71. Chapter 71

“I think Dean is worried about Christmas.”

Castiel blinked and lifted his head to look at his brother. Dean had fallen asleep not long after they’d finished breakfast. He was currently snoozing away with his head in Castiel’s lap, sucking on his thumb. Sparks was curled up beside him, purring quietly. Gabriel was sitting in the chair, having claimed that there wasn’t enough room on the couch, looking at the television. Castiel followed his gaze just in time to see a commercial for a holiday movie end.

“Christmas?” Castiel echoed. The word was vaguely familiar to him. He knew that it was one of many human holidays because he remembered Dean talking about it, but they’d been right in the middle of the Apocalypse then. Everything else had fallen to the wayside in terms of importance.

Gabriel nodded, finally looking at him. “He was thinking about it earlier while we were watching the snow. He and Sam haven’t had a real one since their mom died. But he didn’t want to say anything about it because he thinks that you and I don’t really get it, and that we’ll let the day pass by without knowing better… even though it’s really important to him.”

“That’s not surprising,” Castiel said quietly, though it bothered him immensely. He would never fully understand the quest for vengeance that had consumed John Winchester’s life. His wife had been stolen from him, and that must have been terrible beyond words. By all of Dean’s accounts, Mary Winchester had been an amazing woman.

But John had two wonderful children, and they hadn’t deserved the kind of life they’d grown up in. It was frustrating to know that because of that childhood, and in spite of all the progress they’d made, Dean was still hesitant to bring up something that clearly mattered to him. Did he think Castiel would scoff at him? Or, more likely, he thought that Castiel just wouldn’t care. His wings ruffled in frustration.

“Well, obviously we’re going to have to make this the best Christmas ever,” Gabriel said. “Maybe not for Sam, because he’s still being a stubborn little shit. But definitely for Dean.”

“I don’t disagree, but we don’t know anything about it,” said Castiel. And frankly, as much as he loved his brother, he wasn’t sure he’d take whatever Gabriel said into account anyway. Gabriel had some weird ideas, and the fact that he’d spent centuries hanging out with Pagan gods hadn’t helped. Castiel tried to picture Dean enjoying a ritual that involved some kind of sacrifice and couldn’t.

Gabriel just smirked at him. “That’s why I’m going to baby-sit again, and you’re gonna go visit Bobby.”

Of course. Castiel smiled. “Excellent idea,” he said approvingly, carefully sliding out from under Dean.

“What, you’re going now?” Gabriel said.

“No time like the present. I believe this Christmas is only a month away. There may be things we need to do early to make it the best experience for Dean.” Castiel spread his wings and was gone before Gabriel could protest, flying towards the Singer household.

It was early enough in the day that Jody was still at work. Bobby was alone, whistling under his breath as he carted firewood into the house. He barely blinked at Castiel’s sudden appearance, just set down a load of wood with a grunt and wiped the sweat beading up on his forehead. He eyed Castiel for a moment, no doubt wondering what had brought on the unexpected visit, before he sighed and spoke.

“You don’t have Dean with you. Somethin’ wrong?”

“Oh! No. Dean is fine. He’s napping,” Castiel said. “Besides, I wanted to talk to you alone.”

Bobby’s eyes narrowed. “Is it Sam?”

“Everything is fine, Bobby. I saw Sam last week. He seemed… content,” Castiel said, pausing slightly before he finished his sentence. Content didn’t seem like the right word to use either, but he couldn’t really say Sam was happy right now. Unhappy wasn’t the right word either, if only because Sam was determined to pretend like he was enjoying being at school.

“Content,” Bobby said with a snort, clearly seeing straight through the carefully chosen word. “What’s going on, then?”

“I wanted to ask you about Christmas.”

That definitely wasn’t what Bobby was expecting. He reared back, blinking. “Christmas?”

“Yes. Gabriel realized this morning that it’s approaching. I want to make Dean happy, but I don’t know much about it. You seemed like the best person to ask.” Castiel looked at him hopefully. Bobby was the next best thing that Dean and Sam had to a father.

"Christmas," Bobby muttered under his breath. He sighed and slowly rolled his shoulders. "Okay, Cas. Come on. Let's go have a beer and talk."

Gratefully, Castiel followed him into the house. It was warmer than he'd expected inside; there was a fire crackling away inside the fireplace, which explained what the firewood had been before. He made a note to himself to move the rest of the firewood inside the Singer household before he left. That was what Dean would have done, though Dean only would've done it after giving Bobby a hard time for trying to give himself a heart attack. He eyed Bobby curiously, but could see no indication that Bobby's physical health was at risk from the exertion. Still, he would help.

"Sit down," Bobby told him, gesturing to the kitchen table. As he walked over to the refrigerator, he took a phone out of his pocket and painstakingly tapped out a text on it. Then he put his phone away, took two beers out, and set one down in front of Castiel before taking a seat across from him. Man and angel looked at each other in silence for a long moment, neither knowing quite how to start the conversation.

Finally, Castiel broke the awkward silence. "It snowed this morning," he said. "And that made Dean think of Christmas."

