By Christmas Eve two days later, Castiel is out of his casts. He should be going to physical therapy for all that time without walking, but he convinces Chuck not to force him to. Instead, he starts walking more often. He even convinces Chuck to let him walk to school after vacation ends. Until then, the only places he gets to walk are his friends' houses.

Gabriel runs into the room, though it's more of a jump than a run with his enthusiasm. He shoves his cell phone in Castiel's face, but the boy doesn't have to to look better Gabriel takes it away.

"Sam wants to know if you want to go to his house," Gabriel tells him.

"On Christmas Eve? We're gonna have people showing up in a few hours." Some of their cousins come up every year for Christmas Eve and sleep over until the twenty-sixth.

"Do you really want to spend unnecessary time with Raphael?" Gabriel counters.

Castiel chuckles. "So, the Winchester house? Fun!"

Gabriel grins. "Yay! Sam and I need someone to keep Dean entertained so he doesn't bug us."

"Oh, I'm just babysitting," Castiel clarifies.

"Yeah, but it's a fun baby," Gabriel reminds him. "Besides, you already said you'd come. You have no choice.

"Can we walk?" Castiel asks.

"Ugh, fine," Gabriel agrees reluctantly. "Come on, let's go!"

The two boys walk to the Winchesters' house, which is a slower process than usual because Castiel is still getting used to it again. Eventually, they make it there, and Gabriel doesn't bother knocking on the door before walking in.

"Where are people?" Gabriel asks the air as he steps inside, Castiel following him.

"People are here," Sam replies, walking out in front of them.

"Hey!" Gabriel runs up to him and gives him a kiss.

"Ugh, PDAs!" Dean says in mock disgust as he appears there as well. He walks over to Castiel, his eyes scanning the boy. "You're taller than I remember."

Castiel shrugs. "Well, six weeks in a wheelchair can do that to you."

Sam looks back at the boy. "Oh, hey, you don't have a wheelchair anymore!"

Castiel chuckles. "Yep. I'm not broken anymore! Yay!"

"I'm still way taller than you," Sam says proudly.

"Dude, you're, like, a freaking moose," Dean tells him with a laugh. "Oh, hey, you may or may not hear people calling you Moose at school. Crowley's idea, not mine."

"If I'm a moose, does that make you a squirrel?" Sam jokes.

"Boo! Get off the stage!" Dean says with a thumbs down.

"Alright, fine," Sam says. "I'll scram." He takes Gabriel's hand and leads the boy away in the cutest way possible.

"Don't be too loud!" Dean calls after them. "And use protection!"

"Shut up!" Sam's voice yells back.

Dean and Castiel laugh, sharing a high five.

"So, whatcha wanna do?" Dean asks.

Castiel shrugs. "Up to you."

"Well, I think sitting down is a good place to start," Dean says, leading Castiel to another room and sitting down on the couch. When Castiel remains standing, Dean says, "You gonna sit, or...?"

"No, I'll stand," Castiel replies. "I've had enough sitting the last few weeks."

"Ah, yeah," Dean agrees. "I don't blame ya. Hey, have you played any guitar since you got your arm back?"

Castiel shakes his head. "No. I don't know if I remember how, actually."

Dean frowns. "Then you've gotta try it. Guitar is your thing. If you don't play guitar, you don't have a thing, and you need a thing."

"What's your thing?" Castiel asks.

"Hunting," Dean replies.

"Like rabbits and deer and things?"

"Yeah, and things."

"Cool," Castiel replies, unsure what else to say.

"I'm gonna go grab my guitar for you," Dean tells him before running up the stairs. Castiel waits around awkwardly for him to return. He does a few moments later, his guitar in his hand. He hands it to Castiel, who takes a seat because there's no strap on it. Dean sits on the couch again to watch.

Castiel just looks at the guitar for a moment, trying to remember how to use it. He remembers a couple chords, but that's about it. He looks up at Dean helplessly.

"I don't know," he admits.

Dean frowns, seeming genuinely disappointed about that. "Well, since you're stuck here 'til we stop kidnapping you, want me to reteach you? I'm sure it won't take much."

Castiel hesitates for a moment, then agrees. It's not like they have anything else to do now. They might as well be somewhat productive.

