The curtains in the widow fluttered as they walked up the driveway and Sam thought he saw a small pale face. Before any of them could knock on the door it was flung wide, a small girl with high pigtails and a sweater the same copper red as her hair, facing them like a foul tempered gatekeeper.
"You are late." Her cubby little fists were planted firmly on her tiny hips, as if she planned to bar the door against them.
Nick was the only one that seemed completely unsurprised. He kept walking, stalking up to the child, well over twice her height, and scooped her up like a football, easily tucking her little body up under an arm.
"We're early, monster." Nick informed her with a gentle shake. "I just missed you so much- I made Uncle Cas drive extra fast so we could get here sooner."
"Uncle Cas?" She peered around Nick's elbow, looking from one man to the next until she found the familiar face. "Do you have candy for me?"
"I have pie." Cas told the girl with a smile. "And you can have a piece after dinner."
She seemed to consider this, looking very thoughtful and completely unfazed as Nick easily turned her upside down and took her into the house.
The entry way was all tiled floors and vaulted ceilings. White and cream and all the kinds of colors and cleanliness that one doesn't normally associate with small children- despite the pile of little bitty shoes beside the door.
"Is it chocolate pie?" The little girl asked as she dangled from Nick's arms, looking like it was the most comfortable orientation to be in.
"It's apple." Cas offered a fair substitute, before smiling up at the Winchesters. "Hannah, this is Mr. Dean and Mr. Sam. Can you say hi?"
She pouted instead, disapproving little mouth. "Do they have chocolate pie?"
"Sorry, kiddo." Dean apologized, trying to fight a smile of his own. "Pumpkin and rhubarb."
She looked like she was going to say something, but Nick tossed her up into the air, taking advantage of the vaulted ceiling to get some good air on her. She squealed in delight and hugged Nick around the neck when he caught her.
He gave her a squeeze like it was the most natural thing in the world before setting her on the ground. "Monster, go tell mom that we're here, ok?"
She took off running at a full tilt, slipping on the tiles with her white socks, catching herself on walls and corners as she vanished down the hall.
Sam thought that she was perhaps one of the cutest things that he had ever seen, and almost said as much but Nick was looking back at him with a decidedly sober expression. "Michael's youngest." He explanation.
"Castiel? Nick?" A woman came down the hall, same red hair as the little girl who had run to get her.
"And that is Michael's wife." He whispered to Sam like a warning. "Brace yourself."
And for a moment, Sam didn't understand the last part, but the woman had closed the distance, stalking the short hall with fierce intent. As soon as she reached them she pulled Cas into a hug, mindful of the pie, kissing his cheeks. Without any regard for the fact that they were strangers, the woman moved down the line, hugging and kissing Dean, then Sam, and finally Nick. She talked the whole time, a long practiced lecture.
"You should have called and said you were going to be early. Oh, Castiel, you look like exhausted. Did they make you drive? I know you hate taking the Five. And you boys- don't listen to whatever Nick's been telling you about me, I don't bite. You both are far too tall, you'll have to meet me half way." This was said as she tugged both brothers down, one at a time, to kiss their cheeks. (Which Sam didn't know how to feel about, but Dean looked to be thoroughly enjoying.)
"And you-" she hadn't let go of Nick, lingering in a hug that was a lot closer to a strangle hold. "We don't see you in almost a year and you don't even bother to shave before coming."
"I've shaved since last year." Nick was like a bear, folding around the much smaller woman, enveloping her in long arms and broad shoulders until she almost disappeared. "Just maybe not since Monday."
She made a soft annoyed noise. "How is it your brother and these nice young men all brought dessert and you brought nothing but sass?"
"Hey, I also brought the nice young men." He kissed her forehead in such a tender way before giving her the same parting squeeze he had given her daughter. "Oh, god. You're pregnant again, aren't you?"
She hit him firmly in the chest before letting him go. "You're awful."
"Sorry, you must just be putting on weight." Nick offered as an apology- which was so much worse.
Sam didn't have all that much practice with women, and even he knew how wrong that was- but judging by the wicked little smile that the blonde was wearing it was obvious that he knew it too.
Cas' eyes went wide, in something like horror. "Anna, should we just put the pies in the kitchen?" A distraction with the intent of saving his big brother.
"Just hand it over and go find your nieces." She pulled the pie from him. "They've been looking forward to seeing you all day."
Castiel grinned at the order. "Yes, mam." He started to wander off, but looked over his shoulder at Dean, sort of questioningly- and Dean followed, little apology to Nick as he passed off the pie he was holding, little smile at Anna, a wink at Sam, and then he was just as gone as Cas.
