Dean was stretched out on the couch, eyes closed, counting to sixty. He swore he could feel his phone twitch in his pocket. He had been twitchy himself ever since he had gotten up. Balthazar and Anna would be there that weekend, and it was just after one on Thursday now.

Rebel was on the floor next to the couch. He was mastering turning himself over and was quite proud of the accomplishment. Dean reached down and picked Rebel up, placing him on his chest. Rebel opened and closed his fist, grabbing onto Dean's t-shirt. He put the thumb on his opposite hand into his mouth.

Meg had dropped him off early, again, yesterday, throwing Cas into a tizzy when he'd been called into work that morning. Dean had offered to take over daddy duty that afternoon, grateful for the distraction. A crease appeared between Rebel's eyes and Dean could see the hunger cry coming on. He stood up, keeping the baby cradled close to his chest. As he reached the kitchen he shifted Rebel to one arm and heated a bottle, searching for the formula. Rebel let out a wail.

"I'm workin' on it buddy. I'm workin' on it." Dean said as he bounced the baby up and down. His words were ineffectual in easing Rebel's distress but it was the best he could offer in lieu of an actual bottle. The bouncing seemed to soothe him a bit, though. Eventually the bottle was at an appropriate temperature to be consumed. Dean coaxed the bottle into Rebel's mouth who began sucking greedily.

The doorbell rang and he made his way to the door, unable to put the baby down. He managed to get the door open and Balthazar and Anna rushed unceremoniously in, child-sized suitcases in tow Dean sidestepped them and grinned at the exasperated looking Leah leaning against the doorframe.

"They are yours for the weekend. Please take them."

"Giving you a rough time?" Dean asked with a grin.

"They've been bouncing off the walls all week. And who's this little guy?"

"This is Rebel. He's my roommate's." Dean paused to shift the baby to burp him. "His mama dropped him off yesterday instead of today and Cas had to work." Rebel let out a small burp.

"He's adorable. May I?"

"Yeah." Dean handed Leah the baby and moved to let her inside. As soon as the baby was out of his arms he felt his siblings wrap around him. He ducked down to hug them.

"Hey guys."

"Hi." Anna grinned at him. Balthazar had wandered over to where Leah was sitting.

"Who's that?"

"That's Rebel. He's Cas' son."

"He's not replacing us then?"

"Not at all."

"He has the bluest eyes I've ever seen," Leah cut in.

"Yeah. They're his dad's." Anna and Balthazar moved out the room. Dean figured they couldn't get into too much- he had made sure the door to Sam's room was locked.

"You gonna be ok with the three of them?" Dean realized she was likely still there because she was worried about his ability to handle all three of them at the same time. He suppressed a surge of irrational anger; he couldn't blame her. The three of them would be a handful.

"Yeah. Cas'll be home at six and Sam should be back at, well, he'll be back. It's his night to make dinner."

"Dean, it is ok to ask for help."

"I know. We really will be fine. That little guy needs to go down for a nap soon. Get them settled in. Time will fly." Dean said it with a soft smile. He understood logically her reluctance to leave them- it was a step, maybe even a big one. They were her kids. He could accept that. He didn't have to like it.

"Ok. I'll be by Sunday afternoon. Call if they need anything. Or if you do."

He hated the complicated relationship circumstances forced him to have with Leah. The resentment that came with her raising his siblings. That he couldn't do it, or in an ideal world that John couldn't do it. The incredible amount of gratitude he couldn't express because she was doing it. That sometimes she took care of him too. He wanted it to be simple. To have a friend.

"Yeah of course. Enjoy your kid free weekend." He offered a suggestive wink and she laughed.

"Good luck, Dean."

"Anna, Balthazar." He called out, knowing they'd come. They scurried in from wherever in his apartment they had been exploring.

"I'm headed out. Behave for your brother," Leah added unnecessarily.

"We will," Anna promised.

"Yep." Balthazar agreed.

"See you guys Sunday." Leah left, and Dean shut the door softly behind her.

