I do realize that this is a day late, but better late than never! Hopefully you guys enjoy! This is set in season 13, but no real spoilers aside from a few name drops. Huge, gigantic thank you to scootersmom, bagelcat1, and Kathy for your reviews on the last chapter!

Ongoing reminder: Prompts are always welcome via PM/review, my brain doesn't have endless ideas and I'm always up for seeing what other people come up with :)

I don't own Supernatural, nope, sorry.

The date didn't escape Sam's notice. Some years it did, but not this year. With everything going on with the apocalypse world, Michael, Lucifer, Mom, and Jack, Sam had to take a moment to wonder how it would turn out and if he would even still be present next year. It was May 2, his birthday. Dean, of course, had remembered, and had let Sam sleep in before they had made the final leg of the journey home from their last hunt. With nothing new coming up on the apocalypse world, they had decided that a few days doing something more normal, for them at least, could be good.

Dean had even eaten at a semi-healthy restaurant the day before, which was surprising to Sam, and even though Dean complained about it, he was doing it for the greater good and really had no problem with it. There was, of course, a 'happy birthday, Sammy' exchanged in the car before they had left the motel, and Sam didn't bother to comment on the affectionate nickname that was sticking with him even though he was now thirty-five.

Dean had let him pick three songs over the course of their seven hour drive back, but only because it was Sam's birthday. The house rules still applied. And at the end of the day, it was a perfectly fine birthday. They were no closer to getting Mom and Jack back, but the world was still intact, the hunt had gone relatively well, and they were returning to Cas safely at the bunker. So, all in all, Sam wasn't complaining.

When they pulled into the bunker's garage, Dean left Sam with the bags to put back, saying he had to use the can because the 'freaking rabbit food was messing with him', to which Sam laughed at but did as his brother asked.

Sam eventually made his way into the main area of the bunker, which was too quiet. Cas wasn't researching in the library like he had been the past few days, which made Sam wary.

"Dean? Cas?" he called, his voice reverberating throughout the bunker. When he received no answer, he kept walking, hand ready to pull out his gun just in case something decided to pop out. Even in the bunker, he couldn't be too careful. When he walked past the kitchen, he noticed that the lights were off, which was strange. He went to flick them on, and was met with an enthusiastic 'Happy Birthday, Sam!' from Dean and Cas.

After Sam had gotten over his surprise, he found that his family was standing behind the counter, a cake in front of them with messy frosting on it bearing the same message. Cas even had on a crooked party hat, which he had found who knows where.

"What is all of this?" he asked, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face.

"This," Dean pointed to the cake in front of him, "is an angelic masterpiece," he grinned.

"I only mixed together the ingredients Dean had left for me as he had instructed," Cas clarified, though he was smiling too. "The party hat, which I have learned is customary at such celebrations, was a lucky find."

Sam kept looking back and forth between the two of them. It was a small gesture, but in the midst of everything, the fact that they had taken the time meant a great deal.

"You left him ingredients?" Sam asked with a breathy laugh.

Dean shrugged. "Made a run, grabbed some boxed cake mix because I knew we'd be on a hunt, and called Cas this morning to make sure he didn't burn down the kitchen."

"I can bake a cake without burning down the kitchen, Dean."

"Hey, just in case, precautions were taken."

"I may not be able to make burgers-"

"Like at all-"

"But I am capable of putting eggs and water into a powdered mixture and using a device to heat it to a specific temperature."

"Excuse me for being careful-"

"Guys!" Sam cut off their cutting each other off style of bantering. When they turned to look at him, all three of them had smiles on their faces. "For whoever did what, thanks."

"No problem, Sam," they both said at the same time, which had Dean chuckling. Dean then brought out one candle and they dimmed the lights so they could sing a fairly off-key tune for Sam. Cake was then distributed and eaten with some light conversation in-between. Cas had gotten Sam a set of notebooks, an actual labeled set with spines and nice pages for him to write whatever he wanted in when he got tired of legal pads. It didn't have to be an extravagant offering for it to be meaningful, and the angel understood that at its core. Sam's smile and genuine thanks afterwards showed just how right Cas was.

Dean then handed Sam a knife, no wrapping paper, because 'what was the point in wrapping a knife?' as per his own words. It was silver, obviously, with intricate engravings and a sturdy handle. Sam had mentioned weeks ago that the handle on his current go-to knife needed some work, and apparently Dean had stored away that information for further use. Of course, Sam wasn't at all surprised.

Beers were passed around next and the three of them sat at the kitchen table. Dean told stories of how on one of Sam's birthdays they ate too much almost expired ice cream, and on another he got his younger brother the subtle gift of some black elastic bands and a pair of brand new scissors. Pretty soon, they had themselves laughing, and for a few moments, everything was peaceful and right with the world.

For the next two or so hours, they didn't think of the impending apocalypse coming to them from another universe or what they still had to accomplish. They simply celebrated the fact that Sam was a year older (and that his knees would start to give out soon, as Dean warned but Cas denied based on his knowledge of human physiology) and that they had been able to enjoy the day in relative peace as a family.