Book 15 - Family Ties

by GailDunn2

WARNING: SOME ADULT CONTENT AND SITUATIONS. There is a way to take care of Lucifer, but it will be a long and difficult road, and not all of the God Squad will survive the journey. Some relationships will be lost, and some are about to change forever.

2. Love Changes Everything

Chapter 2 - Love Changes Everything

Gail strode into the poker room, with Barry trailing behind her. Fortunately, Barry had called ahead to Tommy on his cell phone, so Cas and Tommy had known she was coming. Otherwise, she might have caught them unawares.

Cas stood from the table as she approached. "Did you and Barry have a nice visit?" Cas asked her.

Gail glanced back at Barry, who stood there, looking innocent. "It was great to see him, and the hotel is beautiful, but he kept getting phone call after phone call," she complained.

Barry shrugged. "What can I tell you? There's a lot to take care of, with such a big hotel about to open," he said.

"Well, in any event, why don't you cash out and come see it?" Gail said to Cas. "Barry wants to show us the fanciest suite in the place. He says the view is well worth it."

Cas smiled. He remembered how he had loved the view from the apartment they'd had when they'd first gotten here. The rent had been expensive, but the view of the mountains and the harbour had been worth every penny. But then he remembered that he was supposed to be acting disappointed, so he stopped smiling.

"I don't have anything to cash out today," he told Gail. "I lost."

She was surprised. "You lost?"

Cas nodded. "Yes, I lost." He moved around her and gave Barry a big hug in greeting. Cas felt strange about lying to Gail, even though it was a very innocent lie in support of a very good cause, and he was finding it hard to look her in the eyes.

Gail looked at Tommy. "He lost?" she asked Barry's boyfriend, who had also left the poker table.

Tommy shrugged. "Hey, it happens. I lost, too," he told her.

Gail supposed he was right, but she'd never known Cas to lose at poker before, and he'd played loads of times. Oh well, she guessed it was bound to happen eventually. Law of averages, and all that. It was no big deal, really; it was just a shame that the shelter wouldn't be getting another donation today.

Tommy embraced Barry. "How's it going over there?"

Barry gave him a squeeze, rolling his eyes. "Busy, as usual." He looked at Cas and Gail. "Come on, you two. I'll show you the best suite in the house, and then I'll have to get back to work." He looked at Tommy. "Are you coming, too?"

"No, I should get back to work, too," Tommy said to him. "I'm going to go to the office and check the wire. If nothing major has come in, I'll go home and get some housework done. The place isn't going to dust itself. Can I expect you home, oh, I don't know, this week sometime?" Tommy asked Barry, with a touch of sarcasm.

"I'll be home as soon as I can," Barry told his boyfriend, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Gloria preferred him and Tommy to keep their public displays of affection to a minimum in the poker room, and he supposed he understood that, although it was unfair, in a way. Cas and Gail could stand right in the middle of the room making out, and nobody would bat an eyelash. But if Barry gave his loved one even a quick peck on the lips, everybody freaked out. He sighed. Society had come along a bit, but there were definitely further strides to be made.

"OK, let's go, then," Barry told Cas and Gail. They said goodbye to Tommy and left the poker room.

As soon as he was sure they had gone, Tommy returned to the poker table he and Cas had just been playing at and said, "Cashing out for me and Cas." He grabbed the racks of chips that he and Cas had won and took them to the cash cage. When he got the sheaf of bills from the cashier, Tommy stashed the money in his pants pocket. This should be more than enough for what Cas had in mind.

Meanwhile, Barry took Cas and Gail to the room in the hotel he'd wanted them to see. He opened the door and showed them into the suite, and while Gail thought it was nice enough, she didn't see anything special about it. But then Barry drew open the drapes, and she and Cas gasped. The view was spectacular. The window was a huge picture window with a sliding balcony door which led out onto a small terrace, and the vista was amazing. Mountains, tall city buildings, and the harbourfront. Wow, Gail thought. Just...wow.

As Cas stared out the window, entranced, Gail turned to look at Barry, who was smiling. "Just out of curiosity, how much would this room cost for the night?" she asked her friend.

"More than any of us could afford," Barry quipped.

Gail nodded. "I can just imagine," she said. She turned back to look at the view again, and then Barry said, "But for you guys, it's free."

Cas's brow furrowed, and he turned around to look at their friend. Barry was standing there grinning, and he had two key cards in his hand.

"Until we open and we need this room for a head of state or a movie star, it's yours," Barry said to them. He handed the key cards to Cas. "I know the two of you need a place to stay," Barry said, looking at Gail. "Cas told me what the situation is at the bunker. You must need some privacy from time to time," Barry continued. "You can use this room until you get your own place." He looked at Cas and smiled. Based on what Cas had told Barry earlier on the phone, he was sure that wouldn't be too long from now. But Barry had wanted to do something for his friends in the meantime. They couldn't do what couples naturally wanted to do sometimes with all of those people running around in the bunker all the time. Barry knew all about that. Even though he hadn't been spending nearly as much time with Tommy as he'd like, Barry thought that if they didn't have their own place, he would go nuts. Even if it was more socially acceptable for Cas and Gail to be affectionate with each other in public than it was for Barry and Tommy to be, that didn't mean that they didn't need a place where they could be free to be truly intimate with one another. Tommy and Barry had that. When Barry finally got home from work, he could pour a glass of wine and kiss his boyfriend at the kitchen stove. They could use their tongues when they kissed and touch each other intimately in the privacy of their own home. That was the way it should be with couples.

Cas hugged Barry and accepted the key cards from him, putting them in his jacket pocket. Gail kissed Barry on the cheek, thanking him.

Barry waved off her thanks. "Forget it," he said, still smiling. "Now that I'm a big shot, I can do things for my friends. Just make sure you guys put in a good word for me and Tommy with the man upstairs."

"The hotel has a higher floor?" Cas quipped, and both Barry and Gail laughed.

Then Barry's cell phone rang, and he excused himself, pleading more hotel business. He told them he wouldn't be able to see them again today, but he hoped to again, soon. Then he left them alone.

Gail looked at Cas, and then she turned back to stare at the view again. She couldn't believe it. They could bring two chairs here from the bunker and just sit there in them and stare at this view, all day long.

Cas put his arms around her waist from behind and he held her as they looked out at the astonishing view together. Gail smiled and said, "Isn't this something?"

"It certainly is," Cas said softly.

"And just think, we're the first ones to ever be here to see it," Gail continued.

"Yes, that's right," Cas agreed. "And it will be nice for us to get away from the hustle and bustle of the bunker sometimes."

"You heard Barry, though; we can't stay here indefinitely," she said.

"We'll work something out very shortly in regards to a place to live," Cas replied. He was smiling broadly now. She had no idea. His arms tightened around her. "But until then, we'll just enjoy being here for as long as we're able."

"I hope the bed's comfortable," Gail said. "I know we don't sleep, but we may want to cuddle and watch TV sometime when we're not here, glued to the view."

"Yes, we may," Cas said agreeably. He kissed her cheek softly. "I'm sure it will be fine."

They continued to look at the view for a few more minutes. Darn, Gail thought. He hadn't taken the hint. Well, she guessed you couldn't win them all. Cas had even lost at poker today.

But Cas HAD taken the hint; he'd just wanted to take it slow. He had recently been reminded of how rough and aggressive he had been with Gail when he'd been a Demon, and Cas didn't want anything he did to be a reminder of that dark time. Still, she had subtly given him the green light by saying what she had said, so he supposed he could proceed, if he did so carefully.

Cas took Gail's hand and turned her towards him. Then he bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. Her arms went around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again. She opened her mouth and gave him her tongue, and his tongue danced with hers for a while.

His hands slipped under her top and he caressed her back as they continued to kiss. Gail had moved her hands, wrapping her arms around his waist, and she was caressing his back, too. He could feel her breasts pressing against his chest, and Gail could feel that he was getting excited.

He was trying to keep himself calm as he slowly pulled her top off over her head and dropped it on the floor. Then he unbuttoned his shirt, because he wanted to feel her skin against his. But he left her bra alone for the moment. Cas touched Gail's face with both hands and gently pulled her face towards his for another kiss. His tongue traced her lips as his hands grazed her breasts through her bra. Then he lightly caressed her stomach, and his hand moved down to touch her between her legs through her pants.

He was making Gail crazy. She moved forward and pressed her body against his, grabbing the back of his head and bringing his face closer to hers. She met his tongue with hers, and he undid her bra in the back and slid it off of her. He touched her breasts with his fingertips, and she made a sound in her throat.

Gail was so excited now that she was trembling. She appreciated Cas's gentleness, and she knew him well enough by now to know why he was being so restrained. But this was getting a little ridiculous. She reached down and touched him through his pants, moving her fingers up and down, and she darted her tongue in and out of his mouth. See if that could get him to hurry things along a bit.

It was working. Cas wrapped his arms tightly around her and pushed his tongue into her mouth, making sure hers wouldn't escape, and he was rubbing himself against her body now. Then he took her hand and led her over to the bed. He laid her down and took the rest of their clothes off. He'd wanted to take his time, but he was too excited now. Still, Gail came first, as always.

So he moved down her body and kissed the insides of her thighs, gently pulling her legs apart. Then he licked her thighs up and down, first one, then the other.

"Cas, please," Gail said, and he moved to her immediately. As soon as his tongue touched her, her body jumped. Cas pulled her towards him and sped up his tongue, and she started to cry out.

When she was still, he moved on top of her and slid slowly into her. Gail embraced him tightly and wrapped her legs around his waist, and Cas lifted her upper body to meet his so that he could kiss her on the mouth. He was still moving in and out of her slowly, but Gail knew that he wanted to go faster; he was just reluctant to do so, for fear of hurting her. So she licked his ear and told him that she needed him to push harder. He laid her back down and started to move faster, telling her that he loved her, asking her if it was OK for him to be doing this. Gail smiled. He was being very sweet, but he didn't need to be this hesitant.

"I love you, Cas," she told him. "Please, don't worry about it. I need you to be yourself. Don't be afraid. Just feel what you feel."

Then she pulled him down on top of her and caressed his body, licking his face, and his ear. She squeezed the muscles in his back, and as he sped up again, she moved the muscles in her intimate area in such a way that he gasped out loud, and he began to push harder, moaning loudly. Gail spoke softly in his ear, encouraging him. What he was doing felt good to her too, and she wanted him to feel free to be himself. She told him again that she loved him, and that he was making her feel good. He moaned again, and then he was still.

Cas lay there a moment, breathing hard, and then he raised himself up to look at her. "So that was all right? It wasn't too aggressive, and it didn't hurt you?"

"No, Cas. It felt good," Gail assured him. She kissed his face, again and again. "Don't worry so much. I love it when you make love to me, however you make love to me. It's all good, because it's all love."

His mouth came down on hers, and he opened her lips with his tongue. They kissed like that for a while, and he kept telling her how much he loved her. Then she would tell him how much she loved him, and then he would kiss her like that again. After a while, he started to kiss and lick her neck, and then her breasts. His tongue was everywhere, and so were his lips, and his hands. Gail laid back and enjoyed him making love to her for a few minutes, and then she murmured, "Come here, Cas, please."

He raised his body up to kiss her, but she shook her head and gestured. "No, I meant, come here." She had noticed that he was already excited again, and Gail wanted to make him feel like he always made her feel, for a change. He looked at her puzzled. She couldn't be suggesting what it seemed like she was suggesting.

But she was. "Cas, please. "Come here," she insisted once more. So he raised his body up and positioned himself in front of her mouth as she had been requesting, and she began to kiss him there. Then she touched him delicately with her fingertips and licked him up and down, and then, when he began to whimper, she took him in her mouth. He started to move, and he closed his eyes as she made love to him, giving himself over to the feeling. He couldn't believe she was doing this. How could she be making him feel so wonderful? He opened his eyes, looking down at her, and the wave of love he felt for her washed through his whole body. He cried out her name as the warm rush flowed through him, and he had to hold on to the headboard of the bed so he didn't fall on top of her.

