A/N: I feel like every new chapter is going to start with an apology, so here it goes. - I'm sorry this took so long to post. It's just been a rough couple of weeks. I really wanted to finish this before season 4 started, so let's see if I can manage it.

I hope the wait was worth it.

When Stiles hung up the phone, he looked over at Scott with the guiltiest expression on his face. "It's done. You should try to find Malia."

Scott shook his head in disbelief. The fact that Stiles was considering this really worried him. "I'm not leaving you."

"You don't have to babysit me, Scott."

"I'm looking out for you, to make sure you don't do something you'll regret."

"I'm already up to my neck in regrets!" he replied, making the appropriate wild gesture to his throat.

"Then don't make another one!" Scott cried, practically frantic. Stiles said nothing else. Scott then turned to Deaton for help. "Doc, tell him he can't do this. Tell him he's making a mistake."

During the phone call and their entire exchange, Deaton had stood aside with the sleeping baby and never uttered a word. He thought it best for them to work it out themselves, and he felt no right to tell Stiles what he should do. Deaton was most concerned for the baby's health and safety, and Stiles was seeing to that. It was all he could ask of him.

Of course, he still had his opinion. "Stiles, you should think this through. Really think about the consequences of this decision. You'll be lying to your father, and I know how close you two are. And if you let her go, that'll be it. She'll be gone."

Stiles couldn't speak over the lump in his throat. He just shook his head again and again, his eyes wide. He felt as if he couldn't think, couldn't truly process everything that had happened in the last thirty minutes. Stiles was aware enough to know that what Scott and Deaton were saying was true. He knew he could lose her forever if he did this. But there was another part of him that was still in denial about it all.

Scott didn't know what more he could say. They were clearly at an impasse. Instead he said to Deaton, "Can I have her? If I ever want the chance to hold her, I guess I have to do it now."

Deaton put the baby in Scott's arms and left the three of them alone. The moment Scott looked at her, his face broke out into a huge grin. He knew he wasn't in Stiles's predicament, but he just couldn't understand how his best friend could look at that baby and not immediately fall in love with her. "She's so cute."

"Of course she is. I mean, she is mine." A joke, but the way he said it made it sound like the saddest joke in the world.

"Yeah, she's yours. Stiles, she's your daughter. How can you –"

"Don't do that. Unless you've had to make a decision like this, you can't understand."

"I've never had to make a hard decision before?" Scott asked, incredulous.

"Come on, of course you have. Just not this one."

"So make me understand."

Stiles really didn't know how to do that. He didn't know how to put into words the crushing weight of responsibility he felt at the thought of keeping a tiny helpless person alive, and not only that, but to then raise her into an actual decent human being. He couldn't describe how panicked he felt at the thought of the million little ways his whole life would change if he tried to take on that task. He had no idea how to say that he didn't even believe he was capable of taking care of her and that literally anyone on the planet would be better at it than him.

Instead of saying all of that, he said, "I just can't do it."

"But . . . you're her dad." Scott said it so simply, like it was the only thing that mattered. In his mind it was.

"That's not enough." His shaky hand reached out to brush down her wispy, light brown hair. Now that it was dry, it stuck straight up. No matter how much he ran a soft hand over her head, her hair would not stay down. He actually chuckled, but he stopped once he realized what he was doing and that Scott had been watching with a warm smile on his face.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Scott, I'm not sure of anything anymore."

It didn't take long for the Sheriff to arrive. Scott gave the baby to Deaton, who took her back to the exam room. The Sheriff walked in and went over to the teens. He never knew what to expect when his son called him about the "situations" he and Scott so often got themselves into.

"So what kind fresh hell are we dealing with now?" he asked wearily.

Seeing his dad standing there in front of him somehow made Stiles feel even more nervous than he had before, if that was even possible. "It's about Malia."

"Tate? I thought she was, uh, gone."

"She is gone. Well actually she was gone. Then she was back until like twenty minutes ago and now she's gone again. So now we're trying to find her."

"Uh huh. Well, I can set up a search –"

"Derek, Isaac, and I are going to handle that part," Scott interrupted.

"Yeah Dad, we need your help with a more human situation."

The Sheriff really studied his son then. Stiles appeared very jumpy and pale, at least more so than usual. His eyes narrowed in on the stretched out neck of his T-shirt. "Are you okay, kid? What happened to your shirt?"

"Me? I'm fine," he said, in a way that showed he wasn't fine at all. "This is, uh, just a hazard of childbirth."

"Of what?"

At that moment, they all heard the sound of the baby crying coming from the exam room. The Sheriff looked from Stiles to Scott, his mouth hanging slightly open in surprise. "Is that a baby? Malia Tate's baby?"

"I should probably start from the beginning, huh?"

"That would be helpful, yes."

Stiles recounted everything for him, from finding Malia in the woods, to her giving birth and then taking off. The only thing he didn't mention was his part in the whole thing. By the end, he could practically feel Scott's eyes on him, but Stiles wouldn't even look at him. He knew he had really disappointed him as soon as he'd decided to go through with the lie, and he couldn't bear to see it. Scott's disapproving looks were almost worse than his dad's.

