On the second date, they keep the conversation on general topics: the kids' school, how Stiles' dad had been trying to hide his relationship with his best friend's mom for the past six and something years, completely failing to realize that the whole town knows they are together, how Laura and her mom have been trying to set him up for a good three years. They laugh as they haven't for a long time and the parting kiss lasts longer than their first date: it gets deeper, it gets hotter and it gets harder to keep away from each other, but they always end up in front of either houses and the kids are probably asleep. Grandparents and nosy sisters probably are not.

By the fifth date, they are officially together, because it's plain to see how good they are for each other.

After an interrupted eleventh date caused by Isaac falling off a tree and an emergency rush to the ER with Stiles spending the whole evening moving from Derek to Jackson whispering that everything is going to be ok and no, it's not Jackson's fault that his little brother decided to climb up the oak tree in their garden, well, that's when Derek decides that if he ever were to spend the rest of his life with someone, than that someone had to be Stiles.

He wasn't going to propose or anything, he had learned from Kate that rushing in never helped either part of the marriage license, but he wanted to prove to Stiles that he was a worthy man for his affection.

"Ok, that's the deal: I really want to impress your dad and I think the only way for me to achieve my goal is to ask for your help" he still couldn't believe the sheriff had agreed to let him meet his granddaughters to concoct a plan. Really, too much time spent with Laura during childhood ruined his sanity and capacity of logic thought.

"You mean you want to get into his pants" Lydia said looking as angelic as usual. It took him nearly ten minutes to regain control of his breathing and brain: a eight year old kid should never ever know sentences like those. Derek was seriously starting to revaluate the sanity of the Stilinki family.

"I won't even ask how you know about that, but plainly speaking I just want to show your dad how much.."

"How much you love him?" Erica asked hopefully " Mom always told us that you have to tell others how you feel to make them feel good with themselves. You should try that"

Yep, he was a goner for toothless grins. Especially coming from a little girl that looked exactly like Stiles at five. If it wasn't for the fact that he truly loved this girls' dad, he would have wished for their mother to still be alive: he knew how much it must've pained both Lydia and Erica when their dad had to tell them their mom had passed away. From what he learned from the sheriff, who he had started to phone often enough because of his sons spending many nights at his place, Ann had died in a car crash; car had burnt a red and ran her over, knocking her and the pram carrying Erica on the side of the road. Luckily enough, Ann had seen the car approaching and pushed the baby away as far as she could, but the car still managed to touch it and send it towards a wall. Erica stayed at the hospital for nearly two months while her mom passed away right away. Scott had told him Lydia helped Stiles telling the little one right after she woke up from a medical induced coma: that sort of explained why Stiles and his eldest seemed closer, though Derek knew that Lydia had always been some sort of favorite.

"I love your dad, very much. And I know he could never love me as much as he loves you or as much as I love Isaac and Jackson, but I would like us to be a family. That is if you would like it"

"Does it mean we get to live with you?" Lydia asked turning her head to look him in the eyes, completely ignoring the Barbie she had been playing with only seconds before.

"Maybe. Not right away, because we don't even know if your dad would want that" Derek tried to explain to the two young girls. He didn't really know how to handle little girls, usually Isaac and Jackson accepted anything he said because he was dad, and whatever he said was law. Unless grandma Hale spoke, in which case dad's decisions could be easily overruled. The biggest mistake he had ever made had been made a few weeks earlier, the first night Stiles spent over after bringing the girls over for dinner. Stiles and himself had gone to bed, spoke a little about how exhausted they were after having to deal with four children under the age of ten and then crushed into each other in a dreamless sleep. The morning after saw them waking up into each other's arms, Stiles' head resting on Derek's chest and a pile of limbs crushed together at the end of the bed: somehow, during the night, Lydia and Jackson had picked up the youngest two and dragged them to the master bedroom.

"They look so cute" Stiles had said dropping off a kiss on Derek's chin.

"That's only the calm before the storm. Just wait"

"We could stay the whole day in bed, couldn't we?" Stiles asked putting his head back into its resting place.

"Now, what would I do with all the pancakes I cooked for you all then?" a voice startled both man, making them straighten up from their position. Both their heads snapped towards the doorframe where Amelia Hale rested holding a camera in her hands.

"Morning Gran" Jackson stood up sleepily from the bed to head towards his grandmother, dropping a swift kiss on her cheek.

"Morning Nana" Isaac soon followed dragging Erica to her feet, her free hand clutching a brown teddy bear as if her life depended on it. Behind them stood Lydia, flawless as ever, her eyes completely open and without a trace of sleep.

"Good Morning, Mrs. Hale. I'm Lydia and this is Erica" she said pointing towards her sister "The one snuggling with your son is my dad, Stiles. Say hi, daddy" she said normally.

