March 2034 (Castiel is 44, Dean is 46, Eden is 20, Adrian is 17, the twins are 13, Noah is 7 (almost 8), Jason is 21, Sam and Jess are 38 (almost 39), Mary is 68, John is 69 (almost 70), Jesse is 14 (almost 15), Aria is 10, Kaylee is 5 years old).
"Dean?" The angel placed a hand on Dean's shoulder after the demon had finally hung up the phone with the words 'we'll be there at 8'. It had taken Dean a few seconds to finally respond to Mary.
Dean snapped out of it and turned to look at Cas. "It's… It's my dad. He had a heart attack. Mom's asking us to come to the hospital to see him; h-he's in a coma."
Castiel gasped in horror and withdrew his hand from Dean's shoulder. "Oh my god…"
Dean quickly got up from the bed and went to get some clothes on. "We should get ready to leave. Visiting hours start at 8." His voice was shaky and he trembled slightly as he put on his boxers and some clothes.
Castiel got up from the bed and pulled on his underwear. "We still have time, and I need to shower first to get my feathers cleaned."
"Alright. Wake up the kids when you're done. I'm going downstairs," Dean muttered before leaving the room.
Castiel quickly went into the upstairs bathroom to get his feathers cleaned of Dean's come from last night. The news of John's heart attack kept swirling inside the angel's head, and he was worried about his father-in-law. Coma meant that John was alive but it still wasn't a good thing. He had grown to like John a lot as a father-in-law and their relationship had grown stronger over the years, where in the beginning there was some tension between them because of John's racist views on angels. But things had changed and John had become a loving a grandfather to Dean and Castiel's children. He had always been helpful and supportive during Castiel's pregnancies and had offered to help him out and had always made sure the pregnant angel was comfortable when they visited him and Mary. Sometimes he had actually been more helpful than Dean.
After finishing in the shower and making sure that his feathers were no longer looking sticky he went over to Eden's door and knocked on it, waiting for her to open it for him.
A few moments later Eden finally opened the door, rubbing her eyes sleepily while staring up at Castiel in wonder. "What's wrong, papa? It's only 6:30…" Jason was lying on her bed inside the room since they shared her bed when he was over, and the human groaned loudly when his sleep was disturbed.
"You and Jason need to get dressed and come downstairs. We're going to the hospital soon; your grandfather had a heart attack and he's hospitalized now," Castiel explained to her slowly.
Eden gasped and brought her hand up to her mouth in horror, and tears formed in her eyes. "Oh my god… Is he okay?"
"Mary said he's in a coma. I don't know how well he is…" Castiel said and cast his eyes down.
"We'll get ready right away," Eden spoke before going back inside her room to inform Jason and get ready.
Castiel went to the other children's rooms, telling them the news and asking them to get ready to leave. Adrian was a little groggy and irritable when he answered the door because he wasn't a morning person, but as soon as he heard the news he immediately scrambled to get ready. Lily and Isaac were both shocked by the news and Lily started crying, so Castiel had to pull her close to his body and comfort her while she cried against him.
Noah didn't take the news well either. He burst into tears because he loved Mary and John a lot and always looked forward to visiting them, and the idea of losing his grandfather made him cry. Castiel hugged him tightly, as he had done with Lily, and Eden came over to help comfort Noah.
When they came downstairs Dean was far too worried and edgy to get through to. He was walking back and forth; something that Castiel hadn't seen him do since Isaac had his accident six years ago. Dean had made a quick call to Sam to make sure that his brother had heard the news as well, but Mary had already called him. Sam and his family were leaving from Stanford soon to meet them in the hospital.
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They arrived at the hospital in Dean's hometown at around 8am when visiting hours began and quickly made their way to John's room.
Mary was already there, holding John's hand as she sat next to his bed and looked at him with tears in her eyes. Both Mary and John had grey hairs now but still with some color in it.
"Oh, there you are," Mary sighed when they arrived and immediately came over to pull Dean into a hug.
"What happened?" Dean asked, hugging his mother back and glancing at John who lay on the hospital bed, hooked up on some machine to help him breathe.
Castiel and the children came inside, and Eden cried when she saw her beloved grandfather lie in the bed. She went over to the bed, grabbing a hold of his hand, and Jason stood behind her and rubbed her back for comfort.
