Chapter Text
Despite his exhaustion, Dean woke up a short while later. It was the wrong time of day to nap after all.
Blinking sleepily, he looked around and discovered that he was in his crib. When had that happened? Last thing he remembered was being in the stroller and listening as Sammy talked about a huge rock he had found and what he might be able to do with it if his Daddy let him bring it home.
Sucking on the pacifier between his lips, Dean assessed his situation. He was pretty warm and …yep he had his blanket so that was good. Giving an experimental wiggle he discovered that…yep he was wet. Yuck! He also discovered that there was something pretty heavy draped all over him. What the?
Rolling over onto his other side, Dean was surprised to come face to face with his brother. Huh? Why was Sammy here? Why was he all on top of Dean? What was going on? He was still too sleepy for this!
Luckily, he didn't have to puzzle this out on his own for too long as, sensing movement, Dean looked up and found his Uncle Gabe smiling down at him.
"Hey baby" Gabriel whispered, "good nap?"
Dean rubbed his eyes and yawned, before looking up again, hoping that his uncle would just explain what was going on. That or figure out he was wet and help him. His diaper was all cold and uncomfortable now.
Gabriel raised a finger to his lips and "shhhh"d his nephew, trying to preserve his son's sleep for just a little bit longer. Gabriel lowered the crib bars and readjusted Sammy so that he was no longer draped all over the baby. He then lifted Dean out of the crib by gripping him under the armpits. As he rested the boy's bottom on top of his arm, he felt the squish of a used diaper and so moved directly over to the changing table in order to make his nephew a bit more comfy.
"Let's freshen you up a bit little man" Gabriel whispered quietly. "I'll try to be quick, I bet being wet's no fun huh?"
Without delay Gabriel began the process of stripping the boy of his trousers, giving access to the onsie and diaper underneath. Shivering at the loss of his sleep warmed clothes, Dean wiggled, causing Gabriel to place a soothing hand upon his tummy. "Lie still sweetie, I don’t want you to fall off. Settling back down, Dean turned his attention back over to the crib. just why was Sam in there? Sam was a big boy - too old for the crib!
Gabriel, seeing that the baby was distracted got on with opening up the onesie and removing the wet diaper. As soon as he started with the wipes however he caused De to jump in shock. "Cold huh?" Gabriel chuckled "Sorry baby, it'll be done quickly". Making quick work of cleaning the boy, Gabriel lifted him up to slip a fresh diaper under his bottom, powdered him and taped him into it securely before beginning to get him re-dressed. None of this was given much attention however as Dean's thoughtful gaze had once again been drawn towards his snoozing sibling.
Chuckling, Gabriel drew his attention back towards him however. "Your big brother didn't want to leave you alone sweetheart. I think he wanted to look after his little brother, even while he was sleeping. I wonder where he might have learnt that?"
Dean looked in wonder at his Sammy. His Sammy did that for him? His Sammy wanted him?
Gabriel could almost see the thoughts churning through his nephew's mind and decided to give him some time to process everything. Picking Dean up, Gabriel moved over to the rocking chair and arranged De to be cradled in his arms. Once they were comfortably settled, Gabriel began to rock the chair gently.
Dean twisted in his uncle's arms so that he could still see his brother. Reaching out an arm to point towards him, Dean asked a silent question. Sammy did that for him?
Gabriel answered quietly. "Yeah Baby. Sammy wanted to be with his little brother. He loves you so much. Although he's had an amazing example of how to be a big brother, Sammy hasn't had much practice. Just like you haven't had much practice of putting yourself first sometimes. It's been a pretty hard day for all of us, but, I think we'll all be ok. We can all practice together huh?"
Dean tried to think about all the things that had happened that day, but it was all just a little too much for him to cope with at the moment. He was being drawn away from heavy thinking by the warmth of his uncle, the soothing motion of the chair and the comfort of the pacifier in his mouth. These sensations were too much to fight against so he just settled down to enjoy them.
Gabriel smiled fondly down at the boy squirming himself into a more comfortable position in his arms. It was quiet times like this where he could see the appeal of having such a young baby to care for, but really, he wouldn't change what he had in Sammy for anything in the world. Patting a gentle and calming rhythm onto the boy's diapered bottom, he decided to sit back and enjoy this cuddle with the baby while it lasted, content for them both to wait for Sammy to wake up.
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Not too long later, Sammy began to rouse from his slumber. Surprised that he had fallen asleep, Sammy let out a huge yawn and stretched out his long limbs, startled when his arms hit the solid wood of crib bars.
Events came flooding back to him and he remembered drifting off, cuddled around his little brother. His little brother who he couldn't detect in the crib.
Sitting bolt upright, Sammy started to frantically search the crib and pat the sheets around him, as though that might help him locate his brother. "De? De! De?! Where you go?! De?" Panic began to race through his still sleep addled thoughts. He fell asleep looking after De and now he'd lost him! What kind of big brother was he?
Before he could get himself into too much of a state however, the strong voice of his Daddy came floating over from across the room. "Sammy. Sammy. Calm down buddy. It's ok. De's over here with me. It's ok. Everything's ok."
Whipping his head around to the direction the voice came from, Sammy was greeted with the sight of his Daddy in the rocking chair, cradling his baby brother. Oh thank goodness!
Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, Sam jumped out of the crib and quickly made his way over to the rocking pair. Gabriel stopped the rocker just as Sam got to them, in order for his son to get closer and have a better look. Extending an arm out, Gabriel caught hold of his son's arm to give it a welcoming rub.
"Welcome back little man! We thought you might sleep all the rest of the day away!"
Not being rude, Sammy ignored his Daddy for the moment and focused his attention on his brother. "You ok De?"
