2 years later.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Good tidings we bring to you and your…" Gabriel practically screamed down the phone to him. Castiel held it away from him with a grimace looking over to Dean who was leaning against the side stirring cream.

"Gabe, as much as I appreciate the singing…you're awful"

"Bastard"

"I'm sorry"

"It's Christmas Eve, Cas, lighten up, you know I love this season"

"Yes because it gives you an excuse to get drunk every day, eat chocolate and mince pies" he said with a small sigh. "I hope you're coming down to visit us"

"I am soon"

"Good"

"I'll call you tomorrow bro!" he called before hanging up.

Castiel rolled his eyes putting the phone down and casting an eye around their two bedroom apartment looking over New York. It was well worth the rent every month and with his new job as head chef in a small but well rated restaurant and Dean training to be a police officer. He made the decision not long after his divorce with Anna finalised more than a year ago to train up and join the force like his dad had done. Their jobs paid well and they were both happy. It was a definite jump up from being at the bottom of the barrel more than two years ago.

"Why don't we have an electronic whisk?" Dean whined when he came over looking into the bowl.

"It's stirring cream, Dean, not hard manual labour"

"It's cream, Cas, for a four person Christmas dinner"

"Cream is better like this, keep whisking" Castiel murmured with a wink. "Don't come upstairs; I'm wrapping your presents"

Dean watched him walk away and huffed out still staring and heard the familiar bell of their cat. He looked over his shoulder to look at, Tigger, their grey tabby kitten who had walked in to the kitchen. They got him nearly five months ago from a shelter after his previous owner tried to drown him but was thankfully unsuccessful. Castiel instantly fell in love with the grey kitten with the biggest brown eyes he had ever seen before pulling his own pleading eyes to Dean practically begging him for him. Dean relented and five months later here they were, he wouldn't admit it but he did love the nervous fur ball who loved being cuddled and played with. Castiel named him because of his stripes and even though Dean hated it, it did suit him.

"Hello" Dean murmured scooping Tigger up and placing him on his shoulder were he perched like he always did. "You were attacking our tree again weren't you?"

Tigger meowed tail swishing against his back causing Dean to smile and put the bowl down and Tigger back on the floor.

"Screw that" he murmured walking in the living room and sitting on the couch. Tigger ran in after him jumping up on the couch and padding around till he was nestled into the other corner of the couch. Dean flicked through the channels till he landed on the Christmas film Jack Frost, and settled to watching that. Castiel came down eventually after an hour and a half of wrapping Dean's presents. Their budget was the same for each $400 each and no higher or there would be consequences. Castiel had obeyed, Dean hadn't but not to Castiel's knowledge.

Castiel hummed sitting down next to him and shuffling up into the warmth of his arms and sighing deeply with his eyes closed.

"Have you wrapped?"

"Yeah" he said looking down at him and giving him a quick kiss. "I was prepared this year"

Castiel smiled remembering Dean's panic and fiasco last year. His eyes went down to Tigger curled up sleeping and he nudged him with his foot. Tigger opened one eye looking at him before resuming sleeping. Castiel huffed amused resting his head on Dean's chest listening to his heart beat calmly as they watched Christmas films cuddled up together on the couch. It was peaceful, relaxing, and just what he needed on Christmas Eve. Sam and Jess were coming around for presents and dinner tomorrow and Gabriel hopefully on the 27th. In the two years of separation and rejection from his family they're had been no word from James or Kendal. The rejection and separation from his parents still hurt to this day and with Anna also cutting him out of her life it was still difficult. Anna was now living in Japan with a man called Derek who taught English to the Japanese. Michael was now divorced from Lilith and engaged to a lady called Charlotte who was apparently according to Gabriel very good for him. She took none of his shit and the family adored her.

It would always be hard for Castiel but in these two years he had not once regretted his decision. He made the right choice. Dean looked down when he yawned tired and settled into him closing his eyes ready for a doze against him till they went to bed.

