Sam was nervous as he adjusted his tie in the bathroom mirror. There was a gentle humming of chatter audible down the hall through the brick walls of the church bathroom. He sighed and smiled at Dean's raised eyebrows behind him in the reflection.
"You better not be getting cold feet… I'll have to disown you." Dean declared. Sam rolled his eyes at his brother, scoffed, and turned around.
"No, man," he thought for a moment. "It's, uh, It's almost the exact opposite" he sighed and shook his head "I just feel like I want to really remember this, ya know? Every single moment, I mean."
"Hey, I get it." Dean smiled at him. Sam cocked his head to the side as he narrowed his eyes.
"Do you? I mean I'm sure the Elvis impersonator that officiated for you and Cas was great company and all but-"
"Ugh, again with this" Dean interrupted, he threw his arms up exacerbated. "Come on, man." he sighed and leaned his back gently against the brick wall behind him, careful not to mess up his suit. "I told you we didn't wanna have some big dog-and-pony show." He continued, his voice gentle now, as he saw his brother's rejected expression. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?" He swallowed and scratched his face before continuing "With everything Cas and I went through over the years... like I said, as soon as we left the bunker and hit the road," he shrugged "we didn't want to burn any more daylight." Sam nodded, solemnly.
"I just wish I could have been there." he sighed. "You're my brother, Dean, it would have been nice to be there to celebrate with you," Dean smirked.
"Trust me, you didn't miss anything. We forked out for room service and an expensive bottle of champagne, Cas got wasted on two glasses like a freakin' cheerleader on prom night, and passed out." He grinned remembering fondly.
"Still… I feel like it's a huge life event that I missed out on". Dean rolled his eyes and took his phone from his jacket pocket.
"If I show you some pictures, will you shut up about this?" Sam moved to stand beside his brother eagerly as the Dean scrolled through the many pictures on his phone. Images flew by of beaches and cities he and Castiel had visited together, Jack and Castiel in a diner up in Virginia when they'd dropped by to visit, group photos of people eating, reading, laughing and sparing, bunker walls visible in the background. He stopped and clicked when he came to an image of Castiel dressed in a tuxedo, beaming at the camera, his arm wrapped around an unrecognizable old man in a Hawaiian shirt, holding a bunch of papers and looking disinterested.
He swiped and the image changed to a picture almost identical to the previous one but now with the addition of Dean's head in the corner, a goofy smile plastered on his face. He swiped across again, an image of the back of Dean's head as he presumably kissed his new husband on the mouth. Another swipe, the two men's hands side by side, revealing matching gold bands. A final swipe, Cas, still in his tuxedo, tie missing, top buttons undone, curled in a fetal position, eyes closed, mouth agape, atop purple cheetah print satin sheets. Sam chuckled, shaking his head.
"Happy?"
"Yeah... That guy looked real enthusiastic about his job". Dean snickered, nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, barrel of laughs, that guy. Who knew getting people hitched could be such a depressing gig." Sam shrugged and his smile faded again.
"I'm always gonna be a little pissed I missed it" Sam sighed.
"Hey, if all goes well today and not like a Red-Wedding-level shitshow, you might just convince me to renew our vows in a few years just to get you off my back". Sam huffed and went back to adjusting his tie in the mirror
"God, that'd be just our luck." he declared. Dean shook his head at his younger brother in the mirror. He counted on his fingers.
"You've got a family of werewolves, a tea-drinking assassin, some hunters from an apocalypse dimension, a reanimated tree girl and her warlock brother," Each time dean added to the list he raised another finger "an ex angel, the queen of hell, a Nephilim nephew that had a small stint playing god, and freakin' Death on your side of the church pew…" Dean smiled and licked his lips, "not to mention, a giant fairy as your best man..." Proud of his joke he waited to receive the laughter he deserved "...A giant fairy…" Sam huffed and pursed his lips. Dean rolled his eyes and continued "Honestly, Sammy, I'm more worried about the mess you and Eileen's new lawyer buddies are gonna get up to." Dean stated, raising his brows, mocking his younger brother.
"You're just mad because Mike beat your ass at pool six games in a row."
