Round 'n Round We Go
~Part Six~

When Dean wakes, he at first, has no idea where he is. The last thing he remembers is passing out in his car. He'd been entering the highway when the car in front of him had stopped abruptly. He'd stopped too, but the car behind him had not, that guy had rammed rear of the Impala, (the bastard). It had been lucky that there had been no one else in the car with him, really, because the back-seat and the trunk had been totalled. Glass had gone everywhere, the back looking like it had dropped off the wheel axle and his stomach had been gently pressed up against the wheel due to the impact of the crash forcing the front seat forward. It was also lucky that the Impala had been made in 1967, because any air-bags would've done nothing but suffocate him. He thanked his lucky-stars that he'd insisted upon keeping the Impala when Cas had suggested getting something more "family-appropriate" for when their baby came along.

He remembers the guy getting out of his car and walking to Dean's window, and more distinctly than that, he remembers watching with the tiniest hint of amusement, the eyes of the other bloke falling to his stomach, his lips whispering with horror, "Oh, shit."

After that he doesn't recall, he assumes he passed out, but he's pretty sure it wasn't from shock. Relief, probably. He'd felt no weird snaps in his spine and his gut told him that his baby was perfectly fine. There'd been no sharp pains, no waves of nausea. Everything had felt normal.

Lifting his head the tiniest amount, he looks down at his stomach and smiles fondly, the bulge still heavy with solid weight.

The room he is in is silent. There's no trace of nature or man, and that's a little unnerving for him, actually. Hospitals are places full of loud noises, so for half a minute he's simply freaking out in silence, wondering why he can't hear anything past the sound of his own, tense breathing. Then, just as he is about to call out to the empty room, the door opens and sound floods in from the passageway outside.

He hears a gaggle of loud voices, notwithstanding the guttural sounds of his dad, the growls that he knows to be Sam, a high twitter he thinks is Charlie, who sounds to be arguing with… Jo? He's almost sure he can hear Mrs. Harvelle—Ellen—out there too. She and (Bobby?) seem to be arguing with his dad.

He groans noisily, his voice echoing through the room at a volume much louder than intended. He is going to have to sort them all out later, assure and reassure them a multitude of times that he is alright and the baby is okay. After all, he is the reason they're all there, it's no delusion to know that much, and he feels absolutely god awful for worrying them all like he has.

At the sound of his audible grunt, the voices all stop, and for half a minute he holds his breath baitedly. There's no guarantee that his dad won't barge in and yell at him for being so reckless, actually, it seems likely, if Dean was asked his opinion. Yet, just as he's weighing up the likelihood of this actually happening, the door to his room slides open, eyes falling immediately to the figure coming through.

"Cas…" Dean breathes, helpless to the flood of both negative and positive emotions that assault him. It is with an inordinate amount of relief that he sees Castiel, eyes trained on Dean, but forehead crushed into a devastatingly heart-breaking expression of concern. His brain is jumping erratically between joy and worry, mouth operating like a fish out of water until it finds a single word.

"Sorry…" His voice breaks and the dam holding back the tears suddenly overflows.

He isn't entirely sure what he's apologising for, his behaviour? His crash? Worrying Cas? There's so much he needs to apologise for and the single word doesn't seem like half as much as Cas deserves from him. But Cas says nothing. He stumbles over, folds and envelops Dean in his arms, simply holding onto him like he's clinging onto life itself. The notion comforts him and Dean cannot help the desperate, needy hug he returns, burying his face into Cas' shoulder.

"I though I lost you."

These are the first words Dean hears from Cas' mouth. They are hushed, whispered so quietly that Dean certainly would have missed them had Cas' mouth not been directly next to his ear.

His words are so small, whispered and broken. They hold none of the authority an Alpha has. They are gut wrentching and tiny.

"What?" Dean whispers in reply.

"Sam said… accident and I… assumed the worst. Dean, I was so scared…"

Dean can feel the wetness of tears on his face from Cas. Pulling back from the Alpha and looking straight into his blue eyes that are misted with intense emotion, he gently brushes away the tears with the pads of his thumbs.

"Cas, I'm fine, see? It's okay, I'm okay." He tries to comfort, with little success.

Castiel nods for Dean's sake anyway, but he hardly believes his Omega's words. His eyes wander all over Dean's frame, looking for the slightest injury or hurt.

Dean never really put any stock into how distressing an Alpha found it when their mate was seriously injured or close to death, but he was seeing things in a new light. He vaguely recalled hearing from Sam about research done on the subject, which had suggested that Alpha's took on the responsibility of taking care of their brood much more intensely than Omega's did, and if an Alpha lost their Omega, there was a fifty-percent chance of suicide within the next three months, though the rate was only thirty-percent when reversed.

For the first time, that didn't seem like as much bullshit as he'd thought it to be.

"You're really okay?" Cas eventually croaks, voice breaking again with the threat of tears.

Dean nods, running his hand over his Alpha's three-day stubble. Cas looks haggard, he thinks.

Cas nuzzles into his shoulder and Dean lightly cards his fingers through the heavy lengths of hair that lay on the back of Cas' neck.

