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It was no surprise to anyone when within weeks of presenting, both Dean and Alfie were with pup. Their heats had both been somewhat abnormal, as the two Omega’s discovered when talking about it (they needed to talk to somebody, and neither of them were all that comfortable talking about it with their mothers. It made perfect sense, therefore, to talk with each other). Their Alphas had walked in on one such discussion and were immediately horrified to hear that their sex lives were a conversation piece.That was, until they realized how it was being discussed.“Well, yeah, Dean just couldn’t catch a break. I swear, if there hadn’t been two of us on hand, he’d have been in agony,” Jimmy said, biting his lip. It still freaked him out. Dean’s heat hadn’t acted anything like he’d heard it would in school sex ed classes. There were supposed to be lulls. Time enough for eating, sleeping – yet Dean had none. As soon as one knot eased out of him, Dean was crawling over them and begging for the next one.Dean had been wrecked by the time it was over and it had fallen to Jimmy and Cas to take care of him.“I’m okay, Jimmy, promise,” Dean said softly.Jimmy looked at him, the concern still strong. It floated down their triple bond, it flooded their noses. “But what about your next heat? Dean, that wasn’t normal…Cassie and I are worried about you. Have you talked to your doctor yet?”Dean shook his head. “Not yet. That was only my first heat. First heats aren’t always typical, right? Thought I’d go through at least one more before I complained to a doc that something was wrong. ‘sides, I wasn’t in any danger of dying.” He glanced over at Alfie and Benny, the couple looking somber at the reminder.Alfie curled into Benny, his hand playing with the hem of Benny’s shirt. He shuddered and Benny closed an arm around him protectively, pulling Alfie in as close as possible.“But…it won’t happen again, the doctor said it won’t,” Alfie insisted, looking up at Benny.“Aye, the doc explained it all to me before I went to help Alfie. We’d scent bonded – I hadn’t even known that was a thing - and when I rejected him...leastways, pulled away when he needed me, I wasn’t actually rejecting him, I just didn’t want to – “ Benny was babbling, still affected by what had happened. The fear of losing Alfie causing his arms to tighten around his mate.Alfie’s hand slipped under the shirt he’d been playing with, running his hand soothingly over Benny’s chest. “Shhh…Benny, I know you weren’t, love. It was just bad timing.”Cas looked at his mates. Though his face was as calm as ever and his scent (seriously, how did Cas even control his scent?), Dean and Jimmy could feel the literal storm behind it, as it seeped around the edges of the bond, love and worry and relief all rolled into one. “I’m glad that in our case, we already knew what we wanted, talked about it. I think if we’d been held back from Dean any longer, if what we had done hadn’t worked, he might have wound up in the same situation as Alfie.”Dean shuddered and Cas reached for him, pulled him against him. Jimmy lunged after, sandwiching Dean between himself and his twin. Dean inhaled with a smile, let their scent and love wash over him. He wouldn’t lie, that heat had been hard. Awesome, because he got Cas and Jimmy, but oh so hard. He wouldn’t mind if it scaled back some the next time around.Suddenly, Cas stiffened, shoving his nose deeper into Dean’s neck and inhaled. His confusion was clear across the bond and Dean tried to pull away, to ask him what was wrong, but Cas wouldn’t let go. Dean managed to roll his eyes over at Jimmy and send a questioning look his way. Jimmy was frowning at him too, though, his eyes flicking from Dean to Cas uncertainly. Then he, too, buried his nose into Dean’s neck.When the twins finally pulled back, they looked at Dean with dazed eyes, their emotions roiling so thickly that Dean couldn’t pick them out of the crowd.“Guys, what’s wrong?”“Dean, I think you need to see your doctor anyway,” Cas tried to say calmly, but his voice hitched and broke.“Cas, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?” he turned next to Jimmy, the most likely to break if Dean stared at him long enough. “Jimmy?”“Well, I don’t wanna say. We could be wrong. What do we know about this sort of thing? We’re not even out of high school yet,” Jimmy hedged.“Ji-mmy,” Dean growled out slowly, warningly.Jimmy whimpered and looked at Cas. Dean’s head whipped around in time to see Cas do a half shrug. Still crowded against his body, the shrug bounced Dean a bit before settling down. Dean’s eyes narrowed at them and shoved hard so he could put himself at an angle to stare them down at the same time.“Dean,” Jimmy sighed, “We just…we don’t know for sure…but maybe you could be…pregnant?”Dean blinked. That wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting. “Pregnant?” he asked quietly, disbelief ran through him, but a little bit of scared hope too. He looked down only to find his hand had curled around his stomach. There were no visible signs that he could be pregnant, but his scent would change long before his belly would start to grow anyway.Cas and Jimmy might very well be right.And there was a quick and easy way to find out without having to resort to telling his doctor or freaking out his parents before they knew if they had cause to freak out his parents.It didn’t take long for Dean to hit a store and come back. Honestly, it took longer to convince his Alphas that he didn’t need anybody going with him, but eventually Cas and Jimmy had settled back and let Dean go. It wasn’t like they could stop him anyway.Now Dean sat on the floor of his room, three Alphas and an Omega sitting with him, and nearly a dozen -maybe more, he hadn’t counted - pregnancy tests spilled out on the floor between them.“Why so many?” Benny asked.Dean laughed, the sound slightly high pitched. Jimmy and Cas moved closer in concern. “Well, these things aren’t 100% right? So, gonna wanna use more than one. But then, if you use two and get different answers, then which one is right? And um…” He looked over at Alfie. “This might sound silly but, I think I’d feel less stupid if I wasn’t the only one?”Alfie nearly jumped, looking down at his own stomach in surprise, his mouth dropping open. “I…I hadn’t even thought that…you know, I think you’re right. I should be doing this too. Just in case. I don’t remember us using anything, and…since I wasn’t supposed to present for another year, I most definitely wasn’t on anything.”Before Dean could remind Alfie that neither of them were on anything because they’d still been unpresented and thus undetermined…Before he could remind him that first heats were always dangerous for that reason if you didn’t go through it alone, Benny blanched, looking down guiltily. “Sweetheart – “Alfie turned before he could say another word and grabbed Benny’s face, cupping it gently between his hands. “No, Benny, I told you already, no regrets. As for being with pup, we either are, or we aren’t. I don’t think anyone was thinking clearly at that point. And it doesn’t matter. You saved my life and I love you – have loved you almost since the first time we met. And I’d be happy to raise a family alongside you.”Dean smiled at the astonished look on Benny’s face, the adoration that covered it as Benny looked back up with wide eyes and slightly parted lips before lunging forward to pull Alfie into a heated kiss. The sickeningly sweet scent of happy Alpha permeated the room, that of a happy Omega twining about it.Alfie finally pulled away, breathless, turning back to Dean. With a firm nod to each other, both Omega’s picked up the pregnancy tests and headed for the bathroom down the hall, leaving their mates with strict instructions not to interrupt them.Five minutes later saw both Dean and Alfie waiting nervously. The bathroom door was closed and their tests were laid out before them. They’d both decided to just do all of them at the same time. Couldn’t hurt, right? Alfie sat on the closed lid of the toilet, his tests arrayed neatly on the counter on the sink. Dean sat on the edge of the tub, each of his sitting at odd angles to each other on the remaining ledge beside him.Dean tried not to stare at the tests. His leg jittered nervously and he forced it back down, in case he knocked the tests off the edge of the tub. Not that it would do anything. Would it? They wouldn’t break if he did that, right? Better not to take chances.“Dean,” Alfie whispered, his eyes glued to the counter, where each of his were lined up perfectly. He reached up, fiddled with one and dropped his hand again, biting his lip. “Dean, how long do we have to wait?”“Um…well…the boxes said about two minutes. So…when’d we pee on the first one?” Dean asked. He frowned at his. He couldn’t even remember which one was the first one. Maybe Alfie was on to something, having his all organized and shit.Alfie looked up with alarm. “I don’t remember!”About to answer, to reassure the younger teen, Dean suddenly turned to face the door, sniffing the air. Alfie looked at him quizzically before he, too, turned and sniffed, a smile breaking over his face. Seconds later, there was a tentative knock.“Dean? Alfie?” the muffled sound of Cas’s voice through the door ran soothingly through Dean, though he could feel his mates impatient worry through the bond. Jimmy’s feelings were more impatient excitement than worry and Dean briefly wondered how Benny felt.He looked at Alfie and tilted his head at the door in question. Alfie shrugged, looked down, twiddled his fingers and bit his lip again before nodding, his bangs flopping down into his face. Alfie pushed them back even as Dean stood up and unlocked the door – honestly, he wasn’t even sure why he’d locked it in the first place. Habit, he supposed – and opened it.Three forlorn looking Alphas stared at him.“You know, we can’t all fit in here, right?” Dean asked with a raised brow.“Yes, we can,” Jimmy stated confidently. He strode inside and stepped into the – thankfully dry -tub and immediately sat down, his twin following him. Dean huffed a laugh and rolled his eyes fondly, before returning to his place on the tub. Benny slipped inside and Alfie stood. Within seconds, the door was closed once more and Alfie sat on Benny’s lap as they waited.Truly, Dean was glad they were all there. Jimmy and Cas distracted him from the waiting that stretched out before them. their mixed feelings bound to make the wait more interminable if they were left to focus on the tests.Instead, Cas pulled out his phone and set a 2 minute timer. “That’s how long it takes, right? Well, by the time this goes off, then all of them will have well and truly marinated enough to give us our answer,” he said logically.Jimmy wrinkled his nose at the idea of the tests marinating in pee and muttered a soft, “Eww…” None the less, their presence helped calm Dean and it was equally clear that Benny’s presence was doing the same for Alfie. By the time Cas’s timer buzzed, Dean had worked his way down into the tub to sit across his mates laps, taking comfort in their heat, their touches. He longed for more, but this was neither the time nor place.At the first hint of the buzzer, both Dean and Alfie jerked up. Alfie would have fallen of Benny if the Alpha hadn’t reached out and steadied him. Dean flailed and only Cas and Jimmy’s quick thinking kept Dean’s arms from colliding with the tests and sending them flying.With pounding heart, Dean swallowed and turned to look down at the edge of the tub where all six of his tests lay. He whined and ducked his head down into Jimmy’s collarbone. “I can’t look!”Lifting his hand away from Dean, Castiel sighed and placed a gentle kiss on Dena’s cheek. “I’ll look. What am I looking for?’“Plus for pregnant, minus for not pregnant,” Dean spoke into Jimmy’s shirt, muffling his own voice.With a nod dean couldn’t even see, but with determination both dean and jimmy could feel, Cas reached out for the first test.If Dean had thought looking for himself would have been impossible, he should have expected this. This as worse. For every test that Cas picked up, emotion flooded through him. Disappointment, hope, wonder – and Dean had no idea which were bad and which were good. He hadn’t considered the idea of being pregnant so soon - though after a heat like his and two mates, he probably should have expected this would happen sooner rather than later – and he wasn’t sure if his mates were on board or that or if they’d think it was too soon.Whipping his head around, Dean grumbled, “Oh for fuck’s sake! Just tell me already, would ya? You’ve got me on an emotional see-saw here, Cas!”Cas smiled apologetically and looked back down at the tests. He took a deep breath, “I hope you aren’t mad, Dean, but um, four out of five say that…we’re having pups.”Dean’s jaw dropped and he stared down at the innocent looking pieces of plastic that had just changed his life so drastically, and a giddy feeling rose though him, bubbling quickly to the surface. Relief hit him strongly then as his mates relaxed tense shoulders, wrapping Dean up in their arms.“Oh my god, pups!” Jimmy squealed.“We’re gonna be dads…” Cas whispered.Dean couldn’t say anything. He just clung tightly to Jimmy and Cas, his face covered with a giant, beaming grin.Dazed, Dean thought he heard Alfie gasp and Benny laughing. He managed to crane his head around to find Benny lifting Alfie into the air, settle him so he stood on the toilet and then, lifting up his shirt, Benny placed soft, gentle kisses along Alfie’s stomach.Grinning, Dean settled deeper into his mate’s arms.Looked like they were both pregnant.

