Once their errands were complete, the three made the trip back home. After a quick lunch, Cas and Sam hauled the boxes to the main part of the nursery and Dean went to the garage to get his tools. They'd turned it into a game, seeing who could put together their crib first, Sam against Cas and Dean.

("That's two against one," Sam had whined.

"Yeah, but Cas doesn't have a clue how to use this stuff so, really, it's pretty even," Dean countered.)

In the end, it came out pretty close to a tie and they all worked together to do the third. Then they hung the canopies and Dean arranged and secured them how he'd envisioned, pleased that it turned out well.

Now, the pregnant hunter stood at one end of the nursery, hands cradling the small swell of his belly as he smiled at the three identical cribs arranged in a U on the other side of the room. He imagined what it would look like once the names were painted.

"I can't wait to meet you," he murmured toward his belly, caressing one hand up the small dome then back down. "Then I'll know what to call you instead of just 'the eggs' or 'the kids'."

"Dean?"

Dean startled and immediately dropped his hands from his belly as he whirled around to face the door. His wide eyes narrowed into a glare when they landed on his boyfriend.

"Don't do that," he snapped.

"Sorry," Cas said with a sheepish smile as he entered the nursery and turned to take in their finished work. "This turned out well."

Dean snorted. "I haven't even got the names painted on yet."

"No, but the dark wood and the white tulle against the neutral wall color makes it feel warm but not oppressively dark in here," Cas explained.

Dean hummed thoughtfully as he tried to see it the way Cas saw it then smiled when he realized his angel was right. "I've got something else for the nursery," he said, turning away from the cribs to gesture to the expanse of exposed brick behind them. "We'll put a rocker over here but I've got something to fill the wall with. It's… kind of a present for you even though it's for the nursery."

"For me?" Cas asked, puzzled. "If it's for the nursery, how is it a gift for me?"

"Just… It just is," Dean huffed. "I wanted to surprise you, okay? Just… wait here."

Cas nodded and Dean disappeared out the garage where he'd hidden his framed poster. Shortly after dinner, he'd excused himself and hidden away in the garage, his gift and some supplies tucked away in Baby's trunk. It had been a pain in the ass trying to wrap something that large but he'd done it. Now, he found where he'd hidden it and hurried back to the nursery.

"Here," he said, offering it to Cas.

Castiel frowned in confusion and gently took it, turning it carefully this way and that.

Dean snorted. "You can't guess what it is. Just open it."

Nodding, Castiel tore at one of the folds of paper. Once he had a good spot started, he pulled harder until the wrapping fell away. When he was met will solid black, he turned the object around then had to reorient it when what he was looking at was upside down.

"If ever there comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart; I'll stay there forever," he read. The words were in a freestyle font that wasn't as plain as printed text but easier to read than an elegant script and were cured around two faceless, generic men holding a faceless, generic toddler between them.

"I saw that quote when looking for nursery ideas," Dean said quietly, unsure about how Cas felt. "I thought… since shit happens to us all the time… if anything ever happened to you or me… and we weren't around anymore… the triplets would have something to remind them of us. It's not exactly us I know, but-"

He was cut off when lips pressed insistently into his and a warm palm slid against one of his cheeks. The kiss was short but served its intended purpose of silencing Dean's nervous rambling.

"Dean," Cas said with a small smile, "I love it. It's perfect. And large enough to break up the expanse of brick."

Dean scrubbed at the back of his neck, his cheeks heating up. "I'm glad you like it," he said. "I saw it and I just knew... It… It kind of made me tear up," he admitted with a huff. "That reminds me – can angel eggs mess with hormones? 'Cause that's a better explanation than me just crying like a bitch."

Cas tilted his head thoughtfully. "I suppose they could," he said slowly after a moment. "Like being sick, fluctuating hormones could be one of your body's responses to the foreign intrusion of our offspring like with a human pregnancy."

"Okay. Good," Dean said with a nod. "Not like I want to start losing my shit over some sappy words but at least it's not my fault."

