Well, been awhile since I've written anything for my 'verse. Figured it was about time I did so.

Don't worry though, this 'verse is nowhere near close to over with. I've had the idea for this story for awhile, and I have another one planned out and waiting to be typed and then another one in the making thanks to a lovely reader who gave me the idea.

Anyway!

Here's this. It's been awhile, as I've said, so I'm sorry if anything is off about it, I went back and reread a lot of the parts to try and get back in the mood, but I dunno how well that worked lol.

Anyhow! Enjoy hopefully.

The title is from Owl City's Butterfly Wings for those curious.

Also, I know nothing about the foster system and adoption process or anything along those lines, so forgive my mistakes and just go with it. Oh! And, almost forget. I simply googled and pieced together things about the "monster of the week" in this story. I dunno how accurate it is, but it's not very important. Also, the things I talk about with souls is completely made up, a mixture of my own beliefs and what I needed to work for the story, so...just go with it!

Okay, now you may read and enjoy.

Dean had the strangest urge to roll up a newspaper and smack Cas on the nose with it while saying, "No! Bad Cas!"

He'd probably have to do the same to Sam the way Sam was hovering behind Cas, watching with interest. Cas meanwhile nearly had his nose buried the chest cavity of the latest victim of their werewolf. Dean cleared his throat, shifted on his feet and asked quietly, "Cas, you think you need to be that close?"

Cas' head popped up, the blue of his eyes seeming to be even bluer behind the lenses of his glasses, his eyebrows went up as he turned his attention back down towards the body, "What's wrong with what I'm doing?"

"You've nearly got your nose buried in the dude's chest." Cas blinked down at the body, looked back up at Dean and pushed his glasses up to the top of his head, Dean would never admit it but Cas in his glasses was absolutely adorable.

"It's not a werewolf."

Sam's eyebrows shot up and Dean groaned, of course this case couldn't be simple. Sam stepped forward, peering over Cas' shoulder as he asked, "What do you mean it's not a werewolf?"

And the two nerds began discussing something about claw marks and teeth marks, Dean stood off to the side completely zoned out while he waited for the important stuff to come up.

When it didn't seem that either of them were going to shut up Dean jumped in with, "So if it's not a werewolf what is it?"

"I don't know, I'll have to see some of the other victims." Dean sighed and pulled out his cellphone at Cas' words, at least the detective working on this case was an old friend who knew about the supernatural, he was the one who had called Sam with the case in the first place.

Ten minutes later Cas was wrist deep in another chest and both he and Sam were geeking out while Dean tried to pretend that same hand hadn't given him a spectacular hand job that morning.

"Aufhocker." Cas said suddenly, standing up straight.

"Geshundeit." Cas rolled his eyes, moved to push his glasses up his nose and Dean leapt forward to keep those bloody gloved hands from doing just that, "No! Bad Cas!"

"What? Oh..." He peeled the gloves off, sighed and said, "Aufhocker. They're only supposed to be found in Germany though so I don't know what one is doing here."

"Aren't they like black dogs?" Sam asked.

Cas made a face, waved a hand in the 'maybe-sorta-kinda' gesture, hesitated for a moment, a look of concentration on his face before he said, "They're like a shapeshifting vampiric werewolf. They usually take on the form of large black dogs, but can change their form and size depending on their victim. They'll leap on the back of their chosen prey, usually someone they've followed along the road."

"Great, how do we kill them?" Dean asked, watching as Cas and Sam returned the morgue to how it had been when they'd arrived.

"Silver to the heart, like a werewolf. They need to have locked onto someone though and it needs to happen at dawn."

"So we need to find out why it's been targeting these people and who it might target next?" Sam asked, Cas nodded and Dean sighed out, "Great, so that means research huh?"

Cas nodded and the three headed out of the morgue, Sam was walking ahead of Dean and Cas, nose buried in the files he was carrying. Dean took the opportunity to slow his pace, taking hold of Cas' arm in his to have him match his pace. Cas shot him a confused look but waited patiently for Dean to ask, "How are you holding up Cas?"