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Garth, Jo and Charlie looked at their recently mated friends, all of them with equal expressions of mixed astonishment and mirth.“Holy crap,” Jo said. She was the first to speak, as usual. “What did your parents say when you told them?” Only silence met her inquiry. Charlie’s eyes narrowed in suspicion and Jo’s widened, the taking in the evasive looks and uncomfortable scents of the five boys before them. Jo burst out laughing. “Oh my god! You haven’t told them yet?”“No!” Charlie gasped in horror. “You haven’t? Why the frack not?” she demanded, leaning forward.Dean shifted uncomfortably. “Well, our parents are still kinda reeling about the whole mess our presenting was.” He rolled his eyes. Dean didn’t think what he, Cas and Jimmy had done was a mess, or even that bad a thing (or a bad thing at all, to be honest), but it was taking his family a bit to come to grips that it had even worked. “So, we thought we’d give them a little time to process before hitting them with the news.”“How are they taking it?” Garth asked.Benny shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I’m an only child. My mom’s thrilled to have another son and she thinks Alfie’s absolutely adorable.” He gazed at Alfie with a goofy, lovesick smile, and said, “She ain’t exactly wrong. We’re only waiting to tell her about the pup because we want to tell them all at the same time.”Alfie grimaced as eyes turned to him and his brothers next. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and sighed, going first. “Dad’s kinda freaking out over a few things. I’m the first Omega in his family, for one, and he’s still really upset about how things went during my heat. Every time he sees me now, he smells so guilty and won’t look me in the eye. No matter what I try to tell him, he thinks he’s stolen my choice, my free will, by letting Benny anywhere near me even though it was necessary to save my life.” Benny’s arm wrapped around Alfie and squeezed. Alfie could feel the brief hit of fear as a shudder ran through Benny’s body and into his own, Benny’s touch craving the reassurance that yes, Alfie made it through, he was safe. Alfie gave him that reassurance, flooding the bond with his love for Benny.  “And uh, that ability to make our own choices, that’s a big deal to dad.”“And that’s on top of me and Jimmy. Dad likes Dean, that was never a problem, but every time he sees us, he…” Cas stopped and looked down. Dean took his hand and Jimmy picked up his thread.“He gets disgusted when he sees me an’ Cas together. Where most people wonder how we did it, or are just amazed that we did, he’s fixated on how we must have done it, absolutely fixated on it instead of being happy that we found a way for both of us to be with Dean. He can’t stand to look at us right now. I hope he’ll change his mind. The bond took and everyone knows that’s the most important part! If he could just…look at how happy we are together, how inevitable this really was.” Jimmy gulped, voice cracking.“The rest of the family is torn between laughing their asses off, to not caring at all, to being amazed that we pulled it off or just…feeling like dad. It’s made for a particularly…volatile situation at home,” Cas finished.Dean pulled first Cas, then Jimmy in, tucking their noses into his neck and closing his eyes. His mates turned willingly to him, eagerly burying their faces against him and inhaling deeply, their distress slowly easing off as they did so.“So, uh…what about…what about your family Dean?” Charlie finally ventured, her curiosity too strong to hold back.“Not so bad, I guess? Mom’s still in shock that it was possible at all, but she’s always had a soft spot for the twins, she’ll break out of it and come around soon, I’m sure. Dad doesn’t know what to make of it yet, though, so…we’ve just been giving him space. And Sam thinks it’s awesome, so, that’s at least one person on our side.” Dean grinned, threading his fingers through the dark messy hairs on the twins’ heads. He gave in to the urge to scratch at their scalps, smiling as they grumbled appreciatively. It was their weak spot.“So how long do you plan to hide the pregnancies?” Jo gestured at them.“Um…a couple months, I guess?” Dean said hesitantly.Jo burst out laughing, falling into Charlie. “Oh, you guys are so screwed – especially Dean!” her laughter ramped up again at the equally confused and offended looks on their faces.“What the hell, Jo?!” Dean grumbled out.“Oh, come on! First, none of you thought anything of how virile the Shurley’s seem to be – I mean, look at how many kids Chuck has! – but second, you’ve conveniently forgotten how many of them are twins!!!” She shook her head at them. “You’ll be showing sooner than you expect, Dean, I gauran-damn-tee it!“Oh fuck,” Dean groaned, closing his eyes.“Wait – exactly how big is your family, sweetheart?” Benny asked Alfie. He’d known there were a number of them, but Jo’s words made him realize he didn’t really know the family, not having grown up here like the rest had.“Hmmm…pretty big,” Alfie hedged. “Some have already left home, so you wouldn’t have met them.”“Go on, boys, tell him how big – and how many of Chucks kids are twins,” Jo prodded, though she at least did so gently.“Ah, well,” Alfie cleared his throat. “There’s Michael and Lucifer – the oldest and the first set of twins. Gabriel is next - he’s the only one without a twin which at first made him kind of jealous but now he likes how it makes him stand out a bit. Raphael and Uriel came after – ““Wait, I thought Raphael and Uriel were adopted?” Garth whispered to Jo. If he’d been trying to keep from being overheard, he’d failed. Benny just looked confused. Right, the rest of the realized, because he’d never met most of the older Shurley’s.Cas sighed, “Let’s just say our father has had more than one mate over the years. They’re our half-brothers. Actually, only a few of our siblings share the same mother as us. Alfie is one of them.”“Oh…” Garth let out quietly, flushing a little at being caught out.“Let’s see…so after them, there was Naomi and Hester, then Cas an’ me, Alfie and Hael, then Inias and Ion, and lastly, the babies, Anna and Hannah.” Jimmy finished for them.Benny’s eyes widened with every name till they were wide as saucers. Alfie could see he was busy trying to count up how many siblings that was, and how many twins that worked out to be. He ran a hand soothingly over Benny’s arm, letting him process it all.Meantime, Dean didn’t react except to look a little resigned. Jo had been right. He’d lived next door to the Shurley’s since he was a kid. He knew damn well how big that family was and that twins ran in it. How could he not?Though, he couldn’t deny the fact that the idea of twins thrilled him, he was suddenly worried about how many kids he’d have in the long run. He wanted a family, sure, but he didn’t want to have 15 kids like Chuck did! And if he had twins, that number would be reached quickly! His stomach flipped as he realized suddenly what he’d gotten himself into, and the resignation quickly changed to panic. He whined without realizing, his hand reaching for his stomach unconsciously.“Sssshhh…Dean, it’s okay,” Jimmy spoke into his ear, Cas sending waves of calm and reassurance through their bond. “If you don’t want a big family, there’s things we can do, okay?”Dean nodded shakily. “I just, we’re still kinda young, and I hadn’t expected to start so soon…I know it’s not unusual, but still…I’d hoped to have a little time, just us, y’know?”Jimmy and Cas nodded against Dean, leaving soft kisses on his neck, his cheek. “We know, Dean. We did too. Not that we regret having a pup –““-no, in fact, we’re quite excited about it. And remember, you won’t be alone in this. We’ll be there for you every step of the way,” Cas finished.“Wait – if you haven’t talked to your parents yet, then you can’t go to the school counselors! They’re there to help you, but they’re obligated to report the pregnancies. Guys, you need to come clean and soon!” Charlie realized, blurting the words out.Dean looked at his mates with worry. Of all of them, Cas and Jimmy - and Alfie too, of course -they had the most to worry about when telling their parents. Dean was sure his mom would love any grandkids that came her way and would keep John in line if needed. But Chuck…how would he react?“Don’t worry about us, Dean. We’ll be okay. Long as we have you and the pup –““Or pups!” Jo supplied helpfully.Cas glared at her and Jimmy ignored her, simply kept talking. “I’m sure we’ll be just fine. We have resources here at the school. We can get you through the school year, figure out what we want to do with our future and we’ll make it. with a bond this strong, I’m sure we can do anything we all three set our minds too.”“We’ve already proved folks wrong once, if we have to keep proving it…well, I’m sure that’s something we can easily accomplish-” Cas said.“Together,” the twins finished simultaneously.Benny didn’t have to say anything, Alfie could feel the same determination and love flooding through their bond and he smiled at Benny. It still sent giddy shudders of absolute delight to think that he was finally with the one he loved. They got so lost in each other’s eyes, in the emotions pouring through the bond, that they nearly missed it when Cas and Jimmy shakily agreed that they needed to come clean to their parents as soon as possible.Despite their resolve, it was still several days before they managed to gather up their courage and attempt to get everyone in the same place at the same time.They decided on using the Winchesters house – it would be less crowded and more central. With Cas and Jimmy now being official members of the Winchester family – and Dean an official member of theirs – they were welcome over for dinner any night. This was something which they took great advantage of most nights these days, trying to avoid their father. Usually. Except that tonight’s dinner would be different. Tonight, they wanted Chuck around. So, Mary and john invited him and Cas, Jimmy and Dean breathed a sigh of relief when he agreed.What Mary and John didn’t know was that after the dinner was over, three more people would be showing up at the house.No sooner than Mary had pulled out the pie she’d left warming in the oven – and Dean was definitely drooling over that pie, much to his mates amusement – than the doorbell had rung. John and her exchanged perplexed glances, but without a word, John got up and answered the door. Within moments, he’d escorted Benny, Alfie and Mrs. Lafitte  - “Susan, please,” into their dining room and Mary was digging out more plates, curiosity very obviously burning hot.That was okay, the teens had been counting on the parents curiosity to keep them from taking off too fast. Chuck blinked as he realized that three of his children were now there and then his eyes narrowed. About the time that the wheels in his head started turning and connecting dots, Dean spoke up.“So, um, we all kinda…have to tell y’all something,” Dean fidgeted at the table, playing with the fork and stabbing his pie, but not eating it. Under the table, Cas and Jimmy each laid a hand on one of his legs. Mary looked at Dean in concern, watching him do the unthinkable and leave a pie on the plate before him for longer than 10 seconds. “Sweetie, are you all right?”“Well, uh, yeah, I mean, sure. It’s just that…I’m pregnant…” Dean gulped and looked up across the table at his parents from under his eyelashes, not raising his head. He bit his lip and took reassurance from his mates.Before any of their parents could react, Alfie spoke up in a very shaky voice. “Me too,” he squeaked.There was dead silence in the room. Mary gaped, her fork falling to the table with a clatter, breaking the silence briefly. Chuck froze and John blinked at the sudden news.Nobody moved.Nobody said a word.Till Susan jumped up and squealed, hugging Alfie tightly. “I’m gonna be a grandma!!! This is so exciting!”Then all hell broke loose as everyone started talking at once.

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After the great reveal and the very anti-climactic response from Chuck – truly, once he’d realized he was about to be a grandfather two times over (possibly more!) he’d really rallied around his boys, suddenly their loudest advocate, intent on doing everything in his power to help them – the next few months passed in a blur for all five of them.The school of course, as advertised, worked with both Alfie and Dean to figure out their course loads and talk to their teachers. As well as consider options afterwards so that their lives wouldn’t be completely on hold once they’d graduated and had the baby (or babies as Jo continued to insist).Of the three of them, it was Cas who diligently read the “What To Expect When You’re Expecting” book. When Dean refused to, Cas simply read it out loud. Alfie hung on his every word and Benny went straight out and bought him his own copy. Followed by the sequel “What To Expect The First Year”.It turned out that Dean was resisting reading the book, not because he didn’t care, but because he was scared.  “Dude, every pregnancy is different. If I read that, I’m gonna keep freaking out if I don’t…I dunno, progress the same way they say I should.”“Well, that’s true enough, but even the book explains that it’s not an end all, be all. It’s just something to give you guidelines. It lets you know certain things are normal so you don’t ‘freak out’ if they happen to you.” Cas explained patiently.With a frown, Jimmy pulled the book out of his brothers’ hand. He looked up at Dean. “I think he’s got a point. Come on, we’ll read through it together.”Cas had been right, but so had Dean. For instance, despite everything the book said, or what health class had taught them, Dean spent a great deal of the first four and a half months sick when everything pointed at morning sickness ending by the end of the third month.And it wasn’t just morning sickness. It was morning, noon and night. It was every time he smelled food even though his stomach was rumbling. In fact, he was losing weight – the exact opposite of what he should have been doing. And nothing he tried via old wives’ tales or direct from the Doctor’s mouth seemed to help in any way.In the meantime, Alfie only had a light morning sickness for perhaps a month, if that, and never was he as bad off as Dean.Dean might have been a little jealous.The only relief he seemed to get was from being around his mates, which of course meant that when all else failed, his doctor recommended that as the best solution until they could find something better. As much as Dean rolled his eyes at how ‘helpful’ that was, it did help. Their presence, their scent, seemed to sooth him long enough to get something down, but it wasn’t a miracle cure and they couldn’t be with him 24/7 (though they tried).It was purely by accident that Dean discovered one day in shop class that the scent of cedar soothed him enough to eat – not just a little bit, but actually eat.This discovery, by far, made up for the fact he’d had to fight everyone around him – Cas and Jimmy had wisely stayed out of it, wanting only to keep their Omega, the love of their lives, happy – advising him to give up something he loved.Dean loved working with his hands and building things out of wood. He had insisted that if he was to get the proper education for what he planned to do when he was done with school, then they couldn’t rip him out of the one class he really needed just because it might be a little dangerous.In the end, they’d compromised. He had someone assigned to him to make sure he didn’t overdo anything, or take stupid chances and he got to continue doing what he loved. When one of his projects had Cedar wood mixed in, he’d inhaled the scent deeply and noticed the roiling of his stomach had eased.To experiment, he’d taken a small block of it with him throughout his day and - with increasing joy that he could do so - Dean started eating everything in sight. Cas and Jimmy’s eyes shown bright with their relief, the feel of it staggering through his bond. Garth and Charlie gaped. Jo egged him on and Benny blinked in astonishment with a quick, worried look at Alfie.Even Alfie’s eyes bugged out as he watched how much Dean was eating.“It’s gotta be twins!” Jo stage whispered at lunch one day, as this continued.Dean flipped her off with a glare. “I eat like this normally!” Jimmy started laughing hysterically at the statement and Dean glared harder.Eventually, his friend learned to ignore his eating habits, but then Dean started eating the weird stuff. Well, it wasn’t weird if eaten separately, but peanut butter covered bananas?? Jo pretended to throw up and Benny gave it a skeptical look before shaking his head and thanking god that Alfie didn’t eat anything weird like that.That thought was short lived as Alfie edged close to Dean. “Hey, um, Dean? Could…could I try that?”“Sure, man,” Dean said amiably, pushing the plate to sit between him and Alfie. Alfie beamed and reached for the banana, licking at the peanut butter a little before just taking a huge bite.“Mmmmm…this is really good, Dean,” he mumbled around his mouthful, shoving another one in.Benny stared at him incredulously. “Let me try that…”Cas, on Dean’s other side and Jimmy, on the other side of Cas, waved at Benny frantically and mouthing “No!” but it was too late.Benny took a big bite and immediately started choking, spitting out the banana. “Holy - ! How can you eat that?”“Don’t ask. Just…don’t ask.” Jimmy muttered. “You don’t even want to know the things Dean will eat now that he’s pregnant.”The friends watched as even Cas shuddered at the mere thought. “I will never look at meatloaf and pistachio ice cream the same again.”Garth and Benny stared in horror while Jo and Charlie looked at each other in disbelief, mouthing the words “Meatloaf and pistachio ice cream?” before echoing Cas’s shudder.Dean looked up at Alfie with a grin and a mischievous glint in his eyes.  He suddenly had the urge to make it his mission to find the weirdest combinations of food he could eat and gross out his friends.Looking at Alfie happily chewing on his peanut butter banana, Dean wondered how easily he could convert the other Omega to this new cause.

