Chapter 7 – A/N: My chapters just keep getting longer and longer. This was supposed be a short story! But there is nothing short about it. You're probably cool with that though, right? I proofread this really quickly, so I hope the mistakes are minimal. I just wanted to get this up before the season 4 premiere. Only one more day!

When the time came for the baby to be put back in the incubator, Lydia was so reluctant to give her back that Maggie practically had to pry her away. "She needs to go back in for just a little while. Too much stimulation can be a bit overwhelming for them."

"But she never even woke up," she pouted, but did as she was told. Once Maggie had the baby settled in again, Lydia cooed to her, "Bye, sweet girl."

"Baby talk, Lydia?" Stiles teased. It was nice to see that softer side of her sometimes, a side that could be just as taken in by a cute baby as anyone else.

"It's no surprise to me that a child of yours is already a bad influence."

"Me? A bad influence?"

"Remind me, how did Scott end up getting bitten by Peter again?"

"I convinced him to go into the woods to find a dead body. What, you're saying that makes me a bad influence?"

Lydia laughed and shook her head. At that moment, a loud alarm started going off. Maggie was at the baby's side in an instant. "What's wrong?!" Lydia cried. "What's happening to her?"

Maggie was so focused on her work that she didn't answer. Lydia then turned to Stiles to find that he'd gone completely still, all the color drained from his face. The alarms still sounded, and Lydia went to take his hand, her eyes prickling with tears. "Stiles?"

Where he'd once gotten picture and sound, his mind now seemed like nothing more than static and white noise. No, he thought desperately, this isn't happening. She's fine. She was just fine. His hands felt so numb he barely noticed when Lydia touched him, but somehow he still felt her close to him. He turned to her and simply said, "Lydia?"

She knew what he wanted. Lydia tried to listen to the voices, to look for that feeling of impending death that caused her heart to seize up and made her want to scream. She heard nothing. Felt nothing. But the alarms still sounded.

Stiles never looked at the baby. He stayed focused on Lydia's face. Disbelief was quickly giving way to terror, and he said with more urgency, "Lydia?!"

"I'm trying!" Lydia squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to concentrate. Everything she knew she should be feeling wasn't there. She was only feeling her own fear. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths before opening her eyes. "Stiles, I think she's okay."

"But – but the alarms –"

"She's okay," she assured him, and she prayed that she was right. "She's gonna be okay."

Just seconds later, the alarms stopped sounding, leaving the NICU in silence again. Lydia cried out in relief, but Stiles still stood there, unmoving. He hadn't realized it, but he'd actually been holding his breath the entire time. When his body started to protest against the lack of oxygen, he took in great gulps of air, which made him slightly dizzy. It took another moment to find his voice, and he was finally able ask, "Is she okay? Did she stop breathing?"

"She's okay," Maggie said, as she closed the incubator. She turned to look at him and saw how panicked he still looked. "Oh, sweetheart, I promise she's okay. One of the wires disconnected. Sometimes that happens when they've been handled a lot. I don't think she ever stopped breathing. It was mechanical."

"Oh thank God," he wheezed, putting a shaky hand to his heaving chest. He found his way to the rocking chair again and practically collapsed into it. It was lucky that chair was there really, as he felt he could have easily fainted right onto the floor. His head ended up somewhere between his knees as he groaned, "I think I'm gonna be sick."

Lydia went over to him to put a comforting hand on his back. "You're fine. You're both fine."

"Yeah, I know, but try telling my heart that as it tries to beat out of my chest."

Stiles and Lydia sat there with her for another hour or so. Lydia talked about frivolous things, like the new guy she was seeing and the fantastic sale she and Kira had found the day before. She said anything to keep his mind off of what had just happened, and soon he was calm again. They both talked to the baby too, each taking hold of her one of her hands and studying every inch of her.

Lydia sighed when she looked at the clock. She didn't want to leave them. "I should go. Allison's car is in the shop so I told her that I'd pick her up from . . . wherever she ended up. I'll come back later though, okay? I'll bring Allison with me. I know she'll want to meet her."

"Okay." He stood and walked Lydia over to the door. "Sounds good."

She hesitated. "I don't want to leave you here alone. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Lydia, I'll be fine," he chuckled. He certainly felt a lot calmer at least.

