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Note: This is the 29th part of the “Home Is Where the Spark Is” series. To understand better what’s going on, we recommend reading the previous entries. Enjoy!     

Note 2: If you like our series and want more aside from the main storyline, make sure to read our one-shots connected to this universe HERE! (After all, we needed a place where the extra smut, cuteness or emotions could go, which we couldn’t cram into our main story parts!) You’re welcome! :D

Fandoms: Teen Wolf, Sterek

Characters/relationships: Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale, Jake Hale (OC)/Jasmine Doyle (OC), Sheriff Stilinski, original Hale children

Rating/category: supernatural, post-Teen Wolf, canon and non-canon elements, slash, M/M, Sterek, aged up characters, Spark Stiles, Darach Stiles, Magic Stiles, Emissary Stiles, detective Stiles, matured Stiles, BAMF Stiles, tattooed Stiles, pierced Stiles, switch Stiles, Alpha Derek, switch Derek, epic romance, love, magic, soulmates, Mate bond, Emissary bond, werewolves, emotions, wit, sarcasm, secrets, mating, smut, gay sex, fingering, mpreg, pack bonding, domestic life, established relationship, family time

Summary: More family time, a hormonal pregnant alpha, a new car, and a surprise guest leave no dull moment in the Hale-Stilinski household. What else might come?

Disclaimer: This is a product of our imagination and was written only for entertainment and fun. We don’t profit from this fanfiction and we mean no harm or disrespect against any real person, culture or custom that might appear in the story. All original pictures or edits and fictional characters used in the story belong to their respective owners and credit goes to them.

Edit by Just Jim  

Ember to Inferno
by Just Jim & Useless-girl

29: Ember to Inferno – Part 1

"Did you eat my yogurt?" Jake was head-deep in the fridge while Derek was kind of busy with his large tub of ice-cream, so he looked up at his father with an annoyed expression.

"No, I'm eating ice-cream."

"There was a yogurt left in here. I even wrote my name on it. So you wouldn't eat it, and you still ate it!"

This wasn't a new discussion, whenever food went missing, Derek was the one looked at these past weeks. Granted, he was usually the one eating pretty much everything in sight, but that didn't mean he was always the culprit. There were other people living here too. Derek grunted at Jake, instantly grumpy. The hormones weren't easy on the werewolf, although he tried, he really did, but his emotions were like a rollercoaster. Everybody suffered. So it was a good thing Jake was moving into his apartment today. Going from strangers to family instantly had needed some adjusting, yet all these weeks have also helped to bond.

"It's probably in your new fridge, in your new apartment, where you put it." It wasn't, Derek for sure had eaten it yesterday. Putting names on things didn't help when there were cravings. And he had them all day long! The alpha wasn't seen without food anymore, food and decaf coffee.

The second ultrasound went great too, there were still two babies at seven weeks. So they had agreed to do one a month later, which was due next week. He was now at ten weeks and there were some changes which also didn't make Derek the easiest as they all got used to it. For one, he had gained weight and had sized up in pants because there was some rounding happening. His six-pack was gone, leaving soft skin behind. It wasn't huge or anything, the fetuses were too small for it, but there was a definite curve happening. An unfortunate prelude that yes, Derek Hale was going to be huge.

Veins were showing up, which was apparently normal even though Stiles hadn't been so early with them and Derek needed naps like their one year old son. The changes were making him tired enough to start yawning and dozing off, if he didn't grab a powernap. And he got extremely crabby without one. Like now.

"You need your nap, you big fat liar," Jake pointed out.

"Are you calling me fat...?"

Uh-oh.

"I'd choose my words more carefully nowadays, Jake," Stiles put his laptop on the coffee table and got up from the couch where he's been working from home and half-listening to the unfolding conversation. Jake definitely stepped on a landmine and looked the part of someone who didn't dare to move in fear of it exploding right into his face.

The last few weeks were not the easiest and required a lot of patience from everyone. Not that the pack members dared to visit too often, because the Hale brothers (which Stiles still thought of like a cool band name!) were right. A pregnant alpha was nothing but explosive if teased or not getting what he wanted. Not to mention the protectiveness and possessiveness.

Let's just say, there was A LOT of scent marking on Stiles and the kids. Especially when Stiles returned from work or one of the many grocery runs.

And he didn't mind it at all! He took it like a champ so far and most of the time even found it amusing. Which surprised everyone, really. But he knew why: there were two babies growing in his mate and Stiles was over the moon happy about that!

Walking past behind Derek, Stiles stroked his hand along the broad shoulders and the back of the alpha's neck before nudging Jake out of the way with his hip. He took a bottle of water from the fridge before taking a sip and walking back to his mate to rub his shoulder and lean down for a peck on his stubbly face. "You're beautiful, babe."

Derek gave Stiles a grin with hamster cheeks. Of course, the gentle and patient way Stiles approached it all defused a lot of situations that could have been explosive. Probably that’s why Derek didn't do groceries as often anymore, and let Jake or Stiles handle it, because he would either come back with too many things they didn't need, or too little of what they did need. Or he'd get into a confrontation with somebody at the store over something stupid like the last can of tuna. When Stiles worked at the station, Jake picked up the list (even though the man took forever because he was still getting used to living in these times) and Derek focused on the kids. He did bring and pick up Beth from school and they were going to look at cars this week.

There was a list on the board of what they still had to do before the babies. It included Jake moving out so they could start on making the bedrooms downstairs ready for Beth and Casey. Though Casey was going to stay upstairs for a little longer until he was old enough to walk on his own. The twins were going to share the nursery, Beth's old room was big enough for it. Still, it did mean they had three bedrooms to do, as well as furniture shopping. Something they were going to do once Derek was more used to the hormones raging through his body.

"You won't think so when I'm huge. I've already lost the six pack you love so much." Not that it stopped Derek from shoving another spoonful of ice-cream in his mouth as he leaned into the touches of his mate. Casey was on the ground, playing with the baby gym which meant he smacked all the items all the time and would stand up and fall down on his diapered bottom over and over. He'd shake his head full of brown curls, laugh, and do it again. The kid took after Stiles so much, it was almost like he had been cloned.

Jake gave up on his yogurt, knowing he could do some grocery shopping and bring the little family some as well. "You're housing two babies, as well as a uterus and who knows what else that wasn't there before. So of course you're already starting to show, boy. Tiny waist, no fat, those babes gotta go somewhere. It's a badge of honor."

"Nice save!" Stiles mouthed to Jake over Derek's head, earning a proud grin from his father-in-law. Then he sat down next to his mate putting down his water bottle on the table. His other hand went to Derek's back, stroking soothing circles over it. "I do love that six-pack, but I love the baby bump even more. You're gorgeous, babe. And will get even more gorgeous once our kids really start growing. You look hot to me no matter what," he smirked and threw him some bedroom eyes. "I'll show you later just how hot," he winked dirtily.

They pretty quickly figured out that since Derek had no morning sickness or a lot of the other uncomfortable pregnancy-related stuff happening, that his libido didn't suffer from it either. It seemed it just got more active. Which Stiles didn't complain about at all since he was a kinky little fucker as well.

"Oh my god, I'm so happy I'm moving today!" Jake groaned in the background.

"We're too," Stiles grinned, still watching his eating mate.

"As if it ever stopped you two from banging when I'm here." Jake was really glad he had picked an apartment on the first floor. It had plenty of floors between them for him to not hear them go at it. It was something packs were used to, because sensitive hearing and scent made for less privacy. It was mostly ignored, because it was all natural, it was all fine. But that didn't mean there couldn't be teasing happening. Derek and Stiles had a very healthy libido.

"Nobody stops us from it." Except of course the kids, and they made sure the kids didn't see more than the flirting, kissing, or some ass slapping. They behaved, mostly. But yeah, Derek did get in the mood more thanks to the hormones. Pregnant werewolves were lucky enough to not have too much discomfort early on in the pregnancy. Deaton already warned them that once Derek was bigger, he wasn't going to escape the aches of swollen feet and a strained back. At least he was able to handle it better, it would be less painful for him than it would be for a human. Honestly, Derek did take to the pregnancy like a duck to water body-wise. He was the perfect picture of health with fluffy soft hair and that pregnancy glow to him.

Licking off his spoon, Derek leaned in closer to whisper in his mate's ear. "Maybe you can show me when we're test driving the cars this afternoon."

"I can still hear that! Okay, you two kinky fuckers, go do some more flirting, I'll go do some groceries so you can go when I'm back. And then I can move into my new place downstairs." Jake could already move in, because they’ve got the last thing sorted out there this morning. It was just that the car shopping had to happen.

Chuckling with a slight blush, Stiles nodded eagerly to his mate's suggestion, barely hearing Jake preparing to leave with the groceries list. Sometimes he was just a background noise when Stiles' full focus was on his mate.

"That's kinky, Derek. I like it. Maybe I could suck you off when..." Stiles started, but stopped mid-sentence and turned his head towards the door with a light frown. "Someone's in front of the door," he said, getting up and making sure Casey and Derek were behind him.

And true to his words, in the next moment there were two knocks on the big sliding door. Which only made Stiles frown more, because once again none of his wards and spells alerted him about a visitor. It was getting old at this point...

His eyes flared up in amber and he let some of his magic loose (since that someone had to be another supernatural to be able to sneak up like this without alerting him or the wolves), he nodded towards Jake to open the door.

Once he did it, they all stared at a sharply dressed brunette woman with bronze skin and brown eyes.

"Hello, boys! It's nice to finally meet you. Jake has told me a lot about you," she said and stepped into the loft in black high heels, a black and white striped mini-dress and an open black leather jacket as if she owned the place.

(Emanuelle Chriqui as Jasmine)

The alpha didn't even get up, not until he finished off his tub of ice-cream. Something told him he didn't need to worry, there were no spidey sense tingling as Stiles would call it whenever Derek would sense something. Nope, Stiles seemed to be intent on defending his family with his stance, so he only got up to get Casey in his arms when the woman stepped into the loft.

She was gorgeous and she demanded all the attention just by standing there with her husky voice and her everything. Her smile lit up the entire loft and she smelled like pure sunshine. Fiona had that quality too, but so much more dimmed down. No, this was a full-blooded fae, alright. Ah so the girlfriend/boss was the one who had managed to teach Jake the trick to bypass magical wards… Because Derek didn't even have to think on who this was. Especially not with the way Jake's face lit up like it was Christmas again. Oh no, nothing going on there or anything…

"The girlfriend from LA," Derek said.

Jake's eyes flashed black at Derek from calling her his girlfriend, but it was nothing that impressed the younger Hale all that much. "Jasmine! Hey! Hi! Wow, this is such an amazing surprise. Guys, meet Jasmine!" The man was a little flustered, but he did lean in to kiss the woman in greeting.

Derek mouthed a ‘wow’ at Stiles, because really... couldn't he be more obvious about his crush on the woman?

Relaxing from his 'ready to fight' stance, Stiles blinked a few times and nodded to Derek, but then huffed a bit still irritated as he rolled his eyes. "Stupid fae magic..." Yes, his wards were still a sore point for the poor Spark. Or rather how Jake and this woman could walk through them as if they weren't even there.

Jasmine didn't seem to mind Derek's comment on her or Stiles' about her powers. She just allowed Jake to kiss her. She looked very amused and pleased from his surprise.

"I'm sorry to barge in like this, but I wanted to surprise this one here," she nodded gracefully towards the demon wolf, whose eyes still seemed to be glued to her "because I know he's moving to his new place today. I brought gifts as well. They are downstairs in my car," she said calmly and stroked down on Jake's arm before walking closer to the other two men and the baby. "And that cute little boy must be Casey," she smiled brightly again, waving to the boy on Derek's arm, who waved back with his tiny fist enthusiastically and with a cute giggle.

"I think he's surprised," Derek deadpanned, because Jake was literally standing there with his mouth open. Not that the son could blame his father, because there was something about Jasmine that made her hard to resist. Which must be the fae quality the books also mentioned. Not quite glamour, but they had an appeal to them, especially to the supernatural. "Our daughter is still at school, but you'll meet her soon enough." Beth was going to love having another girl around. She had opened up to Fiona instantly since there weren't as many women in her life besides Melissa.

The baby wriggled around, wanting to meet the newcomer, so Derek put him down while Jake finally shook himself out of his stupor and closed the door again. That seemed to wake up the dogs to come greet Jasmine as well, creating the usual chaos at the loft.

"Jasmine, this is Derek and his mate Stiles. Who hates us bypassing his wards. I promised him you'd let him know how to get more security against fae." Jake did seem to think that was a good idea despite liking the bypassing for himself. With new babies on the way, the loft could use an upgrade.

"I see," she greeted the dogs with a few strokes, finding the... unique appearance of Little Monster amusing too. But when they tried to jump on her – and with that possibly ruining her clothes – she commanded them to sit both with her voice and a hand gesture, and probably even with a bit of her power. The pooches obeyed and stayed sitting while wagging their tails behind them. "Good boys," she smiled then turned her attention toward the approaching crawling baby.

"May I?" she glanced at the mates questioningly and when she got the permission, she gently but securely picked up Casey to make him sit on her arm. "Hey there, handsome little Spark," she smiled at him, letting him grab her index-finger in awe.

Stiles only raised a brow at that and watched the interaction like a hawk, arms crossed over his chest. "You can sense it like Jake?"

"But of course," Jasmine said on a soft voice, watching the happy baby playing with her hand. "He's going to be strong like you," she smiled at the Darach. "The aura of that power is all over him. Not as strongly as yours yet, of course, but it's there," she nodded. "And he's as handsome as his grandfather described him to me. Aren't you?" she turned her attention back to Casey and freed her hand from his grip just to conjure some tiny balls of light, which seemed to be a big hit, because the baby squealed in delight and tried to catch them as they danced just out of his reach.

"I'm also pleased to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you two." Here she turned towards Derek. "I also apologize for entering your territory without previously letting you know, but as I said, I wanted this to be a surprise. I hope me staying for a week or so is okay with you and your mate, Alpha Hale."

If Derek was unused to being asked, because he was still despite having a large pack these days, he didn't let it show. Instead he nodded formally to her as he rested his hand on the small of Stiles' back, sensing the man still wasn't too happy with the fae magic. "We'd be happy to have you." Look at him being able to be all diplomatic even when his pack usually let him know through text messages if they needed something. They were too young of a pack to be formal, but this did however betray Jasmine's experience. And with that, her age. She was older than her looks suggested, and had experience with pack life.

Jasmine's magic was strong, like Jake's, the loft was almost brimming with all the power the four of them had. "Don't mind Stiles, we recently found out we're having more cubs." She had to know, probably already sensed it. But it was also a warning it wouldn't be only Stiles who could behave protectively.

"What my son is trying to say is that he's going to grump at us for your entire stay, because he's a hormonal delight." Jake was happy she was planning to stay for a week, and he was in very good spirits all of a sudden.

"Oh yes, the twins," she smiled warmly at the alpha and let her eyes wander down on the barely there baby bump, which was pretty much hidden by his shirt for now. "Your father is a very proud grandfather... and a blabbermouth," her smile turned into a smirk.

"And totally smitten with you. All of a sudden his missing yogurt is forgotten," Stiles supplied, still watching her every move, although there was no spidey sense tingling going on about her. But she still was a stranger in their home, holding their son and standing near his pregnant mate while possessing that annoying fae magic Stiles couldn't figure out yet. And things he couldn’t figure out always bugged him until he did so. Not that his own magic could bring him any results yet, despite the fact that it's been trying to discreetly size up hers. But she felt much older and more in control of her magic, giving away nothing. Well, aside from the fact that she was powerful and very much in control despite the fact that she appeared being at ease. "But it's nice of you to ask permission from Derek, and by extension me. We appreciate," Stiles added, not wanting to come off as too rude. To which he got a genuine smile and nod.

The weeks Jake’s been staying with them have allowed them to get to know him, but of course she knew him way better than they did, but yeah. One thing was clear, Jake had his heart on his sleeve and it wasn't like Derek when it came to communicating. He talked, a lot. Offered information when not even asked, a fountain of it, so much that at times they needed a break from it all to calm their overwhelmed brains. Stiles has been writing a lot of it in the bestiary so the information wouldn't get lost yet again. So the fact that he was a blabbermouth seemed accurate, because he definitely seemed like the guy who had hours-long phone calls with his girlfriend. "I'll get us some drinks," Derek said.

"Nope. You sit down, you know the rules," Jake motioned to the living room.

Derek rolled his eyes at that, because the rule was that he didn't lift anything heavy. But he was a werewolf and not much was heavy for him, especially not a tray of drinks! With a frown he glared at Jake who once again motioned to the living room with a more exaggerated hand sign. "I'd say he's trying to impress you, but he seems to be simply this annoying," the alpha sighed and took Casey from Jasmine, who was a lot heavier than drinks by the way, and lead her to the living area.

"Eleven weeks and they act as if the babies could fall out any moment," Derek said, his attention on the woman. "I didn't mean to steal him away from you."

"You mean Casey or your father?" she winked and waved off Derek's concern. Of course, with Jake she meant that the demon wolf eventually came back to Beacon Hills, leaving LA and Jasmine behind. "Don't worry about either," she said as she gracefully sat down on one of the big comfortable couches and finally allowed her eyes to drink in the details of her surroundings. "Regarding Casey, I heard about how protective pregnant alphas can get, especially with cubs. And as for Jake..." she glanced over to the kitchen area where said man and Stiles were busy getting the drinks and Stiles putting together some snacks (because he knew his husband!). "I don't mind, because I understand that family comes first and that he had to fill in the gaps in his memory and see if he could find something or any of you here. I'm glad he did," she looked back at the alpha with his son.

"Too bad we can't help him with his memory." Of course Derek had meant Jake, because it hadn't occurred to him to apologize for taking the little one from her. "It's good that Jake's got his brother back and he's getting to know me. I'm surprised he stayed, though." Especially now that they could see firsthand how in love the demon wolf was with the woman, someone he had left behind for Derek. Maybe also for Peter? The two got along well, better than Derek and Peter ever did.

"But what an alpha took, I can't give back." Those years which were gone (17 in total), they would never be recovered. Not for Derek, not for Jake. They both would never know how much Jake had been part of the Hale family life. For Jake it was a good thing, so he wouldn't have to feel the loss of his other kids. "He doesn't talk about it, about the family he had lost." Derek had lowered his voice as he glanced towards the kitchen. "Maybe he will with you."

It was kind of ironic, Derek the non-talker, worrying about his father's inability to grieve the loss of a family from twenty years ago. To Jake it was a much shorter time since he had been dead for most of those years. Derek blamed it on the hormones, or on the fact that he had his own family now and knew exactly what it would feel like to lose them. "I'm not the right person for it." It was an understatement.

"Yes. That tragedy... it's awful. I'm sorry for your loss too. I've told him before that he can talk to me about it whenever he wants. Sometimes he does, in snippets, but I don't pressure him. Sometimes I think that trying so hard to learn about this new world and all its changes since the '90s is his way to occupy his mind with something else. But all in his pace. He might open up to you too with time, you know. And you and his brother can fill in the gaps the best, to be honest. Since you are the ones who knew those who were lost," she said on a similarly low voice, although they couldn't be sure that Jake wasn't listening in on the conversation while being busy with Stiles (and the "starving" dogs and cat) in the kitchen.

Derek nodded, since they haven't talked about it at all. Which was understandable. Peter knew Jake, had known the others in ways Derek hadn't because he was a son and not a brother. And there was the awkward fact that brother and sister had also been mates, resulting in him, so the talking part about the more painful topics haven't been broached yet. Mostly because the alpha was very good at dodging it.

Jake seemed to sense the sensitive topic, even though Derek was the one to even mention it, or he’s been listening in. Whatever the reason was, he arrived with the tray of drinks, leaving the snack-carrying to Stiles. "Let's see, one sippy cup for the boss in the house…" He gave Casey his lemonade and handed Jasmine a mug of steaming tea, the way she liked it. Decaf coffee for the unfortunate addict and real coffee for the other two men. Sitting down next to her, he made sure Stiles could sit next to Derek. "Don't worry boy, not about me. Seriously. You have enough to worry about."

"We need to get you some noise cancelling headphones," Derek huffed.

"Pfffft, as if those exist…" Jake blinked at the amused looks. "Those exist? And you didn't mention them despite the weeks of you having sex all the time?!"

"Ooops?" Stiles grinned, starting to relax a bit. Ribbing Jake quickly became a very effective method for that. "You saw one on Beth countless of times, by the way. She would've been able to listen in on our conversations while watching her cartoons otherwise," Stiles explained then glanced at Derek. "At least we know what to buy him as a house warming gift for his new flat."

Jasmine laughed wholeheartedly from these antics and put one hand on Jake's thigh, maybe to express her fondness of his lack of knowledge about the modern world, maybe to comfort, or just to touch him. Either way, she was very amused. "I like these two," she concluded. "They're even more hilarious in person than in your stories," she told Jake then took a careful sip from her tea, making a pleased sound from it being made just how she liked it.

"I thought they were really fucking good headphones! How should I know? I only remember those that came with a Discman and let me tell you, those were incredibly shitty when it came to blocking out the noises. Unless you turned the volume all the way up and ruined the songs," Jake threw up his hands, giving up on the modern times for the millionth time ever since he was revived, because the world just didn't make sense anymore.

"You think we're hilarious." Of course Derek picked up on that right away, a smug tone to his voice. It was nice to hear Jake talked about them so much, that he made them part of his life so quickly and instantly. Derek was too used to being the unwanted, so it was a complete change to have somebody that wanted them around.

Scoffing, Jake waved it away. "Don't flatter yourself, I have a boring life." The grin on his face suggested otherwise, but the trolling was nonstop between the two Hale men.

"You haven't been bored since you got here."

"I'm not bored, I'm Jake." And the dad jokes. Oh, how endless the dad jokes were.

Jasmine chuckled discreetly behind her mug of tea and took a sip before leaning against Jake's side a bit. Watching these two interact had already made this trip worthy for her. It's been a while since she's been so entertained by people. Usually they bored her and she focused more on her business than pleasure with them.

"Aaanyways..." Stiles ignored the very bad dad joke with an eye-roll and focused on their pretty gorgeous guest. Even happily mated and in love with Derek from head to toe, he could also feel her natural allure. And she was just sitting there calmly, probably not even using any of her fae powers consciously. "Jasmine, Mr. Blabbermouth here had revealed earlier to us that you own and run a successful hotel in LA for the supernaturals. Neutral ground as he said. A bit like in the John Wick movies... I'm interested in how and why that happened," the Spark asked, taking Casey from Derek when he indicated with some loud "Dada's" that he wanted to go to him.

Trying to learn more about her wasn't just because he wanted to involve her more in the conversation or wanting to get to know the woman better, who could mesmerize Jake Hale so much, but also because it was not every day when such a powerful (and rare) light fae was sitting on their couch.

"Well, it's a long story, but even for the shorter version, one has to know a bit of my past and background. In a nutshell, as a baby I was saved by a family friend from the light fae court back in Dublin when some of the noble houses attacked ours. I was adopted by a rich human couple and raised as one until I neared my 16th birthday and my powers started finally manifesting more noticeably. Then I had learned about my real family. After a few wild years, once I calmed down, I started thinking about my future. I used to be an actress and a freelance photo model before I ventured into the world of business. Think in decades here..." she grinned mischievously. "Anyways, since my previous two jobs made me quite visible in the world, I spent some time on the run, because... fae assassins," she rolled her eyes, as if they were nothing more than annoying flies buzzing around her head.

"Obviously, I needed a safe place so I wouldn't be on the run for all my life and that's when the idea came to me that I could purchase or build a place and make it safe for not just me, but also for other supernaturals in their everyday lives as well. I thought that a hotel might be the best for that. So yeah, I made that into reality with my money, connections and lots of intricate spells and stuff," she shrugged.

Derek glanced at Stiles, who had somehow managed to not jump up, point at Jasmine and go: So she's totally Jake's sugar mommy! Because the alpha could hear it in his head loud and clear as he thought the same, a smirk tugging at his lips as he avoided pulling a Stiles by exclaiming it. This woman was gorgeous, experienced and rich. And very old. Because noble houses? That was a saying from at least a century and a half ago. Plus if she wasn't recognized as a model or actress these days, that meant nobody was alive anymore to recognize her and the movies were old enough to be lost in the sea of old movies.

Jake seemed to reach the same conclusion as Derek did, because of course they had talked about it before and she had hinted at the fact that she wasn't young either... Jake hadn't realized that he was actually younger than her. "Wow, I feel like such a fucking ass right now. Here I was boasting about my old age and all this time..."

Biting his lip, Derek tried not to sass, tried not to troll. But his father set it up so well as he realized he was dating an ‘ancient’ fae that it just... slipped. "You are her boy toy," Derek concluded for him.

"Well... I like to watch my boy toys play," she grinned from behind her mug before taking another sip of tea.

"Oooouch!" Stiles hissed then laughed out, making Casey join him before he rested his head and fists on his chest, getting comfortable for a nap. Rubbing his back soothingly, Stiles kept grinning from ear-to-ear. "Jake, maybe you should call her My Lady or even better... Sugar Mommy!" he suggested, containing his cackle only for Casey's case.

That made Jasmine softly snort into her mug and take an amused glance at the shocked demon wolf. Of course, still none of the men knew her actual age, but that's just how she liked to keep people in the dark. Let them keep guessing.

"I call her bossbabe. Little did I know how accurate that was on so many levels." Honestly, as old as he was, he should have seen that one coming a mile away. But no, he hadn't realized. He had thought they were of the same age. Not that it mattered in the long haul to old supernaturals like them, but it was hilarious to him. His somewhat (?) girlfriend was a very old faerie.

Derek meanwhile gave into the temptation of the snacks. He waited long enough for the others to dig in and since that wasn't happening, their loss! There has been no food happening for at least half an hour, which was rare ever since he had found out he was pregnant. While having big hamster cheeks, he thought on what Jasmine had told them, besides her age. "Now it makes sense why Jake was your bodyguard. Are you ever even safe from the fae court?"

And it also made sense why she felt so... overwhelming in presence. She seemed to be full-blooded royalty and that’s why her powers were dazzling. "And how powerful are you really?"

"Very," Jake answered for her. "Use your eyes Derek." He meant more to actively use the gift of seeing into other realms. One Derek didn't realize he wasn't using, because usually at the loft he let it happen in case Stiles' mom made an appearance. Which she sadly hasn't done often ever since her energy spike to take over his body. Letting the 'gift' in, Jasmine’s energy changed and it was like looking into the sun. It made Derek’s eyes water.

Jasmine was just sitting there calmly with one perfect eyebrow slightly raised, interested if it worked for Derek like it did for his father.

"Whoa!" That was not Derek, but Stiles, who meanwhile also tapped into his powers, which allowed him to look at energies with his mind's eye. His real ones were glowing in their usual amber color now as he stared at the bright energies radiating from her. "If I'm an amber blob to you, Derek, then she's like a mini sun!" he exclaimed quietly, not wanting to wake their dozing baby, who felt so very comfortable on his chest. (He loved sleeping on his daddies' chest. Especially on Stiles'. Maybe because he got so used to his heartbeats and presence while in his belly.)

The fae finished her tea and put the empty mug on the coffee table, picking up a plate and a homemade chocolate chip cookie to munch on.

"What can I say? I'm a radiant personality," she chuckled softly and took a bite. "This is very good," she commented, giving the mates the time to ogle her like that. She seemed chill about it. "To answer your question..." she continued with a more serious expression "no, I'm usually not safe from the court. They are persistent fuckers for sure. They should've given up a long time ago since I'm not planning on ever stepping foot in their territory. The world – even the supernatural one – should be big enough for us. Especially since I'm literally on the other side of said world."

Wiping at his eyes, Derek blinked to stop seeing the big sun right in his living room. Of course, Stiles had become more than an amber blob now that he was a Darach, he was far more intense. But yeah, it was nothing compared to the woman across from them. Derek's ability wasn't as smooth as Jake's, because the demon wolf was so used to it that it was like breathing for him. While Derek was still learning how to turn it on and off smoothly. He was just happy to be able to not see ghosts all the time, which had been a strain on his already frayed sanity. "From what I know, fae folk are very persistent." Which was why it was impressive that Jake was with one, because the lore about breaking a promise to a faerie was legendary.

Jake nodded, he was aware of her story, it was one he had been told when she had asked him to become one of her bodyguards. He had experienced firsthand how persistent they were in their need to end Jasmine's life. Luckily, she was smart enough to surround herself with powerful bodyguards to keep her safe, or it would have ended differently. "At least she stopped living in hiding and she has good men to guard her. Nobody should have to live in fear all the fucking time. It’s bad enough we all have to hide ourselves from the humans." It was an unspoken rule, which all supernaturals abided to. To never expose themselves if they can avoid it. Nobody wanted to end up as a lab rat or worse, to be relentlessly persecuted for what they are. Hunters were bad enough when it came to that.

"Yeah..." Clearly something was on Derek's mind. "It doesn't add up, though. If you've been hunted since you were sixteen, and you're at least 150 years old." At the looks thrown his way he huffed. He was intelligent, he could make connections. "‘Noble families’ was something said back then. And you're from the court and got away, which they won't like, sure… but that still doesn't explain why you're hunted to this extent. Unless you have something they want or you can claim something of theirs. Because if you piss off faeries, they don't take your life, they take a life you love, because they're resentful and know how to dish out revenge. It's what had started the baby stealing stories about them."

Derek knew a lot, he saw a lot, he was called a snoop for a reason. It was why many supernaturals and humans weren't comfortable with him. He called them out on secrets, because he was blunt and didn't particularly care about social etiquette. Nor was he ever raised to care about that. One inhale of breath and he could tell their emotions, what they had to eat or drink, what they had done that day. They couldn't hide their wings or horns or other forms, because he saw through the glamour and veils. Yet, he was always underestimated, even by Jake, who looked at him impressed.

