Teen Wolf BigBang Fic - My Isabella (Teen) - 7/9

[luvsbitca]

Previous Parts:
Masterpost | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6


“So,” Stiles said, calling Derek. “Full moon on Friday night, what’s the plan?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Dad’s working, but I was thinking that you might be okay with me bringing Izzy, running with you for a while and then going to bed, so that I could get up with her in the morning. I’m not sure I could do the whole night and get up with her but then I’ll be there for most of it.”

Derek was silent.

“Or, I could just skip it if yo-”

“No!” Derek said, fiercely. “You and Isabella should both come. It will be good.”

“Okay,” Stiles said, with a smile. “I’ll see you on Friday.”

Stiles and Isabella arrived at Derek’s before the rest of the pack. They went into the backyard and Stiles took off Isabella’s shoes so that she could hold onto his hands and walk around on the grass. She looked at him like she wasn’t impressed, but then, she seemed to enjoy yanking grass up and eating it much more.

“Are you okay?” Stiles asked, watching Derek restlessly move around on the soft grass.

“Yeah, why?” Derek asked.

“You keep fidgeting.”

“It’s the full moon.”

“You aren’t normally so fidgety before the full moon. Do you want to go for a run? Should I not have come so early?”

“No, it’s better with you here actually, focussing me, I’m not sure why it’s worse this month.”

“If I, or we, can do anything let me know.”

Derek nodded and then twisted and dropped down so that he was looking Isabella in the eye. “Do you want to walk some more, Is?”

He held her hands while she stood up and smiled as she walked towards him on unstable legs.

“She’s getting better isn’t she,” Stiles said.

“She’s still pretty unsteady.”

“I know, but she knows how to actually walk which is mind blowing for me. I know she isn’t strong enough to do it yet but it’s so cool.”

Derek smiled at him. “It is.”

“She’s growing up so fast, too fast.”

Derek walked Isabella over to Stiles and she collapsed forward onto his chest. “But she’s not going anywhere so growing up is okay.”

“I’m not convinced of that.”

When the rest of the pack arrived Stiles left Isabella with them to be passed around while he took up his old job of cooking dinner. Allison came in to help him and they talked about the engagement party she and Scott were planning while they made enough food for three times the number of people that were actually in the lounge room.

“Hurry up,” Cora said, appearing at the doorway. “We’re hungry, and Derek’s fidgety - I want him to run already.”

“He’s been like that all day.”

“And he’s being possessive with Isabella.”

Stiles turned around and looked at her.

“Not weird just hogging her.”

Allison laughs. “He always hogs her.”

“Not like this.”

“Should I go in there?”

“Nah,” Cora said. “He just needs a good run.”

Stiles nodded and turned back to cooking. When he went outside he could see what Cora had been talking about; Derek was sitting on the floor with Isabella in front of him but while another person would often migrate down to entertain Izzy - most of the wolves were unable to avoid her for long, there was a definite gap between Derek and the rest of the pack - like a moat. Stiles ignored the invisible barrier and dropped onto the other side of the mat from Derek.

“Dinner is ready, everyone but Derek,” he said, with a smile.

Derek looked at him sharply.

“Scott, you want to take Izzy through?”

Scott stepped forward and pulled Isabella from between them and left with the rest of the pack.

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked.

“You tell me. Cora said you were being possessive.”

Derek’s face hardened. “I would never-”

“Don’t get all weird, I know you would never hurt her but you’ve been off since we got here.”

“It started yesterday, it’s like an itch between my shoulder blades, only everywhere and I can’t shake it.”

“Izzy helps?”

“Yes. You…all do, but she’s the best.”

“Okay. Do you think it will go with the full moon?”

“Probably.”

“Then you’d best get in there before Lydia gets a hold of her and you can’t get her back.”

Derek didn’t move.

“What?”

“I’m glad you’re back.”

Stiles frowned at him. “I don’t understand.”

“You disappeared from the pack, it was understandable but…I’m glad you’re back.”

Stiles smiled. “Me too.”

Derek stood and left the room, by the time Stiles made it to the table Isabella was on his lap. She stayed there for the rest of the evening.

Stiles put Isabella to bed after dinner and the pack went out to run, they never strayed far from the house unlike normal, running and playing in the woods surrounding it, close enough to hear Isabella and keep her safe. Stiles could see the wolves freeze occasionally, heads cocked towards the house. Then one of them would mutter and they would resume their games. Stiles knew, from experience, that Isabella was not a quiet sleeper - he wondered if other babies were or the whole ‘sleeping like a baby’ thing was crap. After the third or fourth freeze he stopped even worrying about it. He did wonder, briefly, if it would have been better not to have brought her when she was obviously changing the pack’s normal routine.

