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Inspired by this Tumblr post
Gabe walked down the sidewalk holding Emma’s small hand in one of his and watching Jack shuffle/gallop up the sidewalk ahead of him. The sun was shining brightly overhead, birds were singing, flowers were blooming; it was an altogether sickeningly perfect day in Cas and Dean’s neighborhood. An older woman, working in the flowerbeds in front of her house, waved as they walked by. Gabe nodded his head and smiled, unable to wave back since one hand was busy keeping Emma on the sidewalk and the other was hauling a rattling red wagon loaded with a snack cooler, various stuffed animals and action figures.
Gabe was watching the kids for the weekend while Dean and Cas enjoyed a quiet weekend away. They were due back sometime that evening. To be honest, Gabe was relieved. As much as he loved his niece and nephew, keeping up with a four year old and seven year old was proving to be exhausting. He didn’t know how his brother and his husband managed to do it every day and still remain functional adults.
A few houses before he reached Cas and Dean’s home, he noticed that Jack had stopped pretending to be whatever creature he had been pretending to be and was staring intently at the bumper stickers plastered across the back of a white Buick.
“Uncle Gabe,” Jack asked, while staring intently at the words. “What does that mean?”
Gabe frowned as he read the stickers. One depicting two children and the words ‘We Want A Mommy AND A Daddy. Please!’ and the other the words ‘Marriage = 1 Man + 1 Woman.’ He didn’t really know what to say. This was definitely a time he could have used Dean’s thick skin and Cas’s quick thinking. Instead, he looked down into the overly serious expression in Jack’s wide blue eyes knowing that the kid was brilliant and had started reading when he was four so there was no way he hadn’t read and comprehended the words.
Emma reached out with her hand and grabbed Jack’s, asking, “What does it say?”
Before Gabe could answer, Jack traced underneath the words with his index finger and read them aloud to his sister.
Emma scrunched up her nose and stared at the car for a moment, before breaking into a wide grin. “That’s just silly. Because we have two daddies. So these are wrong.”
Jack didn’t say anything. but from the look he sent Gabe, Gabe knew he would be in for more questions once they got back to the house.
Emma grabbed Gabe and Jack’s hands and tugged them down the sidewalk, towards their home.
“Besides, that’s grouchy Mr. Adler’s house. Daddy and Papa don’t really like him so we aren’t supposed to play near here.” She said as she led them home.
~
Once Gabe got back to the house, he unpacked the wagon and took the kids indoors. He sent them to wash up in the bathroom and quickly gathered the supplies to make cookies. Hoping to avoid any more questions he didn’t know how to answer, he distracted them with making cookies for the afternoon. The last batch was going into the oven and there were wire racks of cooling cookies covering the counter and filling the house with the amazing scent of homemade chocolate chip before he noticed Emma’s eyes were starting to droop. Gabe herded the children into the family room and turned on Tangled while he went back into the kitchen to clean up the mess.
By the time he returned, the lantern scene was playing and Flynn and Rapunzel were singing in a rowboat. Emma was curled up asleep with her blanket but Jack turned to watch Gabe as he made his way over to the couch. Once again, Gabe was struck by the resemblance between his brother and this child. Even though he knew they didn’t share any blood, Jack and Cas were so alike in mannerism, it sometimes caught him by surprise.
With a sigh, Gabe slouched down on the couch, letting Jack curl against his under his arm.
“What’s up, kiddo?”
Jack tilted his head back to look up at Gabe, “Why did Mr. Adler have those things on his car?” He asked in a small voice.
Gabe sighed heavily before answering. “Buddy, sometimes people are afraid of things that they don’t understand or that are different from the way they are. And sometimes, that makes them act really dumb.”
Jack thought about what Gabe said for a moment before speaking again. “Sometimes Daddy calls Mr. Adler names when he thinks we can’t hear him. Papa gets mad. But not really mad, just the kindof mad when he is still smiling a little with his eyes.”
Gabe nodded, perfectly imagining the scenario his nephew was describing. “You and I know that families come in all shapes and sizes. We’ve got Uncle Mike and Aunt Anna, Uncle Luke, Aunt Charlie and Aunt Jo and the twins, Uncle Bobby and Aunt Ellen, Uncle Sam and Aunt Jess and the girls, your two dads and your sister. We have a big amazing family. Maybe Mr. Adler doesn’t understand that but that’s really only sad for him, because we know how good we have it. Right, Big Guy?” Gabe ruffled Jack’s dark hair and smiled. This had become way too serious of a conversation for his paygrade. Sam was the heart-to-heart touchy feely uncle. Gabe liked to be the fun uncle that swooped in for trips to carnivals and too much candy.
Jack nodded sagely and sagged against Gabe’s side as he resumed watching the movie. As Gabe felt all of the tension drain out of the little body next to him, he clenched his teeth, realizing how worried Jack had been over the douche neighbor.
~
They all ended up falling asleep in the living room watching cartoons. It wasn’t until later, when Emma was tugging on Gabe’s sleeve, shoving a colored piece of construction paper into his face, that Gabe woke up with a start. Jack was still curled up against him, snoring slightly. Gabe sleepily rubbed his face with one hand before taking the paper and studying it. Emma had drawn a stick figure family of a little boy and a little girl each on one side of a stick figure man with crazy dark hair and blue circles for eyes holding hands with another stick man with spiky yellow hair and green circles for eyes.
“I drew a picture of our family, Uncle Gabe.” She said proudly.
“You did a great job, sweetheart.” He said as he smiled at the picture.
~
Later that evening, after Dean and Cas had returned in the Impala, looking relaxed and windblown, and unable to keep their hands to themselves, Gabe had bid his goodbyes and walked out the door. He had his duffel bag slung over one shoulder and the construction paper family clasped in his hand. As he walked by the white Buick, he stopped and looked at it thoughtfully. With a quick nod to himself and a smirk, he pulled a pen from his pocket and scrawled a quick note on the corner before sliding it under the windshield wiper.
“This is what a FAMILY looks like, Asshat.”