"Okay, but call me if you need anything. You're sticking around here, right?"

"For a while, yeah." Since the scare, he found himself reluctant to leave her. He knew that technically there hadn't been anything wrong with her, and that if anything did go wrong there was absolutely nothing he could do, but he still wanted to be there. It was hard to imagine that just a couple of hours ago his fear had kept him away from her, and now it was the guiding force for keeping him from leaving her side.

"Good," Lydia beamed. "That's really good."

Stiles stayed in the NICU for a while, making small talk with Maggie as he watched her take care of the baby. He watched the other couples in the NICU as well. One couple didn't look all that much older than him, and they seemed about as tired and overwhelmed as he felt. At one point he watched as the father opened his shirt and a nurse put his son on his bare chest.

"What's going on there?" Stiles asked Maggie.

"It's called Kangaroo Care. The skin-to-skin contact has a lot of surprising health benefits for premature babies, like a more stable heart rate, and weight gain, and it helps regulate body temperature too. It's also a great way for parents to bond with their babies. Why?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Want to give it a try?"

"Oh no!" he said, subconsciously pulling his shirt closed. "I try to keep this physique under wraps at all times."

Maggie laughed. At that moment the baby started to fuss, and Maggie checked her watch. "Yep, right on schedule. Do you want to try feeding her?"

"I . . . I can do that?"

"Sure." She sat him in the rocking chair and gave him the baby. By the time she returned with the bottle, the baby was crying loudly, her little face scrunched up and turning redder by the second.

"Wow, she's really upset, huh?"

"Oh yeah," Maggie chuckled and handed Stiles the bottle. "It's amazing that even when they're this small, they already have such strong personalities. This little girl has quite the appetite, and if you don't feed her right away, then watch out!"

"Apparently. So do I just . . . ?" Every new experience with her, no matter how small, made him inexplicably nervous. He didn't want to do anything wrong.

Maggie guided his hand over the baby and put the bottle's nipple into her open mouth. The baby stopped crying immediately, and once she started eating, Maggie took her hand away and let Stiles hold the bottle on his own.

He couldn't believe he was doing it. He was actually feeding her. Okay, he was only holding a bottle, but somehow it still felt like a huge accomplishment, especially when just hours before he'd been too scared to even look at her. As he fed her, her eyes finally opened. They were the typical dark blue of most newborn babies, and they stayed focused on his face. It was difficult to get a handle on the sudden rush of emotion he felt as she looked up at him.

"She's looking at me," he said in wonder. "Can she actually see me?"

"She should be able to make out your face fairly well. She's something, isn't she?" she said kindly, her eyes warm as she looked on fondly at both of them together.

"Yeah. Yeah, she's something . . ."

Stiles was so focused on her, he never noticed when his father entered the NICU until he put a hand on his shoulder. The Sheriff knelt beside his son and watched as he fed his baby. "Well, look at this. Melissa wasn't kidding when she said she was a good eater."

"Yeah, I know." He almost sounded proud. "You should've seen her when Maggie here didn't get her bottle fast enough. She was so pissed."

The Sheriff chuckled, standing to shake Maggie's hand. "And you're Maggie I take it? Thank you for letting him in here to see her. I know this situation is a little unorthodox . . ."

"I'm happy to do it. It's always so refreshing to see young fathers show an interest."

"So Dad," Stiles said lightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't concentrate. So I figured I'd just come down here and see how she was doing. How you're doing . . ."

"So you're checking up on us."

"No, not checking up. I'm checking in on you. That's a completely different thing."

"Uh huh."

"And I figured you could use some fresh air, maybe a hot meal?"

"I don't know . . ." A part of him still didn't want to leave her alone.

The Sheriff noticed his reluctance. "Come on, kid. It might do you some good to get out of here for a while." He glanced pointedly at Maggie for a little back-up.

"He's right, Stiles. You should go out and stretch your legs a bit. She'll be fine."

Stiles agreed to go. The Sheriff led him to a small lounge that held nothing more than a couple of tables and a vending machine. They sat at a table and the Sheriff retrieved the bag of hamburgers and curly fries he'd hidden. Stiles hadn't realized how hungry he was until he smelled that delicious, greasy food. The Sheriff talked about work and other things while Stiles completely devoured his burger. It was nice to finally have his appetite back at least.

