Content: In which Castiel meets Emma.
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Author's Note: Happy 2nd Christmas Day everyone! (Or some people outside of Germany call it Boxing Day, right? ^^')
I hope you had a great day yesterday and will have a great one today as well, no matter if you're celebrating or if it's just a normal day for you :D And though you're probably getting tired of this, thank you so much for all your lovely comments - the best Christmas gifts you can get!
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As expected there is a lot of Dean in Emma.
Even if Dean wouldn't have approached the little girl next to the stables instantly as soon as he spotted her in the arms of a blonde woman Castiel recognizes as Jo, Castiel would have undoubtedly noticed the similarities. Emma has the same smile as her father, bright and carefree, like they're both trying to rival the sun. And her eyes are the spotting image of Dean's.
No, there is seriously no doubt that those two are related in a very close way.
"Daddy!" she squeals when Dean shows up in her line of sight. "You're here!"
She starts to squirm like a fish attempting to escape the tight grip of the fisherman, and Jo huffs underneath her breath and shoves the girl into her father's awaiting hands.
"She's a demon!" Jo complains right away without further ado, grinding her teeth and scowling at the girl. "Just take her back!"
Dean raises an eyebrow and looks at his daughter with piercing eyes. "What did you do, Emma?"
Emma pouts, seemingly not happy being confronted with the adults' serious expressions. "Nothing."
Jo scoffs at that. "She sneaked into one of the boxes when I wasn't looking for a second," she tells them. "Thank God the horse was chill as hell, I don't wanna imagine what would have happened otherwise."
Dean's face turns stern straightaway and he glares at his daughter in such an impressive manner that even Castiel begins to feel guilty though Dean's scowl isn't directed at him.
"Emma!" Dean scolds.
Emma ducks her head a bit. "But, horses –"
"I don't care," Dean cuts in. "We've talked about this, remember? You don't approach any animal – horse or dog or even a goldfish – without my permission, do you hear me? It could be dangerous."
Emma bites her lower lip. "The horse was nice ..." she tries to reason.
Dean sighs deeply, making it perfectly clear that it's not the first time they have a similar conversation. "I'm sure it's super nice, but I don't wanna see you near a horse without an adult by your side, do you understand? You could have just asked Jo, she'd have let you pet the horse."
Jo nods in agreement, apparently eager to support Dean's parenting.
"See?" Dean says. "You don't have to be sneaky, Emma. I really don't like that." He squeezes his daughter gently. "Because I get very worried and I can't have that, okay? I need to trust you with this."
Emma presses her tiny face into Dean's broad shoulder. "Sorry, Daddy," she mutters into his shirt.
Dean tries to keep his face grim, but Castiel sees his resolve already crumbling a little bit at the sound of Emma's adorable voice asking for forgiveness. Probably no one on earth and beyond is capable of keeping a tough demeanor faced with such cuteness. Even Castiel feels his heart melting at the edges and he never had a strong connection to children in general. Usually he tends to avoid them since their oftentimes irrational behavior unsettles him deeply, but in this special case he most likely will make an exception.
"Just never do it again, okay?" Dean demands, his voice steady and belying his gentle face. "If I can't trust you with this, you have to stay away from the horses."
Emma gasps as if the sheer thought is unbearable. "No, Daddy!" she whines instantly, grabbing him more tightly. "I'll be good."
Dean smiles softly. "That's what I wanted to hear, munchkin."
Castiel feels something warm pressing within his chest watching the scene unfold before him. He never had such a close and warm relationship with his father – mostly it consisted on parental absence and some gifts that arrived scattered over the year to buy something resembling to affection – and he never really grasped what he'd been missing his whole childhood until later on.
He's not surprised to find out that Dean grew to be a great father. Even in high school he cared about his little brother's well-being quite fiercely – it was well known that no one was supposed to mess with Sam Winchester at any rate – and his protective and caring side obviously didn't decrease at some point. Emma seems to be a very lucky girl.
With a father who loves her to the moon and back.
And with Jo who is … well, Castiel isn't sure if she's actually Emma's mother or if she joined the little Winchester family sometime later (though he tends toward the latter since Dean referred to her as "Jo" when talking to Emma and not "Mom"), but her warm gaze while looking at daughter and father speaks for itself. She clearly isn't unaffected.
"I'll be good," Emma repeats over and over, with emphasis. "I promise, really."
