The bunker was alive with sounds and smells that its bare brick walls had never had before. Dean was cooking up a storm as he prepared the largest meal he had ever attempted in his life. He could hear his brother Sam and the angel Castiel in the library as they fought to stand the 7 foot tree they had just returned from buying. As much as Dean wanted to see the look of annoyance on both of their faces, as it sounded like the tree was winning the battle, Dean couldn't abandon the pie crust he was currently making from scratch.
"Which ones do you think would be better?" He heard Sam's voice from behind him a short while later. He turned to find his brother standing there holding out two boxes of Christmas lights, one colored and one white.
"Dunno, Sammy." Dean said gently picking up the dough and laying it into the pie tin. "Which do you like?" Sam stared at the boxes in his hands a quiet moment.
"Well, the colored ones are festive but the white are soothing and eloquent." Sam said with a look of thoughtfulness.
Dean was unable to stop his chuckle, "Go with the colored ones. Who the hell cares about eloquent? It's Christmas."
"You sure?" Sam asked.
Just then a small crowd led by Castiel entered the kitchen.
"Ladies!" Dean said dusting the flour from his shirt and hands before making his way over to Jody, Claire and Alex as they stopped and hugged Sam's neck.
"Merry Christmas boys." Jody said brightly as she hugged Dean's neck, "Now, where do you want these?" She asked holding up a bag of Tupperware's filled with food.
Dean smiled and waved to the large metal table near the wall, "Just place 'em over there. Anything need to be cooked?"
"Nah, the girls and I cooked it all up last night, just need to heat it before serving. We've made rolls, baked apples and homemade Mac and Cheese."
"Awesome!" Dean smiled before turning and reaching to pull Claire into a hug from where she stood under Cass's arm.
"Hiya sweetie." He smiled kissing the top of her head then pulled Alex to him and kissed the top of hers as well. "How are you girls?"
"Can't complain." Alex said with a smile, "I finally saved up enough money for my own car. Only took a year of serving crappy hotdogs and burgers at the diner to buy it."
"I told you hard work pays off." Jody said as she looked at the boxes of lights in Sam's hand before pointing to the colored lights.
"And Claire made the Dean's list at school." Alex said beaming and clapping Claire on the shoulder.
"Claire!" Sam said tussling the girl's hair, "That's freaking awesome! Way to go!"
"Knew you could do it" Dean said giving her a thumbs up while Castiel pulled her back under his arm and into his side hugging her.
"It's not that big of a deal." Claire said blushing.
"Yes it is." Jody said, "Be proud, we are."
Claire faked annoyance but still smiled before pointing at the lights in Sam's hand and asking, "I know you're not putting white lights on the tree?"
"Guess not." He laughed.
A call of hello from the hall broke them from their collective laughs. Mary Winchester entered the kitchen with a potted poinsettia in her hands.
"Mom!" Sam said reaching out and hugging her, "Glad you came." He took the plant and placed it on the nearest table allowing Mary to move forward and hug Dean.
"Nice to see you again." Jody said with a smile, "Let me introduce you to my girls, "This is Claire, and this is Alex."
"Nice to meet you both. Wow, Claire, you look like…." Mary started but didn't finish as her eyes looked to Castiel who showed a look of understanding at what Mary was seeing.
Cass and Claire both tensed a bit with an awkward smile.
"Yeah, you could say there is a bit of shared DNA." Claire said softly acknowledging the resemblance between herself and the angel.
"I'll explain later." Sam said nudging his mom, "As for now, we've got a tree to decorate."
"Alright." Alex laughed leading the decorating party made up of Sam, Jody and Claire out of the kitchen.
"Need help?" Mary asked lingering for a moment after the others left the room.
Dean smiled, "Didn't think you cooked?"
Mary smiled brightly, "Doesn't mean I can't take instructions."
"Which he will give whether you need them or not." Castiel stated stepping up to the counter and reaching for the bowl of apple pie filling.
Dean laughed and passed the pie tin with the fresh crust to the angel, "If you listened right the first time I wouldn't have to repeat myself." Mary laughed at the stone face Castiel presented before pouring the filling into the tin.
