Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a truth more or less universally acknowledged, that Mister Derek was the best.

Though the general population of Beacon Hills remained mostly unaware, this truth was indeed well fixed in the minds of Mr. Derek’s third grade class at Beacon Hills Elementary.

If prompted, each and every one of Mister Derek’s twenty students wouldn’t have hesitated to share all the wondrous and amazing things that their teacher was capable of.

Indeed, his long list of accolades included being in possession of the smartest brain, the prettiest beard, the biggest heart, and, of course, the softest and fluffiest fur.

According to the twelve human girls and boys, Mister Derek’s ability to shift into the prettiest, fluffiest, and snuggliest big wolf was certainly his most spectacular power of all.

Patrick, Elizabeth, Parwana, Juan, Kelsey, Tyrell, Aniyah, Jameson, Vihaan, Xiomara, Joshua, and Nevaeh could always be cheered up with a ride on a fluffy and strong wolf back, their faces lighting up with joy and happy squeals ringing through the room.

To the eight supernatural students in the class, Mister Derek’s shifting abilities weren’t nearly as spectacular, but that didn’t mean that they loved and admired him any less.

In a way, Mister Derek’s supernatural students probably loved him even more, because Mr. Derek never got mad if they had a supernatural oopsie during class.  

For example, the little Kitsune Kotomi sometimes made the light go on and off when she blinked too much, but Mister Derek always smiled and switched the fuse back on when she accidentally made the power go out completely.

Jazia the Phoenix had an unfortunate tendency to set her math problems on fire when she got frustrated or concentrated too hard, but Mr. Derek always extinguished the fire and then helped her figure out the problem.  

Joaquin the Acalica was a very emotional little weather fairy who could make the sun shine brighter when he was happy and who could make it rain in the middle of a room when he was upset, so whenever Joaquin was sad and made it rain, Mister Derek morphed into a full wolf and splashed in the puddles until Joaquin laughed and the rain went away.

Then there was the little Banshee Eileen, who sometimes talked a little too loudly and made the other kids’ ears hurt, but Mr. Derek was always really nice about reminding her to be careful with her voice.  

Araceli the Chupacabra, meanwhile, occasionally felt a little insecure about the raw goat lunches her daddies packed for her to take to school, but instead of laughing at her or making an icky face, Mister Derek sometimes transformed into a wolf and tried a piece.

Nakoa the Naiad loved Derek’s wolf snuggles and also really appreciated that he was allowed to put his feet into a bucket of water during class so he wouldn’t get too dry, even though he got a little fidgety sometimes and got the floor wet when he splashed around excitedly.

Last but not least, the fairy-trickster identical twins Enobakhare and Ewansiha perhaps loved Mister Derek most of all, because he never made them feel like he expected them to be bad, like most people did when they heard that the twins’ mother was a trickster.

Of course, there was one person in Beacon Hills who loved Mister Derek even more than all of his munchkins combined.

That person was a very special guy named Stiles, a young deputy with big brown eyes, a cheeky grin, and a fondness for calling Mister Derek “Sourwolf.”

The kids didn’t quite understand why Deputy Stiles insisted on calling Mister Derek “Sourwolf”.

If anything, Mister Derek was obviously the fluffiest and kindest wolf, so they all agreed that the nickname “Sweetwolf” would have been much more appropriate. 

However, the kids had decided to tolerate Deputy Stiles’ eccentricities, because Deputy Stiles made Mister Derek smile like he thought Stiles was the best thing on the planet.

He was obviously mistaken, since Mr. Derek was clearly the bestest of all the best and no one would ever compare, but the kids could grudgingly admit that anyone who made Mr. Derek smile so much came in at a very close second.

Although the third graders of Beacon Hills occasionally disagreed on similarly important matters such as which ice cream flavor was the best and which character on My Little Pony was the coolest, there were a few universal truths on which the kids were in one hundred percent agreement.

=================

“A baby!”

“Look, Mr. Derek, a baby!”

“Is it fluffy?”

“Does it breathe fire?”

“Does it sparkle in the sunlight?”

“That’s vampires, dummy, wolf cubs don’t sparkle!”

“Mr. Derek, Patrick called me a dummy!”

“Did not!”

“Mr. Derek, isn’t it the cutest?”

“Can I snuggle it, Mr. Derek?”

“Mr. Derek, Patrick just called me a dummy!”

“Does it have tiny little claws?”

“Does it howl at the moon?”

“He likes to howl at pretty much everything, actually,” Boyd explained, gently swaying back and forth to keep the eight-month old strapped to his chest in a baby carrier from doing exactly that.

“Patrick that wasn’t very nice, you need to apologize to Joaquin!” Derek added quickly, giving the little boy a stern look when Joaquin’s lips began to wobble in a way that usually signaled an upcoming rain shower.

“But Mr. Derek, my sister says vampires sparkle in the sun!” Patrick protested indignantly and Derek bit his lip, trying really hard to remain stern despite his numerous fond memories of the time when the Beacon Hills’ chapter of the United Vampires of America had spent a month dramatically picketing each showing of Twilight in front of the local theater.

At first, his big sister Laura had thought the whole thing had been completely hysterical.

Then, she’d learned about imprinting and had spontaneously decided to join the picket as well, dragging Derek along because she was the Alpha next in line and he’d been fifteen and still a little too small for his ears.

“I’m sure vampires sparkle if they put on glitter lotion, but that’s not the point right now. Go apologize to Joaquin,” Derek said firmly, raising an expectant eyebrow at the little troublemaker.

“M’sorry,” Patrick mumbled, shuffling over to Joaquin and nudging his shoulder without making eye contact.

“Okay!” Joaquin beamed, slinging his tiny but deceptively strong arms around his classmate and smacking an enthusiastic kiss on his cheek.

Patrick turned beet red and levelled Derek with a look that was both pleased and thoroughly mortified, but Derek just nodded encouragingly, for once decidedly grateful that Joaquin’s moods changed as quickly as the weather in Ireland.

With the crisis successfully averted, Derek turned his attention back to his best friend and his little godson, who was currently staring at the excited children with interest.

Boyd had stopped by the school to drop off some of his nana’s famous cookies for today’s Christmas party after recess, because Nana Boyd was a saint and had agreed to help out on short notice after Derek had gotten distracted the other night and burned the batch of cookies he’d been making.

It had been Stiles’ fault.

Obviously.

Derek grinned, internally shelving the memory of Stiles’ distraction techniques for further perusal and focusing back on Boyd and little Sawyer, reaching out to tickle the baby’s feet.

Sawyer squealed happily and leaned forward as far as he could, happily babbling “Da, da, da, da, da!” and making grabby hands for Derek with a big grin.

Derek did not have to be asked twice.

When Sawyer was happily snuggled against his chest and babbling contentedly, Derek turned back to his little munchkins, who were all staring at him with big grins.

“Mr. Derek! Are you and Deputy Stiles going to have a baby, too?” Parwana asked excitedly, prompting the rest of her classmates to fire off another round of questions as they talked all over each other.

“Do wolf babies have tails?”

“Is it going to be human or a wolf?”

“Are you going to take the baby to school?”

“Where do babies come from, Mr. Derek?”

“Is it going to be as fluffy as you?”

“Guys, guys, I can’t hear you if you all talk at the same time,” Derek laughed, gently bouncing Sawyer when the baby cooed in obvious agreement.

Nakoa raised his hand, looking at the baby with open curiosity.

“Mr. Derek? Is it true that babies grow in a shell? My brother says that people who want to have a baby have to dive all the way to the bottom of the lake and look for a shell! If the shell is big enough, you know that the baby is ready to come out!”

“That’s not true! Babies are made out of fire!” Jazia protested immediately, looking like she’d never heard something that preposterous in her life.  

“Nuh-uh! Babies live in the sky and every time there’s a strike of lightening one of the babies travels down to the earth to meet its mommy and daddy!” Kotomi explained, her eyes narrowing when Eno and Ewan emphatically shook their heads.

“That’s not true either! Last year, our mommy ate some cookies with our daddy’s fairy dust on them and then she got a really big belly and then she had to go to the hospital and the doctors at the hospital cut open her belly and pulled out our baby-sister!” Eno explained, looking at Derek for approval as his twin nodded beside him.

Juan let out a gasp and whirled towards them, his voice flabbergasted as he exclaimed, “Your mommy ate your baby-sister?”

“No! Course not! She ate our daddy’s fairy dust and then our little sister grew in her tummy!” Ewan corrected, rolling his eyes impatiently.

“My baby brother grew in my mommy’s tummy, too! But I don’t think she ate any fairy dust!” Xiomara contributed, looking at Derek in confusion.

“My mommy grew a baby in her tummy, too! But she didn’t have her belly cut open, my sister came out of my mommy’s hoohah!”

“Mr. Derek? What’s a hoohah?”

Boyd chuckled, patting Derek’s shoulder with a muttered “Sorry.”

Derek shook his head with a wry smile, mentally going through the list of the kids’ parents and deciding he could get away with a very basic answer without getting an angry phone call, a written complaint, or an overzealous congregation picketing in front of his house.

He cleared his throat, waiting until he had all of his munchkins’ undivided attention.

“Do you remember how we talked about how everybody looks a little different on the outside and that’s really great, because everybody is special, and the world would be a very boring place if everybody looked the same?”

The kids nodded and Derek smiled fondly, gently bouncing the baby when Sawyer let out a little yawn.

“Good. I’m glad you remember, because that’s very important. Today, we’re going to learn that people can look different on the inside, too. Some people have a little pouch in their bellies where they can grow a baby. Other people have two tiny pouches in their privates where they can make a special fluid that you need to make a baby.”

He nodded towards Boyd, giving him a little wink.

“My friend Mr. Boyd is a person with two tiny pouches that make that special fluid and his wife Miss Erica is a person with a little pouch in her belly. When they decided to have a baby, Mr. Boyd gave Miss Erica some of his special fluid and then she grew a baby in her belly.”

He kissed the baby’s head, noticing that his godson had finally fallen asleep.

“That’s how Sawyer was born,” he concluded softly, smiling encouragingly at his students.

“Do you have any questions?”

Eileen raised her hand, staring at Derek’s belly curiously.

“Do you have a little pouch in your belly that can help you grow a baby?” she asked, her eyebrows drawing together in a frown when Derek shook his head.

“Does Deputy Stiles have a baby pouch in his belly?” she continued, her eyes widening when Derek shook his head once again.

“No, Sweetheart. Deputy Stiles doesn’t have a pouch in his belly either.”

Eileen gasped.

“But Mr. Derek! If neither of you has a baby pouch in your belly then that means you can’t have a baby!” she exclaimed, her lips already starting to wobble and her eyes wide with misery.

“Mr. Derek can’t have baby?”

Beside her, Joaquin immediately began sniffling and Derek could already see the cloud forming above his head, so he quickly handed Sawyer back to Boyd and crouched down, holding out his arms.

“Guys! Guys! Don’t be sad!” he exclaimed, smiling as brightly as he could and ruffling Joaquin’s hair when the little weather fairy slung his arms around his neck.

“It’s true, Deputy Stiles and I can’t grow a baby in our bellies, but if we want to have a baby someday, there are other ways to become parents.”

To his right, Araceli shyly raised her hand.

“Mr. Derek is right! My Daddy and Papa couldn’t grow a baby in their tummies either, but they really wanted to have a baby, so they made a wish and then they found a nice Chupacabra mommy who gave them one! That was me!”

Derek smiled encouragingly, reaching out his free arm to hug Araceli, too.

“That’s right, you guys. Araceli’s birth mommy loved her very much and wanted her to have a really great home, so she chose Araceli’s papa and daddy because she knew they were going to love her very, very much.”

The kids hummed thoughtfully, some staring at Derek in contemplation and others looking at Araceli in awe.

The little Chupacabra flushed bright red and Derek gently nuzzled her hair, whispering “Thank you for sharing, Sweetie,” into her ear and smiling in relief when Araceli beamed proudly.

“Are you going to wish for a baby, too, Mr. Derek?” Nevaeh asked excitedly and Derek shook his head with a smile, giving Araceli and Joaquin a gentle nudge and getting up after the kids had returned to their previous spots.