"Grandpa," Noah cried and came over to the bed as well, and Eden wrapped her wing around him. The twins and Adrian joined, all looking worried and distraught, and Lily began crying as well.
"He just suddenly collapsed in the night after he got up from bed to use the bathroom. I did my best to bring him back but I had to call 911 for assistance since I couldn't get his heart to start beating again. They arrived after five minutes and finally managed to bring him back, but he'd been so long without air to his brain that he's in a coma now," Mary explained. Her voice broke and she leaned in and cried against Dean's shoulder. Dean rubbed her back, closing his eyes and took a deep breath to control his own emotions.
Castiel came over and put a hand on Mary's shoulder, rubbing circles into it, and she lifted her head from Dean's shoulder to give the angel a grateful smile.
"I'm so glad you all came," she sighed.
"Is grandpa gonna be alright?" Lily sniffled and looked over at Mary.
"We don't know yet… He should wake up at some point but the doctors don't know how much damage his brain has suffered," Mary replied and wiped away her tears.
"I don't want grandpa to die," Noah cried and started sniffling and sobbing.
"Come here…" Eden told him and leaned down to pull him into a hug. Noah cried against her and shook as he sobbed. "Shh…" Eden shushed him gently. Jason stood behind her but kneeled down to offer Noah some comfort as well which the boy seemed to appreciate.
"He won't die… Will he?" Isaac asked and looked over at his parents and at Mary for confirmation. His eyes were getting teary at the thought of losing his grandfather.
"I don't think so. They brought him back to life, now he's just in a coma," Adrian answered and glanced at John.
"That's right, he won't die," Dean said and forced a smile at them.
They spent the next few minutes sitting in the room and waited for Sam to arrive. Sam and Jess were on their way from Stanford, and at 8:55am they finally arrived along with their three children Jesse, Aria, and Kaylee. They greeted each other in John's room, sharing hugs and words of comfort, and Jessica cried when she saw John. Sam too seemed pretty close to tears. The room was rather big, but some of them had to stand in the doorway or just outside the room to fit.
Sam and Dean tried their best to comfort their mother who was not doing so well under the circumstances.
"I'm glad they managed to bring him back," Sam stated as he stood beside his father's bed and looked at him.
"Yes. I just hope he hasn't taken too much damage," Mary said and wiped away more tears. Castiel stood by her side and comforted her, and Jessica was on her other side.
"I'm sure he'll be fine. Dad's a tough cookie," Sam said and smiled over at his mother.
Mary cast a glance over at John and at the youngest children who were gathered around the bed. "You know, he loves you boys so much, and every time the grandkids are over he smiles all the time and almost won't let them leave again," she said and chuckled softly.
"Mom, you're talking as if he's about to die…" Sam pointed out.
"I'm not. I just thought you should know…"
Jessica smiled. "We already know."
One the doctors came in to check on John and told them that everything looked fine but that they still didn't know whether or not John would suffer any severe consequences from his ordeal.
After that news, Dean suddenly went outside into the hallway, leaving the others in the room. Castiel cast him a worried glance before excusing himself and went outside to Dean. They had barely talked since Mary called them that morning to tell them to come to the hospital, and Castiel didn't like how Dean seemed to withdraw himself from him.
"Dean," Castiel said as he came out into the hallway and saw Dean standing further down the corridor and bracing himself against the wall. The angel slowly approached his mate, trying to reach out to him through their bond but was met with a bit of resistance.
Dean cast a brief look over his shoulder at Cas but didn't turn around. He just ran a hand down his face and exhaled deeply.
"Dean," Castiel said again as he came over to him. "I know this is hard for you, and I'm so sorry about what has happened." He reached out to put a hand on Dean's shoulder but Dean quickly shied away from him.
"Don't," Dean said and finally turned around to look at him. "I just… I just need to be alone for a few minutes, okay?" he murmured and looked away again.
Castiel let his hand drop at his side and felt slightly hurt by the rejection. "Alright. I will give you space," he said softly before slowly turning around to return to John's room. He cast one final worried glance at Dean before entering the room again, leaving Dean alone in the corridor where nurses and patients' relatives walked back and forth.
