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Sammy and Dean’s favorite day of the week is Friday. Every Friday after dinner their daddy Cas covers the dining room table with newspapers and lets them make a complete mess doing arts and crafts all night. Baby Sammy is put in the highchair without his tray, his belly pressed against the edge of the tall table. Then Dean is strapped into his booster seat. They sit beside each other and eagerly wait for their daddy to give them supplies.
When the paint is put on the table, it’s a mad dash for it. Dean helps Sammy open the green jar and hands the baby a brush because he’s a good big brother. Then he pulls the paper he wants to paint close to himself and opens the pink paint. Very slowly and carefully, with a small brush, Dean begins to paint a large heart in the center of the white paper. He sticks his tongue out of his mouth as he concentrates, eyebrows pulled in.
Unlike his brother, Sammy isn’t so careful. He’s ditched the big clunky paintbrush he can never quite seem to figure out, instead dipping his fingertips into the jar of green paint. There are dots and swirls and stripes and clumps all over the white sheet of paper.
The baby’s eyes catch on a little jar of glitter. He looks both ways to make sure no one is paying attention to him, then reaches super far and grabs it. He grins ear to ear as he dumps his prize onto his paper. A lot comes at once and it’s so so pretty that he can’t help but coo!
He pauses to think, putting his face in his hands as he stares at his piece of art. Green is the color of Dee’s pretty eyes. The glitter is pink which is Dee’s favorite color. But Sammy is making a picture of Dee’s favorite toy car that he calls Baby, and Baby is black.
Sammy bites his bottom lip and scans the table. Black. Black. He needs something black.
Oh! The stickers! Sammy grabs a packet of stickers and begins to look through them. He’s getting paint and glitter all over the place but he doesn’t care. There are so many stickers with black on them! It’s perfect!
Sammy sticks a penguin on the main swirl of green that’s Baby. A cat. A spider. He finds a Batman sticker sheet and goes a little crazy with it, because they’re black and Batman is also Dee’s favorite superhero. Then he finds a sticker sheet full of cars and squeals in delight. He puts every single car sticker on the paper.
Incredibly pleased with himself, Sammy looks at the painting with a smile. It turns to a frown when he realizes a lot of the green paint and glitter are covered now. With a frustrated little grumble, Sammy grabs the paint and glitter to add some more.
Then it’s finally finished, and beautiful!
Dee is going to love it!
Squirming in his seat, Sammy reaches a sticky hand over to his big brother. “Dee! Dee! Wook!”
Just finishing his pretty heart he can’t wait to give to his daddy, Dean looks up from his painting and sees that Sammy is holding up a paper covered in…. Everything. As he holds it in the air for Dean to see, globs of paint and glitter drip off it onto the newspaper.
“Oh, Sammy!” Dean says with a big smile. “It so pwitty!!”
“Dee!”
Dean looks at the painting, tilting his head. “It me?”
“No! No!” Sammy puffs his cheeks in frustration. He knows the word, he can hear it in his head, but he’s not sure how to say it. With a deep breath he tries his best. “Ba! Babe!”
“Umm,” Dean shakes his head in confusion. “I dunno Sammy. But it oskay! I stiww wuv it!”
Feeling too many big emotions, Sammy feels his bottom lip begin to tremble and his eyes swell with tears. He takes two deep breaths like his daddy taught him to do when he needs to calm down.
It doesn’t work.
Sammy kicks his feet and throws his head back, crying. When his daddy hurries into the room, asking what’s wrong, Sammy makes grabby hands and sobs, “Dow! Dow!”
“Okay. Okay, baby. Calm down. Daddy will help you down.”
The second Sammy is on his feet, he falls to his hands and knees and begins to quickly crawl. He leaves green, glittery handprints as he goes. It doesn’t take long for him to accomplish what he needed to. Dee rarely goes far without Baby.
Baby in his hand, Sammy crawls back to his big brother. He sits on his bum and waves the car in the air excitedly. “Babe! Babe!”
“Oh! Baby!” Dean squeals.
“Babe! Babe!” Sammy points a finger at the table where his painting is drying. “Babe! Fow Dee! Babe Dee!”
“Reawwy?” Dean perks up, grabbing the painting. “You made dis fow me, Sammy?”
“Yeah! Dee Babe!”
“Wow! I wuv it sooooooo much!” Dean waves the paper in the air and yells for his daddy. “Daddy! Daddy! Wook! ‘S Baby!”
Castiel grins at his two boys. The floor is covered in green paint and pink glitter. Sammy is covered nearly head to toe in paint, glitter, and stickers. Dean has some pink paint on his shirt. The table is a disaster.
Castiel couldn't care less about any of it.
He takes the painting and puts it off to the side to dry. “Good job, Sammy! It’s so so beautiful!”
Sammy gives him a cheeky grin, feeling very proud of himself, and so so so happy that his Dee and his daddy love his pretty picture!
----
Once the boys are clean - as well as Baby, who was in need of a bath as well - Castiel towels them off and gets them dressed in PJs. He carries Sammy and holds Dean’s hand, guiding them the long way through the house to avoid the messy table and floor. When they get into the kitchen, Castiel points at the fridge.
Sammy’s painting is hanging there!!
It’s so so pretty! And perfect! And daddy only ever puts important important stuff on the fridge! Sammy wiggles in joy and squeals. He claps his hands and points his finger a few times at it. “Babe! Babe! Babe!”
“I know, baby!” Castiel says with a smile before pressing a kiss to Sammy’s forehead. “You did so good.”
“So good Sammy!” Dean agrees.
Sammy giggles and blushes, feeling very special and loved. He puts his head on his daddy’s shoulder and smiles. “Sammy wuv you daddy ‘n Dee,” Sammy mumbles.
“Wuv you too!” Dean calls out.
“Love both of you,” Castiel finishes, pulling Dean close against his side and nuzzling Sammy’s head.
"'N Baby, daddy?" Dean asks, holding up the little car with his eyebrows furrowing in concern.
Castiel smiles. "Yes, Dean. Daddy loves Baby, too."