Dean glances over at Castiel to see if he was nervous. It was a big step that neither of them had even thought of until recently. But with Charlie's offer it had to be done. There might not be another chance for a while and if they could help their best friend through this and gain something from it then why shouldn't they?
So that was why they were both outside of Bobby's house on a Sunday morning after calling everyone for a big meeting. This was the first time that their friends and family would all be in one place in a while. And yes, while it was true that many of the important people were gone, such as John, Mary, Ellen, and Jo from Dean's side alone his brother and surrogate father were there. And family didn't stop with blood. Kevin and his mother were there... As well as Charlie although she already knew the real deal. And Castiel had sent for his vessels daughter Claire. And somehow Gabriel had contacted them and asked if he could be there. So it was a full house that greeted the man and angel as they finally turned the handle and opened the door.
Castiel, called Cas by his friends, kept glancing at Dean, wondering if he was actually going to go through with it. So far there had been various little greetings and how are you's. But it was starting to get quiet and everybody was wondering why they had been called together. With one more glance, Castiel stood up, intending to jump right in when Dean laid a hand on his arm and shook his head. Castiel tilted his head in question and Dean have him a shaky smile.
"Everyone," Dean said as he stood, " I'm sure there are some questions about why you are here but I would appreciate it if you could just bare with me."
Dean took a large gulp of his whiskey and held his hand out to Charlie. She smiled and joined him in standing. After all the story kind of started with her didn't it?
"As some of you may know I spent quite a bit of time in Oz recently. And most of it was with Dorothy. Well what you don't know was that we were together. We had even gone so far as to get married actually..." Charlie trailed off here as her eyes began to mist. A cleared throat from her right drew her attention. Castiel was holding out a crumpled tissue.
"Thanks Cas. Anyways... We got married in Oz and we were happy. Because time moved differently there we had two blissful years of marriage before we thought of children. And as soon as we did we knew there was only one man that we could ask to be the father," here she turned the floor over to Dean as this was his part of the story to tell.
"As most of you know I've always wanted to be a father but never thought that Apple pie life was for me," Dean started, "But thanks to Charlie and Dorothy I knew that the child would be fairly safe in Oz now that the wicked witch was dead. So I agreed. We went through the process of artificial insemination and found out that Charlie was expecting twins about six weeks ago. However, two weeks after we found out about the babies there was an uprising in Oz and Dorothy... Well Dorothy was killed."
Charlie's silent tears made everyone's heart ache for the woman but they didn't really see the necessity of a full gathering. Had they held off the funeral that long? A few murmurs broke out, most distinctly Bobby and Sam whispering amongst themselves, before Castiel stood to lend his part to the story.
"Once Charlie contacted me through prayer we met at the bunker to discuss her options. Clearly Oz was not safe for children right now as it seems a minor wicked witch is attempting to reclaim her cousins title. Not to mention that Charlie has decided that she would rather not raise these little ones on her own or rather without Dorothy at her side. Therefore, Dean as their biological father has decided that he will be their primary guardian," Castiel announced.
"Ok. That's fine and all. I think it's great that Dean is settling down a little now that we have saved the world a few times over. But seriously what is the big deal? Why are we all gathered for an announcement when we haven't heard from any of you in like a month?" Sam asked with a typical bitchy face.
Here Charlie looked up and gave Sam a nasty look, "We haven't been seen because we had some things to take care of for instance my wife's funeral. One of my conditions for Dean to be the twins guardian was that he had to have a real home, not the bunker. So we have been taking care of that and the legal ramifications of Dean taking on responsibility of the kids. In order for both partners to have custody they have to be married so that had to be taken care of and-" Charlie suddenly stopped as she tossed a frightened look in Deans direction, afraid that she had said too much. Everyone's face was showing shock at the thought of Dean being married at all, let alone to Charlie. She didn't even like men!
"It's fine Charlie," Dean said, "We have beaten around the bush enough. Don't worry about Charlie you guys. We didn't get married."
Castiel stood up again and held his hand out to Dean while turning to the room, "We did," he said. And the room erupted.
A couple hours later the three parents to be were sitting on the hood of the Impala thinking I've the last few hours. Mostly the yelling of Sam and Bobby exclaiming that Castiel must have done something to Dean because Dean wasn't gay and he would never marry a guy. The rest of the group were shocked and wary of the two being together for other reasons. There was a reason Angels and humans didn't typically mix... Nephilim. But, for Gabriel at least, this didn't seem to be an issue because the twins were not actually half angel. Still, this would create some unease in Heaven to know that a fairly high ranking angel was married to a human. Even the Righteous Man. In fact that might make it worse... Dean Winchester had few friends in Heaven. After all his dislike for most Angels was very well known.
