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Dean smiles to himself as Castiel pulls another spindly carrot out of the ground and beams up at him with pride.
It had been too late in the year to plant anything worthwhile when they first moved into the small dilapidated house, but Dean had cleared the whole yard, buying in vast amounts of compost and digging the whole place up for Cas to plant whatever he wanted the following spring. Considering all of the time, and effort, and hundreds of dollars they'd ploughed into the garden, Cas had managed to harvest about $10 worth of usable vegetables.
Despite this, it was all worth it. Dean would do the exact same thing every year for the rest of his life if it meant that Cas would look that happy, pulling underformed root vegetables out of the ground.
"Maybe we could make a stew." Cas said, nodding to the half a dozen long, pencil-thin carrots he cradled in his arms as he headed back up the new wooden steps into the house.
He placed them in the sink to wash off the dirt and Dean wrapped himself around his angel's back.
"Yeah, Cas. Stew would be great. If you want to go and wash up, I'll get started."
Castiel turned in his arms and gave him a gentle kiss before he headed to the bathroom to wash the sweat and grime from his body. Angel he may be, but they both knew that Cas' mojo was waning, he didn't waste it on things like wishing himself clean anymore. There was something nice and homey about that, it made this feel more real, like they were real people. Dean had spent decades not fitting in with society, being on the fringe and now he had a normal little life. He worked at the hardware store in town, Cas volunteered at an animal shelter a few days a week, and spent the rest of his time, pottering around the little house and garden.
Dean sighed at the carrots and turned on the faucet to rinse away the earth and gathered the other (store bought) vegetables to make the stew.
He remembered a story of a man who offered to show a poor family how to make soup from a stone in return for shelter and food for the night. Cas' carrots reminded him a little of that. He chopped the carrots, along with onions, and potatoes, and half a dozen other types of vegetable, putting them in a pan over a low heat and went to work on making some bread.
The house was getting there. He did pretty much all of the renovations himself, getting tools and materials at cost through his job was helpful. It was slow work, but it was making a space that reflected them. It had soft couches and a good TV, bookshelves, houseplants, Cas had even bought Dean an acoustic guitar from a thrift store in Kansas City for last Christmas. It was a far cry from the giant, austere, concrete bunker, but what it lacked in space and hunting resources, it made up in heart and comfort. There was a spare room, and a pull out couch so there was room for Sam and Eileen to stay when they came by for dinner every couple of weeks. There was an old Nintendo system that Dean had picked up for a steal in a garage sale for when Jack dropped in.
Dean was kneading the dough when Cas walked back into the kitchen, wearing soft pajamas, his damp hair sticking up wildly. He walked over to the stove and gave the stew an appreciative sniff. Dean plopped the dough in a large bowl and covered it with a towel to let it rise. After rinsing his hands, he pulled Cas with him into the living room to slump onto the couch. He ran his fingers gently through Cas' hair as he lay back against Dean's chest.
"Maybe we could get chickens. Then we could get eggs all year round. Maybe we could trade some with our neighbours as I don't seem to be terribly good at growing them."
"Eggs?"
Cas snorted "Vegetables. I am fully aware that this wasn't the bountiful harvest I was expecting when we planted them."
"We're both new at this, it'll get better." Dean pressed a soft kiss to the top of Cas' head.
And it did.
With the end of the great cosmic Winchester saga, Dean had been worried that normal life just wouldn't be able to satisfy him but he couldn't have been more wrong. He made friends, regular meet-at-the-bar-for-a-couple-of-beers friends. They went to barbecues and became well-known in their community for being a kind and friendly (if slightly odd) couple. He had his friends, he had his family, and he had his Cas.
That winter, he made a point of learning a Skynrd song on the guitar. On Christmas Eve, by the light of the fire, he serenaded Cas with Simple Man. At the end, he put the guitar aside, knelt down in front of Cas, and asked him to marry him.
With tears of joy in his eyes, Cas said yes.