Samifer Week #7: Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Sam Winchester's Day Off
Pairing: Samifer (SamLucifer)
Rating: PG13 (For Language)
Word Count: 8012
Summary: Somebody had called Sam's boss and told him he worked too much. So Zachariah gave him the day off and told him to spend it with his family. (Domestic!fic)
Somebody had called Sam's boss and told on him. He wasn't sure who ratted him out – on the drive home, the man had started planning the systematic torture of each of his family members until he found out who it had been – but when he pulled the Volt into the driveway, he realized it didn't matter who called.
Sam Winchester was an equity partner at Beretta & Derringer. True, he had an insane workload lately. He'd been working at the office every day for the past sixteen, and he was trying to juggle ten and a half hour days with some semblance of a life. It was probably a good thing when Zachariah sat in the chair across from Sam's desk and told him to head home early and take the next day off.
The lawyer was annoyed. He started shoving his files in his briefcase – he could get a little more research done on Barnes case from his office at home – but Zachariah chuckled, stood, and placed his hands over the files. "A day off, Winchester. Not a work-from-home day. Seriously. You need to spend time with your family."
Sam got out of the Volt with an empty briefcase and started crossing the yard. If he lost the trial because of this… but all thoughts of work left him when the front door opened and his four-year-old son bounded out the door, crashed into his thigh, and wrapped his arm around him. It had been a long time since Sam had been home in daylight, and his son was practically hyperventilating with excitement. Sam shifted the briefcase and scooped the boy up with one arm.
"Hi, Kevin. Am I late for dinner?"
"No!" the boy yelled, wrapping his arms around Sam's neck. "You're early."
Sam looked away from his son to his house. Lucifer was standing in jeans and a t-shirt, leaning against the jamb with a soft smile on his face. The sun was shining on their porch, making his skin shine. It had been too long – too long since Sam really looked at his husband and admired him – and he walked up the porch, leaning over the man to give him a quick kiss. Lucifer's eyebrows raised in surprised, they weren't really overly affectionate around Kevin, but he didn't say anything about it.
Instead, he moved into the house, gesturing as if he were formally inviting Sam in. Sam sat Kevin down, letting the boy take his briefcase to his office for him, and Lucifer shut the door behind his family. Sam leaned forward once more, wrapping a hand behind Lucifer's neck to draw him in for a slower kiss.
When he drew back, Lucifer's hands were on his hips and the surprise turned into something with more affection.
"What's the occasion?" Lucifer asked. "Your birthday isn't for seven months, my birthday isn't for nine, Kevin's isn't for three, and our anniversary is…"
Sam kissed him again, a grin forming on his lips. He could feel Lucifer smile against him. "Nothing. No occasion. I've been working too hard, and Zach sent me home early. I'm not going in tomorrow."
The look on Lucifer's face was something Sam couldn't recall seeing in a long time. Not as far back as their wedding seven years ago, nor the adoption of their son four. Maybe the last time Sam saw the look of love and happiness was when Sam made partner a year or so ago. He couldn't remember a time more recent.
Instead of reacting on the emotion with words, Lucifer's hands slid to the small of Sam's back, his head resting against the taller man's shoulder. He let out a breath, and said, "I'm glad you're home."
"Yeah, me too," Sam pushed his nose into his husband's hair and held him.
Of course, it didn't last long. The timer was going off in the kitchen and before they could separate, Kevin was reaching up to place his hand over Lucifer's on Sam's back.
"Daddy. Papa. Pizza!"
Sam let himself indulge one more quick kiss before he went to their bedroom to change out of his suit. He spared a look behind to watch Lucifer scoop the boy in his arms, making a jet sound as the boy soared through the air. Kevin's arms swung wide, searching for something to cling to, and both of Sam's boys were laughing as they disappeared into the kitchen.
Kevin insisted on saying a prayer before they ate, and Sam raised a confused eyebrow to his husband. True, Lucifer had more faith than one would expect for a man named for the devil, and they went to church most Sundays with Castiel and Claire, but prayer had never been implemented at their table.
Two weeks of missed dinners, of time he couldn't get back with his son. Sam swore he was going to cut back his hours from here on.
"God bless our food and my daddy and my papa and Uncle Dean and Claire and Uncle Cassie and thank you for bringing daddy home early amen," Kevin was reaching for his pizza before the prayer was really even over, but Lucifer praised his effort, shrugging at Sam and mouthing Claire's name. Kevin's cousin was scary devout, her righteous fury was nearly angelic, and that was the only explanation Sam needed.
