Hi everyone! I am so glad to see that anyone is reading this story, please keep reading and reviewing, I tend to think no one is reading it if no one reviews so I really am grateful when you take your time to write a review. I am posting two chapters today because I thought that the story flowed better if I split the chapter in two sections. I hope you enjoy them both. I am working on the next chapter of Truth and Consequences, so don't worry, I haven't abandoned it.
Chapter 3
Once they arrive Lydia lets them in and announces that she is going to take a shower before the baby wakes up. He nods and sits the baby, still in his carrier, down and opens several bags to make sure they have the essentials. Hearing the shower cut off and Lydia moving around in the bathroom, Derek notices the baby starting to fuss. As he wakes up, waves his little fist in the air, like he is literally fighting with sleep before his tiny mouth opens in a wail.
Derek crosses to him, unhooking the convoluted seat and lifting the tiny child into his arms, the baby barely weighs five pounds according to Deaton and Derek is shocked at how light he is, smaller than a cat. He lets out another wail and Derek tries rocking him awkwardly a bit to little avail. Just as he is feeling like a complete failure Lydia enters the room wearing light peach pajama's her hair wrapped up in the towel. Derek notices that her pajama's are a soft cotton fabric and he wants to feel them, he doesn't ask of course but he does allow his fingers to brush against the fabric of her sleeve as he hands her the baby, "Oh give him to me," She states softly, "I think he is hungry again." She explains, like she wants him to know that he wasn't doing anything wrong. As she makes her way to the bed, she is already unbuttoning the top few buttons of her top, and before Derek can offer to turn around she already has her top open and the baby latched on. He has to admit he is fascinated by this, Derek has seen women breastfeed before but the fact that Lydia would and could do it for a child that she has never met before is surreal to him. He tries to look away as her eyes catch him but she stops him, "It's okay, I know you are not trying to catch a peak, I mean it is not weird or anything, this is just a crazy situation." He nods, relieved that she is not mad at him.
"Thanks, sorry I, it is just amazing that you can do that, that any woman can but specifically that you can and he is not yours." She nods, lightly running her fingers up and down the baby's arm, "You know in the wild, Alpha females will adopt orphans sometimes and they can nurse them. Their body recognizes the baby's need to survive and it allows the adoptive Alpha female to provide for the baby. I think that this is the same, he needed me," Looking up at Derek she amends, "He needed us." Derek nods quietly, again impressed by this girl who he thought was so selfish and shallow. "Hey," she looks up at him, locking eyes and smiling softly, "we need to give him a name, I mean I know that he isn't ours, but we need to be able to call him something," she suggest.
He nods, "Okay, do you have any ideas?"
"Um, I don't know. What do you think?" She quirks her head in an adorable way.
He looks down shyly, "My dad's name was Jacob; I have always liked that name."
Smiling, she looks to him, "Jacob," She weighs the name, "It means 'may God protect'. I think this little one needs everyone he can get protecting him," She ran her finger over the baby's nose and cheek, smiling as his eyes fluttered closed as he continued sucking, "What do you think Jacob?" She smiles, more serene than Derek had ever seen the girl, "I think it is perfect, just like our little man here." Derek finds himself smiling with her.
"Lydia how are we going to play this?" he sounds reluctant to ask, like he is uncomfortable asking for her guidance in plotting this, "You know that no one is going to believe our story especially if there was some sort of foul play with his birth mother and even if they do, they are not going to let us keep him." Nodding she gently shifted the baby, buttoning her shirt back up, "Yeah, but if I tell them all that he is my baby there will be less questions."
"Lydia, do you really want to do that? I mean do you want to be a sixteen year old with a baby?" He questioned, shocked that she would suggest that first.
"In case you have been sleeping through the last four hours or so, he pick me, actually he picked us, so I think that it is the easiest way for me to keep the baby with me and if my mom sees me breastfeeding a baby that I am telling her is mine, what is she going to go, demand a DNA test?"
"She could or she could take you to a doctor who will tell her that you did not give birth, I mean they can tell those things right?" Derek sounds younger than he ever has.
"Leave that to me," she scoffed lightly, "trust me the minute that my mom thinks I have blemished the family reputation she will be trying to ship me off so fast my head will spin."
"They will assume that the baby is Jackson's," He warns her.
"Jackson and I aren't together, if I tell people that we broke up because I was having someone else's baby they will be too enraptured in the gossip to question it." She acts as if she has this all figured out but Derek is still reluctant, he doesn't want her to throw her life away over this. He decides to let the matter rest for now and let her get some rest. "We'll talk more in the morning, get some sleep." He moves to sweep the yard and house before locking everything up tightly and checking back in on Lydia and Jacob. As he re-enters her room, he sees her on her side, curled around the tiny boy as if she is protecting him even in her sleep, the baby's hand is reaching for her in his sleep, as if he is assuring himself that she is still there. Reaching over, Derek turns out the bedside lamp, shrugging out of his coat, he makes his way over to the plush white chair in the corner of her room. Sitting down he settles in for a night of guarding the both of them while they slept.