Just before midnight he left the pack to go inside and crawl into bed. He fell asleep listening to the gradually fading howls as the pack moved further away from the house.

When he woke up it was not because Isabella was making noise but because someone had just grabbed his leg. Stiles started and twisted, as much as he could with somebody plastered to his back breathing heavily in his ear. He craned his head up as much as he could and found that most of the pack was in bed with him. He wasn’t even sure how they had managed it; it had never worked when they had tried before.

Stiles pulled himself out of the hold of werewolves and started out of the room. He found Boyd and Jackson lying together on the floor at the end of the bed. Stiles couldn’t work out whether to mock Jackson about being the dog at the end of the bed or try to work out what the hell was going on between Boyd and Jackson. Probably, given Boyd’s penchant for secrecy mocking Jackson wouldn’t help Stiles get to the bottom of the question easily.

Stiles left the room and used the bathroom before going in to collect Isabella who was making noises from her room. Every time he walked into the room Derek had done something else. There were stickers on the wall now, hot air balloons curving up from the edges of her portable cot and around the room to the window. Stiles knew he needed to get Derek out into the dating scene again. He wanted to keep the alpha right where he was…well, he wouldn’t mind moving him a little to the left, or the right, or wherever would get him to want to be in bed with Stiles on a night other than the full moon, but since that was obviously not an option Stiles needed to help Derek. Derek obviously loved Isabella, but he would obviously love to have more children in his pack and if Derek didn’t put himself out there a bit and try then he might never meet someone. Stiles hadn’t asked but if the way he had welcomed Isabella into the pack so enthusiastically was any indication then the alpha would like more children around. Stiles smiled down at Isabella and pulled her out of the cot. Stiles would have to look into it, if Derek honestly didn’t want anything more than what he had Stiles would leave it alone but he honestly didn’t think Derek wanted to be alone - he was just scared and in need of a push. And, if Derek honestly wanted something that he couldn’t have then Stiles would just have to help him get it…unless that someone was already in a relationship and then he would have to help Derek find something new to want.

“Is she all right?”

Stiles turned around and looked at Derek, sleep messy and leaning on the door jamb. “She’s fine, just awake and thirsty.”

Derek nodded. “Want me to sort out her bottle while you change her?”

“You don’t have to; you’ve only had a couple of hours’ sleep.”

Derek shrugged. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

Stiles watched him walk away and then turned back to Isabella. When they made it into the kitchen her bottle was sitting next to her high chair and there was a steaming cup of coffee on the table near it.

“Do you feel better today?” Stiles asked.

Derek nodded.

“If we’re going to keep you awake, or wake up the rest of the pack, we can go.”

Derek turned from the fridge and shook his head sharply. “No, stay. I’d prefer it if you stayed.”

“Okay,” Stiles said. “But you don’t have to stay up with us.”

“I’ll sleep later,” Derek said, carrying ingredients to the bench and began to make what looked like the batter for pancakes.

“I didn’t think you cooked.”

“I took some classes while you were all off at university.”

“You never said.”

Derek shrugged.

“But, I suppose you never said a lot of stuff.”

Derek looked at him sharply and then went back to cracking eggs.

“Do you have yoghurt?”

“In the fridge.”

“Thanks, I meant to grab some before I left the house but-”

“I always have yoghurt; you don’t need to bring your own. I’ve told you that.”

Stiles smiled. “I know, but it’s polite, isn’t it?”

“You never worry about eating my food so why should you worry about Isabella doing it, when she eats much less.”

Stiles opened his mouth to comment and then stopped, frowned, and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“It’s only taken me nine months to get you to realise that, I’ll take it as a win.”

Stiles laughed. “Why’d you learn to cook?”

“I didn’t have you and Boyd here to do it for me anymore. I got hungry.”

Stiles smiled and knocked into Derek’s hip as he stirred cereal into yoghurt. “Good thing we all came back so that you could feed us for a change.”

Derek shook his head. “Your dad gave me some tips but they aren’t as good as yours.”

“Okay, what are you doing? Maybe I can help.”

“If Is doesn’t get her breakfast she isn’t going to be happy.”

“Well no," Stiles said, pulling back, "and I’m sure your pancakes are great, Derek.”

