Dean walked up behind Castiel and lazily threw his arms around his boyfriends' slim waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. Castiel smiled - Dean couldnt see it, but he knew Cas would be smiling - and rested his hands on Dean's, sliding his fingers through the other mans'. "Cas," Dean said quietly, gently rocking them back and forth. "I want to meet your mom."

Cas froze.

It wasnt the first time Dean had asked to meet his mom, of course it wasnt. After all, Castiel had already met Dean's parents, Mary and John, and his brother, Sam (or Sammy, as Dean called him). And Dean had met Castiel's many brothers and his sister Anna on separate occasions. But Castiel had always been too nervous to take him to see his mother. He thought it would freak him out. He knew Dean loved him, but that wasnt really what he was worried about. He knew Dean wouldnt care, he was just embarrassed, because he still talked to his mom, and talked about her like he saw her every morning.

They had a pretty strong relationship, initially built on mutual hate for each other their freshman year of high school, then ignorance of one another in their sophomore year. It wasnt until their junior year that they actually talked to eachother in a manner other than Dean bullying Cas and Cas murmuring profanities back at Dean, or Cas calling Dean a dumbass and Dean calling Cas a fag.

But then Dean spoke to him. It wasnt his idea, of course, it had been his lacrosse coaches idea. He had told him to bring his grades up or hed get kicked off the team and lose his scholarship, which was basically the only way Dean was going to get into college - his family wasnt exactly the richest. So he had, begrudgingly, approached Castiel one day after math class, slammed his hands on the other boys' desk and gritted through his teeth,

"Listen, im not usually one to ask for help, but im gonna get kicked off lacrosse if I dont bring me grades up. Tutor me."

Castiel had just stared up at him for a moment, his big blue eyes unblinking, before smirking and saying, "And why should I? Youve been a complete assbutt to me since freshman year, Winchester."

Dean stood there for a moment,ignoring his choice of profanity, before groaning and sliding into the seat beside Castiel. He didnt really hate the kid, after all. "Please, Castiel? If you really dont want you to, I can pay you. I really need the help though." He pouted, sticking his lower lip out and leaning forward.

Castiel eventually agreed, though he refused to be paid for it, and they went to Dean's house to study, exchanging numbers for further "torture sessions" as Dean liked to call them; he really did hate math.

And after a few torture sessions, Dean started calling them study sessions, and him and Cas would laugh and joke around. A few months later, Dean noticed he started to feel different toward the blue-eyed boy (and my god, were those eyes blue) and a few weeks later, he realized what the feelings were. He liked Castiel, as more than a friend. And after his "big gay freak-out", which he only told Sammy about, and a few weeks of trying to repress those feelings, he finally told him, to which Castiel replied to by giving him a heated kiss and saying in his deep, smooth voice, his lips ghosting over Dean's as he said the word,

"Finally."

And thats how their relationship began.

They had been together almost four years, being in the middle of their third year in college and living in a small apartment together. Dean had jokingly (even though he was always somewhat serious, he just wanted to see how the other man would react) proposed to Castiel seven times and counting and they had a cat together, whom they named Jim, for lack of a better name.

And Dean had been asking to meet Castiel's mom since he first met Dean's mom. He had even counted the times Dean asked (fourteen, not like he would ever tell Dean that he counted), and in accordance, the times he had said no. He was, to be quite honest, getting tired of always saying no. He loved Dean more than anything, and he hated the crestfallen look on his face every time he said no, but he couldnt bring himself to say yes.

So, instead of saying it, he wiggled out of Dean's arms and walked silently around him. After a few moments of quietly shuffling through Dean's school bag he eventually found the keys to the Impala and walked out the door. He didnt have to look back to know Dean was following him; he'd never let Cas out of his sight with the keys to his baby, he never had and probably never would.

Cas slowly and quietly made his way down the three flights of stairs and into the parking garage. He unlocked the doors and slid into the drivers seat, adjusting the mirror a fraction of his inch to make up for the slight height difference between him and Dean. He didnt care if Dean cared, or got mad at him, he just kept his expression mutual as he started the car, backing out of their allotted space carefully - the idiot who lived next door never really could park all that well, much to Dean's dismay.

