April 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, Balthazar is 45 years old).
The next morning Castiel woke up at the sound of his alarm clock at 6:10am. He groaned and reached his hand out towards the clock on the bedside table and turned off the alarm. He rolled over on his back, rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up. Dean stirred next to him but was still facing him with his back. Dean didn't get up these days before 7:05 where he would go downstairs, grab a quick breakfast, and then be out the door at 7:30. Castiel knew Dean only woke up this late nowadays to get more sleep andto avoid Castiel.
Castiel lay for a few minutes, trying to will his brain to wake up, and he listened as Dean's breathing became even again, telling him the demon had fallen back to sleep. The angel got up as quietly as he could and put on some clothes before going out the room and went to wake up the children. They always left home at 7:35am so they had a little over an hour to get dressed, pack their school bags, eat breakfast, and watch some TV.
Castiel started putting breakfast on the table and looked up when Adrian and Noah entered the living room/kitchen first. He smiled at their ruffled hairs which were messy from sleep and how both of them yawned. Molly ran over to them, and they both greeted her and patted her back.
"Good morning, papa," Adrian yawned and went over to the dining table that Castiel was almost finished setting. "Did you and dad get to sort out things last night?"
Noah turned his head and looked up at Castiel, anticipating a positive answer.
The angel sighed. "No, we didn't." He put the last plate on the table and heard some noise from upstairs which indicated that Isaac and Lily were coming downstairs soon.
"Why are you fighting? I don't like it," Noah whined distraughtly. Molly whined lowly too, as if thinking the same, and gently nudged Noah's hand with her snout.
"I know, sweetie, I don't like it either." Castiel gently ran a hand through Noah's hair and gave him a sad smile.
"I think dad is having a pretty hard time at work," Adrian spoke and sat down at the table. Castiel and Noah sat down as well so that the two of them were seated on the right side of the table with their backs facing the kitchen behind them, and Adrian was sitting opposite them. "And I'd be grumpy too if I was away for 12-15 hours a day and barely had time for anything other than eat and sleep when I come home."
"I know, and I do not blame Dean for being edgy, but sometimes he can be really mean and annoying…" Castiel murmured and began pouring up some cereals for himself while Adrian and Noah also began pouring up. "We just had a misunderstanding yesterday and hurt each other's feelings, but it will go over at some point."
"I wanna see daddy kiss you on the mouth again," Noah blurted and gave Castiel a smile. The angel stared down at the boy in bewilderment.
Adrian laughed. "I don't think Noah understands yet that seeing your parents smooching is supposed to be disgusting."
Noah frowned defiantly at him. "It's much better than when they fight and say mean things to each other! And I like when people kiss… It means they care."
"You have a strange view on things for a 7-year-old…"
"Almost eight!"
Adrian chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, almost eight."
Castiel chuckled softly, and they all looked up when Lily and Isaac came into room.
"Good morning, people!" Isaac exclaimed, grinning at all of them while Lily walked behind him and sleepily rubbed her eyes. He was always much more energetic in the morning than his twin was – at least once he managed to get out of bed. "Did you start breakfast without me?!" he gasped and acted as if it offended him. Molly ran over to them, and Lily almost tripped when the dog ran in front of her legs and tried to get her attention.
Adrian rolled his eyes. "No one wants to wait for you to get your ass out of bed."
"It's still cheating! Dad says no one should begin eating before everyone is seated at the table," Isaac pouted and sat down next to Adrian.
"I think that doesn't really apply for breakfast, since we all wake up at different times…" Lily pointed out and sat down next to Isaac and began pouring up cereals and milk. Molly knew she wasn't supposed to be by the table while they ate, so she yawned and moved over to sleep on the living room floor.
"If you wish for us to wait for you before we eat then you should be up earlier," Castiel said and turned his attention back to his food.
"Eh, no way. 6:20 is early enough for me. Even the devil isn't up at that hour!" Isaac spoke before digging into his food.
After eating Castiel began preparing lunchboxes for the children. He didn't mind doing it for them even though three of them were teenagers, though Adrian didn't always want a lunchbox with him since he liked the cafeteria food at his high school.
At 7:08 Dean finally came downstairs, yawning as he entered the living room. "Hey kids," he greeted the twins and Noah who were watching TV. Adrian had gone upstairs to get ready for school.
"Morning, dad," Lily smiled at him, and Isaac muttered a small 'good morning' as well before glancing at the screen again.
"Daddy!" Noah grinned and jumped over to hug him.
