Chapter 5 - In The Garden
Cas winked Gail to the Portal that led into the Garden. He was the only entity who was able to access that door, so the two of them were alone. "I'd like to thank you for your help with Paul," he said to her.
"I'm glad it worked out that way with him and Henri," she responded. "That was a good thing that you did back there, Cas. You should be very proud."
He smiled. "That was a good thing that WE did," he gently corrected her. "So, as Frank might say: call me butter, because I'm on a roll. I'd like to continue, and I'd like you to come with me. Will you, please?"
Gail laughed merrily. That had been a good one on Cas's part. She felt giddy with goodwill now. "Of course I will, Cas," she told him eagerly. "Who are we going to see next?"
He told her what he was thinking now, and tears sprang to her eyes. "Oh, Cas! That'll be wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Thank you for including me in this. I can't wait to see their faces!"
"Well, I think it's high time," he said firmly. "I've already found them. We'll go there in exactly one minute." Then he smiled again. "But I was hoping to be able to be alone with you for a moment, first." He put his arms around her waist.
Gail laughed. "Well, since you put it that way..."
The Angels kissed for a minute or so, and then Gail broke the embrace. "You know I love you more than anything, but I can't wait any more," she told her husband.
"This is the part of the job I really enjoy," Cas said happily. He took her hand, and opened the door.
A moment later, the couple approached them. A woman and a young boy, playing catch with a baseball in a clearing.
"Good catch!" Karen exclaimed. "I can't wait till your Dad sees what a great baseball player you are."
"Well, you won't have to wait for that any longer," Cas said.
Karen looked at Cas and Gail, and her mouth fell open. "I know you," she said. "We met before, years ago, when George was just a baby."
"That's right," Cas confirmed. "I'm Cas, and this is my wife, Gail."
George ran over to where the adults were standing. "I'm George," he said brightly. "I used to pray to you every night."
Cas ruffled the boy's hair. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, but I've been a little busy," he said in a mild tone. He saw no reason to tell Ethan's son that he wasn't the one the boy would have been praying to at the time.
"That's OK," the boy replied. "Mom said we're Angels now. She told me to be really patient, and if I was good, we'd get to be with Dad again." He looked up at Gail. "Are you Mrs. God?"
Gail laughed through the tears of happiness that were blurring her vision. "Yes, I am," she said. She looked at Karen. "Your husband's a fine man, and a good friend of ours. I can't wait to see his face when he sees you." Then she looked at Cas. "Why don't you take them to Ethan's apartment, and I'll go get him at the Academy?" Gail suggested. "That way, they can have a private reunion."
"That's a good idea," Cas said, nodding. "I'll see you there in a minute."
Gail blew him a kiss, and then winked out.
Karen was smiling. "It's hard to imagine, God having a wife," she said to Cas with some amusement. "How is Ethan?"
"He's been missing the two of you terribly, but otherwise, he's fine," Cas replied. "He's in charge of the Law Enforcement Division in Heaven, and he also helps to train cadets at the Academy. You should be very proud of him."
"Thank you, God," Karen said. She took George's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "We're going to see your Daddy now," she told him.
George jumped up and down. "Yayyy!" he exclaimed loudly, and Karen looked at Cas apologetically. "I'm sorry, My Lord," she said. "He's just excited."
Cas smiled gently. "First of all, my name is Cas. And secondly, that's quite all right. I know a young man who used to do the very same thing when he was excited."
George was tapping Cas's leg with his finger now, and Cas looked down. "Yes, George?" he asked calmly.
Ethan's son had the baseball in his other hand, and he extended it to Cas now. "Would you like to have my baseball?" the child said to Cas. "My Mom said if somebody gives you a present, you should give them one, back," he told Cas. "This is all I have."
A lump formed in Cas's throat. "No, you keep it, George," he said. "Your dad is going to want to play catch with you, I'm sure. You don't have to give me anything. The happiness I'll feel seeing your father's face when he sees the two of you will be gift enough." He looked at Karen again. "If you'll take George's hand again, we'll go, now," he said to her. "You may feel a little strange for a moment, but you'll get used to it, I promise. Now hold onto your mom, George." The mother and son clasped hands, and Cas took Karen by the arm and winked them out of the Garden.
"Can't you just tell me what this is about?" Ethan was asking Gail. "I thought enrollment was going to drop off once Cas told us that classes were voluntary now, but everybody's reporting full classes, with waiting lists. I'm just trying to keep up. As it is, I was going to ask Cas if we could get a few more instructors."
"We'll talk about that later, but you have to come with me, right now," she urged.
"At least tell me what it's regarding, Gail. Can't it wait till the end of class?" he inquired.
"Do I have to pull rank on you?" she said impatiently, grabbing him by the arm and tugging. "I don't care if they have to train themselves! It's an emergency!"
"OK, Gail, OK," Ethan said, letting her lead him down the corridor. "I just sent a message on Angel Radio to the cadets, telling them to keep practicing. Now, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, for a change. For a change, everything is just right," she assured him. "Hang on, Ethan. We're going Express." She seized him by the hand, and popped him over to his apartment.
"Ethan!" Karen exclaimed, as soon as her husband opened the door. She ran to him. He stood there, shocked. Karen launched herself into his arms, and Ethan wrapped her up in a fierce embrace.
"I've missed you so much, Baby Bear," Karen said into his chest. Both Angels were crying. Gail looked at Cas, and the two of them smiled at each other. Tears were filling Gail's eyes again, but her lips were twitching now, too. Baby Bear? Once the dust settled, she was going to have to tease him about that. Maybe tell Ethan he would have to bribe her not to bring up that particular pet name at the next board meeting.
George ran forward to where his parents were, and he tugged on Ethan's pant leg. "Daddy?" he said tentatively.
Ethan looked down at his son. "The last time I saw you, you were just a baby," he said to George in a quiet voice.
"It's nice to meet you," George said formally.
Everyone lost it, then. Ethan was crying even harder now, and he got down on one knee, opening his arms. George put his arms around his father's neck, and Ethan lifted George up with one arm, putting his other arm around Karen's waist. "I don't know how to - " Ethan started to say, and then his voice broke. Tears of happiness were coursing down his cheeks. He cleared his throat. "I don't know how to thank you, Cas. I owe you everything."
"You owe me nothing," Cas said around the lump in his throat. "You owe me an eternity of happiness with your family. That's what you owe me." He moved over to where Gail was standing. She was a sobbing mess now. George kissed his father on the cheek, and Gail hitched in a breath. Cas waved his hand, and suddenly, she was holding a wad of tissues. He took a couple for himself, and the two of them wiped their eyes. Then Cas said, "We'll leave you alone now. Welcome to Heaven, Karen and George. We'll see all of you very soon, I'm sure. Please take the rest of the week off, Ethan. You have too many jobs, anyway," Cas added, smiling.
"Cas is right," Gail agreed, sniffling back her tears. "In fact, we'll have to talk. I was thinking about doing a realignment on the board. Besides, you might not want to show up there any more after I tell the other Musketeers about your true identity, 'Baby Bear'." She smiled to show him that she was only joking.
"Enjoy your reunion," Cas said, and then he and Gail winked themselves away.
A short while later, Ethan and Karen were sitting close together on the couch in their apartment and George was across the room at the table, working on a jigsaw puzzle.
Ethan had been overjoyed to be reunited with his wife and son, but now that the initial shock of their being here had worn off, the guilt was eating away at him.
"It's all my fault, Karen," Ethan said in a quiet voice. He was aware of George's presence, but he couldn't bear to have his son out of his eyesight right now.
"What do you mean?" Karen asked her husband.
He told her about the deal he'd thought that he was making with Lucifer at the time, the one that had resulted in Karen and George's murders at that Demon's hands. By the end of his tale, Ethan was sobbing. George looked over at them curiously, but he kept working on his puzzle. He knew that they were talking about adult stuff now, and he was happy enough just to be in the same room with both of his parents. It was funny, really. George had thought it was going to be kind of weird, meeting his Dad for the first time. He'd been just a little baby when his father had been shot, so in George's eyes, they had never met. But he'd loved his Dad with all his heart the instant he'd laid eyes on him, and it was great to see his Mom so happy now. She used to cry so many nights when they'd been alive on Earth, because she missed his Dad so bad. George didn't really remember dying, because it had happened so fast. But then, he and his Mom had woken up in a great big park where the weather was always nice. And whenever George got bored, as young children do, there had been toys to play with, or books they could read together, laying just beyond the next tree. George's Mom had been calm, and she had told him that if he was really, really good, he would see his Dad again. And she had been right. Mr. and Mrs. God had showed up at the park, and they had brought George and his Mom home.
Karen was holding Ethan now, comforting him. She could understand why he felt so badly, of course. But, like her son, she barely remembered her death. Of all of the ways that Lucifer could have chosen to murder them, the way it had been done was almost merciful. Just a split second of shock and pain, and then it had been over. Their bodies must have been pulverized, but somehow, they had woken up in that park intact. Karen knew then that God was Good, and that they were going to see Ethan again. So she'd been content enough to wait. At least she and George had been together while they were waiting.
But now, she and Ethan would have some work to do, to reconnect as a couple. And even though she'd been horrified to hear about what had happened with Lucifer, Karen now knew that it had all worked out in the end, and that Satan had ultimately been destroyed.
