A/N: And another four months goes by. Too bad I couldn't get this up on the actual holiday – last year or this year. At this rate season 5 (A & B!) will be done by the time I finish this. Sorry guys, I'm really trying here, so here's an extra long chapter to make up for it.

Once Malia had showered and dressed into Stiles's old clothes, Hanna decided to make her needs known. Stiles was off to make another bottle for her when Malia stopped him.

"I want to do it."

Stiles gave her the baby, but this time the feeding didn't go quite as smoothly. Hanna only ate for a minute or two before turning away from Malia's breast. Malia kept trying to get her to eat, but they both quickly became frustrated. Stiles had to get a bottle in the end.

"She did great when I fed her last night," Malia pouted. Even with the bottle it took some coaxing before Hanna would take it, and she didn't eat as greedily as she usually did.

"I don't know what's wrong with her," Stiles said, beginning to feel slightly worried. He hadn't encountered this particular issue yet. "She always wants to eat."

Once Hanna was finished eating they burped her and changed her diaper, but she was still fussy. If Stiles or Malia tried to put her in the bassinet when she dozed off, she would cry until they picked her up again.

"Oh thank God," Stiles said when his dad walked through the door. He followed the Sheriff into the kitchen as he bounced lightly at the knees. "Something's wrong with her."

"What?! I leave for half an hour and there's already a crisis?" He put the bags on the kitchen table and took a look at Hanna. "Are you sure? She seems fine."

Stiles stopped bouncing and Hanna almost immediately began to cry. He gave the Sheriff a pointed look before resuming his bouncing. "She was hungry but she didn't eat much. Now every time we try to put her down, she just starts crying again."

"Sometimes babies just want to be held. Here, give her to me." The Sheriff took the baby and positioned her high on his shoulder. To his credit she stopped crying, but it didn't look like a very safe or comfortable position.

"Uh, Dad?" Stiles said warily. It was such a strange sensation, the way his stomach would lurch whenever he felt nervous for her.

"Stiles, she's fine. I held you like this all the time when you were baby."

"And are you sure you didn't drop me on my head?"

"Not that I recall," The Sheriff chuckled as he rubbed Hanna's back. "She probably has a little tummy ache, that's all. Right, Hanna?"

It was still surreal to see his big, strong dad coo at a tiny baby. The man practically melted every time he looked at her now. "So how do we fix this? Is there some medicine or –"

"Unless she's got a serious issue, like acid reflux or colic, all you can usually do is wait it out. She'll feel better soon."

But Stiles didn't want to wait; he wanted her to feel better now. He was about to protest when Malia poked her head into the kitchen. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine. I think she's asleep. Here Stiles, you try it."

Of course she woke up during the transfer, and she wasn't quite as content with Stiles as she'd been with the Sheriff. He supposed his dad just had the magic touch. "Maybe you should take her back."

"I can't. I've got too much to do, the first being to get the rest of the groceries out of the car." He patted Stiles on his other, babyless shoulder. "You're doing fine. It just takes practice."

"Mister . . . uh, Sheriff? I can help get the groceries," Malia offered. Since Stiles had the baby covered, she wanted to be useful in some other way.

"Thank you, Malia."

Stiles watched them go as he stood alone in the kitchen, scared to move too much for fear of dropping Hanna. "Sure, I'll just hold the baby and let the werecoyote do all the heavy lifting."

A couple of hours later, Malia was in the backyard helping the Sheriff while Stiles stayed inside with the baby. The Sheriff explained everything he was doing, his voice so calm and soothing. It was nice to have someone talking to her about something normal.

"The grill is still heating up, so the first burgers are never quite as good as the others . . ."

Malia's stomach started growling. She wasn't sure if she'd ever smelled something so delicious. Her eyes never left the burgers as she watched them flip and grow steadily darker. It took the Sheriff quite a while to realize she was no longer listening to him.

With concern in his voice, he asked, "Malia? When is the last time you ate something?"

"I don't remember."

He took the burgers off the grill once they were done and put them on a plate. "Here, eat these. The buns are in the -" he started, but she was already gone. ". . . Kitchen."

