Standing Together

Chapter 96

"What?"

"Alex is over 18 months old."

Castiel gapes at him. "No way. She's not..."

"That's what I thought!" Dean says. "I still think of her as the little two-month-old from Florida."

"I refuse to believe she's not still the little two month old from Florida," Castiel says.

"How big even is an 18-month-old?" Dean asks. "I know she can walk and she can kinda talk, but is she still a baby, or is she a toddler?"

"I mean, if she can walk, I'd assume she's a toddler, just by definition," Castiel says.

"Wait, is that the difference between a baby and a toddler?" Dean asks, amazed.

"Well, yeah, I'd say a toddler is someone who toddles," Castiel says.

Dean stares at him incredulously. "How did I not know that?"

"Well, you're not the brightest bulb in the box," Castiel says teasingly.

"Okay, ouch," Dean says. "I mean, you're right, but ouch."

Castiel chuckles and sits down next to him. "So, when are we going to visit them ourselves?"

"Soon?" Dean guesses. "I don't know."

"Well, that's boring," Castiel says.

Dean just looks at him for a few moments, then asks, "Are you just oblivious to the date, or are you waiting for me to say something? Because I genuinely can't tell."

"Wait, what's today?" Castiel asks.

"Your birthday, silly," Dean says.

"Oh, that's today?"

Dean shakes his head in amusement. "Yes, Cas, that's today." Dean presses a kiss to the top of his head. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," Castiel says with a small smile.

"I'm not gonna lie; I had a very hard time finding a present for you," Dean says.

"You don't have to, you know," Castiel says. "I can buy whatever I want, whenever I want."

"That's true," Dean says. "But it's your birthday, and that only happens once a year, so I did it anyway. Want me to get it for you now, or wait until later and we can eat cake at the same time?"

"Did you somehow buy a cake without me noticing?" Castiel asks, confused.

"No, but we can make a cake," Dean say. "Either from scratch or from the box recipe; it's up to you. And you could just make me make it if you want, but I wasn't sure if you'd want to be involved."

"I would love to be involved," Castiel says. "Can we make it now?"

"Hells yeah we can."

~~

"So, I didn't wrap your present," Dean tells him once the cake's been baked, frosted, and almost entirely eaten.

"That's fine," Castiel assures him.

"Imma go grab it," Dean says, then heads down to the garage.

Castiel waits impatiently at the kitchen table for a few minutes, until Dean finally reappears, carrying an entire record player in his arms.

Castiel gapes at him. "Is that mine?"

"Wait, it gets better," Dean says, then puts the record player down on the table. "I'll be right back."

He takes off again, back to the garage. He returns a minute or so later with a cardboard box, putting that next to the record player.

"Okay, open it," Dean says with an excited grin.

Castiel does as he's told, revealing a stack of records to go along with the record player. He pulls them out one st a time, and it doesn't take long for him to recognize the pattern.

"Did you get me Elvis Presley's entire discography?" Castiel asks, amused.

Dean nods. "That's exactly what I did."

"Do you even like Elvis?" Castiel asks.

"I can dig Elvis," Dean says with a smirk.

Castiel chuckles. "I should have known that's where you were going with that."

"Honestly, I'm surprised it took you this long," Dean says. "But I got you actual records that you might listen to, too, if you keep looking. There's, like, Kansas and AC/DC —"

"Bon Jovi?" Castiel asks hopefully.

"Obviously," Dean replies.

Castiel grins and gives Dean a hug. "This is why you're the best."