The hours passed by easily till Dean moaned feeling tired and shook him gently kissing the top of his head.

"Come on" he said softly when he moaned lifting his head to look up at him. "Bed time for us"

"Should we leave a carrot?"

"He doesn't exist, baby" he murmured into his ear.

Castiel reached down to stroke Tigger before they climbed up the stairs stripping out of their clothes to get into bed. Castiel looked out of the window and smiling faintly at the snow still falling from three days previous and it looked like another white Christmas.

"Cas, bed" Dean murmured pointing to his side.

"It's still snowing"

"We'll make a snowman tomorrow" he muttered closing his eyes and sighing content when Castiel climbed in snuggling against him because he liked to cuddle and Dean had to give in. There was no arguing anymore about it and since Castiel had banned sex or any form of sexual contact for five days after it, it was the breaking point for Dean. His arms wrapped around him and he pressed small kisses down his temple and cheek loving the feel of his stubble down against his lips.

"I love you" Castiel murmured looking into his eyes and pressing a brief kiss to his lips before pulling away and resting his head on the pillow. "I want to make this Christmas better than our last"

"It will be, I promise"

They said their goodnights as they drifted off to sleep and it felt like five minutes later that Dean woke up to a pillow in his face.

"Dean, wake up!" he ordered when Dean grumbled opening one eye to glare at him.

"Cas…"

"It's 8am, I made sure not to wake you at 6am this time"

"It's still early!"

"It's Christmas, Dean" he said sternly climbing out of bed and dressing into clothes. "I want you up and ready, I'm going to get the coffee machine on and the heating on"

"Ass" Dean mumbled when he yanked the cover down exposing him to the cold air of the bedroom and dumping it on the floor.

Castiel sat on the couch with cross legs and smiling softly when he walked in running a hand into his hair and blinking bleary eyes at the presents.

"What…when did you…?"

"I woke up at seven and got it prepared"

"You're awesome you know that"

"Get here and open your presents"

They spent the next half an hour opening up their presents for each other from jumpers, watches, a weekend getaway to France from Castiel to Dean, films, CD's, and chocolate. The kiss Castiel gave him when he had opened all of his was enough to ignite that warm feeling in his chest as he pulled away looking into his eyes knowing that he was going to get a bigger reward for tonight when he gave him his last present. The secret present and Dean watched as he looked over his gifts with delight in his eyes.

"You kept into the price didn't you?"

"Yeah" he lied with a small smile looking away from him. "Did you?"

"I may have gone a little over" he said sheepishly glancing over to him.

"I knew you would"

"It was only a little"

"Cas, it's fine, seriously" he said shoving at his shoulder gently. "I need coffee…now"

"Pour me one"

Dean walked into the kitchen peering into the living room again to see Castiel sitting on the couch still stroking a hand down his jumper slowly with love in his eyes. Tigger was amongst the wrapping paper having the time of his life as he ripped into the paper ignoring his little presents, a toy mouse, and a big fluffy pillow. He pulled the ring out of his jeans and bit his lip knowing Castiel was going to freak out on him in both a good and bad way. It sent a thrill of excitement through him and he only hoped the answer was worth the wait to do this.

~0~0~0~

"Merry Christmas!" Jess called as they walked greeting each other with hugs and she placed a big kiss on their cheeks. "Did Santa bring you everything?"

"You're hilarious" Dean said dryly taking the gifts she shoved at him and walking to the kitchen.

"Tell me you're the one cooking, Cas" Sam said inhaling deeply.

"Yes with Dean's help"

"I made the gravy" he said with a sneer directed to Sam who smirked at him. Jess hummed in delight sitting down.

"Sit down!" she said and clapping her hands at Tigger who purred jumping into her lap. "Hello my sweet angel"

"Sam still not got you a kitten"

"Not yet" she teased looking at Sam with a smile who rolled his eyes back at her. "I'm slowly getting what I want day by day"

They opened their presents from Sam and Jess; it was a conjoined present to travel over to Egypt next year for two whole weeks.

