Sam couldn't even begin to comprehend how it had happened. All he'd meant to do was translate something he'd believed to be a summoning ritual, but had turned out to be something else entirely.
Now he had two curious looking babies laid on his bed crudely wrapped up in individual towels. One infant had sharp green eyes and clusters of freckles, the other had wide blue peepers and dark tufts of hair.
Dean and Castiel might have made adorable babies, but Sam in no way considered himself a competent carer. Dean had always been the one with fatherly instincts.
Sam had his soul this time, sure, but he'd also had Dean before and only one baby to handle between them. Now he just didn't know what to do.
"Jody!" Sam suddenly exclaimed; she'd know how to handle them. He cursed when he realised he'd left his phone in the kitchen. "C'mon, guys" he said as he picked Dean and Castiel up in either arm.
He was surprised when Dean made a happy gurgling sound and buried his head into Sam's shoulder.
Castiel, meanwhile, picked a strand of Sam's hair and seemed happy to just chew on it.
"I'm going to get you back to normal" Sam promised as he headed down to the kitchen.
He hit an obstacle when he found his phone but had no free hands to pick it up with.
He sat Castiel down steadily on the floor but the confused baby started sobbing almost instantly, making grabbing motions up at Sam with his small chubby hands.
"I'm sorry, Cas" Sam said despairingly. "I'll just be a second."
He realised that Dean had started making whining noises and grasping gestures back at Castiel.
Sam put his older - younger? - brother down next to Castiel and Dean immediately started cooing over his crying friend.
Castiel's tears reduced to sniffles as he and Dean huddled together babbling in their secret language.
"Better not be bitching" Sam murmured as he picked up his phone and called Jody's number.
The sheriff answered before the third ring.
"Hey, Sam. What's going on?"
"Jody! I need your help and fast."
"Okay. What can I do?"
"I was going through a spell and I accidentally turned Dean and Cas into babies-"
"What!?" Jody exclaimed incredulously. "Are they okay?"
"Uh..." Sam had been watching as Dean stuck his finger in Castiel's mouth for the smaller baby to suck on to ease his upset. "They're doing okay. Definitely got baby brains. I'd say they're about eight or nine months old."
"Let me guess. You need me to make a diaper run?" Jody asked.
"Please" Sam replied. "I wouldn't put it passed Dean not to start peeing everywhere just out of spite. I'll need some supplies until I find the counter spell."
"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can" Jody promised.
"Thank you" Sam sighed. "Please hurry" he added desperately.
He put his phone down and picked the boys up again. Dean went back to latching his arm around Sam's neck and sighing contentedly.
"You're way more affectionate now" Sam said to him. "It's kinda creepy."
Castiel, in Sam's other arm, was a lot more fussy. He kept tugging on the back of Sam's shirt, giggling at his own mischievousness.
Sam carried them back up to his room and laid them down on the bed.
"Gotta keep you guys safe until Jody gets here" Sam said. "That means you gotta behave yourselves" he said as he tickled his finger across Dean's bare chest.
Dean giggled at the funny sensation and tried to get hold of Sam's finger.
Sam couldn't help but smile at his brother's new found innocence.
He looked up when he heard Cas give an excited 'Ah!'
Sam was horrified to see the smaller baby had crawled over to his pillow and found the gun which was stashed beneath it.
"Cas!" Sam yelled as scrambled to take the weapon from chubby hands. "That is not a toy!"
Castiel looked back up at Sam with his bottom lip quivering.
"No" Sam whined. "Please, no."
Castiel didn't care though as he burst into tears once more.
This in turn upset Dean as he quickly crawled over to cuddle with his distressed friend.
"Cas, I'm sorry I didn't mean to shout" Sam said. "You just scared me and...god this is no place for babies. I gotta keep you guys safe. If you got hurt I don't know what I'd-" he didn't even want to think about it.
He picked the little boys up and set them on his lap.
"Everything's going to be okay" Sam said as he bounced his knees slightly in the hope of soothing the two babies. "We're going to be just-"
Dean took the opportune moment to spit up on him.
Sam sighed defeatedly.
"You know what? I think I'd rather be soulless again at this point."
Jody grimaced when she heard the crying from the other side of the door.
When Sam opened it he was looking more than worse for wear with his hair ruffled and drool stains all over his crumpled shirt.
"Jody, I've never been so happy to see anyone in my life" Sam said with clear exhaustion. "I think Cas swallowed one of my shirt buttons and Dean's towel feels wet and I'm scared to look."
Jody rolled her eyes with an affectionate smirk. She placed the shopping bags she had down on the ground.
"Hand 'em over" she said. Sam was more than happy to oblige.