While Jasmine shared that same impressed look, Stiles' was filled with pride as he smiled under his nose, because of course he knew the most how intelligent, observant and resourceful his husband could get too. The Spark might be the quicker problem-solver and detective, able to hyper-focus on his job or a plan, but Derek was just as good and could easily be a detective too. Well, not with his (mostly cleared) rap sheet, of course, but yeah. Stiles loved him for his brains too, not just his personality and hot body.

His daydreaming (and heart-eyes) were interrupted by Jasmine humming more to herself as she crossed her long legs, her bronze skin discretely brushing against Jake's shin.

"I'm impressed, Alpha," she slightly nodded towards Derek, voicing Jake's thought as well. Her slightly playful tone also informed Derek that she used his official title both to show her respect and also as a tiny tease. "I'd make only one correction. I've been hunted since I was a baby and rescued from the court, but they didn't know where to look for me thanks to a protection spell to hide me and suppress my powers until I've got older. That's why my abilities started to show only when I was a teenager. The spell started wearing off. You could say I was a late-bloomer," she said a bit amused and it didn't seem to bother her at all that they were talking about living her days in constant danger. It was something she had learned to get used to. It was necessary to keep her sanity and don't get overly paranoid.

She didn't comment on Derek's guess regarding her age, or his suggestions either. She was a friendly and open woman, but also careful about giving away too much about herself. Especially around new people. Not that she didn't trust Jake's judgment about his son and son-in-law, but still. She's always tried to be careful.

"I'm not asking to pry." Derek didn't really react much to her use of his title since he knew she didn't mean to use it as an insult or to mock him. "I'm asking because when you're here, we're involved too. I get that you don't want to tell." She hasn't said anything to confirm any of his theories, though she did confirm it more with the way she said she had been hidden for sixteen years by a spell. "I just want to know if we should be prepared." Not worry, he wasn't exactly too worried about having her here too with the pack being so strong. Whatever they'd try, they could handle it. Unfortunately, the alpha of the pack wouldn't be able to be part of the fights much, because he had two babies to protect. "And it's our job to protect others here." He did wonder if the faeries would come here also because of the Nemeton. There weren't many of them left, and one fully restored might appeal to certain types of the supernatural.

"She's not attacked daily, Derek. They try every now and again, there's no rhyme and reason to it besides them trying to look for openings." Jake didn't think that her visiting a very powerful couple would be seen as an opening, more like a suicide attempt.

"She left her safe haven and they don't know this is one too. I think her visiting the guy she's dating might be a great opening."

"I understand your concern," she said. "The last thing I want to do is bring danger on my heels. I was careful, though. But that's not a guarantee. That's why I won't overstay my welcome and plan to spend only a short time around," she explained, letting her gaze linger on the sleeping baby then on Derek, knowing (and sensing) the other two babies growing in him. Plus there was their daughter too. She didn't want to endanger the family at all.

"They also have their own very much awake Nemeton in Ireland as far as I know, so I don't really think they'd be interested in this one, especially with such strong protectors," she looked longer at Stiles this time. "I can sense your connection to it. Both of your life forces are clearly entwined with the Nemeton's," she mused, her eyes probably seeing more than she let on.

Pausing, she thought for a moment and glanced at Jake before looking back at the couple. "From my past I only have that letter that had explained my origins and a single pendant with my once influential house's crest. I doubt they'd want that. I suspect it must be more about my royal blood..." she waved with her free hand, subtly dropping that bomb.

Derek didn't want to make her feel unwelcome, that's not why he had asked, it was more about giving them a fair warning that they should be careful. But he didn't get to explain himself because Jake stood up abruptly and wide-eyed.

"You're royalty. I'd fucked a princess! My girlfriend is a fucking princess!" Running a hand through his hair, it was clear Jake was kind of impressed by her and by himself that he was capable of landing a princess, a rare one at that, and he was also so surprised. Not once had he thought she was royalty. Jasmine was rich and was raised rich, sure, but faerie royalty?!

"She's probably regretting that right now," Derek deadpanned at the reaction with a chuckle as his hand rested on his stomach. A habit that has started since he had found out about the tiny lives in there, even though he couldn't sense them just yet. He did hear their tiny heartbeats when it was quiet, feeling it thrumming through him if he concentrated.

"So we're official now then?" Jasmine twirled her ankle in the air and raised a brow, but instead of regret, there was only amusement on her face as she was watching Jake. Well... she did like to surprise or shock others sometimes and this clearly worked out.

And sure, they have started out as the boss and the bodyguard then became casual lovers on the side, but despite growing closer in the last few months, they never went official with the girlfriend-boyfriend title. They were both very free-spirited and often busy. Not to mention the long distance kind of thing they've been doing lately.

"Uh..." It had slipped out without meaning to and Jake wasn't even sure if that was something they did? It wasn't like he wanted to tie her down or anything, but she knew all that, she knew he was fine with whatever she did. Jake was the same as she was when it came to relationships, but in a way he probably did consider her his girlfriend? Nothing has been defined, but she wasn't angry so... "Maybe?"

That made Derek snort in amusement. Clearly as smooth as Jake was in many things, when it came to simple things like a relationship, he floundered, badly, too. At least the alpha wasn't the only one bad at social interactions. It seemed they both weren't great with relationships. "It's like saying ditto at the big three words. Big mistake."

"Yeah..." Stiles agreed, eyeing the couple as he held their sleeping son against his chest with one hand, the other stroking Derek's knee. "But you have to admit they're kinda cute."

"Yeah," Derek nodded to Stiles, it was true, the two were cute even though it was a conversation to be held maybe in private? Not that the alpha minded being in the first row to witness his father's faux pas. It was going to be great teasing material down the line. Plus, it gave him all the freedom to happily munch on the snacks Stiles had displayed on the table.

Mostly ignoring the mates' comments, Jas kept watching Jake in a calm, composed manner. Like she usually was. "You know a label won't change things between us, right? How we've been living our lives?" She meant the often being apart yet always circling back to each other thing that's been going on between them for a while now that Jake had moved back to Beacon Hills while Jasmine stayed in LA.

"I don't want it to change, I like things between us." Jake also ignored the two on the couch, who were watching the interaction closely. Almost like they were putting on a show. Sitting down again, he pointedly shifted to offer more of his back to the other two so he could fully look at Jasmine. "But I also don't want to call you my friend when I introduce you when you're more than just my friend. It doesn't change anything." They were too wild, too much in contact with nature, which was also why they seemed to connect so well.

"Should've made some popcorn..." Stiles murmured under his nose. It was kinda like watching a scene from a TV show. Not that he could've eaten any without waking Casey, so he let Derek do all the munching for two – four if we counted the babies in his belly.

"I'm okay with introducing you as my boyfriend from now on too," she nodded, slightly tilting her head to the side on a soft smile and a promising look. "So... agreed."

Jasmine was a successful business woman with quite a few powerful and loaded business partners from the supernatural world. Some of them have been trying to woo her for years – maybe only for sex, maybe to snag themselves such a rare wife – but she was picky with whom she let close. No wonder, given her history – about which luckily only a handful of people knew. So that's why even she was a little surprised when it turned out that she enjoyed Jake's company so much outside the bedroom too. They simply worked together.

Jake flashed her a brilliant smile at her admission, knowing that she was a picky woman, with good reason. She deserved everything and more, and he knew that maybe he couldn't offer her everything, but he could offer her something not many could. A life full of adventures, surprises and longevity. He was raw, while she was sophisticated. He came from a rich family, but didn't have much under his name, while she was filthy rich. The thing was, it didn't matter. Not between them. None of it did. Only they mattered. Sometimes they wanted sex, sometimes they wanted to talk and it was all fine. It was... uncomplicated when their lives were so very complicated.

"Okay, now kiss," Derek piped up as he handed Stiles the bowl of Japanese rice crackers he’s been digging into. It wasn't popcorn, but it was close enough, the healthier kind. Since Stiles figured out pretty quickly that the normally healthy werewolf wasn't all that interested in healthy stuff, he had taken it upon himself to make sure Derek wouldn't load up on only sugar and carbs. It was why the cheese platter also had grapes and slices of sausages. Honestly, the alpha didn't mind, he'd eat whatever as long as it was food. No, that wasn't true. Anything fish related made his stomach roll in protest. The food cravings were going to be epic, no doubt.

Jake shook his head as he threw one of the many throw pillows at his son. "You're lucky you're pregnant, boy." Some smacking would have happened otherwise. "Or I'd put you over my knee."

Stiles took a cracker and grinned. "I sometimes do that to him, but I have a suspicion he wouldn't like it that much if you did it," Stiles said, as usual, shamelessly. And with that he carefully bit into the cracker, mindful not to jostle Casey awake, who was now lightly drooling onto his shirt. It seemed all the excitement and crawling all over the place earlier knocked him out good.

Jasmine stifled a chuckle and glanced at the Spark with a conspirator-y look. "Oh, Jake likes getting spanked too," she hummed in agreement.

Her response and grin immediately made Stiles like her better, because it was the meeting of fellow spirits, it seemed.

The Hales didn't react the same, and they weren't kindred spirits at all with that. Derek flushed a bright red, elbowing Stiles sharply for daring to out him like that. And Jake adapted a dirty grin, because he was just as shameless as the other two. Wiggling his eyebrows at Jasmine, which was more of an agreement and a promise, the older man chuckled. "Look at him blush. That's so adorable!"

"Shut up," the werewolf muttered as Derek tried, in vain, to diminish the redness because even the tips of his ears were red now.

"Wow, really? You two go at it like fucking bunnies, loudly at that, and I'm pretty sure you two are very kinky in the bedroom. But talking about it makes you a total virgin. I mean, you're pregnant, so everybody knows you two take turns, you're carrying the proof."

It wasn't something Derek had fully thought about, how being pregnant would also out their roles in bed, but he didn't mind. And he didn't mind if people knew he was a switch. If anything, he would admit it loudly as soon as somebody put him in the stereotype of a top because of his looks. It was just different with his new father and his father's new girlfriend. But the thought of everybody knowing Stiles had bred him and claimed him made him incredibly smug.

"And here's the other proof of that switching up things," Stiles nodded towards their son on his chest, who luckily didn't stir awake from the elbowing or Jake's laugh. Focusing a little bit on Derek, Stiles grinned at Jake. "He also loves carrying that proof." Which earned Derek a wink from his husband and a promising look that lingered on the still blushing alpha.

"Jake, give him some slack," Jasmine smirked then uncrossed her long legs. "I also think that we should go, judged by the bedroom eyes," she observed amused then stood gracefully. "And I also have plans with you," she grinned at the older Hale before addressing the mates. "This was a very lovely meeting. Thank you for welcoming me into your beautiful home. Perhaps soon I can teach you some fae magic too, Stiles."

"That'd be great. I really need to make this place fae-proof as well. Not just to avoid you and Jake sneaking around freely, but also in case you might need a safe house in the future."

Derek was about to invite them over for dinner, but then remembered they had to go pick out a car and it was probably better for the couple to spend some time together since they didn't get that very often. It was definitely one way to christen the new apartment, same way as he had done it with Stiles. "We can all have dinner this week. But for now, enjoy the time together."

"Oh we will," Jake laughed as he gently guided Jasmine to the door by placing his hand on her lower back. He wasn't that eager to show his new place, more eager to show his new bed. Or couch. Or floor. They weren't that picky. "Also, I will take up that challenge of sneaking around freely." Not that Stiles had meant it like that, but the demon wolf was after all training the two, which meant keeping them on their toes. To expect the unexpected. "We'll quietly leave not to wake the little one."

Watching them go, the werewolf looked at Stiles who got nearly smothered by the drooling Casey. "Him dating a faerie princess, I'm not even surprised." They were Hales, they never did anything normal.

"Frankly, neither am I," Stiles softly snorted and rubbed Casey's back. "That was quite the reveal, though. It makes sense now why she's been hunted so persistently by those fae houses. They probably want to eliminate even the chance of her going back to claim their throne. Even if she's not planning on doing that, according to her words," he voiced the thoughts that have occurred to him earlier, but didn't want to say out loud while she was present. He could be considerate, okay?

"I'm happy for your dad and her and it'll be useful to learn from the mini-sun she is... I mean, whoa, that was impressive, right?" he referred to the moment they both took a peek at her energies. "And hosting a real princess in our humble abode is like... an honor, I guess... but it also might bring some danger on our necks in the future. It’s not like I cannot take care of some fae assassins on my own or with the help of the pack, but I don't want you and the kids to be in danger. And I especially don't want you to get any ideas of playing the hero while pregnant with our babies," he frowned, sending a serious look at Derek, which was also a warning.

"I'm not letting you handle fae assassins by yourself. If she is as powerful as she seems, and she needs protection against them, then you're not handling them alone. You use the pack." Derek didn't want to think about having to watch his mate suffer and lose against them, while he couldn't risk being involved because of the babies. That was unthinkable, not going to happen. Nope. "We have powerful pack members. Use them."

Fondly glancing at their sleeping child, Derek knew he was going to have to make a promise he didn't want to make, one that went against all that he was. Sometimes though, it was needed to protect the innocent ones, especially because two of those were residing inside of him. "The only protection I'll be doing during this pregnancy is the kids. I promise." It was huge to make that kind of promise, because he never broke one. And it meant he was going to rely on Stiles even more. "As long as you promise to call the pack when you need them."

The gravity of Derek's words wasn't missed on Stiles and he reached out with his free hand to put it around Derek's wrist in understanding. "I promise. I wouldn't do it any other way," he said seriously. "Thank you. I know our kids couldn't be in safer hands... or bellies," he smiled softly and his look softened as well. "Besides, nothing might come out of this, but we'll be prepared. And I kinda like the idea of watching your dad in action. In a combat situation, I mean!" he added hastily, as if it was necessary. Which it wasn't, of course. "And frankly, Jasmine too. But let's hope none of that will ever happen." Which was not likely, given their luck and track record of supernatural attackers, but oh well...

"It's also time I start training more with the pack. Or at least a part of it. We need to be able to fight as a unit. Rely on the individual strength and how to combine them. Jake might be able to help us with that too. Well... once he's able to get out from between his princess girlfriend's legs, of course..." he chuckled low and dirty.

Training.... Of course Stiles was right with that, but Derek knew he wasn't going to be able to participate. Even sparring was dangerous now. He’d heal, sure, and chances were the magic of Stiles would protect the babies too, but they could be human, so he wasn't going to take chances. "I think we should yeah. See how well Peter and Jake fight, as well as with you. And we need to know how Fiona can handle herself."

Which was weird that Derek had no idea if she could fight or not. All those years she had been part of the Hale family and Derek hadn't seen her fight or spar even once. It seemed unlikely Peter would let her be without defensive lessons, but it was possible she was a novice and was going to need training. She was pack now, so it was important that she'd find her way in fights as well. It was important she could defend herself. "It might not be a bad idea if you train her with a gun." Noah or Stiles would be perfect for that, not Derek. Of course, not Derek. "I can't train, but I can watch and give pointers." The only training the Hale did was light jogging to keep his body healthy. He wasn’t even doing the usual daily workouts.

"That's how I imagined it as far as you fit in the training picture," Stiles nodded, sliding his hand from Derek's wrist into his palm to lace their fingers together. "You're great at giving pointers thanks to your experience in fighting. And yeah, the gun training is also a good idea for Fiona. Although she might surprise us."

For a few moments Stiles got lost in his thoughts before refocusing on his mate. "I'm also getting better with controlling my new powers. Jake is a great teacher. And also pushing my limits as well. Which is good, because I have to know what I'm capable of. But I think I'm on the right path to make using my magic like breathing, like he said I should."

There was only a soft smile because Derek knew training was going to be mostly him watching, which he didn't mind, but they didn't need pointers, they were all experienced fighters. Even Stiles. It was going to be great to watch the three men sparring and trying to land one another on the ground. "You're using your magic more, so that's good." Softly squeezing the fingers laced with his own in encouragement, he knew there was still plenty to learn. They’ve only been starting to scratch the surface of what a Spark could do, and as a Darach there was so much more hiding inside the powerful package.

"We haven't even done any balancing ever since you became a Darach." Except for sex. There was plenty of sex, which did help them with making sure the magic wouldn't overwhelm Stiles, however, it was never done consciously. Which meant there was a far more natural balance of the energy between them. It was also safer for the babies this way, because Derek always had access to the magic. With time, they could be limitless. That was an exciting prospect, because he definitely wouldn't mind not losing fights anymore.

"I think that's because I'm using the magic more regularly and the amount we do balance while having sex keeps it stable too. I don't feel anymore like I'd burst my skin, because a) there haven't been surges or spikes of magic since I had accepted what I was supposed to become, and b) I think even if there were, I had unlocked something in me, a barrier or limit of some sorts that's not there anymore, so I'm more in balance with myself and you and the magic as well... Does it make any sense? It's hard to explain."

"Nope. But I know what you mean. It's a natural balance. Your speed limit has been raised and so you don't have to hold back anymore." That barrier had no doubt been there to protect Stiles from overreaching what his body could handle. Like when he had exploded in the forest last year. With the Darach strength there were no limits anymore, especially not with their bonds being as strong as they were. It's probably what Jennifer had been after with Derek, to be limitless, it had never been about love, it had always been about power with her. Now that it was the other way around, everything got unlocked.

Derek sighed as he looked at their sleeping child. It would be a shame to wake him when he was sleeping so peacefully as he was comforted by his dad's nearness and warmth. "How are you with conjuring up cars? Or are we going to have to go out?" It was a tease, they had another child to pick up as well. And do groceries since Jake no doubt was going to be too busy in bed to remember there was no food in either household.

Stiles smiled warmly and not just from the fact that Derek understood what he meant about his power and feelings, but also from that little tease.

"A car would take too much effort and it'd also mean breaking the laws as in stealing property. Which would put me and my dad in a bad light given our jobs. And you don't wanna piss my dad off," he smirked and caressed their son's back again. "So I'm sorry, but it seems we'll have to get going. It's nearly time for us to pick up Beth anyway. We can take a look at the cars afterwards and then do the groceries. I'll buy you and Beth ice cream," he tried to bribe Derek with food. Not that there was a need for any bribing, but nowadays food seemed to be the motivator for his mate.

That made Derek perk right up, because yeah, ice-cream was a good way to get him going. Any food would. But there was a definite love towards ice-cream, especially the coffee flavored ones now that he could only drink decaf coffee. Anything to get his fix!

"I'll get his bag," Derek nodded towards the sleeping Casey, who hopefully would sleep on in his car seat. Babies loved cars, it always soothed them right to sleep. He also cleared the coffee table from the snacks, depositing them on the kitchen counter for later consumption. At least there they were dog-safe.

Of course, the car wouldn't take too long because Derek had done his homework. As a car enthusiast, not every car would do and he refused to drive any form of minivan. It was bad enough that the pack had called his Toyota jeep a soccer mom car. Which it hadn't been, at all! Taking the stairs in about three steps, he was back with the diaper bag in no time. Leather jacket on, which was probably also something that was going to change to keep him warm. Stiles was a menace. "Aren't you ready yet?"

"Moving around and strapping a sleeping baby into his car seat without waking him up is no easy task, babe," Stiles snorted, but couldn't be really pissed about it, not when he succeeded with his task (since luckily once Casey conked out, he slept just as deep as Stiles). But he loved seeing Derek so pumped. And he knew it wasn't because of the tasks ahead. It was all because of the promised ice cream. "Should I be jealous about you constantly cheating on me with ice cream?" Stiles teased back as he pocketed his wallet and keys and carefully lifted Casey's seat by its handle. "Or even better! Maybe I should let you eat ice cream off me some time. Two birds with one stone, ay?" he grinned at his husband as they locked up the flat and got into the elevator.

"Maybe I'm thinking of you when I'm eating it," Derek teased back, which they both knew wasn't true. But the offer of Stiles' body covered in ice cream was no doubt going to change his thoughts whenever he ate it from now on. "Eating cinnamon-flavored is almost like tasting you."

***

The parking area under the building was, as always, empty, except for the Camaro and the jeep. It was probably a good thing there was this much space, though. Jake was living there and was going to need a car at some point, and the kids too when they were older. With four kids that was going to add up very quickly. With a click the car opened up quietly, because the chirping sound had been deactivated a long time ago out of fear that it would wake up sensitive ears. Luckily that meant that the baby didn't even stir as he was carefully strapped into the back.

How different it was for Derek, who did shift as he strapped himself in, plucking at the tight band across his belly. "We're going to need one of those pregnancy belts soon." For the new car.

Eyeing what Derek meant only made Stiles smile as he clicked the safety belt around his own body too once he sat into the passenger seat. "We'll go shopping for the new nursery soon enough. I'll add it to our list," he promised. "Beth is excited about getting the new room on the floor below us. She wants to change up some of the decorations," Stiles informed Derek, although he was pretty sure their daughter had already told that to her other daddy too. And to her grandfathers. And Peter and Fiona. Possibly even to Melissa.

"So I've been told. She wants a princess unicorn room." Derek had no idea how that was different from the room she had now with how pink it was, but she seemed to have it all in her head what she wanted. "And her own painting easel." He had a feeling it was maybe going to be pinker and maybe some rainbow colors as well, or just a lot of unicorn stuff. At least she had a dad who knew all about online shopping, so she was going to bug Stiles to help her pick some new decorations.

With a roaring engine the Camaro came to life and this time Casey did stir, shifting in his car seat by waving his little fists. That was the extent of his reaction then he fell back asleep pretty quickly after that. The drive from the loft building to where Beth's school was didn't take too long and Derek volunteered to go collect her. Not ten minutes later, he returned with the little girl, who was skipping happily as her dad held her pink backpack, no doubt trying to tell him as much as she could before they'd reach the car. There awaited her a surprise she didn't expect.

"Daddy Stiles!! You came to pick me up too. Are we going to the zoo?" she jumped up and down excited at the prospect of doing something different.

"Not this time, cub. We're going to go look at a new car and do groceries." Words that didn't sound all too exciting to a kid no doubt, but Beth never minded shopping since it meant she would get to pick out one candy item.

"New car?" she looked at the current one, clearly not understanding what was wrong with it, making Derek laugh as he helped her in her car seat.

"Yes, princess," Stiles turned around in his seat as much as the belt allowed him. "Because this car and my Jeep are getting too small for our family. In a few months your new siblings will arrive too. Can you tell me how many of us will be in our family then?"

Beth pulled her brows together as she started counting on her fingers while Derek strapped her in. "Daddy... daddy Sty... Casey... one baby... the other baby... and me... That's six, right?!"

"Yes! Very good!" Stiles reached back to offer his hand for a high five, which their daughter returned with a proud grin.

"That's a lot of us," she agreed. "Daddy, why didn't we get a bigger car earlier?" she asked Derek a little bit accusingly, as if it would've made sense.

Stiles snickered under his nose.

"Because daddy likes his car and there were only four of us before." Leaning in, Derek bopped her nose with his finger then closed the door so he could get in again. It took a moment because he had to look up the address of the car dealer they had decided to visit first. It was a town over, but what was half an hour drive when there was good music to entertain the kids? Good kid's music it was and Derek wasn't a fan.

"I told the class about the babies, and Miss Abigail was very happy. She said I can make special gifts for them soon!"

Derek glanced at Stiles at that, because since they had decided to not hide Derek's pregnancy, they hadn't specifically asked Beth to keep it a secret either. "Oh yeah? What did you tell her, cub?"

"That my daddy is pregnant with two whole babies," she informed them casually as she hunted down her drinking cup to finish the last of her lemonade. "Was I bad?"

"Oh no, not even close. You can tell whoever you want about the babies, Beth. It's okay." Derek was waiting for the other shoe to drop, where she'd tell them how her teacher wouldn't understand the whole dad being pregnant thing, but there didn't seem to be anything more coming. Huh. Satisfied and impressed with the teacher, Derek started the car.

"Miss Abigail said she'd talk to you about the babies."

Stiles turned his head to grin at Derek, because that's what both of them were waiting for. But they had to give it to Miss Abigail that she didn't start telling Beth that it was not possible, and would want to talk about it in private with Derek and him instead. Shrugging a bit and still smiling, Stiles put on his sunglasses and turned ahead. "Sure, princess, we'll talk to her."

The music for the kids was turned down enough to let Casey sleep through most of the trip, only starting to stir when they were close to the car dealership.

"You packed his lunch, right?" Stiles asked Derek while watching their son from the rear view mirror. If not then this was going to get messy quickly. They both knew that.

"Yeah, I've packed his lunch and other food." Meaning Derek had packed snacks for the entire family, including himself. But especially Casey, who would be incredibly cranky if he didn't get his food on a set time, screaming upset even. Which always made the parents feel like they were failing because their boy was hungry. As the car was parked, Casey of course started to fully wake up.

"Okay, let's go get a new car!" And hope it won't take too long, Derek thought to himself because looking at cars with two young kids wasn't ideal. Same as most of the cars not being ideal.

The more they were shown, the less the alpha thought they'd be able to find a big family car that didn't look like a minivan. Casey was getting fussy and Beth started running around – it was, as Stiles had warned, getting messy.

Sighing, the Hale glanced at the salesman. "Money isn't an issue so you don't have to show us the typical family cars. I want something more like a... car."

"Well..... There's one, but it's an expensive car and it'll take a couple of weeks." The man took them to the front where the expensive cars were placed to look good to the window shoppers. Right away, Derek knew he was sold. A Land Rover jeep. Now that was a car that screamed Hale family. "This is the Discovery series, made to be able to house seven people, and then you'll still have plenty of room in the back for groceries, baby carriages... pets. "

Derek glanced at Stiles, tilting his head to read his reaction while the salesman opened doors to show the leather seats, Beth already climbing in. "We'll take it."

The Spark was about to say something, but then closed his mouth with a huff hearing that Derek had decided for them on his own. Stiles didn't stop arguing about it only because he was pregnant and not because the salesman was present. He wouldn't have cared about it. Plus, his attention was a bit divided with feeding Casey and looking at the cars.

But he had to admit that this car looked good and ticked all the boxes of the family car it needed to have to meet their needs. The bonus was that it also was a jeep (jeep lover Stiles here!) and looked badass. And roomy on the inside too. Plus Beth looked like she felt at home in it too, so yeah...

"I like it too," he nodded after scanning it with a critical eye with their greedily eating son on his arm. (And keeping his distance from the car just in case some baby-related accident would happen.) He tuned out the technical stuff about the vehicle, because he never was such a big car enthusiast. Instead he stepped to the back door to peek in at their daughter.

"You like it, princess?" he asked with a curious smile.

"We buy it now?" the little girl asked as she stretched out on the roomy seats, probably thinking that they could take it home right away. At least that meant she really did like it.

Derek's look softened when he stopped listening to the technical details, which he did find important, to give Beth his undivided attention. "Not right now, cub. They’ll have to order one for us." Then went back to discussing the options, adding of course the navigation system, even though he hated technology. Stiles loved it. So yeah, he opted for most of the options that seemed to make it worth it, such as car heating.

"I'll call the factory, see what the waiting period will be. One moment. Hey Mitch, can you get this family some drinks and snacks?" The salesman was pretty happy with the sale of the expensive car, no doubt raking in some commission on it.

Leaning against Stiles' back, Derek looked over his shoulder at their daughter admiring the car from the inside. "Nice big backseat," he whispered, making it sound like a promise.

Heat immediately flooded Stiles from head to toe, because for once he didn't expect a comment like that. At all. It was rare that Derek could take him off guard and this was one of those situations. He could feel his cheeks starting to burn and a lopsided grin graced his mole-dotted face.

"Yeah... you're right. Plenty of room there," he turned his head enough to look at his mate coyly. Of course, the memories of another car's backseat were coming back to him too, but he tried to behave since the time and place was less than ideal. That didn't stop him from seeing himself riding Derek's dick on the seat to consecrate their new car. Completely ignoring the poor salesman once again, Stiles let his bedroom eyes look linger on his pair a bit longer.

The werewolf was incredibly pleased with managing to make Stiles blush from head to toe, because that wasn't something he did very often and he basked in the smugness as he grinned at his mate. Yeah, that car was going to be broken in the moment they picked it up, they just had to make sure the kids weren't there.

The other salesman named Mitch, didn't seem to realize he was ignored as he listed off the drinks they had, offering lemonade for the kids and coffee or coke for the adults. Sadly, both weren't something Derek could drink, he was a responsible man. "Tea if you have it, lemonade is good for Beth." Casey had his own sippy cup. As Mitch glanced at Stiles what he wanted, the man also motioned to a table in the corner.

"You can sit there. I'll see about some cookies. Everybody likes cookies."

"Yay cookies!" Beth leaped out of the car, interest gone when cookies were offered. She discovered that the table also had a small corner of colored pencils and some coloring books, so she considered this her new favorite place to be as she decided on which picture to use to color.

"Good thing she's not an introvert like me," Derek deadpanned amused.

"There's nothing wrong with being an introvert, babe," Stiles murmured reassuringly while stroking the small of Derek's back with his free hand before turning to Mitch and saying a coke would do just fine for him then thanking him before he hurried off to get the drinks and start making a tea for Derek.

Moving to the table with Casey on his arm now switching to his sippy cup and drinking just as greedily as he was with food, Stiles sat down, his attention divided between Derek, the kids and the other sales man, who was already talking on the phone a few feet away – presumably with someone in the factory.

By the time Mitch was back with the cookies and drinks, the other man sounded like he was wrapping up the conversation on the phone and walked back to them, too. Beth was already munching on a cookie while humming to herself and coloring with her other hand. Stiles kept giving Casey small pieces of a cookie as well, making the baby very happy as his wet little mouth was busy with the extra food. He was bound to get conked out soon again too.

"So what's the verdict?" Stiles glanced up at the man.