Derek smiled and pulled a book from above the fridge - a recipe book, Stiles smiled as he turned his back on the alpha and walked over to his daughter who was tracking him as he walked back to her.

The pancakes were good, Stiles didn’t think they were as good as his but they were very nice regardless, and dragged more than one of the werewolves out of bed to steal off Stiles’ plate and send Derek back to the stove. Then everyone but Derek, Stiles and Isabella crawled back towards bed and oblivion.

Stiles and Derek took Isabella out into the backyard and she ate more grass while Stiles tried to get her to practice her walking.



“Hey, Derek.”

“Hi-”

“So,” Stiles said quickly, not waiting for Derek to finish his greeting. “You know how I didn’t want to take advantage of you?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you busy? I have to go into Lewis, so fucking last minute, for a meeting about this column I’ve been writing because there’s a problem or something. I couldn’t completely understand the message and I can’t speak to the editor because he’s in a meeting with his boss and I have to be there in like an hour and Dad’s at work and Lydia and Scott are working and…can you come and look after her?”

“I’ll be there in five.”

The phone against Stiles’ ear went dead. “You live more than five minutes away,” Stiles said to the handset. Then he looked at Isabella. “Okay, Derek’s coming over.” She ignored him to keep chewing on her rusk. Stiles grabbed her and took her up to the bathroom. He put her into the bath with some of her bath-time toys and took the world’s fastest shower. As soon as he opened the bathroom door he found Derek standing on the other side.

“You’re going to be late.”

“How did you get here so quickly?”

Derek walked past him and scooped Isabella up. “You should hurry up.”

“Right.” Stiles rushed into his bedroom and got dressed quickly, rushing through the lounge room to grab keys, wallet, and phone.

“There’s one of Isabella’s socks attached to your pants.”

“What?” Stiles twisted around to look at his pants.

Derek reached out and snatched something…a bright green sock, from the back of his knee. “You’re good. Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

Stiles had begun to think the meeting would never end when it finally did, allowing him to stop at the bakery in Lewis for fresh bread and a really good quiche to thank Derek with before he drove home. He thought a lot on the drive about how the meeting would change things but he knew that in the grand scheme of things it wouldn’t actually change anything.

Stiles let himself into the house and dropped everything in the kitchen before he found Derek and Isabella in the backyard. She turned around hearing the door close and her face grew bright and she beamed at him.

“Da!”

Stiles froze.

“Da!”

“Holy fuck! Derek, did you hear that?” Stiles rushed forward ignoring the pricking in his eyes and the fact every hair on his body was standing up. “She just said my name.”

“I know.”

“Oh my God,” Stiles pulled Isabella up and to him, squeezing her tightly in a hug and spinning around. She laughed and held onto his shirt. “She said my name.”

Stiles looked down at Derek who was smiling at him widely and Stiles reached down and yanked the werewolf up into the hug before he’d even thought about it. They sandwiched Isabella between them as Stiles grinned widely.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Stiles twisted, dragging Derek along until he could see his father standing at the back door. “I had to go into Lewis and Derek came to look after Izzy, then she said my name, she called me Da, which is my name, because I’m her dad and she said my name.”

Sam’s face dropped for a moment, then brightened and he grinned widely at Stiles. “She said your name?”

“She said my name!”

“I’m happy for you, son.”

Stiles let go of Derek and then frowned. “Sorry, I think I hijacked you there. But, she said my name!”

“I heard,” Derek said, “and I didn’t mind.”

Stiles looked down at his daughter and bounced her again. “Can you say it again? Da. Dad. Granddad wants to hear.”

Isabella just looked at him.

“Dad. Daddy.”

Isabella stared.

“I don’t think she’s going to do it on cue.”

Stiles shrugged. “Oh, I don’t care. I’m just glad I was here.”

“Why did you have to go into Lewis?”

“The LA Times would like to pick up my Single Dad column,” Stiles said, with a shrug.

Sam walked over and clapped Stiles on the back. “That is excellent, son.”

“Yeah, means quite a bump in what I’m going to get paid to write it.”

“You don’t care at all, do you?”

“Not at the moment,” Stiles said, grinning broadly.



“No.”

Stiles frowned at the dress and turned to Lydia. “What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s the wrong colour for her complexion.”

“It’s green,” Stiles pointed out, “she wears green all the time. You’ve bought her green.”

“Yes, I’ve given her blue green but that is yellow green.”

“I see.” Stiles lied.

