Chapter Text
Sam looked around his bedroom, although he had left monster hunting and saving the world behind it was still in his instincts to take stock of his surroundings. His left hand came up to wipe the sleep off his face and finish waking himself up. Beside him on his nightstand he grabbed his phone to see the good morning text from Gabe and check if Dean had decided to patch the rift since he had left. Answering Gabe, he got up and went into the bathroom to get showered and then get dressed for work. Once Sam had finished washing and drying himself, he walked over to their walk-in closet stark naked, not having anybody around but Gabe he didn’t have to worry about being covered up. He grabbed a plain black t-shirt, comfy light grey ¼ button up sweater, and his navy-blue slacks. Once dressed he grabbed his phone and his marked assignments to put in his messenger bag and went downstairs to grab a bite to eat before heading off to the local middle school.
Sam sat down in their dining room rambling off his checklist to make sure he had everything he was going to need for the day. Once he was sure that he had everything packed in his messenger bag he grabbed his coffee said goodbye to their golden retriever Bones and was out the door locking it behind him. Once he got to his car, he put his bag in the passenger seat, coffee in the cup holder and then started the car. Sam connected his Bluetooth and put on one of his favourite podcasts Still Processing. He backed out of the garage and made his way down their laneway which twists and turns through their own little slice of forest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Dean we have been talking about this for months now. I can’t and don’t want to continue hunting and you know this.” Sam said trying to continue packing his things.
“This is the family business Sam; we have Mum back what more could you possibly need?” Dean asked exasperated.
“Why is it every time we have this argument is always comes down to it being the family business? I understand this is the family business,” Sam motioned air quotes. “Quite frankly though Dean I could care less about that part. I need to get out, I cannot mentally or physically handle this anymore. I was put on this earth for one reason and that was to be Lucifers vessel and bring forth the apocalypse. I am so beyond done. I have been staying and keeping my shit bottled up for you, I have done all of this for you. Now all I am asking is that you do not completely shut me and Gabe off. But you can’t do that because heaven forbid, I don’t continue down the self-destructive path I have built for myself. Whenever you decide to pull your head out of your ass and start acting less like Dad and more like the Dean I used to know you have our address.” Sam turned back around continuing what he was doing.
Dean of course wasn’t finished arguing, “How fucking dare you? I raised you, I took care of you. I went to hell for you. Now all you’ve got to say is that your too weak to finish what we started? It was bad enough you two wanted to leave hunting, then you decided you wanted to get a house together then you decide that you want to go to Colorado and live with the richy rich in Aspen. I apologize if I can’t be happy for you when you’re leaving the rest of your family behind.”
This time Gabe stepped in seeing the situation getting out of hand quickly, “Listen here douche-face I am only going to say this once so listen close. I love Sam more than I have ever loved anyone. When we came to the agreement that we wanted to quit heaven, hell and the rest it wasn’t easy. We wrestled with that decision for longer than I care to admit. Now if you would like to recall Sam offered you, Cass, Mary and Jack a place at the new house. The only stipulation was that you stop hunting, you do not bring anything that could come after us, we wanted peace and quiet. We wanted our little slice of heaven. You decided that you couldn’t do that; that was your decision and yours alone. You do not get to complain when Cass is perfectly capable of zapping you there in under a second. I was the one that was looking through houses for weeks. Finding one big enough where we could raise a family of our own and a house for you guys. So, don’t go turning this around on him. Don’t you dare. If you continue to berate him about his you won’t see him again. You will never meet our future children and you will never step foot on our property. So, I suggest if you have nothing positive to add to this conversation you turn your ass around and get out of our room. Or so help me I will do it for you.”
Dean needing the last say in everything, “Were done Sam, and I think I will take a page out of Bobby’s book here when I say you can lose my number.” And with that Dean walked out
With a flick of his wrist Gabriel shut the door and locking it before turning back to Sam who had started to silently cry. “Hey come here now.” Gabe said wrapping his arms around his favourite human. “I promise one day he will understand why we had to do this and don’t for one second think that you are any less worthy of this move. You deserve everything you ever wanted alright?” Gabe had grabbed the side of Sam’s face to move it over so he could made eye contact with him.
