Chapter Text
AD MEMORIAM EORUM QUOS VALDE AMO by TheRowan Sterek Fanfiction
The soft sound of a child’s voice caught his attention. He craned his head from his hiding spot amidst the pine branches to look over at the rustling and steady stream of nonsense that was coming from a small child wandering through his yard to the tree lined woods. Derek groaned slightly and wedged his book into the branch above him.
It must be the kid Laura was supposed to be watching while his mother visited with her new friend, the lady she had met at the Garden Center. Derek had escaped the minute he had heard the jeep pull up the road. He knew Laura, and he knew that she had even less patience with kids than he did. Their mother had sternly wagged her finger at them both earlier.
“I expect that you will both keep an eye on Stella’s little guy. Your sister Ruthie is too young to play alone with him.”
Laura groaned her best thirteen year old petulant teen groan. “Mother! Why can’t he just stay with you and his own mother. I had plans!”
Esmee pulled her long hair back into a ponytail and gave her a faint red-tinted glare, her lips pressed tightly as clipped out. “Because. I said. So.”
Derek stepped back from his mother’s glare; whereas Laura only smirked back at her. “Why do I have to babysit…Why not him!” She pointed at Derek. “ He should…He needs to learn how to socialize!”
Derek scowled at her. “He has like zero friends! He doesn’t even try! He sits and reads! Reads! Books! Like he’s a total loser at his school!”
Esmee turned at her eyes’ blazing. “You leave Derek alone. You are the oldest and I said that you will watch Stiles!”
Laura huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes. “Stiles? What the hell kind of name is that!” “You mind your manners miss! Now, go get the tea set out.”
Laura pounded from the kitchen. “It’s so unfair…and sexist…making me watch…stupid kids…all…the…time…” Her voice faded away but they both could hear her continued mumblings with their heightened senses.
Esmee hid a smirk and began slicing the crusts off the finger sandwiches she had made.
Derek sat at the island and looked at her with his usual sulky frown. Esmee eyed him and gave her head a small shake. “Don’t mind your sister…Hormonal teenage girl.” She looked up at him and caught his eye. “You are a wonderful, loving young man.”
She reached out and gently stroked his cheek. “I know you are shy. That doesn’t make you strange. You’ll have friends soon enough.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead tenderly. “How could you not? Once they see how sweet and loving you are.”
Derek smiled softly and nodded his head down. “Now, help me finish the lunch and then you can skidaddle. Ok?” He nodded and hopped down to pull out the deviled eggs.
Derek scanned the area for Laura, who of course, was nowhere to be seen. The little boy began throwing punches into the air and sidekicks. Derek almost laughed out loud watching the frantic and spastic movements. The little boy had a thick mess of brown hair that glittered in the sunlight.
He grabbed a stick from the ground and began swinging it like a sword. Derek saw that he was wearing a batman t-shirt and faded corduroys. Suddenly the stick forgotten, the little kid decided to try and climb the tree. He jumped up to grab at a branch and failed miserably. He landed with a heavy thud amidst the pine needles.
He groaned slightly and stood up to brush himself off. Derek couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped. The boy’s eyes shot up looking at the sudden rustling pine boughs as Derek again hid from view. Derek could see his golden brown eyes scanning around at the movement he had made.
Instead of looking nervous the kid got a determined look on his face and actually tried to climb up again, his eyes fixed at the spot where he had detected some motion.
Derek slowly snuck a look down from around the tree. Stiles had managed to get a foot hold and was carefully stretching up to the next branch. He had a look of pure determination of his face and he grunted with the effort to pull himself up higher and higher.
Stiles looked at the spot Derek was hiding. His golden warm eyes straining to find him. “Are you there?”
The voice made Derek nearly release his hold from shock. It wasn’t what he had expected the kid to sound like. It seemed older more mature than his tiny frame would suggest. Stiles kept scrambling up slowly one branch at a time.
“Uhm.Your sister.Said. You were up here.” He stopped moving his arms holding the branch, taking a few breaths and nervously looked down at the ground. “I’m…Uhm…Stiles…Are you Derek? Laura said we could play together.”
The kid’s voice sounded both hopeful and unsure.
Derek swore under his breath a word his Uncle Peter was fond of saying, which if his mother had ever heard him say would result in a spectacular spanking even at twelve.
Stiles smiled nervously up. “You sure can climb high…I’ve never been…this high.” A slight panic was in Stiles’ voice. He looked down. “We can play superheroes…or Batman….I have my shirt…on…My mom bought me the video…With Catwoman and Penguin…Don’t like him though…really creepy…I like Cat-” He fell so quickly he didn’t even have a chance to yell.
Derek jumped out and grabbed him to his chest and landed with a roll onto the pine needles below.
