Chapter 1
He wakes up to the smell of pancakes. He rose from the bed and tumbled out, completely forgetting his broken leg. Sighing desperately, he reaches for the crutch underneath the bed and with a lot of struggling and scrambling, he manages to stand upright. He reached for the door and almost tumbled again over a misplaced wooden toy.
He scanned the now brightly lit room. It was square, and the walls were painted pastel blue, decorated with childishly drawn pictures. A rack filled with books was at the end of the room, next to a table with a stylish computer set, complete with a graphic tablet. The wall nearest to him had a low rack filled with toys, along with a small table and chair, laden out with crayons and jumbo sized pencils. In the middle was the single sized bed he was resting on earlier.
"Cas?" He heard Stargaze's call. "You up yet?" she asked, the door suddenly opened and her head popped out from behind it. "Oh good, you are. I was wondering if I should let you sleep in and miss my pancakes." She added with a snicker.
Looking at his fumbling mess (he's in is boxers for pete's sake!) she trudges in, opening a wardrobe and throwing him a sarong. " Do you know how to wear this? There is no way I'm letting my daughter see you like that." She said, throwing the sarong over his head and down to his hips. With an expert twist she tied the ends together and took a step back, admiring her work. A child's cry tore her away from Cas and she bolted to the door.
"Come on down before your pancakes gets cold!" She yelled from the corridor.
It was so quick Cas couldn't even notice when she finished tying the garment on his hips. He gripped his crutch tighter, and made way to the kitchen. He fumbled around, his hands on the walls, trying to stable himself.
His eyes scanned the pictures hung on the wall, recognizing a young Stargaze in the arms of a young man, what he presumed must be her wedding day. Another picture had her smiling widely, hugging the same man. Both of them were wearing a dark oversized cloak, holding a scroll. The next picture was Stargaze, her stomach the size of a planet. The man was kissing her forehead, and Stargaze had the most content smile on her face.
The last picture had her holding a very small baby. She was smiling that ever present smile of hers, but her eyes were closed and puffy, tears streaming down her cheek. She held the baby close to her, like she doesn't want to let go. Cas couldn't help but wonder why she looked so miserable.
Hunger won over curiosity, and fumbled his way into the kitchen, looking at Stargaze with a baby in her arms. She smiled warmly and cooed at the baby, pointing to the man dressed in a red sarong and grey shirt.
"Lookie there Anna, who's that? Why, that's my new friend Castiel. What a weird name he has!" She cooed to the baby, her little bumps with the heels of her feet soothing the baby. Anna gurgles in delight, and started babbling.
Castiel couldn't stop the instant smile that almost broke his face. His heart did little jumps when the lady had said he was a friend, suddenly feeling grateful and honored to be so easily trusted by the one that saved him. He decided he liked the two friendly duo.
"Take a seat, Cas. Coffee or tea?" she asked, putting Annaise down in her high chair in which he replied with a timid "Tea, please". The small child grinned, showing her two tiny front teeth, and made grabby hands when her mother presented her with a bottle of milk. Stargaze set a plate of pancakes in front of him, and moved to fill in his mug. She sat adjacent to him, and cooed to her baby.
"I found you outside my pharmacy, bleeding like you just got hit by a truck. The hospital's lousy, and I can't find any ID, aside from a tag in your inner pockets saying 'IF LOST/FOUND RETURN TO DEAN.' with a phone number on it." She said slowly, trying to talk to him. "I called the number. No one picked."
His ears pricked up at that, his eyes meeting hers in worry. "Dean did not pick up?" he asked, swallowing his flapjack.
"Oh. So it wasn't a prank. I guess Dean is a real person? I thought it was a joke."She said, kind of amused. "That's cute, right there. Like a lost dog tag and you're already looking like a kicked puppy waiting for your owner to pick you up and send you home." Laughing, she wiped a stray drop of milk dribbling down Anna's chin with a napkin.
Cas sunk in his chair, worried and a little confused. Stargaze backtracked and almost slapped herself. "Dang, sorry Cas. I didn't mean to put you along with dogs. You just kinda looked as cute as one and the tag and all and I should really shut up now." She rambled, her face flushing in guilty embarrassment, taking a sip of her own tea.
"It's alright Stargaze." He said, rather confused at what she was implying on. Dean wouldn't be … no, he's not. He's alive and well and I must have faith in him, Cas thought.
"Starry. Stargaze is a mouthful to say. It's alright to call you Cas right?" Starry corrected, trying to lighten the mood. Anna babbles on and Starry hummed in delight.
Cas is then reminded of Dean at his shortened name, a painful feeling tugged at his heartstrings. He eyed his savior, and nodded, taking a bite of his pancake. He takes a moment to savor it fully, and sighed at the delicacy in front of him.
"So… who's Dean? Your lover? Don't worry, I'm not homophobic. Aww dang it, sorry Cas! My tongue slipped, I didn't mean to just judge you like that!" She backtracked once again, and drank her tea, trying to cover her growing humiliation.
He chuckled. "It's fine. Dean Winchester is not my lover. He is my charge." Cas doesn't know why, but he does not feel the urge to lie to the woman before him. Maybe it's because she trusts him, and he trusts her too.
Her eyes became as wide as saucers. "You've got to be kidding me."
Cas looked at her oddly, quirking an eyebrow at her. "THE Dean Winchester? From Supernatural?! The Winchester Brothers and the whole demons and vampires and witches and I have THE ANGEL Castiel eating my pancakes and!" She cuts short, hyperventilating a little. She fans herself, a wide grin erupting her face, "And I didn't even pick up the pieces until you practically shoved it in front of my face! What kind of fan girl am I?!" She asked herself horrendously.
"Holey buckets of cheese dude, I thought it was just fiction, a book, until Becky went spamming over on the Fan Sites saying that you guys were real!" She exclaimed excitedly, jumping over the table and grabbing his hands. "I get it now! You were blasted away by a sigil weren't you?"
Cas felt his throat clamp in, and he was lost for words. The calm and collected savior of his, a young mother of an adorable little girl, just went full out ballistic over him. He could only nod weakly, the fork he was using a little too close to his eyes.
Starry caught herself before she could do any real damage. Anna was staring at her oddly, as if she has never seen her mother act that way. The young mother collected herself, and with a sigh, gently let go of the man's hands, coming back to her side of the table.
"I'm sorry. I'm a big fan of the books. Seeing you and realizing the entire book was true is like having my wildest fantasy turned reality. I guess some part of me believed Becky and wanted you guys to be real as much as she did. And she was right…" She said, an apologetic smile adorned her pretty flushed face.
Cas cleared his throat. "I guess that makes explaining everything to you much easier." He said, glad that everything is working out, one way or another.