"So you guys are stuck with me for the next two and a half days."

"What're we going to do?" Balthazar apparently was ridiculously overeager to be there. Despite his energy Dean was glad to see he was going to act like a normal six year old this weekend. It wasn't something he got to see enough of- whenever he did get to see his brother he was always talking about his latest drawing or painting. He was grateful that Balthazar took advantage of what was apparently natural talent but he worried that he missed out on some of the things other kids did.

"Well, first we're going to get you settled in." They groaned, not wanting to be practical. "First though, I'm going to get Rebel here down for a nap. He's in for an exciting weekend."

They perked up a bit at the promise of an exciting weekend. Dean realized it had been less than five minutes and he was already exhausted. He carried Rebel to the nursery and laid him down, silently asking him to go down easy for his afternoon nap, something he had (to everyone's slight dismay) been fighting for the past few days. Dean sat the mobile spinning and the kid must have been tired because in less than a minute his eyes were drooping closed. He smiled and left the room, clicking on the baby monitor and closing the door halfway.

"Alright. First things first. Who gets the sleeping bag and who gets the couch bed?" Dean had considered just tossing them both on the couch bed but then remembered his childhood with Henry- sharing the couch bed at his grandparent's place and the ensuing 2 AM fights when one of them stole the covers. He decided to spare himself the headache and keep them separate from the get go. They glanced at each other, neither willing to speak first.

"I-" Anna began.

"Anna, what if you choose what I want?"

"I'm the oldest so I get first choice."

"By that logic, I'm the oldest so I should get first choice." Dean staved off the impending fight expertly.

"What do you choose then?"

"My bed."

"I want the couch bed." Anna said firmly.

"Fine." Balthazar pouted but Dean knew he was secretly pleased to get the sleeping bag. He loved camping, even if it was just on the living room floor.

"All right. Let's get the sheets." Dean walked to the linen closet, two sets of small footsteps marching behind him. He lifted Balthazar to get the sheets off the top shelf, and they set to making the bed. He tossed the scratchy wool blanket with the satin edge everyone has (but no one knows where they got) down on the bed. Anna wrinkled her nose.

"Sorry, squirt. It's what we got."

"Could be worse." Dean tried to visually cringe as he remembered the time he had sold his mattress and Anna's to buy food for the month and pay the mortgage. He doubted she remembered it, but she had slept in a bundle of blankets piled on the floor for two weeks before he had found a cheap mattress at Goodwill. He had slept on the floor for six months before he found another.

"Yeah it could." Dean heard the door crack open and he turned to look. "Hey Sam."

"Hey."

"Where you get off to?"

"Class," Sam said with a shrug. Dean was so shocked he forgot, for just a minute, that his siblings were in the room.

"You, you actually went to class?"

"It's hardly a crime."

"It's practically unheard of."

"Want to have a strong semester. Damn participatory grade"

"Right."

"Hey Anna, Balthazar." They had slipped behind Dean when Sam walked in. He hadn't thought much of them not warming to Sam the day of the hearing. Sam wasn't always the most graceful when it came to meeting new people and Cas radiated calm even on his worst days. Given the stressful situation Dean hadn't blamed them for gravitating to Cas. Now he realized it may actually be a problem and he hoped that warmed up when they realized Sam was just a puppy disguised in a Sasquatch's body.

"Guys, say hi," Dean prompted.

"Hi," Anna whispered the bolder of the two as usual.

"Balthazar."

"Hi." It was barely audible.

"How've you guys been?" Sam was cheery, trying to coax them out of their shells.

"We're ok."

"Where's Rebel at?" Sam turned his attention to Dean.

"He went down for a nap a few minutes ago. Went willing too."

"Just a rough few days then?"

"Apparently so."

"Dean?"

"Yeah, Balth?"

"Why is he so big?"

"Balthazar! That was rude and you know it!" Dean forced himself to scold his brother, despite the quivering lip that presented itself as soon as he said the name.

"Sorry, Sam."

