Over the next couple months, Dean got a job at a restaurant, Castiel got up to a healthy weight and could write in complete sentences, and Mary started cleaning houses part-time.

Castiel was home with Mary on one of her days off and could hear her moving around downstairs at a rather frantic pace. He descended the stairs to see if she needed help.

He found her in the kitchen with most of the cabinets open and mumbling to herself. He was carrying a small marker board that Dean bought for him and started writing as she stood up.

"Oh!" Mary jumped when she saw Castiel. "I didn't hear you."

Castiel turned the marker board for her to read. I can help

Mary smiled. "I'm sure, but I'm looking for something right now and I can't remember where it would be."

The angel frowned. He was going to ask what she was looking for, but she spoke before he could start.

"But, if you would, the laundry can be moved to the dryer."

Castiel nodded. He had helped with the laundry a couple times and was happy to do anything to help a clearly frazzled Mary.

"Thank you, dear. I've got a few things going at once here and…" she sighed, "I appreciate your help."

He nodded to her again and walked off to the laundry room. He had taken out the dry clothes and moved the wet ones over when he heard Mary in the kitchen again.

"Son of a bitch!"

Castiel ran to see what happened. Mary was at the sink with her hand under the faucet. He moved closer and saw blood. He put his board down and rushed to her side.

"Dammit!" She ran her cut finger under the water. "I didn't see the knife in the drawer before sticking my hand in there." She shook her head, chastising herself internally.

Castiel began searching the drawers for band aids. He found a box and pulled one out while Mary shut off the water. He opened the wrapper and turned to face her. She had dried her finger and held it out for Castiel. The angel wrapped it around her finger gently.

She smiled at the worried look on the angel's face. "It's okay, Castiel. I've done much worse." She put a hand on his cheek. "Thank you."

He smiled and nodded before turning around and putting the box of band aids back in the cabinet. He went back to the laundry room to finish what he started.

That afternoon, Castiel was sitting in Dean's room reading a book when he heard footsteps approaching and Dean's laughter. There was a thud on the door, followed by more laughter. He heard a girl's voice too, and Castiel sat up straighter as the door opened.

Dean entered with a girl with long dark hair. They were kissing and didn't notice the angel in the room. Castiel felt his face grow warm as he watched Dean pull the girl closer by her hips and kiss her harder. He knew he shouldn't be present for this, but he didn't know what to do.

The girl finally caught a glimpse of Castiel and gasped. "Oh my god!"

Dean looked up. "Shit, I forgot you'd be in here, Cas."

"Why didn't you tell me you had an angel?" She slapped Dean's arm and moved closer to Castiel.

"I don't know. It didn't come up." Dean still hadn't told anyone about Castiel.

Castiel stood as the girl got close enough to look him over. Her large brown eyes looked over his face and wings. He grew nervous under the gaze. He looked at Dean.

"Cas, this is Lisa." He pointed to her and shuffled uncomfortably. He wasn't sure how he'd keep Castiel a secret at school now.

"He's so cute!" Lisa smiled at him and circled him. "How long have you had him?"

"Well, at my birthday dinner…"

"You got him for your birthday?" She cut him off and laughed. "Wow, I never thought you guys would ever get an angel."

Dean bristled at the words. He remembered now why he hadn't told Lisa about the angel. She was reacting the way most people would. Making Castiel seem like a present and possession.

"I didn't get him, Lisa. He's not property." He crossed his arms.

Lisa turned to look at him with a frown. "But you do own him, right?"

"Technically, I guess."

"Why doesn't anyone know about this?"

Dean shrugged. "Probably because we didn't want people to think we were some social climbing type of idiots that use angels to make themselves seem more important. Like the jerks that parade them around in shiny leashes and brag about how good their breeding was."

Lisa scrunched up her face in disgust. "You mean like most of my friends? A lot of them have angels and are very proud of them," She walked up to Dean. "Or like my family with their angels?"

"Lisa…"

She lifted a hand, "No, I get it. You think you're better than us because your family has been all 'anti-angel' since your dad became the sheriff."

"We're not anti-angel. We just don't see them as status symbols or pets."

"Like us idiots?" She shook her head and walked around Dean. "I think I'll just head home."

Dean sighed and turned to follow her. "Lisa, wait." She stopped and faced him. "You won't tell anyone else about Castiel, right?"

She laughed incredulously. "No, Dean, I won't ruin your precious reputation."

He stopped her when she made to leave again. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'll walk." She moved down the stairs and out the front door.

Dean went back to his room and saw Castiel writing frantically on his marker board. The angel held it up with sad eyes.

I'm sorry, Dean. I didn't mean to ruin anything for you.

"It's okay. You didn't do anything. I'm sorry if she made you uncomfortable." Dean ran a hand through his hair and looked around his room.

Castiel erased the words on his board and sat down to continue reading his book. Dean left for work about an hour later.

Lisa hadn't told anyone about Castiel when Dean went to school the following day. He was relieved but a little sad that Lisa didn't seem to want to hang out with him anymore, not that he could blame her.

"Come on, Sam!" Dean shouted after his brother as he ran across their yard to pick up the football he'd failed to catch.

"You threw it too high, Dean!" Sam picked up the football and stopped to catch his breath.

"Get taller." Dean laughed as Sam rolled his eyes and walked a little closer before throwing the ball to Dean.

"You better watch it, Dean. If my height now is anything to go by, I might be taller than you one day."

Dean laughed again as he threw the ball back to Sam. "Yeah right."

Castiel smiled as the brothers continued to argue and toss the football back and forth. It was a warm April afternoon and Castiel was finally able to feel safe sitting outside again. He was sitting on the step of the back door with his notebook in his lap. He was sketching one of the trees with his pencil. He had started drawing a lot recently and found he enjoyed it more than anything else.

