Author's Notes: Hello, all! My deepest apologies for the longest delay ever. I never intended to take a year to get an update out, but that's what the muse wanted. But, here we are now! An update, yay! Enjoy!

- C.E.C.

Previously on "A Flash of Light":

"Hello! Injured man here… still…" Dean complained, still lying on the floor.

"Are you bleeding?" Gabe muttered from his hospital bed.

"Why does that matter? I'm injured…"

"You're a freakin' Army man, man! Get up off the goddamned floor!"

"Sweetheart, do you want me to check your thickhead for injuries?" Cas wondered with a smile, as he cuddled with Kevin.

'Sweetheart? Honey? Babe?' Dean thought as he continued to lay there. 'Am I ready for this?'

Chapter Ten: Interim.

Dean got himself up from the floor to a seated position, allowing Cas the chance to check his head for injuries.

"Well, you have a tough head. I'll give you that, babe…" The dark-haired angel retorted as he palpated over his love's skull. "We should let the doctors here look at you…"

"Nope… not happening…" The soldier responded, trying to get to his feet quickly. But, he dizzily faltered with every move, ended up still sitting on the floor.

"Dean-o! Find yourself a doctor ASAP! That's an order, soldier! Do it now!" Gabe stated in his best drill sergeant tone, while working through a contraction.

The major shot his brother-in-law a dirty look, as Sam and Cas helped up from the hospital floor, each holding one of his arms. The two men helped him out of the room and into a wheelchair waiting for him. (Sam had moved out of the room soon after Dean had fainted and recited his brother's medical history to a doctor at the nurses' station). The same doctor was waiting for Dean, as he was wheeled into a triage exam room.

An hour later (with all medical tests completed), Dean & Cas returned to the birthing suite.

Final diagnosis: a minor concussion, self-inflicted yet again apparently… no open skin, but a big bump was his only physical damage.

"Dean, you would think that the military would have cured you of your fainting spells by now…" the dark-haired gent retorted to his husband. "Guess they haven't…"

"And, that surprises you?" The soldier snarked back, as he rubbed the back of his head.

Cas rolled his eyes, before he stopped dead in his tracks, causing the other man to run right into him. All of a sudden, he pulled the Army major into his arms, taking in his musky, leathery scent.

'Do I hug him back?' he thought to himself. 'I mean, he is my best friend, so…'

Dean didn't know what to do, but he went with his instincts. Slowly, he moved his arms around Cas and pulled him closer to his chest, drawing in his scent as well. He had missed it; it was an amazing mix of clean linen, ocean mist and beach sand. It intoxicated Dean so much that he had forgotten where he was for a moment and why he was there.

"God, I missed you, babe…" Cas stated muffled back his husband's uniform. "I can't believe I have you back now…"

"You have me for good…" Dean responded, leaning his head against the side of Cas's. "And always…"

Slowly, the shorter man moved his arms away from his husband's body, putting his hands instead upon the man's weathered, shadowed cheeks.

And, before Dean knew what was happening, a set of soft lips impacted his own.

A sensation he hadn't felt from anyone in quite some time, and that's when the realization hits: He is kissing Cas… Cas is kissing him… no 'his' Cas, but the Cas in this alternate reality beyond his own making, or was it?

In that time, Dean decided that he couldn't control what his body wanted, and apparently, it wanted Cas something terrible. He pulled the other man in closer, allowing the kiss to deepen. Mouths opening, tongues adventuring, sensations peeking, passions enveloping… time stood still in those moments of ecstasy. Both not knowing how long they'd been intertwined, until…

"Ahem!"

The two men opened their eyes, looking deeply at each other, before glancing around to see who had intruded on their rather impromptu make-out session. Both had to look closer to the ground to find their interloper, who was impatiently tapping his foot: A short boy of about ten years of age with long, floppy, golden brown hair lying on his puppy-dog brown eyes, dressed in jean shorts, flip-flops and a beach tank. He kind-of reminded Dean of…

"Sam…?" Dean whispered, not knowing if anyone else had heard him or not.

"No, and I hate it, when you call me that, Uncle Dean!" The boy protested.

"What's wrong, Erik?" Cas wondered softly.

"Dad's looking for you, Uncle Cas… without you, Uncle Dean…"

"Yikes! Am I on the 'Most Wanted' list already?" Dean quipped up.

"What's the 'Most Wanted' list?"

"Well…"

"Don't, Dean…" Cas interrupted, before his husband could start to explain. "Just don't…"

"But…"

Cas gave Dean a strong kiss, in effect to shut him up and put his thoughts elsewhere for the time being. When the dark-haired man pulled back, he effectively ended their lock. He muttered against his love's mouth one word, "Later…" before moving with their nephew down the hall to his brother's hospital birthing suite, leaving the other man standing there hoping that 'later' would come sooner.

