Chapter 8: Nanny Dean
Dean got another ride from Charlie on Monday and after his therapy session Castiel drove them to Lily's daycare. It was located in and run by a local church. Dean must have looked surprised when they arrived because Cas quickly explained that it was the only option they'd visited that Lily seemed remotely comfortable in. The tone of his voice suggested that Cas was much less comfortable in churches, but Dean didn't press the issue.
Lily was very excited to see them and ran up to show off her latest creative masterpiece: a mess of construction paper, dry macaroni, and glitter. Cas picked her up and admired it enthusiastically. Dean noted how much more comfortable he seemed with her now that a few weeks had gone by; he didn't even seem to mind glitter getting all over his suit that probably cost more than a lot of people's cars. He looked happier, too. Fatherhood suited him.
Cas introduced Dean to the daycare workers and got him added to their list of people who were approved to pick up Lily, then he drove them all home to show Dean around.
Dean wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but it definitely wasn't the perfect picture of white-picket-fence America that Cas pulled up to. It was a two story house with a peaked roof, two-car garage, nice landscaping, and a large porch complete with porch swing. It looked like a soccer mom's wet dream.
"This is your place?" Dean asked as they waited for the garage door to open. "It's so… normal."
"And what were you expecting?"
"I don't know, a mansion? One of those huge square things made out of glass and concrete? Something douchey."
Cas laughed lightly. "Sorry to disappoint."
He got Lily out of her car seat and led Dean inside. There was a breezeway between the garage and house where they all took their shoes off. That led into a good-sized kitchen with stainless steel appliances, which led into a well-lit dining room with French doors opening onto a patio, which led into a large living room. This appeared to be where Lily spent most of her time as the entire space was strewn with toys and featured both a playpen and a Frozen-themed fabric tent "castle."
Dean whistled. "Open floor plan. Nice."
Castiel arched a brow. "Thank you?"
"What? I watch HGTV like any other red-blooded American."
Lily took off toward the living room and crawled into her tent. She emerged seconds later carrying her white kitten, Elsa, who was noticeably longer than when Dean had seen her last. Lily did her best to keep the kitten's feet from dragging on the floor as she awkwardly ran back to the boys.
"Elsa!" She announced proudly, and presented the kitten to Dean.
"She's getting so big!" He dutifully shook Elsa's paw, then Lily was off again.
"They're inseparable," Cas said fondly. "Elsa even gets her own bowl of popcorn when we watch movies. C'mon, I'll give you a quick tour, then I have to head back to work."
Cas showed Dean where the diapers, snacks, etc. were and gave him some pointers on handling naptime. They were interrupted periodically by Lily running up with a toy or book to show Dean.
"You already have my work number, but I wrote it down anyway," Cas said as they ended the tour back in the kitchen. "This is my cell and this is Hannah's number just in case. Thank you again for doing this, Dean, I really appreciate it. Truly."
"I'm happy to, Cas."
Castiel called Lily over and knelt down to explain that he was going back to work now. "Dean's going to stay and play with you like we talked about, remember?" Lily nodded, but looked a little teary. "I'll see you in a few hours. Be good, ok?" He hugged her and stood up to leave, at which point Lily started bawling. Cas picked her up. "Separation anxiety," he whispered to Dean, rubbing the toddler's back. "Lil, I've got to go, baby. I'll see you soon." He kissed her head and handed her off to Dean, grabbed his keys from the counter and backed out the door, offering Dean an apologetic look. Dean waved him off as his shirt soaked up Lily's tears.
**000**
Cas stopped for fast food on the way back to work (he got the salad, which was somehow more calories than the chicken sandwich) and ate in the parking lot before going in. As he ate he pondered how much time and how many sacrifices childcare required. Until recently he'd never eaten fast food in his adult life, but now he'd had it twice in a week, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. What he found most surprising was how little he minded the changes. Taking care of Lily was so important that it made everything else insignificant by comparison. Except sleep. He desperately missed getting uninterrupted sleep.
When he went into the office there was a police officer at the front desk. Cas didn't think much of it until he recognized the man as someone he'd known since highschool.
"Gabe?"
"Castiel! There he is." Lt. Gabriel grinned broadly and pulled Cas into a hug. "How've you been, man? It's been years! Sorry I couldn't make Luke's funeral, how was it? Don't answer that. Stupid question. This gem of a lady was telling me you're raising Luke's kid? How's that going? I imagine you surrounded by diapers and cheerios, crying into your Italian silk tie."
"That's… somewhat accurate," Cas replied when Gabriel ran out of breath. "What are you doing here, Gabe?"
"Straight to business, not a lot of small talk, that's what I like about you. You got an office in this joint? Somewhere private?"
Castiel led Gabe to his office and shut the door behind him.
"To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"
"I've been overseeing the investigation into the fire at your brother's apartment building."
"There's an ongoing investigation?" Cas asked in surprise. "I thought it was ruled an accident."
"It appeared accidental at first, but we did our due diligence and a few things are looking fishy. I wanted you to know before the media grabs the story. It's looking like arson."
"Arson? Really?"
"'Fraid so. Professional job, too, we almost didn't catch it. You may be questioned again by some of my guys; we'll be re-interviewing the tenants and some witnesses." Gabe leaned in and lowered his voice. "You didn't hear it from me, but some of the old-timers think the perp might be the same guy that did a bunch of houses back in the 90's. Something about starting the fire on the ceiling, which was his trademark M.O. This could end up being a huge case, Cassie. Career-making. Or ending… he did get away last time."
"That's… wow. Ok, thanks for telling me. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."