Cas rolled his eyes, "You're worrying too much Dean."

"Cas, two weeks ago you were hardly sleeping and you were reliving months of torture whenever you did manage to sleep. Of course I'm going to fucking worry about you."

Cas sighed, patted Dean's hand where it was gripping Cas' elbow and the two came to a stop by the admissions desk. Sam carried on ahead of them, not even realizing they'd stopped.

"I'm fine, Dean. Really. You don't need to…" Cas trailed off, his eyes fixed on something over Dean's left shoulder. Dean had a moment of sheer, blind panic thinking that Cas had slipped into a flashback again. He hadn't had one for almost a month now. When Dean called his name though, Cas frowned, glanced at him and returned his attention to whatever had captured it.

Dean took a deep breath and tried to pull his heart back into his chest, "What's up Cas?"

Cas' brow furrowed as he muttered, "There's something…off."

"'Off'? What do you mean? What's going on Cas?" Dean was instantly on alert, hand twitching towards the gun stashed in his waistband. Cas' "radar" as they called it was never off or wrong. He could pinpoint ghosts and demons without trouble and anything else supernatural pinged his radar as well, so when something was 'off' it meant something was there that wasn't human and may need to be dealt with.

Cas' frown deepened and Dean resisted the urge to shake him and get his answers, it would only serve in pissing Cas off and Dean not getting sex or pie for a week. Instead, Dean looked around the waiting room, trying to figure what it was that Cas was focused on. He could gather it wasn't a demon, since Cas usually tensed up and got his must smite now look on his face. Couldn't have been a ghost since Cas would have said something by now.

Sam appeared, looking a little pissed about being left to his own devices without either of them calling out to him, "Guys? What's going on?"

"Cas is having a moment."

"A moment?" Sam instantly switched to worried mother bear mode and turned his attention on Cas, "Cas you okay? We need to get you out of here? Need us to do anything? Say anything? What can we do?"

Both Dean and Cas rolled their eyes and Dean said, "Not that kind of moment Samantha, chill out."

There was the bitchface. Dean grinned at it, Cas' eyes narrowed to convey his annoyance at the two of them and Dean finally turned around trying to see what it was that was 'off'.

When Cas' head tilted, Dean knew he was doing his soul stare of doom, trying to get a read on someone. Dean didn't know how it worked for Cas, if it was something that was always visible to him or if he could only see when he focused in on it. Dean did know though, that with their immediate family, Cas didn't need to try very hard to see their souls, while with new people he needed a few moments to break through all the barriers and walls people built around themselves.

When he'd learned that from Cas, all the intense staring sessions they'd gone through when they'd first made suddenly made sense. Cas had only been trying to get a read on his soul so he could understand Dean better.

Cas was starting to sport that vaguely constipated look he got when he had issues getting a read on someone. All Dean had to do was find the person that had gripped the ex-angel's attention so thoroughly and see what he could do to possibly help. When people relaxed due to Dean or Sam's charm and reassurances, it allowed Cas better access. Working with Cas on hunts during interviews was always a breeze since he could tell when someone was lying or hiding something.

Made living with him a damn chore though.

Sam nudged Dean and nodded towards a man and boy that were standing by the admissions desk. The man was yelling about something, waving his arms around while the boy stood by quietly, eyes focused on his shoes and arm clutched to his chest. He couldn't have been older than Sophie, maybe a year or two younger than her and it was him that Cas was fixated on. Even Dean could tell something was bit off, but he didn't know what.

Beside him, Cas sucked in a shocked breath and his eyes narrowed in anger while he hissed out, "Son of a bitch."

Clearly, Dean had been a bad influence.

"Cas?"

Cas growled something under his breath that sounded vaguely threatening, Dean couldn't be sure since it'd been said in Enochian, but the way Cas started stalking across the waiting room let him know shit was about to go down.