As Sam jumped to catch a throw by Dean, Castiel looked down as his rough sketch of the yard to see where he would add Sam if he had the skill to do so. He hadn't been practicing long enough to draw moving objects very well. He tried to draw a bird once while it sat at the window of Dean's room, but it flew away before he'd gotten too far and the finished product was a little lopsided. Dean had insisted that it wasn't that bad, but he figured he was just trying to keep his spirits up.

The door opened behind the angel as Mary stepped out. She smiled at the angel's drawing. "You're getting pretty good, Castiel."

Castiel smiled up at her and shrugged. It was definitely his best drawing, but that wasn't saying much at this point.

"Dinner is ready if you want to eat." Castiel nodded to her and put his pencil away as he stood. She looked out to the yard and called for her boys to come eat as well.

They called back to her and started racing to the door. Castiel entered the house quickly so he didn't get caught up in the brothers trying to get inside first.

The angel laughed silently as they wrestled through the doorway argued about who had made it in first. The four of them sat down to eat dinner.

It was a Saturday and Dean was home watching Sam while their parents worked. Castiel was sitting in the living room reading one of Dean's books while Dean was moving around the kitchen. He had been doing so for about twenty minutes and Castiel was getting curious as to what exactly he was doing.

At the smell and sound of something cooking, Castiel finally got up and went to check on Dean. He had a pot and pan on the stove. Chicken was cooking in the pan and the pot seemed to be filled with water. Castiel tilted his head and moved closer as Dean shuffled with the other ingredients on the counter, he had yet to notice Castiel.

Castiel could see a printed recipe on the counter. Dean was leaning over it and reading over it, lips moving along. He then turned and almost ran into the angel.

"Whoa!" Dean jumped and took a step back. "I didn't know you were in here."

Castiel smiled and pointed at the stove with a questioning expression.

Dean looked a little shy and shrugged. "I'm cooking dinner. Mom and dad should both be home in time tonight to eat with us. I wanted to help."

Castiel's smile widened more when he thought about how much Mary was going to love that. He nodded and reached out a hand for one of the utensils Dean was holding. He wanted to be a part of this too, besides Dean looked frazzled already.

Dean got the idea of what Castiel was asking and he handed him the big wooden spoon. "Once the water starts boiling, add those noodles and stir with the spoon." Dean pointed to the big pot full of water.

The angel nodded.

The pair of them worked together smoothly and cooked dinner successfully and were just turning off all the heat when Mary arrived home. John was due home in about twenty minutes.

Mary could smell the food and made her way to the kitchen. She was smiling before she saw anything. She had a good idea who was responsible. She rounded the corner and saw Dean and Castiel standing by the stove and gathering plates to put on the table.

"What's going on here?" She chuckled when Castiel turned so fast he almost knocked a spoon off the counter with his wings.

Dean smiled and opened his arms. "We made dinner."

"I see." She nodded and walked close to inspect the food. "And whose idea was this?"

Castiel looked pointedly at Dean before walking away with the plates. Dean shrugged and put his hands behind his back.

"You've been working so much lately. I wanted to thank you by making dinner."

Mary shook her head. How did she get such good boys? "I didn't know you knew how to cook anything that didn't go in the microwave."

"I've picked up a few things at the restaurant. Does it look okay?"

"It looks wonderful. Thank you, sweetie." Mary cupped Dean's face and kissed his forehead. "Now, go get your brother."

Dean smiled at the approval and went up the stairs to get Sam. Castiel set the table and saw Mary take a taste of the sauce the noodles were in. She seemed to like it. She then turned to the angel.

"You helped him cook too?" Castiel nodded as he walked around the table. Mary walked over to Castiel. "Thank you."

Castiel looked at her and smiled while waving a hand dismissively. He didn't think it was a big deal to help Dean.

Mary laughed. "Castiel, I'm very glad you're here and I appreciate everything you do." She put a hand on his shoulder and held his gaze to let him know she was serious. He softened and nodded. She pulled him close and pecked his forehead briefly. She felt the angel tense slightly at the contact but he touched her elbow gently as she pulled back, letting her know he was okay.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're one of my boys too." Mary squeezed his shoulder as she said it.

Castiel felt the impact of those words like he'd been hit in the chest. Tears started forming in his eyes but he shook his head and pulled Mary into a full hug. She returned it after a brief chuckle.

"What do you mean you cooked?" Sam was following Dean down the stairs cautiously. He was expecting some kind of trick since he'd left him alone all night, but Dean didn't seem to be messing with him.

"I cooked dinner. I don't know what part is giving you trouble." Dean was almost at the last step when he saw Castiel embrace his mom, wings flaring up happily. He stopped, causing Sam to bump into him.

"Dean, move." Sam pushed by him and saw the pair hugging as well and stopped. "What happened?"

Dean just shrugged and continued to the dining room while Sam followed. "Everything okay?"

Mary and Castiel stepped away from each other and looked at them, both smiling. Mary waved a hand. "We're fine. I was just thanking Castiel for helping you make dinner."

About twenty minutes later, John arrived and the whole family sat down to eat together. John was also happy with Dean cooking for his mother and he was beaming the whole meal from his dad's praise.

After they ate, Dean and Castiel went back to his room. Dean was sitting on his bed and looked at Castiel.

"So, what brought on that hug with my mom? What'd she say?"

Castiel smiled and wrote down what she had said and showed Dean. He smiled and nodded. No wonder he had hugged her like that.

"I'm glad she told you that, Cas. It's true. You're a part of this family." Dean smiled at the angel and how his wings always seemed to puff up when he was happy.