Anything But Rhythmic

Tuck You In, Warm Within

Note: hey my lovely people <3

i'm weirdly on a roll with this story, but all these chapters keep coming out as actual one shots. i hope you don't mind that.

in this one, Cadence is two and Darby is only a couple weeks old.

Tuck You In, Warm Within

Cadence squealed and giggled and then fell silent. She looked expectantly at her dad, but he'd schooled his face. "Do it again, Dada!"

Sam grinned, lifted his daughter's shirt, and blew raspberries on her tummy.

Cade squealed and laughed out loud in trills and hiccups. "Again!" she said before Sam had even stopped.

He started to laugh and wasn't able to blow raspberries at the same time.

"Again!" Cade requested, patting her father's stubbly cheek. "Please again!"

Sam smiled at her sweetness and leaned in again to blow raspberries over her belly button.

"I hear some giggles," Delphia said, poking her head in the room. "Oh, Mija," she laughed, watching her daughter bury her fingers in her daddy's hair as she threw her head back and laughed uncontrollably.

Sam just grinned, pulled back, and used his fingers to tickle his daughter's sides. She squealed again and curled forward.

"Again please!" Cadence requested, though, again, Sam hadn't even stopped yet.

"Mija," Delphia laughed even harder. "You two are precious," she commented, walking over to them and placing a hand on Sam's shoulder.

"So are you," Sam stage-whispered to his wife and leaned his head back to invite a kiss.

Del leaned her face directly over his and dropped her love there, her mouth meeting his.

"Daddy," Cade called, her voice still high with excitement. "Again please!"

::::::

"He's still crying," Cas said, distraught. He looked at Dean like he thought the guy would have an answer, but Dean didn't know what to do.

He looked between Castiel and the baby crying in his arms. "Let me try again," he offered and reached out to take Darby.

Cas hesitated before letting him go. "He has had his diaper changed three times in the last hour. He refuses to eat or sleep. What more can such a small being need?"

Dean scratched the back of his head with one hand, cradling Darby in the crook of his arm so that his head was supported and his back was mostly straight. "I don't know," he said. "He's a nephilim. Is there something he could need for... for that?"

He was fresh out of ideas on how to care for a human baby, and if there was something that could help Darby that had to do with grace or wings or anything like that... Well, Dean would do it in a heartbeat.

"I have never cared for a newborn nephilim," Cas admitted. "I think I'll start sleeping tonight."

Dean grinned and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Then he remembered that Darby would probably keep them up for less sexy reasons most of the night, and his smile fell away. The poor kid was still wailing in his arms. "Maybe we should ask Sam and Del for help," Dean offered. He didn't like the idea of running to his kid brother for help, but Sam was more experienced in this department. And if it would make Darby feel better, Dean would do it.

"I'll get them," Cas agreed without prefix. He hurried out of the room, his hand catching the doorframe as he entered the hallway.

Dean looked down at the baby in his arms. "I love you, Darby," he said softly. "Would you just tell me what you want already, so I can fix it?" He began to sway without even thinking about it. "Nah, I'm just kiddin'," he assured his baby. "I know you can't, buddy. That would be pretty freakin' awesome, though." He pictured Darby's tiny, toothless mouth forming words and made a face. "Actually, it might be more creepy than awesome."

Darby's sobs had died down to much smaller hiccups and heavy breathing. His little face was still tight with sadness, though. It made Dean's heart ache like the baby's small hand was wrapped around it instead of his finger. He used said finger to shake the little hand gently. "It's okay, bud," he whispered. "I got you. Daddy's here. Hey, how about a song, huh? Bet you're a Metallica fan. You're too smart not to be."

"Say your prayers, little one. Don't forget, my son, to include everyone," he sang softly. Darby's small mouth was downturned deeply at the corners, his little cheeks dimpling with his upset. But it was clear that he was calming as his breathing began to even out more and more, his blue eyes wet but no longer dripping tears. "I tuck you in, warm within, keep you free from sin til the sandman, he comes."

Dean paused. Maybe this wasn't a good song to be singing to soothe a baby into sleep. He shrugged. Darby seemed to be into it. He was blinking slowly and like his eyelids were ten pound weights.

"Sleep with one eye open, gripping your pillow tight. Exit light, enter night. Take my hand. We're off to Never Never Land." In disbelief, Dean stopped singing and opened his mouth. "I did it," he murmured, his voice nearly nonexistent.

He didn't dare try to lay Darby down, so he just sat slowly on the edge of his mattress. Even that much movement, though, jostled the baby too much. Dean shot back up like the bed had burned his ass.

"Something's wrong, shut the light, heavy thoughts tonight," he sang and watched Darby's eyes close slowly again. "And they aren't of Snow White. Dreams of war, dreams of liars, dreams of dragons' fire."

"Are you singing Enter Sandman?"

Dean looked up sharply at his brother. Sam was standing in the doorway, Delphia behind him with Cadence on her hip. "Shut up, Sam," Dean hissed. "He's sleeping."

Sam looked taken aback, but he grinned in amusement. "I remember those days," he said quietly. "Come on, babe," he said to his wife and nodded down the hall toward where their room was.

As they turned to walk away, Cadence caught a glimpse of her uncle and the baby in his arms. She gasped in excitement. "Hi, Dobby!" she shouted. "Wuv you!"

Immediately, the baby woke up and began to cry. But all the adults, Dean included, were too busy awwing to be annoyed.

At the sound of her cousin's tears, though, Cadence's little face puckered up. "Dobby?" she asked in a tiny voice. "Me sowwy." She sniffled and began to cry herself.

"Oh, Mija, it's okay," Delphia promised. She and Sam took Cadence back down the hallway, whispering reassurances to her as they went.

Cas walked into the bedroom, and Darby's cries softened.

"He seems quieter still," he murmured and placed a hand on Dean's shoulder, massaging it lightly.

"Sleep with one eye open," Dean sang softly. "Gripping your pillow tight." He held Darby along one arm again so that he could reach up to grab the hand Cas had on his shoulder. They both gazed down at their baby and smiled as Dean kept singing and Darby went to sleep again. "Exit light, enter night. Take my hand. We're off to Never Never Land."

End