Sam just nodded, took some deep breaths and finished packing his things before Gabe snapped them to their beautiful new abode in Aspen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A quick 30-minute drive later and Sam had arrived at the middle school. He grabbed his things locked the car and headed into the school. Waving his key card at the reader to release the maglock and let him in. He made his way to his classroom unlocking the door turning on the lights and his computer before going to hang up his bag and switch into his more comfortable classroom shoes which were essentially slippers. He grabbed his airpods out of his bag along with his marking and worksheets for today. He went back over to his desk and sat down, grabbing his phone out of his pocket he unlocked it put his airpods in and dialled Gabe.
G “Good morning handsome. Sleep well?”
S “I don’t feel like I got any rest, that’s for sure. Feels like I just laid there for 8 hours with my eyes closed.”
G “Have you made your next appointment with Dr. N yet?”
S “Yes I booked one for Sunday morning. Have you heard anything from Ollie and Nadia? Any sign of the twins yet?”
G “Nothing yet and I am sure that when Nadia goes into labour Ollie will let us know right away. Don’t get yourself all worked up before a class of rowdy 5th graders come in for the day. Just think its Friday, we don’t have anything planned for the weekend other than Sunday morning. We can relax and I have already put in a reservation at our favourite sushi place for tonight; so, you have that to look forward to. Now get back to work slacker. I love you.”
S “I love you too. I can’t wait for tonight. Have a good rest of your shift.”
Sam and Gabe hung up and Sam got back to work handing out the weeks spelling list on everybody’s desks. He went around the room turning on the soft lighting which his migraines preferred to the harsh overhead lights. He also found out very quickly that the kids preferred it as well. Sam went back to his computer and answered emails and made lesson plans for the rest of the morning until the first of his kids came through the door. He turned on the radio and patiently waited by the door for everybody to be in their seats and ready to learn.
“Good morning.” Sam said walking to the front of class.
“Good morning Mr. Winchester!” the class said almost in unison.
“Alright today I have a spelling challenge for you since you are all so smart and have collectively aced all of our grade 5 spelling tests so far. So, this week we have unenforceable, subtlety, penitentiary, lieutenant, flamboyant, façade, disbursement, chrysanthemum, besieged, and advantageous. Now remember this is just a challenge to see just how well you are all doing. This is not going to go against your grade. So, to begin today I want you to grab a Chromebook or a dictionary and find all the definitions for the weeks spelling words. Write them down in your spring session workbooks and remember to put the date. If you have any questions I will be back at my desk.”
Sam’s class got to work relatively quickly, after all he did luck out with having the gifted students. They always managed to amaze him with the quality and the quantity of work they consistently turned in. He let them work for and hour before pulling up a PowerPoint on the Smartboard. “Alright, now if you will direct your attention to the board, we are moving onto our third and final science unit Earth Systems Science, and today we are going to start by taking a closer look at the sun. If you’ll grab todays work sheet from the folders in your desk we will begin.”
Sam went through his PowerPoint making sure to take adequate time on each slide so that they can fill out the worksheet properly.
“Pop-quiz grade 5’s. Is the sun a renewable resource?”
“Yes.” The class answered.
“How old is the sun?” Almost all of them raised their hands.
“Yes Bailey.”
“4.6 billion years old.”
“Correct. What is the surface temperature of the sun?”
“Maeve.”
“Umm, 9932 degrees Fahrenheit.”
“Correct, okay last one before lunch, what is the Latin word for sun?”
“Ocean go ahead.”
“Sol which is why we call it solar energy right?”
“Nicely done, keep that up and when we come back from lunch and recess, we will be working on math and then ending the day with Phys-ed.”
Sam left the room as he wasn’t monitoring this lunch period and went over to his car and made his way over to the library to surprise Gabriel. It was a 2for1 deal seeing as how he needed to return some library books anyhow. He grabbed his books and made his way into the library, just in time to see Gabriel finishing up making a new library card for a lady. He dropped his books in the return bin and walked behind the desk. Hoping that Gabe hadn’t seen him. As soon as the lady had turned around Sam wrapped Gabe in a huge bear hug.
“You know I can still read your mind, right? Just because I’m not on heavens payroll anymore doesn’t mean I lose my angel mojo.”
