Stiles gathered the entire pack at the new Hale Mansion (Derek insisted that that was not its name and that it wasn't even a mansion, but, unfortunately, the name had caught on with the others and now everyone called it that). They were all a little upset that he had made them go on a weekday, but he was too excited to worry about it. Not that they had anything important to do, they all had the afternoon off. Scott worked the morning shift in a cafeteria after his grades weren't enough to get into veterinary school. Malia had barely managed to get through high school and now worked in the warehouse of a shopping center. Liam was repeating his senior year in high school and, as always, neither of the Hales had a known job. The other members of the pack were in college, some still in California and some out of state.
"Can you hurry?" Liam growled as Stiles stepped in front of them vibrating with energy.
"I've thought of a lot of ways to say this, but I think the best one is: I'M GOING TO HAVE A CHILD!"
They all stared at him open-mouthed, including Derek.
"Don't you know what a condom is, Stilinski?" Malia said with a frown.
"I remind you that I taught you what condoms are. And it was uncomfortable as hell," he replied, pointing at her. "We used condoms, but they're not 100% effective, and with my luck of course they had to fail me."
"And who is the unfortunate one?" Liam asked.
"Her name is Aurora-."
"You got a Disney princess pregnant?" Peter mocked.
"The fact that you know her name when everyone calls her Sleeping Beauty says more about you than me," Stiles replied and continued as if he hadn't said anything. "I met her when I went back to college, and we dated for a couple of weeks, but we didn't fit right, and I had already decided to leave college anyway. We stayed as friends and the truth is that I didn't expect to hear from her again."
"Then are you getting back together with her? Will you get married and be parents together?" Scott asked in an almost hopeful voice.
Stiles looked at him with pursed lips.
"Haven't you heard when I said we didn't fit right? I'm not getting back together with her."
"But you'll have a child in common!" He exclaimed, confused.
"That's not reason enough to be with someone. Besides," he continued before Scott interrupted," she doesn't want anything to do with the kid. Her parents didn't allow her to have an abortion because they're bigots against abortion. But they also don't want her to keep the child so that he doesn't ruin her future, so they were going to give him up for adoption."
"Because there aren't enough children who need a home," Peter muttered annoyed.
"Auri doesn't want that for the kid either, but she's not ready to take care of him so she called me to see if I wanted to keep him." He shrugged and smiled. "And I accepted. I'm not against adoption, but I can take care of the baby and I know I won't have to do it alone. If I can prevent my child from entering the system... why not?"
"It'll be harder for you to find a girlfriend with a baby," Liam commented.
Stiles raised his eyebrows in disbelief. Since Hayden had left him to live her life on the other side of the country, the younger wolf could only think of finding another girlfriend (or anyone to sleep with). His relationships didn't last more than a week, they all walked away when they saw his anger issues. Smart girls.
"I'll leave it up to you to find a girlfriend. How is it going, by the way?" Liam turned red in an instant, whether it was out of embarrassment or anger he wasn't sure. "Anyway, there are still two and a half months left until she gives birth. She could change her mind and decide to keep him. Even if that was the case, I'd fight for shared custody."
"Wouldn't it be easier to leave it to them?" Malia asked with a bored expression.
"It would have been easier to leave you in the woods shifted into a coyote, but here you are," Stiles replied. "I'm not asking for your opinion, not even your help, I'm just informing you that, in about two months, there'll be a new member in the pack. He's a boy, by the way."
He turned and left the house in lower spirits than when he had arrived. He expected their surprise, but some congratulations or at least not so much animosity would have been fine. He was very excited. After the initial shock when she told him about it, he couldn't help but be excited, he was going to be a dad. That his pack didn't share his enthusiasm in the least was pretty depressing.
At least his father's reaction had reacted a lot better. At first he had been concerned that his twenty-year-old son was a single father, but then Noah had told him that he was sure he would make a very good dad.
He got into the jeep and started it. The passenger door opened and Peter slipped inside.
"What are you doing?" he asked the wolf with a frown.