Jacob wakes up every two hours to eat and by sunrise, Lydia is tired when she wakes up to the baby's sharp cries. Sighing, she opens her eyes to find Derek Hale holding Jacob, who fits perfectly on his forearms, trying to shush the baby with little bouncing movements. In his grey hendly and jeans, sans typical leather jacket and boots Derek looked younger than Lydia had ever seen him look, more at ease as he was making faces at the baby trying to get him to quiet down. Giggling, Lydia shifted, "Don't worry I'm awake," she said sleepily, reaching for the baby.
"I changed him but I think he is hungry again," He says as he hands the boy to her, "This baby eats more than a teenage werewolf," he scoffs as he stands and asks to use the restroom. When he returns, Lydia is feeding the baby, holding him with one arm and booting up her lap top with the other. Derek chuckled, amazed at her ability to multitask, "What are you doing?"
"Research," she said shortly as if that should be obvious.
"On," he led.
"A few things, one Celtic mythology and werewolves, two child protection laws in California and three, apartments because I am going to need a place to stay before my mom gets back." She said glibly as she switched the baby to the other breast causing Derek to look away quickly, still embarrassed at her ease with nudity.
"Well, I can help with the research for the first and I can help with the third, but why are you researching the second?"
"Um, I know my mom and she is going to make this difficult, I need to know what my rights are if she buys me as his mother and if she attempts to take him from me," She admits reluctantly.
"You really think that she would try to take him?" Derek is a little shocked at that.
"Maybe, once she gets over being pissed at me she might try just to prove that she is such a wonderful person, saving him from the ills of life with a teenaged mom," She rolls her eyes, rubbing Jacob's cheek, "I would never let that happen." She whispers to the baby.
"Well there is too much that your mother can't know about this baby or this situation so if she was to try to take him Lydia our best option would be to run," he states quietly. Lydia looks startled, "You would do that?"
"Of course," Derek stands and crosses to the bed, "I meant what I said last night, we are in this together for better or worse because he picked us, it is my job to protect you and him and I will do whatever it takes to do just that."
Lydia looks at him for a moment as if she is weighing the truth of his words, "Okay, thank you. I am not really used to having anyone on my side so, this is new."
Derek looks a bit embarrassed, "That is what a pack is, a support system and what you said last night, you were right. I have been punishing myself for what happened to my family for so long that I thought I had to do everything on my own. I never really let my pack in, even after I created them and I think that is why there has been so much turmoil. I need to teach them how to be wolves, how to function in a pack instead of just reacting to one crazy fucked up situation after another." She nodded as Jacob finished eating and she shifted him to her shoulder, leaning forward, Derek said, "I'll take him, why don't you get dressed and I will make you breakfast while you research myths." He stood, still looking a bit awkward with the baby.
"Thanks, I am starving and I don't cook so, that would be great."
As he made his way to the door, Derek turned for a moment and said, "I think I may have a solution to your living situation as well," before closing the door behind him and walking carefully down the stairs.
Lydia dressed quickly in a very atypical Lydia outfit of skinny jeans and a button down blouse, she braided her hair and put on very little make up. She figured that the rest of her day would be spent packing and taking care of the baby so there was not need to dress up. As she entered the kitchen, a state of the art chrome and mahogany tomb that never got used she laughed as Derek raided her fridge for anything edible, "We eat a lot of take out," she offered slightly embarrassed, the truth was neither of the Martin women could cook and since the divorce four years ago her mother spent far more of her time at the office then she did at home anyway. The more she thought about it, the less shocked she thought her mother would be at the idea of her getting pregnant. She imagined for a moment that her parents would argue over whose fault it was until Jacob was in graduate school. It was that thought that had Lydia imagining herself as his mother, raising him and sending him to school. The thought didn't scare her nearly as much as she thought it should.
Walking over to Derek, Lydia takes Jacob, snuggling him to her chest as he plays with her fingers and Derek starts making breakfast. "So," he looks up from the pan, "I may have an answer to the living situation. I own a house in town that you are more than welcome to stay at."
"You own a house?" Lydia asks incredulous, "Like one with walls and roof?"
"Yes with walls and roof, hell it even has indoor plumbing," He scoffs.
"Oh fancy," She teases, making faces at Jacob.
"Yeah, it is not much, but it is three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a backyard."
"That sounds nice," Lydia admits, "One request?"
"What?" Derek raises an eyebrow as he opens the cabinets to find plates, pulling two down he listens to her.
"If I do this and move to your little hidden house, no crazy Uncle Peter, I just," She looks down, "I can't"
"Okay," he cuts her off, not wanting her to have to relive any of the pain Peter put her through, "No Peter, trust me, the less time I have to spend with that psycho the better." He serves her a plate with a beautiful omelet. "But, Isaacwill probably stay there." Derek offered.