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They stayed at the hospital all day, supporting Mary and each other. The children went outside to play at some point and the adults went out to keep an eye on them. At 4:30pm they drove home to Mary and John's house and sat there for a while, and Mary made them something quick to eat. Dean wasn't very talkative during that time and Castiel wasn't sure if he liked that or not. He knew that family meant everything to Dean and that the demon didn't take it well when something happened to them.
They went home at 6:30 and Sam and Jessica drove back to Stanford with their children since tomorrow was Monday and they had school and work.
Everyone was tired when they got home and still rather upset by everything that had happened. Castiel was the one driving them home in the Tahoe since Dean had said he didn't feel like driving. The angel didn't mind driving but he didn't like that Dean didn't feel up for driving – Dean loved to drive and would always find an excuse to be the one to drive them back and forth.
They dropped Eden and Jason off at their college before driving home to their neighborhood.
"When will we go see grandpa again?" Noah asked as they entered their home again and closed the door. He giggled slightly when Molly jumped up to lick his face and he gently pushed her back.
"Soon," Castiel told him and reached down to help Noah unzip his jacket behind his wings.
"I didn't like seeing him lie there like that…" Lily murmured next to them.
"He'll be okay when he wakes up. I'm sure he will," Adrian said and took off his own shoes. He cast a worried glance at Dean who disappeared into the living room right after having taken off his shoes and jacket.
"And dad isn't taking it so well…" Isaac remarked, whispering so that Dean wouldn't hear.
"No, he isn't, but that is understandable. And you should better leave him alone about it and not try cheering him up with those silly pranks of yours. I have the feeling it will not work today," Castiel said and gave Isaac a firm stare.
"Yeah, okay…" Isaac muttered.
They all entered the living room and slowly went back to their daily routines again, and Castiel glanced over at Dean who was leaning against the kitchen counter and seemed to be deep in his thoughts. The demon looked up when Castiel slowly came over to him, and didn't protest when the angel came up to stand in front of him, placing his hand on Dean's upper arm.
"Dean. Are you alright?"
Dean sighed heavily and stared down at the floor. "I'm okay, I guess. It just reminds me how fragile life is and all of sudden the ones you care about aren't here anymore."
Castiel gave Dean a rueful smile and rubbed his arm with his hand, stepping closer. "I know, but so is life."
"Everything is just going to hell lately," Dean grumbled, still not looking Castiel in the eye. "Things are starting to get bad at the garage – some new garage opened in the same street as ours and they are bigger and offer more services, and we're already losing customers to them."
Castiel was surprised by that information. "Really? That doesn't sound very good. What do you plan to do about it?"
"Don't know yet. Mike and I still need to discuss it, and Rufus is on vacation at the moment so we gotta wait until he's back." Dean let out a frustrated sighed, and Castiel gently rubbed his arm for comfort.
Castiel opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything Dean's cell phone started ringing in his pocket. It was Mike calling, so the angel stepped back and went over to the children in the living room area while Dean picked up the call.
Adrian was sitting with Noah and trying to help him practice math while the twins were arguing over what to watch on TV.
"I wanna watch that documentary! Stop being such a butt and turn back to that channel; it's my turn to decide on what to watch," Lily chided and reached out to snatch the remote control from Isaac's hands, but her twin quickly pulled away.
"CSI is much more interesting than that boring documentary stuff," Isaac retorted. "I bet Adrian agrees with me."
"But Adrian isn't watching TV right now, and it's still my turn to decide! You decided last night," Lily growled and glared at her brother.
"Hey, quiet down, we're trying to work here," Adrian chastised. His turned his attention back to the math book on the couch table in front of him and Noah. "They're still acting like spoiled brats," he murmured to himself, and Noah giggled next to him. Molly was lying under the couch table, absently listening to the twin's bickering while taking a nap.
Castiel came over to them and sighed when the twins were once again disagreeing on something. "Isaac, it's Lily's turn to decide so hand over the remote control."
Isaac immediately wanted to protest. "But—"
"Not buts," Castiel said firmly. "Hand it over to your sister."
Isaac looked utterly dissatisfied but still handed the remote over to Lily who turned back to the channel she wanted to see. "Thanks, papa," she smiled over at Castiel before sitting down to watch.
Dean was talking to Mike on the phone over in the kitchen, and Castiel listened for a few moments before sitting down on the couch with a small sigh. Noah crawled over to him, temporarily abandoning the math that Adrian was trying to teach him. "Papa, do I really need to know math? It's so boring," he said and sat down next to Castiel and snuggled against his side.