"So," the Sheriff said, dipping his curly fry into the ketchup again and again, steeling himself to ask the question he needed to ask. "Have you been thinking about it? About what you want to do?"

It took some effort to swallow after being asked a question like that. Stiles took his time. "No . . . not really. I've been more blatantly ignoring it?"

"Stiles –"

"I know, okay? I just don't know what I should do. If you told me what I should do, what you thought was best for her, I'd do it in a heartbeat, Dad. I would."

"Honestly, even I don't know the "right" thing to do here," he admitted. His smile was sad; his blue eyes a bit teary. "And it's not my decision to make anyway. You have to decide whether this is something you're ready to take on. And . . . and no one would blame you if you weren't."

"I would. Malia might."

"No, you were right before. You have to think about it as what's best for the baby. If Malia doesn't come back, you'd be the one raising her. Can you handle that kind of responsibility?"

"I don't know . . ." He rapped his knuckles on the table, over and over again. "I mean, I hate the thought of never seeing her again, you know? But then when I think about how hard it would be . . . I just can't help but think she'd be way better off with some nice couple who actually knew what they were doing."

"So you're saying . . ."

"I don't what I'm saying. I feel like I change my mind every 30 seconds. I can't think about this anymore, okay?" He crumbled up his trash and stood. "I just want to get back to her."

"Hold on a minute," the Sheriff said, standing too. "Just keep thinking about it, okay? Weigh all of your options and really try to get a handle on what you think you're ready for."

"Okay, Obi Wan," he said, patting his dad on the shoulder and walking away.

The Sheriff took hold of him before he could get too far. "Don't be a smartass. I just have one more thing to say. I want to let you know that whatever you decide to do, I'll accept it. If you decide to give her up, then I'll support you. And if you decide you want to keep her, then as long as you understand that she's your responsibility, I'll help you. I just felt the need to say that in case my feelings were affecting your decision. Seemed like maybe you needed to hear it."

Stiles was shaking by the end of that speech. He nodded and stared at his feet. "Thanks, Dad."

The Sheriff hugged him, a real hug this time. When they broke apart, he clapped Stiles on the back and said, "Come on, let's get you back to your kid."

The baby got quite a few visitors that day. Scott and Kira arrived not long after the Sheriff went back to work, and naturally Scott wanted to hold the baby as soon as he got there. The whole time he held her, he had the biggest grin on his face. He was clearly already smitten.

Kira, on the other hand, looked at her fondly but otherwise kept a safe distance. "She's really cute, Stiles."

"Yeah, that seems to be the consensus."

"Do you want to hold her?" Scott asked.

"Oh no," Kira said, waving her hands before hiding them behind her back. "I'm fine, really. She looks happy where she is."

"Okay," Scott shrugged. He rocked her gently when she started to fuss a little. "I just don't get how someone could see such a cute baby and not want to hold her. I mean, I wouldn't mind having ten babies just like her someday."

"Ten?! You want ten kids? Doesn't that seem like, I don't know, ten kids too many?"

"Wait, are you saying you don't want kids?"

She started rambling. "I don't know! I guess I haven't really thought about it much. I mean, we're only 17, right? Plus, with the whole being an ageless kitsune thing, I figured I could take my time, you know? Maybe take a century or two to really weigh my options."

Scott stared. "Oh."

Stiles watched this conversation with wide eyes and ever-increasing amusement. His little baby seemed to have opened up a big can of worms. He supposed he should help them out by changing the subject. "So, any progress on Malia?"

"No," Scott sighed. "All of those years as a coyote are really giving her an advantage on us."

"Okay." He didn't pursue it any further. After so much heaviness and all the wallowing he'd been doing, he wanted to keep the mood light for once. "So lay it on me. I'm sure Derek and Isaac had a lot to say about it when you told them. Did they have some Teen Dad jokes at the ready? Did they refer to me as Malia's baby daddy? Come on, I can take it."

"Oh, Isaac had plenty to say," Kira said, smirking and rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, but Derek is taking this really seriously. He's hardly slept at all since this happened. He's really worried about her, and since technically she's family . . ."

