John wasn't expecting a phone call. He'd taken some personal time off and usually the only calls he got were from work. He answered the phone, hoping it wasn't something about Stiles. "Sheriff Stilinski," he said.

"Hey, John. This is Melissa McCall…giving you a call," she said, with a nervous laugh. "Anyway, I was just calling to see if the boys were still going to spend the night here."

"I think they decided to move it over here," John replied. "It's just easier on us. Isaac is still pretty nervous around me, it would just be helpful to have Stiles around."

"Oh, yeah, that's fine," Melissa said. "I'll see you later then."

"Alright, take care."

John returned his phone to his pocket and figured that now was a good time to get up from the paperwork at his desk and go check on Isaac. He'd left the boy contentedly coloring at the dining room table, but that's not where he found him. John looked around and walked into the kitchen at precisely the wrong moment. "Isaac?"

Isaac had decided to refill his own glass of juice. He'd somehow succeeded at getting the heavy jug out of the refrigerator and had just started to pour when he lost control and spilled everything on the ground. He looked up in horror at John and quickly ran and tried to wedge himself in the space between the wall and the refrigerator.

John approached slowly, stepping over the puddle. "Isaac?" he said, careful to keep his voice soft. "Isaac, come here." At this point, the child was sobbing like the world was going to end. John knelt down in order to be at eye level with him and waited for him to calm down a bit. "Isaac, what were you doing?"

"I-I wanted juice," Isaac whispered between shaky breaths.

"You could have asked," John said.

"I'm not s-supposed to b-b-bother you," Isaac replied, his voice so soft John could barely hear him. "It's bad to interrupt grown-ups."

"Who told you that?" John asked, but he already knew the answer.

"My dad," Isaac said.

John winced in sympathy. "It's alright, Isaac. You can ask when you want something."

Isaac nodded, still hanging his head in shame. He sniffed and a tear fell onto the floor. John slowly reached out and put his hand on Isaac's shoulder. Isaac tensed in fear at first, but slowly relaxed.

"Help me clean this up and then I'll get you something to drink," John said. "Alright?"

John handed Isaac a towel and watched the boy carefully dab at the mess, eager to please by cleaning up, but still scared of letting his guard down. Once the spill was completely mopped up, John poured Isaac a glass of milk and returned him to the table to color. "I need to go finish my work, but remember you can get me if you need anything," John said.

He went back to his office and smiled to himself. He liked to think that if he kept doing things like that, then maybe he would earn Isaac's trust.

:::::::::::

Melissa felt like a major loser. She was almost disappointed that the boys had decided to have their sleepover at the Stilinski house at the last minute. She'd taken the night off work in order to supervise and now that she was going to have the house to herself, she had nothing but a DVR full of unwatched shows and a pantry full of snacks to remind her of how utterly single she was.

She drove Scott to the Stilinski residence and instead of just dropping him off at the curb she got out and went to the door with him. Melissa was hoping to get an update on Isaac Lahey. She'd been working as a nurse for several years and the only time she'd ever seen a kid that beat up was after a car wreck.

"Be sure to mind your manners," she reminded Scott quickly.

"I know, Mom."

"I know you know," she responded. "I'm just reminding you. Be sure you use your inhaler before bed. And brush your teeth. And wear clean underwear."

"Mom," Scott sighed with a roll of his eyes.

Sheriff Stilinski opened the door and Scott rushed inside to escape his mother's lame jokes. "Let me know if he gives you any trouble," she said.

"You know he never does," the sheriff responded.

"How's Isaac?" she asked.

"He's adjusting. I think he'll be alright once he realizes that not everyone is going to attack him."

"I'm glad he's staying with you. You're a great dad." Melissa wondered too late if the comment was a bit awkward.

"Well, thanks, Melissa. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

Melissa stood on her tiptoes and waved at Scott. Her son smiled and waved back at her and she turned to leave. She sighed and tried to convince herself that watching six episodes of Grey's Anatomy was a perfectly acceptable way to spend the night.

:::::::::::

Scott and Stiles were completely absorbed in their video games. About an hour into it, they both noticed there was a shy visitor at the door. Isaac was peeking at them from the hallway, but darted away every time they turned around and looked at him.

"Do you think he wants to play?" Scott asked.