Sam moved before Dean could finish his thought, he grabbed Cas around the waist and hauled him back. But Sam had forgotten that Cas could fight and struggle like a slippery eel mixed with a wildcat and he quickly lost his hold on Cas. Dean managed to snag him next, and he knew Cas better than Sam so he was able to keep him from getting loose despite Cas kicking and pushing and threatening the man on the other side of the waiting room.

Dean spun around, putting the man out of Cas' view and said, "Cas, damnit! Stop it! You're going to blow our cover!" Cas instantly calmed, he slumped back against Dean with a sigh and Dean waited a few seconds before letting him go. Cas sat himself down in a chair while Dean and Sam stood in front of him, a wall between him and whatever had pissed him off.

"Gonna tell us what that was about?" Dean finally asked.

Cas rubbed a hand over his forehead, took a deep breath and muttered, "He's lying about how his son broke his arm. He…damnit Dean that bastard abuses his son! Threw him into a wall and he's saying he fell off a skateboard. That's not even plausible! The force required to break an arm from falling from a skateboard at that height isn't even possible at that child's age!" Dean looked back over his shoulder, the father was still shouting at the admitting nurse and his son was still staring at the floor. Neither had seemed to notice Cas' outburst.

Dean didn't know if it was because of his love for Sophie and Mary, or if it was just how Cas had always been, but Cas had zero tolerance for child abusers. Which was saying something since Cas had an extraordinarily high tolerance for bullshit (he dealt with Dean's everyday anyway), but Dean could understand his anger.

"Okay Cas, we can help with that, you know we can."

Cas sighed and shook his head, "No Dean. That boy's soul is…its dying Dean. It's withering away into nothing."

Sam frowned down at Cas; interest peaked about a topic he knew next to nothing about, "That sort of thing can happen?"

"Yes. His is a new soul; it hasn't had a past life or anything to build on. It hasn't received the love and nurturing it requires to thrive and develop. It's just this…gray, dying thing and all because of that bastard." Dean pushed Cas back down when he started to get up again. Cas crossed his arms and let out an annoyed huff but didn't try to move again.

"Does he die if his soul dies?" Sam asked quietly. None of them had asked about the nature of souls, Dean just figured it was something he wouldn't understand and Sam looked like he was kicking himself for not inquiring sooner.

"No. He might as well though. His soul can wither up into nothing and what would be left behind would be a shell. Something that walks and talks but doesn't feel anything. Nothing at all. He would be…just…empty inside. Incomplete."

They were both silent for a moment, absorbing and then Sam asked, "What do you mean 'new soul'?" Dean resisted the urge to roll his eyes, here came the geeking out. They had a case to worry about and the kid to worry about now too, they didn't have time for a lecture on souls.

Cas answered though, "You've heard of people saying that someone is an old soul correct?"

Both Dean and Sam nodded.

"They wouldn't be wrong. Some souls are allowed to return to Earth from Heaven, they live out their life and return to Heaven with the knowledge and experience they gained from their lives. Some souls are reincarnated many times, while others only live the one life and some are the new souls that are created. Like when a baby is born and no soul is available to be placed."

"Huh, I never thought of it like that." Sam muttered and Dean had to admit neither had he.

"New souls need love to be able to grow. They need to be nourished since they don't have past experiences and strength to draw on to sustain themselves until they can find a better situation. New souls, if they don't receive that, just wither up and cease to exist."

"So you're telling me that kid hasn't been loved at all?" Dean asked, gesturing behind him towards the kid who still hadn't moved an inch.

Cas shook his head, eyes sad and worried, "His mother died in childbirth, he has no siblings and no other immediate family outside of his father who is an alcoholic, neglectful and abusive. There is a special place reserved for him in Hell."

"Well good. Look Cas, we'll call Detective Hayes, he owes us a favor anyway, and have him look into it okay? You know beyond that there isn't much we can do."