“Unfortunately, you have to save up a little bit of money until you can wish for a baby. Deputy Stiles and I will probably have to wait a couple of years. But until then, I have a lot of time for all of my munchkins here at school, so you don’t have to worry about me,” he said brightly, his gaze briefly flitting to Boyd as he gave him a barely noticeable shake of his head.

Boyd immediately schooled his expression and smiled brightly as well, but Derek could still pick up on the regret in his scent, his heart feeling a little heavy as he watched Boyd buckle a sleeping Sawyer back into the carrier.

Even though a lot of progress had been made over the course of the past twenty years, inter-species couples still encountered many obstacles if they wanted to adopt a child, as most agencies refused to allow a human child to be adopted into a household that included a shifter and shifters were only allowed to adopt within their own species, which made it even more difficult.

In truth, the rules made it almost impossible for Derek to adopt, because the number of Omega wolves had drastically decreased after hunting had become illegal and cubs born within a pack structure usually remained within the pack, even if the biological parents weren’t in the position to take care of them.

There was, of course, the option of surrogacy as well, but Derek’s shifter status made that complicated, too, and Derek also held out little hope that he and Stiles would ever be able to afford the costly process on a teacher and deputy salary.

His munchkins were far too young for any of those details, though, and so he just smiled brighter, holding up one of Nana Boyd’s Tupperware containers filled with her delicious cookies.

“What do you guys say? Would you like to have a pre-party cookie before recess?”

The kids’ cheers were so loud they startled Sawyer awake, and in between Boyd’s off-key attempts to sing his son a lullaby, the kids’ laughter, and cookie crumbs flying everywhere, Derek was far too busy to ponder sad thoughts any longer.

As he started setting up the tables for the party, he also didn’t notice a pair of bright eyes and identical mischievous grins.

=================

“Mr. Derek! You have to eat a cookie, too!”

The Christmas party was over, most kids had already been picked up, and Derek had just said goodbye to Vihaan and Aniyah when a little hand tugged at his shirt.

He turned around and smiled at Eno and Ewan, who were the last students in the class and were beaming up at him expectantly.

Eno grinned wider and nudged Ewan forward, who held up what appeared to be the last of Nana Boyd’s sugar cookies.

“Don’t you guys want to have the last one?” Derek asked, but the twins shook their heads immediately.

“No, Mr. Derek! You didn’t get to have any and that’s really unfair!” Eno explained and Ewan nodded emphatically, holding up the cookie with more insistence.

Derek smiled, shaking his head.

“That’s okay. Nana Boyd made those for the kids and I’m a grown-up. These cookies were for you.”

“But Mr. Derek! Sharing is caring!”

Two identical faces were pouting at him and Derek gave in, helpless under the onslaught of that much cuteness.

He chuckled and reached out to take the offering, flashing the kids a fond smile.

“That’s really considerate of you guys. Thank you for noticing.”

“Aren’t you going to eat it? It’s really good! You should eat it now! Cookies get yucky if you don’t eat them immediately!” Ewan exclaimed and Derek laughed, glancing down at the snowman shaped cookie covered in pink sugary glitter.

“Is that so?” he asked, biting his lip in amusement when the kids nodded immediately.

“Yes! You have to eat it right now!” Eno declared and Derek gave in, popping the cookie into his mouth and letting out an exaggerated hum.

“Hmmm. Nana Boyd makes the best cookies, doesn’t she?”

“That’s right, Mr. Derek!” the twins beamed, their eyes wide and their cheeks glowing with excitement as they watched Derek lick the remnants of the sugar sparkles from his fingers.

“Eno! Ewan! Are you guys ready? Say bye to Mr. Derek!”

Derek turned and waved at Mr. Amadou, who’d poked his head into the classroom and was grinning at his sons.

The boys nodded and waved at Derek excitedly, before rushing towards their father and almost barreling him over.  

“Ooof! How many cookies did you guys have?” Mr. Amadou laughed, and the twins beamed up at him with conspiratorial smiles as Eno whispered “Many!”

Derek shook his head and laughed, flashing Mr. Amadou an apologetic grin.

The twins’ Aziza fairy father chuckled and smiled ruefully as he herded his sons out the door, and Derek’s smile widened when he heard the boys excitedly telling their father about their day in his mother tongue Fon, talking a mile a minute as per usual.

When the door had fallen shut behind them, Derek huffed out a laugh and collapsed onto his desk chair.

The Christmas party during the last week of school before the holidays was always a highlight of the year for him, but keeping twenty sugar-hyped, excited munchkins in line was definitely tiring, even for a werewolf.

Behind him, the door to the classroom opened again and Derek smiled, tilting his head up in anticipation and accepting the gentle kiss the newcomer pressed against his lips.

“Sorry that I’m late. I tried to get off work earlier, but Mrs. Johnson reported a sighting of a – and I quote – suspicious Grinch-like figure, so of course we had to go and make sure the tricksters over at Washington Lane hadn’t gotten into the egg nog again.”

“Did they?” Derek asked and Stiles snorted, shaking his head.

“Even better. It turned out that the werelion who lives across the street is having a little midlife crisis about turning gray and had a little mishap when he tried to dye his mane. Mrs. Johnson heard him roar in frustration and saw a furry green head pacing around the garden and jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

Derek laughed, getting up from his chair and grabbing his bag.

“Did you fix the crisis?”

Stiles grinned, taking Derek’s hand as they started heading towards the door.

“Obviously. After she had calmed down, Mrs. Johnson revealed that she used to work as a hairdresser and offered her assistance. When we left, they were already two glasses into the mulled wine and reminiscing about their glory days, so I think it turned out well for everyone involved.”

He kissed Derek’s cheek, interlinking their arms after Derek had locked the door.

“How was your party, Sourwolf?”

“Very loud, very sticky, and very jolly. I wish you could have come, the kids really missed you.”

Stiles winked.

“Just the kids?”

Derek rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Stiles. Just the kids.”

Stiles hummed contemplatively.

“Hmm. I guess I need to distract you some more tonight. Remind you of why I’m definitely worth missing.”

Derek was still rolling his eyes when Stiles’ captured his lips in another soft kiss.

=================

The Next Day

It was the last day of school before the holidays and Derek got to work a little earlier than usual.

Ever since a Sunday afternoon spent in bed with Stiles and trying not to tear up over Youtube video two years ago, Derek had decided that every Friday was a ‘special greeting’ day.

Each Friday, the kids lined up in a row and got to tap on a poster hanging next to Derek’s classroom door, telling him whether they wanted to be greeted with a hug, a dance, a fist-bump, a handshake, or a high five.

The kids loved the idea and Derek usually gave out a lot of hugs, except on special occasions such as the last day of school before the summer break, when the poster also offered the option of a ride on a furry wolf back and Derek just stayed shifted because he knew that all were going to choose the wolf.

Eno and Ewan usually went for the fist-bump or the high five, so Derek was a little surprised when both of them chose hug on the last day before the winter break.

Smiling, Derek opened his arms and the fairy-trickster twins both flung their tiny but strong arms around his midsection, hugging him like they hadn’t seen him in weeks and smushing their faces against his belly.

When the boys let go of him, both wore identical expressions of confusion, their brows furrowed as they stared at his belly.

Derek raised an eyebrow at them.

“Are you guys okay?” he asked, and Ewan bit his lip, sharing a quick glance with his twin.

“Everything’s awesome, Mr. Derek!” Eno decided, flashing Derek a big grin and tugging at Ewan’s hand as he dragged him into the classroom.

Derek shrugged and decided to let it go, his attention already demanded by Parwana, who tapped hug and then all but jumped into his arms.

Since it was the last day before Christmas, Derek had decided to do some last-minute craft projects with the kids so they could make some extra presents for their parents and grandparents and it was almost noon by the time he noticed that something was wrong.

He was bending over Kotomi’s table and helping her tie a bow for her gift when his belly gave out a painful twinge, not quite a full-blown cramp but painful enough to make him let out a little hiss.

“Mr. Derek? Did you poke yourself with the scissor?” Kotomi asked worriedly and Derek smiled down at her reassuringly, shaking his head and letting out a soft breath when the twinge of pain went away.

“I’m fine. That’s a really good job you did! Your grandma will be very proud of you!” he praised the little Kitsune and Kotomi beamed, her previous worry instantly forgotten.

Derek had just knelt down between Kelsey and Jazia’s tables to assist them when the pain returned, a little sharper this time and definitely a cramp now.

He bit his lip and then exhaled softly, trying not to let on that anything was out of the ordinary as he helped Jazia wrap her gift and instructed Kelsey how to tie her bow.

He’d just started heading over to Patrick and Joaquin’s table when the pain got worse, his stomach feeling like he’d been stabbed.

This time, he couldn’t muffle the agonized groan and when the next cramp hit, he gasped and bent over, both of his hands pressed against his stomach as the sharp pain morphed into a burning sensation that seemed to engulf his entire middle.

“Mr. Derek!”

“Mr. Derek, what’s wrong?”

“I’m fi...oh god!” Derek groaned, the reassurance dying on his lips when the next surge of pain almost brought him to his knees, one hand pressed against his stomach as he supported his weight on Joaquin’s table with the other.

The sound of thunder rumbled above, and Derek tried to smile at Joaquin, who was looking at him with wide, terrified eyes.

“I’m fine! Joaquin, I’m fine! I just ate something bad, I just...”

He couldn’t finish the sentence, the pain once again so bad that all he could do was groan and gasp.

“Mr. Derek!”

“Get...the...nurse!” Derek got out, squeezing his eyes shut and using all of his concentration to keep himself upright so he wouldn’t crumble to the floor and freak out his terrified students even more.

The door banged open as Jameson and  Elizabeth trampled out of the room, while the rest of the kids surrounded Derek and talked all over each other, their voices going high in their panic as more thunder rumbled through the classroom.

“You’re going to be okay, Mr. Derek!”

“Don’t die, Mr. Derek!”

“Are you going to come back as a ghost if you die, Mr. Derek?“

“Please don’t become a ghost, Mr. Derek!”

Derek’s breath came out in harsh gasps as he opened his eyes with some difficulty, just in time to see Joaquin burst into tears as the first droplets of rain started falling in the classroom.

“I’m no-not going to die! I pro-promise! It’s just a stomachache! I’ll be fi-fine!” he gasped, trying to muster another smile as the rain started pouring.

In the hallway, Derek could hear the concerned murmuring of his colleagues and then the nurse was there, her nostrils fluttering as the fellow werewolf grabbed Derek’s arm and started draining his pain.

“Did you eat some Wolfswurz?” Nurse Hernandez asked, using the German term for wolfsbane so the supernatural kids in the class wouldn’t understand.

Derek shook his head, his teeth clicking together when the pain made his entire body shiver.

“N-no! Impo-possible!” he gasped, his fangs almost biting through his lips when he tried to keep in an agonized whine.  

Nurse Hernandez nodded and checked his temperature, letting out a soft hiss and looking even more worried.

“You need to go to the hospital, Derek. You’re burning up!” she decided, hooking his arm across her shoulders to help him stay upright when Derek’s knees began to buckle.

“Is Mr. Derek going to be alright?”

“Please be alright, Mr. Derek!”

Derek tried to smile and failed miserably, his heart twisting almost as badly as his stomach when he saw the tears in the kids’ eyes.

Across the room, Eno and Ewan were staring at him in horror, their faces ashen and their hands clasped tightly together.

“Please don’t die, Mr. Derek!” Eno whispered and Ewan let out a sob, gripping his twin’s hand tighter as he choked out “We’re sorry!”

“I’ll be okay!” Derek assured them, not allowing his own fear to overtake him until he was safely out of earshot and one of his colleagues had rushed into his classroom to take over and calm the kids.

“Eliza, what’s happening to me?” he gasped, his stomach cramping so badly he could barely stay upright despite the other werewolf’s tight grip.

“I don’t know. We’re going to figure it out though. You’re going to be fine, Derek. Just breathe,” Eliza said calmly, her voice without a trace of the worry that Derek could sense in her smell.

“Don’t call Stiles, alright? He’ll worry and...”

“Not a chance, Derek,” Eliza cut him off, all but carrying him the rest of the way to her car.

By the time they got to the hospital, Stiles was already waiting in front of the entrance, his face pale and his eyes wide with fear as he took over and supported Derek’s weight.

“Derek! What’s wrong?”

