Work Text:
The night she told him, he was an absolute wreck. Only, in all of the best ways of course. He was so happy he couldn’t think straight. His mind was racing a million miles a minute. His nerves were relentless and were causing him to think irrationally. He hadn’t felt this happy and scared at the same time, in quite a while. He was even more jittery than normal but luckily it was the good kind.
Upon hearing the life altering news he jumped for joy, cried a little, laughed a lot, and promptly hugged and kissed his beautiful wife. Lydia Martin Stilinski was pregnant with his child, and get this, she was as equally as excited as he was. It was a miracle. It was also the best Valentine’s Day present he could ever think to receive.
“Stiles I have something I need to talk to you about.” Lydia told him out of the blue as they were snuggled up on the couch watching a Friends re-run after they had spent the evening out to dinner and movie, the cliché Valentine’s day date.
Her tone was serious and that made him nervous. He wracked his brain and tried to recall if he had done anything stupid lately but he was coming up blank. Then again if he had done something unfavorable he probably wouldn’t have realized it yet. But her tone did make him nervous, whatever it was it seemed important. Stiles just hoped she wasn’t asking for a divorce or God forbid there was something wrong with her. “Uh, y-y-yeah sure. What it is? What’s going on?” His voice conveyed concern as he lowered the volume of TV.
She turned in his grasp so that she could speak to him face to face. “Okay well I’m not sure how you’re going to feel about this surprise.”
“Surprise? Aren’t they normally good?” Whatever she needed to tell him, he could tell she was nervous about it. She was pressing her lips together, something she always did when she wasn’t sure what to feel about a situation, when she was nervous and unsure of herself.
She chuckled faintly. “Yeah but not everyone likes surprises.”
“Lydia, whatever it is you can just tell me. I’m a man I think can take it.” He smiled softly in hopes of quelling any of her reservations or at least encouraging her to just blurt it out already. He was getting restless.
“Yeah, I’m sure it will be fine.”
“Any day now Lyds.” He chided as he waited for her to what she needed to say.
“Okay…well,” She inhaled deeply before continuing. Stiles…I’m pregnant.” She finally said the words out loud.
“Y-y-you’re…pregnant? Like with a baby?” He stuttered in asking. Lydia observed his wide eyes and almost loss of words (something very rare for the Stiles Stilinski)
“Yeah.” She answered with a cautious smile.
“With…my baby. As in like there is a baby inside of you and it’s mine?” She could practically see the wheels turning as he pointed at her stomach.
“Mhm.” She responded, letting him figure it all out.
“Oh my god that’s amazing!” Stiles said after finally processing the information. “Congratulations Lydia, oh my gosh.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her for what felt like hours. It was arguably one of the best hugs she had ever shared with him, definitely top five.
“So this is okay then? You’re happy?” She asked, voice muffled by his shoulder.
“Lydia of course I’m happy. Are you?” He said, breaking off the hug to look at his wife with a watery smile on her face. “I mean I know we wanted to wait awhile but I’m okay with this right now.”
“Stiles I’m so happy. I was just worried you weren’t going to be.”
“I am the happiest person in the world right now. Lydia you’re pregnant with my child, do you realize how long I’ve been thinking about this day finally happening? You’re going to make me a father and I’m so incredibly excited to have this baby with you.”
“Really?”
“Of course!” He said leaning into kiss her soft pink lips, and she sighed into the kiss. She was finally completely content with her husband and their impending arrival.
After giddily celebrating the news Lydia fell asleep blissfully in his arms, exhausted and completely happy. Something in Stiles’ fidgety brain made him get up and decide to drive around Beacon Hills. He made sure she was safe and warm in their bed before venturing to his car to aimlessly drive around. It was in the early morning hours of February 15th, nothing was open and there was nothing to do. But before he could turn around and go home he saw the illuminated sign of a 24-hour CVS pharmacy glowing up ahead and felt drawn to it.
Blame it on the insomnia or the baby high but as soon as Stiles stepped into the store he knew he wanted to buy baby things. He wandered past the two bored and tired clerks at the counter and went straight to the baby supply aisle. He piled a basket up with pacifiers, baby lotion, and plastic nipples. He had no idea what he was doing or what he was buying. As he did so he tried very hard to ignore the sluggish man who was in the section where the medications for sick children were at. He could tell that the man was judging the purchases or maybe he was trying to warn Stiles of his impending future but Stiles didn’t care and didn’t want judgments. Sure he was scared but excited. He looked forward to the day that he could be the daddy that saved the day by running to the pharmacy at three in the morning to pick up medicine.
After walking down the baby supply aisle and aimlessly throwing things into the plastic basket he wandered past the seasonal aisle. What once was abundant with Valentine’s gifts was barren and what was there was unorganized and all out of sorts. Something did happen to catch his eye and it made him turn and head down the aisle.
His body was weirdly drawn to an adorable stuffed animal. It was little stuffed baby cow. He wouldn’t have thought anything of it but as soon as he picked it up for further inspection he decided he needed to buy it. It was the cutest stuffed animal he’d probably ever seen. Normally he wouldn’t be browsing the stuffed animal section of any store but when he saw it he knew he had to get it for his future son or daughter. This would be the first toy bought for little baby Stilinski and whether his child liked it or not didn’t matter. This was a momentous occasion. The first toy ever bought for his baby.
The cashier who checked out his items seemed unfazed by the random assortment of baby items in the basket. It probably wasn’t the weirdest thing someone was seen buying in the wee hours of the morning.
When he returned home from his late night excursion Lydia was sitting on the couch watching TV quietly. He sometimes forgot how easily she awoke when he wasn’t there for extended amounts of time. “Where were you?” Her voice sounded like she had being crying. Shit.
