A/N: Just going to put this out there and see what everyone thinks.
Enjoy!
Decade Plus a Few Years
Darkness of night surrounds him as he stands alone in the cold, unforgiving forest. In the distance, behind the wall of heaven-bound trees, the smell of smoke, the crackling of timber and shades of orange call to the boy's senses.
His surroundings were unfamiliar but night after night, he would always end up in the same spot, smelling the same fire, hearing the voices in the distance and smell the underlying scent of pain.
He would walk the path that was barely visible, overgrown by ferns and take the same amount of steps before he was just on the outskirts of the camp that was full of life; the occupants enjoying the company of the others, not having a care in the world. Conversation and drinks flowing freely as the night progressed.
The little ones of the group would be running in and out of their parent's legs, also laughing and carrying on.
Then, his eyes would snap to the far side of the camp; in the darkest of shadows, the one who he had come to call his best friend, his brother, sat with a chain bound to his ankle that keeps him connected to the tree. The other boy's bones were showing, eyes sunken in and body bloodied and bruised. His breaths were short and labored but somehow, somehow he managed to keep going, not to give up during the night.
The bound teen, man, slowly raises his head and scans the area.
Their eyes meet.
"Stiles!" Scott shouts, already knowing that no amount of screaming will matter. "Stiles!"
He wakes with a start, bolting up, breathing in gasps and sweat covering his skin. His teeth already exposed and claws shredding the sheets under them. The figure beside him stirs, her hand reaching out to rub soothingly over his back, trying to get him to calm down from his reoccurring nightmare. "It's ok, Scott. It's only a dream." Allison grasps his arm, trying to get him to lie back down. Scott doesn't budge, instead, gets out of bed, slipping on his robe and going out onto the balcony attached to their bedroom, looking in the distance at the city stretched out before him. Scott drops his head to run his hands through his now shorter hair.
His mate comes up to him from behind, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"He's still out there." Scott breaks the silence in his barely there voice
"It's been over a decade." Allison quietly comments. "There hasn't…they police and the pack haven't…there are no leads."
The wolf inhales a shaky breath, tears threatening to fall. "You, you don't see him. In the dream, he's, god, he's so broken. His eyes, Allison. They're begging me, pleading for someone to rescue him. I-I need to…" Allison tightens her grip for a second before letting her husband go; knowing where he was going.
When the nightmares had started, Scott would go to the balcony for some time before slipping on his shoes and heading out to go either to talk to Derek or to the place where he felt close to Stiles. Allison always stayed back, knowing Scott's need to be alone for the time being. Then, when he would return, she would cuddle into him on the bed, sleeping the day away.
oOo
The light of the moon lit up the pathway to the designated spot. Pulling his jacket closer to his body, Scott ventures deeper, stopping when he finally reaches the spot. Sitting down on the cold earth, the man starts to pick at the dewy grass in front of him. "I know your son is out there…" Scott addresses the first stone. "I just… I can feel him; I can tell he's still in danger. Please watch over him until we find out where he is and finally bring him home." His gaze falls to the next. "It's kind of pointless having your name on a stone without you actually being here. Everyone misses you and it's not the same without you here. I've been getting your visions but I don't know where to start looking or how. We need you back; your dad needs you back. So much has changed since you have been gone. Derek and Vanessa had twins. They named the boy after you and the girl after Derek's sister. He acts just like you, you know. Only a few months old and already taking after his uncle. He bit Jackson the other night and refused to let go. When we finally got little Stiles off of Jackson, the he started giggling and blowing bubbles." A sad smile plasters on his face.
"We have a few other additions to the pack now other than the cubs. Derek let three new betas in that had lost their pack. They're not too bad but the girl, Erica, can be a handful sometimes and Boyd and Isaac, they're cool, but not the same." He pauses a second to sniffle. "We're going to find you, Stiles." He's determined. He needs his best friend back home where he knows that Stiles is safe. Even if they just find the man's body, a little piece of him will have some sort of closure, knowing that Stiles is back where he belongs; in Beacon Hills with the ones he loves.
Scott is too caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the approaching footsteps. The figure looms over him and places its hand on his shoulder, startling the younger wolf.