“Don’t know,” Derek whimpered, burying his face into the crook of Stiles’ neck and trying to calm himself through his boyfriend’s soothing scent.

His stomach was still burning with pain when Melissa hurried into the examination room, followed by the werewolf specialist on the hospital staff.

“What does the pain feel like, Mr. Hale?” Doctor Grimm asked, his veins turning black as he took a little of Derek’s pain.

“Like...like I’m getting stabbed. And burned. And torn in half. All of that,” Derek croaked, squeezing Stiles’ hand tightly as Doctor Grimm placed his hands on his stomach and started examining him.

“What’s wrong with him? Can you fix this?” Stiles exclaimed, his voice tight with fear as Doctor Grimm let out a confused sound and frowned.

“I don’t think...there’s something...this doesn’t feel right at all,” the doctor said, turning to Melissa and adding, “Please get the ultrasound.”

Stiles’ grip on Derek’s hand tightened.

“Ultrasound? Why? What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Doctor Grimm admitted, placing his palm on Derek’s exposed stomach and taking more of his pain.

To his relief, Derek could actually feel the effect of the pain drain this time and he was breathing almost normally when Melissa wheeled in the ultrasound machine, his stomach still uncomfortably tight but no longer feeling like he was going to burn from the inside out.

Doctor Grimm motioned for him to roll up his shirt and squeezed a dollop of cool gel on his stomach, his brows furrowed in concentration as he placed the ultrasound wand on Derek’s abdomen and stared at the screen.

“Huh.”

“Huh? What does huh mean?” Stiles asked frantically, but Derek wasn’t paying any attention to him, focusing instead on the doctor’s rapid heartbeat and the confusion and shock in his scent.

“Doctor Grimm? What’s wrong with me? What can you see?”

Doctor Grimm frowned.

“Mr. Hale ... this is going to sound like a strange question but ... have you by any chance been dabbling with fertility spells, lately?”

“What?” Stiles exclaimed and Derek pushed himself up on his elbows, the pain now almost completely gone but his anxiety spiking to unprecedented levels.

“Fertility spells? Of course not! Why would you even ask me that?”

“Are you absolutely sure? Is there a possibility that you might have had an encounter with a magical creature in recent weeks?”

Derek frowned.

“I teach an integrated third grade class over at the Elementary school. Almost a third of our students are magical in some form or another!”

Doctor Grimm hummed skeptically, tapping a finger against the ultrasound screen.

“No, I doubt that a third grader would have the magical mojo to make something like this possible. Do you see this?”

Derek squinted, staring at the screen uncomprehendingly.

“What am I supposed to see?”

Doctor Grimm cleared his throat.

“Well, Mr. Hale. I’m not sure why or how, but it appears that you were experiencing pain because your body has recently grown a uterus.”

“Say what now?” Stiles exclaimed, his mouth opening wide in his shock.

Derek gasped, pushing himself all the way upright and staring at his belly in stunned confusion.

“My body did ... what? What are you ... how is that ... why would I ... what?”

“I must admit, I’m baffled,” Doctor Grimm replied, placing the ultrasound wand on Derek’s abdomen again and pressing down gently.

“No. This is definitely a uterus. Mr. Hale, are you absolutely sure you didn’t accidentally perform a fertility spell on yourself in the past couple of days?”

“In what universe does one accidentally perform a fertility spell on oneself?” Derek snapped, sharing a panicked look with Stiles when his boyfriend shook his head rapidly.

“Besides, even if he had performed such a spell, why would he have grown a..uh...a uterus? Shouldn’t a fertility spell have given him...hell, I don’t know, faster swimmers or something? This doesn’t make sense!” Stiles exclaimed, staring at the doctor in agitation.

Doctor Grimm shrugged but before Stiles could continue, Melissa poked her head into the exam room again, looking a little stunned and a lot sympathetic.

“Uh...Doctor Grimm? Stiles? Derek, honey? There’s someone out here who might have an explanation.”

“What? Who?” Stiles exclaimed and Derek blinked, closing his eyes and focusing on the voices in the hallway, his confusion growing when he heard muffled whispering in Fon and recognized Eno and Ewan’s voices.

“What are my students doing here?” Derek asked, swinging his legs over the exam bed and accepting the paper towel Doctor Grimm was handing him to wipe off the gel on his belly.

When he turned towards the door, a very apologetic looking Mr. and Mrs. Amadou were staring back at him, each of them holding on to a teary eyed and very guilty looking twin.

“Mr. Hale? Deputy Stilinski? May we come in? I’m afraid we have some explaining to do,” Mrs. Amadou said hesitantly, her lips twisting into a slight grimace when she glanced at the still image on the ultrasound machine.

“What are you guys doing here?” Derek asked, blinking in surprise when Eno and Ewan tore themselves from their parents’ grip and all but flung themselves at him.

“We’re so sorry Mr. Derek!” Eno wailed, clinging to his neck and sobbing bitterly.

“We didn’t know it was going to be like this!” Ewan hiccuped, his face pressed against Derek’s chest and his shoulders shaking with his sobs.

“We just wanted...we just wanted...we just wanted to make your wish come true!”

“Wish? What are you guys talking about? What did you do?” Derek asked, frowning down at them in confusion.

“The co-cookie!” Eno sobbed, pulling back and looking absolutely miserable.

“Our Daddy always says that if fairies really, really, really concentrate then...then...then we can make a wish come true! We just wanted to help!” he explained as more tears rolled down his cheeks.

Across the room, Mrs. Amadou cleared her throat again.

“We are so sorry, but I’m afraid my husband and I are partly to blame, Mr. Hale. You see...when I got pregnant with the twins’ baby-sister last year the boys had a lot of questions and...well...we thought that seven years old was a bit too young for the sex talk and so we...uhm...came up with an alternative explanation.”

Mr. Amadou nodded, giving Derek another apologetic glance.

“My wife really loves cookies, so I told my sons I’d sprinkled some of my fairy dust onto a cookie and gave it to her and then she ate it and that’s how we made the new baby. I’m afraid my sons took that idea and ran with it.”

“What do you mean, why...oh. Oh. But that...what?” Derek exclaimed, the image of Ewan holding up a sugar cookie with pink sugar sparkles suddenly clear in his mind.

Mr. Amadou nodded again, looking very uncomfortable.

“Yes. I’m afraid my sons tapped into their combined Aziza and trickster power yesterday and somehow figured out a way to enchant the cookie they gave you with a fertility spell. Specifically, a spell intended to give you a baby pouch. At least that’s how they explained it to us earlier.”

“A baby pouch,” Derek whispered, his eyes widening as he stared down at the terribly guilty looking twins in his arms.

“Fuck me!” Stiles whispered behind him and Derek shot him a quick glance, hissing “Language!” and feeling like he’d just entered the twilight zone and rented a nice little apartment there.

“Don’t be mad, Mr. Derek!” Ewan begged, tugging at his shirt to get his attention and clearly so distraught that he didn’t even have time to gasp over the forbidden word.

“We just did it because you looked so sad when you said you couldn’t have a baby and we just wanted to help!” Eno added, his lips wobbling again.

The boys were barely able to meet Derek’s eye, the guilt and misery wafting off of both of them in waves.

Derek swallowed, trying to stay calm as the truth of what had happened began sinking in.

“I...I’m not mad. I promise. You shouldn't have done this, but I know you meant well. I'm not mad at you guys."

He took a deep breath, turning towards the twins' parents.

"Would it...would it work?"

Behind him, Stiles gasped and Derek grasped for his hand, squeezing it tightly as Mr. and Mrs. Amadou shared a thoughtful glance before nodding in unison.

“Yes. The boys’ magic has steadily gotten stronger in the past two years and it is indeed very likely that it would work. If you wanted...my husband can undo the spell, if that’s what you want, but he could also reinforce it to make sure. But only if that’s what you want.”

Derek blinked, staring down at his stomach again.

“Huh.”

“Could you give us a minute?” Stiles asked, his voice calm but his heartbeat hammering rapidly as he placed a comforting hand on Derek’s shoulder.

“I think my boyfriend and I need a minute, here.”

“Of course,” Mrs. Amadou said politely, turning to the twins and giving them as a stern look.

“Enobakhare! Ewansiha! Come on! Give Mr. Derek some space!”

The twins looked like they wanted to protest, but Derek nodded at them, trying to keep his voice as gentle as possible as he said, “Boys. Please.”

When the door had shut behind everyone and they were alone, Stiles let out a long breath through pursed lips.

“Wow.”

“I know,” Derek agreed, rubbing a hand across his face and placing his palm on his belly, still not quite sure he hadn’t dreamt the past couple of minutes.

After a moment’s hesitation, Stiles’ hand joined his.

“Are you okay now? You’re not still in pain, are you? Seeing you like this was...you’re okay now, right?”

“I’m fine,” Derek replied, figuring that it was only partly a lie.

He looked down at his belly again, still feeling completely shocked and steamrolled ... but also hesitantly hopeful.

“Stiles. Do you realize what this could mean?”

“Yeah,” Stiles said solemnly, wrapping his arm around Derek’s shoulder and resting their foreheads together.

“You know the chances of us ever being approved for an adoption are virtually non-existent, right?” Derek asked quietly and Stiles nodded, pressing a soft kiss to his temple.

“Yeah. I know. The twenty agencies we contacted in the past two years made that pretty damn clear to us.”

He pulled back a little, his eyes on Derek warm and full of hesitance.

“Are you...would you really want to go through with this though? I mean...how do we know it wouldn’t hurt you?”

Derek shrugged, nodding towards the closed door.

“You heard them. If Mr. Amadou can strengthen whatever the boys did, then maybe it would...I think I would be fine.”

He bit his lip, cupping Stiles’ cheek.

“Do you want me to do this? I know we’ve always said we wanted kids, but...now that it seems like it could actually happen I just...you still want this, right? With me?”

“I want this, Derek. So much!” Stiles said fervently, leaning forward to kiss him a little desperately.

“I definitely want this. But this is a lot to ask of you. If you didn’t want to do this, I wouldn’t be upset. If you want to undo the spell, I’d be one hundred percent behind you! You know that, right?”

“I do. But I think...I want to do this.”

He smiled, covering Stiles’ hand on his stomach and pressing down gently.

“I want this. I really, really want this.”

Stiles nodded, swallowing heavily and closing his eyes.

When he opened them again, they were bright and brimming with tears.

“We’re really going to have a baby?”

Derek smiled, pulling him in for another kiss.

“Yes. We’re going to have a baby.”

================

5 Months Later

On the day that Mr. Derek’s class graduated third grade, the kids still upheld the universal truth that he was the absolute bestest.

He was still in possession of the smartest brain, the prettiest beard, the biggest heart, and the silkiest, softest fur, which was shinier and smoother than ever and gave him an almost ethereal glow when he shifted into his full wolf form.

However, the best and most amazing thing about Mr. Derek was his tummy, which was no longer flat but getting bigger and rounder every day and sometimes moved and jumped all on its own like it was magical.

The kids understood that there had been a little bit of magic involved, of course, but they were far more interested in whether the two little babies in Mr. Derek’s belly made his tummy jump because they were having hiccups or because they were trying to play soccer again.

Though the kids had yet to agree on which names would be the bestest and coolest and all around awesomest for Mr. Derek’s little babies, they were one hundred percent convinced that Mr. Derek and Deputy Stiles’ son and daughter were going to be the cutest, prettiest, and bestest babies in the whole world.

It was, after all, a universal truth.

Chapter Text

On the first day of school, the twenty new fourth graders at Beacon Hills Elementary received the biggest shock of their little lives.

“Where’s Mr. Derek?”

“Did something happen to Mr. Derek?”

“When is Mr. Derek coming back?”

“Is Mr. Derek hiding on the playground?”

“Mr. Derek is the best at hiding on the playground!”

“Can you tell Mr. Derek to come back?”

“We want Mr. Derek!”

It was, indeed, safe to say that the fourth graders of Beacon Hills Elementary were not best pleased when they entered their new classroom and, instead of seeing their beloved Mr. Derek, found themselves face with a manically grinning man in a track suit.

The man’s smile twitched.

“Children, children! Calm down! My name is Coach Bobby Finstock, but you guys can call me Coach Bobby! I’m going to be your teacher this year!” he proclaimed, bowing down for dramatic effect and giving the kids an overexaggerated wink.

