A/N Jeff Davis is always a gift, I don't own Adventure Time, but I wish I did. I would like to introduce my Beta Pack (see what I did there?) My love, My bebe, My Stiles, Katieepretzel, and the new and fabulous, I haven't attributed a character to her yet, bookbabble.

Please note, there are so many breadcrumbs in this chapter it is bordering in lunacy.

ALso, I am sorry for whatever caused this not to load or open properly last night. it should be loading now.

enjoy

Still Thanksgiving, 2010 (I know, longest holiday ever, right?)

Derek sat at one end of the table, looking at John and Gerry at the other, and Stiles flitting between the table and the kitchen.

"So, Mr. Stilinksi?" Gerry asked, sounding very tired.

"Yes?" Both Stiles and John replied to the little boy.

"Is it true that you can hit a ball so far not even Manny could catch it?" Gerry looked up at the two men with the widest, most endearing puppy eyes. Even Derek's immunity built over time couldn't stop the tiny little clench of his heart.

"G-Man, it is the honest truth." John said solemnly, sending Gerry into a fit of high-pitched giggles that shook the table. Stiles reached out and grabbed the plate before it made an escape attempt. Derek wasn't quite sure where Stiles was keeping the Batman themed plate, silverware and plastic cup, all child-sized, but Gerry seemed to be attached to them.

"Not you, Mr. Papa, you're already a police officer man, you can't be that AND good at ball!" Gerry explained, before whisper-yelling, "I was asking Stiles!"

"But, Stiles acts and tells jokes, also, the pancakes. Explain that, Gerry!" John said.

Derek scoffed. He knew where this was heading. For some reason, Gerry thought that Stiles Stilinski was the best human alive, and from what he could tell it appeared to be reciprocated. Gerry asked for seconds, thirds and fourths of the pancakes (it was the highest compliment the five year old could pay), and Stiles preened, hopping up to make the kid another batch. He even made an extra batch so that Gerry could take some home. Honestly. Around his billionth mouthful, Gerry had said that the butter was "OMGAmazing, Stiles!", and Stiles had explained, using age appropriate words, what to do to make it and promised to let Gerry make it the next time. The next time.

Gerry mentioned something about Adventure Time and Stiles had suddenly remembered he had a Jake toy by his computer with all of his Adventure Time Lego sets. Said toy was now embedded in his cousin's hair. Lydia had rolled her eyes and said something about never taking Stiles to Lego Land again for fear they would mistake him for her freakishly tall-for-his-age son, again. That had been a mistake. The words "Lego" and "Land" should never be uttered together near Gerry, and adding stiles to that mix had lost everyone a good forty minutes of mindless hysteria between the two.

"Mister Stiles Stilinski can do anything, you should know that because you're his poppa!" Gerry said to John. Derek watched Stiles smile, and then walk into the kitchen only to reappear with a child-sized mug. Derek was beginning to wonder if Stiles was hiding a child somewhere in the house or if he just sat in his own home using child sized utensils. Derek's brain briefly gave him an image of Stiles and babies and children and a dinner table with a waiting spot at the head and that aws the wrong image to be having right now.

"G-Man, do you know Miss Allison?" Stiles asked, holding the Transformers mug at a distance as a reward for the question. Knowing Stiles, it probably was.

"I do! She's married to Mister Dumb-head, and they're having a baby! She said I could hold the baby after it's born!"

The adults in the room were laughing, John and Stiles both looked at Derek and mouthed 'Mister Dumb-head'? Derek just shook his head with what he hoped was an 'I'll explain later' expression on his face. John nodded, and Stiles just stared for a moment before nodding back and addressing Gerry.

"This is the cocoa that I make for Miss Allison. She says it's the best cocoa ever, so I made some for you. When you finish drinking it, we're all going to her and Mister Scott's house." Derek watched in wonder as Stiles petted the top of Gerry's head and then calmly and quietly walked back into the kitchen.

This morning had been surreal. When he'd arrived at the small house, he'd been surprised to find Stiles there. He assumed that an actor and comic would live somewhere…more secure? Maybe with an obnoxious gate guard who sat in his little station and played pong all day. He'd pictured it with a pool and a huge, lush yard with plenty of room for running and playing. Maybe a fence to keep balls from getting away. Maybe chairs to watch the ki…shit. Derek shook his head to break himself out of that very dangerous line of thought. Again. What was with this kid and his damned pancakes?

Eventually, he would have to ask Jackson what the hell he'd been up to, not warning him. Honestly though, he didn't mind being here. Lydia and Jackson were talking with Melissa, who Derek knows was dating John. From having years to watch Peter and Kate, Derek would place bets on Stiles and Scott freaking out sometime within a year about their parents impending wedding. John was completely enamored with Gerry, and he looked like a man desperately in want of grandchildren. Occasionally John would shoot Derek a look, a look he couldn't decipher, then John would be back to playing with the boy.

And then there was Stiles. Here, in his home, he was completely different than out in the world. Derek hasn't witnesses the incessant babble, the seemingly trackless trains of thought that had seemed to follow Stiles everywhere else. Yes, the man was talkative, but it always had a purpose. Yes, he was always moving, but it was a fluid grace, a dance of familiarity and comfort in his surroundings. Derek caught glimpses of this Stiles at Scott's in Allison's kitchen, but Isaac had been there then, and Derek was being a dipshit because he still can't figure out who he's jealous of and why.

For all of the calmness that Stiles suddenly possessed, there was still the full grown man who'd managed to produce an honest to God toy box covered in stickers and filled with Transformers, Lego, Batman and Star Wars toys.

"Stiles? Did you just pull out a toy box?" Derek said, incredulous.

