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“No! Uncle Stiles! Stay and play with me!” Laura demanded as he stood up with the rest of the pack to leave.
“I’d love to, sweetheart” he smiled. “But it’s late and you should get to bed now.” Laura pouted at this.
“But I don’t want to go to bed” she grumbled. “I want to play with you.” Derek had to turn away to hide his smile. His little pup was so tired that she was nearly swaying where she stood and still she refused to admit that she needed to go to sleep.
“You can play with Uncle Stiles tomorrow instead” Derek tried suggesting but that didn’t go down well.
“No!” Laura stomped her foot. “Today!” She glared at her father who sighed.
“Uncle Stiles needs to sleep too” Derek pointed out and thanked his lucky stars that Stiles caught on quickly and started yawning and stretching.
“I’m pretty tired, sweetie, but I promise to play with you tomorrow instead” Stiles said, placed a kiss on Laura’s cheek and then turned to leave.
“No!” Laura snatched away his jacket and then launched herself at Stiles and caught his leg. “Stay!” Stiles nearly toppled over but Derek managed to snag hold of his elbow and kept him upright.
“Come on now, pup” Derek said, now with a sterner tone of voice. “Stiles needs to go home and you need to get to bed. If you’re going to be a good girl now and say goodbye to Stiles without fussing I’ll read Harry Potter for your bedtime story, how does that sound?” Laura’s lower lip wobbled and she looked tearfully at her dad.
“I don’t want Stiles to leave” she whined and Derek willed himself to take three deep breaths before he lost his patience.
“How about this?” Stiles quipped in with a suggestion to resolve the situation with a minimum amount of tears or tantrums. “I’ll read your bedtime story before I leave, if you’re good girl and go brush your teeth right now.” Laura looked up at Derek who nodded and then she was off at top speed as if she was worried her dad or Stiles would change their minds.
“Thanks daddy!” she yelled over her shoulder and a small smile played at Derek’s lips.
“You don’t mind?” Stiles asked and Derek shook his head.
“And even if I did I would be pretty outnumbered, wouldn’t I?” he asked drily and Stiles shrugged his shoulders unapologetically.
“Yep.”
A little while later Derek found himself in bed with Stiles and he had to admit that it was quite nice, even if it wasn’t anything like the scenarios he’d imagined during sleepless nights. For instance, his daughter had not been present in any of his fantasises, (and thank goodness for that, because it would just have been so wrong). He also hadn’t really imagines being surrounded by stuffed animals or bed linen with Ben 10 but Derek considered himself to be pretty flexible and hey, who didn’t love cartoons, right? Sadly the right mood was hard to get into with Laura burrowed down in between them and Derek sighed and willed himself to be content with the bed-sharing opportunity that he’d been given, even if it included a storybook and a rather disappointing lack of nudity.
When Stiles had read two chapters instead of the usual one, since he too was a sucker for Laura’s puppy dog eyes and pleading voice, he put away the book and Laura sleepily nuzzled his shoulder.
“Thank you, Uncle Stiles” she mumbled and Stiles smiled.
“You’re very welcome, princess. Sweet dreams.” He presses a kiss to her forehead and then started to hum a lullaby in what Derek assumed to be Polish. He didn’t understand any of the words but it was surprisingly soothing and he felt more relaxed than he’d been for a long time.
Two hours later he woke up to realize that he was still in Laura’s bed and Stiles was gone. He sighed in disappointment, he’d planned to offer Stiles some coffee after Laura fell asleep and they could maybe watch a movie or talk or something. But here he was, alone. Cock-blocked by a Polish lullaby and his own lack of sleep.
Well then, sex was overrated anyway. A man’s best friend is after all his own right hand.