Dean pulled a twizzler out of his backpack and munched on it. "I wish school would hurry up and be over already" he thought.

"Mr. Winchester! I will not tell you again, put that away!"

"Yes sir! Mr. Garrison!" The class giggled as the freckled face boy saluted and stuffed the rest of the twizzler into his mouth.

Knowing there was no point in getting onto the child further, at least in front of the classroom, Mr. Garrison sighed and turned back to the board. Dean Winchester was only in third grade and already he was a little hellion.

Dean, pleased with himself, looked at Cas for an approving smile. It wasn't good enough for Dean if the class thought he was funny and Cas didn't. Cas, however, seemed to be a million miles away, staring off into space.

Dean poked Cas with a pencil, "Hey!" Cas was startled and jolted up in his seat.

He looked at Dean's expectant face, "Yeah…great, man. Cas returned to his former position.

Hmm… that's weird. I wonder if something is bothering him. Dean pulled out a piece of paper and began to write:

Hey, what's wrong?

Nothing.

Come on Cas, you gots to tell me!

Yeah? Why's that?

The final bell rang and before Dean could say anything, Cas ran out of the room.

Dean tried to follow but was stopped at the door by Mr. Garrison. "I think we need to talk, Dean."

15 Minutes Later

"So, you see Dean, if I have one more disruption in my class, I will be forced to call your parents."

Dean, still thinking about Cas' sad face and confusing replies absently replied. "Yeah, yeah…Can I go now Mr. Garrison?"

"Well, sure I gue-. "

"Thanks Mr. Garrison! Bye!" Dean yelled as he ran out the door.

I hope I can find Cas. Dean thought as he frantically looked under the slide, in their favorite tree, all over the school yard. Cas was not to be found. Disappointed, Dean started to walk home. "I don't even know where he lives."

Dean hung his head as he kicked a rock down the street. Every time they had played together it was either at school or at Dean's house.

This is so stupid. Why is he doing this? I just wanted to make sure he was o-.

Dean looked up to see a dark headed kid sitting under a tree in the park beside his house. He squinted his eyes and tried to get a better look. Was it Cas? It had to be! No other nine year old boy wore a trench coat!

Dean sprinted towards Cas. Standing over him, leaning on the tree he breathlessly whispered, "Cas…!"

Castiel looked up and sighed. "I don't want to talk." Pulling his knees up to his chin, he turned away from Dean. "Just leave, I'm serious."

Dean sat down next to him. "Come on Cas, talk to me."

Cas valiantly fought to keep the tears forming in his eyes at bay. "Oh yeah? Why should I tell you anything? All you care about is kissing girls and making people laugh."

Dean was taken back. "That's not true! I care about you!" Grabbing Cas' shoulders he forced him to face him. "You're my best friend! None of that other stuff matters if you're not around!" Cas' blue eyes met Dean's green ones, both of their eyes sparkling with tears.

"Really? I'm your best friend?" Cas' tone was unbelieving.

Dean dropped his hands into his lap and shyly looked away. "In the whole wide world." He whispered.

Cas tackled Dean in a hug, knocking him to the ground. Smiling, he sat back up, embarrassed. "Sorry, it's just that…I didn't think anyone would want me to…I've never had a best friend before…"

Dean scoffed and punched Cas in the shoulder. "Yes you have! Me!"

Cas looked up at Dean. "This whole time?"

"Always!" Dean laughed. "Now, what's wrong?"

Cas shifted his body so he was sitting with his back against the tree, Dean facing him. "Well, Dad…left."

"What do you mean 'left'?"

Cas' midnight blue eyes filled with tears as he broke down. "I mean…left. Gone! He's not coming back. No one knows why. Even worse, Lou and Michael got into another fight. A really, really bad one. They both left too. So it's just me and Gabe."

Dean moved beside Cas and put his arm around him. Cas buried his face in Dean's shoulder, dampening his jacket with tears. "I…I really miss my daddy." Cas sobbed.

Dean hugged Cas even tighter to him. "Well…you know…I have a daddy and a mommy. Sammy and I don't use them all that much, you could borrow them if you want! We wouldn't mind sharing."

Cas looked up at Dean. "Really?"

"Really. Come on, you can spend the night at my house!"

Cas hesitated. "Are you sure…they would want me?"

Helping Cas up, Dean laughed. "Of course they would want you! Who wouldn't?"