"Good." Dean nods. "And you're understanding why I just got angry, right?"
Emma hesitates for a moment, her forehead wrinkled, before eventually admitting, "Horses are big and I'm small."
It sounds like a mantra, as though she had to rehearse that sentence a lot of times in the past. Castiel suspects it's probably one of the first things Dean taught his daughter as soon as he heard that horses would be present at the wedding.
"Yes, horses are big and you are small," Dean agrees, nodding. "And even if that horse has been perfectly nice, it could still have hurt you by accident 'cause it didn't see you. Understood?"
Emma nods dutifully. "Petting horses only with grown-ups."
Dean presses a soft kiss on her temple. "That's right."
Castiel finds himself smiling fondly at the scene. He isn't completely unfamiliar with gestures of affection unfolding right next to him, grand and small, especially at work, but this right here is something else entirely. It makes Castiel feel warm in a way he never really experienced before and he's not exactly sure how to interpret that.
"Great that we sorted this out," Jo pipes in all of a sudden. "Because I really need to go. Kali went off ten minutes ago to yell at the caterer and I seriously don't wanna miss that."
Dean rolls his eyes. "You're a menace, Harvelle."
"Right back at you, Winchester." She smirks at him, but the fondness in both their features makes it perfectly clear that this is their special way of showing love. It's actually not that different from Gabriel and Kali's unique "mating dance" (quote by Gabriel), so Castiel built up enough resistance over the years to not be confused by people's playful bickering and insulting each other with a smile on their faces.
Jo takes Dean's hand and squeezes it slightly before ruffling Emma's hair and reassuring her that she isn't mad at her (an important statement since the girl seriously seems concerned about that).
Eventually Jo trains her attention toward Castiel, grinning brightly. "Hey, Castiel," she says, with genuine joy in her tone. "It's nice seeing you again."
Castiel smiles in response. "Right back at you."
Jo lifts an eyebrow, apparently surprised for a second there, until she barks a laugh and nudges his shoulder. "We're gonna have a great time at the wedding."
With a last wink she rushes off, eager to catch at least the last part of Kali putting the Fear of God into that poor caterer.
Dean watches her departing silently for a few moments, an unreadable expression on his face, before he ultimately turns toward Castiel, his daughter still in his arms.
"Sweetheart, I wanna introduce you to Castiel," Dean says, letting Emma probably for the first time notice that another person came along with her father. "He's an old friend of mine."
Emma's beautiful green eyes study Castiel intently, apparently unsure what to make of the stranger among their midst. However, she doesn't appear shy or even intimidated by a man she never met before.
"That's a weird name," she finally announces, tilting her head.
The corners of Dean's lips droop, seemingly not happy about his daughter's bluntness. "That's not a nice thing to say, Emma."
Castiel, though, doesn't really mind. He actually finds himself smiling at her statement. He's never been able to build a deep connection with children, no matter the age, but he always appreciated their refreshing honesty. And Emma doesn't seem to lack in that department either.
"It's alright," he answers. "I've actually heard that a couple of times before. It's indeed a very unusual name."
Emma nods in agreement, looking fairly serious as though they're discussing a grave matter. "It is."
"But did you know that it's the name of an angel?" Castiel asks, enjoying the sight of Emma's eyes going wide hearing that information. "Castiel is the Angel of Thursday. And I was born on an Thursday."
"An angel?" Emma whispers, obviously in awe now. She stares at Castiel like she can't believe her own ears before finally turning toward her father and bumping his shoulder. "Daddy, did you hear that? An angel!"
Dean chuckles at his daughter's sheer astonishment. "I heard, sweetheart."
"Daddy always tells me that angels are watching over me," Emma explains, a soft undertone in her voice. "He tells me every night."
An unreadable expression flickers over Dean's features for a second. "Just a thing my mom used to say," he mutters, his gaze lowering a bit.
Castiel doesn't know the whole story, but he's quite aware that Dean's mother died a long time ago. And he's undoubtedly still affected by her demise, which Castiel can deeply relate to. He still feels this ache in his chest thinking about his mother and her death nearly nine years ago and he can't imagine it to ever go away.
"So you're really an angel?" Emma asks, looking all kinds of excited.
Castiel laughs softly. "Sorry, I'm afraid not. I'm just a friend of your father's from school."
