Two weeks before Christmas, Sam and Dean come home from the mall with new clothes for the baby angels. They'd gone through most of the clothes they'd had, destroyed in Gabe's pranks or the regular wear-and-tear of toddlers. When they haul the bags out of the Impala, they can already hear Bobby hollering from inside the house and the muffled sound of loud thuds and bangs.
Gabriel has somehow enchanted a cowbell to follow Bobby around, whizzing through the air behind him and clanging loudly while Balthazar clambers up the shelves to the tenth spot Bobby's tried to hide the liquor already this month. Castiel is reading quietly in the living room, seemingly oblivious to the chaos in the kitchen.
Dean manages to grab Balthazar while Bobby and Sam deal with Gabriel. When they've all settled down, the clothes are brought out. Gabriel and Balthazar protest and squirm, of course, while Castiel rifles through his bag curiously, pulling out each garment carefully while Sam and Dean fight to get his brothers to even try on their clothes.
"Dean, can we have a Christmas tree?"
Dean freezes and turns to Castiel. "A what?"
Castiel holds up a vibrantly colorful flier advertising toys and gadgets. On the cover is a giant Christmas tree. "Can we have a Christmas tree?"
"YEAH CHRISTMAS TREE!" Gabriel shrieks and soon he, Balthazar, and Castiel are all flapping around the living room happily, crooning about decorating Bobby's house and baking cookies and presents. Bobby's horrified look mirrors Dean's own.
"No, guys, c'mon, it's just Christmas, you've been around for thousands of 'em."
"We could do a tree, some simple decorations…" Sam starts to say but trails off at Dean's death glare.
"Please, Dean, we've never had a Christmas with you and Sam!" It's Cas's pitifully earnest look that gets him. Castiel doesn't ask for much, not like Gabriel and Balthazar who are constantly pestering Dean and Sam and Bobby. So when Cas fists his hands in Dean's shirt hem and looks up at him with slightly teary, giant blue eyes, he sighs and looks heavenward. The sooner the curse is broken, the sooner he can go back to pretending he isn't so affected by those blue eyes – but in kid form, they're irresistible.
Sam's grinning at him, and Bobby's face keeps rearranging itself as if he can't decide whether to be furious or resigned.
"Fine, fine, we'll get a tree, all right?"
"Yaaaaaay!" The angels scream with giant smiles on their faces, and Dean can't help smiling back a little, although he'd deny it if anyone asked.
An hour later, they're all bundled up in the snow gear Sam had picked out for them on an earlier shopping trip. Bobby had opted to stay inside, grumbling about fool idjits going out in the cold, but Dean knew where the hacksaw was in the garage, so he'd gone to get it and found Sam and the angels waiting for him on the porch.
The walk to the woods takes a little longer than normal, since Gabriel's boots come untied and Cas loses a mitten somehow. Dean gives the angel his gloves and sticks his cold hands into his pockets. Balthazar manages not to lose any apparel, but that's only because he's sitting atop Sam's shoulders instead of walking, hands fisted in Sam's knit hat as he flaps his wings happily.
They head through the trees to a patch of evergreens Dean's seen in previous years. The woods are quiet, sounds muffled by the snow. When they see the trees, the angels take off, babbling happily to each other about different trees. Gabriel finds a huge one that's about the height of Bobby's house and pouts when Sam says no. Cas and Balthazar try to pull Dean towards two different trees at once, both of which he vetoes on sight, leading them to try and shove handfuls of snow up the back of his shirt.
Fifteen minutes and lots of bickering and a short snowball fight later, they've found a decently large tree with only a small bald patch. Sam corrals the angels a safe distance away, not trusting the gleam in Gabriel's eyes, while Dean saws through the trunk. The angels want to help carry the tree back, but he and Sam hoist it high.
They're almost back to Bobby's when the accident happens.
The angels were chasing each other, throwing snowballs and relishing the chance to be outside, since their caretakers rarely had the energy to take them out this long between babysitting, cleaning up, and researching witches' curses in hopes of turning the angels back. Dean doesn't see which angel darts by his legs, tangling their wings up with his limbs, but he stumbles, bracing an arm out to keep from crushing the child. Normally he'd be able to balance and catch himself, but with the tree, Dean can't move as quickly and he falls, his outstretched arm snapping at the wrist as his hand hits the ground.
"Dean!" Sam drops his end of the tree at Dean's groan of pain. The angels huddle, Gabriel's laugh at Dean's stumble quickly fading when he realizes that Dean's hurt. Cas is already teary-eyed at the grimace on Dean's face.
"Shit!" Dean curses. "Think it's broken, Sammy."
"Dean, we're sorry, we didn't mean to…" Gabriel says. Moments later, there are three crying baby angels standing in the snow.
"Guys, hey, it's okay, it's fine, I'll be okay." Dean gets up carefully, leaving the tree in the driveway for now as he holds his injured wrist close to his chest.
"C'mon, let's go inside and Bobby can take a look," Sam tells them. He herds the angels inside, sniffling and unhappy.
"What the hell happened out there?" Bobby grumbles when he sees the sad state they're all in.
"Tripped and fell. Think it's broken," Dean tells him, following Bobby to the kitchen so the older man can take a look.
Sam tries to keep Cas, Gabriel, and Balthazar out of the way in the living room, but even the promise of a Disney movie can't distract them. They scurry back to the kitchen and crowd around Dean where he sits at the kitchen table, studying him and Bobby with wide eyes as Dean's wrist is examined.