"Jess…" Castiel breathed looking up at her stunned.

"You've always said you wanted to go there, both of you, and that is your Christmas, birthdays, and anniversary present" she said with a smile admiring her new necklace. Castiel turned to Dean passing the tickets over and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you"

The rest of the day was spent eating Christmas dinner together which resulted in Dean complaining grumpily that he was on dishes all on his own which guilt tripped Sam into helping him out. They brought out the beer, wine, and any other form of alcohol as they drank slowly trying to enjoy themselves instead of getting stupidly drunk.

"So no word from your family I guess"

"You guessed right" he said with a cough placing his glass down. "I have word from Gabriel who is coming to visit us in a few days, I have heard nothing from my sister who is reasonable from what we have done, and nothing from my mom or dad"

"Does that upset you?"

"It did last year but I suppose I have just come to accept it"

"They're still your family, Cas, they should have sent something, a card, or even a message"

"I disappointed them, I was given a choice and I chose, Dean, I don't regret that because what I have now is better than anything back there in that house" he said scooping up Tigger who sat in between his feet.

Jess smiled softly in agreement watching him with the little kitten that purred and mewled underneath his fingertips. The two of them looked up when they heard a commotion in the kitchen and walked into see a soaked Sam and Dean panting.

"What the hell guys?" Jess exclaimed looking between them.

"He splashed me!" Sam cried gesturing at Dean.

"No, you were being a pain in the ass like you always are and I splashed the water to get your attention" Dean argued back.

Jess looked over her shoulder to Castiel who just shrugged at her amused by this whole situation.

"Get cleaned up" she said with a shake of her head exiting the room. "I swear they were just as bad at our engagement party"

"How is the marriage going?" he said with a tilt to his head.

Jess laughed looking at her hand and nodded. "I still don't regret it two years later and well…we, um; we are talking about…children"

"You want to have a baby?" he whispered softly.

"Well…maybe one day" she said sitting down. "I've always wanted a family, a big family, and I want to be a young mom and I want his baby"

"You would be incredible parents, Jess"

"Thank you" she breathed and paused when they walked in still damp from their mini water fight in the kitchen. Dean rolled his eyes dropping down next to Castiel who sniffed it and pulled away.

"You smell like lemon washing up liquid"

"Blame him!"

"I blame no one"

"Just give me a beer"

Castiel let out a huff handing one over and looking over to Sam's meaningful look directed over to him. The real reason of their water fight had been because Dean told Sam secretly his plans to propose and got very overexcited. Dean had to splash him with the soapy water to calm him down which didn't go down well. Dean glared at Sam looking away and pressed his nose into his hair inhaling the sweet smell of his new shampoo. Castiel smiled softly turning his head and moaning gently in surprise when he pulled him into a hard kiss.

"I have a surprise for you later"

"Surprise? What surprise?" Castiel whispered back at him with a furrowed brow. "You know I'm not overly keen on surprises, Dean"

"I know but you'll like this, I promise"

"It's not sex is it, Dean? Because as much as I love you I don't want another coupon from you for sex free all year from the one and only Dean" he said softly and blinked when he snorted shaking his head.

"That was a joke, I told you that! No it isn't" he said kissing the corner of his mouth. "You will love this"

Dean glanced over to see Sam now whispering in Jess's ear and shushing urgently when she went to squeal and clap her hands like a demented seal. Jess grinned covering her mouth nodded flicking her eyes over to them and away burying her head in Sam's neck clearly fit to burst with excitement. Dean knew she would want to plan the wedding to the last fucking detail and he dreaded to think about their bank balance afterwards.

The rest of the day wrapped up quickly with Sam holding a tipsy Jess who kept giggling and hugging Dean and Castiel tightly pressing a finger to her lips.

"We'll call tomorrow!" she sang kissing them both on the cheek. "I just…I'm so happy right now and I just…"

"Okay, Jess, sweetheart, we're going to go" Sam said interrupting her with wide eyes and pulling her with him as they walked out. Castiel gave Dean a bemused look as they closed the door and settled on the couch.

