Standing Together

Chapter 133

"I can't believe you got Alex to talk to you," Dean says, sounding just a little jealous.

"I know, right?" Castiel says. "She never talks to me."

"But if I hear Lucifer go off about how smart she is one more time, I'm going to lose it," Dean adds. "I get it. She's a child prodigy. I don't need to hear it fifty times."

"Well, it's the first I'm hearing of it," Castiel says. "And I don't know how smart the average almost-two-year-old is, so I was pleasantly surprised."

"That's what I thought the first time he said it," Dean says. "But I talk to him way too much for this to be new to me, and I'm about ready to throw hands."

"Oh, come on." Castiel rolls his eyes. "He's excited. He's a dad. His daughter's doing well. He's really proud of her. I don't blame him."

"I know, I know," Dean says. "Which is why I'm willing to suffer through it every time she does something even remotely smart. I like Lucifer too much to tell him to shut up."

Castiel chuckles, but it's a half hearted laugh.

Dean notices immediately, of course. He always does. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"I don't know why you try to pull the 'nothing' card when you know I'll never believe it," Dean says. "Really, what's up?"

"I'm just worried about Alex," Castiel says.

"You're worried because she's smart?" Dean says, confused.

"No, I'm worried because she's part of our family," Castiel says. "You love her because she's Lucifer's, and you like Lucifer. But not everyone likes Lucifer, and I know I haven't been online in a long time, but I can only imagine he's falling out of favor like every celebrity does over time. God knows the general public doesn't like you, either, and they're not so big on me. They're going to take it out on her. She's going to grow up with standards that she can't meet, because people don't want her to meet them."

"I don't know about that," Dean says. "She's just a kid. People love kids."

"Really?" Castiel raises an eyebrow. "Millie Bobby Brown? Jacob Sartorius? Jojo Siwa? Justin Bieber when 'Baby' got big, before he had done anything wrong? They were all kids. Everyone knew they were kids. They were still dragged to hell and back for doing absolutely nothing. That's what Alex has to look forward to in a few years?"

"Lucifer and Claire are keeping her out of the spotlight, remember?" Dean says. "That won't be a problem."

"It will be when she gets old enough to want her own Instagram or Twitter or whatever," Castiel says. "They can't keep her hidden forever. She's going to want to be her own person eventually. Middle school, high school, whenever it is, it's when kids start growing up, and they want people to like them and they want to fit in, and that's impossible as a celebrity."

"You know what?" Dean puts an arm around his shoulders. "We still have another decade until we have to worry about that. Let's just enjoy it while it lasts, and we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

~~

"Son of a bitch."

Castiel looks up from his phone, pausing his episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? with just a little hesitation.

"What's up?" Castiel asks, watching as Dean peeks through the blinds and out the window.

"It's snowing," Dean complains.

"It's about time," Castiel says. "I miss the snow."

"The fuck are you talking about?" Dean asks. "We get, like, seven feet of snow at a time in Massachusetts."

"I think you need to look at a ruler better you try making estimates," Castiel says. "But it's snow! It hasn't snowed since March! How can you complain about that?"

"Because I hate snow," Dean deadpans. "I want to go back to California, where it never snowed, and I could walk between buildings in jeans and flannel all year long."

"Fuck yeah, let's go!" Castiel says, excited.

"Wait, really?" Dean asks.

"No, never," Castiel deadpans.

"Damn, okay," Dean says, amused. "That's fine. We'd never make it out the driveway, anyway."

Castiel rolls his eyes. "The driveway's, like, 30 feet long, and there's absolutely no hill. I'm pretty sure even your car can get out of there."

"You talk about my car like that again, and it'll be the last thing you say."

"I feel like you've said that before," Castiel says. "But I'm still standing. I'm beginning to doubt your sincerity."

"Would you like me to duct tape your mouth shut?" Dean asks. "Because I'll do it, if you want."

"Don't you fucking dare."

Dean just laughs and flops down on the bed. "Fine, fine." He crawls next to his fiancé, looking over at his phone, which auto locked at some point during the conversation. "Whatcha doing?"

"Watching TV," Castiel replies.

"Whatcha watching?"

"A dumb comedy show."

"Ooh, I love dumb comedy," Dean says, grinning. "Can I watch?"

Castiel shrugs. "Sure?"

Castiel takes his earbuds out of his phone and unlock it. As soon as the screen turns on, Dean says, "Wait, this is your dumb comedy show?"

Castiel raises an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Whose Line is the best comedy show," Dean says. "I take personal offense to you calling it dumb."

"Wait, you've seen it before?" Castiel says, surprised.

"Yeah, I binge watched it with my roommate in college," Dean says. "Greatest week of my life."

"Not gonna lie, it's kind of sad that that's the greatest week of your life," Castiel says.

"I'm aware, thank you very much."