"Hey Noah," Dean smiled and hugged the boy back as Noah wrapped his arms around him. "Did you sleep well?" His voice was a little hoarse from lack of proper sleep, and he had started getting rings under his eyes lately because of all the stress and little sleep.
"No… Because I don't like when you and papa are mad at each other," Noah confessed and moved his head away from Dean's torso to glance up at him.
Dean's smile disappeared and was replaced by a slightly more stern expression. "I know."
After Noah went back to watch TV and play a little with Molly, Dean went over to the kitchen to grab something quick to eat before work. His jaw clenched a slightly as he spotted Castiel standing in the kitchen, and he ignored the angel completely as he went over to the fridge to take out some cheese to put on a piece of bread.
Castiel stepped aside to give Dean space. He had just finished making lunchboxes, including Dean's. He made Dean extra lunch because the demon spent so much time at work and needed more to eat than he did before when he only worked for eight hours a day. The angel tried making eye contact with his mate, but Dean was ignoring him and turned his back to him while making something quick to eat.
"I can prepare breakfast for you in the morning if you like…" Castiel offered in a cautious voice as he saw Dean fumbling around with the bread and cursing at the cheese when it almost slipped from his hands. He tried reaching out to Dean through the bond again but was once more met with resistance that didn't allow him to connect with his mate.
"Thanks, but I know how to do it myself," Dean muttered in an annoyed tone and still refused to look at him.
Castiel felt a sting of hurt inside. He hadn't expected Dean to be in a better mood today, and Castiel himself was still quite upset as well, but it still hurt that Dean acted like that.
"Are you just going to ignore me all day?" Castiel asked when Dean continued to refuse to look at him, and how the demon's tail and wings were tense and twitching in agitation in Castiel's presence.
When Dean still refused to answer and instead just slammed the fridge shut, Castiel grit out, "Fine." He felt all his repressed anger and frustrations swirl up inside him again, making him snappy. He growled at Dean before stalking away from the kitchen and went into the bathroom instead.
Dean cast a glance over his shoulder after Castiel was gone, and for a moment there was guilt and regret in his eyes. He went over to eat his breakfast by the couch table where the twins and Noah were gathered to watch TV before school, enjoying their company until it was time to head to work. Dean would however much rather stay home and cool down from the stress that was beginning to ruin not just his own mood but his family's mood as well.
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When Dean came home that night he took the food from the fridge that Castiel always left there for him and went to eat by the dining table. The children had come over to keep him company, but Castiel was busy cleaning the bathroom after Molly had made a mess of it earlier when they washed her. The two of them were still ignoring each other, but the children had learned by now not to bring it up while both of them were present, otherwise they would just argue again.
The next day was a Friday, and Castiel woke up at 4:45am and wasn't able to fall asleep again. Dean was still sleeping next to him, and Castiel tossed around for a bit before sitting up with a sigh, deciding to just use the time to take a shower instead. He glanced at Dean who was lying on his back, snoring lightly. The angel reached out his hand, tentatively and very lightly touching Dean's right wing with was splayed out over the bed and all the way over to Castiel. Castiel knew that this had happened while Dean was sleeping and that Dean wouldn't have done it on purpose with the tension that was between them lately. He let his fingers run over the softened feathers, admiring the feel of them and missing burying his hand in them. Dean didn't wake up, which Castiel was relieved about, and after a few moments the angel got up, gathered his clothes, and went downstairs to take a shower. He could have used the upstairs bathroom but he didn't want to make noise and wake up the others.
Castiel padded downstairs, wearing only his underwear and a t-shirt, and held his clothes against him as he made his way over to the bathroom. He woke up Molly whose basket was situated in the corridor by the wall between the doors to the bathroom and the laundry room. "Shh, Molly, go to sleep again," he told her and gently scratched her behind the ears a few times when she came over to him before sneaking into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He could hear Molly whine softly which made him smile a bit, and he knew the dog was going back to her basket now.
The warm stream of the shower made Castiel sigh contently, and he quickly stepped all the way under the water and let it run down his naked body. He was feeling unbelievably tired but he just couldn't fall asleep earlier. He knew it was everything that had happened between him and Dean lately that took so much space inside his head that it was starting to affect his sleep.
The angel made sure his hair and wings were wet before pouring shampoo and other care products into the hair and feathers and began cleaning them. The shower made him forget about most of his problems, and the sound of the water was calming and soothing.