"Six weeks is all they can do. I hope that's not a problem." The man sounded apologetic, which seemed silly to Derek since he knew getting a new car usually came with a waiting period. As long as they had the larger car by the time the babies were born, they were set. Six weeks was peanuts.

Nodding, the alpha swallowed the big bite of his cookie. "That's fine. There's no immediate rush." And it was going to be well worth it to have such a large car they both liked.

"Do you want to take the car for a test drive?"

Derek couldn't help but duck his head to try and hide his amusement, side-eyeing Stiles because yeah, that's where his mind went right away at the way it was said. But there were kids who had behaved themselves long enough to also subject them to another car ride. Especially when there were also groceries that needed to be done. "No, thank you, I'm sure we'll love it."

"I'll get the paperwork going then, it won't take too long."

"Sounds good," Stiles said after exchanging a lewd look with his husband.

They only needed to wait a few minutes for the guy to present a laptop and a mobile printer to draw up their contract and whatever else paperwork they would need for the car and the few extra stuff they wanted to order for it.

After signing the papers, they were soon back in the Camaro with the kids, on their way to do the grocery shopping as well. Which was – for once – uneventful aside from Beth scoring a bag of her favorite candies and as predicted, Casey being mostly conked out in his car seat.

The highlight of the day was, of course, the ice cream parlor right next to the grocery store.

Chapter Text

29: Ember to Inferno – Part 2

"What the hell?" Derek's voice carried. It did that a lot thanks to the mood swings, which were off the chart. The alpha stared at his mirror image where he was dressing to get ready for the eleventh week ultrasound. On his round tummy was a very dark line, as if somebody had drawn it with a brown thick marker. And his pants were tight, which meant it was beginning. The weight gain got to the point where clothes weren't going to fit anymore and they were going to have to do some shopping. At least not pregnancy clothes yet, even though Derek knew that would be way sooner than with Stiles thanks to carrying two babies.

He brushed over the line, which was under his skin and had appeared overnight, which was probably another normal pregnancy sign. Sucking in his tummy, he managed to get the pants closed but it felt uncomfortable, too tight. "My clothes don't fit, Stiles!" Even his sweater was tight around the belly and he felt like it showed. There was no way they could keep it a secret for much longer, only for a couple of weeks more at the most with some looser clothes.

Well, at least they already had the first try-out with saying he was trans when they had to have the awkward talk with Beth's teacher. Surprisingly she was very understanding and even had offered to prepare the class for the babies by giving a talk about trans people, but that was something Derek had declined. It didn't sit right with him, because he was claiming to be something he wasn't for the babies, so it seemed disrespectful to him. Awareness was good, just not with him as an example. They had settled on allowing her to tell the class that some daddies had babies, it was a talk that apparently was needed. And might have some angry parents from the other kids. Yeah, it was way more complicated than Derek had anticipated.

Still, he felt it was the right choice to make for his own health and that of the pack. He had seen how it had wrecked Stiles to be so locked up, and that wasn't something he wanted. It was bad enough that he was a hormonal bomb due to being pregnant with twins.

"Stiles!" Where the hell was he, and why was he taking so long to acknowledge his misery?

"I'm here, I'm here! What's wrong, babe?!" Stiles quite literally stumbled into their bedroom, slightly out of breath from running up from downstairs when he heard Derek calling for him. "Are the babies okay?!" he quickly looked over his mate and the now much more prominent bump.

His eyes immediately zeroed in on the straining pants and the mysterious brown line. "What the...?" he frowned a bit baffled, because he never had such a line while carrying Casey in his magical womb.

"The babies marked me," Derek grumped, not sure why Stiles was even downstairs, probably working on the two kids' rooms that were going to be moved down there. Since Derek took forever to get ready these days. It wasn't that the small bump was in the way, but there was exhaustion that was rumored to be happening once he was in the second trimester. "It's probably normal."

He plucked at the waistband of his jeans, to show how tight it was and then pulled his sweater down to show that as well. Like he was a stuffed sausage, that's how it felt. "This no fit." Hopefully Stiles, the little hoarder, had saved some of his pregnancy clothes since they were pretty similar height-wise.

"We should ask about that line from Dr. Geyer," Stiles said, running a gentle hand over the bump and said line then unbuttoned the straining jeans. "No too tight stuff for you from now on," he nodded seriously and like someone on a mission. "Wait a sec, babe. I've been preparing for this time," he said once the jeans were undone.

As if reading Derek's mind, he hurried over to their big wardrobe and pushed it open. He bent down – unwittingly giving a nice view for Derek – and started rummaging on his side, where Derek rarely checked. He pulled out a few stacks of neatly folded and piled clothes wrapped up in nylon bags.

"I washed and packed them like this a couple of weeks ago," he put the piles onto their bed, first opening the stack that had comfortable pants and jeans in them. Not all were maternity ones, some were just bigger in size. "Check this out while I find you some bigger shirts to choose from. You remember these from when I was preggo. You loved wearing some of these too."

The alpha sighed, not because they were bad clothes. Stiles was right, he had been wearing them too. So it was typical Stiles' style sure, but since Derek had a habit of wearing his clothes, it wouldn't appear like he was playing dress up or something. "I'd hoped it would take a little longer."

Was he surprised Stiles was totally prepared for this? Nope, he was a boy scout in everything. A much-needed quality in the chaos of the family life when Derek still hardly ever planned for anything unless they were special occasions. The way the clothes had been washed and folded and kept safe and comfortable for him made him feel cherished, which of course triggered his already haywire emotions. The look he gave his mate with shiny eyes probably said more than words ever could, so he didn't bother with them. Instead, he pressed his face in the blue sweater which had a large hammer on it, Thor's hammer of course. It loudly announced it was hammer time with a bold font, which seemed appropriate for a guy who had been nailed enough to get pregnant.

And the jeans, of course he went for the jeans, which were loose on him and so much more comfortable. It made it so much easier to put his own clothes in the closet and don't look at them again for the coming months. "I wonder what else you’re hiding in that closet. It feels like a whole Narnia."

It not once occurred to the wolf to look through Stiles' side, only plucking a few items out of it which were easy to grab sometimes. Of course he did the laundry often too, but he'd put the folded clothes on the bed for Stiles to put away. Even married couples needed some privacy, something they both respected.

"I think my plans for world domination might be somewhere in there too," Stiles grinned while watching him with that stupid sweater Stiles loved to see on both of them. "You look so damn cute and hot right now," he confessed as he abandoned his task of unpacking the clothes in favor of stepping to Derek so he could put his arms around him. "I'm also not surprised it's already time for the bigger clothes. It took me longer only because I had one baby growing in there. You have two, babe. And I love it SO MUCH that they are already showing," he slid one hand from around Derek under the slightly straining shirt just to push it up, baring said bump so he could caress it with awe in his eyes. "I'll hammer you down like a nail once we got back from your check up, if you want," he looked up, wiggling his brows with a lopsided grin and an I-am-so-hot-for-you-right-now look.

"You can't say stuff like that when you're lovingly stroking my bump." Derek was getting all kind of mixed signals with it, because Stiles was looking at him like he was the cutest and hottest man ever. As if they were going to have cuddle sex, but the words didn't go with that. Words that made his body go happy instantly. The book said that the sex drive would increase in the second trimester, but Derek was already aroused all the time lately! So that would get interesting, probably.

"How much time do we have?" Seeing as he had to get undressed anyways to get into the other clothes. A glance at the alarm clock on their nightstand made him sigh with disappointment, because there wasn't enough time for a quickie. Because they really sucked at quick sex and they really didn't have much time at all for anything aside from Derek changing. And his father could be here at any moment to watch Casey while they went to the hospital.

At least he wasn't grumpy, which was a win, Derek thought as he leaned in for a quick peck on the lips. "I'll get changed while you fantasize about us." As if Derek getting undressed wouldn't generate enough fantasy already. Standing there in his underwear made the round tummy even more distended, the skin not yet straining too much, but clearly his body was working hard to make room for the growing kids.

Ten minutes later he was dressed again, hair sticking out at odd angles, the big sweater making him look even softer. The female hormones were making his face look softer too.

And all along Stiles was just sitting there on the edge of their messy bed. It was messy not just because of the clothes he just unpacked, but also from a number of blankets, pillows and even some used pieces of clothing. Derek was still nesting.

With a fond smile on his face, Stiles vividly remembered how a couple of weeks before he tried to remove one of his police uniform shirts from the mess and Derek grabbed it with a honest to god warning growl.

"Babe, I have to wash this. I'll be out of clean shirts if I don't," he said with a raised brow.

"No."

"But, Derek, I really..."

"No!" he tugged on the shirt to free it from Stiles' grip. He only let go because he didn't want to make it rip.

"Okay, fine. I'll wash the other ones..." he huffed and watched Derek put the shirt back where it was.

Stiles had learned that day not to mess with a pregnant alpha werewolf's nest. Apparently not even their mate could do that. So ever since he never tried to make their bed. The kids seemed to enjoy the mess, though. Beth often liked to climb on and snuggle in-between the pillows and blankets with one of her toys or books and even Casey seemed to enjoy exploring it with crawling all over the obstacles or nap peacefully among them.

Now Stiles got up from the bed to go over and adjust Derek's hair with that fond look he so often got for his mate nowadays and pointedly ignored the half-hard state of his cock. They really had to get going.

"You look beautiful," he murmured to Derek once his hair looked normal and he stole a soft kiss from him. "Ready?" he asked quietly, but also excited.

A doubtful look was thrown at Stiles, because he was wearing fat pants and a Thor sweater, so the whole beautiful thing seemed to be dwindling down considerably. But the human knew better than to lie to a werewolf and his words were very true. So the doubtful look was more because he wondered if Stiles had bumped his head hard in the near past. "Yes, I'm ready. Let’s go see our cubs again." He peeked past Stiles to check on the state of his nest, making sure it hadn't been messed with.

It took some work to maintain it, because their sheets needed washing and he didn't want to stink up their bedroom for nine months, even though he had been tempted to leave it all. Instead, he had added a blanket and he had made his nest on top of it so the mess could be easily transferred after changing the sheets. Sometimes he switched out items if they were losing their scents, sometimes more were added and nothing was switched out, but Stiles had stopped trying to steal some of his clothes back. Satisfied it hadn't been messed with (he checked every day even when nobody but him had been around), he kicked his clothes into his closet and closed it. A worry for another time.

"Who's ready for some exiting baby watching?!" Jake called out from behind them, making even the alpha jump. Oh, how he hated the fact that his father could be so quiet that even he didn't pick up on it... He wasn't used to not being the stealth ninja. His heart did a little jump as he glared grumpily at the older Hale.

"Wow okay, I guess the Momster isn't as excited."

That nickname made Derek only scowl even more. Momster, as in mom and monster, something Jake didn't seem to plan on stopping to use anytime soon, especially with Derek's moods. Poor Jasmine got a scowl as well when she came in, simply because she was Jake's girlfriend.

Not that the fairy seemed to mind. She just smiled at the couple and crossed her arms under her breasts, raising a questioning brow.

"Oh, he is excited. He just doesn't like to be sneaked up on... or called that name," Stiles waved his hand a few times. "Which Jake knows, but ignores despite my warnings," he looked at Jake pointedly and started ushering Derek past said man and his pretty squeeze.

"Well, he is fond of the names he comes up with," Jasmine agreed, bumping her hip into the demon wolf's.

Stiles only snorted at that and threw a look over his shoulder while guiding Derek towards their coats. Then he took a beeline towards the living room where their son was playing with his colorful bricks on his baby blanket. Crouching down, he caressed his fluffy brown curls and kissed the smiling baby's forehead.

"Daddy and I'll be back soon. Be nice to Auntie Jasmine, but give hell to Grandpa Jake," he lightly pinched a rosy cheek, making Casey giggle and offer the yellow brick that was in his hand. "Make daddy proud, my son!" he murmured as he took the brick and placed it on top of the red and blue ones already more or less stacked.

Derek knew he was being ushered towards the exit, because Stiles was hoping to avoid a bickering match between father and son. Which wouldn't be volatile, Jake always knew when to pull back, but the two were definitely matched when it came to their snarking. Since there was no time, the werewolf didn't make a beeline back, but shrugged his coat on as he watched Stiles say goodbye to their son. At least Casey was used to it by now that they'd leave sometimes and didn't make a fuss over it anymore. Less tugging on the heartstrings for both the parents that way. Waving at their little one, he snatched the car keys from the key bowl (another idea of Stiles) before his mate would, claiming the driver's seat with that.

***

The familiar road to the hospital wasn't very exciting. They both could get there with their eyes closed at this point. Derek did feel stared at, or he imagined it, because his usual attire did draw more attention than what he was wearing now. The warm woolen coat with checkered print wasn't screaming criminal like the dark leather-jacket did. However, his dark glare thrown at anybody who dared to stare too long was.

Luckily, for those waiting, it didn't take long for the couple to be called into the familiar room by Dr. David Geyer who seemed immune to the glares. The man was a trooper and would just smile or grin, never taking the grumpy manners personal. "Okay, hop on, let's see how the two are doing. Any complaints or things I should know about?"

Losing the thick coat, Derek got on the gurney and pulled his sweater up to his chest, pointing at the dark line. "This appeared this morning without warning."

"That's called a linea nigra. Your new hormones increase the skin-darkening melanin and it happens a lot. You're bound to get more skin problems, so be sure to take good care of it with vitamin E lotions and get enough vitamin C in your food."

"As long as it doesn't mean the babies aren't okay." Derek wasn't too worried about skin problems, they'd heal eventually. Sooner if he'd shift, but that wasn't something he couldn't do as long as he was pregnant.

"The line isn't a dark omen, no. But let's see how they're doing." David waited for Derek to open up his pants before he applied the gel so he could get a good visual with the ultrasound wand.

Once again, Stiles was sitting on a stool by Derek's side, excitedly (and a bit nervously) holding his hand. He felt relieved that that mysterious line was nothing bad, more over natural during many pregnancies.

"I'll make sure to keep an eye on his vitamin intake," the Spark nodded determined. By now he was a veteran when it came to keeping someone on a healthy diet, thanks to all the years he's been monitoring his dad's. So this wasn't a big deal for him.

"Alright," David nodded then pressed the wand against the bump and all three looked at the monitor.

It was still a bit surreal for Stiles that this time it was Derek, who was going through these steps and not him, but he wasn't complaining. Especially since now there were two babies to carry to term. The babies, which all of a sudden were there. Much more defined than the first time they saw them as pea-sized blurs. And Stiles mouth fell open in awe as he was just staring at the monitor all moved and speechless.

On the screen were two aliens, because their bodies were as big as their heads but they were, without mistaking them for anything else, fully formed little sentient beings in there. They had fingers and toes that weren't as clear with how tiny they were. But they weren't blobs anymore, they were finally little babies. Two little babies.

"This makes it so much more real," Derek said softly, impressed and once again emotional.

David smiled at them softly as he saw how entranced they were with the images, understanding that it was hitting hard now that the babies finally looked like babies. Still two of them as promised. If more were hiding in there, they would’ve known by now. "Looking good. Pretty much the right size for the weeks you're at. And... see this?" he motioned to a line between the two. "That's the line between the two placentas and these are their umbilical cords." More lines were pointed at. And since the two dads didn't react fully to that, the doctor realized it needed more explaining. "It means they're fraternal twins."

Not identical, huh. Derek wasn't sure why he was disappointed, because it wasn't like it mattered. Probably because his little sisters had been identical. They'd still be twins, just not look fully the same. "At least they can't parent trap us," Derek decided, because he was cooking healthy babies and that's all that was important.

"Why? You planning on divorcing me in the future?" Stiles scoffed, but there was too much softness in his voice and on his face for it to be a serious question. He was kinda preoccupied with staring at their babies and listening to their rapid heartbeats. That always reminded him of bunnies for some reason.

"I am now," Derek shot back, not at all serious either. "But not for a few years, you put your babies in me, so you're going to have to suffer with me during this pregnancy." The two little alien babies weren't visibly moving, but their heartbeats let them know that yes, they were still happy and alive in his tummy.

"Speaking of the pregnancy, around this time the first screening should happen. If that's something we can even do. We measure the neck of the babies with a special ultrasound to check for chromosomal conditions and check your blood for your hormone levels. Although... since you normally wouldn't have estrogen, I don't think that will work." David looked thoughtful at that, clearly not used to pregnant werewolves.

Derek shook his head as he squeezed Stiles' hand who was so entranced by the babies. "No use, my blood isn't normal and it'll flag down pretty much every government official, if it gets out. I don't have a human blood type. But we can do the other thing."

"Okay, but we'll have to involve a colleague for this. I can tell her that you're a family friend and that's why I'm doing it, because you're not comfortable with others. With your... condition, that wouldn't be too surprising."

"Yeah, I remember this examination. Fun times!" Stiles finally joined the conversation once he was able to take his eyes off their babies. It was starting to hit him hard too, because now they had better visual proof of their existence. So yeah, Derek was right, this made it feel so much more real! "And they might be human, so making sure all is okay would put our minds at ease too," he squeezed Derek's hand back. "But it's your choice," Stiles added and he meant it more about involving a stranger to do it.

"I remember it was for heart defects and Down syndrome, right?" Derek glanced at David to confirm and he nodded. "Because we'll love these babies even with handicaps and if there was a defect, then we'll do the surgeries needed. The outcome won't change the fact that we're not terminating this pregnancy. So it's not needed." Sure he would have done it, if it wouldn't involve somebody else, but he remembered the risks with Isaac at the hospital all those many years ago. How much of a hassle it had been to make sure it wouldn't be discovered what he was.

Derek didn't even need to ask Stiles if he agreed, because he knew there was no way Stiles wouldn't want the kids if there was something wrong with them. Stiles was one of the most accepting persons he knew. "We made these, we're keeping them. Alien heads and all."

Dr. Geyer frowned briefly, but then his face smoothed out and he nodded. "If you're sure about it. I understand your reluctance to involve a stranger and risk being exposed as more than human," he mused. "Also, all seems good for now as far as I know. Still, I'd like to do checkups in every two weeks to see if they develop as they should."

"Yes, of course. We can do that," Stiles chimed in before Derek could grumble about it, although he doubted that he would, because the health of their babies and monitoring their growing was just as important to him too. "When will you be able to tell the sex of the babies?"

"If blood samples from Derek would actually work, maybe even this week, but since that's not an option, we can check when you're in the 14th week with the ultrasound, but to be fully accurate, the 18th week is usually the best to determinate it for sure. I assume you want to know their sex then?"

"I would!" Stiles fidgeted on his chair, clearly excited as he looked at Derek with sparkling eyes. "You?" They couldn't wait with Casey, but this time might be different if Derek wanted. Although it would probably kill Stiles with how curious he could be and how much he loved to prepare for anything beforehand.

Derek took a moment to think about it, but it was more to tease Stiles, because he didn't think his mate would be able to wait for all those months without knowing it. So of course it was tempting to troll him and claim he'd like to wait with it. The problem was, he was a terrible liar and he'd sense it from a mile away, so yeah. Letting the moment linger for a while to make Stiles twitch a little was the best he could do before he nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think I do too.”

Every two weeks coming in here? That was going to be a lot when he was nearing the third month and they had like six more to go, if they were unfortunate. Hopefully it would go quicker for Derek too. Taking the offered cloth from David, he brushed the clear gel from his stomach so he could get dressed again.

"Do you guys have any questions?"

Derek shook his head as he was buttoning up his pants, looking at Stiles to see if there was anything he wanted to ask of the doctor.

"Nah, we're good. Getting pretty experienced in male pregnancies," he beamed, feeling very happy that Derek agreed with him and Stiles could hardly wait for them to get back home so he could put his hands all over that bump. And send his dad a picture of the new ultrasound photos. He couldn't complain about not getting any grandbabies, that was for sure!

Stiles waited for Derek, taking his hand to help him off the bed. Not that Derek would suddenly be incapable of doing that, but he wasn't the only one protective over their mate – or more like motherhenning the other.

At first Derek had balked at the extra motherhenning Stiles had displayed, not used to that kind of smothering even though when the situation had been reversed, he had done the same to his mate. He probably used to be worse. It was just not Derek's way to accept help when he didn't need any, until he realized Stiles really liked to help because he was protective of the babies even when they were inside an alpha. So now the offered hand wasn't growled at, he took it and allowed Stiles to help him in his coat, which he insisted he should be wearing.

Of course, at home, everybody wanted to see the babies and there were the other kids, so by the time Casey and Beth were in bed and Derek's father was at his own place again with his girlfriend, Derek was tired. There was a twinge in his back that his body didn't think was too severe to bother healing, and he was cold and a little cranky. Luckily Stiles had lit the wood burner to create nice warmth in the living room with the werewolf stretched out on the couch. He had his shirt hiked up to rub the bump and a pillow nestled behind his back.

With half-lidded eyes, he watched Stiles who was watching some show Derek didn't have any attention for. Instead, he moved to put his head in Stiles' lap, taking his hand to put it on the bump.

Averting his eyes from the screen, Stiles smiled down at Derek then looked at his hand on the bump, gently stroking it. "You feel a bit cranky, babe. You okay? Today was magical, by the way, wasn't it? Seeing our babies like that. I can't wait to learn about their gender. I know that we both agree that it doesn't matter as long as they are healthy, but what would you like?" he asked, the documentary about mega-projects all but forgotten in favor of paying attention to his sleepy-looking mate. "Now that we know they'll be fraternal twins, I think to kinda balance things out, it would be nice to have a boy and a girl. Or two girls. Beth would be ecstatic," he mused with a fond little smile as his hand kept caressing Derek's warm skin.

Smiling fondly, Derek took in the barrage of questions, used to the word vomits Stiles would usually throw his way. It was hard to imagine that a long time ago it had annoyed him. Not that Stiles didn't have his annoying moments these days too, but it was different. The babbling didn't get on his nerves and he had learned pretty early on how to distinguish between what to answer and what not to answer. Usually, he left the non-important questions for what they were.

"I don't really care what they are. We already have both genders, so it's not like we don't have practice with both." Derek looked up at Stiles, to let him know that it wasn't a lie or a smooth answer, he was serious. He was fine with whatever was growing inside him and he wanted to know, because otherwise Stiles and Beth might burst with anticipation and curiosity.

The soft caressing of the taut skin on his stomach felt good, as if it was calming the two babies, or more it was calming Derek and that was good for the little ones. The dark line was a stark contrast with the paleness of his mate's hand, especially because Derek's skin was more of an olive color. "I'm fine, just not used to being tired and having small pains. I think I prefer the big pains." The werewolf wasn't used to what humans felt. Headaches that weren't due to poisoning or serious injury? Unknown. Back pains because of strain and not because intestines or his spine had been ripped out or impalement? Never had it.

Nodding to Derek's answers, Stiles broke their eye-contact in favor of looking down at his hand moving on the bare baby bump. "Well, you'll have big pains soon enough. When our kids are going to be delivered. Uh, I can still remember the contractions. Those weren't fun, let me tell ya. But the anesthetic in the spine helped me a lot. Will it help you? Or should I start working on some spells or potions to make it bearable for you?" he asked seriously, his brows pulling together, because he didn't want to imagine his mate in pain. Even if it was often a part of their lives.

Derek couldn't help but chuckle at that, because Stiles had seen him when his intestines were hanging out and it wasn't like there had been any anesthesia back then, or ever. There was no way he could take wolfsbane to stunt his healing, because it would harm the babies. So yeah, it was going to be the usual with him: lots of blood and lots of pain. It honestly didn't even bother him, because that was part of his life. "You know human drugs won't work on me and whatever potion you'll come up with will have wolfsbane, which we can't risk with the babies. So maybe work on a potion to make you able to watch me getting cut open."

And that was as much a tease as the honest truth. He too wouldn't be able to sit around and watch his mate be in pain. It was why they had come up with Stiles borrowing his healing the moment the baby was out. Derek remembered the pain he had taken from Stiles, so he was familiar with how it was going to feel. It was worth it, though, for the babies.

"Remember, women push them out of their bodies, sometimes without any help. My healing will take care of it right away once they're out." That was Derek's way to say it was no big deal.

"Well, women's bodies are built for this shit. They even produce special hormones and go into this weird headspace which helps them in labor. I'm not sure it was like that for me or will be for you. Our pregnancies are magical, after all," he huffed. "And if no wolfsbane then I'll work more on the magical front. I don't want you in pain like that, if we can avoid it or make it better before your healing kicks in. And now I'll be able to help your healing too. I've been practicing with your dad. I mean... I doubt I'd be able to fully heal a torn off limb, but reattaching a finger wouldn't be a problem anymore," he said with a little bit of pride in his voice.

It's been a lot of work to get from healing paper cut-like injuries to bigger ones, but it was worth it. And Jake was a good teacher. Much, much better and fun than Deaton ever was with his cryptic responses and annoying silences.

Stiles was stubborn, so it wasn't a surprise that he wasn't going to just say yes to Derek's words. As frustrating as it could be. Maybe there were going to be some extra hormones, since Derek was having a lot of those now too, but that was going to be a wait and see. "I've seen how tired you are after healing my dad." The werewolf had been watching and not participating, because both Jake and Stiles refused to have him take part in it.

"The babies will need you to be in full health. Besides," Derek frowned up at him "why help when I can heal from it just fine? Sure, it would be nice if we could dull the pain, but the healing is taken care of." Did he think Stiles was able to find a way? Not really, but Stiles would do everything he could and it might make him feel more at ease when it came to the bloodier part of this pregnancy.

"True, I get drained and tired after the healing sessions, but I recover quicker now. Jake said I'm making good progress," Stiles huffed, not wanting to give up on making the labor be as pain-free as he can. "And yeah, I'll totally work on some spell that'll help suppress it a bit before your healing kicks in. The rest we'll see when we get there. Besides, it's not just the two of us anymore. We have the pack, which can help out with the babies and Casey and Beth," he added with a small smile.

Stiles knew how deep down Derek was very pleased with their growing pack. And frankly, Stiles was too. The old pack's disbanding was still a sore point for both of them, even if they understood that everyone went their separate ways to live their lives. There was no falling out there, just drifting away during the years. So rebuilding the Beacon Hills pack together was something they both prioritized after the kids and each other.

Deep down Derek was always worried that even this pack was going to disappear on him and he wasn't one to lean on them often. Stiles always had to gently remind him, and even Parrish often called to check in and hint at the fact that training was all good and well, but he could do more if needed. The alpha, as pleased as he was with the big pack, found it hard to accept help, because, sure, they were family, but he had learned during all the years that he could never ever count on anybody. Only Stiles has been a constant in his life. So even now, when Stiles suggested so easily that they could use the other pack members, he still preferred not to.

"I'm not worried about the birth, Stiles. It won’t be the first time I'll be cut open." And probably not the last time either. Derek knew they could count on Deaton, Melissa and Dr. Geyer, so that part was going to be fine. "So promise me you're not going to worry either." If anything, he was a safer bet than Stiles to survive it and the Spark had done great. Which meant Derek was going to as well.

Stiles' hand stilled on the bump and after taking a deep breath, his eyes went back to meet Derek's.

"But that is it... I'm... already terrified of something going wrong with you or the babies. It's what sometimes keeps me up at night," he admitted, moving his other hand to stroke the stubbly face. "I'm so happy, Derek. I've been really happy ever since you and I finally got together. For the first time since my mother's passing. You give me everything I ever wanted, and I don't want to risk losing it. I want you and the babies safe and help making everything safer for you, our family and pack. That's why I keep training so hard even now when I could just lay back saying 'oh, I'm a fucking powerful Darach now, no one can hurt me'. I could do that, but I'll never lay back like that. Especially not when it comes to my soulmate and our family," he lightly shook his head. "It might sound stupid, but this is constantly in the back of my mind. This anxiety and fear," he explained and he didn't lie. On nights when he couldn't sleep, he was either just watching Derek doing that next to him, or he was checking on the kids, or walking around in the roof garden, or sitting over a book in his warded greenhouse. Yeah, this sometimes did keep him up.

"I wouldn't let you sit back and relax. You always have to train. We both do." That was something that would get them killed, if they dared to lay back and warm their bellies in the sun like big fat and lazy cats. Derek, not as rigorously now that he was pregnant, still trained daily to keep his body in constant shape. They both read a lot to maintain their knowledge, and Stiles trained his smart mind all the time as a detective so yeah, sitting back wasn't something they ever should do. And he understood it, to do it out of fear, the training. To push harder just to keep the family safe. That's what Derek did too, daily. Or did because being pregnant actually had allowed him to become that fat cat in the sun.

With a soft sigh, Derek took the hand on his belly so he could sit up, not wanting to have this serious conversation when he was stretched out. He ignored the protest of his back as he kissed the hand and pulled Stiles in close. "These babies are in an alpha werewolf body, so nothing will happen to them. Their incubator has healing and super strength. Which means, I'll be fine too. I understand how you feel. I was the same way when you were pregnant."

Oh yes, Stiles could vividly remember Derek doing the same when he was pregnant with Casey. Which was just natural. Also, Derek was probably right. Those babies were in the safest place on Earth in there and not just because Derek was a powerful alpha, but also because they were all protected by magic. Which wouldn't let anything happen to either the babies or Derek. With Stiles it was more... actively protective – like when his skin temporarily became unbreakable in order to protect their son. But Derek was now much stronger than Stiles' human body was back then. Either way, Stiles had to accept Derek's logical reasoning and stomp down on his fears for at least a while. Which was never an easy thing to do for someone with anxiety.

Derek really was doing his best to behave and not get in trouble. He had his hands full with Casey and Beth anyways, and it all was very quiet around town supernatural-wise. "What can I do to help you feel less anxious?"

"Make love to me in our bed? Soft and slow?" Stiles asked quietly as he stroked along Derek's forearm just to take his hand in his. "I can take care of your back afterwards," he suggested in return. As if they needed to persuade each other to have sex. That occurred so far exactly never.

