• Baby Boy •

Dadda

Stiles woke up the next day to the sound of giggling and feet running on hard floor. He sits up, rubbing the sleep out his eyes and lightly cracking his back from sleeping on the couch all night, he looks over to the open kitchen to see Derek chasing Eli around the small island counter. Eli appears to be in just his nappy and has a drink in his hands.

"Eli your gonna spill that and fall" Derek said sounding mildly mad, mildly concerned and yet also somehow mildly gently. Eli just continued to giggle as he ran about the place. Derek looks at Stiles who is just laughing at them. "A little help would be nice, he's faster than he looks" Derek says to Stiles, easing his eyebrows at him as he stops a second to look at him. Next thing you know, there's a small crash and following that is a little thump.

"Oops" Eli lisps out as he looks up at Derek from his spot on the floor where he spilt is drink and slipped in it. Stiles gets up to change diaper out of his now dirty nappy while Derek cleans the mess on the floor.

"Don't put him on the sofa with a banana!" Derek slightly yells as Stiles goes to place a freshly changed Eli on the sofa with a banana slightly squished in his hand as he eats it.

"Why not, it's easy to clean" Stiles shrugs nonchalantly, not understanding why it would stress Derek out so much. "It's not like it's chocolate or anything" he adds and Derek rolls his eyes at what he feels to be blatant disrespect.

"It's a white sofa, soft, not leather" Derek then says like that is supposed to make a hug difference.

"Well then we'll put a blanket on it" Stiles shakes his head as he reaches for a blanket ok the side.

"Not that one, I'll get a towel out the bathroom" Derek says as he pulls the blanket out of Stiles hand, the other holding baby Eli. He puts the blanket back and goes to walk off.

"That's hardly going to be comfortable for him" Stiles furrows his brows at Derek who just huffs in reply.

"Fine, if it will make you happy" Derek takes the blanket, lays it down on the sofa and watches as Stiles gently puts Eli down and puts on some cartoons to distract him.

"What's wrong, why are you so grumpy all of a sudden?" Stiles asks, reaching a hand out to touch Derek's arm to he reassuring, only to have him shrug it away and reach for his keys on the counter top.

"I'm gonna head out for a bit, need some fresh air" is all Derek says before he's heading down the hall and out the front door, slamming it in the process. Stiles looks to Eli on the sofa who's looking up at him with big glassy eyes. Stiles tries to smiles but falters slightly, not understanding the twisting in his gut.

It went on like for the next couple days, Derek and Stiles having petty arguments and then Derek storming off, saying he 'needs some fresh air' or whatever that means. He can tell Derek cares for Eli, the way he would walk in and pick up Eli, hugging him and playing with him in the evening. But then he's he ignoring Stiles or barely talking to him, barely acknowledging him.

Stiles decided to call his dad and go see him so that he can get some advice on how to properly care for Eli and his weird situation with Derek.

His dad said he also had a couple bits of furniture and kids stuff prepared for Stiles that he can have. He explained how he expected Stiles to probably spend a lot of his time at Derek's so he went through the attic and pulled out Stiles' old high chair, toddler bed and even his old little pram. Stiles isn't sure how he feels with the idea of moving in with Derek, he has a spare room yes, but can he expect that of Derek? Their lives have suddenly been twisted together by little Eli, but can he honestly help care for them both, especially with the way he's been acting towards Stiles recently. What about college? Will Stiles go back, or will he have to stay with Eli. He's so conflicted and confused and he just wanted to see his dad and get his advice and opinion.

"Stiles, he obviously cares for you both, I bet he's just struggling, just as you are. It's a big change" Noah says he reaches into a box full of Stiles' old toys and hands them to Eli. "It happened so quickly, and with zero preparation. You just need to be patient" He says as he tries to be reassuring. He's never been fond of Derek, but he can see that he cares.

"Dad I- i don't know. The whole thing between me and him was complicated already and i- I just- I don't know" Stiles is trying not to sob in front of Eli, he can feel the tension, the rock in his throat as he feels the hard pang in his heart. His dad gently hugs him but pulls away quickly as he can tell too long of a hug will make styles cry.

"It will be okay" Noah says as he taps his sons shoulder. Stiles just nods and returns to Eli, handing him toys and watching his reactions to things.

Stiles takes Eli back home in his Jeep, sorting out a baby seat for the time being, while he also has all the baby stuff in the back. Him and Eli have been sleeping in Derek's spare bedroom, sharing the double bed in it. Stiles hasn't let Eli out of his sight since he found him in the woods two days ago. Stiles and his Dad agreed for Stiles, Derek and Eli to go into the station and get some paper work sorted out tomorrow, making sure that they are both Eli's legal parents in case emergencies occur. An example could be Eli being hurt and in hospital, needing a next of kin to sign papers for him.

That night as Stiles was tucking Eli into bed, a tear slipped down his cheek. Fuck this shit man, he feels so alone- why does Derek keep leaving? Where does he go? Stiles is over thinking way too much and it isn't fair on Eli, to have this happening around him, to not have a sturdy environment.

"Dadda" Eli says, extending the first 'a'. Stiles looks at him bewildered, not know whether he heard that or it was just in his head. He's sticking with the first one.

"Yeh, I'm your dadda" Stiles repeats back as a happy tear slips it's way past. He kisses Eli's forehead and then strokes it, looking at this baby boy with all the love in the world.

"Da-dadda" Eli repeats, trying his best to get the words out. He reaches up to Stiles face and not so gently wipes away the tear with his baby hands. Stiles carefully grabs the boys hand and lays a gentle kiss onto it as he goes to walk round his side of the bed, ready for sleeping. Stiles is exhausted, so many emotions for so little time. Stiles goes to pull the covers back when he sees something out the corner of his eye. He doesn't want to scare Eli so he slowly turns to where he sees it, and then there's nothing there.

"Eli, baby boy, come here" Stiles says hurriedly as he puts a knee on the bed, gesturing for Eli to come over to him. Eli can sense the anxiety and does as he's told. Stiles is about to reach out for him and grab him when he's suddenly being pulled back and slammed into the wall. There are people suddenly im his room, crowding him and Eli. He looks to the boy who starts tearing up and sobbing, not knowing who any of these people are, not understanding why they hurt his dad. "No, Eli..." Stiles mutters through harsh breaths as he tries to get up, get to his boy. He's shoved back into the wall, being winded in the process and then being hit with a hard stick. "Don't- don't hurt him!" Stiles tries to yell but it's almost like the air has been sucked from his lungs, words struggling to get past his lips. "Eli! Hey, look at me, it's gonna be okay" Stiles tries to be reassuring, but even Stiles doesn't know if it will be. Eli continues to sob as the people grab for him.

"Dadda!" Eli screeches as he tries to worm out of their grip. Stiles is back up instantly, trying to fight the person holding him back.

"Stop it! Let him go! Please!" Stiles begs through his yells, voice breaking as he does so. "Derek! Derek where are you?!" Stiles tried calling for him, hoping he would be near enough to hear, near enough to help. "Derek!" He yells again, extending the vowels, he wants it so badly to work.

But it doesn't.

"Dadda" Eli croaks out, it's quiet and it's gentle, the words barely forming. Stiles is sure if it were spoken any quieter, he would not of heard it at all. Stiles is trying so hard to fight , to get to him, then there's a sudden sting in his neck and his vision is fogging, his legs feel weak. He can feel his knees are about to go and he won't be able to catch himself. The only thing he can see through the blurring haze of the dark room is Eli's bright eyes, and a hiccup of 'Dadda' being the last thing he hears before his knees buckle then crack as they hit the wooden floor, vision emptying to a black static.