Good Day, Beautiful SPN Family!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and are comfortably getting back into the swing of things. I wanted to say a huge thank you for all the follows, favorites, and especially the reviews. Guys, it just makes my day to know that my stories make you happy. I adore every single one of you. Again, I always try to respond to each review, and if I haven't yet, my apologies. Know that in my heart, I'm thanking you and sending you love and pixie dust! I will respond eventually!

To answer a couple review questions from guests- In the last story, I think Dean did apologize, in his own way. He let her end up talking to the boy, didn't he? :) After this situation, he also apologizes by going easier on her when it comes to boys. Stay tuned to find out what I mean by that! I also had a request to see Natalie as a baby. So this story is for you! This was in response to a question posed by my fabulous muse, Jenmm31 (she's the Sam to my Dean). If you guys haven't read her stories yet, go do it, right now! You won't be sorry. They're hilarious and heartwarming, and flawlessly woven into the world of SPN.

Here we go! Please read, review, and enjoy!

A/N: In this story, Natalie is 10 months old. Please see profile for disclaimer.

Dean paced nervously around the motel room. What the hell was he going to do? As if in response to his unanswered question, Natalie, his almost one-year-old daughter, babbled incoherently, albeit delightedly. He hoisted her a little higher from where she was sitting on his hip, gave her a distracted kiss on the temple, and resumed pacing. He didn't know what to do. Sam was busy, sitting on his bed, going through his contacts list on his phone. Dean prayed that he would come up with something, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Sam heaved a large, frustrated sigh.

"I got nothing," he said, dejectedly tossing his phone onto his bed.

"What the hell are we supposed to do, Sam?"

"I don't know! Stop biting my head off!"

"Then find a freaking solution here!"

"What part of 'I got nothing' didn't come out in English, huh?"

Dean rolled his eyes at Sam's bitchy tone. The last thing he needed was for Sam to start getting all angsty on him right now. "Okay- there's gotta be someone we haven't tried."

Sam pulled on his chin in thought- he was really starting to come up dry on this one. "What about the owner of the motel?" he asked suddenly.

Dean stopped, and gave Sam an are you kidding me? look. "Not gonna happen."

"Come on. She seemed okay..."

"Yeah, and if she's not already wasted by this time of night, I'm a freaking unicorn."

"It's only seven o'clock."

"My point exactly. She smelled like a distillery when we checked in this morning."

"Okay. Fine, so she's out."

"And Bobby's sure that he doesn't know anyone in the area?"

Sam shook his head despondently. "Doesn't know a damn person," he said, his use of a swear word indicating just how frustrated he was.

"Well, we can't take her with us!"

"I know that as well as you do."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?!"

"Still- got nothing!"

Dean grumbled under his breath. Bobby had called yesterday, saying there was an emergency in Maine that needed the boys' attention, right now. Without another question, the Winchesters had jumped into the Impala, and drove straight through the night to get to the small town. There was a pack of werewolves that were attacking children- trying to get to them early and raise them as killers. There were no other hunters even close to the area, so Bobby had called up his boys. However, in all the panic of trying to get to the town quick enough to save as many children as they could, they had all but forgotten about their recent addition to the family. Natalie, Dean's ten month old daughter, had been so easy to deal with, in spite of the hunter's lifestyle that Sam and Dean lead, that they hadn't stopped to think about what they were going to do with her during the hunt. They had been picking cases that were a bit on the simpler side- just salt and burns. or a quick exorcism, requiring only one of them at a time, so the other could stay with the baby. If they had a more difficult case, they had been very careful to make friends in each town they were in, who were only too delighted to baby sit for a night.

This case, however, was a different story. Obviously, they were both needed on this hunt. They were not only dealing with a large, well organized pack of monsters, but a pack that were targeting young children. Had they really thought about it, they would have left Natalie with a friend or colleague on their way to Maine. They had just pulled in this morning, and hadn't gotten a chance to scout for potential babysitters. But it was too late for that. They were here- and the moon was about to rise. And they had a ten month old in tow.