She sat at the kitchen table beside Stiles, who was still sitting there with a fussy Hanna. She tore the patties apart with her hands and devoured them. Stiles watched her, both stunned and impressed. After she finished eating, she got a bottle of water from the refrigerator and drank it all in one go.

"I did offer you something to eat earlier, didn't I?"

"Yeah," she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I guess I only just realized how hungry I am. Hey, do you think your dad has some more cooked yet?"

"Considering you only came in here like two minutes ago, I doubt it. I guess now we know where Hanna gets her appetite."

"Oh, like you haven't stuffed your face full of curly fries."

While the Sheriff tried to keep up with a hungry Malia, Scott and Kira were the first to arrive for the barbeque. Stiles opened the door for them, and upon seeing his sleep deprived best friend, Scott put a little extra enthusiasm in voice when he said, "Happy Independence Day!"

Stiles held the baby out to him. "Yeah yeah, can you take her? I've had to take a leak for the last 20 minutes but she cries every time I put her down."

Scott happily took her but Kira stopped Stiles before he could take off. "So is Malia . . .?"

"Okay?" Stiles finished. He wasn't sure he was qualified to answer that question, though her mood had seemed to lift considerably since she'd gotten some food in her stomach. "I think so? Go talk to her. She's in the kitchen working on her third hot dog by now."

When they entered the kitchen, Malia rose from her chair and cried, "Scott!" She'd never greeted him so enthusiastically, but then again, he'd never helped her deliver her baby before. She saw Hanna snug in his arms. "She likes you."

"We've bonded," Scott said. His smile was warm. "We're all so relieved you came back. How are you?"

"I'm fine," she shrugged. His open concern was a bit too much for her to handle so she turned to greet Kira, but it didn't take long before she noticed the large tray in her hands. "Hi Kira – what's that?" She grabbed the tray before Kira could answer and pulled off the cover. Her face fell in disappointment.

"It's a fruit tray," Kira said. "You know, for anyone who wants something healthier to snack on."

"So no meat?" Malia pressed.

Kira laughed and pulled her into a hug. "I'm glad you're back. We missed you."

The sudden show of affection surprised her and she stiffened, only softening a bit just before Kira pulled away. "Uh . . . me too." Malia wasn't entirely sure how true that statement was, but it felt like the thing she was supposed to say. Not that she disliked Kira. In fact, she thought of all the girls she liked Kira most, but she really hadn't gotten much time to get to know her before she'd left. She'd been a bit too preoccupied with Stiles at the time.

Stiles returned and patted Scott on the shoulder. "Thanks buddy, you're a lifesaver. I can take her back if –"

"Oh no, I've got her," Scott said. Hanna was fast asleep. "But I don't know how holding her for five minutes makes me a lifesaver."

"Hey, that was a dire situation back there. And apparently you're also some kind of walking epidural, so that's pretty cool. Did he tell you about that, Kira?"

"He told me everything. I can't imagine what it was like for all of you to go through that, especially you Malia."

Malia managed a weak smile before going back to staring down at her suddenly clawed, shaky hands. They all went on about the birth and how Scott got to cut the umbilical cord and suddenly Malia couldn't breathe. Their words were bringing those memories to the forefront of mind after the coyote part of her had fought so hard to bury them, and she wasn't sure she could bare to go through it all a second time.

"Malia, are you okay?" Scott asked. They all turned to look at her and saw she was visibly upset.

"Um yeah, I just forgot I'm supposed to be helping your dad, Stiles. I should really get out there." Malia never met their eyes, and she was out the door before anyone could protest. They stood in silence for a moment, each trying to figure out what exactly had upset her.

"She was getting anxious," Scott said.

"Shit, I mentioned something about the birth earlier and she clammed up then too. I should've picked up on it," Stiles said.

"Come on, there's no way you could've known. It's not like you can smell anxiety too."

"We'll tell the others not to bring it up either. She'll be fine after she gets over the shock of it all," Kira assured him. "How is she with the baby?

"She's pretty good with her. I mean, she holds her and feeds her and changes her diaper, but she doesn't really want to talk about her."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean whenever I try to get her talk about what we should do, she changes the subject."

