Drabble #20 – "Lydia, she's been crying all night. Okay?"

Pairing: Stiles/Lydia

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Summary: The cries of a little banshee baby wake up the Martin-Stilinski household.

Tags: Established relationship, Family, Fluff, Romance, Parenthood

Author's Note: Here's a little Stydia plus a newborn fluff because YES! All the Stydia lately has been killing me but yet giving me so much life!

Dedication: This is incredibly delayed but life gets in the way and there's only so much I can do. For the lovely Audrey, waitingn-vain on tumblr. Happy belated birthday, sweetie!

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"Lydia, she's been crying all night. Okay?"

Lydia still remembers a time when Stiles used to freak out about it. Well, when they freaked out about the cries of a banshee newborn baby. Now, almost four months into parenthood, Lydia can proudly say that they mostly got the hang of it.

However, that doesn't make the sounds of little Ellie's cries any more pleasant. "No, not again…" Lydia mumbles sleepily, stirring uncomfortably and certainly not very amused at her daughter's screaming from the other bedroom. Sure it's not the baby's fault, but it's still something that Lydia hasn't quite yet gotten accustomed with and doesn't welcome all that well, understandably, especially at…

Lydia stirs on the bed to roll on her side and check the alarm clock on Stiles' bedside table, only to have hushed words whispered to her lips that she wasn't expecting, a kiss on her forehead along with it.

When did Stiles even get home?

"I'll go. Just stay in bed," he says, and it's soothing and pleasing…

But he can't go, he can't. "No, wait. Stiles…"

"It's okay, I've got it."

He's out of their bedroom before Lydia can protest further or wake up properly. Finding out that it's almost four in the morning, Lydia gets up from the bed reluctantly to go find her family.

Stiles passes by their bedroom with their crying daughter in his arms before Lydia can even sit up, tired as she's been feeling lately. Putting on her robe, Lydia drags her feet lazily to meet them in the kitchen, the baby's cries at such a late (or early) hour piercing her ears and guiding her to them.

She finds Stiles hushing their crying baby and murmuring soothing words as he reaches for the formula that Lydia always leaves prepared for the nights, struggling a little to comfort the baby while doing so. Lydia walks up to him, reaching for an empty bottle. "Let me help," she murmurs with a small smile on her lips, the sight of her husband with their daughter more than enough to really wake her up and have her utterly, truly happy. He's been gone so much lately…

"No. Lyds, go back to bed. I can do this."

She starts preparing the bottle for him nonetheless. "I know you can. But you are the one who should be in bed right now." She looks at Stiles over her shoulder to find him running a hand soothingly up and down the baby's back, her cries subsiding a little. "How long ago did you get home? I didn't notice you coming."

Stiles smirks immediately at the implied dirty joke, taking a step closer to Lydia. His free arm circles her waist effortlessly from behind. "You always know when I am," he teases amused.

Lydia rolls her eyes but smiles nonetheless, putting the bottle to warm up and turning to face her husband. "You know what I meant." Her fingers intertwine behind his neck to pull him down for a kiss. "Hi."

Stiles lingers, kissing her back in a way that he hasn't been able to in days. Not that he didn't want to, or Lydia for that matter, but they've both been busy and up at different hours of the day just a little bit too much lately. "Hey."

"I miss you," she whispers as if he'll be gone again soon and he just might, her thumbs brushing his cheekbones as she keeps him close. "We miss you."

Stiles lets out a breath. "I know." As if on cue, the baby a little louder again. Stiles starts rocking her, moving away from Lydia to wander around the kitchen. "Hey, daddy's home," he murmurs to his little girl. "It's okay."

He kisses the baby's forehead and Lydia melts, literally feels herself swoon. If she knew that Stiles with a child would be such a heartwarming thing to watch, she would have gotten pregnant much, much sooner. Yet, it's not enough to stop her from worrying. "Really, Stiles. You need to rest, you should go back to bed."

"I'm not going without you" is his immediate response, and when he says things like that, so effortlessly, it reminds her of a time when it meant so much more, when the other being there was on the verge of being an illusion, when they almost lost it all. He knows it as well as she does and so an almost shy smile escapes him, thinking that ten years ago he could have never imagined he'd be married to his other half, a perfect baby girl in his arms the result of their unwavering love. "We'll put her to bed and then we can go, okay? Together. But if you want to, you can go to bed now. You need your rest too."

Lydia tests the temperature of the formula on the back of her hand, making her way towards Stiles when the bottle is ready. She shakes her head. "No way. When did you get home?" she asks again, concerned. He's been sleeping less and less lately.

"About an hour ago…?" he replies sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Stiles…" she admonishes, noticing how tired he looks, the bags under his eyes doing nothing to hide it.

"I know…" he repeats. "But-"

"No buts. You have to be up at seven," she murmurs, hushing the baby as well. "You need to rest-"

"And so do you. You've been with Ellie all the time. I want to help too."

Lydia sighs, starting to make her way to the nursery with Stiles in tow. "I know that. And you do."

"Not as much as I want to."

