For Who the Heart Beats

A more profound bond.

Cas was the first to wake the next morning. Grateful for being a angel once again as he didn't have to suffer through an agonizing hangover. He'd seen Dean go through it a few times, so he knew it wasn't fun.
He planned on making everyone breakfast and then taking Dean where ever he wanted to go. Paris, Tokyo, whatever he wished for a honeymoon.
But that thought went out the window when he returned to the room. Dean was awake and sitting up, his hand on his stomach. Cas sat the tray in the bed and went over to sit by his husband.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm having these.. These cramps." Dean huffed.
"Are you in pain? I can heal you."
"No just- can you go get Jody?"
Cas practically ran down the hall and banged on her door.  She opened after a moment with an annoyed look.
"What is it Castiel?" She asked groggily.
"Its Dean. Something is wrong. Is the baby coming?" Cas was freaking out.
"Okay, calm down. Let's go see what's going on."
Jody led the worried angel back to his room where Dean was still hunched over on the bed. Jody sat in front of him and pressed her hands to his belly.
"Do they hurt? Are they getting more frequent or stronger."
"I don't think so. " Dean shrugged.
"Okay since you are getting close to your due date I think these are just braxton hicks. Its like practice contractions to get your body ready. You need to drink some water, see if that helps. "
Cas immediately popped into the kitchen to grab a cold bottled water from the fridge before popping back. He undid the lid before handing it to Dean.
Dean sipped it slowly, until it was almost gone and sat it aside.
"Let's get you up, walking around will help." Jody offered.
With a huff Dean climbed out of bed and paced the room a dozen times. The tightness in his belly stopped soon enough and he relaxed some.
Jody patted the bed and Dean gladly crawled back in.
"So I want you to eat this amazing breakfast Cas made for you and then I want you to do nothing the rest of the day but lay here. After all that standing and dancing you did last night you need to just rest and hydrate."
Dean nodded and pulled the tray of food to his lap, well what he had left of a lap. And bit into his French toast.
Jody left the room and Cas slid in beside his husband.
"Are you really okay?" Castiel asked after a moment.
"I'm fine. If she decides to come there's no stopping her. We just need to get ready for that."
"Hey what's going on? I just ran into a sleepy Jody in the hall." Sam asked sticking his head in the room .
"Just false labor pains. I'm okay." Dean explained. "Jody put me on bed rest."
"No honey moon then?"
"Looks that way." Cas sighed.
"Well" Sam began, " I was thinking if you decide to wait until after Grace is born I could watch her one weekend while you guys went away for your honey moon."
Dean thought about that. About sitting on a beach somewhere with Cas watching the waves crash as the sun sets. "We'd love that Sammy."
Sam grinned and nodded before exiting the room. He pulled the door shut as he went.
The rest of the day went by slowly. Dean sat in bed and listened to music and slept to pass the time. Cas stayed by his side reading, only getting up to get Dean food or a bottle of water.
Jody popped her head in around lunch to check on them but disappeared with Bobby later in the evening.
Sam just kind of lazily shuffled around the bunker, bored out of his mind.
"Cas I need to tell you something." Dean finally said after debating it all day.
"Hmm?" Cas replied, looking up from his book.
"Last night when I came in to change I ran into someone in the driveway. "
"Who?"
"The witch who did this to me." Dean whispered.
"What?" Cas almost shouted. "And you waited until now to tell me?"
"I know, I'm sorry. But Sam was there so it was fine."
"What did she want?" Cas asked, forehead creased.
"She offered to...change me back actually. "
"Okay, but your still you so what happened?"
"When she offered she said that if I changed back now Grace would of never existed. She'd just be gone. So I turned her down."
"Do you think she's the one causing these pains?" Cas questioned.
"I don't think so. Jody said this was normal so unless she says otherwise we're okay."
"I just can't believe she was here." Cas growled, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were turning white.
"Easy tiger." Dean chuckled, trying to break the tension in the room.
Jody came in a little while later when Dean's contractions were still coming and going.
"Do you have your bags ready?" She asked.
"Bags?"
"Yeah for the hospital. Your bags and the baby's? Just in case."
"Uhm no." Dean replied with wide eyes.
"Cas why don't you take a break. Take Sam and go shopping. I'll make a list?"
Dean nodded and she went in search for paper and a pen.
"Will you be okay while I'm gone?" The angel asked.
"Yeah I'll be fine. I'll probably just sleep honestly. Wake me when you get back?"
Cas agreed and kissed his husband softly on the head before leaving the room and closing the door softly. He found Jody in the war room. Scribbling things down that Dean and Grace would need. She smiled at Cas when he entered.
"You look a little nervous."
"Just worried about Dean." Castiel confessed.
"He's gonna be fine. Here, take his and go find Sam. Make sure you get everything." Jody stressed.
Nodding to himself while he looked over the paper in his hands he walked off to find Sam.
*. *. *.
A while later Dean woke up to a dark room. Stretching he decided to get up and get a glass of water and stretch his stiff muscles.
The bunker was quiet with Sam and Cas gone. Jody wasn't in the kitchen when Dean stepped out of the hall.
He opened the dishwasher and looked for a glass to find it empty.
