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Stiles hadn't seen his best friend all day. Scott hadn't picked him up this morning to go to school, Lydia hasn't seen him, Danny hasn't seen him, Coach has no idea and even Allison hasn't laid eyes on him since the day before.
"Hey, maybe there's some werewolf bonding exercise going on or something," Kira suggested. Stiles frowned at her,
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, Erica, Boyd and Isaac aren't here either."
"Yeah, neither is Jackson, Liam or Malia," Allison added.
Lydia convinced Stiles to leave them to whatever 'weird wolfy thing they've got going on' for at least a couple of days.
"I'm sure they'll be totally fine, I bet Derek is just training their asses after Malia's slip up the other week."
Stiles scoffed at that. Slip up? She nearly got herself killed. Like Stiles needed to worry any more about those damn were-things.
"But Kira, why aren't you there as well then?" She shrugged.
"I don't think Derek trusts me quite yet. I'm not original pack and I don't have a sob story background, so, yeah." Stiles snorted.
"He'd kill you if he heard you say that. You know he loves you." Kira rolled her eyes.
*************************************
Two days later, Stiles still had no word from Scott and Kira hadn't either. Lydia had checked Jackson's house but she said that his parents thought he was with Danny. It was a Saturday, so Stiles informed them that he was going to check Derek's place. They were bound to be there and probably just sniffing each other's butts. The humans shared a laugh.
The newly built and refurbished Hale pack house looked great, Stiles was proud to say. Derek had ordered him to help him redesign the place since the moody werewolf had no idea what the difference between light blue and teal was. Stiles had scoffed at his ignorance. The door was open, as per usual, so Stiles strolled right on through and called out,
"Derek? Is Scott here? Scotty? Erica? Malia?"
All of a sudden he heard what sounded like a herd of tiny elephants storming towards him and was knocked down by an unknown force. He groaned as he tried to sit up from his crumpled position on the floor, but was unable to by the chattering monkeys sitting on top of him.
Stiles frowned and looked up to see Derek come running into the room.
"Derek," Stiles said slowly, looking at the little toddlers crawling over his body," I don't know what you're into, but I really think that the best option here is to take these kids home to there parents, no questions asked."
Derek let out a sarcastic laugh,
"Very funny, Stiles. Goddammit would you help me?! They're driving me insane!"
Stiles was very confused.
"Derek, you can't kidnap little kids and then complain that they're driving you mad." Derek gave him an incredulous look.
"Stiles! Look at them! This is my pack!"
The lanky teen frowned down at his chest and slowly he began to recognise the crazy blond curls, the dark skin, the puppy eyes and the crooked jaw. And he also slowly began to freak out.
"...um, Derek? Why are all my friends little toddlers?"
*************************************
Stiles did the only rational thing he could think of and called Lydia.
"Woah, woah, Stiles, slow down. What's happened?"
"All our friends are four years old, Lydia! Four! Derek said that this damn witch kept calling Liam a baby and he wolfed out on her and she cursed them, so now they're all babies! Come and help me!"
"Holy shit, okay, let me just grab Kira and Allison and we'll be over as soon as possible, okay?"
Derek had tried and failed to get all the newly turned pack toddlers to sit calmly on the sofa. Now, Erica was biting his shoulder, clinging onto his back his her tiny hands, Jackson was clinging onto his leg, Liam was hanging from his neck and Malia was locked onto his arm. Stiles couldn't help but laugh at how utterly lost the alpha looked.
But then their problems became worse.
"Stiles?" He heard Lydia call, and went bounding to meet them, only to freeze in his steps when he found three little girls sitting just inside the front door. He groaned when mini Allison began to cry and tried picking them all up. It took him a minute, but he managed to get Allison and Lydia on both hips whilst Kira clung onto his back.
"Three more for you, mister alpha." Derek felt like screaming.
*************************************
"So what are we going to do with them?" Stiles muttered angrily under his breath. Him and Derek were in the kitchen while the mini pack were watching 'Mulan' on Derek's new widescreen TV. Stiles figured it would keep them entertained for a while.
Derek sighed,
"I don't know Stiles-,"
"What about Deaton?"
