#chubby cas

“I’ve gotta go, Claire,” Cas says, his voice as deep and gravelly as ever. “Tell Kaia I said hello. Yes. OK, bye.”

Dean squeezes Cas’ belly and presses long, slow kisses to his neck.

Cas turns the stove off and moves the eggs over to a different burner. His hands, now free, fold over top of Dean’s. He laces their fingers together.

“Claire said they’re thinking of coming by to visit in a few days,” Cas says, leaning his weight back against Dean.

“Mm. Good.” Dean continues his kisses.

Cas huffs a laugh and rubs his hand up and down Dean’s forearm. “Feeling affectionate this morning?”

“Always. C’mere.” He tugs at Cas to get him to turn around in his arms, then he fits his hands to his hips and presses his flat torso against Cas’ gut before leaning over and kissing him on the lips.

Cas puts a hand to the side of Dean’s face and the other on the counter behind him, supporting his weight against it. He moans into the kiss, pushing his tongue hungrily into Dean’s mouth and rolling his hips in an intoxicating rhythm.

They stop after a few minutes. Cas keeps his hand on Dean’s face, rubbing the pad of his thumb back and forth across his cheek as he smiles softly up at him.

“What?” Dean asks self-consciously. He circles his own thumbs into Cas’ love handles.

“Nothing,” Cas replies, his smile widening. “You’re just very beautiful.”

Dean ducks back in for another quick kiss. Then, “You move differently than you used to.”

Cas tilts his head to the side, furrows his brow. “What do you mean?”

“You’re, uh, I don’t know. Your mannerisms...you’re more feminine. Gayer.”

Cas laughs and drops his head forward. His hand falls away from Dean’s face, and he flips it out palm up. “Well, Dean, I am gay.”

Now Dean is laughing. He pulls Cas closer to him and once again pushes his face against his neck. “You were just so stiff before.” He pulls back again and looks Cas in the eye. “I don’t like thinking that you were, I don’t know, holding yourself back. Repressed.”

Cas barks out a laugh. “Yes, please, tell me more about how I was repressed.”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up.” He squeezes a soft hip. “I’m starving, let’s eat.”

They sit perpendicular to each other at the kitchen table. Cas rubs one socked foot up and down Dean’s calf while they eat.

“Do I move different?” Dean asks with a mouthful of eggs.

Cas frowns at him, mug of coffee in his hand. “Is that a trick question?”

“Oh god, I do, don’t I?”

“Well, first of all, Dean, your voice is an octave higher than it used to be.”

Dean blushes and shoves more food in his mouth, avoiding eye contact.

Cas leans his elbows on the table, closer to Dean. “And you carry yourself differently. You’ve always been confident in your body, but you don’t posture anymore. You carry yourself in a more relaxed way—like when we’re walking, and you keep one hand in your pocket and the other holding mine. You don’t puff your chest out so much, and it makes you look more natural.”

“Gayer?”

Cas laughs again. “Yes, Dean, I think when you, uh, rub my lower back and kiss my temple while we wait in line at the grocery store or something, you definitely look gayer than you did before.”

Dean reaches over and tangles their hands together, swinging them back and forth playfully on top of the table. “Can’t help it,” he says gently. “If you’re near me, I gotta touch.”

They smile shyly at each other. Cas eventually moves Dean’s hand up to his mouth and kisses his knuckles. “I’m not too gay for you, am I? My mannerisms don’t bother you?”

Dean rolls his eyes. “You’re fishing for a compliment.”

“So give me one.”

He scoots his chair closer to Cas’ and moves his hand under the table, spreading his fingers over one of Cas’ thick thighs and squeezing the soft muscle. “I’m fucking thrilled that you’re comfortable in your own skin, sweetheart. I love the new ways you move, and I love how you’ve made your body your own. I get distracted staring at you so much that I can’t even read one crap news article without looking at you.”

Cas takes a deep breath. A tear slips down his cheek, and he wipes it away delicately. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to hearing you say stuff like that to me. Not even in my most self-indulgent fantasies did I imagine...”

Dean laughs and tugs on Cas’ shirtsleeve, coaxing him over to him, patting his legs so Cas straddles his lap. Once they’re settled, Dean rubs soothing circles into Cas’ back fat and looks up at him reverently.

“I’ll always think you deserve better than me, but, uh,” Dean starts. “I guess if you want me instead of somebody better, then I gotta be the best version of myself. I’m sorry I wasn’t this me sooner.”

Cas presses their foreheads together. “You mean this gayer version?”

Dean laughs into a kiss. “Only took you confessing your love and dying for me to get my head out of my ass.”

Cas puts a finger to the tip of Dean’s nose. “No, actually, it took more than that. Seven months after I came back, Dean. It took you seven months.”

Dean winces. “Worth the wait?”

Cas sighs and kisses Dean’s cheek before climbing laboriously off his lap, grunting as his gut shifts. He pulls at the hem of his boxer briefs to get them down over his huge thighs; Dean pinches his butt as he walks away.

In the time it takes Cas to refill their coffee mugs, Dean’s phone rings.

“Hey, Sammy,” Dean answers.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Sam asks.

As Cas comes back and hands Dean a mug, sliding his arm gently across his shoulders before making his way to his seat, Dean says, “Having breakfast with the love of my life. What do you need?”

“Eileen and I are going on a hunt, gonna take a few days. Can we drop Jack by later today?”

“What? The kid can’t stay by himself in the bunker?”

Cas flattens his lips and raises his eyebrows, silently chastising Dean. Dean throws his hand up and shrugs.

“He’s 4, Dean,” Sam says.

“He’s as powerful as God, Sam.”

Jack’s voice comes through the phone, sounding far away. “I don’t like staying here by myself. It’s lonely.”

“Of course you can stay here, kid,” Dean says loudly enough for Jack to hear. To Sam, he says, “But make sure you stop by the store on your way and pick up some food for him, because Cas and I are on a diet.”

“Seriously?” Sam asks.

“No,” Dean scoffs. “C’mon, dude. I’m sure the kid’ll be thrilled to get some real food instead of whatever rabbit food crap you and Eileen feed him.”

Cas snorts a laugh and tucks back into his stack of pancakes, pouring more syrup over them before taking a bite. Dean watches him, obsessed with the dainty way he holds his fork.

“You know, it’s gonna catch up to you one day,” Sam says. “You’ll wake up and suddenly realize you look like Cas.”

“Mm,” Dean hums, eyes still glued to Cas. “You mean I’ll be hot as shit?”

Cas winks at him.

“Yeah, I walked right into that one,” Sam mutters. “See you this afternoon.”

“Bye, Sam.” He hangs up.

“I don’t know why you goad him into judging our eating habits,” Cas says. “He asks about my weight every time I lift with him.”

“What? I’ll kill him.”

“No, it’s—”

“Where’s my gun? I’m gonna kill him.”

“Dean,” Cas says, exasperated. “He only asks because he doesn’t see me every day. You’d notice I was getting bigger, too, if you only saw me every week or so.”

Dean pouts at him, offended. “I touch you and stare at you constantly every day, of course I fucking notice. You’re big, Cas. And you take good care of yourself. Sam can mind his own fucking business.”

“I don’t need you to defend my honor to your brother, you insane man.” Cas stands and picks up their plates to take them to the sink. “And you need to limit the number of ‘fucks’ you say when Jack gets here.”

“Jesus, when did you become such a nagging wife?”

Cas turns away from the sink, sets a hand on the shelf of his belly, and says in a deadpan, “When I became pregnant with our third child.”

It’s a joke he stole from Dean, but Dean still lets out an embarrassing laugh like it’s the first time he’s heard it. He then joins Cas in the kitchen, hugging him from behind again and sneaking a hand up under his shirt so he can cup one of his pecs, teasing his thumb over his piercing. He kisses the shell of his ear as he mumbles, “I’ll clean up in here. I know you wanna go work out.”

Cas shuffles around in his arms and kisses him languidly. Even though they’ve been together for months and have shared at least a thousand kisses, a thrilling warmth washes over Dean’s body every time Cas initiates.

“What?” Cas asks gently when they break apart.