As soon as Dean was in Jody's arms he calmed down and snuggled into her warm and comforting presence.
"Didn't know he was such a cuddler" Jody commented as she smiled down at Dean and ran a hand though his fine brown hair.
"Trust me, this is new" Sam said.
"Well, he certainly does need a diaper" Jody stated. "As for Cas, he did not swallow your button. You'd know if he had; his face would have turned blue."
"Ah, right" Sam said sheepishly. "Maybe he's hungry then."
"Grab that bag" Jody said as she took Cas too. "We'll get 'em clothed and fed."
Castiel had stopped crying once he was close enough to Dean again; the baby Winchester wrapped his fingers up with Cas'. They were a sleep by the time they returned to bedroom, much to Sam's relief.
"Okay..." Jody said as she set them both down gently without rousing them. "You wanna learn how to do this?" She asked as she pulled out the bag of diapers.
"Yeah, no" Sam said quickly. "Dean's done a lot of stuff for me but he never changed my diaper."
"How do you know?" Jody asked with a chuckle as she got to work.
"Because if he had he'd bring it up every time I refused to do something for him."
"Fair enough. Why don't you go and warm up those bottles of mush whilst I finish this off then?"
"With pleasure" Sam muttered.
When he returned with the warm jars of baby food Sam was glad to see that both Dean and Cas were diapered and clothed.
"Didn't want 'em to get cold" Jody said as she finished buttoning up Cas' blue onesie; Dean had a red one.
"Okay" Sam said as he knelt down besides the sheriff. "Two steaming piles of...whatever the hell this is."
"You wanna take your brother whilst I try Cas?" Jody suggested.
Sam nodded as he sat on the bed and then positioned Dean on his lap. He got a big spoonful of the orange goop and held it in front of Dean, but the baby merely made a grunting noise in protest and turned his heads away.
"Oh, c'mon" Sam whined. "You eat all kinds of crap! You're not big enough to eat meat now."
He pushed the spoon to Dean's mouth but only succeeded in smearing it across his brother's cheek.
"I am not making aeroplane noises" Sam grumbled.
Meanwhile Castiel seemed to be liking his purée very much without making a mess.
"Try eating some yourself to show him it's okay" Jody said.
Sam grimaced at the thought but slowly put the spoon in his own mouth as Dean watched curiously.
Sam swallowed reluctantly and tried his best to smile.
"See?" He said a little painfully. "So good."
Dean giggled and clapped his hands.
"Yeah, I should have known you would do that on purpose" Sam deadpanned.
He tried Dean with the food again and he took it without complaint.
Once the feeding process was over both Dean and Castiel seemed ready to go to sleep again.
Jody laid them down on their backs and rubbed their small bellies soothingly.
The two boys cooed happily to each other and drifted into a peaceful slumber hand in hand.
"Are they usually this inseparable?" Jody asked.
"They have a, uh, profound bond" Sam said. "Thank you so much, Jody. I was way out of my depth."
"It's okay" Jody assured him with a smile.
"Will you watch them whilst I go and look for a counter spell? Hopefully I'll find one before they need another diaper change."
"Sure thing" Jody laughed. "They're cute though, right?"
"Yeah" Sam confessed. "Don't ever tell them I said that."
"I won't" Jody promised.
Sam left the room sound in the knowledge that Dean and Cas would be safe with the sheriff.
"Jody!" Sam exclaimed as he burst into his room several hours later.
The sheriff quickly shushed him as Castiel and Dean were both still contentedly asleep. Jody had turned the tv onto a low volume and was sat on a chair by the bed.
"What did you find?" She asked quietly.
"Something to reverse the spell hopefully" Sam said. "I think I translated it correctly."
"Okay" Jody said. "But I think if they're going to return to full size we better strip 'em first because they are going to rip through those diapers."
"Are you kidding that sounds hilarious" Sam grinned. He immediately grew serious and coughed awkwardly as Jody gave him a stern look. "Fine, we'll strip cover them in a bed-sheet each" he said.
Once Jody had done as Sam suggested she stood back and watched carefully as Sam read out the spell in Latin.
The two babies were consumed by a bright while light and were soon replaced by two very dazed grown men.
"Thank god" Sam sighed.
As Castiel and Dean sat up it was clear from their confused expression that they did not remember anything
"Why are we naked?" Castiel asked after checking under his sheet.
"Why do I have a gross taste in my mouth?" Dean countered.
"Glad we've got context" Sam muttered to Jody.
"I'm not sure how much you guys would appreciate knowing" Jody responded to Dean and Castiel.
"I know that I would appreciate a lie down" Sam claimed. "For a very long, long time."