After a moment, Cas laid down beside her, and she saw that he was crying and smiling at the same time. He touched her face with both hands. "I never thought..." He swallowed, then tried again. "I never thought I could ever love someone so much," he told her. "You are my sun, and my moon, and my whole reason for existing. I could speak to you for the rest of my days and never be able to come up with the right words to tell you how much I love you, and how much you mean to me."

"You're doing a pretty fine job of it right now," Gail quipped, smiling.

Cas kissed her gently on the lips and began to caress her skin again. "Give me a moment to catch my breath, and I'll attempt to show you," he said softly.

"It's OK, Cas," she said. "I wanted to show YOU how much I love YOU. I know why you were so hesitant earlier, and why you're so reluctant for me to reciprocate. But you're different now, and so am I, and so are we."

He stopped caressing her, and his expression grew serious. "When I read about what I became, and what I did to you because of it, and when I saw those women at the shelter, I just..." His voice broke. "I don't ever want you to think that's who I am. That that's what I'm like. I will never hurt you again, Gail. I would kill myself before I would let that happen. I love you more than anything, and I will always cherish you, and honour you." He started to cry again.

Gail touched his face, wiping the tears away from his cheeks with her thumbs. "I know that's not who you are, Cas. That's why I came back to you, and why I never want to be apart from you ever again. When I heard that you've been donating money to the shelter all this time, and I saw those women there, and the marks on some of them, I realized how lucky I am that we never gave up on each other. You never gave up on me, even when I was pushing you away with both hands. And it was so worth it, in the end. I couldn't ask for a better man to love, and to love me."

Cas smiled. "I could never have given up on you, Gail. You're my person."

"You're my person, too, Cas," she said, returning his smile. That was one of her favourite expressions. It basically said it all, as far as Gail was concerned. Once you had given all of yourself to your person, body, mind and heart, as she and Cas had done with each other, you knew that you could never give up on them, no matter what. That was why she had pursued the cure as doggedly as she had. And now she could see that all the heartache and pain she had been through had almost been worth it, in a strange way. They had both suffered, but they had also grown leaps and bounds as individuals, and she knew now that their relationship could never be broken.

Gail kissed him softly on the lips, but he was still staring into her eyes, and his eyes were still misty. "I need to tell you that I'm sorry just one more time, Gail, and I need to hear you say that you have truly forgiven me. And if you haven't, I need for you to tell me that, too. Please, it's very important to me."

Cas was anxious to start their new life together, and he had already set the wheels in motion, but he needed to hear it from her just one more time before he could proceed. If she could tell him that, and truly feel it, he would be able to ask her to make the sacred commitment with a clear conscience.

Gail touched his face again. They had been through this before, quite a few times, it felt like. But she could sense that this time was different somehow. "I've forgiven you, Cas," she told him. "I honestly have. So please don't cry any more. Let's just agree that it's in the past, and then look forward to our future. OK? We've already done something wonderful together today." Then she smiled mischievously. "Well, besides this, I mean. We used a different approach, and we helped Aurielle start a brand new life. So, to me, that proves something. It proves that you were led to that shelter for a reason, and it also proves to me that we're on the right path now."

Castiel continued to look at her. He was stunned by her kindness, and her insight. He would never doubt his Father again; after all, it was his Father who had brought her to Castiel in the first place. But he would never again take his relationship with her for granted, either. Because it might have been God who had brought them together to begin with, but it was Gail who'd decided that she was going to stay.

He took her in his arms and held her tightly, squeezing the last of the tears out of his eyes. He swallowed hard to clear the lump in his throat, and then he said, "You're right, my love. You're right about everything, As usual."

Gail smiled, and she pulled out of the embrace. "That's it!" she said to him.

"What's it?" he asked, curious.

"That's my term of endearment. You called me 'my love'. I liked that." Then she grinned. "But maybe let's use it sparingly. Otherwise, everybody will tease us to death about it."

Cas smiled. "I don't care. Do you care?"

She pretended to think about that. "No," she told him, finally. "No, I don't, actually."

They laughed together, and Cas kissed her on the mouth. Then he kissed her again, a long, slow kiss. She opened her mouth and gave him her tongue, and he began to caress her again.

"Let's make love once more, and then we'll go back to the bunker. Okay?" Cas asked her softly.

Gail smiled. "Maybe twice?" she said, and they both laughed again.

Frank and Jody had returned to the bunker, and they were sitting at the library table hand in hand, waiting for Cas and Gail. Everyone had gathered around the table and they'd been making small talk, but no one knew where the Angel couple had gone, and Bobby had grown tired of waiting for them. He called Cas on Angel Radio, and Cas said they'd be there in just a minute.

Sure enough, they popped in about five minutes later, holding hands and smiling. But their smiles disappeared when Bobby told them the news about Felicia.

Cas was angry now. How could this have happened? "Didn't you tell me that she and Robbie had Angels guarding them?" he said to Bobby.

"One of my recruits dropped the ball, Cas," Ethan told him, frowning.

Cas looked at him, frustrated, and Ethan misunderstood his look. "It means - " Ethan started to say, but Cas interrupted him. "I know what it means, Ethan! But what good are guards if they can't protect the innocent?"

Ethan's frown deepened. "He made a mistake, Cas. The poor guy feels terrible about it, as we all do. We'll just have to train our recruits more thoroughly in the future." Then his tone grew a little sharper as he said, "Maybe you could help with that, Cas. You have to remember, a lot of these guys are new to being Angels, and not all of them have backgrounds in law enforcement. When we dismissed Jason's men, we had to rebuild the force from the ground up. Maybe you want to spend a bit more time helping me train the new staff, and a little less time on Earthly pursuits."

Chuck winced. This was not going to be pretty. It looked like Cas was about to blow a gasket, but then unexpectedly, Gail said, "Ethan's right, Cas. They could use your expertise. If you want them properly trained, maybe you should go up there and train them yourself, like you did with all of these guys." She waved her hand around the table, indicating all the designated Angels.

Seeing an opportunity to help his friend escape Cas's wrath, Chuck added, "I could help too, if you want. I want to stay sharp."

Cas closed his mouth with a snap. He had just been about to tear a strip off Ethan, but he realized now that his Angel friends were right, and so was Gail, of course. It was very easy for him to stand here and criticize, wasn't it? Jason's staff had been cruel and corrupt, like their leader, and Bobby and Ethan had had to do a complete overhaul of the department. But as a result, many of the new officers were very young and very green, and the only way to make them better was to provide the proper training. If Ethan needed help in that regard, Cas needed to step up and provide it.

"I'm sorry, Ethan. You're right," he said. Then he squeezed Gail's hand in appreciation. Cas looked around then. "Where's Robbie? How's he doing?"

"Becky took him into the kitchen to get him a snack," Bobby said. "Frank and Jody have something they wanted to tell all of us. They've been waiting for you two to get here. Where were you?"

Cas and Gail exchanged quick glances. "We had to deal with Aurielle," Gail said to Bobby. "It's a long story."

He stared at them for a moment. It was lucky he could no longer read her thoughts, because Gail was feeling pretty guilty at this point. Of course, even if they hadn't taken their personal time, there still wouldn't have been anything they could have done to prevent Felicia's murder. She squeezed Cas's hand for reassurance, hoping he wouldn't blame himself for what had happened to Felicia. He always took everything on himself, but this was not his fault.

But apparently, Cas realized that too, because he squeezed her hand in return and then he looked at Frank and Jody. "So, how IS Robbie?" he asked them. "Does he know?"

"Yeah, I told him," Frank said. "And he's OK, considering. But that's why Jody and I were waiting for you guys to get here. I figured Gail might be pissed off if we went ahead and got married without her knowing about it."

Gail's mouth dropped open. "You and Jody?" she exclaimed.

"No, me and Chuck," Frank said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah, I knew there was something about me I forgot to tell you," Chuck chimed in, playing along.

Gail squealed and dropped Cas's hand. She ran over to where Frank and Jody were sitting and grabbed Frank by his head, planting a big smack on his cheek. Then she kissed Jody, too.

Jody looked at Frank. "Wow. The first kiss I get since your alleged proposal, and it comes from your sister," she quipped. But she smiled up at Gail. "Seriously, Frank and I told Bobby that we would take Robbie, and then Frank decided to make an honest woman out of me, as the expression goes. And we couldn't be happier about it, even though we're sad as hell about Felicia."

Frank put his arm around Gail's waist, and he looked at Cas. "And we were hoping that the two of you would stand up for us."

Cas rushed over to Frank and Frank stood from his chair, anticipating him. Sure enough, Cas launched himself at Frank and wrapped him in a big bear hug. Frank had to let go of Gail and grab on to Cas so he didn't get knocked over. Then Cas pulled Jody to her feet and hugged her, too.

Gail took a couple of steps back, enjoying the look on her brother's face as Cas hugged him, and then the look on Jody's face as the process was repeated.

Jody gently extricated herself from Cas's embrace and smirked at Frank. "These two are making you look bad, you know that, right?" she teased him.

Frank rolled his eyes, but he was grinning now, too. "All right, all right. Look away for a minute, will you, Bobby?" Frank said.

Bobby was still stewing about Felicia, but he favoured Frank with a beard twitch. "After three years of Cas and Gail, I don't think you and Jody are gonna do anything I haven't seen before," he quipped, and everyone in the room laughed. Frank grabbed Jody around the waist and gave her a long, slow kiss as the group applauded and cheered.

Cas was ecstatic for Frank and Jody, but a small part of him was also disappointed. Now his own plans were going to have to be delayed for a bit. But he couldn't be selfish now. Little Robbie was the priority. He had suffered the loss of both of his parents, and at a very tender age. He needed to be taken care of, and to have a home. Cas was extremely pleased that Frank and Jody would be taking Robbie in, and he was positively thrilled that Gail's brother had now found the kind of love that Cas had been lucky enough to find with Gail. Even if Frank and Jody expressed their love quite a bit differently than himself and Gail, Cas could tell that it was no less true.

"Uncle Cas! Aunt Gail!" Robbie yelled from the hallway. He came running into the room and attached himself to Cas's leg. Becky trailed behind, shaking her head slowly. She'd been looking through the kitchen to try to find a snack for the young boy, but he had become restless and before she could scare anything up, Robbie had run out here when he'd heard their voices.

Cas looked down at Robbie, tousling his hair. "How are you?" he asked the boy, because he didn't know what else to say.

Robbie made a face. "I'm OK, I guess. I'm sad about my Mom, but Uncle Frank and Aunt Jody told me they're going to move into our house and take care of me."

Sam's eyebrows raised, and Jody told him, "Yeah, that's the other part of our news. We were going to get our own place anyway, and it just made sense for us to move in there."

Robbie moved to Gail, and she bent down to give him a hug. "There's going to be a wedding," she told the boy. "How would you like to be a ring bearer?"

"A ring bear?" Robbie asked her, confused. "What's that?"

The adults laughed, and Gail looked at Frank and quipped, "I suppose he could wear a furry little costume."

But Frank was shaking his head. "Ring bearer? No, we were just going to go down to City Hall and do it there, quick. You and Cas can come down there and stand with us. We'll be done in 15 minutes."

"Stand where?" Cas said. He couldn't help it. He thought he knew what Frank meant, but he wasn't sure. They were asking Gail and himself to be witnesses to their marriage, weren't they? Although he was very flattered by that, the reference to City Hall bothered him. He frowned at Frank and Jody. "Aren't you going to have a wedding?"

"If you mean some big, splashy ceremony, you can forget it," Frank replied. "That's not us, Cas." Maybe more like you, he was thinking. Although maybe not; if Cas and his sister were going to do that, wouldn't they have done it by now? Maybe it was different for Angels, he didn't know.

"But don't you want to celebrate your union with all of your family and friends there?" Cas asked, astonished. He looked at Gail. He couldn't fathom not wanting everyone to be present for the most important moment of their lives.

Frank shrugged, but Sam could see Cas's distress and, truthfully, Sam was starting to feel a little cheated now, too. He and Bobby and Dean had known Jody for years, and Sam never thought he would ever see her this happy again. He wanted to see her get married.

