A/N: Another month since an update. I'm the worst. And considering classes started up again last week, I can't see myself getting any better at it, but I guess we'll see how it goes. Thanks for reading.

True to her word, Melissa arrived at the Stilinski house nearly an hour after they did. The Sheriff already looked exhausted when he opened the front door, and he waved her inside without a word. He did his best to clear a path for her as they made their way to the living room, where Stiles was giving the baby a bottle. There were diapers and clothes strewn everywhere, and Melissa looked from the clutter to the Sheriff with a raised eyebrow.

"So . . . how's it going in here?"

"We're hanging in there . . . by our fingernails."

"We've already had a diaper blowout," Stiles explained.

"I thought so." Melissa smiled at the streak of baby powder on his cheek and pointed it out to him. In typical teenage boy fashion, he just wiped it off on his shoulder. He knew if he were to take the bottle out of the baby's mouth, there would be hell to pay.

"What are you complaining about?" The Sheriff asked him. "You didn't change it."

Only minutes after they had gotten home, they were already confronted by the smell of a dirty diaper. They'd known it was coming of course, but they hadn't expected it so soon.

"Okay, we can handle this," the Sheriff said. His eyes darted around as he tried to recall everything they'd need from what was sitting in front of them. "First, we need something to change her on."

Stiles grabbed the nearest blanket, and the Sheriff gave him a look. "No, not that. Oh, look, get that thing."

Stiles grabbed the changing pad his dad had pointed out to him and went into the living room, where he spread it out on the coffee table. The Sheriff wanted to object to that, but as there really wasn't any better place to do it, he sighed and very carefully laid the baby down.

"So, you ready for me to talk you through this?"

Stiles's eyes went wide. "Whoa, I thought I'd let you take the reins on this one. I mean, seeing as you've actually done this before."

"Stiles, I haven't changed a diaper in fourteen years!"

"That's more experience than I've got! Come on, Dad, I'm an amateur. You don't send in an amateur to do an expert-level job. Besides, I learn better by watching first."

"You just don't want to change this diaper."

"God yes."

"Fine," the Sheriff growled. "But you get the next one, so you'd better be watching closely."

"Yeah, sure thing. So what do you need?"

Stiles retrieved the bag Melissa had given them and also rummaged through everything else, quickly turning Lydia's neat, organized stacks into a mess. He then stood over his father's shoulder and watched, ready to hand him whatever he needed.

When the Sheriff opened her diaper, they both gasped from the smell. Stiles pulled the neck of his T-shirt over his nose and mouth. "How can something so cute and tiny make so much of something so foul?"

"One of life's greatest mysteries. Now give me the wipes."

They had gotten through the diaper change relatively unscathed, though they had a baby powder mishap. She also needed a new change of clothes, and by the end of it twenty minutes had gone by and she was wailing.

"I'm sorry kiddo," the Sheriff said as he picked her up. "I'm a bit rusty at this."

"Not that this wasn't grueling for her, but I think she might be hungry. The nurses told me she eats every three hours, and I think it's about that time."

"Think you can handle making a bottle?"

"Uh, sure. No problem."

Only a minute had gone by before the Sheriff decided he'd better go into the kitchen to supervise. Stiles was still squinting at the label on the formula, and he'd already managed to spill a bit of it on the countertops.

"Need help with that?"

"I got it." He measured it out and was about to pour it into a bottle when his dad stopped him.

"Did you wash the bottle first?"

"No." By the time the bottle was made, the baby's cries sounded downright angry. The Sheriff gave her to Stiles so he could feed her, and he quickly stuck the nipple in her mouth. She stopped crying almost immediately, eating greedily. That was when he'd sat in his dad's recliner with the baby to feed her, already feeling inexplicably tired and ready for Melissa to arrive. If anyone could teach them a more efficient way to do this, it was her.

Melissa looked at the pair of them now. They were totally disheveled after only an hour alone with the baby. She shook her head, amused. "Is she almost done with that bottle?"

"Yeah, I think so. She's starting to fall asleep."

"Okay, then I'll show you how to burp her."