"Yep, it's broken all right. Pretty bad break, I'd sa- er-" Bobby stops when he sees the tears forming in the angels' eyes. "It's not too bad, just needs a cast. You'll have to go down to the hospital, but it should be all right." He grabs a wrap bandage from the kitchen first aid kit and carefully wraps Dean's wrist to keep it protected in the meantime.
"Dean has to go the hospital?!" Castiel wails, and soon all three angels are bawling inconsolably.
"Guys, I'm gonna be fine! I've had much worse than this, you know that!" But nothing any of them says helps, until Sam scoops up Gabriel and Bobby picks up Balthazar while Dean lets Cas crawl onto his lap and bury his face in his shirt.
Soon the sobs have turned to hiccupping, soggy gulps, and Dean has a plan.
"Okay, you three, how about this: Sam's gonna have to drive me to the hospital. If you three wanna come, you've gotta behave. Cas can stay with me and you two can go with Sam to pick up some decorations. He can drop you off here with Bobby to start decorating the tree and then come get me and Cas. But only if you're gonna behave." It's probably a terrible idea – especially given how shopping trips with Gabriel and Balthazar have gone in the past - but the angels look miserable.
"I can go with you?" Cas asks, looking up in surprise at Dean from the tear-soaked fabric on Dean's chest.
" 'Course you can, Cas. Gotta have someone to keep me company, right?"
"What do you say, think you guys can handle behaving for a couple hours?" Sam asks, and Gabriel and Balthazar nod enthusiastically, promising not to fight or, in Gabriel's case, play any pranks. It's not the first time they've made that promise – and then ended up breaking it – but they look too shaken over Dean's injury for Sam to doubt them.
They pile into the car after making sure the angels' wings are hidden under their layers of clothing – thank God for bulky winter coats, Dean thinks – and arrive at the hospital a few minutes later. Dean waves, a cheerful smile plastered on his face, to Gabriel and Balthazar.
Castiel manages to stay calm at the hospital, mostly due to the attention from the nurses and the lollipops they keep giving him. Must be nice, Dean thinks, for him to be able to eat the candy instead of having it crammed into his wings by his brothers. An hour and a half after they've arrived, Dean's wrist is set in a cast and sling, and they're waiting on the curb for Sam. He smiles down at the angel holding his good hand and rocking back and forth on his heels, savoring the crunch of the snow.
"You did good in there, buddy. Thanks for helping me out."
"I like helping you, Dean," Cas says with a small smile up at Dean.
"Good," he jokes, " 'Cause it's gonna be tough to decorate with only one good hand."
When they get back to the house, everything's calm and orderly for once. Gabriel and Balthazar had been, well, perfect angels at the store with Sam and helped Bobby unpack their purchases with no major mishaps except for a few broken ornaments. The tree's already in the stand when they return, and they all set to work decorating.
"We can help with the lights!" Gabriel crows, grabbing a string and clambering onto the back of the couch to wrap a string of lights around the highest parts of the tree while Balthazar starts at the bottom. Bobby retreats to the kitchen to pour eggnog while Sam adds hooks to the ornaments. Cas observes quietly for a moment, then grabs a few hooks and tries to prepare a few glittering snowflake ornaments.
With a light snowfall outside and the radio playing Christmas music quietly, Dean can't help but feel a slow, satisfied sense of contentment. He and Sam had had few Christmas like this, in a home with a real tree and eggnog instead of a crappy motel with cheap, hastily wrapped presents. He watches the angels decorate, more carefree like the children they've been turned into than the world-weary ancient beings they really are, and savors the moment. They're going to turn Gabriel, Balthazar, and Cas back as soon as they can, but for now, this is the best they can offer instead. When Bobby returns with eggnog, he gives Dean a knowing look and a slight nod, understanding why Dean's eyes are a bit too wet.
It's not long before the decorations are all up, except for the angel. When Sam pulls it from its box, he rolls his eyes and holds it up to show Dean and Bobby. The angel's grinning face is Gabriel's.
"Really, Gabe?" Sam says as Balthazar complains that he wants to be a tree angel too.
"Fine, Sammy, how's this?" He snaps his fingers and the angel is three-headed, its faces resembling him and his brothers.
"Uh, terrifying." But Gabriel snatches it and flutters to the top of the tree to plop the angel in place.
"Ready to light this thing, Sammy?" Dean says, finishing his eggnog. Before Sam can reach the plug, though, Cas has scrambled over from his seat next to Dean on the couch and whispered something to Sam, who looks up at Dean.
"You wanna do the honors, Dean?" Cas smiles at him, and Dean can't refuse. It's always been his favorite part the few times they've had even a pathetic tree, the part where the tree's finally plugged in and lights up for the first time. He eases himself off the couch and over to the outlet, pushing the plug in with his free hand. The lights blaze, and the angels cheer, dancing happily around as their wings flap in excitement.
Later, the angels are tucked in their nest sleeping, except for Cas, who's crept into Dean's room like usual. He prods at Dean's cast with a tentative finger, curious, and they talk about what to get the others for Christmas until Cas finally falls asleep, trench coat gripped in his tiny fingers as he nuzzles against Dean's chest.
For the first time in a long time, Dean thinks, he actually might enjoy Christmas.