To Build a Home

Chapter 12

“Miss Joyce said that you got upset during music today,” Derek said softly as he grabbed the shampoo bottle and squeezed a dollop into his hands. Isaac’s playful babbling and pushing of his yellow rubber duck around in the water stopped, room growing quiet as he pulled the toy against his chest.

“Was someone being mean to you, honey?” he asked as he held the soap in his palm, afraid to make a move toward the now on-edge toddler. Isaac gave a small shake ‘no’ of his head and continued to hold the duck close, body leaning slightly away from Derek. He thought about letting the topic go, but the guarded, defensive stance that his son had taken on worried him, so he continued to press gently.

“Did someone say something that hurt your feelings?” Again, he shook his head once to the left and right, the rest of his body not moving an inch. “Were you being yelled at?” Another ‘no’.

“When you’re ready to talk about it Daddy and I are here to listen, okay?” Derek assured him, just as Dr. Galler had explained back in September. Isaac made a small nod and slowly let his arms fall, rubber duck back in the water but body still rigid, toddler watching his papa through his peripheral vision.

“Is it okay if I wash your hair now?” And there Derek was, back at the beginning, asking Isaac questions to make him more comfortable with the idea of someone making contact with him. The toddler took a moment to think about the question before giving a short nod, shoulders and neck still tense as Derek gently lathered the soap into Isaac’s hair.

x

“Something had to have happened at school, Stiles,” Derek insisted as he leaned against the doorframe of his husband’s office. He was still unhappy about what had happened just a few short hours ago, but at that very moment he was so concerned with Isaac that talking to Stiles was a necessity.

“Did you ask him?”

“Yeah, but he wouldn’t say anything. When I dropped him off this morning he was fine. Sang in the car, chatted as I walked him to his classroom. And then just now he was acting really weird in the tub. I had to start asking for his permission to do everything like we had to back in September because he was so tense.” Derek took a deep breath and crossed his arms against his chest. “I know he can be temperamental but he doesn’t just get like that anymore, you know? I mean, for him to be hysterical like that when you showed up-”

“He wasn’t crying when I got to his school,” Stiles interrupted quietly, eyes avoiding Derek’s.

“Wait, I’m confused,” Derek said as he took a step deeper into the room. “You told me that his teacher said he had a meltdown earlier in the day and that when you went to pick him up he was upset.”

“He was upset when I got there but he wasn’t crying,” Stiles stated, knowing he’d have to elaborate if he wanted Derek to stop staring at him with those intense brown eyes.

“I…I couldn’t get him to hold my hand in the parking lot and I kind of got…I guess I got frustrated and I was yelling and I may have been a little forceful trying to get him into his car seat,” Stiles rambled as he leaned his elbows on his desk and covered his face with his hands, hoping Derek would understand why he couldn’t just snap himself out of the anger.

“What do you mean by a little forceful?” Derek’s voice was hovering on the verge of irritation, and in that instant any hope that Stiles had of his husband understanding disappeared.

“I wasn’t even angry at Isaac!” Stiles sighed and shook his head. “I had a horrible day at work and he just wouldn’t behave and I-”

“Stiles.”