The Year of Redemption

Chapter 65: I'm Yours

Dean was up early. He rushed to the window of the bedroom, looking out. "Snow!" He exclaimed. "It snowed, Cas!" He ran to the side of the bed and dragged the angel out. "Come on!"

"Hold on, baby," the angel said, laughing. "Let's put some clothes on first." Teal ran into the room as they got dressed, yipping excitedly and scampering in sloppy circles around the bed, sliding every time he tried to make a turn on the hard wood floor. Cas laughed at the puppy, not knowing whether he or Dean was more excited.

Dean tried to leave the room with just a T-shirt and jeans on, and Cas swung a flannel jacket over his head, pulling him back. "Slow down, Dean. God, you're worse than Sal Teh." Then he draped a jean jacket over the flannel jacket, followed by another overcoat. He stuck out a pair of boots, and Dean obediently took them, sitting on the edge of the bed to lace them up while Cas put his own clothes back on.

"This'll be Teal's first time in the snow," Dean said cheerily, reaching down to pick up the puppy. "Are you ready, buddy? You'll love it, I swear." He set the dog down and stood up, helping Cas straighten his tie. Somehow, the angel always managed to put it on crooked. "Let's go," he said, tugging at Castiel's hand and pulling him out of the room, Teal hot on their heels. Dean led them all outside.

There was a good 8 inches of snow from the night before, and small flakes were still coming down. The sun was shining dimly behind a layer of clouds, and the trees were donned with pure, bright wisps of white. "It's beautiful," Cas breathed, taking it in.

Dean leaned against his shoulder. "It's like a fresh start, like the world is being born again, washing away everything and just beginning anew."

Teal immediately pounced right on top of the blanket of snow, leaving a small puppy-imprint in it. He bounded up out of the hole he'd left and back down into a new patch. Soon, he got down a rhythm of hopping into and out of the snow, and his small body would disappear momentarily and then spring back up only to disappear again. After a while, there were trails all through the yard from his mucking about.

Dean yanked Cas towards an as-yet untouched patch of snow. "Come on, I'll teach you how to make a snowman!" He fell to his knees and demonstrated how to pack together a snowball, then roll it through the snow until it became large enough for the "body" of the snowman.

He charged Cas with making the next layer while he made a head. He turned to find more "virgin snow," and suddenly, something hit him from behind. Dean spun around in time to see Castiel's hand and eyes lowering back to the ground, a less-than-innocent look on his face. "Oh, so that's how we're going to play," he muttered.

Dean knelt to the ground and packed together three snowballs. He waited until Cas wasn't looking, then quickly threw each of them towards the angel. All three caught Cas right in the side. The angel stood up, a snowball in each hand. Dean stood as well and darted to the side as soon as Castiel threw one. He made a quick move to the other side just before Cas threw the other, narrowly escaping it.

"Oh, it's on, Frosty," Dean challenged. He ran to the side of the house, seeking cover as he amassed more snowballs. Then he snuck around and took Cas by surprise from the other side of the house, three out of five of his snowballs making contact with the angel's back. He retreated as Cas started pelting him with his own snowballs.

They continued to sneak up on each other, Teal following them excitedly around the perimeter of the house, enjoying the action. Dean even made himself a small fort between the wood shed and the house, building a snow wall that he could hide behind.

But Cas became much too good at packing together snowballs, and when he snuck up behind Dean once and launched three towards him, all of them finding their mark, the hunter couldn't help but raise his hands and yell out, "Uncle! Uncle! Uncle! I surrender!" Then he collapsed and rolled to his back, panting hard. Cas ran up and fell to his back beside Dean, also breathing hard. "God, you're ruthless!" Dean muttered between breaths.