Just a Baby in a Trench Coat

Chapter 3 ~ Babies Get Preferential Treatment

The waitress was absolutely smitten with Cas. She cooed at him and barely even noticed Dean's existence and honestly he couldn't blame her. Cas, in his little batman onesie and his hair done up in a little red ribbon (Dean didn't have the heart to take it out), looked like an absolute innocent doe-eyed puppy. She almost didn't take Dean's order in her haste to make noises at Cas who was intrigued at first until he lost interest. She brought out Dean's hamburger and fries and Cas almost seemed relieved when she left without trying to goad a reaction from him. He was positioned on Dean's lap, head laying flat against his chest as he occasionally reached out for a fry, which Dean indulged him in. Dean was entertained by Cas suckling on the fry until he would just consume it whole. He startled himself when he realized he had started petting Cas's head gently and he would have pulled away except Cas pushed his head into Dean's palm, and Dean took the wordless command as consent to keep going. Cas's eyes slowly started to droop and Dean caught himself smiling softly and quickly coughed to cover it up.

Back at the motel, Dean called Sam to inform him of the new information he had acquired at the park. Cas slept peacefully on the queen bed in his previous bee onesie squeaky clean, since Dean had managed to corral Cas into a bath (it ended with all the shampoo being used up and Dean tumbling into the tub himself and getting his favorite jeans soaked. Cas found it extremely hilarious). Sam declared that he had an idea but cliff-hanged Dean by saying he'd explain when he got back to the motel before hanging up abruptly. By the sound of it, Sam must have been with the sheriff. Dean sighed and laid on the bed next to Cas since he couldn't think of anything better to do. Cas shifted in his sleep before opening one eye lazily. He gave a small smile and reached out with his small grabby hands and Dean obliged by letting Cas wrap his little fist around Dean's index and middle fingers. Cas then went back to sleep as if nothing happened. Dean stared at his hand and wondered how much of Cas was Cas. Was this just a kid who woke up into existence who (unfortunately) imprinted on Dean? Was this really Cas? Dean hoped it was. He would have prayed, but he only prayed for one reason. God wasn't on Dean's list, and there was only one being on this earth that Dean would reach out to, and he was sleeping inches from Dean's face, completely helpless. A defenseless baby. Dean felt this...this thing in his chest again. He had felt it for a while, years in fact, and it only ever happened when he thought of Cas. It didn't matter the context, he felt it when Cas was injured, he felt it every time Cas would grab him into a hug, and he felt it when Cas would do something as simple as a smile at him. It confused Dean to no end, and Dean hated to be confused -- especially when it was about himself.

The sleeping Cas let out a little huff in his sleep and moved before settling again, and Dean decided that for this moment he would let all that tension go and just be there in the moment, watching over and protecting this little child, whether it was Cas or not.

Sam walked in as Dean and Cas were playing hide and seek and was not prepared for what he would find. He opened the door to see a lone baby on the floor who immediately bolted towards the exit and caused Dean to come launching out of the closet screaming, "Don't let him out!" Sam barely managed to snatch the kid off the ground before he got under his legs.

"I got him! Jesus!" Dean approached and Sam gratefully handed the baby over. Sam didn't have anything against Cas, but the little squirming baby was not something he wanted to be apart of. This was a Dean Thing.

"What'd ya find on Lisa?"

"Ms. Lisa was a teacher," Sam moved inside and dropped his stuff on the floor while moving to the bed where he sat momentarily, "well respected and loved by the community, she was deeply involved in child growth programs and passionate about raising kids. Helped out with anything and everything. One day she called in sick and then never showed up again, and when the police investigated her home they didn't find any sign of a break-in or of an attempt to flee. Everything was perfectly untouched."