“I just ran out for a while. I couldn’t sleep. I’m fine though, everything is alright.” Stiles walked into the living room area and set the plastic bag down on the coffee table as he sat down next to a tearful Lydia.
“Sorry I just…you didn’t leave a note and I got scared.” She sniffled. Oh that was quite stupid of him. Of course he forgot to leave a note.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Why are you scared?” He knew he forgot to leave a note but he hadn’t expected her to be so upset.
She looked up at him as he wrapped his arms around her. “I-I just thought you left and weren’t ever going to come back. And you we’re going to leave me all alone with this baby.” She looked up at him and his heart instantly dropped when he saw fresh tears streaming down her face.
“Lydia, baby.” He said moving his hands to her cheeks, thumbing away her tears. “I’m so sorry I scared you. But you have to know that I would never ever do that to you. I can’t wait to see what this baby looks like. I can’t wait to raise him or her with you and watch it grow up. And I love you so much. There’s no way I’m ever going to leave you. I’m so sorry I didn’t leave you a note. But you don’t have to worry because you are never getting rid of me.”
She relaxed into his touch and smiled a watery smile at his last sentence of humor. “Okay. Just try and remember to leave a note next time okay?”
“I will try my very best to remember.” He said before leaning down to kiss her forehead.
“So where did you go?” She inquired looking at the plastic bag lying on the coffee table that read ‘CVS’.
“I couldn’t sleep and I just drove around and found a pharmacy that was open and…its really stupid. I bought a ton of random baby stuff.” He leaned over and began to show her the random assortment of baby items he had picked up. “I know you probably want to pick all of this stuff out and get everything matching but I just couldn’t help myself.
Lydia grinned as she sorted through the bag. “Yeah but it’s really amazing that you bought all of this stuff.” This right her proved to her how much he cared about her and their future child. “What’s this?” She asked with a giggle, pulling out the stuffed cow Stiles had put in the basket before checking out.
“Oh yeah, that’s really dumb. I just saw it and I thought it was cute. I thought maybe the baby could have it or play with it. I don’t know I just liked it. It’s stupid. We can take it back or something.” He shook his head realizing how odd of an idea it had been.
“No its really sweet of you Stiles. And it is pretty cute.” Lydia examined the stuffed animal and she began to smile widely.
“What?” He asked concerned.
“Nothing, it’s just…you just bought the first baby toy.” She giggled and kissed him. “We’re totally not taking it back.”
Stiles grinned at the thought. Who would have thought that he would have bought the first baby toy at three in the morning at a CVS pharmacy? And who would have thought Lydia would have kept the three am purchase?
“How’s my little nephew?!” Scott McCall asked crouching down so that he was level with Lydia’s protruding baby bump.
“You know, it could be a niece.” Lydia countered as she took a sip from the cup of lemonade in her hand. It was the Fourth of July and there was a big cook out occurring in Sheriff Stilinski’s backyard. Stiles and Lydia had decided that this would be the perfect time to find out the gender of their baby. That way they could find out as well as everyone that was close to them.
Scott now had a hand placed on her belly and was hoping to maybe feel a kick from baby Stilinski. “No way, it’s totally a boy.” Scott said confidently.
“Hey get your hands off my wife McCall.” Stiles joked walking over to where his wife and best friend were conversing.
“No worries, I know she’s yours.” Scott smiled, returning to a standing position.
“I can’t believe she let you touch her belly, she almost murders five people weekly for doing the same thing.” Stiles wrapped an arm around his wife and she leaned in closer to him, enjoying the physical contact.
“Yes, but Scott is Pack. And Pack is a lot different than a strange old woman touching my belly without asking. I make exceptions for Pack and family members.”
Scott smiled with glee as his wife Kira walked over to him from where she had been standing and talking with Melissa, Isaac, and Allison.
Everyone was over at the Sheriff and Melissa’s home, Stiles’ childhood home, to celebrate the Fourth of July with a cook out and because Stiles and Lydia were planning on revealing the gender of their baby in front of all of their friends and family. Just about everyone was there. Derek, Braeden, their three year old son, Allison and Isaac, Lydia’s mom: Natalie, Stiles’ father, Melissa, Cora, Liam, Scott and Kira. Any opportunity for the pack to get together and celebrate was taken advantage of.
“Lydia you’re glowing!” Kira said smiling at her friend. Lydia looked absolutely stunning in her patriotic red, white, and blue maxi dress.
“Aw thank you Kira!” Lydia smiled back widely, she always used to like Scott and Allison together but ever since he started dating Kira it was hard to deny their chemistry and how perfect she and Scott were together. Plus Allison and Isaac were amazing for one another. Lydia was just happy that everyone had eventually made their way to the person they were supposed to end up with, even if it wasn’t so evident back in high school.
“So do you have any feelings about what the baby is going to be?” She asked excitedly.
“No I really don’t. But I am looking forward to finding out. I’m dying to start buying clothes and paint the nursery. All the not knowing is starting to get to me.” She said smiling as she looked down at her distended belly and resting her hand on it fondly.
“What about you Stiles? Think you know what it is?” Kira questioned, excited by the idea that she would be an aunt soon.
“No idea.” Stiles said definitively. “I have zero intuition and I’m glad. I’m just looking forward to finding out.” He placed his free hand on Lydia’s belly as well, something he had grown fond of doing over the past few months.
Kira smiled at the happy couple, and tried to stifle a knowing giggle. She had been the one to get the box of balloons ready that would reveal if they were having a little boy or girl and she was anxiously awaiting to see their faces as well as everyone else’s. She was absolutely over the moon because she knew what it was and she knew that their excitement would surpass hers immensely.