"And don't give them candy." Anna called after them. She shook her head and sighed before scowling at Nick with the smallest hint of a smile in her eyes. "Come on." She led the way. "And which one are you?" She asked over her shoulder.
"I'm Sam." He smiled and looked over at Nick, almost for approval and he didn't know why. But Nick smiled back, a quiet little thing just for the two of them.
"You're the poor sap that had to go on a date our Nick." She set her pie down on the kitchen counter, and smiled sympathetically up at him. "He's not so bad once the shock wears off."
Sam set his pie on the counter too, a nice collection of pastries. "He's growing on me." Which was close enough to the truth that he didn't mind saying it.
"He does that." She sighed, looking up at Nick, placing a hand on her slightly rounded belly. "You know, I told Michael if it's another girl I want to name her after you."
Nick got a confused look, eyes narrowing as he reached out to touch his sister-in-law's stomach with his fingertips. "You're going to name her… Nick?"
"Luci." She corrected with a wide, innocent smile.
The insult was lost on Sam but he watched in fascination as Nick bristled like a cat rubbed the wrong way.
"I could have stayed home today." He pointed out to her in a soft voice, not exactly angry, but certainly no longer friendly.
"We haven't seen you since Easter, Nick, and your brothers have missed you. They'll be happy to see that Castiel talked you into coming down." She continued, undaunted. "Now why don't you and Legs here go set the table? Rekha got out the dishes but then she went out to have a smoke. Gabriel followed and I have a feeling we won't see either of them for at least half an hour." They traded a meaningful look which was a little less lost on Sam.
"They're really doing that with your kids in the house?"
"We've been here visiting them for almost a week. You know they can't keep their hands to themselves for more than a few days."
Nick shook his head and went to the small mountain of dishes on the end of one counter. "And where's Michael?"
"Upstairs." She went to stir something on the stove. "The plastic dishes are for the kid's table."
"I've set the table before, Anna." The gruffness was already fading, settling for something more long suffering and tired.
"Well, we've got four people at the little table today. I just wanted to make sure that you set it right."
"You've only got the three kids." Nick handed a stack of plates to Sam before collecting an armful of glasses.
"Gabriel has been banished."
Nick got a little smile, corners of his eyes crinkling.
"I still can't believe that he set you up on a date with a guy- no offence." She added, giving Sam a quick once over and a sly smile before looking back at Nick. "The man can't stand seeing you alone. I swear, he'd date you himself if he thought you'd go for it."
Nick made a retching noise as he left the room.
"At least he picked a nice looking one." Anna said soft enough that it was probably not meant to carry far enough to reach Nick. "I'm glad that you both got a friend out of it at least."
Sam stood awkwardly with the plates, "How did you know about that whole…"
"When Castiel called a few days ago to tell us you and your brother were coming to dinner it all sort of just came out… he worries about things. About Nick's temper and how mad he really was about the blind date. Apparently he fears retaliation of sorts."
"I-I don't think we're planning anything that Cas needs to worry about."
"Don't let her suck you in, Sam." Nick called from the dining room. "She's a gossip and a flirt. Ignore whatever she's telling you and bring me those plates."
Sam grinned sheepishly and left Anna to her stirring. He carefully set out the plates in the oddly formal dining room. "She's… nice."
"She's scared the hell out of me since Highschool." Nick confessed as he set little red and blue and purple cups down at a little card table in the corner. "Her and Michael started dating our Junior year. She was my lab partner in Biology and over a dead frog she told me that she was going to marry the jerk once we graduated."
"That's almost sweet."
"Nothing sweet about a dead frog." Nick nudged him, warmth down Sam's whole left side. "You watch what you say around her. She's nosy."
Sam found himself nudging back, liking the contact, liking to be close enough to see the little flickers of humor that passed like shadows over Nick. He decided that you had to get close to really appreciate them.
"Why'd she call you Luci?"
Nick showed his teeth in an underrated snarl. "It's what Michael and Gabriel used to call me when we were kids."
"But not Cas?"
"Cas didn't come to live with us until he was almost old enough to drive. He missed out on the name calling faze." Nick watched Sam, answering the inevitable question before it could even be asked. "We've all got different mothers. Michael, me, and Gabriel were born just a few weeks apart. Little Cas is almost six years younger than us. Dad traveled a lot when he was young and he's probably got quite a few more kids than us four. We're just the only ones whose got dumped here."
Sam touched Nick's arm. It wasn't that the man had sounded particularly sad or angry when he gave his lineage. There was actually a stunning lack of emotion, of anything at all when he spoke.