"Stiles, you have to keep trying," Scott said. "She has to know about tomorrow when the adop –"

Stiles went wide-eyed and he started waving his arms in an effort to hush his best friend. "What is wrong with you? Didn't we just establish that she doesn't – hey Malia."

Malia was already back, and she set the plate of burgers she was carrying on the table. She could tell she'd walked in on something, but like with most things she didn't understand, she simply shrugged it off. Just getting some fresh air for a moment had helped, so as long as they'd changed the subject, she didn't really care.

"All of those for you?" Stiles joked in an effort to cover up the awkward moment.

"No, they're for everyone."

A little while later, Lydia, Allison, and Isaac arrived. Lydia breezed right past Stiles and straight over to Scott, who was still holding Hanna. "Hi baby girl, I missed you."

"Wow," Stiles said, stepping aside to let Allison and Isaac through the door. "I thought I'd gotten used to women walking past me as if I don't exist but apparently I haven't."

"Happy 4th everyone! We brought pies," Allison said as she and Isaac made their way over to Scott as well. "Oh wow, I swear she gets cuter every time I see her."

"Can I hold her?" Isaac asked excitedly.

Stiles looked him over with narrowed eyes. He didn't know if he trusted Isaac with his kid. "Maybe later, we just got her to sleep –"

"Oh come on. I'm not gonna drop her or anything."

Scott gave the baby to Isaac, who grinned widely and made faces at her when she opened her eyes. Hanna almost started to cry from being woken up, but this intriguing new face was enough to silence her.

"See, she stopped crying. She likes me!"

"If someone looked at me like that, I wouldn't know what to do either."

Lydia led the way the kitchen, where Malia and Kira were talking. As soon as her eyes set on Malia, Lydia put down her pies and said, "Malia, I need you to come with me."

Malia turned to look at her, surprised by her straightforwardness, though she really shouldn't have been. She remembered that much about Lydia. "Why?"

"I just need you to come with me, please."

Malia didn't know what was going on, but she was sure she wanted no part of it. "Um . . . no."

"Come on, it'll only take a few minutes."

Allison pushed her way through the crowded kitchen so she could see Malia, which was made even harder by the large bag slung over her shoulder. "Please Malia, we just want to give you a few things, that's all."

Malia sighed and rose from the table. Lydia smiled and took her by the arm, and the three girls made their way to Stiles's room, but Stiles pulled Lydia aside before they made it very far. Lydia waved the other two along and then turned to Stiles. "What?"

"Nothing," Stiles said. "Just . . . be nice to her, okay?"

"I'm always nice," Lydia huffed, and when Stiles only raised his eyebrows in response, she conceded. "Fine, but why would you think I wouldn't be nice to her?"

"I'm not saying you wouldn't. What I am saying is maybe don't ask her too many questions about what happened? She's really sensitive about it."

"Oh." Lydia paused for a moment, searching Stiles's worried expression. "How has she been with the baby?"

"Good. Surprisingly good considering, you know . . ."

"She took off," Lydia finished.

"Yeah. She was just in shock though. I mean, she's still not really herself but . . ."

"It'll take some time. She'll be fine. Now let me go before she gives Allison the slip."

Stiles let her go. Any worries he had about this little get-together were now gone. At first all he'd wanted to do was sit down and talk to Malia about what they should do. He'd wanted to hash it out with her for however long it took to come to a decision, and he'd wanted to do it as soon as possible. But now seeing Malia with everyone, especially the girls, he felt this could only help her. And helping her was all he wanted to do.

When Lydia walked into Stiles's bedroom, she found Malia dumping out the entire bag of clothes onto the bed. "Got started without me I see."

"You were taking too long," Malia said, then turned to face her. "You didn't have to do this."

"Oh, I didn't. They're all Allison's. I didn't think you'd like anything of mine." Lydia looked at the T-shirt and gym shorts Malia was wearing. "Besides, you needed something to wear other than Stiles's old clothes."

"I don't mind. They're comfortable. And I have that too," she said, nodding at the crumpled clothes on the floor that she'd been wearing the night before.

"Where did you get that?"

"Skinny-dippers."