Dean was still pacing around the room, trying to come up with something- anything. They couldn't leave her alone in the motel room, and they couldn't take her with them. There was no one they knew in the general vicinity, except the rather inebriated clerk at the front desk of the motel they were staying at. Dean's thoughts kept bouncing back and forth in his brain, like a psychotic tennis ball. He wasn't about to let Natalie get anywhere near that pack. And he wasn't about to leave her here alone in a motel. So what was he supposed to do? He picked up his own phone and began searching through his contacts. Maybe there was someone on his list that wasn't on Sam's. As he tried to scroll through his list, the ten-month-old on his hip decided that the pretty light up thing in Daddy's hands was supposed to be for her. She reached for it, and Dean automatically pulled it away from her. For some reason, she loved phones, especially when they were lit up. He guessed it was just a baby thing- you know, shiny objects equaled toys to them, or something like that. As he pulled it away, she stretched out her little arms for it, batting Dean in the face as she tried to touch the forbidden object.

"Ow," he mumbled in a muffled tone when her tiny arm backhanded him across the mouth. Even at ten months, she seemed to understand "ow". She withdrew her arm, but pointed at the phone and began her baby babbling again. Dean ignored the pointing and continued to scroll down his list. He finally reached a name that made him stop his frantic pacing. He stood stock still, his mind racing as he weighed out his options. Sam looked up, surprised by Dean's sudden halt from wearing a hole in the carpet.

"What? Did you find someone?" Sam asked in a rush. He bound off his bed, and walked quickly to Dean's side. He pulled the phone out of his brother's hand. Dean huffed, annoyed.

"Really? First she wants my phone, now you?" he forcefully spat at Sam. "Unbelievable," he growled, shaking his head. Sam wasn't paying attention, however. His eyes widened as he saw the contact that Dean had highlighted.

"Whoa. Are you sure?" he asked, his large hazel eyes worried.

"No, but what other choice do we have?" Without another word, Dean snatched his phone back from Sam and pressed "call". He held it up to his ear as it began ringing. He closed his eyes, resigned to what he was about to do. Just then, the other end of the line picked up.

"Hello?" came the gravelly voice on the other end.

"Cas. I need your help," Dean said.

"What do you need?" Cas said, suddenly appearing right behind Dean. Dean nearly jumped out of his skin. "Cas! How many times have I told you not to do that?!" he barked. He began bouncing the baby on his hip to make sure she was okay with his sudden, startled movements, but he didn't have to. Natalie was staring wide eyed at the newcomer. She tilted her head down onto Dean's shoulder, but wouldn't stop staring at Castiel. Cas found himself staring back at her.

"Sorry," he said to Dean, still locked in a staring contest with the baby. "She's bigger than she used to be," he commented matter of factly.

"You haven't seen her since she was like, what- a month old? Of course she's bigger," Dean grumbled. "Where the hell have you been?"

"On business."

"Oh, well, that explains it. Look, Cas, I need your help. Sam and I have a case that we have to get to, tonight. But we can't take Natalie with us."

"Why not?" the angel asked innocently.

"Why not?!" Dean snapped. "She's a freaking baby! I can't leave her in the car, and it's kind of hard to keep a machete in one hand, and a one year old in the other!"

"Cas, she's too little to be left alone," Sam explained patiently, trying to help the puzzled angel. "We're wondering- can you babysit?"

"Baby...sit?"

"Yeah. It means watch her. Take care of her. Make sure she's okay." Sam looked intently at Cas to see if he was getting it. The angel had his typical "I'm confused about everything" look on, so Sam tried again. "For example- she's going to be hungry soon, so you feed her."

"Feed her," Cas said blankly.

"This crap," Dean said, producing a small jar of baby food, and holding it out to Cas. Cas took it in his hand, and stared at it for a moment.

"She can eat glass?"

"This was a bad idea," Dean said, turning to Sam. Sam knew they really didn't have any other options, so he walked towards Cas, his hand extended.

"No, look," he said, taking the jar out of Cas's hand. He twisted the top to reveal the orange mush inside. "You feed her what's inside the jar. Look, these are sweet potatoes. Use this little spoon," he explained, picking one up from the table littered with the usual smatterings of baby paraphernalia. He dipped the spoon into the small container, and held it to Natalie's lips. She leaned forward, away from Dean, and obediently ate the baby food. Sam expertly used the spoon to gently swipe her lips, catching the mush that hadn't quite made it in her mouth. Upon tasting the sweet potato, she waved her arms, wanting more.