"Yeah. Doesn't everyone have one?" There was a moment of silence as Stiles looked between the gathered adults. Jackson was shaking his head rather vigorously and looked like he was holding in a laugh.

"Parents, babysitters, kids, and people who are baby crazy." Lydia remarked with both a wicked sort of smile and a simultaneously bored expression. It was an interesting mix.

"I am not baby crazy!" Stiles screeched. "Why does everyone keep saying that? I just like to be prepared, in the eventuality that I, y'know, have a kid, and Scott!"

"Don't you already have Scott?" Jackson piped up.

"No, well, yeah, but I mean Scott is having a kid, so my having a toy box totally makes sense!" Stiles pouted. Derek had seen the pout before, but his clearly lacking memory can't really do Stiles' lips justive. God what he wouldn't give to see them wrapped…around nothing, because that was stupid and God he was being stupid and what was wrong with his brain today?

"Stiles, you've had the thing for years. Allison has been pregnant for months. We will discuss this again later." Lydia added before going back to her conversation with Melissa.

"Alright then." Derek said, backing off to watch events unfold.

Derek witnessed Stiles remove things from the toy box, as if it was perfectly normal for a 25 year old to keep something like that. Gerry looked pleased to see that Stiles was playing Batman, complete with mask and utility belt. Derek didn't know how to react when he was told to be Commissioner Gordon but then again, John just rolled with it when he was given Alfred. Sometime after Batman had saved the bag of apples from the Joker (Derek thought that Jacksons shoe was the Joker, but whatever), Stiles had informed Gerry that the voice of Optimus Prime was also the voice of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, so of course it's manly to watch the cartoon and read the stories and whoever told him it wasn't was crazy wrong. Because if Optimus Prime can be Eeyore, and Stiles can be Batmand, just think of all the things G-Man could be. Derek honestly had to question if Gerry had looked happier hearing that, or that his parents were getting married.

"G-Man, When we go, I need you to carry this bowl of apples, can you do that?" Stiles called out from the kitchen. Gerry immediately ran to see because of course he immediately comes running when Stiles calls, leaving John alone with Derek. John slowly turned to face Derek, leaning one hand against the counter.

"Hale, you think things are serious with this Isaac kid and my boy?"

"Wha…Why are you asking me?" Derek could feel his eyebrows working their way up his forehead.

"Why wouldn't I? You know Stiles, you know Isaac, and you keep staring at Stiles like you wish you were Isaac. So?" John looked Derek in the eye throughout that statement, voice never wavering. "It's part of my job to read people son, so what's the story?"

Derek sighed, ran his hand down his face, and then answered, completely honestly. He didn't think John would appreciate a lie, and he was certain that John would know the truth from a lie in a heartbeat. "I don't know."

"Bull shit." John snapped.

"Pardon?"

"I said bull. Do you think they're serious? Like grandbabies serious?"

"No, Isaac loves kids, but he doesn't want his own." Derek replied, making sure Stiles didn't overhear. "I don't know if I should be the one talking to you about this."

"Isaac dealt with me when Stiles was having an early morning panic attack and I appreciate that about him, but I don't think he's what Stiles needs.. I don't think Stiles needs a man who will hang on his every word, or shut him up with a kiss just for the sake of ending the babbling. I think ultimately, Stiles needs someone who will challenge him, who will help him focus by being an anchor. He needs someone to take on the world with him, someone who'll stand by his side, push him forward, and know when to hold him back, all at the same time."

Derek was beyond uncomfortable with this line of conversation, but he knew he'd never get out of answering. Not unscathed, at least. "Honestly, I think that Isaac and Stiles are good for each other right now, but I don't think it'll be long term." Derek swallowed and took a breath, looking John in the eye with a serious stare. "Isaac once told me that he loved loving people. That's great because he's good at it, he makes you feel loved, but then, it also means he'll love someone else when the fancy strikes him. He won't break his heart, but I don't think he'll be a dad, either." Derek was shocked at the number of words that just poured out of him. He hated admitting that he even thought about Isaac…and Stiles…that much.

"Fair enough. You, then, are you ever going to be a dad?" John wasn't even looking at Derek; he was walking away, maybe to get more coffee, maybe just to leave Derek to think. Whatever John's plan, it was foiled by a running Gerry.

"DEREK! D! Der! Best cousin EVER!" Gerry exclaimed while tossing his arms around Derek's thighs. "Can I ride to Mister Scott's house with Mister Stiles? He said I could, that I could ride in the Jeep in the back but that you had to say it was okay and you had to install my booster." Derek looked down at Gerry, at the puppy eyes, at the hopeful smile. He looked up beyond Gerry to see Stiles, giving him the same puppy eyes, the same hopeful smile.

"Derek, I'll drive both of you and bring you back when we're done, if that's what it takes! Please? I'm going to explain to him how to make pie crusts and mashed potatoes and good things like that, please Der? Please D? Best ball player ever?" Stiles fluttered his lashes. Literally. He fluttered his eyelashes.

"Alright. I'll move everything into the Jeep from the Camaro if you-"

"G-Man can we ride in the Camaro and you can ride in the jeep the next time we do something together, please? We can pretend we're riding in BUMBLEBEE!" Stiles turned to Gerry with the widest, excited grin Derek had ever seen. And his nephew was a permanently over-excited five year old.

"Of course, if it's okay with D!" Gerry turned his wide, puppy eyes back to Derek.

"Yeah, yeah, just load what you need up and we'll go."

"Thank you." Stiles said, before reaching over and kissing him on the cheek.

"Thank you!" Gerry pulled at the leg of his jeans until Derek squatted down, and then repeated Stiles move, leaving Derek with a damp spot on each cheek and that tiny little clench in his heart again.