"I don't think I've ever been happier to see this place." Castiel stretched as they passed a sign that said 'Welcome to Lawrence.'

"Yeah, no kidding." Dean said. "Love this car, but 8 hours is a little much."

"Agreed."

They pulled into their parking lot a few minutes later and practically ran up to their apartment. Castiel left Dean to drag up the suitcases. "Cas! Aren't you going to help?" Dean yelled after him.

"I packed them, it can be your job to unpack." Cas shouted back.

When Dean got up to their floor and into their apartment, Castiel was curled up on the couch flipping through the channels on the TV. He plugged in his cell phone and set it next to their home phone.

Dean chuckled lightly as he got a beer from the fridge. "I'm assuming you're happy to be home."

"How'd you know?" Castiel asked sarcastically.

Castiel's phone buzzed and he shot up off the couch. Gabriel was who the caller was. Castiel groaned.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked.

"It's my brother." Castiel grumbled, picking up his phone. He answered the call. "Gabriel, if you need bail money again, I'm not giving it to you." Dean choked on his drink.

"You know, maybe starting the conversations with that is why people don't like you very much." Gabriel said.

"Well maybe if it was someone else calling, it would be an actual greeting."

"Okay Cassie," Castiel rolled his eyes at the nickname. "no, I don't need bail money. I was wondering if you were coming to the annual family barbecue this weekend."

"Since when do we have annual family barbecues?"

"Starting this year." Gabriel explained. "Balthy decided it would be a good idea to get the family together once in a while, so he talked to Michael and me. Mom and dad can't make it, so it'll just be us bros. What do you say?"

Castiel looked at Dean. "Just a sec. Let me look at my schedule." He sighed.

"It's on the fifteenth." Gabriel said. Castiel put his hand over the microphone and looked at Dean.

"What's up?" Dean asked.

"Do you want to meet my brothers?" Castiel asked.

Dean nodded almost immediately. "You've met mine. It's only fair I get put through the same torture."

"I think torture might be an understatement." Castiel chuckled darkly. He lifted his hand off the microphone. "Gabe? Is it okay if I bring a date?"

He heard Gabriel gasp on the other line. "ARE YOU SERIOUS? OF COURSE IT'S OKAY!" Castiel had to pull the phone away from his ear a little to prevent going deaf. "WHAT'S HIS NAME?"

"I guess you'll just have to wait until Sunday." Castiel smirked and Dean heard Gabriel groan on the other line.

"You know, sometimes you suck." Gabriel said. "Okay, I'll just tell Michael and Balthy you're coming. Along with some other guy. See ya, Cassie!" He was about to hang up when Gabriel suddenly shouted, "WAIT! I think you'll probably need to know it's at Balthy's place."

Castiel groaned. "Great. Another long car ride."

"Only three hours from your place." Gabriel said. "Anyway, see ya then!" He hung up for real that time.

Dean wrapped his arm around Castiel's shoulders. "This should be fun." Castiel mumbled.

"I'm actually kind of excited." Dean admitted. He'd make sure he talked to Michael about proposing. He had a feeling, with how Gabriel reacted when Castiel said he was dating someone, that Michael should be his go-to for this.

That Sunday morning, at about 8 am, Dean and Castiel hopped in the car and got ready for another long journey. Three hours wasn't really that bad, but it was still a ways away.

The car ride was much peppier and more fun than the last one. Castiel wasn't cranky when they pulled up to his brother, Balthazar's, house. Castiel seemed much more nervous than Dean felt.

"Hey," Dean wrapped his fingers around Castiel's hand as they parked in the driveway. "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

"Cassie!" A short, spunky man rushed out of the house. Dean assumed it was Gabriel. "Come on, don't be shy."

"Well, we can't hide out forever." Castiel mumbled as he opened the car door.

Two other men walked, much more calmly than Gabriel, out of the house. One of them was holding a baby in his arms and bouncing slightly. Dean assumed this was Balthazar and Michael.

Dean stepped out of his car and was instantly confronted by the short man who sprinted out of the house not two minutes beforehand. "And who might you be?" He growled. Dean fought the urge to laugh. Gabriel sounded like an angry puppy.

"I'm Dean." He replied simply.

"And you're dating my little brother." Gabriel clarified. Dean nodded. Gabriel held up his finger, pointing it menacingly at Dean. "You hurt him, you will never see the light of day again."

"Understood." Dean said.

Gabriel clapped him on the shoulder. "Okay then. Let's introduce you to everyone."

"Everyone?" Castiel asked as he stepped out of the car.

"Okay, so the guy with the baby is Balthazar. The baby's name is Hael."