So, she smiled, wiping the tears from her husband's face. "I'm glad it all worked out the way it did," she told him. "I missed you too much to have to wait years and years to be with you again. Now, we're all together, as a family. Now, we can be happy again, Baby Bear." Her smile widened. "I hope you're not too mad at me for blurting that out in front of Cas and Gail."
Ethan grabbed some tissues and wiped his face with them. Then he kissed his wife. "Are you kidding?" he asked her. "You can call me anything you want. I'm just so glad to be with you again. The other Musketeers are just gonna have to deal with it." Karen's forehead wrinkled. That was the second reference to that term she'd heard. But she was patient. They would get there, she was sure. Meanwhile, Ethan was continuing to say, "I don't think Chuck will have too much to say about it. He's getting pretty sloppy about Laurel these days, himself. As for Kevin, I don't know. We're going to have to find someone for him. Maybe you can help with that."
"I can't wait to meet all of your friends," she said happily.
"I can't wait for them to meet you, too," Ethan said, giving her a squeeze. "They're all going to love you, almost as much as I do." He kissed her again, a longer, more lingering kiss this time. "Tomorrow, I'll make arrangements to get us a house," he told his wife. "That way, George can have his own room, and we can have a little more privacy, if you know what I mean."
Karen laughed softly. "As I recall, that's how we ended up with George in the first place," she teased him.
"Well, we certainly don't have to worry about that anymore," Ethan replied mischievously. Then he smiled. "The two of you are going to like it here, Karen."
"We already do, don't we, George?" Karen said brightly.
"Yeah!" the boy exclaimed. He grabbed the baseball from the table and hopped off his chair, running over to his parents.
"Want to play catch, Dad?" George asked Ethan. "You can teach me how to pitch."
And, once Ethan had used up another wad of tissues, he took his wife and son by their hands and winked them out of the apartment.
Cas and Gail had winked themselves back to Bobby's office after leaving Ethan's apartment. They told their friend about the happy reunion, and Bobby smiled. He was glad for Ethan.
"Did Henri and Paul get set up OK?" Gail asked Bobby.
He nodded. "I took them to see Chuck. Ever since he set up that census database, he reckons he's some kind of real estate agent. He asked them what kind of place they were looking for, and he set them up in a nice little two-bedroom house. I swear, he thinks he's making a commission, or something. I guess scriptwriting for a big Hollywood movie doesn't pay enough."
Cas just smiled. He knew that Chuck was donating all of his salary for working on the movie to charity, but that was Chuck's business. "I wonder if you could do me a favour, Bobby?" he said now. "Do you think that I could deputize you, for lack of a better term? There are millions of souls to be sorted, and I'm finding it's going to be hard to get to them all."
"Yeah, especially if you spend an hour with each person," Bobby said, good-naturedly enough. "Sure, Cas, if you want. But, do you want me to decide where they all go, too? If I have to run everything by you, it's gonna sort of defeat the purpose, isn't it?"
"You're absolutely right," Cas agreed, nodding. "So, I'm giving you total autonomy to make those decisions." He reached into his pocket. "Except for the names on this list." He handed the piece of paper to Bobby. "If you encounter any of these people, please notify me immediately."
Bobby looked down at the list, and then he looked up at Cas. His eyes narrowed a bit, but he said nothing. Cas was looking at him calmly. Well, he must have his reasons. Maybe Cas just wanted to be there to attend to these folks personally. In any event, that was just fine with Bobby. He was getting bored just sitting around here doing paperwork, anyway.
Cas put his hand on Bobby's forehead, conferring the ability to come and go from the Garden upon him. He asked Bobby to stay in touch and let him know how it was going, and to let him know if his help was needed. Then Bobby put Cas's list in his own pocket and winked out.
Gail looked at her husband, curious. "What was that list all about?"
"Just a few individuals that I wanted to deal with personally," he said vaguely. "Anyway, I think Bobby was very happy to get out of the office. It's very boring just sitting around doing paperwork all the time."
Gail smiled. "I agree. That was another good thing you did, Cas. You know, I'm so glad to see you this way."
"Doing good things for others feels wonderful," he told her.
"So, who's next?" she asked him eagerly.
He smiled, taking her hand. "You are."
A couple of hours later, Gail's head was on her husband's naked chest, and she was caressing him. But her brow was wrinkled now. "Why do I have the feeling that we're forgetting something?" she asked him.
Cas was smiling. "Is there another way that you would like to make love?" he said charmingly.
Gail shook her head slowly, rolling her eyes. But she was smiling, too. "You think you're pretty cute, don't you?"
"Well, seeing as you have told me numerous times that I am, I suppose that I have no choice but to concur," he said, tilting her face up so that he could kiss her on the lips.
"That's not what I was talking about, although I like the way you're thinking," she said playfully. Then she sighed. "What's the date, today?"
Cas thought for a moment. "You know, I have no idea," he told his wife. "Why?"
"I don't know," she mused. "I just...I don't know," she concluded lamely.
"Oh, Well, that clears that up, then," Cas said lightly. His lips were twitching again.
She started to kiss his face. "You know what? Frank's right; you've gotten even funnier, over the years," Gail told her husband. "Of course, I always thought you were funny."
"Actually, there was a time, just recently, when you accused me of having no discernible sense of humour," Cas remarked.
Gail made a face. "Do you really want to bring that up right now? That wasn't you, back then; it was Patricia's poison that was making you that way."
"I know, and I'm very sorry, my love," he said quietly. "I'm sorry for that whole thing. You were so loyal to me, for so long. She made me deny you, and she made you think I didn't love you anymore. I will never forgive her for that. Never."
"Patricia's one of the names on that list, isn't she?" Gail asked him. "And you sent Bobby to look for her, because you didn't want to be the one to find her."
"I could not be responsible for my actions if I did," Cas said grimly. "But when he does find her, I want to see her. Anyway, let's not talk about her right now. I believe there was a question on the table."
"Well, since I can't remember what it is that I seem to have forgotten, let's consider the other question that was raised," Gail said pertly. She slipped her hand under the sheet and began to stroke him lightly. Then she climbed on top of him. He understood what she was looking for right away. His hands went to her hips and he turned her around, guiding her to his mouth. She took him in hers, and they made love to each other until they were both crying out. After they had finished, they both lingered for a while. She laid herself down on top of him, kissing and licking him, and he was caressing her skin. Then, as she was just about to rise and suggest they shower, she could feel his tongue on her again. He'd taken her by surprise, and she made a noise. He liked it when she expressed herself so freely. It made him happy to be giving her so much pleasure. He caressed her more firmly, and the white glow came from his hands and enveloped the lower half of her body.
"Cas!" she exclaimed, and then, she couldn't talk at all.
A few minutes later, she was in his arms, trying to catch her breath. Cas kissed her on the forehead. "Did you enjoy that?" he asked her.
"Enjoy it?" she gasped. "I think I lost my mind there, for a minute." Then she looked at his face. "You realize that I don't need you to do that all the time, though, don't you? I know it's one of the perks, but I want to make sure you know that you're enough, Cas. Just you. You've always been enough."
"That's funny; that's what Father said to me, when I was in the desert," Cas said softly.
"Well, he was definitely right about that," Gail said, kissing her husband tenderly on the cheek. "So, maybe let's just leave the extra 'oomph' for special occasions, okay?" Then she smiled mischievously. "Maybe give me a warning next time, though, so I can have an oxygen mask ready on the nightstand."
Both of them laughed softly, and after a few more minutes' cuddling, Gail headed off to the shower.
Felicia had been wandering around for an eternity now, seemingly in circles. She had no idea where she was, or where she could possibly be going. She knew she wasn't in the Garden. Her father had described the Garden to her, and this most certainly wasn't it. Everything was grey, and nondescript. All the buildings and the streets looked exactly alike, and there were no landmarks, and no other people. Was this the Netherworld? If so, though, why wasn't anyone else here?
After Mark had murdered her and dumped her vessel in the alleyway beside the hotel, Felicia's essence had slowly leaked out. Mark had thought that she was gone, and in another moment or two, she would have been. But a tall, gaunt-looking man had suddenly appeared, and he had captured her essence in a vial. Then he had bent down over her and touched her briefly, and the next thing she knew, she was here. Wherever "here" was.
It was funny, too; even though it seemed like she was really nowhere, Felicia could sense something now. Someone was looking for her. She stopped walking and sat down on a stone bench, closing her eyes. She saw the outline of a man in her mind's eye, walking around a lush green forest, looking around. She felt like he was looking for her. Who was he? She concentrated harder, and now she could see that the man had a beard, and she could detect a mild Southern accent when he called her name.
"Bobby?!" Felicia exclaimed.
Bobby looked around the woods. He could swear he'd heard Felicia, calling his name.
When Bobby had looked at Cas's list, he'd zeroed in on Patricia's name right away. But he'd had no particular desire to see Patricia, either. He supposed they'd have to deal with her eventually, but as far as Bobby was concerned, she could go to the bottom of the list for now.
But Felicia's name was also on here, and Bobby was eager to see her again. He remembered she'd told him quite a while back that she loved shady spots, and he thought he knew the area she would favour. He remembered very little of the so-called classified stuff from his hitch as God, but one thing that Bobby did know was that, when a soul went to the Garden to await disposition, it tended to gravitate towards a place where that individual would feel the most comfortable. When Gail had been stabbed to death in Las Vegas, she had been waiting for Cas in the coolest, shadiest spot that the Garden had to offer. Likewise, Bobby felt sure that Felicia would be in the forest. But he'd searched and searched, calling out her name, and there had been no response.