The water flowed down his back and over his oil glands, and Castiel bit his lip softly when he felt his body reacting to the feeling of warm water touching his glands and wings. He had only masturbated twice in the time that he and Dean had been tense with each other, and it had been over a week since last time. The angel sighed and decided to give into his body's needs. He reached his right hand down his body, touching the skin of his chest, stomach, and finally wrapped it around his hardening dick. He bit back a moan when he began stroking himself slowly and teased his thumb over the head and slit. After a few moments he reached the hand behind himself, touching against his entrance and whined softly when he pressed the tip of his finger inside. His ass was a lot more sensitive than his dick, but he liked having them both stimulated, even though he didn't need it in order to come. He pressed his finger inside, twisting it around and feeling his own slickness in there before adding another finger.
Castiel's water-soaked wings flapped lightly, splashing water against the tiles and glass frame of the shower, but the angel didn't care. He closed his eyes when he pushed a third finger inside and held back a moan. He suddenly missed the feeling of being filled up by Dean. He missed the demon kissing him, touching him, calling him 'gorgeous angel', and how he could always make Castiel feel like he had reached the sky when Dean pounded into him and nipped and kissed his neck possessively, making Castiel feel like he was the only thing that mattered in the whole world to Dean.
Castiel growled slightly in frustration when his fingers didn't feel satisfying enough. He twisted them around, pushing further into himself and looked for his most precious spots inside. When he found the place he held back a yelp, and his body jerked at the feeling. He kept his fingers there, rubbing against the spots repeatedly, and finally moved his left hand down to touch his member which was aching slightly by now.
His orgasm pooled in his lower abdomen, and Castiel frantically increased the speed of his thrusts and whined in the back of his throat. "Dean," he whimpered, barely audible, and finally came. He gasped as his dick spurted fluids down on the floor, and closed his eyes until the please was over. The water rinsed away his come and the oil that was running down his back while Castiel panted and put his left hand on the tiles of the wall to come down from his high. His body felt more sated now and some of his frustrations were gone, but it wasn't nearly as good as the orgasms that Dean always gave him.
His wings drooped behind him in exhaustion, and Castiel took a few more moments to collect himself before finishing up in the shower and went over to dry himself. His wings needed grooming pretty badly because Dean had never gotten to groom him since the incident with John, so Castiel spent almost half an hour after his shower to use his special wing brush to groom his feathers the best he could on his own.
Afterwards Castiel went out to the kitchen to prepare breakfast before going upstairs to wake up the children.
Once again he and Dean more or less ignored each other when the demon came downstairs before work. They managed to both leave for work without saying a single word to each other except for a small 'good morning' and a 'goodbye' when they left.
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After dropping off the children at school Castiel finally arrived at his workplace, seven minutes early. He parked the car in the large parking lot, shut the door more forcefully than necessary, and sighed as he went up to the large, warehouse-like building that was his workplace. It hadn't really changed over the years; it was still huge inside with a lot of art and sculptures standing here and there waiting to be finished. Castiel said good morning to all the people he knew whom he passed on his way in, and made his way over to the area where he and Anna worked on sculptures together.
"Good morning, Castiel," Anna smiled at him. Her smile faltered a little when Castiel replied to her in a tired voice and she noticed that he seemed to be in a bad mood. "Still fighting with Dean?"
"Yes… We have barely talked lately, and the slightest thing makes us both snap at each other. Even though I try to be kind, he still responds to me with annoyance and anger," Castiel muttered and let Anna help him put on a white coat which protected his clothes from dust and particles from the sculptures.
"All mates fight every now and then, and when one or both of them are stressed then it just gets even worse," Anna spoke as she helped him get comfortable in the coat. She avoided touching his wings when she buttoned up the coat behind him.
Castiel sighed. He had missed hearing Anna's soft voice and her patient and understanding tone when he spoke with her about his problems. "I know… But sometimes he's really exaggerating."
Anna chuckled. "All males are, and they also say that we are. Dean isn't a bad person and he loves you more than anything. I'm sure he feels bad about snapping at you, and maybe that only agitates him further because he feels guilty. I think you just need to be patient and hope things will get better once things at Dean's work start improving. I'm sure everything will go back to normal then."
Castiel turned around and smiled at her. "Thank you, Anna."
"You're welcome," she smiled.
They looked up when Andy and Samandriel suddenly came over to them.
"Hey, did you guys hear the latest news?" Andy asked and grinned at them. Samandriel rolled his eyes behind him.
Anna, Andy, and Samandriel were all about Castiel's age – Anna was 44, Andy was 45, and Samandriel was 42 years old now.
