Day Twenty Six - Getting Married

"Let's make this quick," Dean grumbled, letting his brother straighten his tie. It hadn't been necessary for them to dress up, but both Sam and Cas had agreed that, for the sake of sentimentality, it would be best to look nice. Dean had grudgingly agreed. They weren't in a church, for obvious reasons, and they weren't in a city or state that allowed same-sex marriages (let alone interspecies marriages), but this wasn't a legal ceremony anyways, more of a personal one, just because they wanted to be able to say that they were married.

They, of course, being Cas and Dean.

Dean hadn't really wanted a wedding. He knew how much he loved Cas without any sort of binding contract to tell him so. But Cas had really wanted it, so of course Dean had bought into it. He couldn't deny that to the angel that he loved. And he had to admit that the word "husband" was going to sound nice rolling off his tongue.

Dean felt in his pockets for the rings as he and Sam entered the room in Garth's houseboat where the ceremony would be conducted. There was a table up front with a white tablecloth draped over it that would serve as the altar, and a number of chairs set in front of it. Too many chairs, actually. Why were there so many chairs? The only other people here were Garth and Kevin.

"Kev, why are you setting up so many chairs?" Dean asked.

Kevin shrugged. "Cas told me to. Said it's important." Dean turned to Sam and pointed at the chairs.

"He tell you about this?"

Sam smiled sadly. "Yeah. He wanted it to be a full ceremony." Sam gestured to each chair as he put a name to it. "Mom, Dad, Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Ash, Pam, Gabriel, and Balthazar. He told me that they're going to be watching, so he wants to give them good seats." Dean got slightly choked up for a second, imagining his parents and his friends sitting there, watching as he and Cas tied the knot. Mary would be so proud, and Ellen and Bobby would smile at him, and Jo would give him a hug, and Gabe and Balthazar would be cracking jokes the whole time, no doubt. Cas could apologize for burning Pamela's eyes out. Sam clapped him on the shoulder, breaking him away from his thoughts. "Hey, man," he said. "You ready?" Dean nodded as Sam guided him to stand in front of the table.

Kevin was sitting in the very middle of the empty chairs, and Sam was standing behind Dean in the best man's place. Garth shot Dean a thumbs-up before the door opened again and Cas walked through, looking almost nervously up at Dean as he walked up the "aisle." Dean grinned, and Cas smiled back, finally ending up in front of Dean, twisting his fingers together. Dean took his hands and kissed them both, before holding them as a bridge between their two bodies, looking up at Garth to begin.

The skinny hunter cleared his throat. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, in the sight of this company," he gestured to Kevin, and Dean smirked, "to unite Dean Winchester and Castiel, Angel of the Lord, in Holy matrimony." Dean glanced to Cas and noticed that he still looked incredibly anxious, so he tugged on one of his hands until Cas looked to him.

Relax, he mouthed with a soft smile. Cas instinctively tightened his shoulders, his blue eyes full of worry. I love you.

That earned him an even bigger smile than before. I love you, too, Cas mouthed back. Dean could feel the tension release as they both turned back to Garth.

"…for in coming together in marriage you are committing yourselves exclusively, the one to the other, for as long as you both shall live. Starting with you, Cas." Garth turned to the angel. "Do you, Castiel, take Dean to be your… sort-of lawfully wedded husband; to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, or for worse, for richer, or for poorer, in sickness, and in health? With respect for his integrity and faith in your union, do you promise to unfailingly seek out the best you can in him, loving him every day, in every way, until the end of your forever?"

"I do," answered Cas, beaming.

"And do you, Dean, take Castiel to be your lawfully wedded husband; to have and to hold from this day forward, for b—"

"Better or worse, sickness and health, blah blah blah, I know. Hell yeah I do." Dean squeezed the angel's hand in his with a smile as the words left his lips.

"What tokens of love and respect do you offer each other?" Garth asked, and Dean pulled the rings out of his pocket. While Garth gave his spiel about the spiritual and symbolic meanings of the wedding ring, Dean turned them over in his hand before giving one of them to Cas. They were his parents' wedding rings, which he had tucked away after their deaths for safekeeping. He and Cas had decided that they didn't want rings made, especially when these had so many memories engrained in them, and there was nothing better for them to show their love for each other than the rings of a couple who were destined to be together. Cas would receive Mary's thin silver one, as his fingers were slimmer than Dean's, and Dean would wear John's. When it was time, Dean repeated the words Garth fed him as they made the final promise that would make them husbands.

"Castiel," he spoke, his voice quavering slightly, "I give you this ring as a symbol of my love for you. With all that I am, and with all that I have, I promise to love and honor you always." He paused, and, cursing his shaking hands, slid the ring onto Cas's finger. "With this ring, I thee wed." Cas repeated the pledge, and the finality of it hit Dean all at once as the cold silver band was placed on his ring finger. He was married. Cas was his husband, for the rest of eternity. Forever. The smile split his face from ear to ear, and he couldn't stop even if he had wanted to.

"It is with great pleasure that I pronounce you husband and husband. Now, kiss!" Dean didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Cas by the waist and pulled him in, their lips finding each other and fingers intertwining as Sam and Kevin and Garth all clapped. When they broke apart, Dean placed his forehead against Cas's.

"I love you," he whispered.

"Me too," Cas murmured back.

"It is with great joy and honor that I now present to you Misters Castiel and Dean Winchester!" Garth exclaimed, and everyone clapped again. Kevin made them stand there for a couple of pictures, and there were lots of hugs and congratulations going around. But finally all the excitement died down, and while the others left to grab a bottle of champagne and the cake that had been baked for the occasion, Dean stood in front of the chairs that would have been his mom and dad's, twisting the ring around and around his finger. Cas held his other hand, and they stood there quietly for a moment, just looking.

"They would have loved you, Cas."

The angel just smiled sadly at Dean. "It's too bad none of them were here to see it," he said, gesturing to all the empty chairs.

"Nah," Dean said, wrapping an arm around his husband's waist. "They're here. We just can't see 'em." He kissed Castiel another time. "Guess what?"

"What?" Cas said, smoothing down Dean's vest with steady hands. Dean grabbed one of his hands and held it over his heart, kissing each finger before responding.

"You're mine. Forever. And that means that you can't leave," Dean chuckled.

"Who says I'd want to?" They both laughed as Dean picked Cas up and spun him around. He held Cas close to him when his feet were back on the floor, the angel's arms around his neck, and they stayed in the embrace for a long time.

"Love you so much, Cas," Dean mumbled into the angel's hair. Cas hummed happily in response, the sound muffled by Dean's chest.

Later on, they'd eat cake and drink champagne, and there would be toasts and emotional speeches that Dean would roll his eyes at, and afterwards Dean and Cas would climb in the Impala and drive off to their home, where they would have the weekend to themselves as their honeymoon. But for now, Dean was content just to hold Cas right here, and stay in this moment as long as life would allow. His husband, for eternity.

Forever.