"Right, no, that's good." Stiles was glad he was taking it seriously, that she had family on her side, even if she didn't really know it. Since Malia had been so focused on being a coyote again, and Lydia had managed to convince Peter she didn't know the name of his child, the rest of the pack thought it best not to mention the fact that the man she thought was her father actually wasn't. Maybe it had been the wrong thing to do, but keeping their distance from Peter rarely proved to be a bad decision.

"He did tell me to tell you that you're an idiot."

"Now there's the Derek we know and love."

Sometime later, Lydia and Allison arrived as well. Lydia went over to Stiles and put an arm around his waist, and he did the same. Allison made a beeline over to Scott and the baby. She put a gentle hand on the baby's hatted head. "Oh my God, is this her?"

"Who else would it be?"

"Shut up, Stiles," she said in a sing-song voice and flashing an over exaggerated smile at the baby, who was now wide awake and looking at her and Scott. "Sorry it took us a while. I wanted to stop at home first. My dad was there so I ended telling him what's going on –"

"So your dad knows now too?" Stiles asked. "Oh, that's just great. Why don't we just tell the whole town, guys?"

"Hey, we didn't tell the whole town." Lydia said. "It's only us."

"Yeah, and trust me, I regret it," Allison said, rolling her eyes. "As soon as I told him he went into full-on lecture mode, saying how Isaac and I had better keep being careful. It was a while before he let us out of there."

"Oh, I really feel for you." It might not seem like it to the casual observer, but Stiles really liked this. Despite what he'd said, he was glad they all knew what was going on. He actually liked having them all there to help him through this. The fact that they could still hang out together as usual despite their odd location helped him feel that at least his whole world hadn't completely turned upside down.

Maggie went over to the group of teenagers. "Sorry guys, but the charge nurse is glaring at me, so I'll have to ask two of you to leave. She can only have two visitors at a time."

"I'm sorry," Lydia told her. She then addressed the others. "Look, I already spent time a lot of time with her today, and since Allison only just met her yet and Scott clearly has attachment issues –"

"Hey!"

"Kira and I will leave, okay Kira?"

"Oh, okay," Kira agreed. The two girls left arm in arm, leaving Stiles, Scott, and Allison staring at each other.

No matter how much time went by and what good friends they'd become, there was always the slightest bit of awkwardness when Scott and Allison were alone together, especially without Isaac and Kira there to act as buffers. To break the tension, Stiles went over to stand between them and put an arm around each of them.

"Look at this, you guys! The original trio is back together! This almost never happens anymore. I gotta say, it's making me a bit nostalgic for the old days. I mean, this isn't awkward at all, right?"

Allison shrugged his arm off and Scott just sighed, "Stiles."

"What?"

Allison leaned in closer, her face only inches away from the baby's. "Look at those eyelashes. She looks like a doll."

"Do you want to hold her?" Scott asked.

"No, that's okay. She seems happy there with you."

Stiles smirked, remembering that Kira had basically told him the same thing. Allison and Kira had quite a few things in common, he thought, and Scott clearly had a type. Even though Stiles had really come to like Kira and even saw her as a friend, he'd always expected that Scott and Allison would get back together someday.

Once she and Scott had their fill of the baby, Allison told Stiles, "I'd hate to pry Lydia away from this baby. I know she wanted to stay with you for a while."

"Kira drove us here. I'm sure she wouldn't mind giving you a ride home," Scott offered.

"Okay, thanks."

"Good, so now that you've got that all settled . . ." Stiles walked with them to door. Allison left the NICU, but Scott stayed behind. Stiles instantly recognized that concerned expression on his face.

"Hey, you okay man?"

"I'm fine." At least, he felt as fine as he thought he was capable of being in this situation.

"Are you sure? Because I can stay here if you want me to –"

"No, I'm okay. Besides, Lydia's gonna stick around for a while. You should get some sleep. I mean, you look like hell."

"Yeah, you'd know," Scott smirked. "Okay, I'll get a few hours of sleep, and then I'll get back out there. We'll keep looking for Malia until we find her."

"I know you will, buddy. And hey, thank Derek and Isaac for me too, would you?"

"Sure." Scott turned to leave, but something was stopping him. "Stiles . . . have you decided what you're going to do yet?"

"No. My dad and I kind of talked about it but . . . no. She's still a Safe Haven baby for now."

"Right." Stiles hated seeing that sad, disappointed look on his best friend's face. Scott finally left the NICU, but not before saying, "I'll be better at keeping in touch."