"My back's fine, no need." It was just a twinge because his body wasn't used to the extra weight and the extra room the babies needed even when they weren't big yet. The muscles would probably relax thanks to them having sex and he didn't want Stiles to have to massage after sex. Nope. Derek was planning to hold him and let him sleep as much as he could, which the sex was going to help with as well.

With the babies being this small, Derek could still do this since it was no doubt going to be challenging when his belly was the size of a whole person and then some. "So how about we make love and curl up for sleep right after." It wasn't asked as a question, which was usual with Derek, but this time it wasn't a question at all. It was the plan for the evening.

Stiles chuckled from that, but didn't start protesting. "Yes, boss!" he smirked. "Maybe I should steal your dad's nickname for Jasmine. Bossbabe would fit you too nowadays," he teased as he lightly patted Derek's shoulder to make him move off his lap so they could get up and go to their bedroom. While waiting for that, he paused the show on Netflix and switched off the TV, tossing the remote next to him on the couch.

"Says the guy who is the bossiest of all," Derek shot back with amusement lacing his voice as he moved so they could get up from the couch. His back protested with a twinge, Derek making a face as he rubbed the offending part of him. This was what it was like to be old, probably? He distinctly remembered pulling pain from his mate's back too when their roles were reversed. Male backs weren't made for this.

Shooting a look at Stiles to prevent him from making a comment on it, the werewolf took the lead, sauntering to their bedroom as they turned the lights off. In there he turned on the baby monitor – not for him but for Stiles since the alpha had a tendency to sleep deeper these days. And they didn't want to miss out on the possible distress of their kids. Pulling the covers back, he was naked before Stiles even had a chance to join him in their room. His arm was splayed out to Stiles' side in invitation.

"Oh wow, that was even quicker than my undressing stunts," the Spark blinked surprised at his very naked and inviting mate. "Not complaining, though..." he murmured as he locked their door behind him and just drank in the sight for a few moments. His eyes lingered on the now unmistakable baby bump.

Then he sighed with a content smile and walked to their bed, stopping only at his side to pull his T-shirt over his head and toss it aside. He smirked a bit when he saw Derek's gaze wander on his slenderer yet nicely toned body, like so many times before. But it never got old and it did make Stiles' cock get half-hard as he shoved down his sweatpants. No undies tonight.

"I wanted to watch you undress," Derek confessed as he drank in the sight of what Stiles was offering him. It was no secret that he loved how Stiles, now that he was growing older, had developed so much more muscle, but stayed his slender self. The added beard growth always got to him. Nobody was allowed to look that good. And yes, he was fully aware that Stiles would always be beautiful to him because he was his mate, but he knew how attractive the human was.

One of his hands was resting on the baby bump, knowing Stiles seemed to love how Derek was filling out, so he of course used that shamelessly when he felt up for it. "Just want to admire what's all mine."

"Oh yeah?" Stiles asked with a shit-eating grin as he got on all fours and crawled closer on the bed until he could lie down on his side to face his mate and slide one of his own hands on the baby bump. He might have acted as if Derek's words were news to him, but Stiles couldn't fool anyone. "How about you touching all that's yours?" he suggested on a lower voice. "Like how I love to do with what's mine..." he added as his hand slid lower from the bump to gently take the hardening cock in his hand.

Humming under his breath when he was invited to touch, Derek wanted to reach out, but had to pause midway when his erection was wrapped into a warm hand. It was a fully hard cock right away thanks to the even light touches, his body always reacting to Stiles no matter what. Moaning softly, his eyes closed for a moment before he gathered himself. When the green eyes settled on the whiskey-colored ones, they were bright with love.

His fingers trailed over the soft skin of a cheek, down the coarse hairs of the beard, exploring. Touching all that was his, all of Stiles. They caressed along the chest, skipping past the pierced nipples on purpose to wrap his hand around the matching erection. "All mine."

"Yes..." Stiles sighed in agreement both confirming the words and feeling good from the fist around him. Then he scooted a bit closer with his pillow under his head so he could get lost in those beloved eyes better. It also made it pretty easy to move his head just a bit forward whenever he wanted to steal a kiss from his mate.

Which he wanted, so he did, just when his own hand gently stroked down on the thick shaft then slowly back up. He knew exactly how to stroke Derek, depending on the situation. For now, he wanted slow, so he used all his knowledge to make his mate feel good, but not too good just yet, because they wanted this to last.

Derek wasn't in a hurry either, his fingers and hand moved along the hard length slowly, pulling back the foreskin each time he moved his hand down. There was something intimate about breathing in Stiles' warm breath, tasting him as they kissed while their eyes were locked on one another. Slow was the key here to make Stiles feel loved and cherished and more importantly, safe.

This was Derek's way to let him know that he wasn't going anywhere, that he was alive and well. And within him were their babies, also alive and well, hidden behind that prominent swelling of his stomach. They didn't move yet, they didn't show any signs besides the two soft rabbit-like heartbeats. Ones that Derek could hear but not Stiles, not without help.

"We should get you a stethoscope. For when you're lying awake. That's what I did when you were pregnant, I listened to Casey’s heartbeat."

Stiles' hand kept up with the slow stroking as he hummed once their kiss ended, lips still moist. "That sounds like a good idea. I might hear better, but not like you can. It'd be nice to just sometimes listen to them," he nodded, loving this closeness and the familiar scents surrounding him. He already felt more relaxed in Derek's orbit and attention. "But for now..." he reached under his bigger pillow to pull out the lube "I think I just want you," he smiled and pecked his man's lips before letting the cock go so he could slick up that hand and squirt some onto Derek's palm too.

Then the slender hand was back around the shaft and Stiles' lips on their pair. Kissing Derek will never get old for him.

It wasn't often Stiles would tell him to stop talking, especially since Derek wasn't much of a talker himself. But those words were hinting towards it and for once the werewolf agreed. There were way more important things right now. Like the way that slick hand was slowly stroking him, kindling the flame of arousal without making him tip over it for a while. It was a slow pace, where it was going to be building. Their focus wasn't on reaching their orgasm. Their focus was making one another feel good.

With half-lidded eyes, he watched Stiles as his firm grasp on the erection went up and down slowly, sounding slick thanks to the lube as it quickly warmed up in his hot hand. "I know I just want you," Derek said softly, feeling through their bond how Stiles was a lot more relaxed now and didn't feel as anxious anymore. "Want to feel you, be inside you, hold you."

Stiles moaned his approval to the words and the matching slow moves of the hand on his erection, rubbing the tip of his nose against Derek's. "I want that too, babe. So much. I love you," he murmured, just watching his mate, getting lost in the green eyes as they were holding eye-contact with their heads resting on their pillows, hands mirroring the movements of the other's.

It was exciting and peaceful at the same time. A safe bubble for the two of them without the world butting in to ruin that precious atmosphere. There was no rush, just taking their time to enjoy the moments and each other to the fullest. With the twins on the way and already having two kids and the pets, they knew it was going to get even more chaotic and these moments rarer. Mostly "banned" to late nights in the solitude of their bedroom – if they can stay awake long enough. Raising kids was no easy feat, but was also very rewarding in many ways.

Derek was enjoying the peacefulness of the mutual hand job and the intimacy it provided for them because of their maintained eye-contact. That in itself was the most arousing, seeing and feeling Stiles react to the movements of his hands as it was mirrored on his own erection. For a while, they were just lying there on their sides, slowly moving their hands as they stayed within their bubble until Derek felt that if they continued like this, it was going to lead to an orgasm.

Stilling his hand, he licked his lips, which were suddenly very dry thanks to his heightened arousal. "Can you turn around and press against me?" His gaze went to the abandoned lube to signal what he wanted with that. Spooning Stiles seemed like the perfect position to not ruin the peacefulness they had created.

"Yeah, sure," Stiles nodded but stole a slow, sensual kiss first. His own hand stopped on Derek's erection, but he kept it there, just holding it, for as long as he could.

Then he reluctantly let it go to turn on his other side and scoot back against the warm body of his mate. He smiled a bit when he felt both said erection and Derek's tummy press against him. He looked over his shoulder, catching Derek feasting his eyes on the lightly glimmering tree tattoo on his back. Or maybe his focus was on the countless moles scattered on his pale skin. Stiles knew how much his alpha loved both.

"Close enough?" he asked, with that smile staying on his face and rubbing his ass against his husband.

"Never," Derek's voice rumbled against the warm neck as soft lips nuzzled the scar of the bite mark. He was very aware of how his extended stomach was starting to get in the way. By the next month there was no way they will be able to have sex in this position. And in a few months when Derek wouldn't be able to see his own feet, they might have to have sex with the werewolf bottoming. He had seen how big Stiles had gotten with just the one kid, so he himself was going to get even bigger!

Derek’s arms wrapped around his mate, rubbing his erection against the tempting swell of the buttocks pressing against him. He ran a hand along the long legs, tapping the one on top. "Lift this one for me." He was already grabbing for the lube, eager to get it on his fingers so he could prepare Stiles.

Stiles was still smiling to himself from Derek's response, because yeah, they could never get close enough with each other. The only times they were close enough was when their souls completely merged during their matings and orgasms. When they became one.

And he was eager to get to that point tonight too, so he obeyed Derek and lifted and bent that leg then hooked his arm behind his knee to keep it in that position. Arching his back a bit, he made sure to push his ass out like an offering for the alpha. Which was true. Stiles was offering himself to his mate for love and pleasure.

Slick fingers caressed along the rim of the furled opening, smearing the lubrication around the dry skin at first as Derek's fingers were caressing the skin. He wasn't in a rush to go fast, even though his hardon seemed to think otherwise with how hard it was. It was going to have to wait for a moment longer. One finger put pressure behind the petting until the muscle gave way enough for it to penetrate into the tightness. Velvet walls clenched around the digit as it pushed a little deeper, smearing the lube around as he wriggled the finger. It pulled out and pushed back in, starting a slow rhythm to get Stiles ready for more.

Stiles moaned softly and closed his eyes from the feeling. He concentrated on relaxing his ass to let the finger move in and out a bit easier. He had lost count a long time ago of how many times they have done this (and more), but it never got old. Derek touching and pleasuring him in any way still felt thrilling and often left Stiles a little bit amazed. Not because this would be anything new, no. It was because sometimes Stiles still – after all this time together – struggled with the fact that in the end Derek Hale had chosen him to love, mate, marry and start a family and pack with. It still felt huge for Stiles and he doubted that feeling would ever change. Also, he never took any of this for granted.

It felt so good, to feel his mate opening up to him slowly as the finger moved in and out easier. To have him pressed so close so Derek could feel his heartbeat thrumming rapidly, and the inhale and exhale every time Stiles took a breath. It would always be comforting to Derek, the true way to feel at home.

It wasn't until he felt the muscle fully relax before he added another finger, being very thorough to keep it to an easy and wet glide. Only this time he did add a little twist as he pushed them up, so the fingers brushed along the prostate and caused that familiar jolt of intense pleasure.

This time Stiles' moan was louder and right after he gasped for air, his hands curling into fists. One in the air while holding his leg in position, the other around the sheet as his cock jumped and his back slightly arched, pressing more into Derek.

"Fuck... yeah, right there. Feels so good," he babbled, slightly moving his ass to meet those magical fingers, obviously wanting more of that feeling.

A third was added, causing more of a burn as the digits moved to open up the tightness even more while the 'right there' spot was massaged. Derek could feel how his mate was nearly melting against him, giving into the pleasure of the shocks his prostate massage caused. It was a beautiful sight, the way Stiles fully trusted him and gave into him. How there was no shame between them, nor awkwardness. Only love and needs.

Caught by that wave of love he often felt for his gorgeous husband, Derek leaned in to kiss and nibble at an earlobe. "I will always be here, Stiles. We're safe here." Pouring all of his love into their bond, he pushed the fingers all the way inside to their last knuckles.

A ragged breath left the parted bow-shaped lips and the whole leaner body shuddered pleasantly. Not just from the fingers, or the mouth and hot breath by his ear, but of course also from his mate's words and even more so from that warm love he could feel pouring into him through their wide-open bonds. It was the most beautiful and warm thing Stiles has ever had the chance to experience and it never failed to amaze and melt him.

This is just what he needed – to feel loved and treasured and safe – and Derek knew that too. Of course he did, and Stiles still was convinced that he had the best mate he could ever wish for.

To appreciate the care and love, he turned his head back and caught the soft lips in a kiss. Just when his own love for this man responded through their bonds.

Derek knew that Stiles has been taking care of him non-stop ever since the pregnancy came to light, because it had changed some things between them. Not permanently, but the alpha was not handling the hormones well, and once he was going to be big, he was going to need even more help, no doubt. Stiles was always a bossy man, dominant as hell, but also needed to have Derek take charge in some things sometimes. So it made sense it was getting a little overwhelming for him. It made sense Stiles needed him to take care of him now, something he did gladly and without hesitation.

Parting his lips, he pushed his tongue inside to taste Stiles, to steal his breath away while the fingers were removed. For once Derek wasn't torturing him with a long foreplay. For once he gave what his mate wanted from him. Nudging the head of his erection against the prepared entrance, he took over the leg-holding from the human. And pushed inside.

The Spark moaned into their deep kiss, his now free hand reaching back to rest on the alpha's side, to keep him close while they kept kissing and that beautiful cock steadily slid home. Stiles welcomed the familiar slight burn the stretching of the thick girt caused, and broke the kiss to pant with closed eyes only when the long shaft bottomed out in him.

"Derek..." he whispered, arching his body a bit more to physically feel his mate as much as he could, and he turned his head to bare his throat for his alpha and pair. He knew that always appealed to his mate, for obvious reasons, and he often did it, even if Stiles often was the more openly in charge one in their everyday lives. The balance regarding that between them worked like a charm. They always seamlessly shifted power between them. It depended on the situation and their moods.

And now Stiles gave control to Derek, whom he trusted with his life. Also, it felt so good to just exist between the strong arms, drinking in the presence and everything his mate was without any worries or planning. He treasured Derek's ability to quiet his always busy brain to just be and be loved and taken care of for a change.

Derek knew how it felt to be able to lean back and for a change give control to somebody else, to be able to just be in the moment. His entire goal was to make Stiles feel cherished and secure by pouring his love into it as they were making love. All the human really needed to do was lie there and take it, let it all wash over him like a warm wave of sensual love.

"I'm right here, I've got you," Derek whispered back against the panting lips, his hips still moving. It was a slow rhythm, going deep to make Stiles feel the drag of the thick cock as it moved in and out of him. Not fully, because the alpha didn't pull out all the way, he stopped right before he'd slip out and gave a powerful thrust to push all the way back in. The swell of his stomach pushed against Stiles each time in a reminder of what they had created together. "I will always have you."

"Yes..." That's all Stiles could whisper with his eyes closed, melting into that warm love surrounding and entering him even deeper than the hard shaft working him steadily ever could. Both took his breath away and now he didn't feel the need to babble or talk much. Now it was time to enjoy this love, closeness and caring he was fortunate enough to experience. (The bump... well… bumping against him only making Stiles feel warmer with love.)

The hand from Derek's side slowly slid to the one holding his leg up and moved it to his front and between his legs where his leaking cock was waiting eagerly for its touch. The pleasure was building slowly but steadily in the Spark, but he wanted to feel Derek's hands all over him.

If Derek wasn't so focused on making Stiles feel good and in turn how amazing it made him feel, he would’ve chuckled or be very smug at rendering the talkative man quiet. At the moment, the alpha hadn't noticed, he was too busy breathing heavily as his lower body was moving to pump into his mate.

The hot hard erection in his hand wasn’t forgotten when Stiles made it clear with a hand movement what he wanted. A firm grip made it easy to rub him off at the same time as he bottomed out inside the tight channel. It was a slow hand job, as slow and intense as his motions were, accompanied by neck and cheek kisses as warm breaths puffed against the pale skin.

For a change Stiles didn't want to rush it, he let the pleasure build up gradually and steadily from the double-sided stimulation. He let his mind drift and bask in his mate's every move. Derek had reached his goal, because Stiles felt happy, loved and cared for and he smiled in-between moans of pleasure, eyes still closed until he was getting close.

Then he did open his eyes and turned his head back, looking into his mate's eyes, one hand curled into a fist around the sheet and the other once again holding his leg in position for easy access. "I'm getting close..." he stated the obvious, his body gearing up with the telltale signs of tightening around Derek's cock and his dick oozing more pre-cum and throbbing in the grip that carried the confidence of someone who knew his body very, very well. "I love you," he panted, wanting his husband to be able to watch his face when he comes. Something Stiles knew Derek loved very much.

The half-lidded eyes grew soft and had that warm twinkle that was only reserved for Stiles, the look his mate called ‘heart-eyes’. "I love you too." There was so much more Derek wanted to say, but his grip sped up, as he felt the tightness around him clench. It didn't need to be said, they were so in tune with one another that they often knew when one of them was close.

Intently watching, Derek's thrusts also sped up, so he could see what was going on. He loved that look of pure ecstasy on Stiles' face when he'd reach his orgasm. It was a pure, unguarded and intimate moment. The alpha always felt honored to be able to see that happening.

"Come for me," Derek whispered.

Melting even more from that look and the warmth and love he felt through the wide-open bonds, Stiles kept the eye-contact, panting close to his mate's face, his hot breaths puffing against Derek's skin as he made small noises of pleasure while it kept building and building and building.

His hips began rocking back against that hard cock spearing into him so perfectly, that each time it brushed on its way in and out against his prostate, Stiles saw stars at the edge of his vision from that pleasure too. He wanted to close his eyes, but forced himself to keep them open, wanting to see his mate's beautiful face when he came.

And after those magical words, only a dozen more thrusts were needed to feel his balls draw up and his cock throb as he yelled half-way into Derek's mouth and the blinding orgasm washed over him (and their bonds), making Stiles clamp down hard around that wonderful cock and shoot his cum all over Derek's hand and the bed, his brain completely shutting off and at one point the edges of his vision getting blurred.

It was impossible to not follow after Stiles, even though Derek tried his best to fuck his mate through his orgasm. The way those soft walls clamped around him and moved as the body was shivering, it seemed intent on milking him too. Managing a couple of more thrusts, Derek's hold on the other tightened, shooting deep within Stiles as he came softly.

He wasn't a screamer. Sometimes he was probably too quiet, especially when he was so focused on his partner and didn't want to miss a moment. The sounds he made right now were moans and grunts, lips claiming the mouth that was hovering so close, so he was able to swallow Stiles' sounds.

Afterwards there was only quietness in the room, filled with their love and the scent of their love making.

Chapter Text

29: Ember to Inferno – Part 3

Stiles' leg has been jumping up and down rhythmically, his eyes sharp and slightly narrowed while staring at Jasmine opposite from him. They were sitting at the dining table, Stiles pursing his lips while Jake's boss/girlfriend took her sweet time drinking her herbal tea.

Because of course a fairy would drink herbal tea, Stiles thought with an inaudible huff.

"Someone's impatient..." the gorgeous brunette woman lightly taunted the Spark, not intimidated or rushed by him at all.

"You're stalling. Maybe you don't even know how to teach me to lock you and others with fae magic out. Maybe that's your master plan! Taking over the building with your squeeze," he nodded towards Jake. "To make us homeless."

Jasmine threw her head back a bit and laughed out loud on that. "Oh my, little Spark, sometimes I cannot decide if you're serious or joking. But you are amusing for sure."

"He's joking," Derek grumbled with a dramatic eye-roll. Nobody wanted the loft building, because it took a lot of money to fix it up and it wasn't worth the effort. Only the top floor of the main building was finished and the elevator, as well as a huge part of the second floor and ground floor. The two other wings haven't even been touched on yet. The plan was to finish the ground floor and some apartments in the main building, but the rest wasn't important. For now. So yeah, nobody wanted to take over an empty building, which Stiles knew all too well!

"If I wanted a nice building to take over, I'd move in with Jasmine," Jake said, meaning the very luxurious hotel she owned, and he had to admit that sometimes he missed the room he used to live in there. But that had mostly to do with all the times he had woken up with his nose in Jasmine's hair.

The alpha snorted, finding amusement in that statement. In his opinion it was only a matter of time before that happened. His big hands folded around his stomach where the little ones were creating the familiar feeling of flutters. They weren't moving enough to feel it from the outside yet, but Derek could tell now when they were active. "What about that myth about throwing a cup of dried rice on the floor so the faerie feels forced to start counting? Because I think we have some rice."

After exchanging a sultry look with Jake, the fae in question turned her attention back to the mates, specifically to Derek.

"Well, I prefer my rice cooked and eaten from a bowl or plate, thank you very much. I'm not a vampire from some folklore tale. I believe they are more often associated with that thing," she waved it away with her free hand. "It's just some fairy tale," she deadpanned. "As a magical creature yourself," she continued, keeping her dark-brown eyes on the alpha "you should be used to the habit of supernaturals planting such false superstitions in humans. Or even in other supernaturals. Sometimes to throw them off the scent of their true weaknesses or just to mess with them."

"That's true. That's why before the Argent bestiary and my expansion on it, it was not that easy to deduce what might be true about different creatures," Stiles nodded then leaned on his elbows on the table top as he narrowed his eyes a bit again. "But you are sensitive to pure iron. At least we know that."

"Yes. Unfortunately that is hard to deny. But this is not about uncovering my weaknesses. One might think you are the one plotting against me to have Jake for all yourselves," she smirked.

"Busted," came the merry reply from Derek, with an almost gleeful tone to his voice even though yeah, that wasn't what they were after. Stretching his legs out to be completely comfortable on the couch, he watched the other three like a hawk. After being told, repeatedly, that he wasn't going to join in on anything if they were going to do some magic spells, he had no plans to move anytime soon.

Jake cleared his throat to get their attention, but also because he was about to broach what was probably unwelcome advice. "Kids, I get why you're so fucking secretive about shit, because of all the bad memories and threats you had to endure. I mean, I was told only a little and my mind is still reeling from it all. But you gotta offer a little for her to know why this is important. I mean, you're kinda asking her to go naked while you're keeping all the clothes on." The dark eyes twinkled as he looked at her. "I mean, we all like her naked, but it's not fair."

Derek did share a quick look with his own mate, for different reasons. A quick confirmation as to what they should do, if they should get “naked” as Jake suggested. It wasn't an unreasonable request, just a very uncomfortable one. "We need the loft building to be safe for us from all threats. We've been fighting a druid council, Lucifer, hunters..." It was said as if he was talking about the weather, because he needed it to be neutral. Stress was bad for the babies. "Also we are the chosen protectors of the Nemeton we managed to restore to its former glory..."

"Yes, Jake showed me the Nemeton. I never heard of someone being able to do that..." she mused.

Stiles nodded then drummed his fingers on the table, maybe a bit impatient, but understood that Jake was right. "Yes, well..." he shrugged it off, as if it wasn't a big deal. "In the past we also regularly had to fight off all kinds of creatures that came into town because said Nemeton was corrupted and acted like a beacon for the supernatural. That calmed down now that it's restored, but it doesn't mean the threat is over. Not to mention that me being a powerful Spark and Derek having the ability to resurrect the dead" he waved at Jake "is bound to get out there and some might see that as a challenge to claim this territory or try to use us for their own evil plans. Plus thanks to Jake's bloodline, Derek can see ghosts too if he wants to. So warding off the malevolent ones was a must, because we don't need them to trigger his memories of literal Hell. And most importantly, we also have small children and two more cubs on the way... So yeah, that's why it pissed me off that Jake and you could get through my wards so easily when I believed that I had thought of everything."

"Yes, I've heard you're nothing if not absolutely thorough," she nodded, placing her mug down on the table, lost in thought for a moment as she processed all that was told her.

Stiles only nodded to that and held her searching gaze, giving her that moment.

"Alright. I'll help, because I being around Jake might unwittingly make things a bit... more complicated for you. The last thing I want is for you or your pack to suffer the consequences," she finally said, practically sensing the Spark's relief as Jasmine lifted a graceful hand with her palm up, letting her eyes shine a little bit in a golden light as a matching small wisp of light materialized on her palm. "How much do you two know about fairy light?" she asked, looking at the mates in turns.

"It's your soul juice, like Stiles' Spark creates his magic or how I have a spark that makes me an alpha. It’s what makes you smell like sunshine hitting the skin on a warm afternoon with a soft breeze." It wasn't Derek's intention to sound so poetic, but that's what she smelled like to him, and made her so appealing. Now, he wasn't once tempted, because he had his own personal sun right next to him and her magic was not unlike how it represented within his mate.

Jake's chuckle sounded loud as he recognized what his son said. "All beings are pulled towards faeries, us even more. Not only because of our sensitive nose, but also because you have the demon wolf senses, so you pick up on more than most. Like we can see the wings on angels, and we can also see the light within. Once we know what to look for. And older faeries know how to hide it well though, even from us." He waved towards Derek's belly. "Not that you need to worry about any of this, all you need to do is keep those little pu-... ones safe."

With a dramatic sigh, the alpha rolled his eyes, because it seemed like both his father and his mate seemed to be very focused on keeping him protected at all costs. He was still a werewolf-demon wolf hybrid, with a link to a Nemeton and a Darach. AND he was an evolved alpha. He was capable of doing more than sitting there on the couch.

"Oh no, you don't get to pull that, boy. Yes you're all super powerful and you have all the muscles to prove it. But for the next 5 months or so, you're going to sit there and look pretty.”

"Yes, I'm 3000% in agreement with your dad. You were protective of me when I was pregnant with Casey, so now it's our turn to be protective of you. Which means you have no veto power over us in this regard," Stiles piped in and he would've patted Derek's thigh if he wasn't sitting on the couch and he and Jasmine by the table.

"Anyways," Stiles turned back to the fae in question. "I know that too about fairy light. Even if I cannot scent you as well as these two," he moved his index-finger between the father and son duo. "I also know that it's capable of casting glamour or illusions. I believe it's related to the fae itself and how strong or old they are? Dunno, the fae section of the bestiary is scarce, because your kind is so rare and reclusive."

"That's true," Jasmine agreed and let the wisp of light playfully dance higher in the air between them. "But that's not all. Even I don't know all the perks because of being raised by humans and never really having a mentor or the opportunity to grow up in an environment of my own kind."

"I can relate to that," Stiles grunted in agreement, because he too never really had anyone to teach him anything about his Spark while growing up.

Acknowledging that with a nod, Jasmine continued. "Fairy light also means the ability to bend reality through illusions, but that's just one part of it. Another is to manipulate reality with the help of light. Or more precisely: sunlight. It means that back in the past when fairies were more common and powerful, they were able to travel through sunshine. Well, if they were from the light fae line like me, of course. The same could be said in the opposite direction with dark fae and their shadows. I'm the descendant of light fae, so that grants me the ability to travel through sunshine, but in a more 'watered down' way. Which means I cannot travel like that between great distances. Just tiny slips. Like through your wards."

"Ooooooh!" Stiles' clever brown eyes flashed up, finally starting to put things together. "So you can use that ability to get through wards like mine undetected. That makes sense."

"Precisely," she smirked. "I also have the ability to use a part of my essence to 'plant' into someone so they can do the same."

"So that's how Jake, who's as far from a fae as possible, was able to sneak up on us too!" Stiles slapped a hand on the table and leaned back in his chair with a slightly gaping mouth, because even with all the research he didn't know about something like that being possible. Sure, Derek could lend his healing power to him, but that was different, because they were mates and not fae. So yeah, this was new to him too.

"I so didn't mind her planting something of her in me," Jake said with a huge grin, leaving no room to think it wasn't completely sexual. It was of course, for Derek, too much information and he groaned at how shameless his father was. Stiles and he were open and shameless too, but not to that kind of degree! That dirty mind of Jake was endless, so the man could make an innuendo out of anything, like a bad skill he liked to show off.

Ignoring that quip even though his traitorous mate was of course snickering like a little kid, Derek turned his attention to Jasmine. She was the calm in the chaos of Jake. She breathed power and wisdom, which made Derek feel at ease around her, sensing her old age. "Moving through light makes you fae pretty dangerous." It was everywhere except at night. And he had a feeling it wasn't as easy as darkening the loft to cancel out her ways to slip past the wards.

"That's not all she can do," Jake boasted, pretty pleased with his powerful girlfriend. He didn't betray her trust by blurting out what she all could do, leaving that dubious honor to her to reveal.

"That's true. I have many other talents. Both in physical combat and the fae stuff, although I have to admit, that not all my potential is unlocked yet, because of lacking a proper mentor in the past," she shrugged it off, although Stiles – from his own example – could tell that it was something that might have bothered her. And be the reason in the first place why she needed bodyguards around nearly 24/7 and the cause of her slight paranoia, to which Stiles also could relate to.

"You can keep those secrets to you. We're not trying to pry or anything. We gathered here only for you to teach me how to not let fae folks through my wards," the Spark said somewhat calmer after his snickering from before.

"That's true," Jasmine smiled, maybe a bit relieved, because even if she often was in the center of attention because of her natural allure, she clearly wasn't that comfortable with sharing too much confidential information about herself and her abilities – even if it was just to her lover's son and mate. She usually opened up about such stuff slowly. "To get to that, first things first, you should take a feel of my power," she nodded towards the dancing wisp in the air. "So you know what to concentrate on while casting your wards. You know what I mean?"

"Yes," Stiles nodded, letting his irises turn to amber as he leaned forward again, fixing his gaze (and opening up his other senses) on the wisp. "Actually casting the wards or strengthening them might be not that complicated, but I do have to prepare beforehand. Like visualizing or rather feel what kind of energies I don't want to let in."

"Exactly. So you need to take a good 'footprint' of how fae magic feels to you to be able to weave blocking it into your wards."