"No… what now?" Anna asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I hear that Bela did it with the boss…" Andy smirked. Castiel looked slightly surprised by that.
"Who doesn't Bela do it with…" Anna said and rolled her eyes.
"She hasn't done it with me."
"Who can blame her," Anna deadpanned, making Andy protest loudly.
Samandriel chuckled at the colleagues and turned to look at Castiel. His expression immediately changed when he looked at the other submissive angel. "You don't look so well, Cas…" he said when he noticed Castiel's sleepy eyes and the small rings underneath.
Castiel forced a smile. "I know. I haven't slept that well lately."
Anna put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him in worry. "Maybe you should ask the boss for a day off?"
"He'd definitely give you a day off if you fucked him like Bela did…. I hear she got ten extra days off, but off the record of course," Andy said, and quickly jumped back with a laugh when Anna sent him killer eyes.
"Shut up, that's not what he needs to hear now!" Anna snapped at him.
"No… I would never do anything like that with someone who isn't Dean," Castiel said, looking horrified at the idea.
"And you certainly shouldn't," Anna said and guided him away from Andy who was still laughing at her reaction. "And you two should get back to work," she told Andy and Samandriel.
"Yeah, we're going now," Samandriel said and grabbed a hold of Andy's shirt to drag him back over to their own sculpture project. "Take care of yourself today, Cas."
"Thank you," Castiel replied and gave his friend a small smile and watched as Samandriel and Andy went back over to their own little corner where they worked.
"Okay, let's try getting some work done. Try to think of something else, Cas; it would do you good," Anna told him and picked up her tools.
Castiel nodded and picked up his own tools before turning to face the large foam statue behind them which they were about to turn into a sculpture of an ancient Roman for an upcoming movie. They spent most of the day drawing the details on the foam before cutting out the basic shape.
By 2:45pm it was time to begin shaping the details of the sculpture. Anna would take the lower part of the sculpture and Castiel was supposed to work on the upper part.
The angel excused himself for a few moments to go over and find the stepladder that was standing over by the wall. He needed it in order to reach the head of the large sculpture, but someone else had borrowed it after he and Anna were finished cutting out the basic shape of the sculpture's head and now Castiel needed it back. There were three alpha angels standing over by the wall cutting wood which was to be used to build a boat with for the very same movie, and Castiel tried not to listen to the dirty jokes that the alphas shared while working. They weren't allowed to tell that kind of jokes at work but those three alphas always did it whenever the boss wasn't around. Castiel tried not to notice how the guys stared at his ass and wings as he grabbed the stepladder and walked away again, and he hurried to get back over to Anna.
The sculpture was 8' 10'' (270cm) tall so Castiel needed the stepladder to reach. He stood up on it and began shaping the details of the sculpture's face. He always shaped the face before shaping the hair, and he had to make the sculpture in a Renaissance style. His wings helped him balance himself on the ladder, and he and Anna chatted a little every now and then.
After half an hour Castiel was beginning to lose concentration again. He had been losing it a lot that day. His eyes were beginning to fall shut, and he wiped his forehead with his clothed arm and took a deep breath, trying to gain concentration again. He put his hands on the sculpture's face again and continued carving the nose. His eyes felt very heavy, and his body was equally heavy and tired.
Suddenly Castiel's body was almost too tired to stand up anymore, and for a split second he lost his balance on the stepladder. He gave a loud yelp as he fell off the ladder and crashed onto the hard concrete floor below, landing hard on his right wing and felt and heard the bone crack at the impact. Castiel cried out at the sharp, excruciating pain that ran through his wing and body, and he immediately rolled over on his back to put the weight off his wing.
"Castiel!" Anna shouted in horror and was by his side immediately. A few others came running over as well, gasping in shock, and one of them went to call an ambulance.
Castiel thrashed on the floor and tried to hold back his cries of pain. His wings were one of the most sensitive parts on his body, and they were filled with nerves and pain receptors. The bone was without doubt broken, and the muscle and skin on the wing were badly bruised from the fall. It was one of the most agonizing pains Castiel had ever felt, and he struggled to obey Anna's orders of controlling his breathing.
"Castiel, breathe calmly, you have to relax the best you can," Anna told him. She was kneeling down beside him and put a hand on his forehead both for comfort and to help relaxing him.
"But it hurts!" Castiel cried out. Tears were running down his cheeks now, and he flapped his good wing against the floor in response to the pain. It took everything he had not to scream more than he already was.
