Work Text:
As he stumbled through the door, Dean could not help but to curse his job. It was one o'clock in the morning and he had just gotten home from his shift at the hospital. There was a patient who came in last minute and needed emergency surgery and he ended up staying an extra seven hours. He was planning on coming home early that day so he could spend time with Cas and Mary but he couldn't walk away from a person in need. Dean loved his job, he really did. He loved the satisfaction he got when he saved just one more person, but the long hours were something he never could really appreciate. He had a family, a loving husband and daughter who he wanted to spend time with. The days when he got home early enough to actually sit down and eat with them and talk about how the day went are very rare. He wanted to be able to walk through the door and have his daughter run to greet him, pick her up and twirl her around. He wanted the smell of dinner cooking filling the house and to see his beautiful husband hunched over the counter working. He wanted to be able to be the first one home, someday, to surprise Cas with a meal made for him instead. But they had all accepted the reality of Dean's job long ago.
Thankfully it was Friday and he did not have to go in the next day so he had a long, lazy Saturday to look forward to. He knew that there were sure to be leftovers for him wrapped up in the fridge but he was just too tired to do anything but strip out of his scrubs and fall into bed. As he walked into his room he had to stop and admire the way, even in sleep, Cas was still the most beautiful person. His hair was rumpled from rolling and his bare chest was exposed with the moonlight streaming across his tanned skin. He loved how even at his most relaxed his husband still looked so solid, so strong. Dean peeled his clothes off down to his boxers and climbed under the covers. He snuggled into Cas, head on Cas' shoulder and arm over his waist. Cas just curled more around Dean with his nose pressed into his hair. This, right here, made everything worth it for Dean. Yes, his hours were long and crazy and exhausting, but he got to come home every night to the safety and warm embrace of one of the two people he loved most. He quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dean was woken up by the feeling of small fingers pulling at the skin of his cheeks. He wanted to ignore it and go back to sleep but he could never say no to his daughter. He slowly opened his eyes, crusted over with sleepiness and still circled in purpled bags from the previous day’s work. He pretended to yam and stretch out like he didn’t notice Mary on top of him, but at the last second he jumped up, wrapped him arms around her, and pulled her into the bed with him. Dean buried his head into her neck and blew raspberries onto her skin. He knew how much this tickled her, and if the high pitched giggles coming from Mary’s mouth were any indication, he’d say he was right.
“Daddy! Stop!” Mary squealed as he gave her one last raspberry before her papa woke up. Dean saw the rumpled hair of his husband begin to move. Castiel's hands came up above his head in a stretch, and then he turned to face their daughter who had not noticed quite yet that he was awake.
“Morning, Pumpkin” Cas' voice was groggy and rough in the morning and today was no different. Mary turned around quickly and bounced her way over to her papa. “Papa! Daddy was giving me wasbewwies!” Cas laughed at his daughter's attempt to pronounce the big word and at his husband's behavior. His tired eyes crinkled up in the corners as a smile spread across his face. Dean loved these stolen moments he had on the weekends when he did not need to worry about rushing into work. These are his favorite days. He thought of just how much he really loved this and he had an idea.
“Hey Pumpkin, what do you say to a lazy day of snuggling on the couch and watching movies? I'll make your favorite breakfast and we can even put on Mulan.” Mary's eyes lit up and she started scrambling towards the end of the bed and hurried to get down. Her blonde hair was waving behind her as she ran into the kitchen as fast as her short legs could handle.
Dean took a second to glance over at Castiel and he saw his husband looking over at him with a warm smile on his face. “Good morning”, he said this as he reached across their bed and brushed his lips across his husband's. He felt hands come up to cradle his face, rubbing along his day old stubble. The kiss stayed chaste, close-lipped. Dean wished they could indulge but knew, as did his husband, that their little girl would not tolerate being kept waiting. He felt Cas pull away and he watched as his husband began to stretch himself awake. As Castiel pulled on some flannel pants Dean began to unravel himself from their duvet and found his own sweats. They both padded into the kitchen where they saw Mary bouncing up and down, barely containing her excitement at having both of her daddies awake and with her at the same time. Again, Dean felt a familiar pang of guilt settling in his stomach because he knew it had been too long since he had set aside personal time for his family but he knew neither of them held it against him.
Not letting himself get too lost, Dean shook his head clear of his thoughts and set forward to grab the ingredients for banana and chocolate pancakes as Cas had already gone ahead to start the coffee machine. As Dean was mixing up the batter Cas had set Mary in her special chair with some orange juice. Once Mary had outgrown her high chair she had demanded to have a special chair all to herself. Completely unable to say no to their daughter, the two men had went out and found golden painted chair with long legs and made their daughter feel as though she was sitting in a mini throne. Even now she was starting to get a bit too big for this chair but refused to sit anywhere else.
Dean smiled to himself as he spooned the batter onto the preheated griddle. Behind him he could hear Cas filling up two mugs with hot coffee. Dean felt his husband sidle up behind him and unconsciously leaned back to meet him half way. He could smell the bitter aroma of the black coffee steaming in the cup Cas was handing to him. He gratefully took a large gulp and went back to flipping the pancakes in front of him. Once he was done, he plated them on three separate plates and brought them into the kitchen. Cas brought the coffee and utensils. Mary's face was delighted when her father put her plate down and there was a smiling pancake looking back up at her. They all had chocolate staining their faces but her smile was contagious and the three of them were all warm and happy that they're finally together.
As they finished, Dean got up to put the dishes in the dish washer and Cas took Mary into the living room to set up the movie. Dean came back to his husband and daughter nestled into the couch together under a mound of blankets and pillows. He joined them and settled back against the cushions with the heat of his family up against him. Dean could feel the stress of his work week draining out of him as he cuddled with his two favourite people. He let his eyes slip closed to capture this feeling.