Dean didn't respond in words as he still wasn't feeling like talking very much, but he "mmm"d happily behind his binky and offered his big brother a contented smile. Dean reached out one of his hands and grabbed a hold of his brother's hand, reassuring his Sammy that he was ok.
"Good" Sammy beamed happily, reassured that all was right in his world. No thoughts of jealousy even entered his head at finding his Daddy cuddling his brother while he wasn't there. He was just happy that everyone was ok.
"I think we have a much happier baby now that he has had a little nap Sammy" Gabriel commented as he watched the brothers connect. "How are you after your little sleep?"
"I'm good Daddy!" Sammy beamed. He broke away from his brother to go to the side of the rocking chair and throw his arms around his Daddy's neck in a huge hug.
"Oh that’s what I like! Two happy little boys and a great big Sammy hug! I'm a very lucky angel!"
Happy giggles and happy gurgles came from two happy boys.
"Now, I think someone promised ice cream earlier. Was it you Sammy? Are you going to treat us all to ice cream?" Gabriel teased.
"No Daddy!" Sammy giggled again, "It was you!"
"Me?!" Gabriel fake gasped. "It would never have been me. I know that little boys don't like ice cream. And I can't stand the stuff!"
"Daaaddddyyy", came the protest, "You love ice cream! It was you!"
"Nooo. Not me."
Pacifier muffled giggled came from De, head moving back and forth to watch the interaction between his uncle and brother.
"Yes Daddy! Was you!"
"Are you sure?" Gabriel asked seriously.
"Yep! It was def'nat'ly you Daddy! Wasn't it De?" Sammy appealed to his brother for back up.
"Was it me De? Did I promise ice cream?"
Dean gurgled a happy sound behind his binky again and gently patted his Uncle's chest in confirmation. Yes. It was him.
"See! De thinks so too!"
"Hmmm. Well if you're sure boys. Then I suppose I should get you some ice cream then." Sammy cheered, and with that Gabriel got to his feet, adjusting Dean so that he was more comfortably supported in his arms. He began to make his way to the nursery door, and turned back to call to his son. "You coming Sammy?"
"Uh-huh Daddy!" Sam bounced towards them, but suddenly stopped and said "Wait! Daddy! We've forgotted something!"
Gabriel stopped, and turned to fully look at his son. "Huh? What have we forgotten buddy?"
"De's blankie! He'll want that!" Sammy explained as he raced to the crib to snatch up the prize. Quickly making his way to where his brother was being held, Sammy thrust the rumpled t-shirt out for his brother to take. "Here you go De!"
Dean beamed as he reached out to take his beloved blanket.
"Good thinking little dude! I bet De's pleased to have that!" Gabriel said, his voice full of pride in his son as he ruffled the shaggy hair atop the boy's head. "That nice De?" he asked.
"Ta, Sammy" Dean thanked gratefully.
"Is 'kay Dean. Knew you'd want your favourite blankie!" Sam happily replied, pleased that he could look after his brother so well.
"RIght then! Now we're sorted, and since I apparently promised ice cream, let's go get it!" Gabriel cheered as he once again began to head for the door.
As they made their way to the kitchen, Gabriel and Sammy chatted excitedly about the type of ice cream they would have. Gabriel of course managing to ramp up the excitement - he was always excited to get sweet treats! His time as a trickster having hooked him on all kinds of sweets and desserts.
Reaching the kitchen, Gabriel moved to sit Dean down on the floor, and for once Dean didn't protest the loss of contact, still happy and enjoying the conversation.
Gabriel moved around the room gathering bowls, spoons and loads of extras like syrups and sprinkles and wafers, continuing the conversation the whole while.
Finally reaching the freezer (that was stocked with pretty much any flavour of ice cream imaginable - thanks to a certain arch-angel's mojo), Gabriel began pulling out various tubs of the pudding. "I think I'm definitely going to have caramel fudge brownie flavour. What about you Sammy?"
"Rocky road! Rocky road!" Sammy cheered from where he was bouncing on his feet watching his Daddy work with excitement.
"And what about you baby boy?" Gabriel asked, peering around the freezer door to catch a glimpse of where Dean was seated.
Dean however, shook his head. Very shyly, he pointed at the cupboard in the corner where he knew what he really wanted was kept.
Gabriel confused, asked "You don't want ice cream baby?"
Sammy, watching with interest, looked as his brother once again shook his head and pointed at the cupboard.
"I don't think he wants ice cream Daddy" he commented.
"No, I don't think so Sammy" Gabriel agreed, as he pulled the last of the desired containers out of the freezer and shut the door. He came closer to the baby and crouched down to better figure out what he wanted. "What would you like De?" he asked kindly.
"B-ba-ba?" Dean nearly whispered, blushing a bright red as he stammered out his request and pointed to the cupboard once more.
Understanding flooded through Gabriel. "Oh! Of course! Would you like one of Uncle Gabriel's super special apple pie flavoured bottles little man?"
Dean nodded shyly, still feeling embarrassed. But he loved those bottles and that’s what he really really wanted at the moment - not ice cream. A while ago, Gabriel had been experimenting in the kitchen, as was his want to do, and had found a way to add some flavouring to Dean's usual bottle of milk in order to make it taste almost exactly like a warm apple pie. It was Dean's absolute favourite, but the bottles were kept as a treat - not for every day.
"No problem-o! We can certainly do that! One 'Uncle Gabe Super Special Bottle' coming right up!"
As Gabriel turned to begin his preparations, a new voice floated through the kitchen.
"Did someone say something about an 'Uncle Gabe Super Special Bottle'?"