Chapter 12: Homecoming

Gabriel quickly pulled the long blonde hair in his hands back into a braid and quickly secured it with a hair tie. The seven year old girl turned, her sea green eyes sparkling as she gave him a big hug and kiss before running off to join her cousin and older brothers. He watched her go from his place on the large porch of his house. She ran down to meet the twelve year old black haired boy with blue eyes and his own children, a ten year old son, a boy with Sam's brown hair and his own gold eyes, and Razael, who was watching over them as they played down by the ocean.

"I still don't know you manage to do that so quick." Adam said, watching his daughter Dina hug her older brother Jophiel, who belonged to Michael. "It takes me forever to braid her hair and that's with Lucifer helping me."

Gabriel chuckled and picked up his brush again and began working on Michael's much longer hair. "I've had plenty of practice. I used to take care of the younger angels before I left heaven."

"Yes and your lesser known title of Angel of Pregnancies has nothing to do with it then?" Michael asked only to yelp as Gabriel pulled on his hair in retaliation. "That hurt Gabby."

"Well then maybe it will teach you to keep your mouth shut am I right Mikey?" Gabriel said giving his older brother's hair the same treatment before releasing him. "There. Done. Tell me again why you let your hair get this long?"

"I think he believes he's Sampson again." Lucifer said coming out with a tray of drinks. "Either that or he's getting tired of women asking him if he's single."

Sam chuckled as he sat down the tray of snacks, having followed Lucifer out. "He's got that problem too then? I had a woman ask me to marry her in the grocery store the other day because apparently I make an excellent stay at home dad."

"And how did you react Gabriel?" Lucifer asked, curious about his younger brother's reaction ever since finding out about his Trickster persona.

Gabriel gave him a smirk. "What do you think I did? I grabbed Sam and kissed him in front of the entire store and told her that yes he makes an excellent stay at home dad and that she should lay off my husband and go find her own. She almost turned purple and stormed off."

"I'm surprised you didn't smite her." Lucifer admitted.

"Why would I do that when she suddenly found herself with her car getting towed, begin severed with court papers, her ex calling her up to tell her to get tested for chalmydia..." Gabriel said trailing off with a smile. "She seemed to have a really bad day after meeting me."

"I'm glad you found a better outlet for yours pranks." Lucifer said with a smile.

"Mom! When's dinner?"

Gabriel turned to look at his youngest son. "You can have some snacks. Your Dad just brought some out. Dinner isn't till a bit later okay Tabbris?"

The boy nodded and grabbed a handful of carrots and went to rejoin his brother and cousins. "Okay Mom. Thanks Dad!"

Gabriel watched him go with a sigh. It was hard to believe that more then fifteen years had passed since he'd gotten his family back. Michael, Lucifer and Adam had quickly become permanent fixtures in their lives, even more so after their first child, Jophiel was born. As it was Michael had been so scared when Lucifer had gone into labor that he had showed up at two in the morning to get him saying that he didn't trust the other healers with either Lucifer or their unborn child.

As it had been such a rough birth, both Sam and himself had stuck around to ensure that Lucifer was back on his feet in a few days. That had turned into Gabriel helping Lucifer learn what it meant to be a mother, something he had experience with when he had Razael. After that it became common for the three mates to show up whenever they had questions. Then when Gabriel had Tabbris, it had been Lucifer who had helped him through because damn it all if he hadn't gone into an early labor with Tabbris in a breach position. Gabriel had torn and bled like mad until Lucifer and Michael had been able to heal him. Gabriel had their children to thank for his family coming back together.

It still wasn't enough though. There were two others that should be here that hadn't come back. Despite calling, summoning, scrying, and searching, it had seemed almost as if Dean and Castiel had vanished without trace. It hurt all of them to know that neither of them seemed interested in coming back. Gabriel blamed himself for it but Dean had been right. He was thankful for the eldest Winchester doing what he did. Now if only he would come home so he could tell him that.

"Stop that Gabe. This is no place for that." Sam said softly, coming to stand behind is mate and running his fingers through his hair. "We just have to believe that they'll come back some day. They can't stay away forever."

"I told him that I would never forgive him for what did." Gabriel said. "I may as well have told him to never come back. I can't help but blame myself."

"So does that mean you're ready to forgive them?" Michael asked suddenly.