Jake and Derek were both sprawled out on the couches, observing and unknowingly looking so much like one another with how they were sitting. There was one difference, Derek was the one snacking while watching, having a bag of carrots he would dip into cream cheese before taking a bite. The past week the alpha's snacks became healthier than before after some Stiles intervention when his sugar intake had been through the roof. Since they had no idea if the babies were werewolves, and whatever Derek ate would influence the offspring, there had to be some healthier options. And as much as the Hale had complained about the idea, he found that it didn't exactly matter to him as long as he could have something to eat regularly.

"Maybe you should do that with my energy too. I mean, not that I'm expecting demon wolves to come knocking anytime soon, but we should always be on the cautious side!" Jake remarked as he watched the exchange with interest. He was training Stiles, so he knew the young Darach was talented and had a power he hadn't seen before. But it was still a marvel to see Stiles in action. Same with Jasmine, but for totally different reasons.

"That's a good idea. And it's not like I can't give exceptions to the wards. I mean, those whom we know and are welcomed can enter. The wards are familiar with their energies. Yeah, I know it might sound complicated, but we all know how magic IS complicated," he said as some of his amber mist-like power reached out towards the light-gold wisp and surrounded it.

"That's true," Jasmine agreed and kept the wisp steady in the air between them, observing what the Spark was doing.

Stiles' power closed around her light, mingling with it, as if sampling it. "Wow, you feel nice," he murmured. "Like pure sunshine."

"And you like untamed fire and spices," she smiled.

"You can feel me too, huh?"

"Yes. I can also sense Derek's power perfectly mingled with yours. "It's earthly and feral. You're a very powerful combination."

Derek was very smug from being called earthly and feral, or at least Jasmine sensing his power like that. At least some part of him was still werewolf at the moment, even though his body had completely other ideas. Not that he hated being round and working on remaining healthy. He had gone from wolf to domesticated guinea pig thanks to the pregnancy. Well, a feral guinea pig, since he wasn't one to mess with when he felt threatened for no apparent reason.

"I knew Stiles was the one after our annoying first meeting. Not that I ever thought he was capable of this." With that, Derek motioned at his mate. Not once had he doubted Stiles' intelligence, his loyalty and his penchant to want to help and then get himself in trouble. But he used to be this hyperactive young spazz back then, which he still was, but it was far more mellowed now. And he was much more powerful. "All he could do back then was throw mountain ash around like it was fairy dust." A clear indicator that the talent had been there, albeit raw.

"It was meant to be, you two. Soulmates in all ways, since neither of you would be this powerful without the other." Jake was a sucker for romance, so he was very happy some past was mentioned, hoping for more. "It's been... how long since that first meeting? And were you two always drawn to each other?"

"Well... pushing on around 15 years by now," Stiles said with a fond, albeit a bit distant voice since he was splitting his attention and concentration between the conversation and what he was doing, his power rather dancing around with the wisp than wanting to snuff it out. "And as for me, I pretty quickly started getting fear-boners around him. His broody, mysterious and silent behavior often drew me up the walls, but also aroused me all the time. But I was like a snotty fifteen-year-old, who was a magnet for trouble and had no mouth-filter. Well... those are true today too, but I like to think I'm calmer and wiser now. Or something like that," he explained then slowly pulled his power back, watching the wisp lower down onto Jasmine's palm, dancing there happily. It was strangely calming to watch that while reminiscing of the old days.

"So that's a yes," she smiled.

"I'd say so. But I guess, since I didn't know better for quite a while, it was more about physical attraction on my part. Derek was more in the know about the possible mate thing, but said nothing and wanted to wait until I've got older."

"The fact that he was so young made me run for the hills, fast." Shrugging, Derek didn't say more on it, because nevertheless clearly they had been drawn to each other, even when it was not about choices but was a matter of survival. "Being in Hell had changed it all for me. It made me realize what was important and who. Mostly Beth at first. I still wanted to make Stiles go away."

"Like that would even work when you're destined…" Jake ignored the scowl Derek threw his way, because that was something his son had made clear quickly. The not believing in karma or faith or destiny. Much to his own exasperation, at least Stiles didn't close his eyes for the truth and what was right in front of them. There was such a fucking clear path of destiny with the two of them! "Yeah I know, you don't believe in that and I'm an old fool and the world doesn't work like that. In your head. Let this old man have his thoughts, though." It was just Jake's personality, the way he didn't say Derek was wrong in his opinion, but respecting his side as long as Derek would respect his.

"I'm with Jake on this, but my hubby knows that. He's been rolling his eyes at me on this matter for years now," Stiles shrugged with a grin and leaned back in his chair to eye the other two men. "So... does this mean you think you and Jasmine are destined too?" he raised one brow curiously. Because of course he had to ask this from Jake. The two of them pretty much acted like he and Derek around each other, so it was probably not a big stretch to think along those lines.

"Well, that's a good question indeed," the fairy closed her elegant fingers around the wisp and with that made it finally disappear, just when her calm dark-brown eyes met Jake's.

"Who knows, maybe? It seems to be heading that way," Jake shrugged, because it wasn’t pure love at first sight with them, it wasn’t like he had an instant mate in his head. They both haven't even been looking for anything steady, but it had grown into it because they were compatible in many things. "We were destined to meet for sure," Jake added, not to be smooth, even though it completely was a smooth answer.

"She helped you when you had nothing. If you believe in destiny, that should tell you something." The alpha didn't grump, but he did feel guilty about it how he had accidentally revived Jake, thanks to Zepar, and had left his own father without memories or anything. Because he had no idea at the time. It was something Derek was going to have to learn, to know how to find somebody he had revived. Even if he hoped that wasn't going to happen again.

"It tells me that two rare beings finding one another is fucking rare," Jake hummed.

"I can't agree more with that," Jasmine snickered, visibly pleased with her boyfriend's clever replies. "I had more than a couple of centuries to confirm that. Anyways," she turned her attention back to Stiles, all business again. (Which was not strange from a business woman like her.) "Do you think you have a good grip on my fae energies now?"

"I believe so," Stiles replied confidently. And that was far from that aforementioned teen, who had no idea what he was doing with the mountain ash. Now he (mostly) knew what he was capable of, which gave him that confidence Derek always went bonkers for.

"The essence of it is what matters. Strip away everything that's my personal energy and that will give you a good feel of how the fae generally feels. But I believe you already know this."

"Yes, I had some practice with wards against wolves and witches and whatnot," he winked at her then theatrically waved towards the oldest Hale in the room. "Jake, my favorite father-in-law, the stage is yours. Give me some of that delish demon wolf essence," he patted the tabletop a few times, grinning like an idiot. Obviously the magic was pumping him up.

"I wouldn't want to make my son kill me for giving you my essence," Jake gave him a bit of a fat wink for dramatic purposes. At least Stiles wasn't giggling and blushing as much anymore around him now that he was used to Jake's often flirty behavior. The older man didn't come onto him once, but it was part of his charm, the way he would flirt with everything that walked without crossing any lines. "And with that I don't mean sex. If I give you some of my essence, I'd be able to possess you."

Derek sat up straight at those words, since he had never been able to do that himself, or he didn't think. "What..."

"It's fine, that's not going to happen if he reads my energy instead of me giving it to him. I'm not going to imprint on him."

"What?" Derek insisted more urgently, asking for some kind of explanation as to what that all meant.

"Imprint. It means I leave a piece of my soul behind in someone and I can use the connection to possess them. It's also how I get that piece back again. It's not permanent, doesn't leave damage, if I don't want it to."

"Is that why I was able to trade half my soul? Because I can use pieces of it?" Derek suddenly realized that maybe what had happened to him wasn't so weird, and that the demon he had traded it to had to know exactly what Derek was capable of.

"Well, yeah? You didn't realize how fucking special it was? People usually lose their entire soul."

Stiles gaped at that. Not at all subtly as he was staring at Jake along with Derek. He could see Jasmine pick up her by then lukewarm tea with an amused little smirk, resting her chin on her free hand, as if watching her favorite TV show. Maybe that was true, because the three of them? Well, they were quite the bunch to watch interact.

"Well... that explains a few things from our shared past too. Like when we opened that portal and pulled the missing part back from Hell," Stiles finally found his voice as he stood and started pacing, brows still high up in his hairline. "I knew it was 'too easy' to coax it to stick around for that ride... And when I sealed it back into you... it felt... eager and like... dunno, as if it already 'knew' what was going on. Not that it was sentient or anything, it's just... how it felt to me," he mused, his eyes landing on the chest of his mate where that rune was hiding under his clothes. The now dormant rune that was used to seal the once again complete soul inside. Not that it was needed anymore since it had served its purpose, but it stayed on Derek's skin, because it was a magical scar. (Which, Stiles knew, he could fill up with magic to serve the same purpose once again, if needed.)

Thinking along the same lines, Derek touched his chest where the scar was, which wouldn’t have been needed if they had known. But with the state of having only half of his soul, would he have been able to use this ability? Probably not, and it wasn't like he was too keen on giving parts away again to possess others. It all just made a lot more sense. More puzzle pieces were falling into place, unanswered questions getting a final close at last.

"It's a little sentient, like your magic," Jake gave them both a frown, because there have been so many situations he hadn't been a part of. He could have helped them, and it would have been so much easier for them, if they had known what Derek really was. "I'm sorry that you both didn't have somebody to tell you what was really going on." And clearly Jake was determined to make up for it all now by training them both and making sure they unlocked all their potential. "We'll make it right." With ‘we’ he mostly meant himself, even though Jasmine knew all about demon wolves and other supernaturals, too. But Jake couldn't keep her here to train a Darach, even if he was tempted to ask her. She had her own life.

"When I'm not pregnant anymore, I want to know all about this." Derek knew it was time to embrace what he really was instead of clinging to his werewolf heritage.

"Of course! Whatever you need. For now though..." Jake stepped closer to Stiles, raising his hands. "You ready?" It wasn't even to ask if he was, because the demon wolf pushed their foreheads together, keeping Stiles still by the back of his neck. Closing his eyes, he opened himself up to the magic of the Darach, letting it touch on what he was hiding. That overwhelming strength, the absolute power packed into the slender body. Jake's essence was like a giant and slender wolf the size of a bus.

"Whoa! This escalated quickly," Stiles puffed, because the way Jake's power was unleashed on him felt like being hit by that bus-sized black wolf, which the suddenly brightly glowing amber eyes could see staring back at him.

Until now he only had his suspicions that Jake hid more than what he had showed from his real power. And it was massive. Perhaps even stronger than Jasmine's, although Stiles couldn't know for sure how good she was with hiding the rest of her power from him, even while reading her energies. Anyways, in reaction to that, it was no wonder that with the force of Jake's "opening up," Stiles' magic looked as if some of it was quite literally "knocked out" behind him, immediately forming the amber fiery phoenix wings, which half-curled around him, as if they wanted to protect him. Even if Stiles knew that Jake wouldn't hurt him. But boy, was the huge demon wolf intimidating as he was staring back at him, his Spark burning brighter in his chest.

"Gorgeous..." That was Jasmine and it was not clear whom she meant, but it didn't really matter in that moment either.

What mattered was Stiles getting a grip of his magic to push back against the massive demon wolf energy until it wasn't overwhelming his senses so much, so he could actually read said energies. "You taste like darkness, fire and... I don't know..." He couldn't put his finger on it, although it felt vaguely familiar.

"Incense," Jasmine helped him out from the table. Like someone who was intimately familiar with that energy. Which was obviously true.

"Yes. That," Stiles lightly nodded against Jake's forehead, inhaling him deeply with all his senses.

Derek wasn’t able to remain seated like Jasmine did. She clearly was used to the onslaught of power Jake exuded if he let it, but the younger Hale was surprised and overwhelmed by it when it took over the room. No wonder Stiles' magic reacted by creating the phoenix, they both were visibly taken aback. It felt like they had just entered a very old church, because that same kind of energy vibrated around them. An enormous church, where talking out loud seemed to be a disturbance and you felt compelled to be hushed and sufficiently impressed. It wasn't like it was a threat to his mate, Derek didn't feel like he had to jump between them, however, he felt he needed to be ready for... something.

He resembled a cat ready to defend its territory when another one entered it, all big fluffy tail and fur standing on end. Jake didn't share the same scent, not even close. While Derek's scent was musk, petrichor and wildness, Jake was an ancient church. That was the best comparison Derek could make. "You feel like an angel but... not."

Jake didn't answer him, he was too focused on what he was doing. Allowing Stiles to take it all in without overwhelming him and without imprinting on him. It took concentration he didn't want to break. But he did wonder just how many angels Derek had met, because that was such a red flag! Clearly his boy was already attracting all kinds of attention.

Counting to ten, he slowly broke the connection, not because he couldn't maintain it, but because it was enough for the Darach for today.

"Whoa..." Stiles croaked again, his breathing a bit shallow and he did hold onto one of Jake's arms to keep his balance now that the other force was all of a sudden gone. It felt like when two forces strain against each other and then all of a sudden his had nothing to press against, so he felt a bit off-balance both physically and metaphysically. His 'wings' dissolved, turning into the amber fog of his magic, still swirling around him. It took him a moment to be able to focus on pulling it back.

"You should've prepared him, Jake," Jasmine said softly (and maybe a tiny bit chidingly) then she looked at Derek. "Remember, your father's kind was created for the angels, so of course he feels like that. Not something people might expect from a demon wolf, right?" she let her eyes drift back to the other two.

"He doesn't need prep, he can take it." Jake wasn't the type to ease anybody into anything, especially not one he was training. It wasn't like Stiles would get a warning when another creature was going to flaunt its power, so it was best to throw him right into it.

Derek, slightly worried about Stiles' reaction, reached out to steady his mate while rolling his eyes at his father. "You had to phrase it like that."

"Oh hush, he likes it, grumpy pants."

"You should have warned him," Derek agreed with Jasmine. He had sensed what Jake was, they talked a lot telepathically, which had made him feel the power brewing under the skin of his father. "Are you okay?" That was aimed at Stiles.

The man in question honest to god giggled and blushed from Jake's comment – a reaction previously so common around the older Hale, because he resembled Derek not just in looks, but also some of his energies too. And yeah, he was right, Stiles liked the double meaning in the words. All of them often talked in innuendos around this household, so they were used to it. And it wasn't like Stiles would ever jump his father-in-law's bones. He only saw Derek that way. "Honestly? I feel a little bit off-balance and drunk on these new energies. How did you call it? Mind-whammied?" he chuckled and leaned into Derek's hold on him. "Don't worry, it'll pass. It wasn't that bad, he just took me off-guard."

Derek threw Jake another pointed look as he supported his overwhelmed mate, knowing this wouldn’t have happened, if his father had warned Stiles. If he had eased him into it. "Yeah, mind-whammy." It always seemed to be the best way to explain it when the mind was reeling from something. It was different from having the mind being invaded, it was more like being hit by a tsunami of power. "It'll pass soon, then you'll feel a little drained."

"You think the faeries will hold back should they show up here? He's gotta get used to it, because they'll be as powerful as Jasmine or more. His wards need to be able to stop that." Jake wasn't sorry, because it was about protecting them. "If you're here by yourself, you need to be safe, because you can't get in a fight with your babies inside of you." He wasn't even mentioning the fact that there was also a toddler and another child to consider. As alpha, Derek would want to protect his pack, and it would come at a high cost. "You're usually the fighter while Stiles uses his magic, but Stiles needs to do everything now."

"Which is perfectly fine, given his current pregnant state," Stiles hurried to clarify, giving a pointed look to Jake, because he didn't want Derek to start feeling guilty or get emotional about it.

Squeezing Derek's arm and pulling the alpha with him, Stiles started moving towards the couch from where his mate got up. "I need to sit down for a sec," he mumbled and once he did and felt more comfortable, he took a few deep breaths, checking on the still coursing new energies and his ruffled magic. "Otherwise Jake is right. In case we ever get those fae visitors, I doubt they are going to hold back," Stiles finally opened his eyes and patted Derek's thigh comfortingly a few times. As if saying 'stand down, big guy'.

"Jake is also right about them being older and more powerful than me. Or at least a few of them. Maybe not the assassins I've been dealing with, but I'm a bit paranoid for a reason," Jasmine chimed in with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry I'm a risk to your family to be around. Maybe I shouldn't have come," she sighed. "I was selfish and didn't think this through."

Derek didn't in fact stand down, only glanced down briefly at Stiles who didn't look all that great anymore now that the initial rush of all that power had worn off and left him feeling drained. Something Jake should have anticipated and it earned him yet another glare before he slowly shook his head at Jasmine. "Don't talk like that. You're somebody in need of some help. Staying away won't change that. This is what we do, we help."

Derek had nearly said this is what a pack does, because she already felt like she was part of them, familiar, as if she’s been around them for a lot longer than a few days. Maybe Jake didn't outright say it, but the younger Hale had a feeling that she was going to stick around for a while and would be what she already felt like. Part of the pack. Just like his father had seemingly flawlessly slipped into their lives, like he belonged there. "We don't hide form danger or leave somebody to defend themselves alone."

Jake offered his sympathy by resting his big hand on the small of her back, stroking along her shirt as his warmth seeped through the fabric. "Let the fucking bastards come. They'll be in for a surprise."

"Agreed," Stiles nodded as he leaned into Derek's side some more, knowing that physical contact between them always made them feel calmer. "We just have to fae-proof the building and my dad's home. Probably the precinct as well for good measure. Not taking chances with dad again," he added. "Him being kidnapped once by the evil Darach to be sacrificed as a protector was one time more than I liked," he huffed, unwittingly squeezing Derek's knee a bit from the unpleasant memory. "That bitch did a number on this town and Derek, so I don't want a repeat of that."

"Understandable," the fae nodded and looked at the three men gratefully. "Thank you. I appreciate your offer of safety. Truth be told, aside from my warded hotel, I’ve never really had another place in all my years where I was offered safety from my enemies," she admitted, her brown eyes' look softer and warmer than before, which was a sign that she was moved by the warm (and fierce) welcome.

"You'll always have it, even if you and Jake don't work out." Derek glanced at Stiles, wrapping his arm around him to pull him close. The offering safety and a home to somebody who needed it was exactly what he wanted to do with this building and never had been able to outside of his own family. So he was glad they were finally able to do what Beacon Hills should have been all about. What Scott had been all about as well. Protect those who needed it, regardless of what they were.

"And even though these two seem intent on repopulating the Earth, there's no way they'll have fae kids, so Stiles doesn't need to update his wards all the time either," Jake thought about it and then shook his head. "Probably because they seem to bring home strays too."

"Or because you might end up with a kid of your own." Derek helpfully supplied, as usual. Stiles seemed really wiped out, so he was going to tell the father and company to leave in a minute, because somebody needed rest and it wasn't him.

Stiles grinned at that and looked between Jake and Jasmine to check their reaction. Although, as usual, the fae looked more amused than surprised or shocked, having one perfectly plucked eyebrow raised as she glanced at Jake too, as if intrigued by Jake's stand on that.

Since it hasn't been long since they've been together, that topic didn't come up yet between them, but if they did work out on the long run, it was something to discuss further down the line. Not that all this snuffed out the curiosity from the fae princess’ eyes.

"Maybe. I mean, I'm obviously fucking good at making kids," Jake motioned at Derek, although they all knew he had nothing to do with raising him but yeah, since the Hale was an exact duplicate of his father, the genes ran strong with him. "I wasn’t able to raise my kids, and lost two of them without knowing them, so..." There was a shrug. He was open to it for sure, but he wasn't loudly counting on it. He glanced at Jasmine, but her face didn't tell him much. He didn't even know if she could have kids, but he did know she didn't have any yet.

Derek gave a soft hum because they needed to talk about that. Privately. "I think you three can train tomorrow. Stiles here needs to recover from the mind-whammy."

"You're kicking us out?"

"With words only. This time."

"Hey, I'm good!" Stiles protested, but everyone seemed to ignore him for the moment.

"Oh? Did you kick him out before with other means too?" Jasmine asked, letting them move on from the kids topic as elegantly as usual.

"Mainly his uncle, Jake's younger brother Peter. He threw him out of the balcony a couple of times before," Stiles chimed in instead of Derek, maybe to prove that he was okay, although the drunk-ish sounding giggle that followed his words was working against him.

"That's... straightforward, I guess," the fae blinked with a surprised little smile then gracefully rose from the table to walk over to Jake and gently take his arm. "Come now, you baby maker, I'd rather have you in one piece for the rest of the day," she leaned in to kiss Jake's stubbly cheek. "We have some things to talk about."

"Peter totally asks for it." Jake loved his little brother, but he also knew what a pest he was, so yeah, the whole throwing off the balcony thing wasn't that surprising. No doubt Peter egged Derek on all the time. "Besides..."

"He heals." Both Hale men finished the sentence together as if they had practiced it. It made Derek blink at Jake and then nodded because yeah. Peter Hale healed and there was not a single regret about throwing him off the balcony. It certainly had helped in how often he was hanging out at the loft, which had lessened considerably. Especially since now he had his mate back.

Jake was a little busy staring at Jasmine, because yeah, they had to talk about a few things, like their relationship and kids. So he didn't mind that they were cutting the training Stiles time short today. Because as much as the Spark said he was okay, he looked pale and was giggling which the observant demon wolf had noticed was something he only did when tired. "We'll be back tomorrow, you two... have fun."

Derek didn't show them to the door, because they knew the way by now. Instead he flicked Stiles' nose gently to get his attention. "That's for lying about being okay."

As the other two left, Stiles batted Derek's hand away from his nose then rubbed it. "Hey! I didn't lie! I do feel fine! More than fine, in fact. It's a little bit like being drunk," he giggled again and nuzzled more against his mate, burying his face into the warm neck, not so subtly scenting the alpha with his cheek. "Damn, did you know you smell very good? Because you do. So damn good," he purred pleased by that "brand new" revelation. "Do you think they'll make a baby too?" he asked next, his hand stroking Derek's chest a few times before sliding down onto the growing belly to rest it there.

"He deserves to raise one, so I hope so. Our kids can grow up together." The hand on his belly felt nice, a warm little comfort. The little bump was still small enough that the male hand could cup it relatively well, but the fact it was there this early on was already remarkable.

It wasn't clear to him how Stiles was when this high on magic. He himself was just an idiot and would sleep a lot. Knowing his potent mate, the man was no doubt going to have his hand in the alpha's pants within minutes. It was also the reason why he asked the other couple to go. They had the flat to themselves, so they should make use of that. "You're literally high on power, so now you know how that feels for me when it happens."

Ages ago it felt like. Derek had been trained to take so much power from Stiles that he hadn't been high on it in a while. It was a good thing, because he usually was even more useless than his cute husband was at the moment.

"Heeey! I've kinda been high on magic before, but yeah... not like this. Your dad and his girlfriend are intense," the Darach chuckled into Derek's neck then playfully bit against the warm and fragrant skin too for good measure. As expected, his hand slowly slid lower from the baby bump to cup and gently squeeze another remarkable part of Derek's body. "You wanna get into a more horizontal position? Sitting around like this has to be bad for your back and all that..." he grinned against said neck and licked his way up to the ear to sensually suck on the lobe as his hand got more bold, leaving absolutely no doubt about what was on Stiles' mind at the moment. But who could blame him with such a hot and pregnant mate?

Of course Derek went with the smooth suggestion, because his mind was going in the same direction, too. "Oh yeah, now that you mention it, my back could use some support." Not that he moved, he was spreading his legs in invitation as he cupped Stiles' cheek to pull the lips from his ear to get a much-needed kiss. It was an immediately filthy one, their need for one another instantly heating up now that the promise of intimacy was becoming a reality.

They didn't even bother moving to the bedroom, they just took full advantage of them having the loft to themselves to make love right there on the couch. It wasn't fully smooth and there was a lot of giggling happening from the one who was as high as he could be on the magic and really needed the outlet. By the time they cuddled up close, sweaty, the shared magic leveled out, so there was less of a high.

In Derek's opinion, every training day should end like this. Hopefully, Stiles was going to learn soon how to ward against faeries, because he had this annoying nagging feeling they were going to need it.

Chapter Text

29: Ember to Inferno – Part 4

Two weeks later Stiles found himself shopping with his father-in-law, which gave him the opportunity to talk one-on-one with him. That was a rarer occasion than one might think, because either Derek or the kids were usually present, or Jake was busy with spending time with Jasmine, who at the moment was back in LA because of her business. And then there were the visits of the other pack members – even occasionally Peter and Fiona. Stiles had the suspicion that those were more because the half-fae wanted to be around the kids, who adored her, to say the least. (Seemingly to Peter's annoyance, but no one was fooled by Peter, because everyone knew that he doted on the little ones too.)

Speaking of the fae, during Jasmine's visit Stiles had managed to learn how to modify his wards and now the loft building was fae-proof. Of course, Jasmine and Fiona could enter freely, because they had no bad intentions against the occupants, but now even the princess "pinged" on Stiles' wards and senses, so she and Jake couldn't sneak up on them with their little light-travel trick anymore. Truth be told, Stiles was quite proud of being able to modify the wards like this and Jake – although he moaned about ruining said trick for him – was also satisfied with the progress Stiles was making during their training sessions, which were usually watched by Derek like a hawk to make sure Jake didn't push Stiles too hard.

So yeah, it was rare that it was just Stiles and Jake on their own like this. And since they were running low on some things at home (not to mention food, because of the pregnant alpha), Stiles asked the demon wolf to help.

"Soooo, when is your sugar mommy visiting again?" Stiles asked just as he put a big bag of carrots into the cart.

"I don't know, hopefully very, veeeeery soon," Jake flashed a grin while shrugging at the same time. Jasmine had her business to run and he knew it wasn't like she could be here all the time. That week a while back had been more than he thought he'd get with her. "I knew staying here won't make it easy with her, but totally worth it. I'd always pick my son over a woman."

The oldest Hale has been greedily soaking up all the attention he was getting from the new family. He also helped to take care of his grandkids and spent time with the two mates and even Derek alone when Stiles was at work. It had been needed, because there was so much time to catch up on. Stiles alone though? That didn't happen often.

"She's got the best fucking bodyguards, so I know she's in good hands without me." Jake was busy reading labels, because that was a habit he had picked up on to familiarize himself with all these new foods he still hasn’t had. Stiles was the one with the list, Jake was there for pushing the cart and the heavy lifting that came once the groceries were going to be packed up.

Skeet Ulrich as Jake Hale

His slender but toned body was nearly draped over the handle, his entire being oozing charm and relaxing vibes, which garnered some attention. Which in turn meant Stiles was greeted a lot by people who knew him. Jake's eyes followed every single person closely even when his head didn't move up from the label he was reading.

"I'm so glad I'm not with Derek here. Last time he nearly bit a woman's head off when she was about to touch his tummy. I mean, it's great you two had decided to be all out with the babies, but not sure it's great for Derek to be out and about physically."

"Yeah, I know that," Stiles sighed as he crossed the carrots off the list with a pen and looked up for the next item. He caught more than one woman (not just single ones) eyeing Jake in the store, which was kinda amusing to Stiles, but also no surprise. The Hale genes tended to do that to people. No wonder he too has been attracted to Derek from the very start all those years back. Even if back then Stiles needed some time to realize that. "We had a lengthy discussion about that before he made his decision, which I support, of course, but it's indeed not without its challenges. He just... well, when Casey was on his way..." Stiles glanced around then lowered his voice enough that only the demon wolf's ears would pick it up "he saw how hard it became for me to be confined in the loft building. It was... let's just say, not pretty. Especially towards the end. So it's understandable he didn't want to do that. Plus I wouldn't do that to him. He's a wolf too. Just thinking about 'caging him' like that never sat well with me. So he came up with this solution. I hate deceiving people like this, especially since some of them could be pretty mean about it, but it is now what it is," he shrugged.

Picking up a can of pineapple, he checked the ingredients on the label then added it to the cart too. "And yeah, it's not easy to rein in his hormonal self in public, but cut him some slack. He's doing his best while cooking two babies in there. That thought is the source of my patience around him when he gets extra hormonal. He's so much worse than I was. His words, not mine!" he chuckled low.

There was a deep furrow on his forehead when Stiles mentioned how he hated deceiving people, because Jake wasn't following for a second. But then he realized what he was referring to. "Oh, you mean Derek being trans? That's the right word for it, right?" In a way Jake was kind of glad they went with that story, because that way he was learning all about it too. Equal rights was something very important to him and he didn't want to sound like an asshole, not with this. "It's not even that farfetched, boy. He looks like me for sure, but also a lot like his mother. And we were a really secretive family. I doubt we got better at being open once there were kids." A deep sigh followed that statement. Jake really hated that he couldn't remember. "People are always pretty mean about what they don't understand or because of jealousy. Our looks always cause problems. That combined with his first impressions... We Hales will always be bad apples." Jake's return to the town didn't help with that either. Sure, the beard helped to look older and at least he got the wrinkles, but technically he hadn't aged. Derek wasn't calling him dad to his face yet so that helped, but Jake was way too proud a dad to not tell everybody who asked who he was. That was his beautiful boy!

"It's the hormones. Those have got to be driving him insane. I mean having some estrogen is pretty normal, but he's got a whole lot of it, even smells like them. I do cut him a lot of slack, I mean I distracted him with the promise of ice cream." It was the magic word these days. The promise of ice cream would make all the difference. "I'm sure you were like a big kittykat compared to him."

"Well... speaking of cats, I did sleep a lot. More than Derek so far. And ate less too," Stiles mused for a second, staring into thin air with a jar of pickles in one hand and the shopping list and pen in the other. "Dad said that too that Derek is worse. He made him order warmer uniforms for the winter. To be fair, it was much needed. Dad is kinda 'scared' of my hubby nowadays," Stiles joked, because of course it was a joke, but something Noah sometimes played along with.