Dean kisses him again, squeezes his sides. “I just love you so much.”

Cas fights his smile and fails. He runs a hand up through Dean’s hair, which Dean is growing out, because Cas likes to touch it. “I love you so much, too.”

“C’mere.” Dean pulls him into a hug, wrapping his arms around his back and holding him tight, nuzzling his face in his neck while Cas fists his hands in the back of Dean’s t-shirt. “Loved you for so long. Should’ve told you sooner.”

“Yeah, you should’ve.” Cas squeezes him. “I should’ve, too.”

Dean clears his throat as they break apart. “We’ve turned into the biggest fucking saps. Go, go lift your silly weights.” He shoos Cas out of the kitchen and smacks his butt as he goes. “And hey! Don’t forget to walk your sweaty body through here on your way to the shower.”

Over his shoulder, Cas says, “Of course. I would never deprive you of that, Dean.”

When Dean finishes cleaning the kitchen, he heads to the living room where they’ve set up a workspace to help hunters out. Sure, it would be easier to do the job from the bunker, but Dean and Cas wanted their own space, a homier environment for hunters to stop by and rest. They have a room for Jack, a room for Claire and Kaia, and two extra bedrooms for anybody else who shows up—although, one of the rooms is half-full of Cas’ exercise equipment.

Dean has his eye on a rundown bar down the road, too, but not enough time has passed since they committed crimes to get a loan for their house, so he has to wait before they can buy it.

While Dean is doing research for a case that Garth is working on, Jody calls.

“Yeah, go ahead,” Dean answers, putting her on speaker.

“I’m three hours from your place,” she says, sounding tired. “Can you guys take the kid again for just, like, one week? Please.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course, Jody,” Dean replies, his posture straightening with excitement. “But you already knew that, because you’re already driving her over here.”

Jody laughs. “Yeah. Thanks, Dean. See you soon.”

Dean shoots a text to Sam: Raven’s gonna be here, too. ETA?

Sam texts back right away: Whenever we feel like it o’clock.

Bitch, Dean types.

Whore, Sam replies.

When Dean and Cas got together, they didn’t get the chance to tell Sam. They were on a hunt, and Sam was at the motel doing research while Dean and Cas ate dinner at a bar nearby. Cas was talking about the case and reached over and stole a fry off of Dean’s plate, and something about the gesture broke something inside of Dean. He blurted out, “I love you, too,” like a fucking idiot, causing Cas to nearly choke on the fry.

The truth was that Dean was in shock when Cas came back from the Empty, and he could not believe that this ancient unknowable being actually loved him. But then Cas was human, and ordinary, and he grew more comfortable around Dean as his body filled out. Easy warmth and affection radiated from him, like loving Dean was as natural to him as breathing.

And Dean knew that his own feelings couldn’t be buried anymore. They were clawing their way to the surface with each day that passed, until finally they burst free with an I love you, too over a stolen goddamn French fry.

They finished their meal quickly and quietly, then they walked out to the Impala together and Dean couldn’t wait a second longer than the nearly 13 years he’d already waited, so he pushed Cas up against the driver’s side door and kissed him.

“Oh,” Cas breathed between their mouths.

“What?” Dean mumbled.

“I didn’t—realize—when—”

Dean moved to kissing Cas’ softening jaw and neck so that his mouth was free to talk.

“I wasn’t sure you meant you loved me like this,” Cas explained.

Dean abruptly pulled away. “Oh. Uh, did you not—we don’t have to if you don’t want—”

Cas cut him off with a bruising kiss. “No, no, I definitely want.”

“Thank god.”

It had taken all of their willpower to get in the car and drive back to the motel, and Dean had barely put her in park before dragging Cas to the backseat and messily stripping clothes off. There wasn’t nearly enough space, so they ended up rutting against each other while making out like horny teenagers, and that’s when Sam knocked on the window.

Dean cracked it the smallest amount, his body still tangled with Cas. “We’re a little busy here, Sammy.”

“Yeah, uh, I’m gonna get another room so you guys don’t have to do...this...out here.”

“Sammy, you’re the best brother in the world,” Dean said stupidly as he and Cas struggled out of the backseat, holding their clothes half-on, shirts and overshirts and jackets in hand and jeans unbuttoned. Dean dragged Cas by the hand up to their room.

And so Sam (homophobically, in Dean’s opinion) started calling Dean “whore” instead of “jerk.”

Dean is typing on his laptop when Cas clears his throat from the hall. Dean looks up immediately, raking his eyes up and down Cas’ glistening, swollen body as he walks shirtless toward their bedroom.

“Hey, hey, hey, no, come back here,” Dean says, scrambling to get up, tripping over his own feet, then finally making it to Cas so he can squeeze his biceps and press kisses to his sweaty shoulder.

Dean moves his mouth down Cas’ collarbone and chest, hunching his body so he can get a better angle as he works his tongue around a nipple ring.

Cas cards a hand through Dean's hair. “Do you want to shower with me?” he asks patiently.

Dean reluctantly lets go of his nipple and straightens up. “Does a bear shit in the woods?”

Their shower is just big enough for both of them, but it’s too difficult to do much more than wash each other’s bodies. They talk loudly to each other over the spray, which is why neither of them hear the front door open and Sam and Eileen announce their arrival.

Dean walks out to the kitchen wearing a towel around his waist and one around his hair. Sam and Eileen are making sandwiches while Jack sits on a barstool at the island reading a book.

“Oh, hey, guys,” Dean says. He grabs a La Croix out of the fridge and takes a long drink. “Didn’t hear you come in.”

Cas comes in next, wearing just boxer briefs, his wet hair dripping water onto his body. He greets everyone then puts a hand on the small of Dean’s back and kisses his cheek. He takes the La Croix right out of his hand and drinks it before giving it back.

“Cas, are your nipples pierced?” Eileen asks, shocked.

“Oh, yeah,” Cas says flippantly. He pats the tattoo of Dean’s name on his shoulder. “Dean talked me into it when I got this.”

Dean mutters, “Not like you needed much convincing.”

“So are you guys gonna bother putting clothes on, or…?” Sam asks bitchily.

“Oh, I’m so sorry for existing in my own house,” Dean teases. He settles against Cas’ side; Cas wraps his arm around his hip. “Maybe if somebody had told us when they would be here, we could’ve been ready.”

“Yeah, well, we were anxious to get here,” Sam says, looking pointedly at Eileen. “We have some news.”

“Uh-oh, this sounds like something I should be wearing clothes for,” Dean says.

“I’m pregnant,” Eileen says and signs. She makes a face like she’s sorry about it.

Cas sucks in a sharp breath. Dean’s eyes widen.

“Yeah, uh.” Sam sighs and throws a hand up. “We’re not totally sure how we feel about it, you know, never really planned on…”

“We don’t want to stop hunting,” Eileen finishes for him. “But if there’s a good reason to stop, this is it.”

“We can help,” Dean says quickly. He nervously sets his water down on the counter so he can sign and talk. “You know we’re always willing to take care of a kid. Especially a baby.” He looks over at Jack. “No offense, Jack.”

“I told them I would help, too,” Jack says cheerfully. “I would love a little brother or sister. And I can heal most injuries other than death, so if they keep hunting while Eileen is pregnant, it’ll be OK.”

“We’ll be here every step of the way,” Cas adds. “Whatever you need.”

“Yeah,” Sam says solemnly. “We know it’ll be OK, we’re just...I don’t know, I’m just not naturally maternal like you, Dean.”

“Come here, Sammy,” Dean says, walking away from Cas and putting his hand up on Sam’s shoulder to bring him down for a hug. “You’re already a great dad. You’re not gonna fuck the kid up, I promise.”

Sam laughs and squeezes Dean once before letting go. He frowns down at Dean’s bare torso and says, “OK, go get some clothes on, please.” Under his breath, he mutters, “I don’t understand how you and Cas even fit in a shower together.”

“Hey.” Dean points a menacing finger at him. “If you don’t lay off my boyfriend, he’s gonna use his massively buff arms to kick your ass.”

