A Very Natural Christmas

Author's Note: A short story about a warm and peaceful Christmas. I'm sorry for having more Dean/Cas than Sam/Jess, but I obviously can't hide my roots XD Please enjoy! I would be glad if you could leave a short comment :-)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, sadly.

Mary Winchester smiled when she looked through the kitchen window and saw two cars arriving in front of the house. The garden was covered with brilliantly white snow, the cars leaving deep prints on the streets not yet cleared. Even more snow was forecast for the evening.

Mary turned around for a towel to dry her hands. The sweet scent of cookies and candles filled the rooms.

"I'll open!" John announced from the living room as the doorbell rang and Mary could hear the door being opened.

Bobby, Ellen and Jo entered each one wearing thick coats, scarves and gloves.

"Hello, John." There were snowflakes in Bobby's beard as he talked. "Long time no see."

"Merry Christmas, John." Ellen and Jo hugged him friendly.

"Merry Christmas, everyone." John smiled at his guests and led them to the living room.

"Ellen, Bobby, it's great that you could make it." Mary appeared in the kitchen door. "Hi, Jo, it's nice to see you again, honey."

"Thanks for the invitation, Mary." Ellen looked around. "The tree's so beautiful."

The entire room was decorated with fir branches, glittering Christmas balls and ornament. In the corner of the room next to the couch there was a huge Christmas tree, opulently decorated with tinsel, red and golden ornament and shiny candles.

"Please have a seat" John offered and took a bottle of champagne from the cupboard. "The boys should be here any minute."

"And dinner will be ready at half past six" Mary added.

"Let me help you with the turkey" Ellen offered and followed Mary into the kitchen.

Bobby and Jo sat down on the couch and John filled their glasses with champagne.

"How's your training going, Jo?" Bobby looked at the girl.

"Great" Jo replied. "Except for Mom criticizing anything I do."

The doorbell rang once again and this time Sam, Dean, Castiel and Jessica entered and sat down on the couch next to Bobby and Jo.

They were all dressed up, Jessica's blonde hair pinned up nicely and even Bobby had brought himself to put on a tie.

"Bobby, how are you doing?" Sam grinned at the older man. "Nice car you got out there."

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "I'm impressed. So sportive. And modern."

"That's Mom's car" Jo explained, but Sam and Dean started to laugh merrily.

"Idjits. Are you two jerks saying that an old man like me shouldn't drive a car like that?"

Dean grinned at his brother. "Are we?"

Bobby gave them a dig in the ribs. "Shut up."

For a moment John looked at all of them in silence and inside his heart he could feel a melancholic happiness that they could all spend this special day together.

Sam and Jessica had told a few stories about their journey to New York as Mary called and everyone sat down at the table in the middle of the dining room.

"Delicious" Dean commented on the neatly decorated turkey, the vegetables and sausages.

Jo, who was sitting next to him, gave him a friendly grin. "You can't wait to stuff yourself, even at Christmas?"

John stood up and raised his glass. "First of all", he began, "I'm so glad everyone made it here today. It's really for your own good considering all the delicious food my wife has prepared."

Everyone laughed happily.

John leaned down and kissed his wife.

"That's so sweet!" Jessica turned to Sam with a smile.

"Well, I don't want to delay the celebration, so why don't we just start? Merry Christmas to all of you."

"Merry Christmas!" Everyone clinked their glasses and enjoyed the meal.

When the turkey was eaten up, they gathered around the Christmas tree and gave each other presents.

Jessica had a beautiful hair-band for Jo, Ellen and Bobby gave Sam the books he needed for his studies. Dean got a few items for his car from Mary and John and gave Ellen a new wall clock for the Roadhouse.

Mary tried to open a box John had given her, but the ribbon was too tight. "I'll need a pair of scissors for this one."

Dean stood up. "Wait, I'll get it for you."

Dean hurried back to the dark kitchen but as he turned around to return, he could see Castiel standing in the door.

"Cas?" He paused.

The angel walked towards him. "I've…" He looked at the floor. "I've got something for you, Dean. It's not a real present, but I thought it was time you got it back." He reached into his pocket and let a small item drop into Dean's hand.

"It's my amulet…" Dean looked at him, surprised. "But you still need it yourself."

"It's important to you and I've been keeping it from you for too long."

