Work Text:
Thousands of feet of Christmas lights. Hundreds of thousands of twinkling bulbs. Hundreds of miscellaneous props. Countless hours spent organising and planning and setting things up. One really big electricity bill for the month of December.
For Stiles it was all worth it though. The time and the money he spent setting up the Christmas wonderland he created each year was worth it to see the faces of all the people who came to see it.
Every year hundreds of people came to see the light show Stiles put on. More had been showing up the past two years because of the international attention he had received; he had unintentionally broken some kind of world record that he didn’t even know existed until someone had contacted him about it.
Stiles didn’t even mind the ridiculous amount of maintenance that came along with all of the lights. He liked making sure everything was in working order and that the house looked its best.
Which is how Stiles found himself up a ladder, at 9:30am on the first Saturday of December, replacing burnt out bulbs along the top of his porch.
He knew that he should replace the string of lights – they were more trouble than it was worth – but he still had a lot of individual bulbs left, once they were gone he would think about buying a new string.
The street was a lot busier than Stiles had expected for a Saturday morning. There were lots of cars driving past. Across the street and two doors up Mr Anderson was gardening while his grandchildren played in the front garden. Next door to Stiles there was a moving truck parked in the driveway. From his vantage point Stiles could see men moving boxes and furniture into the house. Stiles hadn’t seen the homeowners yet, but he knew they would be around.
Stiles climbed down the ladder and moved it further along, before climbing back up to replace more of the bulbs – okay the next time he went out, he was definitely buying a replacement string of lights.
Whilst Stiles’ back was to the street an SUV pulled up in front of the house next door; parking on the street to leave room for the moving truck to reverse out when it needed to.
“Look daddy! Reindeer!” A little girls’ voice called out.
Stiles smiled to himself and finished screwing in the last bulb. Most people came by when it was dark to see the lights in their full glory, however some still came by while it was still light out. He twisted around carefully on the ladder and spotted a little blonde girl petting the fake reindeer on his lawn. Stiles started to climb down the ladder.
“Erica!” he heard a man’s voice chastise the young girl. “You can’t just go into people’s yards!”
“It’s okay,” Stiles said. He jumped down off the second last rung of the ladder. “People are welcome to come and look around.”
Stiles packed up all the loose light bulbs then turned around to look at the visitors. The man was dressed in a green Henley and jeans, he had a strong jawline and stubble on his cheeks. Stiles caught himself staring and refocused his attention. There was a boy, about the same age as the girl, clinging to the man’s sleeve, he was looking at the ground. The little girl had moved on from petting the reindeer to inspecting the elves sitting on Stiles’ front steps.
“The kids always like the elves,” Stiles said.
“Are you sure it’s okay for her to be touching them?” the man asked.
“It’s perfectly fine,” Stiles nodded. “No small parts can be broken off and swallowed. All the paint and fake snow is non-toxic. All the lights are LED bulbs that stay cool, so no chance of a nasty burn.”
The man smiled. “It sounds like you give that speech a lot.”
“You could say that, yeah,” Stiles shrugged. He walked over and offered his hand to the man. “I’m Stiles.”
“Derek,” the man shook Stiles’ hand.
“Daddy,” the little boy tugged on his fathers’ sleeve. “It’s a snowman.”
“It sure is,” Derek said. “Do you want to go take a closer look? It’s okay.”
The little boy looked up at Stiles who smiled encouragingly. “You can look at whatever you want,” Stiles said.
“Go on Isaac,” Derek told his son.
Isaac hesitantly let go of Derek’s sleeve. Erica had grown bored with the elves and looked over to the snowman. Isaac noticed Erica notice the snowman, and he sprinted over before his sister could beat him there.
“Mr Hale?” A voice called from over the fence. It was one of the moving men. “We’re finished.”
“Thank you, guys,” Derek said. “Leave the door unlocked. I’ll be over there in a minute.”
“Oh, so you’re the one moving in?” Stiles asked.
“Yeah,” Derek said. “I decided to move the kids back here to where I grew up. Did you think there was another reason my children are invading your front yard?”