"Well that just proves my point, doesn't it?"

"You like shorts, right?" Allison cut in, digging through the pile and pulling out a few pairs. She handed the shorts and a couple of shirts over to Malia. "Here, you can start with these."

They quickly turned away when Malia took off her shirt without hesitation. "Oh yeah," Lydia said, "We got some underwear too. Nothing fancy, just the cotton stuff in the packs."

"And a couple of bras, but . . ." Allison's eyes darted to Malia's swollen breasts, "I don't know if they'll fit you."

"They are huge, aren't they?" Malia said conversationally. She pulled on another shirt, and this one was also a bit tight across the chest and stomach. "And my stomach hasn't gone down yet."

"Not a problem," Lydia said, digging through the pile again. "Just wear these flowy tops for now. And don't worry, I'm sure you'll be back to your old self soon."

Her old self? But wasn't her old self her coyote body? Malia put on the top Lydia gave her and looked in the mirror. Her belly was well hidden but the illusion didn't make her feel any less uncomfortable in the new body she'd gotten since giving birth. She started to wonder if she'd ever feel normal again, and what normal even meant anymore.

"Malia, are you okay?" Allison asked.

She did her best to blink away the tears. "I'm fine."

Malia finished getting dressed and made her way to the door, but Lydia stopped her. "Oh no, we've got to do something with that hair."

"But I don't want to."

Her hair had dried into one large, wild tangle. It had once been a source of pride for her before the accident, growing it past her waist and letting her mother brush it every night before bed. But ever since she'd changed back her hair had become a nuisance.

"At least let me brush it."

Malia didn't have the energy to fight, so she sat on the bed and let both girls brush her hair. Apparently it was a team effort. Sitting there with them as they talked and preened her, Malia found that it wasn't so bad to be there with those girls. She got to sit there and just be. Not the feral coyote girl or someone's mom. For a moment it felt as if she was a girl just like them.

Back in the kitchen, everyone was talking about how Isaac had been the one to hear Malia in the woods. "I don't know how I knew it was her," Isaac tried to explain while he swayed with Hanna in his arms. She was still awake and staring up at him as if he was the most intriguing thing her 5 day old eyes had ever seen. "I just knew. I don't know if she was in pain, but she sounded off somehow. I tried to find her but she was too fast."

"What time was that?" asked Melissa, who'd just arrived.

"I don't know, about 2 or 3 in the morning? Why?"

"Just trying to put a timeline together. If Hanna wasn't born until sometime after six, Malia could've been in labor for hours. Does anyone know?"

That sobered the room up quickly. Stiles especially didn't like thinking about how long she'd been lying there in pain before they'd found her. "She doesn't like talking about it. I tried to ask her some questions before everyone got here but . . ."

The answer seemed to spark some interest in Melissa, but she said nothing else about it. Instead she turned to Isaac and smiled. "It's a good thing you were there."

"What were you doing there anyway?" Stiles asked.

"Sometimes I like to run around in the woods at night. Does nobody else do this?"

"It's been a while," Scott admitted. He was standing behind Kira with his arms wrapped around her waist. "All I know is that if you hadn't been in those woods and heard her, this all could've turned out so much worse. So thanks."

Everyone nodded in agreement and Isaac grinned. Stiles thought it was his duty to keep the guy's head from getting too big. "Yeah Isaac, thanks for having ears."

They all sighed and rolled their eyes, long accustomed to Stiles and Isaac's essentially harmless animosity toward each other. But when nobody else was looking, Stiles caught his eye and nodded in a silent thank you. Isaac understood the gesture and nodded back before going back to making funny faces at Hanna.

Just then the Sheriff came into the crowded kitchen, his eyes immediately landing on Melissa. "You made it."

"Yep, and I brought more burgers. I heard we were having a meat shortage."

"You heard right."

Everyone shuffled around to let Melissa through, but then Malia, Lydia, and Allison returned to take up even more space. The kitchen was now filled to capacity. That was when Hanna suddenly started wailing, and before Stiles could make it over to her to see what was wrong, she threw up. This wasn't just a little spit-up. It was projectile vomit, shooting straight up and onto Isaac's neck. They all stood there in stunned silence before finally bursting into laughter.