“No, I’m not,” Cas says in a monotone, flipping his wrist to blow Dean off. He kisses Eileen on the cheek as he leaves the kitchen.

“What? I’m not—I don’t care what Cas looks like,” Sam says. He opens the fridge and gestures dramatically to it. “I just think it would be good every now and then if you guys ate, like, one vegetable.” He looks Dean up and down. “Also the fact that Cas works out and you don’t, you look like a skinny little beanpole next to him. He makes you look ridiculous.”

Dean crosses his arms and pouts. “He likes how I look. Says it makes him feel big and strong when he picks me up.”

Sam and Eileen both laugh. Eileen asks, “He picks you up? What, like during sex?”

Dean blushes. He halfheartedly says and signs, “No, I mean, like, when I fall asleep on the couch and he carries me to our bed.”

Sam and Eileen laugh harder.

“I think it’s sweet,” Jack interjects. “I would never laugh at your relationship with Cas, Dean. You two love each other very much.”

Eileen rolls her eyes. “Yeah, perfect little angel over here has never said a mean word about anybody in his life. We get it, Jack, you’re better than us.”

Jack straightens his back and smiles, proud of himself. Dean passes by him on his way out of the kitchen and squeezes his shoulder in thanks.

“A baby, huh?” Dean asks excitedly as he rummages through his and Cas’ closet for some clothes. “We should plan on staying in the bunker with them for the first few months, you know, help them out and stuff.”

Cas scoffs from the master bath. “You just want to hold a newborn.”

“Yeah, so what?” Dean joins him in the bathroom, taking his towels off his head and waist and hanging them back up on the racks. He takes a piss while Cas stands at the sink messing with his hair.

Cas is wearing a pair of black joggers and a faded pink tank top, a denim overshirt sitting on the counter. A long chain rests against his chest between his big pecs, three rings hanging from them. Two of the rings are Dean’s old ones, and the third is a new one Dean picked out for him when they moved into their house together.

Dean checks his hip against Cas’, nudging him out of the way so he can wash his hands at the sink.

“Does it bother you that we can’t just accidentally have children?” Cas asks, turning toward Dean seriously, unaffected by his naked body.

“What? No,” Dean answers. “Why, does it bother you?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

Dean grabs deodorant and pushes Cas’ arm up so he can apply it for him. “We got plenty of kids, honey.” He does the other arm. “And we’re old. I don’t need us to be the sole provider of a child for the next 18 years.” He picks up the denim shirt and helps Cas put it on.

Cas places a gentle hand on Dean’s bare hip and rubs his thumb in circles against his skin. “I just think...I think about how perfect Jack is, and how if I was still an angel and could’ve borrowed a female vessel for a while, then maybe we could’ve…”

“Jesus Christ, Cas.” He pats the slope of his belly. “OK, no more jokes about you being pregnant. It’s fucking with your head.”

“Mm, yeah.” He leans forward and presses a kiss to Dean’s mouth. “Now be honest with me, does this shirt make me look fat?”

Dean laughs as Cas expands his big stomach out and pulls at the fabric of the tank top to make it tight.

“You look perfect, sweetheart.” Dean jiggles his belly. “Fat and very gay.”

“Thank you.”

Dean puts on his usual jeans and flannel over a plain black t-shirt. He also has a necklace with a ring Cas gave him, but he wears it under his clothes and out of sight. He likes feeling it against his skin.

They eat a quick lunch with everybody before Sam and Eileen head out for their hunt. Cas and Jack go in the backyard to tend to Cas’ garden, which is full of beautiful flowers and absolutely no vegetables.

Jody shows up right when she said she would, and she passes Raven off to Dean before she’s even stepped in the door.

“I’m gonna spend the night here if you don’t mind,” Jody announces as she kicks her boots off.

Dean is cooing at the baby and tickling her belly with one finger. Right now she has dark olive skin and a head full of black hair and big gray eyes, but that could change any minute. Jody got her just a few months ago when she was trying to help her mom, a teenage shapeshifter, but the girl had a lot of complications and died during childbirth. She asked Jody to name the baby Raven after Mystique from X-Men.

Jody, claiming that she’s too old to raise a baby on her own, brings Raven over to Dean and Cas’ for at least one week per month.

“Dean?” Jody presses.

“Hmm?”

“I said I’m gonna stay here tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine.” He kisses the baby’s head. “Cas and Jack are outside. Make yourself at home.”

Under her breath, Jody says, “Give a baby to Dean Winchester if you want him not to pay attention to you at all.” She walks to the kitchen and puts on a teapot.

Cas barges in the back door and makes a beeline for Dean, his hands outstretched. “Baby,” he commands.

Dean frowns but hands Cas the baby anyway. He knows if he tries to hog her, he and Cas will have a petty fight about it later.

“Yeah, good to see you, too, Cas,” Jody says, still talking in a dejected tone, grabbing mugs out of the cabinet. “You look good, you been working out? Of course you have, look at you. Yeah, I know, I look good, too. New haircut. Thanks.”

“Hello, Jody,” Cas greets, turning toward her but keeping his eyes on the baby cradled in his arms. She looks impossibly small in his hold. “Your hair looks very nice.”

“Well, thank you, Cas,” Jody says smugly. “Would you like some tea?”

“Are you offering us tea in our own house?” Dean asks.

“You told me to make myself at home.”

Cas moves Raven up to his shoulder, spreading his long, thin fingers over her back to keep her in place with just one hand. With his other hand, he pulls out a barstool at the island and takes a seat. His tank top gets stuck between his underbelly and his lap, and Dean watches, transfixed, as Cas demurely lifts his butt off the chair and flicks his free hand against his shirt to unstick it.

“Dean? You OK?” Jody asks, amused.

“Hmm?” Dean whips his head toward her. “Yeah, sorry.”

“You looked a little lost there for a second, buddy.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dean says. “I don’t know if you know this, but I’m very obsessed with Cas.”

Jody laughs. “It’s impossible to even make fun of you anymore. Like, if you’re going to be blissfully happy, at least act a little embarrassed about it.”

Dean walks over to Cas and puts his arm across his middle, presses his cheek firmly against the side of Cas’ chubby face and looks at Jody as he says, “No.”

“Jody, I would love a cup of tea,” Cas says, ignoring Dean. “Thank you.”

Raven fusses and nuzzles against Cas’ shoulder, so Dean reaches his arms out for her and says, “Too much muscle in your shoulder, she can’t get comfy.”

As Cas hands the baby over, he says, “Yes, because your bony body is so much better.”

“Do you guys even like each other?” Jody interrupts.

“No,” Dean and Cas answer in unison. They then look at each other and smile.

Cas asks Jody about the girls, which gets her on a long-winded rant, so Dean kisses Cas’ hair and heads out the back door with Raven. He walks across the porch and takes a seat on the porch swing and watches as Jack stands in front of a flower, says something to it, then moves onto the next flower and says something else.

“Are you talking to every flower, kid?” Dean calls.

Jack turns and tilts his head with a gentle smile. “I didn’t hear you come out here, Dean. Yes, I’m giving each of them longer lifespans.”

“Oh. Well, thanks.”

It’s mesmerizing, swinging back and forth and watching Jack tend to the flowers. Raven falls asleep quickly, tucked up facedown against Dean’s chest with her head turned to the side.

“See, I’m plenty easy enough to fall asleep on,” he mutters to her.

Jody comes outside a few minutes later, tea in hand. Dean scoots over so she has room to sit next to him on the swing. She doesn’t say anything, just takes a seat and drops her head to his shoulder.

“You know we can keep the kid longer if you need us to,” he says. “Cas has baby fever, so I’m sure he’d be thrilled.”

“Hm. I might,” Jody considers. “Alex is really attached to her though. I am, too, but. I don’t know. It’s different for me.”

“You never thought about having a baby again in your life, did you?”

“No.”

“Hmm.”

Cas walks out next and stops right outside the door, staring straight ahead at Jack. Cas has both his wrists bent against his hips, hands palm out, straight-back posture making his gut look more pronounced than it already is.

“Hey, Jody,” Dean starts, his eyes on Cas.

“Hmm?”

“Do you think Cas is different? I mean, different than how he was as an angel.”

