People always try to look back and remember every event that shaped them, that made them who they are. My mother used to quote Edna Mode from The Incredibles every time I asked her if she looked back. She'd tell me "I don't look back darling, it distracts from the now. Courtley, honey, you shouldn't look back on the past. The past is painful." I guess she was one of the people who ran from the past instead of learn from it.
I think the first event that shaped me, was her death. I was at school and my step dad, John, was at the scene of one of the worst car accidents Beacon Hills ever saw. It was Genim, my baby brother, a boy of eight years and a sharp mind, who was the only one with her. It was Genim who was the most affected by her death, more than I ever thought possible. Maybe her death shaped him more than it shaped me.
I was fourteen years old when she died and barely a month later Tony Stark, asshole, my boss and somehow one of my closest friends, swooped in and hired me to be his personal mechanic. Okay, to be fair the man hired me as an IT tech and I just progressed into being his mechanic when he didn't want to work on his cars himself.
I was seventeen when I met my mate, Derek. Did you know that when a fox meets its mate it screams to tell all the other foxes that they found them? Yeah, I screamed and ran out of embarrassment. He found me a week later in my favorite coffee shop, the stalker.
We were twenty two when we decided to finalize our lives as a couple. We married in the fall, under japanese maple trees. I did invite my brother and my stepdad, but they couldn't make it out to New York. Laura sent John a couple of pictures. Laura died the day our daughter, Natalia Claudia Hale, was born. Derek left to find out who murdered his sister and Nattie and I stayed behind. That's where the story stars I guess.
The ringing of my phone was the first thing I heard, the babble of my daughter was the second. I sat up and grinned at the crib, her little legs kicking at her mobile and the ear of her black stuffed wolf toy, haha yeah, Derek was gonna kill me one of these days, in her mouth. I grabbed my phone and answered not really looking at the caller ID.
"Yellow?" I asked rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I tucked my phone between my shoulder and my ear as I stood and pulled Nattie out of her crib.
"Your brother is an asshole and got me arrested." Derek growled from the other end. I froze in place, Nattie hanging in the air. I snorted and tried to hold in my laughter. "Don't laugh. He thinks I murdered Laura."
"Oh my god." I muttered looking at the ceiling. Really mom? Really? "I'll call John in a minute and set it straight." I heard him sigh and let his head fall against a wall. Nattie wiggled as I tried to undo her onesie, one handed, making it beyond difficult not to flash my eyes at her.
"How's Nattie?" He whispered. She was his princess, no matter what. I smiled and changed her diaper before replying.
"She's a little terror." I tickled her belly and grinned as she laughed. She was just a few days old but she was progressing faster than a normal human baby, she was a werefox after all. I heard Derek chuckled lightly before sighing.
"I'm out of call time." He grumbled and I snorted again.
"Call me once you get your cell phone back." I replied as I lifted Nattie back up and padded towards the kitchen to heat up a bottle.
"Will do. Please call your step dad quickly. It smells in here." I rolled my eyes and smirked, he was such a Poutypuppy.
"Sit tight honey." I giggled and he grumbled. "Oh shut up, you know I love you Poutypuppy."
"Don't call me Poutypuppy. Love you too." He hung up and I set my phone down for a minute.
"Well Nattie, let's get you fed, then I'll bail your daddy out of jail." She giggled, waving her arms around. "Yeah, I know. That rhymed."
John honestly hadn't recognized Derek from the wedding photo when he arrested him, at least that's what he said. "So...all in all, you're telling me Stiles framed Derek for murder because Stiles has an overactive imagination?"
"My half brother accused my husband of murdering his own sister John. I can tell you exactly where Derek was the night Laura Hale died." I sighed holding the wolf toy out to Nattie.
"Yeah? Where was he?" John asked as Nattie reached for the wolf, almost grabbing it.
"Complaining that I was trying to break his hand while I shouted at him."
"That doesn't tell me where he was."
"We were in the hospital and I was in labor. We have a daughter, her name is Natalia Claudia Hale."
"Oh...wow. Just, wow." John breathed and I chuckled a bit.
"The pictures are all over my facebook. I was actually going to call you a couple of days ago but then Derek and I hadn't heard back from Laura and he got concerned. He went out there to find her. I'll be there with Nattie for the funeral once the rest of her body is found." The sound of keys on a keyboard filled the brief silence between John's grumbling.
"She's a beauty. I'll make sure that he's exonerated. Sorry about the confusion Court."
"It's alright. Just be aware that I asked Derek to keep an eye on Scott and Stiles for me." I trailed my fingers over Nattie's cheek as she yawned, big and wide, then smacked her lips rubbing at her eyes.
"I am now aware. See you soon?"
"See you soon. Have a nice day."
"You too kiddo." He hung up and I looked over at Nattie. She was asleep, her foot twitching in her sleep.
"Catch that bunny baby." I chuckled scooping her up and padding back into my bedroom.