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Christmas was on them before they knew it. And the five friends – brought even closer by their shared experiences and new perspectives – were nearly inseparable.Alfie had moved into Benny’s place – much to Chucks objection and dismay. However, it made the most sense and Chuck grudgingly conceded the point that he just didn’t have the room and the Lafitte’s did.Didn’t mean he had to like it though, but Benny and Alfie were overjoyed about being able to be with each other, to sleep in each other’s arms, waking up to the others scent in their noses. It was absolute heaven and Alfie never wanted it to change.At any rate, that was easy. Dean, Cas and Jimmy, not so much. Dean couldn’t move into the Shurley household for the same reasons Benny couldn’t.  And the Winchester house was much more modest in size than its neighbors (and Dean’s room was particularly small) so Cas and Jimmy moving in there was absolutely out of the question.Everyone could see it was frustrating the three of them immensely.School resources were no help in the matter either. All three teens had a roof over their head and lived in such close proximity to each other anyway, that it was deemed an unnecessary waste of resources that could be better applied elsewhere.So now Alfie and Benny sat in Benny’s room watching a move, Benny idly running his hand over Alfie’s back soothingly, occasionally digging in to get at a knot. Alfie groaned every time he did so, leaning into his mate a little more each time.“I feel bad or them,” Alfie said suddenly.“For who, sweetheart?” Benny asked, his hands stilling for a moment before returning to their happy task.“Dean, and my brothers. They don’t get to have this.” Alfie sided sadly. “It must hurt that they can’t be together like this when everything inside of them must be screaming at them to start nesting. I know it was for me.” Alfie cupped his stomach.Benny smiled and kissed Alfie’s neck. “You’re the best person I know. Worrying ‘bout Dean an’ your brothers like that. An’ I think you’re right too. If it were me an’ you, not being able to just be there for you! Especially now –“ Benny’s hand snaked around to join Alfie’s over the swell of his stomach. “-it would be especially hard.”“Especially with how sick Dean’s been, I’m sure,” Alfie agreed. “I just wish there was a way we could help.” They were quiet for a few moments, the movie playing on but neither seeing it, lost in thought.“I got an idea,” Benny broke the silence suddenly and Alfie could practically smell the sly look he couldn’t see at the moment.“Oh?” he asked. He tried to twist around to see Benny, but the Alpha held him in place, hugging him from behind and nosing into his hair with a soft inhale.“Yeah. What would you think about the idea of Dean an’ your brothers movin’ in here? I know ma won’t mind. To her, the more the merrier. This big old house was meant to be lived in.”“There is plenty of room here. Why’d your mom get this house anyway? I mean, there were only the two of you when you moved in here, right?”“Her grandad left it to her. After the divorce, ma had it fixed up and’ we moved in. We been rattlin’ around in it ever since. So?” Benny prodded.“So, I think it’s a wonderful idea!” Alfie leaned back to look into Benny’s eyes with a beaming smile and an ecstatic scent that had Benny groaning and leaning in for more, pressing his lips gently to Alfie’s. Alfie’s eyes fluttered shut with a moan and the movie was forgotten for a good, long while.After discussing it later that evening with Mama Lafitte and getting an enthusiastic yes!, Alfie and Benny broached the subject with Dean, Cas and Jimmy the next day over lunch.Dean was merely nibbling at his food, unenthused and miserable. Dark circles under his eyes. Benny and Alfie flinched at his tired and dazed expression, watched as Cas and Jimmy fawned over their Omega, trying to help him or entice him to eat anything.“Hey, so, um…if you guys are interested, Benny and I have been thinking, um…see…” Alfie floundered, trying to find the best way to phrase their offer. Dean could be oversensitive on a good day about anything that could be seen as charity and these days, you never knew how he’d react to something.“What my mate is trying to say is, my ma has extra rooms at our house and is more than happy if the three of you would choose to live with us, so’s you all can be together like you should,” Benny stated plainly. “We wouldn’t mind having you around either, for that matter.”The three of them blinked at Benny and Alfie in surprise. The rest of the lunch table falling silent as their other friends listened to see which way this would fall out.“Your mama’s a goddamn saint!” Jimmy gushed.“You can’t be serious?” Dean grunted.“Very serious,” Benny said. “You dissin’ our offer?” his eyes narrowed.“Please, Dean? I’d love for you to be there and to have my favorite brothers closer again,” Alfie pleaded. “Especially with the holidays coming. I want to start some new family traditions, since we’re all starting our own, brand new families,” Alfie said quietly, looking down at the visible baby bump beneath his shirt.Benny smiled at Alfie affectionately, watching as his eyes brightened while looking back across the table at Dean. Alfie’s scent was excited and hopeful as Benny also turned to look over at Dean. Dean, who was melting under Alfie’s hopeful gaze. Benny kinda knew how that felt. He was pretty sure he’d do anything for the Omega.Dean looked at his mates. Cas’s face remained neutral and Jimmy was glancing at Alfie and back at Dean, biting his lip. But neither said a word to sway Dean, their scents such a tangle, no sense could be made of it.“Don’t forget, Dean, I only live a couple blocks away. You’d still be able to visit your parents and Sam, or have them visit you whenever you wanted,” Benny pointed out.Dean threw his hands up in the air. “Okay, okay! You sold me. If Cas and Jimmy want to do it too, I’m in.” Dean caved easier than Alfie had expected but he wasn’t going to question it.“Yes!” Jimmy fist pumped the air and Cas reached over for Dean, hugging him. Dean relaxed into his arms, and the whole table went, “Awwwww….” in unison.Dean flipped them off without even opening his eyes as Alfie giggled.The Winchesters hadn’t liked the idea of Dean moving out just as much as Chuck hadn’t liked it for any of of his sons, but they couldn’t deny their son his mates and, knowing it was for the best, they reluctantly agreed.It didn’t take long with three families and all their friends to get everything moved over and set up. In less than a week, the place was way more filled than Benny’s child hood memories of visiting his grandfather could recall.His mom was literally on cloud nine and Benny was just glad to see her so happy with a full house. And that everyone – despite some inevitable frictions – were getting along quite well.Just in time for the holidays.The week before Christmas was busy and full. Nearly every day brought something new.For instance, when Benny learned that none of the Shurley’s – including his mate – or Dean had ever strung up popcorn like garland on their Christmas trees, he was almost horrified. They spent an entire evening making salt less, butter less popcorn with Mama Lafitte and her boy showing the others the best way to do it, though much of the popcorn seemed to disappear at an alarming rate.Mostly into a very unapologetic Alfie’s stomach.Benny couldn’t even bring himself to be mad. His mother just shook her head and laughed. “Like you didn’t do the same thing when you were younger, and you didn’t even have as good an excuse as he does,” she reminded him. “I figured this would happen, so I bought plenty. Eat your fill Alfie, there’s more where that came from.”Another day was Dean’s addition to the Christmas traditions. Movies. “I’m telling you, Die Hard is a Christmas classic – you can’t not watch it!” And when his mates curled around him, cocooning him between their bodies and their shared blanket, they were grateful for something that produced a happier Dean.Benny and Alfie were glad they had indulged him as the Die Hard marathon played and they wrapped themselves around each other in the giant recliner. Benny sniffing at Alfie’s head. Humming, he asked, “Sweetheart…are you using a new shampoo?”“Mmmmhmmm…something with roses in it – your mom recommended it. It’s supposed to be a calming scent, to help Omega’s relax during their pregnancy. Though nothing is as good as your scent.” Alfie said, nibbling lightly in Benny’s ear. “Wish they could bottle that up, cause I swear I would walk around covered in you if I could.”“God, Alfie,” Benny gasped. “You gotta stop that, sweetheart, if you wanna stay down here for Dean’s marathon…”“Just a little promise for later, Alpha,” Alfie purred into Benny’s ear. With one last lick, he settled down again and turned his attention back to the screen. Dean was absorbed in the movie, noticing nothing else. And his Alphas were absorbed in him. No one had noticed, just as Alfie had expected.One day, Alfie came back from a trip to the store with more bags than Benny expected. “Sweetheart, I thought you said you wanted to pick up a book from the library?”“I did, Benny. But on the way home, I smelled peppermint and that reminded me – we need candy canes!” Alfie lifted his arms and sure enough, through the thin plastic bags, Benny could see candy canes of every color, though the traditional red and white striped peppermints held dominion over the bags.“That’s…a lot of candy canes, Alfie,” Benny said slowly.“Are you sure? I was actually worried I didn’t get enough,” Alfie answered. His brothers came down the stairs at that moment and Jimmy bounded over as soon as he hit the bottom step, his nose flaring.“Do I smell peppermint?” he asked. His hand darted forward and Alfie grinned, handing him a bag. Jimmy grabbed two. “Score!” He opened one of the bags and stuck his nose in, inhaling loudly. “Awwww, yeah! That’s the stuff! Cassie! Cassie! Look what Alfie got us!”Cas ambled over, more reserved, but Benny’s eyebrows rose high as he realized that Cas was holding himself back from the same excitement as Jimmy, and that he was, in fact, just as excited, if not more. Cas reached a hand for a bag and Jimmy snatched it away with a growl.“Oh no, brother, you get your own! These are mine!” Cackling, Jimmy ran off with his candy canes, leaving a gaping Benny behind. Benny glanced back at Alfie and Castiel to find them bargaining over how many bags he’d get.“Well, yes, but I need some for Dean too. I was hoping the peppermint might soothe his stomach.” Cas said.“But you already have two bags – can’t one of those be for Dean?” Alfie protested, hugging the bags close to his chest protectively.“But Jimmy got two…” Cas pointed out. Alfie looked down at the bags sadly but handed over one more. “Thanks, brother.” Cas took the bag graciously and – with three now in hand – he retreated upstairs, no doubt to try out his idea on Dean. For Dean’s sake, he hoped it work.Benny watched on in amusement as Alfie looked down at the leftover bags forlornly. He only had one left and he sighed, looking up at Benny. “See what I mean? I had one for the Christmas tree decorations and Jimmy took that, and one for you and your mom since I wasn’t sure you guys liked candy canes as much as we do…and now…”Laughing lightly, Benny stepped forward and kissed the top of Alfie’s head, gathering him close. “No worries, sweetheart. Candy canes will be in season a little longer, I promise. We can always get more.Alfie perked up at that. “That’s true.”And so it went. The peppermint didn’t help Dean despite everyone’s hopes to the contrary, but the candy canes did disappear in less than two days – much to the shock of both Benny and his mother. Remembering what Alfie had said about the rose scented shampoo, Benny had suggested it to Dean, but it turned out he’d already tried it and that hadn’t helped either.Christmas came, faster than anyone could believe. Benny’s mom woke them from their rest when the scent of bacon floated through the house. Mixed with the bacon was what Dean called the smell of Christmas – fresh pine and peppermint and burning wood. Susan had lit the fireplace first thing that morning and they spent quite some time relaxing in front of it, huddled together with mugs of coffee and tea and hot chocolate in hand, basking in the warmth of it and munching on the bacon.Eventually, they were all awake enough to have their own Christmas morning before the rest of the day was split up with visits from their families. Chuck couldn’t stay, not with his own house full, but the Winchesters gracefully accepted the Lafitte’s dinner invitation to celebrate their son’s first Christmas with his mates.Mary, of course, brought pie.In a rare instance of not being nauseated, Dean had to be convinced to share the pie. Just happy that he was eating and not seeming to get sick, Alfie slid his own slice of pie over to his friend.Benny glared when he did so, pushing his plate into Alfie’s space. “Don’t deny yourself food, sweetheart. Both you and Dean need it.”“It’s just one slice of pie, Benny,” Alfie insisted.“Then if that’s true, I don’t think I’ll miss mine too much. Think I’m all stuffed from dinner,” Benny said with a wink.“Thanks Benny,” Alfie said, looking up at his mate adoringly.As a representation of how the rest of their lives together would go, Alfie was taking this day as a good sign. Benny gathered him in close on the couch, as they all ate their desserts in the large living room, staring at the colored lights on the tree.Alfie’s brothers were showing off their popcorn garland to Sam, explaining how they did it, acting like it was the hardest task in the world. Alfie nearly snorted. The hardest part about it was not eating it, as he well knew.Some Christmas carols played in the background, a combination of classics and some oddball things each family had found along the years. Snow was falling lightly and the room was filled with warmth, love and the happy sounds of everyone chatting together. Alfie inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. He could smell the remnants of dinner and pie, the still burning hearth, the pine tree – not quite as fresh as it was 2 weeks ago, but still smelling quite strongly - the candy canes and the distinct scents of every family member – both old and new.Alfie smiled, hoping he would remember this moment, this day, always.