"You must be stationed pretty far north to have snow this early," Bobby said.

"Yes, we are," Castiel said, not offering any details about the location of their nest. There was no doubt that Bobby could be trusted, but the less people who knew where it was the better. No point in tempting faint.

A shadow of a smile crossed Bobby's face as he cracked his beer open. "That'll make the kid happy. Dean was always a sucker for snow. No matter what he tells you, he was always the one dragging Sam out the door the second they woke up if there was snow on the ground. Turned 'em both into a couple of little kids."

"I'm glad that it made them happy," Castiel murmured.

"Not much else did sometimes." Bobby took a long swallow of his beer. "To tell you the truth, Cas, I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask about Christmas. I haven't really celebrated the holidays since my first wife died." His throat bobbed as he lowered his gaze to stare at the table. "She was really the one with all of the traditions. I was just along for the ride."

"Sam and Dean never spent Christmas here?"

"They did once. That was the first year I met John, actually. I didn't know the boys real well then, but they were cute kids." Bobby sighed again. "Sometimes I kick myself for not taking them away from John."

"He was their father," Castiel said, eyebrows furrowed. "Dean told me - wouldn't that be illegal?"

"Yeah, but it would've been worth it," Bobby said. "In the long run, I guess Dean ended up better off. He's got you now, and that idiotic brother of yours."

Castiel grinned. "I'll make sure to tell Gabriel you called him an idiot."

"Go ahead. Idiot deserves it." Bobby's voice was much fonder than he would have admitted. The way to get on Bobby Singer's good side was definitely through the Winchester boys.

"Can't argue with that," Castiel said. "I understand. But... do you have any ideas for where I could find information? I have the feeling that Dean has something very specific in mind for Christmas, but he doesn't want to tell me because he thinks it's asking too much." Or at least, that was his best guess for why Dean was choosing to remain quiet. "I want to make this the best Christmas he's ever had if I can, but I don't know anything about it. And I'm sure you remember how easy it is for angels to get something wrong even with the best of intentions."

Bobby's mouth twisted, like he was hiding a smile. "Yeah, I remember. Hard to forget. Look." He shifted, leaning his weight against the table and fixing Castiel with a serious look. "Dean loves you more than he's ever loved anyone, with the exception of Sam. Believe me when I say that anything you do for that boy will mean the world to him, simply because you tried."

Castiel inclined his head in acknowledgement, because they both knew that Bobby was right. "I still want to make it a Christmas to remember," he replied. "It's the first one, and that makes it special. Dean deserves that."

"Never thought I'd see the day when you were so preoccupied with human sentiments," Bobby said. He cocked his head, hearing the same thing that Castiel did: a car's tires crunching over gravel outside. Bobby stood up and walked over to the door, pulling it open. A moment later, Jody clunked up the steps and into the house. She was wearing her sheriff's uniform, including a thick coat that was zipped up snugly against her throat and heavy boots. She smiled when she saw Castiel.

"Hey. Bobby sent a message for back-up," she said. "What's up?"

"I need to know about Christmas," Castiel said. "Dean wants to celebrate Christmas, but he doesn't want to tell me or Gabriel what he wants to do. I thought that Bobby might be able to help, but..." He trailed off and shrugged, something he'd learned from Sam. It was usually a very effective way of getting someone to chip in.

Jody looked a little surprised, glancing at Bobby, but whatever she saw in Bobby's face made her face soften. "Oh, Castiel, that's very sweet of you," she said softly. "Though I don't know why you'd come to this old guy for help." She punched Bobby gently in the shoulder and he scoffed, which made her laugh. "Okay, boys. Let me call into the station and then I'll give you a crash course in fun Christmas traditions."

She called the station and spoke to one of her co-workers as she stripped off her coat and boots. Castiel wasn't trying to listen, but he still heard Jody saying something about her "husband's son's boyfriend". That had to mean him. He wasn't Dean's boyfriend, obviously. Someday, after Dean had fully matured, it was possible their relationship might move in that direction. But that wouldn't happen for a very long time. Still, he supposed that was the easiest explanation for Jody and Bobby to use, and he found that he liked the idea that they willingly told people that he was so closely connected to Dean.

"Alright," Jody said, dropping into a chair at the table with a beer of her own. "Christmas. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you're not looking for anything heavily religious. Dean doesn't strike me as the kind of man who enjoys spending a lot of time in church."

"He is not religious, no," Castiel said.

"Didn't think so. I think you'd be better off sticking to the more secular traditions. Things like decorating a Christmas tree, baking cookies, decorating the house, carols, presents, Santa..." She glanced up, looking at Castiel's face, and smiled. "Too much?"

"Not at all. I want to know everything," Castiel said, turning to face her more fully.

"Okay, but just remember that you don't have to do everything. Dean may not fully believe in Santa, for example, though..." Jody paused. "Is Santa real?"

Castiel cocked his head. "Of course he is."

Jody's eyes widened. "Oh... okay," she breathed, and then she just sat there for a few seconds, before Bobby gave her a light nudge and she snapped out of her daze. "Right! So... um, right, okay, let's start with the basics."