The four of them talked for a little while before Sheriff Stilinski announced that burgers and hot dogs were ready and it was time to eat finally. The pack enjoyed their meals and talked for about an hour before everyone started to grow impatient. “Alright as much as I’m enjoying this whole get together, we all know we’re really here to find out what this baby is.” Allison joked, speaking for everyone else.
“Agreed, let’s find out if I’m getting a grandson or a granddaughter!” Stilinski said getting up and began to clear his space at the table followed by everyone else, all of them giddy with excitement. Scott helped his wife move out the box containing the mysterious colored balloons. Everyone got their cameras and phones out as Stiles and Lydia took their place behind the box and Kira set up a camera on the audience to capture everyone else’s reaction as well.
“Are you ready?” Lydia asked Stiles with the possibly the biggest grin he had ever seen her wear. It was similar to the one she wore on the day they became boyfriend and girlfriend and the one she had plastered on her face on their wedding day.
“So freaking ready.” He said, putting on a grin to match Lydia’s.
“Alright guys anytime now!” Melissa smiled, eager to see if blue or pink balloons would float out of the cardboard box that was decorated with blue and pink and tons of question marks.
“Okay, okay!” Stiles said and he looked at Lydia signaling to start opening the box. They both began to undo the tape on the box and then opened the flaps of the box. As soon as they did, ten pink balloons slowly arose from the box causing everyone to jump and cheer.
“It’s a girl!!!” Lydia squealed with excitement looking up at Stiles, meeting his wide eyes and mouth hat was caught between a smile and an “O” shape. It was a look of pure unadulterated joy and surprise and she loved it.
“It’s a girl! He repeated back to her, almost not even believing it. Hands in the air and eyebrows raised with happiness He was having a little girl and he can’t even explain how excited and completely thrilled he is.
Lydia took the opportunity to launch her body into his open arms and wrap her own around his neck. He immediately met her embrace and lifted her a few inches off the ground, careful not to hurt her. “We’re having a girl!” She whispered in his ear, unable to wipe the smile off of her face. She was smiling so hard that it hurt. “You’re good right? You’re excited?”
“So freaking excited!” He said putting her back down on the ground and gently grabbing her face and kissing her with everything he was feeling.
“You’re not nervous it’s a girl?” She asked, hands on his shoulders.
“Well duh, but either way I was going to be nervous. But that’s nothing compared to how happy I am.” He told her, leaning down to brush his nose against hers, both of them smiling so widely at each other before she leaned up to kiss him again, unable to contain her excitement.
“Congrats bro!” Scott said a few seconds later, putting his hand on Stiles’ shoulder before pulling him into a big hug.
“I’m getting a granddaughter!” The Sheriff said with excitement as he wrapped Lydia up in a hug and her mother, Natalie, quickly came up to her followed after him, also excited for her first grandchild. There were hugs and many exchanges of “congratulations” following the reveal. Lydia was so happy at the moment and she was just eating it all up. She couldn’t wait to have a little girl to dress up and to just love for the rest of her life. She was so utterly in a state of bliss and was so happy to have her husband be just excited as she was.
Later that night after the BBQ had ended and the pack and everyone had migrated to the Beacon Hills City Park to enjoy the fireworks. Lydia and Stiles had settled down on their own blanket as they waited for the show to start, Lydia situated in between his legs, leaning against his chest as his fingers traced random patterns on her cute little baby bump.
“I still kind of can’t believe we’re having a baby.” Stiles said, thinking out loud.
“Me either.” She sighed in response. “I also can’t believe how excited and happy I am.” She leaned her head back so that she could get a better look at his face.
“Me too.” His smile was so genuine and she loved it. “I don’t know anything about girls though.”
“That’s true.”
“Hey! I married you, I must know something.”
She rolled her eyes as she bit her lip, trying to contain her smile but it didn’t work. She was pretty sure she wasn’t going to be able to stop smiling for a while. “You’ll figure it out, I’m sure. You always figure it out.”
“I hope so.”
“Well if you don’t, I’ll be there to help. But I don’t think you have much to worry about.” She told him. “I have a feeling she’s going to be a total daddy’s girl.”
“Really? You think so?”
“Uh-huh.” Just as she said that the first firework of the night went up and burst in the sky and Lydia pecked Stiles’ lips before turning around to enjoy the show. He smiled and enjoyed the moment of bliss and excitement he was currently wrapped in.
Before they knew it Stiles and Lydia were checking into the hospital, ready to meet their new arrival. Lydia had gone into labor in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday, a week before the baby’s due date. Stiles had been working at the station when she called him in a panic. Like the good husband he was always striving to be, he rushed back to their house in a flash. He was running frantically around the station trying to collect his things, he resembled a chicken with its head cut off. He was rushing around so much so that he had almost forgotten to tell anybody what was happening or why he was in such a frazzled frenzy. Well why he was more frazzled and frenzied than usual.
“Dad!” Stiles said between pants as he stood in the doorway of the sheriff’s office.
“Stiles? What is it? Is everything alright?” His father asked as he quickly got up from his desk and walked over to his son.
“Lydia…phone…labor…now” was all Stiles could string together in between excited and nervous breaths but luckily his dad knew his son’s train of thought.
“Okay, calm down.” He said, trying to get his son to breathe like a normal human being. “So Lydia just called and she thinks she’s in labor?” The sheriff asked and was met with a frantic nod. “Do you need me to take you home? Take you to the hospital?”
Stiles was finally able to catch his breath. “No. I’m just going to go home and take her to the hospital.”
“Okay good, we’re talking in full sentences now. I’ll call Melissa and let her know you’ll be there soon. I’ll be there as soon as my shift is over okay?”
“Yeah that’s good that sounds good.” He quickly nodded as he tried to process everything that was happening. “I’ll see you soon then.” Stiles said as he began to turn around and head for the exit but he was unable to as he was being pulled in by his dad and soon he was enveloped in a hug.
