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

11

Author's note:
I've got a very busy week(end) and I'm not sure if I'll be able to edit the last two chapters in time. So there's a chance I won't be able to keep up the daily updates for those. But! They'll be up asap!
For now, I hope you all will enjoy this chapter. We're nearing the end of the story!

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Derek wakes up with a padded butt in his face. Billie is wriggling around on her back and when she rolls over she covers Derek's face with her sleeping bag. He has to catch her feet to prevent her from kicking him a black eye. She makes an inquisitive sound when she can't roll any further, trying to see what or who is blocking her. He takes a firm hold of her sleeping bag and tugs her down across the blankets so they're face to face. Her eyes light up in recognition and she immediately grabs his beard, hard. "It's still early, baby girl," he tells her quietly, rubbing a hand over her back in the hopes she will settle down again. There's some snuffling from the adults around them, yet everybody stays asleep.
He manages to postpone their start of the day for about half an hour, before Billie really is starting to get too active to stay in bed. He zips her out of her sleeping bag and extricates himself from the blankets that are tangled around his legs. Stiles immediately steals the extra bedding, burrowing in.

It's Peter who joins them outside a little later, when Derek is feeding Billie her porridge. He cut up bits of banana in it and she likes those best. Derek put her in the stroller, in the absence of a high chair. He tried holding her on his knee at first, but found himself lacking a hand. Or two. So she sits in her stroller, while he sits in a camping chair next to it, holding the bowl of porridge in one hand and the plastic spoon in the other.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think she really is yours," Peter remarks amicably.

"I'm her Alpha," Derek answers without looking up from where he's feeding Billie. "There's coffee in the thermos overthere."

Peter makes a delighted noise and searches out a mug for himself. "Top you up?" he asks, holding the thermos above Derek's almost finished mug. At his Alpha's nod he pours the coffee. The caffeine doesn't do much for them, it's more the habit of drinking coffee in the morning that wakes them up. And the smell, that helps too.
His uncle takes a contented sip of his coffee, seated in his own chair. "I know you consider her pack, we all do," he continues as if there hadn't been a pause, "but it's more than that, isn't it?" He knows Derek well enough that he doesn't expect a response, confirmative or not.

Of course his uncle is right. Billie is not just another Beta, she's not just another pack member. He doesn't think he would've acted this way if Boyd and Erica had a baby; Derek would've been more like an uncle, probably not even the fun uncle. It's different with Billie. She's Stiles' daughter, for one. And her mother is out of the picture; Derek feels responsible, he wants to help Stiles out, wants to help share the load that is fatherhood. Not simply because Stiles is a single parent, but because it's Stiles.
He looks at the big honey eyes in front of him, at the cheeks smeared with banana and porridge. He imagines the day she'll be introduced to curly fries. Stiles will probably make a big moment out of it.

Later that morning they take Billie for her first swim. At least, they think it'll be her first swim; who knows if her mother took her swimming before today. Stiles brought a bright yellow Baby Swimmer that he only allows her to use after she's thoroughly slathered in sunscreen. Lydia fixes a fashionable sun hat on Billie's head, fastening the strap underneath her chin.
Isaac and Jackson have walked back to the parking lot, to wait for Scott's small pack. They should be arriving soon. The others are all hanging out at the edge of the large pond, dressed in swimsuits.
The water isn't all that deep near the edge, which makes that the sun heats up the water quickly. Stiles, Cora and Malia sit in the water, which comes up to their chests this close to the edge. They push Billie in her floaty from one to the other. The baby girl loves the game, splashing the water with her hands and bouncing up and down in her Swimmer.