"That was odd"

"She was drunk" Dean murmured pressing his thumb into his lip chewing on the skin gently. It was starting to become nerve wracking and he glanced over to him now playing with Tigger. It had to be done and sooner the better.

~0~0~0~

Castiel was brushing his teeth and shivered still feeling the cold chill from their previous adventure in the snow. They decided to go out and enjoy themselves in the snow for a while making a tiny snowman, throwing snowballs, and Castiel shoved Dean down into the snow kissing him till their lips were pink and their cheeks pink from the cold. Dean eventually forcibly dragged them back inside were they cuddled on the couch warming their cold bodies and hands with hot chocolate till bedtime.

Castiel hummed switching off the light and padding in the bedroom to the room illuminated in orange light from their bedside lamp. It always made the white bedroom look romantic and he sighed softly closing the door with a click. His eyes found Dean in the middle of the bed, his legs crossed and dressed in his navy pyjama pants and old AC/DC shirt watching him. Castiel noticed the wariness and the twisting in his hands; he swallowed padding over to stop at the end of the bed.

"Dean?"

Dean swallowed pushing a small box over meeting his eyes. Castiel breathed out slowly staring at the small black box and bit his lip shaking his head.

"Open it" Dean whispered when he knelt on the bed in front of it picking the little box up with shaky fingers to reveal the silver engagement ring, it was a simple design and he picked it out with a small gasp peering into see three little letters, D&C, and moaned softly.

"Dean…

"Marry me"

"You said you kept to the price limit"

"I lied" Dean murmured moving into his personal space. "I'm the man in this relationship so…marry me"

"I'm not a woman, Dean"

Dean trailed his eye up and down him slowly. "No, no you're not but you're going to make one hell of a blushing groom"

"Oh god" Castiel moaned when he kissed him softly pulling away to look into his eyes.

"Cas, will…you…marry…me?" he said pushing him down and pinning him to the mattress.

"Yes" he whispered breathlessly pulling him in and kissing him breathlessly and pulled away when his chest felt too tight from emotion. "You…how long did you keep this from me?"

"A few weeks, I told Sam before who told Jess…"

"That explains the strange behaviour today…" he said stopping when Dean slid the ring onto his finger and looked over to him with a soft edge in his eyes. "Do you really want to do this?"

"We live in New York, Cas, we can get married here now"

"I know but…this is such a big step, Dean"

"No, my big step with you was kissing you for the first time while married to your sister" he said trailing a hand down his side. "This is what I want, I want to marry you, I want everyone to know that you're mine, all mine, and no one else can have you"

"I love when you're overly possessive, Dean"

"The big question for you is if you want this?"

Castiel turned pressing his body closer so everything from their chests, thighs, and foreheads were pressing together. "I'll admit I am very, very surprised and I hate surprises, Dean, but this is best one of all and yes, yes, I want to marry you"

"Good choice" Dean murmured capturing his mouth as they wriggled together pulling off their clothes till Dean was pressing his naked body against Castiel's. Dean took his time as he pinned Castiel into the bed underneath him, fitting his thighs in between his spread legs and licking and sucking his nipples so they were tender and stood to attention. Castiel moaned restfully underneath him while Dean proceeded to kiss every inch from all over his face, down his neck, his throat, his collarbone and down his chest with small kisses tasting and inhaling the sweet cold musk of his skin.

Castiel groaned helplessly and wantonly as his hands clutched at his back.

"Please" he whispered feeling sweat prickle on his forehead and chest from the excursion of their activities already. He gasped when his mouth travelled all the way down to suck and lick across the top of his groin to his hipbones were he knew they were sensitive. Dean loved the soft gasps escaping his lips, the way his hands and thighs twitched with need, the arch of his back when it became too much, and the press of his heels into the mattress. He loved that he could undo him with just his mouth and hands to this moaning needy mess. It made Dean feel powerful and he grinned into the sensitive skin around his cock that was full, erect, and already wet.