Dean let his gaze rest on the necklace in his hand as a slight smile crossed his face. "I've also got something for you. But I didn't want you to get it when everyone was watching. So", he took a deep breath, "I guess now's the time." He reached into his own pocket and pulled out a small item on a string. "This is for you, Cas. Merry Christmas."

Castiel stared at the pendant in his hand. "Dean, but this is your-"

"No." Dean interrupted. "This one is mine. And that one is yours."

"You've got a second one…"

"Actually, Bobby was the one who got it. He obviously has better connections than you angels." He tried to smile, but somehow felt as if Castiel wasn't all happy. "It's just... My necklace means so much to me because Sam was the one who gave it to me. And I thought maybe if you had your own one and I was the one who gave it to you… then maybe it would become as precious to you as mine is to me. And besides, we'd have matching amulets."

Castiel didn't show a single reaction.

"Aw, forget it." Dean snatched the necklace back from Castiel and shook his head. "It's so cheesy, I'm sorry. I don't know why I even-"

"Dean." Castiel looked at him. "It's not cheesy." He opened Dean's hand gently and took the pendent back. "It's really sweet." His expression revealed that he was deeply moved. "This is the first time someone ever gave me a gift. I've never had anything that was mine."

Dean's tension eased and he shook his head slightly. "Not quite true." He looked back at the angel with a serious expression. "I'm yours."

Mary, John, Ellen and Bobby had decided to talk a walk in the snow and returned at about eleven o'clock. They sat down on the couch with a glass of red wine to warm themselves up.

The "kids" had chosen to play a round of Monopoly instead of going outside into the cold.

At half past eleven the door to the dining room opened and Sam and Jo entered.

Mary turned around. "Already finished? Who's the winner?"

"The game was aborted because everyone was getting into a fight" Sam explained.

"We wouldn't have aborted it if Sam had brought himself to sell Pennsylvania Avenue to Jo." Dean entered and Mary could read in his face that he was pissed off. "But he was too greedy."

"You didn't sell New York Avenue to Cas either, Dean, even though he wanted to trade it for Park Place which is twice the price."

"I had St. James Place almost from the beginning, Sam. You can't expect me to give New York Avenue away."

"You just didn't want me to build that hotel, Sam" Jo accused and crossed her arms.

"You already had five one of them!" Sam shook his head. "That's what I call greedy."

"Now, kids, please." Mary stood up and her long blonde hair made her look like an angel. "It's Christmas. You don't want to fight at Christmas."

Looking at her Dean immediately felt guilty for being angry and he stood silently next to the door when Castiel and Jessica entered as well.

"So, how many hotels did you build, Jess?" John asked with a curious face, but Jessica only smiled back with an apologetic look.

"I didn't build any. I was in prison all the time."

John and Bobby laughed.

Jo turned around. "But that didn't stop you from buying Pennsylvania Railroad from under my nose."

"Jo!" Ellen threw a criticizing look at her daughter, but Jo simply shrugged.

"What? Monopoly always ends in fights."

Dean grabbed Castiel's sleeve and pulled him to the door. "Let's go outside for a bit."

"But don't take too long" Mary called after them. "We'll be having dessert soon."

The air outside was freezing. Dean's breath created clouds of white smoke. On both sides of the street the snow had been piled up reflecting the thousand lights illuminating the houses of the neighborhood.

Dean and Castiel were both wearing thick, warm coats as they strolled around the garden and sat down on a bench next to the Winchesters' house.

"It's freezing out here" Dean mused and rubbed his hands together. "I can't remember such a cold winter and so much snow."

"We can go back inside if you want" Castiel suggested, but Dean shook his head.

"No, this is just right for Christmas." He leaned back. "This is the happiest day in my life, Cas. I wish I could stop time right now. Everyone is so happy, everyone is here. I feel totally at peace and it gives me a warm feeling inside my heart." He turned his head to the angel next to him. "You know, everyone I love is here. The entire family. And being with those people, this is truly my paradise."

Castiel looked at the snow prints they had made. "There will be even more next year."

"What do you mean?"

"Jessica." Castiel turned around to face him directly. "She's pregnant."

It started to snow again.

Dean stared back at him, unbelieving. "How do you know that?" he whispered into the cold air.

"When I look at her, I can see two souls."

"Wow." Dean shook his head unbelievingly. "That's great. I mean, Sammy as a dad, that's…" He scratched his head. "That's brilliant. It really is."