Castiel smiled and wrapped his arm around him affectionately. "Yes, unfortunately you do. You should be glad that Adrian is kind enough to use his time teaching you how math works."
"Not that I'm ungrateful but it's really not interesting," Noah murmured against the angel's side.
Adrian chuckled and leaned back a little. "Well, I'm not the best at math either. Not as good as Jason is anyway."
Castiel looked over at Adrian and smiled. "Don't be so modest; you get good grades in math class." Adrian blushed slightly at that.
Noah peered up at Castiel from where he was leaning against the angel's side. "I'm worried that grandpa won't wake up again… Grandma was crying a lot. I don't like that."
Castiel tightened his arm around Noah and rubbed circles into the boy's arm with his thumb. "Grandpa will be okay, he'll wake up soon," he promised.
Meanwhile Dean was on the phone with Mike and let out a frustrated growl and ran a hand down his face as his colleague informed him about their situation. "So… you estimate that we've got about four less customers a day now since that new garage opened last week? You think it's gonna get worse?"
"Well, that company is pretty successful and has other garages in three different towns. I hear they're quite popular," Mike sighed on the other end of the phone. "At this rate we're just gonna lose more and more customers to them, so we gotta find a solution fast on how to retain our own customers. Fuck, this is all a bunch of crap – and things were finally starting to go so well for us! And now we're heading right down into a pit; all thanks to Frank's Damned To Shit Auto Garage And Car Service," he growled. The new garage in the area was called Frank's Auto Garage And Car Service, but the 'damned to shit' part was something the employees at Rufus' garage had added to the name since none of them were thrilled about the new competition.
"And what does Rufus say? Didn't you call him on his cell?"
Dean and Mike ran most of the business although it still belonged to Rufus who had retired a few years ago.
"He says he's got to think about it, but that he'll first be able to meet with us in a week when he's back from Europe. But I think it's clear to all of us that we need to a new plan in order to make the business work and fight off that competition… We need to come up with a solution fast."
Dean groaned. "I know, but I can't take this in my head right now… My dad had a heart attack and is in a coma now, so the whole family is really upset about it. And now that crap at work… I need a few days to think."
"That's alright, take your time. Sorry about your dad…"
"Yeah, thanks, Mike. See you tomorrow at work."
"Yeah, see you, Dean."
Dean hung up the phone and went over to the others by the couch. They all looked up when Dean slowly came over to them with a tired, frustrated look on his face. "I'm not feeling so well, so I'm going up. See you guys tomorrow, good night."
Castiel blinked at him in bewilderment since it was only 7:53pm. "Alright. Good night, Dean."
"Already?" Isaac frowned.
"Good night, dad!" Lily said and waved at him, and Adrian and Noah said good night as well. They watched as Dean left the room and heard him go up the stairs. Castiel listened carefully and could hear that it wasn't the bedroom that Dean entered but rather the workroom, judging from the sound coming from the door.
"Dad is acting weird today…" Isaac remarked thoughtfully.
"Can you blame him? We're all worried about grandpa, so how do you think dad is feeling?" Adrian said, glaring over at Isaac.
"I know that! I just… I haven't seen him like that before. I don't like it…"
"Me neither," Lily admitted and looked over at Castiel with a sad frown on her face.
Castiel sighed and absently stroked Noah's arm with his hand. "You will just have to bear over with your father. They have a problem at his work he told me, and he and John have always been very close, so it isn't easy for him lately. Losing or almost losing a parent is hard."
"I don't wanna lose you or daddy," Noah murmured and leaned his head to the side to bury his face in the angel's shirt.
Castiel smiled softly at him. "You won't. Not yet."
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An hour later Lily and Isaac went to bed. Adrian had gone up to his room after he was done helping Noah with math, and Castiel went to put Noah to bed.
Noah quickly put on his clothes for sleeping in. He sometimes wore night gowns which would have been odd had he not been a submissive. He generally wore boys' clothes, but the kind that weren't all too boyish – he liked more neutral clothes. For underwear he still preferred wearing panties instead the underwear for boys since he felt more comfortable in them.
