Chapter Text
It was a quiet night in the bunker. It had been quiet for a while, thankfully. No big bads to gank or monsters that went bump in the night. And to be honest, Dean was rather thankful for that concept. He could simply live for a little bit before rushing into his next battle.
His bones thanked him for it, especially.
He found himself in the kitchen that night, it was late. He didn’t know how late specifically but Sam had left for a date with Eileen. And Jack, well, the kid had rushed off to his bedroom as soon as he finished his dinner. It was odd but Dean didn’t question it. The kid was odd, he was bound to do an odd thing from time to time.
For now, his hands were dunked in the soapy water. He spent the evening scrubbing away the dishes and humming along to the Led Zeppelin song that played softly out of his phone’s speakers. It never sounded as good as vinyl but Sam wouldn’t let him bring a record player into the kitchen–even though there was a perfect spot for it right beside the coffee maker.
Cas was there too. He always was.
As Dean washed, Cas dried the dishes with his trusty hand towel. This one, a cloth patterned with sunflowers, Jack had picked out. He and Cas had taken a trip to the dollar store a couple of weeks ago. It was quite pretty and most of Dean’s dishcloths were the same ones supplied to the bunker in the 50s, so he didn’t fight either of them on the new addition to his kitchen. Besides, it looked nice on the handle of the oven door. Added a pop of colour or something he might say.
It was nice.
They didn’t speak, they never did. It was just some sort of ritual they’d adopted many months ago. Dean would hum and mimic the sounds of the instruments in the music but words were never exchanged. They didn’t have to. They didn’t need to.
Dean would wash and Cas would dry and put away. It was as simple as that. What would they need to talk about anyway? It was nice to have a moment of quiet in the bunker, they both agreed on that.
They were nearly done with the dishes when a loud crash let out somewhere in the bunker, immediately followed by a set of fast footsteps.
“What the fuck was that?” Dean asked.
“I have no idea.”
“It’s probably just Jack breaking something again, right?”
“I should go check on him.”
As Cas turned, Jack appeared in the doorway. He could barely hold himself up, his fingers gripped the wall tightly and splintered the brick with the amount of force it took to keep on two feet. He held his arm close to his side, his sleeve covering his hand completely.
His eyes were glowing a fierce golden as he blinked away tears.
“Jack?” Cas asked, “What’s wrong?”
The kid was shaking, even as Cas helped him stand.
“I- I- I don’t know what’s happening. Something’s happening to me. Things keep- keep changing.” Jack spoke quickly and stuttered the more he said, “I’m scared.”
“What do you mean? What’s changing?” Dean asked, helping Jack to sit at the table.
“I’m changing.”
Jack pulled down his sleeve—Now, Dean had seen a lot of weird shit in his time but nothing could have prepared him for this—Jack’s hand was tiny. No bigger than the size of a toddler’s. It was Jack’s hand. There was no question about it with the same blue and pink fingernail polish but it was so small but stopped at his wrist, where everything else was its normal size.
“What the fuck?”
“I- I don’t know what’s happening!”
“Hey, hey, Jack, it’s okay. We’ll figure this out.” Dean’s hand found Jack’s arm, warm and comforting, “You’re alright.”
Dean looked to Cas, begging him to say something but Cas was too focused on Jack. More specifically, focused on Jack’s internal and almost infernal make up.
Something was wrong. That was obvious.
The galaxy of shapes and colours within Jack’s form didn’t move right and looked like they were shrinking. They too were shaking within Jack, like a billion little creatures under a microscope.
Cas pressed his fingers to Jack’s forehead, his eyes squeezed shut as he read Jack further.
“I don’t understand.” Cas mumbled, pulling his hand away to hold Jack instead, “His body can’t seem to keep this shape anymore.”
“What the hell does that mean, Cas?”
“His body-” Jack nearly fell forward, “He’s reverting back into his original form.”
“Which is?” Dean asked, helping Jack move to the floor. It was less of a risk of him hurting himself like this.
“An infant.”
Jack leaned against Dean’s chest, keeping himself sat upward. He looked terrified, rightfully so. He shook and stuttered as he tried to form a sentence.
“I’m scared.”