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Christmas was long since over and both Alfie and Dean were more than done with their pregnancies. It was that weird time of year where the seasons collided, the weather unable to decide between winter and spring, causing a back and forth yo-yo affect that drove the pregnant omega’s crazy, and possibly their Alpha’s too.Dean longed for the warmer weather and the soothing sound of rain while Alfie missed the pristine white snow and the ice that dripped beautifully from the trees, how picturesque the snow turned everything.As the snow melted, Alfie grew melancholy and sighed melodramatically. He enjoyed the part of the season that meant cuddling up together with his Alpha. Lazy mornings tucked under the blankets and his chin, or mellowing out in front of the fire.Whereas, for Dean, the longer the snow stuck around the more irritable Dean got.“It’s not that bad, Dean,” Alfie said. He stood at the window watching the new snowfall with glee as everyone around him got ready for school.“Easy for you to say, Alfie, you’re not as big as a house,” Dean grumbled. “I’m like Randy from the friggin’ Christmas Story. I can’t move an inch with all these layers on and I hate that movie.”Alfie turned to look at Dean and conceded the point. He looked absolutely miserable as Cas and Jimmy bundled him into his outerwear and grabbed his bag for him. Dean couldn’t even drive the Impala anymore and that had to hurt the most. Alfie well knew, as did all the rest of them, how much the Impala meant to Dean, as well as his independence.And he really was huge. All Jo’s insistence that Dean would be carrying multiples had come true and the doctors had confirmed that Dean was not just carrying twins, but quadruplets.Alfie, strangely and despite the family history, was carrying only one pup, for which he and Benny were much relieved and Gabriel was excited for (though Alfie hadn’t been able to determine why). He and Dean were due around the same time and having so many new babies at once was going to be bad enough. Having more? It made Alfie’s head whirl.Though, their delivery dates might not actually be as close together as he’d thought. His brothers and Dean had been warned that carrying so many pups might actually cause Dean to go into labor prematurely. So…there was that.To no one’s surprise, Dean had proceeded to flip the fuck out – after a not so quiet and fairly dramatic fainting spell – at the exciting news during the ultrasound. “F-four? I’m having four pups?” he asked, his voice squeaking, his scent – which had turned sour – now roiling through the small doctor’s office.Though the initial shock eventually faded, Dean’s panic did not.“We, Dean,” Cas admonished, running a soothing hand down Dean’s back. “You’re not in this alone, remember?” Dean was sitting half in Jimmy’s and half in Cas’s lap on the floor. Dean’s fainting spell had caused the Alpha’s to panic as well, and now they were all curled up together, all needing reassurance that everything was all right. The little room’s air purifiers were working overtime to clear their scents out so everyone could calm down faster.“What about their family history? They run in twins, not quadruplets! I was expecting two at most, not four!” Dean’s voice went up another octave and both Cas and Jimmy winced. They poured all their love and support through the bond as fast as they could and were rewarded only be a minimal relaxation of Dean’s tenseness.Dr. Barnes grinned sympathetically at the Omega. “Identical twins happen when one egg splits but Fraternal twins happens when more than one egg was released during a heat. So, it’s rare but not unheard of for more than one egg to be fertilized. An Omega in heat is particularly fertile, and so were your mates, just finishing a rut, were they not?” Dean’s mates nodded in confirmation and she continued. “So, I know I’m just the doctor, but my theory is that you actually have 2 sets of Fraternal twins. There’s no way to be sure, of course, till after they’re born, but it really doesn’t matter in the end. They’ll still be put down as quadruplets and all of them will be just as close with each other as a single set of twins are.”“But…but how the fuck am I supposed to feed four pups when I only have 2 tits?” Dean protested weakly.“Assuming you can breast feed them at all – male omega’s have problems with that sometimes - you’ll supplement with formula. Which has the added benefit of allowing your mates to help as much as possible and let all three of you bond with your pups.” Pamela wrote something down and handed it to Dean. “You’ll need to find the best formula for your pups through trial and error, but this is a good starting point.”Shakily, he took the paper and barely glanced at it before shoving it into his pants. Cas and Jimmy stood, helping Dean to his feet. He still huffed at the effort despite their help. They thanked Dr. Barnes for everything and helped Dean back into his winter clothes and out to the car. He got into the front seat with Jimmy’s help and Cas got behind the wheel. Jimmy reluctantly climbed into the back and they took the relatively short ride home in silence. Jimmy creeping a hand over the back of the seat to rub at Dean’s neck.They were just pulling into the driveway when Dean burst into tears. Cas hurriedly finished putting the Impala into park and turned to look at his mate in concern, Jimmy launching forward in his seat to wrap himself around Dean as best he could when there was a seat in his way.“Babe, what’s wrong? Do we need to go back?” Jimmy asked. His and Cas’s nose wrinkled at the depressed smell emanating from Dean, matching the emotion flooding through their bond. It hurt to smell and feel but he wasn’t hurt and that was, at least, a plus. But what had set him off?“I-I-I,” Dean sobbed. “It’s bad enough that I can’t-“ he sniffed, “drive Baby anymore, but now –“ he sniffed again. “but now I can’t even keep her!” he wailed.“What?” Cas asked, lost and turning to Jimmy for help. Jimmy shrugged, just as confused as his brother. Everyone knew how strongly Dean felt about the Impala but neither of them knew what the doctor visit had to do with Dean’s car, much less getting rid of it.“Dean, why wouldn’t you get to keep her? You love this car, and we know that, which is why we’d never ask you to get rid of her,” Jimmy crooned into Dean’s ear. Cas undid his seatbelt and shoved his way across the seat to gather Dean into his arms, running fingers through his hair soothingly.“But we’ll never fit all of us! We’ll have to get a – “ Dean was sobbing harder now and shuddering, “A soccer mom van!” he wailed again.Oh. Understanding dawned on the twins as they took in the practicality of Dean’s statement. He wasn’t wrong. There’d be no way to safely put 4 baby seats into the back of the Impala, even if they could push three full grown adults into the front (do-able, but at their heights, extremely uncomfortable).“Okay, okay, maybe we do need to get a…soccer mom van?” Cas said hesitantly. He had no idea why Dean called it that or what was so bad about it other then the idea of not having Baby. “But that’s no reason to get rid of your beloved car, Dean. We’re going to need more than one vehicle eventually, and we’re not always going to be taking out all the kids at the same time – especially when they’re older. There’s no reason to get rid of Baby,” Cas repeated, hoping to reassure Dean, if he could get through the Omega’s sobs.Jimmy whined as Cas did what he could not. The need to curl himself around Dean and comfort his mate was near overwhelming and the fact that the back of the seat was in his way of doing that was damn frustrating. He just hoped that it wasn’t leaking through the bond or his scent or it might make Dean feel worse.“I’m sorry. It’s stupid. I know it’s stupid. It’s just a car. I’m sorry,” Dean blubbered. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”“Oh no, baby, no, Dean –“ Cas and Jimmy spoke over each other in their rush to sooth their omega.“It’s not stupid and there’s nothing wrong with you,” Cas assured.“Baby’s a great car and we’ll keep her as long as you can keep her running – which knowing you should be pretty much forever,” Jimmy insisted.“Yeah?” Dean sniffed, rubbing his face into Cas’s coat.“Dean. Did you just wipe your snot all over me?” Cas blinked down. A tendril of amusement broke through the miasma gathering in the car and Dean’s muffled voice softly said,“Maybe.”Jimmy laughed at Cas’s disgruntled expression. He ran his fingers through Dean’s hair and leaned in to kiss the top of his head. “C’mon, let’s get inside and get warm again. I was thinking – Chinese for lunch?”Dean perked up. “Wonton soup? Oh, for the love of god, please let there be wonton soup. And egg rolls. and boneless spare ribs.”Cas and Jimmy chuckled softly together at Dean’s about face and helped him out of the car and up the still icy walk. They tried not to hover but the idea that he might slip and fall while pregnant had been a constant fear of theirs the heavier and more ungainly Dean got.But they didn’t want to be overbearing and deny him the things he liked, or even just basic things in life everyone needed to do every day. Dean was and always had been headstrong and independent and it was part of the reason they loved him and they didn’t want to change that. But it was so damn hard. Of course, the further along – and heavier – Dean became, no matter the weather, the less sanguine anyone (not just his possibly over protective mates) was over his insistence to not take it easy.But it wasn’t until the doctor said something that Cas and Jimmy finally put their feet down.“It’s not that we don’t want you to do these things, Dean. We want you to be happy –““But we also want you to be safe. Dr. Barnes is worried about not just the pups, but your health as well, and if the doctor is worried…”Jimmy and Cas were having a hard time hiding their fear that something would happen to Dean. Normally, it was Dean getting all blubbery on them, but this time, the Alphas’ were about ready to break down at the mere thought of Dean not being all right.Disgruntled, Dean sat propped on their rather large bed, his Alphas on either side of him, each of them so despondent and guilty as hell that it wafted through the room and overpowered the air freshener plugged into the wall. With a sigh, he held out both arms and smiled softly when both Alphas wiggled into him, resting their heads on his shoulders, their noses into his neck, breathing deeply. Both of them cupped hand around his belly and rubbed gently. Dean hummed and closed his eyes.“I’m not mad at you,” he finally said. He didn’t speak loudly. Didn’t need to with how close they all were. “I’m just frustrated. I want to have your pups. Little bits of me and both of you we made together.  But I wish it weren’t so many at once, or that this was already over. I feel a restless energy and…I ain’t even allowed to do anything anymore. Except maybe walk, and even that has to be in moderation.” Dean pouted. “We only got, like, 3 months left. And I’m feeling guilty because I want them outta here now but that’s not good for them. in fact, it’s so dangerous. I feel like I’m…like I’m fighting myself.”“We’ll figure it out, Dean. We’ll find someway for you to do things, to study still. Maybe you can…well, what about working on the nursery?” Jimmy asked, biting his lip.“Only if he takes it easy,” Cas warned, “but yes, I think that’s a great idea. Dean, you can brainstorm some ideas and pass them off to me and Jimmy and we’ll pick up whatever you need. Then we’ll split the duties. You do some things while we do the things you can’t. We’ll follow all your instructions.”Jimmy nodded. “We want to do as much as we can with you. We can’t have the pups for you, but there are other things we can do. We’re all family now, and we want to be a part of making this space our own. Something we all three have a hand in.”Dean sniffed. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’d like that.”The twins breathed a sigh of relief, glad they were able to find something that would keep Dean busy and happy, something they could help with, just as they’d said. And crossed their fingers they would still have time to get everything ready before the pups came.Because Pamela gave the impression that it would be happening – rather sooner than later, even if Dean didn’t over do it.The room next to theirs was nearly the same size and had a connecting door between them, which was absolutely perfect for being turned into a nursery. First thing they did was get a comfortable chair and a table so that Dean could sit while he took in the room and planned. The room was already painted and already in rather good repair, so all that remained was to decorate it.That shouldn’t be too hard.Setting up a laptop and a notebook, Dean browsed through sites and bookmarked them, noting down some themes. They had no idea if the pups were male or female. Pamela had been reluctant to give them any sort of guess. “It’s rather crowded in there, boys. Hard to make out the little details.” So Dean was lost a to what sort of theme to use for the nursery.“Bees,” Cas offered.“Ducks,” Jimmy countered with a roll of his eyes.“Benny and I are gonna use a Winnie the Pooh theme – Classic Pooh, of course,” Alfie said from the doorway. Benny stood behind him, his hands wrapped around Benny’s stomach and his chin hooked over his shoulder.  “You might want to decide a theme soon, actually. So you have one ready for the shower.”“The shower?” Dean’s brows furrowed before he remembered. “Oh!” Showers for the expecting mother - basically a pre-birthday party for the pups. His mom had tried to convince him to make a gift registry, as a matter of fact.  He wiggled uncertainly. It felt to him too much like asking for things and Dean hated doing that.“What about a combination of themes? If you three of you can’t decide on anything?” Benny suggested.“Hmmm….” Dean mused, looking about the room. He had an idea. He turned back to his notebook and started scribbling some notes and was quickly lost once more to the pages of the internet, this time with more purpose.This would be the best nursery ever.

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It was a joint shower, of course. What with Alfie, Cas and Jimmy being brothers, and the pure and simple fact that the bulk of the attendees of both showers would be their family – not to mention the looming, near identical projected due dates for both Omegas - it only made sense.Of necessity (and because Cas and Jimmy begged for it, for the sake of Dean) the date of the shower was only a few weeks off. They crossed their fingers and just prayed that the pups would hold off long enough for Dean to get to the shower, for the Nursery to be made ready and so they weren’t too early.They’d all since given up hope that the pups wouldn’t be early at all.Dean was bigger around now at almost 7 months than most people they’d ever seen at 9. There was no way he could carry those little ones too much longer without risk to Dean’s health. But if they came early, there was risk to the pups’ health.Everyone was just hoping for that sweet spot of early but not too early, all while holding their breaths.Dean felt like a beached whale and the constant stares were starting to get to him. He was just as glad now that he barely left their home and that a couple of different tutors came directly to the house through the school program to make sure he kept up with his classwork. The only downside, of course, was the shop class. There was no way for him to take that class at home - even if he’d been allowed to work with the machinery in the shop, there was no way to travel around with stuff like that. But the teacher there was also a friend of the family – Bobby Singer - and he’d come up with his own solution, coming by on his spare time to explain to Dean what he was planning and give him a few pointers and his own set of tools.The first time Jimmy and Cas came home to find a whittling knife in Dean’s hand and wood shavings all over their bedspread, they were of mixed minds. Both were inordinately pleased that Dean found something to keep his hands busy while he remained sitting, but also upset that there were now wood shavings all over their bed. But then Dean looked up at them and beamed the happiest grin they’d seen from their Omega in days and their hearts melted.They couldn’t deny him this when so much else was being denied him.The day of the Pup Shower was chaos, of course, but everyone was in literal agreement of one thing: neither Alfie nor Dean were to get up and help. While Alfie was not under the same restrictions Dean was, it helped Dean feel less useless to know he and Alfie were being treated the same. So Susan and Mary and various others did all the decoration, Benny helped with the cooking and Cas and Jimmy kept the two Omega’s distracted while everything was set up.The party was, of course, held at the Lafitte’s house. It was quite big enough for a larger party, even one including all those Shurley’s. And a bonus to that was that the gifts – including all the furniture they were sure to get – would be easier to take care of if it were all already in the house and just needed to be brought upstairs.Dean and Alfie were eventually led down to the living room and each given their own decorated chair before the unlit fireplace. Two tables were also set up – one on each side of the room – with their names on it. Gifts were placed on and around the tables as everyone arrived, stopping to chat with the parents-to-be before making their way to stake out a place to enjoy the festivities. Music played softly, a mix of faves from both Alfie and Dean – a playlist that the two of them had created together through no few hours of arguing and compromise. It had been a task the others were all too happy to give them, so they could concentrate on other things.Before presents, though, there were food and games. Dean found himself relaxing enough to have a good time, despite the heaviness of his belly, the ache in his back, and the constant stares of disbelief and sympathy from his family and friends. He glanced at Alfie wistfully more than once, wondering why he had to be having multiple pups when Alfie got away with one.Jimmy and Cas pulled chairs up along side Dean, getting as close as they could, while Benny did the same with Alfie. Every so often, someone would approach one or both of them and place their hands on the Omega’s bellies. Dean tensed up every time, his Alpha’s catching his uneasy and annoyed scent and growling out their own little warnings till finally one of them snapped at the next offender.