August – September 2029 (Castiel is 40, Dean is 41, Eden is 16, Adrian is 12 (almost 13), the twins are 8, Noah is 3 and a half, Jo is 40, Tom is 42, Jason is 16 (almost 17), Emma is 12 years old, Carter is 15, Ariel is 16).

Adrian had finally gotten his cast off and was ready to take his own notes again when he started in the seventh grade. Mason's notes had been very helpful to him, and she had started talking to him more since the incident with Ethan.

Eden turned sixteen years old on the 28th of August. It was on a Tuesday so she had to go to school that day. They celebrated her birthday in the morning with breakfast and presents, and Eden and Castiel had helped each other bake a cake the day before which she could bring to school to share with her classmates.

Eden was quite eager to go to school and spend the day with her two best friends, Ariel and Carter. She had the cake on a baking tray, wrapped in plastic, and it had already been cut into pieces to share with her classmates. Dean and Castiel dropped her off at her high school in the morning, wishing her a good day before she disappeared into the crowd of people entering the mixed species high school.

She was half popular and half unpopular at her school. Some of the others stared oddly at her when she passed them in the corridors and called her names, but she'd mostly not pay them any attention. But she was popular with the people who knew her well – many of her non-racist classmates liked hanging out with her and they supported her whenever they could. They had even voted for her to be in the student council so now Eden was representing her class along with a boy named Ty. She had never imagined to be selected for such a thing, and Dean and Castiel had been surprised but utterly happy about the news.

"Hey Eden, happy birthday," Ariel smiled when they met in the corridor near their classroom.

"Thank you," Eden grinned and put the baking tray in front of her a bit to the side so she could give her friend a hug.

"Ohhh, you brought cake! I love the cakes that you and your papa make, you're both so good at baking," Ariel grinned when they pulled apart. She lifted the plastic around the baking tray a little to see what kind of cake it was. "Chocolate cake! Nice."

Eden chuckled. They both looked up when Carter came over to them.

"Hey, there you are," Carter said and stood next to them. "And happy birthday, Eden. I, um, kinda bought you a present." He fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out a small card, handing it to her.

"Oh, so did I," Ariel spoke and handed Eden a small present as well.

"Thanks, guys," Eden smiled. Ariel held the baking tray for her while she opened the presents she got. She was thrilled to see that Carter had gotten her a gift card for her favorite clothing store, and Ariel had gotten her a necklace she had been staring at a while ago while they were in the mall together. "Oh my god, how come you guys always know exactly what I want?" she gasped.

"Because you're too easy to read," Ariel chuckled. "I would gladly have gotten you Jason in a box with a nice, red ribbon wrapped around it, but I'm afraid that was a little impossible…"

"Ariel!" Eden gasped, mortified, and gave her friend a small shove in embarrassment. She scowled when Ariel cracked up and laughed at her for blushing.

Carter rolled his eyes at his two friends. Suddenly he was almost pushed into Eden when a guy behind him bumped into him on purpose. The demon and his three friends just laughed when they saw that Carter almost lost his balance after they pushed him, and Carter's face when went with embarrassment when others in the corridor laughed.

"Hey, that wasn't very nice!" Eden growled at the guy who was already further down the corridor by now.

The guy turned around to look at her. "I don't know of any rules that tell you to be nice towards freaks," he retorted, laughing, and turned back around to keep walking. His friends cheered and laughed, and a few others in the corridor seemed to find it amusing as well.

Eden glared after him and her tail moved in agitation next to her leg.

"Jackasses," Ariel muttered and glared at them. She turned to look at Carter who seemed to feel a little uncomfortable at being in the corridor now. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good…" Carter muttered.

Eden frowned when she saw him staring at someone specific further down the corridor. She peered over Ariel's shoulder and spotted one of the senior jocks, who was an alpha angel, standing further down the corridor, glancing their way. The jock and his two friends didn't seem to be particularly amused by what had just happened, and Eden watched as Carter kept staring at the guy until he disappeared from their sight.

Before Eden could say anything to Carter their English teacher appeared and they had to go to class right away.

The class was excited that Eden had brought them cake. Some of them had been in Eden's class in her previous school so they knew how tasty the cakes she brought to school were. Last year she had also brought cake for her birthday and that had been a contributing factor for some of her new classmates to like her better. They had all been surprised to know that Eden was Gabriel Novak's niece – a lot of them listened to his band's music, so Eden had been swarmed with requests to get them autographs.