Cas chuckled and offered Dean the frame instead of commenting on how he wouldn't blame Dean if he cried because he knew the hunter would react with defensive anger and he didn't want to upset his pregnant mate. "How do we hang this?"

"What about your parents?"

Dean tensed in Cas's arms where the two sat close together at one of the library tables a few mornings later, Dean against Cas's chest and the angel's hands roaming over the still manageable but ever-growing swell of his mate's belly. Sam's laptop sat open in front of them, a Google search open but nothing typed in yet. The youngest Winchester had gone out for a morning run before breakfast so Dean and Castiel took the opportunity to try and come up with names for the kids.

They had decided that, even if they still had several months before the eggs would be laid and hatched, they'd start picking out names now, utilizing as much time as they needed. Since they needed three boy and three girl names to cover any combination the eggs may turn out to be, they knew the process might be long. So far, they hadn't agreed on where to even start.

"We're not naming any of our kids after my parents, or Bobby, or Ellen, or anyone that we've gotten killed," Dean snarled, hands balling into fists where they hovered over the laptop's keyboard.

"Your mother's death was not your fault," Cas whispered, putting a little more pressure into his caresses.

"Cas," Dean warned. "No. Besides, what if we decide on those names but we get all boys or all girls? It doesn't seem right to have a baby with my mom's name without Dad's or the other way around."

Cas made a thoughtful hum against Dean's shoulder. "Alright, that's fair."

Dean made a vague sound of acknowledgement, his hands slowly uncurling.

"Are you opposed to names of angelic origin?" the angel asked.

Dean reluctantly shrugged. "I suppose not. I mean, Castiel isn't terrible," he added with a small, teasing smile. "There are a few that aren't bad. I reserve the right to veto any angel name if it's too weird or one of your dick siblings' names though."

"Alright," Castiel agreed and watched Dean type angelic baby names into the search then picked the first result and scrolled past the introduction to the lists.

The hunter snorted at the first set of names. "These are just versions of the word 'angel'," he said. "Angela, Angelo, Angelica? No," he decided as he scrolled past.

"I actually agree," Cas muttered. "It's too obvious, not at all creative, and the eggs aren't even full angels anyway."

Dean hummed in agreement as he scrolled down to the next section of suggestions. The third one down made him chuckle. "Cassiel? That's not supposed to be you, is it?"

Castiel peered at the screen, reading the small definition beside the word. "The angel of temperance. I don't think that's supposed to be me."

Curious and easily distracted, Dean opened a second tab to search the name in Google. After a couple of quick scans of a couple results, he shrugged and went back to the name list. "I don't think it's you," he agreed. "What are you the angel of anyway?"

Cas's eyes dropped away from Dean's and his arms tightened marginally around his mate. "The angel of solitude and tears. My day is Thursday and my month is November."

"Hey," Dean said softly, gently nuzzling Cas's jaw. "You're not alone, Cas. You never have to be alone ever again, okay? You got me and Sammy and our kids."

Cas hesitantly met Dean's eyes, a small smile curling his lips upward. "Thank you, Dean."

They sat in silence for a few seconds then Dean pressed a kiss to his angel's jaw before turning back to the computer and scrolling to the next section.

"I would prefer not to use those," Castiel said quietly, reaching around Dean to point at the screen where Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael were listed together.

"Totally agree on that one," Dean said with a nod.

They excluded any that were too strange to blend in with humans, ones that Dean couldn't even pronounce, and names that reminded them of other angels they'd tangled with – Uriel was another that popped up on the list. Dean vetoed Cas's suggestion of "Ariel" because it reminded him of the movie with the mermaid who wanted to be human which had always made him uneasy. Cas had vetoed Dean's suggestion of Micah because it sounded too similar to Michael.

"Nathaniel," Cas suggested, pointing to it down on the list.

Dean nodded thoughtfully then opened a text document and typed it in. "So we have a place to keep all the ones we've agreed on so we can go over them again," he explained when he saw Cas's confused head tilt.

