A/N: I thought it would be appropriate to have more Stiles with his daughter to celebrate Father's Day today. And two chapters posted in one week? It's a miracle! Seriously though, don't get used to this. I had a rarely productive week. Trust me, it won't happen again. ;)

It was the smell that woke him first; that wonderful fresh coffee smell, and it was coming from directly under his nose. Stiles opened his eyes to find a beautiful strawberry blond standing in front of him. She wore a floral print dress, with her lips stained pink and her long hair worn down in loose waves. Perfectly put together, no matter the situation. She held two cups of coffee, one of which she still had stretched out to him.

"Hey Daddy," Lydia grinned cheekily.

"Oh God," he groaned, sitting up and rubbing his bleary eyes. "This is not the context I thought I'd ever hear you call me Daddy."

"Did you want this coffee in your lap?"

"Please don't do that. I need it."

Stiles took the coffee from her gratefully, taking a long sip and slightly burning his tongue in the process, but he didn't care. Generally he wasn't much of a coffee drinker considering he was already jittery enough without it, but this particular cup was very welcomed.

"Oh, this is good. Thanks Lydia, really. I hardly slept at all last night."

"No problem," she said, sitting beside him. She frowned slightly at his short, disheveled hair and the dark circles under his eyes. She watched him gulp down his coffee with an expectant look on her face, and when he wasn't forthcoming quickly enough for her liking, she offered, "So . . ."

He swallowed nervously. "So."

"So you and Malia have a baby."

He could always rely on her to be blunt. "Yep."

"Hmm." She watched as his fingers drummed on the lid of his cup. She knew him well enough now to know all of his little tells that indicated when he was feeling anxious. "I couldn't believe it when I heard."

"Then imagine my surprise. How'd you find out, anyway?"

"Isaac called Allison last night, and then Allison called me this morning. And Scott told Kira too, of course, so now everyone knows."

"Nice to know the Beacon Hills grapevine is still going strong," he said, holding his coffee cup up in cheers and taking another swig.

"What I want to know is, why didn't I hear it from you?"

He choked a bit, coughing and sputtering as he tried to come up with something to say. She appeared genuinely hurt at his choice to exclude her from such a big moment in his life. Stiles never wanted to cause her pain. He reached over to take hold of her free hand and sucked in a breath before answering. "I don't know. I tried to so many times, really –"

"But don't we talk about basically everything at this point? Aren't we second best friends?"

He smiled at the memory of them coming up with the "second best friends" thing. It was during her last birthday party, after nearly everyone else had gone home. They'd both had a few drinks and started talking about how they were nearly best friends, except for their respective best friendships with Scott and Allison, of course.

"So that," Stiles had slurred, "would make us like, second best friends."

"Yeah!" She'd agreed, a little overenthusiastically. "Hold on . . . do you mean second best friends or second best friends?"

"Right! Wait . . . what?" he'd asked, and then they'd laughed until they forgot what they were even laughing at in the first place.

The next morning, both of them incredibly hungover, she'd waved goodbye and called out, "See you, second best friend."

He'd grinned. It was amazing they both even remembered it. It had been a great party, better than her last wolfsbane infused one. "See you, second best friend."

After that, it just kind of stuck.

He squeezed her hand now, and she squeezed right back despite her slightly hurt feelings. "Of course we are. It's just, this is so big, you know? It's so hard to actually even say the words. To say Malia and I . . . do you see what I mean?! I know you know and I still can't say it!"

She smiled softly. "Well, you don't have to tell anyone else now. And just so you know, everyone is rallying together to help you. Allison and Kira are out there with the guys right now trying to find Malia."

"Yeah," he huffed as another wave of guilt washed over him, "While I'm here sitting vigil over the waiting room."

"You're here with your daughter, that's what matters."

He winced. "Lydia, don't call her my –"

"But she is!" she cried. "She is your daughter. Speaking of which, how is she doing by the way? I probably should have led with that."

"Well, you were so busy giving me a hard time –"

"Stiles."

He hung his head, his expression sheepish. He didn't want to admit it to her, but he had no choice. "I kind of haven't . . . seen her yet today."

Lydia's mouth dropped open in surprise, her eyes wide. "Are you kidding me? What are you doing in here?"

"Oh, do you see this place?" he said, gesturing around them. "Yeah, this is a waiting room. This is where one waits."

She was not impressed. "So what are you waiting for?"

Stiles didn't have an answer for that. He floundered, searching for the words to convey just how terrified he still felt. But before he could say anything, Lydia stood and pulled him out of his seat. He grudgingly allowed her to guide him out of the room and down the hall, but not without trying to discourage her.

