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“Dean, what are you looking up now?” Castiel asks as he buttons up his shirt on Christmas morning. “I can’t see what you’re signing from over here.”
“Oh, nothing,” Dean replies in a tone of voice Castiel knows means trouble.
“This is the first time you’re meeting Eileen and you’re planning to embarrass your brother, aren’t you,” Castiel says, more of a statement than a question.
Dean finally closes the laptop and turns to him, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Duh. What do you take me for, not a big brother?”
Castiel sighs, but can’t help but smile as well. “It’s a good thing Sam loves you, else he’d never put up with everything you put him through.”
“Yeah, well, he puts me through toxic farts every time we get burritos, so fair’s fair.”
“You do realize you complain about that an unreasonable amount, right?”
“Nope. If you’d had to grow up with that, you’d complain as much as I do.”
Castiel chuckles, shaking his head at his mate. Just then, the doorbell rings.
“Let’s do this,” Dean says, smiling as he leans in to kiss him, then nuzzles against his neck in a light scent-marking.
Castiel knows he’s putting off waves of happy alpha pheromones. Dean isn’t always comfortable showing affection so easily, so Castiel relishes it whenever he does.
“Come on, Cas!” Dean calls over his shoulder, having left the bedroom already. “Time for Christmas!”
By the time Dean reaches the front hall, Sam has let himself in with his spare key. He and an omega who must be Eileen are taking off coats, hats, scarves and gloves, bags presumably holding gifts set at their feet. As soon as they’ve hung everything up on the coat tree, Dean steps toward them and smiles at Eileen.
“Hi, I’m Dean,” Dean signs, spelling out his name. Then, very carefully, he makes the signs for “moose,” “date,” and “you,” scrunching his brows to indicate a question.
Eileen laughs at the same time that Sam scowls. “What can I say?” she says, her voice carrying the typical inflection of someone who is Deaf. She looks up at Sam, affection clear in both her expression and her scent. “I like my alphas tall.”
Dean guesses that Sam must have told her that he doesn’t know sign, since she’s speaking rather than signing in response to his question. Honestly, it’s for the best. Beyond what he just signed to her, he knows how to say “thank you” and “fuck you,” which are disturbingly similar — ask him how he found that out. But if Sam likes her enough to bring her home for Christmas, well, he’s gonna have to learn a lot more. Given the bright, happy scent Sam is putting off right now, though, it’ll be more than worth it.
Cas, naturally, took ASL in college, so while he claims he doesn’t remember much, he knows much more than Dean, as evidenced by the conversation he and Eileen are now having that Dean can’t follow. That’s alright though — everyone is smiling, and Dean’s two favorite people in the world smell happy as can be. He couldn’t ask for more. Well, maybe he could ask for a bit more.
When it seems like there’s a lull in the conversation, Dean clears his throat to get Sam and Cas’s attention, waving awkwardly at Eileen and hoping that’s not rude. Sam told him that she can lip read pretty well as long as the person is looking directly at her and speaking clearly, so he does just that. “Who’s ready for presents?” he asks.
Eileen smiles at him. “Presents sound good to me. Lead the way.”
They follow him into the living room, where he and Cas set up a small Christmas tree. The presents from them are already placed beneath it, and Sam and Eileen quickly empty the bags they brought, adding to the pile.
Dean chooses a box wrapped with paper festooned in cartoon moose wearing Santa hats — yes, he’d ordered it specifically for this purpose — and hands it to Sam, grinning at the anticipated bitchface.
“Really, Dean?”
“Yup,” is all Dean says.
Sam sighs. “I guess it could be worse.” Shaking his head, Sam begins to unwrap the present, chuckling to himself as he reveals a box of Lucky Charms. “Thanks, Dee,” he says, and Dean does not tear up at the childhood nickname Sam had for him. He doesn’t .
“Cereal?” Eileen asks, sounding confused.
Sam looks over at Dean, clearly asking permission. Dean nods. If he didn’t want Eileen to know, he wouldn’t have continued the tradition.
Sam turns to Eileen, and Dean assumes Sam’s speaking out loud for his benefit. “You know how I told you we moved around a lot as kids? That John wasn’t around much?” Eileen nods. “Well, we didn’t always really celebrate Christmas. Dean always did what he could, though, and without fail, he managed to scrounge up enough to at least buy a family-sized box of Lucky Charms. Not the store-brand generic, but actual Lucky Charms, my favorite cereal. When I was old enough, I started getting his favorite for him, as well. It’s pretty much the only Christmas tradition we have from when we were kids.”
Sam stands now, grabbing another box from under the tree, this one wrapped in more typical Christmas wrapping paper, with candy canes and gingerbread men on a red background. He hands it to Dean. “Merry Christmas, Dee.”
Dean tears into the wrapping paper, then stops, surprised. “Wait, really?” he asks, excitement bleeding into his scent. “I thought this stuff was only around at Halloween these days!”
“It is,” Sam says. “But Count Chocula was always your favorite, so I got a box and saved it this time so you could have it for Christmas like you used to.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Dean sees Cas signing to Eileen, probably relaying what’s happening since Sam is facing away from her, blocking Dean completely, but mostly he’s just looking at the cereal. “Fuck, man,” Dean said, his voice much more hoarse than it has any right to be. Dammit, why can’t he just be happy about this?
“I, uh, hope it’s okay?” Sam asks, hesitant.
“Of course it’s okay,” Dean says gruffly, putting the cereal aside and pulling Sam into a tight hug. “It’s awesome.”
Sam’s eyes look suspiciously misty when they separate, and Dean pointedly ignores the extra moisture in his own. “Alright, who’s next?” he asks, ready to move on from this chick-flick moment.
“I’ll go,” Cas says, picking up three gifts from under the tree and handing one to each of them. He gives Dean’s to him last, leaning in to kiss him on the lips. “I love you,” he whispers, low enough Sam won’t be able to hear.
“Love you too, Cas,” Dean says. As he starts opening the gift from Cas, he can’t help but reflect on the changes in his life. He and Sam have always had each other’s backs, but then Dean found Cas, and his life became even fuller. Now, he can only hope that Eileen will be as good for Sam as Cas is for him. Sam deserves happiness too, more than Dean ever has.
Dean feels Cas’s shoulder bump against his own from where he’s sitting next to him and realizes he paused in the middle of unwrapping the gift.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Cas queries.
“Just happy, is all.”
Cas smiles at him. “Good. Now open your present already.”
“Yes, alpha,” Dean says, relishing the flash of red in Cas’s eyes and happy with the change in mood.
Cas chuckles, taking the gift and setting it aside. He cups Dean’s check with his hand, brushing his thumb over his lips. “What am I going to do with you, omega-mine?”
Dean feels his eyes flash omega-gold, but before he can reply, he feels a crumpled piece of wrapping paper hit the side of his head.
“Gross, guys!” Sam says. “We’re still here, you know!”
“This is for you, Sam, not Eileen,” Dean says as he flips Sam off, then proceeds to ignore his brother's noises of protest and kisses the life out of Cas. It’s going to be a good Christmas.