Soul Mate (A Castiel FanFic)

Hanging the stars

I sighed as I looked into my bedroom, finding it empty just like the others I'd checked thus far. My feet were swollen and my belly huge but I continued on undeterred, moving a few more feet down the hall and stopping again.

"Have you guys seen Cass?" I asked, standing in the hallway between Sam and Dean's rooms.

"Sorry, no," Sam said.

"Heard him heading down the hall a little while ago. I thought he was looking for you," Dean replied. I turned and continued on, looking into every room until the smell of paint fumes became strong. I followed my nose to the end of the hall where the door to an as-yet unused room was partially open and peered in. This was the room we picked for Mary. Cass stood with a roller in his hand, newspapers were strewn messily about the floor and a paint can in the corner. Paint drops flecked his coat and even his face.

"Hey, Cass. What are you doing?" I asked in amusement.

He turned, surprised, and looked around at his work. Half the walls were painted, but unevenly, and he'd missed a lot of the base work and trim.

"I wanted to paint her room. I wanted to do something for her," he explained. "But this....this is harder than I expected."

"Well, you've never painted before," I said gently, walking to him and taking the roller from his messy hands.

"I helped hang the stars in the sky, Kayla. I helped paint the galaxy and nebulas," he said.

I looked at him, eyebrows raised for a moment and lips pressed together, trying not to laugh.

"That's fantastic, Cass. Really. And I mean, great job with the galaxy and stuff. Thanks for that. But painting a room might require a little more finesse," I told him. I looked to the corner of the room where the crib we set up together sat. There was a mobile sitting inside it that we hadn't gotten around to putting together.

"Why don't you go hang the mobile?" I asked, placing my hand on his arm. He gave me a defeated sigh and turned to the crib.

We worked together for a few moments. I painted over the sparser parts of the walls and did some of the edges that he'd missed while the two of us chatted about what else I wanted to do with her room. There was no real theme for it yet, but I was sure that it would come together in time.

We placed the smaller brush back near the paint can, when we were satisfied for the moment, and turned to see how Cass was doing. He stood near the crib, pushing the mobile of tiny stars with his finger.

"Nice job," I said, coming to stand beside him. "See that? You hung the stars for our daughter."

"This is a sorely lacking representation," he said, squinting at them as they swung around.

"Cass," I whispered before kissing him on the cheek. "Take the compliment, my love."