, AND INAPPROPRIATE THOUGHTS.
Cas let out a snort. “I agree with the mug, good job, Sam.”
The brothers burst out in laughter, Cas looking confused at why they would laugh at his genuine compliment but didn’t bring his confusion to attention. Sam gently took the mug from Dean and walked over to the sink to clean it out.
“There’s one more thing in there.” Sam said, nodding at the box.
Dean pulled out the thick folded fabric, shaking it out and laying it on the table. It was a light pink apron with the words “kiss the cook” written in white calligraphy next to a bright red kiss mark. He burst out laughing again, standing from the table to pull his giant of a brother into a tight hug.
“Thanks, Sammy.”
“Yeah, happy birthday, Dean.”
Sam handed Dean his new mug, filled with steaming coffee before exiting the kitchen, leaving Cas and Dean alone.
“Mornin’, Sunshine.” Dean said, cradling his mug in front of his chest.
“Good morning, Dean. Happy birthday.” Cas replied, still looking at the apron on the table.
Dean walked up behind Cas standing close to his back to whisper in his ear. “You like that, don’cha? If we can get Sam and Eileen out of the house, I can think of some fun things we can do with that.”
He felt Cas stiffen against him. This whole thing was new to him, being with Cas. But it was also surprisingly easy to fall into rhythm with it, Cas loved him for a long time and so had Dean, nothing really had changed other than Dean could say what he thought out loud and his fantasies were no longer reserved for dreams.
He feels like he’s in a dream sometimes, unable to believe that someone as amazing as Cas, even now that he’s not an angel, could love him, but Cas reminds him every time this thought crosses Dean’s mind that he would make heaven fall and lose his wings one thousand times over if it meant he could be with Dean.
Dean tells himself that now, reminds himself that he is a lucky son of a bitch, and wraps his arms around Cas’s waist. Cas turns his head to the side to kiss Dean, just a soft, chaste, brush of lips that always manages to bring a flush of color to the tips of Dean’s ears.
“I love you.” Cas whispers, the smell of too-sweet coffee on his breath.
“I love you too.” Dean says back with an ease that took him a few weeks to get used to.
Dean put the apron on, grabbing skillets and the ingredients to make breakfast from the cabinets and fridge. Cas watched from the table, admiring the way Dean worked with his hands. He was nursing his third cup of coffee when Dean called Sam and Eileen into the kitchen for breakfast.
Eileen pulled him into a big hug as soon as she saw him, slowly signing the words ‘happy’ and what he guessed was ‘birthday’. Eileen has been slowly teaching him bits of sign language, now that she is sticking around for a good long time, Dean figured it would be good to learn.
Surprisingly, Sam finished his plate first, saying something about needing to go finish something before running out of the room. Dean finished the rest of his breakfast ignoring the weirdness of the situation. The feeling only grew as Eileen and Cas grew more excited, well Cas seemed more nervous, but Eileen was practically vibrating.
“Ok, what are you not telling me?” Dean pointed his finger between the two of them.
Cas just shrugged and Eileen just shook her head, continuing to smile brightly at Dean. There was a faint vibrating noise and Eileen looked down at her phone. She let Dean grab one more slice of bacon before ushering him and Cas from the table towards the map room.
“Woah, hey, what’s going on, wait-” Dean was struck speechless at the sight in front of him.“Oh wow.”
Donna, Jody, Claire, Kia, Patience, Alex, Jack, Charlie, Stevie, and Bobby stood in the map room, joined by Cas, Sam, and Eileen, surrounded by party streamers and wearing multi-color party hats.
“Happy Birthday, Dean!” They shouted as Dean fought back tears.
He walked to them, taking turns giving them each hugs and ‘hello, thank you’s as the initial shock began to wear off and a giddy happiness filled his bones.
The realization truly hit him there, in that moment surrounded by his family. He has people who love him and care about him, people who would take time out of their lives to celebrate his birthday. Things were a lot different than they used to be. They were better.
And Dean was happy.