A/N: So I got scheduled to work yesterday (like literally all day) which is why I'm posting this today. I hope you guys enjoy it! Please don't forget to review!

Lydia?" Stiles asked. "Are we going to go inside or…" They were sitting in front of Lydia's house. They had been for about ten minutes at this point. On the way back to Stiles's place, Lydia suddenly decided that she needed to talk to her mom right away and Stiles redirected his jeep.

"Give me a minute."

"I've given you ten…look…you don't have to do this today."

"No…if I don't do it now…I don't know when I will." Stiles nodded. "I just… need to figure out what I'm going to say." They were both silent for several minutes, before Lydia finally said, "You do realize it was only a few hours ago that we were running away from her in a school parking lot. Right?"

"Meaning she's going to be pissed?"

"Meaning she's going to be pissed." She affirmed, then took a deep breath. "Maybe today isn't a good day to do this...I've got it! I'll take a note from Allison and write her a letter."

"And then just hand it to her and walk away?"

"No…then I'll mail it…and maybe it'll get lost... so.. when I come back at Christmas break with a baby and she didn't know about it, it won't be entirely my fault. We can blame the United States Postal Service."

Stiles stifled a laugh. "Lyd-"

"I know." She grumbled and reached for the door handle. Stiles raised his eyebrows, slightly shocked she actually made that much of a move. He climbed out of the jeep with her and they even made it inside the house. At the sound of the door closing, Lydia seemed to realize suddenly where she was and turned to run back outside.

Stiles quickly side-stepped in front of her and Natalie ran into the room. "Lydia!" Lydia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Hey mom." She replied and turned to face her mother. Natalie's face was a mixture of anger and relief.

"Where the hell have you…I mean…what the hell have…" She sighed, "Lydia…what's going on?"

The banshee reached for Stiles's hand and he held it with reassurance. "Mom…we need to talk."

Natalie clenched her jaw, swallowed, then nodded-motioning them toward the sitting room.

"Just so we're clear," Lydia began. "This has been a really long day for me, and I just want to get everything out before you say anything."

Her mother nodded reluctantly. "Okay."

Lydia gripped Stiles's hand tighter, and he began to rub his thumb soothingly on the back of her hand.

She took a deep breath and finally said, "I was debating on telling you the truth or not. Because the truth is.. there's a lot of supernatural shit happening right now, "Natalie rolled her eyes at this, "And I know you don't believe in that."

"You're right."

"Mom." Lydia warned.

"Sorry. Continue."

Lydia sighed. "But…I decided that there's no point in lying to you because it doesn't matter how it happened, the point is…it happened…it's happening…and we're just going to have to deal with it, whether you believe me or not." Lydia was quiet for a moment, waiting to see if her mom was going to try to reply. When she didn't, Lydia continued, "I've been staying at the sheriff's house." Natalie shrugged (she figured that's where her daughter had been spending her nights.) "That's why I haven't been home." Lydia's shoulders slumped, slowly losing courage. Stiles gave her hand a squeeze, and she took a deep breath before blurting. "I'm pregnant." Like ripping off a Bandaid.

Natalie froze, a blank expression on her face, as Lydia looked down and took a deep breath. "I don't know how it happened, and I'm not 100% sure who the father is. Although," Lydia stole a glance at Stiles, "There's a theory."

Stiles's breath caught in his throat for a moment. This was the first time Lydia was remotely admitting there was a possibility the baby belonged to him. Every other time, it had been him saying it, and she had been reluctant to agree.

"I've been sleep-walking, losing time, forgetting things…" She continued, never making eye contact. "So has Stiles... and it all started the night we went to Allison's house the week you were out of town. We ended up at the nemeton…the big tree stump in the woods-"

"The one that doesn't exist." Natalie asserted. Lydia bit her lip in an effort to stop herself from crying in anger. "You know what? I think I've heard enough." Natalie stood. "Stiles, go home. I need to talk to my daughter."

