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1.
“Yeah, Cas is a professor so, you know, classes just started and all that.” Dean hefted his regulation duffle further onto his shoulder. Garth was off to the side kissing his girlfriend, Bess Myers, goodbye. It almost looked like they were eating each other’s faces off. Dean grimaced and turned back to Benny. “Good thing too; ain’t nobody want to see that.”
Benny laughed. “Yeah, like you didn’t have a sending off of your own.” He shook his head with a small smile pulling at his southern lips. Dean could tell; they curled a bit too much in whatever direction they were curling. He waved to his wife in the crowd.
They boarded the ship. It was a different world on the ship, full of rules and regulation yet somehow lax compared to boot camp or A-school.
“Ya’ll ready for this?” Charlie was practically vibrating behind them. “When we get back, the next Xbox will be on the shelves.” Her eyes looked like hearts.
Dean smiled. “There’ll a new baby in my family when I get back.”
Slapping his arm, Benny grinned. “Congrats, brother.”
“Yeah, that’s awesome.” Charlie bounced on the boarding ramp.
2.
They were sitting in the galley. Garth was picking at his meatloaf on his tray. “Man, my girl makes the best rare steaks. I mean, the best.” He stabbed at his meatloaf. “This doesn’t even come close.” He bought the forkful to his mouth and chewed it with a small scowl.
Laughing, Dean ate some of his too. “Cas makes some of the best burgers; but, don’t ask for anything else. It will be burned beyond recognition.” He raked through his green beans. “I usually cook when I’m home.”
Benny clapped him on the back. “Brother, I hope you cook better than you patrol then.”
Rolling his eyes, Dean filled his mouth with meatloaf.
Still miffed, Garth tilted his fork to the side to cut through the meatloaf. “She always has eyes bigger than her stomach and she cooks more than she can eat. I always end up finishing hers, not that I’m complaining.” Garth patted his flat stomach.
“How can that possibly be true?” Benny clasped his hands on the table, having finished his food. “You weight nothing.”
Dean laughed. “Cas can eat me under the table. If I don’t get to my placemat for dinner, all the food’ll be gone.”
Clapping him on the shoulder, Benny nodded. “Hell yeah, brother, always get a girl with a healthy appetite.”
Almost choking on his meatloaf, Dean chewed quickly, hoping to correct the error. He didn’t get a chance, though.
Charlie walked up and slid in next to Garth. “I think we may be getting extended shore leave at the next port.” She grinned and elbowed Garth who was thin enough that she probably elbowed through him. “Sample the local cuisine.” She raised her eyebrows.
With the topic of discussion changed, Dean let the misunderstanding slide.
3.
Dean was waiting for his turn on the phone. The last few phone calls had been to his mother, his father, and then to Jo to congratulate her on her engagement. He was looking forward to talking to Cas again. Charlie was on the phone already. She was talking to her mother’s nursing home.
“What do you mean complications?”
Pulled from his thoughts, Dean realized that Charlie was crying. He stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder.
Charlie was clutching at the phone. “She can’t just be gone.” There was a pause. “Of course I knew it was coming, but that doesn’t make it easier.” Another pause. “Of course, yes, follow the instructions left in her file.” She nodded along to the last of the phone call then hung up.
Turning her slowly, Dean searched over her face.
Her eyes were puffy and her lip was quivering.
Dean pulled her to him and enveloped her in a tight hug. They stood like that for a long moment. He leant down to whisper in her ear. “I’m going to make my call while it’s my time slot. You stay right here, okay?”
Nodding, Charlie tried not to get tears on Dean’s uniform.
Lifting the phone and punching in the number, Dean cradled Charlie to his chest and the phone to his ear.
“Hey, Dean?” It wasn’t Cas, despite that he was calling Cas’ cell. It was Sam’s frantic voice.
Frustrated with yet another time of not speaking to Cas, Dean sighed lightly. “What’s up?”
Sam swallowed loud enough that Dean could hear it through the phone. “Jess is pregnant.”
Huffing a laugh, Dean shook his head a little. “I know that. She was pregnant when I left. She was talking to Mom about it, you know, her mother-in-law; and I happen to talk to Mom, too.”
“I know; it’s just…”
Nodding along, Dean got it. “Dad.” He swallowed; he wondered briefly if Sam could hear it.