"That is some story. Is the baby okay?"

"She's fine," Scott said, finally speaking up again. There was a hard edge to his voice. "Deaton said she still needs to be taken to the hospital though."

"Then what are we still standing here for –"

"Dad, wait." Stiles's heart was beating so hard he could hear a whooshing sound in his ears. "What'll happen to Malia if we bring the baby to the hospital and she isn't with us?"

He sighed. "Look, I can say I got an anonymous call, and that way nobody will be looking for her for abandonment –"

"Whoa, abandonment? It's not like she left the baby in the girls' room at the prom! She left her here with us."

"And maybe that can work in her favor if she came back and decided she wanted her child. But whether I give her name or not, it might be very difficult for her to get custody of her baby, all things considered."

"But – but doesn't California have a Safe Haven law?"

"Sure, every state does, but specifically in California a mother can leave a newborn up to three days old at a hospital and not be prosecuted."

"So that could work!"

He shook his head. "She would have had to bring the baby in herself. And last I checked this isn't a hospital."

"Close enough! And hey, considering Malia was a coyote when we brought her here –"

"Stiles," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. He didn't have to say anything else. Stiles had heard his name sighed in exasperation his entire life, he knew what it meant.

"Does it really have to be her that does it?"

"It's preferable, yes, but the father is also allowed to relinquish the child."

"Right, okay." So the father could do it too. Stiles hadn't known that, but he couldn't decide if that changed anything. "And then what happens to the baby?"

"She'll probably end up in a temporary foster home. From there she could be bounced around a lot or hopefully adopted into a good home. Newborns usually have a much easier time getting adopted, so that's something."

Stiles had broken out in a cold sweat at the mention of a foster home and only felt sicker as his father had gone on. "And then she'll be gone."

"That's right. Since Malia left the baby here and not at the hospital, it would most likely be difficult for her to get her baby back, especially after she's put in a foster home. But under the Safe Haven law, Malia would've had up to fourteen days to change her mind and get her baby back."

Stiles nodded, looking down at the floor while nervously rubbing the back of his neck. He could still feel Scott staring at him, but to his credit Scott still hadn't said a word to out him no matter how much he clearly wanted to. Stiles's mind spun furiously, the only frantic thought in his mind being, what do I do?

The Sheriff watched his son's anxious reaction, then asked with concern, "Stiles, are you sure you're –"

"Hello Sheriff," Deaton said, returning to with the baby. They shook hands. "So, the boys got you up to speed then?"

The two men talked, and Scott used the distraction as an opportunity to pull Stiles away. "Do something!"

"I am doing something."

"The only thing you're doing is freaking out. I said it and Deaton said it, and now your dad said it too. You finally realize that if you let him take her, you and Malia will never see her again. I know you don't want that to happen!"

"Of course not!" Stiles said, and he meant it. His eyes were starting to burn and he rubbed furiously at them. He didn't have time for tears. "But that still doesn't mean I can keep her."

Scott moved closer to look his friend in the face. "So don't make any big decisions right now. But if you bring her to the hospital yourself, you'll have fourteen days to decide. That's fourteen days to find Malia so you can decide what to do together."

Stiles knew he was right. He'd been thinking it himself. It would certainly buy them more time, but there was more to it than that. If he did this, Malia wouldn't get into trouble and would likely be able to see her baby again, if she wanted. He had to do that for her. Even though she had left, a part of him knew she would be upset if she returned to find out her baby was gone. He knew she would hate him for it. It only made sense because he already hated himself for even having considered it.

And then there was the baby. If he let her go like this, she could truly be gone for good. He'd never find out what happened to her – if she'd ended up in a good home, what kind of person she'd become, if she was happy. She would never know who her birth parents were, and she would spend her whole life thinking they hadn't cared. Maybe he couldn't be her father, but he didn't want to be anonymous either. She should know where she came from. It was the very least he could do for her.

Stiles let out a long, steadying breath and nodded his head. "Okay."

Scott let out a nervous laugh, so relieved Stiles was finally seeing reason. "That's great, Stiles, really. Come on."

When Stiles approached his dad, his stomach dropped at the sight of him holding the baby. He was holding his own grandchild and didn't even know it. It made him feel even worse for lying. "Dad, I'm going with you."

"Great. I could use an extra pair of hands."

"No, I mean . . . I'm going to give the baby up on Malia's behalf. Once I tell them I'm the father, then Malia won't get into trouble, right?"

The Sheriff frowned. "Sure, but I can't let you do that. It's admirable that you want to help your friend, but I don't think you should lie –"

"Dad, it's not a lie." He steeled himself to say the next part, taking in a deep breath before telling him, "She's mine."

The silence was deafening. The Sheriff's frown deepened, like his brain still couldn't quite comprehend what he'd just heard. "Yours? You mean, you and Malia . . .?"

"Yep, me and Malia."