Just a moment ago, though, Bobby'd thought he heard Felicia, just for a second there, calling his name. But he'd stopped short, listening, and the sound wasn't repeated. Probably just wishful thinking on his part. Felicia had been Bobby's top priority, as far as souls went. She'd gotten a really raw deal, in his opinion. Mark had never been brought to answer for her murder. Mark was on Cas's list, too, but Bobby highly doubted that he would be here. He would almost certainly be roasting weenies with Crowley now, if Rob's visions of his father's death proved to be true. But they only had the boy's word for it, and even if Mark was truly dead, he had been a Gospel writer. So Bobby supposed that Cas was just hedging his bets. Bobby almost wished that Mark WAS here, so Cas could get a hold of him. Felicia hadn't meant as much to Cas as she had to Bobby, but he was sure that Cas's smiting hand would be very itchy when it came to Mark.
Bobby wandered for a long time before he had to finally admit that Felicia wasn't here. Then he stood there, thinking. He should probably just move on, but it was bothering him now: Why wasn't she here? He put in a call to Cas, and Cas said that Bobby should come to the High Office then, so that they could talk about it.
Bobby popped into the reception area. "Hi, Bobby!" Laurel exclaimed. She was sitting at the reception desk. Once Cas had moved into the High Office, Laurel had felt obligated to come and work for him, even though he hadn't asked. And truthfully, Bobby hadn't really needed her services any more, anyway. All he mainly did these days was push papers around, and it didn't take two people to do that. So Bobby hadn't asked her to stay with him, because that would have been selfish on his part.
He chatted with her for a couple of minutes, and then, Laurel buzzed the intercom. Technically speaking, of course, they could all just communicate with each other via Angel Radio, but Laurel was a professional, and she did things in a professional way.
"He wants you to wait here a minute, Bobby," Laurel said to him.
Bobby frowned. "We just talked. He knew I was coming. Why's he making me cool my heels out here, then?" he fumed. "Just because he can? Showing off his muscle a little bit, maybe?"
Laurel was uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Bobby," she told him. It must be weird for him to have to wait outside his own office like this. Well, former office, she amended.
Then Cas buzzed her back, and Laurel advised Bobby that he could go in. He opened the door, and stopped short. Cas was sitting in the big chair behind the desk, and Gail was sitting on the corner of the desk by him. Both she and Cas were smiling. Good Lord, Bobby thought, no pun intended. Had they actually been making Bobby wait out there all that time so they could make out in here, like a couple of horny teenagers?
"Good of you to finally see me," Bobby said in a cranky voice. "Are you sure ya don't want me to come back another time? Or are the two of you finally coming up for some air?"
Gail made a face. "It's not what you think, Bobby. We just heard from Ethan. After Cas saw that Ethan's son liked to play baseball, he built an annex, and put a ball diamond in it. Now, families will have a place to play. I told Cas we should have Laurel make up some flyers to put up around Heaven, and form a softball league. Of course, all the teams will be the Angels, so the standings would be very confusing. But, still..."
"And we both thought that was funny, so that's why we were smiling when you came in," Cas said, a bit sharply. "Gail was in close proximity to me because that is the way we are, and we do not have to apologize to anyone for it." Cas was annoyed. Maybe it was because, just a short time ago, Patricia'd had him convinced that physical affection with his own wife was a Sin. But, even though Gail had joked about "making out" here, Cas would never have been able to do that, and Gail knew it. There was still a large part of him that would always regard this place as his Father's office, and Gail respected that. They would show each other casual and chaste affection here, but that was all. They had private quarters in which to be intimate. But Gail had joked about it, of course, because that was her way. She'd confessed that the Office still intimidated her, and that it was still hard for her to grasp that it was her own husband who was God now.
"I'm sorry, Cas, but it's not like there wouldn't be a precedent," Bobby said, shrugging.
"That would be blasphemy, and Gail and I both know it," Cas said irritably. "Please, give us a little credit."
Gail looked back and forth from one man to the other, puzzled. How had the conversation taken such a turn? She tried to spin it around. "Ethan's over the moon," she told Bobby. "Wait till you meet his little son, George. He reminds me of Rob, when he was that age. We'll have to get some aluminum bats, and you can teach him how to hit."
Her comments had the desired effect. "What makes you think I can teach a kid how to hit a baseball?" Bobby said. His beard twitched as he was saying it, though.
"Because, in every baseball movie I've ever seen, there's a veteran coach, imparting his wisdom in the dugout. We may have lots of Angels in the outfield, but we need a manager," she said pertly.
"OK, well...it just so happens that I was a pretty good hitter, back in the day," Bobby said proudly. "I reckon I can teach him a thing or two, if Ethan wants me to."
Gail's smile widened. "There you go. Maybe we can round up a few more kids, and re-form the Bad News Bears."
Bobby laughed. "Speaking of Rob, I looked all over for Felicia, Cas, and she wasn't there. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."
Cas was surprised. He'd never anticipated that she wouldn't be in the Garden. "Then where could she possibly be?" he mused out loud. "She wouldn't be in Hell, or even in Purgatory, I'm sure."
"Could she be in the Netherworld, maybe?" Gail ventured.
Cas was frowning. "Perhaps. But I felt sure she was going to be in the Garden, and I was going to have you set up her hearing, once we found her."
"Hearing? What are you talking about?" Gail asked him, confused.
"Her hearing," Cas repeated calmly. "The hearing to decide the disposition of her soul."
"Why would we need a hearing for that?" Bobby asked, puzzled.
"To give her a chance to explain herself," Cas said patiently, as if talking to a couple of young children. "She deserted Heaven years ago, when I was still a member of the Upper Echelon. Then she took up with a Lieutenant of Lucifer, and when I proposed that we deal with Mark accordingly when we were trying to find Lucifer, she refused to cooperate with me. Can you imagine how many lives could have been saved if we had been able to kill Lucifer back then? And then, as if that weren't enough, she snuck out of her house to meet Mark, lying to everyone about where she was going. Now, why on Earth would she have done that, if she had nothing to hide? I think, at minimum, she owes us a few answers, and I intend to get them before I just arbitrarily ascend her."
Gail and Bobby looked at each other, astonished. Cas was putting the worst possible spin on those situations. "Look, I don't know what happened here years ago, because I wasn't here at the time," Bobby said, and the growl had come back into his tone now. "But as far as I do know, the reasons she left Heaven were between her and Ignatius. But you should know better than anyone that people make mistakes, and that there are at least two sides to every story."
Oh, great. Now Bobby was making a not-so-thinly veiled reference to Cas's own checkered past, Gail thought. That was sure to go over big with her husband. Time for a diversionary tactic again.
"Before you get mad at Bobby, I need to go on record as saying that I agree with him," Gail told Cas. "I think you're reading way too much into things. When we find her, we'll talk to her, but I don't think we need any sort of a hearing."
Cas regarded her coolly. "You're entitled to your opinion, of course. You both are. But if I decide there will be a hearing, we will hold a hearing."
"What you're talking about is a tribunal," Bobby said bluntly. "You're just calling it by a different name."
Cas had picked up a pen, just to have something to do with his hands while they all spoke. But the pen snapped in two now, and a stack of files that were on the floor in the corner of the Office suddenly burst into flames. Cas waved his hand at them and they were instantly doused, but he was glaring at Bobby now.
But Bobby was looking at Gail. "You know I'm right, don't you?" he appealed to her. "Surely you don't agree with this."
Normally, Gail would have joked around to defuse the tension, telling him not to call her Shirley, or something like that. But this was a bit of a sore spot for her, too. Cas was better now, but every once in a while, he would still pull some of that "my Word is The Word" crap that he'd been spouting before his trip to the desert. But, what could she do about it? He WAS God, wasn't he?
"No, I don't agree with it, Bobby," she said, agitated. "But if Cas is going to be stubborn about it, there's not much we can do. He's God, right? Although, I swear, sometimes I just think he wants to be God so he can have the illusion that he's my boss. And I guess he sort of, kind of, is, at least, technically, in this Office. But that's only because he's got that Godly white glow-y thing going for him." Then she turned to her husband. "But the bottom line is, you're my spouse, but you're NOT my boss, and you never will be. Just in case you had any doubts. If you insist on going ahead with it, there's nothing I can do about it. But it's wrong, Cas. We should just talk to her, and give her the benefit of the doubt. End of story."
Cas was quiet for a moment. Maybe he should think about it some more. If these two were so adamantly opposed to the idea, perhaps he was wrong. But Bobby had set his teeth on edge when he had used the word "tribunal". Bobby could always be trusted not to sugar-coat things, but he should know what a sore spot that was for Cas.
"I'll think about it some more," Cas said quietly.
Gail smiled. "Thanks, sweetie." She was pretty sure that signaled that he would capitulate.
"OK, well, it's a moot point, anyway," Bobby added. He liked Cas, but he wasn't about to thank him for agreeing to consider doing the right thing. "She's not IN the Garden. So, what now?"
Cas was frowning. He was thinking about what Gail had said about the Netherworld. "I will set up a meeting, then, to find out if Felicia has been taken to the Netherworld."
Gail's heart sank. "Are you talking about who I think you're talking about?"
Cas's lips twitched briefly. "I'm afraid so. But at least this time, my blade can remain in my pocket. We may want to look up a recipe or two online, though."