"Why don't you guys do it here?" Sam blurted out. Everyone turned their heads to look at him, and he continued, "We can set up some chairs out back, and you can get married out there. The weather's been great lately. We can get a minister, Jody can invite some of her cop friends, and we'll all be there, too. We can even have a reception afterwards, if you want."

Cas smiled. Now, they were talking. He looked at Dean, and so did Frank, as if anticipating an objection. "What?" Dean said, seeing the looks on their faces. "I think it's a fantastic idea. If Frank wants to tie himself down for the rest of his life, and Jody's willing to put up with such a pathetic loser, who am I to stand in their way?" Dean grinned. "Seriously, I think it's be great," he enthused. "And this is actually the perfect place to have the party. We have never-ending liquor bottles."

Cas looked at Frank and Jody. "There. It's settled," he told them.

"We'll take care of all the arrangements," Gail added. "Just give us a couple of days to pull it together."

Frank looked at Jody. "What do you think?" he asked her.

Truth be known, Jody thought that it was an excellent idea. She hadn't been too wild about doing it at City Hall, anyway. It might be her second wedding, but it was Frank's first and hopefully only, and Jody had thought they could make a little bit more of a celebration out of it. So she said: "Let's do it."

A couple of days later, the plans had all been made, and Frank and Jody were in separate rooms at the bunker, getting ready.

All of the Angels in their little group had come down from Heaven, and Gail had dusted off her supervisory skills to ask them all to set up the chairs outside. She got the men to set up the tables to the side, where cold drinks and snacks were to be served, and she'd had Cas conjure up some flower arrangements to put on the tables.

Bobby showed up looking slightly uncomfortable in a dark suit, and he had Patricia with him. Gail was trying to keep herself from smirking at the idea of God bringing a date to a wedding. She knew that Bobby was not technically God any more, but she also knew that as far as everyone else was concerned, he was. And she certainly wasn't about to correct that notion.

Cas had asked Bobby a couple of days ago if he would officiate, but Bobby had declined. "I'm not God any more, Cas, remember?" Bobby had said quietly.

"I know, Bobby," Cas had replied, "but you're still the closest thing we have right now, and I think it would mean a lot to them to have you do it."

"Do what?" Jody had said, approaching the men.

"Perform the ceremony," Cas had told her, and Jody had brightened.

"That's a great idea," she said, but Bobby was shaking his head.

"I don't wanna do that, Jody," Bobby told her.

Jody frowned. She and Bobby went way back. "Why not, Bobby?" she asked him.

Bobby gave Cas a brief glare. Thanks, Cas. He still wasn't prepared to tell anyone else he wasn't God yet.

"'Cause I never got over you, Jody," Bobby half-joked. "Maybe I don't want to marry you off to another guy."

Jody rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Yeah, right. You just want to get drunk, like the other guys."

"Yeah, that's it," Bobby confirmed.

So Cas had sent Sam and Dean to find a minister, and they had been able to come up with one who wasn't too objectionable. Cas was going to be Frank's Best Man and Gail, Jody's Maid of Honour, as per the original plan. But then, things had gotten a little out of hand. Becky had wanted to be a bridesmaid, and she had been so vocal about it that Jody had finally acquiesced and designated her as one, but then Jody had had to ask Linda to be one as well, in order to avoid any potential hurt feelings. That then prompted Frank to designate Chuck, Kevin and Ethan as ushers, and then he had felt really bad about not including Sam and Dean, so then Frank had designated them as ushers, as well. And ushers needed somebody to "ush", as Frank had quipped, and Jody had been thinking about inviting some of her colleagues anyway, so the list of attendees had grown exponentially, with the addition of the cops and sheriffs, and their various spouses.

The morning of the wedding, Gail was in the library area, teasing Sam and Dean about wearing their fake FBI suits.

"You'd better watch out, you guys," she told them. "There'll be a lot of cops out there. You don't want to get busted for impersonation."

Becky and Linda came down the stairs from outside. "The chairs are all set up," they told Gail.

"Thanks, ladies," she said, and then she added, "You both look lovely. Don't they look lovely, you guys?" she prompted Sam and Dean.

"Yeah," Sam said hastily, and Dean quipped, "Jody's Angels."

Linda gave him a baleful look. "Watch it Dean, or I'll shove this bouquet right in your - "

"Mom!" Kevin exclaimed, half shocked, and half impressed.

She looked at him, lips twitching. "What? I was going to say 'in your big mouth'."

Dean looked at Linda, then did one of his famous double-takes. He'd better not say anything else, though; Linda looked like she was ready to kick some ass right now. Becky looked so happy with her dress and her flowers, you would have thought that she was the one who was getting married, but Linda looked uncomfortable in her dress. He guessed not every female enjoyed getting dressed up and wearing high heels. Dean felt the same way, on the male side of things. He couldn't wait to get this monkey suit off and get to the good part; partying it up at the reception.

Gail was smirking at him, as if she could tell how uncomfortable he was. This was all her and Cas's fault, Dean thought. Frank and Jody had been all ready just to go to City Hall, no muss, no fuss, and then Mr. and Mrs. Romance had stepped in and conspired with Sam and the Angels, and now they had a full-blown "event" on their hands.

"What are you looking at?" he groused at Gail.

"You," she retorted. "Just wondering what song I'm going to pick for you to dance with me at the reception."

"Music?" Dean said, startled. "You're gonna have music?"

"Of course we'e going to have music," Gail shot back. "You can't have a reception without music and dancing."

"I don't dance," Dean said archly.

"Today, you do," Gail said cheerfully.

"Well, it better not be any of that crap that you and Sam listen to," he said testily.

"You WILL dance with me, Dean, and it'll be my choice of song," Gail said wickedly. "You don't want me to sic Cas on you, do you?"

"Cas?!" Dean scoffed. "He's been more of a woman than you have for the past couple of days about this whole wedding thing."

Gail smiled. Dean was kind of right about that. Cas had been inordinately excited about Frank and Jody's wedding, and he had helped her to make all the arrangements. Plus, he had made some himself. He'd even gone so far as to research wedding traditions on the Internet. Gail thought it was cute, but the guys had been giving him a hard time about it, of course. Cas had even gone along with the bachelor party idea Sam and Dean had had for Frank yesterday, because it was a tradition. But Cas had drawn the line at strippers, and Dean hadn't been able to get him to budge. Dean might have just bypassed Cas and gotten them anyway, but Frank had told Dean that he didn't need strippers, and he didn't want them. Then Dean had teased Frank about being whipped, but Frank had glared at Dean and told him to grow up, and that had been the end of that. So the guys had gone out to a bar instead, and the male Angels and Bobby had gone with them. They had had some drinks and shot some pool, and after a time, the ladies had come to join them. Which was just as well, because none of the humans had a big head today, and now they could drink their faces off at the reception tonight.

Sam and Dean had finally found out why Cas had been so excited and had done so much research for the wedding. Late in the evening, he had approached them at the pool table and, making sure that the three of them were alone, Cas had let them in on his secret. Following Frank and Jody's wedding, after they went off on their honeymoon, Cas wanted Sam and Dean to take him shopping and help him pick out a ring for Gail. He and Tommy had teamed up to make the money for it in the poker room the other day, and Tommy was currently holding the money for Cas.

Dean had dropped his pool cue on the table and walked around it to hug Cas, and then Sam had followed suit. The brothers were grinning, but Cas had looked nervously over at the table where Gail was sitting and chatting with their friends and asked them to keep it quiet, so they wouldn't spoil his surprise. Cas told them he'd been planning to ask them as soon as he and Gail had gotten back from Vancouver, but when he'd found out that Frank and Jody were going to get married, he hadn't wanted to "steal their thunder", as the expression went. But in a way, the delay had been a bit of a blessing; now he'd had an excuse to surf the Net for wedding ideas, and he had come up with a few that he thought Gail might like.

Sam and Dean had agreed to remain silent and act like nothing had happened, but they had grinned like fools for the rest of the night, and Dean was grinning at Gail right now.

She interpreted his grin as amusement at Cas having been so interested in the plans for Frank's wedding, but secretly, Gail was pleased that Cas felt that way. And she was over the moon that her brother had chosen Cas to stand up with him for the wedding. Things had been so bad between Cas and Frank for so long during the Demon period, and even afterwards too. Then God had mercifully erased the incident from all of their friends' memories, and then Lucifer had done it, and it was Lucifer's edit which had stuck. Imagine, Lucifer being merciful. Of course, mercy hadn't been his intention at all at the time, but still, he had done it, and Gail was extremely grateful for that now. Frank and Cas were close these days, and that certainly made things a lot easier on Gail. But she had not forgotten that Lucifer was still out there somewhere, and he had to be dealt with soon. After the wedding, she and Cas and Bobby would have to have a strategy meeting about that. Maybe they should include Crowley, too. They couldn't just sit back passively any more. Now that Felicia was dead, any one of them could be next.

But Gail wasn't going to think about that today. It was her brother's wedding day, a day for love, and laughter. And maybe some eating and drinking? She asked Bobby, "Can I talk to you for a moment? Patricia, can you excuse us for a sec?"

She pulled Bobby aside. "Can you still give us the ability to eat and drink?" she asked him quietly.

"Yeah, Gail," he told her. "And so can Cas. Once you've been God, you retain the ability."

Oh. She tried to remember if Cas had told her that before. Maybe he had; she had had amnesia about so many things, it was hard to think straight. But she didn't really care about that now. Gail had never thought that she would see the day when Frank would get married. She'd been afraid that his lifestyle would condemn him to a solitary existence. At least Sam and Dean had each other. But when Gail had met and fallen in love with Cas, and then Frank had come back into their lives, she'd known how important a good companion could be. Frank was a quirky guy, with a left-of-centre sense of humour. But his heart was very big, and it would have been a crying shame if he had gone through the rest of his life not having anyone special to give his love to. But now he had Jody, and he would have Robbie, too. What a wonderful day this was going to be.

Bobby was smiling. "I already gave it to all of the Angels. Told them it was mandatory today. Me and Patricia, too. I was considering mentioning it to you, but I figured Cas would already have taken care of that."

"He's been too busy being the Best Man," Gail said, smiling. "I haven't seen him all morning. He's been sticking to Frank like glue. He takes his responsibility very seriously."

"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be with the bride?" Bobby asked her. "It's nearly time to get this show on the road."

"I guess you're right," Gail said, nodding. "I'll pop in and see Cas and Frank first, and send them outside. Then I'll see if Jody's just about ready. And then I'll go outside and walk down with Cas, and then Jody will come down with you. Just like we rehearsed it. Okay?" As Bobby was nodding, Gail looked over at Dean. He was jostling with Kevin, just goofing around, but Gail was worried that the boutonnieres Cas had made for them were going to fall off their suit jackets, so she turned to Bobby and said, "Can you send those clowns outside to start seating people, so they'll stay out of trouble for a few minutes? I don't want anything to go wrong this close to the ceremony. They can be as stupid as they want afterwards."

Bobby's beard twitched. "I'll handle them, Gail. I may not be God any more, but I'm pretty sure those boys are still afraid of me."

Gail smiled. "Good." She touched Bobby's arm, and then walked away from him. She walked down the hall to Frank's room and tapped lightly on the door. "Maid of Honour, coming in," she announced, then she opened the door and entered the room.

Cas was tying Frank's tie and dusting the lapels of his jacket, and Frank was standing patiently, waiting for him to finish. Frank smirked at Gail. "He's been at this for a while," he said to his sister. "I get the feeling he'll be going to get the Dustbuster in a minute."

"You want to look perfect, don't you? You're going to be getting married in a few minutes," Cas said to him.

Gail smiled at Frank. "The Best Man's got a point," she said.

Cas favoured her with a warm smile, and then he went back to fussing with Frank's jacket. Frank stood still for another minute, and then he couldn't restrain himself any longer. "OK, Cas, enough is enough," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's as good as it's going to get." He started to walk away, but Cas put his hand on Frank's chest to restrain him.

"Boutonniere," Cas said, and Frank took a deep breath. Give him patience. Cas looked at Gail. "What colour should it be?" he asked her.