Sam nodded. "Gabriel wanted to forgive them when he found out about Tabbris. He wanted Dean and Cas to be here for the birth of our first child. That was why we tried everything we could during that time to find them. After that we just... It's not that we gave up. We just knew that they didn't want to be found by us."

Lucifer sighed and turned to look at Michael, who nodded. Lucifer reached over and nudged Adam, passing him a slim black cell blonde took it with a grin, sliding it up his sleeve while Gabriel and Sam weren't looking. Taking a big drink of his beer he stood and stretched. Michael turned to look at him as he headed inside.

"Adam where are you going?" Michael asked.

"I just need to go to the bathroom Mike. I promise nothing will attack me between here and the bathroom. Just sit down and watch our kids." Adam said with a grin, before turning to Gabriel. "He is so over protective. How did you stand it?"

Gabriel grinned. "I was able to stand him because he could never make me do anything."

"I still can't make you do anything!" Michael snapped.

"Don't feel bad." Sam said. "Neither can I."

Adam grinned and snuck off. He went past the bathroom and towards the front of the house. He double checked to make sure that he wasn't followed before heading out to the front porch. Going outside he sat down on the steps and opened the phone Lucifer had given him. There was only one number in the phone and there wasn't even a name to go with it. Smiling at the phone he opened the messages that were filled with pictures of their family and typed in two words before hitting send.

^They're ready.^

Closing the phone Adam slid it into his pants before turning and heading back to join his family.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Gabriel frowned as he heard the doorbell ring for his house. Hell he'd forgotten he even had a doorbell because it was never used. Setting aside the plate of food he turned to see Sam giving him the same look but from his place in the kitchen he could see the other three in the living room start smiling. His frown increasing, Gabriel headed for the door followed closely by Sam. Opening the door, they were shocked into silence by the sight of a very familiar dark haired, over coat wearing angel who was carrying a small infant that couldn't be more then a week old.

Castiel gave them a shy smile. "Hello Gabriel, Sam. I just wanted..." The angel trailed off and suddenly looked very unsure of himself. "If this is a bad time I can come back another day. I can see that you are having a family gathering."

If it wasn't for the baby he was holding Gabriel would have smacked his younger brother hard enough to send him into the next state. "Yes it is a family gathering and in case you've forgotten since you've been away for so long, it's a family that you are a part of."

Castiel broke into a blinding smile and leaned down and gave Gabriel an awkward hug due to the little one he was carrying. Sam was much easier since the taller had just wrapped his arms around the two of them. Gabriel noticed the baby bag by Cas's feet and grabbed it before stepping aside to let his younger brother in. Castiel smiled and made his way into the house before heading into the living room. With a smile Gabriel motioned him to his chair and Castiel took it with a smile and the bag was set down next to him.

"Thank you Gabriel. I know my appearance is sudden but-"

"Cassie I could care less how sudden this is. I'm just glad you're here. We've been trying to find you for years." Gabriel said. "I never thought I would see you again. You have no idea just how happy you've made me."

Castiel gave him a blinding smile. "I've missed you as well."

The baby gave a little whimper and Castiel's attention went straight towards quieting the little one, softly whispering in Enochian to the baby. The little one began to calm once more and Castiel smiled before turning back to his family with a blush.

"I apologize. This is his first trip out since he was born." Castiel said. "I wasn't sure how he would take to traveling but he seems to enjoy it so far."

"May I?" Gabriel asked, eager to meet his new nephew.

Castiel nodded and handed over the little one. Without even thinking about it Gabriel let his Grace wash over the baby in a soothing wave. The little one responded with a happy noise. The archangel took in the black hair with brown streaks in it and wondered if the baby's eyes were green or blue. He was about to ask when he noticed something unusual about the baby.

"He was born premature but I can tell he's very healthy." Gabriel said looking up at Castiel. "How much was he early by?"

"Just a little under a month but it was hard the whole way through." The angel admitted. "I thought we'd lost him twice during the first four months."

Sam came over to look over his mate's shoulder at the infant. "He's so tiny. What's his name and how old is he?"

"We decided on Micah because he was such a miracle. He's only six days old." Castiel said. "He will also be our only child."

"Why didn't you come to me Cassie?" Gabriel asked. "I could have helped you."

