Chapter Thirty-Seven

'You wanna what?' Dean exclaimed, his mouth falling open.

'She said they want to adopt Cas,' Sam said excitedly.

'Yeah, I heard her, Sam, I just meant WHAT?'

'Listen, your dad and I have been thinking about it for a long time,' Mary told them, 'but I wanted to talk to you guys first. You should get a say in who joins our family.'

'You never asked me if you could have Sam,' Dean said.

Sam elbowed him and he shoved Sam back.

Mary laughed. 'I guess you're right about that, but still… What do you guys think?'

'I'm in,' Sam said immediately. 'Cas is already a way better brother than Dean anyway.'

Dean rolled his eyes. 'I don't know, Mom…'

'I looked into it, and don't worry, it would still be perfectly legal for you guys to date. But if it's too weird for you, we don't have to do it.'

Dean thought carefully. 'It'll be weird,' he admitted, 'but then we'll get over it. I think you should go for it.'

Mary beamed and clapped her hands. 'Oh, this is so exciting,' she said. 'I'm making brownies, you guys wanna help?'

'Sure,' said Dean.

Sam sighed but agreed to help.

Mary had Sam on mixing, and Dean on melting butter and chocolate, while she tidied up around them.

John and Cas returned from physiotherapy just as the brownies finished baking.

'Something smells good,' John called, as Mary was pulling the brownies from the oven.

'We made brownies,' Mary called back. 'Come get 'em while they're warm.'

Cas and John came into the kitchen, and Dean went over to Cas, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him in for a kiss.

'Dean…' Cas mumbled, blushing.

Sam made an exaggerated gagging sound.

'How was physio?' Dean asked, grinning.

'Not bad. I still have to keep this crutch, but she thinks I only need another week or so.'

'Awesome.'

Mary put the brownies on a plate. 'Why don't we all sit down?' she said, sitting at the table with the plate. Her nervous expression had returned.

'Now?' John asked, noticing her nerves.

Mary nodded, so John sat down beside her, while Cas, Dean and Sam sat opposite.

'These are very good,' Cas said through a bite of brownie, oblivious to the sudden tension in the room.

Mary bit her lip. 'Cas, sweetie, we want to talk to you about something.'

Cas's expression fell and he put down the brownie in his hand. 'You want me to move out.'

'What? No!' Mary said, reaching out to hold Cas's hand. 'We - John and I - we want to adopt you.'

Cas stared at her. No one spoke while he processed what Mary had said. The silence stretched on until Cas finally stammered, 'B-but I'm too old.'

'Not for us,' Mary smiled, squeezing his hand. 'Adult adoption is totally a thing. Here…' She pulled out a document and slid it across the table.

Cas carefully read it, then put it down. 'I don't understand,' he said. 'You want me?'

'Yes, honey,' said Mary. 'We love you, and we want to be your parents for as long as you'll have us.' Mary welled up and John put an arm around her.

'This isn't dependent on your relationship with Dean,' John added. 'No matter what happens between you two, we want you to be our son.'

'What do you think, Sam?' Cas asked.

'Are you kidding? I'd love for you to be my brother,' Sam grinned.

Cas nodded, but was unsure. 'Dean, can I talk to you for a minute?' He abruptly got up and walked into the garage. Dean followed him hurriedly.

'Hey are you okay?' Dean asked, going over to him and taking both his hands.

Cas nodded, but he looked painfully uncertain.

Dean kissed his forehead. 'It's okay. You can say no, they won't be mad. They're just trying to show you how much they love you.'

Cas pressed his lips together. 'What about - what about us?'

Dean smiled and squeezed his hands. 'I support whatever decision you make. I love you and nothing will change that.'

'It won't be weird if I said yes?'

'It'll definitely be weird,' Dean laughed. 'But as long as no one calls me your brother, I think we can handle it. Those Twilight guys figured it out, right?'

Cas wrinkled his nose. 'They're fictional vampires, Dean - wait, you've seen Twilight?'

Dean shrugged. 'Jo went through a phase.'

Cas let out a long breath. 'This is big,' he murmured.

'It is,' Dean said.

Cas squared his shoulders and went back into the kitchen, where Mary, John and Sam looked at him expectantly.

'Would you excuse me for a moment?' he said quietly.