"You'd better!" he called to his retreating back.

Lydia returned and sat with him for hours. They kept the conversation light, and she never asked him what he was going to do about the baby again. When they were feeling too cooped up, they'd roam the halls, or get snacks, or step outside for some fresh air, but he refused to leave the hospital. The last time they stood outside, soaking up the summer heat in order escape the hospital's frigid air for a while, Stiles noticed it was just after 6 pm. It was the first of July, and the baby was now officially a day old. That thought alone amazed and overwhelmed him.

Before he knew what was happening, his shoulders were shaking from barely suppressed sobs. Lydia looked over at him in alarm. "Stiles?"

It was difficult to speak over the huge lump in his throat. "She was born around this time yesterday. God, was that really just yesterday? One whole day has gone by, and I don't even recognize my life anymore."

He swiftly walked about 20 paces away and let out a frustrated yell behind clenched teeth, causing Lydia to jump in surprise. Then he turned heel and walked back to her just as quickly. She saw a few stray tears escape, but she could tell he was trying to stop them.

"Maybe you should finally let it all out," she said, crying for him since he seemed unable to do it for himself.

"Lydia, I'm a guy. I have to keep it all bottled up inside until I have a nervous breakdown. That's how we deal with our emotions."

"That's stupid. And frankly, I think you're already there."

"No, I'm not there yet. I'm not even in the vicinity of there," he insisted, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. He took a few deep breaths, wiped his face, and put on a wobbly sort of smile. "See? I'm fine."

Lydia said nothing. He wasn't fine, obviously. She knew it and so did he. But for some reason it felt important for him to pretend, even though he knew he wasn't fooling anyone, not even himself.

"Honestly, I'm okay. It's just been a really, really weird day."

Lydia let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob as she brushed away her tears. "Understatement."

They laughed a bit more, and sniffled, and tried to pull themselves together. Lydia took hold of his wrist and started to pull him back toward the entrance when Stiles suddenly stopped in his tracks. She turned around to see what was keeping him.

"Lydia? What am I gonna do?" It was the first time he'd really asked for advice. It would also be the first time he asked for an opinion. "What should I do? I wish someone would tell me."

"I don't know," she whispered, rising up to kiss his cheek. "I really don't know."

They went back inside, and she stayed with him until Sheriff Stilinski returned. This time he brought dinner, but Stiles had effectively lost his appetite again and barely touched his food. When they returned to the NICU, they saw that Maggie had been replaced with Sarah, the same nurse who had taken the baby from him the night before. The Sheriff held his granddaughter again for the second time, and he happily volunteered to feed her. Around 10:30, he tried to convince Stiles to go home with him, but he wouldn't budge.

"Are you sure you're okay, kid?" the Sheriff asked before he left. "You've been really quiet all night."

"Yeah, I've just been thinking, like you told me to do," he said, rubbing his tired eyes. He couldn't stop thinking about what he should do since his near-breakdown with Lydia, but he still didn't feel any closer to a decision. The Sheriff told him goodnight and not get home too late.

At one in the morning, Sarah was gently shaking him awake. "Stiles? I'm sorry, but you aren't allowed to sleep here. Are you okay to drive?"

"Yep, I'm good." Stiles wondered if there would ever again be a time when people weren't asking him if he was okay. He put his hand inside the incubator and gave the baby one of his fingers to grab on to. Her fist gripped it surprisingly tight for such a tiny person. He supposed science really could be adorable. "Goodnight."

As he walked to his Jeep, Stiles tried to recall a time he'd ever felt so exhausted. Well, there was that whole Nogitsune era of his life. But he was being possessed then. Who knew sitting in a rocking chair for most of the day and staring at a baby could be so tiring. Still, he certainly didn't regret spending the day with her. He'd always have the memory of this day no matter what ended up happening. And as he started his Jeep, Stiles decided to do it all over again the next day too, and for as long as she was there waiting for him.

A/N: So a lot of people have been asking if this is a Stalia or Stydia story, and I thought I should finally (kind of) answer. All I'll say is that I think both pairings will have nice moments together that I hope you'll like, but Stiles's decision is the main focus of this story. I hope you'll keep reading, and thanks again to the people who take the time to review, or fave, or give it a read.