"You have two months to prepare everything, you could use some help and an unlimited card. By the way, congratulations."
This time it was Stiles who's jaw dropped. Peter was the last one Stiles expected this from. Well, not the last one, but still it surprised him.
"Thank you, really, but you don't have to... I can take care of what needs to be bought."
"Please, this is what packs do." Peter waved his hand dismissively. "If this were a real pack, every day there would be a packmate or two bringing you things for the baby, you wouldn't have to buy anything. Things being as they are, you'll have to settle for me."
"I wouldn't call it settling. If you want to spend your money on my future baby, I'm not going to stop you."
He pulled the car out of the parking lot in front of the mansion and drove down the path that led off the preserve. The new house was not as hidden as the old one, but it still had its privacy among the trees.
"Turn left," Peter told him.
"Mm? But the mall is..." he said, pointing to the right.
"We'll go to the one in the neighboring town, at least there are designer stores there."
"Snob," he murmured, rolling his eyes.
He turned left. If Peter wanted to pay double for things that did the same service, it was his problem. He didn't expect that the first extravagance was even before entering the store. Peter walked over to a customer service desk, took his wallet out, and a moment later they had a young boy behind them with a furniture cart.
"I'm not going to push a cart and, besides, we're going to buy too many things and they won't fit in the car. They'll deliver them to us later," Peter replied at his stunned look.
"You're a piece of work."
They went for the cribs first, one of the few things Stiles knew he would need. He had already done his research (the first of many to come), but he wasn't expecting to go shopping so soon so he still hadn't made a list of what he needed.
"We could buy a bassinet in addition to the crib," Peter suggested.
"What's the difference?"
Peter pointed at them on the display.
"A crib for newborns."
"Forget it, he'll outgrow it in no time." It was just a smaller crib.
"Babies like to be in tight, snug places," Peter explained.
"Look at this, they have reducing cushions. They'll make the crib... snugger." He wasn't going to let Peter waste his money, either.
"Okay. Any favorite color?"
"As long as it's not all blue, any one will do."
They studied all the cribs and ended up choosing a white one with light wood-colored bars. They also took several sheets and mattress pads in addition to the reducing cushions and all the accessories that Peter could think of. Then they chose a changing table and a matching closet with lots of drawers, a diaper bin and two bathtubs, one ergonomic and the other "tummy tub" that supposedly served to prevent colic and so many other advantages, although it did not seem more than a small overpriced washbowl, but Peter insisted.
By then, the boy who accompanied them had to go for another cart.
They also bought bathroom accessories like multi-colored super extra soft towels, bath capes (adorable animal patterned mini bathrobes that Stiles was delighted to buy), thermometer, brush, nasal aspirator, wet wipes, lotions and two packs of diapers of different sizes for the first days. Later they bought all kinds of bottles and accessories for them such as brushes, a sterilizer, a drainer and a bottle warmer. In addition, the bought a lot of toys, a Batman baby carrier (much to Peter's dislike) and a colorful hammock that rocked by itself and, of course, pacifiers and a baby monitor with more functions than his cell phone (he was quite excited about it). Finally, they bought the stroller, a three in one that would be good for everything. It was red and super expensive.
By the time they finished, the boy accompanying them could barely push the second cart.
"What about the clothes?" Stiles asked when they made their way to the checkout.
"I prefer another store for that."
Peter paid without even hearing the price and indicated the delivery address. They went to another store a floor up, some kind of baby boutique that didn't even have the price tags in sight because those who went there already knew that they would pay a lot of money for that.
"Would it do any good if I told you that he'll only wear these clothes for a few weeks before they're too small for him?" he asked without bothering to whisper (they were going to pay so much that the shop assistants couldn't look at them wrong).
"No, and I'll buy it with or without your approval," he replied calmly.
Stiles snorted.
"Okay, but at least one of the suits has to be plaid."
Peter turned and looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Only one. Look for it. Make it size 1. Size 0 will be too small for him in a couple of weeks."