"I'm sure she's fine. You don't have to drag me –"

"Apparently I do! Now come on!" They stayed hand-in-hand all the way to the NICU, her heels clacking loudly on the linoleum as she marched ahead with purpose.

When they arrived, they stood outside the large window and looked inside. There were only three babies in there, two of which had their parents by their sides. Lydia pointed to the incubator farthest from the window. "She's gotta be in that one. Let's go, I want to see her!"

"Lydia, wait." This time when she pulled him, he stood his ground. He felt physically sick at the thought of going in there. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because, I mean, look at her in there! She's in one of those incubators, hooked up to machines and God knows what else. I just . . . I don't want to see her like that."

"Is that what this is about? Stiles, she needs you," she said, her voice soothing, comforting. She put a hand on his back and was surprised to feel him shaking. "Those other babies have their parents. She should have hers too."

He felt ashamed. She didn't know everything that had happened. Of course she didn't, how could she? "Lydia –"

"Look, a nurse is coming out. She'll let us in." She took off to speak to her, and Stiles slowly followed behind, the feeling of dread growing with every step. "Excuse me, we're here to see Baby Stilinski."

The nurse looked confused. "We don't have a Baby Stilinski."

"Of course you do!" Lydia insisted. She pointed at Stiles. "You have to. She's his baby."

"Your baby?" the nurse asked in surprise.

"Uh, yeah, but her name isn't Stilinski." He anxiously rubbed the back of his neck, determinedly not looking at Lydia, though he could feel her eyes on him. "She's the Safe Haven baby."

Lydia stared at him upon this revelation, immediately saddened by hearing it, and by seeing his tortured expression. She didn't know what to say.

"Ah, that's right, Melissa told us about you. Still, I'm not sure I can let you in to see her. We don't have a protocol for this kind of situation. Having a parent stick around after giving up their baby under the Safe Haven law is unprecedented."

"Well he's unprecedented, okay?" Lydia said, jerking her thumb at Stiles. "From what I've read about the law, there's technically no rule against him seeing her, is there? It's his baby, so he should be allowed to be with her!"

Her expression showed she was clearly no fan of Lydia's, but she sighed and turned to Stiles. "I can only let you in if you have proof that you're her father. Do you have the copy of her ID code?"

"The code?" he asked. Then he remembered the piece of paper his father had handed to him that morning. "Oh yeah, I have it!" He dug through his pockets and pulled out the crumbled piece of paper. He did his best smoothing it out and gave it to her, but it was still a wrinkled mess.

She raised an eyebrow at the state of it, but once looking it over she grudgingly said, "This looks right, but I'll have to check to be sure. Are you here to reclaim her?"

"No! I mean no, I . . . I just want to see her."

"Okay, follow me." She led them inside the NICU, but Stiles hung back for a moment. Lydia put her hand on his back again and gave him a reassuring smile. He smiled back and nodded, took a deep breath, and they walked inside together.

The first thing he noticed was all of the different sounds. There was so much beeping and buzzing, but the most upsetting was the sound of the ventilators that breathed for the other two, tinier babies that were in there. Stiles couldn't look at them. That could have easily been his baby.

The nurse pointed out a nearby sink. "Wash your hands there. With soap and warm water." They did as she said, and then she led them over to the incubator that held his baby. She introduced them to the nurse standing beside her, a middle-aged nurse who smiled at them warmly as they approached. "Maggie, this young man says he's Baby Girl Doe's father."

"Stilinski?" Maggie asked. When Stiles looked surprised, she said, "Melissa added a note to the baby's chart, in case you came by. She had a feeling you'd be back and insisted we let you in to see your baby."

Stiles felt another surge of gratitude for Melissa McCall. "Thank you. I know it's weird that –"

The other nurse handed the piece of paper back to Stiles. "I compared it to the code on her ankle bracelet. It's a match. Just so you know, parents are allowed to stay as long as they want except during shift changes or during emergencies. You are not allowed to sleep here. Only a maximum of two guests are allowed to visit the baby with a parent present. If you have any other questions, ask Maggie. Now excuse me." With a curt nod, the nurse left them.

"She rules the NICU with an iron fist, huh?" Lydia said.

"She's the charge nurse, so she's supposed to be bossy. And like she said, I'm Maggie. I'll be your baby's primary nurse during the day shift. I only met her a couple of hours ago, but I think I've grown fond of her already!"

"You probably say that about all of them," Stiles said with a half-smile. He moved closer to the baby, looking at her through the top of the incubator. He couldn't believe how much she seemed to have changed in just a few hours. Her color seemed better, and it was odd but somehow endearing to see her clad in only an over-large diaper and a pink and white striped hat. Still, he hated seeing her covered in wires, looking so tiny and helpless.