“I’m so proud of you.” The sheriff whispered honestly with a cheesy smile plastered on his face.
“Thanks dad.” Stiles replied as he was released from the hug.
“Now go and help your wife and try not to do anything stupid.”
“I’ll try! But I shouldn’t make any promises I can’t keep.”
The sheriff rolled his eyes. “Goodbye!” And with that, Stiles was finally out of the door and on his way to get his wife from the house.
When Stiles made it home he was surprised to see how genuinely calm Lydia was, especially considering how frazzled he was. He could sense that she was nervous and in some pain but in general she was very calm. She was waiting patiently on the couch for him, nose in a book, and their bags packed and ready for him to put in the car.
Once they checked into Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital, Melissa was there to greet them and to help Lydia get settled into the room. Stiles did his best to be comforting to her but the epidural proved to be a bit more effective. She had been such a fighter for the first few hours of an intense labor and welcomed the shot with open arms. After the shot, both Stiles and Lydia were able to get a few hours of sleep in before their baby was born.
“Lydia sweetie, you’re doing great.” Stiles told his wife who was currently trying to push out their baby. He didn’t know if he was being helpful or not, but he was trying to be there for her as much as he possibly could be. Seeing her in pain was the absolute worst.
“Stilinski, I hate you.” She told him in a defeated tone as she attempted to rest in between contractions. She totally didn’t mean it but it felt like the right thing to say. She looked kind of pitiful; her lip in a pout, sweat dripping from her face, and her hair in a ponytail that Stiles had not done well at putting in for her. Still though, she was insanely gorgeous to him and he couldn’t wait until all of her pain was over.
“I know, I know, I know okay? I am an awful, terrible, horrible person. I’m so sorry but you’re doing amazing baby. So just keep being amazing.” He reassured her as he pushed a few stray hairs off of her forehead.
“Thanks.” She said with as much of a smile she could muster, given the pain she was in. “Could you please just hold my hand?”
“Of course.” He said grabbing her hand and lightly kissing her forehead. She was doing fantastic, and he didn’t know how she was doing it.
“Alright Lydia it’s time to push again.” Lydia’s doctor informed them and Lydia listened to the instructions and continued on pushing, grasping Stiles’ hand with a forceful grip.
Thirty minutes later, at 4:04 in the morning, after tiring hours of labor their baby girl was finally born.
“And here she is!” The doctor announced as she placed the baby on Lydia’s chest. As soon as the baby was in Lydia’s arms, all of the pain and stress was long forgotten.
“Hi baby.” Lydia said, tears threatening to spill from her green eyes. “Stiles look at our baby. She’s here! She’s finally here.”
“She’s beautiful, oh my god, she’s perfect Lydia.” He said, crouching down to get a better view of his new and perfect baby girl.
“I already love her so much.” Lydia choked out, now she was happy crying and so was Stiles and neither of them could stop staring at their beautiful little girl.
After the baby was cleaned up she was safely swaddled in Lydia’s arms with Stiles sitting next to the hospital bed, observing all of her tiny features. “So do we have a name picked out for your little one yet?” A nurse asked, popping her head through the doorway before coming in the room fully.
“I think so.” Lydia said glancing briefly at her husband who was completely transfixed on his daughter.
“Alright so the first name will be?” The nurse inquired, sitting at the computer, ready to fill out the baby’s birth certificate fully.
“Claudia.” Lydia said firmly, causing Stiles’ head to shoot up. They had talked about naming the baby after his mother if it was a girl but nothing had been one hundred percent decided. But Lydia knew from the moment she found out she was having a girl, it was the only name that would feel right.
“Really?”
“Yeah, if it’s okay with you. I know we didn’t talk about it much but it seems to suit her I think.”
“Of course, it’s perfect Lydia.” He said before leaning over to kiss her.
“And…middle name?”
“Emerson.” Lydia answered, they had decided on the middle name early on and it worked well with the first and last name.
“Okay good and I assume the last name is the same as yours?”
“Yes its Stilinski as well.” Lydia responded, looking lovingly at her little Claudia.
“When my dad finds out, he’s going to cry. You know that, right? Stiles asked with a humorous tone but he was telling the truth.
“I figured. At least it will be the good kind though.” She said, looking to him and she could see that his gaze was completely fixed on the bundle in her arms. “Here, Stiles. I think it’s your turn to hold her.” He looked a little shaky but as soon as Claudia was in his arms he was fine and he had a huge smile spread across his face. The baby wasn’t even an hour old and she had him completely wrapped around his finger with her perfect strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes.
“Oh my god, guess what I remembered to pack?!” Stiles announced, upon realizing what he had remembered to put in the bag for the baby earlier. He carefully stood up and walked to where his bag was and pulled out something fluffy before returning to his seat by Lydia’s bed.
“Stiles, you brought the stuffed cow?” Lydia rolled her eyes. “You know it’s going to be quite a while before she can play with it?”
He held it above her face but it produced absolutely no reaction. He didn’t know what he was expecting considering she wasn’t even a few hours old. “Yeah…I can see that. But I don’t know I just want her to have it for some reason. She’s cute and it’s cute so she should play with it. I just want her to know that we care and we’re going to give her everything we can possibly give her.”
“I love your logic babe.” Lydia said with a playful eye roll. “But don’t worry; we’ll make sure she knows how much we love her. We have plenty of time.” She smiled, knowing that both she and Stiles were going to do anything for this little girl. And if he wanted to show his love by giving her a stuffed cow, even if it made her laugh and she thought it was a little crazy, she would let him.
“Stiles! Babe! Get your phone out I think she’s going to crawl!” Lydia called out excitedly to her husband. For the past two weeks Claudia had been getting into the crawling position but went nowhere. Lydia swore she was going it on purpose.