"Its fine, I get it a lot." Sam was quick to forgive, most of the time. The grudges he did hold ran deep. He knew that about himself, but still figured it never hurt to remind himself of it.

"Can I go draw until dinner?"

"Yeah, sure." Dean hit his head against a mental wall. Balthazar was, shy he guessed was the right word, though he suspected withdrawn would become a better word soon. It was difficult enough to coax him out of his self-imposed shell when he was comfortable and Dean knew he wasn't quite settled yet. It may not have been the most polite thing to leave his brother's mouth but at least he had said something. He tried to let it roll off as he watched Balthazar pull out his sketchbook, Anna settled into next to Sam watching him unpack the groceries he had hauled in.

"Thought it was Cas' week to get stuff."

"It is. Needed some for tonight though, and since he has to work..."

"Right. Keep it simple."

"Uh huh."

Sam finished putting away the groceries and soon thereafter Rebel woke with a piercing cry. Dean stood with a sigh and let out another when he saw the reason for Rebel's distress.

"Sammy!" he called knowing Sam would respond. A few seconds later concerned eyes graced the room.

"What's up?"

"Can you keep an eye on the rugrats for a bit? There's, uh, a major clean-up job here. Spit-up, faulty diaper. Both ends basically."

"Want me to handle it?"

"Already got some on me."

"Ew."

"Yeah." Dean could feel Sam shift into dad mode. Cas had learned it quickly enough, Dean could barely remember a time when he didn't have it, but Sam's acquisition of it had been a surprise. He hadn't needed it, but it was like a switch had flipped as soon as Rebel had come into the house.

"Is he ok? I mean, he's not sick is he?" Dean pressed the back of his hand to the baby's forehead.

"I think he's fine. I'll check once I get him cleaned up though."

"Ok. I got the kids." Sam made his way to the living room where Balthazar was drawing and Anna was intently poking him, trying to get him to mess up.

"How do you guys feel about cookies?" It was the first thing he thought of and as they responded with unparalleled enthusiasm he found himself hoping they had chocolate chips.

"Shouldn't we wait for Dean?" Anna asked, as Sam hunted for a snickerdoodle recipe (chocolate chips were nowhere to be found).

"He's getting Rebel cleaned up"

"He likes cookies though."

"Which is why we're going to surprise him." Anna chewed her lip, a trait she shared with Dean.

"Ok then." Sam pulled down a large mixing bowl and started rummaging around for cookie sheets. He wondered if there would be enough cookies to bring to lunch with Gabe Tuesday. It was starting to become a regular thing and Sam couldn't say he was opposed to it, or the texts that littered his phone's inbox at least once a day, half of which couldn't even be justified with a response.

Sam was happy, for once that things hadn't gone exactly to plan. His problems hadn't gone away, but for the first time in years it felt like they were balanced out by the good things. Grinning he turned his attention back to the kids as the recipe finished loading.

Did they have corn syrup? Yes they did, because Dean for reasons unknown to him had needed it for the beef stroganoff he had made three weeks ago. The more pressing question was if they had vanilla extract- an implement used almost exclusively in baking, something their apartment had agreed by the necessity of not burning down the building - was almost universally banned. He hunted in the backs of the cabinet and fortunately there was some there. He tried not to think of how old it might be, knowing it at least predated Dean and Cas moving in.

A few minutes later Sam found himself covered in egg, flour, and sugar. The kitchen and the kids hadn't fared much better, but on two liberally greased cookie sheets there were two dozen snickerdoodle cookies ready to be popped into the oven.

Sam cracked the oven door and transferred the cookies in, remembering to set the timer. He glanced at the pile of dishes, hoping in vain they could wait until after dinner. He knew he needed to do them so he armed the kids with wet rags and hoped they managed to get most of the mess up. He filled the sink with hot water and wrinkled his nose at the rapidly cooling cookie dough. He had about half the dishes done when Dean emerged holding a clean smiling Rebel.