It was the same stoniness that Dean got when he talked about their mom, or John. One parent dead and the other an alcoholic that neither of them had seen in the four years since leaving Kansas. It was like a quiet wall settling into place whenever either of them were mentioned, and it hurt Sam to see the same reaction in someone other than Dean. Dean he knew how to fix, knew how to help. Nick was still new and unfamiliar.
Nick rolled his lower lip under, biting with just a hint of teeth. Aggravated little flash of white. "Dad had a very specific taste in women- regardless of what state he was touring in. Apparently he liked them cheep and not particularly maternal."
"Touring?"
"He's a writer. Or he was. He hasn't put out a new book in years. Now he just goes on these long trips to… find himself or whatever the fuck it is that senile old men do once their kids have grown up and left home."
"Uncle Nick!" The redheaded kid, Michael's youngest, was in the doorway, her hands full of forks. "That's a bad word."
"God damn it." Nick mumbled in Sam's direction before forcing a smile for the child's benefit. "It is, but I didn't mean it. You don't have to-"
"Mommy! Uncle Nick said fuck!" She yelled as she ran from the room, all excited, knowing that someone was going to get in trouble.
Sam tried so hard not to laugh, and he might have made it if Nick hadn't turned to him with such a dangerous expression.
"This is your fault." He accused even if they both knew there was no way he could properly be blamed.
"That was all you." He chuckled, shifting his grip from resting against Nick's arm to holding his sleeve, tugging on him. "I'm just here, trying to set the table and be a supportive boyfriend. You're the one dropping f-bombs."
Anna stormed into the dining room like a force of nature. Cheeks flushed with anger, brandishing a wooden spoon flecked with little bits of bread. "Nick-"
"I'm sorry." He said quickly.
"We've only got two rules for family get togethers."
"I didn't know she was there."
"You've been here less than an hour and you've already got the five year old swearing like a sailor." She shook the spoon for emphasis. "If Michael heard her-"
He held his arms out wide in surrender. "It's just a word, Anna."
She took two very threatening steps towards him, spoon held up like she planned to smite him down. "You-"
Nick gently took the spoon away. "I won't tell him, and you won't tell him." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "And me and Sam will set the table."
She swatted at him with open hands. "You promise me you'll behave yourself or I'll find a way to fit you in at the kid's table too." She took her spoon back and looked at Sam. "Same goes for you."
"Yes, mam." Sam nodded seriously to her, not wanting to get threatened with the spoon because he didn't think that he would be able to keep himself safe with gentle words and a kiss.
She poked Nick once with the bowl of the spoon, sharp tap in the middle of his chest. "You only get the one warning, Nick. I won't hesitate to take you out back and give you what for." She turned on her heels, herding her daughter with her back to the kitchen
Sam waited until he was sure she was out of earshot. "She'll give you 'what for'?"
Nick shrugged like it wasn't a fight he thought he could win, so why bother trying. "Come on, there's some more silverware and stuff still on the counter."
"What's the second rule for family get togethers?" Sam followed the blonde back to the kitchen.
"The only rules are no booze and no swearing." A man who wasn't Nick answered. He was leaning over the counter, investigating the pies but spared a moment to look up with the most crooked smirk Sam had ever seen. Shaggy blonde hair and eyes so pale brown that they were almost amber. "Which one did you break first, Nick?"
Sam glanced over at his friend to see a strange look pass over Nick, complicated emotions that he couldn't read settling into something unpleasant.
"Hello, Gabriel." Nick said his brother's name like it tasted bitter.
"Hello to you too." He set the aluminum foil back into place, seemingly satisfied with his examination. He pushed himself up from the counter, standing at his full height, which was considerably less than his brother. He held his arms out wide, asking for a hug that he was never going to get.
The brothers looked at each other for a minute that threatened to stretch on into an eternity.
"Are you going to introduce me to your friend?" Gabriel broke first, dropping his arms in favor of eyeing Sam with a friendly expression. "Or at least tell me how tall I need to be to ride that ride?"
"This is the Sam Winchester you talked Cas into throwing at me." Nick collected the last few odds and ends that needed to go to the table, handing half of them off to Sam.
"Oh." Gabriel's eyes lit up, giving Sam a complete once over. "Oh Nick. You are so welcome." He turned back to his brother with a grin.
"With all respect for Anna, you can go screw yourself." Nick managed to smile in anger, which was as fascinating as it was disturbing.
"Nick." Anna warned without even look up from the stove.
"Screw isn't a bad word." He pointed out as he left the room, forcing Sam to take long strides to keep up. "Technically, neither is bastard. It's in the bible."
"Ass is also in the bible." Gabriel offered helpfully as he followed them. "As in, you're an ungrateful ass." He looked at the table setting and adjusted one of the glasses that Nick had sat down earlier, moving it to the other side of the plate.