Gail thought for a moment. "How about just white?" she said. "It's simple and basic, and I think it symbolizes love and humility, doesn't it?" Then she smirked again. "Although it should probably be blue, signifying the unattainable, or the impossible. Or peach, which can mean finally closing the deal."

Frank laughed. "There's my sister. I was afraid I might not recognize you today. Don't all girls turn into googly-eyed maniacs at weddings?"

"I'll have to pop in and ask Jody about that," Gail retorted. "But if she's turned into Bridezilla, do you want me to tell her the whole thing's off?"

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't put it past her to have her service pistol in her garter belt to make sure I behave," Frank said, grinning.

"Hey, what you guys do on your honeymoon is none of my business," Gail quipped.

Frank let out a frustrated breath. "Cas, would you just put the stupid thing in already, so I can go over there and hug my sister?"

Cas waved his hand over Frank's lapel and the white rose appeared, and then he stepped away from Frank as Gail approached her brother for a hug. Frank enveloped her in his arms and squeezed her tightly for a moment, and then he put his hands on her shoulders and leaned down, touching his forehead to hers.

"Bet you never thought you'd see this day, did you, kiddo?" Frank said to her.

"I was afraid I never would, yes," Gail agreed. "But I'm so happy for you, Frank, and I'm so happy we're both here to share it together. I don't care about any of that adoption stuff. You've always been my brother, you always will be, and I will always love you. And now I'm going to have a sister-in-law, and a nephew, too. That's pretty cool. I only wish our mom and dad were alive to see this, and to see what a wonderful man you've become."

"And I wish they could see you now, too," Frank said to her. "Who knew that there was such a quality woman hiding behind all those books, for all those years?"

Gail reached up and touched Frank's face. "I hope you and Jody will be very happy, Frank. No, never mind that. I know you will be. And you're going to make a great dad. You were certainly a great one to me. Thank you for taking care of me for all those years."

"I did a damn fine job, didn't I?" Frank said, smiling.

"Stop it. You're going to make me cry," Gail said, returning his smile.

They heard a loud sniffle from behind Frank, and they both turned to look at Cas, who was just returning his handkerchief to his breast pocket. Then brother and sister looked back at each other, and then they burst out laughing. Thank God for Cas, Frank thought. Frank himself had been about two seconds away from bawling like a baby.

Gail hugged Frank once more, and then she walked over to Cas and hugged him, too. She kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for everything you've done for the past couple of days," she said to him. "Oh, and you still look amazing in a suit, by the way. Now I know why the title is Best Man."

"Hey. Standing right here," Frank quipped.

Gail turned to grin at him. "Sorry, fella."

Cas put his arms around Gail and kissed her on the forehead. "I appreciate the compliment," he told her.

"Well, I've got to go now," Gail told the men. "I have to get my dress on, and I'll see if Jody needs any help with hers. That is, if she still wants to go through with it after I tell her a couple of your secrets," she teased Frank.

Frank shrugged. "Jody and I have no secrets from each other," he said. "Pretty much, what you see is what you get."

"Good. Then she won't be too disappointed," Gail quipped. She touched Cas's face briefly. "See you in a minute, sweetie," she told him, and she left the room.

Frank looked at Cas. "'Sweetie'?" he said, smirking.

Cas smiled at Gail's brother. Any teasing he would receive would not bother him today. He was too excited about the prospect of seeing Gail in a dress and walking with her down the aisle.

But Frank had decided to cut Cas a break. He'd been just great the past couple of days. Cas was a solid guy, and Frank liked him a lot. He couldn't have picked a better man for Gail if he'd tried.

Frank put out his hand and approached Cas. "OK, I'll let that one go, considering you're going to be my brother-in-law shortly," he said to Cas.

Cas's face lit up. He hadn't really thought about it that way. Yes, they would be brothers now. That made him very happy. "Are you ready to go, Frank?" he said, shaking Frank's outstretched hand.

"Just one more thing, before we go," Frank said. He pulled Cas in for a hug, and Cas smiled again. Then Frank pulled out of the embrace. "If you ever tell anyone I did that, just remember that I know where the Angel blades are kept," he quipped, and Cas laughed.

Then the men left the bunker and went outside to await Gail and Jody's arrival.

Jody was already dressed, and she and Gail were talking as Gail changed into her dress and heels.

Gail was remembering a very different occasion in the past when Jody had seen her unclothed, and she much preferred this time. She felt a sudden wave of affection for Jody. Jody wouldn't remember that, of course, and Gail was very glad that no one but her and Cas did. But Gail had never forgotten that the bottom line was that Jody had been looking out for her that day, and Gail was sorry that she had not fully appreciated it at the time.

"You and I are going to be sisters in a few minutes," Gail said to Jody. She approached the bureau where Jody was standing, checking her hair in the mirror.

Jody smiled, and turned around to look at Gail. "Yeah. We are," she said. "And I just want you to know that I really do love your brother. We joke around a lot, but I'm telling you, Gail, he makes me very happy. I never thought I'd be happy like this again. Now I'm going to have a brand new family, and you and Cas and all the Angels are included in that, of course."

Gail hugged Jody and then stood back from her, looking at her. "You look gorgeous," Gail told her, and Jody smiled again. She felt a little strange wearing a dress, and she'd even put on a bit of makeup for the occasion. But she had to admit, she looked good.

"I do, don't I? Your brother is damn lucky," Jody quipped, and Gail laughed.

"Let's get this show on the road, then," Jody said, and the women left the room.

Bobby and Cas were standing in the library area waiting, and Bobby smiled when Jody came out. "You clean up real nice," Bobby said to Jody in a husky voice, and she smiled, appreciating what he was trying to say. She had thought she might be a little nervous this morning, but she really wasn't. She was looking forward to starting her new life with Frank, and with Robbie.

Cas was looking at Gail. "You look beautiful," he said to her.

Gail smiled. "You're supposed to say that to the bride."

Cas looked at Jody then. "You look great too, Jody."

Jody grinned. "She gets 'beautiful', I get 'great'," she said. "I hope Frank shows a little more enthusiasm."

"He will," Cas said, smiling. "You're his person." He took Gail's hand. "Ready?" he said to her.

But she shook her head. "Just another minute."

Cas's brow furrowed. "But Frank is waiting."

"Let him sweat for a minute," Jody quipped. "Maybe he'll think I ducked out, or something."

Gail let go of Cas's hand and walked over to where Jody and Bobby stood. "Frank's not perfect, you know," she said to Jody. "He makes terrible jokes, he leaves his smelly socks on the floor, and he burps way too loud after he's had a few beers."

Jody laughed. "Now, tell me something I don't know."

Cas was puzzled. What was Gail doing? But then, it became clear.

"He's not perfect," Gail continued. "Perfect guys don't exist. But there's always one guy who is perfect for you." She looked warmly at Cas. "I found that out." Cas smiled at her, relieved. He came forward to where Gail stood, waved his hand, and she was carrying a bouquet of red and white roses. Then he did the same for Jody, and he moved forward to kiss her lightly on the cheek.

"We'll see you out there," Cas said to Jody. Then he took Gail's hand again, and they climbed the stairs together.

Bobby looked at Jody. "Ready to do this?" he asked her.

"Extremely ready," Jody replied.

Cas and Gail had reached the top of the stairs, and he put his arms around her and kissed her on the lips. "I love you," he told her.

"I love you too, Cas," Gail responded. He gave her a squeeze, and then opened the door that led outside.

Then Cas offered her his arm and they walked down the aisle. Gail was looking from side to side at the guests. "Angels on one side, cops on the other. There has to be a joke in there somewhere," she murmured to Cas. He smiled. A photographer stood in front of them, taking their picture, and then he moved out of the way so that they could proceed.

Gail saw Frank standing up by the arch, with Sam and Dean standing beside him. The other make Angels were sitting with the female Angels on one side of the aisle, but Frank had wanted the brothers to be standing with him when Cas and Gail came out. Then they would take their seats with the Angels as Cas and Gail stood with him and Jody. That was the way they had rehearsed it.

Robbie was sitting with the Angels, but as soon as he saw Cas and Gail approaching, he ran down the aisle to greet them. They smiled down at him, and then at each other. "Richard said this is why he never works with children or animals," Cas quipped to Gail. "They never follow the script." She laughed, and so did most of the guests. Cas leaned down to talk to Robbie. "Go and sit down, please. Jody has to come out, then she and Frank have to do the ceremony, and then you can run around all you want. Okay?"

Robbie nodded. "Okay. Sorry, Uncle Cas. I just get excited sometimes." Then he ran back to his seat and tried to sit up straight.

Cas offered his arm to Gail again, and they walked the rest of the way to where Frank stood. Cas was excited, too. He was thinking of the day in the not too distant future when he himself would be standing in the same position Frank was in now, eagerly anticipating Gail to come down the aisle.

Once they got there, Gail turned to Cas and said, "Now I'm going to go off script too, but just for a second." She walked over the Frank and planted a kiss on his cheek, touching his face. Then she moved over to the other side of the arch, and Cas stood next to Frank.

Then everyone stood as Bobby came down the aisle with Jody on his arm. They walked slowly so the photographer could take a few pictures. When they got to the front, Bobby kissed Jody on the cheek and then he sat with the Angels, while Gail moved back to the middle, to stand beside Jody.

The minister looked at Jody, and she nodded at him. Jody had decided the night before to go off script herself, and after she had mentioned it to Frank, he'd been all for it.

"On this happy day...I'm afraid I must step aside," the minister announced. He left the archway and walked over to where Bobby sat. "Over to you, Sir," he said, and then he sat down on the other side of the aisle.

Frank and Jody turned around to look at Bobby.

"Jody wouldn't take no for an answer," Frank told Bobby. "So, will you please marry us, already?" Bobby frowned momentarily, but Jody said, "Please?" And then he couldn't refuse, not when he saw the look on her face. So he rose slowly and moved to stand in front of the couple.

"I don't have anything prepared," Bobby told them.

"That's okay, Bobby," Jody told him. "Just say what you feel. Frank and I will do the rest." She smiled at Frank, and he returned her smile.

"I've known Jody for a long time now," Bobby told the assembled group. "We've gone through some good times together, and some very hard times, too. But I'm very glad to be standing here with her today. Frank's relatively new to our circle, but he's a good man, and I'm very privileged to be able to bless their union and celebrate it with them." He looked down at Jody. "That's all I've got."

Jody smiled. "We'll take it from here." She turned to Frank. "I promise to love and cherish you, to pick up your smelly socks and drop them in your lap so you can put them in the hamper, and to poke you in the ribs when you snore."

Frank grinned. "And I promise to love and cherish you for the rest of my days, to try to land my laundry into a washing machine once in a while, and to poke YOU in the ribs when YOU snore."

A few of the assembled officers laughed. Jody must really love this guy, if she would let him get away with something like that.

Then Frank looked back at Robbie. "And I promise to take care of you both, and to give you a good home," he added, and he winked at Robbie, who smiled. He remained seated, though. Robbie may still be a kid, but he knew how important wedding ceremonies were, and he was determined to try to behave himself the rest of the way, until it was over.

"Well, those are about the most honest wedding vows I've ever heard," Bobby said, his beard twitching furiously. "Cas, have you got the rings?"

Cas reached into his pocket and got Jody's ring for Frank. He moved around Frank and handed it to her, glancing at Gail as he did so. Gail was still smiling after hearing Frank and Jody's vows, and she was looking warmly at the couple. Then she caught Cas's eye, and the two of them smiled at each other. Cas couldn't wait until Gail was putting a ring on his finger. He would wear it proudly.

Jody slid Frank's ring onto his finger, and then Cas handed Jody's ring to Frank, and Frank did the same. He hadn't even had the chance to buy her an engagement ring, Frank thought. But he knew that Jody didn't really care. They might agree not even to wear these, in the future. But, for now, they were going along with the tradition.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," Bobby said. "Now go ahead and smooch, and then we can start the party."

Everyone laughed, and Frank grabbed Jody around the waist and kissed her on the mouth. Robbie couldn't stand it anymore; he came running over them, hugging them both.

"Are you my parents now?" Robbie asked them, looking up at their smiling faces.