"Dean we made cookies!" Sam turned back around, but smiled. Balthazar didn't seem like he was easily excitable, and Sam couldn't blame himself if a surge of pride shot through his chest at the display of enthusiasm.

"I smell them. I can't wait to try them. What kind are they?"

"Snickerdoodle!" Anna cut in. "We're gonna have to put cin'mn and sugar on them when they get out though." Dean put Rebel in his high chair, and grabbed the drying towel from the fridge handle.

"Excellent!"

"How's Rebel doing?"

"Just fine. Perfectly content now that he's clean."

"Reasonable. What time is Cas supposed to be home?"

"Uh, four-thirty I think," Dean provided, not entirely sure. Sam glanced at the clock.

"What time do you think he's going to want dinner?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Well, in an ideal world it would've been ready when I walked in."

"Holy shit, Cas! Did you just appear or something?" Cas merely shrugged.

"Dean, you said a bad word." Dean directed his eyes downward towards Anna.

"I guess I owe a nickel to the swear jar?"

"It's a quarter. Inflation."

"Right." Dean had to suppress a laugh, and dug around in his pocket for the quarter. He looked at his roommates, shrugging as if to say what can you do. Cas had made his way over to Rebel and was unbuckling him from the high chair.

"Hey little man, you smell a lot cleaner than you did when I left this morning."

"An exploded diaper required bath time be pushed up immediately." Cas wrinkled his nose.

"I can't say I'm upset to have missed that."

"No one is ever upset to miss an exploded diaper. Or spit-up."

"An eventful day then?"

"The apartment population has doubled." Dean couldn't keep the smile off his face.

"Do we have six plates?"

"Sam, one of us doesn't eat solid food yet."

"Right."

They settled into making dinner. Rather Sam did, giving Dean and Anna odd jobs that needed to be done. Somehow most of them ended up being grating cheese. Cas settled into a chair with Rebel on his lap, and per Balthazar's orders not able to move until he finished the sketch.

They did eventually make it to the eating part of dinner. Initially wary of baked mac and cheese the kids had devoured half of it once they tasted it. Cas apparently had had a rough day at work (especially given he wasn't supposed to work anyway) but his bad mood dissipated quickly. In fact Sam couldn't remember the last time he had been this happy. It was like being a part of a family. A large, dysfunctional family, but one nonetheless. And maybe family wasn't so bad, at least not as bad as he had been led to believe.

The next morning didn't go quite as smoothly. Sam had figured he had been quite self-sacrificing the night before by not only not going out and coming back hammered but staying in and enduring Lilo and Stitch. The movie hadn't actually been that bad, but he had dignity, and crying at a kid's movie on his Friday night was not how he intended to spend it. Anna, it turned out, was not a morning person (Sam was already counting down the days until he could force a cup of coffee into her hands like he did with her brother) while Balthazar was almost manic. Still a bit overstimulated and having missed his middle of the night feeding, Rebel woke early, to Cas' slight dismay. French toast, bacon, eggs, and a glass of spilled orange juice later, Sam was glad to volunteer for dish duty as Dean and Cas packed up the kids to head to the park.

"It's exhausting. Having them all day." Dean commented. They were sitting on the grass, Rebel on a blanket next to them, Anna and Balthazar in easy sight, chasing each other around the slide.

"Of course it is. The question is if it's worth it."

"Every day, every glass of orange juice, every fight."

"Then keep fighting, Dean." Cas placed a hand on Rebel's back, who continued his squirming on the blanket, squinting up at the sunlight filtering through the leaves.

"Yeah." A shrill ringing sounded, and Dean picked up his phone, not recognizing the number.

"Hello?" He paused, and forced himself to inhale before answering. "Yes, it is." Another pause; he listened, trying to keep himself calm. "I'll be there as soon as possible." Cas looked at him concerned.

"Is everything ok?"

"My dad was in a car accident. Things, they don't look good, Cas."

A/N: Hi! I'm back. And a nice painful cliffhanger accompanies me. As for anything else, reviews make me happy (especially when they're constructive criticism) and Europe was great (except Milan. Meh.)