The others sat impatiently in their seats when the teacher allowed Eden to hand out cake. She gave the teacher the first piece before walking around from table to table with the baking tray in hand, letting her classmates grab a piece each.

"Wow, this looks so yummy! The most awesome breakfast, ever," one of the angel boys blurted as he grabbed a piece from the tray.

Eden grinned. "Thanks, hope you'll enjoy it."

"Oh, I will," he smirked and stuffed his mouth full of cake.

Eden chuckled and kept going around, handing out cake to the last few people. When she reached the back of the class where Alex and his friends were seated she eyed them warily before going over and offering them a piece as well.

"Wow, for a moment I thought you'd skip me, Mixy Pops," Alex smirked.

Eden made a face at the hated nickname and watched him grab a piece of the cake with his chubby fingers. 'I was actually considering skipping you,' she thought to herself but didn't say the words out loud.

"I hope I don't get any of your bacteria on me from eating this," Alex remarked. His friends snickered next to him while some of the others glared or rolled their eyes at his childish behavior.

Eden narrowed her eyes. "Well, you better not eat it, then. You might mutate and grow donkey ears to match that sound coming out of your mouth," she quipped before moving on to the next person with the cake. She often called him a donkey, telling him that all his insults and stupid remarks sounded like a donkey's braying to her.

Alex's face went bright red when the others in class started laughing, and he glared angrily at Eden as she walked back to her seat again.

The teacher had been busy going through her own personal notes for class when she suddenly heard the students laughing and snickering. She furrowed her brows and looked across the class. "What's so funny? Did I miss something?"

"No, nothing of importance," Carter told her and snickered. The teacher seemed a little skeptic for a while before shrugging it off and started teaching again while the rest finished their cake.

Ariel was trying to control her snickering when Eden returned to her seat next to her, and they quickly took out their notebooks and pencils to start taking notes.

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In the big lunch break Carter, Ariel and Eden found themselves a free table in the cafeteria a bit away from the school's worst bullies and noisy jocks. There was an event that day for the freshmen students which some of the sophomores and seniors helped arrange (Eden and her friends were juniors), meaning that the cafeteria was more vacant than usual. Usually Eden preferred to eat elsewhere because she didn't like to have everyone staring at her and Carter in the big cafeteria, and she knew that Carter felt the same.

"Finally no one is really staring at us like we're freaks that escaped from a circus," Carter muttered at their table before digging his teeth into his sandwich.

"Yeah, I agree," Eden smiled. She poked her fork around in her pasta before bringing a mouthful up to her mouth to eat.

"God, my mouth waters just from looking at that," Ariel commented at looked into Eden's homemade pasta. "Your papa makes the best pasta dishes ever."

Eden grinned and swallowed her food before speaking. "Yeah, but Gabe is just as good. I envy Heidi for getting to eat his food all her life."

Heidi was Gabriel and Katie's new little daughter. She was born in May that year so she was just three months old now. Her wings were grey with some brown in them – a mix of her parents' wing colors. Gabriel was super proud of her, and Lokiana had been excited to have a half-sister she could see every second weekend when she visited her father.

They looked up when some of the senior jocks entered the cafeteria. The five boys shoved each other playfully and talked about some girls that had been cheering at their practice earlier. They were the same jocks they had seen in the corridor that morning, Eden noted. She watched as Carter looked over at one of the guys from the corner of his eye – the same guy he had been staring at this morning. The guy seemed to be the 'leader' of the friend group and the others were gathered around him as they sat down to eat at a free table four tables away from them.

"Great, now we can listen to them talk about the chicks they got into the pants of while we're eating," Ariel muttered and rolled her eyes. And true enough, the guys were already beginning to talk about the girls they had gotten laid with recently, and it was loud enough for the three of them to hear.

Eden chuckled at Ariel's annoyance and gazed over at Carter who shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"How come you are always staring at that guy? What was his name… Kyle?" Eden asked and looked over at Carter whose head quickly snapped up. She had heard the others call him Kyle so she assumed that was his name.

"What? I'm not staring at anyone!" Carter blurted, immediately going into a defense mode.

"Yeah, you were. Do you know him?" Eden glanced over at Kyle who was currently laughing at something along with his friends. The guy was rather attractive – he was a typical alpha angel with large, muscled wings, but they had a rare golden color which wasn't seen often in angels. He was muscled but lean and had short, spiky brown hair.

