Derek glanced anxiously at the clock on the wall and wished his wolf hearing would stop focusing on every single tic as the hands moved. Riley didn't seem to notice how nervous he was and just continued her exploration around the house.
Derek was kind of surprised she hadn't done it earlier but kept tabs on her as she went exploring through the loft, t-shirt stashed away under Derek's bed, nose to the air to find out everything she could from the space. She was still in wolf form and occasionally rubbed her chin and neck over things she particularly liked.
Both were-wolves' heads whipped round to the door when a car engine made its noisy way to the building. Derek relaxed just a little when he recognized it as Melissa's car and not Stiles' noisy jeep.
Riley came sprinting to the door and crouched, wiggling her butt like she was getting ready to pounce on whoever came through that door. Knowing that Melissa probably wouldn't appreciate the fright Derek scooped up the puppy and held her to his chest as she squirmed and chewed playfully on his fingers.
Derek was looking down at Riley with a smile when his ears pricked and he noticed something. There were two people coming towards them. There was the rustling of shopping bags and two sets of footfalls and two voices. Derek almost dropped Riley when he realized that it was Stiles coming up the stairs with Melissa.
Thinking his boyfriend should probably be told gently and not with a child/wolf attacking him Derek quickly sprinted to his bedroom and slid his niece under the bed and into the pile of blankets she had dragged there.
"Riley you need to stay here while I tell Stiles about you but then you can meet him okay?"
Derek handed her the shirt she had claimed and ran to the door and closed it before she could run out.
"I'm sorry, Melissa will be with you soon I just have to tell Stiles first."
Derek felt bad but knew it was for the best. If Stiles got too freaked out Riley could attack or get frightened and it would all end in trouble. If Riley was really staying then they needed to get off on the right foot.
"Derek? Babe, where are you?"
The Hale ran back to where Stiles was helping Melissa drag in the groceries and pecked his boyfriend on the lips.
"Hey, sorry I just had to get something sorted in the bedroom." The last part was directed towards Melissa who immediately nodded and picked up a few bags before heading to where Riley was.
Stiles seemed very confused but Derek started talking before he could.
"Why were you driving with Melissa? I didn't hear your jeep, did it crap out again?"
Derek was stalling but he still didn't quite know how to tell the human about their new family member. He cringed as barking started up from the bedroom.
"Yeah she gave me a ride while the jeep got towed. Is that a dog?" Stiles looked confused and excited at the same time and Derek just winced.
"It's a wolf actually."
"What?" Stiles started following the barking and Derek grabbed his hand and dragged him to the couch, making him sit down. Then embarrassingly, all his words came out in a rush.
"Okay, so I was running this morning and I just found her and she's my niece so what am I supposed to do? And I know we didn't talk about having a family and I know you wanted to have a girl named after your mum and I even had some idea's but she's like three or something? And I just can't hand her off to some orphanage or something she's family and plus the whole were-wolf thing-"
Stiles was growing more confused with each word so he finally stopped the endless word vomit and held his hands up.
"Derek, hang on and just stop for a minute. What the hell are you talking about?"
"Her name is Riley, she's Laura's daughter. She's a full shifting were-wolf, I found her in the woods and we're keeping her okay?" Standing up from the couch Derek led a confused Stiles with him till they were at the door to their bedroom.
As soon as he opened the door Derek had tiny fangs and claws in his face.
"Riley calm down, do you want to meet Stiles or not?" The angry growling stopped as she peered over his shoulder at the terrified looking human.
Derek liked to think that he had pretty good reflexes but he seemed to be having an off day because Riley jumped straight over his shoulder and onto Stiles' chest, barley giving the human time to catch her.
Derek was worried about how Riley would react but she seemed to like Stiles and was rubbing her head all over him. Stiles had no choice but to hold still as the fuzzy body pressed into him. Derek smiled and let himself relax. Stiles' scent had always been like catnip to Derek but he had been worried that the traces of anxiety and Adderall would unnerve Riley or prevent her from fully trusting him.
Stiles chuckled and finally relaxed enough to wind his hands through the pups' fur. Riley was still sniffing him and pushing her nose into his pulse, occasionally licking the skin there.
Derek realized it must have been from having Stiles' scent all over the loft and since he had already told Riley all about his boyfriend it was like she had already met him in a way.
"Well she's very cute and I've always wanted a puppy so I am definitely not opposed to having her here." Stiles looked at Derek with a seriousness in his eyes that made Derek's heart race a little bit.
"She's your family babe, of course we're keeping her." The Hale smiled, relieved, and pulled his boyfriend in for a kiss because while he hadn't voiced his concerns about what Stiles would think, he had known anyway.
Melissa made a noise from the bedroom where she had been the entire time, making the two men blush and break apart.
"So now you just have to get all the legal stuff sorted and she'll be officially yours. Stiles you'll have to tell your Dad he's a grandfather and Scott that he's an uncle."
Stiles laughed, both at Melissa's comment and at how Riley was wriggling in his hands, and set the wolf down before replying.
"I feel kind of bad for Scott and Kira, they thought they would have kids first, you know, with the whole pregnant thing." The nurse laughed and patted the boy on the shoulder as all three of them watched the littlest Hale scampered off down the hallway.
"I'm sure they'd be thrilled. Maybe she'll be a good friend for their little one when she comes." Derek watched as Melissa's eyes lit up as she talked about little ones.
"I'm so happy for you Melissa. You must be thrilled at getting to be a grandma."
The woman's eyes teared up a little and her smile was watery but a happy one none the less.
"I am. And now I have two granddaughters, one from each of my boys." She wrapped her arms around both men and squeezed once before letting go and brushing her eyes.
"Okay, now go find your little girl, I have some clothes for her."