"Looks like she's ready to eat now," Dean said, walking over to the collapsible plastic high chair. "Too bad they don't make this mush in Bacon Cheeseburger flavor," he commented dryly as he deposited her into the chair, buckling her in. "Don't worry, kid- soon as you got all your teeth, I promise," he murmured to the baby girl with a grin. She responded with an adorable gurgle that made even his tough-as-leather heart melt a bit. He quickly turned to Cas.

"She's a really messy eater-" he began.

"Yeah. Totally takes after Dean there," Sam interrupted. Dean shot his brother a glare before continuing.

"So you'll probably have to clean her up after she eats. She'll stop eating when she's had enough. If you need more, there's more jars on the table."

"Okay- diapers are in the bag under the table-"

"More clothes are in the duffle bag next to mine-"

"If she wants toys, just grab anything except that green fuzzy duck thing-"

"When she's ready to sleep, lay her down in that bassinette-"

"She doesn't stay asleep long, so heads up-"

"And call if you need anything. Okay?" Sam and Dean abruptly stopped talking and stared at Castiel. His eyes had been bouncing back and forth between the brothers like a ping pong ball as they spouted off instructions, trying to keep up and absorb all the information they were throwing at him.

"I think so," he said hesitantly. He looked at Natalie once again, curiosity in his eyes. How could something so tiny require so many instructions? Sam and Dean exchanged a helpless look. Before panic could get the better of him, Dean cleared his throat and moved towards the bed, where the duffle bag of weaponry was waiting. He pulled it up over his shoulder and grabbed the Impala keys that were laying on the end table between his and Sam's beds. They really didn't have any more time left to lose.

"We're going to try to make this as fast as possible, but we're not really sure about the numbers we're dealing with here. Just...make sure she's okay." Dean clamped down on the panicky feeling that was squeezing the breathe out of his lungs, but he could hardly go wrong with a guardian angel. Right? He took another deep shaky breath, trying to will his lungs to expand and his nerves to dissipate. He knew Natalie would be perfectly safe with Cas, so why the hell was he freaking out? He couldn't think about that right now- he had a job to do. She would be fine. He would be fine. Everybody would be just freaking fine.

Castiel sensed Dean's inner turmoil, and spoke gently. "Dean- I will be the best Baby Sitter I can be. Natalie Grace will be safe with me," he reassured the young father.

Dean swallowed, not wanting to admit that Cas had just effectively read his mind and laid his emotions out on the table. "Of course she will be," he said gruffly. He also didn't want to admit that the way Cas said "Baby Sitter" had him questioning if the angel really knew what he was doing. Dean walked over towards the ten month old. "Hey," he said, pointing a finger in her face. "Be good," he commanded jokingly, knowing that she couldn't possibly understand him. She banged her hands onto the tray attached to the high chair. "Alright then," he said. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head, then made his way towards the door, with Sam right behind him. As he opened the door, he paused to let Sam exit first. Then, he turned back to the angel, who was once again staring at his daughter.

"Hey-" he said loudly, trying to get Cas's attention. Cas's eyes swung to Dean. "You know when we say 'baby-sit'- it doesn't mean to SIT on the BABY, right?"

There was a long, silent pause. "Yes. Of course."

"Oh god." Dean said, shutting the door behind him before he panicked completely and called the whole thing off. Cas heard the roar of the Impala engine, and the squeal of the tires as they boys drove away from the motel. The angel blinked once, then turned his attention back to the baby waving her arms impatiently, waiting for more food.