"Still going with the angel theme, I see." Castiel commented. Balthazar flashed him a grin.

"Next to Balthazar is Michael." The dark haired man waved halfheartedly. "He's kinda tense. It's okay to be scared of him." Gabriel whispered to Dean.

Gabriel led Dean into the kitchen. There was a woman mixing some punch and checking on other sides. "This is Balthazar's wife, Meg." The woman turned towards the two of them and waved.

"You must be with Castiel." She said. "Pleasure to meet you."

"You too." Dean said. "I'm Dean."

Meg smiled and turned back to the sides. Gabriel led Dean into the living room, where no one was residing.

"And," Gabriel continued. "I'm sure you already know I'm Gabriel."

"Yup. I heard you and Cas talking on the phone yesterday."

Gabriel nodded, but Dean could tell he wanted to say something. Gabriel sighed. "What do you want out of this relationship?" Gabriel looked at him seriously.

Dean breathed in deeply. "Okay, I know we've only been together 8 months, but-" Dean sighed and lowered his voice. "I want to marry him."

Gabriel gasped excitedly and Dean had to shush him. "Tell me everything." Gabriel said.

"Dean seems nice." Balthazar said as he bounced Hael on his knee. "How long have you been together?"

"8 months." Castiel said. "I met him at work."

Balthazar nodded. "We have to meet up more often." He said. "It's been- what? Three years?"

Castiel nodded. "Too long."

It was silent for a moment before Balthazar stood up. "I'm going to see if Meg is done with the sides yet. Can you hold her?"

Castiel nodded and stretched out his arms to take the baby. "I'm very sorry if she throws up on you, by the way."

Balthazar walked through his house and to the kitchen. "Meg?" He called.

He heard noises coming in from the living room. He heard a couple excited squeals, so he went to check it out. Meg, Gabriel, and even Michael were seated around Dean, listening to him talk about something. Balthazar heard him say something about 'kindergarteners' and 'drawings.' He was more confused than anything. Meg was covering her heart and Michael was patting Dean on the back. Castiel never brought anyone home that Michael approved of. This was a surprise.

"What's going on?" Balthazar asked.

All of them now noticed that he was standing here. They all had shit-eating grins on their faces.

Meg ushered him over to the small group. "Dean wants to propose!" She whispered excitedly.

"Are you serious?" He asked. He looked at Dean who grinned sheepishly.

"We all approve of his way so far." Michael said.

"I never thought you'd ever approve of any of his boyfriends." Balthazar snarked.

"When is this going to happen, now?" Gabriel asked. "Soon, I hope."

"Actually, no." Dean admitted. "Not until February."

Gabriel groaned. "Why did you trust me with this secret? I can't keep that until then!"

"Gabriel, if you spoil this, I will cut your vocal chords so you won't be able to speak again." Meg snarled.

"Okay! Okay!" Gabriel held up his hands in surrender.

Castiel looked around warily. Balthazar had disappeared into his house over 20 minutes ago and he hadn't come back yet. He was starting to get worried.

He went into the house, bouncing Hael on his hip as he looked around.

"Why does February have to be so far away?" He heard Gabriel moan.

Castiel walked into the hall dividing the living room and the dining room and leaned against the door frame.

"I'm sure it'll come faster than we'll anticipate." Dean sighed and rubbed his face.

Castiel couldn't take it anymore. "What's happening in February?" He spoke up.

Everyone froze. Gabriel's jaw trembled as he tried to think of something to say. "ANNUAL FAMILY SLEDDING TRIP!" He blurted.

Castiel frowned. Everyone else nodded slowly. "Yeah." Balthazar said. "I did say we needed to spend more time together." He turned to Dean. "So Dean, February sound good?"

Dean nodded shakily. "Definitely."

Michael cooked up the pork shortly after that. They all sat at the picnic table in the backyard and chatted about random topics. Hael babbled off and on, just making random gurgles and coos.

"So, looks like we're going to have to buy a couple sleds when the time comes." Castiel mentioned offhandedly. "This should actually be fun. We've never really done anything like this before."

Everyone else at the table looked at each other knowingly, but Castiel didn't even notice.

They had to leave a couple hours later. Castiel didn't want to leave, but he knew he needed to get to work tomorrow to meet the new kids.

Dean and Castiel said their good-byes and hopped in the Impala.

"Now it's time for another long car ride!" Castiel said with fake enthusiasm.

"You love these." Dean said.

Castiel sighed. "Se questa macchina non fosse così rumorosa, mi piacerebbe fare lunghi viaggi in macchina." He smirked.

"I have a feeling that was a criticism." Dean scowled playfully.

"It is." Castiel smiled proudly.