"I remember specifically telling you to stop setting me up on dates." Nick moved the glass back to where he had first set it.
"Come on, we both know I wasn't listening. And isn't it great that I didn't? Look at him. He's gorgeous."
The younger Winchester stood there awkwardly, handing over silverware as needed. "Thanks?"
"I don't see why everyone's pissed at me for finding a way to introduce you two. So what if you're a guy? Attractive is attractive." Gabriel winked at Sam, which wasn't as charming as the few times that Nick had done it. "And despite all his protests of being 'straight' my brother still likes you well enough to invite you to dinner, so I say it worked out perfectly."
"Cas invited him and his brother." Nick set down the last bit of cutlery with a firm thunk. "It had nothing to do with me."
Gabriel rolled his eyes so hard it must have hurt. "Don't be like that, Nick. You'll hurt his feelings." He pushed at his brother and smiled apologetically at Sam. "He doesn't mean it, you know. Once you get past his hard shell you'll find he's got this soft gooey center."
Nick gestured rudely at his brother, and for whatever that's worth, it probably didn't count as a bad word since he didn't say it out loud.
And Sam found himself struggling again not to laugh. Nick had shown himself to be many things in the short time that they had known each other- but soft and gooey he was not.
"He's like a bear trap with a kitten in the middle." Gabriel added, which was almost certainly meant to be affectionate, but just provided a very bizarre mental image.
"Kittens are soft and gooey?" Sam grinned and it was almost like a betrayal to Nick who looked on the close end of murderous.
"No analogy is perfect, kido." Gabriel said conspiratorially. "Neither is any kitten, or big brother for that matter." He was standing between Sam and Nick, looking up at the younger man. It put his back to his big brother and meant that he didn't see those hands coming for his neck.
Sam narrowed his eyes at Nick, giving a little shake of his head because strangulation wasn't a good solution.
"But I don't need to tell you about our Nick's good points." Gabriel said in a sing song voice. "Apparently you already know. I heard that you stayed over at his place last night."
Before Sam could fumble through that accusation Gabriel floated away, drifting on light feet towards a woman who apparently had been standing behind Sam.
If Anna was lovely in the way that foxy moms can be sometimes, with bright eyes and high, soft cheeks- this new woman was lovely like a goddess. Some glorious creature that had descended down into the unworthy dining room. Dark, smoky eyes, a spill of black wavy hair and skin the color of strong tea.
Gabriel took her hand, so reverently, raising it to his lips to kiss the gold rings on her long fingers.
"I think you are the main reason that he doesn't come to visit more than twice a year." She sighed and pulled her hand away, brushing Gabriel off in favor of his older brother.
Nick took her into the same easy, brotherly hug as he had Anna, but kissing her cheeks instead of her forehead. He closed his eyes and just held her for a second, and Sam felt a strange little stir of something that couldn't be jealousy, but at the same time he couldn't think of a better thing to call it.
With an almost husky voice, Nick whispered, "if you every want to get rid of him, I would come anytime you wanted me to."
"I bet you would." She chuckled, warm as molasses. "Now, introduce me to your nice young man." A gentle command.
"Sam, this is Rekha- who somehow got tricked into marrying that weasel over there." He nodded in Gabriel's direction. "Rekha, this is Sam Winchester, a friend of mine."
"A friend who stays the night?" She still had an arm around Nick, loosely behind his back, but she offered a hand to Sam.
He took it, her fingers so small and soft against his. "It was a quiet place to study, that's all." Sam tried to clarify.
Her smile made her look older somehow, little lines on the corners of her mouth. It didn't make her an ounce less beautiful. "Oh? What are you studying?"
"I'm prelaw, at Stanford."
"Really?" Gabriel bounded back over, far too much energy in such a small person. "I graduated from Stanford. Nick, he's perfect. Can you marry him, please? And if not, can I keep him?"
"No." Rekha said firmly, finally letting go of Sam to give her husband an exasperated look.
"Oh, but I'll brush him and wash him and ride him every day." Gabriel promised his wife.
"Whoa now." Sam held up his hands, taking a step away from the little blonde, closer to Nick who was marginally safer because he had never said such concerning things to, or about him. "I- I'm not-"
"He's spoken for, Gabe." Nick interjected in a low, angry voice. No room for doubt. He didn't take Sam's hand, or put an arm around him or anything even half as possessive- but he didn't have to. It was all there in his voice.
Gabriel looked between the two of them, a curious expression on his face before he lit up. "Then you are even more welcome and I expect a fantastic Christmas present this year."