Sam was happy to sit back and listen to Kevin talk around mouthfuls. He liked hanging out with Castiel while Lucifer taught his classes on campus, but he couldn't wait to start Kindergarten next year. Sometimes, Lucifer took Kevin to campus to play in his office during his office hours and he liked the ladies who came in and gave him candy and offered to babysit. Kevin rambled on about how the girl liked Lucifer until the blond was blushing and Sam hadn't laughed that hard in months. If Lucifer was shooting him dirty looks while denying it, that only made it even funnier.
To get Sam to stop picking on him about it, Lucifer offered to do the dishes if Sam took Kevin outside to play. Of course, he asked in front of Kevin and Sam knew by the wide eyes and giant smile, that he had no choice. Not that he minded.
Although Kevin wasn't biologically related to either of his fathers, he seemed a lot more like Sam than Lucifer. It surprised Sam, since their son spent a significantly more amount of time with his other father. Kevin was talkative and seemed highly intelligent for a child his age. Sam never spoke to him about cartoons, because his son found them boring. He'd rather talk about the cello that Castiel sometimes let him play with or how well he knew his letters and numbers, and on the rare occasion they talked about college.
It was mostly a joke – Sam thought everyone was putting unfair pressure on the boy – but Dean made a joke a few months back after he overheard Lucifer call Kevin, "my little prince" about how the princes went to Princeton and every few days, Kevin would bring up his desire to go to Princeton, even if the boy had no idea it was a school.
Sam had been a geeky child. He was a stark contrast to his older brother, and John thrived on it. With Dean it had been cars and sports and a lot of energy, but John liked sitting back in his chair, reading the newspaper to Sam. John loved that the boys were so different.
And Sam remembered Lucifer as a child – not quite this young – but he had been a constant source of terror to the younger children on the playground. Sam had run crying to the teacher more than once because the older boy had teased him or pushed him or pulled his hair. Lucifer had been on Dean's football team in high school, and his brother remained friends with his tormentor so even after Lucifer left and went to college, Sam would still see him every few weeks, playing flip-cup against his brother in their garage with a few of their football buddies.
Sam remembered the exact moment he stopped thinking Lucifer was just a stupid bully. Sam had just turned eighteen, and by virtue of his not-quite-legal age, he had been invited to one of the parties in the garage. The younger Winchester was awful at flip-cup, and he remembered his teammates yelling at him to hurry up. Well, all of them except for Lucifer, who stood behind him, showed him the exact motion and force to use. A few hours later found the two of them way too drunk and sitting on the same set of swings that Sam now shared with their son.
Lucifer pointed to the sky, claiming to have seen a shooting star. Sam couldn't find it, but insisted the boy make a wish. For a moment, Lucifer was quiet – rocking back and forth slowly on the swing – before his eyes shot open and he looked at the kid he bullied throughout most of their lives.
"Forgive me?"
"What?" Sam asked.
"That's what I wish for… for you to forgive me. I didn't understand when I was a kid. I didn't know how to act on what I was feeling, but I do now," Lucifer grabbed the chain of Sam's swing and tugged him closer. "So forgive me for being an asshole all those years."
Sam opened his mouth to forgive him. He was leaving in August to go to Stanford and he had one summer to deal with Lucifer then never see him again. The idea of closure was promising, and forgiveness was easy on the first warm night of the year. But Lucifer wrapped his arm around the chain, keeping them close with less effort, and the blond boy breathed, "And forgive me for acting on those feelings now."
"What…?" Sam had started, but Lucifer used his other hand to maneuver Sam's face around the chain obstacle to press their lips together. He was too drunk for this, and even if Sam spent the next week blaming the alcohol for the kiss, he had undoubtedly kissed back. It lasted maybe five seconds – just enough time for Lucifer's tongue to slide across Sam's bottom lip – and the older boy leaned forward too far and slipped out of his seat. His arm was still wrapped around the chain, and he let out a yelp as his body was dragged across the woodchips with the momentum of Sam's swing.
Sam laughed, long and crazy, and when Lucifer pouted at him – his big moment ruined – Sam just laughed harder. After a few minutes, Sam stood and reached a hand down. Lucifer accepted, wrapping both of his hands around Sam's. If, after Sam pulled the blond boy too his feet, their hands remained connected for the rest of the walk back to the Winchester home, then that was just the alcohol's fault too.
"Daddy?"
Kevin was swinging a little too high for Sam's comfort, but his legs were moving back and forth, and he must have gotten himself going that high. His hands gripped the chains tight, but his head turned to grin at the man. There was no fear in his eyes.
Maybe he picked up some things from Lucifer as well.
By the time they got home from the playground, it was getting dark outside and it was time to start Kevin's bedtime ritual.
