"How long does this pregnancy last for anyway?" Sam asked, the following day, when Castiel emerged from the bathroom, looking bigger than ever and well into his second trimester.
As far as they could determine, Castiel had only been pregnant about three days, proving that angels really did do things differently, even pregnancies. Castiel settled beside Dean on the couch, sweat lining his brow, one hand resting possessively on his expanding stomach, no longer covering it like it once had.
"About nine days," Castiel replied to Sam's question, very matter-of-factly, as though this kind of thing was ordinary and of the norm.
To him, or to a fellow angel, of course, it would be. To a human, the situation just seemed bizarre.
"Wait, nine DAYS?" Dean asked, staring at Castiel in a mixture of horror and fascination.
"Yes, how do you think the angels multiplied so quickly in Heaven, Dean?" Castiel asked, tilting his head to the side with a small twinkle in his eyes.
"You're kidding," Dean replied, looking aghast at first Castiel then Sam, who was laughing.
"I am, of course, joking, Dean," Castiel replied, face softening into his small half-smile. "At least about the multiplying in Heaven part. That was my Father - he made us all and we had no input in that at all. The pregnancy itself really does last nine days for an angel. Or so I've been led to believe."
He glanced meaningfully at Dean in a sidelong look that wasn't lost on Sam. Castiel, of course, wouldn't have known first hand until now about angelic pregnancies, only just having realized that Dean was his life partner with the onset of a blue moon induced angelic mating season.
Sam smiled, all too content to watch the exchange between the two lovers quietly, at their easy exchange of words and their casual touches, and swift caresses of Dean's hands on Castiel's stretched abdomen. His smile turned sad when he saw the tired look in Dean's eyes, with deep shadows beneath them, as though the pregnancy was taking more of a toll on him than on Castiel. The angel looked radiant, beautiful, glowing with the thought of a life growing inside him, a borrowed halo about his whole body rather than his head where it should be.
The proud parents to be were still talking quietly when Sam got up to pad into the kitchen, to help Bobby with preparing the dinner for the four of them, leaving them to their privacy for a short while longer.
The days slipped past, with Castiel growing larger and heavier almost by the hour, consuming greater quantities of food to sustain the life still growing within him. Dean stayed with him all around the clock, looking after him, watching over him and making sure he had everything he needed.
Both Sam and Bobby smiled at Dean's fussing behavior, touched that the elder Winchester had been so easily tamed and turned domestic by his pregnant lover. Neither of them had expected him to be so diligent, but then again, Dean hadn't had a person he'd been so emotionally attached to before. It was obvious to them both that Dean was besotted with Castiel, now even more so than before.
Castiel, however, was grateful to the constant fussing from Dean, always had a smile and a kind word for his lover, a kiss and a caress when they were both at rest. Sam and Bobby were only too glad to look after Castiel whenever Dean dropped into a weary doze beside his partner, hair caressed by Castiel's gentle fingers to soothe him.
Dean was awoken that night by Castiel moving around in the kitchen, quietly gathering food wafting scents to Dean's keen nose. The hunter padded into the kitchen, smiled when the angel turned to face him with almost guilt at being caught out trapped deep within his guileless blue eyes.
"Go lay back down, Cas. I'll bring you your food," Dean murmured, leaning in to lay a kiss on Castiel's soft, sweet mouth.
Castiel broke the kiss reluctantly, gave Dean a long, slow nod of assent, before doing as Dean had said, sitting on the mattress to stare expectantly at Dean as the hunter brought in plates of pie and ice cream for both of them.. Castiel's eyes grew wide, hands grasping at the nearest slice of pie hungrily, pouting when Dean pulled the plate away gently.
"Let me," Dean said, voice pitched purposefully low and intimate as he lifted the slice to Castiel's mouth temptingly.
Castiel obediently took a bite, eyes closing to the world as he chewed slowly at the sweet pastry filling his mouth, smiling when Dean leant in to steal a kiss from his full mouth gently. Castiel lay back against the mattress, stealing bites from the pie held in Dean's hand whenever the hunter pressed the sweet pastry to his ripe, crumb peppered lips, until the pie had gone.
He watched as Dean ate his own slice of pie, green eyes closed against the sweetness in his mouth, tongue lapping out to lick stray crumbs and ice cream from his lips every so often. The angel reached up, fingers playing across Dean's arm in gentle strokes and setting Dean to shuddering beneath the prolonged, intimate contact.
Finally Dean laid down beside him, full with pie and no longer hungry, smiling when Castiel took his hand and drew his cherry stained fingers deep into his mouth. Castiel's ripe lips molded around Dean's fingers in gentle softness, eyes never leaving Dean's as the angel cleaned all traces of sugar, fruit and crumbs from Dean's hands, leaving the hunter gasping and needy beneath his ministrations.
Castiel scooted down his body and peeled Dean's boxers away from sturdy hips, mouth sliding wetly over Dean's straining erection until he'd taken as much of Dean as he could into his wet, warm mouth. Dean muffled a cry against his balled fist, hips rising and falling as he fucked his dick into Castiel's mouth, eyes rolling to the ceiling blindly as he flooded Castiel's mouth with his come. Castiel's name burst past his firm lips, gasps, moans mingled as he came down from his orgasm, smiling when Castiel kissed his way up Dean's sweating body.
