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Castiel wearily opened his door and trudged inside. The fall college semester was starting soon and he had been attending meetings all day. This was his least favorite part of the job. Once the students arrived he would relax and actually enjoy his job. This day though, had drained him. Which is why it took him a moment to register the sight in front of him.
Two people were crouched just outside his kitchen, their shoulders shaking in suppressed laughter. Cas opened his mouth to greet them Sam, his brother-in-law, spotted him and waved him to be quiet. Jess, Sam’s fiancée, grabbed his arm and dragged him down to their hiding spot.
“What is going on?” Cas asked quietly.
“Just listen,” Sam whispered back.
Now that Sam mentioned it Cas realized that he could hear another voice, that of his husband Dean. He seemed to be muttering to himself as he moved around the kitchen making dinner. Cas cocked his head to one side and listened in.
“Zucchini noodles? What the fuck are zucchini noodles? What’s wrong with good old fashioned spaghetti? And not the squash type either. Those bastards are lucky I love them. Fucking zucchini noodles.”
Now Cas could understand what Sam and Jess had been giggling about as he suppressed his own chuckle. Dean on a rant could be quite funny and his hate for vegetables was apparently warring with his love for them. He could tell through his soulmate's mark though, that Dean wasn't truly upset.
He spent another minute with Sam and Jess listening to Dean rant. Then he straightened up and made his way into the kitchen. Dean jumped a little when Cas put his arms around him from behind (he made sure that Dean wasn't cutting anything).
"Jesus Cas! I'm getting you a bell!" Dean said grumpily even as he leaned back into the embrace.
"Yes dear," Cas replied, knowing without seeing that Dean was rolling his eyes. "What is for dinner? It smells wonderful."
Cas could see Dean's blush on the back of his neck. His husband loved praise but had a hard time accepting it. Cas was always willing to help him get used to it by heaping praise on him.
"Homemade marinara on zucchini noodles." Dean announced proudly. "With mixed fruit cobbler for dessert. All from the garden."
The garden in question was Cas and Sam's pet project. When they had moved into the duplex, Sam and Jess on one side and Cas and Dean on the other, they had torn down the fence between the backyard area. Then they had set about turning ⅔s of the space into a garden. Dean had helped at the beginning, making raised beds, hauling soil and other grunt work. The rest of the work had been done by Cas and Sam. Sam had been excited by the idea of fresh organic veggies and Cas just liked gardening. They had several beds for vegetables, a couple fruit trees, a berry patch and one bed devoted to flowers for bees (Cas also had planted flowers all along the front of the house).
Cas gave him a squeeze before turning him around to kiss him. It was just like Dean to show his support of the garden this way. He might moan about hating veggies but he made a vegetarian meal for them using the literal fruits of their labor.
"I love you," Cas said quietly.
Dean blushed but rolled his eyes. "Love you too. Now why don't you get washed up so we can eat?"
Cas smiled, gave Dean another kiss and moved to do as Dean asked.
"Hey, tell thing one and thing two to stop giggling and get their ass's in here. They can set the table." Dean called out as Cas reached the door where Sam and Jess were still hiding. Laughter erupted from the two and Cas found himself joining in.
As he walked away Cas heard he heard Dean mutter “fucking zucchini noodles. The things I do for my soulmates.”