“Worse gay man ever.”

“Still bisexual, and that is still judgemental and stereotyping.”

Lydia shrugged.

“How about the one with a fairy on it?”

“Now who’s being stereotypical?”

Stiles rolled his eyes and grabbed the lilac dress with the fairy on the skirt. “Right, I’m done. Let’s go.”

“You are no fun to shop with.”

“Good,” Stiles said, walking away. “Go shopping with Allison so that I can buy my daughter yellow green dresses with frogs on them.”



Stiles leaned back into the couch slowly and carefully, Isabella propped up against his chest. His eyes hurt; he was so tired but he couldn’t sleep. He froze when he was finally resting on the back of the couch but Isabella didn’t stir in his arms. Stiles slowly let his body relax while he made sure that Isabella was still upright.

Stiles started and jerked, but something suddenly grabbed his elbow and kept him still.

“It’s me.”

Stiles relaxed instantly and turned his head. Derek was sitting next to him on the couch, one arm holding Stiles still. There was a wet patch on the shoulder of his shirt and Stiles realised with horror that it was definitely a drool stain. He could feel his face heating up.

“I came over to see if I could help. You were asleep but listing so I sat next to you. I knew you needed sleep, and Isabella did too.”

“She has this terrible cough.”

“I know.”

“And she can’t sleep. We’ve tried the humidifier and propping her up, steamy bathroom before bed and rubbing things on her chest. We have done everything we can, but that cold she had just won’t go away.”

“She can’t cough it up yet.”

Stiles shook his head. “She’s only okay like this, and even then she doesn’t sleep for long. How long have you been here?”

“About an hour.”

“Wow,” Stiles said with a smile, looking down at his daughter. “She’s slept longer than she has since Monday.”

“Can I do anything?”

Stiles shook his head. “Can I just keep leaning on you for a while? I’m so tired.”

“You can go back to sleep if you want, if you can.”

Stiles smiled at Derek and took a moment to wish he could. “I’ve already drooled on you enough.”

Derek’s shoulders moved a fraction of an inch and Stiles knew it was meant as a shrug. “I don’t mind.”

Stiles rested his head back on Derek’s shoulder. “I’m not going to sleep; she’ll probably wake up soon anyway. The coughing won’t sto…”

Stiles woke up with his head turned into Derek’s neck and one of Derek’s arms curled around Isabella’s back, keeping her in place.

“-erek?”

“You moved and she started to wake up.”

“-ank you.”

“Go back to sleep.”

Stiles shook his head. “How long?”

“I’m not sure but she’s sleeping so go back to sleep.”

“I shouldn’t…you’ve got a really comfortable shoulder.”

“It’s all yours.”

Stiles smiled and closed his eyes again.

The next time Stiles woke up it was to the sound of Isabella coughing, her back jerking forcibly under his hand. He curled his arms a little tighter around her and bounced her but when he moved a hand to rub her back his hand ran into Derek’s. Derek pulled away and Stiles turned to smile at him while he rubbed circles on Isabella’s back until the coughing stopped.

“Thank you,” Stiles said, “for staying here the whole time.”

“You snore.”

Stiles laughed. “Can you take her for a moment; I need to pee like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Of course,” Derek pulled Isabella over to him. She managed to work up a beaming smile for him before another coughing fit hit her. “Go.”

Stiles nodded. He walked up the stairs more slowly than he really intended to but the sleep against Derek’s shoulder seemed to have made him more tired rather than less. He couldn’t hear Isabella coughing as he leaned one hand on the wall above the toilet. It would probably make him both a terrible friend and a terrible father but he wanted nothing more than to go lie in the bath and sleep. He wouldn’t even need his bed…too far away, if only he could close his eyes again. Stiles washed his hands and opened the door to find Derek standing on the other side holding Isabella on his chest.

“Go to bed.”

“What?”

“Go to bed.”

“But, Isabella?”

“Will stay with me, I can hold her and hopefully you can both get some more sleep.”

“I shouldn’t…but, my God, I can’t tell you how much I want to hug you right now for even suggesting it.”

Derek’s smiled at him. “I’ll come and get you if anything happens.”