"Jophiel doesn't sound bad," Dean said, pointing it out. "We could call him Joe or Joey."

Cas's brow furrowed in thought then he nodded. "I like that. Angelic but with a simple nickname."

Dean added it to the list.

They went to the next page of the article which was listed as "Angels in Movies."

"The first one is a no," Cas growled when he scanned the list and Dean nodded.

"Yeah, no, we're not naming our kid Clarence," he said. "Makes me think of Meg."

They didn't like any of the others on the list so Dean backtracked and chose another Google result to comb through. When Dean scrolled down to the list, he laughed as soon as he saw the second name listed.

"It's you!" Dean said through his laughter. "Listen to the blurb they wrote about it. 'Castiel soared to the top on the wings of the angel hero from Carver Edlund's most famous series of books, the Supernatural series'," he read before dissolving into chuckles again.

"Hilarious," Cas deadpanned before reaching around the hunter to scroll further.

"Aw, Cas, don't be like that," Dean chuckled, nudging his boyfriend. "You're popular. I'm sure if we found the right search parameters, mine and Sam's names would make some list somewhere."

Several names down, Dean was proven right when "Samuel" made an appearance.

"Not a word," he said, scrolling further down while Cas chuckled.

A few more names down, he wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or shudder when "Abbadon" made an appearance but under the "boy" section.

"Needless to say, that's a no for either a boy or girl," he growled before moving on.

"Agreed."

As they were going over the rest of that list, Sam returned from his run. He offered to help if they wanted after his shower and they agreed though Dean decided they were taking a break for breakfast now that Sam was back. He and Cas cooked (Cas mostly handed Dean items when asked) then the three ate together while Dean and Cas explained what they'd come up with so far. When they were finished and returned to the library, they didn't add any more from the list they'd been looking at when Sam had returned, and when Dean went back to Google, he cleared the search and leaned into Cas with a sigh.

"Okay, angel names aren't panning out," he said.

"What if you try searching for names that mean something specific?" Sam suggested. "Like 'good' or 'light'."

"Any child of yours would have a bright, pure soul," Cas agreed.

"Sap," Dean muttered as he typed in names that mean light.

"Lucien," Dean said partway down the first result he'd chosen, not suggesting the name so much as testing it out.

Sam made a face and shook his head. "Please don't use Lucien. Too close to 'Lucifer'."

Dean shot his brother an apologetic smile and scrolled on.

"Roxana," Cas suggested thoughtfully further down.

"Roxy Winchester," Dean said, testing the name out. "I kinda like that. It sounds like she'd be a badass like us."

Castiel chuckled and nodded. "Roxana Winchester. I like that one. It would fit a firstborn perfectly as it means 'dawn' or 'first light'."

Dean added it to the list and added bold to it since they seemed to agree more on that one than the others.

"Uriela?" he said through laughter a few names down. "Oh, man, I almost wish that dick was still alive just so I could use that as an insult!"

"Moving on," Cas growled. "What about Saints' names? They're pure and good."

Dean shrugged in vague agreement and added it to the search.

The first result they found had a long list for both boys and girls so they went over both. They really only liked "Elizabeth" out of that list but not as much as they liked "Roxana" so far.

"I think you've definitely found one of the names," Sam said. "You guys keep mentioning how you don't like a name as much as Roxana."

Cas nodded. "I like the name no matter what the meaning and Sam's right – we keep getting stuck on that one."

"Okay, then if we have any girls, at least one will be named Roxana Winchester," Dean said with finality, making a note in his text document.

They went over the boys' names, making note of ones that they liked for first and middle names. They decided they liked "Alexander" and "Christopher" as first names and "Andrew," "David," "Joseph" and "Matthew." Sam agreed that since they were all one or two syllables, they would balance out a long first name with "Winchester."

Dean had tried suggesting Daniel because it was like a mix of his and Cas's names but Cas had vetoed that idea, adding mixed names to the "not allowed" list with relatives and angels they'd dealt with. The hunter had also suggested "Paul" because "The Beatles, man!" but that had been another no from Cas.