Cas looked up at Dean then, blue eyes blazing as he said, "No Dean. We need to help him."

Dean sighed, "I'm assuming by 'we need to help him' you mean bring him into our family and take him home with us."

"Yes." It was the same tone of voice Cas had pulled on Dean when they'd rescued Sophie. Sam looked on with an amused expression while Cas stared up at Dean and Dean rubbed his forehead.

"Look Cas, we can't just kidnap him or take him away like we did with Sophie. He'll probably have people looking for him!"

"I know that," Cas grumbled, giving Dean his I'm not stupid you dolt look, "Which is why we have Detective Hayes look into and then when he is taken from his home we are there to be his foster parents and then start the process of adoption. We're still in South Dakota so there shouldn't be a lot of hassle," Cas paused, eyes moving back towards the kid.

"He can't be in the system on his own Dean, he wouldn't survive it. He needs to be with someone who has a basic understanding of souls, he can get all of that love and care he needs with us. We're basically the only ones who can fix him and have him back to being like the child he needs to be."

It was scary sometimes how quick Cas' mind worked and how quickly he could come up with a plan that would leave no room for Dean to argue with unless he wanted to feel like a heartless bastard.

"There's no talking you out of this is there?"

"No. We were planning to adopt again anyway Dean."

"Yeah, in a few years Cas!"

"He doesn't have a few years Dean!" And now Cas was using those big blue eyes of his to tug at Dean's heartstrings, all wide and earnest. Dean sighed and shook his head. He knew when he was beaten.

"Fine. Let's see what we can do. But we also have a case to work on here!"

Cas grinned and shot out of his seat, wrapping around Dean in a suffocating hug, "Thank you Dean."

"Yeah…well…whatever. Can we get back to work now?" Cas grinned again, planted a kiss on Dean's cheek before he bounced around Dean and Sam and headed for the exit. Sam grinned over at Dean, nudged him in the side with his elbow, "You're such a pushover when it comes to Cas."

Dean scowled at his brother and headed towards the exit with a grumbled, "Bite me."

Two hours later found the three of them back in the hotel room. Sam was on the laptop, looking up more information on their monster of the week, and Cas having long since figured out the pattern was sprawled out on his stomach on the bed next to Dean, idly flipping through a book.

Dean was busy enjoying his beer and ogling Cas' ass. From the way Cas kept looking over at Dean, he was fully aware of what Dean was thinking about. It was very hard not to just toss his beer aside and roll over on top of Cas and just take. Cas would let him too, which made it even harder to resist that urge. Sam might have some objections though.

"It's almost time." Sam's voice broke through the silence of the hotel room; Dean looked away from the blue of Cas' eyes and glared over at his brother. Those blue eyes had been promising all sorts of good things that Dean was enjoying thinking about.

"Okay. Why don't you call Detective Hayes and have him meet us." Since the thing had to be killed at dawn and none of them were college aged like all the victims they had agreed to sit along the road where the murders were taking place and keep an eye open for the next victim and their monster.

Sam would be with the detective and Cas and Dean would be in the Impala further down the road from them.

Sam eyed the two of them on the bed, phone held in his hand, "If I'm with Detective Hayes will you two be able to pay attention to the case instead of having sex in the car?"

Dean scoffed and glared, prepared to tell his brother he was capable of some control, thank you very much.

It was Cas though, who said, "No promises."

Which led to Dean wondering if maybe there was time for a quickie before they went to the diner to meet up. All he had to do was get Sam out of the room.

Cas closed his book and Dean licked his lips, "Hey Sam, why don't you uh-" he was distracted by the way Cas' legs parted a few inches and how his hips canted up a little.

"Already leaving." Sam grumbled, snapping his laptop shut and grabbing his phone. Dean was already moving, not bothering to wait for his brother to exit the room before he was rolling on top of Cas, plastering himself along Cas' back and grinding down while Cas pushed up.

"Still in the room guys!"