Stiles squeezed Derek’s wrist and kissed Isabella. She started coughing again as he opened his door and he turned back, feeling bad, to find Derek walking towards the stairs. Stiles walked into his room and collapsed heavily on the bed. He closed his eyes and even though he was still so tired his body felt three times as heavy as normal he found himself straining to hear what was happening downstairs…could Isabella still be coughing? Derek would never come and get Stiles unless something big and bad happened. Stiles shook his head and turned over, fiddled with his pillow and closed his eyes again. Derek would come and get him and, really, Izzy was mostly fine now apart from the cough so he wasn’t actually asking Derek to look after a sick baby…only one who had barely slept in days and who had a cough and was fussy. Stiles turned his head, was that Izzy crying? Coughing? He should go down and do the right thing.

Stiles’ phone beeped in his pocket, he dragged it out. It was a message from Derek. I can hear you overthinking. Go to sleep, she is fine. Trust me.

I do. Stiles wrote back, trusting Derek had never, not once, been a problem. He trusted Derek with his life and with Isabella’s.

Then go to sleep.

Okay.

Stiles closed his eyes again and tried to sleep. Twenty minutes later he climbed out of bed and stumbled downstairs.

“I kept thinking I could hear her,” Stiles explained.

“Then sleep on the couch.”

Stiles nodded and face planted onto the couch. He couldn’t even be bothered to open his eyes again now, dragging one of the cushions under his head and sleeping.



On a night of the Wolf’s Moon, the pack, along with Melissa and Sam, gathered at Derek’s for the most important full moon of the year. Most of the wolves were sitting around on the floor with Isabella in the middle, like the queen of all she surveyed. She crawled over to Sam and used his pants to climb up to her feet.

“Hello, gorgeous.”

“Gra,” Isabella said, which had joined the few words she said, a week or so after the first time she had called Stiles dad. She reached up until he pulled her up and into his lap. “In.” Sam looked confused. “In.”

“That’s new,” Stiles said, “and I think it means she wants her water.”

“I always knew that my genes created super smart babies.”

“How do you account for Stiles then?” Lydia asked.

“That, that right there, is why you weren’t made a godparent. You’re mean.” Stiles said, finally finding Isabella’s bottle and tossing it to his father. Isabella pulled it close and began drinking. When she was done she wriggled and squirmed off Sam’s lap and then pulled herself back up to her feet. She looked at Stiles, who smiled back, and then let go of Sam’s leg.

Stiles froze, Isabella standing all by herself, she looked at Stiles and then took a step, a tiny little uncoordinated step and then another and Stiles heart exploded in his chest as she fell over on her backside. Stiles wanted to rush over and scoop her up and twirl her around the room. He couldn’t move though, just staring at her disbelievingly.

Sam pulled her back and stood her up. Stiles realised he was clapping his hands when Isabella took three steps, fell on her backside again and then twisted around to crawl over to Stiles.

“Stiles.”

“Holy shit.”

“Language,” Scott said. “You keep telling us not to swear.”

“She walked.”

“We all saw,” Jackson pointed out, just a hint of sarcasm.

“That is the very first time she has ever walked alone.”

Stiles collected Isabella to his chest and held her tightly. “You are without a doubt the smartest baby that has ever existed.”

Isabella wriggled to get away and then crawled over to Scott who was also smiling broadly.

Regardless of what they did she didn’t walk again that night but she giggled happily when all of the werewolves in the room changed and allowed her to tug at their sideburns, making a little answering growl to them.

“-rek,” she said, when Derek picked her up, she grabbed onto his sideburns and looked up into his red eyes happily. Derek made a low, rumbling growling noise before he nuzzled his nose against her shoulder. Isabella simply laughed and happily reached out for Stiles when her father stopped next to them.

“I’ll put her down and come out.”

Derek nodded and ran off into the night.

“Well, my Isabella, you certainly have an interesting family.”

Stiles changed her into pyjamas while the sounds of the pack floated into the room. Melissa, Sam, Allison and Lydia would all be out there with the wolves already but Stiles gave Isabella her night time bottle and stopped to read her a book, the sounds of their pack adding to the story before he kissed her on the head and tucked her into bed.

“Dada,” she said, as Stiles tucked her in.

“Goodnight, sweetheart, I’m just going to go and spend time with Uncle Scott.”

She blinked up at him and tugger her teddy bear blanket closer. Stiles didn’t close her door as he left, switching off the lights along the way until he was standing on the porch with his father.

“Do they always stick so close to the house?”

“No,” Stiles said, “they are only staying so close because of Izzy. I offered to send her home but they all seemed quite opposed to the idea.”

“But especially Derek.”

Stiles laughed. “Toss-up between him and Scott really.”

Sam smiled but there was something sad about his expression.

“You okay, Dad?”