"I really wanted to but I couldn't seeing as I am not his mother. I'm his father." Castiel said with a blush. "I found out that I can't have children. Not after losing most of my Grace when I began to Fall. My Grace won't support a child."

Sam's head snapped up at that. "You mean-"

"Yes. That was what made it so hard." Castiel admitted. "His body was never meant for it."

"So where is he?" Gabriel asked, finally addressing the elephant in the room. "Where's Dean?"

With a sigh Castiel reached for his son and Gabriel handed him over without a fuss. "He wasn't sure how welcome he would be so he made sure we arrived safely before going to finish his hunt. I told him it was a bit soon to return to hunting but he said he needed to clear his head. He'll be back soon."

"I hope so." Sam said. "Are you sure he's okay?"

Castiel nodded. "He's fine. Just a simple salt and burn. He shouldn't be more then an hour."

Gabriel smiled down at the now sleeping Micah. "Why don't we take Micah upstairs to the nursery? That way he can sleep and we can talk. I have a baby monitor that we can watch him through."

Castiel nodded and followed his brother upstairs. He was a bit surprised to see that the nursery was already set up and ready to go. Giving his brother a glare Gabriel explained that Lucifer told him that he was expecting once more so he made the room available. Apologizing Castiel laid his son down and the two angels returned to the party.

It took Castiel a bit of time before he warmed up to his two oldest brothers but he was soon deep in conversation with Michael about angelic artifacts with Lucifer jumping in about some of the ones they had actually used in battle. Watching Castiel interact with everyone else made Gabriel feel like their years apart never happened. Now if only the last member of their family would appear. And speaking of the blonde archangel reached down and turned off the baby monitor before slowly slipping away unnoticed to the nursery upstairs.

As he climbed the stairs he thought of a million different things he could say but none of them seemed right. To be honest Gabriel wasn't even sure that there really was anything he could say to make things right. Stopping by the door he could hear a soft singing coming from inside. He turned the handle slowly willing it not to make a sound. As quietly as he could he slipped inside to room, gold eyes trained on the man holding Micah.

"Hello Dean." Gabriel said, his voice barely a whisper.

The man stiffened and very carefully placed his son back into the crib before turning to face him. Gabriel's eyes widened as he took in the sight of the hunter. Dean looked like he had lost weight. He was pale and there were bags under his eyes. He looked run down. There was just no other way for Gabriel to describe it. Dean looked like he could use a few good meals and a couple nights of uninterrupted sleep.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." Dean said looking at the floor. "Sorry for disturbing you. I just wanted to say good night to Micah before I headed to bed."

"You look like you could use a shower and a few good meals." Gabriel said. "Both of which you can find here. There's also plenty of beds for you to use."

Dean looked away before looking back up his pained green eyes locking with warm gold. "I wasn't really planning on staying. It's why I left Cas and Micah here. We didn't exactly part on the best of terms after what I did."

"I figured as much when you weren't at Cassie's side when he showed up with Micah." Gabriel admitted. "I was expecting you to only stay away for a few days not years. I kept hoping you'd come back. I wanted to go find you a while ago Dean but then things got hectic with the kids.

"I wanted-No. I needed to tell you that you were right. I may have hated you then but I am very glad now that you did what you did for me. For us. I don't think I've ever been this happy. I owe you so much Dean. I still don't know how I'll ever repay you."

Dean gave him a weak smile. "I'm just glad you're happy now Gabe. You and Sammy. It's all I ever really wanted."

"There is only one thing now that would make our happiness even better. Do you know what would do that?" Gabriel asked, taking a step closer to the hunter.

Dean swallowed but stood his ground; he was waiting for the angel to strike him for what he did and he wasn't going to back down. "Seeing me get knocked on my ass with a fat lip?"

Gabriel reached out and pulled the hunter into a hug despite his flinch at the gentle touch. "The only thing that would make us happier is if you and Castiel would come back home to us. We miss you. Please come home."

He felt a sob break free from the body he was holding. Gabriel held on tighter even as those sobs increased. He felt someone else come into the room and two more pairs of arms joined the hug. It didn't take long for the hunter to stop crying and he pulled back from the angel only to get enveloped in a bone crushing hug by Sam. The youngest was whispering softly to his brother, sounding both angry and relieved at him. Castiel stood by his mate, watching the reunion with a smile.

