Cas had a day off.
Ever since Gabriel had basically forced him to take time off, Cas had kept an eye on his vacation days, and used them more frequently.
He'd started the day by making Dean a nice sandwich, the he'd checked his hives, gathered some honey, checked that he still had his present for their 3 month aniversary.
Yes, Dean would call him a sap, but he could live with that because he just knew those pretty green eyes would light up at the gift.

He was about ready to start dinner, when the landline rang.
Frowning, Cas made his way over to it.
Dean always used his mobile number, and so did most of their friends and family.
"Hello. Winchester-Novak house."
The voice on the other side was cold, emotionless and Cas did not recognise it.
"Mr. Novak? Mr. Casteel Novak?" it asked.
Cringing at the mispronounciation, Cas licked his lips to not be rude.
"Yes, this is Castiël Novak. Who am I speaking to?"

"Mr. Novak. This is Naomi Drummond at the Child Protective Services. We have in our care one Claire Newman. She has been here since last Monday. We couldn't contact you sooner, because of the legalities."
Completely non-plussed, Cas sat down on a stool.
"Wait. What? Claire? What's wrong? Why don't you call Amelia?"
The voice grew a little impatient, and Cas could almost see long, French manicurend nails tapping a tattoo on a polished desk.
"That's the problem mr. Novak. We can't. She died last Sunday. That's why Claire is with us."
The world came to a screeching halt.
"Amelia... is dead?"

He couldn't tell for the life of him how long he'd been sitting there, staring at the cordless phone on the breakfast bar, but he didn't turn away when Dean called out. He just told him they needed to talk. God! He should have told Dean months ago, on the morning after their wedding, but Cas hadn't had the heart to ruin their first day together with such a heavy topic. And now... he had to drop this on him...
Dean came in, looking worried.
"Hey Honeybee. What's up?"
Not in the mood for silly pleasantries, Cas snapped a reply.
"The ceiling, Dean. Now could you be serious?"
Pulling up another stool, Dean sat down. "Sure. Cas... what's wrong?"

Cas looked at his husband and tried to find the right way to tell him they might get an adopted teen daughter.
"Dean... I... it..." he sighed, running his hand through his hair. He could feel tears starting to sting his eyes and he wanted nothing more than to burrow into Dean's chest and forget the world.
"Dean, my best friend from college, Amelia, she... she died..." he finally managed.
Dean moved to hug him, giving a heartfelt condolance, but Cas couldn't accept it. Not yet. He first had to tell the rest.
He locked his eyes on Dean's, hoping to get through how important this was.
"She has a daughter... and... Well... she kind of asked me to be her guardian, if anything happened to her... Because the father, he bailed as soon as he heard Amelia was pregnant."

Dean blinked, processing the information, but then his eyes wandered around the room.
Cas just knew he was assessing, taking in potential threats for children.
"Of course, Cas. I'd love a kid..." Dean said, assuringly.
It made Cas chuckle. He had to correct Dean before he started ordering a stair gate...
"She's fifteen, Dean." he explained.
Dean's eyes widened a bit and he gulped, as he realised what Cas had said.
"Fine, a teen girl then. We'll make this work, angel. Don't worry. So, What's her name?"
Warmth burst loose in Cas' chest. That was his Dean. Accepting, helpfull, and caring.
He finally hugged Dean, then looked him loving in the eyes as he told him: "Claire... our daughter will be Claire."

Dean blanched and his eyes grew impossibly wide.
"Dean... I'm sorry. I should have told you about this."
Shaking his head as if to clear it, Dean smiled warmly.
"Cas, angel, I'm ok with this. You know, the getting a kid, well teenager, isn't such a big deal for me. I practically raised Sammy. And you have kept Gabe on the straight and narrow for years! I'm sure we'll be great."

Dean offered to cook dinner, since Cas just couldn't bare to keep on keeping on. He'd lost a dear friend, and was suddenly up for being a parental figure.
He sighed and shoved his hand in his pocket.
It hit the tiny box that he'd kept there all day, just to be sure he'd have it near when Dean was home. Shit. He'd almost forgotten. What kind of parent would je be, if he did stuff like that? Doubt crashed over him.
"Dean..." Cas called softly.
Dean turned around, a smear of tomatosauce on his cheek. He was such a gem! Suddenly Cas knew they would survive anything together. Even with a teen on their way, they would always be ok.

Notes:

And there you have it, my darlings. Cas' point of view. He took way longer than I anticipated, but you helped me through it, and I love you for it!