Melissa stayed for a couple of hours, teaching Stiles and refreshing the Sheriff on everything they'd need to know about taking care of a newborn. Stiles had a lot of questions, which she happily answered. She even had to go through the various things Lydia had gotten and explained what they were for. When the baby's diaper was wet, Melissa talked Stiles through it.

"She's not going to pee on me, is she?" he asked nervously as he unstuck the tabs.

Melissa laughed. "She could, but at least the girls can't aim."

With Melissa's help he got the diaper on without any complications, but he felt like he was all thumbs. She was so tiny and fragile-looking he was scared that he would break her.

"She's tougher than she looks," Melissa assured him.

After that was done, Stiles settled back in the recliner with her and rocked her to sleep. He studied her features, one of his fingers delicately tracing the straight line of her eyebrows and the shape of her lips. Allison was right; she did look like a doll. She was perfect.

Stiles was so focused on her that it took a while before he noticed his dad and Melissa were watching him. He didn't look up at them when he said, "You two are making me nervous just standing there like that."

"Oh, sorry," Melissa said, dabbing at her eyes. She went into the kitchen to find something to do. The Sheriff wasn't too far behind, and he found her at the sink washing bottles.

"You don't have to do that too, Melissa."

"I don't mind. I'll make a few bottles for the night feedings and put them in the fridge. It's a lot easier than making them when you're half asleep. And don't let the laundry get too backed up. If you do you might never get caught up again."

He chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind. You're so on top of everything. God, I forgot how hard this is. I just keep thinking . . . I wish Claudia was here. She'd be so much better at this than me."

She gave him a sympathetic smile, then turned off the water and dried her hands. "Don't sell yourself short. You've been doing this on your own for years."

"Yeah, but Stiles was nine when Claudia died. At that age they can do a lot for themselves. But a newborn? I feel like I have to relearn everything."

"It'll come back to you."

They made the bottles and then left the kitchen together. The Sheriff walked her to the door. "Thank you for doing this, especially after working all day."

"I'm happy to help. Besides, I'm not just doing this for you two. I'm doing it for her too," she said, giving him a pointed look.

The Sheriff laughed. "She thanks you too."

Melissa was about to wave goodbye to Stiles, but she saw that he was close to falling asleep himself. "You'd better get them both to bed."

The Sheriff brought the bassinette to Stiles's room. Stiles had to tidy up a bit to make room for it, but that mostly meant kicking some dirty clothes under his bed. He put the baby inside the bassinette, and then he and the Sheriff sat at the end of his bed and watched her as she slept.

"You're lucky she's a good sleeper, kid. And she only seems to cry when she's hungry. For the first month you cried almost every hour, sometimes for no reason at all."

"She must get it from Malia then," Stiles said, reaching over to take hold of the baby's tiny hand. She already looked so different to him somehow, almost seeming to change from hour to hour. She reminded him so much of Malia, and every time he really looked at her he felt a pang in his chest.

The Sheriff noticed his glum expression and said, "You know, I've been thinking. It feels awkward to keep referring to her as "her" or "the baby" doesn't it?"

"You mean opposed to an actual name?"

"Yes."

Stiles shook his head. "I don't know. I've been thinking about it too, but it would be weird to name her without Malia, or if we don't, you know . . ."

Feeling he'd overstepped, he said, "No, you're right. That would be –"

"I mean, I have no idea what I'd call her anyway."

"What if we tried out a few names on her? Nothing serious, just to see if anything suits her."

Stiles perked up a bit. "I could do with less serious. Hey, what about Yoda!"

He really shouldn't have expected anything less from his kid. "That's really not what I –"

"Yoda, your name will be," he said to her, doing his best impression. Seeing his dad's exasperated expression made him laugh for the first time in a while. Stiles just wasn't ready to give her a real name yet, and this little game seemed like the better and more fun option.

"What have I done?"

"Only come up with the best idea ever," Stiles yawned, falling back onto his bed.

"I don't know if I'd bother going to sleep yet. She'll need another bottle soon."

With a sigh he sat up again. "How do people do this?"