“People have travelled across the country to see the light show,” Stiles said. “Which is still really strange, but having strangers’ kids playing on my lawn isn’t new.”
“Light show?” Derek raised an eyebrow at Stiles.
Stiles nodded and pointed at the house. “You should see it when it’s all lit up.” He paused. “Also I apologise if any cars block your drive way.” His last neighbours had been quite vocal about that inconvenience.
Erica squealed loudly and Derek tensed before she devolved into a fit of giggles.
“It sings daddy!” Erica shouted. Both she and Isaac were bent over a little Santa figure that played Jingle Bells.
“There’s a matching Mrs Claus that plays Deck the Halls over on the other side of the yard,” Stiles told them. He pointed to the little figure that was sitting in front of one of the garden beds.
The two children took off running over to the Mrs Claus figurine. They squealed in delight again when another song started to play.
“So you do this all by yourself?” Derek asked.
“I have a little help,” Stiles admitted. “But yeah, this is my fifth year putting up all the lights.”
Derek looked around the yard and spotted the bucket sitting by the mailbox. It had the Make A Wish foundation logo on it. “You do this for charity?”
“Not officially,” Stiles said. “But the house started getting more attention and I figured I could do a little good. It isn’t compulsory to donate, but most people do.”
Erica and Isaac were giggling like mad and chasing each other around the yard. Derek and Stiles turned to watch them.
“Are they twins?” Stiles asked.
“Yep,” Derek said. “Four years old. Erica’s older than Isaac by seven minutes, and I’m pretty sure she’s never going to let him forget it.”
The twins were both blonde, while Derek’s hair was black. That made Stiles want to ask about Erica and Isaac’s mom, but he decided it was best not to scare off the new neighbour with awkward questions.
“Kids!” Derek yelled. “Come on! Time to go!”
“Dad! No!” The twins protested at the same time.
“We have to go unpack the things for your rooms,” Derek said.
“Just a little while longer?” Erica pleaded. “Pretty please daddy?”
It looked like Derek was just about to crack and let them keep playing, so Stiles stepped in to help him out.
“You know what?” Stiles said. “I’m going to have all this up until after Christmas, so you have plenty of time to come by and play. And I bet that if you’re really good and help your dad unpack, he might bring you by tonight to see all the lights turn on.”
Erica and Isaac still didn’t look happy, but they dutifully walked over to stand by their father.
“Thanks,” Derek said with a small laugh.
“You should seriously come by to see the lights,” Stiles told him. “I switch them on at six.”
“We’ll see how good these two are,” Derek said. He ruffled Isaac’s hair; the young boy huffed and tried to push his fathers’ hand away.
*
Just before six Stiles stood on his front steps, ready to turn the lights on. The lights were plugged into an external power point so Stiles could see the reaction when the lights turned on. A small crowd had gathered to watch the lights come on, and Stiles spotted Derek and the twins; Isaac and Erica each held onto one of Derek’s hands. Stiles gave them a small wave.
Stiles waited until exactly six o’clock before flicking the switch. He saw Erica and Isaac’s eyes light up and his heart swelled. That’s why he kept putting all the effort in, the reactions were priceless. Derek was staring up at the roof directly above Stiles’ head; Stiles knew that he was looking at the star formation.
Stiles spent a little time fielding questions from people about the lights. Like how many strings of lights were involved, and how long it took to set it all up. Lydia kept telling him that he needed to invest in a sign that had all the stats written on it. He didn’t mind answering the questions, but he was starting to think that it might be a good idea (which wasn’t a surprise; all of Lydia’s ideas were good ones).
Erica and Isaac had gravitated back to the singing Santa when Stiles found them and Derek amongst the crowd.
“Do you guys like the lights?” Stiles asked.
“They’re so pretty,” Erica said earnestly. Isaac nodded in agreement with his sister.
“It looks amazing,” Derek said.
“Daddy can we put lights up too?” Erica asked. “I want our house to look pretty.”