"Um, no, I only met him once when he helped me gather my books after some jerk bumped into me in the corridor. He seemed nice."

Ariel looked between Kyle and Carter with calculating eyes until she suddenly lit up in realization. "Oh my god, you have a crush on him!" she blurted.

"Shh!" Carter quickly shushed her and glanced around in paranoia. "Do you want everyone to hear?" he hissed and blushed furiously.

Eden stared at him wide-eyed. "So you are gay! I've been wondering about that for a long time I just never really dared to ask you."

Carter's face was awfully red by now, and he gave his friends an annoyed glare. "Stop being so loud; someone could hear you…"

"Being gay is nothing to be ashamed of," Ariel laughed.

"No… But I don't want to give people more reason to pick on me…" Carter muttered.

"That's true… They make everything an excuse to treat you badly," Eden sighed. "But both Ariel and I think nothing less of you, you know that, right?" She smiled and Ariel nodded next to her.

Carter blushed and folded his hands in his lap. "Yeah, um, thanks." His eyes darted over to Kyle again, silently watching the alpha as he chatted with his friends.

"You should go talk to him," Eden said, trying to encourage him.

Carter looked at her like she was mad. "No way, I don't even think he's into guys…"

Eden looked over at Kyle again and caught him staring at Carter before looking away. "Hmm, I wouldn't be so sure. He just looked at you in a way that definitely tells me that he doesn't find you disgusting."

"Really?" Carter blurted with a hint of hope before quickly composing himself again.

Eden and Ariel grinned at him, and when they finally left the cafeteria Eden spotted Kyle checking out Carter's ass when they walked by. So yeah, she was right; Kyle definitely wasn't disgusted by Carter.

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The following Saturday Jo and her family dropped by for a visit. They felt bad about not having visited Dean and Cas for a while now, and since Eden and Cas just had their birthdays they decided to drop by.

Jo gave both Castiel and Eden late birthday presents from her and her family. They always gave presents for each other's birthdays even though they didn't always manage to show up for each other's birthdays.

Eden was glad that Jason had joined this time. Last time Jo and Tom visited Jason wasn't with them because he had had another appointment with his girlfriend Katherine. Eden couldn't help but feel that her friend was avoiding her for some reason since he met Katherine, and she couldn't figure out why.

"So, you turned forty already, Cas, and you don't even throw a huge party?" Jo said as soon as they came into the living room and had greeted everyone.

Castiel stood in front of her, and little Noah was clutching at his right leg and resting against it while he stared up at their guests curiously. When they got too close he would step back a little so that Castiel's white wing would cover his back and shield him. He was still a bit shy when people came into their house.

"Me being old is nothing to celebrate," Castiel spoke, muttering slightly.

Dean laughed and brushed his wing against Cas', and Noah looked up his father's wing suddenly moved right next to him. "Forty isn't that old, Cas, you still look young to me."

"Maybe, but I don't feel the big need to celebrate it more than we already are."

Eden grinned next to him. Adrian was standing a bit behind her, and the twins were running around as usual together with Emma. Molly followed the children around, eager to have them play with her.

"You are still such a party pooper," Jo grinned. "Even Tom here has got more party in his ass than you do."

"Hey," Tom protested next to her and chuckled at her choice of words.

Dean smirked at Jo. "You sure about that?"

Jo suddenly got a mortified expression on her face. "Oh god! Stop twisting my words, Dean! Why do you always do that?!"

Jason snickered at their conversation while Eden and Adrian made disgusted faces. Castiel blushed and shoved Dean in embarrassment, and apologized to Noah when he accidentally pushed him a little too.

"What? Life isn't fun without a few jokes sometimes," Dean grinned.

"You are unbelievable," Jo grumbled, still annoyed by Dean's joke.

The twins and Emma suddenly came running into the room again, panting from all their running. Molly came in as well and walked over to Jo, Tom and Jason to get some pats.

"What are you guys all laughing about?" Isaac asked and looked between them curiously.

"Nothing, just something Jo said," Dean smirked.

"Me?! It was you who said it!" Jo blurted.

"I think you're both guilty," Jason pointed out.

They finally moved to sit down on the couch, and after having sat down Jo looked up at Adrian and said, "Wow, your feathers seem so different all of sudden… Did you get your sharp feathers already?"

