Chapter Text
"Cas," Dean yelled up the stairs. "Babysitter's here!"
There was a rustle of wings from somewhere above him, but it was probably just the kids pretending to be kids. No way had Cas gotten away from heaven that easily. Jophiel and Rachel were both clingy lately, but Dean figured when you had warrior angels breathing down your neck that was kind of understandable.
Even if you were a warrior angel yourself. Even if your husband was the most badass warrior angel of them all, and you never got to see him because the other warrior angels needed more direction than the children you were leaving with your built-in brotherly babysitter. Then it was less understandable and more annoying.
"Dean," Sam called from the kitchen. "Why is there never any food in your house?"
"Because you eat it all," Dean said. "Cas!"
Adamel appeared first, wearing kitten pajamas and dragging a stuffed animal along with him. Dean wished he had a camera. Maribel and Wildfire were right behind him, also in pajamas, though Wildfire was the only other one carrying a toy. How many cereal box cars did Jesse give her, anyway?
All of them, probably.
"Uncle Dean," Maia said, looking tiny and serious when she tugged on his hand. "Gabriel said I should ask you what you're going to do with Castiel tonight."
"I've already explained that you won't tell her," Sam said quickly. The warning in his voice was clear. "We had the whole talk about privacy and grown-up angel things."
Maia definitely understood that she wasn't supposed to have the information, and from the look on her face, she thought that was crap. Smart kid. "Gabriel said I should ask," she insisted.
On the other hand, using Gabriel as an excuse? Not cool.
"You know what I'm gonna do with Cas?" Dean said. It was worth it to hear Sam's exasperated sigh. "I'm gonna take him somewhere and say nice things to him. Just like every Tuesday."
Then he added, "If he ever shows up. Maribel, where's Cas?"
"Upstairs," she said, surprising him. Either she meant it, or she was copying their slang, and he couldn't decide which was weirder.
"Cas!" he shouted, just in case. "Don't make me pray!"
"Kinky," Gabriel's voice said from behind him. "Is that what the kids are doing these days?"
"Use the door," Dean snapped. So he teased Sam; so what? Gabriel's definition of "child-friendly" was almost non-existent. Most of them were too young for the therapy they'd need from repeated exposure to her.
"Why?" Gabriel wanted to know. "No one else does."
"Because you're annoying," Dean said. "That's why."
She beamed at him insincerely. "Michael, you say the nicest things."
"Yeah," he agreed. "Just not to you."
"Sam," Gabriel complained. "You're brother's being mean."
"Your girlfriend's talking about sex around the kids," Dean called.
"I hate you both," Sam said, abandoning his quest for food to join them at the bottom of the stairs. "Someday Cas and I are going to run off and leave you to your stupid prank wars, and then where will you be?"
Gabriel scoffed. "Please, you wouldn't last a day without me."
"Says the woman who got kidnapped to a dream world," Sam retorted. "One shiny thing, and your ability to tell reality from fantasy is completely gone."
"You're very judgmental for a man who likes Pandoran tailjobs," Gabriel said.
Dean gave up. Pushing past them on his way up the stairs, he tried to ignore Maribel's unmistakable curiosity. They couldn't read Sam's mind, but he was sure they got way too much information from Gabriel's.
Definitely not appropriate kid conversation, he thought. Maribel hadn't technically asked, but she shouldn't have to, right? Check with Claire. Invite Jesse over if you want.
The older kids were at least a little more normal. They weren't exactly human, but Claire wasn't all angel and Jesse wasn't all demon. Dean's standards were a lot lower than they used to be.
"Cas," Dean said, pushing open their bedroom door. "If I have to listen to--"
Cas was actually in there, which should have surprised him more than it did. He was too busy being startled by what Cas was wearing to notice. "Is that a t-shirt?"
It was a stupid question; of course it was a t-shirt. He just couldn't remember seeing Cas wear one before. Cas was also barefoot, which Dean liked but probably hadn't told him, and Cas knew it anyway so why was he still up here?
"I thought a change of attire might be appropriate." Cas didn't look awkward about it. "Is this acceptable?"
Dean felt himself smile, because Cas changed his clothes once a week if he remembered and he'd only asked Dean's opinion twice. Well, three times if they counted the wedding. Four including today. Okay, sometimes he asked, but not often, and Dean hadn't been able to decide whether it was weird to randomly compliment an angel's clothes or not.
"Very acceptable," Dean told him. "I like the look. Ready to go?"
"Yes," Cas replied, wings rising behind him.
"Wait," Dean said quickly. "Not this time."
Cas paused. Dean glanced over his shoulder, checking that no one had come up the stairs behind him. They were still at least nominally alone.
"I figure," Dean said, and maybe he was the one who was awkward here, "someone goes to the trouble of getting dressed up for you, you don't make 'em take their own ride.
"We're driving," he added, in case it wasn't clear.
Cas didn't point out how impractical that was when their destination was an island in the middle of the ocean. He didn't say that he wasn't really driving anywhere. He didn't even mention how little work it was to will a t-shirt into existence. He just said, "All right."
Dean fought back another smile, because they still had to say goodnight to the kids and walk past the hecklers on the way out of the house. "All right then," he echoed. "Let's go."