(+3 years) Derek holding Erica and Boyd's three week old daughter, Callie, like she's a bomb that's about to go off and not being able to pass her back quickly enough when her eyes flash bright blue. Derek is terrified at the idea of having to cope with a baby werewolf in the pack.

"Derek, we need to go and meet the baby." Stiles complained; he was sitting at the top of Derek's ridiculous spiral staircase, drumming his fingers on his knee and checking his watch every couple of minutes. "She's three weeks old. You're her alpha. You have to meet her!"

Derek remained resolutely silent. Stiles sighed loudly and dramatically, knowing full well that it would annoy Derek and got to his feet and turned around. He smiled fondly at Derek, who was perched on the end of the bed in just his jeans, two almost identical grey t-shirts in his hands and a look of utmost confusion on his face.

"They're both grey, D." Stiles smiled fondly, dropping to his knees in front of Derek and sliding his hands up his thighs. "Just pick one and put it on."

"Right. Yeah." Derek mumbled, looking from one shirt to the other. After a few minutes, Stiles sighed again, gently tugging the shirt from Derek's left hand and throwing it towards the dresser.

"There. Put that one on."

"I wanted to wear the other one."

"Are you freaking out?" Stiles asked as Derek grudging pulled on his shirt. "You're freaking out, aren't you?"

"It's not supposed to have been born yet!" Derek complained, shoving his hand through his hair. "Erica said it wasn't going to be born until next week."

"She, Derek. She's called Callie. She's not an it."

"She wasn't supposed to be born until next week." Derek corrected huffily, "That's what Erica said."

"That's the funny thing about babies." Stiles grinned, attempting to push Derek towards the stairs. "They sometimes just turn up when they want, not when the doctor's say."

Derek grumbled his way down to the parking lot, scowling at Stiles when he put his feet up on the dashboard of the Camaro. Stiles ignored him, pulling out his phone so he could text Boyd to let him know they were on their way over before flicking on the stereo.

"What if she makes me hold it?" Derek asked suddenly, leaning forward and turning off the stereo.

"She, Derek, not it." Stiles reminded, turning his head to one side and giving Derek a frustrated smile. "Of course you'll have to hold her. That's what you do when you meet babies. Plus she's a baby werewolf. You're the alpha of the pack. It's probably the law, maybe the lore too, that you have to hold her!"

"What if I drop her?"

"Since when do you drop anything? You've got your stupid wolfy reflexes." Stiles reminded him, putting his hand on Derek's thigh and giving it a little squeeze. "Why are you so freaked out? You've held a baby before, right?"

"Of course I have." Derek huffed as they turned onto Erica's block. "But I wasn't any of those babies' alpha."

"You'll be fine." Stiles told him soothingly, sliding his hand further up Derek's thigh to distract him as they pulled up outside Erica's parents' house. "I promise. And I'll be there if you do drop her. I can catch a football, I can probably catch a baby."

. o o o .

Erica let them into the house, looking exhausted but beautiful, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail.

"I can't believe it's taken you this long to come visit." She grinned over her shoulder to Derek as they followed her through the house. "You're like, the worst alpha ever!"

Derek scowled at the back of her head and glanced at Stiles, as though he were asking for permission to run away. Stiles rolled his eyes and grabbed hold of his hand, dragging him along and into the lounge. Boyd was sitting on the edge of one of the couches, holding his daughter in his arms and looking every inch the proud father. Stiles immediately crossed to coo over Callie, rolling his eyes when he sat down beside Boyd and saw that Derek had positioned himself in the armchair furthest away from the baby, and consequently, the nearest one to the door.

"Stiles?" Erica asked, folding herself into the armchair next to the couch. "Why is your idiot boyfriend scared of my baby?"

"Because he's an idiot?" Stiles grinned, looking up and smiling sweetly at Derek before turning his attention back to Callie. She was definitely the prettiest baby Stiles had ever seen, although he wasn't afraid to admit that he hadn't really met many actual babies. Even if he had, Callie was definitely, definitely the prettiest, with her coffee coloured skin and dark brown eyes. He reached over and lightly stroked the wispy curls on her head, smiling when she burbled back at him.

"You want to hold her?" Erica asked, looking over at Derek, who shook his head hurriedly.

"I'm good. Stiles can hold her."

"Stiles has already held her." Erica pointed out. "Because Stiles came to visit us last week instead of hiding from a tiny little baby."