“Are you sure she’s not faking you out again?” Stiles chided as he walked into the living room from the kitchen, phone in hand, camera feature on.
Lydia looked up at her husband with an extremely annoyed face, very unappreciative of his humor. “Ha-ha, I don’t care what you say; she’s doing it on purpose. But today is the day, look at her, she looks ready to go.”
“Lydia, she’s seven months old, I’m pretty sure she’s not doing it on purpose.” He knew she was so adamant about getting her to crawl right now because she was afraid she was going to miss it while she was working and she would probably kick herself if that was the case.
“Well if any baby was smart enough to think that way, it would be ours though.”
“Can’t argue with that.” Stiles replied and nodded his head, she had him there. If any baby was intelligent enough to fake out her parents at seven months old, it would be the offspring of Stiles and Lydia Stilinski.
“Come on baby, crawl to Mommy!” Lydia said, sitting on the floor in front of her daughter, trying to get her attention and to motivate her to crawl. “Claudia, please crawl to me.” The little strawberry blonde was giggling while on all fours but she wasn’t moving “Stiles she is refusing to crawl…again.”
“Alright, calm down Lyds. Let me try.” He said as he got down on the floor and kneeled next to where Lydia was, and he began to try to coax their daughter to crawl. “Claudia, come and crawl to Mommy and Daddy.” She began to giggle more but still no movement.
“Stiles.” Lydia exclaimed as she lightly smacked him on the shoulder to get his attention, an idea suddenly struck her.
“Ow! What? What is it?”
“Where is that stupid cow that she loves so much?” Lydia couldn’t believe how much her daughter had taken to the stuffed cow Stiles had bought for her at a CVS pharmacy in the wee hours of the morning.
“In her room probably.”
“Okay well go get it! Go, go, go!” Lydia said, nudging him to get up and go to retrieve the stuffed animal.
“Okay I’ll go get it!” He said getting up and running over to the stairs, tripping over one of Claudia’s toys but he managed to catch himself.
“Stiles be careful!” Lydia managed to say after he had already regained her balance, while she was concerned for him she was just more concerned that he wasn’t tripping and falling on the baby.
“I’m good, everything is fine. Don’t worry.” He said before returning on his mission to retrieve Claudia’s cow just as Claudia returned to a sitting position and Lydia sighed with defeat.
She rolled her eyes at his typical behavior and refocused her attention on her daughter. “You’re the most stubborn baby I’ve ever met.” Lydia told her and her daughter’s response was a smile and more laughter. “It’s a good thing you’re adorable.”
“Okay so I found the cow…and she’s sitting now.” He said dropping to the ground again next to Lydia.
“It’s okay, here, give me the cow.” She grabbed it from his grip. “Okay, Claudia, look what Mommy has! It’s your favorite toy.” Lydia said trying to gain her daughter’s attention. Claudia saw the stuffed cow and began to squeal with excitement and reached out to grab it. Lydia moved it just out of her grasp in hopes of motivating her. “You can have it if you crawl to me, okay?”
“You’re cruel.”
“I am not cruel! It’s just a motivational tool.”
“I disagree; look at her she wants it so bad.” He pointed to the seventh month old and her frustrated face. She was reaching for it but her arms weren’t quite long enough.
“Stiles its motivation. Okay? Watch.” She said before looking back at her daughter. “Come on Claudia you know you want it. Crawl to your favorite cow please.” Lydia begged and soon Claudia moved back into the crawling position and she began to move forward. “Stiles, the camera, the camera, get the camera!!!”
“I got it, I got it!” He said turning the camera on his iPhone on and pressed record.
“Yes come on Claudia, you’re doing so well.” Lydia said as she kept moving the cow just slightly out of reach and she kept crawling until she was finally in front of Stiles and Lydia and she was grabbing onto the cow she had worked so hard to get. “Yay! Good job Claudia!!! You did it! You crawled.” She said excitedly, quickly sweeping the baby up in and kissing her all over.
“Good job Claudia!” Stiles said before turning off the camera and leaning over to kiss the top of his daughter’s head. But she didn’t really care at all, she had her stuffed cow and she was content.
“And as I have proven for the umpteenth time, I am right and you are wrong.” Lydia gloated as she brushed a few strands of hair away from her daughter’s face.
“Well I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He told her leaning in to kiss her straight on the lips, breaking it because she couldn’t contain her smile. He treated her like a queen and she swore she was the luckiest woman alive. Despite all his quirks and sometimes rude and questionable tendencies, he loved her and their daughter unconditionally and she was amazed at how devoted he was to both of them.
Just then Claudia squirmed and squealed in annoyance, a bit perturbed attention was no longer solely on her. Yes, she was starved for attention at seven months old and neither of them was sure who to blame for that gene. “Would Claudia like kisses too?” Lydia asked attacking her daughter with kisses all over causing her to laugh happily, cow still very much in hand. Stiles smiled at the sight and enjoyed.
Lydia woke up one night covered in sweat covering her body and with a distinct feeling of uneasiness. As soon as she heard the cries from down the hallway she threw the covers off of her and rushed to her daughter’s nursery.
“Oh no, Claudia, what’s wrong?” Lydia said flicking on the lamp before pushing down the railing of the crib and picking up her crying eight month old. She hadn’t woken up in the middle of the night for quite a while; she had been sleeping in her own room through the night for months now.
Claudia rested her head against her mother’s shoulder and started to cough and sniffle and Lydia new it wasn’t from the crying, her baby was sick with a cold. She pressed a kiss to her forehead but she wasn’t too feverish so she wasn’t too worried.
Soon Stiles was standing in the doorway of the pale pink nursery, rubbing his tired eyes, standing there in his pajama pants. “Is everything alright? I felt you get out of bed.”
