We Live in a Mansion
The Winchester household had lost track of how long they had been without a home since that terrible fire so very long ago. Days had turned into weeks and weeks had turned into months. It was just a jumble of time now. How long they were to wait to go home no longer was a worry for them now, though. The time had finally come. Their Minnesotan home was finished.
Outside, the house looked huge. Leading up from the gravel drive-in and the cobblestone walkway was a set of stairs that led up to a dark wood door. Stone siding decorated the warm, beige exterior of the house and big windows scattered all the way up to the very top of the house. Even the old tree that used to reach to the angel's old bedroom wouldn't have been able to reach the highest windows.
The front door led into a white entrance hall with three doors and staircase. Leading into the conjoined living room and a kitchen was the first door. The living room was painted white like the hall and most of the other rooms in the house. A couch and love seat were in the center of the room, positioned in front of a widescreen TV with various game systems thrown in front of it. A piano for the days Dean would play Christmas songs or just random melodies sat in the corner of the room. There was no fireplace this time. Instead, where it would have gone was a mural of a tree. This had been one of many of the surprises Dean and Sam had created in their shared home. Sam had painted the tree himself with brown paints while Dean put on the "leaves". On each stem, there sat a picture frame where a leaf would have sprouted. Every angel and demon the Winchesters found had their own branch. One one was Kevin's family, another sat the family from Japan, and so on. The tree was small for now, but give or take a few years and it would expand far off the one wall and onto the others.
Dean always wanted a nice and spacious kitchen since he first started making food for Sam when they were kids. After years of waiting, the hunter's dream had come true. The kitchen conjoined with the new living room was bigger than the old one, perfect for when multiple people (or angels) were in there at once. The walls were white, the cabinets were a dark wood, and the counters were a light green marble.
The second door led to one of the two bathrooms in the house. It had a combined shower and bathtub, marble counters, and various cabinets. It was supposed to have white walls like all the other rooms in the house, but Dean couldn't ignore the request given to him by Balthazar not too long ago. Instead of a white wall, the bathroom was painted a soft lavender with little purple dragon stickers above the mirror.
The final door on the bottom floor did not lead anywhere inside the house. Instead, it leads outside to a porch in the backyard. Unlike the house, the backyard was exactly like it had been before the fire. There were large trees perfect for climbing, Bobby's garden, and a laundry line to hang freshly washed clothes.
Upstairs was where the bedrooms, play room, and final bathroom were. Bobby's, Kevin's, Vali's, and the guest bedrooms were all on the left side while Sam's, Dean's, and the angels were all on the right. At the very end of the hall were the last two doors. One led to the bathroom and the other led to the angel's playroom.
That was where they were now.
"You built a mansion," Balthazar gaped. His eyes were peering out of one of the two windows in the playroom.
"We've been over this," Dean sighed while rolling his green eyes. He was leaning against one of the blue painted walls of the house. "It's not a mansion."
"Well, what else are you going to call a house this big?" Gabriel questioned. He was sifting through the handmade toy box pushed up against the left wall, checking out all the toys Dean and Sam had replaced from the fire.
Dean rolled his eyes again and looked to where Castiel was standing. The angel had moved to the wall between the two windows in the house and was staring wide eyed at the various drawings and letters pinned up to the bulletin board on the wall. Everything on the board was a letter or drawing sent to Castiel, Balthazar, and Gabriel by their little siblings. Some were from when Castiel had been in his coma, while others were from past birthdays, holidays, or visiting days.
Sam turned too, watching as the look on the angel's face caused a smile to curve over Dean's lips. The smile stayed firmly in place even when Dean moved closer to the door and held it open.
"Well, you've all seen enough of this room by now," Dean began. "Want to check out your room?"
The angels were running out from under his feet in seconds, all three darting to the room set up between Sam's and Dean's. Dean shared a quick laugh with his brother and then followed suit, finding the three angels frozen in the doorway to their bedroom.
The brothers had expected a surprised reaction from the three, but the fat tears building in their eyes really floored the hunters.
Sam and Dean had wanted the angels to feel at home in their room. Back when Sam and Dean first met God, they got to see a small bit of the angels' past. They had the chance to see the beautiful forest the angels had nested in before growing up and the two tried to make that small memory real again. The painting on the walls was what did just that and it was also what was causing such a reaction from the angels.