The boy had been adopted very early on – he was two months old when he became a Winchester – but those must have been two terrifying months for the boy. He had a hard time adjusting. Sometimes he would be okay, but for large portions of the day he would scream and cry. He would bawl the second he was left alone, but having one of his dads present wasn't always enough to comfort him. Being new parents, they freaked the fuck out, and read every article they could find and took Kevin to doctors who thought there might be some infantile abandonment paranoia or maybe their son had some type of autism. It took a few months and a whole mess of trial-and-error, but they finally found a way to minimize the tears and maximize the happy times.
Kevin loved schedules. They got him through the first two years of life in a blaze of happiness and normalcy.
At four, he grew out of need them to feel safe, and so many of them had been abandoned. But the bedtime one really did help all three of them unwind after a long day. Sam would never be later than eight o'clock getting home. He couldn't afford to miss this ritual.
It started and ended with music.
The songs changed from night to night, but all of them were pre-made playlists plugged into their stereo system. It consisted of one song to change into pajamas too, one song to brush your teeth and wash your face too, and two Enya songs where the three of them sat on the floor with their hands on their knees in the living room, just closing their eyes and breathing. After that, they music would stop and they'd walk to Kevin's room and tuck him in.
Every single night, Kevin asked his fathers to sing him a song.
And every single night, Lucifer would sit on the edge of his bed and look at Sam as if tonight was going to be the night they said no. It was never that night, and Lucifer asked Kevin what he would like to hear.
"Dave's song," Kevin snuggled down into his bed. "The one that you listened to when you were away that made you think of Daddy."
Sam had no idea what song Kevin was thinking about, but Lucifer's ears turned pink and he looked back at Sam like he was avoiding his eye, and Sam knew what he was asking. He went into their bedroom to grab his acoustic guitar. Kevin had been asking for pop songs that Claire liked more frequently, and Lucifer would YouTube them on his phone. Sam handed the thing over, and Lucifer sat it on his lap with a soft look at his son.
"You just want to embarrass me in front of Daddy, don't you?" Lucifer whispered.
Kevin's eyes darted from Lucifer to Sam, and he frowned, "Doesn't Daddy know you love him? I told you that you needed to tell him that."
"I'll tell him after we sing, how about," the back of Lucifer's neck was pink now, too, and Sam sat behind him on the bed, and Lucifer adjusted his fingers a few times before looking back at Sam. "You can sing if you want, Daddy."
"Daddy should sing," Kevin amended. "Because Daddy loves you too, Papa."
Sam smiled and nodded. Lucifer wouldn't have asked if Sam didn't know the words, and the second his husband started playing, the notes hit Sam in the chest like a train.
"You got your ball, you got your chain, tied to me tight, tie me up again. Who's got their claws into you, my friend? Into your heart, I'll beat again. Sweet like candy to my soul, sweet you rock and sweet you roll. Lost for you, I'm so lost for you. Oh and you can crash into me. And I come into you… in a boy's dream."
Despite Dean and Lucifer's close friendship growing up, music was always a constant source of argument. Dean liked the rock music of their fathers, and Lucifer liked music that Dean had called, "drunk college stoner fratboy bullshit." The summer after their freshman year of college, Lucifer came back to Kansas with a guitar and Dean had been entirely unimpressed at the artful yet simplistic rendition of this song.
But Sam always thought that Dave Matthew's Band's lyrics were amazing. And he remembered that he really enjoyed listening to Lucifer play this song. The look on Lucifer's face as Sam took over singing the next verse was something Sam hadn't seen in a long time. It was something of a secret, remembering how much this song used to mean before he actually had Sam.
"Touch your lips just so I know. In your eyes, love, it glows, so I'm bare-boned and crazy for you. Oh and you can crash into me, yeah, baby. Please come crash into me… in a boy's dream."
And how it meant so much more after he got him. There were days in Stanford Sam's freshman year when didn't think he could do it – he was thousands of miles away from his family, his boyfriend – and he was dreading moving back into the dorms for sophomore year after an entire summer vacation spent in Lucifer's arms. The worst part was that Lucifer was graduated now and gotten a huge grant to some grad school in New York where he was double majoring in Philosophy and the Classics. New York was nearly as far as a person could be away from California, and his classes started a week before Sam's.
Sam remembered kissing him before he left for the airport with tears in his eyes, completely convinced that the distance would be too much, and he was sure that was the last time he would ever see Lucifer.
So when he saw a very familiar face waiting for him at the airport when he landed in California, he almost thought he was running up to and throwing his arms around a complete stranger. But he had given Lucifer that shirt for Christmas, and he was pretty sure that this was his Lucifer. And through Sam's hysteria, Lucifer innocently said, "I told you I had a grant to Stanford, Sam. I was just applying to that school in New York. You must have misheard me. And I wondered why you were so emotional when I left last week."
Sam just growled at him and kissed him so hard it hurt.
"Crash into me in a boy's dream. I watch you there through your window and I stare at you. You wear nothing but you wear it so well, oh. Tied up and twisted, the way I like to be for you – for me – come crash into me."