Pulling his pocket knife out of his pocket, Dean smiled. "Sometimes, you are such a silly head."

"Dean, what are you doing?"

"I'm making sure we are best friends forever!" Dean said as he carved their initials into the tree. "This way, we'll never forget that we are best friends."

"Like I could ever forget!"

Dean stepped back and looked at his handiwork. "There, now it's sealed. We are best friends…no wait! Even closer! We're brothers!"

"But…we aren't related…" Cas seemed disappointed.

Dean put his arm around Cas shoulder. "Well, yeah. Not by blood. But since we're sharing my mommy and daddy that makes us sort of related, don't you think?"

Cas looked at the initials thoughtfully, running his hands over the indentations in the wood. "Yeah…Yeah! I guess you're right."

Dean grabbed his free hand and pulled him away. "Come on Cas! Mommy said she was going to make cookies!

By the way," Dean stopped and looked at Cas. "Cas…why do you always wear that trench coat?"

Cas embarrassingly shrugged and rearranged his coat and said. "Well…it was the only thing my dad ever gave me, I guess…"

Blushing, Dean said. "I…I kind of like it."

Cas' smile returned. "I like it too." Dean grabbed Cas' hand again.

"Come on! We better hurry before Sam eats all the cookies!"

20 Years Later

"What do you mean you lost her blanket?!" Cas demanded.

Dean anxiously looked around, scanning the park. "I don't know! One minute I had it and the next…it was gone!"

"Okay, well let's calm down and breathe. Here, I'll take Sarah and we will just retrace your steps."

Dean handed the squirming two month old girl to Cas. Having children was hard; there wasn't any doubt about that. But, there wasn't another person in the world he'd rather have a kid with than Cas.

Cas looked up to see Dean staring at him with this…almost dreamy look on his face. "What?" Dean just kept smiling. "Dean, dear? Are you okay?"

Dean snapped back to reality. "Huh? What? Oh, nothing…I was just thinking how beautiful you are, standing there with our baby…and how much I love you."

Cas' cheeks were tinted with pink as he stepped forward, putting his head in the crook of Dean's neck. "I love you too…I'm sorry I've been so short lately. It's just, this baby…added a lot more stress than I-"

Dean looked down at Cas, catching his lips in a kiss and quieting him. He smiled."Don't worry about it, baby."

They looked down at their tiny, sleeping bundle, completely unaware of her surroundings. Cas had insisted that their child's name be biblical, so I had suggested "Mary". We both loved the idea but Mom wouldn't have it. "Name her Sarah Elizabeth. It's a good, solid, biblical name. Mom always said that if she would have had a girl, she would have named her Sarah Elizabeth. So we decided that it was fitting, especially after Cas found out "Sarah" meant "princess". She was a perfect little princess. Dean thought. Their little princess.

Cas interrupted his wandering mind by standing on his tiptoes and planting a soft, loving kiss on Dean's lips. Smiling, he grabbed Dean's hand. "Let's go find Sarah's blanket."

15 Minutes Later

Dean stooped over and picked up the pink fluffy blanket out from under a tree. "Hey, Sweetheart? I found it!" As Dean was dusting the blanket off, an engraving in the tree caught his eye.

"Dean? Honey? Where are you?"

"Over here! By the tree!" Dean traced the indentations in the wood with his fingers. He couldn't believe it! He knew exactly what this was. Dean turned around to see Cas approaching with a tiny pink and white bundle in his arms. He still makes my heart melt, even after all these years.

"Cas, baby, look!"

Cas peered closer and a grin spread across his face. Looking back at Dean he asked "Is that…Is that what I think it is?"

"Sure is!" Dean grinned.

"I can't believe…after all these years…It's still here! Oh, Dean! To think…this is where it all began! We became best friends here," Cas stood up and looked at Dean. "Had our first kiss here, and now bringing Sarah here! Wait…"

Bending back over the initials, Cas inspected them closer. "When was this heart added around our initials?"

Dean smiled sheepishly. "Well…way back in sixth grade, when you got that lead in the musical, I came to watch you…and you were perfect. I think that was the night I fell in love. On the way home, I stopped by this tree and carved the heart in. I knew that night; I was going to marry you."

Cas looked shocked. "But…we didn't date until Freshman year..?!" Cas paused. "You knew all that time?"

Dean looked at the man he loved, holding the baby he loved and wrapped his arms around Cas, pulling him into a hug. Kissing him slowly and sweetly, he smiled.

"Always."