Damn it Jody. Dean laughed to himself.
Standing up on his tip toes he reached for a glass on the top shelf. His fingers grazed the glass just as a sharp pain shot through his belly.
Dean let out a gasp and curled his hands around his belly and droppin back down.He reached back for the chair to sit as another rocked through him.
"What the hell." He hissed to the empty room.
He felt a gush between his legs and his eyes widened in fear as he ran to the bathroom. He pulled his pants down to reveal a mess of blood in his underwear.
Breathing hard he tried to calm himself. He had to find Jody.
Walking out of the room he called out for her. He had just made it to the kitchen and was gripping the counter when she walked in.
"You okay?"
"No theres-" but he froze before he could explain. Another gush came but this time it dripped down his legs and puddled on the floor. It was clear, like water.
"Oh my god, Dean!"
"I swear I didn't just pee myself." His face was red, embarrassed.
"No son, that was your water breaking. Grace is coming!"
Another sharp pain passed through his body and he clenched his belly tight.
"What?" He huffed, out of breath. "Its too early. My due date isn't for like nine weeks!"
"Doesn't matter now. Not with your water broken. Let's get you in the shower and cleaned up. We'll call the guys from the car on the way to the hospital.
From there everything seemed to be put on fast forward. Dean was shuffled to the shower and dressed in loose clothes. His contractions coming eerily closer together as the minutes ticked by.
"I can't, I can't. " Dean pleaded as he held tightly to the stair railing. There was no way he was making it up those to Jody's truck outside.
"Another one? That's only four minutes apart Dean. That can't be right." Jody's face was scrunched with worry.
Dean's hand slipped from the rail and he slid to his butt, curling into himself on the floor. His hands tightened on the shirt that covered his rock like stomach.
Cas something is wrong, come home quick. Dean prayed silently.
A few moments later as Jody was trying to coax Dean from the floor Cas came running in from the garage. He took in Dean's position on the floor and asked, "What's happened? We were almost home when I heard your prayer."
Sam came running in, arms full of bags that he let slide to the floor.
"Water. Broke." Dean huffed as his contraction subsided.
"What? " Sammy's eyes bulged.
"And his contractions are crazy close together. We need to get to the hospital now. " Jody ordered.
Without another word Cas scooped the hunter up off the floor and disappeared.
Dean opened his eyes and they were outside of the emergency room doors. Cas strided in, startling the nurse at the desk.
"Baby?" She asked.
"Yes, my water broke and- GAH!" Dean nearly screamed through his clenched teeth.
The nurse said something into her intercom and a few minutes later a man in scrubs came out pushing a wheelchair. He rolled to a stop in front of them and Castiel eased Dean down into it.
He was pushed through several halls and then into an elevator to the second floor. They took a left into the maternity ward once the doors opened.
"Alright, undress and slip into the hospital gown on the bed. A nurse will be in soon to get you situated until the doctor gets here. " the male nurse smiled and left the room.
With a big huff Dean pulled himself out of the chair and started to undress.
Cas took it upon himself to ward the room once Dean was laid back in the bed, hospital gown tied around him.
Sam called once from the road and Castiel informed him of the room number as a middle aged nurse walked in after knocking briefly.  She was short, with greying hair and a soft smile.
"Hi, I'm Elaine. I hear someone is having a baby?" She grinned.
"Yes ma'am." Dean confirmed. "Water broke at home."
"That's common. How far are you?"
"Thirty one weeks and three days." Cas answered.
Her brow creased at the answer but it was gone just as quick. She placed a heart and contraction monitor across Dean's belly and started an IV drip in his left arm before leaving to page the doctor. The door clicked shut behind her.
"She didn't like how far along I am." Dean mumbled.
Cas went to stand next to him and held his hand. He was just about to comfort him but Dean squeezed his hand, his contraction coming at full force. Tears slid down the hunters cheeks and Cas fought the urge to heal him.
Elaine came back in and waited out the cotraction before speaking.
"Okay so I need to check how many centimeters you are alright? The doctor is on his way." She pulled on a pair of purple latex gloves.
Dean nodded as she pulled the sheet off his legs. She pulled his underwear down and spread his legs apart. As she inserted her fingers she gasped, brown eyes growing wide in shock.
"What?!" Cas demanded.
"This baby is coming." She stated.
"Yes we know that." Cas quirked his head to the side.
"No I mean, right now. The head is already in the birth canal. This is insane. How long ago did your water break?"
"T-thirty minutes maybe.." Dean stuttered.
"The doctor isn't even here yet, I'll be right back." She turned and ran from the room.
Dean had another unbearable contraction as he fought the urge to push."This is too fast! And the doctor. Cas..."
Cas knew what he had to do. He walked over to the small sink and washed his hands before pulling on his own pair of gloves. He shook off his jacket and tossed it on a nearby chair. Once he located a small blanket and stool he was ready.
"Do you trust me?" The angel asked as he sat down at the foot of Dean's bed.
""With my life." Dean replied without pause.
"Let's have a baby. " Cas smiled.
Dean pushed the sheet to the floor and raised the head of his bed with a button I n the bed rail. Cas pulled the sterups out from the side and Dean lifted one leg at a time into them.
"I'm ready." The hunter said.