"I'd suggest you leave quickly then, we're not going to wait." Cas mumbled, propping himself up on his elbows, ass raised up in the air for Dean. Sam huffed out a frustrated sigh and the hotel room door slammed shut behind him as he made his exit.

Dean chuckled, pressed a kiss to the back of Cas' neck, "I love you a ridiculous amount right now."

Cas hummed his agreement, "I know Dean. Just hurry up and fuck me, we don't have a lot of time."

Yeah, he loved Cas a lot right then.

In the morning, after the mud, blood and slime had been washed off they found themselves back in the hospital. Detective Hayes had been more than willing to help them out with the boy they'd come across, claiming he knew the father and would find great pleasure in either putting him away or taking his son from him.

Cas had been pleased to hear it all, they were all still high off the adrenaline of a hunt well done, no major injuries and a life saved.

Which was how Dean found himself following Cas up and down hallways, peeking into rooms looking for the boy while Sam and the detective searched for the father.

"He's in here." Cas muttered finally, hand on the handle. Dean nodded and Cas opened the door, slowly stepping inside. The boy straightened up in the bed, warily watching the two of them as Cas slowly approached the bed.

Cas knelt by the bed while Dean stood guard by the door, keeping an eye out for the dad. Dean watched from the corner of his eye as Cas knelt there, smiling gently at the kid as he said, "Hello."

The kid simply stared at him, all wide brown eyes and floppy blonde hair that reminded Dean a lot of Sam when he had been that age.

"I'm not here to hurt you," Cas said gently, still smiling, his blue eyes so kind and caring, Dean couldn't remember a time Cas had looked at someone like that.

"What's your name?" The boy blinked, chewed on his lip and glanced around the room, like he was expecting his father to pop out of the closet and yell at him.

"It's okay; you don't have to be afraid of me." Dean knew Cas already knew the kids name, he'd done his little soul stare of doom and had gathered it that way, Dean figured he was just trying to get the kids trust. He didn't know why he was leaving Cas to do this, Dean worked just as well with kids, managed to get himself down on their level and into their minds and gather their trust with just a few words and a kind smile. Apparently, though, this was something Cas needed to do, something he felt he could do. There was also the fact he could see the kids soul and it that worried him, filled him with that same urge that had overcome him when it had been Sophie he'd been worried about.

Finally, "Matthew."

Cas smiled again, "Matthew. That's a good, strong name. It's from the Bible, did you know that?"

Matthew shook his head, his fear slowly turning into a fascination with what Cas was saying to him.

"I have a name from the Bible too." Cas said simply, moving from his crouch on the floor to sit on the bed beside Matthew. Matthew's eyes followed him, and he shifted on the bed a little to make more room for Cas. Dean bit back a smile and tried to keep his attention on the doorway and hallway beyond, the last thing they needed was an angry father plowing in.

Matthew hesitated, fidgeted a little and quietly asked, "What is it?"

"Castiel. Do you know who that is?" Matthew shook his head again, eyes still wide and burning with curiosity.

Cas hummed, "Well, the name isn't mentioned specifically in the Bible, but it is the name of an angel."

"Really?"

Cas nodded, "He was the angel of Thursdays." Dean bit back another smile as it slowly dawned on him, today, of all days was a Thursday. Cas may not have been an angel anymore, but he either still fulfilled some of his older duties or it was just something that happened subconsciously, coming to the aid of people that needed it on his day.

"Today is a Thursday." Matthew whispered. Cas grinned, all dimples in his cheeks and crinkling around his eyes, it was the kind of smile that you couldn't help but smile back at, much like Matthew was in that moment.

"Really? Well, it must be your lucky Thursday then Matthew, for me to come along. Don't you think?" Matthew nodded and scooted closer to Cas, he didn't seem to be aware of it, suddenly too excited with the childish thought of this being an actual angel. Dean couldn't blame him; Cas did look like an angel, sitting there on the edge of the bed, his bright, infectious smile and white shirt and light colored jeans.