Yep, having Lydia and Erica meet his mom had definitely been a mistake. Those three seemed to have a way with him that made it impossible to either Derek or Stiles to say no to any demand or wish. Yet, Derek had been lucky until then because he knew he could ignore his mother. He couldn't, however, ignore the two little girls in front of him. Not when they both sported the same cheeks their father had or the identical cut of the eye.

"Daddy will say yes. He loves you, too" Erica brought him back to present time with a tug on his shirt. That made him feel both better and more worried at the same time.

"What should we get for your dad?" Stiles was giving Isaac a piggy back whilst holding Jackson's hand, his daughters walking peacefully in front of them chatting about all the presents they were gonna get that Christmas: their maternal grandparents usually sent in toys to make up for all the time they didn't spend with them, their granddad and Melissa had promised a small road trip to Los Angeles with Isaac and Jackson so that they could visit whatever they wanted (and so that Derek and Stiles could have some child-free time) and the Hales also told them they were going to give them something.

"Dad likes books: anything that has to do with mystical creatures or philos-philosop-whatever that is he likes so much" Jackson tried to help looking upset for not being able to pronounce the world.

"Philosophy, Jackson. It doesn't matter, you know? If you can't say every word?" Stiles tried to reassure him.

"I know. It's just" Jackson looked away from him, taking his hand away from him and focusing on a nearby shopping window.

"It's just what?" he tried to help him talk. Jackson looked up at Isaac and that made Stiles understand he wasn't really comfortable with his brother listening " Isaac, why don't you join the girls? My back is not really what it used to be, plus I'm sure they'll help you think of something for your dad, ok?

"Ok" Isaac said cheerfully before rushing towards the two young girls, sliding his hand into Erica's pocket to keep at least one of his hands warm.

I knew we should have gotten the gloves. Stiles thought. He shrugged and sat down on a nearby bench picking Jackson up.

"What's wrong, Jackson?" he started saying "You know you can talk to me. That is if you manage to stop me from talking because, don't know if you noticed, it gets quite hard for me to keep silent after I started elaborating my thoughts trough words"

"You are funny" Jackson giggled. Literally giggled. After nearly three months of dating Derek, he seriously doubted the Hale boys were capable of giggling: he had seen them smile, sometimes grin, hell, even laugh out loud. But those were rare moments, moments he really wanted to be able to witness for the rest of his life because they made him remember that there was a reason for them to live, a reason to move on from all the tragedies he had to go through.

"I know. Now, will you tell me what's wrong?"

"She used to get mad, when I couldn't speak" the little boy whispered.

"Your mom?" he asked. Derek really hadn't talked about Kate, he actually avoided the topic and never pronounced her name. Laura had told him, during one of their secret coffee meetings they arranged so that she could get all the chocolate products forbidden to her in her own household, that Kate had always resented having kids: she believed her little brother to have found someone good for him, but she turned out to be abusive with her own sons. Not physically, but Jackson flinched for years whenever someone raised his/her voice.

"She said I wasn't as smart as dad said if I couldn't even say all the words"

Ok, he was going to cry. Stiles could handle tears. He had survived tears more than he cared to acknowledge: Lydia's first tooth, Erica's first tooth, butchered knees and elbows, some bumps on the head caused by clashed with poles, He could do it. He hugged Jackson, having his little head rest on his shoulder, his hand drawing soothing doodles in his back, whispered words in his ears.

"It's ok. You are a great boy, and she didn't have the right to tell you all those mean things: she was your mom and she was supposed to love you, but she didn't. It doesn't mean that you are what she told you: you are Jackson Hamilton Hale and you are a good boy, a great big brother and the kindest kid I've ever met"

Somehow Lydia seemed to have sensed the distress coming from his friend and had dragged both her sister and Isaac to the bench. She told them to stay put on the bench and joined the hug, mimicking her dad saying all the good things Jackson had done for her and all the stuff he had taught Isaac. His little brother couldn't really tell what had happened but could only nod in excitement at the memory of Jackson teaching him how to play lacrosse.

"Daddy?" Erica interrupted the scene they were making, surprised by all the weird looks they were getting.

"What is it, honey?" Stiles looked up from the boy he was still hugging, making sure that he had stopped crying before completely turning towards his daughter.

"Can we keep them?" she said pointing at the two boys next to her " And their dad? They really look like they need us?"

"I guess we can"

Author's Corner:

Fine,

Pancakes team won, waffles have to admit defeat. Anyway, I'm so sorry for making you wait, but I'm moving and my house is in total chaos right now. Once again I would like to thank all those readers who favored the story and started following it, your enthusiasm is what keeps me writing.

I guess I'll be updating as soon as I decide how long to make the story and how to continue (I have some evil ideas that will have you crying. Not "Slipping Away" material, if you know what I mean) (And if you have a Sterek tag on Tumblr, yes, you know what I mean).

Well, that's all I've got to say for today.

See ya soon,

Lilylovesbones!