Adrian twitched his wings behind him. The molting was over and now all the new feathers could turn sharp on will. Just like with demons they had three stages of sharpness – soft, medium-sharp, and razor sharp. His wings looked nothing like a demon's though; they were still white with a few black feathers here and there. He kept them in the medium-sharp state mostly, but when he was at home he kept them in their soft state because Noah or the twins would sometimes get so close to his wings that they could risk getting cut on them if his feathers were sharpened. The feathers were less soft-looking now which was why Jo had noticed their difference even in their soft state.

"Yeah, they finally stopped molting. I kinda like how they are now, but dad and papa won't let me have them sharpened at home, mostly because of Noah," Adrian spoke. He unfolded his wings slightly before folding them back behind his back again.

Jason hadn't sat down with the adults and neither had Eden. They usually found something to do together while they visited each other. Jason stared at Adrian's wings and studied them curiously.

"Yeah, better not let that curious little guy get hurt," Tom smiled and looked over at Noah who was seated on Castiel's lap on the couch.

"The kids grow so fast, it's easy to lose track of time. Adrian is almost a teenager now, and Eden is sixteen already! What's happening?" Jo said and grinned at the kids. Eden smiled in reply.

"Well, Jason's grown up too. He's even taller than you are," Dean said and looked over at Jason who was standing next to the couch table near the TV, and Castiel followed his gaze. "I think he's taller than Tom, even."

"Yeah, I'm one inch taller than him," Jason confirmed and gave Dean a wry smile. His hands were in his jean pockets and he shifted a bit when the others looked over at him. His t-shirt revealed his slightly tanned and toned arms, and his light brown hair was more spiky now than it used to be, although it had a bit of a messy look to it. He grew more muscular with each year but he was still lean and toned in his build.

"I bet I'll be much taller than all of you!" Isaac blurted and grinned at them.

The others started laughing and Adrian rolled his eyes at his little brother's silly comment.

"No you won't, you're a beta and they don't usually grow as tall as alphas. I really don't want you to be taller than me, anyway," Adrian told him.

"I don't think Isaac will be that tall, either…" Lily confessed and looked at Isaac warily.

Isaac gasped, surprised that his twin wasn't taking his side. "Hey! I'll be much taller than Adrian and Jason!"

Eden chuckled and got between Isaac and Lily before it turned into a fight. "Yeah, yeah, we'll see, big guy," she smirked. Isaac seemed satisfied with her comment and let the subject drop for now.

"Man, that boy's definitely not got any self-confidence issues," Tom chuckled and leaned back into the couch.

"Yeah, he's too much like Gabriel… I guess that's kinda a good thing too…" Dean admitted and glanced at Cas who smiled absently while looking down at Noah who was still seated on his lap.

Dean smiled down at Noah as well, and reached out his hand to gently ruffle Noah's black hair. He grinned when it stood out in all directions afterwards, but Castiel quickly corrected it and rolled his eyes at his mate. Noah just gave Dean a questioning stare before he shifted in Cas' lap and leaned back against the angel's chest. He rested his little head against his papa's soft chest and snuggled into him, closing his eyes sleepily.

"I think Noah needs a nap again," Lily remarked.

"Aww, but we just came!" Jo pouted. "The guy is so cute, I just love looking at him." She looked down at Molly who was sitting by her and Tom's feet, letting them rub her behind the ears occasionally. "And you're cute too, Molly," she grinned and rubbed the dog's head.

Jason rolled his eyes at her and Tom chuckled.

"Well, he usually naps at this hour so it can't be helped," Dean said. It was 1:16pm, and Noah usually napped between 1 and 2pm.

Eden smiled and moved over to Castiel. "I can take him upstairs and tuck him into bed for a nap, then you won't have to get up," she offered.

"Thank you, Eden," Castiel smiled and let Eden gently take Noah from his arms.

Noah protested softly, and Eden gently shushed him when she took him up into her arms so that he rested against her chest. "Shh, let's get you upstairs to nap." She turned around and gently pushed Isaac and Lily out her way when they blocked the door to the entrance hall. She stopped in the doorway and looked over her shoulder at Jason. "Wanna come upstairs?"

"Sure," Jason spoke and joined her.

Eden ignored the twins, Adrian and Emma's stupid giggling when she and Jason went upstairs together. She held Noah against her body and could feel him slowly passing out in her arms. She opened the door to his room and went inside, gesturing for Jason to follow.

