Author's Notes: Hey guys! Time for the Christmas chapter. Lots of adorable things going on so I hope you enjoy it. Mariah Carey's classic song inspired this chapter and we hope to post again by Saturday, so please review! Also, keep in mind that you're in for a hell of a ride, this is probably the last of the relatively tranquil chapters before shit starts flying towards the fan. Tell us what you think!

Chapter Twenty-One: All I Want For Christmas Is You

It was Christmas Eve, and it was the best one anyone at this party had had in a pretty long while. Dean had made a freaking enormous turkey, and everyone had retired to the living room to fight off the effects of pigging out and tryptophan.

"I can't believe you actually got a tree this year," Sam mumbled at Dean, his head resting in Gabriel's lap. He was feeling the worst of the effects of the turkey - his eyelids were drooping and he kept dozing off.

Of course it didn't help that Gabriel kept petting his hair like he was an overgrown lap dog.

Meg and Charlie were sharing the armchair in the corner, and Charlie had seemed more than a little nervous all throughout Christmas dinner. Cas wondered whether Meg had actually asked her out before inviting her to this party, and figured she hadn't, considering Meg was definitely overcompensating for being insecure over basically everything. Cas hoped for only the best for them as he pressed closer to Dean, who was holding him loosely in his arms.

"I like Christmas trees," Dean muttered petulantly. "Just 'cause we suck at them doesn't mean I can't have one this year."

Decking the tree, admittedly, had been something of a disaster. It had been a while since either of them had decorated a Christmas tree, and Cas almost shuddered to remember how Dean had almost managed to strangle himself with the Christmas lights. It had been terrifying, and they'd decided that next year, they were investing in a pre-lit tree.

Jo and Adam were also at the party, having taken the other armchair for themselves. Jo had draped herself across Adam's lap, and he kept drifting off to sleep as well. Jo took great pleasure in prodding him awake again, though she was pretty sleepy herself.

"So," Meg said, her voice just a hair louder than it ought to be, "I brought bourbon. Does anyone want any?"

A murmur of half-hearted assent floated around the room, and Meg tried to get up. Charlie stopped her with a smile. "Let me handle it. I tended bar all through college."

Charlie left the room to get the bourbon, and Cas saw Gabriel's eyebrow flicker upward and his expression turned measuring for a moment. For all Gabriel liked to play the fool, he was one of the most perceptive people Cas knew, and Cas knew then that Gabriel had pieced together enough.

Of course, that perceptiveness did not come with any sense of tactfulness.

"Somebody's got a girlfriend," he singsonged at Meg, who glared daggers back at him before Charlie came back with a tray of glasses balanced on her shoulder.

"Jesus, Charlie," Jo said, eyes widening. "How the hell did you learn to do that?"

"Secret bartender knowledge. You have to reach level fifteen and multiclass into a bartender-waitress, though," she replied impishly.

Adam blinked. "What?"

"Go back to sleep, sweetheart," Jo said, nudging him. "Charlie's dungeon-babbling again."

"Okay, now neither of you get a drink," Charlie said, joking as she passed the drinks around. True to her word, though, Jo and Adam got theirs last.

Cas shifted so Dean had more space to drink in, but Dean just leaned over to put the drink on the coffee table, briefly distracting Cas from basically everything when his shirt rode up for a moment to reveal a sliver of his back, and pulled Cas into his lap.

"No funny business," Cas warned softly, unable to keep from smiling. "We have company."

Dean just laughed and held him tighter.

Another laugh drew Cas's attention to Meg, who covered her mouth and gestured at Sam and Gabriel, who had both managed to fall asleep.

"Is that...half a dick?" Dean asked, craning his neck to see.

Gabriel had retrieved a marker from somewhere, and had apparently started trying to draw a dick on Sam's face, but only got halfway through before it turned into a looping squiggle and a fading line down off of Sam's cheek. The marker had fallen out of Gabriel's hand when he'd himself fallen asleep, and Cas couldn't help chuckling himself.

Of course, Sam and Gabriel had taken the other end of the couch, so his proximity and his laughter woke Sam, and that only made it funnier.

"Wha' happened?" Sam asked, as soft laughter broke out all across the room.

Dean actually started guffawing at that, shaking with laughter behind Cas.

Sam noticed the marker on the couch next to him. His eyes narrowed, but he sighed resignedly. "He drew a dick on my face, didn't he?"

That was what woke Gabriel. "Half a dick," he grumbled. "Looks like I fell asleep in the middle."

Sam groaned and made to get up, only for Gabriel to yank him back down into something of a tangle of limbs. He kissed him, saying, "Oh, you're staying right here, half a dick on your face or not."

Dean was still laughing, and Jo was practically hysterical in Adam's lap.

Meg, on the other hand, rolled her eyes. "Oh, eww, Gabe."

"Eww yourself, Meggles."

"Don't call me Meggles," she said, practically growling. She almost got up, and Charlie kept her seated again in some way that almost made Meg yelp. Charlie was grinning almost viciously, and from where Cas was, he couldn't see where Charlie's hands were.