Dean swallowed moving his head up to press his lips against the head sucking away the liquid with a hum at the sharp tang. His taste was unique to him it was a satisfying feeling knowing he would be the only one to taste it.

"Oh…Dean, please" he pleaded with a low moan wrapping his fingers into his hair pulling and tugging on it encouragingly. Dean swallowed him down enjoying the heavy weight in his mouth as he sucked and licked him till Castiel's moans increased, the fingers in his hair tightened and he cried out when the climax inside of him snapped flooding deep into Dean's mouth as he sucked and swallowed him down.

Dean hummed around the soft and sensitive cock till Castiel whined shaking his head. He pulled away moving back up and sighing softly when he gripped his chin kissing him with enough passion that Dean clung to him.

"Make love to me" Castiel whispered spreading his legs wider in invitation rocking his hips upwards sliding his cock against his. Dean nodded moving to open the drawer and get out one of their many lubes. He glanced and raised an eyebrow.

"Cherry tonight?"

"Yes" he breathed and closed his eyes in anticipation when he slid his fingers slicked with lube gently inside of him. It hurt still, it always would, but after two years it was much easier and more relaxing. Castiel panted eagerly when three fingers slipped inside with added lube, the cherry smell lingering around them mixed with sweat, sex, and semen. The bed cover and sheets stuck to them as they twisted and wriggled together till Dean removed his fingers, hands gripping his hips as he placed his cock near the entrance sliding all the way in.

Castiel gasped wordlessly in pleasure and pain when Dean slid inside him swiftly filling him till his ass rested against the back of his thighs, the sound of skin slapping against skin, and Dean didn't hold back as he thrusted deep and fast inside of him.

"Dean…" Castiel moaned loudly rocking his hips upwards in time with his thrusts, wrapping his legs around his waist, and placing two hands on his ass encouraging him to thrust deeper inside of him. They didn't hold back as they rocked together, Dean pushed his mouth against Castiel's but couldn't kiss him for long as he pulled back thrusting into the deep inside him feeling the orgasm deep within him from the tightening in his balls and the warm feeling deep in his stomach. The orgasm hit him hard as he felt his spine arch at the force as he emptied himself into him and breathed out harshly moaning as he dropped on his chest feeling the aftershocks. Castiel breathed out and in deeply combing his hands through his hair when he lifted up to look at him.

"Merry Christmas" he said with a huff of laughter kissing him on the lips and pulling out to roll onto his side of the bed.

"Merry Christmas, Dean" he said looking over to him with a smile crawling into his arms resting there as they let their breath cool, their skin, and their hearts calm down falling into a post-sex sleep.

After Christmas came and went they told the news to Gabriel who came down on the 28th to spend a late Christmas together and New Year together. Jess immediately started planning their wedding as soon as they gave their permission. It would be a small ceremony only for friends and family from work and others around. Castiel sent an invitation out to his parents knowing full well they would ignore him which they did and on the 16th April, the day of their wedding, they didn't attend. The only family member who stood in the audience was Gabriel and for Castiel that was enough. They married with simple vows in a beautiful ceremony which stressed Jess out to no end but she was so very proud of the success of it. Their honeymoon was spent in Egypt which they used instead of paying for one and they disappeared into the sand, heat, and stood on their balcony overlooking the Nile and could only enjoy the bliss of their lives. Two years ago they stood in an apartment, homeless, jobless, and with little hope for anything with a broken marriage and family behind them. Now they stood as a unit, a married couple with hope for a future, jobs that paid well, a kitten who was devoted to them both, and most of all a forever that wasn't a lie this time around.

A/N: Aw! It's all done, folks. I'm very pleased with this and I would like you for all the reviews because they were all awesome as always.

I have a new story which I uploaded yesterday, 3625 Days, so if you want, give that a quick read. Woo.