Any Dream Will Do | Hale - TVD/TO/TW [2]

22 | On Guard

1997

"Why must you torture me?"

Lexi stares up at the wooden ceiling, trying, and failing, to block out the shrill screams of children echoing from the nearby room. She purses her lips as she takes a shaky breath. "Why me? Did you really believe I could handle five—"

A child races between her legs; she shouts, somehow maintaining balance as the brunette child giggles. Another child, this one a boy, waddles after the three-year-old girl with a large grin on his face. Taking ahold of Lexi's leg, he tugs at her pants while shouting.

The brunette girl makes a face—sticking out her tongue at the young boy—before she races past the blonde and the boy. "Can't catch me!" she yells.

"Cora!" Lexi shouts as she clenches her jaw. "Get back here!"

"Catch me! Catch me!" The young girl's voice bounces off the walls.

Growling to herself, Lexi picks up the brown-haired boy, balancing him on her hip. "Now, Max," she says; the young boy grabs at her hair. "You are human. If I fall on you, you will die."

"Die!" The boy throws his hands in the air, his head tilting back. Lexi dives to stop him from falling from her grasp only to find Cora standing in the doorway. "Die!"

Lunging forward, Lexi manages to wrap her hand around Cora's shirt before the girl can get away again. She ignores Cora's cries as she throws her over her back. "Laura, Charlotte!" Lexi yells as she moves into the living room. "Some help would be nice."

Before the lit TV, three children rough house. A brunette girl stands on the couch, shouting at the two children fighting; a boy with black hair lies beneath a red-haired girl. The girls shout together about their victory as the boy shouts in anger. He swings wildly but the girl on top of him catches his fists, swatting them away.

The girl on the couch barely turns as Lexi walks in. "Lexi, look!" she shouts with a wide grin. "Charlotte won!"

"Because Derek does not know how to throw a goddamn punch," Lexi mutters under her breath before dropping Cora on the couch. The older girl moves away with a roll of her eyes. "Laura, take care of your sister," Lexi orders as she places the boy down in a small play area quartered off for small toddlers.

Walking over to the two children rolling around on the floor, Lexi takes ahold of them. With a yank, the two stagger to opposite sides of the room, neither too inclined to pass the fiery blonde between them. "Cut it out," Lexi snaps. "I have enough to deal with with your younger siblings, I do not need the mature ones fighting, do you understand me?"

Neither child meets her gaze. They mumble their agreement, sluggishly moving to the couch.

"Now," Flipping her hair out of her face, Lexi faces the four children curled up on the small, yellowing couch. "What movie do you want?"

"Aww," Stiles says, clasping his hands together and smiling. "You're all so cute! Who's who?"

Peter glances at Derek only to find the beta staring at his younger self. The green eyes are brighter in the child, his hair a shade darker. The childlike innocence on his face stuns the older Derek into silence.

With a sigh, Peter turns away from the children on the couch, his chest tightening at the life in their eyes. "In the playpen is Max. Right now, he's the youngest, but Amy'll have another one soon—Jacklyn. Jackie for short. Both were human. Charlotte, the red-head, is the only one who doesn't look like a Hale. She's a wolf, but she never liked it much. And you know Derek's sisters."

Frowning, Lydia runs her eyes down Peter's stoic expression. "They were all in the fire, weren't they?" She asks softly.

Peter looks away, biting the inside of his cheek. "The only two who weren't here were Derek and Laura," he says. He tries to keep Derek from hearing but the sudden tensing of his muscles is answer enough. "Cora and I are the only survivors."