For the most part there just seemed to be two huge problems with their announcements. Sam and Bobby both were quite vocal in their disagreement with the couples decision. To the point that Bobby had asked them to leave. And Sam had just shaken his head as they walked out. Castiel looked over at Dean laying on the Impala looking at the stars and knew that this was hurting him much more than he let on. After all he practically raised Sam. He had sacrificed so much for him... Quite literally giving his life to save his baby brother... And a little thing like sexual orientation had them at odds like never before.
"You don't have to do this you know. I'm sure Cas would never make you choose him over your family. And the twins may be safer never knowing who they are," Charlie whispered just loud enough for them both to hear.
"Despite everything that is happening Charlie," Dean started before he swallowed thickly. Taking about emotions and stuff was still difficult for him. How did he gets so lucky? Cas never pushed him to say things that made him uncomfortable. A voice broke through his thoughts.
"Dean?" Castiel inquired.
"Sorry. It's still hard for me to talk about these things. But I was saying that despite everything that is happening with my family right now I wouldn't change my decision. I always knew this was a possibility. When I first kissed Cas I knew that I loved him. It was only a matter of time before it came out. This opportunity to be parents... Well it's not something we should or could pass up. Especially as it helps the next most important person to us besides each other. Besides, I think that this could have a silver lining," Dean finished with an evil grin.
A little of the old Charlie shined through when she matched his grim with one of her own, "What's the plan oh fearless leader?"
Castiel just rolled his eyes. No doubt he would be roped into this one as well. And he thought finding the house was a big deal. Little did he know.
The next morning Bobby woke up and shuffled downstairs to start himself some coffee. He didn't notice anything odd until his face started to itch. Thinking it was his beard he waved it off and sleepily sipped his cup. His thoughts turned to the night before and he felt himself grow angry all over again. It wasn't so much the fact that Dean was gay, although he has to admit he was very uncomfortable with that. No. It was that either the boy was under a huge angel spell or he had lied to Bobby for his entire life. And Bobby hated liars. A grim look on his face Bonby got up to pull down another mug for Sam as he came shuffling in. He thought he was being extra nice by pouring him a cup too. That is until Sam reached out to take it and he noticed that SAMs hand seemed to sparkle in the florescent kitchen light.
"What the hell you got over your hand you idjit?" Bobby asked.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sam asked grumpily finally looking up and his face went from bitchy to surprised' "what the hell is all over your face and beard Bobby?"
"What do you mean there's something in my beard? Your the one with... Is that pink glitter?" Bobby asked.
They heard a laugh behind them and spun quickly, both men drawing silver knives as they did. But to their surprise they only saw Dean, Cas, and Charlie standing there with maniacal grins on their faces (well on Charlie and Deans faces that is).
"Well I figured since it bothered you so much that I was 'flaunting my gayness' I should embrace it you know? You wanted to use those words to hurt me. Instead you have brought this down upon yourselves. I hope you enjoy your lives. Because while you live alone and grow bitter I will be enjoying my new fabulous life," Dean said. When he had finished Cas grabbed the two humans shoulders and they disappeared before Sam and Bobby's eyes.
That was the last they heard from Dean. There were rumors of a family of hunters towards the west coast but Bobby never checked if it was Dean. As time passed Sam took fewer and fewer hunting jobs and mostly helped Bobby with research. Every once in a while Sam would get the urge to call Dean or pray to Castiel. Just to see how things were. But always he didn't follow through. But sometimes he would get little notes and pictures. Mostly they seemed to land on his desk after a visit from Gabriel. A picture of twin girls at age three. Blonde curls bouncing around their faces while they devoured a Popsicle. Or even a Christmas themed photo of the little family. All five decked out in ugly sweaters. An obituary notice for Charlie and an accompanying note saying she died in Oz. In all truthfulness Sam had a boring life. He missed his brother and couldn't swallow his pride about a mistake he made years and years ago. And now... Now it was too late. So he grabbed the bottle of whiskey from his desk drawer and poured himself a couple fingers worth. And toasted his family.
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This is a little one shot that popped into my head while jamming out to 'Centerfold' by the J. Geils Band. For some reason I thought that song was very appropriate!