"Cas," Dean said quietly, about half an hour after theyd been driving on the highway. Castiel ignored him in favour of tuning his blinker on and switching lanes, checking his rear view mirror as he did so.

Another half hour brought them to the looming gates of a cemetery, where Castiel parked the Impala and walked up to the visitors kiosk. The man behind the desk - Stanley, his name was - smiled and handed Cas a badge. "Hey, Castiel. Didnt expect you for another week," he said with a small smile.

Castiel nodded and motioned toward Dean. "Boyfriend wanted to meet mom," he said quietly, looking down at the badge and thanking Stanley before walking off, Dean in tow behind him.

And Dean didnt say anything. He just followed silently as Cas led him to a grave with a nice, glossy black headstone with a tree growing over the plot. It was a pretty large tree, with roots growing around the headstone, and names and dates carved into it.

Anna, Christmas 1999

Balthazar + Garbeil, New Years 2000

Castiel, Mothers Day 2000

Castiel, January 16th, 2001

Castiel + Anna, Mothers Day 2001

Cassie, Balthazar, Anna, Gabriel, Uriel, Michael, + Luc, New Years 2002

Cas, Christmas 2001

It went on down and all around the trunk of the tree, some carvings older than others, barely legible and worn down by age. Castiel's name was the most common, starting in the late nineties and the latest date reading two weeks ago. Sometime in 2005, Uriel and Michael's names stopped appearing and the others became less frequent, but Cas's name was everywhere on the tree.

After a few silent moments, Castiel slid to the ground and leaned against the tree. Dean sat beside him, facing the gravestone, and smiled. "Mrs. Novak," he said politely, boing his head slightly. Castiel looked up at him in shock. "Castiel speaks so highly of you. Its an honour to finally have the pleasure of meeting you."

And even though it was a stupid, cheesy gesture, and to anyone passing through, Dean probably looked crazy, it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for Castiel, especially considering how much Dean knew the woman meant to Cas. The dates on the headstone stated she died at the age of 36, when Cas was only five years old.

"Cas told me you liked to bake pies. I think you and I would have gotten along really well, Mrs. Novak. Im so glad I have your son. He means so much to me."

Castiel just smiled and leaned his forehead on Dean's shoulder, grabbing his hand with one hand, lacing his fingers through the other mans', and grabbing his wrists with the other. Dean just squeezed his hand softly and continued to talk to his mother as if she were right there with them. He went on to tell her how they met, and how much Dean regretted being a jerk to Cas so long before he realized he was in love with him. He apologized for every time he was ever mean to her son, and told her how well she had raised him and beautiful he was. He told her that he planned on marrying Cas one day and maybe adopting a kid; if its a girl, we'll name it after you, maybe use my moms name as a middle name, he had said.

After a few hours, Castiel finally pulled Dean up, telling him it was getting dark and he was chilly. Dean had stood up and kissed him softly, saying, "Ill be to the car in a minute, I just need to ask your mom something." Castiel looked up at him skeptically for a moment before nodding, kissing him once more, before turning to head off to the car.

Dean crouched beside her headstone. "I never thought I would be doing this, but I think it would make Cas happy," he said quietly, patting the dark marble. "I do plan on marrying your son. Would that be okay?" He paused for a moment and laughed quietly, shaking his head. "I just though I would ask. Seemed like the right thing to do. But... Cas told me you like music, you play piano. Could you, I dont know, give me a sign somehow if youre okay with it?" Dean bit his lip, thinking how crazy he must be to be asking a gravestone for her sons' hand in marriage.

Right as Dean moved to get up, he heard a soft tinkling of music sound through the graveyard. It was a tune he was pretty familiar with, Beethoven's Midnight Sonata; Cas sometimes played it for him. And even though Dean knew it was his car stereo playing the music, he still smiled, leaning down once more to kiss the cold gravestone.

"Thank you.. So much," he said quietly, taking his pocket knife and quickly carving a sloppy, Cas+Dean, December 2nd adding a heart to the end before sliding it back in his pocket and running back to the Impala with a smile on his face.

"Why so happy?" Cas asked with a small smile, though he looked like he was about to cry.

"No reason. Im just happy to be here with you. Glad I finally got to meet your mom," he admitted with a shrug, taking Castiel's face in his hands and kissing him softly as Midnight Sonata played on.

