97. Chapter 97

Maybe having Dean open up his advent calendar first hadn't been the best idea, Castiel mused. Such an emotional gift probably should have waited until later. Yet at the same time, he also thought that Dean was glad to have the pictures of his mother around. As Dean snuggled into Castiel's side, drinking from the bottle of milk that Gabriel had brought them, Castiel noticed that Dean kept sneaking peeks at the two pictures of Mary. His eyes particularly lingered on the newest picture. They seemed to give Dean comfort.

"Do you feel a little calmer now?" Castiel asked, pulling the mostly empty bottle out of Dean's mouth.

"Yeah, a little," Dean said, eyelashes fluttering as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He did seem to feel better now - he wasn't crying anymore, at least. Castiel studied his face for a moment before deciding that they could continue.

"How about you open up your sock?" Gabriel suggested, getting up to the fetch it. He gently set it on Dean's lap. Dean leaned back and studied the sock with something between curiosity and confusion.

"I've never had a stocking before that I remember," he said. "What's inside?"

"Why don't you look?" Gabriel said, a small smile curling his lips. He'd been in charge of filling up Dean's stocking at his own insistence.

"Okay." Dean pulled the sock up a bit and peeked inside, but before he could do much with it a little paw appeared over his right shoulder and started batting at the white fur that lined the top of the sock. Dean paused in surprise and then giggled.

"I think Sparks is curious," Castiel said, amused. He reached out and picked up the kitten, cuddling her in his arms. Sparks purred loudly, settling down in Castiel's grip. Dean gently petted Sparks a few times before returning to his sock.

The first thing he pulled out was, naturally, a handful of gold chocolate coins. There were some little toys and new packages of stickers, some sparkly glitter paint and a new package of crayons, a couple of rolled-up coloring books, more chocolate, gum, and a set of new pacifiers styled after the Avengers. Dean blushed a bit when he unearthed the pacifiers, but Castiel noticed that he was very careful when he set them aside and that he even gave the pacifiers a gentle pat when they were on the couch beside him. Castiel met Gabriel's eyes and smiled.

"That was really cool," Dean said when he was finished. "Thank you."

"Don't thank us. You should be thanking Santa," Gabriel said, winking at Castiel. "I'm pretty sure I heard him come down the chimney last night."

"Sure," Dean said, rolling his eyes. He carefully put everything back into his sock and then set it down by his feet.

"Let's start opening up presents," Castiel said. "Gabriel, bring a few over here."

Gabriel jumped up and quickly sorted through the presents. He brought a handful over and set them in front of Dean, who looked a bit overwhelmed. Unlike most children, who would be tearing into the gifts as quickly as they could, Dean hadn't been the center of attention during Christmas morning in years. It was probably a lot for him to have so many presents to open at once. They might have to let Dean open up some and then take a break, maybe to have a special Christmas Eve breakfast, before they continued.

Just one more reason why Castiel was glad they had decided to do this with just the three of them today. He could only imagine how much Dean would've struggled if he'd been opening all these gifts in front of Bobby, Sam, and Jody. Having all of that attention on him would've made Dean really uncomfortable and turned what should've been a happy occasion into a struggle. As it was, Dean was probably going to feel awkward exchanging gifts with everyone tomorrow - but at least then everyone would be opening gifts and it wouldn't be just Dean.

"Which one should I start with?" Dean said tentatively.

"Try this one," Castiel said, picking up a box and setting it in Dean's lap.

Dean gently pulled apart the wrapping paper. His eyes lit up when he saw what was inside. "It's one of those remote-control cars! Cool!"

"You liked playing with it so much. I couldn't help myself," Castiel said, smiling.

"Thank you!" Dean said. He looked more closely at the box and beamed. "Oh wow, it looks just like the Impala!"

"It took me a while to find," Castiel admitted. He'd had to look through the boxes to find one that was even a little like the Impala. Dean didn't need to know that the toy had been mojo'd a bit to further resemble his beloved car.

"I can't wait to play with it," Dean said.

"Here, Dean-o. Number two." Gabriel took the toy car and set it aside, then put another box into Dean's lap.

Dean unwrapped this one and gasped. "A new stuffed toy!" he exclaimed. "Look Sparks!" He held up the new toy so that Sparks could see. This one was a plush pink bunny with long, floppy white ears and a fat white tail. Dean looked absolutely adorable as he gave the bunny a hug, rubbing his face against the soft fur.

"Your uncle picked that one out," Castiel said. Personally, that wasn't a toy that he would've chosen for Dean if only because he knew they'd be continuously pulling the ears out of Dean's mouth. But the toy was so cute that Castiel hadn't been able to bring himself to say no to it. And Dean looked so happy. For someone who had once considered himself to be a manly man, Dean had a real soft spot for anything that he thought was cute.

"Thanks, Uncle Gabriel!" Dean said happily. "My crib is going to be so full now."

"As long as there's room for you, it'll be fine," Gabriel said, laughing. "Here's number three."

