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“Why can’t I… get… this fucking thing… open?” Derek cursed as he struggled with the car seat. Natalia fussed and kicked at him, whining. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I shouldn’t say that,” he apologized when he finally got the damned restraints loose. “I’m just a terribly trained uncle. Your mom usually does this part.”
The whining was pitched right where it would annoy the worst, amplifying the headache he already had. This had been the day from hell, on top of the week from hell. But he could do this.
Not like he had a choice.
At least it was only temporary, thank God. Laura and her husband Craig had both made it through surgery and would recover from the car wreck, though it was going to take some time before they were released. Luckily Natalia hadn’t been with them. Their sitter had kept her for the first two days, while Derek paced the hospital waiting room, terrified that Laura and Craig wouldn’t make it. But now that they were stable, his niece was his responsibility until her parents could take her back again.
There wasn’t anyone else.
His loft wasn’t set up for a child, but he’d figure it out, somehow.
“Mama,” Natalia cried when he picked her up and settled her on his hip, grabbing her diaper bag with the other hand and slinging it over his shoulder. “Mama.”
“I know, baby, but Mama can’t come right now. You’re stuck with Uncle Derek. We’ll go see Mama in a day or two, when the doctors say it’s okay.”
God, he didn’t have anything he needed for this. Tomorrow he’d have to go to Laura’s house and scavenge whatever he needed. He’d probably forget half of it. Luann, the sitter, promised him that the diaper bag had what he’d need to get through tonight.
Guess he’d find out.
He rubbed Natalia’s back as he headed inside, taking the elevator up to his loft.
Juggling the toddler enough to get the key in the lock was harder than he’d expected when she was pulling on his hair and kicking at his stomach. Finally he got the door open.
He stopped just inside the door. Something was different. He froze, alarm rising, while he parsed it out.
The loft… was clean. Not that Derek was slovenly, but he wasn’t maniacal in his cleaning either. On top of that, he knew that when he’d gotten the call about the accident, he’d dropped everything and left.
He’d been in the middle of his dinner, and he hadn’t put anything away.
Yet now the table was clean, no signs of a half-eaten meal or a half-empty glass. The sink was empty.
There were other changes too. A soft blanket, green with chubby baby hippos printed on it, was draped over the arm of his sofa. And, holy hell, was that a pool noodle cut and wrapped around the edges of his coffee table? He frowned and moved around the living area. There were covers inserted into the sockets, the floor had been swept clean, and… good lord, there was a baby gate blocking the stairs up to the sleeping area.
He most certainly did not own a baby gate.
“Dun! Dun!” Natalia insisted, beating on his shoulder.
“What?”
“DUN!” She kicked at him and leaned over.
“Oh. Down.” He set her on the floor, and she immediately toddled off towards the couch. She’d just learned to walk, which meant those pool noodles were bound to come in handy.
Who the hell…
Before his brains unscrambled the door behind him opened. Derek spun around, instinctively placing himself between Natalia and the newcomer.
“Whoa, whoa, just me.”
Stiles. His boss’ son. Derek had known him for almost a year now. He stopped by the station frequently, talking to anyone who would listen, though it seemed like he spent more time at Derek’s desk than anyone else’s. Sometimes he even brought him a coffee from the shop down the street, rather than the abomination in the station kitchenette. He’d chatter away about anything and everything, from the latest baseball game to the struggles he was having figuring out the answer to his latest consulting project to the history of male circumcision, of all things.
He was an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a puzzle, and Derek wanted very much to solve it.
Of course it was Stiles. Who else would it be?
“Since when have you had a key to the loft?” he said, relaxing his guard though he kept the scowl, mostly for the sake of appearances.
“Dude, since forever.” He walked into the kitchen and set two overflowing bags of groceries down on the counter. He took a moment to make a funny face at Natalia, but didn’t approach her. Derek was grateful. She was tired, and upset, and having a stranger all up in her face was more likely to make her cry than coo.