“Stop. Touching. Our. Mate.” Jimmy bit out.Jo rocked back, startled. “What? I’m not hurting him! I just want to feel the pups kicking! Surely they’re moving around already! It’s perfectly fine, right Dean?”Dean didn’t answer her, just scowling in her direction, a hand placed protectively over his belly. There was movement there. He felt it near constantly these days. When one pup fell asleep, another seemed to wake. He was only glad that most of it tended to be stretching and small pops and not the vigorous kicks he’d heard tell from other people. The horror stories he’d discovered about how strong those kicks could actually be, and the internal damage that could be done, had actually scared him.“How would you feel if a million people just walked right up to you and started touching you?” Castiel’s voice was a low grumble, lower than usual, though he was trying to keep the growl out of his voice. Jo was like a sister to Dean, he knew that, Jimmy knew that too. But Dean was getting so uncomfortable they could feel it, smell it. And this had been the last straw. Jo shuddered – whether at the anger in Dean’s gaze or the disapproval from both Cas and Jimmy, or the inkling of the idea of what she and everyone else was doing, the mates didn’t know or didn’t care, as long as she backed off.“And it’s not just family, Jo,” Jimmy continued for Cas. “It’s strangers on the street. People at the doctor’s office. They all of them suddenly seem to believe they have a right to touch Dean and Alfie just because they’re pregnant. So no, I don’t care who you are. You – all of you – should be asking before you touch.”Jo turned pale. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Dean.”“Yeah, you’re forgiven,” Dean mumbled, rubbing at his belly and hoping the rest of them would back off after the twins’ grand speech – at least for the rest of the night.It didn’t halt the party and as less people attempted to touch Dean, Dean relaxed once more. The twins noticed their brother was also relaxing and caught a grateful smile from both Benny and Alfie. The twins were sure, though, that if they hadn’t spoken up, Benny would have.Games happened next, the antics of their friends causing Dean to laugh heartily, the happy sound ringing through the room loudly. Alfie joined in with giggling and their mates just smiled to see their Omega’s enjoying themselves. Kevin won the ‘guess how many in the jar’ contest, and Charlie won by cheating at the ice cube game.“Hey! Nothing in the rules said I couldn’t put it in my mouth!!!” She pointed out. There were a few more games but they’d wisely kept it to a minimum seeing as both sets of mates had a great deal of gifts to open – especially Dean. Benny, Cas and Jimmy helped, of course, and Mary and Susan both wrote down who’d gotten what from whom, while Charlie and Garth gleefully snagged the trappings of the giftwrapping – the bows and ribbons and snippets of paper – to turn into hats –“Oh hell no! I’m not putting that on my head!” Dean objected when Charlie and Garth presented the hats to Dean and Alfie.“Dean, c’mon!” Alfie said, laughing. Dean looked over to see him tying the makeshift hat onto his head and Benny smiling at him adoringly. “It’s just some silly fun!”Grumbling, Dean tied his hat on and sighed. “By my pretty floral bonnet, if you either of you laugh, I will end you,” he grumbled.Cas and Jimmy leaned over to place a kiss on his cheeks and he blushed. “We would never,” Cas whispered, Jimmy nodding. Their amusement trickled down through their bond, despite the fact that Dean could barely smell it above all the other scents permeating the room. Dean let it slide, jut happy they were happy, that they were all happy.By the time all – well, almost all - the gifts were open, Dean’s eyes were drooping. Those who hadn’t been around him much looked on in concern. Jimmy and Cas waved them all off. “It’s normal. Dr. Barnes assured us that Dean’s tiredness was a normal symptom of his pregnancy – “ eyes drifted over to Alfie who was still quite wide awake and as bushytailed as a squirrel “ – especially for his particular condition.”“In other words, they knocked him up so thoroughly with multiple pups that it’s taking a lot out of him,” Gabriel shouted shamelessly across the room.Dean jerked awake at the shout, his hand coming down on his stomach. “I wasn’t asleep!”“Yes, you were. C’mon, let’s get you to bed,” Jimmy said as he and Cas reached to help Dean stand.Dean huffed as he stood, protesting all the while. “But we still have guests…and gifts I haven’t opened,” Dean pointed out, yawning.“Sweetheart, the gifts will still be there in the morning and our guests won’t be angry if you go to bed early. They all understand you have to take care of yourself,” Cas said softly.Dean didn’t give an answer because his head lolled to the side and came to stop on Cas’s shoulder. He hummed and his eyes closed again. It was a struggle to get him up the stairs in that state, but with Jimmy’s help, they managed it.Dean woke very early the next morning – it was so early the sun still hadn’t risen - after a fitful night of sleep, his mates curled up on either side of him, their fingers touching the other as they met across Dean. He smiled at them softly. The twins had a thing about making sure all of them were touching somehow while sleeping. He frowned as his pups kicked. Looked like he’d spoken too soon when he was grateful earlier that all they did was stretch.They kicked again, putting pressure on his bladder and he sighed, making the attempt to get up without his mates help.It was a lost cause. Being in the middle and as heavy as Dean was, there was no way to sneak off the bed without waking one of them and the one awoken helped him up, walked him down the hall and stood there, yawning while waiting for him. When he opened the door, Jimmy ducked in behind him and Dean chuckled. He waddled over to the nursery and saw that everything was there, though it wasn’t arranged or unpacked yet at all. He happily waded in and started with the clothes, snapping the tags off all the cute little onesie and other outfits.The variety was amazing. Their friends and family had really come through when it came to the themes he’d picked. Bees for Cas, ducks for Jimmy – both of which meant a hell of a lot of yellow and orange paired with whites, blues and blacks – and cars for Dean. Together, the three of them had decided on music for a fourth. This way, each pup could have a theme to help tell them apart. At least, that was the plan. Who knew how things would work out in the long run with spit up disasters and laundry snafus. But it should help, for a start.Hands wrapped around him from behind and lips touched his neck. He leaned back into Jimmy with a sigh, breathing in his scent with a deep, long inhale.“Mmmm…good morning, Jimmy,” Dean smiled.“Why are you awake?” Jimmy grumbled. “It’s like, 2am…”Dean chuckled. “It’s a little later than that, but yeah, I get ya.” Jimmy nuzzled at Dean’s neck again and Dean had to restrain a loud laugh, for fear of waking up Cas. Neither of the twins were much in the way of morning people. Dean could never decide which of them was worse. “Anyway, your pups are awake, man.” He reached up and moved one of Jimmy’s hands down over his stomach in time for another well-placed blow. He winced and Jimmy whined, running his hand over Dean’s protruding stomach soothingly.They sat like that, Dean relaxing bonelessly into Jimmy’s warmth. It was too awkward to fall asleep but Dean found he didn’t want to move.That’s how Cas found them, not too long after.“What are you two doing in here?” he mumbled, his gravelly voice washing over his mates. Dean smiled at the confuddled scent wafting into the room as Cas settled in on the floor beside Dean and Jimmy. His head nearly instantly found the other side of Dean’s neck and nuzzled in, breathing deeply. Dean chuckled at the action, scratching a hand through Cas’s hair. Jimmy made a whine of protest about being let out of the coveted head scratching and Dean’s chuckle turned into an all-out laugh.Down the hall, the toilet flushed and uneven steps came toddling back down towards them. Despite having their backs to the door, they all instantly knew it was Alfie. He slunk into the room, found something to sit on and did so, rubbing at his face and yawning. “Are we having another party in here? Should I get Benny so he doesn’t feel left out?”“Too late, cher, I’m already here,” Benny’s disgruntled voice had them all laughing. “What? I was cold. I woke up without my favorite space heater to keep me warm.” Benny sat beside Alfie and kissed him before drawing back to look at him adoringly. “C’mon sweetheart, you need to sleep almost as much as Dean. Let’s go back to bed.”Dean tried to protest when Benny called him out like that but Cas and Jimmy seemed to agree with the other Alpha. Together, they stood, bending down to bring Dean back up with them with a small grunt of effort. At first, Dean felt horrible that he weighed so much that his two strong Alphas had to strain to help him, but it melted away to easy admiration at the strength they had, and love for how they so uncomplainingly helped him at every turn.“Benny’s got the right idea. M’tired,” Cas muttered. Jimmy nodded his head emphatically as they steered Dean back to bed.“We’ll work on the room t’morrow,” Jimmy said with a yawn. The three of them eased down and despite the near constant movement in his belly, the ache in his back, Dean fell asleep with the strong arms of his Alphas around him, their scents filling his nose and soothing him to sleep.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Alfie looked about the new pups’ room happily. He and Benny had had much less work to do then Dean and his brothers and they were already done arranging. The room was much bigger then needed, to be honest, but in a house with all the space that this one had, Alfie didn’t worry about it. There were still empty rooms and that was good, because eventually the pups would need their own rooms and he was sure that he and Benny wouldn’t stop at one.He was also just as sure that Dean would be arranging to never have pups again after this, and he was almost as sure that Cas and Jimmy were right behind him on that. Not that Alfie could blame any of them. The idea of so many kids running around was equal parts exciting and daunting, and if Dean, Cas and Jimmy stayed here (something Alfie was certainly hoping for, seeing as the house was big enough for it), well, that was a lot of kids.He broke out of his thoughts when Benny returned from taking out the last of the empty boxes. The two of them surveyed the room together, satisfaction for a job well done and excitement flowing between them and their bond.“Think we did good, Alfie?” Benny asked, kissing his Omega’s neck from behind. Alfie shivered and leaned back far enough to aim a kiss at Benny’s cheek.“Yeah, Benny, think we did,” Alfie agreed, closing his eyes and just basking in his Alpha’s love.A crash was heard down the hall and a curse and Alfie covered his mouth to hide his amusement. “I take it things aren’t going quite so well over there?”“Aye, you’d be right about that,” Benny sighed. “Dean’s gettin’ antsy cause he can’t do any o’ the heavy lifting and the twins don’t seem all that good at putting furniture together. Between the three of them, I think their patience is wearing thin. I offered to help but…”“But all three of them jumped down your throat because it’s their pups and they want to set everything up. Benny, they’re nesting. Would you have accepted help?” Alfie asked shrewdly.“Well, no, but we also didn’t need any help,” Benny pointed out.“Fair enough,” Alfie sighed. “Stubborn Alphas.”“And Omega.” Benny laughed. “Sometimes I think Dean’s more hardheaded then both of them combined.”“They all have their moments,” Alfie agreed. “C’mon, let’s see if we can get them to at least take a break before one of them throws a hammer at the other.”With one last look at their finished nursery, the soft, pale hues and the classic pooh characters decorating the golden hued, wood furniture, Benny and Alfie went off to see if they could persuade Dean and the twins into accepting their help.As they neared the other nursery, they could hear distressed voices and sobbing. The smell hit them next and, concerned, they quickened their steps to stand in the open doorway and take in the scene. It was Dean that was crying, the remnants of something Alfie couldn’t identify at his feet, as both Cas and Jimmy tried to calm him down.With a quick look at each other, Benny and Alfie swiftly decided that maybe they should leave best alone for now and discretely backed away from the scene. They’d give them a few moments and come back, and see if the suggestion of a break would be snapped up or not.They continued down the stairs till the met up with Susan in the kitchen, following their noses to fresh baked cookies. She smiled at them and offered up the plate.“All set up there?”We are, they aren’t,” Benny said, taking a huge bite out of the still warm cookies and fanning his mouth. After he swallowed, he continued, looking at his mate. “How come you’re not as emotional as Dean is? I mean, it’s all pregnancy hormones, right? So shouldn’t you be…you know…going a little cuckoo too?” He waved a hand about and Alfie’s eyes narrowed at him. The Alpha had barely finished his words and taken a bite of his cookie before he was choking on it.Benny turned to face his mother with wide eyes, rubbing at the back of his head where she’d smacked him. “Ma? What was that for?”She glared at her son with her arms crossed over her chest. “What’s wrong with that boy is more than simply hormones. How would you feel if you were restricted to bedrest, could barely move, couldn’t do any of the things you loved any more, were in constant pain and you couldn’t sleep?”“I knew it had to be hard, but I admit, I hadn’t thought about it like that…” Benny said sheepishly.Alfie rolled his eyes. “It’s good to know you’ll be just as understanding once I reach Dean’s point.”“Hopefully, you won’t be near as bad off as Dean is,” Benny said, scooting closer to his mate and running a hand down his back. “I don’t think I could stand to see you like that and not be able to do anything to help. Your brothers must be going crazy with worry and, and…” Benny blew out a breath and Alfie leaned into him. The scent in the room relaxed and Benny knew he was forgiven.“Let’s go check on them,” Alfie said, “see if we can’t get them to take that break now, or let us help some.”Benny nodded and they returned upstairs to find it much quieter than it had been. That was a good sign. Unless Alfie’s’ prediction of hammer throwing turned out to be true. They turned the corner to the doorway to find the twins and Dean all curled up together on a small nest of blankets and pillows from Alfie didn’t know where, all fast asleep.They carefully tiptoed back out of the room, closing the door behind them and letting them sleep. Dean certainly needed it, and if he wasn’t getting very much sleep, the twins were probably almost as bad off. If they kept waking when he did, it would certainly account for how grumpy they’d been lately.Retreating to the silence of their own room, Alfie found himself drawn back through the intervening door to the new nursery where he stood, hand on his stomach, simply staring.