Jody snorts. “Um. That Cas looks like he would eat angel Cas for breakfast.”

“No, I don’t mean—” Now Dean is laughing, too. “Obviously he looks different. I mean, like, the way he’s standing right now. Don’t you think it looks a little…you know…”

“Gay?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, yeah, but only slightly gayer than he used to act.”

Dean balks at that. “What? Really?”

“Honey, I knew Cas was gay the second time I met him. Sure, he’s definitely more comfortable and open and maybe a little more, uh, effeminate now, but he’s always been pretty clearly gay. No offense, you just weren’t paying attention.”

“Hm. Well, I’m paying attention now. Very close attention.” He surreptitiously licks his lips.

After a pause, Jody asks, “How did you live so many years of your life unaware of how horny you are for him?”

Dean puffs out a breath. “Shit, I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. Like, I have a sleeping baby on me right now—one of my favorite things in the world—and yet it’s taking all of my willpower to keep sitting here with you instead of going to put my stupid hands all over him.”

Cas turns toward them then, offering a close-mouthed smile and a delicate wave of his hand, totally oblivious. “Jack is talking to the flowers,” he says loudly.

“Yeah, I know,” Dean says back, less loudly so as not to wake the baby. “Powerful as God, and he’s here talking to our fucking plants.”

Cas furrows his brow. “What did I say about cursing?”

Dean rolls his eyes.

They all hang out outside until Raven wakes up and cries for food, so Dean takes her inside and paces around the kitchen while he gives her a bottle. Cas walks through on his way to the bathroom, and Dean stops him with a, “Hey. C’mere.”

“What?” Cas asks, smiling as he closes the distance between them.

Dean leans to the side, keeping the baby steady as he kisses Cas on the lips.

Cas shakes his head when they pull apart. “You have zero impulse control.”

“See Cas, touch Cas. That’s how my brain works.”

His smile widens. “You’re lucky I’m patient.”

Later, Dean is in charge of getting Raven down for the night, Jody is taking a nap upstairs, and Jack and Cas are out picking up takeout for dinner.

The four of them eat at the kitchen table, and Dean inhales his food quickly so he can relax and sling an arm over the back of Cas’ chair while everyone else finishes. He rubs and scratches at Cas’ back while they all talk, occasionally looking over to watch Cas eat. With how muscular he is, Cas would have to have a high-calorie diet even if he didn’t also just love food, but still he eats slowly and properly as he demolishes at least twice as much as everybody else.

Dean, itching to move and sick of being in the same spot for too long, eventually leans over and nips and kisses at Cas’ neck and face, forcing him to eat even slower. Every so often, Cas turns and pecks Dean on the lips in acknowledgment of his ministrations.

“Dean, you look smaller every time I come over here,” Jody says.

“No, optical illusion. It's 'cause Cas is getting bigger,” Dean responds. He pats a loving hand against Cas’ full belly. “He can’t help that he looks extremely cute like this.”

Mouth full of food, Cas turns his head and kisses Dean’s temple in thanks.

“No, I definitely think you’ve lost weight,” Jody continues.

“Yeah, I think you have,” Cas says. “Not that you weren’t skinny before, but you’ve lost weight since you stopped drinking.”

“Mm. Yeah, I guess.” Dean puts a hand on his own stomach, noting how flat it is. He ignores the heat rising to his cheeks at the basic knowledge that Cas notices things about him.

After dinner, Jack asks if they can watch a movie together in the living room, which they of course oblige. Dean can count on zero hands the amount of times he and Cas have told Jack “no” when he’s at their house.

Cas privately asks Jody if she wants a glass of wine, which she turns down. Dean sees the conversation take place as he’s turning the TV on due to his inability to take his eyes off Cas for even one minute.

Jack, god help him, picks some tragic foreign language film and sits cross-legged on the couch with Jody. Cas and Dean settle in sideways on the loveseat, Cas’ back up against the armrest and one leg hanging off the side so Dean can sit between his thighs and rest back against his chest. Dean rubs his fingertips against Cas’ knee and listens to him unwrap candy after candy, occasionally offering one to Dean.

After about 15 minutes, Dean turns his head and cocks an eyebrow at Cas.

Cas looks back at him, confused, as he puts another candy in his mouth. “What?” he whispers.

“You’ve had, like, 20 of those.”

Cas’ face changes into gay bitchiness as he unwraps another one. “Now who’s the nagging wife?”

“Can you two can it?” Jody asks at a regular volume. “I’m trying to hear what these sad French people are saying.”

Dean ignores her and whispers to Cas, “I don’t give a shit about you stuffing your face, babe, I just wish your hands were more Dean-focused.”

“Oh. Of course, Dean.” Cas tosses a wrapper aside and puts his arms around Dean’s torso, squeezing him firmly back against him.

“Mm, that’s better.” Dean snuggles down and bends his arm up to feel Cas’ bicep.

Jody shushes them again.

Cas presses a chocolatey kiss to the bolt of Dean’s jaw and moves one hand across his waist, teasing with the waistband of his jeans. Dean grabs his hand, stopping him.

“Not in front of the kid, dude,” Dean says through gritted teeth.

“I’m not doing anything,” Cas says innocently, his lips still on Dean’s skin.

Jack pauses the movie and looks over at them with a smile. In a sweet, polite tone, he asks, “I don’t mean to be rude, but can you guys please shut the fuck up?”

Cas nudges his head against Dean’s in fake annoyance. “What did I tell you? What did I fucking tell you, Dean?”

Dean can’t stop laughing. “Yes, Jack, we’ll shut the fuck up.”

With nobody to talk to and with Cas carding his perfect fingers through his hair, Dean falls asleep within 10 minutes. He half-wakes up a little while later and finds himself curled up on his side with his legs pulled up to his chest, using his big boyfriend as a bed, his big arms a blanket, big pecs a pillow. Cas’ chest vibrates beneath his ear as he whispers something to Jody, but Dean doesn’t hear it. He balls his hand into a fist and nuzzles his face against Cas’ shirt like a baby and falls back asleep.

When he wakes up again, it’s because Cas is trying to carefully lift him up and take him to bed. He wraps both arms around Cas’ neck and his legs around his waist and hangs on tight as Cas stands, only one of his muscular arms wrapped around Dean’s butt to hold him in place.

“Wow, he really has you whipped,” Jody whispers to Cas.

Cas responds completely seriously, “Why else would I exercise so much if not for this?”

“G’night, Jody,” Dean mutters against Cas’ neck.

“Night, little baby Dean.”

Dean smiles, his eyes still closed. “I like that.”

Jody sighs. “Seriously. Impossible to make fun of him.”

Cas starts walking toward their room as he says, “Dean is an all or nothing person. So many years with so much shame, now he has absolutely none.”

“Hmm. Yeah,” Jody replies. “Night, Cas.”

Dean is fully awake by the time Cas lays him gently down on the bed. He gets up immediately, changes into pajamas and goes to the master bath to brush his teeth. Cas joins him at the sink, wearing just boxer briefs and one of Dean’s shirts. It barely covers his belly button.

“You can’t possibly be comfortable in that,” Dean mumbles with a mouth full of foamy toothpaste. “I don’t get why you’re still wearing my shirts to bed. I told you, you stretch them out and then I can’t wear them.”

Cas spits his own toothpaste into the sink and looks up at Dean through the mirror as he wipes his mouth. “Until the sleeves cut off circulation in my arms, I will keep wearing your shirts to bed.”

Dean pulls at the hem of one of the sleeves, pointing out where Cas snipped it with scissors. “Cheater.”

Once they’re in bed, Dean presses up against Cas’ side, throws one leg over him, buries his face in the crook of his neck, squeezes his butt.

“Finally,” Dean says against his skin. “I’ve been dying to touch you all day.”

Cas smiles and wraps an arm around Dean’s back, shoving his hand down his pants to grab his ass. “Yes, and you showed remarkable restraint by not touching me at all today.”

“C’mon, you know what I mean.”

Cas hums, thinking. “You don’t like having your attention divided. If you can’t focus fully on me, it feels like you’re being deprived of something.”