Sam took in a shaky breath. “What if I’m just like him?” He sounded wrecked. This must have been weighing on him for a long time. Dean felt guilty for not talking to him about it earlier.
Dean sniffed. “I’m not like Dad.”
The words may not have been what anyone else would have needed to hear, but Dean knew Sam.
Sighing, Sam’s worried breathing settled. “Thanks, Dean.”
There was a beeping in the background of the call and it meant that his time was up. “You’re welcome. Now, relax and get some sleep.” Dean hung up. He turned around from the phone and wrapped himself fully around Charlie again. “I’m here.”
She pulled away a little, offered a small smile, and looked up at Dean. “You’re going to be a great dad.”
“I am a great dad.” Dean assured before pulling her back to his chest and tucking her under his chin.
Still crying, she whispered. “Cas is so lucky to have you and your mother looking after her. It’s hard to start a family.” She clutched to him harder.
Focusing on Charlie instead of the misunderstanding, Dean squeezed her. “It’s harder to lose a family.”
4.
Charlie was stuck in a mopey mood for a while, for good reason and all, but Dean kept trying to cheer her up. This time he knew he had exactly what she needed. He was ecstatic; there was no way that she wouldn’t be. “Charlie, Charlie!” He banged on her barrack’s door.
There was shuffling behind the door. Charlie opened it to reveal that she was still in her sweats and her hair was a mess from sleep. “What do you want?” It was a half whine, half growl. She moved so that he could step in. She had bunkmates, but luckily they were all on duty or doing something equally important.
“I have awesome news.” Dean peaked out the door and looked both ways before closing it. “I have exactly what you need to get you out of your funk.” He was grinning from ear to ear; his cheek muscles were sore.
She started to change. She pulled her uniform over her white t-shirt and shucked her pants to replace them with her black working-uniform pants. “What is it then?” She rubbed at her eyes and started to pull her hair up into a regulation bun, low enough so she could wear her cover.
Dean was absolutely giddy; his hands were shaking. “You may want to sit down for this.”
Turning to look at him with mild concern, Charlie finished her bun and did as she was told, taking a seat on the bottom bunk, messing up the regulation bed setting.
Kneeling in front of her, Dean couldn’t take the eagerness any more. “The decision just came through. The Navy now recognizes gay marriage.”
Charlie’s face didn’t move at all; shock must have paralyzed it. “You better not be shitting me, Winchester.”
With an incredulous laugh, Dean’s shoulders shook. “I’m not.”
“Oh my god.” Charlie’s eyes grew wide and a smile bloomed on her face. “Dorothy and I can- we can finally get alternating deployment. We can, we can get the b-benefits.”
Nodding, Dean took her hands. “Yeah. Isn’t it great?”
Launching forward, Charlie withdrew her hands from Dean’s and wrapped them around his neck. “Oh my god. Thank you, Dean. This is- this is exactly what I needed to hear.”
Pulling away, Dean nodded frantically. “I know right. Equality at its finest.”
She stood and put her hands on her head in lingering disbelief. To make room for her, Dean shifted so he was sitting on the bunk she had just vacated. Grinning impossibly wider, Charlie spun and laughed. She pulled Dean up and hugged him. “Thanks for being excited with me.”
“It’s not that hard to be excited for this. I mean, marriage benefits are fucking awesome compared to the alternative.” He pulled away and opened the door so he could leave. “Garth says you can have his dessert, if you want, in celebration and all.” He smirked at her.
She flopped back to the bunk to pull on her shiny uniform shoes. “What’s the dessert?”
“Pudding.”
She stood and fixed her bunk and the ruined bottom bunk. She smiled over her shoulder to Dean. “I’m going to have to take him up on that.”
“Figured you would.” Dean smiled while he walked down the hallway. He was absolutely enthused. He couldn’t wait for homecoming; it would be so much better now.
5.
They only had a week or two left. The entire boat was abuzz with chatter and grins. Charlie was broken between giddy and anxious. Dorothy wouldn’t be there for the homecoming; she was on her own ship under her own orders.
Dean was an almost permanent fixture at Charlie’s side, at least, when he could be.
He and Benny were on deck patrol, though, so he left her in the hands of Garth. Garth was a good person and all, but he was a little wonky around the edges. Good wonky most of the time, but sometimes he crossed over into just plain weird.
Dean paused and looked up at the sky. The problem with deck patrol was that he was surrounded with blue, the blue sky above and the blue sea in every other direction.