Derek laughed. “I think we have some lights somewhere. Not as many as this,” he said, gesturing at Stiles’ house. “But I’m sure we can make the house look pretty. If I can find them,” he added under his breath.
“Not sure what box you packed them in?” Stiles asked.
“I stopped labelling boxes after a while,” Derek admitted somewhat sheepishly.
Isaac yawned and tugged on Derek’s sleeve. “Daddy.”
“Yeah, I know buddy,” Derek said, smoothing a hand over Isaac’s curls.
“It’s been a long day?” Stiles guessed.
Derek nodded. “We’ve been up since five. It was a long drive, and they only napped a little in the car. Come on, Erica. Time to go.”
“But daddy, I’m not tired.” Even as Erica protested she yawned.
Derek picked Isaac up and held him on his hip, and held out his hand for Erica to take. Erica reluctantly put her hand in her fathers.
“I guess we’ll be seeing you around,” Derek said.
“I hope so,” Stiles said with a smile.
Derek returned the smile. It could have been the reflection of the flickering lights, but Stiles was pretty sure Derek was blushing a little.
*
On Tuesday afternoon Stiles was returning home, and was surprised to see a police cruiser parked in Derek’s driveway. Derek was standing on his front steps, with his arms folded. The deputy in the cruiser waved to Derek, but Derek didn’t move.
Stiles pulled into his own driveway and hopped out of his jeep. He made his way over to the fence line. Derek was still standing on his steps, a scowl on his face, watching the cruiser pull out of the driveway.
“Everything okay?” Stiles called out to Derek.
Derek unfolded his arms and shook the tension out of his body. “Everything’s fine.”
“You sure?” Stiles prodded. “I’ve never seen Parrish make house calls before.”
“You know Jordan?” Derek asked. The scowl was back.
“My dad’s the sheriff, I know all the deputies,” Stiles explained. “How do you know Parrish?”
Derek walked over to the fence. “Jordan and I used to date, before I moved away,” Derek said. “He was just checking in to see if I was okay.”
“Well now I know you’re the type Parrish likes to date, I feel a little better about him rejecting me,” Stiles joked.
Derek didn’t know what to say to that, so he just shrugged.
“You don’t seem too happy about him checking in on you,” Stiles observed, to fill the silence.
“I,” Derek sighed. “I was just hoping to put off any reunions until we were more settled. I don’t even know how he found out I was back in town.” He looked more than a little uncomfortable talking about it.
“I’ve got whisky inside if you’d like?” Stiles offered. “I’d suggest eggnog, considering the season and all, but you look like you could use something a little stronger.”
Derek laughed. “Thanks,” he said. “But I can’t right now. I’ve got to go pick up the twins, they spent the day with my older sister. Maybe another time?”
“Sure,” Stiles nodded. “You know where to find me.” He nodded over his shoulder towards the house. “Tell Erica and Isaac I say hi.”
“I will,” Derek said. He stayed standing by the fence until Stiles had walked inside.
*
Running wasn’t a pastime Stiles usually partook in, but every now and again he liked to get his blood pumping and stretch his legs. Usually he made it halfway around the block before regretting his decision and cursing himself.
On the home stretch – red faced and sweating – Stiles heard what sounded like Erica and Isaac laughing. It was a nice sound; better than the last neighbours, they’d had ducks, which could be surprisingly loud.
As he grew level with Derek’s yard Stiles slowed to a walk, and spotted Derek up a ladder hanging the Christmas lights.
“Higher on the left, daddy!” Erica told him.
“Thank you, Erica,” Derek said. From the tone of his voice it was obvious it wasn’t the first time Erica had critiqued his work.
“You need some help?” Stiles asked. He instantly regretted it when Derek wobbled precariously on the ladder for a moment before managing to right himself.
Derek twisted around on the ladder. “I think I got it,” he said.
“Really?” Stiles asked. “Because it looks like the left side is about to fall down.” Stiles pointed to the end of the lights, which were indeed falling from their place.
Derek glared at the slipping lights as though he could will them back into place. But ultimately they did fall and Derek groaned. “Okay, maybe I could use your help.”
