98. Chapter 98

At first opening up gifts had been a little embarrassing – having Gabriel and Castiel’s attention solely on him was something that Dean should have been used to by now, but he wasn’t. Sometimes he didn’t know if he would ever get used to it. And it was made even worse, or maybe just more intense, by the fact that they were giving him presents. Presents they had bought just for him. That was something else he didn’t know if he’d ever get used to.

But then opening up gifts had turned into something exciting. A new bicycle, plus a new trip? Dean hadn’t known what to think! The bike was cool enough, but a vacation? He’d never been on a real vacation before. Back when he was a kid, he used to look at families who were on vacation and wonder what it would be like. Living in motels the way they did, he’d seen plenty of them. They always looked so happy.

However, he had always known better than to even suggest to John Winchester that they take a vacation. So far as John was concerned, there was no vacationing from being a hunter: the supernatural was everywhere and needed to be dealt with continuously. So the only time in Dean’s life that he could really remember not hunting was when he’d been in hell or when he’d been too hurt to go on a hunt.

That time shortly after Sam had gone off to university, and right after John had dumped Dean to go off on his own, came to mind. It had been one of the first hunts that Dean had ever tried to handle by himself. Young and cocky and too proud to ask for help, he’d tried to take on a werewolf by himself and ended up with a claw to the gut for his trouble. He’d been laid up at Bobby’s for like a week. Bobby had ranted and raved about the stupidity of young hunters so much during that time that Dean had ended up sneaking out late one night.

And then there was hell, which Dean preferred not to think about. Neither of those times were what Dean would consider to be a fun vacation, so the thought of taking one with Castiel and Gabriel was incredibly exciting. Knowing those two, they were going to cook up something really fun. Dean couldn’t wait to go swimming in the ocean, or eat new food, or ride his bike on the beach.

But all thoughts of a vacation were fading from his mind now. He wrung his hands together nervously, looking between his daddy and his uncle with a deepening amount of apprehension. Now that his gifts were in their laps, he was noticing all the mistakes he’d made on the wrapping. The paper on Gabriel’s gift had torn a bit on one corner, and the tape on the bottom of Castiel’s had come loose. It was a whole different kind of embarrassment from what he’d been feeling before, and he suddenly wanted to grab the gifts and hide them away.

“What could this be?” Gabriel said, pulling Dean out of his thoughts. Looking curious, Gabriel picked up his box and gently shook it. The contents thumped lightly, but of course that didn’t give anything away.

“It’s a surprise,” Dean said, or tried to say: it came out as more of a squeak. He blushed and swallowed hard, clearing his throat.

Castiel smiled at him. “We’re going to love whatever it is, Dean.”

“I know,” Dean said. He wasn’t sure how to say that that was part of the problem, in a way. He wanted Gabriel and Castiel to like his gifts because they liked them, not because the gifts had been from Dean and they were obligated to like anything he gave them.

A small frown of concern replaced Castiel’s smile. “Are you sure you want us to open them? We can wait until later, or we don’t have to open them at all.”

“What?! I neeeeeed to know what’s in here!” Gabriel whined dramatically, clasping his gift to his chest. Castiel rolled his eyes, but Dean couldn’t help giggling. Gabriel’s overreaction helped to calm him down a bit, and he shook his head.

“No, I made them for you. Go ahead,” he said. Tempting though it was to make his uncle suffer, he wasn’t going to be that mean on Christmas Eve.

“Yes!” Gabriel said, instantly tearing at the wrapping. Castiel shook his head at his brother, but it didn’t escape Dean’s notice that Castiel was pretty quick to tear into his gift too. Dean clenched his hands together so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, watching the both of them intently.

Gabriel got through to the box first, but Castiel was right behind him. Much to Dean’s surprise, Gabriel paused before opening his box and turned to watch Castiel open his. Castiel didn’t notice, too focused on setting the wrapping paper aside before opening up his box. Dean’s stomach clenched with a fresh bout of nerves as Castiel went very still, eyes opening wide.

“Cassie?” Gabriel said.

Castiel said nothing, just stared into his box. Looking curious, Gabriel opened up his own box. He inhaled sharply and froze.

Dean bit his lip, looking between the two of them. They weren’t really reacting. He’d hoped for something. A smile, maybe, if he was lucky. Or even a hug. He didn’t know how to quantify this silent staring. Were they happy? Sad? Upset? Maybe he shouldn’t have let someone else touch his feathers after all. Even though it had been Charlie, and not another angel, maybe that was wrong…

“I’m sorry,” Dean whispered. His voice quivered a bit, which made both Gabriel and Castiel look up.

“What?” Gabriel said, now looking confused.

“You… you don’t like them?” Dean said tentatively. “I should’ve come up with something else, right? I can – um, maybe we can go shopping tonight and I could – eep!”

He didn’t mean to squeal, but he wasn’t sure how else to react to an archangel jumping up, grabbing him around the waist, and spinning him around in a circle. Dean wriggled around and managed to get an arm around Gabriel’s neck, but then the next thing he knew he was being pulled out of Gabriel’s arms and into Castiel’s. The resulting hug Castiel gave him was so tight that Dean squeaked again.

