Kate left during the night, sneaking out of the house he had bought with the money his parents had given him to help him after college: the two-floor, red roof and white-fenced house standing tall in the woods surrounding the small town of Beacon Hill was a dream come true to him when he first saw it nine years earlier. He had been a fool, getting married so young and without having a job, to a woman ten years older than him, nonetheless. But those blonde hair and sparkling eyes had gotten to him without him noticing.

The first time he held his eldest son, he knew he had chosen the right path: he was meant to be a father and he was going to be the best that ever existed. It didn't matter that Kate had looked resentful when she first took Jackson into her arms, it didn't matter if her eyes seemed filled with hate whenever the small boy started crying because she was stressed and couldn't sleep well. That was all.

When Isaac came, Derek thought things could get better. They were experienced now, they had already been through it all and nothing new could come. Except their son was sick. The doctors said he suffered from a genetic malfunction making his heartbeat way too fast and that he had to be operated as soon as possible. Kate left two days before the surgery.

At the time he didn't have time to worry, there were more important things to worry about and his coward wife was not the first thing in his to-do list. Isaac came trough safe and sound and Derek found himsef divorced and with two kids to take care of.

Jackson was the loud one of the pair: he could never keep quiet, he would always speak his mind, much to his father's dismay, and somehow managed to find trouble wherever he went. The fact that he still got straight A's even after pissing off most of his teacher in elementary school kept his dad and aunt from cutting off his tongue when his lips parted and threatened to start speaking.

Isaac was quiet; he was a thinker and never spoke unless he was sure about what he wanted to say. His classmates teased him because he hardly ever spoke to them, preferring to spend time surrounded by books and practicing his writing. Out of his two sons, Derek knew his little one was the one more afflicted by the lack of a mother figure during the past five years.

"DADDY! We have to go to school!" A loud scream brought him back to the real world.

Jackson jumping on his bed and on him was rather normal in the household, but this was not his older boy waking him up. That was Isaac, his usual calm, silent and thoughtful son. There was something really wrong with it.

His other boy entered the room already washed and dressed, wearing the usual scowl he got when his little brother woke him up before his alarm clock rang. He approached the bed and sat next to his dad's form to rest his heavy head on his chest.

"He woke up two hours ago. And he called me up, too. He made me stand up and I had to dress him up. He even made me comb his hair" Jackson mumbled into his shirt. Ok, Isaac asking someone to fix his hair got his whole attention.

"Now, now, what's the occasion?" He asked picking Jackson up and catching Isaac's arm to stop him from breaking his bed"Oh, wait: what's her name?" He asked gaining his little boy's best blush.

"Erica. She just moved here with her sister" he answered getting Jackson's head to snap up from his resting spot.

"You mean Lydia? Oh, she's nice and she's really, really smart: she could answer to all of Mr. Harris' questions" the older boy explained to his dad.

"Erica and Lydia. Guess I'd better dress up if I want to meet this lovely girls, don't I? Now, Jackie, go downstairs with your brother and fix up three bowls of cereals while I get dressed, ok?"

Jackson nodded taking Isaac's hand and heading down the stairs.

One loud phone call later with his very hormonal, very pregnant sister, Derek and the boys arrived in front of the building hosting Beacon Hill's elementary school; he barely got time to help Isaac out of the car that the little boy sprinted towards a small girl dressed in dark green talking to what looked like to be her dad.

"Isaac!" she yelled happily skipping to him before turning around to wave goodbye to her father- Bye daddy!-

"Bye, honey" the man said back"Bye Isaac"

"Lydia, would you like to come with me to class?" Jackson had moved forward to the taller girl standing right next to Erica's dad.

"Ok. Bye daddy. Remind granddad that he has to come pick us up, ok?" little Lydia asked.

"Will do, Lyd, will do"

Derek watched the four kids leaving together before turning to look at the man at his side: he was tall, slightly shorter than him but still tall. He had very short, brown hair and he was wearing a varsity jacket over some light brown pants and a blue shirt.

"You must be Derek Hale. Stiles Stilinski, Erica and Lydia's dad"he said cheerfully extending his hand for it to be shaken.

"Nice to meet you. Seems like you already met my boys" he smiled back.

"It would be hard, considering my daughters keep on talking about them" Stiles explained starting to walk back to his car "Plus, you were the high school hero for every member of the lacrosse team"

"What? I only played two years" Derek couldn't help but smile at the memory of his former life back in school; he missed those days wasted away with his friends, when Laura would have to cover up for him if he had drank too much for him to head home without their parents noticing.

"And you took the team to nationals for two years straight: Coach would always tell us to be like you" Stiles explained "Listen, we should meet up with the kids one of this days. I got to go now, but I'm sure that if you tell Isaac or Jackson they could come up with a day with the girls: I'd like them to have some good friends and your boys seem great" he told him getting in his car.

"Sure, that would be great, though you really must have spent very little time with my boys if you think they are good" Derek told him laughing.

"I don't need to spend time with them to know it. You can see it in their eyes. So, I guess I'll see you around" he said starting up his car- Bye Derek-

"Bye Stiles".