The words might be a little perverse for their four-year-old son, but he wasn't focused on that. The only words he knew was coming up and he belted out, "I'm the king of the castle; you're a dirty rascal."
And sometimes, Kevin would try to weasel another song out of them, but as Lucifer plucked the last few notes, Sam stretched his hand over his husband's shoulder blades, longing for contact. Lucifer turned to look at him with a smile on his face. They weren't those kids at college anymore. They were successful. They were a family with a child. But Lucifer still looked at him the same way he did when Sam first visited Lucifer's apartment – the way he did the next morning when Sam was laid out, naked on the bed, the morning sun just starting to peek in through the shades and paint their bodies – and Sam knew that tomorrow morning, he would wake up to Lucifer tracing the sunlight's designs over his chest.
He leaned forward and pressed his lips against his husband's, and he felt, more than heard, Lucifer say, "I love you, Sam."
"I love you, too," and Sam was barely able to keep the tears from swelling in his eyes as Lucifer bent over and kissed their son's forehead.
"And, I love you, my little prince."
"I love you too, Papa. I love you, Daddy."
"I love you, too, Kevin," Sam and Lucifer stood and walked to the door, pausing only to smile at their son one last time, and shut off the lights before shutting the door.
Sometimes they were on each other the second they shut the door. Sam was always tired, and Lucifer had always been insatiable, and quickies had kept them for a long time. But tonight was different. Lucifer looked exhausted but happy, and when he opened the door to their bedroom, Sam stepped in and threw the blankets back. They climbed in together, quick to wrap their arms around each other. Lucifer sighed this completely contented thing, and whispered against Sam's bare chest, "I'm so fucking glad you aren't going into work tomorrow."
Lucifer had had a vile mouth from birth, and it was amazing that he had the self-control to not slip in front of the child. And despite the language, it wasn't said as an accusation or with any judgment in his voice. There was only love and relief, and Sam swore he wouldn't work so hard from now on. They didn't need the money, and he didn't need the glory.
But he did need his family.
"Do you remember our first fight?" Sam asked, running the pads of his fingers through Lucifer's hair.
"Yes," Lucifer kissed Sam's chest. "I was seven and you were four, and your mom asked me and Castiel to spend the night and you and Castiel were too busy playing with your baby science kit to play with me and Dean, so I broke it so you would pay attention to me."
Sam pulled back from the embrace to look at Lucifer. His eyes slowly slid open, a smile forming on his lips. "And I swear that when I think of some of my worst memories in my life, that one always stands out."
"Are you kidding me? That is what you regret? You pushed me in mud when I was seven and told everyone I had an accident and the girl I was playing with called me Peanut-Butter Butt until I was in high school. Or how about when I was thirteen and about to have my first kiss behind the school and you actually shoved me into the wall and waited for her to run away before threatening me that she was your girlfriend. And… I was sixteen and in my room freaking seconds before my first blowjob and you walk in without knocking, completely freaking drunk, because you absolutely needed a copy of The Odyssey right that moment, and she was so upset and scared that you'd tell that she ran away."
Lucifer smiled, his fingers cold as they pressed against Sam's forehead and tucked a stray piece of hair behind Sam's ear.
"I was a pretty good cockblock," he admitted. Sam felt the slow build-up of anger dissipate with a breath. At the time, it sucked. Lucifer had been a constant annoyance growing up, but hindsight was twenty-twenty, and it all made sense now. "You know why I did it. I fucking loved you and every time I saw you with someone else, I just… didn't think. I mean, you know how us Miltons are at communicating through aggression."
Sam growled, really not wanting to think about the epic beat-down Castiel gave Dean his junior year of high school before they pretty much jumped to third base then in there in the alley. And how of course it had been Sam to find them and interrupt. Instead, he pressed his lips against his husband's before running his hand down his side. Lucifer reacted positively, gripping Sam's hips and rolling the taller man over on him.
When Sam opened his eyes that morning, Lucifer wasn't in bed. Sam thought for a split second about how he had been wrong – that Lucifer wasn't creeping on him over his morning-after glory – but the curtains suddenly opened and flooded the room with light. Sam groaned, rolling onto his back and shielding his hands with his eyes. Lucifer walked back to the bed, and Sam felt the smaller frame climb on top of him, knees on either side of his stomach, hands on either side of Sam's head holding him up.
"Sometimes when I look at you, I think of Philomela and I wonder if that makes me your Tereus," Lucifer lowered his body, pushing hair out of Sam's face. Sam uncovered his face, opening his eyes. Lucifer was a sight – pale skin and blond hair, messy from sleeping and the night before, collarbones popping from his chest like he didn't eat enough – and even if it was creepy when Lucifer compared him to his favorite, tragic women, there was something so pure in the way the man spoke that it left Sam breathless. Sam was smart – he wasn't modest about his intelligence either – but sometimes, the way Lucifer talked made Sam realize that his husband had settled for him.
