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"Daddy! Daddy!" Jack yelled as he ran out of school as soon as he saw Dean standing in the courtyard. "I got a role in a Christmas play!" Dean saw the sheets of paper in Jack's hand. The boy had recently got really interested in extra curriculum activities and one of them happened to be theatre. Neither Dean nor Castiel had any acting skills but they were supporting their son in his new hobby.
"Congratulations, bud! Who are you playing?" Jack showed Dean the front page with all the kids assigned to their roles. When the hunter laid his eyes on Jack's name, his heart ached. He never thought he'd see the name again.
Castiel was sitting at the table in the war room, reading a book that Sam had recommended to him a few days ago. He really enjoyed the life they all had now. Sam and Dean would go on occasional hunts while Castiel would mostly stay with Jack and help them from the distance. It was a big change difference from what their lives had looked like before but a good one. For the first time since forever Castiel was freely able to feel happy without being afraid of the Empty taking him away.
"Papa!" Jack's happy voice filled the bunker. A big smile appeared on the angel's face. "I got a role in a Christmas play!" he said with the same enthusiasm. Castiel was familiar with the idea of Christmas yet he had never really understood it. Most of the traditions and stories behind it were made up by humans who were some so-called prophets claiming to have contacts with God. Still, it seemed to be a big thing for the believers on Earth. Sam and Dean seemed to like it too. Even though, their Christmases weren't usually the happiest ones, they held a special place in their hearts so Castiel was more than happy to introduce Jack to them too.
"Really? That's fantastic, Jack." The boy quickly found himself in Castiel's lap, fiddling excitedly with the script to the Christmas play. "Who will you be playing?" the angel asked, not really knowing all the characters that would be included in such a spectacle.
Jack pointed at his name on the sheet of paper. "Uncle Gabe!"
The name reverberated in Castiel's head. It'd been a couple of years since Gabriel's death. Their last interactions weren't the most wholesome and family-like but nonetheless, Gabriel was more than special to the angel.
Already from his fledgling years Castiel could remember the archangel protecting him like nobody else. It was Gabriel who taught him to fly and fight. When Castiel had made a mistake, Gabriel would have been the one to defend him in front of all the other archangels. He was Castiel's true big brother that's why, after the archangel's disappearance the angel was completely on his own. For eons he had tried to understand Gabriel's decision but he couldn't. He would have never left Jack or Dean or Sam or anybody he really cared about. That whole event was still filling Castiel with anger and frustration but even despite that, he missed Gabriel dearly.
"Papa? Why are you crying?" Castiel didn't even realize he was but when his son pointed it he quickly wiped the tears away. There was no reason for the boy to have to calm his father down.
"I'm just very happy for you, Jack." The angel hugged the Nephilim tight and as he did it he could see Dean witnessing every moment of their wholesome interaction. He gave Castiel thumbs up. "I know you will do great."
The rest of the day, the angel seemed to be rather quiet. Dean knew that Castiel wouldn't be talkative so all he offered was gentle touches and warm smiles. They seemed to help him relax to the point when in the late evening the two of them were sitting on a couch, once Jack was already in bed, cuddled up to each other. The hunter kept lazily brushing Castiel's hair and pressing soft kisses on his scalp. Dean could almost see thoughts that were running around Castiel's mind. They'd never talked about Castiel's relationship with Gabriel. Mostly, because the topic had never come up. Dean was now wondering what it looked like. Did angels actually have any emotional or family-like relationships? Was there any space and time for that in Heaven? Apparently, there was since the pure mention of Gabriel made Castiel all quiet and... almost vulnerable.
"How are you feeling?" Dean said quietly as he planted another kiss on Castiel's scalp. The movie that they were watching was long forgotten and now his whole attention was focused on the angel.
Castiel let out a sigh and leaned more against the hunter. "I feel wrong," he whispered. "I should be happy that Jack found a hobby and he's enjoying it— I mean, I am happy," he added quickly. "But... when he mentioned Gabriel I stared feeling things that..."
"Have been quiet for a long time?" Dean finished for him, getting a shy nod in return. "There's nothing wrong with it, Cas. You're just mourning, that's valid. Besides, Jack knows you're happy for him."
For the next month, Jack was practising his lines. His acting buddy happened to be Dean since Castiel didn't feel like doing it and both Jack and Dean respected that. However, it didn't happen without briefly explaining the boy that his Papa wasn't mad at him.
The hunter had to admit that Jack was surprisingly good at imitating Gabriel. A little bit too good at some point. Dean had to suggest sticking more to the actual script rather than improvising.
"But Uncle Gabe wouldn't be so polite!" was Jack's main remark each time his dad was trying to correct him. Truth be told, the kid was right and it was really difficult to explain to him that his certain ideas of how to improve the character weren't actually the best for a school play. However, they only proved how well Jack got to know Gabriel in that short period of time.