Putting the jar in the cart as well, Stiles looked at Jake. "And yeah, your family stayed very secretive until the end. Even among themselves. It... had caused a few problems and quite a few headaches for us too as a result. That's why Derek insists on leading this pack without secrets. Well, as much as possible. It's like rule number one, I guess. Which I agree with. We already have to keep so much shit a secret, so we should at least not do that among ourselves," he nodded in agreement as they slowly moved down the aisle.

"Speaking of secrets... You mentioned Jasmine having the best bodyguards. I thought you had that title," he lightly teased the older man with a wink. "I'm curious. They have to be powerful beings too, if they beat out a very rare demon wolf."

"Mmhmm," Jake agreed with a hum as he added a jar off apple sauce to the cart. Not because it was on the list (he had no idea about what was on there), but because he liked eating it. "Another demon wolf, although different than me, and an old vampire. I don't say they beat me, but they kicked my ass." His smile suggested that they did a lot more than just kicking his ass as he thought back on his time with Jasmine and her 'boys'.

"Her hotel is a safe haven for people like us. It also attracts us to it. Not that I had been out for protection when I sat down in her bar. I was more freeloading on the peanuts and water, but she noticed me and what I was. Offered me a meal and a job on the spot. Not because she really needed me, she already had Seth and Luca. More because she knew I needed her."

Jake moved along with Stiles as he was still shopping while talking, because Stiles' busy mind was excellent at multi-tasking. "You should have seen me then. I was even worse at technology than I am right now. I thought Google was a store. What did I fucking know?!"

Stiles laughed at that, because he could imagine. Jake was still struggling and learning, but he was much better now with technology. He also gave him a dirty look and wriggled his brows, because he could read between the lines.

"Interesting... I bet it had to be a sight to behold whatever those guys did to you. Otherwise I'm glad she offered a helping hand and that you two got close. You are kinda cute together. I also think, from the limited time I could see you interact, that you're good for each other," he mused as they reached the freezers and the most important item on the list: ice cream, of course. "So, Derek and I were wondering for a while now..." he started while opening the first freezer to grab a huge tub of mint chocolate chip. "Is there going to be a little sister or brother for Derek then? You kinda kept us hanging with that so far..." he grinned, but looked genuinely curious. "Derek thinks, and I agree, that at one point you'd deserve to raise at least one of your kids," he said with honesty and a softer look.

Jake laughed, because yeah, they haven't asked and he hasn't offered, but he knew they’ve been curious about that very private talk he and Jasmine had. At least it took them weeks to actually ask about it. They’ve been patient, because Jake was sure they'd ask the next day. Their patience wasn't rewarded. "We'll see." As open a book as he usually was, this time was an exception, because he wasn’t, not about this. It was the kind of future predicting Jake didn't engage in. "We're not in a hurry."

That and it wasn't the right time for kids. She was on the run, and he was struggling with coming to terms with losing a lot of memories and time. But mostly, giving Jasmine a weakness for her people to exploit didn't seem very smart.

"I love babies, and I already have two to dote on, with two more coming. That's the absolute best about being a grandparent." It wasn't hard not to miss raising his kids when there were no memories. It happened and Derek didn't need raising anymore, and the two little babies Jake had lost he didn't even remember meeting. Sure he wondered sometimes what it would have been like if he had. A little bit of daydreaming. Harmless.

"Fair enough," Stiles nodded as they ironically moved to the isle of baby stuff to grab diapers and baby powder. "From your stories I know that you haven't known each other for awfully long. A year or so, right? Plus there's the fact that some of her kind wants her dead and you're still learning this new world, and being in a long-distance relationship makes things harder, so it makes sense. Sorry, I guess Derek and I are still too much in the 'expanding the family and pack' phase, especially thanks to expecting two more babies to arrive soon. The timing for something like that is indeed not the best for you two, so I get it," Stiles said as he loaded up on the diapers for Casey.

Then he turned to Jake again with a small smile. "But I can say with certainty that in case you somewhere down the line decide to go for it, Derek would be happy to have a new sibling. Losing most of his family in the fire was very hard on him. And then losing Laura was very, very hard on him, too. Cora turning up alive a few years later helped a bit, but now she remains his only sibling. Who was never the same after the fire and had decided that for now she would rather stay with the pack in South America instead of his brother. Derek doesn't say it, not even to me, but I think he kinda feels like he had failed Cora as a brother. Which is BS, but your son is very good at blaming himself for things that are not his fault," he snorted.

"He doesn't talk to me about any of it. Doesn't even mention them at all. I went back to the Preserve but he didn't want to come. And it's not like there's anything of the house left, because they tore it all down, even the foundation." Now that had bothered Jake, because that house had been there for generations of Hales and in his opinion the city had no right to take that away, no matter how rundown it was.

"I've talked about it with Peter, kind of because he was caught in that same fire and I mean… Fiona fucking died in it, so I get it that it's painful for everybody. I'd really like some answers though. That was my home too. That was my family too." The survivors were still too traumatized, shutting him out, which kind of left Stiles to maybe tell him a little more than 'there was a fire and everybody died'. "Maybe you can talk to me about it. All I know is that Peter was in a coma and Laura raised Derek for a while. I don’t know how the fire started, how long ago it was, what happened to Laura," Jake sighed. "I remember her, you know. Saw her being born. And Talia was..." She was the love of his life.

Stiles understood why it was hard for anyone to talk about this huge trauma the Hales had gone through. With a sigh he put the baby powder into the cart as well then waited for a moment until a mother with his kid passed them. Lowering his voice so only Jake could hear, he turned back to the man, not picking up anything so his full attention was on the oldest surviving Hale.

"First of all, I know I've said it before, but I'm truly sorry for your loss." Even if Jake's memories had huge black holes in it, thanks to Talia and being dead for years. "Believe it or not, even with me Derek rarely talks about it or the others. But I know how and when it had happened, even if there are a few details that are not mine to tell. And here I mean Derek. But to give you most of the information, it had happened 17 years ago on January 25. Derek was 16 at the time. He and Laura only survived because they weren't at the house. Kate Argent started it after managing to lock the family in the basement, where they... well, you can imagine..." Stiles frowned. “I believe you're familiar with the Argent family. The hunters. Kate is so very fucked up in the head. She is like her father, Gerard, both breaking the family code and going after any and every supernaturals, just because they are not human. So, she did this and nearly got away with it too."

Stiles shifted his weight a bit uncomfortable, because he always got like that whenever Kate Argent was the topic of a conversation. Not to mention how he had to forcefully hold his anger back so that the electronics in the store wouldn't start acting up. "My dad was just a deputy back then and was one of the first ones on the scene, taking care of Derek and Laura as best as he could. Back then he didn't know about the supernatural world. Derek said he remembered him despite being in shock and mourning. Anyways, the alpha spark went to Laura and she found it best to bail town with Derek soon afterwards to go to New York City. They lived there for a couple of years while Peter was moved to a long term care facility, because he was catatonic and completely unresponsive while also half of his body was covered in scars from the fire. They didn't know why he wasn't healing. Later we found out that he's been locked in his head all along and it drove him crazy."

Stiles paused again when a teenager passed them then continued quietly when he was sure no one was anywhere near them. "That's where my best friend Scott and I soon came into the picture. We were troublemakers, well more me than Scotty, which meant that we often did what we shouldn't have. We sneaked out one night when I heard there was a dead body in the woods. As stupid teenagers we wanted to take a look, but I've got busted by my dad. Scotty had to get home through the woods alone and that's when a mysterious alpha bit him. We didn't know at the time, but it was Peter. Laura came back to town to investigate said alpha, but by then in his insanity Peter had killed her. She was the body in the woods. And then Derek showed up soon and I figured out Scott was turning into a werewolf and then we were introduced to the supernatural world and Derek started sticking around. And the rest is history, as they say. We told you the rest before."

Getting very quiet, Jake shook his head, his face betraying very little emotion. He was very aware of the people in the store, and how this wasn't the right place even, though he wanted to act to all these words, wanted to let his emotions in. He couldn't. Not here. Running his fingers along his mouth, he sighed deeply, once again shaking his head. "Not here," he croaked out, and for the first time ever since they had met, latched into complete brooding silence.

Clearly he was very busy in his head since he pushed the cart almost in a daze while they finished with the rest of the groceries. The bags were loaded into the car and it wasn't until they were both seated in the baby blue jeep that he finally broke the silence.

"Why? Why did Kate do it? We had a truce with the Argents, in my memories we had a truce with them. But I guess a lot can happen in sixteen years."

It was sobering to imagine his parents in the basement, locked away with the kids and the grandkids. It wasn't a good way to go, especially for a werewolf, because they didn't die easily, not even in a fire. Once again he ran a hand over his face, hand trembling which was the only outward sign of how upset he was. "They had nowhere to go. We made the basement like that. They were trapped." No wonder his younger brother was this shell of the man he used to be. He watched them all burn alive only to be trapped in his body.

"Was there... anything left? Of them, of Laura? I mean, if an insane Peter killed her then... And Derek had to identify her. And the rest of the family. Fuck, this sounds like a bad movie."

Stiles didn't make any moves to start the car, he just sat there quietly until Jake spoke. Then he glanced at him with a grim expression. "Yes, as far as I know, Talia did have a truce with the Argents, but Gerard and Kate weren't going to uphold it. Like father, like daughter. Their hatred for the supernatural knows no bounds. And although Gerard did die, Kate is still out there somewhere. She... came back a few times to terrorize not just the town, but Derek too. Especially Derek. She has... let's say, an unhealthy obsession with him. Their history is very dark and twisted and something Derek should tell you, not me," Stiles shook his head and curled his hands into fists to keep his anger at bay. "Detective or not, the second she steps foot again in Beacon Hills, I'll hunt her down and finish it once and for all," he gritted through his teeth then took a few deep breaths to calm down somewhat. No wonder no one liked to talk about this.

"No, not much was left of the bodies. I read the case file. It was..." Stiles shook his head again. "Only Peter survived by some miracle. Losing Fiona and their unborn child only added to his insanity and thirst for revenge. He's been plotting that for all those years while locked in his own body. He went after everyone who took part in the arson. None is alive anymore, only Kate," he said. "As far as Laura goes... Peter tore her in half to steal her alpha spark. Police found the lower half, Derek the upper one. He had buried it by the house, but... I'm not proud of myself or Scott for this, but we found it and dug it up then alerted the police. You have to understand that back then no one knew who was the killer and we were convinced it was Derek. Finding the missing half of her like that only fueled that suspicion. But yeah, he did identify her as his sister. I can only imagine how hard that had to be for him. He never talks about it, understandably. Once his name was cleared, she was finally buried with the other Hales at the cemetery."

"I'll help you. With Kate. I'll finish what Peter had started. For him and for Derek." Jake knew it was highly unlikely his son was willing to tell him about this dark and twisted past with Kate Argent, because whatever she did, Stiles was nearly shaking with anger and that told him more than Derek's inability to talk about personal stuff did. She had hurt his son, she had killed their family. That was all Jake really needed to know. The Hales weren't killers, but sometimes they had to be.

The whole thing about them thinking Derek was the killer and this Scott being attacked by Peter, it sounded confusing and messy. Kids thrown into an adult world they shouldn't have been a part of. His heart ached mostly for Derek. He couldn't even imagine what it was like to find part of your sister and having to bury her twice. "Losing pack, it feels like you're losing limbs. It's crippling, takes your breath away while your body aches with pain and loss. I doubt he was aware of much when it happened. But I'll see if he wants to come with me to their graves." Not to talk, he wasn't hoping for miracles.

"I was gone. The bonds broke when I was killed, so I never felt the loss. When I woke up, there was only this quietness, a numbness. Like if you step away from a party and close the door and suddenly there's no noise at all. I think Talia and my mother did me a favor by taking it all away." However, the Hale house fire wouldn't have happened if Jake had been there. Argents hadn't known what Jake was. They would’ve been unable to get past him. He would have trained Derek so he'd be powerful enough. Instead the man never knew about his powers and what he really was.

"I researched it. The loss of pack mates. How it might feel. And Derek had mentioned it before to me. But I can only imagine. That's why we're so protective of each other and the rest of the pack. Now you too," Stiles glanced at Jake with a faint smile. "Even if you can come back from the dead."

Reaching up with one hand, Stiles ran his fingers through his messy hair then rested it on the steering wheel, looking out through the windshield. "I think... it would be good for Derek if you two went to the Hale grave. He still bottles so much up, although his therapy sessions and group meetings have been helping him to deal with everything he's been through. Including Hell. And for that and surviving the loss of not just one but two packs and still keeping his sanity... he's the strongest person I've ever known. But I think if he ever lost me, he'd finally break," he murmured and met Jake's eyes again. "Avoiding that is the biggest reason why I train so hard. So that he wouldn't have to experience that kind of loss." Peter was the prime example of what losing a mate AND a pack could do to someone.

Jake nodded, lost in thoughts then said, "I asked for photos, but Peter said there weren't any."

"Actually... there are a few pictures. We found them in Laura's apartment in NYC. There is none of the whole family, but there's one of Laura and Derek. And two of you and Talia. One with just you and her and the other with you two with the twins in their stroller," Stiles admitted. "Laura's letter to Derek had clued us in that the man on the pictures was his father, you."

"I'd like to see them," the father said softly when he heard there weren't many photos, but at least a few. Even a precious one where he could see what his two kids looked like, because that was all he'd ever have of them. No memories, no smells, no blankets or toys, no bodies, no photos besides that single one. It was probably the hardest pill to swallow for Jake. Knowing Talia had made the conscious decision to take it all away from him, and he knew why, to keep the kids safe. He could even understand that part. But he never had a say in it, he was the absent father to them all, because that's what she had made him into.

Thinking about that too much only made him angry. Wasted energy he couldn't do much with, because all those in on it were gone. Aside from Peter. And he wasn't able to be angry at Peter after what he just heard.

"Sure, I'll show you the pictures and I can also give copies of them so you can keep those, if you want." Not that there was a question about that. One just had to look at Jake to see how much he was shaken up by all this and the possibility of having at least those little tokens of a family he too had lost in more than one ways. Not just the fire, but also even before that the memories that were taken away from him. Something Stiles would never agree with, even if Talia's intentions were to keep the pack safe. In Stiles' book that wasn't the way. No wonder Derek swore never to use that alpha power.

"Wait, what do you mean Derek had lost two packs?" Jake suddenly asked.

"Yes. Two packs. The Hale pack and then back when he first became an alpha after seemingly killing Peter. By the way, what's with that? As far as I know, he isn't a demon wolf, but he seems to find ways to come back from the dead too..." the Darach shook his head briefly. It was one of the rare things he could never figure out. Not with how secretive the younger Hale brother has always been.

"Derek was struggling with the whole alpha thing, but he is a Hale, so in order to protect the town – but I think also because he missed having a pack – he turned three teenagers. Boyd, Erica and Isaac. All three had difficult lives for different reasons and they all consented. So he had three newbie betas. Predictably, controlling freshly turned teens wasn't the easiest thing for a new alpha, who knew much less about his position, because it wasn't Derek, who's been training to become one. It was Laura. But Derek was determined, despite being lost and kinda clueless at times. He had made some bad decisions, but was trying his best in his grumpy, emotionally constipated way," Stiles laughed a bit then his expression changed to sadness.

"You know by now how the Nemeton kept pulling in bad and dangerous things we had to fight on a regular basis, but the biggest threat came in the form of the alpha pack I think we've mentioned before. Once they heard there was a new Hale alpha, they wanted to check him out for themselves. You're familiar with Deucalion's name or were. Talia knew him before he killed his own pack to gain more power, and persuaded other alphas to do the same and join him. He wanted to do that to Derek too. I guess to collect a Hale alpha for his pack. Shocking, but Derek wasn't really okay with killing his own betas, so he refused. There were a lot of fights. Erica and Boyd tried to leave town, having had enough, but they were captured and Erica was killed. Then the alpha pack created a situation where he had no choice but to kill Boyd, who was his second by that time. That... nearly broke him. I had to keep a close eye on him for a while even after the threat was gone. Isaac is still alive. For a while it looked like he was going to join our pack with Scott, but after... I killed his girlfriend, Allison Argent, while being possessed by the Nogitsune..." Stiles swallowed hard, still hating to talk about that time "he had moved to Europe in hopes of getting away from all of it. I can't blame him. He checks in sometimes. But yeah, he had willingly severed his pack bond to Derek, because I guess he blamed him for everything and all of this... it was just too much for him. Oh and at one point Derek also lost his alpha spark in order to save Cora's life. That's how Derek had lost a second pack too. And not much later that bitch Kate made a return as a werejaguar and kidnapped him and used ancient Aztec magic and de-aged him to get into the Hale vault. So yeah... a lot had happened to him even before Hell."

This time it wasn't Jake who was the one dropping an info bomb, it was Stiles and it left his mind reeling. It went all over the place and he tried to take in all the memories about what had happened to them. But it was a lot. Too much to even comprehend, let alone let it sink in, to let the words become emotions. He appreciated it, the way Stiles opened up and let him in, gave him what he asked for. Would have been nice to be given it in moderation though!

Exhaling heavily, he went back to rubbing his hand over his face and mouth, the words creating a maelstrom in his head. They had talked a little about the years they had together, the problems they had encountered, mentioned some of the supernatural encounters when younger, but never like this. Like he knew Stiles had been possessed by a Nogitsune. Derek had told him about it, and how it had been for him and Stiles. The emotion nearly bubbling up within Stiles told Jake that it was still a very hard topic.

"You all have been through way too much. I don't even know what to say to all of that."

Losing pack, losing friends, fighting alphas and all other monsters.... Teens dying. None of that made sense to Jake, because where were the adults in all this? Had it been just Derek and the teens? Why didn't Peter protect them more?

"I'm so fucking sorry. Jesus Christ, man." Another deep exhale. "I also have so many questions about all that you just told me. I don't know where to begin. How are any of you even still sane and standing?"

"That's the million dollar question right there, isn't it?" Stiles asked with a small sarcastic smile. Not because of Jake, but because of all that they had to endure to be here today. "It's been... very hard at times. Like when personally I thought I was literally losing my mind and the Nogitsune made me believe that I had my mom's disease that had killed her when I was barely nine. Or when we had lost Allison because of my weakness. Not to mention all that Derek had gone through too because of that bitch and the other bad guys. But... I guess we kept it together just enough, because we always had each other. Not just Derek, but also the McCall pack I was a part of for years. Derek's always been like an outsider and ally, never close enough to become part of the pack. I believe because he was too afraid to lose yet another one so soon. So, as much as it hurt, I wasn't that surprised that he had taken off for a few years once he had become an evolved Hale wolf like his mom. He needed space and distance from this town. Most of us did, so for us college was a good opportunity to take a break and leave protecting the town to my dad and Parrish and even Chris Argent and a few of the younger pack members, who eventually formed their own pack while ours kinda quietly disbanded," he shrugged as if it was no big deal, but clearly on some level it still was a sore point and a disappointment.

"But it was good while it lasted and helped us keep going forward during all those years and even now, when most moved away and have their own quieter and easier lives. Except for us," he snorted. "Derek and I... no matter how far we went, we always gravitated back to Beacon Hills and to each other," Stiles said, this time his smile turning fond.

One thing was clear for Jake, this Kate Argent was at the heart of a lot of problems for Derek, because each time Stiles mentioned her name, or the curse word for her, there was a flare of anger. And she was mentioned a whole lot. Nor did the whole de-aging Derek to get in the vault make much sense to him, because that meant she had known Derek when he was younger, enough for him to trust her. And that was leading to some uncomfortable thoughts he didn't want to entertain unless he had to. It did fit in with the whole mess that was the past of Derek and Stiles now, didn't it? Jake also had a feeling that this wasn't all. Because there had been a mention of a Darach which Derek refused to talk about, but Stiles had let slip that she had caused trouble for his dad and Derek in particular.

"I feel like I need to start writing shit down. To help me remind. Because you mentioned Derek gave his alpha spark for Cora, when I can teach him how to heal without that. When he's not pregnant anymore, of course." Wisely Jake didn't ask why Cora needed that kind of healing, but he wanted to. But he also wasn't sure if he could take in even more information without it getting lost.

"It had to be hard for you. Derek leaving when you felt so responsible for him. I'm really fucking happy he had you, for all these years. It doesn't sound like he had many."

"Yeah, well, as I said, there were very hard times in our past, but yes. Not many could understand Derek. Or why he was the way he still often is. He always says that it was only I, who could read him. The non-verbal stuff too. Because of him I did learn that one can hold a whole conversation only with their eyebrows," he laughed, trying to lighten the mood in the car a bit.

"He also says that it was only I, who kept having his back and truly missed him. Which is both sweet, but at the same time sad. I did try a few times to explain to the others how Derek worked, but I guess they had more important things to deal with than learning Derek's language. I never regretted it, though. I think I fell for him quite fast, I just didn't realize back then," he added with a fond smile and turned the key in the ignition. After all, they had ice cream melting in the back and Stiles felt like he had dumped enough bombs on Jake for him to need some time to digest everything.

"You know... you can ask me questions whenever, even now. Just... maybe for now make sure Derek isn't around. He needs some more time and bonding with you to open up about these things. It's hard even for me, his mate and emissary, to breach some of these topics."

"I get that. I mean, I didn't realize that asking about the Hale fire was only scratching the surface. Thanks though, for telling me when nobody else could. I wanted to know. Needed to know." And now Jake could understand way better why Peter and Derek couldn't talk to him about it. Because it had annoyed him a little, the way they avoided it as if it had no consequence to the oldest Hale, as if it didn't matter to him.

"I've been alive for a year now. And I think Derek and Peter forget that for them it was seventeen years ago, but to me it's been only a year. To me, my last memory before that year is having family dinner. I don't remember if we were celebrating something because of all the altering in my head." There was a shrug. It didn't matter. "To me a year ago they were all still alive, the house was still standing, and you all weren't even born. And then I wake up in the ground and I'm in the future and they're all gone. It's surreal. And I can only talk about it with you. Jas... she understands me, how hard it is. But you were there when I wasn't, you know what I don't. Can't even ask Peter since Talia took away his memories of my time with the kids too." Erased, all of them, including him. "So thanks. For being honest with me."

"You're welcome, Jake. Truly," Stiles glanced at him, the car still idling in the supermarket's parking lot. "You're family and pack. You have the right to know all of these things, even if the topics are hard to talk about. I'd tell you everything, if I could, but there are stories that are not mine to tell. Also, I'm pretty sure there's a lot more I don't know about. Your family – and especially Talia – was very big on secrets, so..." he chuckled a bit bitterly. "And truth be told, it is easy for us to sometimes forget that for you everything feels so much more recent. I think sometimes we need that reminder. It could help Derek open up to you too, if you reminded him of this, of how you're still struggling with the holes in your memory and the loss of your family. I mean... you went through a lot too. Not that it's a competition or anything, it's just a fact. And I also can say with certainty that Derek is very curious about you, there are just things he doesn't know how to ask from you. I'm curious about you too, by the way. And I see so much of you in Derek it's sometimes eerie. And I don't mean just your looks, of course."

"How would it be helpful to him if he knows it's only been a year for me? I don't want him to feel pressured to talk because he feels sorry for me. I'm his dad, my job is to always put his wellbeing first." Another deep sigh as he ran his hand through his hair, well aware they were still standing still in the parking lot with the engine running. At least it was fall and the temperatures weren't creating instantly melting groceries anymore.

"I love him. I really fucking do, but I don't know him. And half the time I have no clue what the fuck I'm doing. I'd do anything for him though, and you and the kids. It's just hard when you're running after the facts not even a day late but decades late." The only way he knew he was doing it right was the fact that Derek hadn't kicked him out yet. "I don't... I don't do secrets. Unfortunately, I can't undo the ones of my family 'cause I don't know them anymore."

"I get that. But you also have to learn an important thing about how Derek works. Because of the fire, afterwards he clammed up and as far as I know, he had changed considerably. It's when, to some degree understandably, his life-long self-blame history had started. As I said before, he often does that and even more often gets lost in his own head and bottles up too much shit. So such reminders and an honest conversation with him might be good for both of you," Stiles explained.

"Honestly, he had warmed up and started opening up to you much faster than I’ve ever seen him. Which is a huge thing. Having such an amazing mate like I am," he motioned himself with a small smirk "is surely not the only reason. He's always been curious about his father and now you're here and you're a good guy and interesting and clicked with the pack like, instantaneously, so I'm positive that at one point you could go talk to him about these things."

There was a small smile from the way Stiles talked about himself and that Derek seemed to open up to him much faster than others. Which was also a reminder for Jake, and maybe a warning from Stiles, that he couldn't betray that kind of trust. Not that he was planning on it. When he said he was here to stay, he meant it.

"You mean I gotta be patient about it, I get that."

Jake has spent the last year trying to recover memories before he came back to Beacon Hills, eventually reading about the fire and realizing there were survivors. There was no way to know how involved he had been with Derek, only that he had two kids who were babies at the time of the fire, so maybe he had been a dad to Derek. And that felt like it was all stolen from them, because maybe he actually used to be a good dad and they didn't even know it anymore.

"I'll try to be patient. And to get him to talk. I just get impatient because it feels like I'm still missing out, and catching up isn't enough to fix our relationship, which I really think we might have had but don't know anymore. You get that, right? It's like I was removed from everything and I'm trying to put myself where I belong, but people just don't remember me."

"Actually, I understand that more than you might think..." Stiles nodded as he finally started backing out of the parking space to start driving towards the loft building. "You see, one of the many baddies we had to face was a bunch of the specters from the Wild Hunt. Northern European folk stuff. Actually connected to the fae too. They targeted Beacon Hills and their goal was to erase as many of the townspeople as possible so they would, I guess, join them as other riders. That literally meant that people started to forget other people as they were kidnapped and everything eradicated by magic about them. I was one of those people, who were taken. Only Roscoe stayed behind," he fondly patted the steering wheel as he slowed by the entrance of the lot and looked around before proceeding to join the light traffic.

"I believe that me already being Derek's anchor was a big part in why they managed to eventually remember me and brought me back in the end. It wasn't easy to break that spell and without Peter's help I wouldn't have succeeded in that. It was a very messed up situation, but we managed to save the town. So yeah, being forgotten is something I am intimately familiar with and sometimes still have nightmares about it."

For a moment Jake was quiet as he stared at Stiles, blinking a few times before he shook his head and leaned it against his hand as he leaned against the door. It started with a chuckle before it turned into a full-blown laugh. "Oh man, just when I thought I already heard so much, it just gets more fucked up." The laughter wasn't because he was laughing at Stiles for experiencing all of it. But because how messed up it all was for them all. "I guess the activating of the Nemeton was the cause for all of that. I mean, we always had packs and hunters to deal with but not this. Not... this endless stream of bad guys." At least that was something Peter didn't have a problem with telling him, how the teenaged Derek unknowingly had caused the Nemeton's magic to stay alive until the Darach had fully brought it back alive again. "I haven't even heard all of it yet, have I? Kate Argent isn't the only secret left." He shook his head yet again. "Jesus, boy. I wish I could undo it all for you."

Stiles chuckled dryly too about the situation. "No, far from that. And they aren't exactly a secret. It's just that... a lot had happened during the years, so there're a lot of information still to catch up with for you," he shrugged as he drove through the familiar streets. "Be patient with yourself too, Jake," Stiles advised like an emissary would. "And as much as I myself would like to undo a lot of things in our past, then I believe we wouldn't be here. I probably wouldn't have met Derek, I wouldn't be madly in love with him and not having him or the family and pack like we have now would suck. Everything we went through brought us together. Then again, maybe if he and I are truly meant for each other, then fate would've found another way to bring us together... Like different paths in a video game, or parallel dimensions. Who knows?" he shrugged again.

"You'd find each other. That's how it works, because you two are soulmates. I may not know everything about you two, but I at least know that," Jake shrugged as he watched the outside world pass by without really paying attention to it. It wasn't a long drive from the store, so he knew they were going to be home soon and with that their talk would end. "Being his anchor should tell you as much."

A small smile played around the bow-shaped lips. "Yeah, we are soulmates. And we're so lucky that we can be together," he murmured more to himself. Not that it wasn't something he hasn't thought about many times before.

The large loft building was looming in the distance, so Jake reached over to give Stiles' leg a fond pat. "Thanks, for this. We should do this more often." It was easy for him to focus on his son and the grandkids, but now that he was getting to know his son-in-law better, he didn't want to lose the fragile good start they had made in forging a bond.

Glancing at Jake as they were approaching the building, Stiles’ smile got wider. "You're welcome and sure. Let me know when your brain is ready for another overload," he half-joked and passed the edge of their property and his undisturbed wards. "Until then let's save that melting ice cream and with that please our pregnant alpha," he added with a fond expression.

It wasn't going to be difficult, because a half-melted tub of ice cream meant it was easier to consume it – something Derek was going to be happy about without a doubt.

***

"What... never seen a pregnant man before?" Derek huffed, glaring at the few people that were openly staring while they were waiting in the general waiting room for their appointment with Dr. David Geyer since the man was on a shift at the ER. Of course, the werewolf wasn't that heavily pregnant yet, but he wasn't exactly hiding it either with wearing a tight blue Henley which stretched around the round bulge and highlighted it. He also had his hand on his stomach a lot and caressed it, which was another clear sign of pregnancy. The alpha was proudly displaying it, no longer wearing the oversized sweaters now that people knew about it.

It could also be that they were staring because they didn't know who Derek was and people had a tendency to stare at attractive people. So yeah, him and Stiles were stared at often with how handsome the couple was together. Another fact they were very open about, their relationship. Especially in these settings where Stiles' hand was firmly clasped in Derek's, most likely to keep him grounded and more importantly, seated in the chair so he wouldn't go rabid on the poor unsuspecting oglers.

"There, there, babe. No need to bite off heads," Stiles patted the back of the hand he was clasping in his other. He always kinda felt amused by Derek being like this out in public, but also tried to make sure he wasn't actually going to rip anyone in half.