She went over to the small bed and used her tail to throw the blanket to the side while her arms were busy holding Noah. "Argh, Isaac put Lego bricks in Noah's bed again! I hate when he does that," Eden growled, and tried to balance Noah against her chest while she tried to use her one hand to remove the Lego pieces. Her tail twisted in annoyance behind her.

"Want me to help?" Jason asked and came over. Eden nodded, and Jason began moving all the Lego bricks off the small bed and shook the small blanket to make sure that no other pieces were stuck in it. "Isaac has a weird habit of annoying people, doesn't he," he chuckled.

"Yeah," Eden sighed. Noah shifted against her, waking up slightly. He whined softly and squirmed, and Eden put him down on the floor. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you don't wanna sleep anymore?"

"No, wanna sleep," Noah muttered and rubbed his eyes sleepily. He turned his head and blinked up at Jason before making a frightened sound and quickly went over to clutch at Eden's leg. Jason had never been in Noah's room before, which was probably what made the boy feel a bit uneasy.

Eden laughed softly. "It's just Jason, Noah, you know him. He's not going to hurt you; he just helped me get all the Lego out of your bed that Isaac put there."

Noah looked up at her before glancing up at Jason again, studying him. Jason smiled down at him, feeling a little awkward as the boy seemed to evaluate him, until Noah slowly moved away from Eden and padded over to the small collection of toys in the corner of the room. He rummaged through the toys before returning with a fluffy kitty plushie in his arms. He slowly handed it to Jason who took it and frowned at him in question.

"Fav toy. You may hold," Noah explained and smiled shyly at him.

Eden gaped in surprise before grinning like mad. "I think he really likes you," she told Jason.

Jason blinked at Eden before looking down at Noah again. "Thank you." He smiled at Noah and held the plushie for him while Eden took off Noah's pants and shirt so that he was dressed in his undershirt and diaper for bed. It was a warm in the room so it was okay for him to nap like that. After Noah was tucked in Jason handed him his plushie again, and Noah cuddled with it as he closed his eyes to sleep, sucking absently on his pacifier.

Eden and Jason quietly left the room, and once they were outside in the corridor and had closed the door Eden turned to smile at her friend. "He usually doesn't hand his favorite toy to people. He hasn't even handed it to Isaac yet, so you're very special to get to hold it," she grinned.

"Really?" Jason sounded surprised. "I don't even know him that well."

"Well, I think he's just good at judging people's characters, and you've only ever been nice to him. Besides, if he sees me and papa being with you he will automatically accept you as someone good."

"I see. I'm glad I was approved of, then," Jason chuckled. Eden grinned.

They walked down the corridor towards Eden's room, and Eden took her room key out of her jean's pocket before unlocking and opening the door. She always had her room locked to avoid Isaac and Lily going inside and pull pranks on her, and Adrian kept his door locked as well.

She held the door for Jason to enter, and once they were inside they sat down on her bed and began playing a game of chess. Eden was good at chess and Jason always struggled to win against her. They both sat cross-legged on her bed, concentrating on the game and chatting a bit in between. Jason seemed a little less talkative than usual while they played, and Eden noticed a rather sad expression on his face at one point before Jason quickly shook it off. She couldn't help but get the feeling that something was bothering him deep down inside even though he tried to act normal.

Jason groaned loudly when Eden beat him yet again. "God! How do you do that! That's so unfair! We've played a hundred times and I've only ever won ten games against you."

Eden grinned in triumph. "You just suck, that's all," she teased.

Jason snorted, acting offended.

Eden chuckled. She prepared the board for another game before quietly asking, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

Eden hesitated a bit before saying, "Well, it's just…. you didn't seem to be as much into the game like you usually are, which makes me wonder if something is bugging you."

Jason tensed a little at her question and stared down into his lap. "You read me too well sometimes," he muttered.

"…Wanna talk about it?" Eden asked cautiously.

Jason fumbled with the hem of shirt in his lap and raised his head to stare out the window, avoiding Eden's eye. "I broke up with Katherine a month ago."

Eden's eyes widened in surprise and she almost felt bad for asking. "Oh," she said and leaned back a little. "You okay?"

"Yeah… I'm good. It was a mutual decision to end it but it still wasn't very easy. I'm over the worst now, at least…"

"That's good…" Eden spoke and looked at Jason's face even though he was still avoiding looking at her directly. She lowered her gaze and stared at her friend's clothed chest and his crossed legs, suddenly realizing that Jason was probably not a virgin anymore. She felt herself blush at the thought and quickly shook off the sudden sting of jealousy in her chest.