"I'm still convinced that douche was packing a hex bag or something. There's no way anyone could down that many shots and then still hand me my own ass." A laugh exploded from Sam as he turned to his brother again.
"You're just rusty now that you're on the other side of the bar!" he scoffed "You should have just taken the first loss."
"No way, man! I had my reputation to protect" The two brothers grinned at each other as the door swung open.
"Sam, they're ready for you, now" Cas stated warmly. Dean slapped his brother on the back.
"You ready for happily ever after?" He asked, pointing at his brother, before turning to Castiel and lazily bumping his shoulder against the former angel's. Cas chuckled as his hand reached Dean's and the two strode from the bathroom. Dean waited, holding Cas' hand in one hand and the other held the bathroom door open for his younger brother. Sam's smile grew as he watched the two of them. He was ready, he noted, and followed them out of the door into the hallway, through the crowd of seated friends and family, before finally taking his place by his brother at the end of the aisle, in front of the altar.
The church they had chosen, he had frequently visited since Jack first took over as The Big Man. The building was large and modern. There were no stained glass windows, no pictures of Jesus, no angel statues, nothing but the cushioned wooden pews, white open space, and a big wooden cross at the center of the wall behind the glass pulpit. Sam liked going to church, he had found. It was a way to deal with all of the crazy he'd gone through over the years. Hearing the stories of real people going through horrible things all for the entertainment of a sadistic God, he could relate. He'd even spent time outside of the church, hanging out with the pastor. They'd discuss God as a flawed retributionist entity and Sam loved that. He loved that he could still keep his faith but was able to feel validated about his mixed feelings. He recalled the time he'd invited Dean and Cas over for dinner to meet Pastor Finley; young, green-haired, non-binary, Pastor Finley. They discussed at length the trials and tribulations from each passage of the bible over drinks, dissecting the literal and figurative meanings in each story. Cas only slipped up a few times; referring to Adam in the present tense or furiously debunking Matthew 22:30. "Everyone deserves to get married if they want." he'd roared. Sam recollected how the Pastor calmly, yet awkwardly tried to explain that Cas had confused his verses, Matthew 22:30 wasn't about homosexuality, and that they were all for marriage equality and totally agreed "that everyone should be able to marry whomever they want". Dean shook his head and shrunk down in his chair, his face bright red.
Sam took a deep breath in and looked toward the double doors as the organ music started to play. The heavy wooden doors opened revealing Gerty Fitzgerald, Garth's daughter, in a light-pink, overly puffy dress. Her eyes strictly trained on the floor as she attempted to walk down the aisle in the oversized gown. She clutched an ornate gold box tight to her chest and occasionally threw clumps of what was once white rose petals, from her tightly fisted hands. Sam noticed a chuckle from Dean from behind him, as he tried to stifle his own laugh. The poor kid looked terrified.
Sam's eyes ran over the pews and landed on Cas. He noted the disapproving look shot directly at Dean's laughter and cleared his throat in an attempt to hide his own smile. Sam continued to look out at the sea of people watching him, seeing everyone who came to celebrate; seeing family. Charlie and Stevie, Crowley and Rowena, Jody and Donna, Claire, Kaia, Patience, and Alex, Garth, Bess, little Castiel, and Sam, Bobby, Ryan, and Ketch, Max, Alicia, and Lorraine, Mike, Laurie, Scott, Eugine, and Jenna. Gerty dumped a fistful of the remaining petals at Sam's feet. He tried to shoot her a reassuring smile, but she hawked up her dress, ran back to her family, and bounded onto her mother's lap before even looking up. Sam noted Garth's mouthed 'Sorry' and tried desperately to stifle his laughter before a stirring at the back of the hall made Sam catch his breath.
There, dressed in a long white dress, her arm in Jack's, stood Eileen, a huge grin plastered to her face, her eyes locked on Sams. Tears welled up in both of their eyes. A warmth spread through Sam's chest as he reveled at the sight of her; as he reveled at the sight of his future. Dean slapped his brother on the shoulder, encouragingly. "Happily Ever After," he repeated to himself. Dean smiled and looked around through his tear-filled eyes, grateful for his family.