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Dean wasn't expecting extra company tonight. Tonight was supposed to be him, Cas, a few beers, a slow-cooked roast, Tombstone, and some activities he wasn't gonna mention to the newest arrival. Yet, here he was walking and grumbling to the fridge to get an extra beer. He thought Heaven was supposed to be paradise not getting interrupted by unsuspecting guests.
But this was Jack and Jack was always welcome even if his timing sucked. And his timing really sucked tonight. One look at the kid and Dean knew that tonight Jack needed Dean and Cas more than Cas and Dean needed night together.
Jack looked exhausted and like a little lost puppy left out in the rain. Running the afterlife wasn't an easy feat even for someone as powered up as Jack. He currently sat slumped at the table with his head resting on his hands.
"Everything okay, Jack?" Cas asked.
"Can we just do a normal dinner like we used to at the bunker?" Jack's eyes were as big as saucers and practically pleading.
Cas looked to Dean with his eyebrows raised in an unspoken question. Dean gave a nod at Cas's plea. Cas smiled and replied, "Of course."
"Great! Where's Sam?"
"Sam's with Eileen and their kid visiting her parents," Dean said.
"I bet her parents are badass like her. I wonder how they met?"
"Next time you see them, I bet you can ask," Cas replied.
Jack just nodded but his eyes shifted out of focus. Who knew how long it would be before Jack had time to get around to that with all his Heavenly duties. He looked a little lost again and more like the guy who stumbled into their kitchen not that long ago instead of a kid hanging out with his family.
Sadness at Jack's distant expression made Dean want to act quickly. Anything to cheer the kid up. Driving the impala was out since he was working on dinner. Connect four was his and Cas's game. Dean rattled his brain and they only thing he could think of was a story. The kid wanted to hear a story about two people meeting he would give him a story.
"Well, do you want to hear about how I met your dad?"
Jack's eyes lit up, "Yeah, I do."
Dean glanced at the clock. They had a while before dinner would be done so he had plenty of time.
He settled down across from Jack, "Let's start at the beginning. A long, long time ago, in this universe, on Earth way before I was born..."
Jack sat raptured at the story of how Mary Campbell and John Winchester met, fell in love, and kicked ass in between. Dean played it out, letting the Jack dangle on cliffhangers when Dean had to take a break to do something in the kitchen.
Sure, he was laying it on thick and adding dramatics for suspense but Dean felt like a narrator of some of his favorite soaps during the final moments of a season.
The story lasted longer than expected and the embellishments grew and grew until it all came time for the end. He paused again but not for dramatic effect this time. Dean put the dinner on the table slowly. Cas gave him a look of knowing sadness and they sat down to eat before Dean would continue the story. There was one more part for him to tell.
The way it ended like they all knew it would. Fire, a baby in Dean's four-year-old arms, and a destiny designed for all of them that no one wanted. The end of the show and the love story of John and Mary Winchester.
The ever-curious Jack paused. His fork was raised halfway to his mouth. His eyebrows furrowed and he set the fork down slowly.
"Wow. So all of that had to happen just so you and Sam could stop the apocalypse and meet Cas one day."
Dean looked up and met Cas's eyes. Cas raised his eyebrows at him. The story he had told made Mary and John heroes and less like their flawed, human selves. It certainly was a contrast to the John that raised Sam and Dean on the road.
"Yep, that's exactly how it happened," Dean lied with a wink in Cas’s direction and a gulp of beer to hide to his face.
He hoped Cas took that as a "go with my story" wink and not a "flirtation". Cas nodded in understanding. He wouldn't spill the beans about his parents relationship or his childhood to Jack.
"Wait, you said you were going to tell me how you met Cas. You never even got to that part," Jack said with a frown on his face. He looked like he was worried he was being duped.
"I guess I didn't. That's a story in itself. Maybe after we eat dinner we can talk about that one. Its even longer."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
They ate in silence for a few minutes while they each mulled over the story. Jack still seemed troubled by something but Dean was going to wait him out. He would open up eventually. It didn't take long for Jack to interrupt the silence.
"If John and Mary were so in love, then why do they struggle so much now..."
"Sometimes people get lost for a while. Look at me, it took me a long time to figure out something I already knew I wanted deep down and I was here in Heaven."
He flashed Cas a smile across the table. Thank Jack, he figured it out eventually. Cas had been patiently waiting for him to take the same leap Cas had in the bunker that fateful night.
"That being said, sometimes people grow and change. Mom got a second life on Earth, learned some truths, and couldn't forget them. People can grow apart even if their story ends happy. They're working on it."
"But you guys won't change right? I know the end of your story. You reunited in Heaven and worked things out. You're happy now. You won't grow apart?"
Cas met Dean's eyes once more. The look of love and adoration he felt was being reflected back at him. Dean never wanted to look away but when he did he found their kid looking back at him and Dean answered truthfully.
"Never. Cas and me, its us 'til the very end."