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Sam couldn’t remember slipping throughout the day. He could usually tell when he was going to slip into his Little mindset and he always gave himself time to free his schedule so he could spend the night with Gabe. It was one of their rules: always tell daddy when he was feeling little.
It was important for obvious reasons. If he was on a hunt or with a stranger, he could get really hurt or even killed.
But today was a different circumstance.
Sam woke up with an extremely bad migraine. He even slept in because of how much his head had been pounding. He tried to get up to go about his day but it only got worse to the point he couldn’t function. So, at four o’clock, he slipped into bed with the whole room as dark and quiet as possible.
Dean left him as soon as he realized Sam wasn’t feeling good, knowing a sick Sam was a cranky Sam. He left with one order: get some rest.
But during his rest, Sam went from cursing his head and considering overdosing on pain medicine just for some release, to whimpering and starting to cry.
At one point, the magic word slipped past his lips and that’s all it took,
“Daddy.”
Gabriel never flew faster to his side, it was a little disorientating to Sam’s frazzled mind. He turned his head into the pillow, scrubbing his stinging eyes with his fists.
“What is it, buddy?” Gabe asked as quiet as he could, sitting next to Sam on his bed to run his fingers through the boy’s shaggy hair.
“Head hurts, daddy. Makin’ my tummy hurt, too.” Sam explained in a hoarse voice, a little hitch indicating how close to tears he was.
“Oh no! Let me take you home and we’ll get you changed into some comfy pajama then you can sleep it off. Deal?” Gabriel whispered, gently massaging Sam’s scalp.
Sam whimpered an affirmative, the pounding easing slightly from the massage. He didn’t know what caused it but he got really bad migraines sometimes; could be from lack of sleep or stress but he knows he’s been doing a lot of both lately.
Gabriel wrote a quick note to Dean to let him know where Sam went before he carefully gathered Sam in his arms. He moved slowly so as not to jostle Sam and make his head hurt worse, but Sam immediately buried his face into Gabe’s neck to hide his eyes.
Though weary about traveling by angel flight, Gabe knew there was no other option. He tried to make it as smooth and fast for Sam as possible but his baby boy let out a pained whine regardless.
“Hush now, I’ve got you.” Gabriel whispered, rubbing Sammy’s back as he carried him to his room. He made sure to extinguish the lights as walked towards them so Sam’s migraine wasn’t intensified.
Finally reaching Sam’s room, Gabriel set him on the bed. He quickly and efficiently got Sam’s clothes off, putting him into some soft footie pajamas to keep him comfortable. Sam was a champ, despite really not helping much, he didn’t complain once, though a few tears rolled down his cheeks from the pain.
Gabriel tucked him in and used his mojo to snap up Sam’s favorite sippy full of his favorite juice. He gently pressed it to Sam’s lips, smiling softly when his baby boy automatically started suckling to get a drink down his throat to wash away the gross taste from when he had been crying. He felt yucky from crying and he just wanted to sleep forever until it went away.
“There we go, baby boy. Get some rest, alright?” Gabriel murmured, running his fingers through Sam’s hair, gently pulsing some grace through his scalp. He couldn’t take the migraine away but he could try and lessen the pain for Sam to get some sleep.
Sam was hugging his favorite stuffed dragon in one arm but his other arm was spread over Gabe’s lap, his fingers curling into his soft shirt to make sure he wouldn’t leave. Within seconds, he was sleeping fitfully, his brows furrowed and a small frown on his lips, but he was sleeping and it was good enough.
Stuck for the time being, Gabriel simply stayed there, setting Sam’s sippy on the nightstand and running his fingers through his baby’s long hair for hours.
He felt bad for Sam, the kid hardly ever got sick, and with Sam it was either go big or go home.This migraine must be really bad for him to not even want to attempt to lie about it. Gabe just hoped the pain was gone by the time Sam awoke.
Incessantly massaging Sam’s scalp, Gabe tried to push as much grace as he safely could to soothe Sam’s head. He watched as the little furrow between the young Winchester’s brows smoothed out and his face relaxed into a less painful sleep.
When Sam woke up a few hours later, he was groggy and clingy but the pain was pretty much gone. Grateful for the ability to move without causing himself pain, Sam crawled into Gabriel’s lap to hug him and rest his head on his shoulder, his dragon still held tight in his hand, dangling against Gabe’s back.
“Hey kiddo,” Gabe said softly, rubbing Sam’s back “How’s your head?”
“Better.” Sam mumbled, still clinging to Gabe’s shirt. “Tummy doesn’t feel good, though.”
“I think we should try for some food. I think you’ll feel better soon.” Gabriel reassured, carefully standing up, supporting Sam when his gangly legs wrapped tight around him. Normally, Sam woke up as a little ball of excitement but Gabriel didn’t really complain when he woke up like this: sleepy and refusing to let go of his daddy.
Sam nodded his agreement, shutting his eyes again as he held on tight to his daddy. Somehow, daddy always made him feel better. It’s like he was a hero or something.
“Daddy, you’re my superhero.” He mumbled, still a little groggy.
Gabe was taken aback for a moment by Sam’s tired utterance but he just smiled and kissed Sammy’s messy hair.
“I am? Like Batman?” Gabriel asked, trying to set Sam down on the kitchen counter but giving up on that idea when his baby whined in protest and held tighter.
“No, you’re better than Batman. Batman protects all of Gotham City but you only protect me ‘cause I’m your world. And you do a really good job.” Sam said, fingers digging a little into Gabe’s back so he wouldn’t be put down.
“Thank you, Sammy. You’re right, you’re my whole entire world. You’re more than that, you’re my whole entire universe.” Gabe said, using one arm to make Sam some soup.
Sa giggled sweetly and nuzzled closer to his daddy, holding onto him even tighter than before, if it were possible. He was proud to be so important to Gabe, it made his tummy flutter pleasantly. He liked feeling so loved from Gabe, it made him feel like he really was important because even if the world didn’t acknowledge his existence, it didn’t matter because daddy was his whole world.
“I love you, daddy. Thank you for protectin’ me.” Sam said, leaning up to kiss Gabriel’s cheek.
“Oh, Sammy. It’s my pleasure.” Gabriel said, smiling as he stirred the soup.
And as Sam started to feel better, Gabriel got his happy little boy back for a special little day - he’s never been more fond of his little one.