Dean tucked his bunny into his side and picked up the third package, turning it over. It was pretty small, no bigger than the length of Dean's hand, and Castiel could tell that Dean had no idea what was inside. He hid his smile as Dean unwrapped it. No sooner had Dean torn the wrapping paper and caught a glimpse of what was inside than there was a flash of grace and the gift disappeared from Dean's hands - only to reappear in the middle of the room as a full-sized bicycle. It was painted bright green and had training wheels already attached.

"Seriously?!" Dean exclaimed, jumping up. He was in such a rush to get to the bike that he almost tripped over his own two feet. Castiel steadied him just in time.

"Be careful, Dean," he admonished gently, not wanting to have the morning disrupted by tears.

"But a bike! Daddy, it's a bike!" Dean cried, darting over to the bike the instant that Castiel let go. He ran his hands over the handlebars, then fingered the bright blue streamers dangling from the hand grips. His eyes were so bright with happiness that Castiel could feel his heart melting. The bicycle had been Gabriel's idea, and Castiel had to admit that it had been a good one.

Like most kids, Dean had had a bicycle before the fire - but it had been one of many things lost to the flames, and John Winchester had never bothered to replace it. Castiel had learned those details back when they were dealing with the Apocalypse, late one night when Dean had had a little too much to drink. John had rarely seen the point in anything fun, especially when it was something substantial in size that would take up room in the Impala that could be otherwise devoted to weapons or other hunting equipment.

The only reason that Sam even knew how to ride a bike was because one of the schools that Dean and Sam had briefly attended had had some bikes that students could rent. Dean had managed to borrow one to teach Sam. But Castiel knew for a fact that neither of the Winchesters had been on a bike in years. That was why he'd insisted on Dean's bike having training wheels. Once Dean was steady on the bike, and could ride without falling over, then the training wheels could be removed - but Castiel thought it would probably be some time before that happened.

"The bike goes along with your next gift," Gabriel said before he turned to Castiel expectantly.

"My next gift?" Dean said, looking over at them with furrowed eyebrows.

"It's more of a family gift," Castiel said, exchanging a smile with Gabriel.

Dean looked more confused. "A family gift?"

"A family vacation," Castiel said. It took a moment for the penny to drop, but then Dean let out a gasp.

"A vacation? Really?" he exclaimed.

Gabriel nodded. "Yup. Sometime in January, you, me, and Cassie are taking a trip to somewhere warm," he said. "We'll be spending two or three weeks on a beach in the sun, and you can bring your bike along."

"Wow," Dean said, looking a little amazed by the idea. "A vacation... but won't that be really expensive?" As always, he was concerned about money. Castiel inwardly sighed. Someday he hoped that Dean would be far enough removed from the effects of his childhood that money wouldn't be such a huge concern, but it seemed that today was not that day.

"We can travel by angel mojo," Gabriel said, wiggling his fingers. “So that will make it cheaper and make it a lot more comfortable. Plus, it just so happens that when you live on earth for several centuries, you start amassing properties in different places. We won’t be staying in a hotel; we’ll be living in one of my homes.”

“So it won’t be very expensive at all,” Castiel told Dean, which wasn’t necessarily the truth. But he wanted Dean to look forward to the idea of a vacation and not be preoccupied with how much it would cost.

He had almost suggested that they invite Sam along as well, but Castiel had decided against doing so at the last minute. He wanted Dean to let loose and enjoy himself on this vacation, and Dean wouldn’t be able to do that if he was concerned with keeping up appearances around Sam. When Sam had accepted his place as a nestling and was progressing as nicely as Dean was now, they’d all be able to take a vacation together. Castiel was looking forward to that day, as he knew both boys would love it.

“Okay,” Dean said, thinking that over. “That sounds like a fun. I’ve never been on a real vacation. Can we go somewhere with a beach?” He looked at Gabriel hopefully.

“Absolutely. Sand, sun, warm water, and girls in bikinis,” Gabriel said, looking a bit dreamy.

Castiel rolled his eyes. “As you can see, your uncle may have some ulterior motives for this vacation.”

Dean giggled. “I can tell, but I also can’t blame him.” He slid his hand over the handlebars and jumped when he discovered the bell, then grinned.

“That’s our biggest gift for you today,” Castiel said. “But you do have some more gifts to open. Do you want to keep going now or do you want to stop and have some breakfast?” He thought that Dean might need another break just to absorb everything that had happened so far.

Dean was quiet for a moment, thinking, before he smiled. “I do want to take a break, but I’m not hungry yet.” He walked over to the gifts and began rummaging through them. Castiel watched him, confused, before glancing at Gabriel. His brother shrugged.

The mystery was cleared up when Dean straightened up and revealed that he was holding two boxes that were both wrapped in red wrapping paper patterned with candy canes. Biting his lip shyly, Dean crossed the floor to set one gift in Castiel’s lap and the other in Gabriel’s lap. Then he stood back, twining his fingers together nervously, and cleared his throat before whispering:

“Merry Christmas, Daddy. Merry Christmas, Uncle Gabe.”