"What're we watching tonight, Princess?" Stiles asked as he sat down on the couch in the living room next to his daughter, who was sitting up near the edge and using a collapsible tray to hold her plate and drink.
"Chef Robert," replied Karolina with a nod before she focused on her food since it was just another commercial.
Stiles chuckled with a slight shake of his head. He should have guessed. They both had the television on Food Network a lot, but Chef Robert was Karolina's favorite. She loved the show Restaurant Impossible, especially the decorating part of it. Several times she had conspired with Lydia afterward in possibly redecorating Authenticity. Stiles had always said that as long as The Wall stayed, he did not care about the rest of it. No remodeling had been done to that date, however.
After they finished eating, the two of them watched a few more things on Food Network, Karolina reclining back against her father with a small smile. "Alright, Princess," Stiles said with a slight groan as he leaned forward to grab the remote off of the table. "Time to go take a bath."
"Okay!" Karolina nodded with a smile before she rushed off to the bathroom to do just that. She was big enough that she no longer needed help; so, Stiles stuck out in the living room and kitchen, doing some cleaning.
He turned on the radio to have some music on as he cleaned, leaving it quiet enough to be able to hear his daughter should she need him. Stiles hummed along with the music as he cleaned, a small smile on his face the entire time. It was a good night; he enjoyed quiet nights at home with his daughter where he did not have to worry about the restaurant or anything. Allison and Jackson were perfectly capable of running it on those nights.
Several minutes later, Karolina came practically skipping back out from the bathroom, clean and in her favorite pair of sleep clothes. "Can I help?" she asked.
Stiles nodded with a smile before nodding her toward the sink. "Grab a stool, Kaja," he instructed, beginning to run some water in the sink so that they could wash some of the dishes by hand together. "I'll get up early and make those cookies for you in the morning."
"Thanks, Daddy!"
When Karolina woke up to get ready for school the next morning, Stiles was in the kitchen, putting saran-wrap on the last plate of cookies for them to take into the school that day. One of Karolina's classmates had a birthday that day, and the girl's mother had asked Stiles to make something for the class. Of course, Stiles had agreed.
"Morning, Princess," Stiles said with a tired smile in his daughter's direction that grew a little as she ran over and threw her arms around his waist in a hug. "Go get dressed, I'll have breakfast ready when you get out."
"Okay, Daddy!" replied Karolina, nodding a few times before she went back to her bedroom to pick out her outfit to the day. Allison and Lydia had taken her shopping for all of her back to school clothes, and of course Lydia had shown her all sorts of cute ways to put them together.
While Karolina was getting dressed, Stiles was making breakfast for them; waffles, eggs, and bacon that morning with some orange juice. By the time Karolina had picked out an outfit and brushed her hair, Stiles was setting her plate. "Kaja, breakfast's ready!" he called, turning to add some scrambled eggs to his own plate.
The two of them sat at the breakfast bar there in the kitchen, talking and laughing as they ate until it was time for Karolina to finish getting ready to go. "Don't forget your backpack!" Stiles reminded her as he put their plates and forks into the sink.
"I'm ready, Daddy," Karolina insisted with a nod of her head once she returned to the living room with her backpack on her shoulders.
"Alright, then. Let's go!"
Their drive to the school was filled with them both singing along with the radio, Stiles tapping his fingers against the steering wheel the entire time while Karolina practically danced in her seat. It was a beautiful morning, and Stiles could see where the leaves were already beginning to change. It made Karolina all excited because it meant that they were that much closer to Halloween, her favorite holiday.
At the school, Stiles parked the car in the parking lot and got out with his daughter, but he stopped at the back doors to the car in order to get the two plates of cookies out of the backseat. "Can I carry one?" Karolina asked with a bright smile.
"Sure, Princess!" replied Stiles with a smile of his own before handing off one of the plates to his daughter.
They talked about how pretty it was outside that day as they walked into the building and down the hallway to Karolina's classroom, where there were already a few students, and Mr. Hale waiting for the day to begin. "Morning, Mr. Hale!" Karolina said once they were in the room. "Daddy and I brought cookies."
