Work Text:
“Sam! Sammy! Down here!” Dean waved trying to get his brothers attention until Sam waved back and ushered Gabriel down the aisle. When they got to the row Sam pushed Gabriel in first so he could sit on the end.
“How did you get front row seats?”
Dean grinned. “It doesn’t hurt to be married to the director of the play.”
“Where is Cas?” Gabriel asked glancing around.
“He’s backstage with the kids fixing costumes and stuff last minute. You know he made all of the costumes himself.”
Sam laughed and patted Dean’s shoulder lightly. “Yes Dean we know how proud you are.”
“Damn right. Cas is the best. Plus you see Claire over there.” Dean gestured to the curtains where Claire was dressed all in black holding a long rope. She waved when she saw them looking. “Claire even volunteered to be stage crew for this thing.”
“The play is like 80 percent Winchester at this point.” Sam grinned waving at Charlie who was on the side of the stage waiting for her cue to go on.
Dean stood up and turned toward them pointing his camera at them grinning. “Smile for the camera Sammy. Tell your kids how proud you are of them.”
Gabriel sat up and waved enthusiastically. “Hey! Papa is the MOST proud of you tonight!”
Sam laughed and nudged Gabriel’s side. “We’re ALL very proud of all you kids. Especially Claire for working hard even though you don’t get any of the credit.”
Dean spun the camera around on himself and gave the camera a thumbs up. “We love you kiddo.” He righted the camera and shot the kids on the side fidgeting and waiting for everything to start. John saw him and turned his head like he was embarrassed that his dad was paying so much attention to him.
“They are so cute!” Dean exclaimed.
“Even if Bobby is just tinsel.” Gabriel said not for the first time voicing his annoyance. They’d been over this a hundred times.
Sam interjected. “Gabe he’s 3, did you want him to be the star of this thing reciting Shakespeare?”
“He could have been the star. Literally. I don’t see why that other kid is the star. He can’t even stop picking his nose for more than 10 seconds.”
“It’s a grade school play Gabe. Relax. Besides, your son WANTED to be the tinsel. It was, ‘Shiny and pretty’. So just be proud of him.” Dean said spinning around to get the crowd in his shot.
Gabriel huffed, “Easy for you to say. Mary is the Christmas Angel. I call shenanigans! Cas is the director. He showed favoritism.”
“He did not. Charlie is also a Christmas Angel.”
“But she’s not THE Christmas Angel.”
Dean laughed and turned the camera again and almost bumped into someone. “Oh excuse me!” he said but suddenly didn’t feel bad when he saw who it was.
Susan, the head of the PTA was standing next to his row smiling condescendingly as always.
“Oh excuse me Mr. Winchester, but I think there has been a mistake. You’re in our seats.”
“Your seats?” Gabriel asked almost standing but Sam grabbed his arm and kept him in place.
Dean put on the fakest smile he could manage. “Sorry. No mistake. I’ve been sitting here for the last 2 hours saving these seats for us.” He’d come ahead of time with Cas to watch last minute rehearsals and to make sure they had front row seats to see the kids.
“But as you know our Michael is the star of the play and the stars family always gets front row.”
Gabriel snorted, “So your kid is the one who won’t stop picking his nose?”
She huffed and stood up straighter. “Our son would never! He is the Toy Solider Prince.”
“Everyone knows the Christmas Angel is the star of the play. Besides, we got here first. Maybe next time you should leave earlier.” Sam said and Susan dropped her nice act and glared at them.
The music suddenly started and Dean grinned and turned the camera toward the stage as the lights dimmed. Susan kept making noises behind him. He ignored it until she finally crossed the line.
“His kid is just a glorified decoration. Why does he get front row when I don’t?”
Dean turned around and pinned her with the iciest stare he had.
“Susan, if you don’t go find a seat in the back, and get out of here so I can record my kids play without your pathetic noises in the background I swear on Christmas that at the next bake sale I will stand next to your booth and tell everyone who walks by that your secret grandmothers recipe is Nestle tollhouse. Now move.”
Susan sputtered for over a minute her mouth hanging open before she humphed, stomped her foot and walked back up the aisle.
“Damn Dean, I didn’t know you were such a mean girl.” Gabriel said slapping him on the back.
“Nobody talks shit about my nephew.”
The music got louder and the kids started walking on stage. The audience applauded as the kids all stood on the stage waving to their parents and smiling. Dean recorded all the kids but did have to turn the camera on Cas who was on the side lines with a script in his hand so he could whisper lines to the kids who stumbled. Cas waved and Dean grinned harder.
Susan was a pain in the ass on most days, but he wasn’t going to let her ruin his night. The play went off with all the adorableness that only grade school kids could pull off and Dean, dorky dad that he is recorded the entire thing, alternating from the stage, to the sides where Cas was, to zooming in on Claire when she walked across the stage to change props. When the play was over the lights came back on and all the kids came running off stage to meet up with their parents. Dean kept recording because, why the hell not, until Cas walked up to him and pushed the camera down smiling.
“I think that’s enough Dean. That tape is probably 4 hours long now with all the before and after footage.”
“Hello Mr. Director.” Dean leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. “That was seriously the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”
Cas laughed. “Did you even get ANY shots of the kids? Every time I looked up you were shooting me.”
Dean nodded and pulled the camera back up and pointed it at Cas. “I got everybody.” He spun around and recorded Gabe scoop up Bobby and coo over how good at being tinsel he was, and recorded Claire walking up covering her face.
“Dean come on! You’ve been recording me all night.”
“Well at least I don’t feel singled out now.” Cas said and pulled Claire into a hug when she was close enough. “Thank you so much for everything tonight. You and your friends were amazingly fast with those sets.”
Claire nodded but Dean saw her smile under all the praise. “Whatever.” She said quickly trying to hid it. “They have cookies and stuff in the lobby, I’m gonna go meet Alex. Text me when we’re ready to leave.”
“Alright.”
Claire walked off and Dean recorded her go, while she turned around and glared at him the whole way up the aisle. Dean grinned when he felt something hit his leg.
“You saw me daddy!” Mary asked excitedly.
“I did sweetheart. You were awesome!”
John walked up and Dean pulled him into a hug. “You too Johnny.”
“Why don’t we all go get some cookies?” Sam asked and the kids squealed and ran ahead. Gabriel right behind them. Dean slung an arm around Cas and followed with Sam at their side. When they got to the lobby they saw Susan preening under praise of some of the other mothers.
“Oh Susan! Thank you so much for baking all these cookies for the after party. It must have been so much effort on Christmas Eve.”
Dean cleared his throat and nodded toward Cas. “Not as much as Cas directing a play, carpooling 5 kids, hand making 11 costumes and feeding them lines all night.”
“Dean.” Cas mumbled, embarrassment clear on his face. But the other mothers smiled and abandoned Susan to come over to Cas.
“Oh absolutely! I can’t believe how much work you put into this.”
“You were so incredible!”
“You did such a great job with the kids.”
Dean smiled under their praise of his husband, because unlike Susan, they were genuine with their compliments. Dean looked up and caught Susan’s gaze. She glared at him, but just then Gabe walked up to her table and picked up a cookie and took a bite. He recoiled dramatically and spit it out in a napkin.
“Ugh! These are those Shoprite cookies that always taste like cardboard. Remember Sammy? When we got those LAST MINUTE on the way to your dad’s birthday?”
Susan’s face turned bright red and she stomped off. Gabe looked over at him and winked. Dean was so proud of his whole family right now.