thread of all the gifts dean received for his 42nd birthday from his found family and all of them turned him into a blubbering mess because he's a fucking softie and loves them all so much

sam got dean a new record player -- his existing one was starting to look as if it had seen better days, and that one knob was so loose it might fall off. he upgraded him to one that doubles as a blue tooth speaker bc "come on, dean, you gotta join the 21st century"

eileen gives him a collection of graphic novels, and graciously included the gift receipt on top of the wrapping paper to give him an out and pretend to like it but he'll exchange them, thank you, he's not a nerd like that. but he keeps them and reads them all within a month

jody and donna and the girls all went in together (and coordinated with sam) and got him the entire discography of led zeppelin on vinyl, along with a smattering of other classic rock records. somehow folklore and evermore showed up in the mix. dean pretends not to notice

garth gives him a set of new throwing knives with a note and a promise to show dean a few tricks with them. he also sneaks in some floss. the note also includes a playful warning that if dean doesn't use it, the knife throwing practice will go poorly for dean

bobby and charlie and the rest of the crew from apocalypse world went a more practical direction, and got him a ton of camping gear that packs well and light for those hunts that he'll need to rough it for. dean only feels slightly guilty when he uses it for just plain camping

rowena sends him a seemingly innocuous box, containing one bottle of whisky. the note attached encourages him to indulge himself more. upon further inspection, the whisky is none other than the macallan fine and rare 60-year-old 1926,, last sold in auction for $1.9m

sonny sends him the old, beat up, well worn and loved acoustic guitar that dean learned on while staying at sonny's. his note complained that the kids nowadays prefer electric, and he'd rather it go to someone he knows will appreciate it. it still smells the same

claire gives him one of a pair of charmed protection necklaces, linked to each other,, when both are worn they radiate the slightest warmth to indicate the other party is wearing theirs too. she wears hers so he won't need to worry about her so much

jack got him the board game settlers of catan, and as soon as it was opened, asked if they could play together. he also makes sure to include a home made card with his gift, depicting a drawing of dean teaching jack how to drive the impala with the caption "best day"

cas. cas keeps it simple and practical for the party. he gives dean a new coffee machine, one that can do all the fancy drinks if one were to enjoy that type of thing, or just a standard brewed pot of coffee. there is a small box inside the coffee pot, that dean reaches for but +

cas gives him a look to wait. much later, after everyone has turned in, full with dessert and wine and celebratory love,, dean and cas sit together in the kitchen. dean shares a look with cas, and looks towards the coffee pot, questioning. cas nods warmly +

in the box is a small glass vial, containing what can only be angel grace. it swirls slowly and dean feels the warmth of the grace through the cool glass of the vial. dean holds it to his heart as cas holds him. this was dean's favorite gift of all. the promise of a life with cas