Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, which means its characters, recognized locations, or lore. I just have a bit of fun.

No. No, no, no, no, no! This wasn't how it was supposed to go. They had been heading home. They were going to be happy. They were a family. What had he done wrong? What had he not seen? His fault, his fault, his fault. She was dead. Gone. Not coming back. Never coming back. She was dead. He was alone.

"Sir? Is there someone I can call for you?"

Dean slowly raised his head from his hands to stare blankly at the nurse standing in front of him. He blinked slowly and tried to gather his thoughts, breathing deeply, "No… No, it's fine."

"Are you sure? It isn't any trouble," she paused uncertainly, fiddling with the stethoscope around her neck, before adding, "And I don't think it would be wise for you to drive right now."

He wanted this women to leave, to just go away and let him fall apart, but it looked like she wasn't planning to go anywhere until she got some semblance of an actual answer from him, "Yeah. It's fine. I'll call Sam. He'll come get us. I won't drive."

"Sam?"

"My brother."

"Okay. Let us know if you need something, and again, I am so sorry for your loss."

She walked away. It took everything Dean had to keep from snorting aloud. "Sorry for your loss". Right. Just how many times had she repeated that in a day? The words were worthless and they didn't make anything better. They didn't change anything, as much as Dean wished they could. He buried his head in his hands again as he felt tears well up. No. Not here. Don't break here. Push it back.

A soft sound to his left, a much needed distraction, caused Dean to turn his head. Anael, his infant daughter, blinked up at him with bright green eyes from her carrier. Oh God… What was he supposed to do? He couldn't raise a baby on his own. He and Lisa were supposed to do that together. Ana wasn't even three months old yet. They were supposed to raise her and watch her grow together. He was on his own now. Alone.

Dean's thoughts continued in a downward spiral, circling the same thoughts over and over again. He couldn't make sense out of them.

Ana's quiet sneeze brought him back to the present. Reaching over, Dean ran his fingers through the wispy auburn hair she had been born with. Right. He wasn't completely alone. He had his daughter. He had to be strong for his little girl. He would be strong for his little girl. Wiping his eyes of any possible rogue tears, Dean pulled out his cell phone. Sam came twenty minutes later, and to Dean's everlasting gratitude, his brother simply nodded to him in understanding without saying a word and took them away from the too clean and too white hospital.

Seven Months Later

"Come on, Dean! We've gotta go!"

"Yeah, yeah! Hold your horses, Sammy! I've got a baby to bring too, ya know! It ain't just me!"

Dean ignored Sam's quipped reply in favor of trying to succeed in getting his squirming daughter into her little overalls. In all honesty, Anael seemed to be winning this round. Rolling his eyes and deciding that she didn't need both straps fastened anyway, Dean grabbed the baby, diaper bag, and one of his textbooks before rushing out the door and to the car where his brother was waiting with a slightly impatient look on his face.

"Took you long enough." Sam teased good-naturedly as Dean buckled Ana into her lady-bug themed car seat in the back of the Impala.

"You try getting this little worm into overalls in a hurry, then we'll talk," he slid behind the wheel, "'Sides, it's not like we've got an appointment to get to. We're just going to see your wife and that new coffee shop and bakery she opened across town, so don't get mad when I happen to…"

Sam cut him off, holding up his hands pleadingly, "Okay, okay. I get it. Let's just get there. I told Jess I'd be there by four so I could help her close up and it's already half past three."

Dean chuckled at his brother as he put the car into gear and pulled out of the quaint neighborhood and onto the highway. Sam had hated being even a few seconds late for anything his entire life. To him, if you were on time, you were late. Honestly, it was probably a good quality for his lawyer of a brother to have. Dean though, he realized that time did occasionally need to be slowed down. Hopefully his little brother learned that before he was thirty, but Dean doubted it since his wife was much like Sam himself, and Sam only had a couple years before his thirtieth anyway. Dean had been kind of like that when he was younger, but instead of needing to always be on time, Dean had been rushing through life in general. Lisa had been the one to help him slow down and smell the roses, so to speak.

Shying away from thinking about his late wife, Dean was glad to see that Sam was pulling into the small parking lot outside ofJess' shop. He remembered her naming it "Heavenly Sweets" or something corny like that. Getting out, Dean swung around to the back and detached Ana's car seat before locking up the car and following Sam inside, who promptly went behind the counter to find his wife.

Jess really had done a good job renovating the place. Originally, it had been a diner, probably in the late fifties, but Jess had painted the walls sunshine yellow, put in black tile, and hired Bobby, a family friend, to redo the woodwork and create her chairs, tables, and counter space. The old man had done a stand-up job, as usual, and the bakery had a homey feel that many places weren't able to keep anymore, and Dean liked it there immediately. Apparently, Ana did as well. She smiled happily and pointed towards the assortments of cupcakes, pie, and breads behind the counter and in the display cases.

