July 2015

"Can I have purple walls?"

"Of course, bee. Pick what you want." Mack grinned, running off to the paint section to look at swatches. "Slow down, bug!" Dean called after her. "I swear she listens to you better than she listens to me these days," he sighed, glancing sidelong at Cas. "No she doesn't," Cas hummed, focused on the shopping list in his hand. "Yes, she does," Dean insisted. "Remember last week when we were trying to convince her that this move was good for all of us? She wouldn't stop being stubborn about it no matter what I said, then you stepped in and took over and now she's getting excited over painting her walls purple."

"Transitions can be hard for kids, especially at her age," Cas pointed out as they got to the paint aisle. "Plus she does take after you," Cas chuckled as Dean rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but she's been dealing with being on the road and major transitions practically her whole life. This shouldn't be that foreign to her." Cas smirked, giving him a pointed look as he went over to where Mack was standing with a paint swatch in each hand. "What have you decided on, bee?" he asked her. She put back one of the swatches. "I can't decide between these two," she told him, pointing to two lighter shades. While the pair worked together to decide on a shade for her room, Dean lazily leaned on the cart, pushing it forward a bit to look at the blues and greens.

He and Cas had agreed on a color scheme- minus Mack's room, because she insisted she needed her own personal touch to her permanent room, which was fair enough- for the house shortly after buying it a few weeks prior. They'd bought most of the furniture, spending many late nights putting stuff together while Mack was asleep. Now they were just working on finishing touches. The colors they had settled on previously included Swiss Coffee, Wrought Iron, Tree Swallow, Hollingsworth Green, Kendall Charcoal, Moonshine, Classic Grey, Billiard Green, Slate Tile, Palladian Blue, My Sweetheart, and Home Weekend- all shades of blue, green, black and white for each part of the house.

Dean worked on finding the corresponding swatches, circling the ones they needed so they could let a worker know what to grab them. "Did you settle on a color for your room?" he asked as Mack and Cas joined him. "Uh huh," Mack handed him the purple swatch. It had the color 'Lilac Dream' circled. It was almost light enough to pass as white, but still had a slight purple tint to it. "Pretty, bug," he smiled. "Did you find what we need?" Cas asked. "Almost. Not seeing Wrought Iron anywhere."

"You sure you're looking in the right spot?"

"Yes, I'm looking in the right spot," Dean grumbled. Cas rolled his eyes, kissing him on the cheek and stepping forward to study the dark gray paint swatches as he searched for the right color. "Dad?" Mack asked as Dean leaned lazily against the cart again while waiting for his fiancé to finish up. "Yeah, bug?" he looked over at her. "Am I gonna have to go back to school now that we're not hunting anymore?" Dean took a deep breath, exchanging a glance with Cas. That had been the stipulation when moving out of the bunker was brought up shortly after Cas proposed. If they were going to move and start a life together raising Mack, Dean had wanted them to quit hunting for good.

Sam had been kind of surprised it was Dean's idea to quit. But Dean had pointed out that as a father, he was just thinking about Mack's needs and what gave her the best chance of growing up through her teen years the most normal way possible. So, he had packed up with Cas and Mack, bade Sam farewell, and they'd moved across the country to a nice family house in Malibu. He and Cas had talked a few times about retiring at the beach. Now they were living half an hour away from the coast. "We'll talk about it more when we get home, okay, bug?"

Mack huffed, but nodded reluctantly. Dean and Cas shared another look. They both knew why Mack had reserves about attending public school. Her only experience with it was at Lisa and Ben's house, and that really hadn't ended well. Cas grabbed one particular swatch, circling the color they needed. "Alright. Let's get what we need and head home." After tracking down a worker and getting both the primer and colors they needed for the walls of their house, they left the store. "Could I be homeschooled like I was at Grandpa Bobby's house?" Mack asked. "Maybe," Dean nodded. "That will depend on whether or not Cas and I both get a job."

"Cas, can I?"