Nick repeated the same lewd hand gesture as before, with a bit more violence, a bit more emphasis than the first time.
With firm determination, Rekha put an arm around her husband's shoulders, and she was taller than him by a few inches so she was still able to peek over his head at Sam and Nick. "If you two don't mind, I will take my jackal back to the kitchen where he belongs. He promised to make sweet potatoes." Her words got a little muffled in the end, and Sam had the impression that she was kissing Gabriel's mess of hair as she physically dragged him from the room.
"What was that?" Sam asked in a gutted whisper.
"That was Gabriel behaving himself surprisingly well." Nick ran his hands over his face, up through his hair, mussing it just a little. Agitation bleeding into every little movement.
"No, I mean…" Sam shook his head, struggling with the notion that that was anything closely resembling good behavior. "You just put it out there. What happened to the plan? What happened to waiting another week or two?"
"I had to do something, and you and Rekha weren't going to let me kill him." Letting the tension run out of him with a sharp breath, Nick took Sam by the shoulders, smoothing out his flannel, thumbs notching comfortably into the indents beneath his collar bone. "And it was either let him take a go at you or let me keep you." One of his thumbs strayed high enough to brush the smooth skin of Sam's throat. "We were going to get here eventually, so don't puss out on me now."
Which was true, but eventually was one thing. Today was another. Sam was still struggling to warm up to the idea of this fake relationship and now he found himself sinking into it like quicksand. The comfortable weight of Nick's hands on his shoulders only solidifying their lie, pulling him down faster.
"I'm not… backing out." He didn't think he could easily reuse Nick's words. "I told you. I'm in. We shook on it." He held on to the man's wrists, his own thumbs sliding along the sharp little curve of bone- his skin almost cold to the touch. "I just want to know where it puts us since you're jumping ahead."
"Same place we were last night. Same place we were this morning. Only difference now is that one of my brothers thinks that there's something more." Nick said softly, aware that they weren't exactly in a private place, standing in the middle of the dining room, within throwing distance of the occupied and noisy kitchen.
Plans, bad plans and second guessing muddled his thoughts for a moment. It suddenly struck Sam how messed up this whole thing really was. How nothing good could come from it. How much he could already tell he was going to miss Nick when it was over.
Three months really wasn't all that long.
"I might come over again to study tonight." He decided, leaning into Nick hands just a bit, just in case anyone from the kitchen happened to be looking their way it would at least look like they were doing something other than scheming.
Nick considered this, biting his lip thoughtfully before answering with an almost regretful tone. "If you stay a little too late, after I've had a bit too much to drink, I might accidently kiss you."
Sam felt heat rising up into his cheeks and he fought it down, because it was a stupid reaction to have. "If anyone asks, I'll be sure to tell them that you did."
A suggestion of a smile warmed Nick's pale eyes. "You almost make this too easy."
"It better work. That's all I'm saying."
"You've got to trust in the plan, Sam." Nick leaned in, almost close enough to taste. "The plan is good. The plan is freedom. The plan is sleeping in on Saturdays mornings with the comforting knowledge that no one is going to bother you Saturday night."
Oh, but Nick knew how to sweet talk another guy.
"Not in my dining room, boys." Rekha announced loudly and Nick took a quick step back, wearing a slightly guilty expression like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing. "Help cook, go on a walk, play with the kids, go out to Castiel's car and fool around." She set three long white candles on the table, not lighting them yet, but settling them into place just so. "I don't care what you two do, but there is none of this," she wiggled her fingers in their direction, "where we eat food. And certainly not where the children might see."
Nick wouldn't look at Sam, he was too busy wearing a fantastically convincing sheepish expression.
"You're going to give your brother an aneurism if he catches you." She gave Nick a level look, but she may as well have been telling Sam too. It was just as applicable. "Unless your goal is to put Michael in an early grave. Then by all means, kiss your boy- but wait until after we eat. Anna and I have been cooking since yesterday and a dead husband will ruin dinner."
"You do know that there's not actually anything going on between us, right?" Nick managed to sound like a terrible liar and Sam was honesty surprised at how good the man was at this.
Rekha looked from one to the other, patient disbelief plain on her face. "Whatever you say. It's just nice to see you smiling for a change." She patted his cheek before walking back to the kitchen.
"I'm not going out to Cas' car with you." Sam said firmly before Nick could get any ideas.
And Nick did have a good smile when he thought no one else was looking.
Sam tried not to smile back, scowling as hard as he could, mouthing the word 'no'.
.:.