Suddenly the doorbell rang downstairs and Eden looked up. "Oh! That's probably Carter. He texted me earlier that he'd drop by soon to get his book." She immediately got up from the bed, grabbed a book from her desk and headed towards the door.

"Carter?" Jason frowned and followed after her reluctantly as she headed out of the room and down the stairs. He had never met Carter face-to-face before but he had heard enough about him from Eden.

"I got it!" Eden shouted at her parents as she quickly walked down the stairs and headed for the front door. She opened the door and smiled when she spotted Carter on the other side. "Hi," she grinned.

"Hi," Carter smiled. "Um, I came for my book, but I see you got it ready already," he chuckled.

"Yep, here you go." Eden handed the book over to Carter who accepted it. "And thanks for letting me borrow it."

"No problem," Carter smiled. He had recently let her borrow one of his school books for an assignment because Eden had lost hers. Her book had been in her bag at school but it seemed that someone had stolen it while she had gone to the bathroom with Ariel one day. It would be a while before she got her new book, so Carter had offered that she could borrow his for the assignment they had in English and then he'd pick it up Saturday so that he had the rest of the day and Sunday to make his own assignment.

Jason stood right behind Eden and watched the exchange silently. He barely noticed that his own fists were clenched at his sides while he looked at Carter.

Castiel had gotten up to see who was at the door, and he's eyes widened when he saw Carter. "Oh, it's you; Eden said you would drop by today. How are you, Carter?" He smiled.

"Hi, Castiel," Carter greeted him and returned his smile. "I'm good, thanks. My, um, dad drove me here but we're leaving again very soon." Just then Damian suddenly appeared behind Carter, smiling at Castiel and Eden.

"Hey, guys, long time no see," he spoke.

Castiel smiled and shook Damian's hand, letting them both inside. Dean, Jo and Tom got up from the couch and went over to greet the two new guests. Adrian, Emma and the twins came over as well after having played a game together at the dining table, and Molly came over and walked between everyone's legs to say hi.

"Ohhh! You're that other angel/demon couple! Well, the angel part of the couple anyway," Jo smiled and shook Damian's hand. "I'm Jo and this is my husband Tom, and our two kids Jason and Emma," she said and pointed at them.

Damian laughed. "Yeah, I am," he said in reply to her first comment. "And it's nice to meet you all," he added as he shook all their hands. "Wow, cool feathers you have now, Adrian," he smirked when he spotted Adrian.

"Thanks," Adrian smiled. His tail curled proudly next to him.

"You must be Eden's good friend Jason," Carter said and looked Jason up and down. "She talks a lot about you."

"Carter!" Eden hissed in embarrassment and felt her cheeks redden.

Jason blinked and stared intensely at Carter. "Yeah, that's me. She talks a lot about you too…" He looked over Carter's frame, noting how similar and yet how different he was from Eden. They were both angel/demon hybrids with wings and tails, but Eden's wings resembled a demon's wings where Carter's were like angel wings.

"Well, you're both my friends so of course I'm talking about you," Eden pointed out, muttering. They stood a bit behind the adults as they chatted with Damian, and the twins, Emma, and Adrian silently listened to the adults talking even though Isaac was already becoming restless.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you in real life," Carter spoke and smiled at Jason. "You're a bit taller than I imaged, though…"

Jason was 5' 10'' (180cm) so he was quite taller than Eden who was 5' 2'' (160cm), and Carter who was 5' 5'' (166cm). He couldn't help but feel pride at being taller than Carter who was someone he had disliked for a long time for being closer to Eden than he was. He didn't deny that he felt annoyed that Carter would get to be with Eden every day where Jason would only see her every few months.

"Yeah, Jason is ridiculously tall, but not as bad as my uncle Sam. I really hope he won't be as tall as Sam, otherwise my neck is gonna hurt even more every time I look at him," Eden muttered and glanced up at Jason who laughed at her comment.

"No one can ever be as tall as uncle Sam," Adrian commented. He had just come over to them and heard what they were talking about.

"Yeah," Eden agreed with a grin.

They said goodbye to Damian and Carter when it was time for them to leave again. Carter had an assignment to write, and Damian had only driven him there so he could get his book. Tobias had stayed at home with the other kids because Eden had informed Carter that they had other guests that day so Tobias and Damian didn't want to bother them for too long.

