Growing Pains

Title: (Un)expecting Verse - #3: Growing Pains

Author: storm_rain

Pairings/Characters: Dean/Castiel, Sam/Gabriel

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Season 5, specifically 5x08 (Changing Channels) and 3x11 (Mystery Spot)

Warnings: Men having babies, men in love, lots of morning sickness puking

Word Count: 2,774

Disclaimer: I don’t own Supernatural and make no money from writing this story.

Summary: The sound of puking is what wakes Sam up. ‘I never thought that I’d miss hearing Heat of the Moment every morning,’ he thinks. “Never think that again!”

Dean is woken to a similar sound. He loves Castiel and will be there for him for anything, but it sounds nasty in there. “I heard that!”

Notes: Still no beta. I’m not sure I really have time for one, anyway; I’ve barely had time to write this as it is, and don’t let the length of it fool you, it’s been pieced together at random lunch breaks and on the bus. Besides, that, there is nothing new to note besides the fact that I don’t know how many stories there will be in this verse. Don’t worry, though, this is not the end by any means. Also, yes, I did steal some magical baby pregnancy ideas from Charmed, when Piper was pregnant with Wyatt. 

^-^’ It works, okay?

The sound of puking is what wakes Sam up. He grimaces and reluctantly sits up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to trod over to the bathroom.



‘I never thought that I’d miss hearing Heat of the Moment every morning,’ he thinks with a touch of melancholy. There’s a cough from the bathroom, and Sam enters to see Gabriel on his knees over the toilet, hacking up the spaghetti they’d had for dinner last night. The Archangel pauses in his heaving to glare at the Sasquatch.



“Never think that again!” he demands, and readjusts his knees on the bathroom floor. “It makes me even more nauseous.”



Sam makes a sympathetic face and kneels beside his... partner? Is that the right term? Anyway, he rubs a large hand over Gabriel’s back, and tucks a few strands of hair behind his ear as he lunges forward to vomit into the toilet again.



“Sorry,” he apologizes, and winces at the sound of a particularly violent heave and splatter into the toilet. “I...still kind of associate it with you.”



Gabriel noticeably winces and draws back from the toilet, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He shakes his head at Sam’s worried expression.



“It’s my fault that you think that way,” he states dryly, with a tone of self-depreciation in his voice. “I suppose I deserve it.” Sam frowns and gently takes Gabriel’s face in his hands.



“Look at me,” he requests softly, and smiles gently when the archangel acquiesces, albeit reluctantly. “I forgave you for that a long time ago. It doesn’t mean that some things don’t still linger in my brain, but I forgive you.”



Gabriel sags a little in his grasp, and stares into Sam’s hazel eyes with soft, slightly disbelieving golden ones.



“I still don’t know how you can ever forgive me for that, and the other things I’ve done, Sam,” he says quietly, “but thank you.” Sam smiles and presses a gentle, loving kiss to his angel’s lips, trusting that he’s cleaned himself off with his powers already, snap or not. He has, and they gently stroke tongues. The feelings that Sam has seem to flow through the kiss to his angel, judging by the slight trembling he feels. Neither of them has said anything; no declarations of love have been made yet, but it’s clear to both of them that they feel something strong, and having this child has strengthened those feelings even more.



The moment is shattered when Gabriel breaks away to heave over the toilet again. Sam sighs and strokes his back again, and pulls back some hair that’s fallen into his face.



“I hope Cas is doing better than you this morning,” he says wearily; the strain of watching his lover become ill each morning for about half an hour for the past few weeks has dragged on him and Gabriel. Gabriel smiles wryly.



“From the sounds of it, Castiel isn’t having such a peachy time, either,” he reports, and sighs as he feels another reprieve in the puking. Sam flushes the toilet and, without even thinking about it, wipes Gabriel’s mouth off with the back of his hand, and gathers him close to his side. They both lean back against the toilet and re-take in the fact that they’re having a baby. Gabriel’s snapping to clean himself off breaks the silence, and he looks over to see the angel rising to his feet.