Derek chuckled softly with a smile as he leaned back against his desk, crossing his arms over his chest, watching as the two set the plates down on the circle table over near the windows. "I can see that. Thank you, Stiles and Karolina," the teacher stated, nodding a little.
"It was no problem," replied Stiles with a slight wave of his hand. "I heard tell that it was someone's birthday today." Stiles smiled over at Mia, the little girl whose birthday it was. "Happy birthday, Mia." She smiled brightly in response, thanking Mr. Stilinski. "You guys have a good day, alright? I'll see you tonight, Princess." Stiles smiled once again as Karolina wrapped her arms around her father's waist to give him another hug. As Stiles left the classroom, he waved at Derek with another smile before actually watching where he was walking.
Stiles did not leave the school just yet, however. He just crossed the hallway to Lydia's classroom, where she was at one of her students' desks, talking to them about the coloring page they were working on. Stiles knocked on the door frame, making Lydia look up only to smile when she saw who it was. "Stiles!" the red-headed teacher said as she walked over to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek in greeting. "What're you doing here?"
"Dropped some cookies off for Kaja's class," replied Stiles with a nod. "Figured I'd stop in and say 'hello'."
"Good. I'd have been very disappointed if you didn't." Lydia narrowed her eyes a little at Stiles, though she remained smiling. "Laura can't make it to dinner on Sunday. She's got to work."
"That sucks. We'll have to bring her some food, then. She can't miss out!"
Lydia nodded in agreement, crossing her arms over her chest with a sly smile. "I might be able to convince her little brother to show up, though." Lydia raised a brow slightly at that, though Stiles just lifted his brow slightly in return.
"Cool. There's always room for one more." Stiles nodded a little then and reached up with one hand, absently ruffling his hair. "I should head out, take over for the lunch shift. I'll see you later."
Lydia rolled her eyes fondly and shook her head with a smile as she turned back to her classroom and walked over to the whiteboard to finish preparing for the start of the morning's lesson.
That evening, just before the start of the dinner rush, Stiles was at the front of the house, talking to a few of his regular customers when he watched Laura and Derek come walking in. "Excuse me," Stiles said with a smile to the people he had been checking on, before walking over to the Hale siblings. "Hi, guys. Would you like a table?"
"Please," replied Laura with a nod, following Stiles when he started to lead them over to one of the better tables.
"Lydia joining you tonight?"
Stiles asked the question as he placed a few menus on the table, and Laura shook her head in answer. "She's helping Allison and Jackson with nursery ideas."
"Ah, well. I'm sure she'll enjoy that. So, sweet tea for you, Miss Laura, and, Derek...?"
"Oh, uh, water's fine," Derek replied with a nod and a small smile.
Stiles smiled in return and nodded his own head before stating that he would be back. Laura laced her fingers together and crossed her arms over the table. "So, Derek..." she started to say, only to be cut off with a brow raise and a headshake from Derek.
"No, Laura," he said, shaking his head again. "You and Lydia need to stop. If anything's going to happen, it'll happen on its own, not because you're pushing it."
Laura pursed her lips a moment as she studied her brother while he looked over the menu. "How did you even know what I was going to say?"
Derek chuckled at that, raising his brow a little as he looked up at her. "You're my big sister. I know you."
Stiles returned to the table then, placing a glass of sweet tea with a lemon wedge on it in front of Laura and a glass of water in front of Derek. "Know what we're getting tonight?" he asked with a smile, glancing between the Hale siblings.
"You know what," Laura said as she reached over and grabbed Derek's menu from him, while picking up hers with the other hand. "Derek's never been here before. Surprise us."
Laura flashed a bright smile in Stiles' direction, and he chuckled as he took the menus. "Alright, then. I'll make sure it's good. We don't want this being the last time Derek comes in." Stiles smiled once again and then turned to head back to the kitchen area.
The elder Hale sibling smirked as she took a drink of her tea. "He likes you," is all she said, though she wanted to say more. She chuckled when Derek had no response, his gaze turning to her from where he'd been watching Stiles walk away. "You should come to family dinner on Friday. Maybe you'll get that chance to get to know him if you actually try."
"Laura..." was all Derek said in reply, tone heeding a slight warning, though his sister just chuckled.
