Day 4! WooHoo! Christmas decoration shopping! Enjoy!


December 4th

Shopping was going pretty much, exactly as Derek had predicted it would. They'd been in the store for an hour and only had one thing in the cart; a pack of gum that Stiles had insisted was important. Lydia spent most of the time shooting down everyone's ideas while Isaac was gazing at the sparkling trees that the store had on display. Stiles picked up another pack of ornaments and held it up to the group.

"These are nice." The teen held up a box of ornaments that had various Christmas characters decorated on them. A snow man, reindeer, elf, and many other figures were painted on the small bulbs. Lydia glared at the package in disgust as though it were a dirty sock.

"Uh, no. Too tacky." Lydia grabbed a pack of plain, solid colored ornaments in various colors and showed them to the others. "These are better. Simple yet tasteful."

"You mean boring," Stiles scoffed. The girl glared at him.

"When do we buy the tree," Isaac asked, not looking away from the displays.

"If we ever manage to get out of here," Derek grumbled." I was gonna go get a real tree." Isaac's eyes lit up. His family never had real tree, and after his mom died they never had a tree at all. He buzzed with excitement.

"A real tree is nice, messy, but nice," Lydia said nodding approvingly. "Well since it's technically your tree why don't you pick out the decorations Derek?" Stiles began to protest but Lydia hushed him.

"Well it's not just my tree. It's a pack tree," Derek explained. Lydia shook her head.

"Isaac and I will got some decorations for the house. You two handle the tree." Lydia took Isaac by the arm and led him away towards another aisle. Derek and Stiles continued shopping for tree decorations, knowing better that to question Lydia's orders. She may not have been a werewolf but she was an Alpha in her own way.

"So Derek," Stiles said as he studied tree toppers. "When did you become such a family man." Stiles tossed both the ordinary and "tacky" ornaments into the shopping cart.

"I've always been a family man," Derek said picking up some tinsel. "But for a while I didn't have a family." Stiles froze. He mentally kicked himself. Derek looked at him and smiled. The teen looked so uncomfortable.

"Uh...sorry," Stiles was at a loss for words. The werewolf found it intriguing.

"Stiles," Derek said in lighter tone. "Calm down. It's okay, you all are my family now." Stiles looked at the older man and thought of how much he'd changed since they first met. The teen realized something in what Derek had said.

"Wait, when you say that we are your family, do you mean me too?" Stiles looked at the werewolf, waiting for an answer. Derek nodded his head and rolled his eyes playfully.

"Yes Stiles, even you." Stiles grinned from ear to ear. From enemies, to allies, to friends, and now family. They'd come a long way in such a short time.

"Okay. I'm going to give you a hug now, so just be ready." Derek braced for the sign of affection from the teen. Stiles slowly wrapped his arms around the older man in a friendly hug. It took a few seconds, but finally Derek gently placed a hand on the younger man's back.

The hug was brief but it expressed what they both needed to say. From Stiles it said "You're all right big guy." While from Derek it meant "and you aren't as annoying as I make it seem." After a few seconds they resumed shopping. Stiles grabbed some lights and Derek, some garland and ribbons.

Isaac and Lydia came around the corner with a cart full of lights and other decorations for the rest of the house. They also picked up some cookie cutters and stuff to bake cookies and wrapping paper. "A necessary purchase," Lydia called it.

The four of them paid and loaded up the car before heading out to pick up a tree.


If Derek thought that picking up a tree was going to be any easier than getting the decorations he was wrong. Stiles and Lydia had argued for twenty minutes about getting the perfect tree, each of them picking one while the other pointed out its flaws. The only thing that was keeping Derek sane was the smell of all the trees. It reminded Derek of the forest and from the look of Isaac, he too was enjoying the trees.

It was getting late and Derek was starting to get agitated so he took charge. "Enough you two! Since you guys can't pick a tree Isaac will." Isaac snapped out of his scent trance and blinked at his friends."

"Huh, what?"

"Go find a tree," Derek ordered. Isaac looked around at the trees. Each slightly different from the other. The teen wandered through the rows of pines before stopping at one he liked. It was a good-sized tree, not small but not overbearing. Isaac thought it would fit nicely in the living room so he decided that was their tree.

Derek, thankful for the quick decision, asked a worker to tie the tree to their car and paid. Lydia and Stiles examined Isaac's pick before it was tied. They approved. Derek was pretty sure it was due to the fact that neither of them had picked it that they were able to agree.

Finally they were on their way home, Derek was glad that he could go home. After spending all day shopping with three teenagers he needed some rest. It was too late to do any decorating so everyone opted to wait till the next day. He dropped Lydia off at her house first then Isaac at Scott's house. Stiles had left his jeep at Derek's place so he helped him unload everything.

"That's the last of it," Derek said setting a box of lights on the dining room table. Stiles walked in behind him, carrying bags full of ornaments and tinsel.

"Wow, we bought a lot of stuff," Stiles said looking at all the bags. "Wait. Where's the tree topper?" Derek shrugged then looked through the bags.

"I guess we forgot to get one," Derek said flatly.

"Well I can probably find one at my house. My mom loved the holidays so I'm sure there's a tree topper somewhere." Derek nodded.

"Sounds good."

Stiles yawned and stretched before speaking. "Well I'd better get home. School tomorrow and what not. Night Derek."

"Good night," Derek said as Stiles walked out of the door. He waited till he heard the jeep pull out of his drive way before going to bed.


Did you all enjoy it? Was it awful? Review and let me know. Also if you have any holiday activity ideas please, feel free to share them!