“The other part of the happy couple without morning sickness just woke up. Once Castiel’s done, let’s meet in our room.”



This wasn’t the tone of the Trickster; it was the tone of Gabriel the Archangel and brooked no argument. There was none from Sam, both from the authority in his voice and for practical reasons. The four of them tried to meet every morning for breakfast to discuss how both pregnancies were going. This morning was a bit more serious, however; the two angels had been having debilitating morning sickness for three weeks now, something that shouldn’t have been happening to two angels of the lord, let alone an archangel. They needed to discuss how they were feeling so that they could figure out why two holy beings were being affected so much by human pregnancy symptoms.



Sam stands and follows Gabriel back into their room to change. It’s time for breakfast, and a meeting.

----------

Dean is woken to a similar sound. He doesn’t make a reference to Mystery Spot, of course, but gets out of bed with the same sense of reluctance as his brother. Of course he loves Castiel and will be there for him for anything, but it sounds nasty in there.



“I heard that!” he hears Castiel growl from the tiny bathroom, and rolls his eyes.



“Just tellin’ the truth, dude,” he points out, and rolls out of bed to kneel beside his angel.



Castiel’s reply is to bend over the toilet again and fail in hacking up anything, falling into dry heaves. Dean grimaces and rubs a hand up and down his back and wipes away some of the sweat beading on the angel’s brow. Castiel’s dry heaving eventually dies down, and he pulls away from the toilet to lean heavily against Dean’s chest, who reaches up to pull a washcloth down from the shelf and wipe his mouth off. Castiel hums in thanks and presses a kiss against his hand as he reaches back up to toss the used washcloth into the sink. Dean smiles and uses that same hand to tilt Castiel’s head up for a kiss. Cas presses back into the kiss, and resists at first when the angel tries to snake his tongue in between his lips, but makes a noise of surprise when he tastes minty fresh. The sides of Castiel’s lips curve up in what Dean has come to identify as his smirk.



“I am an angel, Dean,” he points out, resting his head against Dean’s chin while they take a break in their kissing. Dean rolls his eyes, and pulls him up for another kiss. When they part this time, Dean smiles against Cas’s lips.



“Good morning,” he murmurs against his mouth. Castiel smiles back and murmurs a “Good morning, Dean,” back. They stay like this for a minute, until Cas sighs and pulls out of Dean’s embrace.



“I hear Gabriel calling for us. He wants to meet and discuss our...symptoms more in depth this morning.”



Dean grumbles under his breath, but rises as well and reaches over to flush toilet since it seems that Cas is done.



“He’d better make us breakfast,” he mutters, earning himself a rare snicker from Cas, and returns to the room to change. They change hurriedly, Dean especially with the prospect of delicious free food, and head next door.

----------

Dean and Castiel actually use the door that connects their two rooms together, something that Gabriel still scoffs at, but Cas insists that he doesn’t need to use his powers just to transport them one room over.



The members of Team Free Will who just entered the room look at each other worriedly as they hear Gabriel retching again.



“I thought you said he stopped,” Dean mutters to Castiel. The angel simply shakes his head. They walk to stand in the doorway and make similar faces of disgust and sympathy when they see Gabriel on his knees arched over the toilet, puking again. The currently incapacitated archangel seems to have to force himself to pause in order to look back at them and give them a wry, “I’d say good morning, but—”and then lean over to puke again.



Castiel looks faintly nauseated again, and Dean’s ready to rush him back to their room and bathroom again, but instead the angel replaces Sam behind Gabriel and takes up the task of rubbing his back soothingly. The archangel jolts in surprise, but relaxes and allows him to rub over his shoulder blades while he heaves a few last times. When he’s finally done, he turns and makes a face that should have been a reassuring smile, but comes out as a weary grimace.