After pulling away. he rested his forehead against Castiel's, and whispered, "We're coming back Christmas, right?"

A huge grin split across Castiel's face and he pulled Dean closer for another kiss, nodding against his lips.

And so they did.

Bright and early on Christmas morning, they went back, using a thick blanket to cover the snow so their clothes wouldnt get soaked through too badly. They put a wreath on the gravestone, and Dean could see where a few of his siblings had already been by that morning, leaving footprints and fresh carving on the tree. Cas had explained to him that his mother was buried half a meter under in a biodegradable casket with a tree planted over it so even after she died, she would be part of something living. It was her favourite kind of tree, some kind of oak or something, Dean forgot the exact name of it.

They sat there for hours, Dean and Cas talking, one of them occasionally saying something to Cas's mother. Dean brought a portable CD player and they listened to recordings of Castiel playing the piano, which he was embarrassed about, but Dean insisted his mother would love it, which Cas appreciated, so he allowed it.

It was nearly four in the afternoon before Dean paused the music and turned to Castiel, a determined expression on his face as he fiddled with a small box, no bigger than his palm, painted like the Starry Night; he had painted it himself. "Cas," he started, looking up and smiling. "I love you. I uh.. oh god. I suck with speeches. Here we go. I l-"

"Oh my god," Cas said quietly, squeezing his eyes shut and putting his hands over his mouth. He eventually mumbled out, "Youre breaking up with me, arent you?"

Dean sat there, staring shocked for a moment before reaching forward and pulling his lover into his arms. "Oh god, no. Cas, no. Jeez. I would.. never break up with you. Ever, ever. Just hear me out," he said, rubbing his palm in small slow circles over Cas's trenchcoat covered back. Castiel eventually nodded and pulled away, keeping ahold of one of Dean's hands as he nodded for him to continue. "Okay. Well. I love you, Cas. Castiel. With all my heart. I always kind of have, I guess. And you love me. And we live together and stuff. And we have Jim." Castiel smiled and nodded. "And we've met eachothers' families. At least the people that counted. And.. I love everything about you and all the things you say and do and... I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know, crazy right? Dean Winchester? Settle down?" He looked down at the box and laughed nervously. "But I want to settle down with you, Cas. The whole apple pie life. A kid, a white picket fence and that damn fat cat of ours. I mean, I guess what im trying to say.. No, not I guess, I mean, what im asking you is... Castiel Edward Novak, the sweetest, kindest, smartest, most beautiful person ive ever met, will you marry me?" He bit his lip nervously and held out the box, accidentally snapping his thumb in it twice before finally opening it.

The ring itself was nothing special, just a simple silver band; he would get Cas the ring he deserved when he got the money. And if he even said yes, of course.

He was still thinking about how embarrassed he was and how much his finger hurt from the damn box that wouldnt just stay open, when Cas dove forward, pushing him onto the snow, pressing his lips to his and grabbing his hand, lacing their fingers together. He peppered kisses on his freckled cheeks and across his eyes lids and a few small pecks to his lips before pulling back. He was smiling the gorgeous smile Dean had fallen in love with. It was still a rare smile, but Dean treasure it every time he saw it. "Of course, Dean. Yes. Ill marry you," Castiel said quietly.

And Dean squeezed his arms tighter around his waist and smiled, letting out a small, high-pitched sound that he would deny ever having made, before pulling Castiel up and hugging him, lifting him an inch of the ground. He stumbled with the ring a few times before sliding it on Cas's delicate, pale finger and smiling.

"I asked your mom first," Dean said a little shyly, tucking his face into the crook of Castiel's neck. "Im pretty sure she'd be happy I proposed here. Do you think so? I also think we should have the wedding here. I want everyone who matters to be there."

Castiel just pulled him away and kissed him again, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and lacing his fingers through his short, blonde hair.

And thats where they found themselves a year later, under Castiel's mothers' tree with all of their closest family an friends as they said their vows.

And even though it was probably just his imagination, Dean couldve sworn he heard Beethoven's Midnight Sonata playing from somewhere in the cemetery as Cas said I do.

trying my hand at a few one-shots while im ill xD Dx did you like it? i hope you liked it xD if so, Review! :D