The bright morning sun shone through Sam's eyelids, waking him up. He stretched his left arm and found the bed empty beside him. A faint smell of coffee lingered to the bedroom and Sam's lips curled into a smile. He kept his eyes closed, taking in the aroma with a deep breath. A moment passed in this tranquillity before Sam heard the bedroom door creak. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the familiar figure of Gabriel walking through the door, carrying a wooden tray full of delicious pastries, fruit and a steaming cup of coffee.
"Hey," Gabriel said quietly, a smile spreading across his face.
"Hey," Sam breathed out, stretching his arms. Gabriel leaned against the door frame and let his gaze run over Sam. The man lying on the bed looked so good with his hair all messy and eyes still sleepy.
"You're awake," Gabriel noted.
"I am," Sam replied, pushing himself up to sit. The angel walked towards him and sat down at the edge of the bed, placing the tray over Sam's thighs.
"Happy birthday," Gabriel wished and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on Sam's lips.
"Thanks," Sam said after their lips parted. Sam picked up a fluffy bun and bit into it, humming with pleasure after the sweet taste spread over his tongue.
Baking was rather a speciality of Gabriel's and Sam really appreciated his skills. It was nice to be treated with pies, cakes and cookies after years of eating take-out food day in, day out. Sam kept picking up all the different treats off the tray and Gabe stared intensely, taking in every move and sound Sam made.
"You wanna taste?" Sam asked and bit into a luscious strawberry, the red juice colouring his lips.
"Don't mind if I do," the angel responded and kissed Sam deeply, licking the sweet redness from his lips.
"Mmm, it's good," he said with a huge grin spreading across his face. Sam shook his head chuckling before taking a sip of his coffee.
Sam poured the last drops of coffee on his tongue and set the tray carelessly on the floor before pulling Gabriel to lie next to him on the bed. The angel placed his head on Sam's chest and for a while they stayed completely still, enjoying the calmness and quietness of the morning.
"Do you have a birthday?" Sam asked all of a sudden, finally breaking the silence.
"The 16th of February," Gabriel replied matter-of-factly, all the while tracing circles over Sam's chest. Sam was dumbfounded. The question was simply something that had popped into his head. He never thought that there would actually be a specific date for an answer.
"Oh," escaped from Sam's lips. Before he could say more, Gabe added, "It's not really the day my grace was created. That took place before time."
Sam lowered his eyebrows in confusion.
"What's it then?" he asked. Gabe turned his head upwards to face the other man.
"It's the day I met you," he said with the most heart-warming, genuine voice. The significance given to those simple words by Gabriel took Sam by surprise. He swallowed hard to try and hold back the tears Sam could feel forming in the corners of his eyes. It was not like him to get very emotional but, damn, if that wasn't the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to him.
"I love you," Sam said, placing a hand behind Gabriel's neck to pull him in for a deep, passionate kiss.
The phone rang.
"I'll be right back," Gabriel promised, untangling their limbs before slipping out under Sam's arm and jumping up from the bed.
He slid into the living room and the ringing stopped. After only a brief moment, the angel returned.
"Who was it?" Sam asked, still lying comfortably on the bed. He had picked up a cluster of grapes from the tray, which was still on the floor.
"Dean. He wanted to come over and take you for a birthday dinner, but I told him I'll zap him to Canada if he tries to bother us."
Sam raised an eyebrow the way he always does when Gabriel gives Dean a hard time. At the same time he couldn't help but find it really adorable how Gabriel wants to make the day special for just the two of them.
"Hey," Gabriel raised his hands as if it was a sign of his good-heartedness and for the justification of his actions and continued, "He's spent the last twenty-six birthdays with you. This is our first birthday together, I want it all to myself," he said with a wink. Sam's lip quirked up and he patted the bed next to him to invite Gabriel back. The angel slid across the floor next to the bed but didn't get in. Instead, he extended both his hands towards Sam.
"Get up," Gabriel commanded, grabbed Sam's hands and started to pull him up. Sam groaned in protest but let himself be pulled out of the warmth of the bed.
"Close your eyes," Gabriel instructed and Sam obeyed without a word. The angel placed his palms on Sam's temples, pushing his fingers through his hair. Sam felt a tingling sensation, like surges of weak electricity, passing through Gabriel's fingertips to his scalp and continuing its journey to every single cell in his body, filling them with something he had never felt before.
"You can open your eyes now," the angel said softly, letting his hands slide down Sam's neck and chest to his hips, where they fitted perfectly. Sam opened his eyes and was met by a blinding brightness that surrounded the two of them. He blinked rapidly until his eyes gradually adapted to the light. Now he could perceive what was the source of the glimmering aureate light – wings. As clear as the day were the wings in front of him; enormous, richly gold set of wings stretching out behind of Gabriel.
"Wha-"
"I wrapped your soul in a strand of my grace so you could see the real me. Well, a part of the real me. My true form would still be too much for your eyes," Gabriel explained. Sam's mouth was hanging open and his eyes were wider than you would think is physically possible. It was the most beautiful, and yet frightening, sight Sam had ever seen.
"Can I…?" Sam began and Gabe nodded instantly, smiling warmly. He carefully lifted his right hand and gingerly brushed his fingers over the glowing, golden feathers. The feathers fluttered under his touch and Sam could feel heat radiating from the wings.
"They're so beautiful," he uttered in awe. His eyes moved from left to right, his brain working hard to memorize every detail of the beauty in front of him. The angel, in turn, kept looking at Sam, his heart aching with happiness from seeing Sam so full of amazement and adoration.
"Will I always be able to see them? Sam asked, fingers grazing over the edges of the wings.
"No. The effect will fade away eventually," Gabriel told him.
"Oh," Sam said, his voice echoing the sadness and disappointment that he felt inside; he had been given something so incredible and now the angelic bubble was being burst.
"Hey," Gabe whispered, placing a hand on Sam's cheek and softly stroking it with his thumb, "you will always sense them. They'll be a shadow in the corner of your eye, a feeling in the back of your mind."
Knowing this lifted the heavy weight of melancholy from Sam's mind. He pulled Gabriel into an embrace and wrapped his arms tightly around him. Gabriel's wings circled them, closing Sam inside the warm glow. A complete sense of content, of happiness and love consumed him and he squeezed Gabriel even tighter.
"Thank you," Sam said, honesty and gratitude clear in his voice.
It was the best birthday Sam ever had.