The kids stared back uncomprehendingly, shooting each other confused and alarmed glances.

In the front row, little Nakoa hesitantly held up his hand.

“Yes, little water sprite?” Coach Finstock asked, flashing the little boy with the curly green hair his most charming grin.

“I’m a Naiad!” Nakoa pouted, glaring at Coach Finstock accusatorily.

“Mr. Derek says you always have to refer to people properly! And if you don’t know how to address them, then you have to ask their name and their hoedowns!”

Coach Finstock blinked, clearly taken aback.

He recovered fast, however, his smile brighter and possibly more manic than ever.

“I’m glad Mr. Derek taught you all about pronouns! How thoughtful of him to give me such a well-mannered class!” he exclaimed, his left eye twitching when a chorus of shocked gasps rang through the classroom.

“Mr. Derek gave us to you?” Joaquin blurted out, his lips already trembling and a little cloud beginning to form over his head.

“Why would Mr. Derek give us to you?” Xiomara demanded and beside her Araceli hung her head, her little “Didn’t he love us anymore?” so quiet that Coach Finstock could barely hear it.

Across the room, Kotomi shook her head emphatically and exclaimed, “You’re silly! Mr. Derek will always love us! He said so, remember? Mr. Derek never lies!”

“That’s true!” Tyrell agreed immediately, squinting at Coach Finstock suspiciously.

“Mr. Derek never lies because he can hear heartbeats and it makes him really sad when he hears a lie! Can you hear heartbeats?” the little boy asked, raising his eyebrows in disapproval when Coach Finstock shook his head.

“Can you transform into a fluffy wolf?” Elizabeth asked hopefully, her face falling when Coach Finstock shook his head once again.

“Can you smell when people are really sad and need a hug?” Parwana tried, her eyes widening when Coach Finstock huffed out a sigh and shook his head for the third time.

“Mr. Derek is the snuggliest, prettiest wolf!” Patrick said grouchily, nodding in agreement when Vihaan added, “And he always knows when someone is sad!”

“He gives the best hugs, too,” Araceli whispered, not even looking up when Joaquin let out a whimper and the first droplets of rain fell in the classroom.

Coach Finstock sighed again, holding up his hands.

“Guys! Don’t be sad! I’m sure Mr. Derek told you he wouldn’t be back when you said goodbye to him in May!”

“But the summer break is over! That means he has to come back, too!” Jazia protested, her big brown eyes going black and red flames streaking through her iris in outrage.

“Are you sure he isn’t coming back? Maybe he’s just playign a little trick?” Eno suggested and nudged his twin brother, who immediately clapped his hands with a hopeful expression.

Coach Finstock’s right eye twitched.

“Yes. I’m sure,” he replied, holding up his hands when the kids gasped again.

“Come on! Guys! Mr. Derek can’t come to school right now because he’s really close to having his little babies! And I mean, really, really close! Seriously, he dropped by my house the other day and I swear, he almost fell over when he ...”

“Mr. Derek fell on his tummy!?” Joaquin yelped, his panicked exclamation followed by a tiny tornado that whirled right over the kids’ heads and almost smacked Coach Finstock in the face.

“Holy shi... I mean, careful!” Coach Finstock exclaimed, frantically pulling his cell phone out of his back pocket and thumbing through his photos before waving the device at the kids.

“Mr. Derek and his tummy are fine! See? I took this picture just three days ago! He’s happy and glowing and no one is falling anywhere!”

The kids stared at him, some shaking their heads in disapproval, others making clucking noises with their tongue.

“Mr. Derek does not allow cell-phones in the classroom,” Eileen said curtly, looking at her peers for approval and smiling in satisfaction when the other kids nodded.

This time, both of Coach Finstock’s eyes twitched.

“Anyway! Mr. Derek is going to have his babies next month, so he can’t come to school anymore. You guys didn’t forget about Mr. Derek’s babies, did you?”

Ewan beamed, nudging against Eno’s shoulder proudly.

“Course not! My brother and I helped!”

“We got grounded for two weeks, too! But Mr. Derek came to visit us and our Mama helped us bake him apology cookies without magic sprinkles! We promised him that next time we try to help, we’re going to ask first!” Eno explained and both twins nodded in unison, grinning proudly when the other kids gave them reverent looks.  

Coach Finstock raised his eyebrows.

“For the record, I don’t like cookies! Or magic sprinkles! So please, for the love of everything that’s holy, never give me a cookie!” he declared, patting his stomach for emphasis.

The children stared at him, wearing matching horrified and incredulous expressions.

“You ... don’t like magic?” Parwana asked critically, looking like she’d never heard anything so scandalous in her life.

“You don’t like cookies?” Jazia gasped, her eyes widening as she shook her head.

Coach Finstock held up his hands again, letting out a nervous chuckle.

“Well, I don’t like cookies, but I do like cupcakes! Cupcakes are better than cookies, am I right? Right? Right?”

Twenty blank faces stared back at him, the silence only interrupted by the increasing pitter patter of rain.

After a long, awkward moment, Aniyah shyly raised her hand.

“Yes? What is it, Sweetheart?” Coach Finstock smiled at her encouragingly, raising his voice a little to be heard over the rolling thunder coming from Joaquin’s direction.

Aniyah ducked her head, her cheeks flaming red and her voice barely audible.

“Coach Bobby? When is Mr. Derek coming back?”

Coach Finstock groaned.

Five seconds later, the sounds of thunder were accompanied by pouring rain.

================

“How did it go?”

Click.

Bobby Finstock turned around slowly and lifted the now turned off blow dryer he’d been using on the pillows in the Cozy Corner at the back of the classroom, raising his eyebrows as he pointed at the puddles of rain and remnants of various worksheets on the floor.

“How did it go? How did it go? Well, Mr. Derek, let me tell you how it went! That balled pile of soaked worksheets in the trashcan over there? Casualty of the typhoon that descended upon us when it truly sank in that you weren’t going to be back this year.”

He pointed at the radio clock with the dark display, levelling Derek with a reproachful glare.

“The broken clock? All thanks to the kitsune with the adorable pigtails, who meeped and accidentally made the power short-circuit in protest when I informed her and Neveah that I didn’t know all the words to the soundtrack of Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey!”

He paused, pointing his finger at Derek accusatorially.

“Also, who stages Christmas musical sing-alongs all year round? When did you turn into such a Christmas fanatic?”

Derek chuckled, rubbing a hand across his neck with a sheepish smile.

Before he could reply, however, Coach Finstock was already pointing at his hair, his eyebrows rising in indignation as he tugged at the scorched spikes on top of his head.

“This, meanwhile, is the result of me trying to fix a math problem with the little phoenix girl, who also burst my eardrum and tried to give me a concussion when she set my hair on fire, shrieked, and played drums on my head in her fruitless attempt to put it out! Thankfully, the little Acalica boy was on We Want Mr. Derek meltdown number twenty-five and made it rain again, so I only ended up losing some split ends that I was planning to have my grandma trim anyways.”

Coach Finstock huffed and set down the blow dryer, turning back to Derek and putting his hands on his hips.

“You could have warned me, you know. When you gave me that five-page list to make sure I knew all about their needs and favorite things, I had no idea that they, in turn, were going to present me with a five hundred page list of why you are the bestest, greatest, snuggliest, most amazing, most caring, most wonderful Mr. Derek in all the lands and the rest of us puny teachers will never compare!”

Derek bit his lip, trying and mostly failing to hide his pleased little smile.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Coach Finstock asked suspiciously, glaring at the pregnant werewolf as he walked backwards and grabbed a lemon swirl cupcake from a cardboard box.

“This is my fifth cupcake today, Derek! My fifth! I signed up to teach a fourth-grade class, not the Disciples of Mr. Derek!”

Derek cleared his throat and looked around the classroom, his smile giving way to an apologetic grimace when he turned towards his colleague again.

“Joaquin always stopped crying when I changed into my full wolf form,” he offered, the sheepish smile back on his face when Coach Finstock let out a snort and gestured down his person.

“Great advice, Mr. Derek! I’ll go right ahead and figure out how to turn myself into a dodo! Or do you think he’d prefer a platypus?”

Coach Finstock took another bite of his cupcake and chewed viciously, rolling his eyes when he noticed Derek’s longing gaze at the box.

“Alright, alright! Here! Rob me of my sanity and my last cupcakes, will you?”

“Thanks!” Derek said happily, picking a Nutella filled cupcake from the box and taking a bite with a pleased little hum.  

Coach Finstock glared at him for two point five seconds before he let out a loud groan and raised his hands in surrender.

“Awww hell, I can’t even be mad at you! You’re a life-sized literal marshmallow, it’s no wonder the kids started crying when they heard their beloved Mr. Derek wasn’t going to come back this year!”

Derek froze, his eyes snapping up to meet Bobby’s in agitation.

“They cried? They actually cried?”

Coach Finstock narrowed his eyes, his fingers already hovering over the box of Kleenex on the teacher’s desk.

“If I tell you the truth, are you going to cry, too? I just got done wiping the floor!”

“No Coach!” Derek replied, chuckling ruefully as he wiped the back of his hand over his eyes.

Coach Finstock shook his head, letting out a resigned sigh as he unceremoniously set down the cupcake box on top of Derek’s bump.

“Here. You and the puppies can have the rest.”

“They’re not puppies!” Derek insisted, though his indignant expression lost quite a bit of its intimidating factor when his tongue darted out to swipe a smudge of raspberry frosting from the corners of his mouth.

Coach Finstock huffed but didn’t comment, his gaze drifting down to Derek’s belly instead and his lips stretching into a fond little smile.

“How are you doing anyway? Are you sure you’ve got another month left until these two make their grand entrance? Speaking of certainties...are you absolutely, one hundred percent sure it’s only two?” he asked, rubbing a gentle hand over Derek’s round stomach for emphasis.

“Yep! Just two,” Derek confirmed, rolling his eyes and laughing at Coach Finstock’s expression of disbelief as he picked out a Boston Cream Pie cupcake from the box.

“And you really have a month left, yes? Those kids aren’t just going to bounce right out of you any second now, yes? They better not! I have apropos of zero aspirations to add midwifery to my skillset! Teaching them? Yes! Watching them pop out of your unmentionables? No way!”

Derek rolled his eyes again, eating his cupcake one handed and cradling the underside of his impressively large bump with the other.

“Don’t worry, Bobby. I’ll do my best not to pop out my kids right this second,” he promised, giving his senior colleague and former fourth grade teacher a mischievous wink.

“You better not!” Coach Finstock agreed, though his gaze softened when he ran both of his hands across Derek’s stomach again.

“Seriously though. I know you two have wanted this for a long time and you’re very excited, but just put your old Coach’s mind at ease, will you...are you really doing okay, kiddo?”

Derek nodded, looking down at his stomach with a gentle smile.

“Yes. As the kids would say, this is the bestest that has ever happened to me.”

================

One Week Later

“Mr. Derek!”

Derek let out a whuff and wagged his tail, his tongue lolling out in a happy grin when his little munchkins started running over to him the moment that they spotted him in the Cozy Corner in the back of Coach Finstock’s classroom.

“Careful with the belly!” Coach Finstock yelped, but the kids had already slowed down, their little faces beaming witch excitement as they gathered around the heavily pregnant werewolf.

“Mr. Derek!”

“We missed you, Mr. Derek!”

“Can you stay forever, Mr. Derek?”

“Are the babies still in your tummy, Mr. Derek?”

“When are the babies gonna come, Mr. Derek!”

“Do the babies still love playing soccer, Mr. Derek?”

“Are they still getting hiccups, Mr. Derek?”

“Did you make a nest, Mr. Derek?”

“Do you want more pillows, Mr. Derek?”

Derek’s ears perked up and he huffed appreciatively, licking Eileen’s hand in gratitude when the little Banshee hurried over with an additional pillow and very gently placed it under his belly.

Having been abandoned at the doorway, Coach Finstock cleared his throat.

“Derek! What an unexpected surprise, I didn’t know you were going to co-...get those shoes right off of my desk Bilinski, or I swear to Alanis Morissette that I...”

“Language, Coach!” Stiles chirped, though he dutifully planted his feet back on the ground and got up from the desk chair, holding out a box of cupcakes with an apologetic grin.