Though the term "friend" doesn't really apply to them regarding their high school years, it still feels nice saying it. And considering Dean's warm smile after hearing those words, he doesn't seem to mind.
Emma, however, starts to frown in confusion. "School?"
"Yeah, you know, school." Dean shrugs. "Cas and I met when we were both students in our senior year." He pauses a moment, studying his daughter, before asking, "You know what that means: senior year?"
Emma nods, but she still looks rather puzzled. "But you're grown-ups," she says. "Grown-ups don't go to school."
Dean laughs when he realizes what she's getting at. "Believe it or not, every single grown-up you've met so far has been a kid once. We all went to kindergarten and school, just like you."
Emma looks like she could barely grasp the concept and Castiel wonders if she also thinks that teacher live in the school building, like so many children before her. Hell, probably even Castiel himself believed that at some point in his very early years.
It's kind of endearing.
"Even Grandpa?" Emma asks in disbelief while gaping at her father.
Dean laughs aloud. "Yes, even Grandpa went to school at some point."
Emma squints her eyes, apparently pondering whether Dean is pulling her leg or not. The deep skepticism running across her face is quite adorable.
"How about Cas makes you acquainted with the horses, huh?" Dean suggests, changing the topic of conversation. "He's a good buddy of theirs and knows them all very well."
Emma immediately drops the issue of her grandfather being a student and instead starts to fidget, indicating that she wants to be let down. As soon as her father does as he's told, she rushes to Castiel's side and looks up at him with hopeful eyes. "I wanna meet the horses."
Castiel chuckles. "Then let's go."
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As expected, watching Castiel and Emma interact does a lot of weird things to Dean's whole system he isn't exactly prepared for.
He had no clue whether Castiel would even be able to connect with a child, considering that he used to have some difficulties handling people in general and obviously still lacks somehow in that department to a certain degree, but he takes to Emma like a frigging pro. He listens to Emma ramble about Jenny Taylor's new butterfly necklace attentively and even asks some questions, urging Emma to deepen the topic further. And he seriously doesn't sound like he's just humoring her, but like he's actually interested in what a five-year-old has to say.
Dean doesn't know if Castiel is an unreal alien or too good to be true.
When they reach the horse boxes the subject of conversation unsurprisingly changes and Emma instantly starts to pester poor Castiel with thousand questions about the animals. What they do all day, what they eat, how they sleep, if it's okay to keep one of the horses in an apartment building.
Castiel responds to every question patiently and Emma rewards his effort by grabbing his hand and grinning up to him.
And that's the thing that makes Dean really perk up.
Because yes, his princess is far from shy and as soon as she's got her father's okay for her to interact with a specific adult (and not some random stranger on the streets or whatever) she's more than eager to talk that person's ears off and tell them all the great stories of the exciting life of a preschooler, but touching, actual contact … that is something she does very rarely.
And especially not after meeting someone for the very first time only ten minutes ago.
She's very careful in that area and needs usually some time to get comfortable with someone before getting a bit closer. Hell, just recently she cried for about an hour when Dean's cousin Christian came over, for the first time after a long time, and at some point picked Emma up like it's been the most natural thing. And admittedly, most kids probably would have been okay with it, especially since Christian actually acted really sweet toward her before and she seemed to like him just fine, but touch means a big amount of trust for Emma and she does take the whole thing very seriously.
And here she is now, holding onto Castiel's hand like they're longtime friends.
For a moment Dean doesn't know how to handle this. Sure, maybe she's just deeply impressed by the whole angel business, but Dean can't shake the feeling that it's more than that. Emma always knew her father almost better than anyone else and it's indeed not far off to assume that she at least senses some profound emotions coming from her dad and therefore deems Castiel worthy of her entire attention.
Castiel, of course, doesn't have a clue what a huge deal this is. He simply appears pleased with the development and squeezes her little hand lightly.
"And this is Pepper," Castiel says, stepping toward one of the horse boxes and pointing at the gray mare inside. "She hurt her leg last week and needs to rest for a while, so that's why she isn't outside with the others."
Emma's eye grow big and concerned as she tries to look over the wooden door and catch a glimpse of the horse. "She's hurt?"
"It's not bad, don't worry," Castiel hurries to reassure. "She only got a bit overenthusiastic and twisted her leg a little. She'll be okay in no time at all. She probably doesn't feel any pain anymore either. It's just a precaution to keep her inside for a couple of days."