“She’s sick, Stiles. It’s like I knew it, I woke up and then I heard her crying.” Stiles walked further into the room and kissed Claudia’s head and began to rub her back at an attempt to soothe her.
“Yeah she doesn’t look like herself. And she hasn’t woken up in the middle of the night in a while.” He looked at her with sympathy as she was latched onto the strap of Lydia’s pink pajama tank top. “So you just woke up before she started crying?” He asked continuing to rub his daughter’s back.
“Yeah it was really weird. I woke up in sort of a panic and then I started to hear her cry.”
“Was it like…a banshee thing?” He asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer. Banshee things meant death and he really hoped his daughter wasn’t being associated with death.
“No, it was more like…like an instinct thing?” She said aloud, trying to explain the exact feeling.
“Like a mother’s intuition?” He offered, “I mean it might be heightened because you’re supernatural but maybe it was something like that?”
“Actually that’s kind of exactly what it felt like. And maybe it is more heightened for me.”
“Maybe.” He yawned.
“You should go back to bed; you have work in a few hours.”
“Well so do you.” He countered. “I don’t want to leave her.” He was very tired but it was very important that Claudia was okay and currently she was still whimpering softly.
“I’ll just take the day and be with her. Take her to the doctors if she doesn’t get any better.” She told him.
“Alright, we’ll compromise. You can take the day tomorrow with her and I’ll go to sleep but we bring her to our room. I want to be there if she or you need me for anything.”
“Okay fine sounds like a deal.” She said and they both made their way towards the doorway before Claudia reached her hands out toward her crib and started to cry. “What is it?” Lydia asked as Stiles followed her eye line to the little stuffed animal she loved so much.
“Aw Lyd, she wants her cow.” He said going back to her crib. When he handed it to her she pulled it close to her and then rested her head again.
“I can’t believe how much she loves this thing.” Lydia said as they walked back down the hallway into their bedroom. Once they were settled in the bed, Stiles tried not to, but fell asleep rather quickly. Eventually Claudia fell asleep on Lydia’s chest and Lydia was able to dose off as well. And when Stiles woke for work at the Sheriff’s station a few hours later his heart warmed at the sight of his two girls peacefully resting and the cow he bought Claudia clutched in her hand. He hoped that Claudia got better and he looked forward to giving his wife a break when he came home in the afternoon. Eventually she was back to normal and her happy and healthy self.
For Lydia’s twenty fifth birthday Stiles surprised her with plane tickets Las Vegas for a long weekend away from Beacon Hills. Allison, Isaac, Scott, and Kira were going to be joining them on the excursion as well. They were excited to get away from the craziness of the town and the busyness of work for a little bit of time. Lydia was ecstatic to spend the weekend away with Stiles and her friends but she was not so keen on leaving her one and a half year old behind.
“Am I forgetting something? I feel like we’re forgetting something.” Lydia said as she sat in the passenger’s seat as she riffled through her carry-on bag trying to figure out what she could have possibly forgotten. They were on the way to the airport but first they had to drop off Claudia with the Stiles’ dad and Melissa for the weekend. They were also going to be watching Scott and Kira’s four month old son, Jacob, for the weekend as well.
“I don’t think we’re forgetting anything. I think we have it all.” Stiles said, eyes on the road as Lydia glanced at the backseat to see her daughter babbling along, completely unaware of the fact that her parents we’re dropping her off and her grandparent’s for the weekend.
“I know…we’re forgetting her.” Lydia said frowning as she looked at the happy little girl in the backseat of the Jeep.
“Oh, you know she’ll be fine.” He said to reassure his wife as well as his own self. He didn’t like the idea of being away from Claudia for extended amounts of time, and this would be the first time they were ever traveling further than a few towns over for a date night or something. But he was also really looking forward to enjoying a weekend with his beautiful wife and a few full nights’ sleeps.
“I know but what if she can’t sleep because I’m not rocking her or because you’re not reading her a bedtime story?”
“Lydia I’m sure she’ll be fine, she probably will barely notice that we’re gone.”
She sighed deeply. “Yeah, yeah I know. But I’m going to miss her. We’ve never been this far away from her before.” Lydia let her mind wander for a second before coming to a realization. “Stiles!” She yelped.
“What? What is it?!” He asked with his eyes widened in panic trying to look at her while concentrating on the road.
“I know what we forgot.”
“Well what is it, what did we forget Lydia?”
“We forgot her cow. How could we forget it?”
“I don’t know, I wasn’t thinking about it.”
“We have to turn the car around. We have to go and get it. She can’t sleep without it now.”
“Lydia I don’t know if we have time to go back. We could miss our flight”
“Stiles we have enough time and we have to go back and get it. She sleeps so well with it, I don’t want your dad and Melissa to have to worry about her getting up through the night.”
“Alright, okay. I’ll turn around.” He said looking for a spot he could make a legal U-turn to go back in the direction of their small home. A half an hour later they were finally at John and Melissa’s dropping off their daughter.
Jacob had already been dropped off and Claudia was completely enthralled by him. “Mama…baby, baby, baby.” Claudia told Lydia as she observed the four month old in Melissa’s arms.
“Yes, Claudia I see. It is a baby huh?” Lydia kissed her daughter on the cheek as they both observed how tiny and adorable he was.
“Got your hands full this weekend huh Dad?” Stiles asked the Sheriff.
“Yeah I guess so. It’s been a while since I had a little one in the house for a while but I think we can handle it.”
“But you’ve never had two at once.”
“I think we can handle it. Only one of them is yours and luckily she seems to be Lydia’s carbon copy.” Stiles huffed at the remark and Lydia smiled. Claudia did look exceptionally like Lydia, same fair skin, cute button nose, and strawberry blonde hair, everything except for the brown eyes that were definitely all from Stiles.
