#sterekfest

“Maybe. Well, at least for you. Eva won't really know much better since she’s a baby still.” Stiles gave Elijah a squeeze when he tucked himself against Stiles’ neck and nuzzled him, scenting him in that way only wolves did.

It comforted Stiles as he thought about Elijah growing up so fast. He’d just finished his first year of kindergarten and soon enough, in five years, Ava would be starting her first year of school. Time flew by so fast.

He still remembered the day Elijah was born. He’d been born a baby, then within the next few hours he’d turned into a pup and it was something Stiles hadn't exactly been prepared for. He knew it could happen, but not so soon. Caring for Elijah as a pup was much different than caring for him as a baby.

When they got to the Jeep, Stiles helped Elijah into his car seat and buckled him in, then carefully took Ava out of her wrap and put her into her car seat as well.

“Alright, baby girl. We’re gonna feed you as soon as we get home and Elijah too. Then we’ve got a surprise for you guys.” Ava gurgled and Elijah was promptly distracted by something outside the Jeep, as if he’d already forgotten about the surprise at home.

Stiles climbed into the Jeep and closed the door, buckling up and revving the engine to life as he started back toward the house. When he got there, Derek was packing up the SUV as Stiles pulled into the driveway.

“Dad!” Elijah squirmed in his car seat, trying to get out as Derek approached the Jeep and opened the driver’s door when Stiles parked. He gave Stiles a kiss and looked at Elijah.

“Hey, bud.” Derek helped Stiles out of the Jeep before going around to get Elijah out of the back as Stiles got Ava. “How was school?”

“It was great! We had a party and I had cupcakes and—” Elijah clung to Derek as he started chatting away about his day at school, which made Stiles chuckle. Elijah never tired of talking, especially when it came to school. Thankfully, Derek always loved to hear everything about Elijah’s day. Which let Stiles care for Ava as Derek spent time with Elijah.

They headed inside and Derek made them all sandwiches as Stiles nursed Ava. She always ate like she was starving and Stiles was surprised how much she could eat. He walked around the kitchen, rubbing Ava’s back, and watching his family.

“And then we all signed the book!” Elijah said with a square of his sandwich in his hand. “It’s in my bag!”

Of course, Elijah was talking about his yearbook. Stiles would tuck it away on their keepsake bookcase later. His collection of yearbooks and what little they had left of Derek’s were on the same shelf, where they kept most of their family keepsakes together.

“You’ll have to show it to me later, bud,” Derek replied as he put a plate of sandwiches and chips in front of Stiles. Stiles picked at the chips, the barbecue flavor only making him hungrier as he snacked on them.

“So,” Derek started, looking at Stiles and then Elijah. “I was thinking we should make a trip to the zoo to celebrate finishing your first year of school. What do you think, Eli?”

Elijah gasped, almost dropping his sandwich as he looked between Stiles and Derek. “We can see the tigers!”

“I know you want to see the big white one,” Stiles chimed in, eating some of his sandwich and then chips, giving soft, happy little sounds as he ate. It always made him chuckle when Elijah did the same thing as he ate because he took after Stiles in that way.

“They have the new penguin exhibit open.” Derek grinned. “I was hoping we could see the penguins too.”

“Like the ones in the movie! The surfing one!” Elijah was practically vibrating in his seat with excitement.

“Surfs Up,” Stiles supplied around a bite of sandwich, shoving more chips into his mouth as Ava continued to nurse. “The one with the surfing penguins.”

“Yeah, that one!”

Stiles and Derek laughed.

“Alright, finish your sandwich so we can get going to the zoo.” Stiles finished his sandwich just as Ava eased up nursing.

He looked down at her and she was already fast asleep, looking what Stiles thought of as milk drunk. Just like people went into food comas after eating.

Stiles washed his hand and dried it on his jeans. “I’m going to go change Ava and refresh her bag while you get Eli into the car. Meet you in ten?”

“Sure thing.” Derek kissed Stiles’ temple when he walked by, running a hand along both Stiles and Ava in the way Derek did when he was marking them with his scent. It grounded Stiles and warmed him all at the same time.