Mary reached a hand out to him, but he didn't take it. 'I'm sorry, I know we sprung this on you. You can take as much time as you want to think about it-'

'It's fine,' Cas said. 'I just need to go and be quiet for a minute.'

'Of course, honey.'

Cas left the room and they listened in silence as he limped up the stairs.

'I hope he's not upset,' Mary said anxiously.

'He's not upset,' Dean reassured her, setting about making them all coffee. 'He's a little overwhelmed, but he'll be all right. Just give him a minute.'

They didn't speak much while they waited, and just sipped their cups of coffee.

Half an hour passed, and Dean fidgeted in his seat. 'Maybe I should go check on him.' He got up, but then they heard Cas's uneven footsteps coming back down the stairs.

He appeared in the kitchen doorway, holding some paper.

'I've made my decision,' he said.

'Really?' said Mary.

Cas nodded. 'I -um - I think - yes. Yes, I want to be adopted by you.'

Mary gasped. 'Oh, Cas, are you sure?'

'Yes,' he said. 'But I wondered - I don't think I want it with all the legal documents. Is that okay?'

Mary's eyes filled. 'Yeah, of course.'

'I still wanted it written down though, so maybe we could sign these instead?' He turned over the papers he was holding to show them homemade adoption certificates. 'I made two, so you can have one here, and I can take one to college.'

'I love that idea!'

Cas sat back down and pushed the papers over to Mary and John. 'There's a spot for you to sign as well, Sam. If you want to.'

'Awesome!' Sam grinned, pulling the papers towards himself.

'Dean, I didn't put anywhere for you to sign,' Cas told him. 'I didn't think you'd want to sign as my brother.'

'Good call,' Dean smiled, and squeezed his knee under the table. 'Maybe there's some other papers we can sign together someday.'

Cas looked up at him and smiled back. 'Someday.'

Sam pushed the papers over to Cas, but Cas hesitated, his pen poised over the paper.

'Can I keep my name?' he asked.

'Of course you can,' said John.

Cas hesitated a moment more, then finally signed his name, then looked nervously at John and Mary. 'Can - can I call you Mom and Dad?' he asked quietly.

Mary did her best to fight off her tears, but her voice was thick with emotion as she spoke. 'You can call us whatever feels right for you.'

'Can I hug you?'

Mary immediately got to her feet, arms open, and walked around the table to embrace Cas. 'John, get in here,' she said, beckoning him over.

As they were hugging, Dean pulled out his phone and took a picture of them all.

'Oh yeah, that one's getting framed,' he grinned. 'Hey, Cas, hold up your paper.'

Cas smiled brightly and did as he was asked.

Dean excitedly sent the picture to the group chat.

Dean

Guess who just got adopted!

Jo H

You're kidding, that's awesome!

Crowley Sucks 🍆

Congrats, angel

Kevin Tran

Happy for you man

'I think we should have a party,' said Mary, finally letting go. 'We can invite all your friends.'

Cas nodded. 'A small one, though,' he said. 'If you don't mind.'

'Sure thing, honey,' Mary said warmly. 'Any ideas who you wanna invite?'

'Charlie,' he said immediately. 'And - and Anna.'

'Great idea,' said Mary.

They spent the rest of the evening planning the party, and ordered pizza for dinner. Cas was quiet while they ate, but kept a hand on Dean's thigh.

Cas didn't say much while they got ready for bed either, but curled up beside Dean with an arm across his chest.

'It's been a big day,' Dean murmured, softly running his fingers up and down Cas's arm. 'Are you feeling okay?'

Cas sighed. 'I don't know,' he admitted. 'I keep thinking about my parents.'

'Oh yeah?'

'I worry that they wouldn't approve.'

Dean cuddled Cas closer. 'I don't know much about them, but I think they'd be thrilled that you found a family that loves you.'

Cas breathed deeply. 'You're right,' he said.

'Maybe you should talk to your sister,' Dean suggested. 'She's been through this, right?'

'That's a good idea.'

'I've been around for a few kids that got adopted. It's totally normal to feel this way,' Dean reassured him, 'just so long as you remember, you haven't done anything wrong. It's okay to find a new family.'

'Thank you, Dean.'