"Oh, Jesus," Andy gasped as he and Samandriel came over.
One of the human females came over to them and said, "I called an ambulance, they're gonna be here soon."
"Okay, thank you," Anna told her and turned her attention to Castiel once more. "Shhh, relax, Cas, the ambulance is coming."
Castiel panicked at that information. "What? No! T-they can't touch my wing!"
"They have to, Castiel. They have to fix it," Anna told him patiently.
Castiel just let out a frustrated and pained noise and clenched his eyes shut.
When the ambulance arrived, Castiel shied away from the paramedics when they tried to make up get up on the stretcher. He growled every time they tried touching his wing, and Anna had to hold him down. Only Dean was allowed to touch his wings – especially the wing bone – and he didn't want strangers touching them; it went against all his instincts.
Anna and the paramedics managed to calm him down enough for Castiel to get on the stretcher and get carried out to the ambulance. The paramedics avoided touching his wings, and Anna got into the ambulance to drive with him to the hospital. They gave Castiel morphine in the ambulance to help his pain, so once they arrived at the hospital his wing wasn't hurting as badly anymore, but it was still painful.
Anna went with him into the x-ray room, but Castiel still refused to let the doctors touch his wing.
"Castiel… They have to look at your wing and take x-rays before they can help you," Anna sighed.
The female angel doctor in the room smiled patiently at Castiel, and the male doctor that was in the room finally left. "We get this problem a lot, especially with submissives," she said. "I promise I'll be kind," she told Castiel, who relaxed a lot more now that the male doctor was gone.
Castiel nodded and allowed the female doctor to attend to his wing. He lay down on the patient table when she gestured for him to do so, and he tried not to let out any pained noises when she gently touched his wing to get it into position for the x-ray. She took the x-ray of it and then began to wrap the wing up in temporary bandages because the special doctor wasn't available at the moment. Wing fractures were complicated and they needed to heal properly in order for the angel or demon not to experience pain afterwards, and they needed a special doctor to attend to it. It would be a few hours before the doctor was available and until then the temporary bandage had to suffice. It felt uncomfortable for Castiel to have his feathers squeezed by the bandages but he put up with it. The whole time he kept thinking of Dean, wondering if the demon would get upset that Castiel had broken his wing in such a stupid manner. But he knew that Dean would get worried once he found out about what had happened, and Castiel almost didn't want him to know about it.
Once his wing was wrapped up he was taken to a hospital room and was told to lie down in the bed and recover for a while and wait for the other doctor. He was given more morphine to help the strong pain he felt, but in a few hours his wing should be hurting less. It was always worst right after the injury happened.
Anna sat down in the chair next to him and sighed. "You need to call Dean about this."
Castiel sighed and closed his eyes. "I know." He let out a small pained noise when he shifted slightly on the bed, causing his wing to ache. He prayed that the special doctor would be a nice and not be some snappy woman. The fact that the doctor was female made Castiel feel a lot more comfortable, but he still didn't like having his wings touched by others than Dean – and his children, but they only ever touched his feathers and not the wing bone itself. If the doctor had been a male there was no way Castiel would ever allow him anywhere near his wing.
"I can call him for you if you like? You're still in pain after all and you need to rest."
"That would be nice, thank you, Anna…"
Castiel handed her his phone and Anna went outside to call Dean. The battery on the phone was very low so Anna would have to make the calls short. She called Dean but the phone rang several times without him picking up.
When Anna returned, saying that Dean didn't pick up, Castiel sighed, knowing that Dean was probably either too busy to take the call or he was ignoring Castiel's calls on purpose. Instead he asked her to call Balthazar and see if the angel could drop by at the hospital to pick up the keys for the Tahoe (since it was big enough to have all the kids in it, and most cars weren't) and then pick up the children from school for him since they needed to be picked up soon.
Luckily Balthazar didn't seem to mind and he wasn't busy that day. He dropped by at the hospital twenty minutes later, entering Castiel's room and smiled at him.
"Hey Cassie," Balthazar greeted him. "You don't look too good."
"Hello Balthazar. And I know…" Castiel gave his friend a smile and hissed when another shot of pain ran through him. "I hope it isn't too troublesome for you to pick up my children for me… But I don't really have anyone else to pick them up, and Anna has to go home to her family soon since her mother-in-law has a birthday…" He looked at Anna who was still sitting next to his bed, and she gave him an apologetic smile in return.
"No problem at all. I just hope I don't wreck your car and have Dean beat my ass up over it," Balthazar chuckled and accepted the car keys that Castiel handed to him.
