Such an ordinary family

Father's day

They all had gathered around the kitchen table. They had laughed, a lot.
The children had invited Bobby, Jo and Balty.
Dean and Castiel were sitting at each end of the table, facing each other, in a friendly collusion as ever and feeling happy to see the whole family reunited.
Since Tessa's death, it was the first time Dean was genuinely letting go during a family party.
Most of the time, there was an incidental smile on Dean's face, yet his eyes were focusing somewhere further than the visible environment. He didn't want to let the children see the pain he felt because of his loss. Jewel was unaware of this, yet Chadwich, who missed his mom as much as Dean missed his wife, felt the weight of the invisible shadow standing beside his father.

Nevertheless, Dean allowed to be himself again for the last few months, to live with more intensity. He still thought of his wife but life had taken over.
Seeing other women and sharing something more than just pillow moments had been counting a lot. He felt ready to turn the page and open a new chapter without necessarily close the book.

As he swallowed the last bite of his fried chicken, he discretely looked at the people around the table. Jo was teasing Chadwick about his dance class girlfriend... Bobby was laughing at Balty's nonsense.
Jewel was covertly offering chicken chunks to Apache, lying in wait under the table.
Dean and the little girl's eyes met... they smiled to each other.
Castiel pushed his plate away from him and, his chin resting on his right palm and looked at Jewel.

www

He had spent a long time with her in the kitchen the day before... taking advantage of Dean's absence in the afternoon.
He had given her an apron that reached down her ankles. He tied it high behind her neck in an clumsy attempt to make it fit.
Then he put Dean's one on with a long sigh. However, if Castiel was gifted in accomplishing so many things, he surely hadn't any talent for cooking.
He barely knew how to cook some eggs and, aside pasta with cheese, he proved a rather clumsy cook.

As a result, when Jewel handed him Tessa's cooking book, he suddenly felt sheepish.
« You wanna bake him an apple pie ? » he asked with a haggard face.
«Will you help me, Castiel ? » she said with a big smile.
« But... but... but honey, I don't know how to cook, you should know that. »
« But it's Father's Day! » she was now begging
« Why don't you ask Jo to come and give you a hand ? »
« I wanna do it with you... Jo... she doesn't cook very well » Jewel pouted.
She obviously remembered the day Jo invited them over and unfortunately mistook the sugar with the salt, which gave the lamb dish a weird taste and almost made the guests puke when he was time to taste her pudding.
Castiel started to make a face too as he remembered the taste of the vanilla pudding. The memory was still so vivid in his mouth.
He grabbed the book and started to read the « Apple Pie » dog-eared page.
Tessa used to bake pies for Dean on regular occasions. It was his guilty pleasure and from time to time, he was still finding excuses to buy one or have someone offer him one.

He sat in front of the kitchen table and breathed out a long sigh. It didn't seem that difficult, after all.
He looked up at Jewel.
« Okay. We might as well try. If we fail, we'll still have time to buy one at the baker's » he said with a smile.
« Oh Thank you, Castiel » she was jumping for joy.
All the ingredients were set on the table. Jewel was all smiles, and Castiel wasn't smiling at all.
He opened the book and started to read the instructions.

« Spread half of the batter to make it slightly larger than the pan »

He turned to Jewel.
« Do we have a rolling pin somewhere? »
« Oh yes, we do » she nodded, opening a drawer.
« It's Mom's » she put the heavy object on the table in an effort.

« Don't cut off the excess dough overhanding the mold ; place in the fridge or deep freezer until the dough is solid, for about thirty minutes; preheat the oven at 425°F with the rack in the low position. »