I don't own Teen Wolf.
Cut Out All the Ropes: Chapter 14
Stiles blinked his eyes open early the next morning, squinting at the sun shining through his window. He cocked his head to the side in confusion when a strong arm kept him from moving to the edge of the bed and a low rumble vibrated through his back. He smothered a small chuckle when he realized that the Alpha must have fallen asleep in his room the night before. Stiles' eyes wondered the room, landing on the looping play screen of the movie they watched the night before. He felt around on the bed for the remote, his arms barely long enough to reach it. As he turned off the television, Derek let out a low groan flexing the arm wrapped around Stiles' stomach.
"Morning," Stiles whispered, burrowing back into Derek's chest.
"Morning. I, uh, I'm sorry I fell asleep. I promised your dad I wouldn't stay over while we were still figuring things out. I guess I was just more tired than I thought," Derek said quietly, his lips pressed to the side of Stiles' head.
"I'm sure he won't care too much. Can you let me up? If I sit here any longer I'm going to pee myself, and that's just not attractive." Derek snorted, sitting up and watching as Stiles tried to get himself off the bed.
"Do you need help? " Derek asked, a brow cocked in amusement as the way the boy wiggled to get off the bed.
"I do this every morning," Stiles mumbled, finally reaching the edge and pushing himself off the bed. "I've got it down to a science."
"Right," Derek said with a laugh. There werewolf stretched, his back cracking as he waited for Stiles to return.
"Delayed reaction," Stiles said from the door, his hands resting on the small of his back as he squinted at Derek, "but didn't you say something about a surprise for me today?"
"Yup," Derek said, giving Stiles a small smile as he pulled on his jacket.
"Well? I want my surprise!" Stiles said, he wasn't ashamed to admit he might have stomped his foot for emphasis. Derek raised a brow at him, trying to smother his laugh.
"You'll get your surprise after your shower. I'm going to run home and shower and get changed. Do you want me to pick you up?"
"Yes please," Stiles said, perching on his bed. "Lydia wants me there no later than 11, so be back around 10:30 I guess?"
"Got it. And I promise you'll love your surprise. I'll see you later." With that, Derek pressed a small kiss to Stiles' forehead and let himself out of the room.
"Is it too late to call this off?" Stiles mumbled to Derek as they pulled into Lydia's driveway. A line of alternating blue and pink balloons were pushed into the ground with golf tees, the balloons blowing in the wind.
"Why? This is your shower and you get to open all kinds of presents. I thought you liked presents," Derek said, wrapping his arm around Stiles' waist as they made their way to the back yard.
"Yeah, I love presents. But I don't even know who Lydia invited to this thing. I also probably should have paid more attention to what she was saying when I was here yesterday because I have no idea what the hell she has planned. Which is terrifying."
"I'm sure everything will be fine, Stiles. No come one before Lydia gets mad."
Derek had to admit he was pretty impressed by how much Lydia had gotten done. The pool was covered with pink, blue, green and purple balloons. Tissue paper pompoms were hung from the arbor. A colorful frame with the month of July in it sat a table with a rubber stamp of baby feet next to it. There was a second frame next to it which explained that this was the guest book and to write their name next to their due date prediction. One the floor in front of the guest book table sat a basket with a "bring a book sign." Two big coolers of beverages sat on another table; one was pink lemonade and the other blue Gatorade. In between the two containers were baby bottles with colored straws in them. Stacks of purple and green plates and napkins sat at the end of a long picnic table which Derek was sure would be filled with food soon.
Allison waved at them as she carried a large box out which Derek could smell was cake from across the yard. He crossed the patio and peeked in, letting out a low snort when he looked at the cartoonish version of a wolf.
"Really?" He asked Allison, raising a brow at her.
"We've just been telling everyone you're really into wolves. I think they think you're a hippy or something, but it works."
"I forgot to ask, but is there ice cream?" Stiles asked, coming up behind them and giving Allison a hopeful look.
"I think Lydia got some for you, sweetie," Allison said, giving Stiles a hug. "You look good. How are you feeling?"
"Like a whale. Now excuse me while I go find some pickles." Allison laughed, glancing at Derek.
"Luckily, none of his cravings have been that weird. And by that I mean it hasn't been like anchovies on his ice cream weird. I, however, never want to see a pickle again."
"Yeah, good luck with that," Allison said, leading the Alpha into the house with a grin. Lydia stood at the end of the island with a notebook open, checking of things on a list that Derek couldn't read.
"Papa! I didn't know you were coming!" She exclaimed when she looked up to see Derek leaning on the back of chair.
"Thank God," Isaac mumbled, looking at Derek desperately. "Another guy."