Elijah started chattering right away when Derek returned his attention to their son, listening to them talk about the zoo and what animals they had there that they could see. Stiles, personally, wanted to see the meerkats. It always reminded him of watching The Lion King when he was a kid with his mom.

Today, he missed her. He sighed and changed Ava in a flash, then grabbed her baby bag and restocked it before hefting it onto his shoulder and meeting Derek at the SUV.

It didn't take them long to settle the kids and head off to the zoo. It was a couple of cities over and the kids napped on the way, but when they got there, Elijah was buzzing with energy.

Stiles tucked Ava into her baby wrap as Derek took Elijah out of his car seat, their son practically climbing on top of Derek before Derek had a chance to settle Elijah on his shoulders. Stiles might’ve been worried if Elijah wasn't a werewolf, but he’d never had to worry about him staying injured because he healed so quickly the few times he did.

Plus, Derek had a firm grip on him, which Stiles was confident would keep their son on his father’s shoulders, no matter how much Elijah wiggled and tried to escape into an animal pen.

Derek walked ahead of him, Elijah talked animatedly, just like Stiles usually did, all hands and motions. He rubbed a hand over Ava’s back as she slept and they easily bought tickets and headed into the zoo.

“We have to see the tigers! And penguins! And, and—” They stopped near the elephant exhibit, Elijah focused more on the elephants than his tangent of what he wanted to see at the zoo.

Derek held onto Elijah’s legs as he peered over the edge, down at the elephants bathing in the pools. Stiles noticed a baby elephant, which must have been born not too long ago and he rubbed Ava’s back again as he absent-mindedly jiggled her.

They moved on to the Giraffs, which Elijah fed and giggled the whole time when their large purple tongues stole the food they’d purchased from the appropriate food vendor. Thankfully, none of the animals seemed to be afraid of Derek or Elijah, even though Stiles was pretty sure they could tell they were predators.

When they stopped by the Meerkat pen, Stiles told his family about his mom and why he always thought of her when they saw the Meerkats. It was moments like this that he wished his mom was still here so his children could know their grandmother.

They took pictures with the Siberian tigers through the windows and when they got to the penguins, Elijah looked enamored with them as they dove into the water, spun around, and hopped back onto the docking area near the glass.

The penguins were very interested in Elijah as he pressed his face against the glass, hands next to his cheeks. The penguins hopped back into the water, darting and zooming around as if they were trying to play with him. Stiles took several pictures and a video and before long, they were heading off to another exhibit in the zoo.

Something caught Stiles’ eye as they walked along a shaded path, the trees swaying above them as the canopy made him almost feel like he was in the forest. He stopped next to it, reaching out to run his hand over the warm metal, eyes fixed on the pictures displayed at the front.

“Do you have any pennies?” Stiles asked, looking over at Derek where he and Elijah were watching flamingos.

“Pennies?” Derek asked, glancing in Stiles’ direction and then at the machine. “Yeah, of course.”

Derek fished a few coins out of his pocket and handed them to Stiles.

“Elijah, come check this out!” Stiles waited until Derek put Elijah down and they both joined him next to the machine. “This thing makes cool pennies. It’s called a penny press.”

Elijah looked at the picture on the front of the machine quizzically. “Like that?”

“Yeah… it looks like this one will have a picture of a tiger on it. We can probably find one with a penguin on it too.” Stiles put a few coins into the machine and twisted the knob.

It started to whir and click as it worked while he twisted the knob. After a few turns, a penny dropped into the dispenser and he fished it out. “Look!”

Elijah gasped and took the penny as Stiles handed it to him, his eyes big and full of wonder. “That’s so cool! We need to find a penguin!”

Stiles laughed and Derek tousled Elijah’s hair before picking Elijah up. Elijah laughed as Derek tucked him under his arm and took off running at a normal human jog, which amused Stiles to no end because that took more effort than running normally for Derek.

“Off to find the penguin penny!” Derek shouted as he zoomed Elijah around.

“Not too fast! You’ll leave me in the dust!” Stiles teased.

“No promises!” Derek replied and cast a grin at him.

If it was the last thing they did, it would be finding the penguin penny today. And Stiles knew Elijah would soon have a collection of penny keepsakes to add to their family shelf in no time.