"Alcohol chilled?"
"Check!"
"Pizza in the oven?"
"Check!"
"Chair on the porch for Bobby to brood in?"
"Check!"
"Air mattress dug out, sheets changed on the down stairs bed?"
"Check!"
"Bobby's estimated arrival time?"
"Fifteen minutes approximately."
"Anything else?"
"I think that covers it, man," Sam said as he wheeled into the living room. "Cas, can you throw me a pencil or something, it itches under my casts."
Cas tossed him a pencil, "What did Bobby say on the phone again?"
"Just that he was coming down and it was urgent. He sounded mega pissed," Dean said as he put more beer in the fridge.
Just then the doorbell rang, Castiel bounded to answer it. He stepped back a little in shock when he opened the door.
"Hey Cas! Long time no see!" Sheriff Jodi Mills said cheerily. There was a small sleepy child balanced on her hip, and Bobby was lugging their bags from his old truck.
"Hey" it was an awkward tone of false cheer and surprise, "Come in, it must have been a long trip." He stood back and let them pass into the house, the sleepy boy hid behind Jodi's leg when she set him down. Cas crouched down and held his hand out, "Hey buddy, I'm Castiel, but you can call me Cas. What's your name?"
The boy looked uncertainly at Jodi who was busy talking to Sam, and back to Cas. A little hand reluctantly went out, "I'm Kale. I'm five."
"Wow! Five! You're getting to be a big man, aren't you?" He smiled at the boy who smiled back behind Jodi's leg. He had Dean's brilliant green eyes.
The adults all traded greetings and pleasantries about the drive, but soon everyone just looked at the boy, unsure of what to do next.
"Is there a park around here?" Jodi asked finally.
"About two blocks down that way," Cas pointed down the street.
"Kale, you wanna go to the park? Uncle Bobby and the fella's need to talk about boring stuff. We'll go get some more coloring books on the way back, okay?"
Kale nodded and held out his hand for Jodi, who waved as they walked out to the door and to the truck.
Dean was brimming with questions and an uneasy feeling, as soon as the door shut he turned to Bobby, "Did you knock up the good sheriff?"
Bobby smacked him on the side of the head, "Shit no, idgit. Grab some beers and a seat, you're going to need both. Cas I want you here for this too."
Dean grabbed everyone a beer and they sat down in the living room.
"I should have known right away something was up. She asked me to watch him for a few days, said she trusted me and only me with him."
"Who did, Jodi?"
"No, Marya."
"What?" three voices rang out in unison. Sam's was of amused disbelief, Cas' of anger, and Dean's of nervous shock.
"She gave me this," he said as he pulled out a manila envelope, "said if anything should happen I should look inside, and I'd know what to do."
"Bobby?" Dean's voice was low and mad, he didn't like where this was going.
"Sheriff Mills called when a body showed up at one of the local motels ripped to shreds; she knew it was our kind of thing. sure enough it was. It was Marya. And from the looks of it, she got into a fierce tangle with some Hellhounds."
"You've got to be joking," Sam blurted out, "Marya would not have dealt with a crossroads demon."
"You're more than welcome to go up to Souix Falls and see whatever's left of her, but trust me, there ain't much."
"What does this have to do with us," Cas asked cautiously. Bobby held out the envelope to Dean who looked at it and handled it as if it were a bomb. He pulled out a piece of paper, it was a birth certificate
Kale Matias Isomov
DOB: October 5t, 2007
Mother: Marya Isomov
Father: Dean Winchester
He checked it for all the counterfeit signs. It was real. He looked at Bobby and back at the paper in his hands. The date matched about eight months from their fling.
"She normally slept with women, Dean." Bobby said quietly.
"Shit," he breathed out, his hands were shaking. Castiel took the paper from his hands and examined it. All Dean could think was, of course he'd be the few percent with a faulty condom. Castiel just stared at the "father" line on the certificate.
"Dean, you okay?" Sam asked, he was fidgeting nervously.
"Cas we gotta talk," he pulled Castiel up from the couch and led him down stairs, leaving Sam and Bobby to discuss the situation in hushed tones.
Cas sat on the bed and watched Dean pace back and forth anxiously.
"Dean…" his voice was soft. The pacing continued. "Dean, sit down."
He looked at Cas, his eyes were filled with tears and he sunk to his knees in front of him, "Please don't leave. Please don't let this be a strike." He begged, his hands clutching Cas' and resting in his lap.
"Why would I leave?" he was offended by the idea.
"Because we just found out I have a four year old son."