“I know idiot, I was trying to be nice. I don’t have long, you really wanted to see you today.”
“Still feeling shitty sammich?”
“Like everything is going to fall apart around me. Then yes, I am. But I don’t want to talk about that. I have an appointment on Sunday where I will talk about that for now, I just want to spend some quality time with my boyfriend before I have to go back to the school.”
“Alright, alright. Forgive me for being concerned,” Sam looked up worried “You know I was joking, don’t bother. Kids being alright today?”
“Yeah, they’re being good as usual. I wish we had these programs when I was going through the school system. I think I really would have exceled.”
“Without a doubt kiddo. But moving around as much as you did doesn’t make for an easy upbringing and certainly doesn’t leave room for unbridled intelligence. Have you thought more about whether you’re going to continue teaching or if you’re going to stay home and raise the little ones?”
“I am definitely conflicted. On one hand I love and adore the kids I am helping to shape at school, but I also want to spend as much time with our little ones when they arrive.”
“You aren’t worried about the monetary aspect of this are you? I just ‘bought’ a 25-million-dollar house in aspen. Money isn’t the issue here. Whatever you think is going to make you the happiest I want you to pursue it. Whether it be taking a leave of absence from work, or quitting altogether I am happy if you’re happy. If it would make you happier to just be home the 4 of us when the time rolls around that is cool too. The only reason we are both working is because we needed to keep busy and didn’t want to go stir crazy. You let me know when the time is right. I love you more than the moon and the stars.” Gabriel said landing a heated kiss on Sam’s lips.
“What did I ever do before I met you?”
“Suffer unimaginably I assume.” Gabe said snickering as Sam started to walk out of the library to make his way back to the school giving him the one-fingered salute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam sat outside the bunker in the grass, letting the wind work its way through his hair. He silently prayed to Gabriel who took no more than a second to plop down beside Sam.
“Hey babe. What’s shaking?” Gabe said resting his head on Sam’s arm.
“Can you promise that you won’t freak out or disown me when I tell you this?”
“Of course! What’s rolling around in the noggin’.”
“I’ve been giving it a lot of thought for some time now and I have wanted to tell you, but I was also worried that you would want to be rid of me. But I just want to be honest with you and not be keeping secrets. I think I want to quit hunting. Altogether to be completely done with it all. I can’t do this anymore. Lucifers nightmares keep me up all night. For weeks on end, I can be so low that I don’t get out of bed short of using the bathroom. I can’t be the worlds solution when the only solution I can think of is one where I am burning on a pyre.” Sam rambled out.
“Hey now! I knew something was up, but I didn’t want to intrude on your thoughts and take a sneak peak. You owe nobody nothing. You owe it to yourself to get to a place where you can be and feel genuine happiness. Forget about hunting. The fact that all you know is hunting and you never got to experience an once of a decent childhood is a disgrace. Dean did the best he could with the resources he had I understand that. But the way your Dad treated you was unacceptable. Just let me say this. I am with you 100% no ifs ands or buts. If leaving hunting is what will keep you alive and kicking, I could care less about Dad’s creation.”
“I really don’t give you enough credit, do I?”
“I know you love and trust me. That’s all I need samalam. Oh, well I also need you by my side, but I figured you knew that already. How do you think Dean is going to take all of this?”
“I’m prepared to be disowned again. I managed it when I went off to Stanford I sure as hell can mange it now. Still hurts to think about it, but he is my brother he does get an opinion.”
“Okay but let’s keep this in mind. Although he does get an opinion, his opinion doesn’t overrule yours. This is your decision and if you truly believe that this is what is best for you then Dean doesn’t have the right to blow up about it. He needs to remember that you are both adults and you do not have to blindly follow him around anymore.”
“I think that I need to remember that I don’t have to blindly follow him too. I sometimes go into auto-pilot and just agree with everything he says because its easier.”
“And that’s alright, it can be something to work on in the future when you no longer have to worry about what goes bump in the night. Just think we can ward the shit out of the yard and the house, and we can have as big or as small a house and yard we want. The possibilities are truly endless. Have you put any thought into where you want to live? Stay here or go elsewhere in the country?”
