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The best thing about having an angel boyfriend who didn’t need to sleep was that when baby Bobby John woke up at two AM, screaming his little baby lungs out, all Dean needed to do was pray and roll back over.
Waking up at a reasonable time and padding into the living room to see Cas gently rocking Bobby John while a nature documentary played quietly in the background was a far better experience than trying to shush baby Sam in a tiny motel room while his dad was passed out, drunk, in the corner.
Dean was still groggy when he emerged from his and Cas’s shared room (not that Cas spent much time in there, but it was his in spirit, and he usually stayed long enough for Dean to fall asleep), but he couldn’t help but smile at the sight in front of him, his chest filled with chick-flick-moment warmth.
Quietly, Dean stepped further into the room, draping himself on the couch next to Cas, his coffee cup in his hands.
“He asleep?” Dean asked, voice gruff from sleep.
Cas was warm beside him, and Dean let himself sink further into Cas’s space, their knees pressed together and Dean’s head dangerously close to dropping onto Cas’s shoulder.
“For now,” Cas replied, his eyes not leaving Bobby John’s fragile little form.
Looking at the baby, bundled in a plaid blanket in an old rocker Bobby had gotten from Jody Mills, Dean found it hard to remember that Bobby John’s dad was a monster. Though, Dean supposed the kid hadn’t exactly traded up; Dean had plenty of blood on his hands himself.
But, still, Dean wasn’t planning on training the kid to hunt humans, so that had to count for something. Obviously, he’d have to teach Bobby John how to hunt, but he’d make sure to give him the choice to not be in the life– slip him one of Sammy’s old college pamphlets, as long as the dining hall silverware wasn’t well, actually, silver.
Oh, crap. Dean stared at Bobby John, taking a long gulp of coffee, the gentle drone of the documentary narrator drowned out by the racing thoughts in his head. One of these days– not until Bobby John was old enough, and definitely not before Dean had his speech practiced and peer-reviewed– he was going to have to sit his son down and tell him that he was a monster.
“Is everything okay, Dean?”
Dean looked up from the kid to see Cas’s concerned blue eyes intensely focused on him.
“Yeah, I’m fine, I just–” The words stalled in Dean’s throat. “I’m glad you’re here, Cas. Thanks for sticking around, and helping me take care of Bobby John here.” Dean paused. “But, uh, if you ever need to…take off, back to Heaven, don’t let me keep you here.”
Cas frowned. His hand on the rocker stilled. “Do you not want me here?”
Well, shoot. “No, that’s not what I meant at all. It’s just, he’s my kid, so I don’t want you to feel like you have to–”
A fond smile was pulling at Cas’s lips as he interrupted Dean. “Exactly. He is your kid, so I would be honored to watch over him. Besides, you also require sleep Dean.”
“Oh. Cool.” For good measure, Dean pressed a kiss to the corner of Cas’s mouth, adding, “I like having you around.”
“I like being around,” Cas replied, turning his face towards Dean, prompting Dean to give him a longer, lingering kiss on the lips.
Dean settled back into the couch, and Cas resumed his rocking of Bobby John, still sleeping peacefully. Even a year ago, Dean never thought he’d be cohabiting– much less coparenting– with an angel of the lord, but in the words of Bob Seger, it was funny how the night moved. Not that Dean was complaining– the soft domesticity he’d found with Cas, from the nights spent cuddled in Dean’s bed, watching old cowboy movies, to the relentless hand-holding any time Dean went out to the convenience store down the street to pick up more formula, was one of the best things Dean had had in a long time.
“You think he’s gonna change again soon?” Dean asked, breaking the comfortably quiet silence, staring at Bobby John.
It had been about two weeks since they’d last seen Bobby John shift, and he still retained Cas’s blue eyes and dark hair. It did odd things to Dean’s chest, seeing his kid look so much like Cas. Because Bobby John was his kid now, the same way he was Bobby’s.
“Most likely, yes. I wonder who he’ll look like next.”
“Probably Sam, with the way you’ve been feeding him all these documentaries,” Dean said. He tried to smile, pointedly ignoring the fact that Sam had wanted to turn the kid over to a bunch of hunters they couldn’t trust. “Or Bobby. I can already see the gray hair and trucker hat.”
He finished the last dregs of coffee, setting his mug aside in favor of interlacing his hand with Cas’s free one, pressing light kisses to the knuckles. Cas seemed content with letting Dean move Cas’s body as he pleased, watching Dean with a fond smile.
In front of Cas, Bobby John let out a tiny whine, shifting in his rocker. Dean straightened, waiting for the waterworks as his eyes slowly blinked open, his tiny balled fists rubbing at his chest.
“Do you think he wants coffee?” Dean asked, more to see the adorable frown on Cas’s face.
“It isn’t safe to give young children caffeine.”
Dean stood up, planting a kiss on Cas’s forehead. “Better than alcohol, though, right?” When Dean pulled away, his boyfriend looked adorably scandalized. “Relax, I’m kidding, I’m not going to poison our kid with beer.”
Dean kissed his fingers, tapping them gently to Bobby John’s forehead. “I’m going to grab you some breakfast, okay?” he told the baby, as Bobby John babbled incoherently. “Be good for your other dad.”
Dean made his way into the kitchen, checking the fridge for more pureed vegetables disguised as baby food. Seriously, one of these days, he was going to have to find proper baby food for Bobby John, like pureed bacon cheeseburger.
“D’you think he wants the orange goop or the green goop today, Cas?” Dean asked, peering back at him
Cas was staring at him, eyes wide with some emotion Dean couldn’t describe, but it looked a lot like…wonder. Amazement. Love.
“Cas?” Dean asked, tentatively.
Cas swallowed. “Sorry, I just– you referred to me as his…father.”
“You’re the one on the night shift for diaper duty, I think that qualifies you as a parent, if you want.” Hadn’t they just had a whole conversation about this?
“Yes,” Cas said quickly. “Yes, I do want. And I think the green baby food will work just fine.”