"I will take full responsibility for any damages you inflict on it."
Balthazar chuckled. "No need to; I'll bring it back to you in excellent shape."
Castiel instructed his friend to pick up Adrian first and then the twins and Noah, and to get Eden and Jason from the college since they would be visiting Dean and Castiel again this weekend. Eden hadn't met Balthazar before so it was important that she was picked up last.
The doctors had informed Castiel that the special doctor would first be available at around 7pm because of there being many wing injuries in the hospital that day, and each injury took between half an hour to an hour to treat. Castiel hoped that Dean would arrive at the hospital by then so that he wouldn't have to go through the treatment and having people touch his wings alone.
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Adrian always played soccer after school when he wasn't at taekwondo practice, and he spent the time hanging out with his friends until his parents came to pick him up. It was 3:53pm already, and Adrian got a little worried when Castiel hadn't showed up to pick him up at 3:15pm like he always did on Fridays. His friends had gone home already, and Adrian had tried calling Castiel's phone to see if his papa was alright, but he couldn't get through. He guessed that Castiel's phone had run out of battery or something. He sat on the small stairs in front of the high school, playing a game on his phone and listened absently to other students talking as they went by.
The teenager looked up when a blonde angel/human hybrid girl named Amber from his class suddenly stood in front of him. "Hey Adrian," she smiled and moved her hair behind her ear with her hand. "Waiting for your parents?"
Adrian stared up at her while he sat on the stairs and gave a shrug. "Yeah, my papa hasn't arrived yet. I guess something came up, and his phone is dry. What's the point in having cell phones be our lifelines when they run out battery so damn quick anyway?"
Amber chuckled "I know what you mean. And I'd give you a ride home but I have no license."
Adrian chortled and smiled at her, and his tail gave a small flap on the concrete stairs.
Amber looked at him warily before saying, "Sorry about the thing with your girlfriend a while ago. What she did was a really cruel thing to do…"
"Yeah, thanks," Adrian muttered and averted her eyes. He shifted a bit on the cold stairs and glanced up at her again.
A few of Amber's friends called at her from across the parking lot, and she yelled at them that she'd be right over. She turned back to Adrian, staring briefly at his wings and at his twitching tail before looking up at his face again. "So um, see you in class on Monday?"
"Yeah, for Mr. Richardson's physics from hell."
Amber laughed. "Yes, indeed," she grinned. "See you on Monday. Bye, Adrian."
"Bye," Adrian replied, smiling. He waved back when Amber stopped over by her friends and turned around to wave at Adrian before leaving. Adrian turned his attention back to his phone but couldn't stop smiling.
After a few minutes Adrian heard the familiar sound of the Tahoe, but when he looked up he was shocked to see Castiel's friend Balthazar driving it. He frowned when he saw that the number plates were indeed that of his parents' car. He slowly got up from the stairs and picked up his bag before approaching the car warily.
Balthazar rolled down the window and told him, "Adrian, right?" When the teenager nodded he added, "Castiel had an accident at work so he's in the hospital. He asked me to pick up you and your siblings and drive you home."
Adrian let out a small gasp. "Is he okay?" he asked, immediately feeling worried.
"He's got a broken wing but otherwise he's okay," Balthazar told him.
Adrian quickly got into the car and guided Balthazar over to the twins' and Noah's school to pick them up.
They picked up Isaac, Lily, and Noah who were equally surprised to see an almost stranger picking them up instead of their own parents. Noah was almost reluctant to get into the car since he didn't know Balthazar that well, but Adrian managed to get him in. They were shocked to hear about Castiel's accident, and Noah cried and panicked at the information. Eden and Jason were the next ones to get picked up, and Balthazar drove them back to the house safely, feeling a little awkward about driving a bunch of children that he barely even knew.
Adrian had the house key with him so they didn't have any trouble getting inside, and Balthazar decided to stay with them until Dean got home – he had promised Castiel that he would. Besides, he would need to take a bus to go home from there anyway.
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"Drive home and be with your family. You should take the weekend off – things are improving anyway, so you don't need to stay. I'm not coming this weekend either," Mike told Dean when he saw him sitting behind the desk looking tired and worn out. They had both been going through the finances, their business strategy, and the papers from the bank. It was 4:34pm and both of them were tired and exhausted from working overtime for weeks.
"Yeah, I think I will. My brain doesn't work anymore today," Dean muttered and got up from the desk.
Mike smirked. "Is there a time when it does?"
