AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This is just another Charlotte and Derek One Shot because I love them and I keep getting ideas for further ahead in the story than I am…

xxxx

Giggling.

It wasn't that giggling wasn't a sound that Charlotte Hale wasn't used to hear, but to be woken up by it was a completely different story. She smiled a little bit as she stretched out a little bit, yawning and trying to remember where all of her sleep had gone. Ever since becoming a mother—even a little before that—sleep had seemed to elude her, but her daughter hadn't even woken her up in the middle of the night this evening and that was wrong, right? Clara Hale was so much like her mother and Charlotte was convinced that someday, that little one of hers would be Alpha of her own pack like her mother before her had been.

The family pack nowadays consisted of her, Derek and Clara, but Charlotte wanted another kid someday and so did Derek, who wanted to please his Alpha—but not as much as he just wanted a family and a place to belong. He and Charlotte had agreed that she was to be the Alpha of their family pack and honestly, it let him devote more time to his daughter and he preferred how Charlotte handled the learning how to be a wolf in the first place. Besides, he was so used to following her since she'd been his pack Alpha before, that it hadn't really bothered him, and Charlotte was used to that because she liked being in charge.

There it was again: more giggling.

Getting up, Charlotte ran her fingers through her blonde hair and went into the living room, seeing Derek doing leg lifts, Clara hugging her father's legs as he moved them up and down, his large hands holding hers. Stiles had been more surprised than anyone else when Derek took to being a 'dad' like a natural while Charlotte was the absolute least surprised. In fact, it had been Charlotte who had been the last to know out of her parents, Peter and Derek about being pregnant in the first place and the moment Derek knew, he'd tripled in being protective.

Then, Derek had taken to helping her nest, and to making sure that she was always comfortable no matter what, even caving to strange sex position ideas as Charlotte's stomach had begun to grow. He bit her whenever she asked him to, he took baths with her and helped to schedule doctor's appointments, and he'd been right there with her when the baby had been born. Everything had just been second nature to him and had softened him up more and more, and after everything that had happened to them all, he had really deserved this and Charlotte was so pleased that she was the one to give him all of that—and now he was a total Dad.

Not only did Derek not get grumbly about Clara crying in the middle of the night, but he got up with Charlotte even when all Clara wanted was to latch onto her mother and have a late night snack. He was in awe of his girls and wanted Clara to have everything that had been taken away from him and Charlotte teared up sometimes watching them together just knowing that. Derek always put Clara first, was constantly coming up with fun things to do with her, and even sometimes insisted that they stay in instead of going out, which was fun and adorable, but Charlotte wanted to go on a date with her husband at some point and let Clara have a babysitter.

Derek preferred to be with Clara and that was true even now, as it was very apparent to Charlotte that when Clara had woken up this morning, Derek had taken care of all of it and then brought her with him to do his morning workout. He was making it fun for her, acting like a plane and making silly noises, tickling her tummy and talking in that voice he used that wasn't a baby voice, but was still soft and gentle and reserved only for his daughter. Clara, wanted to play with her father's stuble, but he was not just playing with her—he was getting in a workout and that meant doing two things at once. Still, that grin on his face was really hard to miss.

"I should send pictures of this to the pack," Charlotte said with a smile on her face as she leaned forward and made faces at Clara, who burst out smiling at her mother.

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "They know all about me being a softie by now."

"Maybe, but this is like the kind of thing that women swoon all over," Charlotte responded as she sat on the floor next to her husband and made more faces at Clara.

"Oh do they?" Derek asked as he sat up too, setting Clara on his lap and smiling as he watched Charlotte take her daughter's hands.

Charlotte leaned in and gave her daughter an Eskimo kiss, Clara laughing and holding her mother's face, Charlotte showering the baby's face with kisses and then looking at her husband. That look in his eyes hadn't ever wavered and it made Charlotte blush a little bit because honestly she didn't know what to do with that look. He loved her so much and the feeling had just deepened and deepened over time…and it was the exact same way on her end. There was nothing about Derek Hale that Charlotte didn't love—even the parts she didn't entirely like. Everything about him made him the man/wolf that she had always known deep down that she had loved.

"Careful," Charlotte teased as she leaned in and kissed her husband swiftly, "that's the kind of look that makes me want to do things to you that I can't say in front of our daughter."

Derek chuckled and stole another kiss from his wife. "That's what nap time is for."

"I'll take you up on that," Charlotte responded before Clara made a noise.

It was a noise that they knew all too well and so Charlotte smiled as she and Derek sat there in their pajama pants, and she took Clara from her father and cradled her in her arm. Clara smiled because she knew what was coming next, Derek too, who watched his wife toss her hair over one shoulder and then push her tank top down on the same side, popping herself out of her nursing bra and letting Clara latch on her for her breakfast. It was a sight that still held him curious for a moment and in awe of the simple, natural things in life, but he kissed Charlotte's temple and then went to get her some coffee.

She was allotted her one cup of caffeinated coffee every morning and Derek came to sit with her as Charlotte fed Clara, running his fingers through his wife's hair and gently breathing on her ear. That made Charlotte jump a little, Derek chuckling and stroking his daughter's arm as he stayed close to them, protective and caring. Still, the breathing on Charlotte's ear could have been avoided as he knew it was the surest way to turn his mate on—that and simply biting her, which he would have done had she not been feeding their daughter. They were still getting the hang of having to censor part of their relationship with the little one around, but they were managing.

"Nap time, Papa Wolf…nap time," Charlotte reminded him, blushing a little bit.

Derek chuckled and nodded. "Alright, but there will be some R-Rated things happening then."

"I should hope so," Charlotte said before stealing a kiss from him, running her nose along his. "I'm famished, though, so you should get me some fuel."

"Pancakes, coming right up," Derek told her before kissing her again and then standing up.

He gave his girls one last smile before Charlotte went back to making eye contact with Clara, and Derek went to make breakfast with a grin on his face.

Note: Short, but sweet. There will be more One Shots this weekend—we're finishing up our big move and then there will be a day or two I have no Internet, but I have a bunch of One Shots in the making. Funny ones, angsty ones, and Derek being a Papa Wolf.