"It's the fifth time this week."
"He's trying to tell us that he's still alive. He's still out there, Derek."
"Scott." Derek breaths out in his 'we've-been-through-this-already' voice. "Stiles knows how to fall off of the face of the earth. If he didn't want to be found, he knew all the right ways to make it possible."
"What if he was kidnapped?" The alpha doesn't answer. "Almost fifteen years Derek. Fifteen. All these nightmares and feelings. He's still out there and we have to find him. I may not have been the best of friend all those years ago but he's trying to tell us something and we have to help him. I'm not going to abandon him this time. I can't."
"You're not the only one who misses him. We tried all that we could do. He's not coming home Scott, it's time to move on and get on with your life. Enjoy your life with Allison and Quin. They need you. Stop dwelling on the what ifs and actually start living again. Is that what you think Stiles would want you to do?"
"Don't. You have no right to say that." Tears are silently cascading down his face as he keeps his eyes locked on to the alpha in front of him. "I'm not going to rest until we get him back. He needs to come home." Derek closes the distance between himself and his beta, wrapping his arms around Scott, who is allowing his tears to fall freely and soak into the shirt covering the hard body of the other man.
Derek swallows the lump in his throat as he listens to Scott snuffle into his shoulder. Scott wasn't the only one who still suffered from the loss of Stiles. When Stiles had disappeared, the pack almost fell apart from their head beta not being there. With the help of the other man, the pack grew closer together and stronger, becoming one.
It took years before things were close to being back to normal again but there was still a Stiles-shaped hole in each of their hearts. They all lost a friend and a brother. The Sheriff losing his whole world again, almost taking his life on more than one occasion, only to be stopped by the pack or by Melissa.
Things were better but never to be the same again.
The world would never be the same again.
The sun's early rays were starting to shine through the trees and onto the two figures in the cemetery. Without another word spoken, Derek leads Scott to the waiting Camaro, helping the man into the passenger side and driving towards the beta's house.
Allison is sitting on the porch as the car travels down the driveway. She watches as Derek and Scott exit the car and walk the rest of the way to the front porch. She wraps Scott into a hug and meets the alpha's gaze over her mate's shoulder. Silence blankets the three and soon, Scott is pulling away from his lover to enter the house. Once he is inside, Allison and Derek stand still and a quiet conversation between the two starts.
"Thanks for bringing him home. It's been getting more frequent…"
"We've all been out of it lately."
"Yeah." Allison frowns. "Do you think…?"
"It's hard to tell. We all have been trying to deal but he's been hurt the most with Stiles being gone." Derek turns to leave. "You know the number if you need anything."
"Derek, wait." Derek ceases walking. "I talked to my father." The alpha looks over his shoulder. "He'd thought that you would like to know that him and his men have been tracking a pack. They're heading this way."
"I'll call a pack meeting tomorrow. Go, be with Scott."
oOo
Surrounding, sounds and smells are all the same but this time, he's not standing at the edge of the camp, he's sitting beside Stiles as he watches as the others interact in their night festivities. Now's his chance. "Stiles." Scott whispers into his friend's ear. "Hey, come on, Stiles, look at me."
"Not much longer." The voice is weak and raspy and Stiles' head limply rolls to the side. "Not much longer." He repeats but doesn't say another word.
"What? Nonono stay with me. I'm going to get you out of here. You just have to stay with me ok?" Scott tries to break his friend free but his attempts are in vain when a large man steps through him, going straight for Stiles. He's loosing the will to fight and just allows the man to yank him to the ground to lie on his back.
A group is gathered around, shouting, laughter. The smell of burning hot metal.
Stiles screams as the red hot metal hits across his bruised, beaten body. Loud voices of amusement fills the air and the metal continues to make contact with Stiles' skin.
"Scott, shh, it's just a dream." Allison is holding him against her chest, rocking back and forth trying to save Scott from another nightmare.
It takes a moment for the beta to realize where he is and to get his voice back. "He's not going to last much longer. We have to find him. If Derek and the rest of the pack won't help, I'll do it by myself. I can't let him down. I can't."