"Someone help me," Isaac said weakly, and they all laughed even harder.

Even though he was literally gasping for breath, Stiles was able to make his way over to Hanna to take her from Isaac. Melissa went over to check up on her, assuring them all that she was fine. Allison struggled not to laugh as she helped Isaac clean up.

"Welcome to the club, Isaac," the Sheriff said. "Come on guys, let's clear out of here and give them space to get her cleaned up. And I could use some help at the grill."

"I'll help," Scott offered, and they left together. The others did as they were asked and spread out, some outside to enjoy the sunshine and others into the living room, all of them still chuckling as they went. Stiles, Malia, and Melissa were alone in the kitchen, and they went about the daunting task of cleaning off a very unhappy, squirmy baby.

The rest of the barbeque wasn't quite as eventful. Someone put on some music, and everyone lounged around in the backyard, drinking cool drinks and stuffing their faces. They all talked and laughed and it all almost felt normal, even as their tiniest guest got passed around from person to person, though she inexplicably ended up with Scott more than anyone. In fact, it was Scott who was holding her when Derek finally arrived and followed the Sheriff into the kitchen.

"Scott," he said, nodding curtly in hello. "Sorry I'm late. Where's Stiles?"

"Who's asking for me?" Stiles said as he walked in. He looked Derek up and down, a mischievous little smirk on his face. It was as if every time he saw Derek he couldn't help trying to come up with some way to annoy him. "Oh, it's just you."

"Oh, it's the teenage father," Derek retorted. He put a round, covered container on the table. "I made potato salad."

The Sheriff was clearly taken aback. "Wow, thanks Derek, that's really . . ."

"Weird," Stiles finished. "Since when can you make potato salad? And you actually own Tupperware?"

Derek wasn't taking the bait. "I need to talk to you."

"Have you even met Hanna yet?" Stiles asked, blatantly ignoring him. He didn't know what Derek wanted to talk about but it couldn't be good. "Cute, right?"

Derek finally glanced down at the tiny baby nestled in Scott's arms. His expression became even more severe, and then he looked back at Stiles and repeated, "I need to talk to you."

"Did you just scowl at my baby?"

"Now, Stiles!"

Derek stomped off in the direction of what Stiles assumed was his bedroom. He looked around at the others in surprise. "What the hell was that about?"

"Maybe you should go talk to him, son."

"Why, so he can murder me?"

"What's going on?" Malia asked as she and Melissa entered the kitchen. "Was that Derek?"

"Yeah," Scott answered, handing Hanna off to Melissa. Then he turned to Stiles. "You should go. It seemed important to him."

Stiles rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. He could already feel his anxiety getting worse. There was a very good chance that he was about to be lectured by Derek Hale, and the thought was kind of terrifying.

When Stiles entered his bedroom he found Derek leaning back against the window frame, his arms crossed and his expression as serious as ever. Stiles took in a shaky breath. Derek honestly didn't scare him anymore, in fact he'd mellowed out quite a bit recently, but every so often he proved he could still be intimidating. They stood there for nearly a minute in total silence, Derek glowering and Stiles trying to think of a way to break the tension because for once in his life he was truly at a loss for words.

"So . . . it's been a while since you've been in my room, huh? I think the last time was when you were all young again. God, that was random, wasn't it?"

Derek said nothing. Okay, so he wasn't there to reminisce apparently. Stiles tried to think of something else to say when finally –

"Idiot."

At least he'd finally said something, even though it was an insult. "Scott actually gave me your message already, but thanks for delivering it in person."

This was clearly not the right thing to say. Derek shoved himself of the wall and strode over to Stiles. Yes, he still had that menacing thing down. "What were you thinking? How could you do something so stupid?"

"Just a gift, I guess." Jeez, it was like he was asking to get punched in the face. Stiles sighed, "Look, there's nothing I can say that'll be a good enough reason. We made a stupid, impulsive mistake and now a poor, innocent baby is paying dearly for it. Is that what you want to hear?"

Derek's expression finally softened, just a little bit. "It's a start. I just don't understand why you weren't more careful. You have heard of condoms, right?"