“You okay, Brother?” Benny paused a few steps ahead of him.
Catching his gaze, Dean felt a pang. Benny had blue eyes, but they were the wrong blue. “Cas has blue eyes.” It was all he could muster to say.
Benny nodded. “That must be tough.” He looked around. “Andrea has brown eyes, like rich dirt or good coffee.”
Scoffing, Dean looked pointedly away. “Lucky for you there’s no dirt in sight and all we have is shit coffee.” He shook his head.
“We’ll be docking at home soon. Just think, you’re beautiful Cas will be waiting for you. Everyone will be happy. It will be an amazing occasion.” Benny smiled.
Huffing out a breath, Dean turned to Benny. “I’m planning on proposing.”
Benny’s eyebrows pulled together. “You’re not married? Don’t ya’ll have a little girl?”
“Yeah. Cas’ll be bringing her along, too.” A ghost of a smile blessed Dean’s face. “My brother and his wife plan to be there. I’ll get to meet my new niece.”
“Think about that.” Benny offered a half smile.
Dean tried too, but he was still surrounded by forever blue.
+1
It was almost unreal. Dean walked down the ramp and scoured the crowd. Charlie was automatically following him, like the last weeks of him being near to her conditioned her to stay near him too. Benny broke off to greet Andrea and Garth must have picked up his girl’s scent or something because he took off at an almost sprint into the crowd.
Breathing heavily, Dean searched the faces.
“Daddy!”
He turned in time for a head of blonde hair to run into his stomach. Her little arms wrapped around him. He smiled wide. He peeled her off just long enough to kneel down and hug her properly. “How are you, girlie?”
She was laughing into his shoulder. “I am so much better.”
Benny had pulled his wife over to them and stood behind them. “Okay, where is this perfect Cas, huh?”
“I wouldn’t say perfect.”
Dean looked up and caught sight of Cas forcing his way through the happy crowd. He grinned and bit his lip. Turning to Claire in his arms, Dean whispered to her, “Charlie, here,” he gestured to her, “has no one to welcome her; how about you fix that?”
Nodding firmly and donning a determined expression, Claire pulled away from Dean and turned to Charlie.
Poor Charlie and Benny weren’t paying attention to them, though. They were looking at Cas with openly surprised faces.
“What?” Charlie asked in an almost whisper.
Claire tugged on her arm and demanded her attention. “I’m going to hug you now. Papa says to let people know if you want to hug them.”
Nodding, Charlie opened her arms mechanically. She was still completely taken by the fact that Cas was a man.
Depositing herself into Charlie’s arms, Claire hugged her tight. “Welcome home, Charlie.”
Dean stood and smiled at Cas.
By the look on his face, Dean could tell that Cas was letting Dean decide how they were going to proceed. If he wanted to make a scene, Cas would let him. If he wanted to keep it quiet still, Cas would let him. Dean didn’t want that though.
Biting his lip, Dean made his final decision. He crossed the short space and pulled Cas into a kiss. Taking his lead, Cas kissed back. He pulled on Dean’s jaw and slotted his lips against Dean’s.
Dean pulled back long enough to call for Sam and Garth.
“Woah, okay,” was all that Garth said when he emerged from the crowd with a giggling Bess in tow. Sam, Jess, and their brand new baby girl weren’t far behind Cas. They were grinning. They both knew what Dean was planning.
Taking a silent role call in his head to make sure that everyone that could be there was there, Dean finally knelt in front of Cas. He looked up, proud. “Cas, I love you with all my heart and I think that we’ve danced around this long enough. The Navy has given me quite a few swift kicks, but this has got to be my favorite.”
Just as Dean had always imagined, Cas wasn’t crying or shocked, he stood there with a small smile and waited patiently. When they had first met, Dean had to go on a deployment and Cas had waited for him. The man was too patient for his own good. It balanced out Dean’s tendency toward the opposite. Cas began nodding, though, before Dean even asked the question, it was the one thing Dean had ever seen him impatient about.
“Will you marry me?” He pulled on the chain around his neck and pulled it over his head. Hanging there, with his dog tags, was a silver ring, Cas’ size. Dean had put it there when he bought it for safe keeping.
Cas nodded quicker. “Of course.”
They went out for drinks, all of them. Dean called his mother and told her the news. It was a beautiful homecoming.