Eventually, when the play day was there, Dean was confident with Jack who couldn't hide his excitement when they three of them were in a car, driving to school. Of course, Jack invited Eileen and Sam to come to because how could they not watch Jack's first school play? Without hesitance, both of them agreed and promised they would be there to support him so Jack was even happier to perform. Dean and Castiel expected the boy to get more nervous the closer it was getting to the play but it was the opposite. Each time that brought Jack closer to the premiere, he was getting more impatient. The need to show off his acting skills was growing faster and faster.
"Hi, Ms Louise!" Jack waved at his teacher, walking down the corridor as his dads were right behind him, smiling seeing how confident Jack was getting with social interactions.
"Hello, Jack," the woman replied, smiling at the three of them. "I see your dads came to watch you on the stage, right?"
"How could we not?" Dean chuckled and ruffled Jack's hair.
The teacher asked Jack to go behind the stage in order to change into his costume and prepare for the play. The boy happily ran off, almost missing his dads wishing him good luck.
"Who would have guessed that that's the same Jack that couldn't stop clinging to his dad on his first day at school," Ms Louise said, giving Castiel a knowing look. They both remembered very well Jack's first day. The angel had to spend two hours trying to help his boy adjust to the new environment only to decide to take him back home and try again the next day.
"We would like to thank you for your help and understanding," Castiel said to which Dean joined with a nod.
Ms Louise just waved her hand like it was nothing. "Oh, don't worry. Jack wasn't the first and certainly the last kid who struggled with getting used to school. It's always about time."
"Now, we can barely get him to eat breakfast before going to school," Dean pointed out and the three of them shared a chuckle. That was their own small win.
Once, the teacher had to go, Dean and Castiel took seats in the main hall in front of a stage that had already been decorated, trying to imitate Bethlehem. The art kids really did their best because everything looked lovely.
Soon, the two men were joined by Sam and Eileen who were greeted by them with smiles. Knowing that both of them cared so much about Jack always melted Dean and Castiel's hearts.
In took another twenty minutes, before the play started. Two kids, playing Mary and Joseph, walked down the aisle right on the stage. Dean smirked when the girl who played Mary took a baby doll from under a hay bale but he had to admit that it all looked wholesome. Of course, Eileen, Sam and Dean knew the whole story very well, having watched the same type of play countless times. Castiel, on the other hand, was carefully following the kids with his eyes, intrigued in that form of spreading the words of Chuck.
'Was Jesus actually real?' Eileen signed to Castiel secretly.
Castiel, being the Angel of the Lord who knew all languages on Earth, smiled at her softly and signed back. 'He was alive but he was simply a prophet. Chuck never considered him his son or heir. I had a pleasure to meet him and he was a very kind young man.' Both Eileen and Castiel shared a quiet laugh and turned back to watch the play developing.
When the scenario changed, three 'kings' appeared on the stage, a high and excited voice came from the backstage.
Wise men of the East,
a child is born in Bethlehem —
the King of Heaven and Earth.
After that Jack, wearing a white gown and a golden pair of wings (he was insisting on black ones, though) appeared on the stage. He felt confident as he walked up to the three kids sitting around a campfire. They turned to look at him in surprise. Jack was standing there with hands on his hips, pushing his chest forward. There was something in his posture that truly reminded his whole family of Gabriel. To the point where Castiel grabbed Dean's hand, squeezing it, grounding himself at the same time. The hunter's thumb was gently rubbing the angel's knuckles, giving him as much comfort as possible. In fact, it was getting difficult to hold back his emotions as well. Seeing their little boy having the time of his life, standing there in the flash of ligts, was feeling things that he hadn't for years. Pride.
"Dude, you're crying?" a whisper reached Dean's ears. He turned his head to the side to see Sam's teasing smile. Of course, he wasn't actually making fun of his brother. If anything, Sam was happy to see Dean letting himself be emotional.
"What?" The older brother quickly wiped off a stray tear that was falling down his cheek. "Never." That was the worst lie that Dean had ever tell. But he had to keep his tough guy personality. However, when he made a very brief eye contact with Jack and saw him grinning from ear to ear, knowing his whole family watching him, before focusing back on he play, Dean just gave up and didn't wipe the other tear off.
After a round of applause, when the play was over, the kids walked off the stage. The school principal gave some boring speech after which parents and other members of the audience left the main hall in order to wait for their kids. Jack was the first one to run down the corridor to almost jumped into Castiel's arms, giving him the biggest hug ever.
"Papa! Did I do good?" he asked with excitement in his eyes.
"You did wonderful, Jack," Castiel brushed his hair out of his face (the kid had insisted on not cutting it short in order to look more like Uncle Gabriel). "Gabriel would be so proud of you."
As they walked back to the car, the boy managed to drift off in Castiel's arms which was rather predictable after such a big day. In the meantime, Dean and Eileen was having a brief chat about the lore aspects of that school play, while Sam caught up with the angel and squeezed his arm to get his attention.
"Hey, Cas."
The angel smiled softly at his friend, holding Jack protectively in his arms. "Yes?"
"You know, I think Gabriel would be proud of you too."
Those few simple words successfully warmed Castiel's heart. He didn't remember whether anybody had ever told him that they were proud of him. So only the thought of his brother being proud of him was bringing him a lot of joy and comfort.
"Thank you, Sam."