Dean presented his Mother with a batch of potatoes and instructed her to clean and peel them. They worked in comfortable quietness for a bit until the radio started to play rock ballad that had Mary and Dean both singing along loudly. Dean grabbed his Mother's hand and spun her into him with a laugh. Mary giggled and started to dance as Dean copied her movements.
"Didn't I, Didn't I, Didn't I see ya crying!" Dean sang loudly as he played air guitar.
"Dance with me Castiel!" Mary laughed as she danced over to him.
"I don't dance." Cass said stoically. Mary ignored him and pulled him into the center of the room and proceeded to dance in front of him and used his hands to shake him back and forth.
"When a woman asks you to dance you suck it up and dance." Dean laughed. Cass rolled his eyes and put little effort into his moving hips.
"I can't even lead him he's so stiff." Mary said laughing dropping his hands and going over to the fridge to grab a soda.
Dean chuckled and grabbed Cass's hands, "Here, follow me. It's easy."
Dean wrapped his arm around Castiel's waist loosely and took his other hand in his and proceeded to spin them in a silly dance as he continued to sing along with song.
"I want you to want me! I need you to need me! I'd love you to love me! I'm begging you to beg me!" Dean sang moving his hips and spinning Castiel out and pulling him back in.
From her spot at the fridge Mary smiled behind her soda can as she watched Dean try to lead the angel in following his movements but the pale look on Castiel's face showed he was beyond embarrassed. Dean, however, had a look of happiness plastered to his face. Mary noticed how her son's eyes sparkled brightly and his smile so wide his teeth were showing.
"Ok, you're hopeless." Dean said releasing him and returning to check the dishes in the oven.
After declaring that there was nothing left to do in the kitchen for the time being the three of them made their way to the library where the tree decorating was taking place. Upon arriving in the room they found Sam already had the multi colored lights up and the group was pulling ornaments from the boxes.
"Just in time!" Sam beamed, "Lend a hand."
They spent the next forty minutes playfully fighting about where certain decorations should be placed while Jody snapped pictures of the festivities. When it came time to top the tree with the angel, Dean playfully grabbed Cass by the arm and proceeded to say, "Alright. Get your ass up there." While everyone shared a laugh, Castiel faked annoyance and playfully punched Dean's arm.
Soon after, Sam and Jody went to help Mary get gifts from her car, Dean and Castiel threw the final touches on dinner while Alex and Claire set the table. Dinner was filled with laughs and stories. At one point Dean thought Alex might in fact stab Sam as she had threatened to over the last piece of pie. Dean took it all in. This was the Christmases he dreamed of as a child. While everyone complimented Dean's feast, Alex deemed the apple pie the "best in the world".
"Ok! I'm ready for presents!" Claire said smiling.
Soon they were all seated back in the library near the tree as Sam played Santa and passed out gifts.
"Ok , first one goes to…." He said searching for the name tag, "Alex from Dean."
Alex clapped her hands excitedly and took the gift from Sam. She made little fuss over the wrapping and held up the black Ozzy Osbourne tee., "Wow! Thanks Dean! I love it."
Dean winked at her and turned back in time to see Sam pass Mary her gift, "From Dean and I."
Mary smiled softly and opened the box to show a photo album. She turned to the first page to show a young Sam and Dean sitting on Bobby's front steps with John standing next to them, bright smiles on all their faces.
"Oh boys!" She said softly, "Thank you both so much."
"We just figured you'd like to see a bit of our childhood. Well, as much as we had to show anyways." Dean said smiling.
"I love it. Thank you." Mary said brightly.
"Me next!" Claire laughed from where she sat next to Cass on the floor.
Sam smiled and searched around the tree till he found one with her name, "Ok this is from Jody."
Claire opened the gift to reveal a purple and black leather Jacket. "Oh my God!" Claire squealed, "You actually got it!"
Jody laughed, "Yep. I went back the next day after our shopping trip and got. I knew you had to have it by the look in your eye when you saw it."
"But," Claire said softly with a look of concern, "You said it was far too much."
Jody shook her head, "Don't worry about cost. You enjoy that jacket." Claire smiled sweetly at her surrogate mother.
"Alex, from Jody also." Sam said passing the gift to her.