Stiles started putting the groceries away, opening the refrigerator and cupboards with an easy familiarity with the space that he shouldn’t have. “Actually that’s not true. I made a copy about three months ago. When you had Parrish checking up on the place during your vacation. He asked me to do it one time when he had to pull a double, and I made a copy.” He shrugged, completely unapologetic about it. “Good thing, too, under the circumstances. You should always have someone that has a key to your place, in case of emergency. Such as this.”
“You did this?” he asked, tapping the pool noodle on the coffee table.
“Yep. I’ve been here before. I knew you weren’t equipped for a kidlet.” He held up a jar of baby food. “She’s what, almost a year old? I didn’t know if she’s got any allergies or anything so I got a bunch of different stuff. Some of it’s baby food in jars, but I also got the soft cereal and some people food that the Google says babies can eat. Cheerios, bananas, those cracker things. The baby food has labels on it for age ranges, so that was helpful. Google is also your friend. I probably got too much, but anything you end up not needing we can donate to a food shelf as long as it hasn’t been opened. So we’re golden.” He cleared out some space in a cupboard and started putting the baby food in it. “Do you know if she’s still on formula?”
“Yes… there’s a can in her diaper bag.” Derek felt dazed and disoriented. He hadn’t been expecting this. In his head he’d been constructing all of these mental lists of what he needed to do, how soon he was going to need it, and worrying about what he’d do with Natalia while he was doing it. He’d figured he’d have to bring her with him to the store, which seemed like a recipe for disaster right now.
“Awesome. I can pick up some more once I know the brand.”
“Why?”
Stiles stopped what he was doing, turning to face Derek. “Because she’s going to need more. Kids go through that stuff. Or so I’m told. I haven’t actually been around that many kids, but I watch TV, and like I said, Google.”
“No, not… why are you doing this?” He was confused. Grateful, but confused. He and Stiles weren’t the sort of close where he would dream of asking him for this kind of help. They were friendly, and Stiles always made a point to spend some time talking to Derek when he stopped by the station to visit with the Sheriff, but they didn’t socialize outside of Derek’s working hours.
Not for lack of desire on Derek’s part, but his social skills were abominable. Every time he even thought about asking Stiles to join him for coffee or dinner, he seized up with anxiety. His throat closed and he could barely breathe, let alone speak. He could function when the topics were impersonal, friendly, nowhere near the territory of finding him attractive. More than attractive, honestly. Stiles was… mesmerizing.
He looked at Derek, an expression of sympathy clear on his face. “Derek, how could I not?” he said, soft and sincere. “Once Dad told me what happened, I knew you were going to need help. I’ve been here, I know you’re not set up for a kid, and you shouldn’t have to deal with all of that when you’re worried about your sister and your brother-in-law. How are they doing, by the way?”
Derek glanced at Natalia. She’d found the hippo blanket, wrapped her fingers around it, and pulled it against her cheek. She wasn’t crying at the moment, which was a relief as well.
“They’re in serious condition, but not critical anymore. They’re going to make it, but they’ll be in the hospital for a while. Craig is more seriously injured than Laura. They’re going to make it. That’s the important part.”
“Oh, I’m glad. So glad. It’s good you can help out while they’re concentrating on getting better. And I can help too. I work from home; I can help with the peanut when you have things to do. I know Dad’s going to let you have some extra time off, but still.”
“This is… above and beyond, Stiles. I could never ask you to do all of this.”
“May I remind you that you didn’t ask? I don’t mind, honest.” He paused, looked down at his hands for a moment. Derek wasn’t sure, but he thought he might see a hint of color on the top of his cheeks. “I wanted to do this for you, Der. I know that sometimes I’ve made a nuisance of myself around you, and… I’m sorry. I’ll try really hard not to do that, and if you seriously want me out of your hair you just have to say so. But if you’d like another set of hands, I’m offering.”
“I… I’m grateful. I should refuse, but… I don’t want to.”
“I can camp out on the couch. I mean…”
Derek smiled then. “Stiles. Thank you.” It was too soon, but maybe, after he was able to bring Natalia back home, maybe then he’d invite Stiles to dinner as a thank you. And maybe, maybe… maybe things would go from there.
It seemed promising, judging by the smile on his face.