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The days when Castiel could wake up to the smell of coffee, with no hints of burnt toast, were special occasions in the Winchester house, unlike Gabriel, Cas had never submitted to the ‘house wife’ label, often times it was Dean fussing about in the morning over breakfast. Dean still had trouble adjusting to ‘normal’ life and it didn’t help any when Gabriel insisted on ‘popping in’ every once in a while. It’d been a little over six years since they’d sealed the gates of hell, the result was peace on Earth essentially and with the demons gone it seemed a moot point for the angels to stay; though that didn’t mean that the angels had all returned.
Cas and Gabriel weren’t the only angels; others had rebelled and fallen so that they could remain on Earth though all of them had lost their Grace. Castiel still maintained his because of Gabriel who’d been a lost cause since before the Apocalypse hence he was still able to keep his Archangel status and give Cas a bit of a power boost. Everything was normal for the most part, with one small addition…
“Papa!” a small voice called, Castiel flopped over on the bed to see John who was standing by the door, his stuffed rabbit clutched tightly in his left hand and his downy soft hair caught in tangles of dark brown curls. “Daddy’s makin brea’fast.”
Castiel opened up his arms and John sprinted over to the bed, crawling over the covers to snuggle up closer to his Papa. “We’ll just wait for Daddy to come and get us.” he said, Cas knew Dean loved ‘surprising’ Cas and their son to breakfast in the morning. Castiel liked doing these things for Dean, just to see that smile spread across his face, Dean’s green eyes gleaming with pride.
Several minutes later, after John had fallen asleep again in renewed tiredness, Dean appeared with a mug of coffee in hand and a grin spreading across his face. Cas didn’t bother looking up as he felt the familiar dip in the bed as Dean joined them, he was simply too focused on John. Every day that went by was just another chance each of them got to marvel at their son, he truly was extraordinary.
On school days John would come home with a paper in hand or a homemade picture that he insisted be added to the fridge, through the summer he’d learn how to swim (alongside Castiel who was still getting used to the ‘human’ aspect of everything) or he’d go bike riding with Mary (If Gabriel stopped being so overprotective every once in a while, he’d be sitting on the steps with a first aid kit every time Mary and John would arrive back home) sometimes John’d even have sleepovers with other children, though this took a lot of convincing (on Castiel’s part) since Dean wasn’t all that ready to trust others with the safety of John.
“Cas babe, Sammy and Gabriel said they’d be over at around one-ish with Mary.” Dean said his voice low as he combed a hand through John’s messy curls, John’s eyes opening a fraction at the contact to reveal lidded blue eyes just like his Papa’s.
“I thought they had Mary’s ballet rehearsal?” Cas questioned, stretching as he sat up in bed, reaching for the mug of coffee in Dean’s hand.
“Cancelled,” Dean said handing over the mug and smiling as Cas closed his eyes breathing in the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. “C’mon, you’re gonna need more than coffee to keep up with three kids.”
Castiel looked a bit puzzled, “Dean, it’s just John and Mary, that is only two children.”
“You’re forgetting Gabriel.” Dean smiled, looking up through his eyelashes; Cas was pleased to say that Dean had warmed up to Gabriel in the past few years.
“I guess that seems to be an adequate assessment.” Cas noted, lifting the covers so he could shimmy out of bed, Dean stood and wrapped him into a tight hug, Cas resting his head on Dean’s shoulder. On the bed John stirred, his eyes now completely open.
“Hey kiddo, you ready for some breakfast?” Dean said, breaking apart from Cas and moving to pick up John who was still looking a bit dazed but was smiling nonetheless.
“Mhm.” John’s head was resting neatly against Dean’s shoulder as he looked over at his Papa; Castiel followed them both out into the kitchen which was nice and roomy for a family of three. They’d had their fair share of mishaps in the kitchen but nothing loads of paper towels couldn’t clean up.
Today the pancakes were shaped as little tires since it was Dean’s turn to pick. Castiel would always choose wings and John liked basically anything, though his favorites were animal shaped pancakes. John was the first to sit down, napkin already spread out on his lap.
“Thank you Daddy!” John said excitedly as Dean placed the Cars themed plate on John’s placemat, reaching into a lower cabinet to retrieve the maple syrup.
“Tell me when.” He said, popping the cap and drizzling the sticky sweet liquid over the pancakes, John waited and waited until the coating was just right before saying “When!” John laughed as Dean ruffled his hair, leaving to check the mail.
“Are you excited for Thursday?” Castiel asked, in just four days John would be on his way to kindergarten.
John stopped mid chew, thinking on the question, his brow furrowing, “I don’ wanna leave you and Daddy.” He mumbled, after swallowing the food in his mouth, a little bit of syrup on the side of his mouth.
Reaching for the paper towels and running one under the tap Castiel leaned down and wiped away the sticky matter, kissing the top of Johns head. “You’re Daddy and I will be just fine, though we shall miss you just as much.”