He pulled at Castiel's newly bought t shirt, wouldn't give up until he'd peeled the fabric away from his lover's pregnant frame, eyes resting heavily on Castiel's swollen, leaking nipples. He leant forward, mouth finding one of Castiel's leaking nipples, tender nub filling his mouth in a swollen peak as he suckled it dry, making Castiel moan as he cradled Dean's head to his chest with one slender hand.
Dean's mouth rolled the nipple between lips and teeth, tongue flicking out and lapping across the swollen skin in teasing little laves, murmurs of approval leaking from his own throat to mingle with Castiel's gently. He kissed his way across Castiel's chest to suckle at Castiel's other nipple, hands pawing gently against the angel's distended, pregnant stomach, caressing the taut mound with sweating hands.
Castiel started touching himself while Dean concentrated on sucking on his nipple, insistent hand intent on pulling an orgasm from his lust-racked frame, fingers working over his erection as he gasped above Dean's licking mouth. The hunter's eyes flickered up towards Castiel's face, saw a look of intense arousal staining his lover's cheeks dark red, plump lips gaping and parted as Dean's name fell from them easily when Castiel came, filling his boxers with his own release.
When Dean had finally finished with suckling Castiel's nipples, he kissed the pregnant stomach tenderly, lips lingering against the musky skin, smiling when he felt the baby's foot nudge and kick against his nose. He kissed the patch again and settled down beside his lover, one arm wrapped around Castiel's waist and holding him close, content as Castiel's body molded around his like a gentle pregnant cat.
Castiel sighed, watched while Dean fell asleep beside him, a smile still decorating the hunter's face as he began to snore. Castiel kissed the tip of Dean's nose, before settling his head against his shoulder, drifting off into angelic meditation for the remainder of the night.
The following day marked the last day of Castiel's pregnancy and his time was almost near. Sam, Dean Bobby kept an even closer watch on the heavily pregnant angel, but Castiel showed no signs of going into labor during the day. He remained as serene and calm as ever, pregnant stomach heavy and dragging on his otherwise still slender frame.
Dean was sleeping when Castiel went into labor that night, wails and cries breaking the air, stirring the hunter into wakefulness immediately and bringing Sam running from his room in the depths of Bobby's house. Bobby was the last to come, looking dishevelled and tired, only halfway to being alert as Dean cradled Castiel in his arms, feeling the contractions tightening his lover's body and making him writhe against Dean helplessly.
Dean refused to leave Castiel's side, continued to hold him all the way through the delivery, barely registering the flurry of activity around him as first Sam, then Bobby, then a doctor sympathetic towards hunters and impartial to anything supernatural crowded round to help. The first sign that Dean received that it was all over was the weight of his new born daughter freshly cleaned off placed squalling in his arms, tiny fists bunched by her face, as she kicked lustily.
Castiel lay slumped on the mattress beneath him, looking weary but proud as he stared up at Dean and the baby girl held gently in his arms. A tear slipped from Dean's eyes to splash on the girl's forehead as he stared down at her tiny face adoringly. Castiel struggled to sit, helped up by Sam beside him, before both peered down at the little girl, matching looks of expectant love shining on their faces.
Castiel reached forward and smiled when their daughter wrapped one tiny fist around one of his outstretched fingers, a sigh and a small gurgle of delight replacing the cries as she settled down finally in Dean's protective arms.
"You did it, Cas," Dean said, gently. "We've got a daughter."
Castiel merely smiled softly at Dean, gaze returning to stare down at the small baby cradled in Dean's arms, before Sam suggested they get some sleep, some rest. He took the baby carefully from Dean, to lay her in the cot ready nearby, before ghosting away to leave the new fathers alone with their daughter. Bobby's voice could be heard softly by the front door as he talked to the doctor, gleaning extra information about babies by his questions.
Finally the doctor left, Bobby returned and suggested Dean help Castiel clean up, proud smile pushing his cheeks up as he tickled the baby in her cot and making a squeal escape her lips. He stayed with her, watching over her proudly while waiting for Dean and Castiel to return. The older hunter was content to watch the baby as she wriggled in her sheets, until the angel came back, freshly washed yet still weary looking and leaning on Dean for support. Bobby nodded to them and left quietly, looking back once to watch as they stared down with rapt fascination at the baby, their daughter, in her cot.
"What are we gonna call her, Cas?" Dean asked, softly, so as not to wake the now sleeping girl.
"I was thinking Elisha. The name means "salvation of God" in Latin," Castiel suggested, large blue eyes turning hopefully towards Dean's, smiling when Dean nodded in agreement.
"I like that name. Elisha," Dean replied, smiling. "It has a nice ring to it. Come on, let's go back to bed, huh? It's been a long night. She'll still be there in the morning. We can make a fuss of her when we're fresh."
Castiel nodded, wordlessly, cast one more loving glance down at their child, before allowing Dean to lead them to their shared bed at the foot of the cot. They laid together on the mattress, arms, legs entwined, Castiel settled in the crook of Dean's protective arms. The hunter kissed Castiel's forehead, inhaling the scent of Bobby's shampoo clinging to the angel's soft hair, before he sighed, breath whuffling against Castiel's clean scented skin. The angel turned his gaze up to Dean's, full lips puckered into a half smile, watched as Dean smiled lazily back. They both remained silent, before finally, Dean slowly fell into weary sleep and Castiel lapsed into an exhausted meditative state, their baby sleeping peacefully nearby for the night .....
-tbc-
