Uncle Gabriel

Hermione hears angel wings and assumes Castiel needs something else.

Pairing: Hermione & Gabriel, Hermione/Dean (background)
Rating: general
Warnings: none
Tropes: kidfic, domesticity, implied loss of family, Gabriel is Loki, mistaken identity
Words: 394
Original Release Date: 19 May 2023

Additional Notes: Written for DoMAYstic 2023, Day 09 – Mistaken Identity

Hermione heard the ruffle of feathered wings but didn't turn around from where she was pacing with her newborn. Baby Rosemary had gone from fussing to crying to bawling to screaming back to cranky crying. Hermione had been with her for hours now, cooing and shushing and rocking. She'd tried feeding, making sure her clothes were clean and dry and warm, and everything else she could think of, even going so far as to offer her breast for a pacifier if not for feeding. That was the last time Castiel had shown up.

"Cas, if you're here because Dean wants something and it isn't an emergency," she said, still not turning to face the angel, "I will find something sharp and stab you somewhere it hurts."

There was a whisper-quiet chuckle that was distinctly not Castiel. Hermione didn't whirl around, not with the baby in her arms, but she did turn rather quickly. Gabriel was standing a few steps in from the door, a soft smile on his face as he looked at her and Rosemary.

"Can't get her settled, huh?" He asked, still speaking softly—a talent that Castiel had not learned. He raised his arms towards the baby, "Can I try?"

Hermione was at her wit's end and passed Rosemary over to him. She was about to explain how to hold the baby when Gabriel just scooped her up like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do.

He watched Rosemary with fond eyes as he bounced her a little. Within a minute, she'd stopped crying and fussing, only to sleepily stare up at Gabriel while he watched her. "Yeah, that's what I thought, little lady," he murmured to her. He slowed his bouncing as Rosemary looked fascinated at something over his shoulder. Gabriel waggled his eyebrows at her and then grinned.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked. "Grace?"

Gabriel shook his head as he looked up at her. "Practice." When Hermione just looked at him with confusion, he added. "Come on, you know the mythology. Loki has six kids."

Hermione's confusion didn't disappear so much as shift. "But I thought angels couldn't have children."

"It's forbidden for angels to have children with humans," he clarified. A look of grief crossed his face, but then he returned his attention to Rosemary and fondness chased the look away.