"Har har," Dean chuckled. "See you on Monday, Mike."
"Yeah. Bye, Dean."
Dean got his jacket and went outside and headed over to the Impala. He got into the car and pulled out his phone to look at it. He got a missed call from Cas, and Dean stared at it for a few minutes. He had heard his phone ring earlier but he hadn't had time to pick it up because he and Mike were trying to figure out things from the bank. The bank had finally accepted their application to lend money to expand the garage, but they had to read all the policies through. Dean had spent the last few weeks putting extra effort into customer relations and how to retain their most important customers and prevent them from going over to the new competitor instead. He had finally managed to make a plan that could work but it would be a while before he could see the results of it. At least the worst part of the planning was over now, and the bank had accepted letting them lend money, so he could finally take the weekend off.
Dean stared at the phone for a while but decided not to call Cas back. He'd be home in twenty-five minutes anyway so he'd see Cas then. Instead he replied to the text message that Adrian had sent him seven minutes ago, asking when he would be home, and Dean texted him that he was leaving work now. Then he turned on the Impala's engine, hearing it roar into life, and finally began driving home.
Everything was going to hell lately for Dean. Work was far too stressing, he kept fearing that his mother would call him to tell him that John had had another heart attack, and things between him and Cas weren't going so well. He knew he had been a dick to his mate lately but it took almost nothing to piss him off these days. His mind was one big mess and the problems were constantly pouring down on him. John's heart attack hadn't made things better; it had been hard on Dean. He was constantly feeling angry, frustrated and irritable, and every time someone talked to him he couldn't help but snap at them.
Dean tightened his grip on the steering wheel, suddenly feeling so angry and disappointed at himself for having let things go this far. He knew he needed to make amends with Cas and the kids for having been absent and snappy for so long. His thoughts swirled around his head all the way home, wondering how he should approach Cas and how he could stop himself from letting his stress and frustrations control his actions and his words again.
It was 5:02pm when Dean pulled the Impala up into the driveway, and he frowned when he saw the Tahoe standing outside the garage rather than being inside the garage, giving Dean less space to park the Impala in. He tried not to be irritated by it and exited the car and went up to the house.
"Hey guys," Dean said as he entered, and went over to the living room after having taken off his shoes and jacket.
"Dad," Eden sighed in relief when he entered.
The children were gathered on the couch, some of them watching TV absently, but it looked like they had been talking before Dean came, and Noah looked like he had been crying. Everyone looked up at Dean with worried faces, and the demon froze completely when he saw Balthazar sitting on the couch a bit away from the kids. "What are you doing here? Where is Cas?" He looked around for his mate but didn't see him anywhere.
"About time you came home," Balthazar muttered and got up and went over to stand in front of Dean.
Dean narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't think you need to tell me when I need to be home or not," he snapped. He didn't like having Balthazar in his house with his kids; especially not when Cas wasn't around. It wasn't that he disliked Balthazar as such; he just felt a sting of jealousy seeing the other alpha in the house, sitting on the couch with Dean's children, when it was Dean who was supposed to be sitting there with them on a Friday night.
"And you need to learn to pick up your damned phone and be there for Cassie when he needs you the most!" Balthazar snapped back, suddenly getting angry.
"I was too busy to take the call today and I guessed it could wait until I got home," Dean growled back. "And why the hell are you in my house alone with my kids? Where is Cas?" he demanded, taking a step forward and kept staring Balthazar down.
Balthazar stared back at him before saying, "Cassie is in the hospital. He had an accident at his workplace. He told me to pick up your kids for him and gave me the keys to your car, so I went and picked them up."
The news hit Dean like a bucket of cold water, and he stood completely frozen for a second. "What? What happened? Is he okay?" he demanded, instantly getting all kinds of scenarios into his head about what had happened and which condition Cas was in.
"He broke his wing. He's alright but he's in a lot of pain."
Dean ran a hand down his face, and his wings drooped slightly behind him. "Shit," he muttered, trying not to cry from the worry and guilt he suddenly felt. For a submissive to break their wing was extremely painful, and just the thought of one of Castiel's beautiful, precious wings being broken hurt Dean so much inside he couldn't describe it.
"I wanna go see papa," Noah cried from the couch.
"Shhh, I know," Eden soothed him and rubbed his back.
"Me too! I don't like him being there alone," Lily said in distraught. Isaac brushed his wing against hers for comfort, and Adrian and Jason both stared helplessly at the others. Molly was sitting on the floor between Noah's legs and rested her chin on his knee, sensing that something was wrong and trying her best to offer some comfort.
