Hi guys! IM SO SORRY that I haven't updated in a couple weeks. Its just been crazy since school started and especially since it's my senior year. I've got so many college apps, essays, homework, and extra-curriculars to take care of. I just want to graduate and get the hell out of high school :P. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please keep reviewing (:

ALSO, PLEASE CHECK OUT THE PHOTOBUCKET PAGE h ttp : / .com /albums/ l543/ImLikeMonica/ for this story and my other Teen Wolf / Derek Fanfic called REDEMPTION! Please check that out too (;!If you have read my story REDEMPTION than you will see similarities such as the penthouse that Derek lives in.

On the photobucket page I've got a couple banners for Kayleigh in case you want to know what I envision her to look like.

Mkay thanks my loves. Read, review and enjoy! 3 Byee.

I stood there by the floor-to-ceiling glass window, staring. Waiting. Shaking.

The past 24 hours had been a whirlwind. To say that my mind was overwhelmed was an understatement. I was beyond surprised, beyond confused, and for the first time… scared. It was all too much. But I did what I needed to do.

After the woman took Kayleigh home to pack her things, I left the house. Though the trip coming here was one of the most agonizing drives I've ever made, I knew that I had to push through as I sped past the suburbs of Beacon Hills and into the city. I hadn't made the drive down here in a while and before I even got to the apartment, the memories had already started flooding in.

I turned away from the window to stare at the penthouse that enclosed me. I had always refused to come here, however I knew that it was necessary to visit at least once a year to check up on the place. But every time that I came here, the presence of my family overwhelmed me.

Every room – from the kitchen, to the living room, the bedroom, the bathrooms – all of it had looked just as it was when my mother first decorated the place five years ago. I remembered coming up here with Laura every weekend or so to accompany one of my parents whenever they had business to do in the city. Though we loved our house in Beacon Hills, this was our second home. Here we knew that we were safe – and that is why I came back.

If I was to protect the girl, I knew that the house was not an option. Kate knew the house. From the countless nights she would sneak into my room, to our family dinners, and then eventually the night of the fire. I bet that bitch even broke into our house to plan out the fire.

In addition, I couldn't stand the woman constantly repeating the fact that the house was in no way "child-proofed", therefore I had no choice but to come here.

For four hours straight, I had cleaned the entire apartment and gone grocery shopping – something that was alien to me. What took an average person an hour or so to do, took me longer – I spent a large portion of my time in the grocery store trying to figure out what food to buy and another large chunk of my time trying to find it. I was sure the girl wouldn't approve of beer and pizza every night, but at one point my frustration had gotten so bad that I seriously considered it.

Suddenly my head snapped up as I heard the elevator doors open. I waited, listening closely, as I heard two pairs of footsteps pitter pattering closer to the entrance.

"Is this the right place?" I heard the woman whisper to herself before she hesitantly knocked on the front door. I covered the distance between me and the door with a couple of strides and as soon as I opened it, I found both the woman and the little girl standing there with wide eyes. The little girl's jaw dropped as she craned her head to look up and around the room.

"Wowww," the girl said in amazement, running past my legs and into the apartment. The woman and I watched after her in disapproval.

"Kayleigh!" the woman hollered. "Come back here now!" She called out, but the little girl was already exploring the place on her on as she knelt beside the TV in the living room and scanned the wall that held hundred's of movies.

"Just leave her," I mumbled, closing the entrance door and making my way over to the dining table. I didn't have the energy to be upset with the little girl for barging into my house – or rather… our house, now. A shiver went down my spine as I thought about it. What the fuck was I getting myself into?

"I'm sorry about that, Mr. Hale," the woman apologized as she followed behind me. "She loves to watch movies and right now she probably feels like she's in heaven." She nodded over to Kayleigh who was so giddy as she rummaged through the shelves of DVD's – or atleast the ones she could reach. "But this is quite a place you got here. It's very beautiful!"

"Thank you," I replied mindlessly as I robotically took a seat at the four-person table in the chair that was once my father's while the woman sat across from me. We were quiet for a moment as I waited for her to speak and for a while she continued to stare over at Kayleigh. The only noise that occurred was the click clacking of DVD's falling to the floor and cases being opened and closed. It was here that I studied the woman.

She looked so vulnerable. It seemed as if the fine lines around her eyes and mouth had gotten deeper since I had last seen her yesterday and the way she held herself was weak. Her skin was very pale and her dark brown hair was graying quickly. I wanted to feel sorry for the woman – but I simply couldn't because on her pale, wrinkled skin she held a genuine smile to match her warm eyes.

The woman gazed at Kayleigh in a way that can only be described as the way a mother looks at her own child – much like my own. Her eyes were full of tenderness and love as she looked at the little girl and the permanent smile that she carried on her lips was so honest and real. The joy that the girl brought to the woman was evident.

"Miss Nelson," I spoke up to her surprise. She broke her eyes away from Kayleigh across the room and turned towards me with the same genuine hazel eyes. Instinctively, my stare dropped to towards the table as I took a deep breath, preparing myself for what I was about to say. "I don't think I can do this."

The woman was quiet for a long time after heard me speak. I looked up at her after a moment to find the warmth in her eyes suddenly gone.

"Yes, you can," she confirmed without hesitation. Her voice was concise.

I shook my head, burying my head into my heads. "No. No." I denied. "This is too much. I can't – I can't be…" I flinched, "a father."

The woman leaned forward. "You already are, Derek." I leaned back to look at the woman. She shook her head in silence and a moment later I noticed the glistening in her eyes. She paused for another moment, looking away as she tried to gain control of herself.

"Do you know how hard this is for me?" the woman's voice shook. "She's the only thing that has kept me fighting for my life, Derek. That little girl is everything to me. You don't understand how much I hate myself for not being able to take care of her like I used to," she said at the bridge of a break down. She swallowed the lump in her throat and wiped away the tears in her eyes before she spoke once more. "I never give up, Derek. But this time I had no other choice."

"Kayleigh is your daughter and now she is yours to take care of. I'm not saying that you will be doing this alone, because I will be around whenever you need me, but I cannot be there every moment," she said. "I understand you're overwhelmed, confused, scared and I know this won't be easy. You will make mistakes as raising a child is difficult especially when you're unprepared, but that's okay. I don't expect you to be the perfect parent because I'm not either and never will be. But I have faith in you, Derek. I may not have known you for too long, but I've been around a long time and have gotten to know many types of people – and I know that you are a person that I can trust. I trust you Derek as Kate trusted you with the life of her own child."

I didn't speak for a very long time as I listened to her words over and over in my head. My head began to spin and my body shook slightly - I was on the edge. "Kate would've never let this happen. She hated me. She wanted me dead. She would never allow another life to be born especially if that life was half of me. She hated me." By now I sounded as if I were mentally ill.

Suddenly the woman bent down to rummage through her purse on the floor before pulling out a single sheet of paper. "This is for you," she said, sliding the paper across the table towards me. I stared down at it for a moment before I realized what it was.

On the tan colored paper next to two tiny footprint markings, I found something that made my heart stop.

Kayleigh Allison Hale

Birthdate: April 2, 2008

Weight: 5 lbs., 6 oz.

Mother: Katherine Argent

Father: Derek Hale