"Hey!" Stiles yelled, pouting at Isaac.
"I mean another non-pregnant man," Isaac said, raising his hands in surrender.
"Jackson and Danny are coming too," Allison said, ruffling Isaac's hair as she walked past. "Scott's at work. There was just some raid on a house outside of town that was running a puppy mill so the clinic's a little overrun this weekend."
"A puppy mill?!" Stiles squeaked, looking at Allison with wide, wet eyes. He turned to Derek, his lower lip trembling. "Can we rescue a puppy? Please?" Derek rubbed at his eyes tiredly as Stiles continued to stare at him.
"Isn't twins enough of a handful right now? And besides, animals don't really like me," Derek said, sighing when Stiles stuck his bottom lip out.
"That's because you're all scrowly and glary and rude!" Stiles said with a huff. He gestured at Isaac before continuing. " Just because puppy is afraid of you doesn't mean a real puppy would be afraid of you!"
"Hey!" Isaac squawked. "I'm not a puppy."
"Yes you are," Lydia staid, patting his shoulder as she moved past him to take the macaroni and cheese out of the oven.
"We'll see, okay?" Derek said to Stiles, pressing a kiss to his cheek as he rubbed his stomach.
"Okay!" Lydia called, her hands on her hips as she stared down at her notebook. "First we'll eat. Then I have a couple games for us to play."
"Games?" All three men said at the same time, glancing at each other in concern.
"Yes, games. And you'll play and be happy about it. And then we'll do presents. Does that sound good to everyone?" She asked, tapping her foot as she glanced around at the group.
"Do you have tomato basil break and baked corn?" Stiles asked, looking around the kitchen.
"Of course. And three bags of baby carrots. Does that meet your standards?"
"Good enough. Can I eat yet?"
"Not until everyone gets here," Lydia sad with a sigh. "Now go sit down and look pretty. Guests are starting to arrive."
Three hours later, Stiles had stuffed himself until he was content with weenies wrapped in bacon, tomato basil bread, and carrots. He had also been humiliated by a game of "Guess Which Father" and gotten a good laugh at watching Jackson and Danny play baby charades. He had even got a pretty big smile out of Derek while opening presents.
"Oh my God, Mrs. McCall. It has butt ruffles! Look! It's pink and it has butt ruffles! Look how cute it is Derek!" Stiles yelled, pushing the little onsie covered white hearts in Derek's face. Derek caught his wrist, pushing it so he could actually see the onsie without going cross eyed.
"Yeah, it's cute," Derek mumbled, shaking his head in amusement as Stiles continued to dig through the bag.
"Oh my gosh it's a baby lacrosse track suit!"
"Uncle Scott picked that one out. That way your baby boy will match you and Scott." Melissa said with a smile, watching as Stiles' entire face lit up.
"I love it! What's this?" He asked, leaning down into the bag to pick up something wrapped in tissue paper. He bit his lip, opening it to reveal a picture frame. He flipped it over, his eyes watering as he saw the picture of a very pregnant Mrs. McCall and his equally pregnant mother.
"I found that while I was cleaning out the attic awhile back. You and Scott really have been best friends since before you were born. I thought maybe you'd like that have this." Melissa gave him a small smile, her eyes wet too. "I know she's looking down on all three of you."
"I love it," he whispered, trying to push himself out of his chair to hug her.
"Stay there, I'll come to you," Melissa said with a small laugh. "I miss her too, sweetie," she whispered in Stiles' ear, rubbing his back with one hand and the other resting on his stomach. "I miss her every day."
"Thanks for being a replacement mom to me," Stiles whispered back, trying to smother the sob that escaped him.
"I'm glad I could continue where she had to leave off." Melissa kissed Stiles' cheek before pulling away and going back to her seat. Stiles rubbed at his eyes before reaching in for the last thing in the bag. He grinned as he opened up too small puppy stuffed animals. "You and Scott had stuffies like that when you were little. Thought I'd pass the tradition down."
"Spike and Boo!" Stiles exclaimed with a giggle.
"If I remember correctly," Melissa said with a small chuckle, "Scott originally named Boo "Boob". Mind you he was only four, but it took some correcting before we finally got to Boo."
"I love it, thanks Mrs. McCall. And thank you to everyone else for coming and all your great gifts." Stiles looked around at everything they had received, including a changing table, a baby bullet, two 'manly' diaper bags, clothes and diapers upon diapers upon diapers. Derek nodded, taking Stiles' hand. "We really appreciate everything."
"Really, what Stiles said," Derek said awkwardly. "Thank you."
They hung around, chatting with various guests as they swung by to say goodbye. Finally the last guest left and the pack let out a sigh in relief.