After the Damian and Carter had gone, Eden helped Castiel prepare some afternoon lunch for all of them while Jason joined Adrian, the twins and Emma outside. The weather was a starting to look a bit gloomy as it might rain soon, so Castiel decided they better eat and stay indoors. Noah had woken up after napping and he joined them for lunch.

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They spent the afternoon chatting while the kids played both outdoors and indoors. Eden and Jason joined them for the outdoor play where they played soccer once again. The kids all loved playing soccer, even though Molly would take the ball away sometimes and ruin the game.

After having eaten dinner it was almost time for Jo and the others to head home again.

"Should we take one more game before my family leaves?" Jason asked Eden after dinner. "I still wanna see if I can beat you."

Eden laughed. "Bring it on."

Jason smirked and accepted her challenge, and they headed upstairs to her room once more to play a game of chess. Eden gasped in horror when she realized she had forgotten to lock her door earlier.

"Oh god, I hope my room isn't wrecked," she said and slowly pushed the door open. She looked around her room carefully, trying to spot anything unusual but so far she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Jason walked in after her, glancing around. "I don't see anything different. Maybe Isaac didn't see that your room was unlocked."

"Hmm, I hope so," Eden muttered and closed and locked the door behind them.

They settled themselves on top of her bed once more, and Eden made sure that Isaac hadn't put weird things under her blanket before sitting down on top of it. Her wings were spread out to accommodate them better, and Jason couldn't help but look at the feathers. Her dark red wings with a mix of different shades of brown and grey looked shiny and well-cared for, and Jason couldn't help the question that suddenly flew out of his mouth.

"How do you even groom your wings?"

Eden blinked and looked very taken aback by that question. Jason cringed at himself when he realized he had crossed a line.

"Sorry, inappropriate question—"

"It's fine," Eden cut him off and smiled in amusement. She put the chess board out in front of them and started preparing it. She had begun preparing another game earlier but hadn't managed to finish it before Carter showed up. "Um, mostly I use a special brush that helps me reach where I can't reach myself, and occasionally my papa helps me."

"I see," Jason muttered and stared at the feathers again. "And how do you make them look so shiny? You put some oil in them or what?"

"Jeez, you sure know how to ask weird and inappropriate questions," Eden chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I use my own wing oil but that's not so easy to do on our own since it's hard to reach the glands, so I prefer to use a tube instead. And I swear if you ask me one more embarrassing question, I will punch your nose in," she growled, blushing.

Jason's eyes widened before laughing at her. "Gotcha, I'll stop asking now. It's just that I usually don't hang out with many 'winged beings' so sometimes I forget you don't like to be asked about your wings…"

"I know, I'm not mad, but please don't ask me about it again," Eden muttered. She kept her head down and stared at the chess board so that Jason wouldn't see her burning face. "You're almost as bad as Ariel – she also always seeks to embarrass me. At least Carter doesn't…"

Jason tensed a bit at the mention of Carter's name. "Does this Carter guy have a girlfriend?" he asked all of sudden.

Eden looked up at him, startled by the question. "No… Carter is gay, so I seriously doubt he's got a girlfriend."

Jason's eyes went impossibly wide. "He's… He's gay?"

"Yeah… I had suspected it for a while but he first admitted it to me and Ariel a few days ago…"

Jason's whole face suddenly lit up before he blurted, "That's great!" He cringed when Eden gave him an odd, confused stare. "Uh, I mean it's great that he finally told you about it…" he quickly corrected himself.

"Oh. Yeah, I'm happy that he did. He's got some crush on one of the jocks… an alpha angel. I really hope he'll get to talk to this guy one day and tell him how he feels," Eden smiled.

"I just hope the other guy swings the same way… Not all guys do."

"Hmm, I think this one does," Eden grinned. "Now, let's play already, otherwise you end up leaving before we find a winner."

Jason grinned. "Yeah, let's play."

They began their game and Jason concentrated as much as he could so that he could defeat Eden. It annoyed him that even though he was better at math than her and was used to thinking strategically in his soccer club, she still managed to beat him almost every time.

Their game ended twenty minutes later and Jason cheered loudly when he finally managed to beat Eden at the game.

"Ah, damnit…" Eden pouted after she lost, and she scowled at Jason who was grinning at her like mad.

"Ha! Who sucks now?" He grinned smugly.