Bobby knew who they were talking about too, of course. He couldn't help but wonder what Death's reaction had been when he'd learned about the rapid changes to Heaven's administration. But at least Cas wasn't talking Holy War any more. Still, Cas and Death had never really been able to see eye to eye, although if Gail was present at the meeting, she might be able to act as a buffer between the two. Just as she had here, with Bobby and Cas. There was just something about this Office, Bobby supposed. No matter which one of them had been God at the time, he and Cas had certainly had their share of clashes here. Just like two roosters at a cock fight. Gail may have mellowed Cas out quite a bit over the years that she had known him, but Cas was still an Alpha male, and so was Bobby. That was just the way it was.
But Bobby had just thought of something else, now. "Hey, switching gears for a second," he said to the couple, "what are the plans for tomorrow?"
Gail froze. "Tomorrow?" she repeated, her heart sinking again.
"Yeah. Tomorrow. Jody's birthday," Bobby said.
Oh, no. "THAT'S what I was forgetting!" Gail exclaimed, looking at Cas. "Jody's birthday! With everything else that's been going on, I completely forgot!" She started to fret. "We've got to get her a present. What do you guys think? What would she like?" Gail laughed at her own question. "Considering her circumstances, probably just one uninterrupted nights' sleep, and some adult conversation."
Cas perked up. "Why don't we get a babysitter for her and Frank, and we can all go out to a nice restaurant for dinner?" he suggested. "Perhaps Liz would like to sit with Angela."
"That's a great idea, Cas!" Gail enthused. "She'd love that, I'm sure. And Frank already knows Liz, so he and Jody wouldn't have to worry about leaving Angela with a stranger."
Now, the three Angels were smiling. It wasn't too long ago that they were completely cut off from Earth, and from their human family and friends, courtesy of Patricia. But things were definitely different now.
Cas took his cell phone out of his pocket. "I'll call Frank," he said eagerly. "I'll ask him where Jody would like to eat. Then, Gail and I will go to the place, and make reservations. Maybe we'll see if the restaurant has a private room, for the whole group." He started counting guests on his fingers.
Gail was elated. Now, THIS was the way that things should be. She blessed Bobby for bringing up the subject, and Jody, for having a birthday. "We'll let you know where, and what time," she said to their friend. "And, since we're going to Earth anyway, I can pick up a gift for Jody from you too, if you want."
"Thank you, dear. That would be nice," Bobby said affably. "Well, I'll get back to work now. Talk to you later." He winked out.
The next night, the arrangements had all been made, courtesy of the two-finger system. Cas had just returned to the bunker with Nicole on his arm.
"Wow, a personal limo ride from God, himself," she marveled, approaching Dean for a kiss. "Screw Hollywood; you can't get any more VIP than that." She gave Dean a hug and a kiss on the lips, and then she looked at Cas again. "So, what am I supposed to call you, now?"
"Nothing different. 'Cas' is fine," he said, smiling. "Although if you asked Dean, you might get a different answer."
"Don't be a smartass, your Godship," Dean retorted. He put his arms around Nicole and gave her a squeeze.
"Besides, my darling wife keeps me grounded, as the expression goes," Cas added.
"Which is kind of funny, coming from an Angel," Sam remarked with a smile.
"He's not just AN Angel now, Sam, he's THE Angel," Gail said proudly.
Sam handed Quinn a drink. "So, what's going on in Heaven?" he asked Gail. "Are you making lots of changes?"
"Yes, and no," Gail replied. "I'm doing a realignment of the board. Remember I told you about that separate ad hoc board I wanted to form, to adjudicate suicides? Bobby is going to head up that group. It'll be him, Laurel, Chuck, and Kevin. I've asked Liz, Henri and Paul to fill their spots on the board. Ethan's going to step back from the board, and he's resigning as head of Law Enforcement. He wants to spend more time with his family. He IS going to continue teaching at the Academies, though."
"Who's going to be the new Sheriff in town, then?" Frank asked, uncapping a bottle of beer.
Cas gave him a crooked smile. "Me," he said shortly.
"Well, I guess there won't be any more criminals in Heaven, then," Jody said, smirking. She raised her glass in salute to him. It was her second cocktail already, but, the hell with it. She was over 21, she wasn't driving, and dammit, it was her birthday.
"It's funny you should say that, though," Gail said to her sister-in-law. "Ever since Cas took the reins, we haven't had any crimes of any kind, and there's nobody currently being held at the prison."
"That's 'cause everybody's too scared of Cas to do anything wrong," Dean wisecracked.
Gail laughed. "You're probably right," she said, stretching up to kiss her husband on the cheek. "He's very frightening. Aren't you, sweetie?"
Cas sighed, shaking his head. "Yes, I'm very scary. Outside of this room." He put his arm around Gail's waist as everyone laughed.
"But seriously, we're well on our way to a Utopian society," Gail said to their friends. "Everyone seems pretty happy with the new regime. Liz and Ethan's wife, Karen, are opening up a school. Before, kids just stayed at home, but we don't think that's healthy. I think it'll be great for the kids to hang around together and learn things, just like they do here on Earth." She smiled. "It's too bad some of you guys can't commute to Heaven. I'd love to have Sam as a guest instructor, on lore."
"Hey! What about me?" Frank protested.
"You?!" Gail scoffed. "Anything you're an expert in, I'm sure those kids' parents wouldn't want them to learn."
"Man, can't you do anything about her, Cas?" Frank complained. "Can't you lay down the law, or something? You're God, aren't you? Aren't you, like, her boss, then?"
"Absolutely, Frank," Cas replied. "Just the same as you are Jody's boss."
"Want some aloe for that burn, Frank?" Sam said, grinning.
"That was a good one, Cas," Dean told their friend. "But, hey, I've got a question for you: We're your friends, right?"
"You're my family, Dean," Cas said warmly. Gail smiled. She couldn't get get over the difference between him now, and when he sat in God's chair. He was so much happier and more relaxed when he was here.
"Even better," Dean acknowledged. "So, if we're God's family, where's our stuff?"
"Stuff?" Cas asked him, puzzled.
"Yeah," Dean replied. "Our swag. You know: millions of dollars, garage full of cars, longer lives...Come on, Cas. Make with the loot."
"Cas lives in Heaven, not in a magic lamp," Gail chided Dean in a dry voice.
"You know what, buddy? Look around you. You've got all of that stuff and more, already," Frank added. He put his arms around Jody's waist. "Really, what more do you need?"
"Relax. I was only joking," Dean said to everyone. "I know how lucky I am." He gave Nicole another squeeze, then lifted his beer bottle in salute. "I've got the most important thing you could want: family, and friends. People to love."
"Wow, Dude, how drunk ARE you?" Sam quipped, but Dean just smiled.
"Besides, isn't Greed one of the Seven Deadly Sins?" Nicole said teasingly, nudging Dean.
"I hate to tell you this, but I'm pretty sure all of us have been guilty of all of those, at some time or another," Jody said, handing her empty glass to Frank. She smiled slyly. "Even Cas."
"Uh-oh. Them thar's smiting words," Frank quipped.
"No, Jody's right," Cas said mildly. "We all slip, from time to time. But, many of the ancient laws are open to interpretation."
"I think we should update the Sins to reflect modern times, anyway," Gail said, smiling. "Like, maybe, texting while driving should be one."
"Leaving the toilet seat up," Jody said promptly, and both Quinn and Nicole raised their glasses and said in unison, "Hear, hear."
"People who name their kids things like Apple, or Rainbow," Frank contributed.
Cas was shaking his head, smiling. His wonderful, funny, irreverent family. He took Gail's hand and brought it to his lips. I'm so sorry we had a disagreement, he told her on their private channel. I love you more than anything, and I place you above all others. My Will might be The Will, but your will is my will. So it has always been, and so it will always be.
She smiled up at him. I love you more than anything too, sweetie, she said to him in her mind. And I love it when we're all together like this. This is what true happiness feels like. This is what we went through all those centuries of pain for, so that we could end up here.
"Let's go to dinner," Cas said out loud.
VIGNETTE - FIGHT LIKE A GIRL
It was a good thing that Cas and Gail had booked a private room at the back of the restaurant, because it was turning out to be a rather raucous celebration. This was a slightly more upscale establishment than any of them were used to frequenting, but Jody had read a couple of reviews online which had raved about the food, and she'd wanted to give it a try. She couldn't wait to get a thick, juicy steak, and a baked potato loaded with everything. When she wasn't caring for Angela, which still took up the majority of her time, Jody had begun to work out in the basement of their house, where Frank kept the weapons locked up. Her husband had also installed a mini-gym down there, and encouraged Rob to work out in it. If Rob hoped to be a Hunter someday, Frank said, his son had to bulk up. So Jody had been going down there when Angela was napping, and she had begun to get herself back into shape. It was a lot harder now, at her age, and after having recently had a baby. But she was determined to do it. Jody loved being a wife and mother, but she was more than just those things, and she wanted to make sure she didn't lose sight of that. This particular birthday was a milestone, and it was a big one. She couldn't allow herself to get soft, and complacent. With their family, and the way they lived their lives, the next fight was likely just around the corner.
But tonight was her birthday, and Jody was going to let her hair down. She'd already arranged with Frank and Rob to let her lie in bed undisturbed for as long as she wanted to tomorrow. At her age, hangovers were a lot harder to get over, as well. But she damn well deserved it, after everything her body had been put through lately.
"Pass that beer down here, Sammy," Jody said, and Sam's eyebrows rose. She hardly ever called him that. Then he grinned. Jody was getting tipsy. Hey, good for her. "Comin' right up, Jodes," he retorted good-naturedly.