"She does not know yet."

"You read her mind then?" Dean rolled his eyes. "You know you shouldn't."

"But it's helpful sometimes" the angel admitted.

"Helpful? I see." Dean gave him a suggestive smile. "So, what am I thinking right now?"

"Do I really have to read your mind to know that?" Castiel replied and kissed him gently. Dean could feel warmth making the cold around him go away and kissed back with all the passion he had.

"At least those two are not cold at all."

Castiel and Dean turned around.

Jessica waved at them, holding hands with Sam. She looked up at him and smiled. "They had the same good idea we had, Sam."

Sam kissed her as they walked away.

Dean stood up and called after them. "You shouldn't do too far; we'll be having dessert soon!"

Sam waved back. "We'll be having dessert now, Dean."

Dean turned back to Castiel and shrugged. "Whatever he means by that. Come on, let's go back inside."

"No." Castiel grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back onto the bench. "Just a little longer."

"Dean seems to be really in love with his angel" Jessica noticed as they walked down the street towards the church that resisted the falling snow like an indestructible mountain.

"I can totally understand how he feels." Sam smiled back at her. Jessica's blonde hair fell over the collar of her white coat, snowflakes touching her face gently. "I'm also in love with my angel."

"You're so sweet" Jessica replied with a fond expression on her face, and then she turned towards the church. "Do you think Christmas Mass is already over?"

"Let's find out." Sam took her hand and entered the massive building. The interior however was dark. "Come on." He led her through a wooden door and up the stairs of the bell tower.

"Sam, are you sure we're allowed to be here?" Jessica asked hesitatingly, but Sam smiled back at her.

After a few minutes they had reached the top.

Jessica stepped towards the ledge and looked down at the gently illuminated, snow covered city. The wind tugged at her hair. "This is the most beautiful view I've ever seen."

Sam put his arm around her waist. "Merry Christmas, Jess." He kissed her as the church bells started to ring.

At quarter past midnight everyone had gathered around the Christmas tree again. Mary brought a plate with delicious cake and a bowl of sweet ice cream from the kitchen.

Everybody was praising the dessert and Mary smiled at each one of them.

"This is so delicious, Mrs. Winchester", Jessica said, "I'll become fat if you spoil us like that."

Everybody laughed and Castiel and Dean exchanged knowing looks.

After a while, the conversation became quieter and in the end they all sat there in silence, enjoying the magic of Christmas in each other's company as fatigue caught up with them.

Ellen, Mary and Bobby soon left to go to bed and John sat quietly in his armchair, a glass of red wine in his hands.

Dean collected the plates that were still on the coffee table and put them in the sink.

When he returned from the kitchen, he saw Jo and Castiel sitting on the floor next to the tree and he could hear Castiel explaining to Jo quietly what really happened on Christmas Eve over two thousand years ago, a story the angel had already told at least five times tonight. It made Dean smile. So he joined them and listened in silence. When he turned his head towards the window, he could see thick white snowflakes tumbling down quietly, making their world solitary and at peace.

Dean Winchester opened his eyes. It was bright morning and Sam was hunched over a thick book at a small table across the room. This magical warm feeling of peace was gone. Instead he could hear the noise from the other motel rooms, a grey and sallow world around him. There were no white snowflakes on the window ledge, only bitter white rock salt to keep demons out. He was back in reality.

Sam turned and looked at him with a concerned expression. "What's wrong, dude? You look distressed."

Dean sat up. "I don't know. I feel kind of sick." He took a deep breath. "You know, I had this kind of dream that is too good to be real and you know that all the time while you're dreaming. But still, when the dream is gone and you realize it can never happen, you just feel miserable."

"What did you dream about then?"

A smile crossed Dean's face. "It was Christmas and we were celebrating together."

"But we're celebrating Christmas together every year."

"No, not just the two of us. Everybody was there. Mom and Dad, Bobby, even Ellen and Jo came over to celebrate. And you were there with Jessica and I was there with…", he paused, "…someone, too. And Jessica was pregnant and everyone was happy and…"

"Dean, calm down." Sam looked at him with a smile. "It's a great dream, but…" He shook his head. "It's only a dream. It can never happen. They are all dead. We're the only ones left."

"I know" Dean replied and tried to remember that warm and blissful feeling from his dream. It could never happen, Dean knew, but nobody could keep him from dreaming about it either.