83. Chapter 83

When they were finished with the cookies, Anael cleared away the mess with a wave of her hand. Then she turned to Charlie and smiled. “Why don’t you show Dean where we keep all your arts and crafts? Make sure you both put a smock on. I’ll be right in.”

“Okay!” Charlie said excitedly, grabbing Dean’s arm. She led him up the stairs and into what had once been a bedroom but had clearly been re-purposed into a playroom. There was a table in the middle with chair and a closet in the far wall. Charlie ran over to the closet and pulled the doors open.

“Wow!” Dean gasped, looking at all the craft supplies in amazement. “It looks like you bought a craft store home!”

“Mommy bought this stuff for me. I like crafts,” Charlie said. “Castiel would probably buy stuff for you too if you asked him to.”

“Um, maybe,” Dean said uncertainly. It seemed like it would be a waste of money, since he wasn’t very good at using them. Though he had to admit, creating the Christmas decorations with Gabriel and Castiel had been a ton of fun. Dean hadn’t laughed that much in ages.

He watched as Charlie took out several containers but left others in the closet, seemingly with a very particular idea of what she wanted. Once they were piled by the table, she turned to a small dresser beside the closet and opened up a drawer. Dean accepted the smock that she thrust at him, pulling it over his head and down over his jeans. It had clearly once been white, but had since been splattered with paint, glitter, and various other things.

Charlie took a seat and gestured for him to sit too as Anael came in, carrying three more picture frames, though these were made of wood instead of metal. Two of them she set down in front of Dean, and the other one went in front of Charlie. Dean picked one of them up, turning it over in his hands, and realized he had no idea how he was going to decorate them.

“Do whatever you like, Dean,” Anael said with a soft smile. “Your daddy and uncle will love it.” She patted his head and left the room.

“I’m gonna paint mine,” Charlie said, leaning over to grab one of the containers. “Mommy’s favorite color is teal. What about you?” She looked at him expectantly.

“Er,” Dean said, casting about for a proper answer. Had his daddy or uncle ever told him their favorite colors? Castiel certainly hadn’t. In the beginning, Castiel hadn’t paid much attention to things like color. And proper angels weren’t supposed to have favorites of anything. Once Castiel had started to fall, they’d been too preoccupied with the Apocalypse to worry about things like favorite colors. After that, it just hadn’t occurred to Dean to ask.

He thought for a moment and came up with purple for Gabriel. If he remembered correctly, his uncle wore the color fairly often. Purple also seemed to fit Gabriel well, given how bright and flashy it could be. Castiel was a harder answer to come up with, so finally Dean decided he just had to pick one. He went with blue, because Castiel had worn Jimmy’s blue tie for a long time.

“Purple and blue,” he said at last, and Charlie smiled at him.

“Here you go!” she chirped, shoving the container closer to him.

Dean peered inside and discovered countless tubes of paint, each one a slightly different variation in color. Charlie picked her tube out immediately, which told him that this wasn’t the first time she’d done something like this for Anael, but Dean shifted through the container until he found colors that seemed just right. A deeper, brighter purple for Gabriel, and a darker blue for Castiel.

Then it was a matter of painting the wood. Dean stuck his tongue out as he worked, narrowing his eyes as he focused on trying to make sure no paint seeped onto the glass. He wondered if the paint had a blessing on it, because it did an abnormally good job of covering up the wood. In no time, his two frames were finished and just needed to be left to dry.

“Mommy! Can you dry our frames?” Charlie shouted.

“All good,” Anael called back, coming to the doorway. “How are you doing?”

“Don’t look!” Charlie squealed, covering her frame.

“I’m not looking, just checking,” Anael said, smiling. She winked at Dean and walked away again.

Charlie decorated her frame by gluing on bits of seashells, declaring that Anael had a fondness for the sea. Dean poled around the other containers until he found some dried flowers and leaves that had to have been magically preserved. He carefully glued those onto Castiel’s frame because he knew Castiel loved it when they walked in the woods together. And Dean loved them too.

For Gabriel’s, Dean knew exactly what he wanted to do. He found some small, snowflake-shaped, clear buttons in Charlie’s containers. He would never forget that early December morning, cuddling against Gabriel and watching the snow fall. He glued those on, then sat back to look critically at his work. They actually hadn’t come out looking too bad, he realized with a flash of pride.

“That looks great!” Anael said from right behind him.

Dean jumped a little and then blushed. “Oh, really? Umm… thanks.”

She smiled again. “Ready for the feathers?”

He nodded and turned, presenting his back to Anael. Even though he wanted it, he couldn’t help tensing a bit. No one had touched his feathers but Gabriel or Castiel, and he was surprised by how unnerved the thought of Anael doing it made him. So, he was relieved when Anael called Charlie over, and then directed Charlie in doing it. Charlie was very gentle, her fingers barely touching him as she pinched two hanging feathers and lightly them off. It didn’t even hurt.

Then Anael showed him how to use a dot of glue to fasten the feathers to the glass, and then carefully set the second glass piece on top. When she slid them back into the frame, both feathers were perfectly positioned. Dean couldn’t help smiling at the sight of them. The coppery color of his feathers looked really good next to the purple and blue, making his feather pop.

“I like it,” Dean said shyly. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, honey. Is there anything you want to write on it? The date? Maybe your name, or something about it being your first Christmas? I can etch the words onto the glass, if you like.”