“I haven’t yet. I wanted to talk to Dean, Mum and Cass before I decided where I wanted to go and how far away I wanted to be. I don’t want to be too close to the bunker because when shit does hit the fan I don’t want to be in the line of fire. Do you think that Dean would want to leave hunting too? Maybe live with us?”
“I don’t have that answer kiddo. As much as I would like to be hopeful and say he would I honestly don’t believe that myself. I think your Daddy gave him such a huge saviour complex he can’t leave and be happy. Even if deep down he is miserable with what he is doing now he cannot let himself quit hunting. He needs some professional help if you ask me, but I am no expert in the field.”
“I want to give this some more hard thought before I even think about telling Dean and the rest of the family. I am definitely not ready for the yelling and carrying on.” Sam said chuckling.
“How’s about we take our minds off of it?” Gabe said smirking
“You are insatiable ya’ know that?”
“But you still love me.”
A short but sweet kiss was shared by Sam and Gabriel before a snap was heard and they both disappeared to a place unknown.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
30 minutes remained before Sam was done work. Easily his and his students least favourite subject of the day Phys-ed. They had such a thirst for knowledge and if Sam was quite honest, they didn’t exactly excel in gym. But none the less they all tried, Sam of course wasn’t going to put them through para-military training like his father had. That of course as Sam now came to understand was just plain inhumane.
“Mr. Winchester!” Amber called from across the room
“Yes Amber!” Sam called back
“Can we finish the period off with dodge ball? We all suck at lacrosse.”
“Hey now, you don’t suck, lacrosse takes time to finesse. But yes, you can put away your lacrosse gear and get out the dodge balls.”
“YES!!” could be heard simultaneously throughout the gymnasium
For the last 30 minutes Sam got treated to what could only be described as organized chaos. He had to stifle laughs a few times, he remembers being that un-coordinated at that age too. Sam looked back down at his marking; his kids knew well enough what he expected of them. They were some of the most respectable and well-adjusted kids he had ever had the pleasure of meeting. He just hoped deep down that his future children would be this well adjusted and respectful. Before he knew it the alarm on his phone was going off telling him it was 5 minutes to the bell.
“Alright we have 5 minutes before the last bell goes, pack up your things and the gym equipment and head back to class to collect your belongings and head home for the day. If I do not see you before you leave, have a good weekend and remember to work on your math homework and practice your spelling lists.”
As his class was filing out of the gym Sam grabbed his things and headed back to his classroom. He was going to stay after school and get Monday’s worksheets printed off and handed out but he decided against. He just didn’t have the energy for it. So once everybody was out and waiting for the busses he locked his door and headed for his car and headed home.
Once he was home Sam got out of his car and headed inside. Although it was Spring the sun hadn’t decided to show and the sky was looking like a snow storm might come their way. Sam of course didn’t mind the snow. Sitting fireside with Gabriel, covered in their favourite fuzzy blanket watching the snow fall was one of his favourite activities.
“Gabe I’m home! Where are you?” Sam called, he could hear Gabriel talking to someone, he wondered if Cass had decided to pop in for a quick visit and check up. It wasn’t uncommon for the angel to quickly pop in and see how they were doing and what they were up to. He is the only one other than Sam and Gabriel to know about the twins.
Sam took the stairs 2 at a time heading towards their bedroom to see just who Gabe was talking to. “Babe?” Sam called again. He pushed open their bedroom door all the way to reveal Gabriel with tear tracks, his cell phone now being held in his hand. Gabe turned to Sam and had the biggest smile Sam had ever seen on the angel’s face.
“Sam, you will never guess who just called.”
“Was it Ollie? Oh, please tell me it was Ollie?”
“Yeah, it was Nadia’s water just broke so Ollie is taking her to the hospital. When you asked earlier today it completely slipped my mind that twins have a higher chance of being born early. I was just trying to ease your nerves and calm you down not lie I promise.”
“Gabe its alright, I know you weren’t trying to lie. The wins coming early was an eventuality both of us happened to overlook. Buts its alright, lets just get everything ready for them and then we will head to the hospital.”
“Were finally getting our happily ever after.” Gabriel said almost in a whisper, he ran over to Sam and with a jump he grabbed on to Sam with a big bear hug.
