Motherās Day
Itās been years since Derek had visited the cemetery. There wasnāt really anything left to bury after the fire, but they did use a large chunk of money to create a Hale Family Monument.
Really, it had been Lauraās idea and while he had helped her setting it up she had been the one to visit on every major holiday and she was the one who went to clean it up and lay fresh flowers.
Since her death Derek knows it has been woefully ignored and he fidgets with the bouquet of flowers as he procrastinates inside the Camaro.
Heās not sure why this year is different. What made him wake up on Motherās Day and decide he needed to visit. He missed Talia everyday but it had almost been a physical ache to go to her this morning.
Sighing, he finally gathers the courage to slink out of the car and walk through the grounds.
The Hale monument is the largest structure in the cemetery. A big, marble wolf sitting watch over the neighboring headstones. The statue was positioned so every month the full moon created a halo over the lupine gargoyle.
Itās a beautiful monument and Derek feels his eyes prickle as he looks over the likeness of his motherās shifted face. He runs his hand gently over the marble snout before walking forward and laying his forehead against her cheek. Heās not a short man by any means but he still has to stand in his tiptoes to reach her.
After a few long moments of blinking back tears and trying to force the nausea and unease away he steps back to lay the bouquet down at her feet and falls still. Thereās already a bouquet there.
A large bouquet.
Derek takes in the white of the lilies and roses and chrysanthemums that mix with the pink carnations and though he doesnāt know much about the language of flowers he does know the combination is a sincere show of respect and admiration.
Thereās no name or tag that comes with the mystery bouquet but it is positioned carefully to lay between the wolves paws, propped slightly so the petals arenāt squished down and suddenly Derek takes in the rest of the structure. Or really the health of it because what should be thereārotten leaves and vines and mossā thereās nothing.
The statue is as pristine as the day they first erected it.
Derekās not sure who could have been taking care of it. Isaacās father had been there to dig the new graves and pick up some trash but he had never bothered clearing each individual headstone. Maybe Peter? Though the more Derek thinks it over the more he convinces himself Peter had never entered the cemetery. Cora lived too far away and Malia had never been bothered by some leaves or vines.
Frowning, Derek lays his bouquet on the opposite side of the wolfās paws. He spends a while longer sitting before the statue, his mind filled with memories of his mother and his pack and after a few hours have passed he finally stands, bidding the monument good bye before making his way slowly back to his car.
He gets halfway through the maze of headstones when his eyes fall on one grave marker in particular. A small, plain headstone. But lying amongst the mound is the identical bouquet of white and pink flowers as his motherās.
He hurries forward to read the name and his breath catches in his throat when he makes out the letters. Claudia Stilinkski, beloved mother and wife.
It could be Noah. He knows itās a possibility but he also knows the sheriff has been at work all day, pulling an overnight shift and a double at the station. Stiles would have been alone on Motherās Dayā¦
The realization hits him hard and Derek feels a spark of affection fill his chest as he imagines Stiles cleaning his families monument. It says something that the only human in the pack is the only one to proclaim his respect to the previous alpha. And Derek feels so proud at his human beta and ashamed at himself for not having come sooner.
Beautiful ā„ļø


