"I'm supposed to feed you now," he said to Natalie, wondering if she would respond. She stopped waving her arms, and stared at Cas again. She seemed to realize that it was just him now- there was no Daddy and no Uncle Sam. However, when she saw the jar of baby food in Cas's hand, she forgave him for not being daddy and started banging her hands on the high chair tray again. Cas walked over to the baby, gingerly picking up the spoon that Sam had left on the table. He dipped the spoon into the small jar, and walked towards Natalie like she was a rabid lion, and he was carrying a bloody steak. She opened her mouth and leaned forward. Cas managed to tip the spoon into her mouth, while trying to stay as far away from her as possible. True to Dean's word- Natalie was a messy eater. About half the contents of the spoon dribbled down her chin. Cas furrowed his brow.

"That is supposed to stay inside of you," he said to the child. She giggled in response, which confused Cas even more.

"But you seem to be happy about it." He took a tentative step forward, and fed Natalie another spoonful of the sweet potato mush. She waved her arms delightedly. This time, and Cas wasn't sure how exactly this happened, but she ended up with a glob of baby food on her nose. He cocked his head to the side as he looked at her. She was still babbling with a grin on her face. So Cas decided to try an experiment.

He dipped the spoon in again, and instead of putting it at Natalie's mouth, he touched her cheek with it first. It left a small orange streak. Natalie was confused for a moment- this was completely new to her, but when the spoon reached her mouth again, she didn't care. Another spoonful came at her, touching her other cheek first, then feeding into her mouth. That caused her to giggle- this was new. This was fun.

"You are enjoying this," Cas murmured in wonder. "I must be doing this correctly." He continued to smear the baby food all over her face as she continued to eat. The infectious baby giggles grew and grew with each spoonful. They had almost reached the end of the jar, when Natalie suddenly spat a mouthful of the sweet potato mush back at Cas, plastering his face with the goo. He froze for a moment, unsure of what to do. Then Natalie giggled again.

"That is an unusual way to share your food, but I thank you nonetheless," he said in his gravelly voice. She let out a sweet baby cackle. When Cas tried to once again give her another spoonful, out it came again with the force of a projectile missile, narrowly missing him but coating the wall instead.

"I suppose this means that you're done?" he asked, still confused as to why she wasn't speaking words. She was too busy licking her own cheeks to even babble at him. He walked away towards the sink in the bathroom, and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. The sticky orange mush was covering him as much as it was covering the baby. He began wiping his hands on his face, but that only resulted in the goo getting smeared in his hair. It was an unusual look. He was fascinated by the way that the mush made his hair stand up. He was in the process of giving himself an orange Mohawk when a horrible smell reached his nose. He nearly gagged on the stench.

"What on Earth is that?" he said aloud, turning back to the baby, who was still seated in her high chair. He walked closer to her, and the smell seemed to get stronger.

"That smells like...sulfur," he muttered to himself. At once, a horrible thought crossed his mind. He pulled out his phone immediately and dialed Dean. After one ring, the other phone picked up.

"Cas? This is Sam on Dean's phone. Are you okay?" came Sam's voice through the phone speaker.

"I think the child is possessed," Cas said blankly, no preamble whatsoever.

"What?! What do you mean possessed?" Sam yelled. Cas could hear a screeching of tires through the phone, then Dean's voice roaring through.

"What the hell?!"

"Dean, hang on- Cas, explain what you mean," Sam said, trying to stay calm.

"There is a smell of sulfur coming from her. It's putrid."

"Oh brother," Sam muttered. "Cas, she's not possessed- she just needs to be changed, that's all."

"Changed."

"Yes, changed."

Cas eyed the baby doubtfully before answering. "I've never successfully done a human transformation before. What should I change her into?"

"What?! NO! Not like that! That's not what I mean!" Sam yelled again. Cas heard a scuffle on the other end of the line, followed by some muffled words, then a smack, a "hey!", and Dean was on the phone instead of Sam.

"Cas- what the hell did you do to my kid?!"

"Sam said that I'm supposed to transform her into something to stop the smell of sulfur coming from her."

"That's not what he said, dipshit. He said CHANGE her. As in change her diaper."

"What is a diaper?"

More scuffling on the other end of the phone, then Sam was back on the line. "Okay- so if you undress her, you'll see that instead of the normal underwear that humans wear- she's wearing a diaper. You need to take it off her, clean her up, and put a new one on her. Remember I said that diapers were in the bag under the table?"

"Yes. I remember you saying this."