"It's true." Stiles grinned, tearing his attention away from Callie. "I've done the dutiful friend visiting a friend's baby thing. It's your turn, D."

Derek scowled at them, earning himself another grin from Stiles. He'd long since realised that it was pointless trying to argue his case when Stiles ganged up with Erica against him. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Erica stood up, scooping Callie up from Boyd's arms and heading purposefully towards him.

"Here." She held the baby out to Derek who hesitated for a moment before sliding his hands under her arms and lifting her awkwardly. He heard Stiles' stifled laugh and decided to ignore it, looking instead at Callie as she dangled from his hands. She fixed him with what Derek was convinced was far too judgmental a look for a baby. He was so busy staring at Callie that he hadn't noticed Erica perching on the arm of his chair until she tutted loudly at him.

"Derek." Erica said sharply. "She's not a football. Don't hold her like that."

Derek looked up at her, his expression a mixture of guilty and pleading. Erica rolled her eyes and got off the arm of the chair, taking Callie from Derek and holding her in one arm while she rearranged Derek's arms with her free hand. When she was satisfied, she gently lay Callie back in his arms, keeping her hand behind her head to support it when Derek failed to do so.

"Move your arm." She instructed, nodding down at Callie's head. "She can't hold her head up properly yet."

Derek did as he was told, shifting his arm until he was supporting Callie correctly, looking down at her with an expression of pure panic on his face. Stiles grinned over at him, not caring if he looked stupid or broody; Derek holding a baby was possibly one of the most adorable things he'd ever seen, and he'd been to the vet clinic with Scott to look at tiny puppies on a number of occasions. He slipped his phone from his pocket, determined to get a photo before Derek panicked completely and gave the baby back to Erica.

"Don't you dare, Stiles." Derek mumbled before he could even open his camera app.

"No fair." Stiles complained, putting his phone back in his pocket. "What if no one else has babies and this is the only chance I get to have a picture of you with a baby?"

"We've got photos of the rest of the pack with her." Boyd pointed out calmly. "We need a photo of you two with her."

"No."

"It's for her baby book." Erica told him, cuffing him lightly on the back of the head. "You're not allowed to say no."

"So take a photo of her with Stiles." Derek huffed, shifting uncomfortably; Callie made a frustrated wuffling noise, stretching one tiny fist out towards Derek.

"No. You're meant to be the alpha of this pack. That makes you her alpha as well." Erica reprimanded, crossing the room and holding her hand out to Stiles, who readily handed over his phone. "Go on." She added, pulling Stiles up off the couch and pushing him towards Derek. He took up Erica's previous position on the arm of the chair, reaching over and stroking the back of Derek's neck .

"Stop scowling at the baby." He whispered, grinning when Derek re-directed the scowl in his direction. "And smile. Photo time."

Derek didn't oblige, but did keep his eyes mostly closed so he didn't ruin the picture when the flash went off. Erica took another picture with her own phone and laughed happily, flopping down beside Boyd on the couch. The sound of Erica's laugh apparently disturbed Callie who made an angry grumbling noise, waving her fists at Derek.

"What's she doing?" Derek asked nervously, looking up at Stiles. "What does she want?"

Before anyone could answer, Callie's eyes flashed bright blue and she opened her mouth again to snarl at Derek.

"Erica!" Derek muttered. "Take her back."

"That's quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen." Stiles crowed, leaning over to look at Callie's blue eyes. "Teeny tiny werewolf!"

"Erica!"

"Jeez Derek, calm down." Erica sighed, crossing the room and taking her daughter back from Derek; she held Callie against her chest and rubbed her back soothingly. "She's just grumpy, she's not going to eat you."

"She caught grumpiness off you." Stiles laughed, elbowing Derek in the arm before leaning against him. "This is us never having kids, then, then? Someone clearly can't cope!"

Derek muttered something inaudible, folding his arms across his chest and frowning at Callie as Erica paced back and forth across the room. Stiles smiled to himself, sliding off the arm of the chair and into Derek's lap, ignoring the look Boyd gave him and pressed a kiss against his cheek. Callie appeared to be watching them over Erica's shoulder, her eyes still a vivid shade of blue; Stiles was more than aware that she couldn't actually see them from that distance although he wasn't sure Derek realised that as he continued to shoot her unnerved looks, making a low growling noise in his throat. Like a lot of things Derek did, it was equal measures of adorable, hilarious and pathetic.