Lydia's head popped up and she and Stiles both rose to their feet. "No, Mom!" She stared her mother directly in the eye. "Whatever you need to say to me, you can say to Stiles too."

"Well, I can't talk to Stiles about his options as a pregnant, unwed teenager."

"I may not be pregnant, but I am unwed and a teenager."

"Not helping," Lydia mumbled and took a deep breath as she turned back to her mother. "And, I don't need to talk about my options, Mom. I know what I'm going to do."

"If you think that raising it is an option-"

"It is! As far as I'm concerned it's the only option!"

"What about college? You're just going to give up your dreams to raise a baby? Jesus Christ, Lydia! You just told me that you don't know who the father is!"

"That doesn't matter!" Lydia's hand went to her stomach. "And I'm not giving up on anything. God, Mom...This baby is important. I know it. I can feel it. And I don't mean just to me. Maybe she'll cure cancer or be a kick-ass lawyer that fights for basic human rights. And if you don't want to be apart of that, then maybe I don't want you to be apart of it."

"Lydia..." Stiles said her name softly when he saw the surprise on her mother's face.

"No," She she shook her head at him and continued to stare at her mother. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. Let's go, Stiles."

Stiles looked back and forth between the two Martin women as Lydia grabbed his hand to pull him away. "But-" He tried.

"Lydia!" Natalie called to her daughter, her voice breaking. The strawberry-blonde, ignored her mother and continued to lead Stiles out to the Jeep.

He stood at the driver's side door with his hand on the lever and looked back at Ms. Martin on her porch. He frowned, mouthing 'I'm sorry.' Her gaze turned icy and she turned around and slammed the front door as she went back inside. Stiles jumped slightly at the abrasiveness, then finally climbed into the jeep and sat for a moment in silence.

"Your mom..." He began.

"Drive." Lydia said shortly.

"But-"

"Just. Drive."

Stiles took a deep breath and did as he was told. Neither of them said anything until they made it back to his house, and when they did, Lydia was the first one out. Stiles was several feet behind her and hadn't quite made it inside when he heard Kira.

"Hey Lydi-..uh..okay..."

Once he was in, Scott and Kira both turned to him. "What's wrong with her?" Scott asked, motioning toward the top of the stairs where Lydia had just disappeared into Stiles's room.

Stiles sighed as he closed the door. "We just got back from her house and she told her mom."

"I take it that it didn't go well..." Kira's face wrinkled in concern.

Stiles shrugged. "Well, it could have gone better. That's for sure."

"Well, Kira and I are headed to Tate's to get some milkshakes. Did you guys want to come?"

Stiles shrugged. "I don't know if she'll be up for it," He began as he made his way toward the stairs. "You guys go ahead and I'll text you later if we decide to join." Scott nodded and Stiles continued up the stairs. His door was closed, so he gave a courtesy knock before opening it.

Lydia was sitting at the foot of the bed, shoulders shaking with sobs.

"Hey..." He said soothingly as he closed the door behind him.

"What did I do?" She sobbed and Stiles sat down next to her.

"You didn't do anything." He told her as he wrapped his arm around her.

"Yes I did...God...I was so worried about her kicking me out and I just went and did it for her." She sniffed as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Look..." He started after a moment of silence, and Lydia lifted her head to look him in the eyes. "You are the strongest and smartest woman I know, and I know you can do anything you put your mind to...and if your mom still can't see that after eighteen years then maybe you did the right thing. The last thing you need is people putting you down and saying you can't do it, because I know you can." Her eyes filled with tears again, and a look of concern passed over his face. "What? What did I do?"

"Nothing...that was just really sweet."

His shoulders loosened and he cracked a small smile. "Oh," He sighed in relief.

Lydia let out a giggle, and Stiles reached his hand to her face and wiped a stray tear with his thumb. They both froze for a moment. There had been that whole conversation a few days ago about taking things slow and something about this moment felt like it was crossing that undefined line.

"I love you." Lydia whispered.

He replied by crashing his lips into hers.