"That wasn't a 'no'." Laura smirked again, settling down low in her chair as she watched her brother as he struggled to come up with some sort of witty retort. When he gave up with a heavy sigh, Laura just laughed and smiled as she sat up fully in her chair again.
The next day at school, Derek frowned slightly when Karolina Stilinski was not present among his students. It was the first time she had missed all year, and it was not until noon that the school secretary came by with a note saying that Stiles had called in to tell them that Karolina was ill. Derek frowned slightly once again but thanked the secretary. While the students were at recess, Derek took a few minutes to gather what Karolina's homework would be.
It was near the end of the day when there was a knock on the door, making Derek look up from where he was, crouched next to one of his students' desk to help with the math page they were working on. "Can I help you?" Derek asked the young woman with long, blonde hair that was styled in curls and bright red lipstick that only enhanced the slight smirk on her face.
"Yes, hi, I'm Erica Reyes," the blonde said as she stepped into the room, extending a hand out toward Derek while he stood up straight. "I'm here to grab Karolina's homework."
"Oh, yes. Right. Erica." Derek nodded with a faint smile as he shook her hand, lasting only a second before he let go and moved toward the desk. He recognized her name from the list that Stiles had of acceptable adults to pick Karolina up from school when he could not. He was also sure he had heard Lydia and Laura talking about the blonde before. "Here it is. Let her know we all hope she feels better soon."
Erica pursed her lips a little as she gave Derek a once over, taking the small pile of papers and workbooks that Karolina would need. "I'll be sure to do that, Mr. Hale." Erica flashed Derek a bright smile then, wiggling the fingers of her free hand in a wave before she left the classroom in a swift stride that reminded Derek much of the fiery red-headed teacher across the hallway.
"Alright, guys," Derek said as he turned back to face his class, absentmindedly ruffling his hair with one hand. "Let's get ready for art, yeah?"
The rest of Derek's day was rather uneventful until he found himself making a late run to the store after Laura asked him to go pick up some cold medicine. She was starting to come down with something, and the sniffling was beginning to annoy her. Derek, being the good brother he was, suppressed an urge to roll his eyes as he grabbed his jacket and left their shared apartment. It was there at the store that Derek found himself nearly colliding with none other than Stiles Stilinski.
He was dressed in blue and purple plaid sleep pants that matched the ones that Karolina wore, along with a gray henley tee; and, Derek had to take a second to actually process the fact that they both looked completely disheveled. Karolina more so than Stiles. Her face was overly pale though her cheeks were pink, and she had her arms wrapped firmly around her father's waist as they shuffled along. "Geeze, sorry," Stiles breathed out when he realized that he almost ran into someone. He smiled, though when Derek reached out a hand to steady him and he realized who it was. "Oh, hi, Derek."
"You okay?" questioned Derek as he let go of Stiles' arm, smiling warmly in response.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just wasn't watching where I was going. Trying to get some cold medicine for Kaja." Stiles nodded a little, idly running his hand over Karolina's back as she pressed in closer to his side.
Derek nodded a little with a slight laugh. "Yeah, I'm here to get some for Laura."
"She's sick, too?" questioned Karolina quietly, her voice sounding stuffy and slightly hoarse. "You should make her chicken soup. Daddy makes it for me, and it makes me feel a little better."
Both Stiles and Derek chuckled at her helpful suggestion, and Derek nodded once with a smile. "I might just have to do that. Thank you for the advice, Karolina."
"Tell Laura I hope she feels better," Stiles stated with a nod before tilting his head backward toward where the registers were. "We should probably get out of here. I need to get this little one back to bed. Thank you for gathering her homework."
"It's not a problem," replied Derek, idly waving one of his hands. "Feel better, Karolina, and we'll see you back in class soon."
"M'kay," she mumbled in response, squeezing her arms around Stiles' waist absentmindedly.
With a smile and a nod, Stiles waved and then started to lead his daughter over to where the registers were so that they could pay for the cold medicine and some tissues. It was going to be a long night, but with a glance over his shoulder to where Derek was struggling to pick out the right kind of medication, Stiles could not help his smile. As they started toward the door, Stiles called out to the teacher, "The one on your right. That's the one you want." Stiles grinned again when Derek shot him a smile in thanks, nodding a little at the help.