The last time Scott was acting and speaking like this was just after Stiles went missing. He had gone off by himself in search of his lost friend. No one knew where he went but after three weeks, Scott returned. Allison was afraid that if he repeats the action that Scott would not come home this time, leaving the pack and his family to grieve the loss of another member.
"Shhhh, we'll talk to the rest of the pack when we have the meeting."
"Meeting?"
"A pack is headed in our direction. Dad and his men have been tracking them for a while. They should arrive in a few days."
oOo
"I have been informed of a pack that will be traveling through the area. Chris has been keeping a close eye on them for a while throughout their journey. We are not sure what their purpose is but as far as we know, they come across peaceful. We will meet them at the territory's edge to assess the pack. If they are deemed harmless, they may pass."
"What if they turn on us?" Isaac speaks up.
"We will defend our territory."
"My dad…"
"No. This is strictly werewolf politics. Hunters must not interfere." Derek eyes everyone single one of his pack members. "The cubs and mothers will be taken to the safe house until further notice. Vanessa is already getting her stuff put together. Allison, Lydia, you will do the same." The two girls go to protest but the flash of crimson eyes has Lydia and Allison bowing their heads in submission. "You'll leave later today and Chris will escort you to the house and watch over all of you." Heads nod in recognition of their alpha's orders. "All are dismissed."
"Wait." Scott states as he rises to his feet, grabbing everyone's attention. "I…there…" He pauses. "I know that it has been fifteen years but with recent events, I believe that Stiles is still out there. I'm asking for permission to search for Stiles again." Scott looks towards his alpha.
"How do you know? Isn't it bad enough that we have to be reminded every day that he's not here? Scott, just let it go, let him go. He's not coming back." Jackson snaps.
"He will come back. He just needs our help. Derek, I can't do this alone but I will if I have to."
They all had lost so much and their wounds were sort of healed, healed enough to get one with day-to-day life. Was he really going to open them again? Was he ready for this? Were they ready for this?
"We have a pack to take care of first. After, we'll see what we can do, but don't give your hopes up." Scott slightly perked up at the permission the alpha was giving him.
Scott had a good feeling about this even if it meant finding Stiles beaten and bloodied; it meant that he was coming home, finally, after all this time.
oOo
"Call when you get there and lock all doors. If you need anything, tell Chris, he can…" Vanessa shuts Derek up with a kiss as she steps away from the car after she straps the twins into their car seats.
"We're in good hands. It'll be ok and I know the drill. I'm going with two of your strongest women and we're all moms. We're a force to be reckoned with if anything happens." She leaves another kiss to her husband's lips. "I should be telling you to be careful. We're not sure what this pack wants or how strong they are. Don't underestimate them and call me as soon as they leave." The two lovers embrace, kissing one more time before Vanessa, Lydia and Allison join their cubs in the vehicles and disappear into the distance.
Derek turns to face Jackson, Danny, Boyd, Erica, Isaac and Scott.
They could feel the shift already.
The other pack was close.
It was only a matter of time before they arrived.
The Hale pack was ready.
oOo
Twenty-four hours later, Derek and his betas were racing through the forest, charging for the edge of the territory as they felt the other pack steadily approach. Reaching the line, the Hale pack stops, standing in formation and waiting for the arrival of the pack.
Ten minutes before the scent and sound hit their ears.
Five more minutes and the other pack was spotted.
Three minutes until Derek and the other alpha were face-to-face.
The strange pack was at least forty strong and standing ready for when an attack was about to occur. The alpha standing in front of Derek and his betas was a few inches taller than Derek himself and had short black hair and piercing eyes, dark that one couldn't tell where the colored ended and the middle of his eye started. He was in his mid-fifties and had years of experience.
"Alpha Hale," The other alpha addresses. "We are that Moon River pack. I am Alpha William. We are just passing through to get to our new territory that my brother has handed over to my pack and I. I stand before you to ask for permission to pass through your territory. If you deny us access, we shall leave and harm will not come to your pack."