"Okay. Go get one diaper. Let me know when you've got it." Cas walked over to the table. There was a large blue bag underneath the table. He pulled out a small diaper, examining it closely before picking the phone back up.

"I have a diaper."

"Good! That's good. Okay- so you're going to lay her down on a soft surface- take the diaper she's wearing off, clean her up, and put the new diaper on her in place of the old one. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Good. You're going to need both hands to do this, so I'm going to hang up, okay?"

"Alright."

"Call if you need anything else, okay?"

"And Cas?" Dean voice roared though the speaker of the phone again. "If I come back and you've changed one iota of my daughter's DNA, I will rip your wings off and shove them up your ass. Got me?"

"Understood."

"Good."

"We'll see you later, Cas." CLICK.

Cas looked at the phone in his hand. He didn't understand why Dean was getting so upset- Sam HAD told him to change the baby. He shrugged, then walked over to her. He tried to lift Natalie up, but she was still buckled into the chair, and the chair came with her. She squealed in protest, which made Cas put her down quickly. He examined her for a moment, then found all the straps that were keeping her tethered to the chair.

"Oh I see. This is very clever," he mused, thinking of how ingenious humans could occasionally be. He figured out the buckles- eventually- and was able to lift Natalie out. The smell increased when he did that, so he was very quick to try to follow Sam's instructions. He laid her down on one of the beds, and tried to undress her. She unintentionally didn't make it any easier on him, waving her arms and legs around in delight.

"Could you please stop moving?" he asked her. At that moment, she discovered that there was still sweet potato on her fingers, and tried to stick both hands in her mouth. She was so absorbed in her task that she actually stopped kicking her tiny legs for a moment.

"Thank you very much," Cas said to the baby, who still wasn't answering. "You really should speak, you know." Natalie was still sucking on her hands, ignoring him. Cas sighed, and quickly undressed her. He removed the diaper. Upon seeing its contents, he nearly threw up. He held it between his thumb and his forefinger, and dragged it away from him. Realizing that that didn't stop the smell, he quickly balled it up, walked to the door of the motel room, and tossed it out into the parking lot. He heaved a sigh of relief when the air in the room seemed to clear. He walked back to the baby, and suddenly remembered that Dean had said she needed to be cleaned after eating. Sam had said to clean her before putting a new diaper on. Well, there was only one thing to do then.

Cas picked up Natalie, and walked into the bathroom. He turned on the tub, but became concerned that a baby may not like the temperature of the water too hot. He congratulated himself on his forward thinking. He turned it to what felt like a safe temperature. He left the tub spout on, but the stopper out. He didn't want the bath to get too full either. He plopped her down in the middle of the tub.

"I know that humans like their privacy in the bathroom, so I'll come and get you in five minutes," he said to the baby who was sitting up in the tub before closing the door. He walked away, curious by what else may be in the blue bag that contained diapers. He upended the contents onto the floor, and found among all the other items, a bottle of baby powder. He was concerned, after reading the label, that it was made from babies- why would Sam and Dean keep something like that around?- but upon reading the backside with instructions, realized that it was something to put ON babies. Natalie was a baby. He should put this on her. He suddenly realized that his five minute time limit on her bath was up.

Castiel walked back to the bathroom, and opened the door. Natalie was still sitting in the middle of the tub, delightedly playing with the water pouring out of the faucet, splashing it all over the place. Between the splashing and her playing, some of the orange mush from dinner had managed to be wiped off her face. And as she was sitting in a small pool of water, most of her other end was clean too.

"I suppose you're as clean as you're going to get. But you really should do a more thorough job in the future," he chastised the baby. He picked up a towel from the sink, and leaned down into the tub to pick her up. She held her arms up to him and gurgled, excited to be picked up. Cas found himself staring at her again as he pulled her in close and she babbled at him. These tiny humans were amazing. She clearly thought she was effectively communicating with these nonsense words, but he found them to be...quite...cute. When she laughed, it made him happy. When she was excited for him to pick her up, it made him feel good.