Stiles smiled and set to work. He had a mission: to find a little plaid suit. He left the rest to Peter. Not that he didn't care, he just knew that Peter would have better judgment than him. He didn't question why he knew so much about babies, Peter had had many nephews and nieces and as the youngest brother he had taken care of most of them.
He found the suit he wanted and sat in an armchair while Peter scoured the store. The shop assistants even offered him a coffee (and he accepted), and he started looking on his cell phone for places to donate children's clothes. By the time he finished, Peter had selected between thirty and forty items in addition to accessories such as socks and hats.
"Tired?" Peter asked him as they took care of their purchase at the checkout.
Stiles put the phone down and leaned his head back.
"I don't know where I'm going to put everything you've bought. I had planned to put a crib in my room and make room in the closet for his things. I'll have to distribute it all around the house, although most of it will end up in the living room."
He really appreciated what Peter was doing for them, but he would need a huge room or two to fit it all in, and he didn't have any extra rooms at home or money to move into an apartment on his own. He was still working part-time at the station waiting to pass the tests for sheriff's deputy.
"Move into the mansion," Peter replied with a shrug.
"To the mansion?" He wasn't expecting that answer, he though he could convince him to return some things.
"That's what it's for." He sat in another armchair next to him and accepted a glass of champagne offered by a shop assistant or perhaps the owner of the store (Stiles had seen that in reality shows about wedding dresses, but he couldn't imagine it in a store of baby clothes). "We haven't built all those rooms just for Derek and me. Any member of the pack in need can move in, and this more than justifies it. Besides, it'll be easier when you need us to babysit him."
"I didn't mean... You don't have to babysit him. Between my dad and myself..."
"Stiles, you said it yourself, you don't have to do it alone. Your father works endless shifts, and you too will have a lot of work when you start as an apprentice. You'll need a babysitter on many occasions, don't see it as a bad thing. Being a single parent is difficult, just accept the help of your family."
Peter squeezed his hand briefly, enough to make his stomach tingle, and stood up. He changed the delivery address, and they left with an effusive farewell from the shop assistants. They went through the first store to change the address there too and left the mall. It was already very late, most of the stores had already closed. They couldn't avoid the exit jam.
When Stiles got home, Noah was already there, sitting on the couch watching the recording of a game. He grabbed something quick for dinner and sat on the couch.
"How'd it go with the boys?" Noah asked him without taking his eyes off the television. He still didn't get used to calling them pack.
"Depends. In general, bad. Or not very well. They didn't show much enthusiasm."
"And in particular?"
"Peter congratulated me and took me to buy things for the baby, with his card. He bought so many things that they wouldn't fit in this house."
"Mhmm." Noah turned his head to look at him and had that expression of 'I know you're not telling me everything'. Or maybe Stiles was just projecting.
"He offered me to go live with them at the mansion." He put the plate on the table so he could gesticulate. "It'd be more convenient if I need someone to babysit the baby, and there he'd have his own space, a whole room for him."
"Stiles, all I care about is if you want to live there," Noah interrupted before he could continue giving reasons.
Stiles bit his lip and stared at his hands for a moment before looking up at his father.
"Wouldn't it bother you?" he asked cautiously.
"Son, I just want you to do what's best for you and my grandson." Noah sat up and turned to him. He was looking at him seriously but with that emotion his father reserved for him. "I'll still be here for whatever you need, but I know I've never been of much help." He raised his hand to silence him when Stiles tried to interrupt him. "After your mother left, you raised yourself and turned out very well. I know you'll do just as well with your son, and this time you won't be alone. If you think living with the Hales will make things easier for you, go ahead."
He couldn't tell him that he had always been a great father because for years he had been worse than an absent father because of his alcoholism. Just in the last two years their relationship had improved, especially thanks to the distance. Still, that Noah believed he would be a good father was very important to him.
"I'll go to the mansion. And for the record, I think you'll be a great grandpa." He got up with his half-eaten dinner plate in one hand and gave him a quick hug with the other. "I've to go to bed, my boss makes me go to work very early." He joked to take some emotion out of the moment.