Stiles smiled to himself. “I’m all sweaty from my run, give me five minutes to change and I’ll be back to help you out.”
When Stiles returned he went back up the ladder instead of Derek. Erica continued shouting orders, dictating if what Stiles and Derek were doing was making the house look pretty enough. Isaac played on the lawn with his toys, every now and again he would add his opinion.
Between the two of them Derek and Stiles managed to get all the lights up in no time. There were nowhere near as many as on Stiles’ house, but it definitely cheered the house up; and was deemed pretty enough by Erica’s standards.
“I can’t believe you do all that by yourself,” Derek said, pointing over the fence to Stiles house.
“Friends help,” Stiles said. He had to give credit where credit was due. “Scott helps me put most of it up, and Lydia helps with planning and organising. I don’t think I could do it without them. It’s hard, but it’s worth it.”
“Why?” Derek and Stiles were watching Erica and Isaac play in the yard. “I know it looks nice, but why put all that effort in?”
“My mom,” Stiles said. Derek raised an eyebrow at him and Stiles elaborated. “When I was little my mom would take me to see all the Christmas lights. After she died my dad and I stopped doing that, we basically stopped doing Christmas. After I brought a house of my own I decided I was going to put some lights up to remember her. I went a little overboard, and people really liked it.”
Derek had a small smile on his face. “Do you want to come inside for some coffee?” He asked.
“That’d be nice,” Stiles said.
“Okay you two, time to come inside,” Derek told his children.
“We’re still playing,” Erica said.
“We’ll you can stay out here and play if you want,” Derek said with a shrug. “But that means you don’t get hot chocolate.”
In the blink of an eye Isaac and Erica had dropped their toys and were running past the adults into the house.
Derek smirked at Stiles. “Works every time.”
The two men followed the kids into the house.
The entry way opened up into a combined living/dining/kitchen area. There were boxes piled up along the walls, and in front of the couch.
“Sorry about the mess,” Derek said. “It’s only been a week so I’m still unpacking.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ve still got boxes in the garage that have been sitting there since I moved in,” Stiles laughed.
Erica and Isaac were sitting patiently at the dining table; Isaac was swinging his legs back and forth. There were colouring books and crayons spread out on the table in front of the twins.
Stiles followed Derek into the kitchen where Derek started preparing the drinks.
“So are you from Beacon Hills?” Derek asked.
“Yep,” Stiles nodded. “Born and bred. I moved away for college, but came back after graduation. You said you used to live here?”
“I moved away when I met my ex,” Derek said. “What did you study in college?” He asked, eager to turn the conversation away from himself.
“Graphic Design.” Stiles was watching Derek carefully measure out the milk for the twins drinks. “I work for an advertising firm now.”
“I work in accounting,” Derek said, because he felt like he should. He wasn’t used to talking about himself and didn’t really enjoy it. But he didn’t want to shut Stiles out, so he was making an effort. “How do you take your coffee?”
“Two sugars, no milk.”
Over at the table Isaac let out an annoyed whine.
“Erica!” Derek said firmly. A handful of crayons went clattering onto the table top. “Remember how we talked about sharing? You need to stop taking all the crayons from Isaac. You have to share them.”
Stiles turned around to see Erica pushing the crayons towards Isaac, her small features twisted into a scowl. Stiles could definitely see the resemblance she bore to Derek.
“How did you do that?” Stiles asked, sounding a little awed. “Do you just get superpowers when you become a parent?”
Derek laughed and shook his head. “Practice, and a lucky guess,” he said. “Erica always tries to control the crayons.”
Derek finished pouting the twin’s drinks and took them over to the table. He warned both Erica and Isaac to be careful and drink slowly. Then walked back over to the kitchen counter to finish making the coffees.
Stiles spent the rest of the afternoon with Derek, listening to the twins chatter away about anything and everything.
*
Two days before Christmas Stiles wasn’t surprised to see Derek, Erica, and Isaac in his front lawn. More often than not the twins managed to talk Derek into letting them watch the lights come on. Like usual the twins were singing along with the Santa figurine.
