26. Chapter 26

The bookstore wasn’t as large as some of the ones that Sam had fawned over in the past, but it was decently sized from what Dean could see. The front area seemed to be designed for little kids, as there was a big mat on the floor and lots of colorful bean bag chairs and even a few toys. Some of the books that were lying around even looked like picture books, though Dean wasn’t sure what a nestling would want with a book like that – it wasn’t like this process made them lose the ability to read English.

Castiel squeezed his hand and then let go. “Stay here with Balthazar, okay? I want to get some more books for us to read before you go to bed.”

Considering that Dean would be the one listening to the stories, that sounded like something he should be a part of. But when he turned to say as much, all he saw was the backs of Castiel and Gabriel as they made their way deeper into the store. For few seconds, his chest tightened and panic threatened to overwhelm him. He even took a step after them before he forced himself to stop. He was being stupid. Castiel would be perfectly fine in the store, especially with Gabriel beside him. There was nothing Dean would be able to do even if they were attacked.

So instead, he turned back to look at the area for kids. There were a couple of nestlings sitting on the bean bags – two women who were giggling over a book – but otherwise the space was empty. Instructions or not, he was about ready to move on to something more interesting when he noticed one of the books on the floor beside his foot. All of the printing was in a strange language he couldn’t identify. The symbols meant nothing to him. He bent down and picked it up, frowning.

The cover depicted a smiling male nestling with pale green wings flying over a bed of flowers, which didn’t give much hint as to what the title would be. Dean flipped the book open and looked at the first page. The same male nestling as the one on the cover was shown sitting on a bed, looking despondent, while an angel stood over him. There was more of that weird writing across the bottom of the page in big block letters, but this time one of the symbols was a little more familiar even if he still wasn’t sure what it meant.

The language was Enochian, Dean realized, slowly sinking down onto a blue bean bag. It fluffed up around him but he was too interested in the book to care. He and Sam and Bobby had done a ton of research into angels during the Apocalypse, and he could remember how much difficulty that Sam and Bobby had had trying to read some of the tomes – it was next to impossible without Castiel around to translate. But he was positive he would’ve remembered Bobby having books like these. God, Sam would shit a brick when he found out that there were Enochian picture books.

He turned to the next page, and then the next, and pieced together that the story was about the male nestling learning to fly. Judging by one picture, which showed him sitting on the ground and crying while the angel from the cover consoled him, it was meant to be a corny message about not giving up. Despite that, none of the symbols made any sense to him. And he couldn’t have even tried to pronounce them. It was frustrating, and it got even worse when the two nestlings across from him started whispering in Enochian. He recognized the deep, guttural syllables and glared at them.

“Your face could get stuck that way, you know,” Balthazar said, and Dean started badly. He’d nearly forgotten that the angel was even there. He turned, looking past Balthazar and scanning the store quickly to see who else might’ve snuck up on him, but no one was within a ten foot radius except for the other two nestlings.

Balthazar knelt beside him and put a hand on top of Dean’s, gently prying his fingers free from where he’d unconsciously gripped it so hard. “You won’t be able to read Enochian for a while yet.”

“Why not?” Dean asked, frowning at him. “I’m an angel. Sort of.”

“You’re a hatchling,” Balthazar corrected. “Not even nestlings can read Enochian. You haven’t absorbed enough grace yet.” He closed the book. “When you’re fully grown, your grace will understand the language intuitively and translate the sigils into something your mind can identify. With practice, you'll be able to speak it.”

“But Bobby could read it.”

“No, he can’t. He can see that two symbols are the same, and make guesses on what they mean based on the context, but he can’t really read it the way that an angel can. I suppose you could do the same, and eventually – like Bobby – you would be capable of doing it quickly enough that it seems like you’re reading the texts. But that would require years of practice, and you’re a baby. By the time you’d learned the human way, you’ll have matured.”

“So then what are those for?” Dean pointed to the book.

“Practice. Someday, when you’re older, Cassie will buy these for you and help you learn to develop the pathway between your grace and your mind to make the process easier on you and translation faster. Just like a human child learning to read for the first time,” Balthazar finished, not unkindly, but it still left Dean frustrated. He scowled down at the book and the offending language.

“It’s not fair,” he muttered. He didn't particularly like reading that much - he'd always been slow at it - but he didn't like the idea of being told he couldn't do something, either.

The next ten minutes were spent in stubborn silence, not that Balthazar tried to talk to him again. Dean pretended to ignore the two nestlings until a male angel came by to collect them, and then he just sat and glared at the nearest shelf of books until Castiel and Gabriel came back. Castiel was carrying a bag which was filled with several books. He frowned when he noticed that Dean was pouting and looked back and forth between him and Balthazar.

"Is everything okay?"

"Your baby wants to learn to read," Balthazar said before Dean could stop him, showing Castiel the book he was still holding.

Dean blushed a little, quickly dropping his eyes to avoid the surprised - or maybe even amused - looks. He knew he wasn't very smart. It was one of the reasons why he left books and research to Sam. He wished now that he'd just left the stupid book alone. Trying to figure out what the Enochian was saying had given him a headache and made his eyes ache from the strain, not that he was about to say as much out loud.

"I think you're a little young for that," Gabriel said, dropping a hand onto Dean's shoulder. "But your daddy could read it to you."

