"Daddy Derek, Daddy Stiles, wake up!" Erica's small voice cut through Stiles' dreams. He opened his eyes slightly to see the blurry shape of the small blonde girl on all fours in the end if the bed Stiles and Derek shared.
"G'mornin' baby." He mumbled through a half-asleep daze; rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Derek hadn't moved yet, so Stiles nudged him until he groaned loudly. Stiles swung his feet out of bed and collected Erica from the end of it. "Happy Birthday, E." He told her, kissing her forehead.
"I'm a big girl now!" She said, smiling widely. Stiles dropped her off in her room.
"Well then can you get dressed while Daddy Derek and I do? Then you can bring your brush out to the kitchen and I can brush your hair while Daddy Derek makes you a birthday breakfast." Erica nodded and rushed over to her closet. Stiles returned to his room and tugged his shirt over his head. Derek still hadn't gotten out of bed but he muttered.
"You've designated me to cook I hear." Stiles finished changing and walked over to his husband,who was now spread out across the bed.
"Yes. Which means get up, now." He told him. Derek groaned and opened his eyes slightly so he was looking at Stiles.
"Do I have to?" He moaned like a child who was refusing to get up for school.
"C'mon, Der. It's her birthday." He said, and then walked out. Erica was sitting at the table with her brush in her hand with her favorite headband on the table. She had chosen a red dress with a poufy skirt and had managed to put on socks with little rings of eyelet lace on the tops.
"Well don't you look pretty." He told her as she handed him the brush and he began to combat the mess of blonde curls. She giggled and smoothed down the skirt.
"Where's Daddy Derek?" She asked, looking up at Stiles. He moved her head back down gently and continued to brush.
"Right here." Derek said from the doorway. Erica grinned as Derek kissed her cheek and told her happy birthday. As he advanced to the fridge, Stiles slid the headband into place, containing Erica's mane of blonde curls. The headbands had become a staple in the house, especially since they had found one's at the store that would actually hold her hair back. It was a lot easier to have those than to keep having her re-tuck her hair behind her small ears every 4 seconds. Erica slid off her seat and ran off into the living room to watch her favorite cartoons as Derek made her breakfast. Meanwhile, Stiles was wandering around cleaning up and preparing for Erica's birthday party. He really wanted it to go off without a hitch, so he'd been preparing all week. He'd cleaned, gotten decorations, and then cleaned again for good measure. Derek had been in charge of the cake. That was all Stiles had given him to do. It wasn't that he didn't want Derek to be involved; he just felt that he had a certain vision in mind of what it would look like, and he wanted it to be perfect.
Stiles was hanging up the banner that read 'Happy 5th Birthday E' when the front door opened.
"Knock, Knock!" Lydia's voice rang down the hallway. Stiles taped the last bit and climbed down the step-ladder.
"In here Lydia!" He called. The redhead appeared in the kitchen moments later and squeezed Stiles into a hug, quite literally. He had no idea how she did it, but her hugs were always tighter than it appeared she could possibly squeeze.
"Where's my favorite little girl?" She asked. Turning around and looking for Erica.
"Aunt Lydia!" Erica called out from the doorway. Lydia opened her arms wide and Erica came running for her. Lydia had been smitten with the girl ever since they had met two months ago, she had come and visited a lot since then and had even took Erica shopping a few times. Erica finished hugging Lydia and ran back off to finish watching her show.
"So how's the doctor life treating ya?" Stiles asked, leaning back and sipping his cold coffee.
"Oh you know, high pay, lots of sick people." She replied. Stiles grinned at that. Derek strode into the room at that very moment. "Ah, there's tall and broody." She said. Though her tone was joking, Derek frowned and walked to the sink to put Erica's dish away.
"I thought I heard an annoying redhead in the kitchen." He replied, his voice containing none of the mirth Lydia's had, as he rinsed off the dish.
"Oh are you still mad at me for resurrecting your uncle all those years ago?" She asked, "Because, in my defense, I was under his control." She crossed her arms and pursed her lips, obviously annoyed. Stiles sighed; this was what always happened when Lydia was over. Derek would get mad because he was still holding a grudge against her for bringing back his uncle Peter almost 20 years ago now.
"Really guys? Now?" Stiles asked, they both gave him a look as if to say 'it's not my fault.' "Please behave yourselves for the rest of the day. It's Erica's birthday and I don't want to ruin it." He told them, they looked at each other and sighed.
"Fine." Derek said, placing the dish in the dishwasher. Lydia nodded in agreement, and then walked out of the room, probably to find Erica.