“Here. Lemon swirl, Nutella, and raspberry vanilla cream, Derek said those are you favorites. Look, Nana Boyd even put some chocolate sprinkles on top!” he added, winking at his old fourth grade teacher when Bobby grabbed the box with an expression that closely resembled Gollum reaching for the precious.

Across the room, the kids were still chattering excitedly at Derek and Stiles smiled at the scene fondly, before turning to Coach and giving him another apologetic grin.

“I hope it’s alright that we stopped by. Derek didn’t want to disturb you guys while you were warming up to each other, so he held out as long as he could. He wasn’t going to come in today, either, but this morning I caught him sniffling into his lemon and ginger infused hot cocoa while looking at pictures from their spring field trip for the third time this week, so I finally put my foot down. He’s really missed them,” Stiles explained, throwing a fond look at the Cozy Corner.

Coach Finstock snorted, jerking a thumb at the kids before pulling out a Nutella cupcake from the box.

“If he’s missing them only half as much as those kids miss him, I’m surprised your sanity is still intact! For the past week, it seems like all I’ve heard them say is Mr. Derek this, Mr. Derek that! I swear, if I’d gotten a dollar for every time one of them has started a sentence with a reproachful But Mr. Derek, I’d be richer than the Queen of England right now!”

Stiles grinned wistfully, throwing another glance at his happily panting werewolf husband.

“He really has a way with the little ones, doesn’t he?”

Coach Finstock snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“He’s terrible. Absolutely terrible. He’s ruined them for the rest of us. Just wait until your own children get here. He’s going to walk all over town with both of them strapped to his chest in a double sling wrap and all you’ll hear will be the sounds of ovaries and testicles exploding left and right,” he declared, his lips twitching fondly when Stiles grinned dopily and turned to look at his husband with an utterly besotted expression.

Across the room, Eno raised his voice excitedly, waving his arm to get Stiles to pay attention to him.

“Deputy Stiles! When are the babies going to come?”

Stiles grinned and strode over to the Cozy Corner, sitting down cross-legged and joining the kids’ little circle of admiration.

“The doctor at the hospital says we’re going to have to wait three more weeks,” he explained, reaching out and gently rubbing the wolf’s swollen belly.

“Three more weeks? But Mr. Derek has kept the babies in his tummy for forever! They’re going to be grown-ups by the time they finally get here! I want them to come out already!” Patrick complained, glancing at Derek’s belly impatiently.

Stiles chuckled and Derek let out an amused huff, his tail softly thumping against the pillows in agreement.

“I’m sure they’re not going to be grown-ups! They are getting pretty big now, though. That’s why Mr. Derek is in his wolf form today.“

Stiles winked at the kids, his smile widening when he realized that he’d captured their rapt attention.

“You see, when Mr. Derek is in his human form, the babies are human sized babies, too, but when he shifts into a wolf, the babies shift with him as well. Wolf cubs are a lot smaller than human babies, so Mr. Derek prefers to be a wolf at the moment so that he doesn’t have to carry around such a heavy belly all the time.”

“Really?”

“Are they howling in there?”

“Is their fur just as pretty as Mr. Derek’s?”

“Do you think their fur is going to be black like Mr. Derek’s or are they going to have brown fur like you?”

Stiles laughed, running a hand through his hair and pulling down a few strands over his forehead to investigate his ‘fur‘.

“Well, I guess it’s going to be a big surprise! However, all the wolves in Mr. Derek’s family have black fur, so I think the babies are going to have black fur as well.”

“I think one of them is going to have brown fur for sure!” Ewan exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with excitement when he turned to Stiles.

“It’s because they’re a boy and a girl! They’re going to look different because they came from two eggs and two sperm whales! Our mommy and daddy explained it to us!”

“It turns out, they were tricking us when they told us about the cookie and the sprinkles!” Eno filled in, his voice brimming with righteous indignation as he waved his arms dramatically.

“It’s not an actual egg though,” Ewan continued, nodding when Eno adding, “That’s just what the grown-ups call it!”

“Two eggs and two sperm whales, huh?” Stiles asked kindly, biting his lip to keep from laughing when the twins clapped their hands excitedly.

“Yes! My brother and I came from one egg and one sperm whale, that why we’re both boys and everyone gets us mixed up!” Ewan explained, eyeing Derek’s belly with interest as he continued, “But your babies are a boy and a girl, so that means they came from two eggs and two sperm whales and so they’ll look very different!”

“I bet the boy is going to have shiny black fur like Mr. Derek and the girl is going to have fluffy brown fur like you!” Eileen exclaimed excitedly, snuggling up to Stiles and reaching up to test his hair for its fluffiness.

“Nu-uh! The girl is going to have pretty soft black fur like Mr. Derek and the boy is going to have cute brown fur like Deputy Stiles!” Kotomi corrected, wiggling in under Stiles’ other arm and beaming up at him with her recently acquired tooth gap.

“Do you hear that, Derek? My fur is fluffy and cute,” Stiles grinned, raising an eyebrow at his husband when the wolf’s belly shook at though he was laughing.

“Maybe they’ll be checkered!” Aniyah suggested, looking utterly delighted at the possibility. “Our doggie is black on top, but she’s got a brown belly and brown legs and her snout is brown, too! That’s because her mommy was a chocolate Labrador and her daddy was a Doberman!”

From the other end of the room, Coach Finstock let out a snort of laughter and Stiles chuckled, rolling his eyes playfully in Coach’s direction before he turned back at the kids.

“Well, Mr. Derek’ isn’t a Labrador and I’m not a Doberman, so I guess we won’t find out for sure until we see them!”

This time, Coach Finstock and Derek snorted in unison, clearly in agreement that Stiles was definitely the Labrador in this scenario.

“Anyway,” Stiles continued, throwing his husband a mock-indignant glance that the werewolf happily ignored, “being a full wolf is a little easier on Mr. Derek right now, which is why he decided to visit you in his wolf form today.”

He smiled mischievously, leaning forward to whisper to his rapt little audience.

“Just imagine! Last week, Mr. Derek took a bath as a human and then he almost got stuck in the bathtub because his belly was too large for him to get out on his own!“

The kids gasped and Derek huffed loudly, somehow managing to communicate that he was raising his eyebrows even though his black wolf form didn’t actually have visible eyebrows.

Stiles chuckled again and reached out to rub Derek’s belly once more, letting out a little laugh when Derek playfully nipped at his fingers.

“Okay, okay, I admit, I was overexaggerating. He didn’t really get stuck, of course. It’s just getting a little difficult to get up bend over when your belly is as big and as hard as a basketball.”

“But tummies are soft and squishy, aren’t they? My daddy’s tummy is soft and squishy, too! That’s why he gives the best snuggles!” Xiomara mused and the other kids nodded immediately, some of them pulling up their shirts and poking their tummies interestedly to check their own squishiness.

Stiles shared an amused look with Derek, once again marveling at the fact that his husband’s hazel eyes were just as expressive in his wolf form as they were in his human form.

Derek whuffed and pawed at his belly, keeping eye contact with Stiles and lightly jerking his snout towards the kids.

Stiles took the hint.

“Do you guys have any idea why a pregnant tummy is hard and not soft and squishy?” he asked, looking at the kids expectantly.

“Dunno,” Kotomi said and nudged her shoulder against her best friend Neveah, who promptly shook her head and shrugged with a confused little smile that Stiles could see on the other kids’ faces as well.  

Stiles smiled, opening his mouth to explain and getting as far as “It’s because...” when Derek huffed and yipped in a way that sounded quite reproachful.

“Give them some time to figure it out on their own, Bilinski,” Coach Finstock translated behind Stiles, having pulled his chair a little closer to the Cozy Corner so he could eat his cupcakes without missing out on any of the action.

Stiles smiled sheepishly and nodded, turning back towards the kids with an expectant grin.

“Think carefully, you guys. Where is Mr. Derek keeping the babies for now?”

Eno gasped in understanding.

“He’s keeping them in his baby-pouch!” the little fairy-trickster declared proudly, and Stiles nodded, holding up his hand for a little high-five and smiling at the little boy.

“That’s right! Now!” Stiles said brightly, tugging his uniform shirt out of his pants and pinching the skin below his belly-button.

“You know that a soft pillow feels different than a wooden floor, right? That’s because they are made from different material. In the body, there are lots and lots of different materials, too. This here is made from a squishy material that supposed to keep us warm and give us energy,” he explained, pinching his stomach for emphasis and grinning at the kids when they nodded in understanding.

Then, he turned back to Derek and gently ran a hand across his belly, holding up his other arm to flex his biceps.

“Do you know what I’m doing when I bend my arm like this?” he asked, and Patrick beamed eagerly, flexing his own tiny arms proudly.

“You’re showing us your muscles, Deputy Stiles! They’re really big because you’re really strong!” he cried excitedly and Stiles nodded appreciatively, choosing to ignore his husband’s huffed laughter on the subject.

“Yes, that’s right! I have big muscles because I’m really strong! If you touched them now, they would feel very hard, right? That’s your answer to why a pregnant tummy feels harder, too. The baby-pouch inside Mr. Derek’s belly is a very powerful muscle that gets bigger to make sure the babies have room to grow. That’s why a pregnant tummy feels harder than a tummy without a baby inside.”

The kids stared at Derek’s belly in wonder, a sentiment that Stiles not only got but wholeheartedly shared.

“Do you want to hear the other reasons why a pregnant tummy feels a little harder?” he asked, grinning when the kids excitedly exclaimed “Yes!” and following the curve of Derek’s belly with his palm once more.

“Have you ever played with water balloons? If you have, you know that it can be a little painful when you get hit by one, right?”

“Yes! My brother and I played with them this summer and one of them hit my little sister in the arm. She cried a lot and our mommy got really angry and put us in time-out!” Eno reported, looking torn between feeling guilty and excited that he could answer another question.

Stiles nodded, motioning for the kids to look at Derek’s stomach as he traced its shape with his finger.

“Mr. Derek’s belly is kind of like a water balloon right now, because the uteru...the baby pouch where he’s growing our babies is also filled with water. It’s a really neat, actually! When the babies were still small, the water made it so that they had lots of room to swim around and play and have fun!”

“Like we do in the lake?” Nakoa asked excitedly, his eyes blown wide with wonder when Stiles nodded in the affirmative.

“Just like you guys do in the lake, that’s right! The water also protects the babies! For example, if Mr. Derek goes shopping and someone doesn’t pay attention and bumps into his belly, Mr. Derek is going to feel it, but the babies won’t feel it at all. All because they’re surrounded by water and protected that way!”

He winked at the kids, his lips stretching into a mischievous grin.

“Do you want to know what’s really fun though? The babies also drink the water when they get really thirsty!“

“Does it taste like real water?” Nakoa asked excitedly, his sea-green eyes wide and sparkling as his gaze flitted back and forth between Stiles and Derek’s belly.

Stiles shook his head, shooting Derek a fond smile.

“Actually, it tastes sweeter! But the taste always changes a little. It depends on what Mr. Derek eats!”

“That’s really smart! If it tasted the same all the time, the babies would probably get bored!” Eileen realized, turning towards Derek with a beaming smile.

“Mr. Derek! What do the babies like best?”

Derek’s ears flicked and he thumped his tail, letting out a pleased rumble when Stiles grinned and pulled out a chocolate bar from his jacket pocket.

“The babies really like chocolate! Every time Mr. Derek eats chocolate, the babies get very excited and jump around and dance and play!” he explained, winking at Derek when the kids started chattering excitedly.

“Do they like ice-cream, too?”

“Can we play with them right now?”

“But Mr. Derek! If they drink so much water, how do they go to the bathroom?”

“Deputy Stiles! Where do the babies go when they need to go number two?”

In the back, Coach Finstock started snickering and Stiles was pretty sure that Derek was laughing at him, too, given the fact that his belly was currently quivering under his touch and he was panting up a storm.

Not to be deterred, Stiles raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat.

“I sure hope the babies love ice-cream, because Mr. Derek has been eating a lot of that this summer! But babies don’t actually go number two while they’re still in the tummy. They do have to pee sometimes, but that’s not a problem, because the water in the baby pouch is replaced every couple of hours. That way, they always get fresh water and don’t have to swim in their own pee.”