“Yeah.” Dean rolls completely on top of Cas and kisses the pocket of fat under his chin. “Don’t let it go to your head, though. It’s not like I’m, like, completely obsessed with you or something crazy like that.”

Cas smiles into a kiss, putting his hand to the side of Dean’s face to pull him down to his lips. Dean groans in the back of his throat and rolls his hips.

“Do you want to have sex?” Cas asks between their mouths, like he almost always does, because he has a take-it-or-leave-it attitude about sex and is perfectly content with any amount of physical contact with Dean, no matter how little. So he leaves it up to Dean: a person who needs to touch Cas so badly all the time that he feels like he’ll die if he doesn’t.

“No, not with us on baby duty,” Dean says. “Let’s just make out until I fall asleep.”

“Mm, that’s exactly what I fell from grace for.”

Dean laughs and pinches his shoulder, kisses the corner of his mouth. “Hey, you knew me when you fell. You knew what you were getting yourself into.”

Cas’ face softens. He rubs the pad of his thumb slowly across Dean’s cheek. “I did. I was willing to give up everything without ever even knowing what your lips feel like against mine. So, excuse me for thinking every second with you now is just icing on the cake.”

Dean blinks. “You’re getting better at food metaphors now that you eat so much.”

Cas allows him to trivialize the moment. He just simply smiles up at him as he wipes a tear from Dean’s face.

So Dean closes his eyes and kisses him, slowly, until he falls asleep.

-----

Dean wakes up to the sound of Raven crying over the baby monitor. She only cried once during the night, when she shapeshifted into a fat pale baby with brown eyes and thin hair and needed a bottle and a change before going back to sleep. Now it’s morning, and Dean blinks awake to the sunlight streaming onto his face. He’s on his stomach, arms wrapped around a pillow under his head, his skin unreasonably warm.

He shifts and feels Cas’ heavy arm draped across his back, his chubby hip squished against his side. Dean shuffles and turns, picking Cas’ arm up and kissing his hand before setting it on the bed and standing up.

Cas is also facedown on the bed, but instead of getting up, he burrows deeper and mumbles sleepily, “Start the coffee, please.”

Dean pinches a sliver of his love handle and leans down to kiss his cheek. “I’ll bring you a cup. Go back to sleep, sweetheart.”

Cas snores softly in response.

It’s early. The house is dimly lit and quiet, and Dean takes his time changing and feeding Raven. When she’s done with her bottle, he puts her on his hip and carries her out to the back porch to listen to the birds. His phone rings.

“Yeah?” Dean answers.

“Hey,” Sam says. “So, uh.”

“Spit it out, Sam.”

“You know our new rule?”

“Not monsters until they act monstrous,” Dean says, his heart racing. “What happened?”

“Nothing too bad. It’s just that, uh, we think this pack of werewolves may have abandoned their, uh, young.”

“How old? How many?” Dean asks quickly.

“Twins. They’re small, Dean. Six months at most.”

“So I’m thinking a barn wedding. We can all wear flannel and ride horses,” Charlie says as she hands her credit card to Alex. “Oooh and cowboy hats! Dean, you’d look stellar in a cowboy hat.”

“Hard pass, but thanks for the suggestion.” He grabs a plate and opens the display case to get Charlie’s usual muffin.

“What? Big Dean passing on cowboy hats?” Henriksen interrupts as he also hands his card to Alex. “I thought you had a thing for cowboys.”

The girls burst out laughing, and even Kevin chuckles a bit. Dean glares at Henriksen.

“Can a guy like Old Westerns in peace?”

Sam comes through the kitchen door in the middle of tying an apron around his waist. “Sure, but a guy can’t have an Old Western fetish in peace.”

“It’s a healthy appreciation,” Dean mumbles petulantly.

"So barn wedding!” Charlie shouts. “We’re doing it, guys! We’re doing a barn wedding!” she announces to the whole shop.

Dean rolls his eyes as the customers clap and cheer.

“No, no, no, we gotta do this right,” Alex says as she once again squats down to get the tip jars.

Dean doesn’t stop her this time.

In the middle of the late afternoon rush, they write down each of the employee’s suggestions on their respective jars. Alex texts Claire for her suggestion (courthouse), and Kevin mulls things over for an hour before finally settling on “bakery.”

“Bakery? You want them to get married in a bakery,” Krissy says in a judgmental tone.

“This bakery. Dean basically lives here anyway,” Kevin justifies.

“Hm,” Dean says.

“Oh my god, you like that idea,” Alex accuses with a pointed finger at Dean.

Dean just shrugs. “Best one I’ve heard so far.”

“Um, hello? Barn!” Charlie shouts once again from her table in the corner.

“Butt out!” Dean yells back, but it’s too late. People are cheering again. “No peace in my own goddamn shop,” he mutters.

The door dings, and Dean glances up at it instinctively and spots Cas. Warmth fills his chest against his will as he watches Cas smile and sign to somebody next to him. It takes Dean a solid 10 seconds to notice who he’s talking to.

“Cassie?” Dean blurts out eloquently as Cas and Cassie make their way up to the counter.

Cassie squints at him, looks him up and down, opens her mouth, closes it. Finally her eyes widen and she exclaims, “Dean!”

“Didn’t recognize me under all this, huh?” He pats his belly self-consciously.

“No! I mean. I’m sorry.” She laughs and hangs her head. “I just wasn’t expecting to see you. I mean, Dean, it’s been…”

“A baker’s dozen years,” he finishes for her.

The rest of the shop has gone suspiciously quiet, but Dean ignores it. Alex is still taking orders, so it’s not like he’s holding the line up.

“Uh, what are you doing here?” he asks with a glance toward Cas.

Cassie turns to Cas as well and then back to Dean. “Oh. Um. This is Cas. Weird coincidence, I know.”

Before Dean can cut Cassie off to tell her he already knows Cas, Cas leans across the counter and kisses Dean squarely on the mouth. Dean winks at him when he pulls away.

“Um,” Cassie says.

“You work for the paper, Cassie?” Dean asks.

“I do,” she says with a nod. She pauses as if considering whether to give Dean information he probably already knows. “I was just talking to Cas about some freelance work he’s doing for us.”

“I didn’t know you know sign language.”

“Oh, um, I don’t. I mean, I took a couple classes in high school.” She huffs a tired laugh and tucks her hair behind her ear. “Actually, can you tell him that he’s signing too fast for me? I’m only getting about half of what he’s saying.”

Dean relays the message, and Cas turns to Cassie with an apologetic, embarrassed expression. After they clear things up a bit about what exactly Cassie missed of their conversation in the past hour, Cas finally asks Dean how he knows Cassie.

“We dated for a couple months when we were in our early 20s,” he signs quickly, hoping that Cassie won’t catch it.

Cas clenches his jaw. “How serious was it?”

“Not really the right time or place to discuss this. We can talk about it later.”

Cassie laughs nervously. “What am I missing?”

Dean flashes her a winning smile. “Nothing, sweetheart. Small world, you and Cas working together.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it is. Um, you’re obviously busy and Cas and I are—”

“Oh! You probably came here to actually order something. Sorry, what can I get you?”

Cassie stares at the display case as she answers, “Actually, um, Cas and I only need to go over a couple more things, so would it be possible if you could…?”

It takes Dean a second to figure out what she’s asking. “You want me to be the translator?”

Cassie smiles shyly at him. “Could you? I mean, you probably don’t have the time and—”

“I got it,” Sam says as he appears right next to Dean. “You go ahead, Dean. Crowd’s dying down anyway.”

Dean gives Sam a mean look, but Sam just grins and pats Dean’s shoulder until he walks away. Sam never met Cassie when she and Dean were dating, but Dean talked about her enough to drive Sam insane. Sue him, Sam was in college and Dean had to find something to talk about on the phone every week.

When the three of them sit down at Cas’ usual table together, Cas doesn’t seem too thrilled about Dean being there. It makes Dean feel nervous, or maybe just annoyed, that Cas apparently can’t deal with the idea of Dean dating people who aren’t him.