"I'm so excited to learn the gender of our little beans," he continued in an attempt to distract the pregnant alpha (and probably save some heads from rolling across the floor).

That was at least the distraction needed. The glaring instantly stopped as Derek's attention went to Stiles. "I'd say girls, because of my family's tendency to produce them, but not sure. I hope not." Because that would be too much like the Hale family setting in the past. With Laura being the eldest, Derek coming after that and followed by Cora and the twins. But of course he'd love them if they were girls too.

"Beth told me that if we brought two boys like we brought Casey, we'd better give her a sister after that or take them back." Probably time to look into a book for kids her age to explain how it worked with babies in the belly. "I told her we couldn't take them back and she said I took her dolly back when it was broken."

Stiles chuckled softly at that, his features practically melting. "Aw, I love how adorable and smart our princess is! And to be honest, I'm hoping for at least one girl, because I'd love her to have a little sister she's been wanting to have for so long," he sighed with a small smile, clearly imagining some wholesome and cute scenarios between the sisters. "But if it's two boys then we'll make that work too. No take backsies!" he laughed and slid his free hand onto the baby bump, completely forgetting the world around them, because his whole focus was on his mate and their future.

That's probably the reason why he barely heard that Derek's name was called, signaling that Dr. Geyer was ready to see them.

"Think they're a little too developed to do any take backsies." Derek’s bump was way too developed for that. The wolf-hearing picked up on his name, even above the hustle and bustle of the busy waiting room, so he pulled Stiles up with him. Instead of the ER curtains they were lead to one of the rooms, where David was already waiting.

Derek didn't need any prompting, he pulled off his shirt and unbuttoned his pants before he hopped onto the gurney. At least he didn't need to wear those stupid hospital gowns made out of paper because there was no modesty to protect. Nor breasts to hide.

"How are you doing, Derek? Keeping to your vitamin intake and healthier food?"

"Yeah. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. As long as it's food, I don't mind." He watched as David shook the bottle of gel to warm it up a little, not that it ever helped. It was squirted on his round belly, making him twitch as the cold gel hit his warm skin.

"You're heading into the fourth month now so the danger of miscarriage has diminished considerably. And most women get into a more comfortable time with less nausea and such. But since you're carrying twins and showing this much already, you might start feeling some discomfort. Back pains, swollen feet, lots of bathroom trips." He grabbed the wand of the ultrasound. "Let's see how the little ones are doing. Stiles, you're doing okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked back, although he found it nice that David asked him too. "I have two more kids on the way, carried by the love of my life. I'm on cloud nine!" he grinned from ear-to-ear, his words nothing but the truth. Sure, Derek was grumpier and more emotional than usual, but that never bothered Stiles, because the reason behind all that was a very good one. "And he's using the bathroom a lot more already. But I help with the back pains and swollen feet with massages and my magic. And miscarriage wasn't an option in our case because of said magic," he stated with certainty, because his magic wasn't going to let anything happen to the babies.

The doctor simply hummed and nodded to that and focused on moving the wand against Derek's swollen stomach.

Of course, the fast heartbeats made Stiles melt on the spot just as much as the murky images of the now bigger and more defined babies appearing on the screen.

"They seem to be doing pretty well in there," Dr. Geyer said. "Healthy and strong."

"DUH! They're our kids!" Stiles beamed, more relaxed now that what he could feel through the magic was validated by the doctor too.

"Let's see if they're ready for me to find out what sex they have. We don't always get lucky on the first try but you guys know that."

Derek nodded because yeah, that same warning was given when Stiles was carrying Casey. They really wanted to know, but if it had to take a couple of weeks longer, then that was fine too. All that mattered was the fact that they were doing well. Which meant that they, as parents, were doing well in keeping them safe and sound in there. Something that was on his mind often despite doing everything David and Stiles told him to do to keep the babies healthy.

"Growth-wise they're a little on the small size, but noting to be alarmed about yet. We’ll have to keep an eye on it. But if I remember it right, Casey was smaller than average too. Could be to protect your body, or they'll have a spurt in the coming weeks."

Derek glanced at the screen, but honestly, it didn't tell him much. They looked like small little babies. Blurry babies. As long as David wasn't worried, he wasn't worried either. "I swear I eat a whole lot, all day long."

"He does munch on something all the time, indeed," Stiles confirmed Derek's comment with a smirk. "So I'm not worried about them being a bit smaller so far. I'm sure they'll catch up," he squeezed Derek's hand reassuringly.

"It may be nothing. If they keep being so small, we'll take a look at what you're eating and do some tests to be sure they're getting what they need." David gave a comforting smile as he focused on the baby on the left first, zooming in on the machine to get a clearer picture. "Looks like this one is ready to show off. He's a boy."

Stiles' eyes widened a bit and leaned closer to the machine to see better what David was pointing out for them. And indeed, it was no doubt about him being right. Excited, he grinned wide and in awe.

"Oh my god! Another boy!" he exclaimed, barely able to contain said excitement, which made some sparks crackle over his skin before he realized what was happening and focused on reigning his magic in. "Sorry. It's just so exciting!" he squeezed Derek's hand again as he laughed at him.

"He takes after his dad," Derek boasted, happy with the outcome of course. Another boy was very welcome, especially since he wouldn't have that much of an age difference with Casey so they could play together.

"I'm sure," the doctor laughed because yeah, the dads always seemed excited about it when it happened. His focus was on the other baby now but that wasn't as easy. "This one's on the side but the baby might turn if we give it a few minutes."

Typical, Derek thought as he huffed and looked down at his belly where the two were residing. "They've been moving even though it's not felt on the outside yet. I felt the flutters. Of course they have to be stubborn now and not move at all."

"They're a little young for active moving, give it time." They all looked intensely at the little monitor, hoping the other baby was going to move to give them an answer. It was nerve wrecking!

When Stiles got a bit impatient when at least five minutes have passed, he huffed and narrowed his eyes as he gently placed his free hand on the side of the bump where there wasn't as much gel. His palm started slowly warming up and glowing a bit.

"What are you doing?" David asked more curious than anything.

"Just a little nudge," Stiles grinned. "They usually react to me and my magic when I check on them like this. Maybe this baby will move enough to reveal what we're curious about," he shrugged, letting the warmth and amber glow spread a bit from his hand as they turned back to the monitor and waited.

Sure enough, it worked. The babies, both of them, moved as if they wanted to get closer to the magic. It meant the baby rolled over from the side and David was quick to move the wand and do some zooming in on the monitor. Before the baby would move into an impossible position again. "And this one is a girl, congratulations!"

That couldn't have been planned better, Derek thought with a warm smile. Two boys and two girls, it was perfect just like that. Perfectly in balance. Which meant they'd no doubt have more kids since they rarely had anything perfectly balanced. "You're sure?"

"With you two I'm not sure of anything anymore. But for now, yes," David assured as he printed two more stills of the sonogram. They were gathering a collection.

"HAH!" Stiles thrust his still glowing fist in the air triumphant. "Super sperm!" he exclaimed on a happy laugh, because that explained everything in his mind – meaning the perfect balance, which he too thought about right away. "This is so thrilling! Oh my god! And... oh my god, Beth will lose her shit when she hears about her little sister!"

Okay, by then Stiles was positively wiggling and nearly jumping on the chair under him. "Oh my god... a boy and a girl! I'm so happy!" he beamed – in that moment quite literally since his veins and skin started shimmering as he looked at Derek with the biggest smile ever, completely ignoring David chuckling softly in the background as he switched the machine off and busied himself with whatever. Stiles couldn't care less, honestly, because WOW!

In these moments the difference between the married males was so obvious, because while Stiles was all giddy and overly excited, Derek was way more muted. He was, like Stiles, very happy with the outcome but never fully expressed it. Instead Derek chuckled softly from seeing his mate like this, letting him feel the warmth and love through the bond.

"Careful with the hardware, Lava Boy," the wolf nodded towards all the sensitive equipment as he wiped down his round belly to remove the gel. That's when he took Stiles' hand to offer him some distraction, placing it back onto his belly so the magic could settle. "Your super sperm is very effective, we know that much." Creating life where it wasn't possible, double life in the form of a tiny boy and a tiny girl.

"Okay, okay, sorry. I'm just so excited and happy," he laughed and his eyes might or might not have gotten a bit teary. But he did focus on pulling the magic back, basking in the love he felt coming from Derek and also the fact that he could feel their growing babies' happy and content vibes too. "They love it in there," he whispered then reluctantly reined in the rest of his magic. It went much faster and easier nowadays since his control was light years better than when he had started the whole Spark thing years back. And a big chunk of that control could be thanked to his father-in-law, Jake, who's been a huge help for the new Darach.

"We should get going, let David get back to his other patients and we should get a huge ice cream cake to celebrate with the kids and dad and Jake and the rest of the pack. Order food in and have those over, who can make it on such short notice. Or we could just celebrate with the kids and dad and Jake and tomorrow with the pack," he said fast as he pulled his hand back after stroking Derek's belly a few more times. Then he was quickly back on his feet pacing a bit to let Derek get dressed. "Oh and thank you again, David. As always, we really appreciate!" he suddenly remembered that the doctor was still there.

"You're welcome. Always happy to help the pack," he grinned and handed the ultrasound pictures over.

Stiles took them gratefully and his eyes were glued to the little forms there right away, admiring their son and daughter.

While Stiles was doing that, Derek got dressed, needing very little time to pull on his shirt and coat after closing the pants again. It meant he could stand close behind his mate to look at the pictures over his shoulder. They finally looked like fully formed babies with really big heads and still very tiny. But babies nevertheless. Less like blobs on their way to form life, but definitely more like life being formed.

"Let's invite our dads now and the rest tomorrow." The alpha leaned in to kiss Stiles on the back of his neck where the scarred mating bite was before stealing the photos from him with a practiced move, nodding to David on his way out. He sashayed out of there, studying the pictures as he soaked into the happiness coming from them both. A boy and a girl. Most likely  healthy, with strong heartbeats. He was finally doing something right, something good.

He had failed his family and his chosen betas in the past. But in this, with his kids, he was actually winning at life. And that was something nobody was going to take away from him. Ever. He wasn't going to let them.

Chapter Text

29: Ember to Inferno – Part 5

Needless to say, both grandpas and the whole pack were thrilled about the gender reveal of the twins. As predicted, Beth went bonkers with happiness that finally she was getting a little sister she was going to be able to play with all the time. Well, once the baby was big enough. She even asked on which side of Derek's belly she was and practically glued herself there, talking to her little sister both nights. First when Noah and Jake were there and then the following night during the long overdue pack dinner.

Once everyone had left and Beth and Casey were conked out in their new rooms downstairs from all the excitement, the mates camped out on one of the comfortable couches. They were cuddled together under a shared soft blanket drinking the hot chocolate Stiles had perfected during the years, just enjoying both the sweet taste and each other's company in silence for a few minutes. Until Stiles hummed, lost in thought.

"You really don't have any name ideas yet?" he asked turning his head to look at the alpha with a raised eyebrow. After all, more than one member of the pack asked about names and also threw in some suggestions when they told them that they didn't think about that yet since they wanted to wait until the gender of the babies got revealed.

"I haven't thought about it yet," Derek replied with a dry tone, because Stiles seemed to think it was weird he hasn't considered names. "I called them babies in my head too." Of course that was because they hadn't known the sex of the babies yet. And they’ve been busy with the pack since they found out so no, not even a single name has popped up.

He patted the books next to him on the couch. "I came prepared though. I got us name books." With Beth he had been adamant to call her Elizabeth Laura, because it had fitted her and he had fought with Lydia over it repeatedly. With Casey they just agreed so easily when Stiles had suggested the name and Derek instantly agreed, because it felt and sounded right. "I was thinking for the girl her middle name could be Claudia, if you'd like."

At least they both didn't feel like naming a child after a deceased family member was right, not as the first name. Which meant some names were already out. Not that he wanted to ever call their boy Giovanni like his grandpa.

Stiles' gaze shot up from the books Derek pointed out to his husband's face, his body momentarily freezing from the name of his beloved mother. Then his look got soft and perhaps a little bit misty.

Clearing his throat a bit, he softly said, "Are you sure? Because I'd love that." The suggestion made Stiles feel some mixed feelings in the sense that it stirred up both happy and sad feelings in him, but mostly the former. "I think dad would like that too," he added as he glanced around the living room, as if searching for the ghost of his mother. He sometimes did that, although he wasn't the one who could see ghosts. Also, she's been a no-show ever since that night she had to possess Derek to save Stiles from making a huge mistake. Stiles knew that she had used up a lot of her energies to do so and that she needed time to recharge, but sometimes he was less patient about it and worried that she was never going to come back.

"I'm sure. Laura was the most important woman in my life, it makes sense we name our daughter after your most important." The alpha didn't comment on the way Stiles scanned the loft, something he did whenever a topic was about his mother or reminded him of her. If only he could tell his mate that she was here, but he didn't see her. He sensed her energy, so she wasn't exactly gone, but she hasn't gotten strong enough yet to materialize herself. He knew she'd show, however, Stiles wasn't that patient, understandably.

Well, they did settle on one name, even though it was a middle name, but it was progress. Derek gave a book to Stiles so he could leaf through it while he focused on his hot chocolate. Clearly he had his priorities in order. It was followed by him picking up another name book. The local bookstore had many of them and for a moment he had been tempted to buy them all before he figured that no, two were plenty.

"Thanks, it means a lot," Stiles murmured honestly and lightly bumped his shoulder against Derek's as he took the book and quickly finished his hot chocolate so he could open the book on his blanket-covered lap. It was a random page somewhere in the middle. "Ooookay, soooo... Since with Casey it went so fast, I'm not sure what method we should use... Hm... how about..." he thought for a second, tapping his long fingers against the page. "We leaf through the book we are holding and write down both the boy and girl names we like and read them out so we can discuss them? We don't need any veto cards yet, only when we're getting into the top five or three?" he suggested.

With a tilted head, Derek frowned at Stiles. "Veto cards? That's a thing for baby names?" Sure, naming your kid was serious business since they'd be stuck with it and as a parent he was going to shout the name a lot. But to veto names? Hopefully they were going to get along as easy as last time with picking the names.

"How about we write them on little papers and put them in a bowl? That way it'll be easier to see if a name fits with us or not because there's no order to it." The books were pretty thick, which meant a lot of names to get through so this might be an all nighter if they wanted to settle this. Or it could even take days. "And our top five we can put on a board so we can mull them over for a while before we decide." Derek was prepared for the worst, but was hoping for the quicker deciding.

"Yeah, we can use veto cards in this situation too. Or we could just distract each other with sex," Stiles shrugged, knowing well that such a method wouldn't solve the fate of the name in question. "Also, I like the top five contestants on a board thing. It's right up my alley!" he grinned and held out one hand in the air above the book and in a few moments a notebook and two pens appeared on his open palm as he conjured them up with ease at that point. Magic was often useful and by now he struggled to believe that he could ever live without it. Some everyday tasks became so easy nowadays.

Handing one of the pens over, Stiles tore a paper from the notebook to give that to Derek too then flipped to the beginning of the book. "I'll fetch the bowl later. Now just let's get to work. This is kinda exciting. Like research." Which he loved the most in the world after Derek and their family, of course.

Derek grumbled at that because yes, it was like research. Something he happily let Stiles do when it was needed. Unfortunately, this was a case of him needing to do it himself. He also didn't want them to miss out on the name picking experience. He was picky when it came to names, because a lot of people were terrible in naming anything. Beth had proven that when she had named their chicken Beaky.

Uncapping the pen, Derek got a little more comfortable as he started reading and writing quietly. Not once saying something out loud besides amused snorts at the terrible names he encountered. Whatever happened to the more traditional names? Why did it have to be names like 'Moon' or 'Apple'. What kid wanted to be named after an object? Derek usually didn't consider himself traditional, but it seemed that with names he so was.

"I really hope you're not writing down States to name our kids after, because then I'll consider a divorce." Due to sheer disappointment.

"No," Stiles smiled under his nose as he kept writing on the paper, not even looking up at Derek as he answered without missing a beat. "I'm thinking along the lines of points of the compass and Star Wars names. You know, like North and Leila..." he said on a nonchalant tone and calmly turned the page to start skimming through the next for interesting ones. "God, some of these are just awful..." he snorted, unwittingly echoing Derek's thoughts. "I mean... wow. Poor kids who have to live with some of these options..."

"I think you mean Leia, Mr. Not-So-Kardashian." And yeah, the only reason why he knew that one of those idiots from that family had named their kid North was because of Lydia. Because of course she loved it, and of course she was a fan of ridiculous names. At least Stiles seemed to be more on Derek's side with it. Probably.

"You know what the worst part of this is? Those awful names made it into these name books." He was almost tempted to start writing in the book, scratch out the bad names forever. But instead he focused on writing down names he liked, which wasn't as frequent as he hoped. There was a deep sigh. Too many names here. But the alternative was to write down names he knew from books and TV shows and that wouldn't help them. He wasn't going to name his kid Aragorn or Frodo, no matter how much he liked Tolkien books.

"Yeah, it's just baffling there are so many of these awful names in here," Stiles agreed then rolled his eyes. "Of course I meant Leia. It was a typo in my speech, DUH!" he snorted then paused on a name he found interesting then added it to his list. "People are just so strange," he murmured and slightly shook his head before continuing flipping through the book.

It took the couple quite a while to finish the books and Stiles suggested to re-read their own lists to eliminate the ones they didn't like that as much as the rest before reading them out loud. That way they could narrow down the options even more.

"Okay, so since this time you're carrying our babies, you can go first. I'm all ears," Stiles grinned and tapped the tip of his pen against the paper a few times, clearly eager to hear Derek's top choices.

Derek wanted to open his mouth and say they were planning on putting the names into a bowl to pull them out one by one. But he decided against it since Stiles clearly forgot all about it in his excitement, and he was too comfortable to move after the hours of reading. "I'll say one for the boy and one for the girl." It would save them time if this was going to lead to discussions.

"Lucas and Evelyn." It shouldn't really surprise Stiles that the Hale went for the more traditional names, which were in line with how the names had gone in his family. He too loved Star Wars, but he really hoped his husband wouldn't go there. Or mention Harry. Oh yeah, he was so going to mention Harry to mess with him.

Stiles did not mention Harry in fact. He just tilted his head to the side, humming in deep thought. Then his nose crunched up cutely as he slightly shook his head. "Evelyn is okay, but it'd remind me of a detective back in San Francisco. She was weird and a little bit crazy and all over the place. So I'm not really into that name because of her. But Lucas is nice, we could add it to the maybe pile," he waved towards Derek with his free hand.

"I have Seth and Lily," Stiles said, looking at Derek to see how he'd like those names for their kids.

Derek scratched out Evelyn and left Lucas for them to decide about later. No need to name their kid after a crazy San Francisco detective, so that was an easy enough reason to not go with Evelyn. "I don't have a reason to not like Seth, but I don't. Really don't." Seth was one of those names everybody would pronounce weirdly and for kids with speech impediments an impossible name. It was also the name of one of Jasmine’s bodyguards, which would make it a little weird. "I like Lily though. We can put that in the maybe pile too. What about Oliver and Isabella?" Of course Derek liked Oliver because of Oliver Twist. One could never go wrong with a Charles Dickens main character.

"Okay, Seth is out, Lily in," he smiled mysteriously under his nose for a split second then schooled his expression before Derek would notice. "Isabella no! It brings back mayor Twilight vibes for me. That's the main reason Edward and Jacob are missing from my list," he shook himself as if trying to get rid of the memory of that franchise. Which was sadly not really possible in this day and age.

Of course Derek hadn't watched Twilight, only heard about it so it didn't connect him to the terrible vampire movie. Until now. Resolutely Isabella got a strike, that one was for sure out. No Twilight for their kids. He made a face at the thought of it.

"Oliver is not bad, though. It would need a little getting used to from my side, but definitely can go to the maybe pile," Stiles finally nodded then rubbed his nose, eyes back on his own paper. "How about Emma and for a little bit more unusual Zane?" he asked, glancing up.

"Emma yes, Zane no. If we go with the Z names, might as well go with Zack. That’s at least a normal name. And it's on my list." Way down somewhere. But it was on Derek’s list. "Emma was on my list too, along with Sophia."

"Zack Hale-Stilinski..." Stiles said it out loud to test it. "It has a nice ring to it... Same with Emma," he nodded and waved for Derek to put them to the ones they're keeping for now. "I'm not so thrilled about Sophia, though. I mean... It just... doesn't feel like a yes to me," he grimaced again.

And this went on for two more hours, two pudding cups each and a few arguments until they had a decently long list of possible baby names. This time it was Stiles who called it, because his head was now buzzing with names and he needed to get up early in the morning.

Their top five was more like a top twenty for each baby and they clearly needed to think on all of this. So they had written them all down in nice neat rows for each baby, leaving the whiteboard in the living room so they could see them and maybe discuss them again if they wanted to get rid of a name. After that Stiles pulled Derek along for bed, as in sleep because they were both very tired and the pregnant male was out before the human could even wish him good night.

***

The morning ritual was the same as usual: constant chaos of feeding kids, pets and adults. Stiles out the door early for work, Derek out the door early with the kids to get Beth to school and then head to the park with Casey and the dogs. It wasn't until the alpha got back home that all hell broke loose.

It was why Stiles was getting a phone call. From his new father-in-law, who sounded a little breathless and maybe a little frantic. "So I might have done a thing, and maybe I'm hiding in the loft building from my own son, because I'm not sure if he'll put me right back where he resurrected me from."

Stiles eyebrows shot up instantly and he instinctively stood from his desk chair, but stayed put, not knowing yet how serious this situation really was.

"Oh my God, Jake... What did you do? How much damage control will I have to do this time?" Which wasn't rare with having Jake around a grumpy and pregnant alpha werewolf. "I'm at work..." he added with a frown, knowing that Jake wouldn't disturb him on his shift if there wasn't a good reason for it.

"I fucking know that you're at work. I wouldn't be calling you, if it wasn't needed, boy!" There was some muted cursing as the demon wolf was on the move again. Because yeah, Jake could handle Derek, it wasn't like the alpha could get the drop on him. If Jake didn't resort to not harming him or the babies. Both not options. "I saw your names and I made some helpful suggestions. On the board. Not like it's not easy to remove them, but Derek..." Jake glanced around as if his son was about to pop up at the mere mention of his name. Which was possible because he was talking, so he was giving away his position. "… didn't seem to agree. I'm about to get out of the loft, and I don't think leaving him alone right now is smart." A roar made the ground shake. "In case you were wondering, that's your husband!"

"Jesus..." Stiles rubbed his forehead and let out a huge sigh. Ever since he got pregnant, there were times when Derek could become a handful because of the hormones, but Stiles had to go home rarely to deal with the situation. Which was something he tried to keep to the minimum so that the other deputies wouldn't say that his dad was favoring him. Not that they'd think like that, but Stiles was conscientious when it came to his work. Usually calling Derek would resolve the situation, because both as his anchor and mate he had the talent to calm him down like that, but this time he doubted his husband would answer his phone. If he even had it on him while chasing his father through the building. It was kinda funny, but at the same time it wasn't.

"I'll talk to my dad and stop by in a few minutes. Try to stay alive until then," he said to Jake and ended the call without waiting for a reply.

Luckily his dad wasn't on a call, so he opted for taking an early lunch break, hoping that it was going to be dealt with during that time. Then he hopped into his jeep to rush home. Which was easier now that Roscoe was fixed up thanks to Derek.

In a few minutes slamming the door shut, he looked up at the building when he heard another alpha roar, which made his magic prickle, because he could feel now better that his mate was upset. Maybe unproportionally. With another huge sigh, Stiles entered and started following the threads tying him to the upset alpha.

Jake wasn't dead. As soon as Stiles arrived at the scene of the crime, he ditched it. It was better to be at Peter's at the moment, who'd be less inclined to end his life. Probably. Anywhere but here until his son wasn't so damned territorial.

Derek meanwhile was searching high and low while keeping a close ear on Casey sleeping in his bedroom not too far away. One cry of his son and he'd be back at the loft, because that's where his priorities were. Besides hunting down his father for messing with the baby names. Would he really harm the man? No. Putting the fear of god in him though would teach him not to mess with a pregnant alpha.

However, all of that stopped when he smelled and sensed Stiles. Oh that little shit! He had called in for reinforcements! The only kind to save his scrawny ass at that. He hadn't thought Jake'd go as far as to call for Stiles when he was at work. "I'm really going to kill him."

"No you won't and we both know it," Stiles rounded one of the corners of the west wing, which was cleared of all the rubble and stuff when they began renovating the loft and now lay mostly empty. The Spark – this time in his police uniform – walked over with calmer steps now that he had found his husband and was glad he didn't have to follow a trail of blood or see him drenched in it. Because even if Jake would come back from the dead if he wasn't killed in a very specific way, patricide was not something he'd want to add to Derek's mostly cleared rap sheet. Not to mention that as an officer of the law, he'd have to arrest and take him in. That, or pick up the kids and run away with him to hide from law enforcement for the rest of his days. Neither option was good.

"You know that he's already gone, right? Now I can feel him exit and enter my wards. He just didn't want to leave you alone when you're so upset, babe," he added and stroked along Derek's arm with a thin smile once he reached his mate.

As usual, Stiles in uniform made Derek do a double take and look him over, reminding him why he was so gone for this idiot of his. Not that anybody in uniform had ever made him feel this way but on Stiles? He was breathtaking. Just having him standing there made the anger bleed away, like a balloon that was deflating. Usually a phone call worked but it wasn't like he had the thing on him. Derek Hale was still terrible with phones, no surprise there.

"He messed with our board, Stiles. Made suggestions why a name was good or bad." That wasn't what had set him off though. No, that came after. "When I tried to remove it, I discovered he used permanent markers instead of whiteboard markers." In a way, Jake might as well trampled all over the nest their bed was. It was invasive and encroaching on what was his. In a bad way. "He said Claudia was a bad vampire name. And I didn't want you to see that."

Stiles took a deep breath and now rubbed both of Derek's arms soothingly. "It's okay. He probably doesn't know it was my mom's name," he shrugged it off. "And he probably didn't know the difference between the markers. Sure, it was rude to butt into our business like that, but by now you know how he is. I'll try something with the board with magic, okay? Come on, babe, let's go upstairs. Since I'm already on my early lunch break, I could eat with you and Casey if he wakes up." Since Stiles knew Derek wouldn't have left their son alone if having a nap wasn't the case.

"I'm also kinda curious about his name suggestions too," he flashed a grin at his man as he took his hand in his to start gently pulling him towards the elevator. "As punishment, maybe tell him not to show his face at our place for a couple of days," he winked, lightly nudging Derek's shoulder with his own and pecked his cheek.

"I wasn't thinking of food to eat," Derek remarked out of the blue. But that's what happened when Stiles showed up in uniform, all business like, sauntering like a real sheriff would. He really didn't mind the fact the station didn't have detective attire, because the stupid beige uniforms really did cling in all the right places. "If Casey sleeps a little while longer." With their son, it was hard to say, because he loved sleeping.

Derek let Stiles pull him along, back towards the hallway which was fixed up and not a forever work in progress like the west wing. The elevator took them to the loft within seconds where the unfortunate whiteboard was. Jake didn't add any extra names, he wasn't that stupid. But he had written out explanations what the names reminded him off, and had added their last names to them which made some of them look ridiculous all of a sudden. He had also added the meaning of the names and had added hearts to the ones he liked. It wouldn't be overly dramatic, if the ink wasn't permanent.

Stiles was still grinning amused (and a bit dirty) from Derek's comment, but when he saw the board, he actually laughed. "Oh my, this is SO Jake..." he pulled his phone out from his pants to take a quick picture, obviously not taking this as serious as his overprotective mate did. He was also fairly certain that having a picture of this would be a good story to tell in years.

He quickly sent off a text to Jake too, informing him that the crisis was averted, but he probably should avoid the loft for a few days just to be sure. He also added that after his mom Claudia was a non-negotiable middle name for their baby girl and he better start getting used to it, then he put his phone away and fully turned towards his frowning mate.

Reaching out with one hand, he fondly stroked along the broad chest then caressed the by then unmistakable roundness underneath. "So... should I take care of the board before or after you eat me?" he grinned mischievously, giving the green light for the quickie, which he kinda expected because of the uniform. Yes, he knew what wearing one did to his other half and it always amused him. Especially on days when Derek asked him to come home in it or put it back on before their sexy times.

The board was instantly forgotten, out of Derek’s mind. What board? The initial reason of why he was so upset and what had brought Stiles here was like snow meeting sun. Gone. Because their son was still sleeping and he had his husband in his uniform, caressing him. He pulled Stiles close. "I want to sit on the couch and you leaning over me so I can suck you off." The alpha was ravenous, for his mate. Wanting to taste him and smell him, to feel him.

The babies were causing those fluttery feelings inside of him again as he kissed Stiles. They seemed to sense the positive emotions whenever the two lovers were together and it calmed them down. No doubt Derek's anger wasn't great for the unborn little ones. Luckily for them, Stiles was smart enough to come tempt Derek to calm him down. For all their sake.

"If we do that, I don't even have to lean over you, just stand between your spread legs," Stiles murmured, explaining the obvious to his husband, whose mind was probably too much flooded by horny hormones, which was kinda funny and of course hot as well. The proof of that was Stiles being already half-hard and starting to strain against his ugly beige uniform pants.

To move things forward – since they were on a time limit and he figured he could like grab a sandwich later – he reached down to undo his utility belt and place it on the other end of the couch before starting to open his regular belt and pants while watching Derek sit down and get into position. Stiles stepped between the muscular thighs with his open pants and ran both his hands through Derek's soft hair, eyes looking darker from desire and anticipation, because his husband was very, very good with BJs.