"No," Dean said, shaking off Gabriel's hand. He rolled out of the bag and clambered to his feet. The movement made his head hurt a little more, but he ignored it. If Castiel or Gabriel found out, they'd make it better. And he didn't want that right now. He looked up at Castiel.

"Daddy, I'm bored. Can we go now?"

"Of course," Castiel said, though there was another frown tugging at his mouth as he took Dean's hand and allowed him to lead the way out of the store.

Unfortunately, the next step was the furniture store instead of somewhere more interesting. At least it was a much bigger store than the bookstore, but it was still divided pretty evenly into a kid's side and a baby side - and much to Dean's displeasure, Castiel immediately turned into the baby side. And sure there was a lot of furniture - cribs, changing tables, high chairs, strollers, and walkers just to name off what he could see at first glance, but there were also accessories like comforter sets and mobiles - but there was no need to buy any of it.

"Why are we here?" he asked.

"To buy furniture, Dean. I told you that."

"But my room has enough furniture in it. We don't need any of this stuff."

"That's for me to decide, not you."

Dean scowled again and stopped walking, deciding that he wouldn't move another step. But that didn't stop Castiel from continuing on. He was clearly an angel on a mission, because he just let go of Dean's hand, told him to stay with Gabriel, and walked away with Balthazar in tow. Dean stared after the two of them incredulously, torn between shock that Castiel had left him behind again or frustration that no one was listening to him.

He was seriously contemplating just waiting outside of the store until an arm wrapped around his shoulders. Either oblivious or just outright ignoring the hint he'd been given earlier, Gabriel gently steered Dean down another aisle. This one had a bunch of seats that at first Dean couldn't identify, until he realized that they were meant to function as a cross between a carrier and a car seat. It didn't look comfortable, and if Castiel thought Dean was getting into one...

Gabriel started to laugh. "If you could see the look on your face right now, sweetheart."

"Shut up," Dean mumbled, aiming a jab at Gabriel's ribs that did nothing to free him from the archangel's grip. There was nothing to do but let himself lean into the warmth a little as they walked up the next aisle. This one was full of different styles of rocking chairs, and at least these Dean could appreciate: some of the chairs were carefully crafted works of art, not the cheap crap usually found in department stores.

That wasn't so bad. But then they turned the corner into the next, and last, aisle, and Dean found himself looking at a bunch of strollers. At first glance, he wasn't sure why they were even in the part of the store that catered to hatchlings. Not a single stroller looked big enough for a five-year-old, never mind a grown adult. They were all roughly the same size as a regular baby stroller. Come to think of it, so had the one he'd seen outside when they first arrived, and he said as much.

"Ever heard of the TARDIS?" Gabriel asked him, finally dropping his arm so that he could reach up and grab one of the strollers. It was one of the simpler ones, black and sturdy with padding across the handles and a little space underneath for bags. He set it down in front of Dean, and Dean wasn't sure what the TARDIS was but the stroller was way bigger on the inside than it was on the outside.

The inside looked more like a full length bed. The space was mostly vertical, though there was a slight tilt so that whoever was inside would be sitting up a bit even when lying down. The tag attached, when Dean glanced at it, said that it could be converted into a seated stroller as well, and for that reason it came with an attachment to fit across the lap of the hatchling. It also said that the hood of the stroller, which could be pulled down all the way, was mojoed to keep anyone on the outside from seeing in while whoever was inside could still see out.

Dean was skeptical at best. He stuck a hand under the hood and stared hard at it, but he couldn't see anything beyond the fabric. But then, that wasn't saying much considering that Gabriel was once told him that his eyesight was shit compared to an angel's. And even if no one could see in, what were the chances that the hatchling on the inside could see what was going on?

"Do you want to try it?"

"What?" Dean squeaked, but Gabriel was already gripping him under the arms. Too fast for him to struggle, Gabriel lifted and turned him around, neatly setting him down in the stroller. Then he gently pushed Dean down until he was lying on his back, looking up at the hood.

It wasn't really clear - the lights from the store would've been blinding if they were, since he was looking straight up at them. His view was shaded, but he could still see everything, so it was like putting on some really expensive sunglasses. He propped himself up on his elbows, surprised to find that the stroller was actually pretty comfortable. The mattress or whatever was lining the stroller was thick and supported his body in all the right places, and there was even a little pillow for his head.

"What do you think?" Gabriel said, lifting the hood and peeking in at him. He was smiling. "I can't see in, if that's what you're wondering. I'd have to link my grace to it first."

"How do you do that?" Dean asked.

"I'll tell you later. Here, look at this." Gabriel did something - Dean wasn't sure what - and the view of the store faded away as colors bloomed across the hood. Dean's eyes widened as beautiful blues, greens, purples and silvers swirled together into a replica of the Milky Way galaxy before exploding apart into a shower of stars.

Without even thinking about it, he laid back down. His head still hurt, but the colorful soft lights were a lot easier to look at than the store's harsher lighting was, and the darkness eased the strain on his eyes. And when the stroller started to move, he relaxed even more. It was nearly identical to the feeling of the Impala on the road, and it reminded him of being a little kid and curling up in the backseat with Sam while their dad drove through the night.

He wasn't even aware of his eyes drifting shut. Within minutes, he was asleep.