Gabriel met Charlie's grin with one of his own, his arms wrapped tight around Sam. "Oh, we are definitely keeping you."

Charlie's smile softened a little, and Meg said, "I think you might have met your match, Gabriel. Charlie here reportedly has a tattoo of a slave Leia straddling a twenty-sided die."

"I was drunk and it was Comic-Con!" Charlie protested, swatting Meg, but the indignation in her voice was mostly feigned. She wrapped an arm briefly around Meg's waist. "And it wasn't like I had a girlfriend to stop me from making stupid life choices..."

Meg turned her face away from the group briefly and said nothing - okay, she was definitely blushing over that comment.

Jo filled the ensuing silence with an enormous yawn and an almost theatrical draining of her glass. She leaned up to kiss Adam gently on the lips, even though he was dozing again. "Hey, sleeping beauty," she said, "It's like, two a.m."

"And as fun as a slumber party would be," Meg said, recovering herself, "We should all probably head home now, leave our hosts with some alone time."

"Oh fuck you," Dean grumbled, almost affectionately.

The party started to break up then; Meg and Charlie first, Meg's hand seeming almost tentative on Charlie's back, and then Jo and Adam, and finally Sam managed to extricate himself from Gabriel's arms so they could go. Gabriel whined about it, mumbling something about the apartment having a guest room, but Sam pulled him up anyway.

"Merry Christmas," Sam said when they all gathered at the door, pulling Dean and Cas each into a separate hug.

"Merry Christmas," each of them replied, Dean wrapping an arm around Cas.

"And what am I, chopped liver?" Gabriel said with an over-the-top pout.

Cas laughed and pulled his cousin into a hug. "Merry Christmas, and thanks."

Dean shook Gabriel's hand and repeated the good wishes, and Sam and Gabriel left the apartment. Soft Christmas music was still filtering in from the kitchen, and Cas hummed along to Mariah Carey, looking at Dean and jumping into his arms and singing loudly along to, "Allllll I wantttt for Christmassss issss YOUUUUUU!"

Dean laughed, spinning Cas around in his arms, leaning him over the counter and nuzzling his neck before pulling him into a gentle, sweet kiss. "Mm, now what do you say we take up Meg's idea of getting some alone time?"

Cas grinned. "Christmas Eve sex? I'm down."

Dean chuckled as he lifted a giggling Cas higher in his arms as he ran full speed down the hallway towards the bedroom.

Blinding light streamed into the window in the morning, and Cas rolled off of Dean, groaning. It was then that he realized the blinding light was way too white to be sunlight. He shot up out of bed, flinging himself to the window, and saw fresh snow on the ground, still falling from the sky.

He pounced on the bed, shaking Dean awake, peppering him with kisses as he groaned and struggled to get out of his boyfriend's grasp. "Cas, wha...?" he mumbled, and then it was as if a light switch was flicked as he realized what day it was, shooting up to grab his boyfriend and fling him down onto the bed, pressing a deep kiss on his lips. "Merry Christmas, baby," he whispered, and Cas chuckled before pecking his lips gently.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Dean," Cas replied, smiling gently and looking into his boyfriend's eyes before pecking him on the lips quickly and pulling him up. "It's a white Christmas, Dean, it snowed last night!"

Dean allowed Cas to pull him up, beaming. "Awesome." He pulled his boyfriend into his chest from behind, pressing his lips to the back of his neck, making him moan. "Now how about we stay in bed just a little while longer…"

"No, Dean, you don't get Christmas sex until after you take me out to dinner," Cas told him, laughing, but his laugh turned into a groan of need when Dean dipped his head down to suck on the dip of his neck and his shoulder. "D... Dean, stop it..." he said feebly, not even struggling.

"Mhm..." Dean mumbled, keeping his attention on his boyfriend's neck.

"Ugh, Dean, no!" Cas objected, pulling out of his grasp and turning around. "We have a huge day planned, and I don't want to delay any of it. Let's go take a shower and then we can exchange presents and stuff."

"Who says I got you any presents?" Dean asked, grinning cheekily.

"Ha ha," Cas replied, rolling his eyes sarcastically. "Come on, let's take a shower."

"You take a shower first, I have to check on something," Dean told him, and he nodded, tilting his head in that way that Dean loved that represented his curiosity before turning to enter the bathroom. Dean went into the living room, passing the Christmas tree to get to the door of the closet, opening a box at the back on the floor, double checking to make sure that everything was set, and it was. He went into the shower just as Cas was coming out, pecking his boyfriend on the lips as he moved towards the sink to start shaving while Dean washed himself. They wound up finishing shaving at around the same time, due to Castiel's meticulous perfectionist approach when it came to grooming, and Dean looked him in the eye and pecked him on the lips. "It's Christmas, and I love you," he said quietly, pulling his boyfriend closer into his arms.

"I love you too," Cas mumbled, pressing a short kiss on his lips and then burying his head in Dean's shoulder. They stood like that for a little while before Cas grabbed his wrist and half pulled, half dragged him out of the bathroom. "Now come on, I want to give you your present!"