"They just do. Here," he said, handing Stiles a baby monitor. "Now I'll be able to hear when she cries, and I can help you with her. For the next couple of days, I'm only supposed to get a call from the station if there's an emergency."

"Dad, this is Beacon Hills. There's an emergency like every day."

"At least I'll know you aren't involved for once."

"That really gives you peace of mind, doesn't it? I guess I should've gotten a girl pregnant sooner."

"That's not funny," The Sheriff said. He then stopped to think about it. "Though knowing you were home taking care of your kid instead of becoming a sacrifice or getting possessed . . . I guess I know which one I'd pick. Not to say this isn't a very big deal –"

"I know, Dad."

"But you've been through worse. If you could handle all of that, then maybe you can handle this too."

Stiles appreciated the sentiment, but it wasn't really the same. "But with everything else it's purely survival mode, you know? This is more like a marathon, an eighteen year marathon without ever getting a break. And frankly, I'm more of a sprinter."

"So sprint one day at a time."

The Sheriff went to his room while Stiles did his best to fight off sleep. He went for a bottle a little early, taking Melissa's advice on feeding the baby before she got too upset. She only cried for a moment when he woke her, but she stopped as soon as he gave her the bottle. He sat up against his pillows as he fed her, nearly dozing off several times. By the time she finished eating and was back in her bassinette, it was midnight.

"We did fine just the two of us, right?" he asked, covering her with a blanket. He hadn't seen any point in waking up his dad unless he needed him, and he hadn't. If things always went this smoothly, he thought maybe he could handle this after all. Of course, things rarely ever went smoothly.

It was nearly 3 am when it happened. Once Stiles was finally able to stop his mind from racing enough to fall asleep, he crashed hard, so hard that the sound of the baby choking loudly didn't wake him. It was his dad rushing into his room and yelling "Stiles!" that finally did.

He sprung out of his bed before he was even fully awake, running to her as his heart pounded unbelievably hard. The gasping sounds coming from her were absolutely terrifying. The Sheriff had gotten to her first, hurriedly picking her up and rubbing her arms and legs like Melissa had shown them to do. Soon she was breathing normally again and crying loudly, only stopping briefly to spit up quite an impressive amount of formula onto the Sheriff's shirt.

She was crying so hard that Stiles could feel himself tearing up too. Stiles had an overwhelming need to touch her, to hold her. "Oh God, is she okay? Dad, is she - ?"

"I think she's all right now."

"Are – are you sure?" he asked, his voice shaky. "She doesn't sound fine."

"You'd be upset too if you woke up like that," the Sheriff yelled over her crying. It took him a few minutes to soothe her, and once he did he cleaned her up and gave her to Stiles. "Here, take her. I'm gonna go change my shirt, grab a few things for her . . . hey, you okay?"

"What?" Stiles asked, distracted. He wasn't taking his eyes off her for even a second.

"I'll be right back. You'll be fine being alone with her for a few minutes, right?"

"Umm . . ." At the moment he wasn't so sure, but he nodded anyway. "Yeah."

Once his dad was gone, Stiles sat right onto the floor where he'd been standing. He didn't think his legs would carry him the few paces over to his bed. She was still a bit fussy, so he settled her in his lap and tried to give her the pacifier, which after many tries she finally agreed to take.

"Hey you," he said to her, his voice thick with emotion. "Didn't I tell you not to forget to breathe?"

After making a bottle, feeding her on his own, and changing a diaper, he'd begun to feel like he'd been worrying for nothing. It wasn't so hard really. But then she'd stopped breathing again and started choking, and now any confidence he'd gained in himself had swiftly disappeared. He felt sorry for her. She should have parents who knew what they were doing, and that definitely wasn't him.

By the time the Sheriff returned, Stiles was a trembling mess. "What happened since I left?" he asked, surprised by his son's reaction.

"I shouldn't have brought her here. I don't know what I'm doing! I should've woken up when she started choking. Why didn't I wake up? She could've – she –"

"Whoa, slow down," the Sheriff said to stop his frantic rambling. He sat beside Stiles on the floor. "Look at her. She's fine. No harm done."

