Author's note: Thanks so much to Larkafree, Maknatuna, Maddy Love Castiel, FireChildSlytherin5, L. Greene, Keefer, Miahbug, ElcaBubble, MishaIsMyCastiel, musicfiend2392, Avalonemyst, kb18142, Pizzapig, SARA1988, CherylB1964 and RachelPhobia for last chapter's reviews.

37

August 7th, 2022

Grandpa Bobby is taking you fishing today. I'm not really convinced that you're going to like it, but maybe you'll surprise me. You tend to do that, after all.

"Now we wait," Bobby told his grandson after they both had prepared their fishing hooks and had lowered them into the water.

The two of them had found a good place right next to the water under the shade of a big tree where they had put down their things. Jody had had the good sense to pack a picnic basket for them. She had been at least as skeptical as Sam that fishing was the right thing for the archangel, but she thought that as long as there were a lot of sweets involved he'd stay content enough.

"And?" Gabriel asked with a slight frown, looking up to his grandfather expectantly. Of course, they had to wait for a fish to bite, but they surely would do something else while they waited, wouldn't they?

"And nothing. We just wait," Bobby replied calmly, leaning back a little to get more comfortable while they simply watched the water.

"That's lame," Gabriel commented, obviously not very pleased with their plan for the afternoon. Usually, when one of his relatives was taking him somewhere a lot of activity was involved, or at least talking or listening to music or something like that.

"It's time you learned some patience, boy," his grandfather pointed out casually. The kid was twelve years old, he should be able to just sit there in relative silence for a while. Bobby didn't really expect that Gabriel would make this easy for him, though.

"I can be very patient," the archangel nearly pouted, "I wait for my birthday and for Christmas and for Halloween all the time!"

All those things only happened once a year, so he had to wait the entire time and he wasn't bitching and moaning about it all too much. That had to count for something! Not to mention all the times he had to wait for the baking to be done before he could eat something. Gabriel was pretty convinced that he had the patience of a saint.

"How about waiting for things when you don't know when they'll happen?" Bobby asked with a slight smirk.

"That just sucks," Gabriel answered without missing a beat. Knowing when something was going to happen, or at least having an idea how long you'd have to wait, were the only things that made waiting bearable! He had the sinking feeling that there was nothing that would tell them when or if a fish would bite and that his grandfather didn't plan to do anything to entertain him in the meantime, though.

"So, we're going to practice that," Bobby said with a definite nod. He wasn't going to admit that this was more a test to see how long the boy would be able to just keep quiet and wait. It was something that didn't seem to be in Gabriel's nature – given the person he used to be that was no big surprise – so this could turn out to be quite the challenge. The older hunter had always thought that finding things that would be a challenge for your kids should be a part of their upbringing, anyway.

The archangel frowned and leaned back against the tree next to his grandfather. His first impulse had been to protest and possibly demand that they should do something else, but he knew that look on the adult's face that said that he had made up his mind about this and there was no use discussing. He also thought that he should just prove that he could be very patient, so his grandfather wouldn't decide that they needed to practice more often. It wasn't easy, however.

Bobby had to say that he was impressed. He had fully expected the boy to try to distract or annoy him to get him to change his plans, but he was just sitting there quietly, looking bored. Of course, most of the time Gabriel got whatever he wanted from them simply by looking like he wasn't completely happy. Maybe it wasn't fair to break with habits they all had allowed the archangel to get used to all of a sudden, but he was going to be a teenager soon and it might just be the right time to start treating him more like an adult little by little.

"What are we going to do when we catch a fish?" Gabriel asked in a silent tone after a couple of minutes of complete silence. The question might not have come up before they actually had a fish on the hook, if the boy hadn't had so much time to just think.

"What do you think?" Bobby replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Hell no!" the archangel exclaimed as soon as that little piece of information had sunk in. He quickly stood up and took both fishing rods away from the water. They could talk about it after he had made sure that no fish with extremely bad timing would bite.

