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

9

"She's gonna eat bugs." Stiles bounces Billie on his knee, making silly faces at her, while maintaining a more serious conversation with Derek and his dad.

"Lots of people eat bugs," counters the sheriff. "In fact, I think you even fed me a bug burger once. What was in that thing? Crickets? Mealworms?"

"She's gonna eat dirt," Stiles continues, ignoring his father's critique on his diet. "And what do we do when it's gonna rain? Or when it gets cold at night?"

"It's the middle of summer. It hasn't rained for almost two weeks."

"All the more chances for it to rain this weekend!"

"It's only a four hour drive from here," Derek reminds his soon-to-be-emissary. "On the off chance it rains the whole time, we can pack up and be back before you know it."

"Billie has never been in a car that long - "

Derek rolls his eyes. "Cristina drove her here from Seattle, that's a thirteen hour drive."

" - with me," Stiles finishes petulantly.

"If she's anything like you, she'll conk out before you're even on the highway." The sheriff leans over to walk his fingers over Billie's leg, making her laugh. "You're worrying too much, over nothing. She'll love camping."

Stiles gives in, eventually, although he keeps complaining up until the point where the cars are loaded up and everybody is ready to go. Derek drives with Stiles next to him and Billie in the back. The rest of the backseat is stuffed with an inordinate amount of baby things, half of which Derek is sure they won't even need. It's fine, there's enough of them to carry it all, or they can leave it in the car and go back for it when really needed. The car in front of them is Boyd's slightly dented sedan, Erica, Cora and Isaac with him. Peter and Malia are riding with Lydia and Jackson in the Porsche. Scott, Allison and Liam will come too, but they're driving up later today, after Scott is done at the vet clinic. Mrs. McCall and the sheriff opted out of the trip, wanting to leave it to 'the youngsters', even though Peter is not that much younger than them.

As the sheriff predicted, Billie is asleep before long, not even waking up when Stiles cranks up the radio when he hears his favourite song, forgetting for a second his daughter is asleep in the back.
They're not speaking much on the way up to their camping spot. They've already been living in each other's pockets the past few weeks, or rather in Billie's pocket. There is hardly anything left to talk about, except the big things like how Stiles is adjusting to being a dad, how he's gonna finish his studies and maybe how Derek feels like his chest will explode with the enormity of his feelings. On second thought, maybe better not talk about that.
Derek glances over at Stiles, who's leaning with his elbow against the car door, supporting his chin with his hand. The young man is contentedly staring out the window, watching the scenery zipping past. He's singing along with the radio under his breath, more air than sounds coming over his lips. Derek wants this to be a fun trip for Stiles, one without stress or worries or anything that qualifies like 'heavy shit'. Because there has been enough of that since Billie arrived on their doorstep, no matter how cute the little girl is - as long as she's had a good nap.

When they're about twenty minutes away from the Monroe territory, Derek wriggles his phone free from his front pocket in his jeans and holds it out for Stiles. "Can you call Alpha Monroe for me? You can put it on speaker phone."
Stiles does as he asks, finding Jake Monroe in his contacts and placing the call. He holds the phone up on his knee, angling it towards Derek, muting the radio with his other hand. Derek should invest in a car kit, probably. Jackson once gifted him a bluetooth earpiece, but he hates the way it sits in his ear. The thing is probably gathering dust in a drawer somewhere at the house.