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Dean huffed as he unloaded an armful of baking supplies onto the counter.
He had offered to make the ham, but no, Jody was ‘taking care of that’. Then he suggested some baked macaroni and cheese; Donna. Claire and Kaia were tackling a casserole Amelia used to make. Alex chose mashed potatoes. Eileen had corn and green beans, but when he offered to make one or the other she laughed. “We got this.” She signed. “You just sit back and rest… for a change.”
“Hmph…” he mumbled as he snatched out his apron and flapped it down, wrapping the strings around his waist. Sam was tasked with rolls. A disaster waiting to happen. He warned Jody the only rolls they would get from Sam would be some gluten free, sugar free, low calorie, high fiber, whole wheat, multigrain, hippie rolls that would taste like cardboard.
And Jack, the little all powerful traitor, stole his last option. “I went back and bought three of Mama J’s pies as a thank you for our special pie.” He had said with his classic huge cheeky, albeit adorable, grin. Cas even offered to pick up plenty of drinks for everyone. Which left Dean with nothing to contribute, nothing to offer. Unneeded and useless.
Jody could hear the pout through the phone. “If it’s that big of a deal… Patience decided to go spend Christmas with her dad, she was gonna bake some Christmas cookies.” The sheriff said with a sigh. “So just grab a pack, and perk up!”
“ gRaB a PaCk aNd PeRk Up… ” Dean mocked as he cluttered the counter with mixing bowls and baking trays and all the ingredients he assumed one would need for cookies. “Just wait until they taste these! ” He smugly smirked. “They will wish they just let me make the whole meal!”
~✶~
“Heh! That was too easy!” Dean grinned, sitting the tray on the counter. He gave them some time to cool and moved them to a festive Santa plate. “And one for me.” He said proudly, picking up one of the golden brown cookies and biting off half. “Uh… uhhh… bleh!” Instantly he spit the bland mouthful of definitely not a Christmas cookie into the trash. Then he followed it with the rest of the first batch.
He took out all the ingredients again, this time following the recipe for Perfect Christmas Cookies courtesy of AllRecipes.com. He measured and mixed and kneaded and scooped and plopped and baked.
Ding!
“There.” Dean grinned, even more sure of himself this time. “Now these are gonna be…” He took a big bite, and an overpowering taste of salt filled his mouth. “Oh god…” Another plate dumped in the trash. He looked over the ingredients to see where he went wrong. Flour, baking soda, brown sugar, regular sugar… “Wait.” He sighed and took a pinch out of the sugar jar to taste. Sure enough, salt. “Sammy!” He yelled, and the younger Winchester peeked into the kitchen.
“Yeah?”
“Why is there salt in the sugar jar?!” Dean snapped, motioning towards the container.
“Probably because that’s not the sugar jar.”
“What do you mean?! Of course it’s the sugar jar… See, S for sugar !”
Sam cocked a brow and laughed. “No. S for Salt.” Dean stared at him, annoyed, until Sam went to the pantry and retrieved the correct container.
“Oh come on!” Dean groaned seeing the new jar. “How am I supposed to know the difference? They both have an S on them!”
“But that S is cursive…” Sam said with a smirk.
“Get out.” Dean hissed, snatching the jar and Sam quickly obliged.
Batch three burned because he got a call from some new hunters who didn’t know how to accurately turn water holy.
“Dammit!” He yelled, as the blackened cookies fell into the trash can.
Batch four blew the breaker to the stove, and he didn’t realize until the uncooked batter had already crusted over. A new layer added to the ever growing pile of ruined cookies.
~✶~
Cas walked in with an armful of drinks for Christmas day, and heard the loud clanging of metal trays being slammed down. “Dean…” he called softly, entering the kitchen, to find the hunter distraught as he readied to dump batch… whatever , into the trash. “Hey, wait!” Cas said stopping Dean from tipping the plate. “What’s the matter with these?”
“What do you mean what’s wrong with them, Cas. Look at them!” Dean cried, shoving the plate into Cas’ hands.
Cas looked down at the golden cookies, warm and just waiting to be iced. “I don’t understand, Dean.”
“They suck!” Cas squinted at Dean, and tilted his head, beyond confused. “I can’t get them right… I can’t get anything right.”
The angel picked up one of the cookies from the plate and tried it. “Dean. These are amazing .”
“You don’t have to lie, Cas. I was being stupid, and I added a couple spices I thought would make them taste better… but I know it didn’t work.” Dean sighed, and slumped his shoulders. Then he untied his apron and slipped it off, laying it on the counter. “Besides, they’re all lopsided.” He sniffed, and avoided Cas’ confused but loving eyes.
“Dean, this isn’t about asymmetrical cookies, is it?” The angel asked, placing the delicious cookies on the counter, and wrapping Dean in his arms.
The hunter wanted to lie, and probably would have if it had been anyone else that found him like that. Instead he shook his head and melted into Cas’ embrace. “I just… I just hate feeling like I’m not needed, Cas. Like I’m not useful.”
Sam, who was standing at the door, and had overheard everything, met Cas’ eyes, before quietly backing out.
~✶~
With Candy canes and silver lanes that glow…
Music played as Dean was pulling the final tray of cookies out of the oven, made with his new secret recipe from batch whatever. These were shaped like candy canes, and he had red and white frosting ready to decorate once they cooled enough; that was if he could keep all the plundering hands away.
Halfway through his phone started ringing. “Hey Jody! What’s up?” He said, holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder.
“Oh I was just calling to let you know Donna, the girls, and I thought we would swing by a day or so earlier. If that’s not a problem.”
There was a hint of sadness in her voice Dean picked up on instantly. “Of course that’s fine. But is everything alright?” He asked, putting down the icing bag and taking the phone into his hand.
“Yeah! Everything’s fine… I do think, however, we may have bitten off more than we can chew with Christmas dinner… think you could help us out some?” She replied, the sadness in her voice shifting to guilt and Dean sighed knowingly.
“Who told you, Cas or Sam?”
“Both.” Jody admitted with a laugh. “Dean, I’m sorry if we made you feel left out.”
“Ah, it’s no big deal.”
“But it is a big deal. We thought we were helping you by taking over everything before you could try to put it all on your shoulders. I guess we all forgot a body can’t do much without the backbone. So, Uh, what do ya say? Think you can… Dean… Dean, are you crying?”
“N-no!” Dean sniffed and cleared his throat using his apron to dry his eyes. “I got flour in my eye. Of course I’ll help!”
“Alrighty then. We’ll see you in a couple days, then.”
“Jody?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.” Dean sighed. He sat the phone on the counter and turned the music back up, smiling as he went back to decorating his cookies.