It only takes them about 30 minutes to get through Cas and Cassie’s meeting, but none of them make a move to leave when they’re done. Dean, for some reason, looks at Cassie expectantly and she takes the bait.

“I didn’t know you, um...how did you learn sign language, Dean?”

Dean doesn’t bother signing while he talks. Cas is suddenly engrossed in his tablet anyway. “My brother’s wife is deaf. Good thing, too, because I never would’ve landed this one otherwise.” He rubs Cas’ shoulder soothingly. Cas looks up at him, so Dean leans in for a quick kiss.

“So you’re, uh, you know…” Cassie says awkwardly.

“Um, no, I don’t know. What are you not asking me?”

“You know, like, you and Cas, uh…”

Dean bursts out laughing. “Oh shit, I was still in the closet when we dated, wasn’t I?”

“What? You were gay when we da—”

“I’m not gay. I’m bi. I exclusively dated chicks when you and I went out.”

“But you liked guys?”

He shrugs and nods.

She glances between him and Cas. “You’ve changed a lot.”

“I know, I’m a lot more handsome now. Thanks for noticing.” He bats his eyelashes for good measure.

Cas looks up from his tablet and asks Dean if he’s going back to work anytime soon.

“Alright, I see when I’m not welcome anymore.” Dean stands despite Cassie’s protests. “Cassie, feel free to leave Cas to his own devices. He probably won’t notice if you leave. I sometimes think he might be more blind than deaf.”

Cassie gives him a judgmental look, which Dean ignores. As he’s giving her a hug, Charlie’s voice carries across the store.

“Bakery wedding? Bakery wedding is in the lead? Guys, I thought we all decided on a barn wedding!”

Dean lets go of Cassie and glares at Charlie.

“Oh god, I’ll get out of your hair so you can...deal with that customer,” Cassie says.

“What? Oh. That’s just Charlie. She’s, uh, really invested in my personal life.”

Benny randomly comes up to Dean then and slaps him on the shoulder. “I’m rooting for barn wedding, brother. You and Cas set a date yet?”

“What?” Cassie interrupts.

“Um, Benny, will you excuse me?” Dean asks pointedly.

Benny gets the hint and backs away with his hands raised like he’s in trouble. Cas looks up from his tablet and stares between Dean and Cassie.

“Benny’s really invested in my personal life, too. Everyone in this stupid shop is invested in my personal life.”

“You and Cas are getting married?” Cassie asks with an edge to her tone.

Dean scratches the back of his neck. “Yeah. Trying to, at least.”

“Wow, you’ve really changed a lot.”

“Cassie, I was 22 when you and I—”

“No, I get it. You weren’t ready to settle down.” Her eyes deliberately move down to his gut. “Now you’re all content and living a comfortable life, so I get it. Timing.”

He plants his hands on his hips. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you broke up with me.”

“Yeah, because you were dragging your feet.” In a voice more sad than angry, she says, “You told me you never wanted to get married.”

Dean looks at Cas and then back to Cassie, concern lining his features. “That was a long time ago, Cassie. You’re not still upset with me, are you?”

Cas stands and puts a hand on Dean’s lower back.

Cassie deflates a little. “No, I’m not upset. That would be—ridiculous. It was just surprising to see you here, that’s all.” She gets up from the table and looks toward the door. “I’m gonna head out. Um, congratulations. Seriously, I’m happy for you guys. I’m just…” She rolls her eyes. “You know, 35 and single. At some point, you start to wonder if you’re the problem. I’ll see you later, Dean.”

She leaves before Dean can think of something else to say. He watches her go until he feels Cas’ eyes on him.

“What was that about?” Cas asks warily.

“I think she’s kind of upset about us getting married. She broke up with me because I wasn’t serious about our relationship and told her I never wanted to get married.”

“You should apologize to her,” Cas responds.

Dean blinks in shock. “It was a really long time ago. And besides, aren’t you supposed to be jealous?”

“I’ll always feel jealous that there are others out there that have been with you, but there’s nothing I can do about that, is there? But you can do something about Cassie feeling hurt. She obviously never got closure from you, and now you’ve been given the opportunity to provide it.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You told her you never wanted to get married, and now here you are, getting married,” Cas signs slowly as if trying to get it through Dean’s thick head.

“People change their minds! I’m not allowed to change my mind?”

“Just apologize to her, Dean.”

Dean starts to protest, but Cas takes a seat and turns his attention back to the tablet. Cas only pulls out the “if I don’t look at you then I can’t listen to you” card when Dean is being particularly unreasonable, so Dean takes the hint and heads back to work.

Maybe they should just get married at the fucking courthouse and not tell anybody at all.

A couple days later, Cas asks Dean to leave work early so they can spend some time together. The request is a little bit weird, especially since they now live together and see each other all the time and sleep in the same bed together every night. But Sam insists that the shop won’t burn down without him, so Dean heads out around 6.

Cas is chopping up vegetables and throwing them into a bowl when Dean arrives, so he doesn’t notice his presence until Dean presses up behind him and boxes him in against the counter.

Cas immediately pushes his butt back to get Dean away from him. He then turns around and signs, “Can you put the burgers on the grill?”

Dean rolls his eyes and gives him a quick kiss. “Yeah, I can make the burgers. I also brought pie home for dessert.”

Cas’ face lights up at that. He then turns back to the vegetables.

It’s become habit for Dean to bring home treats from the shop, even though it’s also become habit for Cas to stop into the shop most days to get something to eat. Cas’ ass has been filling out his jeans a little better lately, and his stomach has rounded out in front of him just a bit. Dean loves it. He loves knowing that his baking put that extra weight there, that the amount that Dean spoils Cas is evidenced in his waistline.

There are a few quiet minutes where everything is on the grill or in the oven cooking, so they stand in the kitchen together to talk.

“I realized that I don’t know a whole lot about your past,” Cas starts.

Dean clears his throat but doesn’t bother to talk as he signs. “I can’t believe you enticed me with burgers and leaving work early so that you could trap me here to talk about myself.”

Cas smiles shyly. “You hate talking about yourself. That’s why I had to trick you.”

“I’m not giving you any pie.”

“That’s fine. Eating less means taking less time to eat, which means more time for talking.”

Dean crosses his arms over his chest and squints at Cas. He’s going to eat as slowly as possible tonight, and he’s going to use both hands the entire time.

Except the food is so damn good that he doesn’t take his time at all. He inhales it as if he hasn’t had a proper meal in a week because he hasn’t. Working all day every day means a lot of takeout and a lot of missed meals.

After his second burger, Dean leans back in his seat and puts a hand on his full belly. He presses his fingers hard into the taut skin to try to make some room as Cas goes back into the kitchen to cut the pie. There’s a bite of Cas’ burger left on his plate, so Dean leans forward and grabs it. He chews slowly and keeps a hand on his stomach.

Cas comes back with two plates with not just giant slices of pie but vanilla ice cream as well. As he sets Dean’s down in front of him, Dean signs, “This is going to postpone our conversation even more.”

Cas shrugs and digs into his pie.

They don’t move from the table when they’re done. Cas looks across at Dean expectantly but doesn’t raise his hands to sign. He hiccups a couple of times.

“Eat too much?” Dean asks.

“Yes. How did you and Cassie meet?”

Dean blinks and rubs his stomach while he thinks. “I traveled for work back then. She lived a couple hours from here, and I did a job for her mom while she was living with her. I was a one-night-stand kind of guy, but Cassie sort of changed that for a little bit. I really liked her.”

“What were you doing for work? I had no idea you were anything other than a baker your entire life.”

Dean laughs. “Pest control. I did odd jobs for a while until I decided to go to school to become a pastry chef. After my dad died, I was kind of free to do whatever I wanted. He probably rolled over in his grave the day I decided to be a baker.”

“What did he want you to do?”

“Go into the family business. But the family business was a dying hardware store in Lawrence, and I didn’t have the passion to try to revive it.”

“This is the first time you’ve ever mentioned your dad,” Cas signs, a serious set to his brow.

“Yeah, well, I don’t like talking about him.” Dean shrugs and then continues signing. “I wouldn’t be a baker or out of the closet or even fat if he was still alive, so I think we’re all better off without him.”