"You have work. Very important work that requires that you have to be up early tomorrow-"

"Actually, I have news," he tells her, holding Ellie protectively against the crook of his neck, her tears wetting his pajama shirt. The closeness, after a moment, seems to quiet her cries almost completely.

His words make Lydia stop on her track and turn around in the middle of the hall. "Good news?" she asks hopefully, and when he nods Lydia gives him a grin like he hasn't seen in quite a while.

God, she's beautiful.

He feels breathless all of a sudden. "I- I caught him, Lyds. I caught the leader of the gang. It's over."

"Stiles!" she cheers, shortening the distance between them to give him a hug. "I can't believe it. I'm so proud of you." She feels him grin against her temple and she can't help but to smile bright too, joy winning her over. "You did it."

Stiles nods enthusiastically. "I did. And it was awesome, Lyds. Dad said I did really good, that he hasn't seen such a brilliant plan in action like mine in years."

"Looks like you did well, Deputy Stilinski," she whispers seductively, smirking, grabbing at his shirt for leverage and planting a smooch on his lips. "I'm so happy for you, Stiles. Why didn't you wake me up to tell me when you got home?"

Ellie seems to have her crying under control more than before now, but a sob escapes her and Stiles only holds his baby girl closer, gesturing for Lydia to continue leading their way to the nursery. "You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to disturb you."

"You never do," Lydia replies honestly, and even though Stiles can be a pain in the ass sometimes, he's never faltered when it counts.

"I was gonna tell you before I left for the station in the morning. I just didn't want to wake you up. It could wait."

Lydia enters the room first, picking up the baby blanket that's on the armchair so that Stiles can sit down, putting to play the record player they have on top of the drawer chest. White noise is something that helps with the baby's banshee-ness and Stiles and Lydia learned that the hard way, unfortunately.

When he's comfortable and Ellie is sitting on his lap, much calmer as soon as she seems to focus on the new sound, Lydia sits on the arm of the armchair beside Stiles and puts the blanket over them, handing him the bottle as she pulls her legs up and over one of Stiles' legs, nuzzling against him.

It's something they do quite often, especially recently since Stiles has been working extra hours on the last few weeks and has barely been home. Lydia understands, of course, with it being an extremely important case for the Department, and it only makes these moments they have for themselves more valuable.

Ellie starts drinking from the bottle as Stiles looks at his daughter lovingly, holding the bottle for her, cherishing the moment and wiping the little girl's tears from her chubby cheeks. "How long until you take care of all the paperwork?" Lydia murmurs, running a hand through his tousled hair absently as she watches them.

The baby's big green eyes don't leave Stiles' amber ones and he almost feels like he's in a trance, so it takes him a few seconds to answer Lydia, his tone calm, relaxed. "We'll do interrogation in the morning and I'm guessing I'll need a day or two to put everything in order. After that, I'm all yours. Dad already agreed on giving me a few days off to make up for all the hard work."

Ellie's eyes focus on Lydia when she answers, and Lydia can't help but to smile. "Good. We need you."

Stiles turns to face Lydia with an honest expression on his face, one that is ingrained in the way that he wears his emotions in his eyes and stance, his heart on his sleeve the same way he always has. He leans in, resting his forehead against hers. "You have no idea how much I miss you."

Lydia cups his cheeks and kisses him again, rather slowly this time, pouring every emotion she has into the kiss. It's hard being home alone with Ellie when she knows that Stiles not only is out of the house to work extra hours, but has been putting himself in harm's way to solve the case. To say she's relieved that it's over is an understatement.

Stiles pecks her lips again when they part just because he can. Lydia grins. "Oh, you have no idea just how much I miss you."

He knows she means intimately. There had been complications after the delivery and ever since then, adjusting to raising a little banshee has been proving challenging to them both, especially since they're often confused as to what's happening with their daughter when something is wrong. Discerning between what can be considered normal for a human baby and equating her banshee-ness has been quite the trouble and has taken its toll on them, so intimacy is something they've lacked until very, very recently.

He kisses her cheek. "I'll make it up to you. Promise."

Lydia chuckles. "If she lets us," she jokes, looking at their daughter.

Stiles smiles fondly. "Oh, she will. She'll have to."

Lydia keeps running her hand through his hair gently, leaning towards him and cuddling against him comfortingly. "Don't be so sure. She'll be a spazz just like you. Mark my words."

Stiles smirks proudly. "She's a handful, isn't she?" he asks playfully, wiggling his eyebrows at his wife in amusement. "My little banshee..." he whispers more to himself than for the girls to hear.

"I swear I don't know why I ever married you," Lydia teases. "You are a handful on your own."

"And you love every bit of it."

It's sincere and natural, and it's been such a simple admission for so long that to Lydia it feels like it's always been like this, like she never knew anything else. She smiles softly. "I do."

There's a moment of silence when they share a glance, and it's so genuine it makes them feel like teenagers again. It always feels new and exciting somehow.

And it always feels like home.

They stay quiet, cuddling, until Ellie falls asleep in Stiles' arms as he sings, out of tone but lovingly, the lullaby his mother used to sing to him at night. That Lydia ends up dozing off too - and much like her daughter, in Stiles' comfort and warmth - is purely coincidental.

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Author's note: Please review :)