"So when are you leaving to get the cake?" Stiles asked Derek, sipping the coffee again. Derek stiffened as he closed the dishwasher. "You did order the cake right?" Derek turned and put on the smile he did when he knew he was in trouble.
"Well, um, Stiles, you see…" He began. Stiles felt his face flushing, he was furious.
"You forgot the cake? I gave you one thing to do, just one, while I did everything else. I even gave you suggestions on what cake to order and the phone number to call and you forgot!" He yelled, Derek frowned and Lydia, who had returned to the kitchen to grab something from her bag, raised her eyebrows.
"Stiles, calm down ok? I'll go pick up a cake right now." Derek told him, reaching for the car keys.
"The bakery's closed on Sunday's." Stiles muttered, he was stuck on the thought that everything was ruined now. What was a birthday party without cake? Erica had really been looking forward to the cake.
"Then I'll go to Wal-Mart or something ok?" Derek told him. Lydia stepped in then.
"No, Erica is not having a cheap Wal-Mart cake for her birthday, plus there's not one for miles. I know another bakery that is open, but not for much longer." She told them, Stiles had found a ray of sunshine. Before he could start telling her what to look for and how grateful he was that she existed, she had turned on her heel and walked off.
"Go with her." He grumbled at Derek, his annoyance with him returning.
"No way, I am not going to a bakery with her, no I refuse." Derek replied. Stiles glared at him, and he must've looked angry enough because Derek immediately walked out after Lydia, muttering under his breath. Stiles sighed and leaned against the counter muttering about procrastination and lazy husbands. Erica skipped into the room seconds later.
"Whatsa' matter, Daddy Stiles?" She asked, her big brown eyes meeting his.
"Nothing, sweetie, did you want something?" He asked, and then a small child with light brown curly hair zoomed into the kitchen.
"Hey Isaac." Stiles said, letting a smile cross his features as the boy hugged his leg as a form of greeting. His anger was forgotten momentarily as Scott and Allison walked into the kitchen. He hugged them both and Erica ran around excitedly with Isaac until Stiles noticed and made her stop in fear that she'd have a seizure from over excitement.
"Where's Derek?" Scott asked as Erica and Isaac ran off to play and they took seats at the kitchen table.
"He's off with Lydia, ordering a cake that he should've ordered on Wednesday." Stiles said sharply. He saw Scott and Allison exchange a look.
"I'm guessing he forgot to order the cake?" Allison asked. Stiles nodded once, swirling his stone-cold coffee in his mug.
"He's lucky Lydia knows another bakery that's open or else this whole thing would've been ruined." Stiles muttered. Allison patted his hand gently.
"No it wouldn't have Stiles. As long as we're here celebrating Erica's birthday together it shouldn't matter." She told him. Stiles sighed, knowing she was right. The doorbell rang and Stiles rose to get it. At the door was one of Erica's friends from preschool, Vernon Boyd, and his mother.
"Hello, Boyd. Mrs. Boyd." He said, Boyd smiled at him and scooted by him to go find Erica.
"Well I guess he's gone then." Mrs. Boyd chuckled. She told Stiles that she'd be back at 3 and left. Stiles returned to the kitchen, where Allison and Scott were taking about Isaac's sports schedule. Stiles sat and listened for a while and then decided that it was time to make food for everyone's lunch.
Derek and Lydia weren't back until the rest of the party guests had finished their food and Erica had opened her present's. She was clutching her new dolly to her chest when she asked Stiles:
"Where are Daddy Derek and Aunt Lydia?" Stiles looked at Allison and she shrugged.
"They're going to get your cake sweetheart." Stiles told her. Just then, the door swung open to reveal Lydia and Derek, both with white bakery boxes in their hands. Stiles crossed his arms. "Well?" He asked, eyeballing Derek.
"Well, take a look." Derek set his box down and opened it. Inside were cupcakes iced in red and black spelling out 'happy birth.' In Lydia's box, which she had just set down, the cupcakes spelled out 'day Erica.' Erica squealed and told Derek and Lydia she loved them over and over. Stiles couldn't help but smile at the little girl's excitement.
"Thank you, Lydia." He told her, she shook her head.
"Don't thank me, Derek picked them out. I just drove him there." She explained as she rummaged in the drawers for candles. Stiles looked over at Derek, who was standing near the fridge, arms crossed over his broad chest.
"Really?" He asked Derek, he nodded once. Stiles knew he was still upset about Stiles yelling at him for forgetting about the cake in the first place. He walked over to him and pulled him into the living room as Scott lit the candles Lydia had found.