Lydia moved closer too, peering at her through the holes in the incubator's sides. She lit up when she set eyes on her. "Oh Stiles, look at her! She's so small. I think I see a little bit of both of you in her."

"Ah, I didn't think you were her mother," Maggie said. "You certainly don't look like you've just had a baby."

"Thank you!"

"You, on the other hand, do," she told Stiles.

"Thanks?"

"Can we touch her?" Lydia asked.

"Of course! I'll give you some time alone with her, and I'll be right over there if you need anything."

"Thanks." Lydia put a hand inside and took hold of her much smaller one. The baby's hand wrapped tightly around one of her fingers, and she smiled widely up at Stiles. "Did you see that? She grabbed my finger! I mean, I know it's just a reflex all newborns have, but it's still really sweet."

"Yeah, science is adorable." Stiles put both hands braced on top of the incubator as he stared down at her, wondering what to do next. What if his dad was right and Malia wasn't coming back? What if he really would end up having to decide what to do on his own? It seemed too hard, too impossible of a task for him to take on alone.

"Stiles?" Lydia said, looking up at him with those big teary eyes of hers. She'd been watching him and could practically see the wheels spinning in his head. He looked so conflicted, so sad. "Why didn't you say something?"

He knew exactly what she meant, and he shrugged. "It hadn't come up."

"Well it has now," she said stubbornly. When he only nodded, she continued. "Are you really going to do it? Are you going to go through with this Safe Haven thing?"

"I don't know." He dabbed at his nose with long sleeve of his shirt. He knew if he didn't get his emotions under control, his whole face would be leaking soon, and he couldn't break down now. "I mean, I guess for now it's just temporary until they find Malia."

"And when they do?"

"Then we'll talk about what's best for her. For all of us."

"Do you even know what that is?"

"No, not really."

Lydia said nothing for the longest time. She just watched him watch his baby. When she finally spoke up, her voice was soft, almost a whisper. "I'm so stupid."

"Lydia Martin, stupid? How do you figure?"

"I don't know why, but when Allison told me I just assumed . . . I don't know. I know how big this is and what a huge responsibility it would be. And I knew you had to be freaking out and scared, but there was still a part of me that assumed that maybe you'd keep her. That you and Malia would figure it somehow."

"I think you have too much faith in me," he said glumly.

"After everything we've been through together, I think I have the right amount of faith in you."

"Yeah, except you don't know what I did. Or what I almost did. Maybe you wouldn't be so nice to me if you knew." He moved away from the incubator and started to pace, his voice suddenly impassioned. "God, I almost let my dad just take her away, without even telling him she was mine. I almost did that, Lydia!"

She was shocked by the admission, but she tried to hide it. She finally took her hand out of the incubator so she could go over to him. Her voice shook with emotion at seeing him so upset. "But you didn't do it, right?"

"So what? I considered it, didn't I? I actually entertained the thought of just letting her go. I mean, who does that? A horrible person, that's who."

"Hey, don't talk about my second best friend like that, all right?" It actually got a small smile out of him, which she'd been hoping for. "Stiles, it doesn't matter, okay? You didn't go through with it. It's only a mistake if you do it, and you didn't. So let it go."

"Fine," he exhaled, running his arm across his eyes. "But that doesn't mean I could take care of her, that I'd be good for her."

"I . . . I'm sure you'd be –"

"I mean, let's face it, she could do better than us. I've still got a year left of high school. Malia hasn't made it past the third grade! I'm just some spastic kid, and for all I know she still wants to be in the woods, living as a coyote."

At that moment, he felt a new sensation, one he hadn't felt yet since this whole thing had happened. Anger. "I hate her," he spat out. "I hate her for just leaving me here to deal with this by myself."

As soon as he said it, his legs felt weak. He noticed a nearby rocking chair and sunk into it, putting his head in his hands. He hadn't meant it, of course. Sure he was angry, but he certainly didn't hate Malia. She was still his friend, maybe even more. He was so worried about her, and he just really wanted her to come back. "No I don't. I just can't believe this is happening."

"I know," Lydia said, going over to kneel beside him. She put her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around one of his, pulling him in close.

They sat like that for a while, neither of them saying anything. Once Stiles felt composed enough to speak again, he cleared his throat and let out a whooshing breath he felt like he'd had pent up inside him ever since they'd walked into the NICU. "I'm gonna hold her. Do you want to hold her?"

"I'd love to."

They stood and went over to Maggie, who'd been determinedly trying not to listen in on them. Stiles asked, "Can I hold her?"

"Of course." First she unfolded a blanket and waved Stiles closer. She told him to make a cradle with his arms, and she draped the blanket over them. Then she went over to the incubator and lowered one of its walls.

