Dean waited for almost an hour, checking the alarm clock on Cas's nightstand close to every five seconds.
He finally couldn't take it any longer. He was worried about Cas and he was afraid for their renewed and still breakable relationship.
He got up and pulled on a pair of boxers before heading out to find his boyfriend on the couch.
"Cas? Come back to bed, please." He spoke softly while moving over to sit on the edge of the cushion next to Castiel.
Cas sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He would have thought Dean would have been asleep by now. "I think Dot is asleep...," he said after a moment. "You should probably rest too."
"I can't." Dean gently ran his hand down Cas's upper arm. "I miss my warm, cuddly pillow."
Cas smiled sadly and nodded once. "Yeah... Okay..."
"Cas," Dean sighed sadly. "Cas, I get that seeing him upset you. I'm sorry..."
"That's the thing, Dean. It shouldn't have upset me..." Cas shook his head. "I just don't even know what I'm doing anymore. And you...," he trailed off and sighed. "Come on, let's go to bed." He shoved off of the couch and stood to head towards the bedroom.
Dean slipped his hand in Cas's and squeezed gently. He let himself be led back to the bedroom before speaking again. "It's still more or less fresh, it's normal to get upset."
"I know." Cas let himself be pulled down onto the bed. Dean shifted onto his back, pulling Cas with him until Cas's head was pressed against his chest, his right arm around Dean's stomach. They were quiet for a moment before Cas whispered, "You're so much better off without me..."
Dean's eyes snapped open wide and he bolted up halfway. "Cas! No! Don't you dare! We've been there before. Don't make the same mistake I made!" Dean gasped.
Cas kept his head tucked down and sighed. Dean's hands were suddenly on him, rubbing down his back. Dean was saying his name softly and Cas shivered under his touch.
"Don't do that to us. Please Cas, I need you. We need you." Dean whispered desperately.
Cas tightened his grip around Dean's waist and pulled him back down, curling around him when he was settled. "I left Balthazar because something I missed, something I had wanted for so long, came back into my life again. What kind of person does that make me, Dean? Someone who is faithful only until something better comes along. How can you want that?"
"I can just hope that there's nothing better than me," Dean tried to sound lighthearted though he felt anything but. He had been in Cas's position before, long ago he had thought Cas would be better off without him.
"Dean..." Cas whispered and held on tighter. "He's so hurt and even though he's moved on… He's so angry... I can't do that to you."
"Then don't," Dean laid his arms tighter around Cas. "Don't send me off now. We're both scared and I think we both want this to work again. Don't you? I know how it feels, Cas, I know how you feel right now. I left because I felt you deserved someone better than me. And I regret it so much that I never talked to you about it before I decided I had to leave. It was the worst thing I've ever done."
"I do, Dean. And… I do want this to work. But I'm so afraid I'm going to be the one to fuck this up."
"Just like me. But we have to do it right this time. We have to talk about things and not run from them." Dean's voice was soft as he talked to Cas, his lips ghosting close to his temple.
"I just don't want to lose you again," Cas whispered, wincing when he heard his voice break.
"I don't want to lose you either. The distance is putting enough strain on us. I love you, Cas, I need you."
"I'm sorry..." Cas whispered leaning up to meet Dean's eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with me."
"There's nothing wrong with you. You're nervous and anxious about our new take, and that's okay. Just promise I won't lose you over the same stupid mistake that I made."
"Can you just kiss me so I shut up?" Cas smiled, eyes flicking down to Dean's lips.
Dean grinned and leaned down a little to kiss Cas softly. Cas leaned into the kiss, sighing quietly. When he pulled back he laid back against Dean, running his hand over Dean's stomach. "I love you."
Dean smiled, as he played with the hair at the nape of his neck. "I love you too."
...
Dean set the bowl of cereal in front of his daughter and kissed her hair. "I'll be right back," he told her and took the cup of coffee he had poured. He went to the bedroom and sat on the bed.
"Good morning," he smiled and kissed Cas's cheek.
"Morning," Cas mumbled sleepily, turning his head to catch Dean's lips in a soft kiss. "I didn't hear you get up..."
"I wanted to let you sleep, you looked like you needed it. Made you coffee."
"Thank you," Cas' eyes widened and he pushed himself into a sitting position. "Now I'm never going to get rid of you."
"Just what I was shooting for..." Dean grinned and handed the cup over.
