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Conflicting emotions rolled around Cas’s stomach as he drove to Edmund. On one hand, he was still on cloud nine after spending Christmas with Dean and his family. The alpha was planning on doing a little something with Dean after the holiday. Cas had not been expecting an invite to spend actual Christmas with Dean and his family. It had been an honor, but Cas had been nervous. He didn’t know where he and Sam were standing and even though John seemed nice to Cas, considering everything, he hadn’t spent that much time with the older alpha. However, not only did John, Sam, and Jess treat Jack like he was part of the family, but they had done the same to Cas. Cas considered it the best Christmas he had ever experienced. He got to spend it with Jack and the man he loved, and despite their rocky start, Cas enjoyed his time with Dean’s family.
Best of all, Jack had a blast. Cas was so worried about how he’d make Christmas special this year for his son. In the past, Crowley would have Jack stay the whole day with Rowena while the house was getting ready. Cas would carry their old Christmas totes from the basement while Crowley took down all their mundane decor. The beta could be demanding, telling Cas where to put things, or how to do it correctly. It took hours of non-stop work, but it had always been worth it. By the time they were done, the living room looked like a winter wonderland. There was Christmas village the tree, among the many houses and skating rink, there was a tunnel for a train to pass through.
There were stockings on the wall, reindeer, and a Santa on the coffee table. Crowley and Cas hung lights outside their home and put up a few fake candy cane lawn decorations as well as some reindeer. The only thing that wasn’t done was decorating the tree, but they always saved that for when Jack came home later in the day. It was a lot of hard work, but it was always worth it to see Jack’s eyes light up with awe. Jack had the same wonder in his eyes when he was three just as he did when he was two. It meant the world to Cas, after never getting to experience the Christmas joy because Naomi refused to do anything for the holiday except go to church, Cas was glad Jack could have some winter magic.
Crowley did it for Jack, but the beta had also done it for Cas, knowing his childhood. It was hard sometimes, to think of that Crowley being the same man who kidnapped Dean. Sometimes, it made Cas feel guilty morning the Crowley he knew, the one who was a loving husband and father. Cas loved Dean more, more than anything. Still, Cas had loved the Crowley he thought he knew and it felt like a death in a way. Cas wouldn’t change anything in the world… Okay maybe he would change how he handled things when he first found Dean in his basement, but he couldn’t and Cas was happy it all worked out. Happy that the omega he loved returned his feelings.
It just all left him conflicted and there was no one he could talk to about these feelings.
It only grew worse as he drove to his old home. It reminded him too much of what he lost and what he was like when he first met Dean in that dreadful basement. His own home was an empty cold shell, taunting him of the horrors of what happened there. Finding Dean in the basement, Crowley shooting Cas, and even going so far as to threaten Jack, Cas hated that place, but he had to go there from time to time. Cas had mostly switched all his mailing to his temporary home, but the alpha feared something important might be mailed to his old address. With Michael’s trial coming up, Cas didn’t want to take any chances. Besides, eventually, he’d have to return there to repair the damages so he could sell it.
Cas’s stomach churned when he pulled into the driveway. The two-story house which was once warm and comforting to him now twisted into some kind of monster every time he looked at it. Cas sighed and opened his door, quickly walking up the driveway to his mailbox. He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed a decent-sized box on his doorstep. Cas looked around, but nothing seemed out of place. A few pups were playing in their yard across the street and Zachariah was watering his flowers.
Cas walked over to the fence that separated his and Zachariah’s yard. “Hello Zachariah.”
The alpha’s head snapped up and his eyes grew wide. “Castiel?” The other alpha quickly walked over to the fence. “I didn’t expect you to be here! I thought you moved after well…”
News spread about Crowley being a sex trafficker? “I uh, did, but sometimes mail still gets shipped here.”
“Oh! If I had known, I would have been collecting it for you.”
“That’s kind of you, but not necessary.” The last thing Cas wanted was for the other alpha to go snooping through his mail. “Did you happen to see who dropped off the package?”
Zachariah stood on the tips of his toes to get a better look. “No, I didn’t even know it was there.”
“Well, thank you.” Cas said, starting to turn around when Zachariah cried out,
“Wait!” Cas looked over at the alpha. “Just so you know, I don’t care what the other neighbors say, I know that you were innocent.”
Zachariah smiled at Cas, but it punched the alpha in the stomach. Of course, people would think he was a part of what Crowley had done. Still, Cas forced a strained smile before quickly walking over to his porch. His steps became slower as he carefully approached the package. Cas’s heart sank when he saw the name on it, it was addressed to Crowley. Who would be sending Crowley a package? After every news outlet outed him as an omega trackier? Alastair was dead, it couldn’t be him. Then again, there was someone still out there associated with Alastair.
Oh god, what was his name again? Azriel? Azariah? No, it was Azazel! Azazel worked closely with Alastair and Alastair tortured Cas trying to get information on Crowley’s whereabouts. Maybe Azazel shipped a bomb, hoping eventually Crowley would return home. Or maybe it was one of the many people who knew what Crowley had done and was trying to get justice. Cas had always seen bomb packages in movies, they were usually small, but just because this package was a long rectangle didn’t ease Cas’s nerves.
Cas was unsure how long he stood there, staring stupidly at the package before his brain kicked in. A part of him wanted to leave it there, but if it was a bomb, the last thing Cas wanted was for Zachariah to kill himself because he decided to be nosey. If it wasn’t a bomb, there could be evidence against Cas in there. Crowley had dirt on Cas he could have passed on to Alastair and Azazel. Crowley was determined to keep Cas and Jack under his thumb, so maybe now the beta was missing, Azezel sent the evidence back. Maybe to scare Cas into talking or something. If that was the case, Cas couldn’t let Zachariah get his hands on it.