Derek has heard of the Moon River pack. They were traditionalists and a reason why Derek was glad that he made the decision for the mates and cubs to get the hell out of dodge. Packs who were run by tradition, did not agree to humans being part of a pack and even if the Moon River pack was just visiting, the girls could have been threatened, thus creating grounds for war between the two packs. Derek didn't like the idea of half of his pack missing or that he was away from his mate and children but he knew that if anything were to happen, he wouldn't be able to fully focus on the threat.
"Alpha William, your heart stays strong and true. The Hale pack gives permission for the Moon River pack to cross our territory on the east." William may have been telling the truth but Derek didn't want the pack anywhere near the pack home.
"Thank-you." William bows his head for a short second before looking back up. "Alpha Hale, my pack and I have been traveling and are tired. May we set up camp on the east for the night? We shall be gone in early morning." Now Derek was starting to fidget internally. It was one thing for a pack to pass through the territory but another to set up camp for the night. Derek tenses for a few moments.
"Your pack may rest only if I and my pack assess them before setting up for the night."
"As you wish Alpha Hale." William takes a step to the side to allow the Hale pack to go to the others. Slowly, Derek and his faithful betas make their way through the group, looking at the individuals that make up the Moon River pack.
The woods have grown deathly silent, tension thick in the air.
A cub, about five, runs through the crowd, oblivious to what is going on. He runs into Derek's legs, falling on his bum and looking up with wide eyes at the alpha. Everyone holds their breath, not sure how Derek will react but all worries are forgotten when Derek kneels, helping the little boy up and smiling as he watches the boy disappear into the crowd again, no doubt going to find his parents.
Derek was about to turn around, going to tell William that the pack could stay for the night when his eyes caught sight of a frail figure off to his right. The man was skinny, bloodied, bruised and beaten. The chains looked large wrapped around his bony ankles and wrists.
The moment of recognition hits when Scott goes rigid beside him.
"William!" Derek growls out and the visiting pack stiffens at the command. William rushes over to the Hale pack. "This man, where'd you get this man?"
"He's the omega. He entered our territory smelling of another pack."
"Where."
"Crossed into our former territory in Alabama from Georgia."
"You will hand him over as payment for your pack crossing our territory and staying the night."
"He's an omega."
"You will hand him over to the Hale pack if you cross."
"We'll find another way then." Derek could take the man by force but with William's pack outnumbering his own, it would be certain death. They'd find a way to get the…omega.
"Wait." Derek calls after the retreating pack. "Alpha William, what do you want for the omega?"
"You want the pathetic omega? Out of all you see here, you're concerned for the omega? He did this to himself, he deserves what he gets. He's not for sale." Derek growls and William makes a motion with his head. The beta that held the chains connected to the omega steps through the crowd, dragging the frail being behind him. "He's not for sale but that doesn't mean you can't have him." With one quick motion, William slams his clawed hand into the omega's stomach, twisting it with a sickening sound and pulling out, earning a scream of terrorizing pain from the omega as he falls to the ground.
William evilly smiles, eyes flashing and he starts backing off, going back to the way his pack had come.
Scott is instantly on the ground, pulling the injured man into his lap and tears in his eyes. "Stiles!"
The omega looks up with heavy eyes, his sight blurring at the edges. "S-Scott?" His voice was weak and raspy as he was quickly falling victim to the darkness. "Scott." It was now barely a whisper, more of an exhale of breath.
"Unchain him! I need someone to help me unchain him!" Scott is frantically moving to apply pressure to the wounded stomach and looks around at his fellow pack members. "Unchain him! Help him! Don't just stand there!" His skin was quickly being stained red with blood. "Stiles, stay with me. We're going to fix this."
Stiles eyes were starting to gloss over and his pulse fading.
"Stiles!"
oOo
"Where is he? Is he ok?" Allison bursts into the pack home, followed by Lydia, Vanessa who are carrying the babies. Derek greets the group as he tries to finish wiping the blood from his stained skin. "Derek, where is he? So help me if you don't tell me within the next…"
"He's upstairs in the guest bedroom." Allison goes to rush up to the room but Derek's hand grapping her arm stops her proceedings. "It's not…he needs some time."