"Look, Derek, I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier." He began; Derek had crossed his arms again and was watching Stiles carefully. "I was just upset that you had forgotten, I wanted everything to go perfectly since it's Erica's first birthday with us." Derek heaved a sigh.
"I know, Stiles, I know. But you go into these 'oh my god, everything has to be perfect' modes and freak out if one minor detail goes wrong." Derek replied. Stiles looked down at his feet. What Derek had just said was very true, a lot of the time Stiles did go into those modes, especially since they adopted Erica.
"I know," Stiles whispered, "I'm sorry."
"Hey, but it's not entirely your fault," Derek told him, "I was the one who forgot to order the cake, and I really am sorry about that."
"It's alright; I'm the one who made a huge deal over a cake."
"You had every right to." A very off-key rendition of the Happy Birthday song was coming from the kitchen now; Stiles hoped someone was taking pictures. He looked up at Derek and smiled.
"I guess we both were pretty stupid, huh?" Stiles said, Derek chuckled and nodded, pulling him towards his chest. They hugged tightly and Stiles gave Derek a kiss.
"I love you, even though you're terribly forgetful at times." Stiles told him, Derek grinned.
"And I love you, even though I fear your small case of OCD is becoming not so small." He teased; Stiles shook his head and laughed.
"Let's go eat those cupcakes." Stiles told him pulling him towards the kitchen.
"Oh they're really good." Derek told him. Stiles turned on him as they reached the kitchen, eyebrow raised. "Oh, um yeah, there used to be an exclamation point one, I ate it on the way here." He shrugged. Stiles shook his head at his husband, trying to hide his smile. The rest of the group was chatting as they ate their cupcakes, and Erica, Isaac, and Boyd were making quite a mess. Stiles grabbed a cupcake with a 'P' on it and bit in. Derek was right, they really were good.
Later, after everyone had left, Lydia helped him clean up all the dishes. As they were working, Erica came into the kitchen.
"Daddy Stiles?" She asked, Stiles turned around and set down the dish he was cleaning.
"Yes, baby?" He asked, squatting down to be level with her. She hugged her dolly to her chest and looked at Stiles.
"I had lots of fun today," She told him, "Thank you." Stiles opened his arms and she ran into them. As Stiles hugged her tightly, he whispered.
"You're welcome, E. I'm glad you had fun." She kissed him on the cheek and skipped off. Lydia took the dish Stiles had been cleaning and put it away.
"Done." She said, tossing the dish towel into the sink. Stiles leaned against the counter.
"Thanks for staying and helping clean up, Lydia." Stiles said, Lydia dismissed him with the wave of a hand.
"Don't mention it," She told him, checking her watch. "I'd better get going. I've swapped for the night shift and I don't want to be late."
"Alright, take care of yourself ok?" He told her as she squeezed him into a hug again.
"And you do the same." She replied, releasing Stiles from the hug and grabbing her bag. She walked out into the hall and Stiles could hear her saying goodbye to Erica and Derek, who must be in the living room together. The front door opened and shut with a small bang and Stiles went to join Erica and Derek in the living room. They were sitting on the couch together watching Brave, which Erica liked especially because Merida has the same mess of curls, although they are the wrong color. Stiles sat down next to Erica and the small girl crawled onto his lap.
"Everything all cleaned up?" Derek asked, looking away from the screen as Stiles scooted closer to him.
"Yep," Stiles replied, "It's all clean." Derek nodded and turned his head back towards the television. After a while, they all grew tired and Stiles rested his head on Derek's shoulder.
"I think it's time for bed." Derek said as he yawned. Stiles muttered in agreement, Erica was already asleep, curled into Stiles' chest. Derek stood, causing Stiles to fall sideways on to the couch. Erica, who thankfully was a heavy sleeper, didn't even move. Derek picked her up gently and carried her to her room, Stiles following along in a slow gait. He headed straight to his and Derek's room, too tired to remember to stop and say goodnight to Erica, even though she was asleep. He changed into his pajamas (boxers and a t-shirt) and climbed into bed, Derek joining him only seconds later. As Stiles cuddled up to him, he mumbled.
"So was today anything like you planned it would be?"
"No," muttered Stiles, "It was better." He felt Derek roll over and kiss his forehead but he said nothing else due to the fact that he was almost asleep and too tired to open his mouth. As Stiles drifted off he realized that today really had been better than he'd planned. Because, like Allison had said, he was with his family and they all had a great time celebrating his little girl's birthday and she was happy, and that's all that really mattered.