Derek was dressed more formally than usual. He was wearing slacks, a dress shirt, and a blazer. The twins were dressed up as well. Erica was in a pink dress, with a jacket over the top. Isaac was wearing a similar outfit to his father, but was also wearing a purple tutu over his pants.
Stiles managed to shake off a pushy Midwestern couple who were asking questions, and walked over to talk to Derek and the twins.
“Hey Isaac, Nice tutu.”
“Thanks!” Isaac said brightly. “It’s my favourite.”
“It’s mine,” Erica added quickly.
“I bought it for Erica,” Derek said. “But she never wears it, and Isaac loves it, so Erica is nice enough to share. Aren’t you?” Derek gave his daughter a pointed look.
Erica sighed. “Yes.”
“Are you guys going out somewhere?” Stiles asked Derek.
Derek nodded. “We’re having dinner with…family. I haven’t seen them in quite a while. The twins have never met them.”
“That sounds fun,” Stiles smiled.
Derek forced a smile of his own onto his face. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m sure it’ll be great.”
*
Derek turned the engine off and drummed his fingers against the wheel. The house he was parked in front of was a nice one story home; not unlike the one Derek had bought. Christmas lights twinkled along the front porch. There was a wreath hanging on the front door. The house looked very welcoming. But still, Derek was nervous.
He knew he shouldn’t be. Allison had been incredibly sweet on the phone. She was the one to reach out to him and invite him and the twins over. Allison wanted to make amends for the things her aunt had said and done when she had walked out on Derek, Erica and Isaac. But Derek was still nervous to meet with a blood relative of Kate’s.
“Daddy,” Erica sing-songed from the backseat, clearly growing impatient sitting in the car.
Derek twisted in his seat and smiled at the twins. “You guys ready to meet your cousin?”
Allison opened the door and greeted Derek with a warm, genuine smile. She had her hair down in loose curls around her face. The dress she was wearing had a pattern of birds on it, and was stretched tight over her pregnant belly. Derek wondered if the maternal feelings were what had prompted Allison to reach out to him.
“It’s good to see you, Derek.”
“Good to see you too,” Derek said.
“And this must be Erica and Isaac?” Allison said, bending down to smile at the twins. “I’m Allison. You guys were just little babies the last time I saw you, so I guess you don’t remember me, huh?”
The first – and only – time Allison had seen the twins was two days after they had been born, when Kate was still in the hospital. Derek tried not to be angry about that. He knew it wasn’t Allison’s fault she didn’t know the twins. Kate had insisted upon moving to Southern California and isolating them from all their extended family.
Both Erica and Isaac were clinging to Derek’s legs. He had expected that from Isaac, but Erica was usually a little more out-going.
“It’s okay,” Derek told them. “You can say hi to Allison.”
“And Scott,” a man’s voice said. “Don’t forget to say hi to Scott.”
Allison stood up properly and gestured for Derek to follow her further into the house. “This is my husband, Scott,” she said, pointing to a man who was standing at the kitchen counter cutting up meat. “Scott, this is Derek and his kids Erica and Isaac.”
“Nice to meet you,” Scott smiled at Derek. “I’d offer to shake, but, uh.” He looked down at his hands and shrugged.
“It’s okay,” Derek said. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
Scott smiled down at the twins. “Do you guys like cookies? We have some for dessert.”
“Cookies?” Erica practically squealed.
“Yep,” Scott nodded. “We made them just for you guys.” Erica clapped her hands excitedly and Scott turned his attention to Isaac. “That’s a very cool tutu, Isaac,” he said.
“It is beautiful,” Allison agreed.
Isaac preened a little under the praise and attention. He moved away from Derek just a little.
“When are you due?” Derek asked Allison.
“Mid-January,” she said. “But my family has a history of early deliveries, so we’re prepared in case I go into labour early.”
“Kate went into labour a month and a half early,” Derek said. The words were out of his mouth before he’d even realised what he was saying. The last thing he wanted to do was to get into a conversation about Kate.
