#lingeringfears

Her movements still when Derek sits on the couch; eyes wide as she looks up at him.  Spit bubbles fall down her chin and Derek tunes in to her heartbeat, letting the sound soothe him as she kicks her feet against his stomach.  ”You’re gonna need to get some sleep,” he says, stroking a hand over the tiny wisps of dark hair on her head.  ”You’re not hungry, and you don’t need changing, so you’re just being fussy.”

Laying on his back, Derek rests his head on the arm of the couch and cuddles Lila to his bare chest, humming softly until he hears her breathing even out.  When the triplets had first been born, Derek hadn’t wanted to move when they’d fallen asleep on him; too scared that they’d wake up.  Now, though, he knows better.

Once he’s upstairs, he puts Lila back in her crib and checks on Ryan and David before going back to his own bed.

"She good?" Stiles asks, curling up next to Derek and kissing his shoulder.

"Yeah."

"Mmm, good, sleep now."

*

The next morning, they’re not woken up by the triplets, and Derek blinks up at the ceiling before looking over at Stiles.

"Are they —"

"Shh," Stiles says, pressing a finger against Derek’s mouth.  "Don’t say anything, you’ll jinx it."  Dropping his finger, he rolls on top of Derek and wriggles around with a grin.  "Missed you."

"I’ve been right here," Derek says, hands sliding down to grip Stiles’ ass.  "With you."

Rubbing their noses together, Stiles kisses Derek firmly, and Derek sinks into it, one hand coming up to cup the back of Stiles’ head, holding him in place.

"Wanna be with me some more?" Stiles asks, swiping his tongue over Derek’s bottom lip.  "We —"

“Always,” Derek responds, sliding his hand into Stiles’ boxers and stroking a hand over the curve of Stiles’ ass.  ”You know that.”

"I do," Stiles says, touching the hair falling over Derek’s forehead.  "I do know that."

Derek pulls him back down for a kiss, holding Stiles close and savouring the feel of Stiles’ hard cock against his own.  Knowing that they don’t have much time, Derek rocks up against Stiles, trailing kisses down the side of his jaw, licking his neck.  It gets heated quickly; Stiles’ hands gripping Derek’s shoulders, travelling up and tugging at his hair; sloppy kisses that end up with them breathing into each other’s mouths more than anything.

It’s frantic, both of them needing to get off — it hasn’t been like this for a while, not since before they brought the kids home, and Derek loves it.  Adores having Stiles pressed up against him; being able to hear the speeding up of Stiles’ heart; how Stiles’ skin gets flushed the closer he gets to coming; how his mouth drags all over Derek’s skin.

And then Stiles’ bites down on Derek’s bottom lip and it’s over — Derek’s coming in his pj pants with Stiles following close behind.  Breathing heavily, Derek presses a soft kiss on Stiles’ chin, his hands stroking up and down Stiles’ back.

"Do you know how long it’s been since you got me to come in my boxers?"

Derek laughs, kissing Stiles’ cheek.  ”Not since you were a teenager?”

"There was that time in college…"

"I forgot about that."

"Now I’m offended."

"I think —" Derek breaks off and groans when he hears David start to whimper.

"What?"

"Babies."

"Who is it?"

"David."

"My little red faced boy."

"You can’t keep calling him that."

"His face goes red when he cries!" Stiles says, rolling off Derek and pushing his boxers down, wiping himself up and discarding them on the laundry pile.  "Besides, like you don’t call Lila a hairy wolf."

"One day she will be a hairy wolf."

"But I don’t think she’d appreciate her dad calling her that."

*

When they get downstairs, Ryan and Lila are fussy, wanting to be fed immediately; Derek puts them in their high chairs, trying to distract them with toys while Stiles gets their bottles ready.

David’s sucking on his pacifier, his big eyes watching the activity in the kitchen as he pushes some cheerios around on his high chair table.

"He’s so peaceful," Stiles says, handing one of the bottles to Derek as he sits in front of Lila with the other one.

"Until he smacks Ryan in the head with a toy," Derek responds, trying to get Ryan to take the bottle.  "C’mon, kiddo, I know you can hold it."

Ryan’s chubby fingers press against the bottle before dropping them down, a toothless grin around the teat when he looks at Derek.