Everyone was walking back and forth in the upstairs corridor to use the bathroom, and when Noah was finished in the bathroom and came out Isaac raised his eyebrow at him.
"Seriously? You're wearing a night gown? Aren't you too old for that?" Isaac asked and looked at Noah as they stood outside in the corridor. Lily stood next to Isaac, and Castiel had just exited Adrian's room after saying good night to him.
"Don't be rude, Isaac…" Lily told him and slapped her tail against his.
"I like wearing them! They are less confining," Noah retorted. He looked up at Isaac and stuck his tongue out at him.
"Pajamas aren't uncomfortable to wear…" Isaac murmured, and glared at Noah for sticking his tongue out at him.
Castiel sighed and came over. "Isaac, I have told you to stop poking fun at Noah. It's not odd for him to wear that; he's still young and he's not a boy as such."
Isaac snickered. "Baby Noah," he sang, making Noah shove him lightly.
"Be quiet!" Noah chastised and blushed.
"Yeah be quiet, Isaac, and don't be so mean to Noah." Lily glared at her twin who was laughing at Noah's reaction.
"But he's so fun to tease," Isaac grinned and reached out to ruffle Noah's hair. Noah shied away from his hand and glared at him, but his glares were never very intimidating and only made Isaac laugh more.
"That's enough teasing for tonight. Go to bed," Castiel told them firmly and led Noah over to the boy's room so he could tuck him in.
"Good night, papa," the twins said in unison, and Isaac quickly disappeared into the bathroom, making Lily growl and stamp her foot in annoyance that he used her distraction to go in there first.
Castiel sat down on the edge of Noah's bed and pulled the covers over him. Noah snuggled into the blanket and stared up at his papa with his wide, blue eyes which looked exactly like Castiel's own.
"Papa?"
"Yes?" Castiel smiled and looked down at him with affection.
"If grandpa dies, do you think he will look after me? As a ghost?"
Castiel was slightly taken aback by that question. "I'm sure he would. He cares for you very much. But I think it will be many years still before he dies."
"Hmm," Noah hummed thoughtfully, staring down at his favorite stuffed cat Missie which he held against his chest. He looked up at Castiel again and asked, "Papa, how come that submissives are so different from other boys and girls? The boys say I'm not a boy and the girls say I'm not a girl. I don't feel entirely like a boy either…" He murmured the words and absently touched the hairs on his stuffed cat toy, staring at it rather than looking at Castiel.
"That's because submissives like us are both boys and girls, like I told you once," Castiel explained patiently. "In the old days we had the same rights as the girls did – sometimes even fewer rights – and we were not allowed to choose our own mates. The girls don't think of us as girls because we don't look like girls, and we are not boys because we can give birth to children and boys cannot."
"That's weird," Noah murmured, looking up at the angel. "And why is having a mate so important?"
Castiel sighed and smiled. "It's not, but it is nice to have a mate; someone you can live your life with and love. You will know that when you find yours someday."
"I don't know if I want a mate… Don't mates lie in bed together with no clothes on? I don't wanna lie in bed with someone without any clothes on… That's embarrassing."
Castiel laughed, finding it amusing because he used to think the exact same thing when he was little. "When you find your mate it will not be that embarrassing anymore," he chuckled and leaned down to press a kiss to Noah's forehead. "Now sleep."
Noah nodded and said goodnight, and Castiel quietly left the room and prepared to go to bed as well.
The angel paused by the door to the workroom as he made his way over to the bedroom. He could hear noise from inside which told him that Dean was still in there. He guessed that Dean most likely needed some space for himself to gather his thoughts and think everything through. So Castiel went into the bedroom, took off his clothes except for his underwear and a t-shirt, and slipped into bed. It was odd to lie there alone without Dean next to him, and he spent many minutes lying there, thinking about everything that had happened today and how to help Dean cope with it. Eventually he fell asleep in the empty bed.
He was woken up when Dean slipped into bed next to him an hour later, and Castiel opened an eye to see Dean turn over on his side with his back to Castiel. He spent a few moments staring at Dean's wings and back, feeling slightly hurt that Dean wasn't facing him as usual, before drifting off to sleep again.
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Author's notes: This chapter was really hard to write for some reason… I don't entirely like how it turned out but oh well. The next chapter should hopefully be more interesting.
Thanks for reading, please review :)
