Oh boy, here we go. We're getting serious now.
Guest: Thanks hon! I'm glad you liked it!
SPN4L1F3: I know. Poor baby. But she'll get better. Eventually.
TeenWolfL: Yeah, you know, I never thought of Derek as a parent, but I got the idea one day, and then the more I thought about it the more I fell in love with the idea. Derek needs love and lots of it. He deserves it. But I'm glad you like the story, and trust me, there will be plenty of feels.
linda96: Yeah, like I said, you'll probably be saying that a lot. And there's some foreshadowing in her dream, if you can figure it out...
Enjoy!
I paced back and forth on the balcony of the loft. Derek was leaning against the wall, looking out over the city. He had called Peter, asking if he could watch Rylen while we talked about what our daughter had told us.
"It just freaks me out that our daughter is having dreams about her grandfather, whom she has never met, mind you. And even worse she has to watch me kill you and then try to kill her. It's like she's living my worst nightmare in her sleep."
Derek grabbed Aurora's arm, pulling her into his chest. He held on to her, nuzzling her head, trying to sooth her nerves.
"Neither one of us are Alphas anyways." He said, pulling away slightly. "You didn't give her details when I called you, did you?"
"No. I kept to the basics. I'm starting to get the idea that you didn't give me all the details."
"I will eventually. You've only been here a day. We haven't seen each other in two years. Our daughter hasn't had both her parents since she was two. I'm surprised she even remembered me."
"Of course she remembers you. You're her daddy. I showed her the pictures you sent."
"Not all of them, I hope."
I laughed, wrapping my arms around his waist. "No, those I kept for myself."
He hummed, looking over my head. I could sense the change in him, and feel it as well.
"Do we need to hire Peter on as a babysitter for a while?"
"I don't know how much I like the idea of leaving my daughter with Peter."
"We'll need to find someone soon. We're throwing each other off. I can smell the hormonal changes already."
"I know. I can too."
"I can also smell something else." I said, pulling away from him. There's something else about you. Something different."
"Something did change. I'll explain it later. I'll explain everything."
Derek wasn't lying when he said he'd explain everything later. Rylen was on the couch, coloring and Derek had gone into the bathroom, and told me to wait by the bed. I waited patiently, standing up when the door opened, expecting to see Derek coming out, but instead it was a large black wolf.
I stood there in shock as it walked cautiously towards me. It lowered its head a little, staring up at me before its eyes glowed blue.
"Derek?" I asked, getting a growl in response. I knelt down, Derek moving closer to me. "So this is what's different about you." I said, running my fingers through his fur. "You can shift into a full wolf like your mom did. When did that happen?"
"Daddy?" I heard Rylen ask. She had gotten off the couch and moved over towards us.
Derek turned around, lowering himself down so he was laying on the floor, keeping a careful eye on Rylen as she approached him. Rylen tentatively held her hand out, Derek lowering his head down slightly. Rylen touched the top of his head, running her fingers through his fur. She squealed, then erupted in giggles when he licked her cheek.
"Daddy's a wolf." She laughed out, wrapping her arms around Derek's neck.
"Yeah." I ran my fingers through the fur on his back. "Daddy's a wolf."
Rylen fell asleep not long after, partway through coloring a picture of a horse. Derek, shifted back into a human, made sure she was tucked in before we went to bed. Derek and I lay awake for a while, listening to the light rain outside. I turned so I was on my back, keeping Derek's arms wrapped around me.
"What's on your mind?" He asked quietly.
"A lot of things." I said, taking his hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. "My heats coming soon. Within the next week. It's early by a few weeks. And it's been almost two years, Derek. It's a miracle it hasn't happened yet."
"I know. My rut's coming too."
"You'll rut when I go into heat. We'll have to find some place for Rylen to go while it happens. Peter-"
"No." Derek interrupted me. "We're not leaving her with Peter."
"Why are you so against letting Peter babysit?"
"He's not the same person you knew before, Aurora. He's changed. He only does things if they have some benefit for him."
"He seemed pretty normal today."
"He's killed people, Aurora."
"So have I." I said, sitting up. "And so have you. How does that make us any different from him."
"Because we didn't have any choice."
"You think he did? Derek, he went six years without shifting. Think about that. He wouldn't have any control. Do you think he'd really, consciously kill Laura?" Derek was silent for a while. "Unless you can think of someone better, Peter's our only option. We can at least try. If something doesn't work, then we'll figure something else out. I went through four heat cycles with her, but both of us together..."
Derek sat up, wrapping his arms around me. "You know it'll probably happen this time. Both of us, and after so long..."
"She's four now. My wolf's been ready for three years. Those two years were rough, not being able to at least try. You had to go and leave us. It's all your fault our clocks are screwed up." I said jokingly.
"You think so?" He pulled me down so I was laying under him.
He stared down at me tenderly, his thumb brushing against my cheek. He smiled before leaning down, pressing his lips against mine.
"I love you, you know that right?" He said, pulling away, resting his forehead against mine.
"I know. I love you too."
I tangled my hand in his hair, pulling him back down to my lips, his weight settling over me. It had been far too long.