"I dunno. Isn't he too young for this?"

Scott shrugged. "I don't think so."

"We'll ask him next time he pokes around."

"Do you like having a brother?" Scott asked. "What's it like?"

Stiles thought about it. It was really too soon to tell. He only had a few experiences to go off of. "Well, I guess it's not so bad. He's freakishly quiet so half the time I forget he's here."

"I think it'd be cool to have a brother. You can teach him everything."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, we can show him how to play lacrosse and make sure he reads the best comic books."

::::::::::

John smiled as he passed through the living room. It was getting late and he wasn't as young as he used to be. He was going to have a bit of whiskey and head to bed, but the boys were still wide awake. Scott and Stiles were sprawled on the floor, a bowl of popcorn between them. Isaac was perched on the couch, mesmerized by the movie. It was a good sight to see.

John nursed his whiskey as he stepped into his bedroom and got ready for bed. He went through the same routine every night. He finished his whiskey and read a few chapters from his book before brushing his teeth and winding up his alarm for the next morning. John wasn't one for praying, but there was one person he talked to every night.

"Mary, I'm doing the best I can here. I think things are going well. Stiles is great with Isaac. I wish you could see it. They're going to be really close. I'm just hoping Isaac gets to stay here for a while. I don't know what's going to happen to him, but you know I'm going to try my best to adopt him. He's a good kid. You would love him. Hell, he'd love you."

::::::::::

Isaac wondered if he was making a mistake. He just wanted a glass of water. Scott and Stiles were already asleep and the sheriff had said to ask if he wanted something. He just wasn't sure if it was OK. The door was open, but Isaac wasn't sure if he could go in because it sounded like the sheriff was talking to someone. Isaac was about to turn around and leave when the sheriff noticed him.

"Isaac, are you alright?" the sheriff asked.

Isaac thought about running, but he really wanted some water. He wondered who the sheriff had been talking to. He was nervous about answering the sheriff's question and when he did the wrong thing came out. "Who were you talking to?"

The sheriff looked really sad and Isaac wasn't sure why. "Oh, no one."

Isaac tilted his head to the side. He'd never understand grown-ups. "I'm thirsty," he said. "Can I have water?"

The sheriff smiled at him and nodded. "Sure, Isaac."

::::::::::

It was a nice day outside and the boys had convinced the sheriff to drive them out to the lacrosse field. Scott and Stiles wanted all the practice they could get before tryouts, which were approaching quickly. However, they surprised the sheriff by handing Isaac a lacrosse stick. He looked awkward holding it, given it was almost as tall as him, but the boys spent the afternoon lobbing balls gently toward Isaac and making a big deal about it when he managed to catch one.

The day was perfect, made more so when Scott's mom met them there with pizza. John had never seen Isaac smile so much. He ate and laughed and then ran around the field with Scott and Stiles.

"That's so great to see," Melissa commented.

John nodded in agreement. "It's good to see him be a kid."

"They're good with him," she said. "It's really sweet."

There was a moment of silence that was quickly filled by Isaac's laughter when he managed to catch the ball. He looked to John and Melissa and they cheered enthusiastically for his benefit and he swelled with pride.

"Has anything changed with his case?" Melissa asked.

"Technically, I'm not on the case. But…they think his dad is in Oregon, heading toward Canada."

"What about his mom? Is she going to come for him?"

John shrugged. "It doesn't look that way."

"Poor kid," Melissa sighed.

John shook his head. "If she doesn't want him, then he doesn't need her."

"Are you going to adopt him?"

"I'm going to try."

Melissa smiled and it struck John that she really was a very attractive woman, especially when she smiled like that. "That's great. Stiles will love that."

John nodded. "Yeah, it was a bit rocky at first, but he took to Isaac fast."

"What happened?"

"Well, Isaac's room used to be where Mary did all her painting. It hadn't really been touched since she passed away."

Melissa nodded in understanding. "Oh, I know how that goes. After Scott's dad left, he had a total meltdown when I started getting rid of things."

"Yeah," John said. "I never expected to have to deal with that. I'm just glad Stiles adjusted because I had absolutely no idea about what to do."

Melissa sighed. "Yeah, it's one of those things. You never think about it happening to you."

"We seem to be doing alright."