"What time is it?" Stiles asked, rubbing tiredly at his eyes.
"A little after 5," Isaac answered, yawning as he carried the net used to clean the pool across the back yard. He slowly started pulling balloons out of the pool.
"Wow. We've been here forever," Stiles said, yawning too.
"If you're too tired," Derek whispered in his ear, "I can show you your surprise tomorrow."
"No, I want to see it now." Derek chuckled, turning to Lydia.
"I only have the Camaro. So I'll take as much as we can now, but I'll probably be back with Stiles' dad to get the rest either later tonight or tomorrow. If that's okay, I mean."
"That's fine, Derek," she said with a grin. I'll move it all into the pool house and then you guys can go through it later and split it for each house. Just let me know when you'll be back around."
"Do you guys need help cleaning up?" Stiles asked, yawning again.
"This was your party, we've got clean up. In fact, Jackson even volunteered to stay and help!" Lydia said with a grin, and Stiles' snorted when he heard Jackson curse under his breath.
"Thanks, Lyd," Stiles whispered, pressing a kiss to the red heads cheek as Derek led him to the car.
"So where are we going?" Stiles asked, grinning up at Derek as the Alpha pulled out of Lydia's drive way.
"It's a surprise," Derek said, shaking his head as he turned onto the main road.
"Oh come on."
"Just sit there and be patient," Derek said with a chuckle. They continued driving through town before Stiles realized where Derek was taking him.
"We're going to your old house, aren't we?" Stiles said, his eyes going wide.
"Just wait and see," Derek said, slowing down to the take the turn into the woods. Stiles bit his lip, looking out the window and watching as the trees flew by. He glanced out the windshield, doing a double take as they slowed to a stop.
"Oh my God. It's beautiful," Stiles gasped, taking in the completely rebuilt home. The whole house was covered in a light gray siding with white trim around all the windows and door. A large, covered porch wrapped around the entire house and a white porch swing hung on the north end of the porch.
"I told you I was rebuilding it," Derek said quietly, helping Stiles out of the car. "It's finally done. Inside and out." The couple approached the house slowly, Stiles' mouth hanging open. He stared around in amazement as Derek took him through the warmly decorated living room, complete with a fireplace and enough seating for the entire pack. They walked through the kitchen which had a huge island with bar seating, a large dining table and many cabinets. Derek also took him past a downstairs powder room, Derek's large office, and another small formal sitting area. "The whole basement is a den and playroom. There's a whole bunch of storage down there, too."
"Wow," Stiles whispered, following Derek up the stairs.
"There's enough room for almost all the pack. I'm just being optimistic and assuming the couples will stay together, but there's still two extra rooms just in case. This is my room," he gestured to a room on the right side of the hall. Stiles opened the door, gasping at what he saw.
A large king size bed lined one wall, a large dresser directly across from it. The room was large enough for a small sitting area.
"The two doorways in there are the closet and bathroom. I also bought two bassinets for in here, I just haven't gotten them together yet." He lead Stiles back out to the hallway. "But this was what I really wanted you to see."
Stiles opened the door, his jaw dropping at what he saw. The walls were covered in white and light gray chevron stripes. Two black cribs were pushed into the corner of the room, one filled with pink accessories and the other with blue. A black changing table was pushed into the other corner, a small bookcase and dresser on the surrounding walls. Stiles could feel his eyes welling up as he moved farther into the room. The small closet was filled with small hangers waiting for clothes and shelves waiting to hold shoes and other things. One top of the bookcase, two stuffed wolfs sat waiting for someone to play with them. A black rocking chair sat in front of the window next to the cribs.
"Your dad…Your dad said the chair in the nursery at your house was your mom's. I found this one in the storage shed my family had gotten. This was my mom's. I had it repainted so it matches though. I… Do you like it? Why are you crying? Are those happy tears? Please be happy tears."
"I love it," Stiles finally sobbed out, turning and hugging Derek as tight as he could with his stomach in the way. "It's beautiful."
Derek wanted to ask Stiles to move in with him right there. He wanted to drop to one knee and propose, not having a ring be damned. He wanted to shot at the top of his lungs that he loved this boy in front of him and he didn't care who knew it. But keeping Stiles' rules in mind, Derek didn't do any of these things. Instead he hugged Stiles back, placing a kiss on the top of the boys head.
"How about I take you home? And maybe you can give your dad a break and we can order a pizza."
"Sounds perfect," Stiles whispered, taking Derek's hand and leading him downstairs.
AN: I hope you liked it! And sorry Derek might be a little out of character this chapter. Sorry for the delay!