“What is it, sweetheart?” Benny followed the Omega, sensing the odd little mood that had come over his mate. It pulsed through the bond in a confusing mash he couldn’t make heads or tails of and he rubbed Alfie’s shoulders, hoping to ease him some.“It doesn’t feel real, somehow,” Alife whispered. “I mean it does, and it doesn’t – I -I don’t know how to explain it. How on earth am I growing a whole other living being inside of me? Despite this,” Alfie looked down to his stomach, the bump clear, though not as pronounced as Deans, “despite the Ultrasound and the room and all the preparations – I still feel a disbelief, a disconnect that this is happening. And when I try to imagine the future, of holding our pup in my arms - something that’s going to be so tiny and so utterly reliant on us? I’m…kinda scared, Benny.”“Sshhh, it’s okay. I think I get it. I can hardly believe I’m going to be a Pa myself. Not sure it’s really gonna sink in till that pup is here and I can look him or her in the face, touch them, hold them. And yeah, I’m scared too, but sweetheart, we’re not alone in this. We got each other, we got your brothers and Dean nearby, we got Ma, and that’s not counting nearly everybody else we know who just want to help however they can. We can do this.” Benny dipped his head down to nuzzle into Alfie’s neck.“God, if I’m scared, I can’t imagine how Dean feels,” Alfie turned in Benny’s arms, wrapping his around his Alpha’s neck and burying his face in Benny’s shirt. Benny’s hands started siding down his back, massaging the knots as he went.“They ain’t alone either, but yeah, I do not envy them. I’m glad we’re getting a more reasonable start on a family. Also, I’m pretty sure Dean’s gonna pop soon, so we should get a good month or two of practice on the do’s and don’ts of caring for an infant,” Benny said with a chuckle.Alfie snorted and leaned a way to look at Benny. “Benny,” he chided with a light smack to Benny’s shoulder. It still amazed Alfie that the two of them were together, and how at ease and comfortable he was with Benny. Before they’d mated, he’d never have dared to do that.Benny shrugged it off with another hearty chuckle. “Hey, call ‘em as I see ‘em, sweetheart.” Alfie yawned into hi shoulder and Benny grinned. “C’mon, sleepyhead. I think it’s naptime for all expecting parents. Your brothers and Dean apparently had the right idea, we’re simply a little behind schedule.”“They just got a head start, is all,” Alfie yawned again as Benny drew him away from the door and back to their bed.Benny laid Alfie out on the bed, his heart near to bursting as his Omega sleepily reached for him to pull Benny down to join him. Benny carefully settled beside Alfie and nestled into him, drawing the blankets of their unmade bed up and over, cocooning themselves in their thick warmth.Despite their worries, their anxiousness over becoming parents, over the little life that would be so dependent on them, they fell asleep within the reassuring and comforting embrace of the other. They fell asleep dreaming of their home filled with the pitter patter of children playing in the house, of giggles and laughter and tears and love.Of family.Alfie and Benny could only hope that Dean, Cas and Jimmy were dreaming of similar, happy things.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Eventually, Dean Cas and Jimmy got their pups room all ready. Where Alfie’s and Benny’s had all that extra room, theirs was crammed full. But they were done at last, and they were ready for the pups to come. Well, as ready as they could be.The room had all dark wood furniture covered in blankets and decorations from all 4 themes. There were only 2 cribs but each one had a barrier so the pups couldn’t roll over and smother one another in their sleep.Now all they had to do was wait.Dean was sure as hell sick of waiting. He was tired, he was frustrated, he was horny and he was in near constant pain of one sort or another. Back pain, swollen feet and Charlie horses nearly every time he turned around (or so it felt like). And his stomach muscles were getting painfully abused by tiny hands and feet – who knew they could pack so much kick behind them?So yeah, tired, frustrated, horny, constant pain – oh and hungry of course. Not all in that order. Actually, he couldn’t figure out what order. Everything seemed to fluctuate too much – he’d be so exhausted he was dropping off one minute, then he’d be so horny he’d wake himself up, and when he started doing anything about it that’s when his back would flare or one of the pups would kick – violently.All of which led to an overwhelming feeling of frustration.He whimpered and rolled laboriously over onto his other side, dragging the full body pillow with him. The twins had teased him about it, but had let him be after he growled at them.He’d growled at his mates. Crap. What the fuck was wrong with him?Suddenly, tears were rolling down his eyes even as he tucked himself around the pillow and held it tight. The twins were at school with Benny and Alfie and he… he was stuck at home.Alone.He wasn’t completely alone. The twins wouldn’t even think about leaving him until Benny’s mom had promised she’d stay with Dean when his tutors weren’t there, and even still, Dean could sense their anxiousness through the bond, despite the distance. He knew they wanted to be with him.Didn’t make him feel less lonely right at this very moment. He wiped at his eyes angrily and rolled again. His body was restless and he needed to move. It couldn’t hurt to go as far as the rocker in the nursery, could it?With a great effort, he managed to get onto his feet. He winced, and then shuffled – he did not waddle, no matter what Jo Harvelle said! – slowly over to the connecting door. It was open and waiting, bright light flooding through the windows and lighting it up, giving it a warm golden glow. They’d used simple, dark furniture for the cribs and the dressers, the toy chest and the rocker and Dean thought it looked wonderful. The theme was - he had to admit – somewhat more chaotic then Alfie and Benny’s was, but he liked it. It gave the room so much character.He stopped when he reached the doorframe and leaned against it, trying to ease the ache in his back and take a breather at the same time. He waited a couple of minutes before pushing off to continue his trek to the rocker.When he finally reached it, Dean sank into it gratefully, glad for the cushions already in place. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, rubbing at his belly. He couldn’t believe how huge he’d gotten. He knew what everyone was thinking…there was no way he’d make it all the way to nine months. Delivering early was practically a foregone conclusion at this point, and it scared him. So many things could go wrong with babies born too early and before he knew it, he was crying again as all those things started flitting through his mind.“Ssshhh…shh…Dean, it’s okay. You want me to call the twins for you? Do you need anything?” A gentle voice, paired with equally gentle hands, reached him and he turned into it, burying his face in Susan’s shirt. He couldn’t stop crying long enough to talk, so he just shook his head. He knew he was being silly, but he couldn’t seem to help it. If he could only sleep, he was sure he’d feel more balanced.Maybe.He did have 4 whole living things inside him. That in itself made actual balancing a challenge every time he stood up. He snorted wetly, surprising himself into a laugh and eventually he was able to calm down enough to pull away.“I’m sorry,” he said. If it had been a month or two ago, he’d have been embarrassed but now it was pointless to even waste his energy on being so. Still, he felt the need to apologize for turning Susan’s shirt into a wet mess.“Nothin’ to be sorry for, sweetheart,” she soothed. “You sure you don’t want something? Or someone?” He shook his head again and Benny’s mom tsked. “Dean, I can smell you. You’re miserable.”“I’m always miserable, these days. There ain’t nothing for it. An’ you can’t call the twins every time I want them, or they’d never leave the house,” Dean said with a sigh, pulling away from her.“Then maybe they shouldn’t,” she said.It was the last thing he’d expected to hear. “What? B-but they got school!”“So do you. I know you already finished your course work for the week Dean, but there’s no reason why - seeing as you and Jimmy and Cas all take most of the same classes – why they can’t take advantage of the tutors that are already coming to see you. It would do wonders for your mood, and that’s important for your health. I bet your doc has already said as much.”“…maybe,” Dean muttered. A door slammed below them and both of them looked up, startled. Footsteps pounded through the house, up the stairs and straight towards them.The twins slid into each other as they careened around the corner into the nursery, breathing hard, looks of panic on both their faces. Dean blinked and gaped at them as they wasted no time in rushing to his side.“You called them?” he asked Susan in disbelief.She shook her head with a smile. “Didn’t have to, Dean. That’s what bonds do.” She paused. “though not usually over that great a distance. You three have something really special, don’t you?”She left the room, leaving Dean in the tender care of his mates who were finally relaxing as they realized there was nothing physically wrong with Dean.  They knelt on either side of him, trying their best to wrap him up without moving him. He wasn’t mad they were here, not really. Grateful, maybe a little guilty that they’d obviously thought something was wrong with him, but actually very much relieved, just their presence doing much to make him feel better emotionally.“Why do you feel guilty? What did you do?” Jimmy looked at him sharply, worry in his voice.“Nothing! I mean, aren’t you guys gonna get in trouble for ditching school like this?” Dean asked, biting his lip.“You’re our mate, Dean. I don’t care what they say,” Cas rumbled into his ear.“If they say anything, they can suck it,” Jimmy agreed. “We don’t want to spend so much time away from you anymore. Not when this pregnancy is being so hard on you.”“And you might go into labor any day now. I can’t see Susan being able to help you down the stairs very easily – “ Cas said.“Not that she couldn’t do it – that is one stubborn lady!” Jimmy interjected. Dean snorted out a laugh. “We just rather she didn’t, just in case, y’know?”“I love you guys,” Dean said, smiling. The happy, loving scent flowed through the room, breaking up the miasma he hadn’t even realized he’d been sitting in. if the twins had felt that over their bond, no wonder they’d come rushing home. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I cause.”“Dean, it’s a given that the three of us together, as mates? We were all gonna cause trouble,” Jimmy joked. “We never do anything the normal way, why start now?”Dean started laughing. “Fuck, that’s so true  - unnnhh!” Dean’s laughter cut off, turning into a groan. The twins were on instant alert.“What is it? Are you all right?”“I don’t know. That kick felt…a little harder than normal.” His breathing hitched as there was another shove. “Think they’re feeling a bit cramped in there.”Cas and Jimmy looked at each other in worry, Jimmy biting his lip. “What if - ?” he didn’t have to finish the sentence. Cas shook his head and shrugged.“I don’t know. Let’s just call and get Pam’s advice,” he said reasonably. Nobody moved. Until Dean groaned again, the groan ending in a whimper.“Forget calling her, just take me in…” Dean said. Fear flowed down the bond even as it pushed into their noses, almost making them gag with it. The twins scrambled to their feet in a panic, both trying to help Dean up at once. He was groaning and whimpering almost constantly now, little gasps breaking through every so often. They didn’t bother with his shoes or changing his clothes – someone could always come back and get anything they needed – just assisted him to his feet and helped him down the hall.Jimmy called frantically for Susan before they even reached the bottom of the stairs. Benny’s mom darted out from the kitchen – probably there with intent to cook Dean some comfort food. She’d been a godsend during both Dean and Alfie’s pregnancies – and gasped when she saw them.“We need to get Dean to the hospital – please, get the car?” Cas managed. As hard as he was trying to stay calm, even Cas couldn’t manage it, his voice cracking, but he didn’t care who heard. His worry for Dean mattered more than what anyone thought about the big strong Alpha being scared.“All right. Everyone – stay calm,” Susan said as she ran for her coat and shoes, snapping up the car keys, going for the door even as the twins stared at her disbelievingly.Stay calm? How the hell were they supposed to do that when Dean was so obviously in pain and there were so many risks with going into labor this early? Was she serious? The looks the twins exchanged showed they were both thinking the same damn thing.She was still shrugging on her coat when she ran outside. They heard the car start up – not the Impala, but Susan’s of course. Neither Cas nor Jimmy were in the state of mind to drive and Dean would never allow her to if he was even capable of considering his precious car right now. He was not.She ran back. “Oh no. You get shoes on that boys’ feet. There’s still snow on the ground and there’s no way either of you should try carrying him. If one of you should slip…” she trailed off with a shudder and neither Jimmy nor Cas argued the point. Cas held Dean up, using the wall to brace him while Jimmy slid his snow boots on over Dean’s swollen feet. It was a struggle, but eventually they managed it and Jimmy came back up to help Cas bring Dean to the car.They were all three soon settled into the back – there was no way either of them could leave Dean, their Alpha instincts crying out to be close to him so they could do something. Dean reached for their hands and squeezed them both painfully. The very idea of separating even for something as simple as a car ride, even to only be separated by an extremely short distance, was more than any of them could bear.When they reached the hospital, Jimmy ran inside to get help, leaving Dean to lay against Cas. Tears were streaming down his face despite his eyes being squeezed shut. He clutched at Cas and Cas was drowning from the scent assaulting his nose and all the emotional input flooding the bond, drowning in all the fear and pain coming off Dean. The fear was echoed by him and Jimmy and he could feel it too.Susan touched his arm. “Sweetheart, you and Jimmy need to calm yourselves. The doctors here are the best, and you’ll only make Dean feel better if you can give him good things to feel and smell. This is hard enough on him already. And I know it’s hard on both of you too, but this is a way for you to help, all right?”“I’m trying,” Cas croaked.“I know you are…”Jimmy returned with a nurse and a wheelchair and soon the four of them were inside. Cas, being slightly calmer then Jimmy, stepped aside to make phone calls before he would be forced to turn it off. He did the bare minimum, calling Dean’s parents first, then his dad, then Alfie before he shut off his phone and went to follow his mates.An orderly stood in his way.“I’m sorry sir, you can’t go past here.”“Like hell I can’t!”“Sir, only mates can go beyond this point,” the orderly insisted.“I am his mate,” Cas growled, his hands balling into fists as he sought to control himself.The orderly winced, no doubt taking in the scent of a pissed off Alpha, but he stood his ground. “Uh, I don’t think so. His mate is already inside.” Contempt dripped off his voice, a sneer on his face as he glared up at Cas.“Whoa, whoa, boys!” Dr. Barnes stepped between them. “Why are you standing in the way of an Alpha trying to get to his mate, Andy?”“Why am I -? Are you kidding me? That pregnant guy’s mate already went in! He’s trying to pull a fast one on to go in after him. Probably thinks because they look alike, he can get away with shit like that!” Andy protested.Pam sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You obviously didn’t read the file I sent ahead. This is a triad, you moron. I know that’s rare, which is why I sent word ahead. Now, you are making matters worse – both out here and in there - so step aside.”Andy paled and he nodded shakily with wide eyes. Cas went to rush past him as soon as the orderly was out of the way but Pam caught his arm. “Easy there, tiger. Dean is in no danger,” she promised.“Then why is he in so much pain? I can feel it!” The pain that had started in the car was now flooding the bond, making it extremely hard to concentrate, feeding into his alpha instincts to protect, and he missed the small gasp Pamela gave.“We’re giving him something to help him right now, all right? Pain is normal. He’s in no danger. Just follow me.”Cas followed automatically, noting as he walked that Pam was right. The pain was indeed lessening and he breathed out a sigh of relief – just before he blacked out. He didn’t see any of the panic that ensued around him or Pam’s surprise when he hit the floor.