The man was a genius in his field – his hard-on for Ovid knew no bounds, and actually, his dissertation on the man was so brilliant, it was published and the royalties bought them this house – and Sam could forget it in the easy way he talked and played with their son.
But he could look so sad at times, like he really believed the comparison. Sam's husband had no modesty – he only had self-loathing – and he never thought he was good at anything, despite his numerous and obvious successes.
"I won't kill Kevin and feed him to you in revenge for raping me," Sam joked, because easy jokes were easier to break the trance than getting to the root of the problem, the forbidden reason why Lucifer hated himself so much, but the man didn't look amused at the joke. His frown was hard and set, so Sam tried another tactic.
He pushed Lucifer's hips back, so he moved a fraction lower on Sam's body. The taller man rolled his hips up into his husband, and that got his attention.
"You can't rape the willing, Lucifer."
Lucifer let out a defeated sigh, a small smile forming on his face when he added, "Procne killed Itys, not Philomela."
"If you want to roleplay as horny Greeks, you only have to ask," Sam grinned, running his hand over the smooth skin at Lucifer's hipbone. "But I want to be Achilles and you can be my Patroclus."
"Fuck you in the face if you think I'm Patroclus," Lucifer growled, but he rocked back against Sam in a way that proved he enjoyed the argument. "I am so Achilles."
"Prove it," Sam dared, and that was all the baiting Lucifer needed. Lucifer slid back easily, parting Sam's legs like he expected a fight and was surprised when there wasn't one. It was fast, and rougher than usual, and near the end of it, Lucifer started murmuring lines from The Iliad in fucking Greek against Sam's neck and that was pretty much the finale. Lucifer was still breathless and collapsed on top of Sam when there was a knock on the door.
"Papa, I'm hungry."
"One second, prince," Lucifer groaned and stood on shaky legs. He reached to grab the pajamas he abandoned on the floor the night before, and Sam sat up for long enough to smack his husband's ass, which resulted in almighty glare. "You should come help with breakfast, Sam."
"He asked for you, Achilles son of Peleus. Besides, I need time to recover."
Lucifer offered a wink as he opened the door, "Next time, let's be Alexander and Hephaestus."
Sam countered with, "You are not Colin Farrell," and he could have sworn he heard Lucifer laugh as the door shut behind him.
Time to recover meant fifteen minutes, apparently, because Sam got right up and got in the shower. By the time he was done and in the kitchen, Kevin was halfway through a story about a dream he had. It had nothing to do with the Greeks, but Sam could still see Lucifer's influence in the dream. It was about a giant flood.
Though, Sam wasn't sure if it was Epic of Gilgamesh or Noah, and he wasn't sure when he became as big of a mythology geek as Lucifer.
Breakfast was half over when the phone rang. After a quick look to make sure it was okay, Kevin ran off to answer, nearly screaming, "HELLO" into the receiver. Lucifer snorted into his coffee, but didn't say anything when the boy came running back and held the phone out to Sam. "It's your brother," he stated matter-of-factly.
Sam took the phone and asked, "Dean?"
"Hiya Sammy."
"I knew it was Uncle Dean because he said Hiya Kev, lemme talk to Sammy and he's the only one who talks like that," Kevin told Lucifer, who started coughing up his coffee at the impression that made the man sound like a redneck idiot.
"What's up?" Sam asked, trying to hold his own laughter in.
If Dean thought something was wrong, he didn't let on. "Luce says you aren't working today, and we wanted you to come to dinner. All of you. I said 'let's take Kevin for the day and let them fuck the day off away' but Cas said…"
"Dean," Castiel's voice cut in.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, Cas. He said it's been forever since we've seen you, and we figured that…"
Dean sucked at asking for anything, so Sam just looked from Kevin to Lucifer and asked, "Dinner with Dean, Cas, and Claire?" Lucifer nodded, and Kevin started babbling in his excitement, so Sam just said, "Yeah, Dean. We'll be there. What time?"
"Four. And by four, you know what time I really mean, you bitch."
"Jerk," Sam replied, enjoying the easy sound of his brother's laughter before he hung up the phone.
Four o'clock meant two o'clock because Dean and Cas could thrive on a day-to-day level of normalcy, but adding any sort of pressure made them snippy. Thanksgiving last year was a nightmare after Dean dried out the turkey and Castiel got mad at him and Lucifer and Sam ended up taking Claire and Kevin to the park because they were pretty sure one of them was bent over the table in some form of punishment.
