I hit a wall with this story which is why it's taken so long to update. My muse just sort of fluttered away for a while, but I finally caught that little bugger. So it's a slow go, but it's going again!


Chapter Eleven

There were noises around me. They were faint, fuzzy–which could simply be due to the fact that I was still half asleep–sounds. The shuffling of footsteps, incoherent mumbling. My first thought was that it was the TV, since I had fallen asleep while Dean and I were watching cartoons, so I ignored them. I was comfortable, warm, and somewhere between falling back asleep and waking up, though I would have preferred the former.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem like it was going to happen. The sounds around me started to become clearer and I realized that no, that is definitely not the TV. I figured then that it was probably just Sam or Cas, maybe even both, coming to wake us up since we probably weren't supposed to take a nap with their guests being on their way.

Squirming a little, I yawned, though I couldn't stretch well since I was being held tightly to Dean, whose arm was still wrapped around my stomach. From the slow rise and fall of his chest, it seemed Dean was still out for the count, though it likely wouldn't be for much longer. If the talking around us and my moving didn't wake him up, Cas or Sam would likely shake him awake or something.

"-an it, Cassie, they're the cutest babies I've ever seen!" My breath caught in my throat and I froze as the first almost-complete sentence came in loud and clear. That was not either of the other two men I'd come to know. The sound and tone told me male and possibly 'little' like Dean, but it still belonged to someone I didn't know. Shit. "Did you get a picture of them? They're fast asleep right now, you can't miss an opportunity like this!"

"You know De wouldn't like you calling him a baby, Gabriel." That one, that was Cas, and it seemed the first of the new voices was Gabriel… that sounded vaguely familiar, but I met a lot of people through my… well, old job, so that didn't help much. "Though no, we haven't taken a picture of them. They were napping quite peacefully while Sam and I finished getting everything ready–I didn't want to risk waking them." Wait, what about him calling me a baby? I'm not part of… their lifestyle. I was just…

"Pfft. He's a baby and he knows it. Only one smaller than him is this guy." Okay, so I know what the situation looked like, but Cas didn't correct him… Also, him? Was he talking about me or someone else that was in the room? Because if it was me, we needed to clear a fe-"Well, I'll do it then." There was a bit of a shuffle then the distinct sound of a camera click. "There we go! Now to send it to you and Sammy and post it in the fami–"

I felt panic bubbling in my chest, but thankfully… Gabriel was cut off by someone else, "Gabriel, calm yourself. You may send the photo to Castiel and Sam, but otherwise it isn't to be spread around. What did we talk about on our way here?" And the count goes up to three strangers around me.

A loud sigh came next, followed by a grumbled, "I know, I know. I don't have their permission and I'm not s'posed to make the new kid uncomfortable…" It was a little late for the 'don't make the new kid–guy uncomfortable' part, but it was nice to know they had talks about consent. I don't know what I'd do if someone spread pictures of me around to people I didn't know. Family or not.

"Mmmn.." Dean mumbled, shifting a bit behind me, which made me squirm a bit as well, unsure of what was going on. Was he waking up? "S'my.. pie…" Ah, no. Dean is just talking in his sleep, which… was kind of funny. More so since it was obvious that he was dreaming about food.

"It's still a bit early, Cas. It wouldn't hurt to just let them sleep for a little longer." And there was Sam. It made me feel a bit better that both of them were in the room with us. At least I wasn't alone with strangers staring at me. "They do look pretty cute like this."

There were a few different laughs around us, male and female, as Cas answered, "They are, but no. I believe it's time for the boys to get up. Dean was looking forward to spending time with everyone and we need to properly introduce everyone to Chris." I huffed softly, and Cas chuckled, "Besides, I think one of our sleepy little boys is actually awake." Busted. I shook my head 'no' to that, causing everyone (I could assume) around us to laugh. "No? You're still fast asleep?" Well, the cat was out of the bag–might as well play along, so I nodded. "Nice try, but I don't believe you, Chris."

"From the look of things, we'll have to wake Dean up before you can move anyway. Our little man has a vice grip on you, buddy." Until Sam said it, I hadn't really noticed, but Dean really did have his arm around me pretty tightly. If he was like this every time he went to sleep, I felt bad for Crowley. Poor toy must get the stuffing squeezed out of him every night. "Alright, De, it's time to wake up." Said sleeping male grumbled something incoherent, letting out a huff. "It's almost time to eat."

Of course at the mention of real food, he starts to really squirm, his grip loosening as he stretched, "Mm… food." Cue a loud growl from his stomach, which caused me to snort in amusement, daring to open one eye and peek at our surroundings, which were mostly blurry. My glasses took a dive when I passed out, I suppose.

"That's right. Turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, all of those delicious pies we made for dessert."