"Is it…is he…?" Derek remains silent. "We just got him back!" Allison screams. "We just got him back!" The alpha circles his arms around the huntress and looks towards his mate, Lydia and the smallest members of the pack.
Lydia was holding back the tears
Vanessa looked grief-stricken but kept her composure.
"It's been a long day. We should all get some rest; we have a lot to do in the coming days."
oOo
He stares at the body before him, observing all the cuts, bruises and scars that littered the pale, skeletal skin. The closed eyes that have sunken in over the years due to the lack of nutrition and the over abundance of abuse the man endured.
It was wrong. Wrong to see Stiles so weak, so quiet…so very, very still.
Unnatural
Scott grasps the cold, slender hand. "I knew you were still alive. You're finally home, we got you back. You have to pull through, you're strong. You survived fifteen years of torture and you can, will, survive this. You have to…please." Tears fall to the hand grasped in his, sliding their way down to the sheets that covered Stiles' slender form, wrapped in red tinted gauze.
The beta refuses to leave Stiles' side throughout the night and the next day. Scott doesn't even bother moving from his spot next to the bed even with protests from the others of the pack; asking him to get some sleep, food or a shower.
He's not going to leave, not now and not ever. Stiles just came back into his life and he was not going to chance it again.
oOo
"Is it true?" the former Sheriff questions as soon as Derek opens the front door of the Hale house. "Is my son…is he here?"
"Sheriff." Derek greets. "Come in." Mr. Stilinski enters the house and is taken into the living room where the others of the pack were already seated. "We have found your son." The older Stilinski goes to get up to go to Stiles. "Scott is with him right now, he hasn't left his side since that night."
"Is he ok? What happened to him?"
"He's in the guestroom, still sleeping. We don't know the whole story or what exactly happened but what we do know is that he stumbled into another wolf's territory and has been their…omega." Derek swallows around the word as it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. "He has major injuries and we are tending to them as best as we can. Stiles lost a lot of blood…"
"I need to see him."
"Sheriff, I don't think…"
"You will not keep my son from me. Fifteen years I have thought him to be gone, never to return and you're telling me that he is upstairs, alive. You will have to kill me to even try to get me to keep me away from my son." Sheriff Stilinski stands, determination etched on his face as he ascends the stairs to go to his son. He reaches out to the knob, turning it and opening the door. Stilinski takes in the two men in front of him. Scott is on the bed, curled protectively around Stiles.
Scott looks up, meeting the gaze of his best friend's father and new tears start to form.
"I tried; I should have gotten to him sooner. I'm so sorry." Sheriff Stilinski falls beside the bed, reaching out to touch his son, his alive son and Scott. "I'm so sorry. I promised to protect him and…and I couldn't…"
"Scott, he's home, he's alive. My son is alive." Mr. Stilinski grips Stiles' limp hand, repeating Scott's motions, but bringing the hand up to his face; the action just to prove that Stiles was actually before him alive and breathing.
Stiles is home.
oOo
It was quiet, too quiet. There should be people talking, arguing and little children's screams of delight floating through the air around him. There should be the smell of the fading coals of last night's fire. There should be the feeling of cold metal against his skin and the hard bark of a random tree digging into his back, not something soft and comfortable.
A vision of his last attacker flashes across his vision, making him scream and bolt up from the bed but is stopped when his imaginary chains bind him down. He thrashes against the mattress, trying to get away from his attacker.
His movements pulling and stretching the stitches, making them snap and reopen his wounds, blood starts to soak through the gauze. He continues to thrash about even when others rush into the room, trying to get him to calm down.
"Stiles! Stiles! You're safe. You need to calm down, we got you, you're safe!"
"Scott move." A distant voice calls out and soon Stiles stops moving and as his world starts to fade back to black, he sees the concerned faces of the ones he used to call pack.
oOo
Scott slides down the wall, hands in his hair, gripping tightly. He lets out a shuddered breath. What was he supposed to do? Stiles may have been physically safe but how could he possibly be saved from the terror that was his mind? There is fifteen years worth of torture and a life time of nightmares that Stiles will no doubt suffer from.
It was not going to be an easy task, he knew that, but he was going to help his friend get through this.