“Cooooool!” Joaquin and Patrick awed in unison and Stiles had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud when he saw the mixture of awe and shock on the kids’ faces, including a couple of daintily wrinkled noses.

Under his palm, one of the babies started wriggling and Stiles began his gentle rubbing again, making eye-contact with Derek and throwing him a soft smile when the werewolf panted and his tail thumped happily once more.

“As far as playing with them goes, I’m afraid you have to wait until they are born and a little bigger. If you want to tell them hello, I’m sure Mr. Derek wouldn’t mind if you gave his tummy a little pat, but you have to be really caref...”

Derek huffed and unceremoniously rolled on his back, craning his neck to look at the kids while pawing at his exposed belly and thumping his tail expectantly.

“Or you could just give him a nice, long belly-rub,” Stiles translated in amusement, adding a stern, “But be gentle!” when the kids started cheering and began crowding around Derek, their little hands already twitching in anticipation.

Derek whuffed contentedly, his eyes slipping shut when Jazia and Parwana started rubbing gentle circles into his swollen tummy and ooed and awed when they felt the babies kicking back.

“You’re shameless,” Stiles mouthed under his breath, just loud enough for Derek’s werewolf hearing to pick up.

Derek sighed happily and thumped his tail in reply, obviously deeply pleased with his life choices and current state of being.

Stiles grinned and stood up, keeping one eye on the kids and his mate as he wandered over to Coach Finstock and liberated one of the cupcakes from the box.

Coach Finstock raised his eyebrows, giving Stiles a thoughtful look.

“That was pretty good,” he decided, frowning at the younger man when Stiles shrugged in reply.

“Was it really?”

Coach Finstock nodded, grabbing another cupcake and motioning towards the Cozy Corner.

“You held their attention for quite a while, didn’t you? That’s not easy. Believe me.”

“I’m not Derek though,” Stiles mused, taking a bite of his cupcake as well and letting out a soft sigh.

"I know he’s going to be amazing at this. We’ve been dating since our Senior Year of High School and he was amazing with kids even then. His mom used to put him in charge of babysitting every time she’d host summits and the werewolf packs across the West Coast would come to visit and bring the pack kids with them. I would help out sometimes, but they’d mostly just use me as a human jungle gym and laughed at me when I tried to discipline them. Eventually, Derek always had to come rescue me. Honestly, I think I caused more chaos than I was being helpful.”

He shrugged sheepishly and glanced at his husband, who was currently receiving ear scratches courtesy of Eileen and an enthusiastic belly-rub from Eno and Ewan.

“They always listen to him, though. He’s so sure he doesn’t have it in him to ever be an Alpha, but you can’t tell me there isn’t at least a little bit of that spark in him when you see him interact with children. They love him, but they also respect him, and not because they’re afraid of him either. They respect him because they know he’ll always keep them safe. If that doesn’t spell Alpha to you, I don’t know what does.”

He shrugged, his lips stretching into a soft smile.

“He’s going to be amazing at this. He is amazing at this. I just hope that I can measure up.”

Across the room, Derek let out a little whine and Stiles smiled ruefully, getting up and heading over to the Cozy Corner as well.

Derek craned his head to look up at him, his hazel eyes soft and worried as he let out a questioning whuff.

Stiles smiled and sank down to his knees, taking over the ear scratches from Eileen and allowing Derek to rest his head on his lap.

Derek nuzzled against his hand and Stiles let out a soft sigh, cradling his cheek.

“I know,” he mouthed, reaching out with his other hand and gently resting it on Derek’s chest.

Behind them, Coach Finstock cleared his throat and knelt down as well, patting Stiles’ shoulder and smiling encouragingly.

“You know what, Bilinski? I think you’ll do just fine. The both of you. Trust your old Coach on this.”

Stiles swallowed, looking down at Derek and feeling warmth spreading through his chest when he found Derek staring right back at him, his expressive eyes wide and full of love and trust.

Stiles smiled, his heart swelling as he watched little Araceli rest her head on Derek’s tummy and whisper secrets to the babies.

“Yeah. I think we’ll do just fine.”

================

One Week Later

“Holy Moly! Are you really sure that’s only two babies in there?”

Derek huffed, scowling at Coach Finstock when his old teacher dropped onto the couch in the teacher’s lounge.

“Do you and everyone else in this town honestly not realize that bump-shaming pregnant people is wildly inappropriate?” he said exasperatedly, letting out a little grunt as he tried to bend forward to grab a book from his cubicle.

Coach Finstock shook his head, staring at Derek incredulously.

“Who’s shaming anybody? I’m not shaming you! I’m in awe! Awe and terror, to be precise. Actually, it’s mostly terror. Seriously Derek, what the hell are you doing here! You literally look like those kids are going to burst out of you any second now!”

“Thank you. That’s what a 38 weeks pregnant werewolf likes to hear,” Derek snipped, scowling as he waddled over to the couch and held on to the armrest as he lowered himself onto the cushion with a grunt.

Coach Finstock raised his eyebrows meaningfully, shaking his head again as he watched Derek catch his breath and run his hands over his bump.

“For real though. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be resting at home?” he asked, holding up his hands when Derek growled.

“If I stay at home all day every day, I’m going to go stir-crazy. Stiles thinks I should visit the pack house to distract myself, but what he mostly thinks is I should be around the cavalry in case I go into labor early.”

He huffed, folding his hands over his stomach with a wry smile.

“Not that it would a distraction anyway if your family flutters around you like you’re a flame and they’re a bunch of overprotective moths on bump watch,” he added, letting out a soft snort when Coach Finstock winced.

“Huh. Yeah, I guess that would be pretty annoying. I’m sorry kiddo,” Coach Finstock admitted, and Derek shrugged, shaking his head with a little sigh.

“It’s not like I don’t get it. I can barely fit into anything anymore and I get out of breath just thinking about walking, so trust me, I’m aware. It would just be nice to hear it a little less. When I’m out shopping groceries, for example. Or getting a haircut. Or walking down the streets minding my own business. Or literally doing anything else right now.”

He raised both eyebrows meaningfully and Coach Finstock sighed, holding out a box of cupcakes with an apologetic expression.

Derek’s lips cracked into a smile, his tone amused as he muttered, “You really have a secret pocket for those somewhere, do you?” and picked a peanut butter fudge cupcake from the box.

“No one has ever been able to prove that,” Coach Finstock replied and Derek laughed, running one hand across his stomach once more.

“Honestly, If I could get away with it, I’d just spend the next two weeks as a wolf and stay like that right until the birth. According to my doctor, I’ll have to go full wolf for that anyways, so I might as well.”

He shrugged, taking a bite of his cupcake and flashing Coach Finstock a rueful smile.

“Unfortunately, being in full shift is getting really tiring and the wolf has the strangest dreams when he naps. There’s only so many times a man can dream about eating placentas and fetal sacs without losing his sanity, you know.”

Coach Finstock grimaced.

“No details, remember? I’ll happily teach those rascals in a couple of years, but I don’t want to know any of the gory details.”

He narrowed his eyes, staring at Derek incredulously.

“For real though? Full wolf? Why? Does your wolf have any extra equipment that could...nope! No details, I don’t want to know!”

“He doesn’t. However, he is the corporeal manifestation of my lunar magic, and since this entire thing was made possible by magic in the first place, he is going to be able to magically manifest the kind of equipment he’ll need for the birthing,” Derek replied cheerfully, a little smirk playing on his lips when Coach Finstock winced and clapped his hands over his ears.

“La, la, la, I don’t even want to know! Hey! Did you know that ‘la’ is the Arabic term for ‘no’? Want to take a guess how I know? I’ll give you a hint – it has a lot to do with a feisty little Phoenix who recently set my favorite sweater on fire on accident and got so startled that she slipped into her mother tongue while she was trying to put me out!”

Derek frowned worriedly, giving Coach Finstock a searching gaze.

“Are the other kids teasing her again? In the beginning, Jazia would only set her problems on fire when someone teased her for being slower than the others. She’s such a smart, kind little girl, but she is far better at learning languages than math. I thought the other kids weren’t teasing her anymore.”

Coach Finstock shook his head, patting Derek’s shoulder encouragingly.

“Don’t worry. Those kids are very supportive of each other. Apparently, a certain Mr. Derek told them that they’re a little pack and that pack always looks out for and takes care of each other. They take that very seriously, by the way. There’s been a lot of howling. Especially during quiet time, I might add.”

He sighed, folding his arms over his stomach in resignation.

“Nah. I think her fuse is a little shorter than usual because she...well...she misses you. They all do. The supernatural kids especially. I mean, I think they’re starting to warm up to me. A little. Maybe. It is altogether quite possible that I managed to comfort Joaquin the other day before the rain started flooding the hallway again.”

Derek flinched, reaching out to grasp Coach Finstock‘s arm.

“I’m sorry. I guess my surprise visit last week didn’t help. I probably shouldn’t have come here today, either. I was hoping to stop by for maybe half an hour and see how they’re all doing, but I don’t want to keep sabotaging you. I can go, I ...”

“Honestly, Derek? This isn’t your fault at all,” Coach Finstock interrupted him, his expression going a little stormy as he jerked a hand into the direction of the teacher’s lounge.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? I mean, look at how many supernaturals are on staff at this school. The grand number of five! And out of these five, only you and Lisa are on the teaching staff!”

He held up his hand, ticking off his fingers.

“Then there’s Nurse Hernandez, but she was only hired because her werewolf senses give her an advantage to sniffing out illnesses and drawing pain when it’s necessary. Esmeralda got the accounting gig because hiring a dragon to take care of your budget is pretty much a no-brainer, and Olaf...uh...actually, I have no idea why a troll would be put in charge of the cafeteria, but his kjøttkaker are absolutely delightful!”

Derek raised an eyebrow and Bobby cleared his throat, throwing the pregnant werewolf a sheepish smile.

“Ah, yes. Not the point. The point is that there should be way more supernatural teachers in this country, because some of those little munchkins could identify with you in a way that they can’t with me, and they just miss that connection. Obviously.”

He cleared his throat again, throwing Derek an apologetic glance.

“Don’t get me wrong. They also love you very much. That has been made very clear to me over the past two weeks, in fact. They just miss that connection, too. I’d be an idiot if I took that personally.”

Derek swallowed, looking down and heaving out a sigh.

“Yeah. You’re probably right. I’m still sorry though.”

“Ahhhh, don’t be!” Coach Finstock said firmly, slapping his hands on his knees and pushing himself upright, his gloomy expression replaced by a mischievous smile when he held out a hand to Derek.

“Come on! Break’s almost over and I know a couple of little rascals who’d be absolutely delighted if they found you in their classroom when they return from the playground.”

By the time Coach Finstock’s fourth grade class barreled into the classroom and started erupting in cheers and enthusiastic exclamations of “Mr. Derek!”, Derek had once again made himself comfortable in the Cozy Corner, his lips stretched into a beaming smile and his arms opened wide.

“You know, Mr. Derek,” Coach Finstock mused, clearing his throat after the commotion had died down a bit and the kids had all dutifully said hi to the babies.

“I actually just remembered that we have a little field trip to Lake Tahoe coming up on Friday. The local hydra has graciously agreed to answer some questions and I thought it would be a great opportunity for the kids to learn about plants and trees as well.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, looking at Derek expectantly.

“I was going to ask the parents if anyone wanted to chaperone, but I’m sure they’d all be very pleased if you and Deputy Stiles were willing to accompany us on this trip. It would be a great distraction and I’m sure you could...”

The rest of his words were drowned out by the kids’ exited screeching and Derek laughed, his cheeks flushed with joy and affection as twenty little faces beamed up at him hopefully.

“I’d love to!” he said warmly, throwing Coach Finstock a grateful smile.

“Don’t go into labor though!” Coach Finstock added quickly, wagging his finger in a way that was half teasing and half pleading.

Derek chuckled, throwing his old teacher a mock salute.

“I shall do my very best!”

================

Four Days Later

“Did you see all those heads, Mr. Derek?”

“Wasn’t it awesome when the hydra splashed her tail, Mr. Derek!”

“Wasn’t this just the coolest, Mr. Derek?”

“I wish we had a hydra in our lake, too, Mr. Derek!”

Derek grinned down at Nakoa, squeezing his hand and giving him a little wink.