Allison breezed past the mention of Kate. “I remember how scared you were when you rang dad to tell him,” she said. “You kept repeating ‘it’s too early’. Then when we saw you in the hospital you were holding Isaac, completely calm and at peace, as if you’d never been worried.”
Whilst they were talking Isaac had wandered over to the edge of the counter to see what Scott was doing. Scott grabbed Isaac’s hand just before Isaac grabbed the edge of one of the dish towels that was hanging off the edge of the counter.
“Sorry buddy,” Scott said. “But if you touch that you’ll pull this bowl off the counter.” He held up the bowl to show Isaac. “And we don’t want to make a mess, do we?”
Isaac shook his head. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Scott gave Isaac a reassuring smile, and got a small smile in return.
“You guys are gonna be really good parents,” Derek said.
Allison and Scott both smiled at that.
Dinner went a lot better than Derek had been expecting. They stuck mostly to safe topics; work, movies, the preparations Allison and Scott were making for the arrival of the baby.
After they had eaten, the twins settled down on the floor to colour, a plate of cookies sitting between them. Derek, Allison, and Scott sat at the table drinking coffee.
“Can I ask you a kinda weird question?” Scott asked Derek.
Allison shot Scott a warning look, but Derek nodded.
“Sure.”
“Did you happen to move in next door to a guy called Stiles?”
Derek’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He had definitely not been expecting that. “Uh, yeah, I did. Why?”
“I figured it had to be you. I mean how many guys named Derek with twins do you think moved to town a couple of weeks ago?” Scott laughed. “Stiles, is my best friend. He’s mentioned you, and the twins, a few times. That’s why I was asking.”
Derek didn’t know what to say to that. First Stiles knew Jordan, then he knows Allison and Scott as well? Was Beacon Hills really that small?
“He’s mentioned me to you?” Derek asked eventually.
Allison let out a snort of laughter and quickly muffled the sound with her hand. “Saying that he’s mentioned you is a little bit of an understatement.”
“Oh?” That one syllable was all Derek managed to get out. His mind was running a million miles an hour. What kinds of things could Stiles be saying about him?
“Allison,” Scott hissed, like she was leaking a huge secret.
“What?” Allison asked innocently.
“Excuse me?” Derek said, to remind them both that he was still there. “What do you mean it’s an understatement?”
Allison shrugged. “I just think he’s glad you moved in next to him, that’s all.”
*
Derek was sure that the novelty of the lights would have worn off after a few weeks. But the twins still pestered him to go see Stiles and the pretty lights every night without fail. Derek gave in to their demands because it gave him the excuse he needed and wanted to see to Stiles.
Ever since Allison had made her cryptic comments the night before, Derek hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Stiles, and what they could be. He liked Stiles, it felt easy to talk to him; or at least it was easy for him to talk to Stiles than most other people. The twins liked Stiles, and, as Derek looked back on their interactions, he realised how good Stiles was with the twins.
It scared Derek how fast he seemed to be falling for Stiles. The last time he had fallen so hard and so fast for someone was Kate, and that didn’t work out very well in the long run at all. He knew he wasn’t ready for any kind of relationship.
Still, when Stiles smiled at him and said hello, his heart melted a little. That only served to terrify him more.
“So it turns out I met your best friend last night,” Derek said in what he hoped was a casual tone.
Stiles scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, Scott mentioned you were the Derek they had over for dinner. Really small world, huh?”
“It is,” Derek agreed. “They – uh, they mentioned that you’ve been talking to them about me?” Derek couldn’t help but ask.
Stiles’ cheeks went pink and he looked at the ground. “I guess I’ve mentioned you a few times,” he shrugged. “Even though you’ve only been here a couple of weeks. I know it’s probably really weird that I’ve been talking about you to people.”
“It’s okay,” Derek said. “I mean-”
“It is?” Stiles interrupted.
“Yeah,” Derek said with a small laugh. “As long as the things you’ve been saying about me are nice?”