Dean smiled down at her as he set his book and then her car seat on the nearest table before lifting her from the seat, "Look at that, Ana! Do you see all the pretty cupcakes Aunt Jess made? And do you see the pies? Maybe we can share a bit of one, huh?"

"Da!" was the little girl's reply. She beamed at her father and Dean grinned back. Anael hadn't started talking yet, but her doctor had assured him that it was normal and okay. He'd learned that day that some kids didn't talk until they were two, so he wasn't worried by his daughter only caring for the one syllable in her vocabulary. It was his name, after all.

Dean was still showing Anael anything that caught her eye when her gaze, bright emerald and identical to her father's, fixed on the only patron in the shop. Judging by the papers he seemed to be marking up with a red pen, Dean guessed the man was a professor at the college campus nearby. He looked a bit stressed as his pen moved furiously over one paper before moving on; his suit was obviously rumpled from a long day and his hair was an utter mess. Bedhead, if Dean had to put it into words, but attractive at first glance for certain. He didn't realize he was staring until Anael chose that moment to loudly proclaim, "Da," while pointing directly at the man in the corner booth with one hand and patting Dean's face with the other. Dean felt his cheeks color slightly as Ana continued to make a fuss, causing the man to look up at the pair. Dean was struck by the color of this guy's eyes. They were the brightest and most intense blue he had ever seen and seemed to see straight into him.

Nearly to Dean's relief, his gaze shifted from him to Ana, who was still causing a small ruckus, before he smiled warmly and waved slightly at the little girl who waved back exuberantly. Taking that as some form of invitation, that and he was a little bored waiting for Sam, Dean crossed the shop and stood in front of the man, holding out his free hand, "Hey there. I'm Dean."

The man looked at Dean's hand before meeting his eyes. Dean almost choked on air. If he thought he was attractive before, well, this was something else entirely. God, what was wrong with him? He hadn't even looked at anyone since…

Right, no. Dean shook his head a little to clear it and Ana pulled his ear, "And you are?"

The blue-eyed angel tilted his head to the side a little, studying Dean. He was quiet for so long that Dean began to wonder if he was going to answer at all. He opened his mouth to ask again when the guy put his pen down and finally spoke up, "Castiel. My name is Castiel."

Anael instantly made a questioning noise, making both men smile a little at her before turning to one another again.

"Nice to meet you, Castiel. Interesting name, that. Religious family, angel?"

Castiel raised an eyebrow at the rather forward nickname, "Yes, in fact. Most people do not know the origin of my name. It is refreshing to see someone who does. Please, sit." He gestured towards the chair in front of him.

Dean sat down, wondering if this Castiel was always so formal, and settled Ana on his lap as he tickled the little girl, causing the baby to giggle, "Well, this is Anael, or Ana as most call her, so I know a thing or two about angel names."

"I see. Are you a religious man then?"

Dean paused for a moment. He hadn't explained why Ana was named as she was since before Lisa had passed. He usually just introduced his daughter as Ana and not by her full name. There was no real reason for it. Her name simply meant "joy", but it was still something left from his wife.

Seeing Dean's hesitation, Castiel backtracked a little, "I am sorry. You need not tell me anything if you do not wish to."

Brought back to the present, Dean shook his head again, running one hand through his dirty blonde hair, "Nah, it's okay. Anael was the name that my…late wife chose. She wanted something unique that was still beautiful. We liked it, and when she was born, it seemed to suit her." Dean looked down at his daughter and bounced her lightly on his knee.

"I see. And it does. Suit her, I mean. She seems very happy."

Dean was thankful that he tactfully passed over the mention of Lisa. He was so tired of people apologizing for her death. It had been terrible and it still bothered Dean, but he was okay and neither wanted nor needed people's pity. It had been bad the first couple of months, but Sam and Jess had helped out. After that, he'd pulled himself together for the sake of his daughter, who was currently happily chewing on her loose overall strap.

"I certainly hope so. I do the best I can for her."

"Oh please, Dean. You deserve the 'Father of the Year' award for how well Ana is taken care of." Sam stepped back out from the kitchen area, his arms full of cleaning supplies, which he proceeded to dump on the countertop without care.

"Ah, be quiet, Sammy."

His brother looked up at him from where he had started scrubbing something that had dried on the backsplash of the counter, "I'm serious, Dean. I'm proud of you."

"Yeah, yeah. Not in front of the customers."

Castiel interrupted then, "I am not quite a customer. My brother, Gabriel, works as one of the bakers here. He was very excited to get the job so soon out of culinary school."

"Wait. Your brother is that prank pulling flirt?" Sam nearly jumped over the counter in his rush to get his sentence out. As it was, he stayed rooted in his spot, scrubbing the tiles, and trying not to get his button-up wet.

Blinking, Castiel nodded thoughtfully, "I suppose that is a good way to describe him. He is much more…flamboyant than I." he ventured a quick glance at Dean before giving his attention back to Sam. "I have been told his baking makes up for it though, yes?"