“Are you sure there are enough fish for a hydra and all the Naiads in your lake back home? I’m certain those many heads can eat a lot of fish,” he replied, his grin widening when Nakoa gasped and shook his head.

“Oh! I didn’t think of that! No, I guess not,” he said, his face falling in disappointment.

“You can always come back to visit though. I’m sure the hydra wouldn’t mind if you took a little swim in her lake when you’re a little older,” Derek assured him and Naoka hummed, his frown turning into a pleased little smile as he hopped alongside Derek.

As the only water-dweller in the class, Nakoa wasn’t quite as used to walking on land as his classmates and always a little slower and a bit more awkward on his feet than the rest of the kids, who were already further ahead on the trail back to the bus.

His pace was just right for Derek though, who was a little slower and a lot heavier on his feet than he was used to and also couldn’t see his feet as he walked, which was why he was being particularly careful not to trip.

In front of them, Parwana and Jazia turned around and waved impatiently, calling out for Nakoa to join them and look at some of the pretty trees.

“Go on,” Derek encouraged, giving Nakoa a little nudge and a thumbs up when the little Naiad started hobbling towards the girls, who met him halfway and hooked their arms under his shoulders without needing to be asked.

When the kids were out of earshot, Stiles cleared his throat, his arm winding around Derek’s back and gently massaging his tense muscles.

“Are you doing okay, Mr. Derek? You’ve been rubbing your back an awful lot this afternoon,” his husband asked softly, followed by an annoyed hiss as he swatted yet another mosquito away from his nose.

Derek laughed, leaning over to peck a kiss just below the mosquito bite on Stiles’ left cheek.

“I’m fine. Pretty sure I’m doing better than you right now,” he teased, and Stiles scowled, pulling the mosquito repellant out of his pocket and holding it up like an accusation.

“99.9 percent effective my ass!” he grumbled, shoving it back in his pockets under Derek’s amused stare.

“Mosquito bites aside though,” Stiles continued, “I’m actually glad you talked me into this. I know I called you crazy when you insisted that going on a seven-hour field trip at 38 weeks pregnant with twins was perfectly safe and a fantastic idea, but this was really nice. Feels like a babymoon, almost.”

“A babymoon with twenty tiny chaperones and a cupcake addict, you mean,” Derek grinned, and Stiles shrugged, his lips pulling into a wry smile.

“Eh, who cares. There’s amazing scenery, the weather is great, and we got to have a romantic picnic at the lake during which you only had to answer about fifty thousand questions instead of the usual million, because the munchkins were too busy stuffing their faces. The perfect babymoon, if you ask me.”

“If you put it like that,” Derek replied, huffing out a breathless laugh and coming to a stop, his hands pressed into the small of his back as he tried to stretch out his sore muscles.

Stiles stopped, too, and turned to Derek with a worried frown, cradling his belly to take some of the weight off.

“Are you sure this isn’t a bit too much for you? You could still shift, you know.”

“I’m fine. Still a werewolf, remember? I just need to take a little break,” Derek replied, letting out a relieved exhale and smiling at his husband in reassurance as the muscle cramp in his back started loosening.

Stiles shook his head, but he was smiling, too, his eyes soft and warm as he leaned over Derek’s bump and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

“Look! Deputy Stiles is kissing Mr. Derek!”

A little further head, a chorus of gasps and giggles rung out from the trail, and Stiles huffed out a soft laugh, pulling back and pecking a kiss on Derek’s nose.

“They really are the real chaperones here, aren’t they?” he lamented in mock sadness and Derek snorted, throwing a fond glace at their scandalized giggling audience.

“Yes, well, last I checked they were still under the impression that everyone has cooties,” he mused, quickly adding a precautionary, “Language, Deputy Stiles!” when Stiles’ lips started twitching in amusement.

“You’re no fun, Mr. Derek,” Stiles sighed dramatically, and Derek rolled his eyes, turning to grin at the kids as they started catching up to the kids.

“Can we play hide and seek, Mr. Derek? Please, please, please, please?” Eno, Ewan, Tyrell, and Patrick begged when they reached the group, their pleas immediately echoed by the rest of the kids, who were beaming at Derek with hopeful expressions.

Stiles cleared his throat and Derek smiled sheepishly, running his hands over the pronounced curve of his belly as he shook his head.

“I’m sorry, you guys. I think I’m a little too pregnant to play hide and seek anymore,” he explained.

“Don’t the babies like playing hide and seek?” Araceli asked disappointedly and Stiles immediately shook his head, getting down into a crouch and winking at the pouting Chupacabra.

“Nah, Sweetheart. The babies will love playing hide and seek with you when they’re a little older! What Mr. Derek meant to say is that he can’t play hide and seek right now because his tummy is just going to poke out from every hiding place!”

“Oh! You’re right!” Araceli exclaimed and the other kids nodded in understanding, their disappointment forgotten as they eyed Derek’s stomach with interest.

“Mr. Derek? When can the babies play hide and seek with us?”

Derek hummed thoughtfully, pressing his hands against the small of his back again and gently swaying back and forth as he thought.

“It will probably take a couple of years until they understand how the game works. Maybe you guys can teach them when they’re old enough.”

“We can teach them how to play I spy, too!” Eileen exclaimed excitedly and beside her Vihaan beamed and cried, “And jump rope and hopscotch!”

“They’d love that!” Derek promised, letting out a soft grunt as the cramp in his back got a little worse.

Beside him, Stiles’ eyes snapped towards him, his brows creased in a worried frown.

“Another cramp?” he asked quietly, his hand joining Derek’s and gently massaging his achy back.

“I’m fine,” Derek assured him, grateful to let Stiles take over the massage as he cradled his bump with both hands.

“My stomach is just feeling a little heavier today. Let’s keep going. We’ve still got about fifteen minutes to go before we reach the bus.”

“Derek? Everything awesome?” Coach Finstock asked from the front, his tone cheerful so he wouldn’t alarm the children, but his eyebrows creased in worry as well.

“Everything is awesome,” Derek replied loudly, throwing him a little wave and chuckling when some of the kids instantly started singing and humming the main title of the Lego Movie.

Stiles kept massaging his back as they started walking again and when Derek was sure that the children were far enough ahead, he let out a pained little grunt.

“Ugh. My back is killing me! Think you can carry me back the rest of the way?”

Stiles huffed out a startled laugh, glancing at him worriedly.

“I could try, but I’m not sure your wolf would be best pleased about it. Is it really that bad? Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

Derek shrugged and bit his lip, cupping his stomach with one hand and grasping Stiles’ shoulder with the other to steady himself.

“It wasn’t this bad earlier. I felt a couple of twinges during the picnic, but I thought that was because we’d been sitting on the ground for so long. It’s gotten worse since we started walking back.”

“Do you want to sit down?” Stiles asked, his frown deepening when Derek shook his head.

“Derek. Don’t be a martyr-wolf,” he admonished gently, but Derek shook his head again, biting his lip against another cramp.

“The more I sit down, the longer it’ll take until I can stretch out in the back of the bus and rest properly. Let’s keep going. We’re almost there and I...ow! Owwww! Shit!”

Derek had come to a full stop again, his breath coming out sharply as he bent over with both hands on his stomach.

“Ouch! Shit! That one really hurt!” he gasped, squeezing his eyes shut and taking a couple of deep breaths.

When he looked up again, Stiles let out a gasp as well.

“Derek! Your eyes!”

“Wha....oww! Oh god!” Derek groaned and Stiles quickly reached for him to hold him upright when the werewolf’s knees started buckling.

“Your eyes are bright gold! Shit! Are you in labor right now? Please tell me you didn’t just go into labor in the middle of a freaking forest!”

“I’m not...aaaaargh!” Derek got out, pressing his lips tightly together to muffle his pained whimpers and pressing both hands against his abdomen.  

“Shit! Derek, I think you’re in labor!” Stiles exclaimed, his eyes flitting back and forth between his husband and their surroundings frantically.

“Come on, you can sit down here!” he urged, helping Derek sit down and propping him up against a sturdy tree trunk.

“Derek? Derek? Awww, come on, kiddo! You promised!”

Coach Finstock knelt down next to Stiles and gave Derek a worried look, the children hovering behind their teacher and for once completely silent.  

Derek huffed, running his hands across his stomach as he tried to get his breath back.

“Didn’t...promise...sai-said...I’d try...my best!” he panted, reaching for Stiles’ hand and squeezing it tightly when another contraction started rolling over him barely seconds after the last.

“Mr. Derek?”

The children were staring at Derek anxiously, some of them holding hands and some of them looking like they were close to crying.

“Mr. Derek? Are you okay Mr. Derek?” Ewan asked again, his hand tightly clasped around his twin brother’s.

Derek smiled through the pain and nodded, his eyes still bright gold as he looked at the children.

“I’m...fine. I’m fine. Having babies always hurts a little. It’s normal. I’m going to be fi-fine,” he said, letting out another pained groan as he squeezed Stiles’ hand even tighter.

When the contraction was over, he searched his husband’s gaze, bright gold meeting terrified amber brown.

“I need to shift. Now!”

“What?” Stiles yelped, his eyes blown wide open in shock as he ran a hand through his hair.

“What do you mean, now? This is supposed to take hours!”

“Apparently...not! Need to...Stiles...please...help me...aaaaaaargh!” Derek got out and Coach Finstock clapped his hands, jumping up and turning to the kids with an almost maniacal grin.

“Come on, munchkins! Turn around! Give Mr. Derek his privacy while he’s shifting. Go on, turn around now! Eno! Ewan! That means you, too!”

Derek panted out a breathless thanks and held up his arms, allowing Stiles to tug off his shirt and lifting his hips as Stiles pulled down his basketball shorts and briefs.

“Babe...are you seriously going to be that werewolf and give birth in the woods right now?” Stiles asked weakly, his voice trembling just as much as his hands as he framed Derek’s sweaty face with his palms.

Derek nodded, letting out another soft groan before turning his head to kiss Stiles’ palm.

“They’re ready. I can feel it. We’ll be fine, Stiles. It’s going to be fine. Just...stay with me, okay? Please.”

Stiles exhaled loudly, his eyes still wide and scared but his voice firm as he replied, “Always.”

Derek smiled and nodded, closing his eyes taking a shuddery breath as he allowed the shift to take over.

A moment later, the massive black wolf was lying on his side and panting heavily, his swollen belly tight like a drum and quivering with each labored breath.

“Hold on a second! Shouldn’t we be calling an ambulance, what is he-holy shit is he pushing already?” Coach Finstock barked in alarm and Derek let out an exasperated growl, his teeth catching on Stiles’ pant leg and tugging him towards his hind quarters.

Stiles let out a sharp breath and nodded, scrambling across the ground and kneeling by Derek’s rump, his eyes going wider than ever when a little ball of black fur became visible between Derek’s shaking legs.

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy...”

Derek barked, craning his head to give Stiles a truly epic bitchface that Stiles figured meant Language!

Stiles let out a startled laugh, his heartbeat thundering in his ears as Derek started panting again and the little furball encased in a white membrance emerged further, slowly making its way out of the temporary passage that Derek’s lunar magic had created for the birthing.

Derek’s panting intensified, his belly contracting as he pushed with all his might, and Stiles thrust his hands forward just in time to catch their first child.

“Derek! Look! It’s a...I have no idea! Who cares, look!” Stiles gasped, holding out the newborn with a shaky laugh and tears already rolling down his cheeks.

Derek lifted his head and let out a triumphant howl, a sound filled with so much pride and joy that Stiles’ skin broke out in goosebumps.

A moment later, the kids joined in, echoing the howl that Derek had taught them almost a year ago to the day as they welcomed at the newest member of their ‘pack’.

Stiles was still crying and laughing at the same time as he gently tore open the fetal sac and placed the slippery newborn in front of Derek, who immediately leaned down and started licking it clean.

The newborn’s little mewls quieted down quickly, its tiny body relaxing under its father’s gentle ministrations.

A moment later, Derek started panting again, his belly visibly contracting once more and signaling the imminent arrival of their second child.

This time, Stiles was more prepared but no less awed, his heart swelling with love and pride as he held up their second-born to Derek, who let out another soft but triumphant howl to greet their little one.

As Derek went to work on cleaning their slightly smaller second-born, Stiles couldn’t help but marvel at how perfect they were, their firstborn’s fur the same shade of black as Derek’s and their second-born’s fur the exact same shade of brown as Stiles’ hair.