"Yeah, thanks to you! I didn't even know there was something wrong. I should've heard her."

"Stiles, you're exhausted. And you've never done this before. It takes time to learn this stuff."

Stiles watched her suck on her pacifier, her sweet little face looking up at his own. "What if she doesn't have that time? She's this tiny person that I have to keep alive, and right now I really doubt my ability to do that. I mean, do you know how many things could go wrong? When we were in the hospital I was looking up all kinds of things, like SIDS and –"

"If I'd known that's what you were doing, I would've taken your phone away. Looking at the stuff is only going to scare you even more. Look, every new parent is terrified they're going to screw up, but they have to push through it because someone is depending on them."

"Maybe if I were like 30 I could." Then he scoffed, "No, probably not even then."

The Sheriff sighed. His son's confidence was shot and wasn't sure how to build it back up. "You just have to try your hardest. And if you believe you're going to fail, then . . ."

"Then I will. Yeah, I know." Stiles wasn't reassured necessarily, but there was little he could do at 3 am besides buck up and follow through.

Together they fed and changed her again, and when they were done and she was asleep, the Sheriff bid him goodnight and told him to get some rest. But he didn't. He sat up with her all night.

It was after 6 am when the Sheriff entered the kitchen. Stiles was sittng at the table as he gave the baby another bottle. The Sheriff could tell he was exhausted and guessed he'd never actually gone back to sleep. He put on the coffeemaker and sat with Stiles.

"Morning. How's Bilbo doing?"

Stiles looked up in surprise before smirking. It was always better when his dad admitted defeat and decided to play along. "Bilbo?"

"What, are Lord of the Rings names out of the running?"

"No, I just think I would've gone with Gandalf."

They goofed around for a while, coming up with more names for her, the more ridiculous the better. But the Sheriff was steeling himself to say something, and Stiles was getting good at recognizing it.

"Dad, what is it?"

He took in the dark circles under Stiles's eyes. "Nothing . . . I'm only wondering if you managed to get any sleep last night."

"Not so much."

"Stiles, you can't just stay awake. Maybe you can manage if for a few days, but you've got to sleep sometime or you'll never make it."

"I know." And he did know it, but that hadn't stopped him from going over to her in a panic every time she'd made a noise.

The Sheriff tried to figure out the best way to proceed. "So I've been thinking that . . . maybe I could get in touch with an adoption agency."

Stiles went completely still. He didn't know how to feel about the suggestion. Relieved? Offended? In truth, he mostly felt confused. "Why?"

"So we can ask some questions about the adoption process. That way you can decide if it's something you should do."

Stiles's eyes narrowed, and he held the baby tighter. "You don't think I can do this."

That was exactly the reaction he'd been trying to avoid. "It's not that I think you can't do it. I'm just not sure you feel ready to do it, and you didn't seem able to suggest it yourself so –"

"So you're giving me an out." Stiles was actually grateful for the suggestion, so he didn't know why everything he said sounded so defensive.

"I'm trying to help you. I know you want to wait for Malia to come back, but you really shouldn't put this off for too long." When Stiles still seemed unconvinced, he added, "You wouldn't have to make a decision yet. I just think it'll help you to talk to someone."

Stiles wasn't sure how to respond. The sound of the baby sucking on her bottle tore his gaze away from his father and back to her. It was surprising to him how fiercely his anxiety could return. He was surviving in the moment, but every time he thought of the future, or more specifically her future, he'd start worrying all over again.

"It's only a talk?"

"It can be whatever you want it to be."

He didn't know what he wanted it to be, but maybe by the end the meeting he would. Maybe it would help him decide what to do, and he knew he could use all of the help he could get.

"Yeah . . . okay."

A/N: I want to thank everyone again for the really nice reviews I've gotten lately. When I started this story I just wanted to get out a silly idea I'd been hanging on to for so long, and in the process I hoped there would be a few people who liked it too. Now I'm at over 100 reviews and follows! I honestly never expected that to happen, so thanks!