The silence lasted until they arrived at Castiel’s house.

“You wait here while I go get Ares. I won’t be long,” Castiel said. He opened the door and immediately a big dog started barking, and Sarah became uneasy.

Soon a muscular, black and brown dog came outside with Castiel. Sarah tensed when Ares came closer. She raised her hands when the dog tried to sniff them. Her heart beat faster when Ares’s snout touched her legs and she backed off a few steps.

“Are you scared of dogs?” Castiel asked and pulled Ares away and shortened the leash.

“N-no,” Sarah lied. “I was just surprised at how big he is.”

“Normal size for a Rottweiler,” Castiel said and headed to the street. Sarah followed behind, trying to stay a safe distance away from Ares.

The walk went similarly to the walk to Castiel’s house, quietly. Tim also stayed quiet which Sarah was happy about. He hadn’t complained about hunger yet, which meant he’d most likely do it soon. From time to time Ares tried to sniff the carriage but Castiel made sure he’d stay a distance away from the carriage and Sarah. Sarah thought to herself that Ares walked nicely next to the carriage. Why did Castiel need her?

When she didn’t glance nervously at the dog, Sarah looked around and she noticed a lot of familiar places which surprised her. They crossed a street that went past her home street.

“Oh, you live pretty close to me,” she blurted out and blushed a bit. Why did she say that? Castiel didn’t need to know. He probably didn’t care.

“Where do you live then?” he asked.

“Well, maybe few hundred metres that way,” Sarah said and waved her hand to the left. “If you walk down that street, you get to my home street.”

“Ah.”

Then they were silent again. Castiel didn’t seem interested in having a conversation and Sarah didn’t mind the silence either but she couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward. She couldn’t forget Mercedes’s words. Castiel had said to ignore them but what did he think about them? Because words always had an effect. Did he ignore them as mockery, or did he believe them?

“Let’s go there,” Castiel said and Sarah flinched awake from her thoughts. She followed Castiel through park gates.

The park was small and quiet with large grassy areas, few trees, benches and sandy paths. They were only people there and Castiel let Ares off the leash. The dog ran happily to sniff trees and bushes. Sarah sat down on a bench.

Ares came back soon carrying a stick and showed it off proudly. For a moment him and Castiel fought for it but quickly the dog let go. Castiel threw the stick as far away as he could, and Ares chased after it. Sarah smiled and watched the dog run around. He enjoyed himself. And that seemed to apply to Castiel as well. He also had a smile on his face which was almost weird. Castiel rarely smiled at school; it only happened when he talked with Leon. But a smile suited him. It made him look more approachable and less angry. Sarah turned her eyes away so Castiel wouldn’t catch her staring.

While in her thoughts, Sarah kept rocking the carriage gently which would usually help a baby to fall asleep. Tim stared at her with half open eyes. The silence was getting heavy. Ares ran around the park and Sarah didn’t know what to say to start a conversation.

Luckily Tim started crying. Sarah almost jumped up from the bench thankful for the opportunity to do something. She picked the diaper bag from the bottom section of the carriage and took the feeding bottle out. It had been hours since Tim had drunk water, so the reason for his bawling was easy to guess.

“What are you doing?” Castiel asked.

“He’s ‘hungry’ so I’m giving him a drink.” Sarah put the bottle in the dolls mouth and crying stopped immediately.

“It gets hungry? And it cries because of it?”

“Yes. Did you not pay any attention to any of the dolls in class today? He’ll also cry because of wet diaper and sometimes just for fun.”

“Wet…diaper?” Castiel sounded like it was the grossest thing in the entire world.

“Yes. All this water has to come out somehow,” Sarah said. “But don’t worry. It’s just water.” She took the bottle from the doll and put it away. “You usually need to feed it every around four hours, but it varies a bit. It might also cry during the night. It didn’t last night but I think there’s a chance.”

“They’ve really put some effort in these toys,” Castiel said and reached to take the stick Ares had brought him again.

“I was pretty surprised myself,” Sarah admitted.

Ares dropped the stick and Castiel offered it to Sarah. “Do you want to throw?” Sarah shook her head. Castiel shrugged and threw the stick and Ares ran after it again.

Sarah put Tim back in the baby carriage and continued to rock it. It just came naturally without her having to think about it. Then two older ladies walked past them and stared at them openly the whole time. Sarah stopped the rocking.

“How irresponsible the kids are these days. Having a baby when still so young. Unbelievable. They’re still children themselves,” one lady said to the other without bothering to keep her voice down. Sarah lowered her eyes on the ground even though there was nothing to be ashamed off. Tim was a doll, not a real baby. She’d never think about having a child at this age. And possibly not in any other age either but she wasn’t sure about it yet.

“That’s what happens when they think they’re adults. Accidents happen when you don’t know how to be responsible,” the other lady sighed.

“Tsch, stupid old hags,” Castiel snorted and then whistled sharply. “Ares!” he called and soon the dog came, still carrying the stick. The old ladies took a few side steps when Ares ran past them but he didn’t pay any attention to the women.

“Let’s go home,” he said to the dog and put him back to the leash. Sarah stood up as well.

They didn’t utter a word on the way back to Castiel’s house. When Castiel went to open the door, Sarah parked the carriage next to the doorstep.

“Well, good luck with this. I’ll take him tomorrow. Everything you need is in that bag. He does cry but usually calms down quickly when you figure out what’s wrong. Usually it’s hunger or wet diaper. Remember to write down on the diary as well,” Sarah instructed and took a few steps to leave.

“Hey, wait,” Castiel said and Sarah stopped. What now? “Give me your number. Just in case.”

“Oh. S-sure.”

Sarah took Castiel’s phone and saved her number. Her fingers trembled and she had to focus so she wouldn’t type her number wrong. The suggestion had left her flustered and Sarah worried it’d show on her face. She quickly handed the phone back and muttered a “see you tomorrow” before hurrying off.

Castiel watched her go and then picked up the doll from the carriage. Feeding and changing diaper to a doll was stupid. Some people had too much time in their hands if they came up with this stuff.