Such an ordinary family

Apache

Special thanks to  my beta, Elyrian Miller.

The kids had been begging for months, yet Dean had systematically refused to give in.
Neither Chadwick nor Jewel had managed to get any support whatsoever from Castiel as he didn't want to mix in.

Nevertheless, one day, as he was really tired, he just let out he wouldn't mind : soon after the children rushed to their father to insist, one more time ...

« Dad...Can we have a dog ? »
« I already said no. »
« But why ? » Jewel was playing the begging game with large brown puppy eyes.
« Because I'll be the one who's gonna have to take care of it. I'll be the one who will have to walk it every day».
« I can do that... I'm a big boy and the park is close enough to our house.» Chadwick claimed.
« For Heaven's sake, when did you start growing that obsession to have a ... a dog ?»
«I've always wanted to have one. » Chadwick stated, crossing his arms on his chest, posing in a defying attitude.

Castiel was sitting at the kitchen table. He couldn't help but noticing similar attitudes between father and son ...Same posture, same way of talking... but above all, same stubbornness.
Jewel grabbed her father's leg and looked up at him with begging eyes. She, on the other hand, was her mom Tessa's spitting image.
He felt as if she was standing in the room behind him, observing them all. He smiled to himself.
« What's to funny ? » Dean shouted with a trace of anger in his voice.
« Tell him, Castiel. Tell him you don't mind us having a dog. »
« Sure, go ahead, Cass... tell me. » Dean was defying him.
« I never said I agreed, I only said that I wouldn't mind. » Castiel replied, suddenly caught off guard.
« See, Dad ? » Jewel screamed.
« He said yes. »
« So you intend to feed it, walk it, pick up the poop that's gonna decorate the living room, right ? » Dean answered back.
Castiel raised an eyebrow.
« Don't start with your I-don't-quite-understand-what-you-mean look, 'cause you understood me perfectly.». Dean was furious.
« Why do you pick up on me?... I didn't say anything. »
« There's nothing to say. You always stand up for the kids and I'm supposed to be the bad guy, as usual. »
« But, Dean... why are you so mad about ? I'd like to point out that you are the one always giving in to their whims. » Castiel replied, unable to wipe the scowl off his face.
« C'mon, Daddy. » Jewel was going on begging.
« I said no, end of discussion »
« There was no discussion at all » a sulky Chadwick replied.
« No need for one. I'm still your father, as far as I know. And I said no. Now, move on, get your stuff or you're gonna be late for school.»
« You're not nice » Jewel said, letting go of his leg.
« Yeah, sure, I'm a monster, everybody knows that. » he said tousling his daughter's hair.
She started to laugh and ran away to her brother.
« Hey, you surrendered again ! » Chadwick groused.
« That's not true !» she said with a bit of outrage in her voice.
« Yes, it is. Never mind, we'll try again tomorrow. »
« All right. »

Castiel couldn't refrain from smiling. He stood up, walked to the sink and put down his empty coffee cup.
« They have grown up. Don't you think it's time for them to have a pet ? »
« Don't you start too ! » Dean was looking daggers at him.
« Didn't you have a pet when you were a kid ? »
« Sure, but it's not the same... I was living in the countryside, not in town. »
« So what ? »
« So... are you going to take care of the mutt when he needs to go ? No ! Are you going to educate him so he won't drool on the couch and sniffle into the garbage ? No ! Are you going to take him to the vet, pick up his trash and so on and so forth ?»
« Okay, cool down, I got it. » Castiel raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
« Good. »
« I'll drive them to school. I have to pay a visit to Maxime, it's on my way. »
« Thanks. » Dean snapped back.
« You're welcome, grumpy. »
« Bitch. »
« Assbutt. »
Castiel left but he could feel Dean's eyes on his back as he heard the profound sigh...
A dog... And then what ?

www

Jo came to visit the next day, a casual visit...Uncle Bobby was accompanying her.
He had brought a pecan nut pie, Jewel's favorite, and an apple pie, to satisfy Dean and Chadwick's preferences.
Bobby wasn't actually their uncle. Jo was Dean's half-sister. Dean's mother, Mary, had remarried Bobby's nephew, Mark, who at that time already had a little girl, Jo.
Jo had chosen to live with him; she was five years younger than Dean. After a few fights, they rapidly became inseparable and were indeed considering themselves as full blood brother and sister.
When her parents got divorced, Jo went to live with her father. When she turned eighteen, she went to live with Mary with whom she had kept excellent relationship. But above all, she was happy to reunite with Dean whom she'd missed more than anyone.
Mary had passed away several years later from a ruptured aneurysm.
Dean already had a job and Jo came to live with him for two years: then she found a job of her own as a waitress and met her first love, Ash.
Bobby had always been there for them, he was seeing Dean as a full member of his family and the feeling was mutual for Dean.
He hated Ash, not because he lacked any feeling of love strictly speaking, but in his mind, Ash didn't fit the shoes of the ideal son for his beloved niece.
When she announced they had broken up, he couldn't contain his joy.
Then when she announced that Castiel was gay, he couldn't hide his disappointment as he thought the man could have been such the ideal son-in-law.