“Maybe my name and the date?” Dean said. “In gold?”

Anael looked intently at the frames. Dean blinked and the words had magically appeared in a handwriting suspiciously similar to his own. Centered just below the feather on each frame, the golden words were definitely the finishing touch that pulled it all together. He smiled again, pleased, and lightly traced the letters in his name. He really hoped that Gabriel and Castiel liked his gifts. The mere thought of how it would feel if they didn’t was enough to make his chest hurt.

“I’ll finish mine up later,” Charlie announced, looking suspiciously at her mommy. Anael just smiled.

“That’s fine. Would you like to wrap them, Dean? I can keep them here until Christmas Eve, and then send them over to you?” Anael said.

“Yes!” Dean said, nodding. Wrapping, at least, was something that he was half-decent at. Anael procured boxes, roughly the size of a shoe box, and red wrapping paper patterned with candy canes. He quickly cut the wrapping paper and put the frames into boxes, protected by green tissue paper. Then he wrapped both boxes as best he could, discovering that actual wrapping paper was a lot easier to use than newspaper.

“Do you remember which box is which?” Charlie asked, grinning slyly.

Dean froze. “Of course I do.”

“Right, well, just to make sure, this one is Gabriel’s.” She nudged the box closest to her.

Anael chuckled. “Here you go, Dean. Stick name tags on them so you remember.” She slid a sheet of Christmas-themed name tags across the table. Dean picked out two that weren’t too babyish and quickly wrote on both.

To Daddy, Merry Christmas! Love, Dean

To Uncle Gabe, Merry Christmas! Love, Dean

Then he stuck them on each package. The finishing touch was a white bow to match the candy canes. Then he just sat there for a moment, beaming at an afternoon’s hard work. He’d started out the day feeling so uncertain about what he would be giving the two angels for Christmas, but now he was just excited. He couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces. They were going to be so surprised!

Now all he’d have to do was worry about shopping for Sam, Bobby, Jody and Balthazar, and he didn’t mind doing that with Castiel or Gabriel. Of course, he realized, he’d also have to get something for Charlie and Anael. They’d both helped him out a lot. He wasn’t sure what he would’ve done without their kindness, and neither of them had asked for a thing in return.

“Thank you,” Dean said shyly.

“No thanks necessary, Dean. Castiel’s waited for you for a very long time.” Anael’s brown eyes twinkled. She looked so much happier, calm and relaxed. “You’ve made his life a lot better. And Gabriel’s too, for that matter. I remember when Castiel didn’t even know what love was, and Gabriel didn’t care about anyone. You’ve taught them both a lot and I’m grateful to you for that.”

Dean blushed, a little embarrassed at the praise. “I didn’t do much,” he confessed. “Actually, I don’t do anything… they do all the work.” That much, at least, was completely true.

“Oh honey, you do so much more than you realize,” Anael said, reaching over to pat his hand. “Someday you’ll be able to see that, I think.” She cocked her head. “If I’m not mistaken, your ride is here.”

“Hello!” Castiel called at the same time.

“Daddy!” Dean yelled, jumping up. He raced out of the room and down the stairs to where Castiel was standing there waiting for him. Dean didn’t hesitate, throwing himself at Castiel. He would never get tired of the way that Castiel’s arms immediately opened to him, scooping him up off the ground into an enthusiastic hug; more than anything, Dean loved knowing that his two angels would never turn him away.

“Hi baby boy,” Castiel said with a chuckle, wrapping his wings around Dean. “Did you have fun?”

“Uh huh!” Dean said, wrapping his arms around Castiel’s neck and cuddling in. Now that his daddy was here, he suddenly realized how tired he was. He’d poured a lot of energy and concentration into doing those gifts! And also, he’d missed his early afternoon nap. It was funny how quickly he could go from absorbed in making the gifts to so tired he couldn’t help yawning.

“We had a great day,” Anael said, following Dean down the steps hand-in-hand with Charlie. “Dean is welcome to come and play any time.”

“Thank you,” Castiel said. “I should get Dean home. He needs a nap.”

“Bye Dean!” Charlie called.

“Bye Charlie!” Dean said, waving back. “Thanks.” He looked meaningfully at Anael. She winked back.

Then Castiel spread his wings, and, before Dean knew it, they were back at the nest and he was seized with the uncontrollable urge to make sure Gabriel was still there. He squirmed around until Castiel set him down, then rushed up the steps and into the living. The sound of Gabriel’s voice singing an old Christmas carol, as well as the delectable scent of a roast, sent Dean into the kitchen.

“Hey kiddo!” Gabriel said, spinning around when Dean ran in. “How was your day?”

Dean ran to him for a hug first, which Gabriel gladly granted. Castiel walked into the kitchen behind them just as Dean stepped back. Both angels smiled at him, and Dean grinned back. Part of him wanted to just go ahead and tell them everything he’d done that day, but he refrained. They surprised him all the time and it was time that he wanted to return the favor.

So, all he said was, “It was really good. Charlie and I played all afternoon.”

“If you played all afternoon, you must be tired,” Gabriel said.

“Not tired at all!” Dean lied. Castiel and Gabriel exchanged amused looks but agreed that he could stay up and watch a movie until dinner was ready if he wanted to.

Naturally, the moment his head was in Castiel’s lap, Dean was out like a light.