"Respect your elders," she shot back, grabbing the beer bottle he'd passed to Frank out of her husband's hand.
"How old are you, anyway?" Quinn asked, and the men at the table winced. "What?" Quinn said. "Why can't a woman ask another woman her age?"
"Better you than me," Dean said, taking a drink. "Sammy, better hide the steak knives, just in case."
"You know what?" Jody said, affably enough. "The hell with it. Age is just a number. I don't have a problem with telling you how old I am. It's a badge of honour, really. Every grey hair on my head is there for a reason."
"I can't believe I'm finally gonna find out how old you are," Dean remarked.
"Oh, look. One of the reasons for some of that grey hair is speaking," Jody quipped. "Every time you guys would call me, saying you had a weird case you wanted to run by me? Grey hair."
"But if it hadn't been for us, you never would have met Frank," Sam pointed out.
"The primary reason for my grey hair," she quipped again, taking a swig of beer.
Frank put his arm around his wife, grinning. "What I hear you saying is that you love me very much," he said happily.
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled good-naturedly.
"Besides, I found a grey hair the other day, too," Frank added.
Gail nudged him. "Ummm, I hate to tell you this, but..." She pointed to his head. Frank had been greying for quite some time now. It had freaked her out at first, but she had come to terms with it by now.
"I never said it was on my head," he said pointedly.
Her face scrunched up in an expression of disgust, once she realized what he was saying. "Ewwwwww! Frank! That's gross! We're about to eat here, you know!"
"YOU'RE going to eat?" he said, surprised.
"Yeah. I asked Cas for an appetite," Gail told him. "This is a special occasion. I think he's even going to eat, too."
"Cool. It'll be, like, the Last Supper, or something," Rob chipped in.
Frank looked at his son for a moment. "Not bad, kid," he remarked. He looked around. "Where IS the Almighty, anyway?"
"Here," Cas said, entering the room. "I had to pick up one of Jody's presents."
"Happy birthday, Jody!" Tommy said. He and Barry were standing behind Cas.
"Hey, you guys!" Jody exclaimed. She jumped up from her chair to greet them. Hugs and kisses were exchanged as the men walked around the table, and then they took their seats.
"If all the Apostles are here now, can we order, already?" Dean said. "I'm starving." He grabbed a menu.
"Actually, I have a question for you," Jody said, tapping Gail on the shoulder on the way back to her seat as Cas sat down beside his wife. "Is Cas omnipresent now?"
Gail laughed. "I wish."
"Well, I don't," Dean said, flipping through the pages of the menu. "He doesn't need to see what I'm up to, most of the time."
"Oh? And what exactly would that be, seeing as I'm out of town almost all the time?" Nicole said, poking him playfully. She had her chin on his shoulder, looking at his menu with him. She could have grabbed her own, but he smelled really good, and she was really happy to be this close to him after a long time of being apart. She gave his earlobe a little kiss and he put his hand on her thigh under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"What did you ask Gail?" Sam wisecracked. "If Cas is omnipotent?"
"Hey, Dude, come on! That's kind of mean, isn't it?" Dean objected. "Gail's sitting right there!" Sam leaned down and said something in his brother's ear. "Oh," Dean said. "Never mind." They all laughed.
"If he took public transportation, would he be riding the omnibus?" Rob said hopefully, looking at Frank for approval.
His dad grinned. "While I applaud your initiative, Young Grasshopper, the educational process continues. Let me instruct you as to the art of constructing a great joke."
"Never mind that right now, I'm with Dean," Jody said, looking eagerly at her menu. "Let's get some food, already. At least appetizers, anyway. I need something to munch on. I'm planning on having wine for dinner, so I don't want to be snockered before my steak comes."
"I kinda wish you would," Bobby said suddenly, his beard twitching furiously. "You're a fun drunk."
"Bobby! You shouldn't say that in front of my son!" Jody exclaimed, but then, she looked at Rob. "He's right, though. I'm really funny when I'm drunk. Even funnier than your father."
"Aha! So, you admit I'm funny!" Frank said jubilantly. "You all heard her! No takesies-backsies!"
"OK, that's it. Jody's cut off," Dean said, closing his menu with a snap. "That's all we need. Now Frank thinks he's funny."
"Shut up, Winchester. You're just jealous, because you wish you were as funny as me," Frank retorted.
"Yeah, but looks don't count," Barry piped up, and Dean laughed, giving him a thumbs-up.
"Hey, nobody asked you, you...Newfie," Frank called down the table to Barry.
"What did you just call me?" Barry said, bemused.
"Isn't that what you call a Canadian when you want to insult them?" Frank asked him.
Tommy laughed. "That's for people on the East Coast, Frank. We're all the way across the country, on the Left Coast, as people call it."
"Oh," Frank said. He thought for a moment. "Well, what do you call guys from Vancouver, then?"
"Potheads," Nicole blurted out, and Barry and Tommy laughed. "I'm sending you a mental high-five right now," Barry told her.
"Hey, where's Carolyn?" Jody asked them. "Why didn't you bring her?"
"She sends her regrets," Tommy told her. "She's got a touch of the flu. Nothing serious, but she said she just wants to get some sleep, if Peter'll let her."
They started to launch into a conversation about babies as Dean rolled his eyes. He kicked Rob under the table. "Hey, Rob," he said loudly. "When do you want to drive with me again?"
"Better make it soon," Rob replied. "Are you free tomorrow?"
Gail perked up. "I'd like to get in on that," she told them.
Dean groaned. "Man, I don't know, Gail. If you're gonna try driving again, we'd better have your hubby riding shotgun."
"Oh, har, har. Nope," Gail retorted. "As much as I love being around Cas, he's much too busy. He's got millions of souls in the Garden, awaiting disposition. As it is, I'm going to be really busy too, organizing those boards I told you guys about, so this'll probably be my last lesson for a while."
"Well, thank God for that, anyway," Dean said fervently.
"You're welcome," Cas said over his menu, and everybody laughed again.
Finally, a waiter made his appearance in the room. He started at the opposite end of the table, taking Barry's order and then moving on, counter-clockwise.
"Why the hurry?" Dean asked Rob, as they waited to place their orders.
"Because I'm going to stay with Barry and Tommy in Vancouver for a few months," the teenager replied.
"Why's that?" Sam said, curious.
Frank shrugged. "The kid deserves a holiday. He's been studying, training, and slaving away around the house. When we were up there for those guys's wedding, we talked about it, but we decided to wait until Carolyn had the baby. Tommy's gonna take him to the paper, and get him an internship there."
"They have a pretty good transit system there, but it doesn't go everywhere," Rob added. "If I want to go up to Whistler, I have to drive, so I wanted to make sure I was good at it before I go. I don't think I need to worry, really, but I just wanted to work on my parallel parking a bit."
"He'll be fine," Dean said confidently. "I taught him."
"Well, that's why I want you to teach me, too," Gail said earnestly.
"You?" Dean scoffed. "Dale Earnhardt couldn't teach you."
"Don't you mean Dale Earnhardt, Jr.?" Frank chipped in.
"Not necessarily," Dean said, smirking. He looked around for the waiter, who was almost to where Cas and Gail were sitting now. "Considering where she lives, she'd probably be talking to the dad."
Frank laughed. "Oh, that's harsh, man."
Gail was starting to feel pressure now. She could see the waiter approaching out of the corner of her eye, but she hadn't actually decided what to order yet. Since she didn't eat that often any more, it was hard to know what would taste good to her.
She looked up at the server. "Can I ask what 'seasonal' vegetables are?" she asked him.
"Vegetables that are in season," he replied.
She looked sharply at him for a moment. Oh, brother. Everybody was a comedian.
"No," she attempted to clarify. "I meant, what ARE they?"
"Seasons?" he said sarcastically. "That's, you know, when the weather changes."
Gail looked at him, astonished. He had to be kidding her with this. Had Frank planted this guy as a practical joke, or something? She looked at her brother, but he wasn't smiling.
The waiter was standing there, tapping the pad of paper with his pen impatiently. Gail cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm sorry, I guess we're not communicating," she said, as patiently as she could. "I meant, what kind of vegetables would they be?"
He opened his mouth, and for a split second, Gail thought he was going to say "seasonal". And if he did, he was going to feel her fork right in his face. But all he did was fetch a heavy, dramatic sigh. "I'll check," he said testily, and stalked out of the room.
Gail sat there, open-mouthed. "Wow," she breathed. "Is it me?"
"No, it's not you," Barry said quickly. "That guy's giving our people a bad name."
"Who? Canadians?" Jody quipped. She looked at Gail. "What a toolbag," Jody remarked. "We can go elsewhere, if you want."
"No," Gail said, alarmed. "We're here now, and I know you were looking forward to eating at this place. I can handle him. Don't worry about it. I don't want it spoiling our night."
"Ok, if you're sure," Jody said, but she was already looking at her menu again in anticipation.
Cas was doing the slow burn now. He looked at his wife. She seemed all right, but he was angry at the way the server had spoken to her.
The man came back into the room, making a beeline for Gail. "The vegetables are: carrots, cauliflower, and squash."
She wrinkled her nose for an instant. As far as she remembered, she didn't really like squash, and she wasn't even sure she liked cauliflower. Now, she was indecisive again.
"I can see that this is really hard for you," the waiter said condescendingly. "So, I'll tell you what: Why don't I put the vegetables on a separate plate? Then you can decide at your leisure whether you like them, or not. How would that be?"