Cas smiles softly at Dean but then his face falls. “Am I the first man you’ve dated?”

“No? Maybe. I don’t really date people in general. Or at least, I didn’t date people before you. Cassie and Lisa were the only serious relationships I ever had before this.”

“You’ve mentioned Lisa.”

Dean sighs and slaps a hand to his gut once more. Nervous habit, he supposes. “Can we go to the living room? My ass is in need of a couch.”

It takes Cas a second to get to his feet, his hand pressed to his stomach as well. Dean laughs and pinches his love handle as they walk into the living room together.

Once they’re seated, Dean signs, “You’ll end up as big as me if you’re not careful.”

“Maybe if my fiance would stop bringing home pie, I wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

Dean can’t help himself. He pinches Cas’ side again. “It suits you. People would be suspicious if you were dating a baker and didn’t put on weight.”

“We were talking about Lisa,” Cas redirects with a roll of his eyes.

“It was right after Cassie. We were together for six months. I asked her to move in with me, and she said no.”

“Why?”

“Lisa had a kid. He was a baby at the time, and she didn’t want to drag me into fatherhood. She knew it was too much for me, even if I couldn’t recognize it myself.” He laughs affectionately at the memory of that conversation. “She said I was trying to replace Sam. I hadn't seen him in a while, and I felt like he didn’t need me anymore. It took a couple years for me to admit to myself that she was right.”

“She sounds like a smart woman.”

“Yeah, I was lucky. She was way more mature than I was, and I’m glad she knew what I needed better than I knew. Even if it was hard on both of us.”

Dean drops his hands and looks at the coffee table. After a few seconds, Cas scoots closer to him, rubs his shoulders and kisses his temple slowly. Dean closes his eyes and grabs Cas’ arm to ground himself.

When they get back to talking, Cas asks, "Why were you so willing to commit to Lisa after not wanting to commit to Cassie?"

"Ben," Dean responds easily. "I'm much better at committing to familial relationships than..." He pauses his hands and then admits, "Romantic ones."

And Cas, easy as ever, smiles at Dean and runs a hand through his hair, right behind his ear.

It overwhelms Dean, sometimes, that Cas seems to understand and accept him just the way he is with no questions asked. When he expects to be judged and misunderstood, he receives a smile and affection instead. It makes him wonder how Cas is so good at this whole relationship thing.  

So he asks him if he’s had any serious relationships.

Cas answers that before Dean, he hadn’t dated anybody in almost a decade.

Dean makes a noise of surprise, which Castiel doesn’t notice. Dean quickly signs that that’s insane and he doesn’t believe it’s possible that someone as handsome as Cas could’ve been on the market for so long.

With a shy smile, Cas replies, “Thank you, Dean, but I didn’t really go out of my way to date. I was focused on my career and my goal of becoming a foster parent. Plus, I’m deaf. I couldn’t just meet someone in a coffee shop.” He raises his eyebrows knowingly at Dean.

Dean grins widely back at him. “How stoked were you when you came into my shop and realized that this devastatingly handsome guy could speak your language?”

Cas ducks his head and blushes.

Dean chucks under his chin to get him to look up and then signs, “I’m right, aren’t I?”

Cas kisses the smile off his face.

The kiss deepens, so Dean grabs Cas by the hips and hauls him into his lap. Cas runs his hands up Dean’s belly, pinches a nipple, then wraps both arms around his neck to get closer.

After a moment, Dean pulls back and signs, “I think we should get married in the shop.”

**************************************

“You sure you want to get married in this shop?” Cassie asks skeptically before taking a sip of her coffee.

“Well, the tip jar gods have spoken."

Cassie just looks at him, unamused.

"I don’t really wanna make a big deal out of it.” Dean watches Claire and Alex walk through the front door and head toward the back. They give him a quick wave, and he smiles and nods his head. “A wedding, I mean,” he continues. “Cas and I...we have a, uh, good relationship. But it’s not—it ain’t big and romantic or anything like that. We got together in this shop, so it makes sense that we’d get married in this shop.”

The truth is that if he could use one word to describe his relationship with Cas, he’d call it quiet. Not because Castiel doesn’t talk, but because their love itself is quiet and undramatic. But god, he wouldn’t be caught dead saying that out loud.

“Dean?” Cassie asks.

“Hmm?”

“You didn’t hear anything I just said, did you?”

Dean scrubs a hand down his face and laughs. “No, sorry. What’d you say?”

“I was just asking you if Cas minds. If he minds that you’re not...super romantic?”

Cassie sounds so scared of offending Dean that he can’t help but bark out a loud laugh.

“I’m fucking sorry, Cassie."

“What?”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t, uh, be with you in the capacity that you wanted. That I couldn’t commit.”

She holds her mug between her hands and rubs her thumbs nervously along the ceramic. “I, um, thought about it a lot after that day I saw you two. And, you know, thank you—for apologizing, thank you. But you’re already forgiven.” She takes a drink. “I saw how you and Castiel are. His love for you is easy, like breathing. I don’t even think he’d notice or care if you didn’t love him the same. God, that sounds bad when I say it like that, but—”

“No, I know what you mean.” Dean ducks his head as he feels a blush creeping up his neck. “It is easy. I never have to, uh, do anything to prove that I love him. Not that I felt that way with you, but…”

“You’ve felt that way in every relationship.”

Dean nods, still embarrassed.

“What are you thinking about?” Cassie asks after too much silence has passed between them.

“I, um—no, it’s nothing.”

“Dean.”

“Well, I just...You’re so good with words and I always loved reading your articles, so I was just wondering if I could, you know, steal some of what you just said for my vows?"

Cassie leans back in her seat and laughs. “Yes, Dean, you big sap.”

“Well, I, uh, should get back to it,” Dean says, pointing toward the counter.

“Hey.”

“Yeah, Cassie?”

“I’m happy for you. You’re not easy to love, so I’m glad you found somebody who thinks you are.”

“You know what, I’m gonna ignore the insult in that and take it as a compliment. Thank you,” he replies as he stands and flips her the bird.

Cassie just laughs and thanks him for the free coffee.

As Dean is making his way back to the kitchen, Sam smiles at him from behind the counter.

“What?” Dean asks, annoyed.

“Nothing. You guys are just cute.”

“My ex and I are cute.”

Sam shrugs. “Yeah. But, like, the way you are with Charlie. You’ve just grown up a lot, is all.”

“Alright, well. Whatever.”

“Hey, don’t forget you have to—”

“Leave early to pick up my tux. I got it, Sammy.” Dean finishes with a thumbs up and then goes into the kitchen.

He’s not nervous about marrying Castiel. They’ve been planning for the last month or so, and Dean hasn’t freaked out even once. Cas actually had a minor meltdown over the fact that he doesn’t have any family members attending and isn’t close enough to any of his friends to ask them to be his best man.

Claire oversaw the conversation and stepped in with a goofy smile, proclaiming, “Best man here!” without signing it.

Dean had laughed while Castiel looked between the two of them, annoyed. When Claire signed for him that she’d happily give him away, Cas’ entire demeanor had relaxed before he wrapped her in a tight hug.

They had one fight. Dean had assumed they didn’t need to even hold a conversation about the cake—Cas was marrying a fucking baker, after all. But then Castiel brought it up one night while they were lazily making out in bed, and Dean had laughed and asked him if he was joking.

“Why would I be joking? It’s important we have a cake at our wedding, we should discuss who’s going to make it. It takes weeks to—”

Dean had gently pressed the tips of his fingers to Cas’ wrist to get him to stop talking. He then signed, “You don’t want me to make the cake?”

“Why would you make the cake when you’re the one getting married? I don’t want you to have to deal with that responsibility on the day of our wedding.”

“I wouldn’t make it on the day of our wedding, silly. Trust me, I’d feel a lot better making it myself than trusting some other company to do it.”

“I just don’t want to put that stress on you.”

“Are you telling me you don’t like my cakes, Cas?”

Cas had slept on the couch that night, even though they were in his house. Claire had gotten a good laugh about it in the morning.

And the next day, Cas had apologized and told Dean that of course he should make the cake.