So they cleaned up Kevin, and Sam read Harry Potter to his son while Lucifer got ready, and they were knocking on a door across the street and two houses to the left where their brothers were not quite so stressed out that they'd been reduced to sex (yet). The second they walked in, Lucifer went back to kitchen duty, leaving Dean and Sam to kid duty.
And Dean was a lot better at handling the kids than he was cooking.
They played around and talked for half an hour or so, Dean sitting with his knees crossed on the floor, his Batman action figure punching at Claire's Joker before roundhouse kicking Kevin's Scarecrow, and Sam couldn't help but watch from the armchair and smile. Dean was as lost in the game as the kids were. Eventually, his cheating ways got the best of him and Claire decided that the Joker and Scarecrow were friends and both kids abandoned the toys to leap at Dean.
Sam thought about jumping in as Robin to save his brother, but he knew it would just end up with him as Harley or Poison Ivy and he was sore enough without Lucifer adding Batman villain roleplay to their Greek homo roleplay.
Maybe next week, he'd bring it up.
When Castiel and Lucifer walked back in and sat on the couch behind the fight, Batman cheated and called a time out to catch his breath. Castiel suggested, "Why don't we pick a movie to watch?" And Dean shot him a grateful look. He didn't bother waiting for the kids to pick, but the FBI warning flashed when Kevin and Claire decided on Princess and the Frog and seconds later, that was what flashed on the screen.
Sam had seen the movie in its completion a handful of times, but he didn't know every word to every song like he did with Tangled. He sort of wondered when the newbies overtook Aladdin and The Lion King, but he liked Princess and the Frog well enough.
Dean sat with his back against the couch, Claire leaning next to him and Kevin in his lap, and the six of them stayed quiet and attentive through the overture of Down in New Orleans.
It didn't last long.
"Uncle Dean, you're going to be the Shadowman, right?" Kevin asked, fisting the material of Dean's black t-shirt.
"If you want me to. You two Naveen and Tiana?" The kids nodded their heads and Dean turned to look at Lucifer and Castiel. "Who should they be?"
In the end, Castiel was Louis and Lucifer was Ray, but the roles were pretty flexible. Castiel did a mean impression of Lawrence that had Sam laughing, but everybody was on the ground in tears when Lucifer pretended to hike up his dress as Charlotte and gave a great impression of the southern belle when he added, "Well, back into the fray."
Some parts they would all sit and watch, but usually they would act out and sing the songs. It became obvious early on that Sam was the only one who wasn't acting it out, so he became the audience.
Until the scene after Tiana helped Naveen cook. Dean was laying on the couch watching because he didn't have a character in this scene, and Lucifer, Castiel, Claire, and Kevin were sitting on the floor in a circle, pretending to eat the gumbo. Lucifer suddenly gasped and said, "There she is… the sweetest firefly in all creation."
The others missed their lines because they were too busy giggling. Lucifer crawled on his hands and knees toward Sam. The younger Winchester felt himself grow hotter with the blush, which only made Dean and Castiel laugh harder and Claire gave a romantic little sigh.
"How can you miss her? She's glowing right up there in front of y'all," Lucifer grabbed Sam's hand and tugged him to his feet. He moved him a few feet back, and the way he towered over everyone else, it really did make him look like a star – way out of reach – completely unobtainable. Lucifer got back on his knees to make the difference even more noticeable, and Kevin sat back and Claire tugged him closer, the DVD abandoned for the show on the other side of the room.
"Look how she lights up the sky, ma belle Evangeline," Lucifer held his hands out in the shape of a heart, framing Sam's face in it. Sam crossed his arms, trying to seem annoyed, but it was way too forced. Castiel missed his cue, and the kids didn't even try to chastise him. "So far above me, yet I know her heart belongs to only me."
It was weird, Sam thought, how a song from a Disney movie made his heart turn over like this. But Lucifer sang it with heart, and Sam saw Castiel smile at Dean. And to his surprise, Dean returned it.
"Je t'adore."
"I adore you," Kevin answered.
"Je t'aime."
"I love you."
"Evangeline."
Kevin stammered and added, "Just translating!"
"You're my queen of the night," Lucifer took Sam's hand and kissed it. "So still, so bright. Someone as beautiful as she… could love someone like me." Kevin pulled Claire up to dance, but Sam couldn't help but look down into Lucifer's confidant smile. Sam's heart was thumping out of his chest at the thought of their brothers seeing the blatant display of affection. But they didn't seem to mind. Castiel crawled up onto the couch and Dean sat up, wrapping his arms around his husband and Castiel leaned back, resting his head against the taller man's chest, still watching Sam and Lucifer.
"And I love you, Evangeline."
The kids started their awkward dance and Sam tugged on Lucifer's hand. His knee cracked as he stood, but Sam didn't let him wince in pain. He slipped a hand around his waist and started moving them in a circle, dancing with him like they hadn't danced since their wedding.