Dean goes to get his other guitar, the electric one, without the speakers. For the next couple hours, he shows Castiel how to play it again. By the time they finally wrap up the guitar lessons, Castiel's fingers are red and raw, the strings digging into the pads of his fingers because his callouses have faded overtime. Dean is the one to decide that they should stop; Castiel himself couldn't care less that his finger is starting to bleed slightly.

"I'm fine," Castiel protests.

"Look at it this way," Dean suggests. "If you split your fingers open, what next? You won't be able to play guitar until they heal, and then what would you do?"

Castiel frowns, knowing Dean is right but not wanting to stop. He agrees reluctantly, so Dean takes the guitars and puts them in the corner of the room before returning to Castiel.

"So, now what should we do?" Dean asks.

"Up to you," Castiel replies, just as he did the first time.

"No, it's your choice this time," Dean tells him. "I chose guitar. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Castiel replies. "Anything that doesn't involve being at my house."

"That's very helpful," Dean says sarcastically. "Wanna play board games again?"

Castiel shrugs. "Sure."

They find the shelves of board games in the house — why Bobby has a shelf of board games, they'll never know — and look for one to play. Dean waits for Castiel to pick, sticking to his word that it's Castiel's choice.

"Twister?" Castiel suggests finally.

"We don't have anyone to spin the spinner," Dean reminds him. "Unless we want to do it in advance and write it down or something."

Castiel shrugs. "'Kay."

That's what they do. For the next ten minutes, the write down what comes next, and then record it so they can't cheat by looking at what comes next. Then they get to play.

The game starts out easy. They start on separate sides, doing their own thing, until Dean takes the dot Castiel needs. Castiel shoots him a glare as he attempts to reach his leg under Dean to get to another one. From that moment on, the personal boundaries no longer exist; it's just a race to take the dot the other person needs before they get it.

Unsurprisingly, it's Castiel that falls in the end. It's a combination of a tough position and his still fragile muscles that result in his failure. He falls down on top of Dean, who laughs and lets himself fall as well.

"I am the Twister master!" Dean yells victoriously.

"You made me lose!" Castiel complains.

"I made it interesting," Dean replies. "Which resulted in you losing; just a bonus for me."

"I hate you sometimes," Castiel tells him.

"No you don't!" Dean replies with a confident grin.

Noticing it makes Castiel realize how close they are right now. Castiel is literally on top of Dean. He rolls off swiftly, lying on the mat next to Dean instead.

"That was great," Dean laughs.

"It was," Castiel agrees, laughing as well.

Suddenly, the door opens. Dean and Castiel sit up, though neither of them make a move to go see what it is.

"Who's that?" Castiel asks Dean.

"Probably Bobby," Dean replies. "He left this morning. No clue why, though."

"No note?" Castiel says in surprise.

"No. He heads out a lot. It's no big deal. I'm exactly a month away from being able to legally live on my own anyway. That's old enough to stay home and watch Sam, not that he needs it."

"My dad wouldn't leave us alone with Lucifer, and he's twenty," Castiel tells him.

"Lucifer's mentally a five year old," Dean replies.

Castiel chuckles. "Yeah, true."

"You boys home?" Bobby calls.

"In here, Bobby," Dean tells him.

After a moment, Bobby appears in the doorway. He looks around the room, probably for Sam. "Hey, Castiel," he greets the boy before turning to Dean. "Sam here?"

"Having some quality Sabriel time," Dean replies.

"'Sabriel'?" Bobby echoes.

"He's alone with Gabriel," Dean clarifies.

"Well, I hate to break up their sweet romance, but I need you both." He heads over to the stairs, returning a few minutes later with Sam and Gabriel behind him. He's not sure what they were doing, but it doesn't look like they were scoodleypooping, at least. (A/N If you get that reference, good for you!)

Sam and Gabriel join Castiel and Dean, who are both now sitting in the couch. Sabriel sits in front of them on the floor, Gabriel leaning into his boyfriend with Sam's arm around his shoulders.

After some indistinct talking, Bobby returns to the room, a younger boy behind him. He has dark blond hair, his blue eyes conveying his nervousness. Judging by Sam and Dean's expressions, neither of them recognize him.

"Sorry to interrupt your play date," Bobby says, using the last words as a joke. His eyes land on the Twister mat. "Were you playing Twister?"

