Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural

Bobby looked at the boys. How had he raised these kids? The older one, Dean, was in a stable relationship with Castiel. Sam, the younger, was in an equally stable relationship with a very unstable guy named Gabriel. The boys he raised were both very gay, well Dean was very bisexual, but anyway, his boys' sexual preferences were not the cause for his current exacerbation. He looked at them, sitting on his couch, eating his food, smiling at him like they were his dad. Dirt covered their features but their smiles were pure as ever. These boys had shown up, covered in dirt, grinning ear to ear, with their boyfriends in toe. Gabe and Cas were clean, their clothes were neat, their smiles a little more posh than those of Sam and Dean. Sam and Dean had hard lives, their mom was murdered their father, in his blind search for her killer, ended up dead. This left the boys in Bobby's hands. At first they'd been quiet, reserved, nearing on resentful towards their new guardian. He was an old friend on John's, not really an uncle but the closest they had. Bobby had come home the night before after his "meeting" with Crowley. The boys had tried to stay up to meet him when he got back but they were asleep on the couch, leaning on each other. Bobby had sighed and called them idjits before putting a blanket over them and turning off the lights. The next morning Crowley showed up with a bright smile at the door and a flirtatious wink for Bobby. "Last night was wonderful love. Can't wait for our next date night." He said. Dean and Sam had come down the stairs and saw the man at the door.

"Who are you?" Dean asked looking at the man suspiciously.

"My name's Crowley and I'm your new mummy." Crowley said smiling. Dean's eyes dulled and his suspicious look faded to a dead eyes stare.

"Let's get ready for school Sammy." Dean said turning and dragging his confused little brother back up the stairs. Bobby knew that was the moment that had caused the rift between Crowley and the boys. Dean still had darkness in him when it came to his parents' deaths and Crowley's comment was not the best of his ideas. After that Dean and Sam had gone to school, Dean with a hollow expression and Sam with a frightened one. They were still young, still impressionable but could be fierce when they needed to be. And Dean had clearly decided his tiger like fierceness was needed to thwart the onslaught that was Crowley. So after the day of school the two teenage boys had showed up completely covered, head to toe, in drying mud and dusty dirt. Their boyfriends trailing behind seemed not to have been a part of the mess as they were still clean. Castiel sat on the couch and looked patiently at Dean who grinned and rubbed his dirty cheek on his muddy sleeve. Gabriel went to get them sodas from the fridge. Sam went to clean himself off. Dean on the other hand, grinned mischievously at Bobby with the look of any normal boy who'd come home covered in dirt. Dean flopped down next to Cas on the couch, surveying the trail of dirt he'd left in his wake.

"Get upstairs and clean yourself up ya idjit." Bobby said. Gabriel handed Cas and Dean sodas before putting Sam's on the coffee table.

"Why should i? You're not my dad." Dean said still with that boyish smile. Castiel looked at Dean frowning but said nothing.

"I could never be John but I put food in your mouth so go take a shower." Bobby said gruffly. Dean ignored this and began drinking his soda.

"Dean, maybe you should go clean off." Castiel suggested softly earning a dark glare from Dean. "Maybe you should go see what's taking Sam so long." Cas amended, not backing down at the darkness in Dean's eyes. Grumbling Dean went to check on his brother. Cas waited until he was gone to speak.

"He's upset." He said to Bobby. His blue eyes had never looked like the eyes of a boy his age, but instead had the image of a timeless being, wise beyond his years.

"Sammy is too." Gabe said from his perch on the arm of the couch. "Your choice in boy toy seems to be lacking." Gabriel said laughing.

"Dean hasn't said anything but it's clear your new interest did something that offended him." Cas said looking at the soda in his hand.

"I know that." Bobby growled before stalking into the other room as there was a knock at the door.

"Hello love." Crowley said from the door pecking Bobby on the cheek.

"Mr. Singer." Castiel said from his place beside Dean who'd just descended the stairs, using a washcloth to clear off the remaining mud on his face. Dean flushed at the sight.

"Dean, Crowley." Bobby said giving Crowley a look.

"Hello squirrel." Crowley said smiling. "I hear your mummy and daddy died." Crowley said as he wrinkled his nose at the mud marks on the couch before turning back to where Dean and Cas were standing at the base of the stairs. "It doesn't get easier and the pain doesn't go away." He said looking firmly at Dean. "People will tell you it gets easier and one day you'll forget but you'll find it patronizing and you won't want to forget. Don't worry, you won't. It'll hurt forever." Crowley said casually. Dean's face looked conflicted but he stayed silent. Crowley went into the other room leaving Dean Cas and Gabe alone once more. Sam came down the stairs, looking very small and frightened at his brother. After a little while of everyone watching Dean waiting for him to snap or yell or cry or something. He looked around at them all staring at him and sneered.