"Shut up," Eden scowled and tried to hold back an amused smirk. She was surprised that Jason's mood had suddenly changed so much and that he seemed much happier now, but she was glad that he no longer seemed to sulk about Katherine.

Suddenly Jo's voice roared through the house. "Jason, c'mon, we're leaving, with or without you!"

Jason sighed and prepared to get up from the bed.

"I wouldn't mind you staying, though…" Eden smiled and got up as well.

Jason turned to look at her with a grin. "Me neither, but I better go. I'll see you soon. Maybe we should go to the movies again soon? It's been a while…" They hadn't watched a movie together – neither in the cinema or alone at one of their houses – since before Jason got together with Katherine.

Eden's smile broadened. "I'd like that." Her tail curled around her leg happily, and Jason moved forward to pull her into a friendly hug. Eden was surprised because it was usually her who initiated a hug, but she smiled and hugged him back, closing her eyes as the familiar scent of her best male friend filled her nose.

They pulled apart, smiling briefly at each other, before heading downstairs. Eden remembered to lock her room this time.

"Oh, there you are," Jo said when Jason and Eden came down the stairs. "We were just about to drive without you." They were all gathered in the entrance hall to say goodbye, and Jo, Tom and Emma were dressed in their shoes and jackets already.

"I'm sure Jason wouldn't mind," Emma snickered.

Jason scowled at his sister and shoved her lightly, making her laugh up at him.

"Well, we do have an extra bed but I think it's best if you take him with you home tonight," Dean chuckled. He patted Jason's shoulder as the boy stood next to him and pulled on his shoes. Dean was kinda awed by the fact that Jason was almost as tall as him now – he was already taller than Cas by far.

"Yeah, I've got a school assignment anyway," Jason muttered while pulling on his shoes. He almost lost his balance but Eden quickly reached out a hand and put it on his arm to steady him. He gave her a grateful smile in return.

Eden glared at Isaac who was making a mocking kissing-face next to her, and at Adrian who seemed amused by Isaac's teasing. She slapped Adrian's legs with her tail in annoyance because he was closest to her.

Noah sat on Castiel's arm as the guests were about to leave, and he didn't seem to mind when Jo pulled Castiel into a hug with him between them. He grinned shyly at Jo when she touched his arm in a goodbye gesture.

They said goodbye and waved at their friends as they walked out into the driveway where their car was parked. After Tom's car had driven off and was out of sight, Dean closed and locked the door and turned to smile at Castiel who was still holding a sleepy Noah on his arm. It was 8:27pm already and it was soon time for Noah to get some sleep.

"That went well. Always nice to hang out with friends once in a while," Dean commented and placed his hands on his mate's hips. The children had gone into the living room, leaving him and Cas alone in the entrance hall with Noah.

"Yes, I quite enjoyed it," Castiel smiled and leaned into Dean's touch. Noah yawned on his arm and lay his head down on Castiel's chest to rest.

Dean smiled at their youngest son and stroked a hand down the boy's back and his light grey downy feathers. Noah was okay with Castiel, Dean and Eden touching his feathers, and sometimes he'd let Lily and Adrian touch them too, but he didn't quite trust Isaac with it because of Isaac's more wild nature.

"Getting sleepy already? Well, you have been social a lot today…" Dean spoke and smiled fondly at little Noah.

Castiel smiled down at Noah as well. "Yes, I think it's time for him to sleep. Do you want to sleep?" he asked Noah who was leaning against his chest and sucking on his thumb. He still used his pacifier sometimes but mostly only when sleeping.

"Yeah, wanna sleep," Noah replied in a sleepy voice and stretched in Castiel's arms while he yawned.

Castiel went upstairs to put Noah to bed while Dean and Eden helped each other doing the dishes which they had saved for after their guests left.

It had been a good day with their friends, and Eden hoped that she and Jason would get to spend more time together now that he no longer had a girlfriend to constantly pay attention to.

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Author's notes: Sorry for the long wait, both my beta and I were busy. I think the next chapter will be updated sooner than this one, though :) There will be a lot more of Eden/Jason in upcoming chapters. I'm very glad that you guys like the kids so much and that some of you even ship Eden/Jason, I hadn't really expected that when I first started writing. Because of that I'll make sure to write more about them, but still also about Dean and Cas of course :) And thanks for all your support so far, you guys are awesome!

Thanks for reading, please leave a review :)