Stiles’ eyes were wide and he looked for an instant as if he were going to cry, but instead blinked them back and looked at Derek in wonder. “You? You caught me? You saved me?” He looked up at the tree then back at Derek. Their eyes locked.
Derek felt his small hands clinging tightly to his arms. He gave Derek a tight hug. Derek could feel his heart against his chest pounding faster than a rabbit’s during a hunt.
Derek looked down into the eyes of the boy and smirked. “Yeah,well don’t get used to it…I won’t do that again.” He dropped Stiles onto the ground roughly.
Stiles smiled up at him. “Ok. You can be batman!” He grinned widely at Derek. “I don’t play Batman! I’m almost twelve.” Derek turned and walked away. Stiles hopped up and scurried after him. “I’m going to be seven…Are you in Middle school? Or High School? I can’t wait to go to High School! I’m going to play lacrosse and get married to Lydia Martin.”
Derek rolled his eyes at him. “You don’t get married in high school…idiot.”
He began to trot trying to outpace the kid. Stiles laughed. “No. I know that. I mean after High School. Hey… is this all your families?” Stiles gestured to the surrounding forest and grounds. “ It’s so cool out here… My mom has gardens and stuff…but we don’t have so many trees…Just a few…Do you know my dad? He’s the sheriff…I like your house…It’s big, and your mom is nice. Do you think that she and my mom are going to be friends? My mom said she didn’t really know her too well, but she was really, really happy to meet someone new….Who has half a brain in this town….”
He paused to look at Derek staring at him. “Yeah?”
Derek shook his head at him. “Do you ever shut up?”
Stiles chuckled. “My dad says that I need to…So do you have someone you want to marry? Lydia is in my classroom…Miss Gilberts…Its first grade but I’m in advanced reading in the second grade and do math with another class….I get to go all over the school…which is kind of cool. It’s good to keep moving around…that way I don’t get so… in trouble…”
Derek stood mesmerized by the stream of babble coming from the kid. He had to shake his head to clear it. “Do you like school? I do and I don’t…I like learning stuff, but I don’t like just sitting still…”
Derek turned around and threw up his hands. “Ok. If you will just stop talking….You are giving me a head ache…I’ll play with you.”
Stiles whole face lit up with his smile.
Derek bit his lip trying not to return the smile, the kid’s happiness was almost contagious. “Really! So cool! You want to be Batman and the Joker?”
Derek frowned and sighed and shrugged. Stiles looked at him quietly. He kept his eyes on him focused and intent. He was beginning to make Derek nervous. “What?!” He growled.
Stiles laughed. “Nah! You can’t be the joker! You saved me…You are a hero! Hey! You growl really good too! You know the X-Men? You can be Wolverine! My dad used to read them when he was a teenager…He gave me his old comics…Except Wolverine was short….How about you be Superman and I’ll be Batman? Then we can both be heroes?”
Derek chuckled. “Sure kid. If you want.” Stiles began jumping up and down in joy. Derek got a small sly smile on his face. “But first we have to capture Wonder Woman’s secret computer journal!”
Stiles smiled. “Why?” “Because she is being brainwashed by Lex Luthor and the only way to save her is stealing it from her room!” Stiles nodded seriously. “Let’s go!”
Derek chuckled as he and Stiles made their way as stealthily as they could back to the house.
When they reached the house Esmee and Stiles’ mom were sipping tea and sitting on the lawn before the house laughing together. They had a sketch book laid out before them and Stiles’ mom was looking writing down something.
Esmee’s head shot up as she caught his scent and gave him a bemused smile at Derek’s furrowed brow, as she saw Stiles bouncing behind him.
“Stella this is my son, Derek…Derek, Stella Stilinski.” Derek skidded to a stop and gaped at her. She had Stiles’ warm golden eyes and his broad smile that was almost as familiar and comforting as his own mother’s.
“ Mrs. S?” She jumped up to hug him. “Derek!” She gave him a gentle hug. “It’s so nice to see you…Outside of the library!” She ruffled his hair affectionately
.Esmee smiled at them with a questioning look. Stella smiled at her. “Derek is my most voracious reader at the library! He stops in after school almost every day!”
Stiles smiled up at Derek. “You go to my mom’s library?” Derek blushed slightly and hung his head with a nod. Esmee gave him a proud smile.
Stella's eyes looked up remembering. “What was it you were reading? Wuthering Heights?”
Derek nodded still looking at his feet. Stella shook her head slightly in wonder. “It is one of my favorites.”
“I like Heathcliff…” Derek mumbled slowly.
“My Derek is always reading.” Esmee chuckled slightly. "He is quite the dreamer."
“And he is always a perfect polite young man when he is there. Not like some of the other kids.” Stella rubbed his arm affectionately. “Look your mom and I are planning out a garden…What do you guys think?”
She lifted up the sketch pad. Derek eyed the sketches and gave her a small smile.
