Cleaning supplies and childcare and patience and finding hobbies and making friends with other parents had become his world, and it was a world he embraced with quiet enthusiasm. Of course that didn't keep him from asserting himself as a fully capable alpha and head of house, but the minute his children were born all of his other duties became side-jobs. It had come as a surprise to their friends and family, to the pack, that Derek became the stay-at-home parent. What they initially failed to realize was that he was more than that. He was a stay-at-home warrior.
If there was one thing Derek Hale knew, if there was one small fraction of the universe that he was fully versed and expert in, if there was one skill he held that blasted all of the others out of the water, it was his proficiency and innate talent for househusbandry. He would go to his grave swearing that one day he'd make his way back to the Hale firm, but in his heart of hearts, taking care of his house and family brought him more happiness and satisfaction than even his long years of pro-bono had.
With a great big daddy who also happened to be their alpha, his children quickly imprinted themselves to him like ducklings, and he was almost never without them. They brought a certain light and laughter and exuberance to his life in a way that had been missing from it since the days when he himself had been a big brother. Spending his days with them brought his soul the final pushes of healing that it had needed after years of miserable suffering. He hadn't talked to Stiles about it yet, but he was seriously considering homeschooling them, and all future pack children.
In all his years of said suffering, he never once thought anyone would ever be able to say it about him, but here and now, in his honest opinion, he was a pretty kick ass dad.
_
Despite the equal give-and-take of their matrimony, Stiles had always had nagging suspicions that if there was a woman in their relationship, then between the two of them, most people would assume that it was probably him. He was a little less bulky, a little less growly, and according to Derek, far prettier. So it felt like poetic justice that he had become the one who brought home the bacon. He didn't just work, he worked hard. And though they were already supported by Derek's inheritance and insurance money, the fruit of Stiles' efforts allowed them to live well and easy. And that felt damn good.
As he parked the camaro next to the minivan he couldn't help but giggle. It would never not be funny that Derek not only drove the large family vehicle, but embraced it gleefully. Though Stiles made many attempts at nicknaming it, Derek refused to call it anything other than "the van". The twins had taken to calling it "VANNY VAN", which Stiles had mistakenly heard the first time as "DANNY VAN", and that's how the minivan was named after a Mr. Danny Mahealani, which he managed to take with a grain of salt.
On the front steps he dug out his keys, but before he could unlock the door it was thrust open and a small hand grabbed his own, dragging him inside "Come on daddy, save us from woofman!" and he stumbled in with a smile on his face. Until a large mist of windex covered his face. Upon further discovery, it was in fact water that had been food-dyed blue, and placed in an old windex bottle. Damn Derek was good, and that grin was practically feral with delight.
Stiles scooped up their babies into his arms and sprinted into the living room, collapsing onto the sofa "Okay, so the woofman has chemical weaponry, why did no one warn me?" "Cause it's just water daddy" "What? You mean he tricked me! I was sure he poisoned us all!" "MAYBE HE DID AND WE JUST DON'T KNOW IT YET" "There's my girl, using that keen scientific mind. Now tell me what we do if we think something might happen but we don't know what" "google fu!" "excellent work my brilliant progeny, now let's see what we're up against"
And he flicked on the TV computer and began scrolling the web, looking up "blue food dye + water + windex bottle = poison?" and his children screamed in triumph when they discovered that they had not in fact been poisoned. "Well we're safe, but we've gotta get back at daddy now. Got any ideas, any plans?" "we should jump on him" " i dunno, i think he'll probably hear and smell us coming" "well then jump on im now while he's hidden behind the couch"
Stiles paused for a moment and glanced over the back of the sofa, and to his surprise, Derek was in fact crouched right there. Wild grin still in place, and face wolfed out. He brought a claw up to his lips and Stiles rolled his eyes at the theatrics of it all "I definitely agree that we should just jump on daddy and be done with it, alright munchkins, prepare to launch!" and he helped them up and over the couch back and onto Derek's shoulders, who stood up immediately. They squealed and swayed back and forth while he emoted "NO! You've discovered my one weakness. Little tiny twin wolf pups. You'll rue the day you crossed me" and he tossed them back onto the couch before falling dramatically to the floor. The woofman was defeated.