Cas took his hand, the normal one, “I am too, Jack, but everything is going to be okay. You're okay. It’s okay.”
“I don’t want to be a baby. What- What if I can’t change back?”
“I don’t know what will happen, Jack, but I will keep you safe. I will protect you like I promised when I first met you.”
Tears streamed down Jack’s face, Dean brushed the boy’s hair as he sobbed, and his other arm held him tightly. Jack’s body tensed. Muscles stiff and lungs panting for a full breath of air.
“You don’t need to fight this. It’s alright, kid. We’ve got you.” Dean said softly, “It’s gonna be alright. You’re safe.”
He didn’t know how true his words were–or Cas’ own were—but Jack was already panicking enough. They didn’t know what would happen if Jack did turn. Instead, they just held him until he eventually did.
“I love you, guys,” Jack mumbled. “I’m-”
In a flash of golden light, a crying baby laid in Dean’s lap, wrapped up in Jack’s hoodie.
Dean brought the baby to his chest, he rested Jack’s little head against his shoulder and simply rocked him. Jack continued to cry, a small patch of Dean’s shoulder was wet with tears, “Shh, Jack. It’s okay, it’s okay, baby.”
He took Jack’s discarded t-shirt and laid it over the baby. He must be freezing, Dean was freezing just sitting on the floor like this.
God, he was so little.
Dean couldn’t wrap his head around it. Jack was three, maybe four years old really but this baby was, well, a baby. An infant. Not the age he should be.
His little head fit perfectly in Dean’s palm. And oh, his blonde hair was so soft.
“It’s okay, Jack. We’ve got you. Right, Cas?” Dean asked, “Cas?”
Cas looked terrified. Frozen. He just sat in front of Dean, staring at him, staring at Jack.
“I-”
“Cas.”
“I read every book I could find about parenting, I took a doula class-”
“But?”
“I don’t know how to care for a baby, Dean.”
Jack let out a loud cry, “Just- Come here. Please. Inspect him or something. I don’t know.”
Cas scooted closer to Dean, carefully he laid a hand on Jack’s back. And the crying seemed to quiet, “Hi, Jack.”
“See Jack, Cas is here. He’s here too.”
“I’m here, Jack,” Cas assured, his hand finding the baby’s hair.
“That’s what you wanted, eh, kid? You wanted Dad, didn’t you?”
“Am I Dad?”
“I guess so,” Dean paused, “Do you want to hold him?”
“I don’t want him to start crying again-”
“It’s you, Cas. He loves you, he knows you.”
“Okay.”
Cas took the baby from Dean, mimicking the way Dean had held Jack.
And Cas smiled.
Jack seemed to calm once he met Cas’ arms, curling into the crook of Cas’ neck. Little soft breaths tickled his skin.
Dean expelled the air from his lungs in a strong sigh, “So, we have a baby now.”
“I don’t know how long Jack will be an infant.”
“Do you think he can change back?”
“Like this? I doubt it.”
“So we’ve got a baby now.” Dean repeated, “Holy shit.”
“Are you okay, Dean?”
“Fine, just- God, there’s so much shit we need to buy and the bunker will need to be baby proofed from top to bottom.”
“You sound like you’re panicking.”
“I am! Only a little bit. Parents usually have nine months to prepare for this. We had nine minutes!”
“Parents? Are you-” Cas’ head titled, “Do you want to be Jack’s parent?”
“I don’t want you to go through this on your own. You said it yourself, you don’t know how to take care of a baby.”
“You don’t have to, Dean.”
“I want to.”
“Oh,” Cas said, looking to the baby in his arms. “Okay.”
“Cool. Awesome. We need baby stuff.”
“There’s all of the baby stuff Kelly and I bought before Jack was born.”
“In Washington.” Dean reminded, “We can get that later if it is even still good to use. That stuff is three, or four years old. I can go buy the essentials now if you stay with him.”
“Dean, wait!”
Dean was on his feet and already in the hallway, “What?”
“It’s the middle of the night. The stores are closed.”
Dean pivoted back towards Cas, “Shit, right. Okay, uhh-”
He walked by Cas and Jack further into the kitchen, and began rummaging around the drawers. A couple of old dishcloths, some safety pins from the first aid kid and a little bit of fighting with a wiggling baby–and he made a diaper.
