The Most Important Day Of All

"Sam…Sam…wake up princess."

"Gurphsl," Sam mumbled but the insistent shaking and patting on his back would not stop. The tall hunter lifted his head to speak more clearly. "Dean seriously, let me sleep."

"No can do Samuel, get your ass out of bed. This is important. Well according to your boyfriend it is."

At the mention of Gabriel, Sam gave in because even if he could ignore Dean, he knew there was no way the Archangel was going to let him dodge whatever this was. He blindly grabbed his cellphone off the bedside table and read the time display. "Dude it's one in the morning. What could he possibly want?"

"How should I know?" He looked up to see Dean already dressed and ready to go…wherever. Sam crawled out of bed and pulled on clothes at random.

"So any idea where we're going?"

"Not far," Dean shrugged. "Cas gave me an address and asked that I try my best not to be late even if he and Gabriel were taking into account our limited human transportation. Angels man, no appreciation for anything with style."

"Aw are you mad your baby insulted your other baby," Sam teased and Dean lightly backhanded the top of his head.

"Bitch."

"Jerk." The brothers climbed into the Impala and Dean started the engine. The stereo automatically came on but instead of Dean's usual selection, the synthesized chords to Van Halen's Dreams played and Sam laughed. "Wow I haven't heard this in ages."

Dean beamed, "Reminds me of way back when Dad used to leave us at Bobby's. Bobby'd crank up that radio to full blast and had the worst, I'm talking, the WORST Van Halen impression ever."

"God didn't he break a glass one time?"

"It was an old one and the glass was very fragile," Dean reminded with a snicker. As they drove off Dean still felt compelled to say, "If he wants to conjure tunes that's fine but no angel mojo on Baby." They drove for about an hour, enjoying more nostalgic music, none of which Dean owned, before coming to park where Castiel was waiting for them.

"Welcome," the angel greeted them as they got out.

"What's this about Cas?" Sam asked.

"I'm not sure I fully understand the concept myself," Castiel admitted. "But Gabriel has made it clear that I mustn't discuss it with you. I am to show you the way and nothing more."

"Awesome, lead on," Dean invited and they began to through the dark grounds, away from the public area to a more discreet section, guarded by a patch of trees. Before they could ask again what was going on they saw Gabriel standing in small clearing, amidst several crates of fireworks.

"Surprise!" Gabe cheered. "What do you think? I figured this should tide us over for a while. The beers are over there." He pointed to an enormous cooler seated under a nearby tree. "Yes there are sandwiches too, we're going fire these bad boys all night long."

"Dude some of these are awesome," Dean examined the crate nearest to him. "Can we really light them up? This isn't some prank and one's going to blow up in my face."

"For someone who knows for a fact that angels and god exist, you have such little faith Deano. Just a second." Suddenly he was right beside Sam, "What do you say Moose?"

"What the hell Gabe," Sam looked around in astonishment. "This is nuts. Besides, what's the occasion?"

"Really? It's the most important day of the year, it's practically a national holiday. Well not really, but it should be." Sam continued to stare him and the Archangel rolled his eyes. "Check the date Winchester, it's your birthday. So I thought fireworks and beer sounded like a winning combination. Anyway birthday boy goes first," he offered Sam a firework. The brothers shared a look before simultaneously shrugging. Sam lit his and Dean was close behind. They taught Cas how to do it and Gabriel set off a whole crate with just a snap of his fingers. Soon the night sky was filled with multi-coloured sparks as the burst in amazing displays. The foursome cheered and clapped at each new explosion. At one point Gabriel nudged Sam and jerked his chin towards their brothers who had begun staring at each other rather than the fireworks. "Remind me to never get into a staring contest with them."

Sam chuckled, wrapping his arms around his angel, "Thank you for this."

"Hey I consider the day Samuel Winchester came into this world to be a very significant event in time," the smaller man shrugged. "Then again I am unashamedly biased."

"Careful Gabriel, your inner sap is showing," Sam teased.

"I could be wrong but I believe it's called love," Gabriel scratched his chin. "Probably why I put up with your constant nagging about eating healthier and why I actually try healthy food. Not to mention how I deal with the oversized limbs and your habit kick-starting apocalyptic scenarios."

"Am I worth it?"

Gabriel didn't miss a beat, "A hundred times over Samsquatch."

"I love you too Gabriel," Sam murmured softly.

"Happy birthday Sammy," Gabriel whispered as he drew his fingers away from the hunter's forehead. They were in the bunker, both hunters fast asleep and Cas was off somewhere so Gabriel took the chance pop in to watch Sam while he slept. They never really had the chance for a relationship but both of them knew where their feelings were. "I'm coming back to you I promise. Then I'll show you some real fireworks. Love you baby." The sun was rising so he dropped the gentlest kiss on Sam's forehead before flying away.

A/N: Hello all, I got a wicked idea for dealing with hellatus. I'm pretty sure all of you have seen/read one of those 'Reading the Books' stories with the characters sit down to read their own novels. I won't say I'm the first but I don't think has done what I want to do with it. What I'm planning to do is have Sam, Dean, Cas, and Mary watch the shows and provide their commentary with other characters joining in as the seasons go on. It's called 'Catching Up' and Season 1's prologue is up right now. So go check it out and I'll see you later. ENJOY R&R PLZ!