Finding May

Chapter Three - Birthdays and Black Eyes

Hello all.

I didn't have school today yay. Pittsburgh was AWESOME and PRETTY and AMAZING I wanted to stay longer. We went to Fallingwater and the Mattress Factory and some other places and everything was just awesome.

Warnings: violence (?)
------------------------------------------------------Castiel's POV
June 5, 11:26 am

Castiel hummed as he made sandwiches for May's birthday picnic. He could hear May's bare feet on the concrete floor as she flounced into the kitchen, wearing a yellow t-shirt and blue shorts. Happy birthday! Cas signed, nearly crushing her with how hard he hugged her. She had only been here a week, and she was already turning fifteen.

Thank you, she signed, then brought her open hand to her forehead, touching her thumb to the center of her forehead twice. The sign for "dad". Before Cas could react, she pointed at Dean, who had just entered the room. Pointing at him with one hand, she made the sign for "dad", touching her thumb to her forehead once, then she pointed at Cas, and touched her thumb to her forehead twice. She repeated this again, making sure that both Dean ad Cas knew what she was doing.

We understand, Cas signed.

May nodded once, then got up and left. "Did you get the cake?" Cas asked as soon as she was gone.

"Of course I did. I hid it in the cooler in the car. We can put drinks on top of it so she can't see it. Did you wrap her present?"

"Yes. It's in the trunk."

For her birthday, Dean, Cas, and Sam all pitched in and bought her the complete Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. It was one of the few book series she didn't have on her shelf that May wanted.

Dean's POV
June 5, 11:51 am

Once Dean and Cas finished making the sandwiches, they collected Sam and May and drove to the local park. May decided on a spot half under the shade of a tree, and half in the sun, facing the playground where little kids screamed and played on the swings and the slides and the monkey bars. Nearby, a fountain was swamped by pigeons.

May kicked her sandals off and nestled on the blanket, laying down so her face was in the sun, and the rest of her in the shade. Dean waved gently in her plane of vision, and she sat up as Dean tossed her a sandwich. The four of them ate their sandwiches happily under the shade of the tree. After lunch, Dean instructed May to stay on the blanket while he, Cas, and Sam got her present from the trunk of the Impala.

Dean unlocked the trunk. "Dean!" Sam shouted. Dean whirled around just as a man punched Sam in the jaw. Sam staggered back, and Cas grabbed the man's shirt and slammed him against the door of the Impala, out of view of anyone in the park.

"Who the hell are you?" Cas asked through clenched teeth.

The man laughed, and his eyes turned black as he blinked. "Pretty big present you got there," he said. "For your daughter, isn't it?"

"How do you know about her?" Dean demanded.

The demon laughed again. "The boss has eyes everywhere. You really shouldn't have left her all alone over there."

Before the demon could say anything else, Dean plunged the demon knife into his chest. He didn't wait for Sam and Cas to catch up as he sprinted over to the tree where the picnic was set up.

She was gone.

"May?" Dean said breathlessly as he whirled around and around.

"No. No, no, no," Cas muttered. Sam ran a hand through his hair frustratedly.

A small laugh from above caused all three men to glance up. There sat May, on a tree branch, swinging her legs freely. They all sighed in unison. Come down here, Dean signed.

May grabbed the branch in front of her chest and swung in the air for a few seconds before dropping to the ground with a small thud. Did you forget something? she asked, a confused expression on her face.

Dean realized they had left her present sitting in the trunk of the Impala. Sam, Dean, and Cas all glanced at each other.

We checked the weather, Sam signed. There's a storm coming. We should probably go home.

May glanced up at the cloudless blue sky. Whoever wrote that weather report is clearly smoking some funky stuff.

We should go, just in case, Cas signed. We wouldn't want everything to get wet.

Okay, May signed and shrugged.

Let's pack everything up.

Castiel's POV
June 5, 1:12 pm

Cas felt bad for lying to May, but they weren't ready to tell her about demons and angels and all that stuff yet. This time, only Dean went to retrieve her birthday present. May's eyes lit up as she tore off the wrapping paper. She leapt into whoever was closest's arms, which happened to be Cas.

That was one thing Cas had learned about May since she arrived: she never got tired of giving or receiving hugs. It was a silly thing to notice, and he was sure that if he pointed this out to her, she would be embarrassed. Dean had told him about what had happened to her at the orphanage, and it made him incredibly upset to find out how badly she was mistreated without anyone sticking up for her.

Dean lit the candle on May's little ice cream cake. Before they could begin to sign the song "Happy Birthday", she blew out the candle with a small puff of air. She looked expectantly up at Dean, who was holding the knife to cut the cake with. Dean just blinked, shrugged, and divided the cake into six slices.

Cas and Dean exchanged glances. That was odd.

May's POV
June 5, 1:46 pm

After cake, May lounged in her room for a little bit. She sighed and laid back on her bed, admiring the way she had organized her books on the shelves above her desk. The door cracked open, and Papa stuck his head in.

May had decided that she would call Castiel "Papa" and Dean "Dad". She didn't know why; it just seemed natural. Dean didn't look like a "Papa".

Sorry about the picnic, Papa signed, sitting down on the bed beside her.

Are you kidding me? Best birthday ever.

Papa smiled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. Happy birthday, May.