That did it. With a happy "mmm!", Dean started really moving, intent on getting up and to the kitchen as quickly as possible, though in his sleep-hazed mind, he forgot that we were pressed together on the couch, so when he tried to roll over and push himself up, he unintentionally pushed me right off of the couch and onto the floor, where I landed on my back with a soft thump.

The fall and subsequent landing shook me the rest of the way awake and I blinked slowly, staring up at the ceiling as I processed what had just happened. Note to self; couch naps are a bad idea.

My falling registered in Dean's brain much faster than it had in mine and he rolled over onto his butt, staring down at me, "Holy sh–Chris, I'm so sorry!"

Out of pure habit, a soft "Ow" escaped me, though honestly there wasn't any reason for it. The fall had been a bit of a shock, but that's all. It definitely didn't hurt, not compared to all of the other falls I'd taken in my life. Work related falls had always been the worst–concrete and ceramic tile are not your friend–but I was just clumsy. Tripping over my own feet? Check. Tripping over seemingly non-existent objects? Check. Having people bigger than me bump me over? Yeah. Hell, I even fell out of bed more often than I'd ever care to admit. So me? The floor? Very well acquainted, and this didn't even rank on my list of 'most painful dives'.

Oh, shit, right, Dean.

At my little 'ow', tears quickly began building in the corners of his eyes as his bottom lip trembled and I sucked in a sharp breath–he was going to cry. Because of me. And it seemed the lovely group around us was happy to just watch this play out because no one made a move for either of us. Fu–

"No, no–Dean, I'm fine! I promise!" It took a bit of effort to scramble up and into a sitting position, one hand patting around on the coffee table nearby in the hopes of finding my glasses (if they fell off, then hopefully someone would have noticed and picked them up before they got stomped on). "I didn't really fall that hard and even if I had, I've fallen harder–it's okay, I really do promise." The last thing I wanted was to make him freaking cry. Adult crying, I could probably handle, but this was Dean–De–little Dean. I could tell that based on his reaction alone and I didn't want him to cry. It would be like making an actual little kid cry. Just the thought of it made my heart hurt.

Letting out a sniffle, Dean reached forward, offering a hand to help me get up, and hoping it would help show him that I really was fine and there was no need for tears, I took it. My other hand, still on the coffee table, assisted in pushing me up and to my feet, at which point I smiled. "You sure that you're okay?"

"Yep. Just fine. Though I'd be better if I could find my gla–" And so they magically appear, with Sam gently placing them onto my face. "Yes, those." Though now with them on, I was able to actually see everyone that was around us, watching what had happened with smiles–or smirks– on their faces and I kind of wished I couldn't. Sure, four people wasn't a lot, not technically speaking, but four guests plus Cas plus Sam all staring at me really made it feel like a lot.

They did look familiar though. It had to be from work though. I knew that. In the time since I'd met Cas, I'd only been introduced to Sam and Dean and…

I looked over to Cas, then the others in the room. The blond male gave me a wave and a huge grin and the taller, older male nearest him tilted his head, smirking.

Oh.

"The Miltons." The words made their way out of my mouth before I could stop them and the shock I was feeling must have shown on my face. It had been months since that particular event, and a lot had happened between then and now, but there was no mistaking it. Balthazar and Gabriel, the two who had 'kept tabs' (oh yeah, I remembered that comment) on me while I worked.

The woman, I didn't catch her name at that party, but she'd been with Cas and Sam when they caught me running around, was smiling at me too. That left the last male, who… The birthday boy! Samandriel.

Balthazar spoke first and I nearly choked on my own breath as he did, "Not going to faint on us, are you?" Slowly, I shook my head, but didn't say anything in response.

The Miltons. Now, aside from what I learned for that party and at it, I didn't know much about them. Hell, I didn't even know that Cas was related to them, though it all kind of clicked when I thought about it. Castiel, Gabriel, Balthazar, Samandriel… The other names I'd learned that day had escaped me since they were only in passing or when my (ex) boss had yelled at me to tend to them, but all of their names were similar.

As the gears turned in my head, I looked between everyone in the room–they were definitely Cas' relatives, so Cas had taken Sam's last name when they got married and his original name was Castiel Milton…

"Momma, did we break him?" Samandriel piped up, looking to 'Momma', and she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Am sorry if we broke you." Now he was looking at me again–they all were.

Fainting though, as Balthazar had mentioned, almost seemed like a good idea, but I didn't, surprisingly. What did I do though? I laughed. It was short, a sort of nervous half-laugh, really, but that was what I managed, at least before my brain clicked on again. Which didn't help, because without thinking;

"At least I'm not the youngest one here now."

Gabriel's grin widened even more, if that was even possible, and he pointed at my chest, "But only the littlest babies use soothers."

That time I did choke, having forgotten all about… that.

Was it possible to pass out from blood loss when all of said blood was rushing to your face to make it burn as bright as possible?