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When he came to, Cas and Jimmy were in a hospital bed, curled together, with a heartbeat monitor hooked to each of their fingers. A nurse was shaking them both awake and groggily the twins looked up, trying to sort out the scents and sounds around them, all while feeling along the bond for Dean.Scents yielded them nothing except the faint vestiges of each other, the hospital smell too strong for anything more. The room itself was fairly quiet, other than various equipment beeping away, with only the rustling sound of clothing and their own movements as they struggled to sit up to be heard. The bond itself was perking up even as they did.“Where’s – “ Cas started to ask.The nurse pointed with a smile. “He’s right over there, just waking up.”“What happened? Is everyone all right? The pups -” Jimmy asked, scrambling to his feet and helping his brother to his, both of them ripping the monitors off their fingers.A strong laugh broke into the mostly quiet room.“Your pups are fine. As for what happened—” another throaty chuckle rolled through the room, tinged with amazement. “Boys, you three have the strongest bond I have ever encountered in twenty years as a doctor.”Shaking her head, Pam stepped into view. “It’s not normal for you to feel each other’s pain over a bond. Feelings? Yes. Physical symptoms? No. As soon as Dean was comfortable for the first time in, well, a while, his body took advantage of the situation to get him the sleep he’d been missing, the drugs doing much to assist in that.”Pam shrugged, but her grin was wide. “You two? You simply went along for the ride.”Cas and Jimmy blinked at her, then shook their heads. There were more important things to worry about right now, and over her shoulder they could see Dean moving tiredly, the yearning coming over their bond from him galvanizing the twins into action.Rushing to his side for the second time that day, the twins beheld a tired and dazed Dean.“Oh good, you guys are awake,” Dean said, his voice slurred and dragging, but he was smiling. “Can’t wait to tell everyone my Alpha’s fainted during the labor.”“We didn’t faint,” Jimmy protested with a frown.“How are you feeling, Dean?”“Mmm…floaty,” Dean murmured. His eyes fluttered shut briefly before popping open again. Both of them reached out to take one of his hands in theirs, leaning in to nuzzle his neck.“Be gentle with him,” Pam chided. “They all wanted out at the same time, and it was putting extra stress on him. We wound up having to do a C-section so he’s sporting some stitches and he’s going to be very tender. He shouldn’t be lifting much either. One baby at a time – without a carrier. Those things add too much weight – is his limit for a few weeks. If he’s sitting down comfortably, two at a time is doable.”Cas and Jimmy looked about the room in confusion. “But…where are they?”“Relax, daddies. The pups are just getting their vitals and measurements taken, getting cleaned up and set up in their special beds. As soon as they can, we’ll wheel them in here,” Pamela reassured.“Special beds?” Jimmy asked, his voice rising.“We talked about this, remember?” Pamela reminded them. “Early delivery means underdeveloped lungs. There’s no danger to your pups, though, and we were well prepared for this. It just means they get to stay in the hospital a little longer than normal. Of course, we wouldn’t dream of separating your pups from you, so you’ve also been set up with a private room. Just be aware that nurses will be coming in often to check on them. It’s the tradeoff, but preemie pups do better when they’re closer to their parents, especially the Omega parent, so we won’t be keeping them segregated in the nursery as normal.”The room flooded with relief and she gave them a small laugh and a headshake, departing the room. The three of them huddled together, the twins trying to give and receive as much comfort as possible without overcrowding Dean.In not much longer, a quartet of nurses came with their pups, just as promised. Each one had their own bed, but not the sleek, simple ones of the nursery. There were apparatuses attached to the underside and as Cas and Jimmy got up to take a closer look, they could see little ventilators strapped to their faces and the Alphas hearts broke to see it.“Don’t focus on that,” Pamela said from behind them. “We’ve already given them Surfactant, which will help the development of their lungs and they don’t need to be on the ventilators 24/7. Your pups are amazingly healthy, all things considering.”Dean’s anxiousness pushed out over the bond and Jimmy spoke up. “But when can we hold them? Can we even do that when they’re…” he swallowed.Pamela smiled sympathetically. “Yes, it’s important to their development, actually. But not yet. We want to give them a little more time on the ventilators, and then you’ll get the chance to touch them, skin to skin. Dean will be more than ready to start feeding by then too. It won’t be long, I promise.”The nurses departed, the little glass beds left arrayed against the wall. Dean craned his neck around to try and see into them, his anxiousness getting thicker and more unbearable for his Alpha’s to feel by the second.“Can we at least bring the beds over so Dean can see them?” Cas asked.“Of course,” she agreed. With the permission, Cas and Jimmy burst into careful motion, making sure not to unplug anything while the moved their pups closer to Dean. Soon they were carefully cocooned around Dean, enabling him to sit up without the support of the bed but still allowing him the rest he needed. Their fingers itched to hold their pups.They stared down at the small, perfect little things, with only the ventilators marring their picture-perfect view. Their pups’ eyes were closed, colored bracelets circling their wrists – three blue, one pink – and just stared in stunned disbelief and wonder.“We’re dads…” Jimmy whispered. “Holy shit, we’re dads…”Cas nodded, his scent – so close they were together, it was clear as a bell – full of nervousness and awe.“We’re totally outnumbered,” Dean pointed out.The Alpha’s blinked and both of them came to the same conclusion at nearly the same instant, saying “We’re so screwed,” in unison. Dean huffed a laugh, burying his face in Cas’s neck. The way his belly twisted and stretched, he was sure if he wasn’t still drugged up, that that would have hurt.“We’ve got three boys and a girl…we’re not the only ones outnumbered,” Jimmy eventually said, while rubbing a hand up and down Deans back. None of them could take their eyes of the sleeping pups.“We need to pick out names,” Cas straightened up suddenly, blinking. “We never came to a decision!”“We thought we had time,” Jimmy said. He blinked and reconsidered what he’d said when he felt the amused exasperation from his mates. “Well, okay, a little more time than we got, anyway. I mean…” he trailed off. “Oh never mind,” he grumbled as he felt Dean’s silent laughter rocking into his and Cas’s body.  Dean giggled, unable to hold back any longer, still feeling somewhat loopy from the drugs. He sobered suddenly. “Guys, guys…this is one of the best days of my life…am I going to even remember this moment?”“Dean, what are you talking about?” Cas asked in concern.“I’m…I’m just being stupid,” Dean mumbled.Cas and Jimmy both turned carefully, still making sure to support Dean even as he fought to hide his blushing and embarrassed face, and cradled him as close as they could without hurting him.“No, Dean…what have we said about that?”  Cas stroked down his arm.“’m not stupid?” Dean sighed, breathing in his Alphas. It helped, but he wanted to hold his pups so bad it made his heart ache.“No, you’re not. Now, what’s the matter?” Jimmy asked.“”m all drugged up. I mean, sure, it’s great, I don’t feel much pain yet but…I still feel…woozy, y’know? How much am I gonna remember of their first moments? The first time I laid eyes on them?” Dean sniffed. “See what I mean? ‘s stupid.”“Not stupid, Dean,” Cas soothed.Jimmy nodded. “Besides. We’ve got our phones. We can take pictures, videos, anything you want. I mean, was gonna do that anyway. You’re not the only one who wants to remember every moment.”Dean brightened and the Alphas almost sagged in relief, only the fact that Dean was leaning on them kept them from letting themselves do so. They continued to stare at the sleeping newborns, small smiles adorning their faces.“What about…Henry, Robert, Jack and…Mary?” Dean asked quietly. They’d discussed numerous names and it had been hard to pick. So many people they admired that they wished to name their children after. But at the same time, they didn’t want to use a name that was already in use, for fear it would be too confusing.The one exception was Mary. It had been the only girl name the three of them had unequivocally agreed on. Mary’s role had been pivotal in where they were now. They’d made all their plans, but she had been the one to step aside and trusted them to try. All she’d wanted was to make her son happy, and Dean was. So goddamn happy he sometimes didn’t know what to do with it.“Well, Mary’s gonna be easy. But which ones gonna be Henry, which one is Jack and which one is Robert?” Jimmy asked.“I’ll tell you when we hold them,” Dean assured his mate and Jimmy laughed.At that moment, Pamela came in with a nurse. “You boys ready?”The three of them nodded eagerly, excitement and apprehension both teasing at the edges of their scent. Together, Jimmy and Cas got Dean settled back into the bed properly, with the back angled up, and grabbed seats to sit on either side of him, as close as they could get, even though they’d rather be up on the bed with him. But it was too narrow for them and they knew it. They would have to be satisfied with this till they could get home.Hopefully, that wouldn’t be too long. Then again, that depended on the pups.Before they knew it, Pamela and the nurse were instructing them to take their shirts off and laying the pups in their arms, tucking them skin to skin. The pups instantly snuggled in towards the warmth and each one of them, Alpha and Omega alike, felt their hearts melt as sappy smiles spread across their faces.“This’ll help the bonding process, and the healing process,” Pamela said gently. As soon as they were settled, Dean with a baby in each arm and propped by pillows to ease the strain, both Alphas with one each, Pamela pulled out a camera and snapped a picture. It was one of those instant cameras, and when the picture finished she laid it out on the little table. “If you want me to, I’ll snap a couple on your phones,” she offered.Three phones were thrust into her face before she finished speaking – Cas handling Dean’s for him. She laughed heartily, ignoring the persistent sounds all three phones made as they were turned back on. After a few minutes, she handed them back and gave Dean instructions for feeding, helping him guide the pups’ hungry and seeking mouths.“What about the other two?” Jimmy asked, nervously.“We’ll be setting you boys up with formula, but if it can be done, its good for the pups to get the first drink directly from the source,” she assured them with a smirk. “It’s got all sorts of healthy nutrients that are particularly good for them.”She left the room, leaving them to it. The three of them staring down into their pups relaxed faces in more wonder then they’d ever felt before. Jimmy felt nervous, afraid that he’d drop his son. Cas was stiff but determined, knowing already that these pups would have him wrapped around their little fingers before they could crawl.Dean simply looked on proudly as Mary and Jack suckled contentedly at his chest. He’d already switched off with Henry and Robert, who had tired quickly, the nurse finding a pen to make notations of the new names on the pups’ bracelets.They’d have to let the others in soon: their parents and brothers and sisters and other family, their close friends. Would have to share their pups with their loved ones eventually.But not yet.Cas deigned only to send off a quick message with a pic attached to his brother Alfie, trusting him to spread it around and let them all know that Dean was fine and so were the pups, but that they wouldn’t be answering any messages just yet.They’d get their moment soon enough.This moment was theirs and theirs alone.

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“I can’t believe you two fainted,” Benny chortled gleefully, as he waited his turn to hold one of the pups. Each daddy had one of the boys and Alfie had quickly snatched up Mary. Benny could feel the hope for their own little girl coming down the bond.“We did not!” Jimmy protested indignantly.“As a matter of fact, we didn’t. Pamela said it had something to do with our bond,” Cas grumbled.Dean nodded. “She said it was very strong and she’d never seen anything like it before.” He beamed at his Alphas proudly. “That most bonds couldn’t feel things the way we did. I knew Cas and Jimmy were something special.”The twins beamed right back, their embarrassment forgotten. “You are too, Dean.”Benny chuckled at how sappy the twins were, and Dean too, but Dean would always deny it, even when the proof was right there. He wondered and hoped that his and Alfie’s bond was as strong as theirs. His nose wrinkled as he caught that Alfie was actually less than pleased. He turned to look at his mate only to find him frowning.Alfie shuddered, leaning into Benny. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t see that as a bonus. I want my mate awake, not passed out. The idea that our bond could affect each other like that – it scares me! What if either of them had been driving?”Benny blinked, his thoughts brought up short. “I hadn’t thought of that,” he said softly. He could see that neither the twins nor Dean had considered that aspect either, just from the stunned expressions flitting over their faces. Alfie whined and Benny drew him in close to comfort him before Mary could fuss over the uneasy scent Alfie was giving off.Dean rocked the pup currently in his arms – Benny wasn’t sure which it was yet – biting his lip, his eyes wide in alarm. “We need to talk to Pamela! What if something like this happens again? Alfie’s right! Something bad could have happened. Knowing somethings going on is one thing, but the fact that you guys went down when I did…”Now Dean was whining and the scent of distressed Omegas started to overpower the hospital stench of the room. Benny swallowed, afraid to point out that the reverse was equally true. As protective as Cas and Jimmy were, the atmosphere in the little hospital room would quickly become unbearable.A change of subject was most definitely in order. Benny racked his brains, trying to find anything that would do it, but the pups did it for him. Each one of them set up a wail or a sniffle as the unpleasant scents washed over them. The next 10 minutes or so were spent trying to calm the little ones down, and the subject seemed to have been forgotten by all by the time the nurses came in to usher the pups back into their beds.Of course, Alfie hadn’t quite forgotten and when Pamela stopped by to check on Dean and the pups, he practically pounced.“Dr. Barnes – Pamela,” Alfie stopped and corrected himself. Pamela had insisted they refer to her informally, and it was something that the twins and Dean had fallen right into but both Benny and Alfie had had trouble with. It was obvious, to Benny at least, what he wanted to talk about. Alfie’s scent had ramped up, anxious and scared, his hands twisting together.“Yes Alfie?” her eyebrow raised in concern. She looked about the room, gauging all the sudden, anxious attention. “Did something happen?”“No, well, it’s just… what happened to Cas and Jimmy… will that happen to Dean too? And, and,” Alfie took a deep breath. “Will it happen to, to us?” his hand crept out and Benny easily took it in his own, drawing his Omega into his arms and tucking him in close.Pamela shook her head. “I don’t think so. I mean, I have some theories I still need to run tests on, but I think it’s safe to say you and Benny won’t experience the same sort of thing.”Benny felt the relief flood the bond and tickle his nose and he rubbed Alfie’s arms. He felt relieved as well, but he had noticed that she hadn’t answered the first part of the question. So had the others, if the sudden tension from the other side of the room was anything to go by. “I hope you aren’t mad at me, Benny,” he whispered.“Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you, sweetheart?” Benny asked incredulously.Alfie sniffled. “Cause I don’t want a bond like my brothers and Dean’s. ‘Cause I’m relieved that she said we don’t. It scares me, Benny. The idea that something could happen to you because we loved each other too much… and I don’t want you to think that I don’t love you.”“Shhh, shhh, cher, I ain’t mad. It scares me too. cause it ain’t just me that could get hurt from a bond like that. I don’t think I could take it if you…” Benny choked up. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I get it. The idea of a bond that strong blinded me briefly, thinkin’ how much it meant we loved each other, but when you said…” Benny’s arms tightened around Alfie. “All ah know is ah love you, and you love me. The bond took and we’re happy. We don’t need to be the couple of the century to be happy, Alfie. Ah just need ya by my side. That’s good enough for me.”Alfie melted into Benny, turning about swiftly in his arms to drag him down for a kiss filled with emotion – relief and love – tension easing away. He broke off to drop his head against Benny’s as Benny wiped tears off Alfie’s face. The quiet bubble around them eventually receded enough to hear the conversation the doctor was having with Cas, Jimmy and Dean.“So… you think that our bond is as strong as it is… because of how we bonded?” Jimmy was asking, Cas and Dean looking a little too stunned, Dean’s mouth hanging open as he took in whatever she’d said.She nodded. “It’s because there’s three of you. A typical bond is between only 2 people. It goes 2 ways and that’s that. It opens a channel between them, gives them insight to their feelings and state of mind, much the way scent would, but can’t be covered up by external means, allowing your mate to get a truer read if the situation warrants it. You three, however… you opened up that link three times and intertwined them in a way that it tends to… rebound. Surely, you’ve noticed it?”The three of them exchanged rueful glances and nodded.“Yeah, we uh, we noticed it,” Dean said, blushing profusely, not meeting her eyes.She snickered and Alfie gasped. Benny snorted at the implications of that.“Yeah, I’ll bet you have.” Pamela shook her head.“Doc, what do we do about that?” Cas asked her.“Not sure. It’s very, very rare. As is your situation,” she said, gesturing at the three of them. “There could be medications to dull the pathways, or you could try to distance yourselves from the bond – “All three of them shuddered at the idea, distaste clearly running over their faces.She laughed. “Yeah, didn’t think you boys would go for that. I’ll look into the medications. Hopefully we can find something that eases the link without compromising any of you. I’ll get back to you.”“Thanks, Doc,” Jimmy said as she left.Alfie shuddered again. He was glad that he and Benny’s bond wasn’t anything like his brothers and Dean’s, but now he was worried about them, too.“I hope she find something that works,” he said softly.“Yeah, me too,” Dean agreed.The mood had changed in the room, but a sudden knock on the door perked them all right back up, grateful for the distraction. As Chuck, John, Mary and Sam all filed in, all of them silently agreed not to worry their families with the news.It was family bonding time and their excitement to meet their grandpups – and in Sam’s case, his niece and nephews – was palpable, bringing the mood back up where it should have been on this happy occasion.