"Fine. That'll be fine," Gail said quickly. She closed her menu with a snap and gave it to him.
"What will you have, Sir?" the server asked Cas, in a respectful tone.
"Excuse me. I want to go wash my hands for dinner," Gail said. She got up and left the room.
Gail found the washroom, and she headed to one of the sinks to wash her hands and face. She was shaking with anger now. That condescending, snotty little - What had she ever done to him? she thought. "And then, of course, he talks to Cas politely and deferentially. I should just have Cas smite him off the face of the freaking planet," she fumed, snatching a handful of paper towels from the dispenser. She tried to take a couple of beats. OK, time to calm down. There was no way she was going to make a scene and ruin Jody's birthday. And if she asked Cas to smite that guy, he might actually do it. She just had to let it go. The guy was just a bee sting, she thought. That did the trick; she laughed now, remembering what Gabriel had said about Crowley. She took a deep breath, collecting herself.
Meanwhile, Cas had placed his order with the server, and his eyes followed the man around the table now. He picked the sharp steak knife up from his place setting and started to play with it, turning it over in his hands. He continued to glare at the waiter with a steady gaze. Eventually, the man looked up and saw the way that Cas was looking at him, and he continued to walk further down the table, looking uneasy.
Cas didn't want to make a scene either, but he was absolutely seething now. He was fairly certain that Gail hadn't left the room for the purpose of washing her hands.
Gail came back into the room, and Cas sprang to his feet, dropping the knife on the table. He pulled out her chair for her and seated her back down beside him. "Are you all right, my love?" he said softly.
"I'm fine, Cas," she assured him.
Fred saw her returning to her seat, and he figured he'd better do some damage control. So he came back around the table to speak to Gail. "I'm sorry," he said to her. "It's been a long night, and we're short-handed. I apologize." There. That ought to do it. He didn't even know why he'd been so bitchy to her, really. Fred didn't even know the woman. She just had a kind of Princess-y quality that had rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe part of it was because her husband was one of the most handsome guys that Fred had ever seen. When they'd first come in, the guy had pulled out her chair for her, poured her a glass of water, and flagged down another server to get her a drink. Fred had been annoyed. He had never gone out with a guy who'd treated him like that. Never. And then, when Fred had gone to take her order, she had questioned him about the vegetables like he'd committed a crime, or something. What the hell did he know about the vegetables, and what the hell did he care? His boyfriend had dumped him last night, he'd had too much to drink afterwards, and his feet hurt. And here she was, sitting with all of these good-looking men, wrinkling her nose at Fred over some damn vegetables. So, he had snapped. Sue him. But her husband had spooked the crap out of Fred. When he'd moved on, taking the rest of the orders, the guy's eyes had followed the waiter everywhere around the room. And while Fred would normally have loved that, in this instance it had creeped him out. The guy had been playing with a sharp knife, glaring at Fred like he was considering how many different cuts of meat he could carve Fred into. So, even though Fred didn't really feel like it, he'd figured he had better apologize.
Gail looked at Fred as he was speaking, but she said nothing in response. So after a moment, the server said, "Well, I'll go place your orders, then." He walked out of the room.
Gail had mixed feelings now. She had been considering talking to the waiter discreetly, away from the group, to express her feelings about how he had spoken to her. But he hadn't given her the chance, because he had come and apologized first. And she supposed she should be satisfied with that. But his apology hadn't exactly had the ring of sincerity to it. She had the feeling that the server had only apologized because Cas had intimidated him into it. She'd noticed that Cas had been holding a steak knife when she'd first come back into the room, and she'd seen the stricken expression on the waiter's face. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together. She did love it when Cas stuck up for her that way, though. She had told him so before, fairly often. So, therein lay the dilemma. Gail wanted to be a strong, independent woman, and she'd certainly come a long way in that regard. But her husband was God now, the most Alpha of males, and he had always conducted himself within an old-fashioned, chivalrous code of behaviour. But if she let him intimidate the waiter instead of confronting the man herself, wasn't she subverting her own goal?
While she was thinking about that, Cas reached out, taking her hands in his. "Can I ask you a question?" he asked her softly. When she nodded, he said, "Do you feel that I condescend to you like that?"
Gail opened her mouth, and then she closed it again. That was actually a bit of a tricky question, especially lately. When Cas had first become God, he'd had that whole religious-mania type of thing going on, because of the drugs that Patricia had pumped into him. And he had just been getting his feet wet, trying to find the right balance between piety and humanity. Once he'd gotten back from the desert, the mantle of the Office had seemed to settle more comfortably on his shoulders. Even though they'd had that disagreement yesterday, it had been more of an opposition of viewpoints than an "I"m-God-and-you're-not" kind of thing, she thought.
"No, Cas," she told him. "No. I have never felt that you condescend to me. You treat me as an equal, and I appreciate that. I should really tell you that more often." She smiled. "Even to the point of having a healthy disagreement with me from time to time. But, don't worry. You know that I wouldn't hesitate to point it out to you if I felt like you did."
They shared a laugh, and then Gail sighed. The bottom line was that she loved Cas more than anything, and she loved it when he took her part. There was just something so hot about a man who was willing to filet another man who had treated you badly. So hot. Not that she'd ever sanction an act like that, of course. But a woman could fantasize, couldn't she?
Gail touched Cas's face. "I love you, sweetie," she said. "Don't ever change."
"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Kissyface," Frank piped up. "Other people are in the room." Gail and Cas smiled at each other, and then they turned their attention back to their family and friends.
"I wanna propose a toast," Frank said, lifting his glass. "To my wife. The woman of my dreams, the light of my bulb, the mother of at least one of my kids, and the toughest, most badass woman I know. To Jody. Happy birthday, Babe."
They all drank to Jody, and then she said, "Since we're waiting for food, I want to open my presents now. Pass 'em down, Barry."
As the presents started making their way down the table, Frank looked at Cas and Gail again. "That reminds me," he said to the couple. "We still have both of your wedding candlesticks on our dining room table. Do you guys want them back?"
Cas and Gail glanced at each other. They'd forgotten about that. After they had used the candlesticks to drive Patricia out of the High Office, Gail had popped them quickly over to Frank and Jody's place while Cas had been changing clothes at the bunker. She hadn't wanted them to be without the protection that the candlesticks provided for too long.
Cas looked at the Winchesters, but they were already shaking their heads. "I know what you're gonna say," Dean told him, "but I don't think we really need ours any more, Cas. The bunker's about as fortified as it's gonna get, and Lucifer's long gone. Let them have both. Unless you want one for your guys's place."
Cas smiled slowly. "I sincerely doubt we'll need the protection, given my recent change in status. If you're all right, then, we might as well leave both at Frank's, for the time being."
"I'll take you up on that," Frank said, as Jody started to open her presents. "By the way, has anybody heard from the King of Smell, or his mother, Cruella?" Frank added.
"Endora," Jody said, shaking her gift from Sam and Dean.
"Huh?" her husband said, puzzled.
"Cruella's the Dalmation lady," Jody stated, tearing at the wrapping paper. "Endora's the witch."
"In any event, no, we haven't heard anything from them lately," Cas said, leaning back in his chair. "I don't think we need to worry too much about it, Frank. They know how I feel about my family."
Jody elbowed her husband. "Hey, look at this. Sam and Dean got me those DVDs we were talking about." She held them up for everyone to see. "Top 20 Serial Killers of the 21st Century?" Tommy said, squinting down the table. "You're kidding me."
"What?" Jody said instantly. "Don't all women ask for serial killer DVDs for their birthday?"
"I know you're being funny; otherwise, I would remind you that you're barking up the wrong tree, as far as what women want," Tommy shot back good-naturedly.
"Well, it's what I wanted, anyway," Jody remarked. "Thanks, Sam."
"Hey! Those are from both of us!" Dean objected.
"Yeah? Did you buy these, or wrap them?" Jody asked him. Dean was silent, and she nodded. "That's what I thought. Thanks, Sam."
After Jody unwrapped her presents and thanked everyone, the appetizers came, and the group got another round of drinks.
"I know it's not MY birthday, but I wanted to ask you for a favour, Cas," Frank piped up.
"Sure, Frank, you can ask me anything," Cas said, taking a sip of ice water.
"You've been looking for people in the Garden to take to Heaven, right?" Frank continued hesitantly.
"Yes, Frank. Both Bobby and myself, actually," Cas responded, smiling faintly. "I believe you might call that outsourcing. Why? Are you concerned about your parents? They would already be Angels."
"No, although that's good to know," Frank replied. "I was thinking about Matty and the boys. Is there any way that you guys could find them, and make sure they're okay? Well, you know, in a manner of speaking?"
Cas considered for a moment. "Do you realize how many millions upon millions of souls are currently in the Garden, Frank? They've been stacking up for quite some time now. Apparently, Patricia didn't bother ascending any of them."
"Yeah, but you're God," Frank argued. "Can't you just snap your fingers, and boom, there they are?"
Cas shook his head. "No, Frank, it doesn't work like that. But now that you have asked, I'll put them on my list, and make them a priority."
Gail grinned, nudging her husband. "Now you know what it's like to be a lottery winner, or something," she quipped. "Suddenly, everybody's coming to you for handouts." She broke off a piece of garlic cheese bread. "Here, have a bite of this," she said to Cas. "That way, when we kiss, you'll have garlic breath, too." She fed him the piece of bread, and Dean rolled his eyes. "Hey, Jody," he said loudly, trying to ignore the Angels, "are you gonna have any more kids?"