“While I appreciate that, I’m afraid she’s more like your son than you had hoped.” Lydia responded, squeezing her daughter and kissing her forehead before putting her in Stiles’ arms who kissed her straight on the nose, eliciting a giggle and a hug from the one year old.
“Dada!”
“She babbles nonstop and is into absolutely everything she shouldn’t be.” Lydia continued.
“Yes, well that does sound a lot like Stiles. But at least when she does it, it’s cute.”
“Ha-ha.” Stiles said rolling his eyes at his father before turning his attention back to Claudia who was now trying to show him her baby cousin. “Yes, I see.” He said nodding his head at her.
“Hey Stiles, I think it’s time to go. We don’t want to miss our flight babe.” Lydia said looking at the clock on the living room wall.
“Oh okay.” Stiles said, now it was hitting him that he was going to be leaving without her in his arms. “Claudia,” He said, “Mommy and Daddy have to go ‘bye-bye’ now okay? But you are going to have a fun time with your Papa and Nana and it’s going to be so much fun. And you aren’t going to miss me at all I bet. But I’m going to miss you a lot.”
“Claudia can Mommy have a kiss goodbye?” Lydia asked puckering her lips and Claudia obliged and gave her a peck. “That’s my girl. Have fun okay? I love you.” Lydia said before kissing her on the cheek again for good measure before turning to Melissa. “I wrote down her schedule and what she can eat and that’s all in her diaper bag.” Lydia walked over to the car seat and picked up Claudia’s cow. “And this is her favorite cow. Sometimes she throws it out of her crib when she’s bored or bad but she can’t sleep without it.”
“Okay I’ll be sure to give it to her. She’ll be fine Lydia.” Melissa said, smiling reassuringly and Lydia nodded.
“Alright, Stiles it’s time to say goodbye. If you wait any longer, I’m not going to be able to leave.”
“It’s time for me to go now, sweetie.” He kissed the top of her strawberry blonde hair. “Can I have a hug and kiss? Okay?” She locked her chubby arms around Stiles’ neck and kissed him on the cheek and he wanted to melt right there. “I love you lots Claudia.” He said before passing her off to his father and her eyes started to get large and well up before she reached out for him as he began to step away. “Oh please don’t do this to me.” He said trying to ignore her pouts.
“Here, here Claudia here’s your favorite baby cow that you love so much okay? If you cry you’re going to make Daddy cry and that would not be good.” Lydia said handing her daughter the stuffed animal and she seemed to calm down a bit. “Alright we gotta go before I lose it.” Lydia said waving to her in-laws and trying to ignore Claudia’s whimpers. She grabbed Stiles’ and practically pulled him out the front door.
“Don’t worry we’ll keep you updated and send pictures of her!” The Sheriff called after them, trying to reassure his son and daughter-in-law.
“That was the worst.” Stiles said as he and Lydia climbed into the Jeep. “I already want to go back and pick her up.”
“I know but we can’t. We have to go enjoy ourselves. But you need to drive or I am going to back in there.” She told him and he followed her instructions, afraid he might just do the same thing. Once they were ten minutes down the road she received a text from Melissa with Claudia perfectly happy and playing with some toys on the floor and even though she missed her still, she was thrilled that everything was already okay.
The weekend ended up being really fun and it was great to have a little time away from being a parent, but they also cherished every Facetime video chat with her and every picture that was sent to them while they were away. But as much fun as the trip was, it was equally fun to be reunited with their daughter at the end of the weekend.
Stiles and Lydia were in their living room watching the TV when Stiles heard one of his least favorite sounds in the world. He heard the sounds of Claudia’s cries coming from her room. Lydia heard it as well but before she could get up from her spot on the couch next to him.
“No, you stay I’ll go see what’s going on.” He said as he got up from the couch and he was ascending the stairs when he saw a flash of lightening and heard a clap of thunder and groaned. Claudia hated thunderstorms and Lydia wasn’t fond of them too much either. Once he heard that he hurried even faster up the stairs in order to get to her quicker.
Stiles finally made it up to his daughter’s room who was somehow four years old already, but still definitely his little girl and whole entire world. “Claudia what’s wrong? What happened? Are you alright?” He asked flipping on the lights and sitting on her bed and pulling her into a hug.
“Daddy I had a bad dream. And then I woke up and heard the lightening.” She sniffled as he grabbed a tissue from the box on her nightstand and attempted to wipe the tears falling from her big brown eyes off of her face.
“Oh I know you hate them. But you know they can’t hurt you right? You’re perfectly safe in here.”
“It was really bad. I don’t like the flashes either.” She whimpered and his heart felt like it tore in half.
“I know but it’s all over now. You’re okay huh? Maybe you should try to go back to sleep?”
“No Daddy I don’t want to.”
“Aw, but you’re perfectly safe sweetie.”
“Daddy I’m still scared.” She told him, burying her head into his shoulder and he pulled her in closer, kissing the top of her head. “I don’t wanna go back to sleep.”
“Alright, how about we go downstairs and hang out with Mommy for a while. She doesn’t like to be alone during thunderstorms either. Does that sound good?” He asked, rubbing his hand up and down her back in an attempt to comfort her. It was better than leaving her in her room alone and scared.
“Yeah” She choked out paired with a nod.
“Okay come on lets go what she’s up to.” He suggested as he picked her up and wrapped her in the soft pink blanket that she liked to sleep with.
“Wait Daddy, I need my Mr. Moo.” She sniffled and pointed over his shoulder, and he turned around and saw her stuffed cow that she had affectionately named Mr. Moo when she learned to talk and was able to come up with something fitting. Stiles thought it was a pretty adorable name.