A little before they all sat down to eat, Michael came down to join them. The greeting between brothers was even more strained than Sam had expected. They had shared a brief hug, a begrudging kiss on the cheek and less than a handful of words. Then seemed to make a point during dinner not to even look at each other and Sam wanted to ask, but he knew it was none of his business.
It was like Nick and Michael were content to pretend that the other didn't exist and everyone else just played along.
The last real holiday meal that Sam could remember had been Christmas morning the year before he and Dean left for California. John had surprisingly not had a hangover and had made his sons pancakes. The three of them had been subdued, but happy.
This was different.
Worlds different.
Anna hadn't lied, Gabriel had literally been banished to the kids table, but he took the punishment with a smile, sitting alongside his nieces and a nephew, laughing and joking around like he belonged there in their midst.
Maybe it wasn't all that much of a punishment after all.
Once they were all seated, Sam between his brother and his 'boyfriend', all around a table not really big enough for the seven adults pressed together, Michael offered a prayer. As the oldest brother, and certainly the most serious out of the boys (which was impressive when he was being compared to Castiel and Nick), it seemed fitting. Sam who had never had a family prayer over food felt a little lost, but was willing to roll with it- except when he realized everyone was holding hands with the people on either side of them. He felt like he should have been warned.
Nick's hand fit oddly well into his, their fingers twining in a way that was unnecessary but not unwelcome. Dean's hand was rough, a mechanic's hands, and he didn't seem to be able to help the urge to briefly have a squeezing match with Sam to see who was stronger. Sam won by stomping Dean's foot and they shared a look of mutual relenting before lowering their heads for the prayer.
It wasn't a long blessing, and once everyone said amen, Sam assumed that they were done. He and Dean certainly let go of each other fast enough.
Michael nodded to the Winchesters, something that could pass for a smile catching the corners of his mouth. "Typically before we eat we go around and all say one or two things that we're thankful for."
A tradition that Sam could go along with, but he felt Dean shifting next to him, ready to eat and not interested in more of this stalling.
Sam didn't retake his brother's hand, but at the same time he didn't let go of Nick's either. Which might have meant something, but Sam stubbornly refused to look too far into it. Everyone else was still holding hands. Even Dean and Cas.
The 'thanks' started at the kid's table. Little voices piping up about being grateful for things like ice cream, mommy, and a pet fish. Gabriel was grateful for a tolerant wife. It moved to the adult's table, people being grateful for things like good health, food, family, a new baby on the way. The usual things to be happy about this time of year. Nick's answer was a bit off beat from the rest. He was grateful for finding someone who would have his back in a fist fight after only knowing him for two days. This earned him and Sam both slightly disapproving looks from Nick's family, and a hearty laugh from Gabriel.
Then it was Sam's turn all he could think to say was 'family'- which sounded nice enough even though someone had already used it, but he and his brother knew that it wasn't a particularly inclusive title. Sam's family basically amounted to the man sitting on his right and an Uncle that he called once or twice a month. Dean gave him a complicated expression and softly added that he was grateful for a job so he could take care of his brother.
Cas was grateful that Nick and the Winchesters were willing to join them for dinner, and bees.
Sam kept his opinion that the little accountant was a bit strange.
With that parting note, they were allowed to fall on the food.
The dinner itself was fantastic. It was warm and the company was noisy and perfect in the way that family can be- even if, for the most part, no one here was actually his family. It didn't seem to matter. They were welcome and included and the food was delicious.
Sam almost wished he had a wife of his own. Maybe Dean cooked once in a blue moon, but no matter how good it was when he did, it was never on this grand of a scale. This was enough food for a small army. It meant that Sam could shamelessly eat as much as he wanted.
And he did.
Oh, he did.
Somewhere into his third helping of stuffing and potatoes, Nick nudged Sam's knee under the table. The younger man looked over, fork hesitating above his plate- but Nick was listening and nodding as Anna talked about tagging along with her son Isaac and the field trip that his third grade class had had recently to the San Francisco Zoo.
Sam nudged back, not knowing what else to do. No idea what it meant.
Up until that point, he had been talking to Dean and Cas about the walk they had taken with the older of the two children down to the beach. He did his best to still listen as his brother told him about all the 'high-tide' signs and the rock caves worn into the cliffs, but now he found himself glancing back at Nick, suddenly aware of the man's little movements.
From somewhere Nick had produced a silver flask, laying it on leg, tapping it softly with his knuckles while he spoke to the woman sitting across from him. He glanced at Sam, a questioning curve to the corner of his mouth and Sam thought he understood the offer- enough at least to give a tiny shake of his head.
It was almost funny to watch, like an awful pantomime, as Nick so casually took his glass of apple juice, had a small sip, and lowered it beneath the table top. Very carefully and slowly he poured a decent amount of the flask into the glass before raising it again and taking another, longer drink.