Bobby felt the lump in his throat, and he blinked his eyes rapidly. Cas moved forward, taking his handkerchief out of his pocket, but Bobby glared at him and he stepped back, putting it away.

"Congratulations, Frank, Jody," Bobby said in a thick voice. He moved back to sit beside Patricia, who put her hand on his arm, smiling. Sam and Dean were grinning too, looking at Bobby, but they stopped when Bobby looked their way.

"Frank and I are going to go inside for a minute and make out," Jody announced to the guests. "Everybody mingle, and when the chairs are cleared away, there'll be tables in their place, and a buffet will be set up to the side. And, for all you cops, the bar will be right here, where we're standing now. See you in a few."

She grabbed Frank's hand, and they walked back up the aisle as everyone applauded.

Frank and Jody came out of the bunker door about twenty minutes later, and they looked around in amazement. They had indeed made out a bit in Frank's old room, and then they had changed into jeans, by mutual agreement. Jody was grinning. She could just bet that Sam and Dean, especially Dean, were going to be mad when they saw how she and Frank were dressed. But she didn't care. She was the bride, and she wanted to be comfortable at her own party.

Cas and Gail had been very busy in the interim. The Winchesters and the Angels had been shuttling back and forth from the bunker to the backyard, bringing out collapsible tables and rearranging chairs around them. Then Gail had pressed a few of the burlier cops into service, to set up some beer kegs and cases of liquor bottles on a table by the archway, and Cas stood by the bunker door, receiving trays of food that the Angels were bringing up from the kitchen.

"I wish we could just pop in and out," Chuck groused as he started to hand Cas a tray of sandwiches. "My legs are killing me from going up and down those stairs."

Cas smiled. "You said you wanted to stay sharp. Just look on this as part of your training."

Gail walked up to them and said, "Chuck, after you put that on the table, can you bring up another case of wine? I don't think we have enough for the toasts."

Chuck groaned. "Tote that barge, lift that bale," he grumbled, but he brought the sandwich tray to the food table and then he turned around to go back inside.

Gail was smirking. "Hopefully, he'll get a little drunk, but not land in jail," she said.

Cas's brow furrowed. "Pardon me?" he said.

Gail laughed. "Nothing. Never mind," she replied. She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. "Everything's just about done, and then we can relax," she told him.

"I'm very relaxed," Cas replied. "I'm not really doing much of anything."

"That's the beauty of the supervisory role," Gail said slyly.

Frank and Jody had come out of the door to the bunker just as Cas put his arms around Gail. "Oh, look, Cas and Gail are making out," Frank said sardonically. "What a shock."

"And what have you and Jody been doing for the past half hour or so?" Gail retorted.

"We're married, so we're legally entitled," Frank told her, grinning. He looked at Cas. "So when are you two gonna take the plunge?" Frank asked him. "You're setting a bad example, you know."

Cas knew Frank was joking, so he said nothing. He just smiled at Gail's brother. But Gail quipped, "If we did, I don't know who would pay for it, though, seeing as Cas and I technically have the same Father."

Frank's smile widened, and he looked around furtively. "I think that's funny as hell, but I wouldn't say that too loudly, if I were you. The way you guys act in public, a statement like that could be easily misunderstood. Yech."

Gail laughed, and Cas said, "I wanted to ask you something, Jody. Who was the photographer that was taking the pictures? We didn't arrange for one."

"Oh, that's Jules," she told him. "He's our photographer from the Sheriff's department."

Sam and Dean walked up to the quartet at that moment, and they'd overheard her.

"So, let me get this straight," Sam said. "Your wedding photographer is the same guy who takes your crime scene photos?"

"Yeah." Jody grinned. "Originally, he wanted all of us to lay down on the ground and put blood on our clothes, but we told him that probably wouldn't look too good in the wedding album."

They all stared at her for a moment, and then everyone laughed. Frank and Gail were laughing so hard that tears came to their eyes. "My bride, ladies and gentlemen," Frank said proudly.

Gail said, "That is officially the funniest thing I have ever heard. Welcome to the family, Jody."

"Let's go get something to drink," Dean said, grabbing Jody by the arm. He had looked at her and Frank when they'd first come out of the bunker wearing jeans, but for a welcome change, he didn't complain about it. But he had already taken off his tie, and he shrugged his jacket off now and tossed it to Cas, who caught it neatly.

"Party time!" Dean exclaimed. "Come on, Cas, loosen up."

Cas looked at Gail, and she shrugged. "I'm with Dean," she said, and Cas smiled and took his tie off, putting it in his jacket pocket. "Here, let me help you with that," Gail said to him, and she undid the top two buttons of his shirt, then kissed him on the cheek.

"Settle down, little sister," Frank teased her. "If anybody's gonna get lucky at my wedding reception, it should be me."

"You wish," Jody retorted. "We're going to get drunk and pass out, is more like it. Besides, Robbie is sleeping in our bed here tonight."

"Who's taking care of him when you go on your honeymoon?" Cas asked the couple. "And, where are you going on your honeymoon?"

Frank rolled his eyes. "You're not going to believe it. We're going to Disneyland, and we're taking the kid with us. That's what happens when you become a parent. Suddenly, everything is all about them."

Gail smirked. "So you're telling me that you're not excited about meeting Mickey Mouse? I was hoping Jody would e-mail me a picture of you with the mouse ears on."

Jody laughed. "Are you kidding me? You'll be getting lots of pictures of your brother and your nephew acting like the two biggest kids in the world." Then her smile faded a bit. "Frank and I talked about just taking off somewhere alone together, but we didn't want to leave Robbie here, so soon after his mother's death." She looked over to the food table, where Kevin was helping Robbie fix a plate. "You guys have all been so good with him, but we agreed we want to get him used to being with us as his full-time parental figures as soon as possible."

They were all silent for a moment, and then Sam and Dean broke the mood by elbowing Frank and teasing him about the lack of "action" he was going to get on his honeymoon.

"Don't worry, you guys, Jody and I will manage just fine. We always have," Frank said, smiling at his new wife.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked him.

"You never heard us in the bunker all those times, did you?" Frank said, smirking.

Dean did a double-take, and then he looked at Sam. "Remind me to call a maid service as soon as they go." He looked surreptitiously at Cas, who was nuzzling Gail's cheek now and whispering something to her. "Actually, maybe we'll just wait till those two leave, too, and then we can do a clean sweep," Dean added, smirking.

"What? Where are THEY going?" Frank said, having overheard Dean's remark.

"Nothing. Never mind," Dean said quickly. He grabbed Frank by one arm and Jody by the other, steering them to the bar.

Sam stared after Dean for a moment. Phew. That had been a close one. Frank and Jody would find out soon enough, but he knew that Cas wouldn't want them to spill the beans about Cas's plan to get Gail an engagement ring yet. Not today. Today was Frank and Jody's day, and they should have it.

"So, the plan is: food, toast, cake, then music and dancing," Gail said, standing at Sam's elbow. "And don't worry, I hired the DJ, not Dean."

Sam smiled down at her. "Sounds good to me. Are you partaking today?"

"Oh, yeah," she responded. "I got Cas to give me an appetite before he left."

"He left?" Sam said, puzzled. He looked around. Sure enough, Cas suddenly wasn't there. "Where did he go?"

"To get a surprise for Dean," Gail said evasively. "He was going to get the same kind of surprise for you, but I told him I didn't think you would want yours as much." She smiled at the mystified look on Sam's face. "You'll find out in a minute," she told him, then she grabbed his arm. "Come on, Sam. You can buy me a drink."

Cas knocked on Nicole's door and she opened it immediately.

"Hey, Cas," she said, smiling at him. "How are you? How's Gail?"

"We're wonderful," Cas replied. "It's a very happy day today."

"Well, I'm ready to go," Nicole told him. "Now, how does this work, exactly?"

"You just take my hand," Cas told her. "And then we'll be at the bunker."

She shook her head slowly and laughed. "Wow. If only WE could do that. I'd spend a lot less time commuting. Although, we'll be abroad shortly. I wish you could come with us, Cas. Imagine, me, working behind the scenes of a big-budget movie. Going to exotic locations. It's going to be great."

Nicole went to take Cas's hand, but then she hesitated. "Are you sure this is OK, Cas? Are you sure that Dean wants me there?"

Cas smiled. "Yes, I'm sure, Nicole. He told me himself that he wanted to invite you. It's just that the wedding happened so fast. And Dean thinks like a human. I guess he forgot that any one of us could have come here and gotten you, at a moment's notice."

"Well, I'm glad it was you," Nicole said. "If it had been anybody but you or Gail showing up on my doorstep, I wouldn't have let them in. Dean told me that Lucifer could look like anybody now."

"Do the two of you speak often on the phone?" Cas asked her, curious.

"He calls me fairly regularly," Nicole said, nodding. "We Skype, too. Do you know what that is?"

"Of course I do," Cas said, a little mildly. "Just because I've been in existence since Creation doesn't mean I can't use technology."

"Sorry, Cas, I didn't mean to offend you," Nicole said.

Cas smiled. "You didn't. I'm just so used to Dean and Sam teasing me all the time. Are you ready to go? I'm eager to get back and celebrate with everyone."

Nicole nodded and took Cas's hand, and he winked them into the bunker first, to be discreet. Then they climbed the stairs and went outside.

It did Cas's heart good to see Dean's face light up when he saw Nicole. Dean rushed over to them.

"Cas, what the hell?" Dean said. But he was smiling.

"You said you would like it if Nicole was able to come," Cas reminded him. "So, here she is."

Gail was smiling. Cas had whispered in her ear a few minutes ago that he had called Nicole to invite her to the reception after Dean had said that, and Nicole had accepted his invitation. Cas had asked Gail if he should have perhaps invited Zoey for Sam as well, but Gail had shaken her head. She knew Sam well, and she'd known that Sam wasn't interested in pursuing a relationship with Zoey.

"They had a thing, that was all," Gail had told him. "But I don't think Sam wants it to be a THING. If you know what I mean."

Cas didn't, really, but he deferred to Gail, and so he had only brought Nicole.

Nicole was looking around, overwhelmed. She didn't know any of these people, except for Cas and Gail, and Sam and Dean. Which of them were Angels? Which weren't? It was impossible to tell.

"Let's have something to eat," Dean said to Nicole. He took her hand, smiling at her. "It's good to see you," he told her, and then he kissed her on the lips. It was a nice kiss, and his tongue touched her lips for just a moment.

Dean pulled Nicole by the hand towards the food table. "Hypocrite," Gail smirked, as he passed by her. Dean grinned.

They all had something to eat and a few drinks, and then Gail nudged Cas and he stood. "I'd like to propose a toast," Cas said, raising his glass. "To Jody and Frank."

Dean was smirking already. "Here we go," he muttered to Sam, who grinned.

"This is a glorious day," Cas continued. "God always meant for each of us to have a mate. That one person who is the other half of ourselves. The person you can't go one moment without thinking about. The one who you love above all else, and who loves you the same way. It's His most wonderful gift to us."

"Does that mean we have to give the toaster back?" Frank quipped, and Jody elbowed him in the ribs, hard.

It was unclear whether Cas heard Frank or not, but he smiled at Gail's brother and said, "Cherish her, Frank. Don't ever take her for granted. And when you wake up every morning and she's there by your side, you'll know how much your Father truly loves you."

"You wanna wrap this up, Cas?" Bobby said pointedly. "I'm anxious to give this wine a taste. It looks like Gail might have bought a decent vintage, for a change." The Angels laughed, and Cas smiled. "To Frank and Jody," Cas said again.

"To Frank and Jody," everyone said, toasting the couple.

Then Cas sat down, and most of the guests began to clink their utensils on their glasses. Cas looked at Gail and smiled. "I remember reading about this," he said to her. "The guests are signifying that they want the couple to kiss."

"That's right," she agreed.

"Let's fake 'em out, first," Frank said. "Somebody, kiss somebody else. Maid of Honour?"

Gail looked sideways at him. "Well, I'm not kissing YOU," she joked. "Ewww. And I'd better not kiss Cas. You know we'd outshine you guys in the hotness department. I don't want to make you look bad."