"Gabe, what do you think where fish sticks come from?" the older hunter wanted to know. He really didn't think that nobody had ever told the kid that the meat he ate came from actual living and breathing creatures, but it looked like a living fish and the fish he ate were two things he kept very firmly separated in his mind.

"But… they're already dead when I get them," Gabriel insisted stubbornly. That little fact made all the difference to him, it proved his grandfather's suspicions about the way he viewed these things right, though. Not that there was anything wrong with that necessarily.

"Hate to break it to you kid, but they don't start out dead, either," Bobby pointed out.

"Are you trying to turn me into a vegetarian?" the archangel full on pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He wasn't quite sure if that lifestyle would work for him. On the one hand the cakes and pies he loved most would work with a vegetarian diet, on the other hand most of the normal lunch or dinner things wouldn't. Sure, he knew that there was alternate food that was meant to be just as good – Sophie's uncle insisted on that, anyway – but he couldn't quite imagine changing his diet that dramatically.

"Hell no," the older hunter replied immediately, "I just think a man should know what he's eating and then he can make an informed decision."

Gabriel looked deep in thought for a few long moments. He knew for sure that he didn't want to kill any fish or anything else. He'd probably have to talk to his father when he got home. His grandfather often confused him a little, but his dad was great at helping him to sort out his thoughts again.

"Alright, enough of the ethical discussions for today," Bobby stated after he had given the boy some time to let everything they had just talked about sink in. The older hunter opened the picnic basket and got a piece of fabric out, passing it over to the archangel.

Gabriel grinned when he unfolded the item and realized that his grandfather had brought his swimming trunks for him. They definitely were done with the fishing then. The only fish the archangel was going to see were those that didn't flee immediately when he got into the water and he had no intention of catching one of them.

"Can we stop at Rosie's?" Gabriel asked hours later when they were on their way back home. They had had snacks earlier and the archangel wasn't all too hungry, but he wanted to go to the diner, anyway.

Bobby considered the request for a moment, but in the end he didn't see a reason not to give in. He hadn't promised to bring the kid back for dinner which meant his parents weren't waiting for him and he couldn't spoil his appetite for some home cooked meal.

Just a minute later they walked into the diner and took a seat next to one of the windows overlooking the parking lot.

"What can I get you?" the waitress asked after giving them a little time to look at the menu.

The look on the archangel's face told Bobby that he was up to something. It was a safe bet that whatever the kid wanted to do here wouldn't be too much out of line though, so the older hunter only watched.

"I'd like a hamburger," Gabriel replied, looking at the woman with big eyes to make sure he got her full attention, "But I have a question first."

He had given the entire meat eating thing some more thoughts and had decided for himself that he would not be a vegetarian for the moment being, but that didn't mean that he didn't care about the animals at all.

"Alright, shoot," the waitress replied with a slightly amused smile. Chances were he just wanted to know if there were tomatoes on the burgers or something alike, but he looked like whatever question he wanted to ask meant a lot to him.

"Did the cows you used for the burgers live happy and fulfilling lives?" Gabriel asked curiously. Eating animals that had a good life wouldn't be too bad, he figured. In the end, the human body had been made to ingest meat among other things and animals had been made in a way that they could be eaten by humans, so that probably was okay. The archangel was willing to believe so until someone else prove him wrong, anyway.

"Of course, sweetheart," the woman replied as seriously as she could. That was a question she didn't hear every other day.

"That's okay then," Gabriel grinned, "I want that hamburger with fries."

Bobby shook his head fondly before he ordered his own meal.

"Third call from room 24," Valerie huffed, leaning against her husband as she finished telling him the tale of one of the stupider guests she had had to deal with lately, "He wants more towels again."

She really loved her job most of the time, but every now and then you just got a guest who was more annoying than most. Of course, it wasn't always possible to understand what strange requests really were about, especially not when people refused to give you the information you needed to get it.

"Someone's got the hots for the beautiful girl at the reception desk," Sam grinned, kissing her cheek, "I hear she's married, though."