"I understand why humans like making more humans now, Natalie. Thank you for teaching me that," he said sincerely. Natalie, not understanding a word, smiled and cooed in response. "I am supposed to put baby powder on you now. Let's do that," he said, wondering why he was still speaking to the baby who clearly wasn't listening. It must be another human reaction, he supposed. He walked back into the room, Natalie still wrapped in the towel, and laid her back on the bed. He remembered Dean saying something else about more clothing for her in his bag. He walked over to Dean's duffle and opened it up. He didn't find anything that looked like it would fit Natalie, however. He continued to pull out clothing items, leaving them strewn all over the floor, until he reached the bottom of the bag. He didn't even think to check the bag that was sitting right next to Dean's. He simply pulled a tee-shirt out of the pile of clothes, and decided to dress Natalie in that. He turned back to the baby, still sprawled out on the bed. He twisted the top of the baby powder, sprinkled some into his hands, and proceeded to cover her, head to toe, in the white softness. Between his determination to cover her with the stuff, and plenty of flailing on her part, the entire bed had a nice film of baby powder on it by the time he was done. She sneezed in response to all the baby powder. "Bless you," Cas said politely.

By the grace of God alone, he figured out the diaper, and fastened it into place on her. He then took Dean's black Metallica tee shirt, and pulled it over her head. The bottom was of course too long, so he tied it in a knot, bundling her legs inside. She still had plenty of room to squirm around, so it was fine by her. He picked her up off the bed, wondering what in the world to do next with her. She was getting bored with the lack of action, and began twisting and squirming. The fact that Cas was also holding her out at arm's length wasn't exactly the most comfortable position for her either. She whimpered a bit, which caused Cas to give her his typical confused glance. He continued studying her, but didn't change positions, which only made the baby more uncomfortable. She wriggled again, and let out a shriek of displeasure. When that didn't work either, she screwed her face up and began to cry. Cas's eyes went wide.

"Please stop that," he said quietly, not realizing it was him that was making her cry. She twisted again and continued to whimper and whine. Her little face was quickly starting to turn red, and Cas panicked. What was wrong? She had been perfectly fine a moment ago. His eyes darted around the room, looking for some way to either make her happy or stop her crying. They landed on a couple toys strewn on the couch.

"Ah, yes. I believe children like toys," he muttered to himself. He walked over to the couch, still holding the wailing baby at arm's length. He sat down, and plopped Natalie down on his lap. At the change of position, her cries slowed down, but she was still pretty worked up, and continued to whimper. He reached over, and tried to hand her a toy- a colorful ring of plastic keys. She wasn't expecting it, so it fell through her hands and onto the floor. They both watched as the keys crashed to the ground, and after a moment of quiet, Natalie giggled. Cas's head whipped around in surprise. Giggling was good. She had giggled when he had smeared the food on her face, and she ate, so he knew he had nailed that. Maybe this was a way to play, too.

He took another toy and dropped it on the floor. This time, it was a purple duck that squeaked when you squeezed it. As it too hit the floor, it let out a humorous squawk that Natalie apparently found hilarious. She burst into ten month old laughter, which, to his immense surprise, caused Cas to laugh. Natalie stared in wonder at the angel laughing. Cas stared in wonder at the baby laughing. Then they both began laughing at the same time. Castiel stared at the child again, and found himself captivated by her animated face, and bright green eyes. He felt a sudden rush of protective pride over her- similar to what he felt for Dean. That made sense in his angel's brain- of course the child would cause the same reaction as her father, but Cas did find something even more compelling about her. Dean certainly never laughed like this. And Castiel thought to himself, maybe if there is more laughter in Dean's life, he would be happier. It was something that Cas would think of for a very long time.

He eventually graduated to throwing toys all over the room, which kept the baby screaming with laughter. After about ten minutes, though, he noticed her eyelids started to slide close. When they did that, and she realized it, she would yank her eyes open as wide as they could go. But eventually, they would begin to slid shut again, only for the whole cycle to be repeated. Cas tilted his head, wondering what she was doing. He began to imitate her, wondering if she was trying to send him a signal or something, since she still refused to speak. After about five minutes of the most absurd blinking game ever played, her eyes finally closed, and stayed closed. She began to slump down, and Cas panicked. Had she lost the air inside her or something, like he had seen balloons do? Was that why she was deflating? She began to crumple towards his torso, and he squeezed her shoulders to make sure he had a good grip on her. However, the sudden movement jarred her again, and her eyes flew open. She reached out her tiny hands towards him, her fists opening and closing.