“This morning sickness stuff is nothing to sneeze at,” he says tiredly. “Human women are more resilient than I give them credit for.”



Dean looks confused.



“But you’re angels; you’re an archangel,” he says, “can’t you just...” He snaps. Gabriel glares at him and straightens, snapping his fingers to clean his mouth off.



“We’re in vessels, smartass,” he growls, and glowers at Sam when he tries to lie a soothing hand on his shoulder, “There has never been a fledging born in a male vessel before, and I don’t want to do anything that could harm the baby.”



Sam felt a warm, fuzzy feeling enter his chest upon hearing this declaration of protection. Gabriel smiles at him knowingly. Castiel, on the other hand, frowns, looking more and more upset.



“From what I’ve heard from you these past few weeks, brother, your sickness in the morning has been far worse than my own,” he states gravely, and tilts his head to the side in that adorable way that makes Dean want to—Gabriel’s glaring at him again, never mind. Stupid mind-reading angels.



“Shut it, Winchester. And yeah, it has. Who knows why, though,” Gabriel agrees, and walks back into the room, obviously expecting the others to follow, which they do. “And that’s why we have to have this meeting.” He frowns as his stomach audibly growls.



“I’m still not used to this whole ‘needing’ food thing,” he grumbles. “I guess food first, then.” He snaps. A bowl of ice cream with whipped cream topped with Nerds, Skittles, Starburst, Smarties, Jolly Ranchers, Runts, and Sweet Tarts. Sam smiles. It figures that Gabriel’s fondness for sweets would only magnify during the pregnancy. It seems that he’s on a hard fruity candy kick today (yesterday it was all gummies, Gummy Worms, Sour Gummy Worms, Swedish Fish, Gummy Bears, Sour Patch Kids, Bottle Gummies, Gummy Sharks, Gummy Rings, gumdrops, Trolli Apples, and Dots).



Castiel, on the other hand, seems to be favoring red meat again (cooked this time, though), and was digging into a plate of bacon and sausage that Gabriel snapped up at the same time he conjured his own breakfast (although to call it breakfast is... pushing it). Dean looks on enviously, and gives Gabriel a slightly pleading look. The archangel rolls his eyes.



“Coming right up,” he says, and snaps again. Only what appears isn’t bacons and sausage; it’s spam topped with pickles and blueberries. Dean raises a doubtful eyebrow and pokes at the mass with his fork.



“Dude, this is not even close to bacon and sausage,” he states, making a face when it jiggles and a blueberry falls off the plate. Everyone looks at Gabriel, who’s staring at his fingers as if they’ve personally betrayed him.



“The baby is messing with my mojo,” he states, looking both surprised and horrified. He snaps again, and the plate of spam, pickles and blueberries disappears and is replaced with a rare steak. Castiel stares at it hungrily, and Dean quickly pulls it away and dumps it in the trash before Cas has a relapse from his time around Famine. The angel looks ashamed, and eyes his breakfast with what seems to be lessening hunger. Dean meets his eyes, and when he nods, the hunter grins and pulls it over to himself and starts to eat.



Sam looks at Gabriel worriedly. The archangel is snapping again and again, and plates with various degrees of disgusting food appear: gelatin with mashed potatoes and syrup, then macaroni and cheese with tartar sauce and sauerkraut, green noodles topped with chocolate sauce and sliced bacon... When a plate of sausage, licorice and jellied beets appears, Sam reaches out and grasps his hand before he can snap again.



“Okay, I think we’ve figured out that this isn’t working,” he states firmly but gently. Gabriel looks up at him with disturbed golden eyes, and Sam resists the urge to gather him in his arms and never let him go.



Dean rolls his eyes at what must be a cow-eyed expression from Sam, and takes another mouthful of sausage. Castiel has been silent this whole time, and is sitting slumped in his seat, a far cry from his usual rigid posture. Dean glances at Castiel concernedly and sets down his fork. Sam smiles; it must be true love, because Dean has stopped eating to make sure that Cas is okay.