Dean paced around, running a hand through his hair and down his face and not knowing what to do.
Balthazar looked at him and said, "You should go to him; he's probably waiting for you to come. The special doctor couldn't attend to him before around 7pm, and I think he'd want you to be there for him when he gets his injury treated."
"Yeah…" Dean said, taking a deep breath. "I'll go now."
"We wanna come!" Lily and Isaac blurted and got up from the couch.
"Yes, we wanna see papa too!" Noah spoke and got up as well. Eden, Jason and Adrian followed.
"No, you're all gonna have to stay here," Dean told them. When they were about to protest he cut them off saying, "Your papa's wing is gonna need a lot of space, so he's gonna occupy the whole backseat. I'll go get him on my own and drive him home safely, okay?"
"Yeah, that sounds best," Adrian said. "Just don't be hard on him, okay?"
Eden sighed in disappointment over having to stay home, and Jason gently squeezed her hand.
"I won't be," Dean promised and turned to leave, but Noah quickly came over and wrapped his arms around him, clinging to him.
"Tell papa we love him?" Noah said and glanced up at Dean with large, worried eyes.
Dean smiled and ruffled Noah's hair. "I will, but he already knows."
"Uh, not to ruin the mood, but I really gotta go home now," Balthazar spoke. "I've got an appointment with an old friend tonight and I can't really cancel the agreement. Can you give me a ride, Dean? I'm pretty sure two strong boys like Adrian and Jason can take care of the kids."
"Hey, I'm not a kid! I'm thirteen!" Isaac protested, half offended.
Dean ignored Isaac's outburst and looked over at Balthazar. "Sure. I just hope you don't live too far away."
Balthazar chuckled. "I do, but my friend doesn't, so just drop me off there."
"Okay, let's go then," Dean said, and gently pulled away from Noah. He quickly said goodbye to the others, trusting that Jason and Adrian would comfort the others while he was gone.
Dean rushed out to the car, eager to go see his mate and be there for him, and he decided to take the Impala since the Tahoe was unavailable unless he moved the Impala first, and the Impala should have enough space for Cas and his broken wing anyway. Balthazar got into the passenger seat next to him, and the children waved goodbye as they drove off. They drove quietly except for Balthazar letting Dean know where to drop him off. Dean's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, and his wings were tense behind him. He could feel Balthazar looking at him every now and then but he didn't look back at him.
"Sorry I've been such a dick to you," Dean finally said.
Balthazar turned his head to look at Dean, but the demon kept staring ahead at the streets in front of him.
"I know you're a friend of Cas' and have been looking out for him for a while in the past. I'm just not very good at handling the presence of other alphas around Cas. Not after all that shit with Lucifer and Crowley," Dean continued in a gruff voice.
"No problem. I see that a lot with mated couples that the alpha tends to be overprotective, even if his mate is just hanging out with friends. I guess that's a sign that you care about Cassie," Balthazar said and stared at Dean's profile. "And I have no idea who Crowley is, but keeping an eye on the alphas that hang out with Cassie is probably a good idea. You have no idea how many sick freaks rape submissives if they get the chance."
"Yeah, I know." Dean shuddered and growled at the thought of someone hurting Castiel like that. But he was pretty sure that Balthazar wasn't the type to do that though.
They arrived at Balthazar's friend's house and Dean dropped him off, promising to tell Cas to call him tomorrow. Afterwards Dean drove as fast as he could to the hospital, feeling himself dread seeing Castiel again after all the fights they had had lately.
He rushed into the hospital, asking at the reception where Castiel's room was, and then hurried through the corridors towards the room.
When Dean finally reached the room, he quickly went in but stopped when he saw Castiel lying in a hospital bed, staring out the window and at the rain that had just begun falling. Dean's heart ached when he saw his mate's right wing being all wrapped up in temporary bandages, and how he was hooked up on an IV drop to give him fluids and painkillers.
Castiel slowly turned his head and looked over at the door when he heard someone. He blinked a few times at Dean, as if not quite believing his own eyes. "Dean?"
Dean almost broke at the weakness in Castiel's voice, telling him his mate was hurt and tired. At the same time he hadn't been so happy to see his mate for a very long time.
"Cas…"
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Author's notes: A kind of weird place to end the chapter at, I know, but I feel like it helps make chapter 54 flow much easier. Hopefully the two of them will get to talk now… But I'm glad you guys enjoyed the tension :)
Thanks for reading, please review.
