AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I will update "Sweet Misery" tomorrow, it is running long again, and I needed to write this idea down before it got away.

The next One Shot will have a lot of Artemis in it, as well as some Scott, and the pack, not just Derek and Charlotte.
ENJOY!

xxxx

Derek didn't know how things had gotten like this but he knew one thing: he blamed Charlotte Hale.

He had thought he was living a pretty good life and then so many bad things happened and Derek became a bit of a grump. Sure, he had his moments, and Charlotte knew that more than anyone, but sometimes it made him wonder when he realized the types of things that he was doing and in public no less. This particular day, Charlotte had convinced Derek that it was life and death and Derek had rolled his eyes at her: fairs were not life and death and he should know. The two had been through so much together and yet none of that compared with what was happening now.

"Just do it for me," Charlotte told him, taking his hands in hers and pulling him to her only to place his hands on her hips. "For me…and for the little ones we promised…"

Derek sighed loudly. "One of them still can't cash in on a thing," he was pointing at her stomach, but he couldn't find it in him to be upset at the barely second trimester baby bump, and when Clara came bounding out all dressed in her Fall clothes, he sighed loudly even though he was grinning. "Fine!"

"Yay!" Clara exclaimed, squealing when her father swooped her up only to put her up on his shoulders.

At first her little hands grabbed at his face, but soon Derek had the two year old properly situated, and the three Hales were out of the house with a bounce in their step. Sure, some people still found it weird to see Derek Hale actually smiling, but those in Beacon Hills that knew the family, knew all about how happy they were. Those that knew they were a family of wolves, knew that the mates were not to be trifled with, and yet there were some that had known Derek since before and it was still so strange.

"Clara, honey, don't strangle Daddy," Charlotte found herself saying as she saw Clara grip under her father's chin pretty hard. "He's not going to drop you—has he ever?"

Clara shook her head, her blonde pony tail swishing a little bit. "No, Momma."

"Then trust him," the blonde Alpha said smiling. "Daddy will always catch you if you fall."

"You said I wouldn't fall!" Clara pointed out hurriedly.

"Way to go with the choice of words, Charlee," Derek teased, Charlotte punching him in the arm.

Clara whimpered a little bit. "MOMMA!"

Before Derek could do a thing, Clara started reaching for her mother, Charlotte reaching up to take her. For a moment Charlotte thought Clara was going to accidentally kick Derek in the face, but the exchange was almost seamlessly done, and instead Charlotte held Clara on her hip and Derek felt…relieved and sad. Most wouldn't have thought it, but Derek was a complete Papa Wolf and he liked to spend as much time with his little girl as possible. Then he remembered the baby and shook his head, reaching out his hands for Clara, Charlotte shaking her head.

"It's my turn," Charlotte told him, Clara smiling and wrapping her arms around her mother's neck. "My baby girl…"

Clara nodded at that. "Yeah, Daddy."

"You're fifteen weeks along, Charlee," Derek repeated, arms out. "Give me our growing baby girl before you over exert yourself too much."

"Please," Charlotte responded as she rolled her eyes. "She's barely that big and I'm an Alpha for God's sake. Hell, I carried—"

"—I was not particularly fond of you having Clara almost a month early due to thinking you could do everything," Derek cut her off.

Charlotte opened her mouth to say something, but sighed and told Clara to go to her father, Clara making Derek first promise not to put her back on his shoulders. She was a little heights shy now and would be for the rest of the day, but today was a day of wandering around and being cute. They went to see the petting zoo and they got some treats, and went on a couple of kiddie rides, but mostly it was just the carousel because Derek could stand by the horse with her and the ride didn't go very fast.

In fact, even though Derek had been dreading the whole outing, he had started to smile a lot when he saw Clara's eyes lighting up at the animals. They were so soft to the touch and she was so intuitive even though she was only 2, and by the time the Hale family had made it to the carousel, Derek was grinning from ear to ear and insisting that he be the one to accompany his little girl on the ride. After all, he was more than equipped to handle it and Charlotte had to pee, which was a habit for a pregnant woman.

"Wave to Mommy!" Derek said with a grin as they were passing by, Charlotte beaming and waving at them from the ground, holding some cotton candy.

Clara waved quickly before looking at Derek. "Will we bring the baby here too?"

"Of course we will," Derek responded, feeling a swell of pride that he was going to be the father of two little ones and not just one. "You'll be a big sister soon."

"How soon?" Clara asked him curiously, cocking her head to the side a little like Derek did when he was confused.

Derek smiled at her. "Longer than you'd like to wait, but…soon."

"There's Momma!" Clara said, distracted after nodding at his answer.

She was only two, and seeing her mother all happy on the sidelines made her really happy, which just made Derek really happy, and when the ride slowed down he picked Clara up and took her off of the ride. Then, Clara insisted on walking between Derek and Charlotte, holding each of their hands and wandering around a bit until a whine sounded, that made Charlotte and Derek nod. Clara was tired, so Derek picked her up, smiling as Clara wrapped her arms and legs around him, resting her head on his shoulder. Even though she insisted that she wasn't tired and she didn't want a nap, she ended up falling asleep in Derek's arms on the way home.

Charlotte smiled at the two and when they got home, she helped Derek to tuck Clara in and then went to lay down on their bed. She was tired too, not just from the day, but from her pregnancy, and she felt like maybe she needed to have a nap. Derek chuckled a little as he watched her, telling her to sit up, which made her eyes blaze red a moment, but when Derek asked her to trust him, she sighed and did as she was told. Then, Derek got behind her and started to massage her shoulders, Charlotte smiling and letting her head lull as Derek kissed the back of her neck.

"My Alpha needs to release some tension before taking a nap," Derek whispered in her ear, Charlotte shivering as his hot breath caressed the shell of her ear.

She smiled a little bit. "Releasing tension would come in the form of sex if I wasn't so tired."

"I'll cash in tonight when Clara goes to bed," Derek replied with a shrug, Charlotte laughing and nodding. "Besides, we both know you need to sleep. You've been working a lot and then coming home and trying to take everything over from me and you know how I—"

"—want to keep our daughter to yourself? Yes, I know, and I love that, but I also love knowing that I'm being a 'mom'," Charlotte replied, turning around and kissing Derek gently, smiling when his hand rested on her stomach. "When this one comes out, we'll have two little pups you know…still want that?"

Derek smiled at her, thinking about it all, because regardless of kissing boo-boos and playing with dolls and giving shoulder rides, Derek loved being a dad. He loved the laughter and the feelings and the love and sometimes Clara just looked up at him with those big brown eyes and he felt like he was the luckiest guy in the world to have this little one for a daughter. The Beta wolf had grown accustomed to the braiding hair, tickle fights and the snuggling and laughter and yeah, he blamed Charlotte…but it was the best thing to ever happen to him.

"Charlee?" Derek asked, leaning in and kissing her tenderly. "I wouldn't want anything else."

Note: Just something cute and sweet because Daddy!Derek is a weak spot of mine. Feedback is always appreciated!