Sam turned to his son and smiled. “Of course, do we actually have to run with them?”

“I tend to but I think you’ll be fine just picking a spot to hang out.”

“I have chairs,” Melissa called out. “Too old for this running through the woods at night thing.”

“No, you’re not, Mum,” Scott called back dutifully.

“Well, I want to be,” she responded.

“I’m going to go and sit with Melissa,” Sam said, stepping off the verandah. “I think I’m going to choose to be too old for this too. I’m a grandfather after all.”

“Good point,” Melissa said, “did you hear that, Scott?”

Allison laughed loudly from somewhere in the trees. “One day.”

“You can take your time,” Melissa called back, “just so long as Scott understands his obligations.”

“Mum,” Scott whined.

“I’m getting older Scott and Sam has shown me how much fun being a grandparent can be.”

“Then you can be Izzy’s grandmother and leave me alone.”

“You can,” Stiles said, “it only requires some babysitting duties.”

Melissa looked at him with a wide smile. “That would be a much more sensible idea.”

Stiles nodded, knowing that she was really only winding Scott up and that the werewolf knew it.



“Derek,” Stiles was folding Isabella’s clothes. She was upstairs asleep and Derek was sitting across from him writing out Isabella’s invites. Her first birthday was rapidly approaching and since Derek had the best writing in the pack Stiles has asked him to write on the invites Cora had made for Izzy. They were a collage of photos in the shape of a number one and they must have taken hours but she had simply shrugged and said that Isabella deserved it. There was something to the twinkle in her eye and the joy in her voice though that told Stiles it was more than that. Regardless, he loved them and had begged Derek to write the rest of the information on them.

“Yes?”

“Do you want children?”

Derek looked up sharply. “What?”

“Do you want children?”

Derek stared at him but didn’t say anything, his pen hovering in air.

Stiles grimaced. “I wasn’t sure how to bring this up. I love that you’re so good with Izzy but I’m worried that you’re going to miss out on what you want.”

Derek shrugged.

“No, please don’t dismiss this. You are so amazing with Izzy, you have been better with her than almost anyone but I need to make sure that you are happy too. I know Isabella is my life now but I’m watching the other members of the pack get engaged, and start relationships, and try out jobs, and quit jobs and try to find what makes them happy except for you. You aren’t trying to make yourself happy.”

“Who said I’m not happy?” Derek asked sharply.

Stiles looked at Derek for a few beats and then shrugged. “No one I suppose, you just…you don’t seem to be happy. Content yes, we aren’t hunted down weekly anymore and we’re all home so I think you like that, I think you are content with your life as it stands but I want you to be happy. I see how you are with Izzy and I wonder if maybe you want that for yourself.”

“If I want Isabella?”

Stiles shook his head. “No, if you want kids, if you want someone in your life, someone to love and who knows everything about you and still understands how lucky they are to have you in their life.”

“You’re not looking for that?”

“I have an eleven month old daughter, I don’t need someone else in my life, I’m happy as it is. But one day, one day I’d like someone who loves me. I don’t think I’ve had that since Lydia. Even then it wasn’t enough.”

“It wasn’t?”

“We loved one another but we didn’t love one another enough or in the right way, it was never going to last. I’m not about to go after something that’s less than that now, I want more than that and I wouldn’t risk Izzy unless I had it. But, that isn’t what I’m talking about. I’m not talking about me, I just want to know; are you scared of someone hurting you or do you honestly not want anything more?”

Derek looked at Stiles for a long time, too long, long enough that Stiles wanted to squirm.

“It worries me that you might be holding yourself back from what you want.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you asking, why now?”

“I’ve been thinking about the pack more and more over the last few months. I can see them finding things. Whatever is happening between Boyd and Jackson, Lydia’s job doing whatever it is she does - taking over the world probably, Scott and Allison getting engaged, Cora deciding to go to medical school, everyone is doing something more except for you.”

Derek’s face darkened.

“Shit,” Stiles groaned. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

“I think I understand exactly what you mean, I can’t simply be happy with what I have already?”

“I don’t think you’re happy.”

“You don’t know everything, Stiles.”

“I know, I don’t know what you want. All I’m trying to do is ask what you do want. I’ve done this all wrong.”

“Yes, you have.”

“Derek,” Stiles licked his lips and moved to sit next to the alpha. “Is there something you want? Something that you don’t have but that would make you happy? Or happier?”

Derek opened his mouth and then paused, cocked his head to the side and looked at the ceiling.