Was he really having the safe sex talk with Derek Hale? "Yeah, but see, we were kind of in Eichen House at the time so there weren't any condoms handy, you know? But hey, I did pull out."

Derek grimaced and shook his head. "Stiles, do you know what they call people who use the pull-out method?"

"Idiots?"

"Parents."

Stiles laughed but quickly stopped when Derek glared at him. "I think I've heard that joke before."

"Too bad you didn't remember it then. And it's not much of joke once it becomes your life."

"Oh, I'm aware," Stiles muttered. Derek returned to his spot by the window while Stiles went over to his dresser and picked up something at random, anything to occupy his hands. Neither one of them said anything for a while, each of them lost in his own thoughts.

When Derek finally spoke again, his voice was less harsh. "So."

"So . . .?"

"So what are you two going to do about this?"

And there is was. He should've been expecting it. "We don't know . . . yet. You know Malia's only been back a few hours, so we haven't really been able to talk about everything yet. She's been avoiding the subject, actually."

"Okay, so then what you are going to do."

Everything Derek had said before felt mostly deserved, but this was the first time Stiles felt annoyed. "So what, this is all on me? I'm freaked out about all of this too! Why does it have to be me?"

"Because you're handling it better than her at least," Derek pointed out. "And if it's not you, then who, Stiles?"

"I don't know," Stiles practically whined. "Someone who knows what they're doing? Look, I think we realize we're both fully responsible for getting ourselves into this mess, but –"

"Admitting you were wrong isn't the only way to take responsibility. It's doing something too."

He hated when Derek went all sage wolf on him, especially when he was right. "Fine, you have all the answers, Derek? So tell me what I should do."

Derek paused a moment to study the nervous 17 year old kid standing in front of him. The anxiety was coming off him in waves. It seemed to take all that he had to admit, "I think she should be with you and Malia."

Stiles started laughing; sure he had to be joking. He quickly stopped when he realized he wasn't. "Are you serious?! You actually think it's a good idea for me to raise a kid?"

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I'm trying to pick the lesser of two evils here."

"The worse option than me being . . .?"

"That's obvious, isn't it?"

Derek was referring to what had happened to Malia, of course. As much as Stiles had tried to put it in the back of his mind, it was a very big factor to consider. He didn't want anyone to get hurt, or for Hanna to do the hurting. If her mother was any indication, it was something she would never get over. "So it happens a lot then?"

"What, kids growing up not knowing what they are and accidentally killing people? Yeah, I've seen it. Of course she could still hurt someone either way, but it's so much worse when they have no idea what's happening to them. They don't know werewolves are real so they think they're going crazy. They need someone there to help them. When Scott became a werewolf, he asked me if he would kill someone. Do you know what I told him?"

"I'm sure it was something incredibly depressing."

"I told him he would," Derek said. "You have to help them the best you can while preparing them for the worst. You and Malia have to do the same for your kid. If you don't, then just imagine what could happen. Malia doesn't have to imagine. It already happened to her."

Stiles took that in. Derek was certainly good at guilt trips. He'd made an excellent point, and Stiles found he couldn't disagree with anything he was saying. But just like anyone getting backed into a corner, he deflected. "Didn't your mother start all of this? She knew how important it was for born wolves to grow up with their kind, and she still did what she did."

For a moment it seemed as if Derek might want to hit him, but then he just looked sad. "I don't know if I'll ever know why she did it. She had to have had her reasons. Maybe Malia's life would've turned out much worse if . . ."

They were measuring their words on the off chance Malia was bothering to listen in on them, but Stiles knew he was talking about how Malia could've turned out if she'd been raised by Peter and the Desert Wolf instead. He tried to consider how accidentally killing your mother and sister could be seen as the better outcome of the two, though he supposed being raised by her birth parents could've taught her that murder was a viable option to get what she wanted. Either decision would've left a body count. Poor Malia had been doomed from the start. Maybe Talia really had made the best choice she could given the options she had. Now having to make this decision himself for his own daughter, he finally understood how difficult it could be.