Derek's eyes fluttered closed for a moment as those hands messed up his hair, enjoying that soft moment of intimate caressing. His large hands slipped from caressing the cloth-covered thighs to where the pants were opened in invitation. The scent of Stiles' arousal was strong with how close Derek was to where he wanted to be. Eager fingers pulled down the underwear so he could slip his warm hand in to pull out his prize.

The erection was hard enough so it curved upwards, needing very little encouragement to plump up to a full one as the hand wrapped around the soft skin. The alpha's eyes opened, looking up at Stiles as he leaned forward with his head. He licked his lips to make them nicely wet, even though they weren't used yet. The first thing he did was to nuzzle along the shaft, his hand slightly moving so there was some friction. "You smell so good," Derek said as his warm breath ghosted along the turgid flesh. Lips kissed the head when the skin was pulled back and only then did he wrap his lips around it and took it into his mouth. Completely calmed down all the way.

"Goddammit, that feels nice..." Stiles said on a shuddering sigh, his hands momentarily pausing in Derek's hair and his eyes closed briefly to just fully enjoy the touches and the warmth now surrounding his sensitive tip.

Frankly, getting a blowjob out of showing up to save the day was not something he had expected, but he was also very much up for it. Quite literally by then, because he only needed a few more seconds to grow painfully hard. It always happened when it came to his mate and it was one of the things he loved so much about being with Derek. One look or touch and he was gone for him so bad! Even after all this time.

He knew that if he smelled so good for the werewolf then he was now pleased with his taste too, so he reminded himself to open his eyes and look down at the hot sight of Derek Hale working on his hard cock with practiced ease.

"God... you don't know how... beautiful you're like this," he murmured hoarser and already a bit short on breath as one hand slid onto the back of Derek's neck, knowing how much he loved that when Stiles did it, the other stroking some unruly hair out of the handsome face. "So damn hot too!" he laughed shortly, but it quickly turned into a moan as his hips unwittingly bucked a bit forward to feel more of that mouth around him.

Derek welcomed the bucking of the hips by opening his mouth more and letting Stiles slide in deeper. It wasn't all the way in, which allowed him to suck around the length. His cheeks hollowed as his lips slid lower. He loved doing this and the way the taste of his husband was exploding all over his tongue, the warm scent of home dizzying him as his nostrils flared. Nothing felt better than having sex with Stiles when Derek was stressed.

His other hand settled on the narrow hip, keeping the standing man close. It took a deep breath through his nose to be able to let the erection sink even deeper. His spit wet the shaft now that he was unable to swallow around it. Maybe Stiles wasn't going to get lunch to eat, but Derek was going to get a mouth full soon.

"Fuck..." Stiles gasped as now most of his dick was in his husband's mouth. It kinda made him dizzy with lust, his cheeks growing warm from a flush and his hips making small jerking moves, because he just couldn't stop himself. "You're so good at this!" he panted for the millionth time, but each occasion called for this statement, in his opinion. "And I know you're so hungry for my cum. Don't you? You gonna suck my brains out through my dick again?" Stiles grinned down at his man, his fingers lightly fisting around the thick hair as he watched the alpha's full mouth sliding up and down on him. It was a heady feeling and a nice power trip to see Derek like this. Even more so since Stiles knew he was the only one who could see his alpha like this.

In answer, said alpha hummed around the cock, not wanting to stop his sucking to give the answer, because of course Stiles knew exactly that it was a yes. To both questions. Yes, he was going to use that erection as a straw to get at what he wanted. It's why he loved giving oral to him. It was always rewarding, especially with the way it ended. Either on his face or in his mouth. Today he was hoping for his mouth only, though.

The fingers tightened on the flesh, feeling the hipbone underneath it. The hand around the shaft loosened now that he was working it over with his mouth. Instead, his fingers found the soft wrinkled skin of the balls underneath, caressing the softness and plumpness, knowing from personal experience how it felt to have them fondled like that. It felt like the best feeling combined with a blowjob.

Stiles had to bite down on his bottom lip to keep the volume of his moans lower as to not wake their sleeping son downstairs. The pleasure also made his nails lightly dig into the side of his mate's neck as he kept holding the back of it, and his other pulled a bit more on the hair.

Biting his lip also meant keeping back all the filth that wanted to spill from his mouth, but he was willing to make that sacrifice, because they both knew how fussy Casey could get if he didn't get his sleepy time or if it got interrupted. Either way, Stiles kept his lightly glowing eyes on Derek's face. His hips were now rolling a bit more to meet the sucking, which already made his toes curl. Damn, he was getting there fast!

It was exactly what Derek wanted. To get Stiles off so he'd be able to have a lunch break too. And he knew he was good enough to make him get there within reasonable time. It was a little surreal to hear nothing but soft pants and moans from the usually chatty male, however, understandable. Casey may not have supernatural hearing, but he was still a baby with regular ears and loud noises would wake him. They could get very loud.

Derek tried to encourage Stiles to move more by grabbing him by his ass and pushing it a little. Now, he could pull away and voice it, but what was the fun in that? Stiles knew him well enough to know what he wanted.

Going with the program, Stiles groaned appreciatively as his hips pushed forward with more force now that he got the silent green light for that. He couldn't look away from the sight how his glistening cock kept moving in and out of Derek's sinfully perfect mouth faster and harder now. Fucking his man's face was one of Stiles' favorite things to do in the world. Well, really, whatever they did in bed was his favorite, so yeah...

"Gonna come down your greedy throat soon, babe..." Stiles warned as his firm ass kept moving faster and faster from the excitement and the need to just get off like how Derek wanted him to. Because that was clear as day from everything his mate did. From the way he was so eagerly sucking on him, to the way his big hands kept massaging and holding his flexing ass.

God, he loved his man!

And to show that, in a few moments he finally fed his big load to him while slapping one of his own hands against his mouth to muffle the loud yells of pleasure.

Feeling very proud of himself for making Stiles mute himself, the alpha wanted to smirk but he had his mouth full, literally. Eagerly he swallowed down all that was offered. The scent of the orgasm and the way Stiles felt through their bonds made his own body acutely aware of its own state. He hasn't even touched himself, because he was too busy pleasuring Stiles to even remember his own needs.

Derek pulled away with a wet pop, licking the shaft clean so it was left glistening with his spit when it was released. His hands didn't move yet, steadying the younger man who looked like he was still a little out of it after that much needed orgasm. If only Jake realized that calling Stiles turned out to be a booty call for his son… Served him right.

"Best thing about that uniform is getting you out of it." Derek’s voice was rough from the use it just went through. With a soft smile he looked up at Stiles. "We even have time to get you some real food."

Panting hard, Stiles looked back down at his husband while wiping some sweat off his forehead. He grinned, still kinda high from his orgasm. "Yeah, I like that part the best too. Even if it's about changing clothes. I have no idea who had come up with this color, but I always hated it and they certainly had no fashion sense. I mean, who would choose this ugly brown color?" he started babbling then waved it away in favor of focusing back on Derek.

Kneeling down between the spread legs, he grinned up at the pregnant man. "Real food sounds nice, but not before I return the favor you worked so hard for," he winked, hands already pulling down Derek's sweats, which were already tenting from the thick erection under it. Clearly, pleasuring Stiles did affect him in the nicest ways, because the revealed shaft was hard and ready to go. So without letting Derek comment (or protest), Stiles' bow-shaped lips quickly wrapped around the oozing head, his tongue pressing against and massaging that sensitive spot just under the head while watching Derek's reaction.

There was no time to even get anything out aside from a moan, because Stiles was already between his legs and on him with almost super speed. Of course, it also helped that Derek no longer wore underwear, because ordering them in a bigger size meant they wouldn't stay on his hips. So the wolf went commando.

Derek’s head thudded against the back of the couch as it fell back, his mouth open on a moan. Right away his hand found itself in the unruly hair to take a hold of it, messing it up instantly. Honestly, he had figured maybe Stiles would give him a hand but no, a warm and wet mouth was around his thick shaft. And it felt so good. He should ask Stiles home for lunch more often, because it made the day without him so much better, especially if a BJ was part of those visits.

"Do we have time for this?" Derek asked breathless, going against his own words by pushing his hips up.

Moaning from that buck, Stiles slurped around the erection in his mouth before slipping it out for a second, just to stroke some of his saliva down on the shaft while he replied. "Yeah, I'll finish you off fast, I think," he winked up at his man. "I can stay in a bit longer at the station to make up for that time, so I'll come home a bit later today," he added then dived right in again, letting half of the beautiful cock slide into his mouth. It stopped just before it'd hit the back of his throat, so he didn't choke on it. Yet.

Instead, he used one hand to massage the portion that was not in his mouth, coordinating it in a way that the hand and mouth moved together to maximize the pleasure for Derek. His other hand reached under the sweats to fondle the heavy balls there, just the way he knew Derek loved it the most. Stiles loved how the living room's silence was broken by the obscene wet sounds of his sucking and their soft moans as he was working on his alpha enthusiastically – like always.

With how horny Derek got lately with the hormones, it made it easy to get him off quickly, which was annoying when they were having sex, but right now served them well. Stiles had that effect on him, no matter what time of the day. Once they were in the mood, they got going fast. And watching his husband reach his orgasm was one of the most beautiful and erotic things in the world to him.

Moaning softly and breathing harshly, Derek kept his hand fisted in the short hair while he moved his hips up. He knew the younger man would stop him if he got a little too enthused and pushed too deep. Yeah, Stiles was going to finish him off fast. Watching his bobbing head and having his mouth full got Derek’s blood singing.

Stiles expertly met those upward thrusts and let himself lightly choke on Derek – knowing that sometimes they both liked that – then relaxed his throat enough to let the tip slide further down with each bob of his head. His face was getting redder from all this, but he didn't care, just looked up with his now golden brown eyes as he kept the hard shaft deep and swallowed rhythmically around it a few times.

Then he pulled fully off it just to pat the glistening tip against his swollen bottom lip a couple of times. "Wanna come down my throat or mess up my face?" he asked hoarser and took a few deep breaths, focusing on the hand under the pants to slide the long index-finger behind the balls and rub the sensitive skin there just as he wrapped his mouth around the head again to swirl his eager tongue around it.

Derek's breathing shuddered when Stiles' finger got curious, halting whatever he wanted to say, the words swallowed up by his moan. "T-throat," he stuttered, even though he wanted to mess up the face badly. It would not be a small load and the other man still needed to get back to work. Stiles smelling like him made the even more possessive alpha want nothing more than that. But he cut himself off before he could say it, instead he growled, deeply.

"You're so good to me." Every day Derek wondered how he got so lucky, especially at the times when his body was worshipped so expertly. God, he was close, so close. His entire body was shivering from the pent-up energy.

"Okay, big guy," Stiles grinned up at him from his kneeling position then sucked only half of the shaft back in, because he knew (and felt through the bonds) that Derek was getting close and he wanted to really bob his head before the big finale.

So he did just that, occasionally moaning around the cock in his mouth to let the vibrations drive Derek crazy. His hands weren't idle either. The one deep under the pants kept massaging that sensitive smooth patch of skin with a bit of more pressure, while the other found its way up under the loose T-shirt to rub and pinch a nipple. He had noticed that ever since the pregnancy, the alpha's nipples got more sensitive than usual. Stiles had the same thing going on back in the day, although his nipples have always been sensitive. But not like when he used to carry Casey. So now he used all of his dirty tricks to get his mate off.

It wasn't fair, it really wasn't. How Stiles knew how to play his body, knew where to touch or pinch or massage to get a reaction. It was over, just like that, with the fingers pinching and pushing at all the right places in unison. His erection gave a little twitch, his balls tightened and he was gone. White flashed behind his closed eyes (when did he even close them?) as his body shuddered and Stiles was rewarded with what he’s been after.

He probably didn't get to bob his head as much as he wanted to with Derek spilling down his throat after the expert rolling of his nipple. Sensitive was an understatement. It had shot pleasure right down to his groin, his orgasm washing over him. His big belly showing as obscenely as the way his legs were widely splayed.

Stiles dutifully swallowed everything his man was giving him and then licked the spent cock clean with a pleased sound. Pulling his hand out from the pants, he wiped his mouth with the back of it to make sure he didn't miss a spot then slid his other hand down from Derek's nipple to the half-way exposed belly and caressed it fondly. His other hand tucked his husband's softening cock back into the sweats then he just knelt there grinning like an idiot, clearly very pleased with himself while admiring his mate basking in the literal afterglow.

"You look and feel incredible right now," Stiles whispered on a raspy tone, because yeah, he felt warm and sated all over through the bonds, too.

"Hmm," Derek agreed, unable to form words right away as he was still feeling the tingles all over and his breathing was erratic. A light sheen of sweat covered his forehead, the only sign of the intense workout they both had gone through. Not as intense as if they had real sex, but the high of the orgasm was still as good.

Keeping his shirt tucked up, he reached for the hand on his belly, covering it with his own. "Being pregnant makes everything feel so much more intense." It could be a bad thing, but at the moment it was a very good thing. "Come here, I want to kiss you but our kids are in the way."

Chuckling softly at that, with his free hand Stiles used Derek's thigh to push himself up from the floor and sat right next to him on the couch so he could keep the other (trapped) hand on the belly. Still grinning, he leaned in and captured Derek's mouth with his own, letting their tastes mix even more. There was a pleased growl from that and it didn't come from the werewolf. It was a habit that Stiles has picked up ever since the mate bond had snapped into place.

Tasting himself on Stiles' breath made their kissing even better and it was with great reluctance that Derek broke their kiss eventually. If he had anything to say about it, he'd ask Stiles to stay at home this afternoon to enjoy more time together. But that were just his hormones talking. He knew Casey would be awake soon, so they wouldn't be able to have more sex, and Beth needed to be picked up soon too. It was selfish of him to want Stiles around all the time.

Licking his lips, he gave Stiles a gentle push. "Go. Before I decide you're not getting back to work today. You're too tempting in the stupid brown uniform."

Stiles chuckled low on that again and stole one last peck from Derek's lips. "Maybe whoever chose this color did know what they were doing after all..." he grinned from ear-to-ear and stood to finally put himself back in order then put on the utility belt too. Once he was done, he leaned back down for one more time to lovingly caress Derek's belly and press a kiss against his forehead. "I'll just quickly make a sandwich for the road. I'll be back home just after dinner. Save some of that for me, babe. Then after the kids are asleep, you can peel the uniform off for more," he winked then headed for the kitchen to quickly make that sandwich.

Derek didn't mind having some time alone with the kids for a while longer. He involved them in cooking dinner which was an easy dish this time, because not having Stiles or Jake around made it a lot harder to cook. Especially with the pets wanting their dinner too. By the time Stiles came home, both kids were bathed and in their pajamas, waiting for their other dad to wish them good night. The dogs had been walked and fed, the cat was curled up and while Stiles was eating dinner, Derek put the kids to bed.

It meant they had the whole evening together, involving getting Stiles out of that uniform, a warm bath for them both and a nice slow session of intimate sex in bed afterwards.

In a while Derek was lounging in bed, one arm propped under his head, his other hand over the belly. The fixed board full of names was in their bedroom now, so he was staring at it.

"You know, with the long last names, I'm thinking I like the shorter names more." And while he was reciting the names of their kids in his head, he followed them with the names on the board. It made some of the names less appealing, because they didn't really fit. "I think the babies would like Zack and Lily."

Stiles stopped playing a game on his phone and locked it before putting it on the nightstand. Then he laid back on his back and stared at the board too. After checking all the name options for their son and daughter, he smiled.

"Zack and Lily Hale-Stilinski..." he said out loud then turned on his side to put his hand on the belly right next to Derek's and met his mate's eyes. (God, he hoped at least one of the kids would inherit that gorgeous hazel color!) "I think we have the winners," he grinned from ear-to-ear and pushed himself up on his free arm to lean over the other and kiss him softly.

"Hmmm," Derek nearly purred, licking his lips. "That was a little easier than I thought it would be." Especially since there were so many names left. They didn't even succeed in making a top five for each of them. And yet, like always, after some bickering, they decided on something they agreed on. "I almost miss our old verbal matches. Almost." Not the anger part, he didn't miss that since it had made their friendship so tense and difficult at times. The bickering though, that should always stay. "You sure you're not giving this hormonal whalewolf too much slack?" To him the names sounded amazing, but he also thought Nutella tasted the best with pizza so his tastes might be influenced by hormones at the moment.

"Well... we can always get back to bickering about Harry Potter. Or the most effective way of folding laundry. Or how I keep leaving my clothes, especially my socks all over the place. Those are some of our unresolved debates," Stiles grinned while slowly rubbing the nicely rounding belly. There was a soft heart-eyed look on his face again, of course. His dad and some of the pack sometimes teased them that they looked at each other as if they hung the moon and stars for each other, but Stiles didn't mind. He was so in love with this man that it was verging on ridiculous. Plus, even Jasmine and Jake have confirmed what they had already known. That they had an unusually strong mate and emissary bond.

"That's because your way of folding doesn't even make sense." Of course, those topics instantly made Derek bristle, because they would never agree on any of them. But right now he was too mellow to get into them, especially with how Stiles was looking at him. So yeah, he didn't want to talk about Stiles' socks right now. Or Harry Potter! That would get him worked up instantly.

"I want to go shopping tomorrow for our babies. Now that we know their names. We have a nursery to plan." The rooms of the kids were first priority. They’d already moved Casey and Beth downstairs to the new area they had made part of the loft. So the nursery was going to need a new coat of paint, furniture and clothes. They had kept some of Casey's baby clothes, but Derek didn't have any of Beth's, because they were left behind in Washington along with everything else he had owned back then. Maybe it was for the best. They could start over.

"That's a good idea. I love shopping baby stuff," Stiles said with sparkling eyes. He really did love buying things for their kids. Especially since now he didn't have to pay that much attention to prices in general. (Not that he would spend much of their money on himself. He usually still bought more expensive stuff only for the kids or Derek or occasionally for his dad and the pack.)

And with the baby stuff? Well, sometimes he tended to go overboard, but that's why it was good that Derek was his pair, because he could hold him back. Except when the hormones took over and he went overboard too.

At the moment, Derek was kind of a loose cannon when it came to spending money and making wise decisions. His hormones made it a hit or miss, so yeah, Stiles counting on his husband to be the wise spender wasn't going to work. It was going to be interesting for sure.

"One of the most important purchases is going to be a twin walker." Since Derek was going to handle all the kids by himself when Stiles was at work, he really needed a walker which would fit two babies and a toddler. "A big one," he muttered, half asleep now that the afterglow of sex was gone and his body decided it was time to rest. He didn't even get to say good night. Nope. He was out like a light within seconds. It left Stiles to cuddle up to the sleeping alpha to get some much-needed rest himself.

***

The second they walked into the shop with Stiles pushing Casey's stroller and Derek walking on their side, the two mothers and the woman behind the counter all stared at them and stopped talking, as if they were aliens or something. That reaction was not uncommon around town nowadays, because by then most people knew about the new development in the life of one of the weirdest couples in Beacon Hills. So Stiles wasn't even surprised, just grateful that they didn't throw Bibles or crosses at them. (The latter did happen once. It was damn funny, if anyone asked Stiles.)

"Good morning, ladies! Just some shopping for the Hell Spawns!" Stiles announced with a huge grin and with no care in the world while he pushed Casey's stroller down on the first isle. Of course, there was a quick surprised sound from their boy because of all the colorful things all around him, so the wolf plush he's been chewing on was momentarily forgotten.

Derek snorted as he followed. "They're saying how you used to be such a nice boy. Clearly they’ve never met you." Yeah, there were still those who thought it was Derek who had corrupted the innocent son of the Sheriff, because Derek was such a bad boy. But those who knew them, knew it was exactly the other way around. Stiles always cared, that wasn't something the alpha would ever deny, but nice? Not always, no.

Looking around, he loudly exclaimed his disappointment. "This shop might not be big enough for what we need. We’ll probably have to go to the city." That should get the attention of the saleswoman, and maybe she'd put aside her dislike for them to get a good sale. "I'm so glad we have experience buying this stuff by now." It was so overwhelming to go into a store like this for the first time. Derek zeroed in on the clothes, skipping the blue and pink ones. Because nope, they weren't doing that. He picked up a onesie with big black font on it. 'I burp louder than my daddy' it said. "Pretty sure you'll give our babies a run for their money."

Stiles chuckled on that just as he picked up a black onesie that had wolf ears and a pink belly, showing it to Derek with a grin. "True, but you are one to talk... And this is a keeper!" he lightly wiggled the onesie in the air.

"Gentlemen, how can I help you?" they heard the saleswoman's overly sweet voice from their right.

Stiles exchanged a knowing look with Derek, because it was easy to see through the woman, especially after Derek's thinly veiled previous comment. "Hello there. We're looking for a lot of things for our soon arriving twins. A boy and a girl," Stiles turned to her, one hand motioning towards Derek's belly proudly. "And apparently for our son too," he glanced down at Casey, who had her wolf plushie on his lap, but his little hands were wrapped around a blue plastic key chain with five differently colored big plastic keys, from which one he was already chewing on. How the toy got between the sneaky little hands was a mystery.

"Oh, how lovely!" The woman exclaimed with a smile on her face as she looked at Derek's belly as if it would explode at any moment. Every word was a lie, he could tell from her heartbeat, so he gave her a fake smile in return. In his mind, he was telling her where to shove her lovely words though. Unfortunately, she didn't see it was fake and instantly mellowed at the smile thrown her way. "What are you looking for? Do you have a list?"

"No list, we're starting fresh, so everything. Besides a changing table, we have one of those. I want a stroller for twins which can also house our son." Derek of course went straight to business as usual. "He's too young to walk far."

"I don't have one here in the store, but I have a book you can go through and we can order it for you. What kind of budget are we thinking?"

Ah, this was the part Derek enjoyed the most. "No budget, it's not an issue." Yup, the woman's eyes widened comically as she realized the potential there, of course not expecting it by looking at them. Though their Camaro should have given it away.

Stiles couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes at her reaction, but she was too busy counting the profit that would come out of this to notice.

"Yes, we'd like to take a look at that book. Ordering stuff like that would make things faster than wandering around the store," he hummed.

"Of course. If you could follow me..." she quickly recovered and waved behind herself where there was a small round and white table with two chairs near the register.

Stiles took the two onesies they had picked out and pushed the stroller in that direction. He smiled from Casey's happy giggles as he kept shaking the plastic keys while looking up at them. "Yes, you can keep them, you little thief," Stiles chuckled as he shook his head then sat down on one of the chairs, pulling Casey next to him.

The woman's high heels clicked fast across the floor when she went to fetch the book for them.

"God, I hate her..." Stiles murmured under his nose quiet enough that only a werewolf could hear it.

"Everything she said was a lie," Derek grumbled, agreeing with Stiles. But the store was in town and it was hard enough to get the nursery ready in time. He really wanted to get out the door and leave the woman stewing in her own displeasure.

Casey was happily shaking his keys and biting into them. "Daddy," he squealed, holding out the keys to Stiles. Derek sat up more, because for a moment he wasn't sure if he imagined it. It was Casey's first word! And it was to the one who had carried him inside, which made it even more special. Derek let Stiles react first as his eyes were starting to get suspiciously wet. Their son's first word!

The Spark froze too and just stared down at the little Spark with the toothy grin and happy little face as the plastic keys were offered. Clearly, Stiles was in shock as he automatically reached out for the keys, but quickly glanced at Derek to check if he was imagining things too. But his husband’s welled-up eyes and expression said everything.

"Casey..." Stiles swallowed hard and paused for a moment, wiggling the key chain in front of their toddler, who happily grabbed them back and shook them in the air too. "What did you call me, Casey?" Stiles asked, for now ignoring the way his eyes were kinda burning.

The little boy paused with the shaking of the toy and beamed up at him. "Daddy!" he repeated with certainty.

And that's when Stiles had to start rapidly blinking to see their son through the tears, his own heart beating a bit faster as a happy laugh bubbled up from him. He picked him out of his stroller to hold him close in an embrace so he could kiss Casey's forehead. "That's right, peanut, I'm your daddy," he said a bit wetly and clearly moved but also unbelievably happy. It took him some conscious effort not to start literally beaming with his magic in the middle of the shop.

Derek was suspiciously sniffling and clearing his throat, fighting against the emotions welling up even though the hormones made him want to bawl his eyes out right here in the stupid store. Couldn't Casey have picked a better moment?! Nevertheless, he reached out and ruffled the brown curls on his son's head fondly. "Your first word, Casey! We’re so proud of you."

And it wasn't by accident either, he clearly made Stiles out to be daddy. Their son was growing up! Now that he had two little ones growing inside of him, Derek could understand how Stiles felt now, to have that special bond acknowledged. He gave Stiles a smile which was watery at best and caused him to sniffle a little more. "He's the best daddy, isn't he, buddy?"

Casey smiled at them both widely, having no idea what he had caused with that one word.

Stiles returned Derek's smile, moved beyond belief from this small thing, but as a loving parent there was no surprise in that. After all, their baby boy has finally started to talk. Even if it was a word Casey had probably picked up from his big sister. But the certainty he had said it twice while looking at Stiles was a telltale sign that it was no coincidence.

The returning saleswoman was completely ignored as Stiles leaned in to kiss Derek's lips, not caring at all about the teary eyes on both sides. "I think he'll be a chatter box soon," he murmured happily.

"Can't wait," Derek agreed as he inhaled to calm his emotions, and finally acknowledging the woman again. She got them a book for strollers and one for beds since apparently there was such a thing as a twin bedroom. The Hale had figured they'd get two of the same cribs since he doubted the twins should have a room alone in the beginning.

This was good though, because they could get the two cribs and a large closet for them from the book. Same with the stroller and then they could nose around the store for the rest. They still had Casey's car seat for a baby, so they only needed one of those. It was a good thing they could pick up their family car next week, because they were going to need it. Toddler car seat, regular child car seat, two baby car seats... They were crazy for doing this.

"I have a list here of all that you need when having twins. Luckily the market has changed since twins are happening a lot more, and there's more designed for them than you might think," the woman explained as she opened the book to the pages of strollers for multiple kids. "If you have a bathtub for example, we offer these little seats for babies so you can bathe them together in low water."

Derek was impressed, he was wrong about her, because she did know what she was talking about. For the first time he felt like this shopping trip was going to be a success.

Stiles hummed satisfied and kinda looked impressed too from the books and the list the woman brought over to them. With Casey still on his lap (back to being fascinated by the plastic keys), Stiles leaned a bit closer to said items as Derek slowly leafed through them.

"This is really nice and helpful," the Spark noted more to Derek then glanced up at the woman with a small smile. "Thanks, we'll check them out and make notes of what we'll want to order," he said, holding up a notebook and pen with his other hand seemingly coming from nowhere.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it," she nodded and wandered off towards her other customers.

"What about this one?" Derek pointed towards a stroller which held two babies and a toddler, even two toddlers but yeah, it seemed like the only one fitting for their needs. It was no doubt a hassle to fold with how much bigger it was. "There's even room for one more." It was a bad joke, he didn't want one more right now. Nope. They were going to have their hands full already. "Or lil Monster." Yeah, they could put the dog in there. Problem solved. Or toys or bags.

"Wait...." There actually was one where it was a stroller for twins and a buggy for a toddler. Wow. Exactly what they needed. And it was black. Even better. "This is the one. Not as massive either."

Derek gave Stiles the book so he could look at it closely while he rubbed at his lower back. It made his belly pop out more.

A child who came with newly expecting parents was staring at him and then ran off. "Mommy, that daddy is pregnant!" the kid yelled it loudly through the entire store. And everybody stared again.

"Daddies don’t get pregnant," the mom hushed her child as she side-eyed Derek, followed by his belly.

"This one is," Derek said back just as loud, of course hearing every word perfectly. "Twins, growing right here," he patted the belly proudly. "My husband has super sperm." Oh, how satisfied he was when he heard the child ask the mother what sperm was and how come a daddy was pregnant.

Stiles burst out laughing and that in turn drew Casey's attention and he started giggling as well. The shocked and uncomfortable expressions on the other parents' faces were hilarious. The way they herded the kid away and tried to deflect the questions even more so.

"You're bad. I love it," Stiles pecked Derek's face after stroking Casey's head. "I also love the stroller. Added it to our list along with the rest."

Indeed, it was easier to get the bigger things out of the way so they'd have to shop only for clothes, bottles, pacifiers and such smaller things today in the shop. Which was big enough to have everything they needed.

Picking out the cribs was easy. Derek let Stiles pick those, because he'd probably go for black himself if he had anything to say about it. He honestly didn't care, but Stiles' sense for decorating suited him just fine. The alpha wrote it all down, the cribs and a nice big closet too along with the stroller, a baby car seat, the handy bathtub seats and some other things. They handed the list over to the saleswoman so she could order it all while they went back to the shopping.

They had some discussions about certain baby clothes, because no, Derek didn't want their babies to wear stupid Harry Potter-themed clothing, no matter how much Stiles tried to get him to say yes. Not even bribing him with ice cream or sex worked. Luckily gender neutral was a thing now and they managed to also avoid the pink and white clothes. Derek was also set on not dressing them the same.

Stiles did manage to get Derek to say yes to onesies that made them look like tiny bears or bunnies or lions. Because he thought it was hilarious to have possible werewolves dressed as tiny bears. Not like they'd show their wolf side until they were teens, but Derek would know. Beth was different, because she was early with her powers due to her banshee side being activated by her werewolf side and the other way around. But in general, werewolf kids would take a while to fully develop. Maybe it was wishful thinking on his side, which wasn't that far off to think, however, Derek had a feeling these two took after him.

The nursery, even though it needed to be painted still, was taking shape when the furniture was all delivered a week later, along with their new family friendly car. Derek wasn't the only one expanding, the entire family was, along with the loft. Happily at that.