Alex squealed loudly as she held up two concert tickets to some boyband the others hadn't heard of, causing everyone in the room to wince at her shrieks.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Alex said hugging Jody hard.
Jody smiled fondly before saying, "You're welcome sweet heart.
"Dean." Sam called tossing a gift to his brother, "From the girls."
Alex and Claire watched Dean closely as he opened his gift.
"Alright!" Dean laughed, "The Three Stooges volume one!"
Alex laughed, "We thought you'd like that."
Dean gave them both thumbs up and a smile, "You thought right."
Castiel reached down and grabbed two gifts wrapped in silver paper and shyly handed them to Alex and Claire. The girls beamed and began to rip the paper away. Claire held up a stunning white and black leather shoulder bag and Alex a maroon leather coach.
"Wow!" Alex said staring at the gift with wide eyes, "Thank you Castiel! I love it!"
Claire stepped forward and hugged the angel tightly, "Yes, thank you." She kissed his cheek quickly and returned to her seat next to Alex.
"You're both quite welcome." Cass said with a smile.
Sam passed a gift to Claire, "From Dean."
Claire smiled softly as she opened the sparkly paper to reveal leather journal.
"Wow, thank you Dean." Claire said.
"I know you've put off the hunting life, which is for the best by the way," He said with a slightly stern face before he softened his smile and said, "But I've found writing down your thoughts can be therapeutic."
Castiel, Sam, and Dean had given Jody a weekend spa package to which she was very thankful because as she said, "Raising girls is rough". Sam was excited by his new wireless head phones from Alex and Claire. The girls had also given Castiel an IPod filled with music to listen to while he was on the road. Jody had presented Castiel with a new tie and gifted both Sam and Dean with flannels. Dean smiled brightly as he opened his gift of a large car detailing kit, along with a new AC/DC shirt from Sam and Sam beamed at the new IPAD Dean had given to him. Both Claire and Alex were very happy with the gift cards Sam had gifted to them.
Castiel reached down and picked up a small gift and passed it to Mary, "For when you're traveling." Mary smiled softly and opened the gift to see a collection of The Beatles greatest hits.
"Thank you very much." She said hugging his neck.
"And Cass," Sam said pulling his attention away from Mary, "For you, from Dean and I."
Sam handed Castiel a brightly decorated box to which Cass opened quickly.
"Um, thank you." Cass said awkwardly as he held the new grey flannel pajama pants and matching grey shirt, "But as you know, I don't sleep."
Sam laughed, "I know that dude, but when you're here, you can relax in those. They're really comfortable."
"Yes, of course." Cass beamed, "Thank you."
"Boys," Mary said softly, "I just wanted to say, I know I've missed so much of your lives, so I was kind of at a loss as to what to get you-"
"Oh, Mom," Sam said stepping towards her, "You didn't need to get us anything."
"But," Mary said, "I thought about it for a while, and well, I wanted to try to give you a piece of the lives I remember having with you." She reached down and picked up two packages passing one to both Dean and Sam.
Sam smiled brightly at her and Dean, unable to meet her eyes ushered a quick "Thank you" as he took the gift.
Dean unwrapped his gift to reveal a hardback copy of "The Velveteen Rabbit". He smiled as he traced the letters on the cover with his finger.
"You used to read this to me at bed time." He said holding back a sob.
"Yes." Mary said softly as she was trying to hold back her own tears, "I was hoping you'd remember."
Dean reached out and pulled his mother to him and hugged her tightly, "Thank you."
Mary smiled and turned to Sam but continued to stay under Dean's arm pressed into his side.
Sam pulled the wrappings from his gift and unfolded a pale blue baby blanket that was trimmed in white lace with SAM also in white across the center.
"I know it's just a baby blanket, but I made it because I know yours was destroyed in the fire. You lost so much that night that I wanted you to have something from your childhood." Mary said.
Sam stared down at the blanket and didn't try to stop the tears that leaked over his eyes and down his cheeks. He stepped forward quickly and pulled his Mother from Dean's side and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you, Mom." He said softly, "I love it."
Mary held him tightly and said, "You're welcome my Sammy." They held each other for a moment before chuckling and releasing each other.
"So," Castiel said, "I have a gift for Sam."
