You've got the love I need to see me through - Baby in the Pack

5

As it turns out, Billie was on her best behaviour when she first arrived with them. Now it's time for bed she shows them how willful and stubborn an almost nine month old baby girl can be. "She won't stop crying," Stiles complains desperately, holding a wailing Billie up against his shoulder as he walks up and down the bedroom in bouncy steps in an attempt to placate her. He looks close to crying himself.
Derek can't blame him. The incessant crying of an infant is impossible to ignore and becomes quite grating on the senses after a while. And Stiles isn't even a werewolf; Derek was gritting his teeth against the crying a long time before the young father did.

Noah picks up the lilac bunny from the floor, where Billie has dropped it for the umpteenth time. He holds it within her reach and even though she's upset she still grabs her beloved bunny from his hands. "She misses her mom," the sheriff says, giving voice to something they all know to be true.

There's something to be said for a clean break and Derek can understand why Cristina didn't want to prolong the process of saying goodbye to her daughter any longer. She came prepared, with a well packed bag, instructions and legal papers. If anything, she had been working towards this day for some time now. He just wishes she'd involved Stiles in the process earlier. It would've been nice if father and daughter had been able to get to know each other in Cristina's presence, offering the little girl a familiar person to fall back on when needed. It's hard to keep an understanding attitude towards Cristina when he's confronted with Billie's distress and Stiles' helpless despair.

"There's not much you can do, son, except be there for her." The sheriff suggests for Stiles to put Billie down on his bed and just lay down with her until she finally falls asleep. "She's bathed and fed, she's just tired and sad right now."

So Stiles climbs on the bed and puts Billie down in the middle of the mattress. Derek and Noah help to put up a wall of pillows and blankets so she can't fall off if she rolls over in her sleep. It's Derek's bed and even though they put the crib and the changing table in the room already, they haven't gotten around to changing the sheets. He hopes his Alpha scent will help in calming Billie down. She was born into a werewolf pack and even though she's human, she's bound to have some werewolf characteristics.

It's another hour before the sounds of crying from upstairs finally cease. Another ten minutes later he gets a text from Stiles. [ I think she's finally sleeping. ]

From his spot on the sofa, watching tv with Malia, Isaac, the sheriff, Boyd and Erica, Derek texts back. [ Good. Do you need anything? ]

[ No. She wiped me out. I'm going to sleep too. ]

"Both down for the count?" the sheriff asks and shows a somewhat proud smile when Derek nods. The older man stays until the movie is done and then he leaves for his own home, promising to swing by after his shift the next day.

The next couple of days are used to get Billie settled in and for the pack to adjust to the presence of a baby in the house. Stiles and his daughter move into Derek's room permanently, which is a pretty simple case of switching out the contents of their closets and setting up one side of the large room as Billie's space. There's a package in the mail - courtesy of Lydia, with use of Derek's credit card - that holds forest themed wall stickers to spruce up the cream coloured walls of the master bedroom. Another package brings matching bedding and a squirrel shaped nightlight. They move one of the armchairs upstairs, large Husky plush included.

To make things a little easier on Billie, they try to minimise the number of people around her until she's completely settled in and used to the presence of a large number of adults around her. Stiles and Derek are her primary caretakers, with the sheriff, Isaac and Malia coming in right behind. Erica and Boyd have their own apartment in town, Lydia and Jackson stay at her parent's lakehouse and Scott and Allison stay over with Melissa most times. The couples in his pack all visit often, though they make sure not to crowd Billie. It was clear from the get go that she was there to stay; she's pack, she's one of them. So there's all the time in the world to get to know her, it doesn't all have to happen in the first week.