"We're not naming our offspring after any classic rock performers," the angel said firmly. "You've used a ton of them as aliases already."

Sam agreed with Cas's logic on that one.

They went back to their list and wound up taking out all the angel names they'd originally chosen, not liking any of them as much as the saints' names. That didn't leave them with very many to choose from, especially for first names, so they went back to searching, taking out any meaning and just searching for popular baby names.

"Tristan," Dean said, testing the name out. "Tristan Winchester. No nickname but then again, I didn't really have one.

"Unless you count the fact that I called you De when I was five," Sam said with a chuckle, his dimples showing.

Cas chuckled at the image of a young Sam and Dean.

"They don't have to have nicknames, do they?" Sam asked. "I mean, I know it'd be nice but it's not necessary if you really like a name."

"I guess not," Dean mumbled, thinking over the name in his head. "And I do kind of like Tristan for some reason."

"Add it to the list and we can come back to it," Cas suggested.

They didn't find any more boys' names that stood out so they went back to the list to play around with what they had, testing out how each name sounded with "Winchester." In the end, they decided "Alexander" would be their top choice, followed by "Tristan," then "Christopher."

"Okay, girls," Dean said.

"I don't think we have enough choices for that," Cas said in a tone that almost sounded defeated. "We had far more male names chosen than female names and we still struggled."

"Yeah, just picking the boys' names was a challenge," Dean agreed. "What else should we search for?"

"Names that mean something strong?" Cas suggested. "You liked Roxy because it sounded like she'd be a strong person."

Dean nodded and searched for strong baby girl names and chose the first result since it'd been the same site they'd been to for several other searches.

When they came across "Rosa" on the list, they agreed that "Rose" was a good option for a middle name and Dean added it to the list.

"Grace," Dean said with a teasing smirk at his angel boyfriend who glared at the hunter until Dean scrolled on only to chirp "Cassandra" with a chuckle a few names later.

Again, he was met with a decidedly not amused expression.

"Emmanuelle," Dean suggested, almost seriously but was met, again, with a glare. "What, we could call her Emmy!"

"Dean, be serious," Cas sighed.

"I am, I am," Dean assured then leaned over to kiss the corner of Cas's mouth to placate the angel. "I swear, I am, Cas. No to Emmanuelle, then. What about Emeline? We can still call her Emmy."

Cas reluctantly allowed that one onto the list.

After a couple more rounds of searching (in which they stopped trying to put certain meanings to the names because it was making options limited; instead, they focused on names they liked no matter what they meant), they had enough names to play with. They already knew that "Roxana" would be their first choice. Cas allowed "Emeline" to become their second choice. And Sam pointed out that "Rose," while short, might sound alright and they already had Tristan as a short name in their boys' category.

"Okay," Dean said with finality as he closed Sam's laptop. "Alexander, Tristan, Christopher, Roxana, Emeline, and Rose. I think we've covered the first names at least."

"It's a start," Sam agreed. "And you have months to decide if you two don't like any of them anymore and figure out middle names."

The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging in the den on soft cushions with his angel kneading his aching hips, back, and shoulders.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I definitely know what genders (and in what order) the trips will be and I know exactly which of those six names I am using for which triplet. But if the person who prompted this fic has any suggestions/opinions, they are subject to change. (And by the time I posted this here, I heard from the prompter and they're okay with the names.)

Also, picking out six names is hard! I wanted them to be ones that sounded logical for Cas and Dean to actually choose and that got tough! So I realize Dean choosing Tristan might be seriously OOC but I just needed a slot filled. And I've been stuck on that name (as a name and not just because of Jared) so I figured I'd slip it in there as a filler. It's not one of the trips' names. ;)

And no, I did not choose Alexander for Alexander Calvert, lol. I genuinely liked Alexander as a name when I came across it. I've actually liked that name since I was in middle school when I read a series called Vampire Kisses in which the main vampire's name is Alexander Sterling.