Cas and Dean knew the truth, but to anyone on the outside, it looked bad. Way, way, way bad.
Unsure of what to do, Cas pulled out his phone and called the one man who would know what to do. The phone only rang four times before the older alpha picked up. “Cas?” John’s gruffy voice answered.
“There’s a package for Crowley!” Cas blurted and once the words were out, he couldn’t stop. “It’s been shipped to my old house but Crowley has been missing for months and I think it might be a bomb from Azazel or someone who watched the news!
The other end was silent for so long, that Cas had to check to make sure John hadn’t hung up on him. The call was still going, so the alpha waited. “There’s… A package for Crowley?” John asked.
“Yes, and I don’t know who would have dropped it off.”
“Okay, it’s probably not a bomb.”
Cas did not like that probably was in John’s sentence. “What if it’s from Azazel?”
“It’s not.” John replied surely.
“But what if—”
“Cas.” John interrupted in a stern voice. “Trust me, it’s not Azazel.”
Cas frowned, unsure how John could be so certain, but then again, John was well… John. The older alpha had the skills, he had probably been tracking Azazel. “O-okay… So what do I do?” Cas asked, feeling stupid.
“Bring the package here. Let’s see what’s inside.” John told him before hanging up.
Cas shoved his phone back into his coat pocket and stared at the package warily. Cas could do this… Cas beat his ex-husband at his own game, Cas survived Dean’s angry family, survived Alastair’s torture, and lived after his brother tried to shoot him in the head. John was right, it probably wasn’t a bomb. Probably… Cas took a deep breath, knowing if he were to explode into tiny bits, there were a lot of people who loved Jack and would take care of him.
Cas grabbed the package quickly and squeezed his eyes shot. He slowly opened one and found himself still in one piece. Cas hurried to the car and tossed the package in the back. The alpha almost sped off before he remembered he hadn’t checked the mailbox. Cas got back into the car and grabbed the many envelopes, most were addressed to Crowley, he was sure. He tossed them into the passenger seat and pulled out of the driveway.
🎁🎁🎁
“Wanna do the honors?” John asked, offering Cas a pocket knife.
Dean and John had met Cas halfway, meeting up at a rest stop. The package was sitting on a picnic table and luckily, the only people around were heading for the building and nowhere near them. Cas nodded, taking the knife and cutting through the table. He slowly opened it and balked at what he saw in it.
“What the hell?” Dean asked, picking up a polyform sculpey.
“You place your pup’s foot or hand on it and it makes a print.” John told him. Cas and Dean both looked over at John, who only shrugged. “Mary bought them. Had both yours and Sam’s footprints.”
Cas pulled out a light blue bag with little bees on it. “A diaper bag… Wait…” Cas set it aside and pulled out a card. He pulled it out of its envelope and saw it was soft colors of blue and pink. On the card read, to the expecting father. When he opened the card, a gift card fell out. Dean grabbed it and opened the colorful cover.
“Holy shit, this is a gift card for five hundred dollars!” He yelped and Cas’s brows furrowed.
Cas went back to the card and started to read it. “Castiel Novak, I know how much you wanted our little family to expand. By the time Christmas arrives, you will have been given your first gift by now. I know when you found out you were going to be able to bring a pup into this world, you’d be filled with joy. I also knew you’d already start panicking about everything we’d need for a pup. To put your mind at ease, I wanted to do something special for you. So, I got these little gifts for you. Hopefully, they’ll help put your mind at ease. I love you, darling.”
Cas’s stomach twisted as realization hit him and it made him sick. He stood there, his body burning hot while at the same time feeling like he was freezing. Cas gagged a little bit, but he swallowed the bile down. No one spoke, they all knew what this was, but Cas couldn’t bring himself to say it.
To say the man he once loved was so sure Cas would go along with his plans, that he ordered these things way before Cas ever knew Dean would be in his basement. Crowley was so sure of himself, he set a date for it to be shipped, believing Cas would have raped and impregnated Dean.
“G-get it out of my sight.” He said to no one.
However, John was on it. He grabbed the diaper bag and the polyform and then stuck out his hand for the gift card. Dean held the gift card out of reach from his dad. “Oh hell no! That bastard kidnapped me and wanted me to be their human incubator! He shot Cas and terrorized Jack! We can get rid of the other things, but this money is gonna help us with what we need for the… Umm… Us!”
Cas bit the inside of his cheek. The money would help them, but… It felt wrong… Cas didn’t want to start their new life together with Crowley’s money. Dean must have seen the look on Cas’s face because the omega’s face softened. He handed the gift card to John, but pointed at the older alpha.
“Fine, we won’t use it for ourselves, but that is money that could help someone. Think you could give it to someone in need?” Dean asked and John nodded before hurrying off to the trash bins.
Cas sighed, hanging his head. “I’m sorry…”
Dean walked over, threw his arm over Cas’s shoulder, and pressed a kiss to the alpha’s cheek. “Nah, it’s fine. We got each other, we don’t need anything from that bastard. We just need each other.”
Cas rested his head on Dean’s, thankful the omega was so understanding. “I love you, Dean.”
“I know you do. I did that thing you love so much on Christmas. A lot better than Crowley’s gift, right?” Dean laughed and Cas couldn’t help but laugh along.
“You, my omega, are the greatest gift that could ever happen to me.”
Dean snorted. “You sap.”
It was true though, as messed up as it was. Crowley had intended Dean to be Cas’s gift, but it didn’t work out how the beta thought it would. Dean and Cas came together, on their own free will. Dean opened Cas’s mind and heart, and because of him, the alpha’s life was fulfilling. He was filled with so much content, that sometimes it was scary. It was scary that someone, with such a beautiful soul could love someone like Cas. That was the best-unexpected gift.