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Stiles’ smiles were so big now! Christmas was coming! There was a big tree in the house now, with pretty tinsel and ornaments and a big dragon at the very top. Mommy had already taken him to see Santa Claus, and he’d already told him about all the cool Star Wars and Batman and Spiderman toys that he wanted. He couldn’t wait to see what Santa and Mommy and Daddy were going to put under the tree on Christmas morning.
Today, Mommy took Stiles to the mall to find presents for Daddy, Derek, and the rest of the Hales. Stiles didn’t really have any money, but Mommy promised to pay for them as long as he picked out the presents. And he was going to pick out some amazing presents to give everybody.
He found a cute little stuffed wolf for Cora and a pretty doll for Laura easily. He found a mug for Daddy to put his morning coffee in that said “Best Dad” on it. He wasn’t getting anything for Mommy yet because she was right there and then she wouldn’t be surprised on Christmas. But he was thinking about a family picture frame with a nice picture of him, Mommy, and Daddy to put inside it. Daddy would be taking him shopping for Mommy another day. He picked out another picture frame for Miss Talia and Mr. Andrew to put a nice Hale family picture in.
Derek needed to have two presents, because it wasn’t just Christmas for him. It was also his birthday! At first, Stiles thought it was pretty awesome to have a birthday on Christmas, because it meant that the day was twice as special, but as he looked around the toy store for just the right presents for Derek, he thought that maybe it wasn’t so awesome after all. What if Derek’s birthday got ignored because it was Christmas? That would be so horrible! Stiles wasn’t going to let that happen.
He ended up picking out a Superman and Batman coloring book for his Christmas present because Derek really liked Superman and Stiles really liked Batman, along with a new box of crayons. And for his birthday present, he picked out a really neat Superman figure that he was sure that Derek would love.
Stiles was super happy with all the things he’d found as he stood in line with Mommy to pay. This was going to be the bestest Christmas ever!
**********
Finally, it was Christmas morning. Stiles ran down the stairs and saw all the presents under their Christmas tree. Some of the pretty ornaments on the tree sparkled in the sunlight. He stared at everything for a few minutes, a big grin on his face the whole time, before he ran right back up the stairs and into Mommy and Daddy’s room.
“Mommy! Daddy!” he screamed. “Christmas presents! And then we’ve gotta go ‘cause it‘s Derek‘s birthday!”
Daddy yawned and sat up. “Merry Christmas,” he said, ruffling Stiles’ hair.
Stiles beamed. “Merry Christmas! But we’ve got to go! We can’t miss it!” He tugged on Daddy’s hand, trying to pull him out of bed.
“We won’t, my little Mieczyslaw,” Mommy said, sitting up in bed, too. “We’re going to open up our presents for each other here, and then later on, we’re going to the Hales’ so we can give them our presents, and yes, to be there for Derek’s birthday.” She smiled. “I know that’s very important to you.”
“It is!” Stiles said urgently. “I can’t let him think I forgot it!”
Mommy laughed. “I’m sure he would never think that. He knows how much you care about him.”
And Stiles really did. He cared so much about Derek, loved him, his bestest friend in the world besides Mommy and Daddy. And Stiles loved when Derek was around, even letting him sit among his very special hoard.
**********
Stiles had the bestest morning with Mommy and Daddy. He got all kinds of awesome presents, like a Death Star playset that he could play with his Luke and Darth Vader figures on, a neat Spiderman figure that shot webs, and some Batman villains that his Batman figure could now lock up, just like Daddy locked up the bad guys. Then they all had chocolate chip pancakes that Mommy made. They were yummy and Stiles’ tummy was very happy.
Soon enough, Stiles was in his carseat in the back of Mommy’s awesome Jeep, driving to the Hales' house in the preserve.
Mommy parked in the driveway that had lots and lots of cars in it. They got out, stood in front of the door, and Mommy rang the bell. Stiles was practically jumping all over the porch, he was so, so excited. He was holding tightly onto the two presents for Derek, while Mommy and Daddy had the others.
Laura answered the door. She smiled and said, “Merry Christmas!”
“Yes, Merry Christmas, and Happy Derek’s Birthday, too!” Stiles pointed out. “Can’t forget that! He’s your brother!”
Laura looked surprised, but then she laughed. “Derek sure is lucky to have you, Stiles!”
Stiles felt so proud. He wanted to be the bestest friend he could be for Derek.
They all went into the Hales’ big living room where everyone was gathered around the huge tree which was decorated kind of like the tree in Stiles’ house but with different colors and ornaments. There were lots of wolves and other doggies on their tree. It was different, but Stiles liked it because it seemed right for the Hales, who were mostly werewolves. Werewolves were really cool.
It was more than just Derek’s family there. There were so many people, aunts and uncles and cousins and grandmas and grandpas, even more than when Stiles went to their house the first time. It was a little too much for Stiles, who just wanted to find Derek.
Stiles spotted him sitting near the tree and ran over to him, plopping down on the floor next to him. “Happy Birthday!” Stiles yelled. “And Merry Christmas, too, but your birthday is the most important! I made sure you got two presents from me today, ‘cause I didn’t forget!”
Derek smiled at him. “Aw, Stiles, I knew you would never forget.”
“Here, these are for you!” Stiles told him, holding out the two presents. “This one’s for Christmas, and this one’s for your birthday!”
Derek carefully opened the Christmas present first. “Cool, both of the characters we like!” he said happily, looking at the coloring book.
“Yeah, that’s why I picked it!” Stiles beamed. Derek was liking his presents!
Then Derek opened his birthday present. “Oh, wow, Stiles, you got me Superman? That’s so awesome! Thank you so much!” He smiled big, showing off his cute front teeth. Stiles liked when he smiled like that.
“And here,” Derek said, taking a present from under the tree and handing it to Stiles. “This one’s for you from me!” He looked scared like Stiles wouldn’t like what was inside. That was so silly!
Stiles ripped into the paper and found a small, plain box inside. “Oooh, what’s in it?” he wondered, opening the box.
Inside, he found two Christmas ornaments sitting in tissue paper. One of them was a cute little wolf with black fur and golden eyes. The other was a cute little dragon that was all white. All Stiles could say was, “Wow!”
“See, look!” Derek said, picking up the wolf ornament. “I painted it all my myself!” he told him proudly. “I made the wolf look just like me when I shift!”
Stiles looked at it, and it did look just like Derek when he was a wolf. “That’s so awesome!”
“And this one,” Derek said, picking up the dragon, “I didn’t paint yet. Your mom said you couldn’t transform into a dragon yet, so I don’t know what you look like. But when you’re big enough to be a dragon, I’ll paint this one the colors that you are so it will look like you!”
Stiles stared at the ornaments with his mouth hanging open. Mommy would remind him to close his mouth, but he didn’t care. These were the most amazing ornaments he’d ever seen, and they were even more special because Derek painted them, or would paint them, just for him. “Thank you, Derek!” he cried out, setting down the ornaments carefully and wrapping his arms around the older boy in the tightest hug he could manage.
He felt Derek’s arms go around him too in a return hug. “You’re welcome, Stiles! Thanks for making my birthday so special!”
“I’ll make your birthday super special every year forever and ever!” Stiles promised.
Now that he made sure that Derek had the bestest birthday, he could pay attention to everyone else.
**********
A few weeks later, Daddy put a little wooden shelf on the wall above Stiles’ bed. Stiles immediately put his very special figures, both old and new, up there, along with the super-duper special ornaments that Derek had gotten just for him.
He was so proud of his slowly growing hoard. And his hoard would feel even more complete when Derek came over to play with him. He couldn’t wait for the next time his bestest friend would visit!