"Yes," Dean replies.

"What are you, five?"

Dean shrugs. "I'm young at heart."

"Anyway, I got a call from an orphanage that they found John's other son, so I went to pick him up."

Castiel can't help but wonder who John is and why it matters that they found his son. Judging by the looks on the Winchesters' faces, they know who he is.

"So," Bobby continues, "Boys, meet Adam. Adam, that's Sam and Dean, and those're their friends Gabriel and Castiel."

"Hi," Adam says shyly.

"Wait, this is Dad's son?" Dean repeats. "So, is he our brother?"

"Half brother," Bobby corrects him. "Not your mom's son."

"How old are you?" Dean asks Adam.

"Twelve," Adam replies.

Dean briefly does some sort of math before looking back at Bobby. "That's, what, year and a half?" he estimates. "That's it?"

Bobby nods, not seeming thrilled about the number either. "Well, you know John as well as I do. Never was the patient type."

"But that's, like, nine months after Mom —" Dean cuts himself off, clearly upset over this.

Sam gives Adam a small smile. "Welcome to the family."

"Thanks," Adam murmurs.

"Hey, Adam, why don't you go bring your stuff up to the room at the end of the hallway?" Bobby suggests. He waits for Adam to get a suitcase and bring it upstairs before turning to Dean. "Listen, boy. I know you don't like hearing your dad moving on like that, but don't you dare take it out on him. His mother just died and he barely knew John. He has no one. And, to top it all off, he just moved to some strange city with a bunch of people he doesn't know. Don't make this any worse for him than it already is."

"Yeah, but nine months. Maybe sooner, for all we know. And after all that talk about wanting to find who ki—"

"Enough!" Bobby yells, suddenly more intimidating than anyone Castiel has ever met. "Drop it, now."

Dean nods slightly, seeming shaken by his outburst. "Okay, sorry."

"Good. Now why don't you go help Adam with his bags? All of ya. I'm putting you to work."

Between the six of them, it only takes a single trip to get all Adam's stuff up to his new room. Bobby leaves to go research something, though he doesn't specify what, and Sabriel wants to be alone, so Castiel, Dean, and Adam return to the living room like area they were just in.

"So..." Castiel says when no one else knows what to talk about. "Adam, you're in seventh grade?"

"Eighth," Adam corrects him.

Castiel doesn't question how that math works. "Cool. I have a brother in eighth grade, too. Maybe you two can hang out together soon."

Adam shrugs.

"His name's Samandriel," Castiel adds.

"Strange name," Adam replies.

"Not much weirder than Castiel," he replies. "We're a strange family."

Adam gives him a small smile for his efforts at conversation.

"Are you going to Sioux Falls Middle School, do you know?" Castiel asks.

Adam shrugs. "I don't know."

"Well, if you do, look for Samandriel Novak," Castiel suggests. "Or just the guy with the weird name. That works too."

Adam laughs softly. "Will do." His eyes drift to the guitars in the corner of the room. "Do you guys play guitar?"

Castiel glances at Dean, expecting him to answer. After all, they're his guitars. And his half brother. But Dean doesn't say anything, so Castiel answers.

"Dean does. I used to, but that was before I got amnesia and forgot how to life," Castiel jokes. "But he's teaching me again."

"Cool," Adam replies. "How'd you get amnesia?"

"That's a long story," Castiel replies vaguely.

"Ah," Adam says, taking the hint that Castiel doesn't want to talk about it.  If only more people were like that, he thinks wistfully. "Are, uh, are Sam and..." He gestures to the stairs as he tries to think of the name.

"Gabriel," Castiel substitutes.

"Yeah. Are Sam and Gabriel, like... together?"

Castiel nods. "Yep. Sabriel. Everyone's OTP. It was a big state secret until a few days ago."

"Can I ask what happened?"

"PDAs at school don't always go unnoticed," Castiel replies.

"Good to know," Adam says with a laugh. It's not much of a laugh, but it's something.

This is one thing Castiel has always been able to do, whether he took advantage of the skill or not. He's good with kids, even if Adam is only two or three years younger than him. It probably stems from his fear of people his age or older due to bullying at school. Either way, he's glad he can talk to Adam, because Dean definitely isn't going to step up to the plate.