The baby was swaddled ever so delicately in a blue knitted blanket. The light white skin was soft to the touch and was only interrupted ever so often to dip into lips or a nose or beautiful blue eyes. With a crinkle of the nose, the baby let out a soft coo. It was perfection in the flesh.
And Cas had no idea what to do with it.
Awkwardly he held the baby with its head in the crook of his arm, careful to keep its neck from breaking in half. In all honesty, it was stressing the angel out. He looked to his husband, "What do I do now?"
Dean let out a dramatic sigh, "What do you mean 'What do I do'? You just take care of him."
Castiel looked from Dean to the baby and then back up again, "And how do I do that?"
After five hours of wrestling with paperwork regarding the adoption Dean was not up for assisting an angel with understanding how human babies work. The man knew all the secrets of the world, but he didn't know how to act around a creature whose basic needs included ass wiping and burping.
"Just make sure he doesn't die, that's all I'm asking, Cas," he picked up the car keys off of the table in the foyer and tossed them around in his hands.
Before Castiel could ask another question Dean was out the door.
"Okay," Cas said to the empty space where Dean once was, "I can do that."
Cas looked down at the wiggling baby. Bubbles formed at his lips as he sputtered and spat, forming incoherent words. A twinge in his heart made Castiel cock his head. The only other time he felt such a thing was when he looked at Dean.
He shook his head, "I shouldn't have eaten that hamburger; I must have heartburn."
Cas needed to move, he had to get to the nursery so he could put the baby down. But at the same time he was too afraid to move. What if he dropped the baby? Dean gave specific instructions; keep the baby alive. And Cas didn't exactly have a great track record with guidelines.
It was an hour later when Dean finally returned home with three bags of groceries. When he saw Cas just standing with their son in his arms, not an ounce of movement coming from the angel, he dropped everything.
"Why haven't you moved?" He rushed to his side and looked at the baby. His breath escaped from his lips, relief coming over him. The baby was smiling gently up at his fathers, moving his eyes from one to the other. He was happy as a pig in a blanket. Hell, he kinda looked like a big in a blanket.
"I didn't want to drop him."
Dean couldn't help but laugh and pull Castiel in to a one armed hug, kissing him gently on the forehead and then bending over and kissing their newborn on the head.
"I love you, Cas. But you gotta trust yourself a little more. You've kept me safe for God knows how long."
"Actually," Cas replied, "I'm not sure God is aware of my actions."
Dean smirked, "That is a saying, not an actual measure of time."
"Oh."
"Come one, let's go put Gabe to bed."