Stiles was suddenly exhausted. He didn't want to think about it anymore, but he didn't really have the luxury. "What if I'm not the lesser of two evils? Have you stopped to consider that maybe I'm not the tragic car crash in this scenario but that I'm actually the morally deficient werecreatures?"

It took Derek a second to work out the metaphor. "I don't think you raising your kid is on par with the damage those two could've done. From what I've heard the past few days, you've . . . actually been good with her."

Derek had been asking about his parenting abilities? And his friends had given him a good report? Knowing this made him feel slightly better. "Really?"

Derek shrugged. "All I'm saying is that you and Malia could probably do it if you really wanted to, and Hanna would probably come out . . . relatively unscathed. Look, normally I might not advocate teenagers becoming parents but these are special circumstances."

"Special circumstances," Stiles repeated. There had been so many times he'd wondered how much easier this would be if all he was worrying about was how this would derail his future, and not that his child could accidentally kill someone someday. Stiles looked down to see the object he'd been holding the whole time was one of Hanna's pacifiers. It was a difficult to imagine the baby he'd been taking care of the past few days could ever be capable of something like that, but she could. But even that didn't make him completely convinced that he and Malia were the best she could do.

He didn't say anything for a while, and Derek simply waited. Stiles finally sighed and put down the pacifier. He was ready to present his side of the argument. "I hear what you're saying, I do. But we've got to look at this from every angle, right?"

". . . I guess."

"Okay," Stiles said as he started pacing in front of Derek. "Hanna growing up with human parents could be dangerous for them. But maybe being raised with us would be dangerous for her."

"How so?"

"I mean think about it, we aren't living the safest lives here. Everyone is constantly trying to kill us – you and Allison both nearly died. Erica and Boyd did die. And then there's that whole issue of me being possessed by a psychotic fox spirit, remember that?"

"Okay, Beacon Hills is dangerous," Derek reluctantly admitted. "But we can protect her."

"Do you really think we can? And I'm human, so what am I supposed to do if none of you are around? Hope that the next horrifying monster we encounter has a fear of baseball bats?" When Derek couldn't seem to argue the point, Stiles took a deep breath. He was about to suggest something that could potentially change everything. "Hey Derek, you know any nice werewolf couples looking to adopt?"

Derek eyebrows shot up in surprise at first, but then he nodded his head in understanding. "I hadn't even thought of that."

"And that's why I'm the brains of this group."

Derek seemed as if he wanted to argue that point but he stopped himself. "It would certainly fix the issue of her growing up not knowing she's a werecoyote. How long have you been coming up with these counterarguments anyway?"

"I've had a pros and cons list running in here for days," Stiles said, tapping his temple. "Ideas, scenarios, I can't stop thinking about it."

"Have you talked to anybody else about this idea?"

"Not really. You're just the first one who's come in here demanding to know what I'm gonna do. Trust me, no matter what you or anyone says I can argue the other side. It's kind of what I do."

Derek let out a sardonic little laugh. "No kidding." He was actually impressed that Stiles appeared to be giving this all the serious thought it deserved. "Just consider what I said, okay? And promise you'll talk to Malia about it. Soon."

"I will. And you promise me you'll look into the adoption thing. Maybe talk to Satomi? Just as a back-up plan."

Derek nodded in agreement, seeming genuinely surprised about the unexpected turn the conversation had taken. He turned to go, but Stiles said, "Hey Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you so invested in this anyway?"

Derek took a moment to ponder the question, as if he also wasn't entirely sure why this had been so important to him. "I remember what it was like, being a teenager and still struggling during the full moons. I wouldn't have survived without help. Hanna shouldn't go through that. And then there's Malia."

Stiles nodded. It always felt odd to be sincere with Derek, but he felt like he owed him this much. "Derek . . . thanks. For trying to find her."

"I wanted to do it. I mean, technically she is . . ."

He didn't finish, but Stiles knew what he meant. She was family.

A/N: I know, not a whole lot of Stiles/Malia/Hanna stuff in this one, but it was fun to finally have the whole pack together. There are only two chapters left! Thanks for hanging in there with me and for the reviews, follows, and faves. It's really the only thing that keeps me from giving up on it, knowing there are people who actually want an ending.