Dean stopped listening as Sam launched into some of the stories Jess had brought home about her mischievous employee. He'd clocked out when he had near conformation that this guy, Castiel, might be available and potentially interested. Dean picked Ana up from his lap and turned her so she could sit on the table in front of him. He stared at his daughter as he thought.

It'd been a very long time since he'd dated, years actually, but he was no stranger to picking up and understanding signals from people. And finding someone he actually liked, and seemed to connect with relatively well, who already knew he had a kid, and didn't seem deterred, was honestly just a bonus. Dean glanced around Anael to look at Castiel for a moment. He found piercing blue eyes, dark messy hair, and the hint of a five o'clock shadow on the man's face. Yeah, okay, it didn't hurt that the guy was downright gorgeous either.

"Uh, Dean?" Sam's voice broke through his reverie. What? Oh. He was staring at Castiel. Then again, Castiel was staring right back. When had that happened?

He straightened up, clearing his throat, and stopped gawking at the man sitting across from him, "Yeah? What's up?"

Sam's eyebrows raised so far, Dean thought they might fly off his forehead, "Just thought I'd let you know Jess and I are taking her car back home, so you can leave when you like and we can meet up for dinner later tonight."

Dean chanced a glance back at Castiel. He was still staring at Dean's profile.

"When do you close up?"

"Soon." Sam deadpanned.

Alright, so that particular bitch face meant get-the-hell-out-soon-or-I-shall-not-be-a-happy-brother-flirt-on-your-own-time-geez.

"Right then, I guess that means I'll just get a move on. Maybe run some errands." He trailed off as he gathered up a sleepy looking Anael and got to his feet. Trudging back over to the table he had deposited Ana's car seat, he strapped her in and turned back towards Castiel. He nearly jumped when he realized the man was literally standing a foot away from him. Wow. Personal space much?

Anael reached out to him and Castiel smiled as he let the little girl tug onto his finger as she slipped into sleep. Castiel looked back towards Dean, still not backing away, and held out something, "May I leave you my number? I would like to have coffee with you sometime." He gestured towards Anael, "She is welcome to come as well if you'd like. I do not mind."

Oh dear God, this was perfect. There had to be a catch somewhere, but if there was, Dean couldn't find it. So instead, he grinned widely and took the business card that Castiel held, "Sure thing, Cas! I'd like that." He dug into his own wallet for a minute before pulling out his own business card, "And here. Take this just in case I accidentally lose yours or Ana manages to tear it up."

Castiel tilted his head slightly at this second nickname, but he smiled softly before nodding, extracting his hand back from Anael's grip, and taking the card from Dean, "A mechanic, I see."

Dean laughed and moved to the other side of Ana's carrier, "Yeah. I inherited the shop from my dad, but I worked in it myself for a little over fifteen years before I started running it. I still try and work on the cars when I can." He picked up the textbook he hadn't so much as looked at since coming in the bakery, "And I've been slowly putting myself through school to get a business degree. I've got about a year or so left of that. It'll be easier when Ana is a little older, but for now, the situation works."

Cas' eyes had widened a little when Dean told him about his plans, "That is truly impressive, Dean. Not a lot of adults go back to school after their twenties are over. Not only that, but you run a business and are raising a child. Even just thinking about all the work makes me tired."

"Well, you looked pretty frazzled scratching away on those papers over there, so I'm willing to bet you're busy too."

Castiel grimaced at the mention of the pile of papers waiting for him on the back table, "Yes, about that. I teach Religious Studies, and it usually isn't like that as I keep a mostly lecture-based class, but I tried assigning a new essay topic and from what I'm reading, I'm not sure I explained what was supposed to be done well enough. I'll be trying again with another group."

Clapping Cas on the shoulder, Dean grinned, "I'm sure it'll be fine. Why don't you finish grading and then call me to explain it? I'm happy to listen, even if it is in the middle of feeding Ana. We can also set up that date."

"Yes, Dean. I think that would be agreeable."

Dean rolled his eyes at the formality of Castiel's words. Maybe he'd loosen up after actually sitting down and talking with a purpose. Maybe. As it was, he tucked his textbook under his arm, hooked his car keys on his thumb, and picked up Anael's sleeping self in her carrier. He was halfway out the door when he turned back to see Cas staring after him. Dean winked and smirked at the subsequent blush on Castiel's cheeks, "I'll be seeing you, angel," and let the glass door shut soundly behind him and Anael.

Outside, and once Ana was safely tucked back in the car, Dean started realizing exactly what had just happened. He technically had a date. It was good, this he knew, but it felt so strange. He pushed away the little voice in the back of his head that said he was betraying Lisa. He knew he wasn't. She had told him to find someone else to help raise their daughter. She'd reminded him over and over that she loved him and Anael, but once she was gone, loving someone else wasn't wrong. She had said to look after Anael and to be happy. That was all she wanted for the two of them.

Dean felt a small smile creep onto his face as he looked at his napping daughter in the rearview mirror. Maybe he'd thought he couldn't before, but this moment felt different. Regardless, this was something he was willing to try, for both himself and Anael.