Dean found himself wandering back to the waiting room, where he found several members of his extended family, sitting around for news of the newest Winchester. Three little boys were sitting on the floor near Bobby's feet, playing a board game that Dean had never seen before. All three of them having faces that Dean had never seen before, but all looked similar to the 10-year-old he had just met.

"Uncle Dean!" they all yelled, getting up from their seats and barreling towards him.

The soldier bent down on instinct to embrace all of them. They were Sam's sons; it was more than obvious. They all looked like him with little pieces of Gabriel thrown in here and there. One of the little boys was lanky like his moose-of-a-father, while the others had some meat on their bones like their other father.

"Unca Dean! You here's too?" Robby, the littlest boy, spoke up first.

"Yeah, I'm here too, Robby…" He replied with a smile. "No more trips away…"

"Yay!"

"Unca Dean! Are you gonna stop fainting?" The middle boy questioned. "I bet Mommy's mad that you fell down again."

'Mommy?' Dean pondered to himself. 'Is that what Gabe is called here… since he had the kids? Is that what Cas is called here, too?'

"Yeah, was Mommy mad at you, Uncle Dean?" The last boy wondered. "But, Dad wasn't though; he looked more annoyed…"

"Your dad is used to my stupidity…" Dean remarked with a wink. "You three should know that by now…"

"The man speaks truths for once…" a recognizable voice from above & behind them retorted. "Boys, you doin' okay?"

"Daddy!" the boys flooded over to their father to hug him, leaving their uncle behind. Dean stood up slowly, feeling every bone in his body creak, before turning to see his younger brother again.

"Boys, have you been interrogating your uncle?" Sam asked kindly to his children.

"No…" all three of them responded back, moving back to their unfinished game swiftly.

"They like to play 'Twenty Questions'…" He spoke to his older brother. "You know who they get that from…"

"Obviously…" Dean countered with a chuckle. "How's Gabe?"

"In pain, but after four labors, you'd think he'd be used to it by now…"

"Five kids, Sammy... Still making a baseball team?"

"I do have a pretty good start on one, don't I? But, the boys aren't interested in sports, surprisingly enough…"

"Them not into sports? No way…"

Dean's sarcasm was not lost on Sam.

"Very funny, Dean… but, I've tried to get them involved in team sports and so has Gabe. Gabe loves football, so he tried to get them into pee-wee football. None of them liked it at all."

"I'm surprised Bobby and Dad haven't tried to use their athletic magic on them…"

"Oh, they tried, but I told them to stay out of it, and they actually happily obliged…"

"Wow… call me surprised…"

"It's true, and doing that, the boys found their own hobbies. Erik enjoys skateboarding and making his own equipment with Dad and Bobby's help no less. Tristan enjoys playing instruments; he plays guitar and the ukulele, and he's working on the bass. Jon-Charles likes drawing and painting. And, Robby loves to sing and dance."

Dean was astonished, but not shocked by what Sam's kids were into currently.

Sam was just the same at their age, until Bobby got him into both baseball and football in the seventh grade.

"Cas tells me Garrett and Scarlett are learning to play soccer from Chuck…" He changes the subject back to his brother. "I didn't know that Chuck even knew how to play soccer…"

"He probably doesn't…" Dean retorted, as a familiar face appeared in the doorway with three little faces in tow. "Babe… everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine…" Cas responded back, letting the three kids go into the room. "Gabe is asking for you, Sam… he wants to go walking again…"

"Duty calls… I'll talk to you later, Dean…" The soon-to-be new dad stated with a soft grin.

"Right back at ya, Sammy…" The older man replied, beaming back at him, before turning to his husband, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing good, I guess…" Cas answered, stepping closer to his husband. "How about you? You look tired. You sure you don't want Dad to drive you home to rest, when he takes the kids back to his house?"

"No, I'm fine, Cas. I know concussion protocol: no sleeping, no dizzy spills, remember my name…"

"Actually, Dean, studies have shown that it's fine for you to sleep after a concussion, as long as somebody wakes up every two hours. It's actually beneficial to recovery."

"You been reading up on this, just in case I had another incident?"

"That, and Erik got a concussion this past summer, while skateboarding at one of the local skate parks. He was wearing a helmet, but his doctor told Sam & Gabriel the same thing. As long as he wasn't dizzy, throwing up, or had dilated pupils, he could sleep."

"Are you trying to send me away, Cas? Do you not want me here anymore?"

"No, not at all, Dean… I always want you here, but you've had a long day. Longer than any of us, by far, and I don't want you to get sick on me from lack of sleep like last time..."

"Last time was bad, wasn't it?"

"Not bad, my love… you just slept for days, not eating or waking at all. I almost called the ambulance to take you to the hospital, but you finally woke up and all was right with the world."

"Then, maybe I should go home… I can't remember the last time I slept well…"

"That's my soldier boy…"

And, with that, Cas kissed him softly on the lips.

That memorable feeling of ecstasy raced through his bones, and suddenly, he knew what he had to do, when he got back to his reality:

Finally admit to Cas that he loved him…

… and not just as a friend…

TBC?