“Oh of course.” He said reaching down carefully to pick up the stuffed animal and handed it to her, causing her to smile for the first time since he had entered the room. “We definitely couldn’t leave Mr. Moo behind, huh?”
“Uh huh.” She nodded, nuzzling her face into Stiles’ neck, he cherished these moments because he was already sad for the day when she wouldn’t need him to make her feel better during a thunderstorm or after a bad dream.
Lydia smiled at the site of them when they walked into the living room. She wasn’t very fond of thunderstorms and hated being alone during them if she could help it. “Uh oh. Couldn’t baby girl back to sleep?”
“Nope. So we thought we’d come down here and see what you were doing. Plus we wanted to keep you company since we know you don’t enjoy thunderstorms either.” Stiles said as he situated himself back to where he was sitting before he went upstairs.
“Ah well that was very nice of you and who’d you bring with you?” Lydia asked Claudia as she pointed to her stuffed animal.
“Mr. Moo Mommy, you know who he is.” When she had named it, the Moo part came first and then Stiles had started adding the prefix to it, and it stuck around.
“Oh right, of course. How could I forget this little guy?” She smiled. “So do you feel better now honey?”
Claudia shrugged her shoulders. “I guess a little bit.”
“Hmm a thunderstorm and a bad dream in one night doesn’t sound like too much fun to me either.” Lydia sympathized and then thought of something that could maybe get her mind somewhere else. “Hey Claudia what if we build a blanket fort and maybe camp out in the living room for the night?” Lydia asked, it was only ten at night and it was Friday so Lydia didn’t see the harm if she was already up and awake. It seemed like a better idea than to just let her sit there and be sad until she fell asleep.
“That sounds like fun huh?” Stiles said with enthusiasm, he loved making blanket forts when he was younger. When he was little his mom used to do the same for him when he was feeling sad, so he was totally down for trying the idea out on his daughter.
“Yeah let’s do that.” She said, a smile spreading across her face. “Can Mr. Moo help too?” She wondered aloud.
“Of course!” Lydia smiled, “I need you and him to help daddy collect blankets and pillows for me. Can you do that for me?”
“Uh huh!” She said, face lighting up. “Come on Daddy lets go get your pillow.” She said climbing down off of him and the couch before reaching for his hand to drag him upstairs. She was only four but she knew how much Stiles needed his pillow to go to sleep, just like she needed her special stuffed animal.
A few minutes later Lydia had the middle of the living room covered in soft blankets and pillows and she was waiting for a large comforter to drape over the chairs and the back of the couch. And that is exactly what she did when Stiles had showed up with one of the blankets from their bedroom. Stiles had his pillow in hand and Claudia was carrying her own as well as Lydia’s. “Here Mommy, I brought your pillow too!” She said handing the pillow to her mother and Lydia’s heart about exploded.
“Aw Claudia thank you so much. Did you know you’re my favorite?” She asked, scooping her up and kissing her all over. “I love you so much.”
“Do you love Daddy lots too?”
“Uh-huh I love you and Daddy more than I love anyone else.”
“That’s crazy Mama.”
Lydia giggled and pulled her in tight, she loved it when Claudia called her Mama, but she used it less frequently now that she was older. “I know, I know.”
“Can we go inside now?” She asked excitedly and Lydia put her down and gave her the go ahead. “Mommy I love it.” She squealed.
“I’m so glad you’re feeling better, can we come in?” Lydia implored.
“Yeah!” Claudia replied with a giggle. Lydia crawled in first and Stiles followed after turning off the lights and turning a night light on. Pretty soon Claudia had fell fast asleep in-between Stiles and Lydia, head rested on his chest and Mr. Moo under her arm.
“How is it possible to love something this much?” Lydia whispered, stroking her daughter’s hair that matched her own.
“I have no idea. But it’s the best.”
“I know.” Lydia moved her and began to fiddle with Stiles’ brown locks. “I also can’t believe how much she loves Mr. Moo.” She said with a soft laugh and Stiles did as well, trying hard not to jostle the little girl awake, even if she was drooling all over his shirt.
“He is pretty cute though. I can’t believe she loves something I bought at like three in the morning? At a twenty four hour pharmacy, like that is kind of crazy.”
“Right? Like most people get their kids toys from the toy store.” Lydia teased. “It’s okay though, whatever makes her happy. It was bought with love.”
A few moments of silence passed before Stiles spoke again. “I want another one.” He said definitively after working up to it.
“Another…Mr. Moo?”
“No. Another one.” He said looking down at the sleeping form in front of him.
“Oh.” Was all he was met with at first and that kind of…scary. But when he looked up at his wife she had a smile on her face.
He raised his eyebrows, communicating that she needed to say more because he was not understanding.
“Okay.” She nodded. “Let’s have another one.” Her face filled with joy at the thought of another baby to love.
“Okay?”
“Yeah. We should start trying for another one. It’s a good age gap between kids I think. What about you?”
“I don’t know I don’t have siblings but it sounds good to me.”
“Alright.” Lydia tried to contain joyous laughter, excited at the thought. “Can we start tomorrow night?”
“Trying for another? Hell yes we can.” Claudia had been a bit unexpected but completely welcomed by him and her. But this would be a new and exciting adventure as well that was different but just as rewarding and fun. He was thrilled.
“Tomorrow night.” She said trying to bite back a smile but then their eyes met and she couldn’t help but lean over and kiss his perfect lips. “I wonder what you’ll buy at CVS this time.” She beamed as she pulled away and rested her head on her pillow.
“Me too.” He sighed, completely content with his life at the current moment in time.
Soon they were all asleep in the blanket fort and while it wasn’t the most comfortable night sleep they had ever experienced but it was quite memorable and totally worth it.