Chapter Five: One More Fight

Ricky snarled as he left the bathroom and slammed out of their room and down the hall and slammed his open palm down on the room where his parents were staying and turned when he heard his sister, "Ricky?"

"Don't," Ricky snapped at his sister just as the door opened and he glared at his father as he pushed into the room and passed his father. "What the hell did you say to Stiles?" Ricky didn't wait for an answer, "How dare you!"

"Whoa!" Ravyn said when their mother continued to sit there and say nothing. Ricky took a deep breath and tried to calm down. His dad moved to stand behind the couch, united but separate, something that did not go unnoticed by everyone in the room.

"What did you say? You told him they were going to leave me, that this isn't real or this is somehow not going to be enough! Come on mom, how can you decide what my relationship is going to look like? How could you tell him that?"

His mother waited, a light shimmer of moisture in her blue gaze before she took a deep breath and stood, "You can't understand the scary concept of this relationship because you're in the middle of it. You could have children with a woman, you could find joy with someone else instead of being the perpetual third wheel of the Derek and Stiles show."

"Mom!" Ricky snarled, "You can have as many opinions as you want but you also have to get it through your head that you don't really know what we're like because you don't live with us. And you're not spending any time trying to see who we are now. Derek and Stiles treat me as an equal in our relationship, they do everything in their power to always let me know that I matter to them the same way they matter to each other. If you have no intention of finding a way to see what we are to each other, don't share your opinion about it, especially to Stiles. He's incredibly sensitive and he worries too much, don't make it worse."

Shelby stared down at her hands for a moment and heaved a sigh, "I don't know what its like to have a Soul Bond, there is no way for me to understand what its like to know love at that level but there is nothing in the world that is going to keep me from worrying about my little boy."

Ricky started to speak but she just held a hand up for him to stay quiet.

"I will make an effort to keep my unfounded opinions to myself, I will make an effort to be a part of this pack and learn what I need to about you and your mates. I can't stop worrying about you though."

Ricky took a deep breath and allowed the anger inside him to release and disperse. His shoulders slumped a little at the truth in his mother's plan to seek out the answers she'd been unwilling to find previously. He slumped into a nearby chair and everyone stayed silent for a minute until a clap startled them, Ricky turned as Ravyn started a slow clap and grinned at him obnoxiously.

"Wow brother, I'm glad to see you fighting for what you love and believe in, you were always so diminutive when we were kids and easy to overpower in any issue," the whole time Ravyn kept up with the clapping until he glared at her and she stuttered into silence. Then his little sister turned to their parents as spoke, "This is a great pack to be a part of, really. I know we have a pack back home but they don't come over and spend time with us, they don't offer their support in the ways of born wolves and I like it here. I wouldn't mind really getting involved with the Hale pack, they are good weres."

Shelby nodded at that because they all knew it to be true, despite the losses that Derek's family had suffered they were willing to open their home and heart to the Oseric pack and Ricky's parents hadn't been very open to receiving it.

"Fresh start tomorrow morning?" Shelby asked her son gently.

Ricky nodded, leaned down and kissed his mother's cheek gently before he shook his father's hand and pressed a quick kiss to Ravyn's head then walked out. It was late enough that they'd all said good night to everyone downstairs and all the beta wanted to do was curl up next to Derek and Stiles and sleep off some of the emotional turmoil of the day. Having his parents at odds with the rest of the pack as well as his mates was running Ricky into the ground and he needed to sleep it off in the presence of his mates.

He walked out of his parents' suite and back towards his own, walking through the door and scenting the tears and sadness before he even looked around the room to find Stiles wrapped up in Derek's arms in the bed. The omega was shaking a little from the soft sobs coming from him and his chest was bare, as if he just couldn't continue to get dressed after the soft pajama pants he was wearing were put on. Ricky crossed the room quickly and climbed into bed to press a gentle kiss to the side of Stiles' face. "Hey little man, she shouldn't have said it and you don't have to believe it. I'm right here because I want to be."

Stiles nodded spastically, almost dislodged Ricky from the omega's body.

"He thinks that she might have a point," Derek whispered gently.

Ricky sighed and groaned a little, knowing that what he said to his mother early was the truth, Stiles may like to rush into things all the time but he cared a lot about people, especially Ricky and Derek and he was desperate not to hurt them. He nudged Stiles until the smaller wolf settled onto his back, showing the shine of tears still blurring his whiskey brown eyes and Ricky cooed a little, gently wiping at the tears.

"Stiles, I love being mated to you and I love being mated with Derek. I am not the third wheel in this relationship and you have never made me feel that way. You might make mistakes but that's not one of them. Let go of whatever my mother said because I don't feel that way at all."

"But what about children? You could have children with a human," Stiles whispered.

Ricky frowned down at his omega, "Are you going to tell our children that I am not one of their parents?" he asked gently, keeping a loving grip on Stiles' cheek.

Stiles shook his head a little; "You would be a parent as much as Derek and I, we would be a team like we always are. You would love them whether they were yours biologically or not, right?"

"Right," Ricky said with a resolute nod. He smiled and pressed his lips down on Stiles' mouth for a slow and loving kiss. When he came up for air he whispered straight into his omega's lips, "Let it go little man. I'm in love with you and Derek, no matter how weird we look on the surface, no matter how many ways we should be screwed from the get-go. No matter what, okay?"

Stiles smiled shakily, "Okay."

Derek nudged them and both mates turned to their alpha, "Me too you know, I agree with all the above. We're together no matter what."

"No matter what," Stiles whispered back and they settled down again, heaving a sigh and falling into an exhausted sleep, Ricky left wondering what the next bit of drama would be on this family vacation.