Cas took the mug, wrapping his fingers around it, and inhaled deeply before he took a sip. He smiled, letting his eyes fall closed as the caffeine washed over his tongue. "Perfect," he grinned, opening his eyes again to meet Dean's.
"You look beautiful," Dean stated with a loving smile.
Cas felt himself blush slightly and he reached over to place his mug on the nightstand. Once it was settled he reached for Dean's hands, taking both in his own. "I'm sorry about last night..."
"Shhh, don't be," Dean pleaded and kissed Cas to shut him up.
"No, Dean... really." Cas rested their foreheads together. "I acted like a jerk last night and I'm glad... I'm glad you stopped things. You were right," he looked up and met Dean's eyes, kissing him softly again before pulling back to reach for his coffee. "Don't expect me to tell you that too often."
Dean slapped Cas's thigh and smirked. "Fuck you," he laughed.
"Dean!" Cas gasped, half mocking as he stared at Dean in shock. "We don't do that, you know. We make love."
Dean laughed heartfelt. "You're terrible, I hate you. I'll have to stay at your side forever and teach you how to behave," he smirked.
A terrified shriek cut through their morning mockery and had Dean jerking upright.
"Go!" Cas shoved at him and Dean moved quickly out of the room leaving Cas to untangle himself from the covers. He slipped on a pair of pajama bottoms and then followed Dean out into the kitchen where Dotty was in a full-blown panic attack.
"What happened, Princess?" Dean asked over and over and crouched down before her, panicked as well, expecting every kind of terrible news.
Cas stood at Dean's side, his eyes flickering back and forth between the two of them. The little girl seemed fine, save the wild, panicked expression in her eyes.
"I'm - I have - I bit onto a crunchy bit," Dotty looked at her Daddy and visibly fought back tears. "Please don't be mad at me, Daddy…" Tears trailed down her cheeks as she whimpered, "I didn't mean to do it…"
"Why would I be mad at you, sweetheart?" Dean murmured softly as he wiped her tears away.
"'Cuz I… cuz I broked my tooth," she sniffled.
Cas looked at Dean for a moment, confused before he turned back to Dotty. She had both of her hands clasped over her mouth now and she was crying, gulping in air through the cracks of her fingers. Dean was trying to soothe her and pull her hands away so he could see what she was talking about.
"I'm not mad, Dotty, but I need you to let me have a look, okay?" Her daddy coaxed her softly.
Dotty nodded hesitantly, slowly moving her hands away from her face. She had a small spot of blood on her palm and she wailed at the sight of it. Dean had to grab her small hands in his own to stop her from throwing them back over her mouth.
He looked up at Cas in a silent cry for some help with the terrified girl. Then he met her eyes. "Okay, which one, Dot. Show me which tooth you think you broke."
Dorothy whimpered as she pushed her top front tooth forward with her tongue, a small cry of pain leaving her parted lips. Cas leaned forward, fighting back the urge to smile. The tooth was loose, a few strands of bloody saliva had made their way free of her gums, and when he looked at the table, he saw a shiny red apple sitting beside her cereal bowl. A small bite was missing and a little blood tinged the exposed, fruit pink.
"Were you having an apple with your cereal, Dotty?" Cas asked quietly. He saw Dean's eyes dart from the blood on Dotty's tooth to the apple and then Dean turned his eyes and an understanding smile towards Cas for the briefest of moments.
Not being able to speak around the thumb her daddy had hooked over her lower teeth all the little girl could do was nod her small blond head and sniffle.
Gently Dean slipped his hands through her blond hair and leaned forward to kiss his daughter on her cute little nose with a fond chuckle, "It's okay, little Bear. Nothing is broken! You are just such a big girl now that you're six…and now your baby teeth are going to come loose and fall out. Then…you will have room for your new, big-girl teeth." Dean gave her a soft reassuring smile, thinking that would end her worries.
But suddenly her eyes grew huge and moist again, as the explanation sunk in. "But, Daddy, they can't do that! How can I eat if all my teeth fall out?!" she cried, once again near to tears.
Without hesitation, Cas stepped in quickly, "Oh no, sweetheart! They will only come out one at a time and a new tooth starts coming in right away so you can keep eating all the good food Daddy makes for you."
Dot turned wary green eyes on her Daddy, "Really, Daddy?" she asked, looking for his parental confirmation. "Do they just come out one at a time like Cas said?"
"Yes, honey, Cas would never lie to you. When I was a little boy, my teeth came out only one at a time. Cas had the same thing when he was little like you!"