As they watched her adjust wires and prepare to take her out, Lydia noticed his anxious expression and said airily, "You know, I was in one of these things."

It managed to distract him for a moment, at least. He looked over at her in surprise. "Really? You never told me that before."

"It never really came up," she shrugged. "I was born at 33 weeks, and I was in the NICU for almost a month. I was barely four pounds."

"Wow, you were even smaller than her," he said as he watched Maggie carefully lift the baby. He wished she'd hurry. He felt a little silly standing there with arms that way, as if he were holding an invisible baby. But he also just really wanted to hold her again, and he was surprised to find that he'd actually missed her.

"Yeah, but look at me now. A little short maybe, but otherwise I turned out great."

"See, a real life success story. So, you ready Dad?"

Dad. He wasn't sure if he could ever get used to that, or if he would even get the chance to. "As ready as ever, I guess."

Maggie gently placed the baby in his arms and wrapped her up in the blanket. Thankfully he could no longer see wires taped to her delicate skin, or the IV still in her arm. Seeing her bundled up like that, it wasn't all that different from when he'd held her the first time. As soon as she was settled in, he straightened her little hat, which had gone a bit askew in the transfer. She was fast asleep, and he hoped she would wake up so he could see her with her eyes open.

"Well she's adorable," Lydia said matter-of-factly. "And she looks healthy to me."

"How is she?" Stiles asked Maggie. "Is she getting better?"

"We're still having a little trouble regulating her body temperature, but she's improved so much. Apparently her doctor was considering letting her move to the nursery with the other healthy babies, but her other nurse found a small complication that made them decide to leave her on the monitor for at least 24 hours."

"What kind of complication?" His heart was already pounding.

"She has a mild case of apnea. It's a common problem in preemies, and it means that sometimes they just forget to breathe."

"Just?! Forgetting to breathe seems like kind of a big deal to me!"

Maggie gave him a reassuring smile. "I know it sounds scary, but they usually start breathing again fine on their own or simply when being touched. She's only had one incidence so far, and her previous nurse said she immediately responded to her touch. She still has the monitor just to be cautious, and an alarm will sound to alert us if it were to happen again."

Stiles wasn't sure if he was all that comforted by that. He leaned in to whisper to her, "Please don't forget to breathe, okay?" He held her for a few more minutes before offering her to Lydia. "Do you want to hold her now?"

"Sure, I'll try anything once."

He'd been getting ready to give the baby to her, but her response stopped him in his tracks. "I'm sorry, have you never held a baby before?"

She thought a moment. "I'm sure I have."

"You don't seem that sure."

The truth was, she'd never really thought of herself as a baby person. She didn't coo over them or ask to hold them. She'd never even had the opportunity to be around babies all that much. Lydia supposed she felt different about this particular one because she was Stiles's baby. She'd adore anyone who was a part of him.

"And when was the last time you held a baby before her?" she asked.

"That's . . . irrelevant."

"Just give her to me."

Easier said than done. Stiles couldn't quite figure out how to hand her off, and Lydia wasn't quite sure how to pick her up without jostling her too much, and the wires made it even more difficult. Stiles shook his head and let out a chuckle, "God, we're hopeless aren't we?"

"Let me help," Maggie said. Like the pro that she was, she easily lifted the baby from Stiles's arms and put her in Lydia's.

"Oh wow." Lydia was positively beaming the moment she looked at her. "She's so pretty."

And just like that, she'd quickly become like those baby obsessed women she'd always rolled her eyes at. Stiles watched her with the baby, all the while wishing Malia was there too. She should be holding her baby, and it saddened him to think of her already missing the first day of their baby's life.

"Malia didn't hold her," he said over the lump in his throat. "She never even looked at her."

Hearing that broke her heart. Her lips formed a grim line as she tried to think of the right thing to say. "She must have been so overwhelmed," she said evenly.

"She was. The whole thing was . . ." He shook his head, still not able to describe the experience in any coherent way. "I just need her to come back."

"She'll be back," Lydia assured him. "Because it would be such a shame if she never got to see this precious little baby."

Stiles agreed. Even though seeing childbirth firsthand had felt almost traumatic, he was glad that he'd been there to see her enter the world. No matter how scared he was, or how overwhelmed with responsibility he felt, he could never be sorry that she existed. And even if they ultimately decided to give her up, he was still happy to have known her, if only for a little while.

A/N: I think I was able to get this one written so much faster than the others because I was so excited to get to the part where Lydia meets her. It's funny how some chapters come so much easier than others, and this was the easiest chapter since the first one, even though it's the longest one so far. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.