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Once upon a time, Castiel Winchester was in charge of his niece’s well-being – not an easy task when one had the wrong PJs at hand.
“I want my Ariel PJs.” Mary’s sobs were so heart wrenching that Castiel was about to call the girl’s mother, but Jessica had enough on her plate. Baby Krissy was running a high fever all morning and Sam came home early from work, showing signs of a heavy cold. Not wanting her older daughter to fall sick, she’d called Dean, asking him to pick up Mary from daycare and keeping her far away from the house. It wouldn’t have been a problem, school was out by then and Dean would’ve been finished for the day. Only Jessica had forgotten that Dean had left this morning for a special overnight trip with his fourth graders. So instead, she called Cas and thankfully, his understanding colleagues let him go home early.
Picking up the little princess from daycare and spending the afternoon with her was no problem at all. Mary and Cas had a special bond and he was happy to know that she loved him just as much as he loved her. He took her to her figure skating lessons and afterwards treated her to hot milk with honey at Benny’s coffee shop. They skype called her parents and then Dean before bath time. Everything was peachy.
Until it was time for the almost six-year-old to put on her PJs.
“Mary, Princess. You grew out of your Ariel PJs a long time ago, remember?” Still holding the fuchsia colored PJs in his hand, Cas tried to soothe the crying girl. At least she still had the fluffy towel wrapped around her, or else she would get cold way too quickly.
His soothing was unsuccessful, and her sobs only grew louder. “I want my Ariel PJs. I want my Deeeaaan.”
The thought of calling Dean crossed Cas’ mind, before he berated himself. He was old enough and close enough to Mary to handle this situation on his own. If Dean saw his little princess like this, he might get into the car right away and drive all the way back home.
No, there had to be a better solution.
“Mary, can you tell me what’s wrong with these PJs?”
“They’re not princess ones.”
“But it’s pink. Every princess wears pink.”
“NO,” Mary protested right away, stomping her little foot. “Not this pink!” Usually, she was way more composed, but it was getting late and after such a stressful day, she was becoming cranky. Cas needed to find a solution and fast.
It was a good thing he worked at a Disney Store and knew all the princesses’ attire of by heart. “Not this pink, you say? I beg to differ,” he told her, and instead of bugging her any further, he got up from kneeling on the bathroom floor and went to her bedroom. If he knew Mary at all, he only needed to give her a minute for her curiosity to win out. As he sat down on her bed after picking just the right book, he saw her peeking around the doorframe.
Ignoring her to spike her curiosity even further, he started browsing the book, mumbling loud enough for her to hear, “Where is it? I’m sure it’s here somewhere …A-hah! I knew it, there she is.”
“What? Who?” Mary asked, standing in the doorway, holding the way too big towel all wrapped around her. Smiling at her, Cas turned the book around, letting Mary see what he’d found. “Ohh, that’s Mulan,” she squealed joyfully.
True, not much of Mulan’s attire was the same shade as Mary’s PJs, but it was at least part of her dress. And she wasn’t the only princess Cas had in mind.
“Wanna come here and see who else wears this amazing color?”
Within seconds, Mary was beside him, jumping on the bed and cuddling close to his side so she was able to watch as he browsed the book once more. It didn’t take him long until he found the next picture and Mary’s face lit up even more.
“That’s Anna. Oh, her whole cape is pink.”
“It is. And don’t you think it fits her perfectly?”
Nodding, Mary traced the fuchsia colored cape before turning around and looking at her PJs. When he saw her gazing, Cas carefully tested the waters. “You at least wanna give it a try?”
“Will you do my hair like Anna’s?”
“Of course, Princess.”
Sitting up so she could discard the towel, Mary picked up the PJs bottoms – a nice white with fuchsia trimmings and little hearts – before putting on the fuchsia colored shirt with a white heart on the chest. It was more of a night gown, hanging down to just under her knees, making it look like she was wearing a dress.
“Ohhh, you didn’t tell me this was a dress,” Mary squealed in delight, jumping off the bed so she could twirl around. “This looks so pretty.”
“It does indeed,” replied Cas while picking the damp towel off the bed and throwing it in the hallway. “Now sit down so I can do your hair, my princess.”
A few minutes later, a happy little girl was snuggled deep into her bedding, cuddling with her Flounder plushy while Cas sat next to her, leaning against the headboard. Tonight she asked him to read Frozen to her – a rare moment, because usually her bedtime story had to be Cinderella.
They were in the middle of the fight with the Marshmallow Snow Monster, when Mary cuddled against Cas’ side. “I love you, Uncle Cas.”
“I love you too, Princess,” Cas replied, leaning down to press a kiss to Mary’s head.
The sweet girl fell asleep snuggled next to him.
“Can we send Uncle Dean a picture of my hair?”
“Of course, my princess. You want to put your PJs back on to show him?”
Shaking her head so wildly it made her braids fly, Mary grinned at him. “No, I want it to be a surprise.”
In her blue and white striped undershirt, Mary was decent enough so it wasn’t creepy that her uncle took a picture of her. Her grin was wide and while Cas sent the pic to the family’s group chat with a good morning wish from both of them, Mary finished getting dressed so the two of them could get ready to leave.
That night, Dean had to take a backseat as Mary demanded that Cas read Frozen to her again. Cas felt like apologizing to his husband, but Dean only watched with a tender smile on his lips.
The fuchsia colored PJs had remained Mary’s favorite ever since.