Cas was an angel, he may not be technically anymore, but there was always a small part hidden deep down inside that was still that bright, holy thing. That Warrior of God that had been so untouchable and amazing, he was still there. Just buried deep down underneath Cas' humanity, underneath all that love, stubbornness and intelligence, it was there.

Cas was silent for a moment, then he said quietly, "As I said, my name is Castiel, behind me is Dean. We live together a few hours from this town with our daughter Sophie, she's about your age, few years older I think."

Matthew was silent, but his eyes flicked over to Dean briefly before they returned to Cas who was leaning back a little, not crowding Matthew in.

"We want to take you away from here Matthew, away from your father," There was a brief flash of fear across Matthew's eyes and Cas held up a hand, "Only if you want to. We won't do anything you don't want to do. But I know what you've been through Matthew; I know you're not happy here. We want you to be happy, want you to be safe and you can have that with us."

Matthew was silent, eyes focused on Cas who was sitting patiently on the edge of the bed, small smile in place.

Finally, Matthew asked quietly, "What about my dad?"

"He won't find you. If you wish it, you'll never have to see him again and he won't come after you."

They were all silent again; Matthew nodded after a few minutes and whispered, "Okay."

Cas smiled, slowly reached forward to brush the bangs from Matthew's eyes and whispered his own, "Okay."

Cas nodded, smiled again and stood. He made Matthew lay back down in the bed, fluffed the pillow around his head and tucked the blanket in around his body before leaning in and pressing a gentle kiss to his temple, "Get some rest Matthew. We'll be back to get you when the doctors let you go for the day."

Matthew nodded and closed his eyes, Cas watched for a moment before turning around and heading back for Dean. When they let themselves out of the room Cas paused in the hallway, eyes closed and fists clenched against his side.

"Cas?"

Cas let out a shaky breath, leaned against Dean's sighed and whispered, "He's so very damaged Dean."

Dean rubbed Cas' shoulder, kissed his cheek, "He'll be okay with us."

"In time. A lot of time." Dean nodded and pulled his phone from his pocket when it buzzed with a text from Sam.

"They found the dad, let's go."

There was a lot of paperwork involved. A lot of talking and interviewing and questioning and even more paperwork. By the time they finally had Matthew and his few possessions packed away in the Impala and were on their way home the sun was beginning to set. Matthew and Cas were in the backseat, Cas telling Matthew about their family while Dean and Sam talked in the front seat.

Plans were made to have Cas' office moved down into the guestroom, Sophie would stay in her current room, since she'd downright refused more space when offered and Matthew would get the office for himself. It would take a bit to get everything together and redone, and until then Matthew would sleep down in the guestroom if he wanted.

Sophie, when Dean had talked to her on the phone while waiting for paperwork to go through, had been ecstatic that they were bringing her a brother home. She wanted nothing more than to play with him and introduce him to everything and everyone. She'd settled a little though when Dean had warned her he might be a bit shy and she should calm herself or she might scare him.

Dean half listened to what was being said in the back when he and Sam finished discussing plans on the room changes. Cas was telling Matthew about Grace and Socks and how he worked from home and would be able to keep Matthew company during the day if he so wanted.

A few miles later and Cas started humming quietly, Dean glanced in the rearview mirror to see Matthew's pain medication had kicked in and he was curled up on the backseat, head in Cas' lap. Cas ran his fingers through the blonde hair and continued humming until Matthew was sleeping soundly.

"We'll be home in a few hours Cas." Dean said, not loud enough to wake Matthew, but loud enough for Cas to hear him. Cas simply nodded and turned his attention out the window, fingers never stopping their movement through Matthew's hair.

True to word, two hours later they were pulling up into the driveway, Bobby and Sarah were there with Sophie and Grace. Matthew roused himself enough to climb out of the car and promptly remained hidden behind Cas until Sophie came bouncing over to greet Cas. Dean was surprised she was even conscious at this time of night, although she was probably wide-awake due to her excitement of them being home finally.