“But what’ll you ‘n Daddy do when ‘m at school?” He persisted; Cas could see how he was so much like Dean already.
“Well, I’m sure Uncle Sam and Uncle Gabriel will come over to keep us company.” Cas said reassuringly, and it was probably true too.
John seemed content enough with this answer that he ate the rest of his breakfast in silence.
The rest of the morning went in quiet succession, they all washed dishes, Dean washing Cas rinsing and John drying, from there they did a little house cleaning while Dean did some work out in the yard (there were a couple of planks loose in the fence) and soon enough all three were exhausted and sprawled on the couch, Dean spooning Cas who had John practically asleep against his chest.
They both knew that the peace and quiet was short lived as a whooshing sound filled the air.
“Gabriel!” Dean half shouted, turning to where the newly arrived guest was standing, “I thought I told you no more poofing in here like that.” His tone was serious but Cas was still having difficulty keeping a straight face after hearing Dean say ‘poofing’.
Castiel heard the faint sound of someone knocking on the front door, and Gabriel was quick to say that it was Sam and Mary since they’d insisted on taking the boring way. Cas and Sam had made their way into the kitchen, as Mary took off with John into the small sitting room near the front of the house that connected with the kitchen.
Gabriel came sauntering over to the living room, out of earshot of the kids and Sam who were in the kitchen with Castiel; (though with the lingering effects of his grace Castiel could still hear far beyond his reach) “I still don’t get why you’re such a tight ass about the angel thing.”
“It’s a bad habit, did you ever think that the children might-”
“Ohoho, that’s what this is about,” Gabriel cut in, rolling his eyes, “I think you’re just mad that Johnny hasn’t applied his grace yet.” The smug look on Gabriel’s face was only helping to egg Dean on.
“Oh really, like Mary has any more luck than John!”
“Actually, yeah hotshot, she’s just like her Daddy.” Gabriel beamed proudly.
“You mean her ‘mommy’,” Dean added all snarky and with that twinkle in his eyes.
Cas decided to tune the rest out, there were more important things to fret over after all, like how Sam was setting up a board game and had disregarded the directions, the result being a very odd looking board. Their day went on as such, Gabriel and Dean and their “my kids better” competition (though each knew that Mary and John were both perfect little angels, literally) and Sam and Cas talking about their new jobs. Before they knew it the time for Gabriel, Sam, and Mary to head back home had arrived, after the numerous ‘goodbyes’ and ‘see you later’ the rest of the night was a blur. John was old enough to sleep in his own room so he’d hugged and kissed his parents ‘night before heading off to dreamland.
So that left Cas, snug as a bug in Deans arms with the blankets pilled around them and Deans hands on him, he was pleased with the lingering kiss that he and Dean shared, the ‘I love you’ (though it didn’t need to be said, it was understood and known by both) followed by the soft snore of Dean’s as he fell asleep. Cas still suffered from insomnia but it wasn’t as bad as before, he liked the time to think anyways; think about life.
Sam had finally gone back to school, getting his degree and opening up a small operation for people who needed a lawyer fast, while Dean worked with Bobby in the garage, Gabriel had resigned himself to the ‘house wife’ role while Cas had decided to take a part time job helping out at the library. The routine was hard to get used to and Castiel still hadn’t completely adapted to it yet but he enjoyed all the simple things in his new life.
Most nights when the kids were asleep, Gabriel and Sam would drop by for a bit. Sam had cut his hair now, it was long since overdue, Gabriel had refused saying that it’d be confusing since Mary already called Gabriel “Mom” (He’d bitched for days after it happened, but now he didn’t really mind). Sam and Dean would go out into the backyard with an ice chest of beer (though it was quiet empty since it only held four, one for each of them, what? They were parents now) while Gabriel and Cas sat in the kitchen, Cas listening quietly as Gabriel described the fascinating things that went on now that he was human, now that they were human, which could range from “Cas did you know-” up to “I’m getting old…I don’t know if I like getting old.”
Castiel knew that getting old was a part of this whole ‘human’ thing, but it didn’t bother him, not really, with Dean next to him reassuring and supportive as always he knew that maybe he wouldn’t mind, getting old, but only because he knew that he’d be getting old with Dean. They’d watch as John grew into a man, as he found a wife (or husband) and Cas would share everything with Dean, thinking about everything in one large scope made Castiel realize that his life as an angel was dead and gone, same as Deans life as a hunter; they were parents, they were spouses, they were a family.
But sometimes, when the mood is right, Castiel likes to remember the old days when it was Team Free Will and the Impala (nothing but long stretches of road as far as they could see), Dean driving at unimaginably reckless speeds as Sam did research from the back, Castiel riding shotgun as they tracked their latest hunt. A part of him would always love those days, because when you break it down, Cas and Dean will always be The Angel of Thursday and The Hunter.