wake up (to the life you chose)
âDaddy! Daddy! Daaaaaddyyyyyyyyy!â
Stiles groans, and rolls over, smacking an arm across Derekâs chest quite deliberately. Itâs still dark blue outside the window, and if there was a benevolent god, he would still be unconscious.
âDerek, your son,â Stiles mumbles, and Derek grumps and buries himself further under the sheets.
âIâm a creature of the night,â Derek slurs, and Stiles bumps his head against Derekâs bicep and groans.
âIt is night, get up,â Stiles says, slightly more coherent now and slightly more with the feeling the effects of three hours of sleep.
âBefore 6am heâs your son,â Derek says, and stretches his entire body out like Stiles has seen dogs do, limbs going taut before relaxing.
âNooo,â Stiles says, âI cannot, Iâm dying.â
âDaddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!â
âI love our son, I love our son,â Derek repeats to himself, surfacing slightly, and pushing the sheets off of himself. âThis was a good life choice and I regret nothing.â
âYou could give me a complex, you know,â Stiles says. âConsidering I was a big part of that life choice.â
âYouâre fine, you donât wake me up at 4am calling me daddy,â Derek says, and Stiles grins despite himself.
âYeah, but I bet you wish I would,â Stiles says, and pokes Derekâs side, to which he receives a growl.
âIf you start waking me up too, I will disown this family,â Derek says. Itâs an obvious lie, but Stiles lets him get away with it. Derek, despite his grouching, adores his little family. Stiles knows this, because Stiles has caught him on more than one occasion explaining to Eli in exaggerated tones how special he is to Derek, and how special Stiles is, and how heâd do anything for them.
The one and a half year old didnât really seem to understand the nuances of the conversation, but it seemed to help Derek, and it helped Stiles to hear it too.
âOkay, Iâm getting up, but you owe me,â Stiles says, and mostly falls out of the bed.
âI will do anything,â Derek says, which Stiles will definitely take full advantage of later.
Stiles scrubs a hand through his hair, looking down at where Derek is still mostly mashed into the bed, before yawning and heading out of the room. Eliâs room is just next door, and when he cracks the door, Eli stops the repeated calls for Daddy and starts making excited little noises, and Stiles wonders, not for the first time, if this is what baby Derek was like.
Stiles hoists Eli into his arms, and balances him on one hip, booping his nose as Eli flashes beta yellow eyes at him and settles against his chest.
âBaby wolf, baby wolf,â Stiles croons, and sways on the spot, feeling Eliâs body go lax against his. Stiles looks around the room, checking everythingâs okay, before making his way as quietly as he can back to his and Derekâs room.
Derekâs sitting up in bed when he comes in, and his eyes go soft when he sees Stiles and a sleeping Eli.
âRoom in that bed for one more?â Stiles whispers, and Derek puts a finger to his lips, but nods.
Stiles gets Eli settled in the middle of the bed with only one tiny whine, before climbing in beside him, their bodies bracketing the toddler and keeping him safe. Stiles meets Derekâs eyes and smiles wide, and Derek reaches out to press a finger to Stilesâ cheekbone, running down to tilt his jaw up, before scenting his neck with the palm of his hand and pulling away.
âMy two werewolf boys,â Stiles says softly, and Derek scoffs gently, but snuggles down again, careful not to wake Eli.
Stiles curls in close, and closes his eyes, tired again, and sleep almost immediately takes hold and refuses to let go.
His last coherent thought before Eli wakes them both again in two hoursâ time is something jumbled about how lucky he is. Heâll make sense of it in the morning. For now, he has everything he needs.