"Love is beautiful. Love is wonderful. Love is everything. Do you agree? Mais oui."
Lucifer stopped dancing, taking a step back and dropping to his knees again. The kids kept dancing in the background, and Lucifer was back in character too – a firefly admiring a star from afar – and he placed his hands in his lap.
"Look how she lights up the sky; I love you, Evangeline…"
Kevin and Claire were kids, and Kevin was small for his age. Claire was a year older and a few inches taller, so he couldn't dip her. Instead, at the end of the song, they let go and their eyes drifted to Lucifer and Sam. Everyone was watching them, and Sam had to do something that wasn't cry like a teenage girl, so he got on his knees next to Lucifer on the floor and gave him a quick, closed mouth kiss.
Claire was cheering like a fangirl, and even Kevin was smiling. Castiel was giving them a look like Dean used to give Sam when he was proud of him – something that screamed family and love – and Dean, thank God, was the only one with sense to break up the mood.
"Yeah yeah yeah. The brainless jock finally admits his big, gay man-crush on my baby brother. Is the food done, yet?"
Sam was grateful, and Lucifer shot him a soft smile before they turned to resume the movie. Or at least, they meant to. Claire marched over to her father and with all the fury of a righteous woman, she stuck her finger in his face and waged at him. "You should not be mean to your brother, Daddy. Uncle Sammy is never mean to you."
Castiel burst out laughing, and Dean frowned, narrowing his eyes. He didn't yell at his daughter about respect or anything. He reacted in typical Dean fashion and mimicked the five-year-old, sticking his finger back in her face, arguing, "Sammy is always mean to me!"
"Nuhuh. Not about Papa. He never ever ever says anything about you two kissing or cuddling or anything like that because love isn't something you pick on people about," she frowned, and Sam wondered if she somehow managed to inherit his bitchface through some recessive gene that they both got from their parents but was more dormant in Dean. He heard Dean's sharp intake of breath, and if Sam's bitchface worked every time, Claire's worked before she even had to use it. "You always say that to me. You always say that to me."
Dean licked his lips and his eyes shot from Claire to Sam. The younger Winchester felt nervous and he wasn't even at the receiving end of his niece's rage. Claire poked his nose as a warning and Dean sighed in defeat.
"You know I was just joking," he offered, but a look at Claire proved that wasn't enough. "I'm sorry, Sammy."
The grin on Castiel's face was priceless. If Dean saw it, it would be a matter of seconds before Dean would do something to get rid of it. So Sam picked up Claire from behind, thanking God for tall ceilings as he put her over his shoulders. "I forgive you, Dean. And thank you, Claire. Now how about we go check on dinner while your Daddy thinks about what he's done."
Claire made a stern Mmhmm in agreement, like Dean better think about what he said, as Sam ducked and walked her to the kitchen. Lucifer walked in a second later. Sam sat Claire on the counter so she could watch as Sam checked the potatoes to see if they were ready. They were quiet though, quiet enough to hear Kevin's soft voice carry to them from the living room.
"Uncle Dean?" There was a shifting, and if Sam had to guess, Dean had picked Kevin up and deposited him on his lap. Dean made a sound and Kevin continued, "Does it make you mad when they do that?"
Sam heard Dean sigh, "No, Kevin. Not at all. It makes me happy to see them happy. But I'm his big brother, so I have to give him a hard time about it. Because that's what big brothers do. Do you understand?" Kevin must have shook his head, because Dean started to try and explain again. Instead, Kevin cut him off.
"I like it when they do the stuff that you and Uncle Cassie do. Because I like it when my Papa looks at my Daddy the way Claire's Papa looks at you because I know that Uncle Cassie loves you and that means that Papa loves Daddy."
"Hey, you listen to me," Castiel cut in, his voice had a hard edge to it, like they've talked about this before. "Your Papa loves your Daddy more than anything. He's always loved your Daddy. And the only reason you don't see it is because you see us together a lot more than you see your Daddy and Papa together. And that's because your Daddy works very hard to keep good people from going to jail when they didn't do anything wrong."
"Because he's a lawyer," Kevin said. "And he helps people."
"Yes, exactly," Castiel finished.
"Are you alright, Sam?" Lucifer's hand was on the small of Sam's back and he felt sick. He nodded quickly and passed the fork back to Lucifer, making a half-assed excuse as he walked to the bathroom.
He locked the door when he got in there, trying his damn hardest not to look in the mirror.
They made a decision early on not to be too overly touchy around Kevin. There had been a ton of reasons to do so at the time, but mostly they didn't want to put any pressure on him to be or act any certain way. When Sam started working more, they saw each other even less. Sam was hardly around Kevin and Lucifer at the same time anymore, except for bedtime, and look where it led.