They’d run out of diapers once when Sam was a baby.
Dad was gone, hunting after some random monster and Dean had to improvise. Though, the makeshift diaper on Jack looked a lot better than the duct-taped together one he’d given Sam.
“Like the olden days!” Dean beamed, looking at his handy work and sitting down in front of Cas again. “And we just ate dinner so he’s gotta be full. Aren’t you, Jack?”
Jack seemed to look at him with those big blue eyes from Cas’ shoulder. He babbled at him, taking the finger that Dean pointed toward him into his tiny grip.
“His eyes are so blue,” Dean said softly. “Hi, Jack. Do you remember me?”
“I think he does.”
“Does he-” Dean stopped, “Does he remember everything?”
Cas laid a hand on Jack’s forehead, pressing his fingers to it. His eyes turned golden for just a second. Dean prayed in this moment that Jack didn’t, Cas could hear it even if the prayer wasn’t directed at him. This close to Dean, it was so easy to hear him. He didn’t need to say anything, Cas just knew.
“I don’t think he does. At least not right now.”
“Good.”
“When he gets older, he will though. Or start to remember, it’s hard to tell fully.”
“So, a fresh start.”
“A fresh start.”
“I’m not letting you do this on your own, y’know? And Sam and Donna and Jody, the girls, we’ve got so many people who can give us a hand if we need it– and Garth! He’s great with kids. We’ve got this, man.”
“We?”
“Yes, Cas. We. I’m serious about this. I want to make it up to the kid.”
“You don’t need to make it up to him. I know that you and Jack haven’t had the best relationship-”
“But I want to take this fresh start as a do-over or to make it up to him or something. I don’t know but I want to be there for him. He’s just a baby, Cas.”
“I understand.” Cas nodded, “I think Jack’s asleep.”
“Yeah, he is.” Dean smiled, helping Cas up to his feet with Jack still held in one arm. “Let’s get him to bed.”
“Is he okay to sleep in his own bed?”
“Yeah. If we just take off the blankets and if someone stays with him.”
“I can. You need sleep too, Dean.”
“I’m alright. It’s not like I’ve skipped a night’s sleep before.”
Dean stripped Jack’s bed to the bare minimum, and Cas set the baby down in the middle of it. Unfortunately, it woke him in the process. Jack wiggled at the feeling of the new surface, rediscovering the world again. A small cry left his lips.
“Shh, Jack. It’s okay, sweetheart.” Dean cooed. He sat down on the edge of the bed, petting the baby’s head again. “You’ve got an angel watching over you. You’re okay, kid.”
“I will always protect you.” Cas nodded, kneeling beside the bed. “You’re safe now.”
“Is it wrong that I want to stay with him?”
“Why would it be?”
Dean paused, “I don’t know.”
“Here,” Cas handed him one of Jack’s pillows.
“Thanks.”
Dean kicked off his boots and set them down by the door. He laid down next to Jack. He rested a hand gently over Jack’s tummy, his thumb tracing little circles into the baby’s skin.
Cas caught himself watching Dean for a moment, he looked so natural like this.
“You can sleep now, buddy,” Dean spoke softly, “I know that this is all so scary but Cas isn’t gonna let anything happen to you. Not on his watch.”
“Not on my watch,” Cas agreed. He brushed the little tuft of hair on the top of Jack’s head and the baby’s eyes slowly closed.
“Did you put him to sleep?” Dean whispered.
“I don’t think so.”
“He fell asleep when you touched him. You’ve got the magic touch. Nice, Cas!”
“I am his chosen father.”
“You make him feel safe,” Dean yawned. “And you’re his dad. You’re a good dad.”
“So are you.”
“No, I’m not but I want to be.”
“You already are and you will be too.”
“I’d like that.” Dean’s voice trailed off as he curled inwards, closer to the baby but still giving Jack most of the room on the bed. He closed his eyes and fell asleep to the sounds of Jack’s small breaths.
There in this little bed laid Cas’ family, minus Sam of course. Warm and safe together. A bit different than before but still there, together.
And Cas smiled.
It was quiet and quite late now.
So Cas pulled up a chair and watched over his family.