Castiel appeared in the kitchen, where Sera was leaning against the counter, sipping on a cup of coffee that was mostly milk and sugar. "Hey," She said, a big smile on her face. "There's my baby." Cas set the carrier on the table. "Have any problems?"

"She kept waking Dean up, but other than that she was no trouble." Sera stepped over and set her coffee down, then reached in and picked up her daughter, wrapped up in the Winchester blanket. "How's my little angel?"

She looked at Cas, scanning him up and down. "Something's changed in you since the last time we saw each other. You're standing different, your posture's changed. There's a weird look in your eyes…" She shook it off. "Then again, I haven't seen you since you've left…it's probably just from the night you guys spent with that chick…and the kiss." Cas glanced away, and she got curious.

"Has there been more since then?" She asked, trying not to sound too excited. Cas purposefully avoided her eyes when she tried to catch his gaze. "Did Dean tell you not to talk about it?"

"Yes. He says anything we do is not anyone else's business."

"Well, he's right about that." She looked around to make sure that Sam wasn't close enough to listen. "Come on, sit down, have some coffee, we'll talk."

"But I'm not supposed to…"

"Cas, really? This is me. You need to talk to someone and if it's not me then who?"

Castiel considered this, and then stepped over to the counter and took a coffee mug from the cabinet. Sera angled one of the chairs and sat in it, setting her child on her lap and holding her with one hand, picking up her coffee with the other and taking a drink. Castiel sat down, clutching the cup in his hands and taking a drink. Sera smiled because he looked like a four year old who hadn't quite learned the mechanics of drinking on his own yet.

"So, after I talked to you last…what happened?"

"We talked, and I kissed him…more to prove that I could than anything else."

"And?"

"We talked more, and then we went out."

"Out as in out out? Like a date?"

"We went to a bar and played pool. I was accosted by a woman and Dean pulled her off of me…and then we went back to the house we were staying in."

"And then?" She asked, taking another sip.

"I…worshipped him with my mouth."

Sera nearly choked on her coffee, it took everything in her not to spit it out. She set the cup down and covered her mouth, coughing.

"Are you all right?" Cas asked.

"Yeah, fine," she forced out before coughing again. She looked down at her daughter, who was looking at her with big hazel eyes like she had gone mad. "It was just…your word choice…it made me laugh, which is not a good thing to do when you're drinking."

She adjusted the infant then looked back up at Cas. "So, what else?"

"Since then we have copulated seven times, usually in whatever motel we are in but twice in the Impala and once in a graveyard."

"A graveyard?"

"We were fighting a ghost…I kept shooting rock salt at it while Dean broke the coffin open to salt and burn it…apparently he likes me using firearms more than I previously realized."

"Apparently." She decided to get a drink in before she asked anything else. "Has anything else changed between the two of you?"

"No. He insists on acting like it has not happened at all. He has even gone home with women he has met when I was not with him."

"Yeah well, Dean's not really programmed to be monogamous. You had to see that one coming."

"At least now he does not run away from me."

"That's an improvement."

"The only acknowledgement he has given it is continuous joking complaints about his injuries."

"Injuries?"

"Bruises, bite marks, cuts from my fingernails, scraped knees…"

Sera put up a hand and he stopped. "I get it, Cas, you don't have to keep going."

"He refuses to let me heal them until they begin to interfere with his movements…"

"Yeah, dude's been through hell, he likes it rough." She snorted and adjusted the child in her lap. "Man you are giving me such good material right now and I'll probably never get to use it unless I can get him to own up to it. I'll get him to eventually though, and then it's open season."

"Why…never mind." Castiel said, as if knowing he was never going to fully understand Sera's need to insult Dean. There was the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. When Sam started to come in Sera changed the subject. "So, you're hunting ghosts now?"

"Yes. I have become quite skilled at it. I still do not understand why Dean insists on being the one to dig the graves, though. I have better stamina and greater strength…"

"I think he likes burning them." Sam said, grabbing himself a coffee mug from the cabinet. "It's just this whole sort of…ritual he would do when we would salt and burn…plus digging graves is the closest he ever gets to proper exercise."

Sam drank down some of his coffee, then set the cup on the counter. He stepped over to Sera and pecked her on the lips, then reached down to take Thalia from her. He cradled his daughter in his arms. "Hey there, Tally. I missed you. Did you miss your Daddy?" Thalia made a noise and reached up towards her father's face, opening and closing her hands like she was trying to grab him.

Castiel looked up at Sam. "You cut your hair."

"Well, actually Sera did, but yeah."

"You appear to be younger."

Sam glared at Sera. "I told you."

"I didn't disagree, I just said you should stop complaining about it."

Castiel finished off what was in his coffee cup and then stood. "I should return."

Sera stood up and hugged him tight, like Sam always hugged Dean. "We'll miss you, Cas," she whispered before stepping away. Cas nodded at her, then vanished.

"So…" Sam said as Sera picked up her coffee cup and took a drink.

"So?"

"What's going on with them?"

"The usual stuff. Ghosts and witches and creepy monsters."

"I meant on the personal level and you know it."

"Nothing to report."

"Oh, Come on, there has to be something. There always is."

"Not this time."

"The more you deny something is going on, the stranger by presumptions become."

"I suggest you stop trying to guess at it now. Right now, and if you don't I'll make you stop."

"I like it when you get forceful."

"Why don't you put Tally in her playpen? It looks like she's been pampered all night so I think she's good for a while."

Sam looked at his daughter like he didn't want to put her down.

"Sam…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going."

Cas appeared in the motel room, where Dean was just starting to wake up. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, ruffling his hair and yawning. "Mornin'" He said sleepily.

"Good morning, Dean."

"Tally back home?"

"Yes, I returned her. Sera and Sam seem very happy. She cut his hair."

"Really?"

"Yes, and his sideburns have shortened considerably."

"Well, good on her. His hair's been out of control forever."

"He looks much younger. Like he did at Stanford."

"Bet she's enjoying that." Dean rubbed his eyes then looked up at Cas, then stood. "Well, I'm gonna go brush my teeth and find a shirt…"

"I don't think you should bother getting dressed."

There was a pause, like Dean didn't quite catch what he was saying. "What?"

"We have this room until noon."

Dean's eyes widened. "Oh, right…okay then." He said, forcing himself up. He gestured toward the bathroom. "I'll just uh…be a human minute." Dean walked past the angel.

"Take as much time as you need," He said, eyes all over Dean's back and how the sweatpants he wore to sleep in hugged his thick thighs and backside until he shut the bathroom door.