"Cute," Derek says flatly, watching the milk drip down Ryan’s chest.

"He’ll do it eventually," Stiles says, holding the bottle for Lila and groaning when she turns her head away.  "At least he wants to eat."

"Try and feed David.  If she doesn’t want it now, she will when he starts feeding."

"I can’t believe our kids are competitive already."

Stiles laughs and looks over at Derek, his eyebrows raised. “Are you kidding me?”

"Shut up," Derek grumbles, trying not to smile.  "Feed David."

"You love that they’re competitive," Stiles says, kissing Derek on the cheek.  "Reminds you of all that wolfy battling."

"You’re ridiculous."

"That’s why you love me."

Lila smacks her hand against the table and both of them look over.  ”Yes?” Derek says, looking at her, reaching over and touching her foot.  ”You want to say something?”

"Da!"

"Uh huh, right, totally," Stiles says, grinning at her.  "I’m Da."  Pointing over at Derek, he nods at Lila. "And who is that?"

"Ba!"

"Not quite," Derek says, squeezing her foot lightly before letting go.  "But almost."

Ryan takes that moment to push his bottle on to the floor and Derek sighs, bending down and picking it up.  ”You’re going to be difficult today, aren’t you?”

*

After lunch, Derek cleans up the kitchen, and when he comes back in to the living room, he finds Stiles napping on the floor, the kids all around him.  Lila and David are asleep, their heads turned towards Stiles, and Ryan’s sitting up, leaning against Stiles’ legs, a stuffed baseball in his hands.

"Hey," Derek says, scooping Ryan up and sitting with his back against the couch.  Spreading his legs, he sits Ryan down and holds a hand out.  "Wanna pass me the ball?"

"Ba," Ryan says, trying to stuff the ball in his mouth.

"Very classy, kid," Derek laughs, smiling down at him.  "Very classy."

Eventually Ryan drops the ball on the floor and stares at Derek, smacking it with one hand.  Reaching over, Derek takes the ball and pushes it back towards Ryan, tapping the floor when Ryan gets his hands back on it.

Stiles starts to stir after a while, and Derek looks over at him, hiding a smile when Stiles sits up and tries to avoid disturbing the babies.

"Hi," Derek whispers, brushing a hand over Ryan’s head.  "Good nap?"

"Yeah."  Stiles makes his way over to them and sits next to Derek, smiling at Ryan.  "What have you been doing?"

"Trying to teach Ryan how to throw a baseball."

"That’s right," Stiles says, reaching over and picking Ryan up, kissing his cheek.  "My kiddo is gonna be a pitcher for the Mets."

"No, our kid is going to play for a team that wins."

"You really want to start this?"

"I’m not starting anything."

Stiles narrows his eyes at Derek.  ”You’re a terrible person.”

"Lie."

"Ugh."

"C’mon," Derek says, kissing Stiles’ temple.  "Put some cartoons on, Lila and David are waking up."

"Remember when we used to have sex in the middle of the day?" Stiles asks, reaching behind him for the remote.

"Vaguely."

"Want to foist the kids on my dad and do that again?"

"Does it make me a bad parent if I say yes?"

Stiles shakes his head and switches the tv on.  ”Nope,” he says, kissing Derek softly.  ”It just makes you someone who misses his husband being naked.  You’re an amazing parent.”

"Couldn’t do it without you," Derek says, resting his face against Stiles’ neck and breathing in.

"What’ve you got for me today, hon?" Stiles asks, sitting down at the table next to Tali, who’s been drawing a picture.

"This is you," she says pointing to the picture, "and me going to see Guardians of the Galaxy."

"Oh really? Is that the movie theater?" Stiles asks while he points to a large square with doors on the side.

"Yup. We’re going this weekend."

"We are?"

"Yes. On Saturday at," she scrunches up her face in thought, "2:30."

"Just you and me?"

"Well… no. My dad’s coming too, obviously. But, that’s okay, I told him all about you, and I think you’ll like him."

"Why isn't he in the picture?"

"He's parking the car." 

"Oh of course."

"So, you can come on Saturday, right?"

Stiles pauses because he was cool with going a long with it when it was pretend and in a drawing, but no Tali is being serious. Of course she is.