The two of them had decided to take the time while Gabriel was gone to just cuddle on the couch and talk about the day they had had. Of course, they could have done that with the archangel around as well, but the entire atmosphere in the house was somewhat calmer without the little whirlwind.

Cookie was lounging next to them, only raising his head every now and then. Given the dog's age it was a miracle that he did anything other than sleeping all day long, but as soon as Gabriel was around he usually was all too willing to play with the boy. Sam couldn't help thinking that something not entirely natural was going on there, but he couldn't blame his son for not wanting to lose his oldest friend and Cookie didn't seem unhappy in the slightest, anyway.

"No worries, Mr. Winchester. He really was only interested in my towels," Val chuckled, "Turns out he – for some reason – tried to flush a pair of boxer shorts down the toilet and the thing was overflowing. He didn't want to bother us and tried to repair it himself, though."

If the guy had been honest from the start she could have called the maintenance guy or handed him the right tools and the entire situation could have been resolved much quicker. Of course, that wouldn't have made for a story to tell back at home, though.

"Way back when I was still driving cross country with Dean," Sam started his own story, wrapping his arm around his wife a little tighter, "The girl from reception came knocking and Dean being Dean cranked up the charm to eleven. She only wanted to inform us that there had been an incident with an overflowing bathtub upstairs and there was a chance that some water might come through the ceiling. Dean's face was priceless."

Valerie had no problems imagining her brother in law's reaction to being blown off like that. From what she had seen being rejected was something the older Winchester couldn't deal with all too well. It was good for him that Castiel didn't seem inclined to refuse anything as long as Dean was the one suggesting it.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door, signaling Gabriel's return.

"Any luck with the fishing?" Sam asked as soon as he let his son and father figure in.

"Nope," the archangel replied, shaking his head for emphasis, "I'm not killing any fish."

The younger Winchester nodded, looking at Bobby to see if there was more to the story. The older hunter's pointed look didn't exactly tell him a lot more than that there was something, though. However, Gabriel never was one not to share his thoughts and feelings with his family, so Sam didn't have to wonder for long.

"I'm only eating happy cows and pigs and chicken from now on, too," the boy added so seriously that his father had to try really hard not to laugh.

Sam had tried to buy mostly organic food ever since he could choose to do so, so they wouldn't have to change too much about their lifestyle, anyway. He'd still have to ask what exactly had brought this on. Their fishing trip had obviously taken an unforeseen turn at some point.

"What about happy fish?" Val asked from behind her husband. To her surprise Gabriel didn't have a witty comeback and just continued to look at her like she had just grown a second head. Granted, the question hadn't been highly intellectual or even all too serious, but she hadn't thought it had been quite that bad.

"I'm going to have a little sister," Gabriel whispered so silently that even the two men standing closest to him barely heard it. He quickly got over the first surprise and ran up to his mother, hugging her tightly while exclaiming, "I'm going to have a little sister!"

All the adults were frozen for a few long moments. They all had learned to expect the unexpected over time, but this had still caught them unprepared. It made sense that the archangel would be able to sense things like that, though.

"I'll be damned," Bobby was the first who spoke, patting the younger Winchester's back, "Congratulations."

"Are you sure?" Val asked, emotion making it hard to speak as she hugged the boy back.

Gabriel only nodded with a huge grin on his face. He hadn't seen her before she had left for work in the morning and the other day he hadn't been able to tell. If he thought about it, something had been a little different about her, however. When he had laid eyes on Val just a minute ago he had simply known what was going on. No mistakes possible.

"We're going to have a baby girl," Sam stated in wonder, hugging his little family tight. It'd probably take a while before the news sunk in completely, but there was no doubt whatsoever that they all were happy about it.

I just informed uncle Dean that he'll have to sleep on the couch when he comes to visit in the future. We'll have to make a nursery out of the guest room. How much pink can your uncle take before he throws a fit, what do you think?