“She can wait.”

Derek twisted around to look at Stiles.

“It always takes her a while to wake up, don’t use her as an excuse to leave this conversation.”

“Why are you pushing this? No one has cared about it.”

“That’s a lie, we all care about you, we all want you to be happy, more than anything we want you to get what you want from life. Which is what you want for everyone else in the pack.”

“It is.”

“Then what’s wrong with us wanting that for you as well? You sent us all off to university against your instincts as alpha, you accepted Allison and have a truce with Chris, you let me into your pack, you’ve let us in against, I think, every natural instinct you have. Ever since I found out I was going to have Izzy you’ve been helping me and supporting me. You’ve been so amazing with her and the older she gets the more I think you want what I have, that you want children too. The way you talk about your pack when you were growing up I can tell you want that pack again.”

“Scott and Allison will bring children into the pack, Cora and Isaac may, Boyd and Jackson probably won’t but I want them to be happy so I don’t mind. I don’t need to have children.”

“But you want them.”

Derek looked cornered and then nodded before he shot out of his chair and started for the stairs.

Stiles slumped back down into the chair and sighed. He was disappointed with himself, he had handled that terribly. He’d been trying to work out how to bring the subject up to Derek for weeks and he had managed to pick the absolute worst way of doing it.

The doorbell rang and Stiles went to answer it knowing he wouldn’t be seeing Derek or Isabella for a while.

“Megan?”

“Hi, Stiles.”

“Hey, come in,” Stiles pulled the door open further and high fived Trevor as they walked past.

“I need some help.”

“What can I do?”

“You remember that sponge cake you made for Jane’s birthday?”

“Yes,” Stiles said, slowly, suspecting what was coming.

“My mother-in-law is coming to town and I’m a terrible baker. I need her to have a good weekend.”

“I see.”

Megan sighed. “Can you bake me one, please?”

Stiles laughed. “Was it that hard?”

“I like her but she has this idea stuck in her head that wives should be able to bake and cook and I’m just horrible at it.”

Stiles shrugged. “Let me know when you need it.”

“I…hello.”

Stiles twisted around to find Derek standing in the doorway. “Hi Derek, this is Megan, one of the mums from rhyme time, and her son Trevor.”

“This is Derek?” Megan asked, eyes lighting up.

Derek’s eyes flickered to Stiles with surprise.

Stiles shrugged. “Of course I talk about you.”

Isabella squirmed in Derek’s arms until he put her down, she walked for a few steps and then stopped in front of Trevor who was sitting in the middle of Isabella’s mat. She dropped onto her backside and grabbed the drum that Trevor was playing with.

“No, Izzy,” Stiles knelt down onto the mat and pulled the drum back, giving it to Trevor. “You have to share.”

Isabella looked at him sadly, her face screwing up.

“Oh God,” Megan said, “I hate that face.”

“I know,” Stiles sighed. “I just want to cave…but no,” Stiles stood up and turned to Megan. “When do you need the cake?”

“Saturday?”

“Okay.”

Megan stepped forward and threw her arms around Stiles. “Oh, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Do you want some coffee?”

“Yes please, you go and make us coffee and I’ll talk to Derek.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes at Megan but she simply smiled at him sweetly. “Derek?”

Derek looked torn but Isabella was crawling towards him so he nodded. “I’ll finish the invites.”

“Invites?” Megan asked.

“For Izzy’s birthday,” Stiles said, “Derek’ll show you.”

Stiles left the room but he could still hear Megan. “Wow, they are amazing. Who made these?”

“My sister Cora.”

Stiles smiled at the pride in Derek’s voice while he made Megan coffee and Derek the tea he liked.

“It’s an amazing invite, isn’t it?” Stiles asked coming back in and handing them both their drinks. “I was so surprised when Cora gave them to me.”

Megan smirked into her coffee cup and watched Stiles.

Derek’s phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket gratefully. He hung up moments later. “I need to go, I’ll take the invites with me and drop them off when they’re done.” Derek scooped Isabella up and gave her a hug. “Bye, Is.”

“Erek,” Isabella said happily.

Derek’s face lit up and he smiled so widely Stiles’ breath caught. Derek hugged her again and then put her back down on the blanket before he grabbed the invites off the table.

“Bye, Stiles, it was nice to meet you, Megan,” and then he was gone.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone that attractive in real life,” Megan said, after the front door had closed.

“I know, right?”

