"What's this, Dean?"
Dean Winchester looks up from a nativity scene he's putting together on Bobby's table. Castiel is rooting through some cardboard boxes with the words: "CHRISTMAS DECS!" scrawled along the sides and is holding the figure of a blonde angel with glittery wings and a halo.
"It's an angel, Cas." Dean replies absently and returns his attention to meticulously positioning the three wise men behind figures of Mary and Joseph.
"Why doesn't she have any legs?" Cas is peering down the plastic cone of the angel's dress.
"Quit looking up her skirt, you creep," Dean teases lightly. Cas simply turns his questioning blue eyes to him and his dark eyebrows are pulled together in confusion. Dean sighs. "It's a Christmas tree ornament. You put her at the top of the tree."
Castiel looks, if possible, even more confused. "But why?"
"I dunno, man, protection, I guess." Dean mutters gruffly.
"Protection…" Castiel repeats thoughtfully and gently places the angel to one side. He begins sorting through the rest of the boxes, pulling out tinsel, and holly wreaths and baubles.
The front door swings open with a gust of freezing air and Sam strides into the hallway shouldering a Christmas tree that he proudly rests against the wall. His cheeks are rosy and his hair and coat are flecked with snow which is starting to melt.
"It's crazy out there," Sam says by way of greeting.
"Took your time," Dean mutters, perfecting the mini nativity scene. Sam stands behind his brother and looks critically at the small painted plastic figures.
"You know that baby Jesus should always be in the centre at the front, right?" Sam says and Dean turns around to scowl at his brother.
"He was messing up my feng shui," Dean snaps.
When the brothers look up, Castiel has gotten himself tangled up in a long stretch of gold tinsel. "Uh," the angel says sounding slightly panicked.
Dean gets up to help disentangle Cas from the tinsel whilst trying not to laugh. The boys set up the Christmas tree in the middle of the sitting room and give it some water.
It's Christmas Eve and Castiel and the Winchester's are snowed in at Bobby's house. The Impala is in the garage, blocked in by three feet of snow as the country sees the worst snowstorm in a century. So what better way to spend the next few days than a proper family Christmas?
"Come on, Sam," Dean grunts as he holds up the tree whilst Sam saws off the trunk of the tree. "Hurry up."
"You're out of shape, Dean," Sam replies teasingly through gritted teeth. At last, he saws through the bottom and helps Dean put the tree back up right in the stand.
"Bobby's going to be home in half an hour, so I want this place like Santa's Grotto by the time he gets back." Dean orders Cas and Sam who both acknowledge this.
Dean and Sam start decorating the tree with masses of fairy lights, baubles and tinsel, whilst Castiel nails a holly wreath to the door and begins to make a paper chain, sat cross legged on the floor.
By the time they're all finished, Bobby's living room, hallway and kitchen look like a tinsel and paper chain explosion and the tree, decorated by Sam and Dean, is so packed with baubles and lights that the branches seem to be bowing under the weight.
The three of them collapse on the sofa with a bottle of beer each and admire their hard work just as the front door opens again and Bobby enters, shutting the door quickly behind him.
"I bought us enough supplies to last for a – wow," Bobby is taken aback by the soft light from the fairy lights and the amount of Christmas cheer in the house. "Where did you boys find all this?"
Dean stands to greet Bobby with a smile and takes some of the plastic bags packed full of frozen food off him. "In the attic," is Dean's response.
"Do you like it?" Sam asks with a smile at the expression of wonder on Bobby's face and his stunned silence is as good a response as any.
"Come and help me unpack," Bobby says, clearing his throat of emotion and hiding his face away from them. Sam and Dean share a quick smile and Castiel is still playing with the angel figure.
"You coming, Cas?" Dean asks as Sam follows Bobby into the kitchen.
"In a minute, Dean," is the angel's thoughtful response. Dean shrugs and retreats into the kitchen where Bobby and Sam are trying to stuff a huge turkey into a drawer in the freezer.
"Where's –" Sam starts to ask but is cut off by a crash from the next room.
"What the –" Bobby mutters and the three of them run into the living room.
"Cas!" Dean exclaims and gives a startled laugh in shock.
"What in the name of …!?" Sam joins in laughing as the three men watch Castiel cling to the top of the tree with his angel blade clenched in one hand.
"Cas, what are you doing!?" Dean asks with another stunned laugh.
"You said angels are put on top of the tree for protection, Dean!" Castiel replies sounding out of breath and with a poof, his wings appear out of his vessel, helping him stay on top of the tree. "So I'm protecting you!"
"Cas, get down!" Dean orders firmly as Sam and Bobby fall about laughing behind him.
With a flutter of huge black wings, Cas reappears in front of Dean. With a thoughtful look in his eyes, Cas reaches across and pulls a black feather out of Dean's hair.
"Hello, Dean," the angel greets him with the same placid expression.
Dean sighs. "Cas … when I said we put angels on the top of the tree … I didn't mean real angels."
"I know, Dean," Castiel says with his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "But I didn't think that figure was a very convincing item for protection."
"You really are something else, Castiel," Bobby says, chuckling weakly and wiping tears from his eyes.
"Sam, stop laughing," Dean orders his brother gruffly, who is laughing so hard it looks and sounds like he's about to cough up a lung.
Sam tries and fails to quell his laughing fit but eventually has to leave the room just to calm down.
"I'm sorry, Dean." Castiel still looks confused.
"Don't worry, Cas," Dean says gently. "Let's go and get a beer."
"I got you all something," Bobby says in a gruff voice and disappears upstairs before returning with three crudely wrapped squishy parcels.
Cas, Sam and Dean each pull the wrapping paper off to reveal Christmas jumpers.
Sam laughs aloud. "Bobby, these are hideous!"
"I want you to wear them – true Christmas spirit and all that. Although I'm setting the water hose on any carol singers."
Sam's jumper has a moose knitted on the front with tinsel on the antlers, Dean receives one with an angel that has wings and a halo lit up with LED lights, and Cas' jumper has a jolly Santa Claus.
"We got something for you, too, Bobby." Castiel says. "It's from all of us." The angel puts on his jumper and reaches underneath the newly decorated tree to pull out a strangely shaped parcel which Bobby receives with a puzzled look.
After pulling off the wrapping paper, a festive baseball cap falls into Bobby's lap; it's red and green with tinsel and LED lights around the cap. "It's hideous." Is Bobby's only comment.
Sam grins and reaches across to jam the new Christmas hat on Bobby's head. "Beautiful!" Sam announces with a laugh.
"Thank you, boys," Bobby says and can't hide a smile.
"No problem, Bobby," Dean grins and proudly pulls on his angel Christmas jumper.
Bobby clears his throat gruffly. "Now, what – you think you can start slacking off just because you got me a present? You better have some good recipes for a Christmas dinner."
Sam gives a laugh.
"I'm not joking, Winchester," Bobby says with a gleam in his eye.
"Actually; Dean and I have been collecting ideas for dinner tomorrow."
"Well," Dean cuts in. "I have – Sam's been worrying about the table décor."
Sam rolls his eyes. "It's good of you to have us – so we wanted to thank you."
Bobby clears his throat again. "Alright, alright – enough of the pansy talk, you two. I guess it's nice to have a bit of company over Christmas. And you too, Castiel."
The truth is that Bobby is more than happy to have the Winchester brothers and Cas over for Christmas. They're his family now – and family should always be together at Christmas.