From the glass leaving the table to it reappearing was maybe two or three minutes at best. It was all done so nonchalantly that no one seemed to take any notice. Sam wanted to applaud his friend, but at the same time found himself vaguely horrified by what he was doing.
In the end he decided to treat it just like he would if it were Dean spiking his own drink during a family get together. Sam ignored it. He bumped his knee into Nick's (let him interpret it how he wanted) before looking back to his brother and Castiel, asking some weak question about work.
Hindsight told Sam that if he was going to treat Nick like Dean in one little aspect, he really should have let it become a more encompassing decision. His own glass had been left casually somewhere between his and Nick's plates. By choosing to turn away, Sam left his glass unguarded. It was a stupid thing to do.
Sam smelled the alcohol before the rim of the glass touched his lip and he shot Nick a surprised look, but the man was leaning back, talking to Castiel behind the Winchester's backs. Making some plan to water Cas' plants for him while the younger brother was on a business trip down in San Diego next week.
Sam tried to switch glasses back, kind of hoping that he had just grabbed the wrong one on accident.
But now both glasses had that sharp, bitter scent to them. Nick had been busy.
With a shrug, Sam just went ahead and took a sip, thinking it probably wouldn't hurt him.
Whisky.
It was definitely whisky.
He cleared his throat, smiled at Dean and blatantly traded glasses with his big brother.
Though they had been talking the whole time, Dean had been curiously watching Sam's struggle with the glasses. Instead of protesting at the theft of his juice, he simply took the new glass, lifted it, smelled it, and then grinned.
"Cheers, Sammy." Dean offered and they clinked glasses together, both overly pleased with the trade.
As the meal wound down, Anna got up, wrangling her husband's help into taking their two youngest upstairs for a little post turkey nap. It left Gabriel alone at the card table with his nephew Isaac, who had hair as dark as his father's and eyes as pale as his uncle's. The two of them were animatedly devising a plan to build a tree house in the back yard.
Rekha rolled her eyes at the two, but didn't tell them no. She folded her hands on the table top, and nodded to the men who remained. "It is also a tradition in this house that those who don't cook clean up after the meal."
"Sounds fair." Dean said in a rough voice, cheeks a little rosy. He had always been good at handling his liquor, so Sam wasn't worried about Dean doing something embarrassing- but at the same time, he couldn't help but laugh quietly, because Dean had obviously moved into a good place with the addition of the whisky.
"We can clean the table and put the food away if you and Sam will wash the dishes." Castiel offered Nick.
And his big brother took a little longer than necessary considering this trade before finally nodding. His cheeks, for the record, just as rosy as Dean's.
Sam got up from the table wondering how much the two men had managed to actually drink during the course of dinner, but he didn't really want to know, so he didn't ask.
Nick swayed into him from time to time while they stood over the sink, Sam washing while Nick loaded the dishwasher or set things to dry on a dishtowel that had been laid over the counter.
"How drunk are you?" Sam whispered as their shoulders touched for possibly the fifth time since they started washing.
"Not very." Nick sounded almost disappointed in himself.
"Wasn't that the only other rule that they have here?" Sam handed over another plate.
"Two Thanksgivings back Isaac got into some wine- so started the booze ban. Which is completely unfair for the rest of us. I feel that as long as I keep it out of the hands of the children there's no problem with it."
This seemed fair enough in Sam's opinion, also it wasn't his family and Nick was an adult, so he decided it best not to argue. "I think Dean appreciated it." Which was the only positive thing that he thought he could add without being too encouraging.
"I did." Dean said with a grin, setting the last of the dishes on Sam's side of the sink. "It was a shame it had to be watered down with apple juice, but it was still good."
"It was either whisky or vodka- but I figured on account of this being an American holiday having a Russian drink might be in bad taste."
Dean patted Nick on the back. "That is some firm, anticommunist thinking, my friend." And they shared a warm laugh which dissolved into something close to giggling but somehow more masculine.
Castiel gave Sam this sympathetic, long suffering look before gently muscling his brother out of the way and joining Sam at the sink. "They aren't going to be much help, I think."
"Dean never is." Sam rolled his eyes and started handing dishes off to his new partner.
They washed in peaceable silence, listening to their brother laughing and joking about odd things, sudden bonding happening over their shared contraband.
"I am sorry for tricking you and Nick into dinner." Castiel said suddenly.
"It's been a while since I had a proper Thanksgiving, but it wasn't all that shocking. I kind of knew what I was agreeing too."