Sophie looked at Matthew, grinned and proudly stated, "I'm Sophie! I'm going to be your big sister from now on. Don't worry, I'll take good care of you, I promise!"

Dean and Sam grinned at each other while Cas chuckled, ruffled her hair and turned to thank Bobby for watching her. Sophie inched around Cas until she was standing next to Matthew, she grinned at him and he stared at her with wide eyes. Finally, she held out her hand and said, "C'mon! I'll show you what's gonna be your room! It's Papa's office right now, and it's kinda messy but we're gonna make it look awesome for you! I'll show you my room too!"

Matthew hesitated before taking her hand and Sophie promptly dragged him inside exclaiming, "I'll show you the kitchen too! It's one of my favorite rooms since Papa is a real good cook! You know Cas is Papa right? Dean is Daddy…don't you forget it now!"

They disappeared into the house and Dean chuckled, Cas was shaking his head with a small smile tugging on his lips, he turned to Dean and said, "Sophie will be good for him."

"Yeah, he's gonna have his hands full with her." Cas nodded and they said good-night to Bobby, Sam and Sarah, waved them off and headed inside where they could hear Sophie upstairs, explaining the rule of touching Cas' books in the office.

"Go upstairs and rescue the poor kid, I'll bring everything up." Dean muttered, nudging Cas with his elbow. Cas nodded and trudged up the stairs with Grace trailing after him.

By the time Dean got upstairs, everything was quiet and Dean wondered if Cas had managed to get the two kids into bed and passed out in the time it'd taken Dean to check the locks and salt lines and bring their bags up the stairs. When Dean approached Sophie's room though he heard the low rumble of Cas' voice and Sophie whispering, "Listen close Matt, this is my favorite part!"

Dean knew then that Cas was reading his and Sophie's favorite book Where the Wild Things Are, and the "favorite" part was where sometimes Cas would toss the book aside and tickle Sophie until she cried and begged to be released. Dean let himself into the room, taking in the sight of Cas squished between Sophie and Matthew on Sophie's small bed, Grace curled up at their feet. Matthew was looking at the book with wide eyes and Dean knew he was listening intently.

When Cas read a book to Sophie for the night he got into it, sometimes waving his arms around and raising his voice to match a characters or sometimes being quiet and soothing when the text called for it. Dean settled on the floor, threw an arm over Cas' legs and settled his head on the bed to listen to the rest of the story.

"And the wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws," Cas read, sneaking one hand around to poke and prod at Sophie's side. She giggled and squirmed in place and stilled when Cas carried on reading. Matthew continued listening intently, until the end when his eyes started drifting shut and finally his head thudded down onto Cas' chest.

Dean figured it was the kids first time having a story read to him for bedtime and Dean vowed it wouldn't be the last, not if he had anything to say about it.

When Cas shut the book Dean stood and gently scooped Matthew up off the bed and thought about where he would sleep tonight, Cas solved it by standing up and saying, "He'll sleep with us tonight, Dean."

"Yeah, I figured as much," Dean muttered with a nod, Cas smiled and leaned down to tuck Sophie into bed, "Night sweetheart."

"Night Daddy! Night Papa!" They let themselves out of her room, leaving the door open a crack and headed for their own room. Grace promptly collapsed into her bed in the corner with a sigh, like she was the one who'd had the hardest day of them all. Cas pulled down the blankets on their bed and Dean settled Matthew into the middle while he and Cas went around changing and brushing their teeth.

When they were finally settled in bed Cas sighed and rested his hand on Matthew's chest, hand resting over his heart and where Dean imagined his soul resided, "He's at peace for now. But it's not going to last."

"I know Cas," Dean rested his hand over Cas', squeezing gently, "We can handle it though. Kid deserves the chance."

Cas nodded and closed his eyes, fingers wrapping around Dean's and squeezing lightly.

Dean smiled and watched over them both for the night.