“I’ve been saying nice things,” Stiles assured him. “Probably too nice, reverent even. I’m going to stop talking now.”
Derek laughed again, suddenly he wasn’t as scared anymore. “When I moved to town I never thought that I’d meet someone that I liked. At least not so quickly; not the day I moved in.” Maybe he was ready for a relationship after all. Just because he wasn’t known for good decisions, didn’t mean Stiles was a bad decision.
“You like me?” Stiles asked in a teasing tone, a smile on his face.
“You keep interrupting me, but yeah, that’s what I’m trying to say,” Derek nodded.
Stiles bit the inside of his cheek and looked at the ground. “Allison actually warned me to back off a little,” he said. “She told me a little about what happened when your ex left, and said that I might need to give you more time.”
“Three months,” Derek said.
“What?” Stiles looked back up at Derek.
“The divorce was finalised three months ago,” Derek explained. “And our relationship had been going downhill since…well since we met, really. I do not need any more time to get over Kate.”
The smile was back on Stiles’ face. “Well that’s good,” he said. “Because I never had any intention of listening to Allison.”
Derek’s smile matched the one on Stiles’ face. He stepped forward and cupped the side of Stiles’ face in his hand.
The kiss momentarily wiped the smiles from their faces, however when they broke apart again the smiles were firmly back in place.
“You do like me.” Stiles laughed. His hands were on Derek’s hips.
“Daddy!” Came Erica’s voice, interrupting what Derek had been about to say.
Stiles stepped away from Derek so the other man could turn around to face his daughter.
“Yes?” Derek asked, hoisting Erica up onto his hip.
“Can we put more lights up like Stiles?” Erica pointed up to the star hanging above Stiles’ door.
“Maybe next year,” Derek said. He didn’t think there was a chance in the world he would put up as many lights as Stiles, but he was sure he could find a compromise that pleased Erica.
Isaac had made his way back over to Derek as well, and Derek smoothed a hand over Isaac’s curls.
“Looks like I might have some competition next year,” Stiles joked.
“If Erica has anything to say about it you will,” Derek nodded.
“Dad,” Isaac tugged on Derek’s sleeve.
Derek knew that Isaac wanted to be picked up as well. “Hang on a sec bud.” Derek tried to bend down to pick up Isaac without dislodging Erica.
“Hey,” Stiles said. “How about I pick you up, Isaac?”
Isaac nodded and let Stiles pick him up. Stiles settled Isaac on his hip like he weighed nothing. Derek was a little in awe. He knew that Isaac liked Stiles more than other people he had only known for a few weeks; the young boy was usually hesitant to warm up to strangers. Isaac definitely didn’t like people other than Derek picking him up.
Stiles noticed Derek staring, and leaned over to kiss Derek again. “I have something to show you,” he said. “And the twins.” Stiles looked at Isaac. “You wanna see?”
Isaac nodded wildly, blonde curls bouncing.
Stiles walked back over to the porch. “This is something I decided to do the other day,” Stiles called out. A few people in the crowd turned to look at him, but Stiles wasn’t interested in any of them; it was Derek who he kept his eyes glued to.
He plugged in a second extension cord into the power point. A set of lights on the roof that had previously been dark, lit up. Stiles moved back over to Derek so Isaac could see.
The lights in question were five rows of blinking bulbs, flashing pink and purple.
“It’s pink for Erica’s favourite colour, and purple for Isaac’s tutu,” Stiles explained.
“For me?!” Erica squealed. Derek grimaced because the loud noise was so close to his ear.
“For all of you,” Stiles corrected.
As they were talking, Jingle Bells began playing through speakers that Stiles had set up.
Stiles leaned over to whisper in Derek’s ear. “I thought it might be nice, since being in a new town for Christmas can’t be easy.”
Derek put his free arm around Stiles’ shoulders. The two of them and the twins looked up at the bright lights twinkling on the roof. Stiles moved in close so he was pressed against Derek’s side. Erica was singing loudly along to the Christmas carol in Derek’s ear.
“I like you too,” Stiles said. “Just in case that wasn’t clear.”