Cas slept poorly. Getting used to the egg as his side was awkward. How would he survive several months of it? He would worry, no doubt, about something happening to it. Now it was making sense why egg-bearing mothers should stay put and not wander around.

In the middle of the night, Cas found himself wide awake. Sam and Ruby's house consisted of two rooms—the main living space with the kitchen and sitting area and then a room for sleeping. Cas, however, was in the sitting area. He had made his nest and was trying to get comfortable with the egg.

When sleep was no longer an option, he decided to get up and possibly have something to eat. He had, after all, just laid an egg a few hours earlier.

When he came to his supply bags and took out a handful of seeds, he noticed that the front door was slightly ajar. Curiosity piqued, he stepped outside and looked around. There, sitting on the forest floor with a ray of moonlight hitting her was Ruby. A ring a mushrooms was around her and she was sparkling oddly.

"Ruby?" Cas called out tiredly. She looked up.

"Something wrong?"

"I can't sleep…um…what are you doing out here?"

"Working."

Cas stepped closer now and saw that the fairy was sewing a garment that rested on her lap. It was made from the same material as her luminous dress.

"Ah," Cas inhaled. "I was wondering, actually, what your clothes are made from."

A wide smirk grew on Ruby's face but no answer came. The purple wings on her back fluttered happily as she set her needle down and reached into the air. Her fingers plucked at the moonlight and, to Cas' great astonishment, a thin thread was pulled from nowhere.

"What on Earth?" Cas muttered beneath his breath.

Ruby looked quite pleased. She dropped the shining strand into her lap and began sewing once more. Her technique was a stitch that Cas had never seen before.

"Did you—"

"Make thread from moonlight? Yeah. A special talent that my people have."

Cas could barely respond.

"That's—incredible!"

Ruby gave him a humble smile.

"Then you're up every night working on this?" Cas asked.

"Not every, but usually."

"And your people? The fairies?" Cas darted his eyes around the forest now. It was still and quiet. "Are they around here doing the same?"

"No, they're deeper in the woods. They stay incredibly illusive. In fact, you won't hear or see them if you haven't been given the fairy's touch."

"Fairy's touch?"

Ruby nodded.

"I'd have to check with the king before giving it to you."

"Oh."

The fairy held her tongue between her teeth and pulled her needle up.

"Do you want to meet my people?" she asked.

"I think so. This is a once in a life time opportunity, don't you think?"

"Probably. But aren't you trying to find your mate?"

Cas frowned. Dean…

"Yes, it's true. I am. Is there a chance that the fairies could help me?"

"Maybe. Uh, but let me warn you—they're bawdy. Ask Sam tomorrow."

Cas gave a nod and agreed to do just that. Tiredness got the best of him and he managed to fall back asleep when he returned to his nest. When morning came, he was itching to get Sam to talk about the fairies.

"Oh, jeez," Sam laughed, looking caught off guard. They were having grains at the table. "The fairies? Yeah, they're really loud. It's taken me a long time to tame Ruby."

"Tame?" Ruby snapped, grinning wickedly all of the sudden. "You haven't tamed me at all. I just love you enough that I behave."

The conversation continued in such a manner for a while. It was clear to Cas that the fairy folk were unlike anything he had encountered before. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to meet them, but after Ruby went to ask her king and returned all smiles, he had little choice.

"They want to meet the miracle egg," Ruby explained.

Cas looked down.

"Miracle…"

One egg was hardly a miracle to him.

"Come on!"

Ruby rattled his arm.

"They're impatient!"

Without answering, Cas was whisked away from the little house and followed Ruby through the woods. The way she ran was more like a dance than a job and it was difficult for Cas to keep up. He kept his egg wrapped up and close to his chest.

They leapt over small downed trees and dashed over flower beds. The deeper the woods went, the more illuminated and fantastically they became. Cas was amazed.

