Castiel watched over Dean, hiding in the shadows, as the Winchester rocked the shifter-baby against his chest.
The gentleness the hunter showed - so different from his normal demeanour - was heartwarming, and it made Cas long for something so normal, so human.
Well, maybe not so normal. There were fledglings in Heaven that could do with good carers, instead of training them into soldier.
The angel sighed silently, and watched the scene.
Castiel had heard the blond's prayers to him, but wanted to check in on the man, before making his presence known.
Needless to say, he was deeply surprised to stumble upon what was actually going on.
Cas fluttered his wings, to make his usual noise that alerted humans to his sudden appearance, then made himself visible.
Dean, startled at first, turned towards the angel, and smiled when he saw that it was Cas.
"Hey Cas." greeted the blond, shifting Bobby-John onto his hip, supporting him under his bottom, freeing his other hand for a wave.
"Hello Dean."
A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. Dean noticed this, and smiled a real smile back.
"You answered, for once." the hunter sounded surprised.
"Of course." Cas looked confused. "You sounded rather distressed. I don't understand why, though."
"I was rather panicked before, yeah." he smiled down at the baby on his hip. "I'm okay now. So, how's it been upstairs?"
The blond gestured the angel towards one of the chairs around the small table. He sat down in another, settling Bobby-John onto his lap, facing the blue-eyed man. The baby gurgled, and reached towards Cas. Castiel, in a rare show of emotion, smiled back at the baby, giving him a finger to hold.
"It's been tough, if I'm honest. When I heard your prayers, I counted it as a blessing in disguise - an excuse to leave the chaos for a while."
Dean noticed that the man seemed tired - rare, because angels didn't need sleep.
"You seem exhausted."
"I am. I may not usually need sleep, but the constant use of my grace, to maintain control in Heaven, has been draining." Castiel closed his eyes for a few seconds. "Just sitting down is a huge relief." Deciding to change the subject, he gestured with his free hand towards the infant. "You are aware that the child in your lap is a shapeshifter?"
"What?!"
Dean looked down at the wrong time. The baby exploded, blood and skin coated the two men.
"Okay." A looked of disgust covered the hunter's face. "That was gross."
Castiel just chuckled, and plucked the infant from the blond's hold.
Just then, Dean's phone rang.
"Yeah?"
Sam's voice crackled through the cell phone. "I talked to the father. He checks out. But the baby…"
"Yeah."
"I think the shapeshifter is his dad."
Looking over at the now-black child gurgling up at the smiling Castiel, Dean's reply was; "you think?"