"What are ya'll gawking at?" Dean growled as he resumed washing off his face.

"We are worried for you Dean." Castiel said softly taking the cloth and gently cleaning off the last smudges of mud from Dean's freckled features.

"I'm not made of glass. I don't break that easily." Dean growled but he seemed calm, relaxed. Castiel smiled brightly at Dean putting down the cloth.

"Are you going to tell Bobby what we did?" Gabe asked pulling Sam down onto his lap as he slid into the cushions of the couch.

"Why?" Sam asked innocently leaning back comfortably on Gabe.

"It's not like we did anything bad." Dean said laughing as he and Cas flopped next to the others.

"Technically-" Cas began.

"Technically, we did nothing bad." Sam said grinning at Dean.

"What did you lot get up to?" Crowley asked as he returned to the room with a flowery pink apron and oven mitts on. His eyes looked disgustedly at the tracks the boys had left.

"Nothing you need to know about." Gabe said smiling.

"If you want brownies you'll clean this mess up." Crowley said pointing at the mess with a wrinkled nose. "Because I'm sure as hell not going to." He said before leaving the room.

"Boys?" Bobby asked as he entered the room and looked down at the four on his battered couch. How had he adopted two boys young and ended up with four teenagers living in his house? How had he adopted two broken kids and ended up with two amazing young men? How had they turned out so well, their mother was killed, their father was raised by a single mother after his father disappeared. He'd been a horrible between Mary's death and his own. After being orphaned they ended up being raised by him. A man whose father beat him so bad he vowed never to have kids of his own. A straight man that was dating a man because shit happened. How had these boys turned out so well? How had they found these perfect boyfriends, and how could they still smile with that childlike innocence? "Crowley is going to be around here more often so get used to him. He is a pain in the ass most of the time but he won't be leaving any time soon." Bobby said.

"He said there were brownies?" Gabe asked. Bobby's hard look softened.

"He said we have to clean." Sam said over his shoulder.

"We should at least clean the couch before the mud dries." Castiel said. Bobby smiled behind his facial hair. These boys, the four of them, were so perfect together; they were so perfect for him. Bobby never knew how much he needed these idjits until he had them under his roof.

"If I clean the floor you clean the couch." Sam said.

"You're such a boy scout." Gabe said chuckling and kissing Sam's cheek before the smallest of the four went to get something to clean the mess up.

"Cas suggested it." Sam huffed defensively.

"But Cassie has a tattoo." Gabe said.

"I had a good reason for it." Cas said frowning. Bobby thought for a moment about the boyfriends his sons had found. Castiel had scars on his back from something he evaded in conversation. He'd gotten a tattoo on his 18th birthday of wings to cover the marring puckered marks on his back. He was good and loyal and despite how wise he could be on some subjects, he was still naive. Gabriel was basically the opposite of Cas. He was rambunctious and mischievous and had a notorious sweet tooth. He was related to Cas somehow and Bobby wasn't quite clear on it but they both came from wealthier circumstances than Sam and Dean. Money never seemed to be a problem between the four though, poor or rich, they were happy together. Sam and Dean wore rougher clothes, talked with coarser language, and came from a much darker past but just because Cas and Gabe dressed nicer, talked nicer, and had much less traumatizing pasts, they were in love. They were their own little family. Sure Bobby was family but the four of them were immediate. The four of them were their own world, and that world was beautiful and Bobby felt so proud to be a part of that world.

"The brownies are done." Crowley said pulling Bobby out of his thoughts as the boys finished up their cleaning. The house was a mess and a little mud didn't seem out of place but the kids wanted brownies so they consented to the small chore.

"Thank you." Cas said as he began cutting and serving the still hot treats.

"Thanks" the other three chorused.

"You idjits." Bobby said as they prepared to consume their still oven hot brownies.

"Let the cool first." Crowley said.

"We're fine." Dean said blowing on his first forkful.

"Problem solved." Gabe said plopping down a carton of ice cream on the counter and scooping some into his brownie.

"All problems can be solved with ice cream." Sam nodded.

"You got that right Sammy." Dean said.