Some things with Cas are easy, like deciding that there would be absolutely no flowers at their wedding, and some things are hard, like Cas getting mad at Dean for trying to lose weight to look better in his tux.

(He hasn't lost any weight, and he'll find out today how he looks in his tux.)

As Dean is rolling dough to make croissants, he hears the back door open and then Cas’ hand curls its way around his shoulder. Dean turns his head and smiles at him before pressing their lips together softly. He then turns his attention back to the dough.

Cas’ hand slides down to Dean’s hip, his thumb pressing hard circles against his apron as he stands next to Dean and watches him work.

It takes Dean about five more minutes to get everything into the oven, and by that time Castiel is standing behind him with his arms locked onto his hips and his lips pressing insistently to his neck.

A spatula and some pot holders fall to the floor as Dean lets go of his last bit of self-control and turns around in Cas’ arms, yanking him closer and sealing their mouths together in a slow kiss. Castiel immediately pushes his tongue between Dean’s lips, so Dean grabs his ass and pushes their groins together.

Cas is hard, which is rare, so Dean takes advantage of it and rubs the palm of his hand over the front of his jeans. Cas gasps and tilts his head back, and Dean nips at his neck.

They still don’t really have an active sex life, but every once in a while Cas magically gets in the mood and pushes into Dean all gentle and slow and then moans way louder than necessary right into his ear.

The first time it happened, Dean was so relieved that he actually shed honest to god tears afterward. Cas, of course, panicked and sloppily signed if Dean was alright and if he did anything wrong and if he was hurt—

“No, baby, calm down. I was just worried we’d never do that.”

Cas had frowned at him and taken a long time to think before answering. His hand movements were sharp and unsure as he signed. “We've talked about this, Dean. I told you I don't really like sex. Sometimes I might be in the mood and then it's possible for me to enjoy it, but for the most part I just don't think about it or prefer it. But I’m sorry I rarely ever want to have sex. We can have sex regularly if you’d like. We can schedule it. That way I’ll be prepared for it and I’ll get used to it.”

Dean had laughed and covered his face with his hand. He then signed, “It’s OK. I was just really starting to think something was wrong with me, but now I know for sure that you’re just a little weird.”

“Thank you," Cas answered sarcastically. "It's nice to know that the love of my life thinks I'm weird."

"Love of your life? Can we maybe tone it down some?"

Cas shook his head no.

Dean ran his knuckles over Cas' cheek before signing, "I don't think you're weird. Plenty of people don't like sex. I haven't met any of them, but I'm sure they're out there."

Cas rolled his eyes and slapped at Dean's hands as his way of saying "shut up."

With a laugh, Dean had curled up next to him and buried his face in the crook of his neck. He squeezed his growing love handle then moved his hand up to his chest and drew an X over his heart.

Cas had sighed and pulled him closer.

Now, back in the kitchen, Castiel lets out an obscenely loud groan and Dean has to press his hand over his mouth. Dean is shaking with laughter, so he loses his rhythm over Cas’ groin, but it’s too late anyway. The door opens, and Dean jumps away from Cas innocently.

“Dean. Tux,” Sam says from the doorway, one hand covering his eyes.

“Right. Yeah.” He clears his throat awkwardly and takes Cas’ hand. “We’re going.”

Cas is laughing by the time they get out back to Dean’s car. Dean frowns at him before shoving him against the driver’s side and kissing his neck. Cas is still laughing as he wraps his arms around Dean’s back and slides them down to his ass.

After a minute or two, Dean pulls away so he can say, “It went well with Cassie today.”

Castiel smiles his soft, barely there smile and replies, “Do you feel better?”

“I do, yeah. She helped me figure out some things about our relationship, which was surprising."

“Good, I’m glad you’re figuring things out three weeks before you marry me.”

Dean punches him lightly in the shoulder and kisses him again. “I knew I wanted to marry you a long time ago, asshole. That part wasn’t hard to figure out.”

**************************************

At 3:47 p.m. on the day of Dean and Cas’ wedding, Sam bursts into the kitchen of the bakery and says, “We’ve got a problem.”

“Yeah, I know. I can’t tie this stupid bow tie,” Dean says from where he’s standing in front of the sink mirror futzing with his tie.

“No, Dean. A real problem.”

Dean turns in exasperation and gestures for his brother to get on with it.

“Every customer we’ve ever had in this place is at the door.”

Cas bursts through the door then, too, and signs, “We’re going to break fire code if we let all of these people in.”

“They won’t all fit anyway,” Sam replies. “We need to figure something else out.”

Dean scrubs a hand down his face and signs, “Cas, we’re not supposed to see each other.”

Cas makes an annoyed face at him. “As if you care about wedding traditions.”

“Dean!” Sam shouts. He takes a deep breath and signs, “We can’t just turn all these people away, all of them are loyal customers.”

Dean plants his hands on his hips and looks down in thought. “Give me some time to think, Sammy. Take Cas with you.”

“Dean, the ceremony starts in 12—”

“Five minutes!” Dean yells.

After they leave, Dean relaxes and closes his eyes. He then finally ties his bow tie on straight.

Five minutes later, Charlie, Alex and Kevin herd everyone out into the street and direct helpers to move the chairs outside. Because Jody is too busy to do it, Donna calls up some friends at the police force and by 3:58 p.m. the entire street has been shut down with cops manning both ends. The boutique on the other side of the street is the only business open this late on a Saturday, but Dean is friends with the owner, Tessa, so she had already closed her shop for the wedding anyway. Dean’s never felt so grateful for small town life.

At 4:07 p.m., Dean and Cas walk hand-in-hand down the middle of the street while their friends and random customers stand on either side and watch. When they get up to the makeshift alter (a music stand with a Bible on it and a small rug for them to stand on), Jody tells everyone to have a seat and thanks them all for coming even though they obviously didn’t RSVP.

Claire is standing on Cas’ side wearing a long, flowy red dress while Sam is on Dean’s side in a plain black tux just like Dean and Cas'. Eileen is standing next to Jody signing everything she says.

Dean barely hears any of it, and he definitely doesn’t see any of it either. He’s looking at Cas and swinging their hands between them and is just barely stopping himself from bouncing on his feet.

They sign their vows. The crowd seems a little miffed at the lack of translation, especially when Castiel tells Dean that loving him is the easiest thing he’s ever done and the people who understand sign language “aww” like a bunch of saps. Dean knows that actually speaking his vows would've cheapened the moment. He would've been so caught up in feeling embarrassed and vulnerable in front of all these people that it wouldn't have felt like it was about Castiel at all.

After they exchange rings, and right before they kiss, Dean puts a hand on Cas’ chest and then uses his index finger to draw an X right over his heart.

Cas grabs his hand, laces their fingers together and pulls him in for a kiss.

**************************************

"Oh my god, hurry up."

"Claire," Dean chastises. He waits for her to look at him before he continues, "Give him some space."

Claire takes the smallest of steps back and flashes a fake smile at Dean.

"OK! All done," Sam declares as he straightens up and hands the pen to Dean. He doesn't seem to notice that he almost smacked right into Claire when he stood up.

Dean looks at the document and nods at Sam and Eileen's signatures. He then turns toward Cas and signs, "We're officially married. Licensed and everything."

Castiel gives the sign for "OK," then he looks very seriously over at the guest in the room.

"OK, and now the more important one," Billie says as she pulls out a large folder full of papers and sets it directly on top of the marriage license. "You know the drill, I only need one more signature from each of you. Semantics."

Dean hands a pen to Cas and points at the paper where he's supposed to sign. Once they've both signed it, Claire claps her hands together and exclaims, "Fuck yeah."

"Hey, watch your language, young lady," Dean says with a smile. "Don't talk like that in front of your fathers."

"I turn 18 in two days, you can't control me." Claire flips Dean the bird with both hands and moves them up and down in rhythm.

Cas taps Dean's shoulder and then signs, "Why is our daughter flipping you off?"

Dean winks at him. "She's just excited."

"I can't believe we pulled this off," Claire says. "Making sure you guys got married before adopting me. I mean, holy shit, I turn 18 in two days."