"That looks like you are beckoning me," he commented. She leaned forward again, her hands impetuously making fists. "Oh. That is what you are doing," he said. He gingerly pulled the child closer to him, and, with an exasperated sigh, she gave up her fight against her heavy eyelids and succumbed. After not moving for a solid minute, it finally dawned on Cas that she had fallen asleep.

"You are tired," he said blankly to the sleeping baby. "You should have told me." He gently cradled her in his arms, and she seemed to snuggle into him in her sleep. He found himself staring at her again. How had this tiny human captivated him so? He didn't know how long he sat there, staring at the perfect little creature, just watching her sleep. She was fascinating, even when she was unconscious.

All too soon, (but in reality it had been about three hours), the door to the motel room opened. Dean barreled through first, looking a bit scratched and dirty, but otherwise, unharmed. The second the last werewolf had been killed, he threw Sam in the car and drove back to the motel like a bat out of hell. He didn't want to admit that he was just a nervous father who was in absolute panic- he was way too cool for that. His eyes immediately zeroed in on the angel, and then on the tiny bundle in his arms. Dean breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't even know he was holding in. He made a beeline straight for the two of them. Castiel looked up at the hunter.

"She's been asleep for a long time," he said, looking up at Dean. Dean's eyes quickly scanned the baby- other than a bit of dried orange baby food that was still in her hair, and the fact that she was wearing a gigantic Metallica shirt, she seemed perfectly fine. He leaned down, and pulled Natalie out of Cas's arms. He needed to hold her close, make sure with his own eyes and hands that she was perfectly okay. While he was still inspecting, Sam entered the room. There was one bloody gash on the sleeve of his coat, and he looked like he needed a hot shower, but he too looked none the worse for the wear.

"Hey Cas?" he asked. "Why is there a diaper in the middle...of the..." and he stopped speaking. His abrupt silence shook Dean out of his inspection of his kid, and he finally got a good look around the room. It looks like Toys 'R Us had blown up. There were all manner of brightly colored, squeaky, fuzzy, and noisy things all over the floor, the table- there was even a small blue bear hanging off of the lampshade, looking like it had too much to drink. A mass of sweet potato mush was still plastered on one of the walls, and was somewhere between permanently caked on and only partially caked on. Dean's clothing was also strewn about, and everything seemed to be covered with a fine layer of white dust. Dean looked around in horror at what appeared to be a baby crime scene.

"Cas! What the hell did you do?" he barked.

"I baby sat," Castiel responded, looking very proud of himself. "I would like to do this again." It was hard to take him seriously with his orange crunchy Mohawk sticking up seven ways to Sunday. Just then, the sleeping baby squirmed in Dean's arms from all the noise. Natalie woke up, and saw Dean's face. She let out a squeal of delight.

"Hey, kiddo," he said, tightening his arms around her. "Sorry to wake you."

"Da da!" she responded. Dean froze for a second. His eyes shot up to Sam, who had also frozen, hearing her utterance.

"Did you hear that?" Dean whispered, almost afraid that he had been mistaken.

"Dude- did she just...I think she just said her first word!" Sam said, an incredulous grin creeping across his face.

"You heard it! She just said 'da-da'!" Dean whooped, not even trying to contain his giddiness. As if to confirm, Natalie banged her hands against Dean's chest and said "Da-Da!" again. Dean let out a short, excited laugh.

"She's finally talking! It's about time," Castiel said matter of factly. And in the blink of an eye, he had disappeared.

"Wait! Cas, can't you...damn it," Dean said, looking around the room at the disaster area. "Ah, screw it," he murmured, and pulled his little girl closer to him. "Say it again- say 'da-da'."

She obliged. "Yeah!" Dean said, spinning around the room with her, which made her giggle. As he was dancing around the room with his laughing daughter, cheering every time she said his name again, Sam quietly pulled out his phone and snapped a picture, smiling to himself.