“Please, please tell me you are involved with him.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m married and boring and I want to hear something more interesting.”

Stiles smiled at her. “I’m not that interesting.”

“But you want him.”

Stiles shrugged.

“Then why haven’t you gone after that?”

“Because…” Stiles shrugged.

“You’re scared.”

“Terrified, if he rejected me I might lose him and he’s such a big part of my life, such an important part of Izzy’s.”

“He wouldn’t just cut you out, would he? Because, if he would then he isn’t worth it.”

“He wouldn’t but how do you move past that? And he is worth it but…I so fucked up the conversation we had before you got here. He was hurt so badly and I don’t think he’s really into guys and…I’m scared.”

Megan curled an arm over his shoulder and patted his arm. “Would suck it up be a helpful comment at this stage.”

“No. And you’re never allowed to spend time with Lydia.”

“I always wanted a little brother.”

“So that you could mock him?”

“Pretty much. What do your friends say?”

Stiles shrugged. “Most of them don’t say anything.”

“And Lydia?”

“Is meddlesome.”

“I like her.”

“He hasn’t given me any reason to think he has feelings for me. He didn’t like me when we met and then he needed my help, he put up with me and I was never all that sure how much he liked me but he’s been amazing since Izzy was born. He really likes kids but he lost his whole family when he was a teenager. God, he’s been so completely fucked over a number of times and I just want to hold him close sometimes and just hug the pain away.”

“Oh God, you have it bad. You have to say something.”

Stiles groaned and slumped back into the chair. “Just kill me now.”

“We need to do some investigating,” Megan said.

“I’m done investigating; I’m just going to grow old with Izzy until she leaves me.”

Megan laughed and shook her head. “I refuse to accept that.”

Stiles sighed with resignation.



Stiles changed Isabella and opened the backdoor, letting her head outside while he grabbed their lunch. Moments later she let out a wail and Stiles ran from the house to find Isabella sitting on the bricks crying. Stiles dropped the things in his hand onto one of the chairs and then scooped her up. He held her tight and rocked her back and forth while she sobbed and he patted her down, feeling for anything that hurt. Then he got to her knee and she whimpered. He looked at the knee of her pants and saw that the material was scrapped.

“Oh my poor baby,” Stiles kissed her on the head. “Did you scrap your knee?”

“Dadee,” Isabella said, pathetically.

“I’m just have to give you kisses.” Stiles pulled back to kiss all over Isabella’s face and down to her shoulder until she stopped crying and was hiccupping into his neck instead. “That’s better.”

Stiles carefully sat down on the grass and pulled up her pant leg until he could see her knee, a layer of skin obviously scrapped off her knee but she wasn’t bleeding.

Isabella looked down at him, and her knee, with wet eyelashes and Stiles leaned forward to kiss her on the nose and then down to kiss her on the knee.

“A kiss will make it all better.”

Isabella didn’t look like she believed him. “Bear?”

Stiles nodded and stood up, they went to her bedroom, pulled her blanket bear out of her cot and Isabella hugged the toy close, tucked into her elbow so that she was also able to suck her thumb and hold onto Stiles with the other arm. Stiles held her close as he went back outside and found a nice spot in the shade to sink down onto the grass and rest back with Isabella while she calmed down.

“What’s this? I was promised lunch.”

Stiles looked up at his father coming out of the back door.

“Isabella fell over and hurt her knee.”

“Her first graze,” Sam said, walking over.

“Anddad,” Isabella said, reaching up.

“If you take her I’ll go and get lunch. We can have a picnic.”

Sam turned to leave his uniform belt on the outdoor table and then came back to take Isabella.

“Now, Bella, which knee have you hurt; so I can kiss it better?”

Isabella lifted her hurt knee and snuggled into Sam’s hold while Stiles stood and went to get them lunch.



“So,” David said, standing and walking out from behind his desk, “this is the little inspiration for the column that’s so popular.”

“It is,” Stiles said, smiling and picking Izzy up, resting her on his hip. “Izzy, say hello to David.”

“’lo, Dav,” Isabella attempted.

Stiles smiled. “So, why did you ask me to bring her?”

“I just wanted to meet her, I’ve read so much.”

“Understandably I suppose.”

“How old is she now?”

“She’ll be one in three days; we’re having a party on Saturday.”

“An interesting column, I’m sure.”

Stiles smiled and he settled Isabella on his knee with a cheese sandwich to keep her entertained while they had their meeting.



TBC...
Masterpost | Part 8 | Part 9