Frank gave her a quick glare. The debate was on, and it raged on for a few minutes. Bobby was getting annoyed. "Geez, you two," he said, rolling his eyes. He grabbed Patricia by the hand and pulled her to her feet, then put his arms around her and planted a kiss on her lips.

The Angels clapped and cheered, and the cops applauded too, though most of them had no idea who Bobby actually was. When he was performing the ceremony, he'd said he went way back with Jody. Maybe he was an older relative of Jody's who had gotten a clergyman's license online, or something. That was easy to do these days.

But then the clinking started up again, and Frank and Jody figured they'd better do it, just to shut everyone up. So they stood, and Frank kissed Jody deeply. Everyone cheered.

"In your face, you guys," Jody said to Gail and Cas after she and Frank broke the kiss, but she was smiling.
Gail looked at Cas. "I guess she told us," she said with a half-smile.

"That just means we'll have to try harder when the time comes, then," Cas told her softly, and Gail's stomach fluttered. Yes, they would definitely have to put a pin in that thought.

Then it was time for Frank and Jody to cut the cake, and Frank brought a big slab of cake back to their table.

"Are you going to eat that whole thing?" Jody asked him, smiling.

"Of course not," Frank replied. He lifted his head and yelled, "Cake!"

Sure enough, Robbie came running over and squirmed into Frank's lap.

"I think that'll be your new name," Frank said to Robbie, putting his arm around the boy and handing him a fork.

"You're silly," Robbie said good-naturedly. He started to shovel cake into his mouth.

"That's my job, kid, that's what I do," Frank said. And he'd never had a better job in his life, Frank thought, and he felt a wave of love for his new wife and his new son. Although his previous experience in child-rearing had been pretty damn good, too. Frank looked at Gail, who was currently laughing at something that Dean had said. She had shifted to sit in Cas's lap now. A few of the other Angels had drifted over to their table, and Gail had claimed she was just making more room for them. When Dean had pointed out that they could just bring their chairs over, she had thrown her napkin at Dean. Then Dean had said something so profane, yet so funny, to Gail that she had burst out laughing. But Patricia had huffed and gotten up from the table, and Bobby had glared at Dean and then hustled after Patricia, and the chastened look on Dean's face had made Gail laugh even harder.

Then the DJ Gail had hired arrived, and as he was setting up, the men moved the tables and chairs to the side, and Sam, Dean, Chuck and Ethan hurriedly put the pieces of wood down that were going to serve as the dance floor.

"Can I see you for a minute?" Cas asked Gail, taking her hand.

"Sure, Cas, what's up?" she asked him.

He steered her towards the door of the bunker. He opened it, and they stepped inside. "What is it, Cas? What's the matter?" Gail asked him.

"Nothing. I just couldn't stand not doing this anymore," he said to her quietly. He put his arms around her and kissed her on the mouth. She opened her mouth immediately, and their tongues came together. Cas's arms tightened around her, and he gently pushed Gail up against the wall.

"I can think of something else we might have to try when we're alone, if you're willing," he said softly.

"I think it's safe to say I'll be very willing," she said. "But for now, we'd better get back out there."

"Yes, we'd better," Cas said, so of course, he kissed her again. Gail was caressing his arms and his shoulders, and when he broke the kiss, she started kissing his cheeks, his forehead, and his chin.

"I love you, Cas," Gail told him. He almost told her what he'd been planning, because she was being so sweet and so loving. But he didn't even have the ring yet, and Cas didn't want to put the cart before the horse. So he was glad when she kissed him again, because now he had another use for his tongue.

Suddenly, the door to the bunker opened and Chuck came inside. He smiled when he saw them. They hadn't quite broken the kiss fast enough, and Chuck had seen them using their tongues with each other. And, as Chuck glanced down, he could see that Cas was getting excited. For a minute, all Chuck could do was stare. He wanted his tongue to be one of those tongues, and he wanted to be in the same condition as he saw Cas in now. In fact, he'd better quit looking, and quit thinking about the two of them, or he WOULD be in that condition in a moment.

"Sorry," Chuck said sheepishly, as Cas and Gail looked at him.

"That's OK, Chuck," Gail said. "We should be getting back out there, anyway." She leaned forward and whispered in Cas's ear, "We'll finish this conversation later." Then she opened the door and went back outside.

Cas turned around to look at Chuck, who was busy trying not to look where he'd been looking. "I just came in to get another keg of beer," Chuck told Cas, staring at his own feet. "Boy, can those cops ever put it away."

"Do you need any help?" Cas asked him.

"No!" Chuck exclaimed. Cas looked at him quizzically, and then he realized what must be going on. Cas smiled to himself. He'd better calm down and stop thinking about Gail, or he would never be able to go back out there.

"I'm sorry, Chuck," Cas said, but Chuck replied, "There's no need to apologize. You two are the best example of the best kind of love I've ever witnessed."

"Just wait a short while," Cas blurted out. "I hope you'll soon be witness to another day very much like today." Chuck raised his eyebrows. What was Cas - ? And then, he got it.

"No way," Chuck said, and Cas nodded. He'd been bursting to tell someone else. Who was he kidding? He'd been bursting to tell everyone.

"I'm going to ask Sam and Dean to go with me to get the ring tomorrow, once Frank and Jody leave for their honeymoon," Cas told him.

Chuck's face broke into a big grin, and he rushed forward to shake Cas's hand, but ended up pulling him in for a hug instead. Fortunately, Cas had succeeded in calming himself down by then. Chuck wanted an experience for himself, but not necessarily that particular type of experience. He smiled to himself.

Then Cas helped Chuck bring out the keg, and when they got back outside, Gail was doing shots with Dean and Sam.

"You're gonna get so wasted," Dean was saying to Gail.

"No, I'm not," she said pertly. "And you know why." She was well aware of all the human guests within potential earshot. She threw back another shot. "And even if I do, I'm not going to have a hangover," she added, sticking her tongue out at him.

Dean sat back in his chair. "Cas, get your woman in line," he said.

"I hope you're kidding with that," Nicole admonished him, but Cas just smiled. Of course Dean was kidding. Cas sat down next to Gail and took her hand. "Of course he is," Cas told Nicole. He brought Gail's hand up to his mouth and kissed it. "She can do and say whatever she likes," Cas said.

Gail smiled. "You heard the Best Man," she said to Dean. Then she ran her hand through Cas's hair, leaning her face close to his. "I think I'll call you that all the time," she said to him, smiling. "It's certainly the truth."

"Bobby, I think Gail's drunk," Dean called out.

Bobby was dancing with Patricia, and his friends watched the couple admiringly as they performed a very deft spin-turn. Then Bobby stopped dancing for a moment and looked at the group. "How old are you now, Dean?" Bobby said, rolling his eyes. "I think you could take some maturity lessons from Robbie, sometimes." Then he and Patricia resumed dancing.

"OK, maybe I am a little tipsy," Gail admitted. "But I know a good cure for that." She rose from her chair and walked over to the DJ's table, weaving just a bit. Once the current song was over, a recent hit song started to play. A pop song, of course, but it had a driving dance beat, and Gail had requested it specifically.

She walked back to Dean and extended her hand to him. "Let's go," she said.

Dean rolled his eyes, but he took her hand and stood obediently. They moved out to the floor and started to dance, and Gail was amazed. Dean was a really good dancer! Who knew? Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch the both of them, and Sam was shaking his head. Who would have ever guessed? And Sam couldn't even tease Dean about it, because his brother was that good.

Cas was smiling again. What a wonderful sight to see. After all of the drama they'd all been through together, it warmed his heart to see them like this. Dean leaned forward to say something to Gail, and she threw her head back and laughed. Cas would have to make sure to find out the name of this song, so these two could reprise this dance at his and Gail's wedding. A talent such as Dean had shouldn't go to waste. And Cas loved seeing Gail dancing. She looked so happy, and she was so cute. As he watched her move, Cas was reminded how lucky he was that she had forgiven him, and that she allowed him to love her the way he did.

Nicole was watching Dean, impressed by the way he moved. She smiled to herself. She remembered the night he had stayed in her apartment with her. They had unfortunately not had the chance to have a repeat of that experience since, but they had talked quite a bit since then, and she felt very close to him now. So, this was where he and Sam lived. She hadn't seen the inside of the place yet; maybe after Dean finished his dance, she would ask him if she could see the place. She didn't think he would mind, after everything that he had told her about his and Sam's lives.

Sam was looking at Nicole looking at Dean. Now he understood what Gail had been talking about. He'd been a little surprised to see Cas show up with Nicole, but truthfully, maybe not as much as he should have been. Dean had played his cards a little close to the vest, but Sam knew his brother very well, and he knew that Dean was very interested in Nicole. Just how interested remained to be seen, but in any event, Sam was happy for Dean. It had been way too long for his brother. And as for Sam himself, he was a little glad that Cas hadn't brought Zoey with him, as well. Sam had liked her just fine, but he hadn't been looking for a relationship with her. Based on what Gail had said to Cas, Gail had known that, or at least, she had intuited it. Sam watched Gail on the dance floor now, and he sighed. Cas had remarked a little while back that he knew that Sam loved Gail, and Sam supposed he could admit to himself that that was true. Maybe that was why neither Zoey nor anyone else he could think of was of any particular interest to him. But Sam also realized that he had to wake up and smell the coffee. Cas was going to buy Gail a ring, he was going to propose to her, and she was going to say yes. She loved Sam, of course, but only in the same way that she loved Dean; like another brother, nothing more. And that was never going to change.

Becky was looking at Sam looking at Gail, and she was frowning. This was Becky's area of expertise, and she had known for quite some time that Sam loved Gail. But Becky also knew that Cas was the only man for Gail, and that Sam was out of luck on that score. But Becky could see another quality in Sam's expression right now, one that suggested that he might finally be ready to let his feelings go and move on. She had been happy to be around the bunker so much in the recent past because she'd gotten to see Sam a lot more, and he was even comfortable enough around her these days to have normal conversations with her. But she was starting to feel really guilty about Kevin now. Kevin still thought of Becky as his girlfriend, and she knew that he still held out hope for them to have a physical relationship. She would need to do something about him soon. It wasn't fair to poor Kevin.

Kevin was watching Becky watch Sam. He'd seen her look at Sam like this from time to time, when she didn't know that Kevin was watching. Becky probably wasn't even aware that she was doing it. Kevin had been in denial about it for too long, but he realized he'd better talk to Becky about it and get her to admit how she really felt. Though he was pretty sure he already knew.

Linda was watching both Kevin and Becky. She had managed to stay out of their relationship for the most part, trying out her new resolve to treat Kevin like the young adult he was and let him handle it himself. But if he didn't do something soon, she was going to have to step in. Linda didn't like the way that Becky was looking at Sam, not one bit.

The song ended, and Gail and Dean came back to their table. Dean flopped onto his chair, grabbing a napkin to mop the sweat from his forehead.

"Boy, are you out of shape," Gail teased him. "That was only one song." She nudged Nicole. "Come on, let's get a drink. Dean's going to need CPR before you'll be able to talk to him again, anyway."

Dean was panting, but he found enough energy to raise both of his arms and give Gail the one-finger salute with both hands.

Gail laughed. "I hope Patricia didn't see you do that," she told Dean. "I think she's a little scandalized by the kind of company Bobby keeps."

Dean looked startled at that thought. He craned his head to search for Bobby and Patricia, and saw them standing with Frank and Jody. Frank had Robbie in his arms, and it looked like the young boy was barely staying awake.