Jody's hand paused on the way to her mouth. She had a piece of escargot on her fork, dripping with garlic butter. Maybe she should tell Frank to eat something garlicky, too. Then again, maybe not. She planned on getting fairly drunk tonight. But right now, she was shaking her head in wonderment at Dean's question. "How old do you think I am, anyway?" she asked him, bemused.
"The question was on the floor, but it was never answered," Sam said, grinning. "We thought we were about to find out, and then we mysteriously got off the subject."
Jody ate her piece of escargot, then said, "Well, put it this way: Just think of me as a closed post office. I've stopped making deliveries."
Rob laughed. "That was a good one, Mom," he said. Then he looked at the Winchesters. "Why do you guys care so much about how old my Mom is, anyway?" he asked them. "Aren't you guys all middle-aged?"
"Hey!" Dean objected, but Frank smirked. "I hate to tell you this, Winchester, but the kid is right. Unless we're gonna live beyond a hundred, we're all officially middle-aged now."
Dean laughed shortly. "Us? The kind of lives we lead? No way we're making it even close to a hundred."
"I'll tell you what," Jody said, her mouth full of dinner roll now. She swallowed. "I'll reveal the magic number when we're having coffee and dessert."
The entrees came, and Fred plunked Gail's plate down in front of her. She had gone with the majority and ordered prime rib, and nestled next to it on the plate were potatoes, and those controversial vegetables.
She looked up, but the server had already turned away. Unbelievable. What the hell had been the point of his diatribe, then, if he was just going to slap the vegetables on the same plate, anyway? She sighed, picking up her glass of wine. Ahh, the hell with it.
After everything was served and Fred had left the room again, Nicole said, "If Chuck needs to come to the movie set, does he need your permission, Cas?"
That stopped Cas in his tracks. Did he? But before he could form an opinion about that one way or the other, Gail said, "Actually, he might need MINE. Unless you guys don't mind running one short on the suicide board, Bobby."
"How long would ya need him for?" Bobby asked Dean's girlfriend, and she shrugged. "I don't really know," Nicole answered. "Richard said I should ask. Ted - I mean, Metatron - used to come out for days on end, but it didn't seem like he had much of anything else to do."
"I'll tell you what," Gail said, picking up her fork and knife. "If you can let us know when you need him, and for long, maybe I can sub in for him for a while."
"OK, I'll ask Richard, and let you know," Nicole said affably.
"Didn't you say that Chuck and Laurel are a couple now?" Jody asked.
Gail smiled. "Yes, and I think they're getting pretty serious, too. That's why I asked her to be on the suicide board with him. She's got just the kind of personality that both Chuck and that board need: she's compassionate and fair, but she won't put up with any stuff, either."
"That sounds familiar," Cas said, smiling at his wife.
"Wasn't she your receptionist, though?" Jody asked Cas.
He waved his hand casually. "I don't really need a receptionist, Jody. Everyone knows how to reach me, or Gail. And Gail tells me that Laurel is very bright, and has a lot of good ideas. She deserves the chance to be more than just my receptionist."
"That's well said, sweetie," Gail remarked. She took a bite of her prime rib, chewed for a moment, and then she made a face. She chewed some more, and then swallowed the piece of meat, with some difficulty. She looked around the table at everyone else. They all seemed to be enjoying their food. Even Cas had tucked in to his plate. When was the last time she had seen him eat? Romania, probably. Or maybe it had been Vegas, on one of their date nights. But she looked down at her own plate now, and she was dismayed to see that her prime rib was bloody. Yuk. She'd asked for it to be well done. Obviously, Fred didn't care. Now she was getting really mad. She still didn't want to spoil Jody's birthday, but when was enough...enough?
The banter was flying around the table between bites now, so no one but Cas really noticed that Gail wasn't eating. She poked at the potatoes and vegetables with her fork, but they had blood on them now, too. There was no way. Cas was looking at her curiously now, but he said nothing.
When everyone had finished their plates of food and were starting to sit back in their chairs, Fred came back with a big tray and started clearing the plates. When he got to Gail's seat, he stopped short. "Still working on that?" he said in a snotty tone.
Cas threw his napkin down on the table and started to rise from his chair, but Gail put her hand on his arm, restraining him. "What is your problem?" she asked the server sharply. "You've been rude to me ever since I got here, and I have no idea why. Tell me the truth: did you apologize to me because of my husband, or because you were truly sorry for your tone?"
Fred opened his mouth to retort, and then he closed it again. Her husband was looking murderous now, but the guy was standing down for the moment. But he'd better not push his luck any further. He opened his mouth again, but Gail said, "Thanks. That's all the answer I needed." She took a deep breath, looking at her sister-in-law. "Sorry, Jody, but I need to tell this guy a thing or two," Gail said. Jody sat back in her chair, smiling. She had been hoping that Gail would speak up. She nodded encouragingly.
"I'm very busy - " Fred started to say, but Gail cut him off. "I don't care. You're going to listen to me," she insisted. "You've belittled me in front of my family, you've talked down to me, and you brought me a steak that's basically still mooing, even though I asked you for well done. And I could even overlook all of that, if you hadn't further marginalized me as a person, because you only apologized to me because you're afraid of my husband! I don't know what your problem is with me, and I don't even really care. I just wanted to tell you that I'm a person, and I have feelings. You should be dealing with ME, not looking at my husband. Are we understood?"
Jody banged her beer bottle down on the table, stood up, and said, "Hell, yeah! Up top, Sis!" She stretched across the table, raising her arm, and she and Gail high-fived. Then Jody sat back down, crossing her arms in front of herself. She was proud of Gail, not only for speaking up for herself, but for speaking up for women in general. If that guy had spoken to Jody like that, she would probably have torn him a new one.
"Would you have spoken to my husband, or to any of the men here, the way you spoke to me?" Gail persisted.
"No," Fred said in a subdued tone. "No. Probably not."
"Thank you for your honesty," she said tersely. Then she turned away from him. "You may take my plate."
Fred took her plate away, and then he snatched Cas's plate off the table quickly, as if it were on fire. A part of Fred was convinced that her husband was going to sink his knife into Fred's hand, and then continue to carve upwards from there. But Cas merely sat there, tight-lipped, making no eye contact with the server.
But after Fred left the room again, Cas's face relaxed, and he turned to Gail. "I'm very proud of you," he told her. "I know how hard that was for you. But I know that you needed to do it, for yourself. That was why I didn't intervene."
"Hold the phone a minute," Dean said, puzzled. He held his hand up. "What do you mean, 'how hard that was for her'? I don't remember Mrs. Buzzkill ever having a problem telling ME off before."
Gail turned in her chair to face him. "OK, number one, do you see what you're doing here? You're talking to Cas, not to me. That was the point I was trying to make. That was one of my points, anyway. If you're talking to me, then talk to ME. And secondly, I tell you off because I love you."
"Now, THAT should be a slogan. We could put it on mugs, and T-shirts," Sam wisecracked. "We'd make a fortune. Every woman in the world would want one."
Everyone laughed, and the tension in the room was eased. They all started to talk amongst themselves again, and then Fred came back into the room with a cheesecake on a platter, dessert plates, and a carafe of coffee. "This is on me," he announced, placing the cake in front of Jody. "In fact..." He took the bill for the entire table out of his pocket and ripped it up. "Dinner's on me, folks. I apologize again, and this time, I really mean it. Enjoy your evening." Then he strode out of the room as they all looked at each other in surprise.
"Well, well. How about that," Jody mused aloud. She started cutting pieces of cake for everyone as Barry stood and started pouring them all cups of coffee. Once everyone had a piece of cake in front of them, Sam dug into his shirt pocket and produced a stubby little candle, which he stuck into Jody's piece of cake. Then, he struck a match and lit it.
"Thanks, Sam. But, no singing Happy Birthday," Jody said in a strict voice, pointing at everyone. "I hate that. It's so cheesy."
"OK, whatever you say, Jodes," Sam said good-naturedly. "Make a wish."
Jody thought for a moment, then blew out her candle. Sam and Gail exchanged glances. They'd talked about this already; Sam knew his old friend very well. They cleared their throats simultaneously.
"Hey Jodes, don't make it bad," they sang. "Take a sad song, and make it better."
One by one, everyone at the table joined in, even Cas, and Rob, who had gone online to learn the song. Jody sat back in her chair, bemused. She had to admit, that had been pretty clever of them. And they had her there, because she had forbidden them to sing "Happy Birthday". But she hadn't said anything about singing anything else, had she? And hey, it wasn't so bad. She was a happy individual right now. They'd just gotten a terrific dinner for free, she was surrounded by her loved ones, she had gotten presents, and she was about to top all that off with a cup of coffee and a slab of cheesecake. It didn't get much better than this.
Once the song was finished and everyone was enjoying their coffee and dessert, Cas lifted his coffee cup to Jody in salute. "Gail and I are going to have to buy you another present," he said to her. "This dinner was going to be our gift."
"Wow. God's gonna get you a gift," Rob said to his mother. "That's so cool."
Frank was rubbing his hands together, pretending anticipation. "Oh, boy, oh boy. So many requests, so little time." He looked at Gail. "We should get you insulted in more places, kiddo."
"Oh, yeah?" she shot back. "Well, maybe you should shove some more cake into that big yap of yours."
Frank grinned at Dean. "She only tells me off because she loves me," he said to his friend.
