(this is the place) where I feel at home
question prompt: “When will you be home?” [from this prompt list]
domestic parent!destiel au // [read on ao3]
“When will you be home?”
Castiel sounds like a wreck over the phone, and Dean’s heart breaks a little. It’s only been about two months since they adopted Jack, and Cas offered to take paternity leave for ten weeks so someone could be home with him all the time. Dean fought him on this, suggesting that they split their time, but Dean’s management position at the dealership makes him more money than Cas’s private school teacher salary, so they agreed that Dean would work full time the first few months, than take vacation time off once Cas went back to work. After that, they’d look into putting Jack in daycare. However, Dean isn’t so sure how long he and Cas can continue managing the toddler on their own.
“I’m stuck on the freeway, traffic is bad because of the rain,” Dean explains, fiddling with the radio in his car to find the the local traffic and weather station, “but I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Cas sighs, and Dean can tell he’s bone tired. “Okay,” he says, sounding defeated, “It’s just… nevermind.”
“No, Cas, what is it?” Dean probes, “Talk to me, babe. Hard day?”
“I haven’t been able to just… slow down, or even just sit down and breathe, until now. Jack hasn’t settled since his morning nap, and when he cries I still don’t know what he wants. I do everything they told us in those parenting classes, Dean, I check his diaper, I play classical music, I carry him up and down the stairs and all over the house, I put him in his playpen, we do tummy time, I fed him and he threw up all over the floor, I –!”
“Cas, Cas! Hey, it’s okay,” Dean interrupts, because now Cas is just rambling, and that never ends well.
“Is it?!” Cas sounds almost angry, and Dean feels guilty as all hell. He knew he shouldn’t have agreed to this arrangement. There’s no way Cas can handle doing this five days a week, ten hours a day, on his own. By the time Dean gets home, he puts Jack to bed before eating his own dinner and passing out. Cas truly has done everything for the past couple months. Dean tries to take over on the weekends, but Cas is just better at all of it, and faster, so he usually can’t help but take over whatever baby-related task Dean is attempting.
Dean shakes his head, letting out a frustrated sigh. This isn’t about you right now, he reminds himself. He had a busy, but relatively stress-free day at work. Now is the time to support his husband.
“I’m sorry,” Dean apologizes, hitting his blinker to pull off at the nearest exit. The back roads have got to be faster than this. “You’ve been amazing through all of this, Cas. We’ll find a way to make it work.”
“Will we?” Cas asks quietly, but Dean can hear the doubt in his voice loud and clear. He knows where this is going. “Did we make the right choice, Dean? Can we really do this? Doesn’t Jack deserve better?”