"No. I mean at the restaurant when you were supposed to be meeting me and Dean. Your brother had been telling me about how you have been feeling sad since your friend got married, and it made me think about how Nick has been alone since the divorce."
Divorce? Sam glanced back at Nick, watching him showing off the tattoos of his left arm to Dean who was asking questions and poking at the colors.
"I didn't know he had ever been married."
"It was… maybe eight or nine years ago?" Cas looked thoughtful as he set aside a large serving dish too big to fit in the dishwasher. "She was his highschool sweetheart. It didn't end well, and Gabriel's been trying to find someone for him since. I probably shouldn't have gotten involved. And I'm sorry for dragging you into this."
"I… I don't really mind." Which was the truth.
"He's a good man, even if he's…" Castiel took a turn looking back at their brothers and he shook his head. "He's a good man." It was left at that.
Sam wanted to say something, maybe to agree, or ask Castiel a question, but the laughing and talking behind them stopped so suddenly that he had to turn around and see what happened.
Michael stood there like a disapproving storm cloud, arms folded over his chest.
Castiel spoke first, and it was hard to tell if it was because he was the bravest or simply had no inherent aversion to his eldest brother. "Did you need something, Michael?"
"Anna wanted to know if Nick will be coming to Christmas this year." Michael spoke directly to Castiel, not even looking at Nick and it was all kinds of an uncomfortable exclusion.
"I don't know." Castiel's smile was slightly strained and he looked over at Nick. "Do you think you'll be able to make it?"
"I'll probably have work." Nick wasn't interested in whatever was going on, not talking to the man who had asked him, but staring directly at Michael.
Michael took his time looking over at Nick, mouth working slowly as he sought the right words. "It would be nice if you could take the time off. Your nieces and nephew miss you."
"I'll send their presents with Cas. Same as I always do."
This was not a particularly pleasing answer if the angry tilt to Michael's eyebrows accounted for anything. "I talked to dad a few weeks ago. He said he might try to make it out for Christmas."
Nick laughed without an ounce of humor. "Yeah. If he actually shows up, you call me. I'll drive down."
Michael narrowed his eyes. "Have you been drinking?"
That quiet pause reared its ugly head again, the unease almost touchable and Sam had a firm belief that this was one of the reasons that Nick had made Sam promise not to leave him alone this afternoon. Only Sam was nowhere near brave enough to get himself between the brothers. Him and Dean fought sometimes, but never, never had there been any kind of quiet animosity like this between them.
"I didn't even want to be here. Cas had been bothering me since June about coming, and your wife's been calling me for weeks. At this point you say 'thanks for showing up' and leave it the hell alone, Michael."
This was an even less pleasing answer somehow and Michael looked about five seconds away from armageddon.
"What are you going to do about it?" Nick dragged out the words, taunting. "It isn't your house. You can't kick me out this time."
Beside Sam, Castiel whispered "Nick, no," under his breath, which gave Sam only the smallest hint of warning before punches were suddenly being thrown.
Just like at the pool hall, Sam didn't think about what he was doing.
And he should have.
He really should have.
But he didn't. He just suddenly found himself there, alongside Cas, trying his damnedest to keep the two men apart.
Initially upon meeting the man, Sam had made the grievous mistake at assuming that Michael was the 'good brother'. He had been quiet and very serious looking, but such things do not a good man make.
The things he said to his brother were… they were the kinds of things that were best not repeated, but amounted to quite simply that there was nothing about Nick, nothing that the man had ever said or done or thought, that was worth anything. There was nothing that Michael could see in his brother that he liked, and he made it abundantly clear up until his wife came into the room and did a far better job than Sam or Cas could at keeping him off of Nick.
All she did was say his name in a warning tone and just like that, the fight went out of him. If Sam wasn't struggling so hard to keep Nick from taking another swing, he would have seen the almost surprised expression that Michael suddenly wore, as if he couldn't believe the things that he had just said.
Nick on the other hand didn't seem to feel guilty at all and kept up making a pleasantly long list of bad things to call one's brother- right up until Anna said his name as well. The same deathly serious warning held there in.
The kitchen refound it's quiet.
Sam wasn't sure if he should let go of Nick or not. No way to tell if it was actually safe.
"Michael, upstairs. Nick, take a walk."
And apparently the earlier request for not leaving Nick alone did not extend to this. The man left on his own, not quite slamming the kitchen door behind him, but definitely putting much more force into it than necessary.
"You know," Dean leaned a little into Sam, keeping his voice low even though it was just the two of them and a very subdued looking Castiel left in the kitchen. "This is actually starting to feel a lot more like one of our family get togethers than I thought it would."
Sam found himself laughing, but for some reason the noise hurt his chest.