Emma still seems hesitant. "Are you sure she's okay?"
Castiel smiles softly at her. "I'm very sure. I'm her doctor after all."
Emma halts for a moment, looks back and forth between the horse and Castiel, before eventually asking, "Her doctor?"
Castiel nods in confirmation. "I'm a veterinarian," he explains. "I'm the doctor of all the horses that live here. And the dogs and cats. And Gabriel's parrot."
Dean can't keep himself from laughing. "A parrot?"
Castiel's lips curl upwards. "Gabriel loves to teach him dirty terms. Unfortunately the bird's a very quick learner and a fairly attentive student. You can't have him around people outside of family, it's way too embarrassing."
Dean chuckles at the image and feels a strong pull to ask what words the parrot used for Castiel at the last medical examination. But considering Emma's presence he postpones those questions for later.
"You're an animal doctor?" Emma suddenly pipes up, looking at Castiel with anew awe.
Castiel nods. "I'm a vet, yes."
Emma starts to bounce right away. "Daddy, did you hear that? He's an animal doctor and an angel!" She turns toward her father. "We need to keep him."
Dean raises his eyebrows in surprise and for a second he's got no idea what to say confronted with his daughter's very serious expression. She's not joking around, that's for sure.
And deep down Dean kinda has the urge to agree.
He really wants to keep Castiel as well.
But instead of nodding along and making an utter fool of himself in the process, he clears his throat awkwardly and objects, "Pumpkin, you can't just keep people."
Emma frowns. "Why not?"
"Um …" Dean says helplessly, fidgeting.
"We can be friends," Castiel cuts in, obviously noticing that they're getting closer to uncomfortable territory. "I'd love to be your friend, Emma."
The girl beams hearing those words. "Really?"
Castiel smiles gently. "Really."
Emma appears highly pleased with this turn of events as she exclaims, "Okay, awesome! Now let's go see Pepper."
Castiel laughs while opening the wooden door and leading her inside the box, followed by Dean. The horse watches them attentively, but to Dean's great relief she looks absolutely chill and not anxious at all by three humans entering her home.
"Pepper is probably one of the calmest animals I've ever met," Castiel says, seemingly keen to ease Dean's nerves. "Don't worry."
Emma at least doesn't appear nervous at all. There is no sign of hesitation as she steps toward Pepper, the grip around Castiel's hand not loosening even once.
"Daddy, you're right," she eventually says the words every father wants to hear. "Horses are very big."
She's almost contorts her neck trying to get the whole picture in front of her and Dean takes pity on her immediately. He picks her up, making sure she's on eye level with the horse.
She presses herself closer to him when Pepper's gaze turns toward them, her big eyes studying the unknown humans next to her. "She's pretty," Emma whispers, as if she's sharing a state secret.
"She is," Dean agrees. "You can touch her, if you want."
He exchanges a quick glance with Castiel, just to be sure, and when he receives a nod of approval by the man he goes first, letting Emma know that everything is alright, and strokes Pepper's neck. He feels strong muscles underneath the soft hair and can't help wondering how strong these animals really are.
Emma stays tentative for a moment, obviously a bit intimidated now faced with the real deal, but when Dean whispers some soft encouragements into her ear and Castiel eventually steps forward and pets the horse's nose, Emma seems confident enough to try on her own.
And as soon as her little fingers run through Pepper's mane, she starts to squeal excitedly.
She doesn't let go of her task for the next minutes, just staring at the horse in fascination and wonderment, and Dean finds himself smiling alongside her. It's been a while since he's seen his favorite girl so openly gleeful and joyous and he loves every second of it. Maybe in the end it wasn't such an awful idea to come to this wedding.
Perhaps he has to thank Jo after all, for making his daughter so tremendously happy.
And for giving him a chance to meet Castiel again.
Castiel, who seems absolutely delighted by Emma's enthusiasm. "Pepper likes you," he says. "You're doing a great job with her."
Emma beams at him. "I like her, too."
"And she's feeling that," Castiel explains. "Animals are very sensitive. And if you're calm and comfortable around them, they're feeling safe with you."
Dean half-expects a lecture by his daughter coming his way, something like "Look, Daddy, I'm good with animals, so can we please have a pet now, PLEASE?", but thankfully she's so engrossed with the horse and Castiel that she doesn't remember using the situation to her advantage.
"Do you have a horse, too?" Emma asks at some point.
