Author: @andromytta , @nealinor
Archive Warnings: Suicidal Ideation
Major Tags: Alternative Universe - Modern Setting, Dean Winchester, Castiel, Jimmy Novak, Claire Novak, Sam Winchester, Rowena McCloud, Eileen Leahy, Meg Masters, Charlie Bradbury, Kevin Tran, Linda Tran, Jack Klein, Kelly Klein, Lisa Braeden, Slow burn (Jimmy/Cas), Dean/Cas, Dean/Jimmy, Jimmy/Cas, Pediatrician Cas, Social worker (LCSW) Dean, Grieving Jimmy, polygamy, suicidal ideation, panic attacks, angst, mentions of character death, fluff, smut, mentions of child abuse, John Winchester’s A+ parenting, twincest, Jimmy and Castiel are twins, PTSD, angst with a happy ending, anal fingering, anal sex, blowjobs, threesome m/m/m
Growing up, Jimmy and Castiel Novak were very close. Closer than perhaps any two brothers should be and they lived with a precarious balance of maintaining that closeness without falling into a physical relationship. Castiel was content with this but Jimmy had other dreams to pursue. When it came time for the brothers to go to college, instead of following the plans they’d made to go to KU together, Jimmy secretly applied to Northwestern in Chicago. When the day to leave came, Jimmy left in the middle of the night, abandoning Castiel, leaving Castiel heartbroken and confused.
Twenty years later, the brothers lived completely separate lives. Jimmy married a woman named Amelia and together they had a twelve year old daughter, Claire. Castiel married his college roommate, Dean Winchester, and the two lived happily together, planning to adopt children of their own. Neither brother spared a thought to what once was, and those days of closeness were now a lifetime away.
When Amelia died suddenly, he quickly became overwhelmed struggling through life without his spouse. In desperation, he showed up one night on Castiel’s doorstep with his daughter in tow, begging for help. Dean took them in out of concern for Jimmy’s daughter Claire. The once happy life that Castiel and Dean had devolved into tension. Castiel felt betrayed by Dean and heartbroken by Jimmy’s return. Claire was angry at her father for tearing apart the life she had known while she was still struggling with the loss of her mother. Jimmy was lost in grief for his wife. And Dean, in the middle of it all, was trying to help each one of those people while holding onto the best thing in his life: his marriage.
The ringing of the doorbell startled them both. Cas sighed and pulled away from Dean. “I guess I’m getting it.” He went to the front door and pulled it open; a heartbeat later and he slammed it shut again. Not simply closing it, but loudly slamming it with a great whump of sound.
Dean had been trying to pay attention to Dr. Piccolo’s impassioned speech about a patient with a failing heart; however, the sound cut through all of that. Concern rose in his chest and he put his beer down to see what happened to his husband. What he saw didn’t ease his worry; Cas was sheet-pale and looked completely spooked. “Babe?”
Cas backed away from the door, shaking his head as the doorbell rang again. “It’s…it’s….” He swallowed heavily, as if trying to stop himself from heaving.
Dean bolted from the couch and rushed the few feet to where Cas stood. He laid his hands on Cas’s shoulders to calm him because he seemed to be shaking. “Who is it?”
Cas was shaking his head with his eyes tightly closed and Dean was starting to panic. Nothing ever fazed Cas. He was a real-life doctor who dealt with life-and-death situations. Yet, whatever was at the door had shaken him deeply. “Who is it?”
Cas only shook his head again, crossing his arms over his chest in a protective gesture.
The doorbell rang again. Dean felt a rising anger at whoever was out there because they had hurt his husband and were persistent. Dean let Cas go and whirled to the door, which he wrenched open. “Who the hell…?” The words died on his lips as he was faced with Cas’s double. The man—identical to his Cas in almost every way—stood outside with a young, blonde girl who was glaring, first at the man, and then at Dean. She looked to be about 12, or so.
“Ah… hello,” the man said, stepping closer to the door. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Jimmy.”