Trees of blossoming white flowers were painted on each wall, creating a thick forest that appeared to go on forever. If one were to look close enough, tiny nests could be spotted. Some of those tiny nests were empty, but others small and colorful wings peaked out of.
"This..." Castiel pressed a hand gently against the beautiful wall. "...this..." Castiel's voice trailed off.
"Sammy painted it from memory," Dean started as he gently pushed the Gabriel and Balthazar inside. The two, unlike their little brother, had frozen up in the doorway on spotting Sam's masterpiece.
Sam rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, Dean helped too."
"But this..." Gabriel swallowed hard. "This is the nesting sanctuary...our...nursery in Heaven."
"Yep," Dean said with a nod. "When God first told us his plan ages ago, he sent us to the nursery to find you three."
"You all looked so happy and comfortable there we thought that if we made your room and the guest rooms like this-"
"The guest rooms are painted like this too?" Balthazar questioned in awe."
"Well, we wanted the other angels to feel comfortable too when they visit." Sam rubbed the back of his neck again. "Is it alright? We wanted it to be perfect, but memory only-"
"It's beautiful, Sammy," Balthazar croaked and the two hunters turned, find the angel had tears running down his cheeks as he pressed a hand to one of the nests Sam had painted. "I never thought we'd see this again. Not since..." He broke off, lowering his head.
"Not since...?" Dean looked between the angels curiously.
"Since the war between Lucifer and Michael," Castiel whispered. "We lost the one place we all felt safe together in just a few seconds."
"I still remember the fires..." Balthazar said with a shiver.
Sam and Dean both shared an uneasy look and Dean stepped forward, kneeling onto the floor beside Balthazar. He brushed away the silver winged angel's tears. "We didn't mean to bring back old memories," he said in apology, but Balthazar shook his head.
"No, no. This is...it's perfect. It's just what we need- just what all of us need," Balthazar reassured. He wiped at his own eyes. "Yeah, we've got some bad memories of that place, but most are good and those are what are worth holding onto, right?" Balthy met Dean's green eyes with his watery blue. "Thank you." He dived into Dean's arms, hugging his tight. The angel peered over Dean's shoulder. "Thank you too, Sam."
Sam smiled at him, chuckling as Castiel and Gabriel both grabbed one of his legs to squeeze. He bent down slightly, patting them both on the head.
"Sam? Dean?"
"In the angels' room!" Sam called, hearing Vali's voice from within the hall. The door opened to the angels' room then and Vali peaked in with Kevin and Bobby.
"Wow," he gasped. "This looks awesome."
"You guys really outdid yourselves here," Kevin agreed. "And here we were going to brag about how awesome our rooms are."
"Well I still am," Vali hummed. "That mattress is a cloud." The boy closed his eyes as if he were remembering some happy memory. In a way, he was. "I didn't want to leave it. Custos already made himself home on it."
"I for one like the walk in shower in the upstairs bedroom," Bobby said. "I call dibs on that later."
"Thanks, everyone," Sam said while picking Gabriel and Castiel up into his arms. "Glad you all like it-"
A buzz sounded through the house.
"Uh...is our house bee infested?" Gabriel questioned, giving Castiel a look when his eyes brightened with excitement.
Dean shook his head and walked over to the window in the angels' bedroom. "No that's the doorbell, but who..." Dean peeked out the window, his eyes widening at who was by the door. Quickly, he pushed the window open, sticking his head out and making room as the others all piled around to get a look too.
Standing by the doorway was Lila and Charlie in leather jackets and sunglasses.
"Hey!" the angels called bellow and the two girls looked up, waving their arms.
"Hey, fellas! You ready for your house warming party?!"
Party?
"What party?"
"The one Lila and I planned for you!" Charlie called up at them. "We've got two days to prepare for the entire angel family so get your butts in here and let us in!"
Sam and Dean weren't exactly pale people, but as Charlie's words washed over them that changed.
The entire angel family. Oh boy.
Sorry for the long wait. For some reason this chapter was a struggle to write. My muse just hasn't been giving me much lately. The forest/angel nursery Sam painted on the bedroom walls of the angel's and guest's bedrooms is from chapter 101: Second Chances.