All You Did was Save my Life

Being Dad

            Several more days passed before Gabriel finally began to stir. Balthazar was sitting in his brother's room when Gabriel groaned quietly. Balthazar looked at his brother's face and noticed that it looked pinched and his Gabriel's mouth was moving slightly.

            "Gabriel?" Balthazar said, standing and moving closer as Gabriel's eyes slowly fluttered open.

            "Balthazar?" he rasped and immediately started coughing.

            "Here," Balthazar held a glass of water to his brother's lips.

            "Thanks," Gabriel said, "What happened?"

            "The Split happened early," Balthazar reminded him and Gabriel's eyes gew wide as he remembered.

            "Is... Is the baby...?"

            "He's fine," Balthazar assured him, "We've all been taking care of him."

            "And, uh, Sam?" Gabriel asked shakily.

            "He's gone," Balthazar replied, "I'm sorry." Gabriel looked away, but didn't sat anything so Balthazar continued. "Do you want me to go get him? The baby, I mean." Gabriel looked over and his eyes brightened slightly as he nodded. Balthazar stood and was about to leave the room when Gabriel spoke.

            "Henry," he said and Balthazar turned.

            "What?" he asked.

            "His name is Henry," Gabriel said, "Henry Dean Winchester. Sam picked it." Balthazar gave his brother a small smile as he left the room and went downstairs.

            "Henry is required upstairs," he announced and the others looked at him in confusion.

            "Who?" Dean asked.

            "Henry! The baby! The small half-human, half-angel you're holding," Balthazar said in exasperation.

            "Henry?" Dean said, "But, if he has a name now then that means-"

            "Gabriel's awake!" Cas exclaimed, looking hopefully at his older brother.

            "Yes he is," Balthazar nodded and the others all smiled, "And he is asking to see his son."

            "Um, can I...?" Cas asked slowly.

            "Yes, yes, of course," Balthazar waved him forward and Cas took the baby out of Dean's arms and followed Balthazar up the stairs. They entered the room and found Gabriel sitting up slightly. He smiled when he saw his younger brother and his eyes lit up when he saw the baby in Castiel's arms. Cas gently placed Henry in Gabriel's arms and Henry stared up at his dad with big, curious eyes.

            "Hi there," Gabriel said quietly, staring at his son in amazement. "He's really okay?"

            "He's fine," Balthazar told him, "Perfectly healthy. All his fingers, toes, and wings are accounted for. He's being fed and changed on a regular basis. Ben loves him, Jamie's confused by him, and after a few days even Jesse warmed up to him."

            "How is Jesse?" Gabriel looked back up at them.

            "He's fine," Cas replied, "Him and Ben are outside helping Bobby with one of his cars."

            "Really?" Gabriel said in surprise.

            "Yeah," Cas smiled slightly, "It seemed to be a good distraction for him."

            "Why don't I go get him?" Balthazar said, leaving the room again.

            "Are you feeling okay?" Gabriel asked Cas a few moments later.

            "I'm... I'm fine," Cas said, "I'm not the one who's been asleep for a week."

            "Cas..." Gabriel said, "Come on, I may be a little out of it right now, but I can tell something's wrong." Cas didn't say anything for a moment, but he finally looked up at his older brother.

            "I'm just really glad you're awake," Cas said quietly. Gabriel smiled slightly at his brother and nodded in understanding just as Balthazar walked back into the room, Jesse in tow.

            "I'm going to go back downstairs," Cas said, "Tell Dean and the others how you are." Gabriel nodded as Cas and Balthazar went back downstairs.

            "Hey buddy," Gabriel said gently, "How are you?" Jesse shrugged, not looking at Gabriel as he walked closer to the bed.

            "Jesse?" Gabriel prodded and the little boy finally looked up at him. Jesse's eyes were bright and Gabriel wrapped his arm around Jesse held him tightly as the boy sobbed into his shoulder.

            "Please don't go away!" Jesse choked out, "Please! You promised you'd keep me safe! You promised you'd be my dad!"

            "Shhh, I know I did and I still will," Gabriel said, "I'll talk to Balthazar and we'll figure it out, okay? I'll do everything I can to become your dad."