"Awesome." Sam said taking his gift. Inside the wrappings was a book of occult lore from around the world.
Castiel smiled widely, "I thought you might like it, seeing as you're always researching something."
Sam laughed loudly and reached out to shake Cass's hand, "Thank you man! I love it!"
"You're quite welcome." Castiel said beaming before reaching under the tree and grabbing the last gift, "For you Dean."
Dean looked a little embarrassed as he took the package from Cass and proceeded to open it. The gift was a medium sized blade with a beautifully engraved handle.
"It's from the Christian Wars." Castiel said, "I figured you'd like it for your weapon collection."
Dean smiled as he turned the blade in his hands, "Dude, where did you find this?"
"Jerusalem." Cass stated matter-of-factly. Dean smiled softly at Cass who seemed to blush under the stare of the hunter.
"I say pajama party!" Alex said standing up and stretching her legs.
"Oh! And how about we use our sleeping bags to bed down here and camp out by the tree?" Claire asked with a giggle. "Who's in?"
"Not me." Jody laughed.
"Or me." Mary said.
"Count me out." Dean said shaking his head, "I'm too old for sleeping on floors."
"And I of course don't sleep." Castiel stated.
Their responses gained a groan from the girls.
"Well, I'm in." Sam said with a smile, "Mom can take her room and Jody mine."
"Yes!" Claire and Alex said at the same time giving each other a high five.
The group broke off to change into their pajamas before returning back to the library. Even Castiel had changed into his new ones and seemed happy with the comfort they offered.
"Ok, we need jams!" Claire said dropping her sleeping bag to the floor and pulling up her playlist on her phone.
When a pop hit started out the speaker Mary held her hands up with a laugh, "Think I'll clean the kitchen."
"I'll help." Jody laughed.
Dean tried to protest but the women wouldn't hear of it. They insisted he stay and enjoy the pajama dance party that was now taking place in front of the Christmas tree.
"We'll bring in hot chocolate when we're done." Jody said over her shoulder as she and Mary disappeared down the hall.
The library was loud with music and laughter as everyone enjoyed the silliness of their dance party. Even Castiel laughed a little too loudly at times, though he was mostly laughing at Dean's dance moves. At one point Dean placed several shot glasses on the table and filled each one before handing one to Sam and one to Cass. He left eight sitting on the table.
He held his shot glass high and said, "To Kevin, Charlie, Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Rufus, Ash and Dad."
"Here, here." Sam said softly before turning his glass up and downing the shot.
After a number of songs and warm cups of hot chocolate, Alex and Claire were now sound asleep in their sleeping bags next to the tree and Sam was crawling into his with the book Cass had given him. Jody was already off to bed as was Dean, leaving Mary to tote the tray of mugs and shot glasses back to the kitchen.
After bidding Sam goodnight Mary made her way down the corridor towards her room. When she came upon Dean's half closed door she decided to poke her head in and say goodnight. However she was not expecting to see the angel Castiel sitting up on top of the comforter in his new pajamas, bare foot, with a book in hand while Dean laid asleep at his side. Dean had his arm tossed across Castiel's lap and his face pressed into his side.
"Sorry," Mary whispered as she started to back out the room.
"No problem." Castiel said in a whisper dropping his book to the bed, "How can I help you Mary?"
"I just wanted to say goodnight." She said shyly as her eyes glanced to Dean then back to Castiel.
Castiel noticed this and smiled kindly before looking down to Dean at his side and said softly, "It started off with nightmares. He was wrecked with them, but for some reason when I was near him he said it helped, that he didn't have them. I used to simply stand in the corner as he slept, but the last few weeks, this has become the norm." Castiel traced his finger lightly over Deans resting arm in his lap. "He seems so much more at peace when I'm with him."
Mary watched from her spot in the doorway as Dean moved a bit in his sleep, pressing himself further against the angel. Castiel smiled warmly at her as he rubbed his hand lightly on Dean's back.
"I'm happy for him, for you both." She smiled, "You both deserve whatever peace and happiness you bring to each other."
Castiel smiled widely, "Thank you Mary."
"You're welcome and Merry Christmas, Castiel." She said softly turning to leave the room.
"Merry Christmas, Mary." Castiel called out to her.