"Daddy… you were little like me? Cas, you too?" the little one stared in disbelief. When both men nodded emphatically, Dotty giggled.
Suddenly, Cas thought of the perfect way to get Dot's mind off her loose front tooth. "Hey, Dot! How about if we go look at some old photo albums and see if we can find pictures of your Daddy and me from a long time ago?"
With a happy squeal the little girl, launched herself into his arms, "Oh…Yesss, please! Let's go."
Minutes later they were all piled together on the sofa poring through a stack of albums. Dean and Dorothy leaned in to look at the pictures with Cas. He smiled as he flipped through them and pushed one over to Dean. "This was the first picture your Daddy and I ever took together…" Cas smiled as he looked across the pages at it. "I think that was the fourth of July?"
Dean looked up and met Cas's eyes and smiled.
"Damn, that was ages ago." Dean grinned.
Dot looked at the picture and giggled. "You look ... funny," she decided and smirked at the two men. Cas winked at her and started fishing through the rest of the photos, looking for the ones when he was a kid.
"I'll remind her of that comment in ten years." Dean declared. He saw a photo as Cas sorted through them and reached out to take it. "Look at this beautiful boy. That was my prom date." Dean told his daughter and showed her the photo.
"Oooh!" Dotty's eyes widened as she took in the picture, turning it this way and that before shaking her head. "Daddy, that blue is like my dolly's baby blanket!"
Cas laughed and shook his head. "Your Dad wasn't the only one wearing powder blue!"
"It was high fashion, come on, Cas!" Dean pouted.
Cas winked at him from over Dotty's head and pulled out another photo. "Here I was when I was about your age…" he leaned forward, squinting at it. "Not smiling though…"
"You never showed me that. Oh damn, you looked cute. Like the kind of boy I'd want for my Princess." Dean grinned. Cas rolled his eyes and then laughed when he came across the next photo.
"Oh man," he laughed again and handed it over to Dotty quickly. "Here's a picture of your Daddy and Uncle Sammy..."
Dean looked over Dorothy's shoulder. "You kept that? We have to show Sammy!"
Cas nodded in agreement. Dot stared at the photos, smiling as they flipped through a few more, her tooth seemingly forgotten.
When they were finished with the photos, Dean smiled at Castiel thankfully. He hadn't imagined Dotty's first loose tooth to become a near tragedy. He couldn't remember his, but he had always thought kids were excited about them...getting to earn a visit from the Tooth Fairy and all. That his daughter would panic had never crossed his mind. He felt extremely lucky that it had happened while they were with Castiel.
Although Dot was still pushing against her loose tooth with her tongue, she seemed to have a new mindset as she did so. "Cas?" she asked softly as he was putting away the final pictures. "Can I keep this one?"
Cas looked down and saw she'd picked up a picture of him and Dean. It had been taken shortly after their wedding, a simple black and white picture where Cas had been kissing Dean's cheek. He smiled at this and glanced up to see Dean with a matching smile.
"Sure, if you want it," he agreed and looked to Dean for confirmation.
Dean nodded. "That's a good picture," he agreed. "Good choice, little Bear." Dean leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms above his head. "Did we have any plans for today?" Dean asked. "I feel like PJ day, how about you two?"
"I think that sounds perfect," Cas agreed and looked towards Dotty for agreement. She beamed at them and slid off the stool to race to her room for her blanket. "Should we watch a movie?"
"Minions!" Dorothy screeched in excitement and jumped onto the couch.
"Oh." Dean looked at Cas. Dorothy was so excited, Dean didn't dare tell her that not everyone shared her movie collection.
Cas laughed at their expressions and reached for the remote. "Let's check 'on demand'..."
Dean smiled and kissed his cheek. "I love you."
"Love you more," Cas whispered back and sank into the couch between the Winchesters. Dorothy was in luck, and Cas quickly found "Despicable Me" in the 'on demand' cable offerings and started it.
Dean slipped his arm around his boyfriend and snuggled closer while they watched the movie together.
"You're so fluffy I'm gonna die." he whispered in a low voice, rubbing his cheek against Cas's shoulder.
Cas laughed and leaned into Dean's embrace. "Do you get all of your pickup lines from animated movies?" He laughed and Dot shushed them. Cas gave Dean a wide-eyed expression and then burst into laughter.
Dean laid his hand over Cas's mouth. "Shhh… the wrath of the green-eyed tickle-monster will come upon us." He warned with a wary look at Dorothy.
"Oh no!" Cas whispered against Dean's hand and they were both rewarded with a sassy glare from Dot.