Sam pulled back from the hug drying his tears. "Don't you ever run off like that again Dean."

Dean gave him a tired smile as he wiped away his own tears. "I think I'm done running for now. Promise. I'll stay if you want me too."

"We do. There's some people you need to meet." Sam said. "You've missed a lot."

Dean nodded and let his brother pull him downstairs where Lucifer, Michael, and Adam were waiting with the kids. Sam pushed him down on the couch where he collapsed gratefully. He didn't want to admit that he was exhausted but he pushed it away and put a smile on his face when Sam brought a little boy over to him.

"And who is this?" Dean asked, taking in the messy brown hair and gold eyes, the pictures that he had been sent by Michael, Lucifer and Adam not doing the boy any justice.

Sam smiled. "Tabbris, this is your Uncle Dean. Dean, This is my son Tabbris. He's ten."

Tabbris pouted and Dean chuckled at the puppy eyes he had. "Dad I'm turning eleven in two months. I'm almost an adult now!"

"Sure you are Kiddo." Dean said ruffling his hair. "You certainly do take after your Dad."

Tabbris turned his shining gold eyes on his uncle. "Really Uncle Dean?"

"Yeah. Sammy can't deny you."

Sam grinned and turned to point at the last two children. "This brat is Jophiel. He's Michael and Lucifer's son. He's also a trouble maker."

Jophiel gave him a grin that definitely belonged to Lucifer. "You're only in trouble if you get caught! Right Uncle Gabriel?"

Michael let out a frustrated noise and buried his face in his hands. "Gabriel you are a terrible influence on my son!"

Gabriel just shrugged with a grin. "Someone needs to be."

With a chuckle Sam turned to the little girl who was in Adam's lap. "And this little Princess is Dina. She's Adam's daughter."

Dean smiled at her and with a wave of his hand suddenly had a yellow daffodil in his hand and he passed it to Dina. "You can't greet a princess with giving her flowers."

Dina flushed and gave Dean a whispered 'Thank you' before hiding her face in Adam's shirt.

Dean chuckled. "She's cute."

Adam hugged her close. "She's also very shy. The only people she really opens up too are Jophiel and Razael whenever he's around."

"Of course. They're her big brothers." Dean said. "If it makes you feel better, Sammy was shy like that so you can say it runs in the family."

A sudden cry spilt the air and Dean jerked looking towards the stairs. He closed his eyes before he shimmered and vanished. A few seconds later he came walking down the stairs with a whimpering Micah held close to his chest. Castiel, who had gone into the kitchen when he heard the cry, met Dean at the foot of the stairs with a bottle. The hunter took it and moved to his seat once more and gave the infant the bottle. Dina pulled away and went to stand next to Dean, looking down at Micah.

"He's tiny. Aren't you afraid you'll hurt him?" She asked softly.

Dean gave her a smile. "I was at first. Now I'm not."

Dina turned and went over to Lucifer putting a hand on his stomach. "Mom is my new brother or sister going to be that small?"

Lucifer shook his head. "No. Micah was born before he was supposed to so he's a lot smaller."

Gabriel smiled as he watched his family. With a blinding smile Dean waved him over. Curious as to what he wanted, Gabriel strode over. Micah was drinking but his eyes were open and he was staring up at his parents. When Gabriel came into his line of sight those eyes turned to him and the sight made him break into a smile.

"I'll be damned. He's got heterochromia iridium. You can never do just one thing can you Dean?" Gabriel asked, staring at Micah. "You always have to be different."

Castiel smiled. "He's the perfect mix of Dean and myself."

Tabbris made a face and looked at his mom. "What's hetta-hecta-"

"Heterochromia iridium." Gabriel said. "It just means that your cousin here has two different colored eyes. One blue and one green."

That had everyone moving to take a look. Sure enough Micah was looking around with a bicolor gaze. Dean smiled as he felt Gabriel's hand come to rest on his shoulder and Sam's coming to rest on his back. Looking around at the people gathered there Dean couldn't help but feel complete. After all this time they were back with their family and it had almost tripled in size. Castiel leaned closer and gave Dean a kiss on his cheek, feeling their bond thrum with happiness and contentment, something that had been missing since they'd left.

Dean smiled and turned his gaze back to his son. "Hey you. I see you looking around, I want you to meet your family. Welcome home, Micah Gabriel Winchester."