The excitement was palpable between the 2 men as they moved through the main house making sure everything was ready and clean for when they would return home with their new bundles of joy. They did a little light cleaning and tidying just making sure everything would be perfect and in place so their return home would be as seamless as possible. Once that was done, they grabbed the bag with all the supplies they thought they might need, their keys and headed towards the garage so they could put the car seats in Gabriel’s SUV. Within half-an-hour and a little arguing they had the car seats properly installed in the car and the headed off to the hospital.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gabriel was sitting in Sam's bedroom flipping through an ancient text that he pulled off Sam's bookshelf. Sam was asleep on the bed next to Gabriel, and Gabriel did not have any plans of waking him up. Every so often Gabriel would look over and run his fingers through Sam's hair thinking about the future that he wanted to have with him. How much Sam had already overcome to still be here beside him? He thought about the shit storm Dean was going to throw when they told him that they wanted to leave. Gabriel had been looking at houses since they decided they wanted to be away from the bunker, he had found this amazing compound in Aspen Colorado. Of course, with his angel mojo he didn’t have to worry about money or how they would afford things. Gabriel was happy about leaving hunting and heaven alike, he wanted to live like a human so Sam would be safe and if that meant keeping his angel mojo to a minimum, he was more than happy to do so. Anything to keep his little family safe and off the radar of every other supernatural entity. Gabe went back to reading through the ancient book he had grabbed from Sam’s bookshelf and that was how they spent the rest of the night and most other nights. Neither wanted to be away from one another for too long and this was the solution.
When Gabriel was sure that Sam was fast asleep and wasn’t having any nightmares, he went out to the library where Cass usually spent his nights when he wasn’t fraternizing with Dean. They both enjoyed the quiet and when they would both find themselves here, they would have a good heart-to-heart conversation.
“Hey little bro.” Gabe said pushing himself up on the table to sit cross-legged across from Cass.
“Gabriel. Is Sam sleeping adequately?”
“Snug as a bug in a rug. Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something Sam and I have been talking about for a while. I just ask that you don’t tell Dean yet. Sam would like that privilege.”
“Go ahead Gabriel. I won’t tell Dean anything, what’s said here is just between us.”
“Sam and I are thinking about quitting hunting and moving away. It’s in Sam’s best interest to do this, his mental health is declining again, and I don’t want to have to constantly worry about what’s happening with him when I’m not here or he’s by himself. He wants to be able to raise a family together and not have to be on high alert that something supernatural is going to happen. And if I am going to be completely honest with you, I love Sam more than I can put into words and I don’t know what I would do if I lost him.”
“That seems perfectly understandable and reasonable. I don’t think Dean will understand at first but once he wraps his stubborn head around the fact that had this not happened, he could have potentially lost Sam for good he will come around and understand why this had to happen. I am behind you both 100%, if having a family is what you collectively want then you should strive for that. Have you decided where you would like to move to?”
“Aspen Colorado. I saw a house online and absolutely fell in love. Its big enough so if you, Dean, Mary and Jack wanted to come and stay you could have your own house. I guess its more of a compound when you really think about it. Its situated on 200 acres has about 7 different houses including the main house. It has a creek running through it and it has an orchard. It is totally overkill for what Sam and I need, but I wanted him to be able to have everything he could ever dream of and more. Everything he wasn’t able to have growing up he gets to have and experience now.”
“Sounds like you guys have figured out quite a lot about this move. Have you thought about what Dean’s reaction if negative, will do to Sam?”
“We have sat down and talked about it a few times; he’s going to see a professional every other week now and I think that she is helping him to prepare himself for the potential fallout if Dean’s stubborn ass makes him feel like he’s abandoning him.”
“I don’t think I have every told you properly how envious I am of you and Sam. Every relationship has its ups and downs but watching yours flourish has been a high point for me. I hope that I can one day have something akin with Dean.”
“Trust me it isn’t always smooth sailing. From what I have been able to gather and read, the childhood that Sam and Dean had was ripe for some serious trauma. Add to that everything that has happened since John’s death to now and they’ve had to endure enough trauma for multiple lifetimes. It makes the relationship extremely difficult at first but once you start to better understand each other it can blossom into something truly winsome.”