Through the wall, Scott could hear Stiles' breathing and heart rate pick up as he starts to wake. It had been two hours since Scott sat on the floor, completely lost in his thoughts that it felt as if he had only been sitting for minutes. Taking a deep, calming breath, he shakily stands to enter the room.
Stiles is blinking the sleep away from his eyes when he catches sight of Scott entering the room.
"S-Scott?" Stiles receives a watery smile in response.
"Yes, Stiles. I'm really here. You're really here." Stiles goes to prop himself up. "Don't just, just stay."
"William…" Scott's eyes flash at the mention of the alpha. The eye changing has Stiles' breathing hitch, heart beating faster as he is trying to curl into himself, offering his neck in submission and shaking, waiting for something to happen. Scott wants to go to Stiles, comfort him but knows better and stands still.
"Sorry, I didn't mean…" Stiles chances a glance at the beta. "How do you feel?" Scott's not sure what to say in this situation. He just wants to help Stiles but knows that the man is not up to being held or even touched right now. "Are, are you in any pain?"
"All the time." The wolf's heart breaks just a little more at the confession.
"Do you need something…?"
"No." Stiles' voice is cold and his eyes harden.
"I'll go get Derek."
"Don't…stay, please."
Scott takes his spot next to the bed. "Ok."
"What happened to William's pack?"
"Left." Scott can't stop staring at Stiles, still having to pinch himself to realize that Stiles is actually right in front of him. "I-I know that…you sent me those nightmares, trying to get help."
"I didn't know until the last time. I heard you call my name and trying to get me free. If I would have known, I would have stopped it."
It was Scott's turn to snap back. "No, it wouldn't have mattered. I would have still gone looking for you. Wouldn't stop until I found you." Stiles jumps at the sound of the running feet going past the door. Scott notices the movement. "Sorry, Quin can be a little…hyper."
"Quin?"
"My son, he's about seven now."
"You, you have a son? You're a father?"
"Hard to believe isn't it? I'm not the only one. Jackson and Lydia have a little boy, Jake and Derek and Vanessa had twins."
"Everyone…" Longing presents itself in Stiles' eyes. He had always wanted a family. A woman to love and little feet pattering against the floor. He wanted a house filled with love and laughter. All that had been taken away from him. William took that away from him. "Twins, you said there were twins."
"Yeah, Derek and Vanessa had twins a few months ago. They, they named their son after you."
Stiles, for the first time, smiles, something that he thought he had forgotten how to do. "They…" he starts to choke up. After all this time, they still thought about him. When they thought he was dead, they, the alpha, named his cub after him. "Derek found a mate."
"Yeah, we couldn't believe it either when they told us. They're really great together though and she gets along with the pack. She, uh, she helped us stay sane when you were gone."
"I thought about you guys every day. I was passed from pack to pack until I found my escape. I thought I was free but William found me." Scott hesitantly reaches out to take a hold of Stiles' hand. "I tried getting away but you can only try so many times. The thought of you guys back here was the only thing that kept me going. But if you wouldn't have…" A lump forms in Stiles' throat. "I wouldn't have lasted another night."
Scott wasn't ready for this. He wasn't ready to hear what his friend has been through over the last fifteen years. "You, you should get some rest. I need to tell the others that you're finally up and talking. Your dad will want to see you."
"M-my dad."
"I'll send him up." Squeezing Stiles' hand, Scott goes to exit the room to descend to the first floor to deliver the news.
oOo
Sheriff Stilinski has been with his son for almost three hours and the Hale pack sits together in the living room, discussing their next course of action.
"He has to heal before anything really happens. Then slowly, we'll reacquaint him with the pack. I'm not sure how he's going to react to everyone after the things he has been through. We will not leave him even if he decides not to be part of this pack. If he wants to, he'll take back his position as head beta." Derek looks around the group in front of him, all nodding their heads in agreement.
Footsteps from above were getting closer and Derek goes to the entry way to greet the Sheriff when he comes down to the landing.
"He insisted." Sheriff Stilinski had Stiles clutching onto his arm, supporting the other's weight as he helped Stiles walk. Slowly, the father-son-duo descend the stairs, stopping right in front of the alpha. Stiles doesn't quit meet Derek's gaze but glances every so often and offers his neck to Derek.