Jody sat back in her chair, holding her stomach. "That was good, but I can't eat another bite."
"So...what's the magic number, Jody?" Tommy said.
Jody looked around at everyone for a moment, and then she said: "50."
"You've gotta be shitting me," Dean said, dropping his fork on his plate.
Jody grinned. "I shit you not."
Sam was also amazed. He'd known Jody a long time, but he'd had no idea.
"Why do you think my hair is going grey?" Jody asked the brothers. She shrugged. "Hey, getting older isn't so bad, when you consider the alternative. Besides, you guys aren't that far behind me."
Dean nodded, reluctantly. Actually, she wasn't wrong about that. Dean himself was going to be 45 years old next year. 45! He couldn't believe it. Where did the time go?
"Yeah, but we're gonna age gracefully, thanks to the waters from the Garden that Cas told us about," Sam said, grinning.
"Hey, maybe THAT could be your present, Jody," Quinn piped up. "Maybe Cas could bring you a bottle of that stuff."
"I smell a marketing opportunity," Frank quipped.
"Nahhhh, I'm fine the way I am," Jody said. "Besides, I'm not aging, I'm ripening to perfection."
"That's a great way to put it," Gail said, smiling.
"You know what? We never did find out how old YOU are," Dean said slyly. Gail raised an eyebrow to him, and he gave her a half-shrug. "You know what I mean," he added.
"It's impolite to ask a lady that question," Cas interjected, and Dean rolled his eyes. "As if it matters," he said to his friend. "However old she was, she's definitely not getting any older now, is she?"
"I think it was Walt Disney who said that growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional," Bobby remarked dryly. "He musta known you idjits."
"I like that sentiment," Jody said, smiling at him. "And, you know what? The older I get, the less I care what people think of me. Therefore, the older I get, the more I enjoy life."
"And now, for the billion-dollar question," Frank said. "I think it's time we find out, once and for all: how old is Cas?"
"Don't even bother trying to figure that out," Sam said. "We've been asking that one for years. You might as well ask how old the planets are."
"Sam is right," Cas said with a faint smile. "I couldn't even tell you, in terms of years."
"Wow. If we tried to give YOU a birthday cake, we'd probably set off the sprinkler system," Rob said, and Frank clapped the boy on the shoulder. "Way to go, my boy," Frank said proudly. "Way to sass God. I hope your affairs are in order. Have you made out your Will?"
"What would I have a Will for, Dad?" Rob said, shrugging. "I don't own anything." His expression brightened. "Unless you're gonna buy me that car."
"Who said anything about buying you a car?" Frank said, giving Jody a quick wink. "You don't even have a paying job."
"Hey, he's got to start somewhere," Tommy said mildly. "That's how I started. I was a glorified gofer. He's just lucky there's still a newspaper to intern AT. That might not even be an option, in a couple of years. Everything's digital these days."
Gail had noticed Frank and Jody's brief exchange, and she was smiling at her brother now. She could just bet that he and Jody had something planned for Rob's upcoming birthday. "That's OK; we'll use our car for my driving lesson," she piped up now.
"Are you still on that?" Dean said, sighing. "Hey, maybe YOU'RE not worried about getting any older any more, but me and Rob would like to live to see our next birthdays."
"Frank wears reading glasses now," Jody said gleefully.
Gail did a double-take at this bit of information, but then she smiled wickedly at her brother. "Hey, don't stress out about your eyesight fading as you get older," she said to him. "It's just nature's way of protecting you from the shock, as you walk past a mirror."
Frank made a face at his sister. "Oh, har, har. You're lucky your husband's the Almighty, or you'd be so dead right now."
Nicole grinned. "You know how you'll know when you're getting old, Jody? When you have to wear your glasses in the shower just to shave your legs."
Jody had been taking a swig of wine, and she nearly spit it out. She just managed to swallow it, and then she burst out laughing. "That's fantastic!" she exclaimed. Then she laughed some more, wiping tears from her eyes. "I've gotta go to the bathroom, before I pee myself," she said, getting up from her chair. She grabbed her purse. "Thanks, Nicole. That was too funny." She walked out of the room and looked around for the sign for the Restrooms, still laughing.
As she walked into the washroom, her laughter subsided. She let a couple more snickers escape, then urinated, coming out of the stall to wash her hands. She was drying them off with paper towels when her cell phone rang in her purse.
"Hey, Nelly," Jody said with a smile.
"Hi, Jody," Dr. Vukovic said. "Have you got a minute?"
Jody's smile faded. "You're not calling to wish me a happy birthday, are you?"
"No, I'm afraid not," Nelly replied, "and normally, I wouldn't bother you late like this, but you said you wanted the results of your mammograms as soon as I got them."
Jody's stomach lurched. She had snuck off to the breast screening centre recently, after Nelly had nagged her that it had been a while since her last tests. "And?" she prompted.
Nelly sighed. "I'm sorry, Jody. The lump is malignant this time. You have breast cancer."
Jody swore softly. "Are you sure?" she asked her friend.
Nelly frowned, but she understood. If things had been the other way around, she would probably be asking the same thing. "Yes, I'm sure, Jody," she said with compassion. "I even sent the results to an oncologist colleague of mine first, just to make sure. I'm awful sorry, Jody. I wish I had better news. I really wish I did. Is there any way you can come and see me tomorrow? The sooner we take action, the better."
"Sure, Nelly," Jody said, dazed. "I'll drive up and see you tomorrow."
"OK, Jody. Once you get here, we'll talk some more. But, try not to worry. We're going to do everything in our power to nip it in the bud. Okay?" Nelly said.
"OK, Nelly. See you tomorrow," Jody repeated. She hung up her phone and put it back in her purse.
She closed her eyes as a wave of dizziness went through her. Cancer. Cancer. It had to be a mistake. She felt fine. In fact, she felt great. Then Jody laughed at herself scornfully. That had nothing to do with anything. She opened her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror. Damn it. Damn it! But it figured, didn't it? Things had been going a little too well lately, hadn't they?
Jody washed her face and her hands, just to give herself time to calm down. Okay. OK. She took a couple of deep breaths, and then she went back to the group.
"Are you ready to go?" Frank asked her. "I sent Rob out to the car with an armful of your presents, and I told him he could pull the car out front. He was thrilled."
"Don't look so panicked, Jody," Dean said, smirking. "Kid's a good driver. Now, if it was Gail, I'd say we should run. This place would have a drive-thru, whether they wanted one or not."
"I want to go to Sioux Falls tomorrow," Jody blurted out.
Frank was surprised. He thought she'd wanted to sleep in. But the food must have absorbed a lot of the alcohol that was in her system. She'd seemed a little bit drunk earlier, but now she seemed almost sober. "OK," he said agreeably. "Rob's got his driving lesson, but you and me and Angela can go in the Charger. She'll probably sleep the whole way, anyway."
"No. I want to go by myself," Jody told him. "I want to go to the station house, and that's no place for a baby. I just want to check in with some of the guys. I'll be back by suppertime, if I drive like you."
Frank was still a little taken aback, but then, he shrugged. Jody had been stuck at home for months now, taking care of their baby. If she wanted to take a day for herself, she should be able to. "OK, Babe," he said, putting his arm around her waist. He looked around at the others. "Does anybody wanna come back to our place, for some coffee, or a drink, maybe?"
"No offense, guys, but I'm pretty tired," Jody said quickly. "Let's do that another time. Thanks for coming, everybody." She went to everyone and gave them hugs and kisses. She was a lot better at that kind of thing than she used to be. Jody had never been particularly demonstrative with her affection. But now, as she went from person to person, she began to realize how much they all meant to her. This was going to be hard on everyone. But she wanted to see what she was dealing with, first. Once she saw Nelly tomorrow and found out how advanced the cancer was and what her options were, she would talk to Frank, and they would figure out a course of action. But she really wanted Rob to go to Vancouver. His young life had been held hostage for long enough. They would have to tell him, of course. But she would have to put her foot down and insist that he go, anyway.
Jody gave Gail a longer hug than usual, and her sister-in-law looked closely at her face. "Are you OK, Jody?" Gail asked her, and Jody tried on a smile. "I'm fine, Gail. I'm just tired." Then she added, "Way to stick up for the sisterhood tonight." Gail laughed softly as Jody moved on to Cas.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Cas asked Jody. She frowned. Now she understood why Dean got annoyed with the Angels, sometimes. These two were a little too perceptive for her liking. For an instant, she nearly cracked. But, no. She wanted to deal with this her own way. But it was ironic, wasn't it? Here she was, hugging God, and he couldn't do a damn thing for her. If she had an open, bleeding chest wound, he could just reach out and heal it. But what she had was a disease, growing inside of her, and she knew that even Cas couldn't cure it. So, what good was he, then? But then she berated herself. That was no way to think. It wasn't Cas's fault. It wasn't anybody's fault. She vowed to herself that she was never going to be one of those "woe is me" types. Everybody had something, didn't they? The trick was to concentrate on what you could do about it.
"Thanks for the great birthday party, everyone," Jody said. They went outside just in time to see Rob pulling the Charger up to the curb. He parked neatly, and then he got out of the car and opened the door for his mom. "Your chariot awaits," Rob said to Jody. She looked up at him, touching his face impulsively. Her tall, handsome son. Jody almost cracked again. But then Frank yelled something rude at Dean, and they laughed. Jody nodded. They would get through this. They would get through it together, as a family. They always did. She got in the car, and a minute later, they drove away.