"Sure thing, Cassie. Good to see ya. Say 'hi' to the big man for me."
"Um, sure. Good to see you, Gabriel."
**000**
Dean finally got Lily down for a nap after some chocolate milk, half a crustless PB&J, 20 minutes of an obnoxious Elmo video on YouTube, and about 7 ½ readings of The Hungry Caterpillar. She was now sound asleep in her Frozen tent, sharing a pillow with the kitten. Dean had just managed to slip out of the tent (only his torso fit in it to begin with) when his phone rang. He answered it as quickly and quietly as possible.
"Hello?"
"Dean? Is this a bad time?"
"Hey, Sammy. Give me a sec." Dean made sure Lily was still asleep, then backed into the kitchen. "What's up?"
"I'm calling to check in. How's the leg?"
"It's alright. Still broken."
"No kidding. How's treatment going?"
"Yeah, pretty good. Um… It's going good. How's school?"
"Don't change the subject, I need details. Are you still working with Dr. Castiel?"
"Yup."
Sam sighed. "God, it's like pulling teeth. Fine, if you don't want to talk about your physical health, what about mental stuff? Are you still seeing Benny?"
"No, actually, I haven't seen him again. Must have been those drugs they had me on for my lungs."
"Oxygen?"
"Shut up, you know what I mean. I was pretty out of it when you were here. I'm better now."
"If you say so. You'd tell me if you were still messed up, right? You'd let me help?"
"I'm fine, Sammy. Promise."
Sam sighed again. "Ok, final line of questioning. Why did you whisper when you picked up the phone? Are you with someone?"
"Yeah, I got a chick asleep in the other room."
"What? Are you serious?
Dean laughed. "No man, I'm watching Lily; she's taking a nap."
There was a long pause on the other end. "Castiel's Lily? The little girl you saved?"
"Yeah, I watch her sometimes. Is that so unbelievable?"
"Uhh… yes. It kind of is. Since when do you babysit?"
Dean sighed dramatically. "She doesn't like daycare, Cas needed someone to watch her, I offered. It's not a big deal. I was bored anyway, broken legs suck ass. I miss my car."
"Huh. That's a lot of reasons. A psychology doctoral candidate might think you're overcompensating to hide the real reason. Could it have something to do with a certain blue-eyed doctor who happens to be single and is 'achin' for your bacon'?"
"Dude, gross. That is NOT the reason."
"Uh-huh. Sure. I can hear your face getting red through the phone."
"Shut up, no you can't."
Sam laughed and Dean smiled despite himself. "Alright well, if you're really doing good then I'm glad. Just um, will you promise me something?"
"What is it?"
"Don't go back to work too soon, okay? I know you're bored and you miss the guys, but just take it easy for a while. I'm serious."
Dean was struck by the earnestness in Sam's voice and it quelled any smartass response he may have had. "Okay, I won't."
"Good. I just… it's important to me that you're careful with yourself. I'll letcha get back to the nanny gig now. Talk to you later, Dean."
"Bye, Sammy."
**000**
Cas was able to keep up on his paperwork throughout the day and so got home a little earlier than he'd expected. He arrived to find the entire living room transformed into a pillow and blanket fort and all of Lily's toys and art supplies lined up end to end leading out of the fort and into the kitchen. He dropped his keys on the counter and called tentatively, "Hello?"
Lily made a shrieking sound in response and scurried out of the fort. Dean's head peaked out as Cas picked her up.
"Hey, you're early. I was going to clean this up." Cas glanced at a dark purple stain he didn't remember being on the living room rug. Dean pointed to it. "That's soaking in dish soap," he said hastily. "It's what the internet suggested." He started scooting out of the fort as Cas walked into the room.
"Don't worry about it," Cas said, and offered him a hand getting up. "Looks like you guys had fun."
"Yeah, I didn't really fit in the tent with her, so we made it bigger."
"And the… procession here?"
"Oh, we lined up the stuffed animals to watch TV and the other toys are waiting their turn."
"I see."
"Unk J," Lily said, and pointed at the fort.
"You want me to see inside?" Castiel knelt down and looked into the fort which was framed around the entertainment center and indeed featured all of Lily's stuffed animals sitting in rows like a movie theater. She had more than he'd realized, many of which had been donated by friends, family, and even a few neighbors who'd left gift baskets on the porch. "Very cool." When he stood up Dean was collecting the other toys and putting them away in bins. "You don't have to clean up, Dean, really." To his surprise, Lily wriggled out of his arms and started helping Dean. The three of them tidied up the living room and then Cas invited Dean to stay for dinner.
"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose…"
"You wouldn't be, we want you here. Right, Lil?"
Lily concurred and Dean stayed. Over dinner they talked about their days and Cas mentioned what Gabe had told him. When he got to the part about the fire starting on the ceiling Dean's face went pale.
"What did you say?"
"On the ceiling, which I gather is kind of unusual." Cas looked up from his meal. "Dean, are you alright?
"Like the string of fires in the 90's..." Dean said quietly.
"That's what my friend said, but I don't remember any local fires back then."
"They weren't local, they were in Dallas. My mom died in one."
Castiel almost dropped his fork. "God, Dean, I'm sorry, I had no idea."
Dean poked at his food without eating. "It was a long time ago. Happened when me and Sam were 9 and 13. My dad ruined his career trying to find the guy, but he was a ghost. Half the force didn't believe he even existed until the third fire."
"Wow," Cas said quietly. He couldn't think of anything else to say.
After a pause, Dean added, "I hope your friend is wrong. Because if he's right and this is the same guy, then he's just getting started."