"Alpha Hale, I would like permission to see the pack." Stiles' voice is small, the sound unfamiliar coming from the man standing in front of him. Stiles should never sound so weak, frail and so frightened. The way Stiles addresses him is off putting. Derek never wanted his pack to call him by Alpha Hale; he wanted them to see him as almost an equal instead of one who was superior. The Hale pack was different than others but it worked for them.
"Stiles…" Derek starts.
"Omega. Alpha Hale."
"No." Derek's voice deepens and he stands taller, shoulders back. "Head Beta."
Stiles dares to look at Derek in the eyes and notices that the rest of the pack, new and old members, filed into the entryway and are showing their respects, exposing their necks in submission to their alpha and head beta.
Something clicks inside Stiles' brain and in that moment, although still recovering physically and mentally, a part of the old Stiles is back and ready to help lead the Hale pack to its former glory.
5 years later…
"Whoa, slow down there tiger!" Jackson exclaims as his son darts in front of him.
"Jake no running in the house!"
"Ok mommy!" Jake, now eleven, shouts over his shoulder as he is being chased by his younger cousins, Stiles and Laura, now five. Lydia smiles at the sight of her son and feeling Jackson's arms wrapping around her waist, planting a kiss on her neck.
"Everything is almost ready, we just have to put up some more balloons and set more food out…"
"Is this really necessary? I mean me and the rest of the guys going to this thing. I thought it was just for women to coo over the baby stuff."
"It most certainly is! In a month, we'll be the proud aunt and uncle to one of the cutest babies to ever be born into the world, well other than Jake."
"Just hope Derek's not like he was when the other cubs were born, that was just…"
"Yeah, he went bat shit crazy but I have a feeling that he's going to be fine. I can tell that he can't wait for the new bundle of joy." Lydia gives Jackson a peck on his cheek. "Let's go before the others start fighting over the food and cake." Jackson smirks and allows Lydia to pull him out to the back patio.
There was music, laughter and conversation filling the air. Jake, Quin, little Stiles and Laura were running around playing as their parents watched.
Lydia saunters over to the expecting mother, sitting beside her. "Hey, you look good today. Got that glow." She earns a smile in return. "So how's Stiles?"
"He's excited but every now and then, you can see the fear in his eyes. He's going to be a great daddy to the baby, definitely going to have a daddy's girl." She felt a kick against her stomach and places her hand over the spot. "She's kicking." Her face creates a weird expression. "Oh, that's new." Another kick. "That's…" Her water breaks. "It's time. The baby's coming. Stiles!" Stiles, who was now running around with the children, stops to look up at his wife. "Stiles, it's time! The baby…!"
Stiles runs across the yard towards his wife. "Uh you sure…that's a lot of…god, the baby. The baby! We're going to have a baby! Erica, you're, we're…we haven't even had cake yet! Where's your bag? The phone! We need to call…"
"Babe, everything is already in the car. Just help me get there, ok? We can call your father on the way." Erica grabs onto Lydia's offered hands and stands up. Stiles, who managed to calm down a little, wraps his arm around Erica's waist and takes her hand in his free one, leading her to the waiting baby blue jeep.
Stiles and Erica take off in the direction of the hospital. The others of the pack following.
"Derek, you coming?" Scott turns to his alpha.
"I'll be there. Go ahead." The beta nods, turning to get into his car. He takes a second though to lift his head to the sky. 'Thank-you.'
Vanessa comes up behind Derek, wrapping her arms around him. "Ready to welcome another addition to the pack?"
"More then ready. It's been a long time coming." Derek kisses the top of his mate's head. "Let's go before Stiles goes completely crazy." The alpha pair walks hand-in-hand and their twins come running to them, getting in the Camaro.
It has been one hell of a journey but Stiles was back, not only back home but back to his original self. He had found comfort and a wife in Erica, who was there every step of the way during his recovery and now they were welcoming their first child, a daughter, into the world.
Progress still needed to be made, but for now, everything, for once, was complete, chaotic perfection.