"Dean!"
"Coming!" Dean called over his shoulder, "Ok, so you have their bottles? And their blankets are in the bedroom, and the-"
"Dean." Sam said "I've got this. You guys are only gonna be gone a few hours. I think I can handle two two-week-olds for a few hours. Now get your ass to the front door before Cas comes and has to drag you out."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going." Dean kissed both his babies on their foreheads and left the room, although his instincts were screaming at him to turn around, to keep them in his sight at all times. This would be the first time Sam had kept them alone, but it had to be done, no matter how uncomfortable it made Dean. The twins had been sleeping in his and Cas' bed for their entire two week lives, and though Dean would be quite content to keep them close forever, Cas told him that they needed their own beds, because they needed to develop independence. So, the two new parents decided to go the Babies R' Us a couple towns over and stock up on baby crap. They needed cribs, Cas was set on getting rocking chairs, and Dean wanted two of those fancy swing things that moved in a circle to sooth the kids. They were also going to restock on diapers. Apparently, the whole 'angels don't need to use the bathroom' thing doesn't kick in in nephilm until they are fully matured. Great.
"I know you don't want to leave them," Cas said, as Dean rounded the corner to the door, "I don't either. But we do need some things, and we can't keep putting it off forever."
"Yeah, babe, I know. It just doesn't feel right to leave 'em, ya know?"
"Oh, I know. But, Gabriel told me through the 'angel radio' that he'll be here shortly to assist Sam, and of course he wants to see his niece and nephew."
"Ok," Dean said, "But he better not give them any candy. Not yet anyway. " He smiled.
"Now, I know you all loooooove being graced with my presence, but I've really go. I have some babies to take care of."
Gabriel got up from his table in Heaven's version of the Harvelle Roadhouse. The group around him, consisting of Ellen, Jo, Henry, Mary, and John Winchester, Bobby and Karen Singer, Ash, Kevin and Linda Tran, Samandriel, and Balthazar, all looked at him with an aura of disinterest, as their attention was rapt on the large television screen in front of them, depicting Sam holding two small babies, and trying to rock them both at the same time. The moose was having issues.
"Gabriel you take good care of my grandchildren now. I'll be watching." Mary said.
"Of course, of course. Don't I always?"
"Isn't this the first time you'd be doing it?" Jo interjected.
Gabe poked his lip out in a pout, and disappeared.
He reappeared in the bunker's library, startling Sam.
"Hey now, don't go dropping anyone on their heads. Wouldn't want them to turn out like 'ol Cas." Gabe chuckled.
"Well, maybe if you hadn't popped in without saying anything, I wouldn't have been freaked out. And what was that about Cas?"
"Cas, Cas, well, in Heaven, when a fledgling is... 'born', it's given to an older angel who is supposed to serve as a mentor of sorts. Cas was my first, and my only."
"Wait, what? So you were basically Cas' dad? And why didn't you ever have anymore than one fledgling in millions of years?" Sam laid the twins on on a little cot he'd found and brought with him, praying they'd stay asleep.
"Well, I didn't get any fledglings for a long time because it used to be Michael, Raphael, Lucifer. and later, more matured angels who got most of them. I was 'too wild', 'too irresponsible', 'too foolish', to be entrusted with a fledgling. But after the Fall, Michael sort of withdrew from everything, so that left two mentor positions open. Castiel had just been created, and I was asked to mentor him. You asked me if I was basically his dad, and yeah, I was. That was the problem. That was why I never got another fledgling. I wasn't supposed to be the Bobby to his moose. I was just supposed to watch over him, train him to be a mindless soldier like so many of his siblings. But I couldn't. I looked at this small thing that was completely dependent on me, and I couldn't imagine sending him off to be a witless killing machine. I loved him like a son, and I treated him like my own son. That's why Cas has such a soft spot for humanity. That's why he figured out free will without being directed by someone else. He got it from me."
"Wow Gabe, I never knew you guys had that kind of relationship."