They were amazing and everything that Stiles had ever wished for and when he saw the look in Derek’s hazel eyes, he knew that his husband shared the feeling with all of his heart.

“Wow. Just...wow! Congratulations, you guys!”

Coach Finstock’s voice was croaky as he dropped down to his knees to get a better look, turning to grin at the kids and exclaiming “Aren’t Mr. Derek’s puppies just the cutest!”

“Of course they are the cutest! They’re Mr. Derek’s!” Araceli declared excitedly, her cheeks flushing and her grin widening when the other kids immediately agreed.

“Which one is the boy, and which one is the girl?” Kotomi asked, standing on her tippy toes to get a better look at the newborns nestled in between Derek’s big paws.

“When are they going to shift into babies?” Nakoa added, hopping up and down excitedly as he beamed at Stiles.

Stiles laughed happily, the sound flowing out of him in relief as he reached out to gently trace his finger across his children’s backs.

“Their instincts are very much tethered to Derek’s right now, so they should shift back soon after he does,” he explained, turning to Derek and gently cradling his furry cheeks.

“Are you going to shift back for me, my love? I really need to kiss you right now.”

Derek yipped tiredly, closing his eyes and tensing his muscles.

Nothing happened.

Stiles frowned, running a soothing hand down Derek’s quivering back.

“Derek? Focus on my voice. Shift back for me, my love.”

Derek let out an anxious whine and tensed again, his soft breaths turning into labored pants once more as his stomach quivered and pulled inwards.

“Uh....kiddo? What are you doing? What is...holy shit!” Coach Finstock screeched, flailing his arms and almost landing on his ass as he got a good look between Derek’s hind legs.

“Derek! What’s going on! What’s happening?” Stiles exclaimed, his voice going high in fear as Derek’s eyes snapped up and panicked gold met anxious brown.

“There’s another baby!” Joaquin cried excitedly and Stiles’ head snapped towards the kids in shock.

“WHAT?”

“Derek! This is isn’t a speed race, slow down, this is ... shit!” Coach Finstock yelped, his hands shooting out just in time to catch the third baby.

“Three? How is that...why is that...but the doctor said...there were two heartbeats!” Stiles babbled, his eyes wide and his cheeks flushed as he held out trembling arms for the little one, whose amber-brown fur looked near identical to its older sibling.

Derek panted and whined, his eyes communicating that he, too, had no idea what was happening, but was currently too busy having contractions to ponder the unexpected insanity of it all.

“Holy shit, another one?” Coach Finstock yelled and Stiles barely had a second to whisper a weak “Oh fuck!” before the fourth baby was already wiggling in Coach’s hands, its fur pitch-black and bigger than all of its three older siblings.

“I knew it wasn’t only two! I knew it!” Coach Finstock exclaimed, his tone equal parts smug and completely freaked out as he handed the fourth newborn to its pale human father.

“Four children! Holy shit! Derek, how is this even...my love? Why are you still...oh dear god,” Stiles whispered, looking down at Derek with wide eyes as the werewolf’s stomach pulled inward once again and he let out another pained whimper.

By the time Coach Finstock handed the fifth cub to its gaping father, Derek was shaking in exhaustion, barely able to keep his head up as he nuzzled the five mewling, wiggling cubs that were pressed against his side and seeking warmth.

“Derek,” Stiles exhaled, hastily grabbing for Derek’s abandoned shirt and lifting the cubs onto it one by another, wrapping them up securely in Derek’s scent and letting out a sigh of relief as their cries began quieting down.

“Five. There’s five of them. Derek! We have five children now!” Stiles breathed, running his hands through his hair and staring at the exhaustedly whimpering werewolf in shock and wonder.

“Derek? Are you okay? Can you shift back now? Derek? Derek? Why aren’t you shifting?” he asked, his tone growing more and more anxious when all Derek let out in response were whimpers and soft groans.

“Kiddo? Are you done now?” Coach Finstock asked, frowning down at Derek worriedly and running a hand over his stomach.

Derek whined loudly, his breath turning into panting gasps and his stomach contracting once more.

“Derek? Is there another one?” Stiles asked breathlessly and Derek growled, a sound that was a lot more pained and freaked out than any he’d let out so far.

His stomach was still contracting but nothing was happening, his whines getting louder and his growls more and more urgent.

Stiles was pale as he ran his hand across Derek’s belly as well, his fingers searching and pressing down until he let out a sharp gasp.

“There’s another one!” he exclaimed, and Derek let out an agonized whimper, his stomach tensing as he tried to push once again.

And again.

And again.

“Is it stuck?” a tiny quivering voice asked from the back, causing Derek to squeeze his eyes shut with a soft whine.

“Everything’s fine!” Coach Finstock exclaimed cheerfully, throwing the scared children a forced smile and wincing at the first sounds of thunder.

“Joaquin, Sweetheart, everything’s fine! Nobody has to be scared, alright? The baby is just taking its time. Nobody is stuck!” he continued, his voice calm and steady as he nodded at Patrick, who immediately grabbed Joaquin’s hand and squeezed tightly.

When the thunder began quieting down, Coach Finstock turned back towards Stiles, his cheerful smile slipping off his face.

“That baby is stuck,” he mouthed, reaching out to grasp Stiles’ shoulder with one hand and stroking Derek’s trembling back with the other.

“Don’t worry, okay? The same thing happened to my grandma’s golden retriever a couple of years ago. I know just what to do. Your baby is going to be fine,” he whispered, giving Stiles’ shoulder another squeeze and nodding towards Derek.

“Hold him down, alright? It’s going to be fine, but I’m afraid this is going to hurt.”

Stiles bit his lip and nodded, making sure the other babies were still tucked in safe and secure before he knelt down next to Derek’s head and pressed his forehead against the panting wolf’s.

“I love you. You’re going to be fine. I love you so much,” he whispered, pressing his hand against Derek’s shoulder and holding him in down with a firm grip.  

On Derek’s other end, Coach Finstock gently inserted his fingers, wincing apologetically when Derek let out a pained whimper and sighing in relief when he could feel the cub’s little legs.

“Aaah! There you are, Sweetheart! Derek? On your next push, I’m going to gently pull, alright? You’re going to be fine. Just breathe.”

Derek whined again, his body shaking as he pressed his snout against Stiles’ stomach.

“You’re doing good. You’re doing so good my love,” Stiles encouraged, tightening his grip on Derek’s shoulder when the next contraction began.

“That’s it! You’re doing awesome, kiddo! Just one more push. That’s it! You can do it! Come on! Push! Push!”

“Push, Mr. Derek! Push!” a chorus of little voices rang out and Derek let out a determined growl, pushing with all his might as the cub finally emerged from the birth canal.

“There you go! There’s the little rascal!” Coach Finstock exclaimed, handing the cub over and shuddering in relief as he watched Derek rip the fetal sac open with his teeth and instantly lick and nuzzle the small cub, whose grey fur was streaked with silver and whose cries were just as loud and healthy as those of its siblings.

Stiles’ shoulders sagged and his eyes once again filled with tears, his voice trembling as he reached out to clasp Coach Finstock’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Coach! Just...thank you!”

Beside him, Derek shivered and finally shifted back, his voice raspy as he croaked, “Thank you, Bobby.”

Coach Finstock let out a relieved laugh and took off his track jacket, spreading it over Derek’s waist to give him some privacy.

“Glad to have you back with us, kiddo!” he said gently, throwing a bewildered and fond glance at the bundle of softly mewling cubs.

“Six,” he said, shaking his head and letting out a breathless laugh.

“Six! I’ll be damned!”

“Language,” Derek huffed, his lips stretching into a rueful smile that suggested he was well aware that train had left the station a while ago.

“Sorry, Mr. Derek! But seriously! Six!” Coach Bobby exclaimed again and Derek laughed, croaking “I guess you were right after all,” and holding up his arms longingly, his lips stretching into a blissful smile when Stiles lifted the precious bundle into his arms.

“Are they okay, Mr. Derek?” Eno whispered, taking a hesitant step forward and craning his neck to look at the cubs.

“They’re perfect,” Derek replied softly, leaning back against Stiles and accepting his gentle kiss when the human wrapped his arms around Derek’s chest and let out a shuddery breath.

“Are they going to shift, too?” Araceli asked reverently, peeking across Ewan’s shoulder and looking like she’d never seen a more adorable sight in her life.

“In a little while,” Derek said gently, leaning down to nuzzle the grey cub’s soft fur.

“Shifting takes a lot of energy. They need to rest a little before they can shift for the first time.”

Beside him, Stiles huffed out a tired laugh, rubbing a hand across his face with a rueful smile.

“Well, I sure hope they won’t shift until Daddy had a chance to go out and buy four extra cribs and four more of...well...everything!”

He laughed again, staring down at the bundle in Derek’s arms in stunned wonder.

“Six children, Derek. Six! How is this even possible?”

“Maybe they were playing hide and seek!” Jazia offered, but Stiles immediately shook his head, letting out another incredulous laugh.

“No way! Doctor Grimm did an ultrasound on Derek when he was human and when he was in his wolf form. There were only two. Two babies, two heartbeats. How is it even possible that your entire werewolf family missed four extra heartbeats?”

“Maybe they were playing a little trick on you?” Parwana suggested excitedly, adding, “What?” when both Derek and Stiles gasped at the same time, their heads turning in unison as they stared at the fairy-trickster twins.

“Eno? Ewan?” Derek asked softly and the twins shuffled forward reluctantly, both of them unable to look Derek in the eye.

“Boys. Is it possible that you put a little trickster surprise into the magic cookie?” Derek asked, his voice firm but not unkind as he gave the twins a searching look.

Eno cleared his throat

“Uh. Maybe? We didn’t mean to, we promise!”

“We really didn’t! Sometimes this just...happens,” Ewan added quietly, biting his lip as he looked at Derek in concern.

“Are you mad, Mr. Derek? Please don’t be mad, Mr. Derek!”

“We just remembered how you told us all about how important it is to have a large, happy pack and you said that wolf mamas can have between four and six pups!”

“We’re sorry, Mr. Derek! We just wanted you to have a big and happy pack!”

They boys stared at Derek with wide, pleading eyes, and Derek shared a look with Stiles, whose expression was still a bit shell-shocked but full of happiness as well.

“Mr. Derek? Are you really mad?” Ewan asked hesitantly and Derek smiled, leaning back against Stiles’ chest and looking down at his perfect little cubs.

“I’m very happy, you guys,” he said softy, his heart swelling with love and wonder when the cubs mewled and snuggled against each other.

“This is definitely the bestest that has ever happened to me.”

================

7 Months Later

On the last day of school, Coach Finstock’s fourth grade class was of the firm opinion that little Jonathan Hale-Stilinski had the biggest and prettiest hazel eyes and looked exactly like his werewolf papa.

They couldn’t stop gushing over the tiny freckles on Leonora and Aurora’s adorably chubby cheeks, convinced that Mr. Derek and Deputy Stiles’ identical little girls were the cutest and giggliest babies the world had ever seen.

They also adored Clara’s squeals of laughter and her curly black hair, convinced that she was going to grow up into the happiest and sweetest wolf with the shiniest black fur.  

The kids absolutely loved Jamie as well, who looked just like Deputy Stiles and was already crawling up a storm, babbling adorably and shrieking with delight every-time Mr. Derek allowed the kids to blow a raspberry on his little tummy.

The kids also cherished little Stella, whose hazel eyes were streaked with silver and who was just the snuggliest, most beautiful baby in all the lands.

They loved their eccentric Coach Bobby, who’d so heroically helped Mr. Derek give birth to his cutest, bestest, and most perfect little babies and had absolutely earned himself an honorary spot in their little pack for life.

Most of all, however, the kids loved watching Mr. Derek smile when he and Deputy Stiles came to visit, his eyes sparkling bright and his face soft and full of love every time he looked at his babies and his husband.

It was still a truth universally acknowledged that Mr. Derek had the smartest brain, the prettiest beard, the biggest heart, and the silkiest, softest fur.

However, when the kids watched Mr. Derek and Deputy Stiles beam at their little pack, they were also in universal agreement that Mr. Derek’s little babies were the luckiest little wolves in the entire world.