“Are you crazy? Dean, this is the best gift ever!” Gabriel said, reaching into his box to pull out his frame. As he caught his breath, Dean glanced at it. The purple paint and clear snowflake-shaped buttons still looked pretty good if he did say so himself.

“I agree. I never could’ve guessed – this is –” It was very unusual for Castiel to be speechless, and Dean looked at his daddy in surprise.

His eyes widened when he realized that there were tears in Castiel’s eyes.

A little horrified, he reached out and put his hands on either side of Castiel’s face. “Daddy no cry?” he said, gulping. See Castiel on the verge of crying made Dean want to cry too, and he was suddenly seized with the horrifying realization that maybe his gift was the reason.

But for some reason, that made Castiel smile even though the tears were still there. “These are happy tears. I’m so touched by your wonderful gift. I can’t have imagined anything more perfect.”

Dean stared at him, shocked. “Really?”

“Yes, really. I absolutely love it,” Castiel said. He shifted Dean’s weight to one arm and reached down with now free hand to pick up his frame. The dried flowers and leaves still looked nice against the bright blue of the paint. Looking at the frame now, Dean realized he’d inadvertently chosen a shade of blue that was very similar to Castiel’s eyes.

“I can’t believe you gave me one too,” Gabriel said, hugging his frame to his chest. “Your first feathers are so precious.”

“Charlie helped me pick them. The frames were Anael’s idea,” Dean said shyly, feeling like he had to give credit where credit was due. “And Anael did the etching.” He reached out to trace the gold lettering on the glass of Castiel’s gift, so he missed the fond smile that the two angels exchanged over his head.

“We can tell you worked very hard on these, Dean,” Castiel said gently. He kissed the side of Dean’s head. “Thank you so much, baby boy.”

“Like Cassie said, I can’t think of anything else I wanted more,” Gabriel added, which was high praise indeed considering how much Gabriel valued sweets.

Dean flushed. Now that his apprehension was gone, and he didn’t have to worry that they wouldn’t like their gifts, he was beginning to feel embarrassed again. No one had ever reacted this way to one of his gifts and he didn’t know what to do with all of the attention. So he ducked his head, hiding his face against Castiel’s shoulder. It seemed easier than accepting all of that praise.

“Oh, Dean,” Castiel said, chuckling. “Gabriel, why don’t you put our frames up on the fireplace?”

“Sure,” Gabriel said, and Dean peeked up to watch his uncle take Castiel’s frame and then walk over to the fireplace. He set the purple frame to the left of the picture of the Winchester family, and then put the blue frame to the right of the picture. Dean stared at the arrangement for a few seconds, realizing that he really liked how they looked together. It was like a representation of his past and future, all there together on the mantel.

“Now, before we continue, how about some breakfast?” Castiel went on. “Gabriel cooked us something special.”

“Really?” Dean said, lifting his head a little more.

“I made a sausage and egg croissant casserole and apple cider donuts,” Gabriel said. “And I can personally attest, it all came out amazing.”

“It sounds delicious,” Dean said. “I’m starving!”

“Then let’s eat,” Castiel said, carrying Dean into the kitchen. It smelled wonderful, and Dean’s stomach growled a little. He pouted a little when Castiel put him into the highchair, but he was hungry enough and the food smelled good enough that he didn’t even complain.

Gabriel whipped a casserole out of the oven and set it on the table, along with a plate of fresh donuts that had Dean practically drooling. This was the kind of food that he had never been able to eat without Sam’s snarky, judgmental commentary. It was a lot more fun eating it with Gabriel and Castiel, who never commented on Dean’s food choices. He couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into a donut.

“Donut!” he said, pointing to the platter. It was just out of reach. Gabriel obligingly picked one up and handed it to him. Dean immediately crammed as much of the donut into his mouth as he could and then moaned. He was pretty sure that this was what heaven tasted like. The donut was soft, but the dough had just right the texture. He tasted the bitterness of the apples and the spiciness of cinnamon, mixed with the sweetness of the glaze, and quickly made the rest of it disappear.

“Gabriel, he really should have had some casserole first,” Castiel said, but he was clearly amused.

“It’s Christmas Eve, Cassie! Live a little!” Gabriel said, grabbing another donut and shoving it into Castiel’s face. For a moment, Dean was sure that Castiel was going to turn away. But then, much to Dean’s surprise, Castiel opened his mouth and took a bite of it.

“You’re right,” he said, chewing. “That’s delicious. You really are a good cook, Gabriel.”

Gabriel preened. “Damn straight I am. Here, Dean-o. Have another.” He handed the partially eaten donut to Castiel and then put another one on Dean’s tray. Dean stuffed that one into his mouth as fast as he could.

“If you keep eating so fast, you’re going to make yourself sick,” Castiel told him. “No more until after breakfast.” He set his donut down and pulled the casserole closer, cutting into it. Dean started to pout again, but then the delicious smell of sausage, egg, and cheese filled the air and he quickly decided that maybe starting the casserole wasn’t such a bad idea after all.