He stood there with his mouth agape as he stared at his teenage son, his teenage son who apparently now had a child of his own. He looked at the baby again with fresh eyes. Maybe this new information was coloring his perception a bit, but the more he looked at her, the more he thought he recognized some of Stiles's features in her face. And by that extension, he thought he could see a bit of Claudia as well.

Before he spoke he cleared his throat, but his voice was still gruff. "You're telling me this is my . . ."

"Your granddaughter," Deaton said with a smile.

"Granddaughter," he said, shaking his head in disbelief as if it was some foreign word that could never belong to him. "I have a granddaughter?"

"Seems that way." Stiles tried to play it off, even smile. But looking at his son, the Sheriff could see the heartbreak and panic in his eyes. There were a lot of emotions he was contending with himself, namely surprise, anger, and disappointment, but all of that could wait. His son needed him to be on his side.

The Sheriff went over to Stiles and pulled him into a sideways hug. "We'll figure this out together, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," he sniffed.

"Well, let's get her to the hospital."

"Can I have one more minute? I'll meet you at the car."

He nodded and left with the baby. Stiles addressed Deaton first. "Thank you. If you hadn't been here . . ." He couldn't even finish the thought. He didn't want to imagine what could have happened to Malia and the baby if everything hadn't gone just so.

"I'm glad I could help. And try not to worry too much about Malia. She just went through a traumatic experience, and her reaction isn't all that surprising. But from what I know about her, she a tough girl, and she can come back from this."

"I really hope you're right." He then turned to Scott. "Just tell me you're going to find her."

There wasn't a trace of doubt in Scott's voice. "I'll find her, Stiles. I will."

For those first few minutes on the way to the hospital, Stiles and his father rode in silence. Stiles held the baby and watched her as she slept peacefully in his arms. Looking at her wasn't quite so scary anymore. In fact, he couldn't stop looking at her. It was as if he were trying to soak in every little thing about her that he could.

Finally, the Sheriff spoke up. "So . . . how'd this happen?"

"Oh, you know, the usual way."

"What I mean is, didn't we have the safe sex talk?"

"Yeah, we did. I remember it well because after it we couldn't look each other in the eye for like a week." The Sheriff just cut him a look and Stiles sighed. "It just kind of happened."

"Too fast to get a hold of a condom?"

"Well, we were in Eichen House at the time, so –"

"What?!" He looked over at Stiles in disbelief. "This happened in Eichen House? What were you thinking?"

"I think it's safe to say I wasn't thinking. All I can tell you is that my decision-making skills weren't really top-notch at that time, you know? The Nogitsune was about to repossess me, and this cute but shivering coyote girl wanted to share some body heat –"

The Sheriff raised an eyebrow at that last part but didn't comment.

"So we did it. I just wanted something that felt good because everything else was going so wrong. I know it was a really stupid thing to do. It's not an excuse, but it's all I've got."

He'd said all of that at the baby in a sad toneless voice, never looking over at his father as he spoke. The Sheriff sighed and reached over to put a gentle hand on the back of his neck. "Well, it's a better reason than most, I guess."

"That's good, because I was actually just really wasted."

He chuckled at that, still amazed at his son's ability to make jokes no matter the situation. He then remembered how Stiles had lied to him and how he might have kept lying to him. "Back there, at Deaton's, you weren't going to tell me."

Stiles finally looked at him, his expression guilty. "I would have told you. I don't think I could've gone through with it. Once you were there and laid everything out for me – that she'd end up in a foster home, that Malia and I might never see her again – I knew I had to tell you. I mean, I wanted to tell you. That's why I called you." And as he said it, he knew it was true.

"I take a little comfort from that at least," the Sheriff said, finally taking his hand away to grip the steering wheel. "You know . . . she could still end up in a foster home. If you do this Safe Haven thing, she'll go to a home as soon as she's released from the hospital. Are you sure you want to do it like this?"

"Not really," he admitted. His hand brushed over her wild hair again even though he knew it was useless, but somehow the gesture calmed him. "But I'm not sure what else to do. I have no idea how to take care of a baby. We don't have anything at home for her. This just feels like the best I can do right now, at least until Malia comes back and we can make this decision together."

"What if she doesn't come back? Then what?"

"She's coming back."

"I'm not saying this to discourage you. I'm sure you're right. But I think you should also prepare yourself in case you have to make this decision by yourself. Have you considered the fact that she left was her already making her choice?"

"Sure. Look, I know this looks bad, okay? But you weren't there. You didn't see it. You didn't see how scared she was, how much pain she was in." His voice was shaking with emotion, and he used his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in an effort to stop the tears that were threatening to return. "Dad, I know I'm the pessimist in this family, but I have to believe that she's coming back because . . . I can't imagine having to decide this on my own."

A/N: While I spent the last couple of days editing this, I had this song "Fools in Love" by Inara George on repeat. I don't know why exactly, it just started to remind me of this story, especially this line - "Everything you do, you do it for your baby love." Of course, the song is about romantic love, but in my mind it still kind of works. I mean, the title to this, "This Love" isn't really about romantic love either. Now that this fic has a baby on board, I think you know what it really means.