"What did your father just say, bee?" Mack huffed, slumping down in her seat and staring out the window. "See," Dean hissed at Cas under his breath. "She only listens to you." Cas lifted Dean's hand that was intertwined in his to his lips, kissing the back. "I'll have a talk with her about it at home," he murmured. Dean sighed, nodding as he glanced at Mack in the rearview mirror.

Mack squealed, darting away as Dean tried to grab her with paint covered hands. "The paint monster is coming for you, Mack," Dean said in a comical voice, wiggling his fingers as he held them up, chasing her around the room. "At this rate we're never going to get the house finished," Cas pointed out from over where he was dutifully working on covering a section of the living room wall with primer. "We're having a little fun," Mack said in a mock innocent voice, holding a paintbrush up to defend herself from Dean. "Fun?" Dean said, staring at her. "This is not fun. I shall get you," he cackled, continuing to chase after her.

Mack poked her tongue out at him, poking him with the paintbrush, ducking out of his reach just in time. Dean smirked, turning to Mack, his back to Cas. He pointed to his paint covered hand, then to Cas. Mack stifled a laugh behind her hand as Dean turned to Cas slowly. "And you're allowed to have fun," Cas sighed. "But-" he was cut off by Dean grabbing him from behind, spinning him around and pressing his hand to Cas' face. "Saruman," Dean says in a deep voice, moving his hand away to reveal a white paint handprint. His mock serious face turned into a grin, planting a kiss on his lips.

"Dean," Cas chastised, pushing his fiancé away. Dean snorted. "Ah, you know you love me," he grinned, pecking Cas on the tip of his nose. "Yes, I do. That's why I asked you to marry me." Cas leaned back in, kissing Dean again. "Guy-ys," Mack whined, pretending to gag. Both Dean and Cas laughed, pulling back. "Alright, alright. Lunch break? Order a pizza?" Dean suggested. "Yes!" Mack nodded. "Sounds good to me," Cas agreed. While Dean went to wash his hands and call for pizza, Cas focused on Mack. "Hey, bee. We need to talk."

"About?"

"Why haven't you been listening to your father?" he asked her. "I don't know," she shrugged, looking down at her feet. Cas didn't push further, waiting for her to continue. "I don't know, it- you-" she paused, taking a breath. "I guess you're just easier to talk to, and he doesn't really understand anything I tell him…" she trailed off, shrugging. "I don't know," she repeated again.

"Maybe explain things to him then?" Cas suggested gently. Mack shrugged, nodding. Dean walked back into the room with his phone. "Alright, what do we want?" he asked.

Dean blinked, looking around in confusion. He could have sworn it was afternoon and he was just about to order them pizza for lunch, but he was currently in the master bedroom beside Cas watching TV in a dark room. It was night outside. "What-?" he asked, looking away from the night sky through the curtains over at Cas. "What was that?" Cas asked, tearing his eyes away from the television screen to meet his gaze. "When… did it become night time?" Dean asked slowly.

Cas frowned in confusion, sitting up straighter in bed. "Several hours ago, babe. Are you feeling okay?" Dean swallowed nervously, biting his lip. "I… don't know. I think I'm just tired. Can we call it a night?" Cas was still studying him worriedly. "Are you sure? You know you can talk to me if something is bothering you." Dean nodded, smiling at him gratefully. "Yeah, I know. I'm just ready to get some sleep."

"Alright." Cas reached over, grabbing the remote and switching off the TV, plunging their room into darkness. "Did you talk to Mack about the whole listening deal?" Dean asked curiously as Cas settled in against his chest, tracing shapes on his skin per usual. "Yeah, Dean. We went over this earlier. I told you to talk to her about it and you two had a conversation about how she's not ready to head back to school yet. You don't remember?"

"No," Dean whispered, heart pounding out of his chest. "The last thing I remember is being about to order pizza for lunch…" Cas' fingers stilled their dance across his chest. "That's the last thing you remember?" Cas whispered back, worry lacing his tone. "N-no. Um… You know what? I do remember talking to Mack about school now. Like I said, I'm just tired. Let's get some rest, alright?"

"Alright."

They both fell silent, and Dean laid awake for several more hours, listening to Cas' breathing level out as he fell asleep and worrying about what it meant that he couldn't remember so much of his day.