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Having four brand new pups in the house was definitely an adjustment that took some getting used to. Okay more than some.Even with help, it was exhausting everyone in the house. Six adults and four pups, plus a rotating door on family members and friends coming to see the pups and help out if they could, and they still couldn’t keep up.Benny and Alfie were now a little afraid of adding their own kid to the mix.That and the fact that with four pups usually meant that even when one was quiet and content, at least one was awake and very vocal in their assertion that they, in fact, were not.“God, I need sleep…” Alfie groaned, punching his pillow when his brothers and Dean’s pups all woke up at the same time. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, giving up on taking a nap after all. Benny sat down beside him, placing a fresh squeezed lemonade on the night stand. It was just barely Saturday afternoon and Alfie had had such a sleepless night he wanted to cry.“I know, cher,” Benny soothed.“My back hurts too, Bear,” Alfie whined.“I know. I wish I could give you a proper massage,” Benny leaned in and kissed the back of Alfie’s neck and the Omega sighed.“I’m sorry. I’m being such a whiny baby.”“You’re not a whiny baby. You’re having a baby. You’re entitled to some whining I figure,” Benny assured his mate.Alfie was having none of it. “But I’m only having one! Dean had four and I think I’m almost as bad as he was!”A chuckle greeted them from the door. “It ain’t a contest, Alfie. Honestly, you’re doing about as expected. And also, I’ll tell you a secret – I whined and complained a hell of a lot more than you heard me. And kept a great deal more of it inside.”Dean shifted his feet and the baby on his hip. The baby snuffled and nuzzled in to his body sleepily. He grimaced. “But I am sorry we’re making the last of this worse on ya. It isn’t fun, not being able to sleep to bein with, but its gotta be even worse when just as you drop of, one of these little monsters wakes you up. I’m sorry.”“No, they’re not monsters. They’re angels… most of the time,” Alfie said, giving Dean a small smile.“Yeah, you’re right about that,” Dean said softly, his face breaking into a soft smile as he gazed down at Mary, and Alfie could see that overwhelmed as he and the twins might be, Dean – at least – regretted nothing.The sight eased Alfie’s panic, which in turn, eased Benny.They could do this. they could totally do this.Benny and Alfie watched Dean gazing adoringly down at Mary, only belatedly realizing that Jimmy and Cas had joined him in the doorway carrying the boys. Jimmy had a double dose of Henry and Robert, while Cas held the particularly squirmy Jack.Things did get easier as the pups settled in to their new home and the household settled into being new parents and uncles (and one very doting adoptive grandma. Benny’s mom acted like those pups were just as much hers as the Winchesters and the Shurley’s and offered unobtrusive but eager help every step of the way)By contrast, when it finally came time, Alfie’s labor was quite anticlimactic. His labor was drama and complication free. As an added bonus, his water broke at his doctors visit and his little girl was born merely an hour later and the three of them returned home within 2 days.Little Elizabeth settled in more quickly then the quadruplets had and things were hectic but mostly peaceful.To say Dean was jealous would be understating it, but he couldn’t begrudge Alfie or Benny that happiness, and he was glad that neither of them, nor their pup, had had to go through the same hardships.Before they knew it, the five of them being so wrapped up in each other and their little bundles of joy, learning how to be parents and figuring out how to still be mates to each other, school had ended and graduation approached. Cas, Jimmy, Alfie and Benny – and despite everything, Dean too – were graduating.At first, they all protested that they didn’t need to attend the graduation, but Benny’s mother, Susan, put her foot down.“I don’t care if its merely a formality,” she said sternly to the group when she got over the shock that none of them planned to go to the ceremony. “Benny’s my only boy, and this is my only chance to see this milestone. And Dean,” she turned to him a little more gently. “I’m sure your parents feel nearly the same.”“They got Sam!” he protested.“And besides which, you should celebrate publicly the fact that you did it, despite your challenges,” she continued on as if he never said a word. Then she turned to the twins and Alfie and her eyes narrowed. “And if your mates are going to be there, then so should you three.”“But the pups…” Jimmy protested weakly.“You don’t think that four grandparents and a multitude of siblings between you can’t take care of five pups for a small handful of hours?” She raised her eyebrows at Jimmy.Cas leaned over and whispered in his ear, his own wide eyes not leaving Susan all the while, and Jimmy gulped and nodded. “Of course not. So… Graduation it is!”Strangely, Dean actually was looking forward to going to the ceremony. It was a chance to leave the house to do something for himself and not the pups – though he was glad they’d be nearby. In fact, the idea of being separated from them for too long filed both he and the twins with a weird mixture of an anxious sort of dread and guilt. When he admitted that to Alfie, Alfie had nodded solemnly, Benny gathering him in his arms and nuzzling into his neck to reassure him.They were all grateful that the school was small, with only perhaps 200 kids in the graduating class, since that kept the ceremony shorter than it might otherwise have been. Robert had been extra fussy right after they all filed in and sat in their seats and Jimmy thought nothing of getting up and marching right over to his pup, plucking him out of Chucks arms and bringing Robert back to his seat with him.Bobby calmed down as soon as he could smell all his fathers again and since the rest of their pups were content to sleep in their grandparents’ arms, the ceremony continued uninterrupted – at least on their part. They weren’t the only recently mated or newly minted parents graduating that day, and if the applause was a little louder on their behalf, that was too be expected.Of course, after the ceremony there was the big affair of a joint graduation party, held once more at Susan’s house for convenience sake.Aside from the brief ceremony, it was the biggest gathering any of them had been to since the pup shower and it was a little overwhelming despite the outpouring of love and support they got from their friends and family.Seeing all their loved ones by ones and twos (or maybe even as a group as big as 5 or 6) was a little different than this. Normally, it was the kind of party that Dean, for one, would be right in the thick of, but now everything seemed too loud and everyone kept pushing for their turn to hold one of the pups.Still, it passed pleasantly enough, despite Dean nearly having to arm wrestle Charlie to get Mary back when she began to fuss. Garth looked on with a wide grin while Cas and Jimmy had to come to the rescue and Benny nearly doubled over laughing at the look of shock – and possibly a bit of panic - on Jo’s face.No, that was definitely panic.Benny couldn’t stop laughing as they all walked away from the newly mated pair, Jo practically begging Charlie to reconsider, her voice pitched high. “I’m not ready for this! Can’t we just be the cool aunties? We’ve got plenty of pups to spoil right here!”Alfie giggled and both his brothers and Dean were grinning. Cas, at least, tried to hide the grin, should Jo happen to look at them. Not that she would. She was too busy attempting to convince Charlie of the wisdom of her words.Garth followed along with them, having the good sense to get away while the getting was good, and asked, “So, you guys think you’ll have more pups?”“It’s a little soon to ask about more pups,” Benny noted, brushing his hand gently over Elizabeth’s forehead and pushing at the one stray lock of hair on her otherwise empty head. “But I’m not opposed.”Alfie blushed. “I think I could do with 1 more, maybe, but I’d like to wait a few years at least.”“Of course,” Benny smiled and kissed Alfie. Elizabeth squirmed in Alfie’s arms and giggled, her hand reaching for Benny in an uncoordinated fashion but still managing to grab onto his beard when leaned over. He’d started growing it out from its bit of scruff into something fuller just a few months back.Dean froze in the act of sitting in one of the deck chairs at the mention of more pups and the twins not only felt, but smelled the apprehension flowing form him as they also sat down and settled the pups in comfortably. Shifting Jack to his other arm – Jack and Cas had really bonded. They weren’t supposed to have favorites and were, in fact, determined not to, but the pups clearly did – Cas leaned into Dean. “What’s wrong, Dean?”Jimmy craned his head around to look past Cas, sending own concerned look Dean’s way. Henry was up on his shoulder looking around bright eyed while Robert sucked on his thumb in Jimmy’s lap.Dean hunched in a bit, occupying himself with Mary, letting her play with his finger. It always melted his heart to see any of his pups’ tiny hands clenching around his fingers.“Okay, don’t be mad. I know I said I wanted pups but… I don’t want any more, okay guys? We got four already and I… I love them,” Dean felt his heart squeeze and tears fill his eyes but damned if he was gonna let them fall- “But we have our hands pretty full as is. I don’t see why we should add any more to the mix.”To Dean’s surprise, guilt flooded through their bond. The love and acceptance, he expected, but the guilt and determination was… he wasn’t sure what it was. He finally looked up to see the twins staring at him with sad eyes.“Dean, we’re so sorry if we made you feel like you had to have more pups, regardless of your own wishes,” Cas said.“You know we’d never force that on you and you’re right. Four is a lot. And we’re all right with the ones we have, truly,” Jimmy added.“We’d love any others that came along – how could we not?” Cas interrupted himself, Jimmy nodding vigorously, “– but we’re just as okay as you if -”In unison, the twins kept going, “-if we stick to what we have already.”“And you don’t need to feel guilty about this, Dean,” Cas insisted.“It really is okay. In fact, Cas and I’ve been kinda thinking about it and… we were going to suggest not having any more pups, if you were okay with that,” Jimmy said, biting his lip in worry.“Really?” Dean blinked. “Why?”“Dean… what all of us went through with your pregnancy and then the labor… With our family genetics, our strangely strong bond and its unexpected side effects…The too early delivery and our pups requiring special treatment…” Cas paused, taking a deep breath. “We know it could have been worse, much worse, but it was bad enough.”“It scared us, Dean,” Jimmy said softly. “For you and the pups. We truly don’t mind that you don’t want any more. We’re already more than happy to have you and four healthy pups. We don’t need anything else.”“We would have mentioned this a while ago, but we were unsure how to bring it up,” Cas said quietly. “We thought you might think we were trying to make decisions on your behalf – especially if you didn’t feel the same way.”A sense of relief rushed through Dean and a tension he hadn’t even been aware of flowed away. He leaned hard into Cas and reached around behind him to touch Jimmy.Benny and Alfie watched the twins and Dean having this quiet moment, all while still amidst the noise and bustle of the party. It was sappy and weighty enough that both of them felt like they were intruding. But before either of them could make their escape and leave the mates to their moment, the grandparents descended on the five of them. Cooing at the pups - obviously feeling deprived of the cuddles of their grandpups, cuddles that were their right as grandparents – Susan, Chuck, Mary and John swept up all five pups. The boys found themselves suddenly with empty arms and stunned gazes as their parents disappeared back through the crowd to the other side of the patio.Dean couldn’t help the anxious whine as Mary left his arms and Jimmy chuckled while Cas, closer to Dean, rubbed their Omega’s shoulders. With every steady press of Cas’s fingers, Dean relaxed and sighed.“I know it’s stupid, they’re all perfectly capable of raising children. I mean, here we all are, right? But I can’t help but feel…” Dean trailed off and Alfie nodded in understanding.“I get you, Dean. I don’t want to let go of my little Elizabeth either. She’s mine and Benny’s and I just…I feel so… so possessive over her.” Alfie paused, obviously frustrated by his inability to put what he was feeling into words but Dean got it.By the solemn nods of their mates, and their own anxious and wistful smells as they looked back through the gaps of the crowd and trying to catch a glimpse of their pups, they obviously felt the same way.“So, if the five of you suddenly had a night or two to yourselves, what would you do with it?” Garth asked, startling the five in question. They’d all forgotten he was there.  He was so unassuming and cheerful, so steady, that his scent barely made much of an impact.Dean jerked in the surprise, Cas catching him as his chair toppled over.Jimmy peaked over Cas’s shoulder. “Well, now I’m glad our parents took the pups. Imagine if you’d fallen over while holding Mary?”“Shut up,” Dean grumbled, righting himself. He started to stand, then thought better of it, settling on the ground, sitting against his Alpha’s legs, using them as a backrest. Automatically, both Cas and Jimmy’s hands found their way into Dean’s hari, scratching gently. Dean closed his eyes contentedly and leaned back.Cas hummed. “You know, I think if we had a night free from the pups, the three of us would just cuddle in bed with the tv on. We’d inevitably fall asleep, I’m sure, and we’d all just relish in getting a full night’s sleep for the first time in… I don’t even know how long.”Jimmy nodded vigorously, the motion jostling Dean. “Damn straight.”“Amen,” Dean said absently.Benny and Alfie made their own agreeable noises and Garth laughed cheerfully.“That wasn’t exactly the answer I expected,” he admitted. “I figured it’d be something else completely, to be honest.”“Oh,” Dean said with a smirk, popping one eye back open to look at Garth. “Well, if you’re talking more than one night free of pups? We’d totally be gettin’ it on. If the room’s a rockin’, don’t come knockin’. And it would most definitely be rockin’.”He closed his eye again as someone choked. Jimmy slid to the ground howling. Benny’s deep chuckle barely covered Alfie’s mortified giggle. Cas sighed, saying only, “Dean,” in a disapproving tone and a bland scent but there was nothing but humor and love and yes, even lust, flowing through their bond.Across the patio, the grandparents took turns making fools of themselves to make the pups smile and giggle, all while still occasionally glancing over to see their sons, tired, but happy. Nothing had worked out the way any of them had expected, but their children were good, stable and happy, all in loving relationships – despite how unorthodox one of those relationships were, the proof that it worked was before them - and they had adorable grandpups. No one, not even Chuck, was going to argue with any of that.And later, after all the other guests were gone, they’d surprise their sons with their real graduation gifts. Something every parent wanted, no matter how much they loved their pups, whether they admitted it or not.Some time to themselves.