They fell asleep together, but Dean was woken a few hours later, by Cas tossing and turning beside him. Dean gently shook his shoulder. 'Baby, you're dreaming,' he mumbled sleepily.

It took a few more shakes, but Cas started awake with a small cry, gasping for breath.

'It's okay,' Dean murmured, pulling Cas close as he started to cry.

Cas clutched at him as he sobbed into Dean's chest.

'Just a dream,' Dean whispered, rubbing Cas's back.

Just then, the door cracked open, and Mary's voice came through the doorway.

'Is everyone wearing clothes?'

'Yeah, Mom,' Dean said back.

Mary, John, and Sam all crept inside and bundled up together with Cas

'We've got you, Cas,' Sam whispered, curling up beside him.

Cas's sobbing slowed down, but he couldn't control his shaking.

'Do you wanna talk about it?' Dean asked, stroking his hair.

Cas gulped down more sobs. 'I - dreamed about my - my mother,' he told them. 'The day she - she jumped-' Cas broke into a fresh wave of tears, and Dean pulled him even closer.

Mary reached over and grabbed one of his hands, and John passed Dean over some tissues so he could help Cas clean his face.

Eventually, Cas's emotions drained and he fell asleep, cocooned in blankets and gentle embraces.

'Dean, can you crack the window?' John whispered after a while. 'It's hot in here.'

'Why don't you guys just go?' Dean whispered. 'I've got this.'

'Are you sure?' asked Mary.

'Yeah, go on, it's too hot for you to stay, go get some fresh air.'

They all carefully extricated themselves from the bed, one at a time so as not to disturb Cas. Mary bent down and gave Cas a soft kiss on his forehead, and they all snuck back out of the room.

Cas didn't stir, so Dean watched him for a while, making sure he was sleeping peacefully.

Cas slept well into the morning, but insisted on buying lunch for everyone, while he invited his friends to his party.

'You know, prom's coming up, we should probably go shopping for something fancy,' Dean said, brushing the crumbs from his fingers.

'Shame I still have to wear the boot,' Cas said, looking down at it with a slight frown.

'Well, you rock it anyway,' Dean said, kissing his cheek. 'I got time this afternoon if you wanna go have a look around.'

'Oh, I can't today,' Cas said. 'I'm running a campaign for Sam.'

'Right.'

Cas glanced around, then leaned into Dean. 'I'll make it up to you later,' he whispered, trailing his fingers down Dean's chest, drifting dangerously close to Dean's belt buckle.

'Hmm, works for me,' Dean grinned, kissing Cas tenderly.

'You know, as soon as I get this boot off, we can really get up to some… mischief,' Cas said with a wink.

'Wow, someone's feeling a little hot,' Dean laughed.

Cas rolled his eyes. 'Not all of us had as much fun as you did at the baseball game the other day.'

'Oh, I see,' Dean said, kissing Cas again. 'I'm sure I can fix that.'

'Cas, come on!' Sam's voice called from upstairs.

Cas puffed out a breath and pulled away from Dean. 'See you later,' he said suggestively, before climbing the stairs to Sam's room.

Dean stayed in Cas's bed that night, and let his hands and tongue wander wherever they wanted.

They went shopping after school, and Dean found a suit that he liked quite quickly, but Cas had more trouble deciding what he liked, and still hadn't chosen anything the week before prom.

'Maybe you should try something in a jewel tone,' Mary suggested as she began cooking dinner. 'You've only been trying black and blue shades, right? You might like something in a brighter colour.'

'That could be worth a shot,' Cas said, leaning in the doorway.

'Ooh, I think you'd look lovely in a deep, emerald green.'

'What do you think, Dean?' Cas asked, watching Dean mix up burger meat.

'I think I prefer you with no suit at all, personally,' Dean grinned.

'Please don't do that while I'm in earshot,' Mary protested.

'Sorry, Mom,' Dean sniggered, then blew a kiss at Cas while she wasn't looking.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

'I'll get it,' Cas said, as he was nearest the front door, and limped over to it.

'You expecting anyone?' Mary asked Dean.

'No, you?'

Mary shook her head.

Dean quickly washed his hands and went to see who it was.

Cas opened the door and gasped. 'Gabriel!'

Welcome back! Thanks to EmilyAnnMcGarrett-Winchester for the review! See you next time :)