Soon, flowers that glowed like the moon were popping up everywhere. The grass was lush and emerald colored, while the sun high above sparkled through the green canopy to create an ethereal look. The trees were low but thick and dense. Cas wondered if the fairies were living in there. They easily could, considering the coverage of the heavy leaves.

Ruby stopped at last. Cas paused to catch his breath. Sam followed behind with the three children.

"I'm going to give him the touch!" Ruby announced, addressing entities that Cas couldn't see. Sam looked uneasy.

"What's the touch?" Cas asked the man.

"Eh," was his only response. This made Cas incredibly uneasy.

"Come here, it's not a big deal," Ruby said, reaching out for the beta.

"How is it that I can see you?" asked Cas. He cautiously approached her.

"Because I've been with my human for so long that he wore off on me."

That didn't make any sense to Cas. He shrugged it off and assumed it worked out with a different kind of logic.

"Here!"

Ruby pulled Cas close and planted a kiss on his lips. He was paralyzed with shock. Sam wasn't pleased.

"That's all."

Ruby backed away and smiled coyly. Cas, however, was feeling strange—a warm pulse went from his mouth and out to every extremity of his body. It was similar to the dizzy-drink he had back with Dean's pack. A forced grin popped up on his face. He held his egg close to make sure he wouldn't drop it.

"You'll feel find in a second," Ruby reassured him.

Cas blinked hard. He attempted to catch his bearings. As he looked around, he saw that the forest was changing. Though the flowers and trees remained, suddenly there were people—tons of people!

The dizziness subsided almost immediately and Cas felt normal again. The people, however, were still there. They were silent. Each one stared. They all had wings on their backs like Ruby only different colors, and most of them didn't move.

"Is he done?" one of them asked.

"I don't know," Ruby said. "Cas, do you see the fairies?"

Cas couldn't answer for a moment. It was hard to believe!

"I think so," he whispered.

A perky redhead waved her arms and beat her bright blue wings.

"Do you see meeee?" she hollered. Cas nodded. "Ooh! Awesome!"

Suddenly she came dashing towards Cas and reached out to touch him. Cyan freckles dotted her nose and waist. Cas politely looked away from her revealing moonlight dress.

"Can we see the miracle egg?" she begged. "Pleeeease?"

"No!" Ruby interrupted. "We take him to the king, and then he decides."

"Aww, okay. That's fair. What's your name, human?"

"Cas."

"Okay, Cas. You can call me Charlie."

"Charlie?"

"Uh huh. Now we're going to go see the king! He's super cool. You'll like him!"

Everyone turned and went to go deeper into the woods once more. Thankfully it was much slower now. Cas walked between Charlie and Sam.

"You know Sam, right?" Cas asked the fairy.

"Of course I do, we all do."

"We don't spend as much time here as we used to," Sam explained, "But we still do."

There were about twenty five fairies, Cas counted. They weren't as crazy as Cas was expecting. In fact, they were quite orderly as they trekked towards the king.

After a little ways, the forest opened up to a big glade. There were bonfires and cauldrons and tables and chairs. It looked like an amazing party had just occurred—or was about to.

At the end of the glade there was a giant throne that had been carved from an enormous tree trunk. There, sitting with his legs dangling over one arm of the seat, was a young man who Cas assumed to be the king. He wasn't much older than Cas.

"King Ash?" Ruby asked, kneeling at the throne. She gestured towards Cas, who also knelt but felt very awkward about it. "This is the human. The beta. The one with the miracle egg!"

"Oho!"

The king stood up now. This was the precise moment that Cas realized there was nothing serious about their royalty, for the king had a long pony tall beneath an eccentric crown of flowers and branches. Bees and butterflies flew around him. His wings were a peachy pink and poked out from a curtain of colorful animal hides that hung behind him.

"Yo, fairies!" King Ash announced, smirking. He opened his arms wide and held them up. "Here's that miracle mom we were talking about!"