"Uh, are you sure you want me to come? Don't you want to spend time just you and your dad?"

"I spend time with him all the time. It's only ever us. I want to go do something with my friends. You're my friend, Stiles." She pouts a little, waiting for Stiles to say something, and damn it she knows how to get him.

"But what about the other kids in your class?" Stiles asks, which only makes Tali pout more.

"They don't even know what the movie is. I asked. I want to go with you! Stiles, please? Please say you'll come?"

"I..." Stiles tries not to look down because Tali has her biggest puppy dog eyes, and it rival's Scotts to be honest. "How about I stay and wait with you when your dad comes, and I'll talk to him first to make sure it really is okay. He's never met me, so he might not want me to go."

Tali seems resigned to this, but she accepts it. "I've told him all about you. He'll be okay with it."

"I'll feel better talking to him. If he tells me it's okay, then I'll come. If not, you can tell me all about it next week."

"He'll let you come, but yes, that's fine," she says turning back to her drawing.

He's not sure why Tali is so convinced her father will say yes to Stiles. Pretty sure if Tali was his daughter, there's no way he'd let someone like him go to the movies with her, but then again, Tali is pretty hard to say no to.

~

It's very clear that saying "No" to Tali is exactly why Stiles is now standing outside of the school a few feet from a Toyota as Tali stands outside of the open car door talking to her father.

Soon after her father gets out, and damn, Stiles was not prepared for it. The man is in dark gray slacks, a button-down and tie, probably just getting off work to pick up Tali. He walks around the car, takes Tali's hand and walks up to Stiles.

"You must be the infamous Stiles," the man says once he's in front of Stiles. The man looks down at Tali, who grins up at him, and her father grins back.

"Um, yes?" Stiles squeaks out. He quickly clears his throat and starts over. "Yes. That's me. Hi, I'm Stiles." He shoots out his hand, and the man shakes it.

"I'm Derek Hale. Tali's father."

"It's nice to finally meet you. As great as her art is, Tali's drawings don't do you justice. You're way taller in person."

Derek frowns, but Tali giggles, which seems to instantly reverse Derek's frown into more of a slight smirk, although maybe it's a grimace. Stiles can't tell because he's too busy staring at Derek's eyes, which are the same mesmerizing color as Tali's.

"Stiles, ask him," Tali says, pulling on his pant leg to get his attention.

"Oh, right, um, so Tali says you guys are going to the movies on Saturday and she wanted me to tag along? I wanted to make sure that was okay though, and I totally understand if it's not."

"Yeah, she told me. Planned the whole thing, actually."

Stiles chuckles, "Yeah, that sounds like her."

"Yes, she really admires you. If you're free, you're more than welcome to join us."

"But... I'm a complete stranger?" Stiles says baffled that Derek is inviting him.

Derek laughs. "Not really. I actually work with Scott, and after Tali told me about her friend named Stiles, I figured you must be Scott's Stiles. Believe me, I've heard a lot about you. From both of them."

Stiles blushes because what on earth has he heard from Scott? "Oh. Yup, I am Scott's Stiles."

"So does this mean he's coming, Daddy?" Tali asks.

"I'm alright with it. It's up to Stiles," he says looking back at Stiles, and damn it Tali gets her puppy dog eyes and pout from her father.

"Uh, sounds like a date," Stiles says, and then blanches because that is not what he meant to say. But Tali is cheering and throwing herself at Stiles's legs for him to try to recover, and Derek smiles down at her and then up at Stiles.

"Great. Here's my number," Derek says pulling out a business card from his back pocket, "Text me, so I can let you know what time to meet us."

Stiles takes the card. "Okay."

"Come on, Tali, we gotta go home and get dinner started."

"Okay," she says letting go of Stiles and taking her dad's open hand.

"It was nice to finally meet you, Stiles," Derek says, extending his free hand out again.

Stiles shakes it, and he's positive Derek squeezes it and holds it a little longer than is customary. "Nice to meet you too. See you guys on Saturday."

"Bye, Stiles!" Tali calls, already dragging her dad away and to the car.

"Bye!" Stiles shouts back and waves, Derek gives him a wave back before picking Tali up and going back to his car.

~