"I figured," she says flippantly. Taking a bite, Lydia moans with happiness, "Oh, this is wonderful," she takes another bite, famished, "Oh you may have to cook for me a lot if we move in together." Derek chuckles as he sits down and begins to eat his own breakfast. "Deal," Derek agrees.
After breakfast, Lydia suggests that they start packing her stuff while Jacob takes a nap, "He sleeps a lot," Derek notes. Lydia chuckles, "well he is a day old and he has had it rough. I read up on preemies this morning and the web said that most preemies sleep a lot for the first few weeks, he is just trying to grow and catch up. I just wish we knew more about what happened to him, I mean why he was born early and why someone dropped him off here." Derek nodded, "Yeah, but for now we do our job, we keep him safe and if we ever find his birth parents, we ask them for those answers." She nodded a bit sad for the little boy who had seemingly survived so much in his short little life.
Derek decided that packing Lydia's stuff should be a pack thing so that they could plan a way of getting Boyd and Erica back while they did it. As they all showed up Lydia sternly instructed them to be quiet and not wake up the baby. Once they had all settled in her room, Stiles asked, "Okay, so why are we packing up your room?"
"Because, the minute my mom sees the baby she is going to ask a lot of questions that we can't answer, the only way to avoid that is to allow her to think that he is mine."
"Wait, so you are going to tell your mother that while she was out of town for the weekend you miraculously gave birth to her grandson and yet remain a size two? Your mom is not dumb, she is going to know that you were never pregnant and she is going to think that you are nuts." Stiles helpfully points out.
"You are giving my mother far too much credit," Lydia huffs, handing him a newly assembled box and pointing him in the direction of her shoes, "Start packing and do not scuff them!"
"Um, are you really going to tell people that he is yours?" Isaac asks timidly.
"Yeah, it is the only way that he doesn't get turned over to social services or foster care or whatever." Lydia admits, "Plus my mom is not going ask too many questions once she sees me feeding him," Lydia points out.
"Any answer on why you can do that?" Scott asked.
"Peter was right, I am a daughter of Cerridwen, which is basically a priestess order for the Druid goddess of the moon and fertility, the Hales and other wolves pledged fealty to the goddess to protect the priestesses as companions and the priestesses would protect the wolves and keep them safe. Jacob is a companion and when he cried, he reached out to me, I responded to his cry and protected him. Derek is a companion as well but he is an Alpha and it is his job to protect any wolves who can't care for themselves in his territory, therefore he is responsible for Jacob as well."
"Okay so basically you two just supernaturally adopted a baby werewolf?" Stiles asked from the closet.
"Kinda," Derek responded, "And now we are packing so if Lydia's mom kicks her out, she can move more easily. So," He gestured that they get moving. Jackson pulled Lydia into the hallway, asking her in a hushed tone, "Are you going to tell your mom that you gave birth to that baby?"
"Yes," She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Did you think you might want to run that by me first, because I am not really in the mood to become a teenage father."
"Well douche bag, no one asked you to be. I have absolutely no intention of telling my mother that you are the father or allowing her to believe that you are the father. I was going to tell her that the baby belongs to someone else and that cheating is the reason that you and I broke up so don't worry no one will be calling you 'Daddy' anytime soon," she stormed past him.
"Lydia, wait, I didn't mean," he sighs, throwing his hands in the air frustrated with himself for once again sounding like a complete ass. The next few hours past quickly, the boys and Lydia packing her clothes and essentials into boxes and then loading them into their cars. As Lydia stripped the bedding off of her bed, she sighed, Derek came in the room behind her, "Are you sure you are okay with this?"
Sighing, she whispered, "I don't know. I just know that this life, the girl who lived here, I am not sure I ever knew her. I always felt like I was playing a role: rich bitch, Jackson's ditzy girlfriend, the secretly smart girl. Now maybe I can figure out who I really am," She shrugged and Derek wanted to say that he knew the feeling, never quiet knowing what his role should be— brother, son, companion beta, Alpha, he felt like he failed at everything he tried, maybe this was his second chance too. He nodded, "The cars are packed, so I am going to take this box and load it. I put the car seat in your car and I put the address in the GPS, are you sure you don't want me to stay with you and wait for your mom?"
Shaking herself from her revelry, Lydia shook her head, "No, I know her and if you are here she will assume that you are the father and I don't think that you want to go to jail for statutory rape, so it is probably better that you don't." She said tiredly.
"Okay, but I will be close by, just call if you need me." He turns to leave before turning back to her, "Lydia, who are you going to tell your mom is the baby's father?"
"One night stand," her voice sounds hollow, "She is going to think I am a whore anyway, so why not go full tilt and let her think that I hooked up with some random and gave birth to his love child."
Looking at her, Derek was suddenly filled with sadness for the broken girl in front of him, all of them, each member of this half assed little team they had put together was broken in some way, maybe, they were they were all each other's second chance. "Okay" he whispers, deciding to let her do this her way but deeply sorry that she was going to have to take the brunt of this.