Cas looked around and saw that hundreds of fairies were now pouring from the trees. Their colorful wings were flapping and fluttering like made, all the while they sent sparkles and shimmering lights into the air. A group of ten or so gathered and began to play music. The mood had suddenly become, well, bawdy.

"You're a lucky guy!" the king said. He stepped down from his throne and looked at Cas' egg. "Could I get a blessing?"

"Um, a, what?"

Ruby nudged him. "Let him kiss the egg."

"Oh! I—I suppose!"

Cas was terrified to let anybody near his precious only child, but King Ash was surprisingly tender. He leaned over and touched his lips to the egg's shell, then immediately stood up again.

"Sweet!" he yelled. "Talk about good vibes for the people! Hey, what's your name again?"

"Cas."

"Cas. Okay." King Ash looked around. "HEY PEOPLE!"

The chattering fairies stopped at once.

"How's about we make Cas here an honorary fairy?"

"YEAAAAAAH!"

The entire crowd roared. Some of them flew into the air and sent more sparkles to the ground. A fine glittery dust settled over Cas.

"Honorary fairy! Honorary fairy!" the crowd chanted in unison.

Unable to resist, a few fairies came up to Cas, turned him around to face the entirety of them, then adorn him with flowers around his neck and on his head. They weaved them into his hair and left sparkles over his entire body. Each fairy that approached him to help also went in to kiss the egg. They put multiple flower crowns on it, too.

"Th-thank you," Cas mumbled. His cheeks were bright red from all of the attention. He saw Sam laughing, politely, off to the side.

The music started up again and fairies began to eat and drink. They were incredibly loud, even over the band. Drink flowed from cauldrons and food was passed around. The erratic flutter of multicolored wings was an amazing sight to behold. Who would have thought that these folk had lived here?

"He's beautiful!" a female fairy called out from the crowd, pointing at Cas.

"Honorary fairy!" a child sang.

"The miracle egg!"

They wouldn't stop cheering at him. Cas wasn't sure of what he should do, so he stood there and accepted the praise.

"Take this, take this!"

An older fairy ran out of the crowd and up to Cas. He was short and with bushy hair, scurrying about the place more like a mole than a fairy. He opened his hands and revealed many pieces of gold.

"Oh, my!" Cas gasped. He had never seen so much! "This is worth a fortune!"

"From the mines!" the male fairy gloated. "Take it, take it! Honorary fairy, honorary fairy!"

Cas accepted the incredibly generous offering with wide eyes. If he was to find Dean, they would have a very easy life now!

More fairies followed in the steps of that one. They came and gave him precious jewels, sacred herbs, beautiful bags, blankets and enough clothes to fill the rest of his cart.

The party continued throughout the day and well into the night. Ruby and Sam had to get their children back home. Cas was tired, too, though the fairies didn't appear to slow down any time soon.

"HEY!"

King Ash shouted to get his peoples' attention. They stopped. The music, finally, ceased. A few cups could still he heard clinking as they filled with wines and meads.

"Our honorary fairy is going back to sleep at Ruby's," the king explained. There was a group sigh. "But he'll be back tomorrow!"

"YEAAAAAAAAAH!"

They roared like a stadium. Cas winced from the sound.

"Um," he said to Ash, "I don't know. I really…I really need to keep going."

"No way!" the king yelled. "Once an honorary fairy, always an honorary fairy!"

Cas gasped. He looked at Ruby for help, but she rolled her eyes and shook her head. She tugged Cas' arm and pulled him away.

"He's drunk, that's all. You can leave whenever you want."

"Oh. Oh! I will have to, soon, if that's all right."

"Sure."

Sam and Ruby slipped Cas out of the party and went on their way back home. Cas hesitated to remove the flowers. He rather liked them.

"You could leave now or in two weeks, or two years," Sam told him. "We don't mind. If the fairies are good at one thing, it's hospitality."

Cas smiled. "Thank you. I'll spend another night, I suppose, and leave tomorrow."