Having a toddler, Cas was used to seeing Jack running around the house playing games and causing trouble. But from his position curled up in their reading nook in the kitchen, Cas watched as Jack and Dean tiptoed past the doorway towards the living room with a trail of blankets and pillows. Oh, that was definitely mischief waiting to happen.
He’d been hearing the staged whispers and giggles from the next room for the last 20 minutes, along with the sound of moving furniture. It all spelt one thing. His husband and his son were up to no-good.
Closing his book, Cas quietly got up from his comfortable seat and crept around the corner to peer into the living room.
Blankets and bedding were strewn around the room. The couch had been moved and the chairs and table from the dining room were now perched at varying angles around the room. Pillows were stacked up in the corner, with big blankets draped across most of the chairs to make a large enclosure with a tunnel.
Leaning against the doorframe, Cas watched quietly with a beaming smile on his face
“Daddy, this one,” Jack attempted to whisper, tugging along his favorite bumblebee blanket and holding it out to Dean.
“You got it, buddy,” Dean said with a wink, pushing another chair forward and placing Jack’s blanket on top of it.
There was some more shuffling as Jack pushed another chair towards Dean, and Dean handed Jack the next blanket to put up himself. Picking Jack up into a Superman hold, Jack giggled as he slung the blanket to make the tunnel longer.
“Shush,” Dean teased, even though his fingers wiggled across Jack’s sides and stomach, which made Jack scream with laughter. The two of them tumbled into a pile of pillows, Dean still tickling Jack and Jack’s limbs flailing everywhere as he gasped through his laughter.
Cas couldn’t stop beaming at the sight in front him. The laughter was infectious, and he felt his own bubbling up. Dean turned at the sound, grinning fondly at Cas as he finally stopped tickling Jack. The toddler caught sight of Cas in the doorway, and he ran and tackled Cas. “Papa! Daddy’s being the tickle monster,” Jack said, tugging at Cas’ pants.
“Oh, is that what’s going on here?” Cas asked, bending down to scoop Jack up into his arms.
“No. Blanket fort surprise,” Jack said as he looped his arms around Cas’ neck, and then realized what he’d said a second later because he scrambled to cover his mouth.
“Blanket fort, huh?” Cas asked, walking over to Dean and nudging his husband with his hip.
“Little Scamp over here wanted to watch a movie and sleep in a fort tonight with us,” Dean said, dropping a kiss to Cas’ cheek.
“Can I get in on this fort building business?” Cas asked, plucking Jack’s hand from his shoulder and kissing the little fingers.
“Yes! Papa come help me decorate inside,” Jack said, wiggling in Cas’ arms and scrambling towards the pillow pile.
“Looks like you’re construction and I’m interior designer,” Cas said, leaning into Dean’s space to sneak in a kiss.
Dean let out a little content sigh before breaking away to grab another blanket. “Welcome to the blanket fort team,” Dean said.
Jack’s hand was suddenly tugging at Cas’ finger, guiding him towards the entrance. “You gotta come inside, Papa,” Jack said before crawling through the tunnel.
Picking up a couple pillows and Jack’s Spider-Man blanket, Cas dropped to his knees and ducked inside. The fort was bigger than he expected, with several of the couch cushions already across the floor and Dean’s iPad at the ready for the movie.
“This is perfect, sweetheart,” Cas said, smiling at Jack’s proud little gesture at his work.
“It’s dark,” Jack confessed with a pout. The toddler had only recently started hating the dark, and Cas had gotten him a superhero nightlight for his room to keep the monsters at bay.
Cas smiled, motioning for Jack. The toddler crawled into his arms, and Cas dropped a kiss to the top of his head. “I think I’ve got the perfect way to fix that.”
Twenty minutes later, Dean had finished constructing the door and had made popcorn for the movie. Cas had found some camping lanterns in the garage and had placed the little lights in several corners of the fort to create a soft glow.
Jack hadn’t stopped babbling with excitement, tugging on Cas’ hand and Dean’s sleeve and giggling at the perfect fort.
With Dean’s iPad propped against one of the chairs, Jack nestled himself in between his dads as the opening scene of Finding Nemo played across the screen. Cuddled into their blanket and pillow mound, the three of them fell asleep in their living-room sized fort with the movie credits rolling across the screen.
Dean may have woken up with a stiff back and Cas’ arm was completely numb from Jack sleeping on top of it, but the smile was so big on Jack’s face when they all woke up in the fort that it was completely worth it.
“Again, Papa! Again, Daddy! Do it again, do it again,” Jack cheered, wanting to stay all day in their homemade fort.
And if that same little smile convinced Cas to sleep in the fort the next night and the next, well, that was a little secret shared between him and Dean as they traded soft kisses while Jack grabbed some toys for the three of them to play with.
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