"Don't we need to get dressed first?" Dean said, glancing down at their current state of undress wearing only towels before looking back up at Cas pointedly.

Cas sighed. "Fine, but just pull on sweatpants or something. We're not getting dressed up yet, it's just for presents.

Dean nodded, and it took the both of them about a minute to pull on clothes, and then Cas pulled Dean into the living room, where the presents that were exchanged the previous night sat under the tree, as well as a perfectly wrapped, medium sized box sitting on top of the pile.

"That wasn't there last night," Dean told him, kissing him as he took the box off the pile.

"I know, I snuck out while you were in the bathroom," Cas admitted, smiling.

Dean gripped the box with both hands, shaking it a little, and when no noise came out, he ripped open the wrapping, pulling out a pretty bulky box with a golden crown on it. He recognized the logo, and looked up at Cas, eyes wide. "Cas, is this what I think it is?"

"Open it," Castiel encouraged, and he watched as Dean pulled off the lid and flipped open the box inside to reveal an absolutely gorgeous silver and gold Rolex watch with a sapphire blue face, and he picked it up and turned it over in his hand.

"Jesus, Cas, is this real?"

"I would certainly hope so, with the amount I spent on it," Cas joked, and Dean looked down at it and back up at him in disbelief.

"How… how did you afford this?" he asked in wonder, before starting, looking up at Cas in alarm. "Not that I don't absolutely love it, because I do… it reminds me of your eyes."

Cas smiled. "I may or may not have borrowed Gabriel's black card…" he admitted, looking up at Dean with a sheepish grin.

"Cas, you didn't have to do that!" Dean told him, slipping the watch on his wrist and fastening it, coming closer to him and pulling him into his arms. "I know how much you disliked your family's money and wanted to live without it and everything… why do that for me?"

Cas looked him in the eyes before kissing him gently on the lips. "Because I love you, and I wanted to get you something special. It's… it's more than just a watch. It's a reminder. Remember a few weeks ago, the night you told me you loved me for the first time? You said you'd be in love with me for a really long time, and I told you that we had all the time in the world. That's what this is for. It's a reminder of all the time that we have together left to come, as well as a symbol of how much you mean to me, Dean."

Dean admired the watch again, before pressing their lips together, hard. "I love it. Thank you so much, baby." He kissed him again, before flicking him on the nose, earning an indignant noise from the smaller man. "But don't spend this much money on me anymore!" he chided, and Cas smiled and nodded before kissing him again.

A whiny, high pitched noise that lasted a brief second sounded from inside the closet, though very muffled, and Cas shot straight up. "What the hell was that?"

Dean stood up, holding his hands out to calm Cas down before he moved towards the closet. "Wait two seconds and you'll see." He opened the closet door, going into the back on the floor and taking out the box, very carefully. "Trust me and don't shake this," Dean told Cas, who nodded, his head tilting and a perplexed expression on his face.

He set the wrapped box on Cas's lap, and Cas saw that it was a box with a lid, and handles on the side that were open. He didn't bother looking in the side before he pulled off the lid and looked, only to look up at Dean as his jaw dropped as an expression of shock and amazement came across his face.

The spotted tabby kitten in the box looked up at him with innocent eyes and made a high pitched, keening meow.

"You bought me a kitten?" he said, the little animal below him attempting to climb up the side of the box not quite sinking in yet as he looked up at Dean with tears in his eyes.

Dean grinned. "Yeah, Cas. Do you like her?"

Cas looked down again, reaching into the box to pick up the tiny thing. He looked into the cat's wide, innocent hazel eyes, holding her on his chest, where she gripped his t-shirt with her tiny little claws, mewling and trying to climb higher. He started to tear up as he lifted her and hugged her close to him, chuckling at her squeak of content as she rubbed her head on his arm and chest. "I love her, Dean," he whispered, looking up at his boyfriend with wonder in his eyes, and Dean wanted to capture that moment and keep it forever.

"What do you want to name her?" Dean asked him gently, kneeling beside the couch where Cas was seated to pet the kitten and rub his boyfriend's back lovingly.

Cas looked up from where he was staring down at the cat again. "I get to name her?" he asked quietly. Dean nodded, and Cas looked back at the cat for a long moment. "Eve," he said. "Let's name her Eve."

"Eve it is," Dean said, smiling, and kissed him on the forehead. "I bought a bunch of cat stuff too, litterbox and food and everything, they're in the closet."

Cas set Eve gently down on the couch, where she looked around, perplexed and curious by her surroundings, before Cas jumped on Dean, wrapping his legs around his boyfriend's waist and kissing him fiercely. "I love you so much, thank you," he whispered in Dean's ear.

"I love you too, Cas, Merry Christmas," Dean whispered back, pressing another kiss to his lips.

He stopped for a moment, looking at the cat and then the closet, and back at Cas. "Wait, there was something I didn't think about before…" he mused.

"What?" Cas asked, concerned, pulling his legs off Dean so that they rested on the floor.

"We have a date all day today…" Dean continued.

"Yeah, so?"

"What the hell are we going to do with the cat?"