Dean had a hard time trying not to laugh. He couldn't imagine anything better than having fun with Dot and Castiel. Well, maybe he could, but he'd never push Cas into that, they had to take things slow and careful, and the physical distance between them was hard, but pretty much what they needed at the moment.
For the rest of the movie, Dean and Cas behaved, keeping silent unless Dorothy herself made a comment or asked a question. Cas relaxed against Dean, Dotty relaxed against him, and Cas had never felt more content.
After the movie, Dot requested the sequel, but Dean tapped Cas's growling stomach. "Someone hasn't had breakfast... Order in or raid your fridge? Dot and I create great fridge raiding meals."
"Let's see what we can whip up," Cas smiled and clicked on the next movie before following Dean into the kitchen.
"Oh, you and me, huh? I thought Dotty would want to help. Your couch is too comfy for that child, she gets lazy here." Dean laughed softly. "Cas ... You're so amazing. You're ... With Dotty, you're perfect."
"I bought that couch for its movie watching potential," Cas laughed and leaned forward to kiss Dean. "Dotty is pretty perfect, you've done such a fantastic job raising her."
"Thanks. I never thought I'd love a child that much. When her mom told me she was pregnant, I was in shock. And then when she died and I had to raise Dot all alone, that was freaking scary... So, thank you, it's good to know that I did well after all."
"You're an amazing father," Cas wrapped his arms around Dean's waist and pulled him in closer. "I love you, so much."
"I love you too." Dean smiled happily and kissed Cas quickly.
"This week is flying by way too quickly..."
"It is." Dean sighed.
Cas leaned against Dean's chest, smiling when Dean wrapped his arms around his back. "I don't want you two to leave."
"Should I call Bobby and ask for another week?" Dean suggested.
He didn't want their time together to end either, but they both had their jobs. Castiel was taking off a lot of time because of him anyways. Though, if Bobby agreed, he and Dorothy could do tourist stuff while Cas was at work, and they could prepare him dinner to come home to …
"I don't want you to leave Bobby hanging..." Cas said slowly. "But you're more than welcome here, you know that."
"I'll talk to him, but won't promise things." Dean smiled softly.
"Okay," Cas kissed Dean on cheek then turned to open the fridge. Leaning in past the open door he began to move containers around on the shelves.
"So, what do we have to offer?" Dean asked.
"I have... eggs?" Cas shrugged and pushed aside the milk and orange juice. "Left over pizza, cheddar cheese, some pepperoni, apples and beer."
"Hmmm that sounds like a challenge." Dean admitted. "Do you have flour? We could make leftovers-pancakes."
Cas raised an eyebrow at him. "Like... pizza pancakes?"
"Yes, you gotta think creative," Dean winked, "and apple pancakes for dessert."
"I think I should be afraid," Cas laughed and reached in to grab the cheese, pepperoni and apples from the fridge. He tossed them onto the counter and then turned around to find the rest of the ingredients they would need while Dean foraged through the cabinets for a mixing bowl.
"Wait, you're gonna run out on us because of the way we eat?" Dean asked in mock-shock.
Cas rolled his eyes and tossed him the large, Tupperware container of flour. "I think it would take a bit more than food poisoning to get rid of me now."
Dean caught the container and exhaled exaggeratingly relieved. "I'll pay for a fancy dinner if it turns out bad."
"Shut up, kiss me, and make me some damn breakfast," Cas laughed and grabbed Dean's wrist, tugging him closer. Dean grinned and planted a wet kiss on Cas's cheek.
Cas smiled and turned his head, catching Dean's lips in a quick kiss before he returned his attention to the task at hand. "Alright, let's get started..." He bent down to pull a frying pan from the stove drawer and placed it on the stovetop.
Under Dean's direction - because, let's face it, Cas had never been the best at preparing any kind of real meal - they made cheddar and pepperoni 'pancakes' and after Cas had rooted around in the freezer and found a frozen pie crust, they opted to make a pie instead of the apple pancakes. Dot was more than happy with their 'brunch creations' and Cas had to admit that they weren't half bad.
It took them one more movie before Dorothy finally declared she was bored and the three of them chose to get dressed in comfortable clothes and head to Central Park for an afternoon visit.
When they reached the magnificent park, Dot bounced along happily a few feet ahead of them with a small butterfly net she'd convinced her Dad to buy for her from a street vendor. When Cas took Dean's hand as they were walking down the path, Cas didn't think that life could get any sweeter than this.