Bobby shook Frank's hand. "Congratulations to you both," he said, and then he gave Jody a hug and kissed her on the cheek. "Same to you, dear," Bobby said to her. "I'm very happy for you." Only a very few people knew what Jody had been through with her first family, and Bobby was one of them. Now this was a brand new start for Jody, and he was thrilled for her. Bobby looked sidelong at Patricia, who was shaking Frank's hand now. Maybe this could be a new start for Bobby, too. But he would have to speak with Patricia when they got back to Heaven. She was a bit of an old-school Angel, and he knew she'd been a little shocked at the behaviour of some of his friends tonight. He'd have to tell her that today wasn't really a very good barometer; this was a party, after all. But he would also remind her that most of the behaviour she disapproved of was human behaviour, and humans couldn't be expected to act like Angels. But now, he glanced around and saw that some of the Angels weren't exactly behaving themselves, either. Kevin, Ethan and Chuck were pounding shots now, toasting to the Three Musketeers, as they had been dubbed. And Gail had returned to her table with a fresh drink now, and she was sitting in Cas's lap again, kissing his face. Bobby didn't think that Cas had had anything to drink himself, but it looked like he was enjoying what Gail was doing a little too much, and Bobby wasn't so sure Patricia would approve of their very public display of affection. So he touched Patricia's arm and said, "What do you say we leave the revels to the kids? We can go back home and talk. We'll have a cup of tea, if you want."

Patricia nodded. Frankly, she was a bit relieved by his suggestion. She knew he'd had to put in an appearance here due to his station, but even though she'd been thrilled that Bobby had asked her to accompany him, Patricia was more than ready to leave now. She had been a little taken aback by some of the things she'd seen and heard here tonight. Granted, she knew that humans were a little less refined than Angels were supposed to be, but she had also seen the way that Castiel and Gail were behaving, and Patricia definitely did not approve. She might have to have a little chat with Bobby about those two. He was God, after all; should he not be ensuring that Heaven's lead couple be conducting themselves properly?

Castiel had that thought in the back of his mind, too. Even though he was enjoying what Gail was doing immensely, he could feel Bobby and Patricia looking their way, and Cas didn't want to set a bad example. He was long used to the disapproval of his fellow Angels, but Castiel didn't want Gail to suffer the same thing. And he himself had never quite seen her this way, not even in Las Vegas. She seemed to be well on her way to becoming drunk, and she was acting very bold with him now. But he could not possibly chastise her about it, nor would he ever do so. Her brother had gotten married today, and she had been through so much heartache and sorrow. If anyone deserved to have some fun, it was Gail. And if he were honest with himself, Cas loved what she was doing to him right now. Although if he loved it much more, he wouldn't be able to stand up for a while, he thought with wry amusement. They had already been caught out by Chuck earlier; perhaps Cas had better try to distract her right now. They could pick up this thread later, when they were alone.

Cas's arms had been wrapped around Gail's waist, and she had been kissing his ear and telling him how much she loved him. Cas really had to rein himself in now, or he would just start kissing her, and then he would never be able to stop. So he put his hands on her waist and gently pushed her away from him.

"Patricia and Bobby are looking at us," Cas told her.

"So?" Gail said, smiling. "Maybe they're looking for some ideas about what to do later."

Cas started to smile at her, and then he made himself stop. Obviously, that had been the wrong tactic to take.

"I think Frank and Jody might be getting ready to leave," Cas tried. "It looks like Robbie is already asleep."

That seemed to do the trick. She craned her neck to look at Frank, who was holding Robbie in his arms.

"Leave?!" Gail said. "They can't leave! The party's just getting started! I'll handle this." She got up from Cas's lap and marched over to Frank and Jody. "What's this I hear about you guys leaving?" she demanded. "You haven't even had your dance yet! And you've still got to throw the garter, and the bouquet!"

"Hey, slow your roll, kiddo," Frank admonished her. "We're not leaving, I'm just gonna take Robbie and put him to bed, that's all."

"Oh. Well, good," Gail said. Then she looked back at Cas, who was doing his best to look innocent. Now she got it. Gail looked sideways at Bobby and Patricia. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass anyone," she said to them. "It's just...this is the first time in a long time I've had the chance to have a few drinks and really relax, and I guess I let it go to my head." She leaned forward, looking at Patricia. "The last time I got a little drunk in Las Vegas, Metatron murdered the crap out of me."

Bobby's beard was twitching furiously now, but he had to get Patricia out of here before Patricia started to draw up a petition to impeach Gail as board Chairwoman. Or maybe just to cast her and Castiel out of Heaven altogether.

"Goodnight, Gail," he said to her, putting his hand lightly on Patricia's back. "I'll see you all in the morning." He steered Patricia to the door of the bunker, so that they could ascend discreetly once they were inside.

Gail walked back to the table and fixed Cas with a baleful look. "Frank and Jody aren't leaving," she said to him.

"Oh, I thought they were," he said innocently.

Gail gave him a thin smile. "Fine." Then she walked over to the table where the Angels were seated. "Let's dance, Chuck. Cas obviously wants me otherwise occupied," she said dryly.

Chuck hopped up dutifully, letting Gail lead him to the floor.

Meanwhile, Nicole was trying to get Dean to dance, but the music was still upbeat and he was pleading that Gail had worn him out. Nicole rolled her eyes, and when one of Jody's deputies asked her to dance, she accepted, and followed him to the floor.

Sam was grinning at his brother. "So, Nicole, huh?" he said to Dean.

Dean shrugged. "Yeah. So?" he said, a little defensively. "At least I have a date."

"I wanted to keep my options open," Sam retorted.

"Smooth move, Einstein," Dean shot back. "A lot of options here. Our friends, and a lot of beer-swilling, burly male cops. Is there something that you haven't told me all these years, Sammy?" Dean was smirking now. "I should have figured that something was up when I found that Village People CD in the glove compartment."

Cas looked sharply at Dean, and Dean put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Sorry, Cas. Just goofing around," Dean said to him.

"I hope you are," Cas said stiffly. "Barry and Tommy are our friends, and they'll be coming to our wedding." He felt safe saying that out loud right now. Gail was still on the dance floor. She was dancing with Ethan now, and not looking their way.

"That's assuming she says yes, of course," Dean said casually, taking a swig of his beer.

Cas looked at him, startled. He was sure that Dean must be teasing him now, but it had never occurred to Cas that Gail might say no. Surely that couldn't happen. Could it? They loved each other. She was his person. They had been through so much together. But he had put her through so much of that himself, hadn't he? But she said that she'd forgiven him.

"Why would you go and say something like that, Dean?" Sam chided his brother. "Look at Cas. He looks like he's gonna pass out now."

Dean was smirking. He cared about Cas, of course, but Cas also deserved a little payback, in Dean's opinion. Dean had only been joking around with his brother; he would never have said anything like that if Barry or Tommy had been sitting here. Sometimes Cas didn't give him enough credit. Dean had actually liked Barry and Tommy when he'd met them in Vancouver, and he wasn't nearly as ignorant as Cas sometimes seemed to think he was. Besides, Dean had no idea why Cas would even worry about the prospect of Gail turning him down. Dean had never seen any woman as nuts about any man in his whole life.

But Cas was looking at Gail now, and his brow furrowed. Had he been making assumptions this whole time? He remembered the time she had gotten upset with him for calling her his wife, and she had once pointed out that even though God Himself had stated that they could consider themselves married, she did not. Could it be possible that she still felt the same way?

Gail could feel Cas's gaze on her, and the dancing was tiring her out a bit, so when the current song ended, she thanked Kevin for the dance and went to the bar for another drink. Then she came back to the table and plopped down in the chair next to Cas.

"My feet are killing me," Gail complained. "I should have taken off my shoes before I started to dance." She kicked them off under the table. "Owww," she groaned.

"Here, let me help you with that," Cas said. He reached down and lifted her legs onto his lap and began to massage her feet.

"Ohhhh," Gail moaned loudly. Cas smiled, continuing to rub her feet. She moaned again, and now Sam and Dean were grinning. Nicole came off the dance floor and sat beside Dean. "I was wondering what was going on here," Nicole quipped. "For a second there, I was afraid that this had turned into a different kind of party."

As Gail continued to moan, Dean said, "Do you realize how you sound right now? It's a good thing Bobby's not still here. He'd probably kick both of you the hell out of Heaven."

"We're not doing anything wrong, Dean," Cas told him. "Gail has a need, and it's my job to meet that need. That's the way it's supposed to work."

"Yeah, Dean, that's the way it's supposed to work," Nicole said, elbowing him in the ribs. She was grinning now, too.

Gail had her head back now, and her eyes were half-closed. She was sighing with contentment. "I knew they called you the Best Man for a reason," she said to Cas dreamily. Then she made a sound that reminded him of the times they were alone in bed together, and Cas looked at her curiously, uncertain if he should continue.

Nicole had to turn her head to keep from laughing at Cas's expression. She didn't know much about Angels, but it appeared that they weren't much different than humans in some areas. If men knew what an orgasmic experience a good foot massage was, more of them would be signing up to learn how to do it, she thought. Apparently, Cas came by his talent naturally. Somehow, that didn't surprise Nicole.

"What the hell are you two up to now?" Frank said from behind them. He had just come back outside from putting Robbie to bed in the bunker, and he and Jody had come over to sit with their friends.

Jody looked down at Gail. "Apparently, you're getting more satisfaction on my wedding night than I am," she quipped.

"I would be glad to teach you how to do this, Frank," Castiel said to Gail's brother.

"How do YOU know how to do it?" Frank asked him, curious.

Cas thought for a moment. "I don't know, actually," he said. "Hmm. Strange. Anyway, your sister seems to enjoy it."

Frank rolled his eyes. "That's because it's you who's doing it." He poked Gail. "Stop it, the both of you. Especially you," he said to her. "Learn how to behave."

Gail swung her legs off Cas's lap. "Okay, Dad," she grumbled. "Geez, you should lighten up a little, Frank." She kissed Cas on the cheek. "Thanks, sweetie. My feet feel a lot better now."

Dean had just taken another swig of beer, and he had to fight himself to swallow it rather than spit it out. He managed it, but just barely. "'Sweetie'?" he said, laughing.

"It's a term of endearment, Dean," Cas said, looking at his friend calmly.

"Yeah, but..." Dean looked at Sam, who was exhibiting no reaction. "Come on!" Dean exclaimed. Sam still said nothing, knowing his silence would drive Dean even crazier. And it was working. "'Sweetie'?" Dean said again, looking at Cas incredulously.

Cas looked at Nicole. "Perhaps you would like to take Dean for a walk," he said to her. "He seems a little agitated."

Nicole grabbed Dean's hand, pulling him to his feet. "Come on, sweetie," she said to him, and everyone laughed as she led him away from the table.

The evening was winding down, and all of the cops had left the reception now. "I hope none of them are driving," Jody mused aloud, frowning at the thought.

"We thought you might worry about that," Cas said to her. "That's why we arranged for a bus to bring them all here today, and the same bus came back to pick them all up a little while ago. The driver has been instructed to take them all to their individual destinations."

Jody was impressed by his thoughtfulness. She lifted her glass. "Thanks to both you and Gail," she said to them. "You guys put all of this together in record time."

"It wasn't so hard. We had a lot of help," Gail said. "When you have a squad of Angels on your side, anything is possible."

Cas took Gail's hand and smiled at her. He was glad that she believed that. He did too, at least for the most part. But after today, and after Cas had had his special talk with Gail, they would have to have a brainstorming session about what to do about Lucifer. And Jason, and Mark. And Metatron, who had performed a disappearing act worthy of Houdini. Cas was especially eager to see Mark again. Cas planned to speak Felicia's name just before he cut Mark's throat.

But now was not the time for such dark thoughts. The human guests and the Angel squad had all left now, and the DJ had gone too. It was just the family sitting around one table, talking and teasing each other. This was Cas's favourite time.

"Did we do all of your stupid traditions?" Frank was asking Gail. "We kissed when they clinked glasses, we cut the cake, and we threw the stuff. Anything else we missed?"

Gail was smiling. It was really funny that Linda was the one who caught the bouquet, because she hadn't even been trying. Becky had jostled with a couple of the younger cops' girlfriends, and Gail and Nicole had stood off to the side with one hand each sticking casually out, snickering about a lateral pass. But Jody had thrown the thing in the other direction, and Linda had caught it almost reflexively. Then she had looked at it as if it were crawling with germs and tossed it on the table.