There is quiet for a while, before Dean dares ask the question plaguing him.

"… What did the doctor say…?"

Cas lifts his head and pulls away as he sits on the bed beside his mate, a curious look in his eye.

"What did the doctor say about the baby?" Dean asks again, this time without the crack in his voice.

Cas' gentle smile tells him all he needs to know, but the Alpha repeats the doctor's words anyway, telling him that the baby seems perfectly fine and healthy and that Dean will probably still carry to full term without any complications.

Dean then lets out a breath of air he hadn't known he'd been holding.

"Good… that's good." He says, the muscles in his face finally easing out of their strain.

Cas places his hand against Dean's face and he leans into it unconsciously, just as the door opens again and more guests arrive in his hospital room.

Castiel removes his palm from his mate's face and links their hands together, completely missing the way a warm blush crawled up Dean's neck like he was some kind of sixteen year old virgin.

Dean's face de-heats some when Sam comes over and gives him as gentler bear-hug as he could possibly manage given his size, followed by his father and Bobby, both chastising and both relieved at the same time. Ellen and Jo stay at the back of the room, along with Charlie who has taken up occupancy of the only chair in the room. Momentarily he wonders how they managed to convince the nurses to let so many people in his room at one time, but he's glad they're all there.

Especially Cas.

They've still got a long of working out to do. Their relationship isn't perfect, but hell, whose is? And Dean knows they'll be spending a few nights on the couch together, both talking, both working their way through the issues that led up to this misshapen catastrophe that turned out to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise.

But right here, right now, he'll settle for the weighty feeling of a babe in his tummy and Cas' fingers between his.

TWO MONTHS LATER

Dean's coffee is cold and horrible, and that's annoying. He'd prefer to be drinking whiskey honestly, but any alcohol is a no go during pregnancy. The doctors say one glass of wine every now and then isn't such a big deal, but Cas has practically forbade it, stealing any drinks Dean might be handed and completely refusing to buy any beer for their house at all. Not only that, but Dean's now out shopping for baby items. He's being god-damn domestic, albeit forcibly. Though, on the up side, it's a little nice to spend some more time with Cas. He's been so lonely at home without anyone to talk to or anything to do. All it's done has made him irritable and grouchy, or at least more so than before.

"Can you think of anything else we might need?" Cas' voice interrupts, his mate's tone light and cheery, the opposite of Dean's internal grumbling.

"No," he snaps, "I think we've pretty much bought the entire store."

Cas looks somewhat offended and Dean knows he's being unreasonably harsh towards his mate, he just can't help it. It's the hormones, he's sure. Everything is just so… annoying.

Cas glances over at him every two seconds, a hurt expression upon his face until Dean gives in with a sigh and an apology. He doesn't deserve a mate as great as Castiel, who's kind and understanding and puts up with the excessive amount of faults he has, especially since his pregnancy hasn't exactly been a smooth one, what with a heart-skipping car crash and all that had completely freaked Cas out.

As a distraction from the tension, he picks up a baby rattle in the shape of a lion and flips it over to look at the price tag. Too pricey, but Cas takes it from him and throws it in the shopping cart anyway.

"I know this isn't really your thing Dean and I'm sorry for dragging you all over the place today, I just wanted to see what else we might need for the nursery."

He knows that's not entirely true. Cas just wanted to get him out of the house, and Dean's glad for it, but his attitude has probably just made Castiel regret this decision.

Dean groans internally at himself. He needs to lighten up, needs to show Cas that he really does appreciate this, appreciates all the care and love his husband showers upon him.

"I know," he almost whispers in reply, returning the toy to the shelf. "You're going to make a great dad and I'm gonna be the lame one… this kid's gonna hate me. I'm just like my old man… Lord knows how many arguments Sam and Dad got into when he was younger."

Cas' expression melts as he brushes Dean's hand before linking it with his own and gently tugging in the direction of the exit.

"Is that what this is about?" Cas asks, running his thumb across the back of Dean's hand as they walk. "You're afraid our baby won't like you?"

"No," he shoots back before thinking on it and conceding. "Yeah… maybe. I dunno Cas."

For all his bravado, he knows Cas can see right through to his stressed-out, anxious center.

"Dean," he smiles softly, reassuringly. "This kid's going to love you, no matter what. Besides, you're really nothing like your old man. You're your own person."

Dean blushes, turning his head slightly to hide his face from his mate. Not that Cas can't smell his flushed embarrassment, but it makes him feel more in control that he can hide himself when he wants to. However, all Cas does is fixes him with that stare, the "you're-my-whole-world-stars-and-universe" stare that turns Dean into a puddle if he returns the gaze for too long.

"You're such a sap, Cas." He mumbles quietly, so only the two of them can hear.

Cas laughs softly at that and squeezes Dean's hand tighter with a: "But I'm your sap," as they approach the counter.

Quietly, Dean chuckles.

"Yeah, you're my sap, but soon it'll be you and me," he pauses to place a hand over his protruding stomach. "Plus one."

~END