Stiles hopped up to look. “I like the colors! Mom! They should come see your gardens! Do you like flowers Derek? My mom has sunflowers,roses, lavender,Artemisia,peonies,poppies….”He took a breath. “Daisies, chamomile,sage, mint, jasmine and gardenias…in pots….marigolds,rosemary,parsley,hollyhocks,coneflowers,larkspur,lilies…Which are her favorites…” Stella stopped his breathless rant with a deep hug and kissed the top of his head.
“Stiles! Ok…ok! He gets it!” She smiled down at him and their smiles matched perfectly.
Esmee stood up and brushed off her pants. “Let’s go look at those catalogues you brought. Boys come inside and you can grab some food. Do you like deviled eggs Stiles? Derek helped me make them!”
“Mom!” Derek groaned.
She hugged him to her body as they walked back to the house.
Derek sat across from Stiles and simply watched as the kid talked and ate simultaneously. His hands never stopped moving as he gestured and talked about everything.
Derek couldn’t believe he hadn’t choked on the bites of food he had in his mouth as he rambled. Stiles eyes however never left Derek’s face. It was disconcerting the way the kid seemed to be studying him.
“So…We you never told me who you are going to marry…” Stiles smiled at him.
Derek tore his sandwich apart. “I’m never getting married!” He growled again, which made Stiles chuckle. “Why?”
Derek looked up at him and rolled his eyes. “Because I don’t want to stay in one place. I want to travel. Do stuff. When you get married you have to work and take care of kids…I hate kids. I don’t want to take care of anyone…”
Stiles chuckled again. “ You don’t?…You’re nice! Just grumpy…Like my dad. He gets grumpy too. I like helping people…I want twenty kids…and a big house just like this so that everyone can come here and eat and play outside.” Stiles eyes got a faraway look.
Then he looked at Derek. “You can come too…So you will have a place to stay when you aren’t travelling ok?”
Derek rolled his eyes at him. “I’ll have my own house idiot! I won’t need to live with you!”
Stiles nodded slowly. “Just in case you want to though.” He quietly finished his sandwich and didn’t look at Derek again.
“So are we going to mess with your sister’s computer or what?” He grinned into his plate. Derek smiled at him. “Let’s go.”
After they left Derek sat on his bed reading when he heard Laura’s howl from the next room.
“Derek! What did you do to my computer!” She stormed into the room claws out eyes glittering blue.
Derek tried to put on as stoic a face as he could. “Why, Laura whatever is the matter?”
She launched herself at him. The ensuing ruckus was enough to wake Ruthie who began to wail, and bring both of their parents up to the room.
They found Laura straddling Derek and pummeling him mercilessly.
“Laura! Enough!” He father roared. Esmee pulled them apart and gave them both a shake, making their teeth rattle in their heads.
When his vision cleared he saw all three pairs of eyes on him frowning. “Well?” His father asked. Derek frowned down into his lap.
“Just playing a joke…Stiles and I borrowed her computer…”
Laura picked up the computer and turned it on. “I can’t log in…He changed my password!”
Derek jerked back in surprise. “I didn’t do that! We just changed your background…To my pretty pony!”
Laura lunged at him, but her mother caught her hand.
Esmee took the computer and laid it on the bed. “Try again honey.” Laura huffed and sat down and logged in only to get an error sign.
Derek groaned. “Stiles must have done something!” His parents regarded him with skepticism.
“ You are telling me a six year old was able to override her password and reset it?”
“He…He’s almost seven!”
“Derek! This is unbelievable!” Esmee rolled her eyes. “I’ll have to call Stella and see if he can give me the password!”
She left to grab the phone and returned speaking to Stella. “I’m sorry it is so late…It seems the boys decided to play a joke on Laura and Stiles put in a new password.”
She glared at Derek as she waited for Stella to get Stiles. “Hello Stiles. I need you to tell me the new password you put in. Yes. She is not happy. Yes. I know it was a joke. Ok. I’m not mad. Really.Really. Really. Yes we will come visit your gardens….Derek too!”
She smirked at her son’s groan. “Ok you’ll tell me? Laura get ready and write it down.” Laura grabbed one of Derek’s notebooks for school and a marker.
“Ready!” she growled.
“Uhhhm…Is that what you put as a password?” Esmee chuckled softly. “Ok. Laura. The password is: ‘Derek is a grumpy Gus but really is a hero.’
Derek’s eyes went wide as they all laughed at him. “Thank you Stiles. Goodnight.” Esmee hung up the phone. Laura squealed happily as she successful logged in and bolted from the room.
Esmee looked down at Derek with a smirk. “Seems you made quite the impression on Stiles!”
Derek growled. “I’m going to rip that kid’s throat out…with my teeth!”
Esmee laughed and stroked his head. “I think he’s a nice kid. Who knows he might end up being a friend?” Derek looked at her in astonishment. “Yeah. Like never going to happen!”