Kevin didn't think Sam and Lucifer loved each other.
He felt actually sick.
There was no way in hell that Sam was going to work that much anymore. It was tearing his family apart.
Nobody said anything about Sam disappearing for ten minutes, and when he re-entered the living room, Castiel had left to go help Lucifer and Claire in the kitchen and Kevin was sitting on Dean's lap with his legs crossed, facing his uncle with giant, excited eyes.
When Sam sat down, Dean took one look at him and knew he'd been crying. He offered him an apologetic smile, but Kevin just shifted his weight, throwing himself onto Sam's lap, hands shaking with excitement.
"Uncle Dean's telling me about when you were a kid, Daddy," Kevin said. "Is it true that when you were my age, you already started school?"
Sam sighed. Of all the stories Dean could tell, his son got excited at the idea of starting school a year early. "It wasn't real school. It was pre-school. The only reason you aren't in school is because the school you'll go to next year doesn't have a pre-kindergarten class. And your Papa's a teacher. We thought he'd teach you for a year. Hasn't he been teaching you?"
"Yes," Kevin said, but he jumped past that. "I can go to school next year?"
"Yes, Kevin. Of course."
Kevin was just about to go into some manic, child frenzy when Lucifer popped his head into the living room, telling them that dinner was done.
There was no upsets with dinner. Dean and Castiel didn't get into a fight because Dean didn't ruin any of the food. Claire had forgiven her father for his harsh words, and Kevin was going on and on and on about starting school.
All too soon it was over.
There was talk of Kevin staying at Dean and Castiel's. There was an implication, however, that the children didn't get about why the two men might want some alone time. It had happened before, their children having slumber parties to give their dads a break, but Sam didn't want that. He wanted his son, he wanted his family, and he wanted them close so he wouldn't fall back in his old habits. He was going back to work tomorrow, and he was sure that on top of the Barnes case, three more clients would have walked in today. As partner, Sam got dibs on the cases he wanted. He wanted to remember his family before he made any poor decisions.
Sam asked Kevin what he wanted to do. He wanted to read more of Harry Potter, so they broke their coveted bedtime ritual to change into pajamas to curl up by the fireplace. Sometimes Sam would read a section, then Lucifer would read a section. Other times, Sam would read the exposition and Lucifer would read the dialogue, making sure to different voices for each character. Kevin was only four – he couldn't read really at all – but every so often, Lucifer would stop at a work he knew Kevin knew, and ask the boy to read it.
They got through two chapters before Kevin's eyes started to sag. They brushed their teeth in silence, and when Kevin didn't have a request for a song, Sam asked if he could choose. Kevin nodded, and Sam selected his music on his phone, searching for the acoustic version of a song he loved in high school.
"I'm sorry for the person I became. I'm sorry that it took so long for me to change. I'm ready to be sure I'll never become that way again. Cause who I am hates who I've been. Who I am hates who I've been."
Kevin didn't get it, and Lucifer didn't comment on the song, not even after they kissed their son good night and went back to their room. They didn't talk at all. They communicated through touches – Lucifer's freezing hand sliding over Sam's back, Sam's hand traveling down Lucifer's chest – but as Sam drifted off to sleep, he felt like they communicated for the first time in a year.
Sam was halfway to the office when he realized he didn't have his briefcase. He thought about turning around and getting it, but in the end, he decided he was going to try and never bring work home with him. Even if he couldn't cut back his hours right away, that would be an important stepping stone.
He just hoped he could hold himself to that.
A handful of the partners were in their offices – a bunch of underling, trial lawyers were there as well – and Sam stopped by Zachariah's office to thank him for the day off. The man was always here, and at first, Sam never questioned it. Every morning, Zachariah unlocked the building and every night, he was the last one to let the door slide shit. Sam wondered now if he ever went home.
Somewhere, back in his mind, Sam knew that no man could survive on Zachariah's hours and juggle a family, but he distinctly remembered seeing a wife and two kids at a picnic two years ago.
But he didn't remember them last year.
When Sam sat down in the comfortable chair on the other side of his boss's desk, Sam had a sinking suspicion that this was a test. Well, maybe test was the wrong word. Maybe more like a push. Or an alarm. A wake-up call.
"Well?" Zachariah asked.
"I'll finish the Barnes case, but after this, I want to cut back on my workload. Kevin's growing up, and I don't want to work through his childhood. I don't want to be his absent father." Sam looked down. "I don't want to ruin my family."
Zachariah grinned, "Good. I wish I learned that when I was your age. Hey, it's Sunday, isn't it? How about you go to church like you used to and I'll see you Monday morning. Not too early, okay?"
And this time when Sam got in his Volt to drive him, he was full of smiles.