Then Frank had thrown the garter, and Sam and Dean had conspired to have Cas catch it. Dean felt kind of bad about what he'd said to his friend earlier, and he was afraid it was getting in Cas's head now. When Gail had not caught the bouquet, nor had even tried for it, Cas had seemed downcast. Dean had to remember that Cas was an otherworldly being, and as such, he took things like traditions and superstitions a lot more seriously than most humans would.

So Dean had taken Sam aside and they had agreed that they would run interference for Cas. But when Frank tossed the garter over his shoulder, he overthrew it, and it had landed on one of the tables. As the night had grown dark, Gail had arranged to have the candles on each table lit to keep away the bugs, and to provide the lighting. The garter landed on one of the candles, and Dean dove for it and snatched it up, shaking it and blowing on it to put out the flame. Then he stood there with the smoking garter in his hand and turned around to look at Sam, giving his brother a half-shrug. Hey, he'd had to do what he'd had to do. Then he'd given it to Cas, who'd looked at it quizzically and then put it down on the table where Linda had lain the bouquet without comment.

After those rituals had been checked off the list, there had been a bit more dancing, and then the place began to clear out. Now it was just Frank and Jody, Cas and Gail, Dean and Nicole, and Sam.

Cas had frowned a little when Frank had called the traditions stupid. He knew that throwing undergarments was a little strange, but: "It could have been much worse," Cas said to Frank now. "When I was researching wedding traditions on the Internet, you should have seen some of the things I saw."

"Like what?" Sam asked, interested.

Cas smiled strangely. "In India, women who are born under a certain astrological sign are thought to be cursed, and likely to cause their husbands an early death. In order to ward off the curse, the woman must first be married to a tree. Then the tree is destroyed, and the curse is broken."

They all looked at him, smiles breaking out on their faces. "Are you sure you shouldn't have just done that?" Gail said to Jody. "Then you could have just stayed married to the tree. Less laundry, and no bad jokes."

"I have so many wood-based jokes running around in my head right now, it actually hurts," Dean quipped.

"There's an even stranger one than that," Cas continued cheerfully. "In Korea, once the wedding is over, friends of the groom remove his socks, tie a rope around his ankles, and start beating his feet with fish in order to prepare him for his first night as a married man."

"That's to teach him he has to be her sole means of support," Sam said.

"Hopefully, she doesn't say 'not tonight, dear, I have a haddock'," Frank added.

"She'll probably just carp at him all night about the fishy smell in bed, anyway," Nicole chipped in.

"His wife will admit him into the marital bed, but at first she'll be koi about it," Cas said suddenly.

Everyone was laughing now and groaning at the same time. "OK, now I'm really mad," Gail said, "because I can't possibly top that last one. That was the cleverest thing I've ever heard," she said to Cas, putting her arms around him and kissing him on the cheek.

Cas was beaming. "I've been trying to tell Dean for years that I'm funny," he said.

Dean rolled his eyes. "She would think you reading the phone book was funny if you looked at her with the same googly eyes you always do," he snorted with derision.

"Well, as fun as this has been, I think we're gonna pack it in, guys," Frank said, taking Jody's hand. "We're going inside to scoop Robbie, then we're going to stay at the house tonight. Then we'll be over early in the morning for that big breakfast Sam and Gail promised us, and then we have to throw some things in a bag and go to Disneyland."

He and Jody stood, and there were hugs all around. Then the couple disappeared into the bunker.

"Two down," Dean said. "Time to see who can drink who under the table."

"You don't want to play that game with me," Gail warned him cheerfully, "'cause you'll lose."

Dean raised an eyebrow to her, and then he walked over to the bar and got the bottle of whiskey. He came back and slammed it down on the table. "Let's go, then," he told her.

Gail shook her head. "Straight shots of whiskey? I don't think so. Unless you know how to make B52s, I'm out," she said.

"I know how to make those," Sam said, grinning slyly. He went over to the bar and grabbed two more bottles, bringing them to the table. 'Dean and I will drink the whiskey, then, and I'll make you B52s." He looked at Cas and Nicole. "You guys in?"

Nicole shook her head, laughing. "No way. I have to start packing tomorrow, myself. I'm flying out next week. Besides, Gail's an Angel, so my money's on her."

Cas was frowning. "How is the winner determined?" he asked the brothers.

"Last man conscious," Dean said wickedly. He looked at Gail. "Or, woman. Line 'em up, Sammy."

Sam poured shots for himself and Dean, then made some B52s for Gail. They all counted to three, then drank the shots. Then the process was repeated, and then it was repeated again.

Nicole was rolling her eyes now. She had been hoping to have some alone time with Dean tonight, but it was growing increasingly clear that that wasn't going to happen, and Dean was behaving like an ass.

She looked at Cas. "Do you think you could take me home now?"

Cas was frowning hard now, looking at Dean, but Dean was oblivious. "I'll call you soon," he said to Nicole, then pounded back another shot.

Nicole gave him an incredulous look. Hadn't she just said that she was flying out of town to go on location for the show? "Let's go, Cas," she said, rising from the table.

Gail glanced at her apologetically. She could tell that this evening hadn't exactly gone as planned for Nicole, and Gail could sympathize. Gail also thought that Dean was behaving like an ass, and truthfully, she knew that she was, too. But she was feeling tipsy now, and with every shot she downed, Gail felt the pressures of the past couple of years ebbing out of her. And, it was juvenile, but her feminist ire was coming to the forefront now. So, Dean thought she was a wuss, did he? Well, they would see about that.

Castiel was looking down at Gail, and he was growing a little concerned now. She was an Angel, so she should be fine. But he knew more than anyone how much she had been through emotionally, and Sam and Dean had had that part of their memories erased, so they weren't aware of the full picture.

"I'll be right back," he said to them, and he took Nicole's hand. He popped her back to her apartment.

"Thanks, Cas," Nicole said to him. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to this as a mode of transportation, but I have to admit, it sure as hell is convenient."

"You're welcome, Nicole," he replied. "I'm only sorry that Dean behaved so poorly tonight."

She sighed. "That's OK. I know him pretty well by now. I won't deny that I was hoping this evening would go a little differently, but he is who he is. And I am who I am, and I'm not going to waste my time worrying about it. I have a big trip to pack for." Then she smiled. "It was really good to see you and Gail together, and looking so happy. Maybe you guys can pop over and see us on location sometime. Oh, and tell Gail not to worry. Brenda won't be there. She took off a while back, and we haven't heard from her since."

Cas was somber at that. He could pretty much surmise what had happened to poor Brenda. Aurielle had taken her over as a vessel that time in Miami, and Brenda was more than likely dead now. But he did not see the point in saying this to Nicole. She was uninitiated with the way things worked in their world. But it was just as well that Nicole was leaving, he thought. Once they intensified their efforts to locate and eradicate Lucifer and all those who stood with him, no one associated with their group would be safe.

He wished her good luck and winked himself back to the bunker. The three of them were still drinking, and Castiel had had enough.

"You need to stop now," he told them. "It's quite late. Frank and Jody will be by in the morning, and we have a busy day tomorrow." He looked at Sam and Dean, hoping they would get his meaning. They were supposed to go with him to get Gail's ring tomorrow.

Sam was the first one to get it. He put down the bottle he'd been holding. "He's right," Sam said to Gail and Dean. "We don't want to be too hung over tomorrow. One yell from Robbie, and our heads will split wide open."

"What about the contest?" Dean asked him.

"Let's just call it a tie, for now," Sam said, rising from his chair. "Come on, you two. Let's go."

Gail and Dean got up, and they were both tottering a little as they walked to the bunker door. Gail looked at Dean. "I'll get you yet," she said, poking him in the side.

"That's enough of that kind of talk," Cas said sternly.

Gail grabbed his arm. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again: you're sexy when you're stern," she quipped.

Sam opened the door and Cas put his arms around Gail to help her down the stairs. When they all reached the bottom, Dean looked at Gail. "Looking pretty drunk, there," he said to her, smirking. He was weaving on his feet. "Are you gonna be OK?"

"I'm not drunk, Dean," she insisted. "You're the one who's drunk."

"You're drunker than I am," he retorted.

"This could go on for a while," Sam said to Cas with a grin. "But, I think I have a way to speed it up." He looked at Dean. "How do you feel about Gail right now?" he asked his brother.

"Ahhh, she's all right," Dean said, smiling. "Mouth like a sailor, and she can drink like one, too. She's OK, for a girl."

Cas picked up the cue. "And, how do you feel about Dean?" he asked Gail.

"I love him," Gail said. She grabbed Dean and gave him a big hug, and he hugged her back, saying, "Yeah, OK. I love you too, Gail."

Then Gail hugged Sam and told him she loved him too, and then she did the same with Cas. "I love you all, soooo much," she told them.

"Yep, she's drunk," Dean said, grinning.

Cas took Gail's hand. "Let's get you to bed, then," he said to her.

"Oh, I'd like that," Gail said, and Sam and Dean laughed.

Cas had to smile. "Goodnight, Sam. Goodnight, Dean. We'll see you in the morning." Then he steered Gail down the hall and into their room.

As soon as he had closed the door behind them, Gail came to him, putting her arms around him. "I'm sorry, Cas. I hope you're not mad," she said to him. "I just felt like letting my hair down a little. I've never really done that before." She gave him a sheepish look. "I guess I was behaving kind of badly. Not as badly as Dean, though," she added wickedly.

"You were certainly entitled," he said softly. She was kissing him now, gentle kisses on the cheek. Then she moved to his lips, and if he'd been mildly annoyed with her a few minutes ago, he certainly couldn't be, now.

His arms tightened around her, and he kissed her on the lips once, and then again.

"Did you mean what you said about getting me into bed?" she said teasingly.

"I meant that you should rest," he told her.

"Why? I'm an Angel. I don't sleep, and I won't be hung over in the morning," she retorted. "Do you still have the keycards to our place in Vancouver?" she said in his ear.

Cas had been about to protest again, but really, who was he kidding? He took her hand and winked her to the hotel room in Vancouver, right inside the front door of the room. "Now, why on earth would we need a keycard?" he asked her, smiling.

Then he kissed her with his tongue and she responded eagerly, pressing her body against his. He gently pushed her against the wall, and the way they were standing now reminded him of the way they had stood earlier at the bunker. He was just as excited now as he'd been then, maybe even more so.

"Do you mind if we try what I was thinking of earlier?" he murmured.

"Not at all," she said, smiling.

Cas reached down and lifted her dress with one hand, then he slipped his other hand into her underpants, stroking her slowly. She gasped, and as he wrapped his other arm around her waist, she touched the front of his pants.

"Just a moment," he said in a thick voice, and he reached down to unzip his pants. Then he pulled them down, and he reached up her dress to remove her underwear.

"I love you," he said to her, and he continued to stroke her as he kissed her again with his tongue. She was making her sounds now, and her hand closed around him.

Cas stopped stroking her and he used both hands to lift her body, so that he could enter her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him as he pushed into her, again and again.

"Does that feel good?" he asked her softly.

"It's so good, Cas," she confirmed.

"Is it all right if I go faster?" he asked her, and she said, "Yes. Please." So he sped up, and then they were both crying out, saying each other's names.

Cas slowed down, but he was still moving in and out of her, and she was clutching his head, telling him she loved him. He felt amazing, and he could tell that she had liked it too, but as always, he had to make sure that she was the happiest that he could make her. So he slowly lowered her body to the floor, and then led her over to the bed. He took off the rest of their clothes and lay on top of her, kissing her on the lips, and then he moved down her body. He kissed her stomach, then licked her belly button, and she laughed, as always. It always tickled her when he did that, and he always did it. Cas loved to hear her laugh. Then he moved down some more, and she already had her legs open for him. He lowered his tongue to her right away, and when he felt she was ready, he closed his lips around her and sped up his tongue, and she cried out his name, telling him how good it was. He smiled and stayed there a moment, and then she started to laugh, and he knew from that reaction that he was giving her maximum pleasure.

He stayed there for a while longer, loving her until she was still, and then he came back up to kiss her on the lips again.

"Cas," she said softly.

"Yes, my love?" he said, muzzling her cheek with his.

"You really are the Best Man," Gail said, smiling, and she wrapped her arms around him, and a minute later, they were making love again.