Sam was the designated door-opener, so every time the doorbell rang he would jump up and run excitedly through the house to pull the door open and greet whoever was visiting, inviting them in sometimes depending on the person. Dean, meanwhile, was the cook's helper and had a hand towel slung over one shoulder as he and Mary prepared dinner together, sharing jokes and tossing flour, just like the good old days. Fluttering between both of the brothers' jobs was Cas, who was putting up last minute decorations in the kitchen, dining and living rooms, making sure it all looked good and festive.

Cas was still staying with them, as Mary had explicitly said that he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted and might as well stay at least until Christmas since it was only a week after everything had come to an end. Zachariah still believed that Cas was staying with Anna, but it wouldn't really matter anyway since Anna, Balthazar, Gabriel, and Zach were all on their way over to spend Christmas dinner together and nobody had any plans to tell Cas' father the truth. Besides, Cas had been at Anna's that morning to open presents and spend time with his sister for a while and his father had been there for just enough time to see them all.

Dean took a break from the kitchen to check on everyone else. The living room had been transformed to hold a long table made up of a few smaller ones that would hold all of the guests coming over. Normally, the Winchesters didn't entertain much, but Mary had insisted, and Dean wasn't one to say no to a big get together like this to take the edge off of everything that had happened recently.

Brady, his parents, Jess, her parents, Anna, Gabriel, Balthazar and John were all sitting in various places around the table. The only one missing was Cas' father, who had said he would be there a little late. Cas came up behind Dean and leaned on his back as he watched Sam sit down beside Gabe and blush at something the other boy must have said. Jess and Brady were sitting close together and they all shared glances and smiles between themselves that went unnoticed by the adults in the room.

"They look happy," Cas muttered into his ear, sliding his arms around Dean's middle.

"Yeah, it's a little disgusting," Dean replied with a soft laugh. Sam looked over at him, but he just raised his brows at his brother and leaned back against Cas.

He felt Cas' laugh rather than heard it. "We're not allowed to be happy now?"

Dean turned his head and smiled over his shoulder. "Never said that!"

His boyfriend sighed contentedly. "I'm just glad it's all over."

"Me too."

"Dean!" they both heard Mary call out. Dean groaned and Cas let him go, but there was a smile on his face as he returned to the kitchen.

. . . . .

They all sat around the table, laughing and talking in their own little conversations. Food was littered around on various plates and in decorative bowls, and everyone was calling out for one thing or another to be passed down to them. There wasn't a face without a smile, even Cas' father looked pretty happy as he sat between his children. Sam and Gabe were next to each other and Dean wondered if they were playing footsie with each other underneath the table.

Since they still hadn't told Zachariah about their relationship, Dean and Cas sat across from each other at the table, in the hopes of avoiding doing something stupid to give them away. Sam and Gabe—who still had a mostly secret relationship—at least had the comfort that they were still in the beginnings and would definitely not have anything sexual happening between them, or even have to worry about that. Right? It was scary just for Dean to think about, so he turned his face away and took the bowl of mashed potatoes that Mary was handing to him.

"This turkey is great!" Anna said to Dean's mother, who smiled and thanked her. The praise starting ringing out from various mouths and Mary laughed.

"Dean helped too! I can't take all the credit," she said with a proud smile at her son. Dean grinned and felt pretty good about himself. Though really he'd just made the potatoes and watched everything so that it wouldn't end up burning.

"Dean helped? Well, if anyone gets sick tonight we know who to blame," Brady muttered cheekily, but he sent a smile towards Dean, who was in too good of a mood to even bitch at him playfully.

They all grew too busy with the food to talk much, so conversation dwindled until most everyone was finished and leaning back in their chairs with stomachs full and smiles wide. Dean pushed his plate away, sinking into the cushion with a contented hum. Mary was having a conversation with Anna about some book or another while Zar, Gabe, Sam and Brady were all discussing a new game that Zar bought recently. Jess seemed like she didn't know which conversation to be a part of, but eventually chose the boys' and put in her own two cents about it.

After a while, Dean found himself trying hard to hide a smile as he and Cas were playing footsie. One of Dean's socked feet made its way up and he wiggled his toes between Cas' knees, forgetting for a moment that he needed to hide the grin on his lips. He was watching his boyfriend's face flush slightly as he tried to scoot back in his chair, away from Dean's feet, but Dean was having too much fun. That's why he almost missed it when Cas' father suddenly spoke to his mom.

"So, Mary, has Castiel been behaving since he's been staying with you?"

Dean froze along with Cas but Mary didn't seem fazed. She turned towards him with a smile. "He's been great. I make him do his share to stay. He's a great kid," she said fondly.

Zach nodded, giving a slight smirk at his son's ducked head.

Dean just spluttered. "How—how did you know he was—?"

Cas' father looked at him. "I'm not as dumb as you seem to think I am. Or as blind."

"I didn't mean that—"

Mary laid a hand on Dean's shoulder. "I couldn't keep it a secret forever, honey, it's his son."

Dean gave his mother a dirty look and she just smirked before ruffling his hair. "Yeah, okay, fine." He glanced at Cas who was looking properly uncomfortable.

Dinner wound down and everyone started filtering out, Brady and his parents first, then Anna and her company, and finally Jess so only the Winchesters plus Cas and Zach were left. There were a few goodbyes spoken and Cas seemed unsure if his father would let him stay or not, but Zach didn't say anything about it and headed to the door with just Dean. Dean let him out onto the porch, but before he could even wish him a good night, Zach caught his shoulder.

"Take good care of my son," he said seriously. "Or else." He smirked and left a visibly shaken Dean to close the door and turn back to see Cas walking towards him.

"What'd he say?" Cas asked cautiously.

Dean shook himself and smiled warmly. "Nothing." He took Cas' hand. "C'mon. Let's go to bed." They made their way upstairs, calling out their goodnights to Dean's parents, who were still sitting together at the end of the table. Sam had gone to bed half an hour earlier.

The two changed into pajamas and fell into bed, both exhausted from the long day. Cas tangled their legs together and put his arms around Dean, who snuggled closer, muttering something about Cas being warm. Cas just smiled and whispered, "Merry Christmas," onto the top of his head.

A/N: Man, I really miss this verse. I still have a couple more of these in the works, but it'll probably take some time to get them out, but someday I will write them!