“Have you had any problems with your... powers?” Dean asks, for lack of a better word. Castiel furrows his brow and shakes his head.



“Not as of yet,” he says solemnly. “But if one of the four archangels is having trouble, then I am sure that I will soon experience something similar.”



Everyone exchanges disturbed looks. If the angels can’t control their mojo, then they’re vulnerable. Along with the morning sickness that shouldn’t be happening, this means that the pregnancy is more unusual than they had previously thought.



“We can’t keep hunting,” Sam is the first to speak. Everyone looks at him incredulously, especially Dean. The taller man holds up a hand.



“Not together, at least,” he rationalizes, “if Cas and Gabriel’s powers aren’t working properly, they can’t help us, and... kind of slow us down.” He says this last part quickly, glancing at them with an apologetic look on his face. Gabriel scowls, but Castiel nods gravely in agreement.



“Samuel is correct,” he states. “We are vulnerable in our current states, and would be of no help to you in a fight, only a hindrance.”



“So, what, we’re just going to hide out in motel rooms while you guys go out and fight the juiced up monsters that are after your blood because you stopped the apocalypse?” growls Gabriel. “I don’t think so.”



“You’re not hiding; you’re keeping our children safe!” Sam exclaims, and Gabriel seems to shrink down inside himself. Sam sighs, but continues, “We probably shouldn’t keep staying in hotel rooms, either.”



“I’ll call Bobby,” Dean declares, and pulls out his phone. They had already told Bobby what had occurred, of course, and he had given them his own form of congratulations, “Congratulations, idjits.” Now when he picks up the phone he sounds resigned, “Singer Salvage Yard.”



“Hey, Bobby, it’s Dean—”



“Yeah, I figured. Let me guess, there’s something going wrong/weird with the already weird angel pregnancies?” Bobby cuts in right away. He was clearly expecting their call. Dean smiles sheepishly, but quickly returns to seriousness.



“Bobby, the angels are having some really weird pregnancy symptoms, and their powers aren’t working. I’m—we’re worried that they won’t be able to defend themselves in a fight, and I—we don’t like the idea of leaving them alone in a motel room, so...”



“So my house is going to become the Singer Hotel, now is it?” Bobby says sarcastically. Dean starts to speak again, but Bobby cuts him off. “Yeah, yeah, you boys head on over. I’m sure I have some extra room for your angels.” Dean lets out a sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he was holding, and the three others in the room (despite two of them not needing to breathe anyway) do the same.



“Thanks, Bobby,” Dean says gratefully. “We really—”



“Yeah, yeah, I know, don’t start with that mushy crap on me, boy, just get over here, soon,” Bobby grumbles, and hangs up. Dean chuckles and ends the call. He looks up and smiles reassuringly.



“I could just snap us over there,” Gabriel mumbles. Dean snorts.



“After this morning? We’d probably end up in Morocco or something,” he retorts. “And even though Cas hasn’t had any problems yet, I’d rather not ride Air Angel either way. We’re hitting the open road.”



And so they pack up immediately and head out for Bobby’s. Dean and Cas in the front, as has become traditional, and Sam and Gabe in the back. At one point Dean’s right hand slides off the steering wheel, and clasps Castiel’s firmly. Gabriel doesn’t even make a sarcastic, “Awww!”, which makes everything even more serious. Sam repeats Dean’s action, and meets Gabriel’s scared gaze. Scared. He’s scared.



‘It’s going to be fine,’ he thinks, knowing that Gabriel will hear him. He does, and hears him say next, ‘I’m here for you.’



He’s sure Dean and Cas are sharing the same thought up front, and they all hold each other as tightly and as best they can for now. They’re going to be okay. Whatever this is, they’ll figure it out, together, as Team Free Will, like they always do.



The End