"Yeah well. Don't go getting all goo-goo eyed about it. One time, I was trying to teach him how to fly, and he just couldn't get the hang of it. So, me being the amazing parent I was, decided that I would do what the birds do, and push him off something, and force him to fly. I pushed him off this big ass tree in the Garden, and he was so startled he just kinda fell until I swooped down and caught him before he hit the ground very hard. I-"
"Very hard?" Sam asked
"Well, he had to have some kind of reinforcement. I grabbed him about three feet from the ground, and then dropped him. He was ok though. But he just kept looking at me with those stupid kicked puppy eyes of his, and I kept pushing him off of things, I mean really it was kind of his fault because he kept trusting me and not expecting that I'd do it again, and eventually my little Cassie learned how to fly."
Just then, Aaron began to whimper in his sleep. Before Sam could move, Gabriel had pulled the child into his arms, resting Aaron's head on his shoulder. The angel gently cooed nonsensical words to his nephew, and the child was lulled back to unconciousness.
"What did you say to him?" Sam asked.
"It was an old Enochian poem that always used to calm down Cas. I doubt he remembers, but it seemed to work well with his son."
"What was it about?"
"It's kind of like a love letter from the sun to the moon. The wording is basically the sun saying that because he cares for his beloved so much, he will consent to die each night so that she may live."
"Oh, wow." Sam whispered.
"Yep, Sammy, didn't think I was that deep huh?"
"No, I didn't." Sam said thoughtfully.
"I don't even- what makes this one two hundred more than that one?" Dean asked, looking suspiciously at the price tag, as if it was personally trying to deceive him.
"Sir, this one can convert to both a toddler day bed and a full bed as the child grows. The other one is only a crib. Personally, I think it's a better deal to take this one in the long run, so you don't have to buy more than one bed."
"Dean, how about we think about these and look at some swings, ok?" Cas said.
"Yeah, ok." Dean acquiesced, and followed the angel to the swing display, leaving the crib girl to talk to another couple with questions.
Baby shopping was a lot harder than they'd anticipated. There were so many different options, and they all had different pros and cons, At the moment, all they had in their cart were a few outfits each for Aaron and Mary Jo. As they walked over to the swings, Dean immediately spotted the one he'd been eyeing online.
"Ok Cas, zap me two of those to the bunker please." They had decided to really buy the cribs, as they were big and would soon be spotted missing, but the chairs and the swings were just to quietly appear in the bunker.
"Can we look at chairs now?" Cas asked.
"Sure, whatever you want." Dean said.
Cas couldn't find the kind of thing he was looking for, but Dean found a huge, plush LA-Z-Boy looking thing that was to die for, and when no one was looking Cas sent it on home. They then went back to the cribs, and decided to get two of the ones that could convert. How Dean was going to make them fit in the Impala, he didn't know.
"Dean, you realize I can just send them to the bunker..." Cas said.
"What have I said about the mind reading Cas?"
"Not to do it."
"What did you do?"
"It."
"Fine, Cas," Dean laughed, "Send 'em on home."
They then got in the Impala, and Dean sped home, back to his babies.
"Daddy's home!" Dean yelled as he strode through the door.
Two hissed 'shhhhh!"'s were all that greeted him. He and Cas quietly made their way to the kitchen, where Sam and Gabriel were sitting, each holding a sleeping baby and sipping on their respective cups of coffee.
"So what'd you guys get?" Gabriel whispered.
"Come on, we'll show you." Cas answered.
He and Dean showed off their purchases, both legal and non, and the brothers ooohed and ahhed at the right moments. Gabriel then handed off Aaron to Cas, and bid them farewell.
"I have to go, Heaven business and all, but I promise I will be back. Sam, you make sure these two dickheads don't mess up my babies."
"Hey!" Dean said, but Gabe was gone.
A/N: Oh my Lord, I am so sorry this took so long! A massive case of writer's block coupled with school starting back and kicking my ass didn't do much to get me in the writing mood. From now on I'll try and update every two to three days. I hope y'all liked this! If anyone wants more of anything or anything new, leave any suggestions or requests in the reviews or pm me and I'll see what I can do! Thank you to everyone who reads, follows, favorites, and reviews, it means more to me than y'all know!