He looked in Dean's watery green eyes, "That's just a better reason to stay. We just exchanged vows last night. Dean we are each other's husbands. Partners through thick and thin. Am I exactly happy you slept with Marya? No. But that little boy, he's half you. I love him already."
"So we're going to…keep him?"
Castiel laughed, he pictured Kale asking for a puppy one day and asking if they could keep him. He gripped Dean's hands tighter, "Of course we're going to keep him. Dean, he's your son. We're going to raise him." Tears flowed harder, Dean's face kept flashing between happy and horrified, his nose was running and Castiel reached to wipe it with a tissue, "Why are you crying?"
"What if I'm a bad father?"
"You can't be worse than either of ours," they both let out a half hearted laugh. "Dean, you'll be great."
"And you, you'll be his dad too? Not just Uncle Cas, or Cas. If he's mine, he's yours too."
Castiel grinned, "Of course I will." He took Dean's face in his hands and pulled him up and kissed him. He wiped Dean's tears and kissed his forehead. "It'll be okay."
Dean believed him.
They made their way upstairs to find Jodi and Kale returning and Bobby and Sam looking sullen. Both Dean and Cas were smiling.
"Pizza's done!" Dean rang out and served them all. Castiel cut up Kale's into bite size pieces and got him a fork. They all ate and as the meal went on Kale got comfortable. He told Dean all about the deer he saw in Jodi's garden.
"It was huge! Are deers mean?"
"They can be, but mostly they just walk around in the woods and in Disney flicks."
"Could you beat up a deer?"
He chuckled and tousled Kale's smooth black hair, "I could to protect you, little man."
Kale smiled at Dean and finished his pizza.
After dinner they all sat in the living room, Kale on the couch between Jodi and Cas, Bobby on an old blue thrifted recliner, Sam in his wheel chair and Dean on a chair he pulled from the kitchen.
"This is about mama, isn't it?" Kale asked up at Jodi.
"You're smarter than I gave you credit for, sport." Bobby said.
"Yeah, honey, it is." Jodi stroked his hair.
"She said that she might have to go away. I was going to go live with my daddy maybe. I have to follow Uncle Bobby's rules and trust him." He looked at Bobby with steady eyes that were wise beyond his years.
"And you've been doing a great job at following all my rules. I'm sorry to say your mom had to go leave. But Dean," he nodded to Dean and Kale looked at him with a smile, "He's your dad, Kale. You're going to stay with him and Uncle Sam and Cas." Kale looked a little unsure at Bobby, but then looked at Dean and back up to Cas.
"Is that okay, Kale?" Cas asked him.
"Can I still color?"
Everyone laughed, "Of course! We need some art around here anyways!" Cas answered.
"You're my daddy?" he looked at Dean.
"I am. But how would you like two dads?"
"I can do that?" Kale's little mouth dropped open in excitement and he looked at a nodding Bobby and Jodi.
"Cas is my husband, we're married. He's going to be your dad too."
"I didn't know that boys could marry boys."
"They can if they love each other. Is that okay with you?" Dean asked.
"Sure. I love pizza, can I marry pizza?"
They all laughed, "Sure thing, buddy."
Castiel gave Kale a tour of the house, telling him that he was going to have to share a room with Uncle Sam for a while until he got better, but they could get bunk beds. They made up a bed on the couch for him, Bobby and Jodi retired to the basement, and Sam to his room. They put the air mattress next to Kale on the couch and tucked him in.
"If you need anything, we're right here. Kay little man?"
"is there a nightlight?"
Castiel thought for a moment and went to the garage and grabbed some Christmas lights. He strung them on the wall in a loopy "K."
"K for Kale!" the little boy said in glee as Cas plugged them in.
"Yep!"
"Thanks, daddy."
Castiel almost burst into tears with happiness, "Goodnight, little one."
The two men laid on the air mattress smiling at each other for a while, and then they watched their son sleep. After a while, Castiel heard Dean sniffling behind him.
"What's wrong, Dean?" he whispered.
"He's beautiful."
"He is. And so are you." He gave him a gentle kiss. "Now let's get to sleep. Tomorrow we start full time fathering."
Everyone in the house slept pleasantly, and they awoke to Dean and Kale making Mickey Mouse pancakes.
Castiel just watched quietly for a moment, as the little dark haired boy stirred in chocolate chips and blue berries and Dean poured the batter. The boy's hair was black, but their skin was the same golden tan, and they had the same eyes. When he thought no one was looking, Kale snuck some extra chocolate chips into the batter.
He was definitely their son.
Author's note: Thanks for putting up with that dumb glitch yesterday, I'm not sure what happened! I hope you all like this recent development. They'll be more soon fun and games soon. Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews and support. Keep it coming! :D