Castiel shakes his head. "Sadly, no. Well, it feels like all these horses here are kind of a family to me, you know? I've been here regularly, taking care of them, riding, but technically I don't own one. Yet, at least."
Emma listens up at those words. "You want to?"
"Yes, of course," Castiel says, grinning. "Horses are great. When you ride with them, high up on their backs, it feels a bit like flying."
While Castiel seems captivated by the image, Dean can't help pulling a face at the mention of flying. It's official then, he will never be found on horseback.
"I have two dogs, though," Castiel tells them.
As usual, Emma immediately gets to full attention when dogs are involved. "Really?" Her eyes go wide. "Two dogs?"
The sheer thought seems unbelievable to her.
Castiel chuckles. "Yes, they're siblings. Mojo and Grace."
He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and shows them his screen saver picture. Two dogs are looking into the camera, both of them dark brown mutts that look all kind of adorable, even for Dean's standard. Their dark eyes are shining brightly, focused on the person behind the phone, and the pure love radiating from them is almost touchable.
They're clearly besotted with Castiel.
And Dean can't blame them one bit.
"They're so cute," Emma coos. "Are they here somewhere?"
She starts to look around straightaway, obviously expecting the dogs to sit in the next corner, ready for some cuddling by an overexcited five-year-old girl.
Castiel, however, shakes his head. "No, sorry, they're not here. Usually I always take them with me when coming here, but I didn't want to subject them to the whole wedding craziness. I feared it would be too stressful for them, so I left them with my friend Hannah. She's got a big garden and two dogs herself which Mojo and Grace both adore, so I'm quite sure they're having a terrific time as well."
The fondness in his voice makes it crystal clear that he loves those two to pieces.
"Shame we don't get to meet them," Dean finds himself saying. He's never been the greatest dog fan, but hell, if Castiel's eyes light up like that only by mentioning those two, they probably can't be that bad.
Castiel casts him a warm look. "You are most welcome to meet them some other time," he offers. "You may swing by my clinic, we've got a huge garden and I take them with me to work on a regular basis. Or you stop by my house."
He's so freaking casual about it, like it's the most normal thing to invite them over, and Dean feels his heart swell at the easiness of it all and the promise of next time.
"Yeah, we could do that," Dean murmurs, already half lost in those brilliant eyes staring right back at him once again.
He wonders how often he'll get hypnotized by them in the next few days.
Probably a lot.
But it's seriously not his fault when Castiel looks like this, all kinds of handsome and beautiful, smiling broadly and happy like Dean's conformation is everything he hoped for and more.
How is a man supposed to react in a cool fashion confronted with that?
It's impossible.
So Dean finds himself staring and drowning in Castiel's eyes and failing miserably in getting his heart beat under control …
And it takes him a (probably embarrassingly long) while to notice that Emma is studying both of them very intently, her eyes narrowed as if she's trying to solve a difficult puzzle. Even as Pepper nudges her hand gently, obviously eager for the girl to continue petting her, Emma barely glances at the horse while going back to carding her fingers through her mane.
No, her attention is fixed on the two adults in the room.
And whatever she is seeing, it seems important enough for her to ignore a freaking horse!
Dean feels like he's been scrutinized and he's not really into it, to be honest.
"Is Hannah your girlfriend?" Emma suddenly asks. Her face is doing something very complicated Dean never saw before and he's not certain what to make of it.
Meanwhile, Castiel seems a little taken aback by her question at first, but he catches himself fairly quickly. "No, she is not," he answers, smiling slightly. "She's just a friend. And she is married to a really nice man."
Emma quirks her head to one side. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
Castiel seems to find her curiosity amusing. "No, I have not."
"And a boyfriend?" Emma obviously isn't ready to budge yet. "Daddy says that boys can love boys and girls can love girls."
"And he's absolutely right about that," Castiel agrees softly. "And no, I don't have a boyfriend either."
Emma nods, apparently satisfied with those answers, before her face turns all kinds of contemplative again as she looks back and forth between Castiel and Dean.
Dean knows that face very well and he doesn't like it one bit.
There is a some sort of plan forming inside that cute little head of hers.
But before he's able to throw Sam's patented bitch face #34 in her direction – "Whatever it is you're thinking, STOP thinking it!" –, Castiel distracts Dean by touching his arm gently and smiling at him.
And Dean loses any train of rational thought altogether once again.