"He's not-,"
"Surely he'll have something in those damn books of his-,"
"Stiles-,"
"Hey, you stay with the kids and I'll go get him and then-,"
"STILES!"
"What?!"
"Just relax," Derek growled," and listen to me." Stiles huffed but gestured for the alpha to continue.
"Look, Deaton is out of town for a few more days so what we have to do is just keep them out of trouble and, well, alive. Then we can sort this shit out and I can get my pack back."
*************************************
By the time Deaton returned they'd lost Isaac twice, Jackson had nearly broken Stiles' arm, Liam had sleepwalked into the bathroom and nearly drowned in the bath, Erica had nearly cut all of Lydia's hair off and Malia had torn up two curtains.
They'd had to resort to dragging two other beds into Derek's bedroom, pushing them all together and sleeping there as a pack to avoid any other midnight mishaps, and Stiles had been forced to stay as none of the little ones would sleep without him being present as well as Derek.
The alpha was close to breaking point whereas Stiles had been surprisingly calm...up until the moment Deaton walked in and Stiles burst into tears of relief. Immediately, all of the mini pack members dropped off of Deaton, Derek and the curtains to go cuddle with the sobbing human who wept even more because of how adorable they suddenly were.
"God, you should've done that a while ago," Derek said, sighing in relief with a grin plastered on his face when he sat down next to the pile of mini werewolves for what felt like the first time in years. Deaton stood silently in the doorway to the lounge, observing the Hale pack with a slight smile.
Derek caught it and frowned, edging away from his pack a bit.
"Do you have anything useful for us?" the alpha questioned.
"Of course," Deaton said, but didn't continue. He gave a meaningful glance towards the mini pack members. Stiles, having cleared up a bit, was watching their exchange and understood what Deaton wanted.
"Right, little ones, I think it's time for bed," he announced, trying to herd the little ones upstairs before they could protest. Half of them were already falling asleep anyway, but that caused the problem of having to get them all upstairs. Derek chuckled,
"Need some help?"
"Duh."
Derek grabbed Kira and told her to hang onto his back, then scooped up Boyd and Erica into his arms with Malia clinging onto one of his legs, before slowly ascending the stairs to their shared bedroom. Stiles picked up Lydia and Scott with Isaac hanging from his neck and his legs squeezed around Stiles' middle. Jackson seemed upset that he wasn't with Stiles so the human hurried the first three upstairs before rushing back down to scoop up the pouty werewolf. Derek picked up a sleeping Liam and chuckled when Allison made grabby hands at him before scooping her up as well and taking them to bed.
*************************************
After sorting their mini pack out, the two came back downstairs to hear what Deaton's explanation was.
"Right," the vet started," as you know witches always have a purpose for conducting a spell or charm or whatever, so, I dug around and made a few calls to see what excuse this one had to turn the rest of you into little pups. Did you say that Liam snapped at her for calling him a child?" Derek nodded." Well, that'll be why then. But I was curious as to why Lydia, Kira and Allison also de-aged and why you two didn't. I discovered that the curse only works on those who are dependant on someone else who they see as a parental figure-,"
"But that doesn't make sense!" Stiles protested," I depend on my dad! So why aren't I a kid?"
Deaton smiled softly,
"Stiles, I think you'll find that your father is more dependant on you than you are on him."
Derek didn't give Stiles time to reply.
"What, so they think of us as their parents?"
Deaton shrugged,
"I guess so."
"But why are they actually acting like toddlers, they don't have any recollection as to who we are, but...don't they know who they are...well, were?"
"No, that's part of the spell. It changes them completely into toddlers in all ways."
"Okay, so how do we change them back?" Stiles questioned, wanting to get this strangeness over with. Deaton bit his lip and glanced down.
"Ah...well you see...you can't."
"What do you mean we can't?!" Derek growled.
"The spell has to wear off on its own. It won't last forever," Deaton tried assuring them," only...I don't know how long it'll last. It depends on how powerful the witch is...I think a month or two is the usual time."
"A month!"
*************************************
"Godammit, Jackson would you put your shoes on?" Stiles snapped, frustrated. The pack had been their toddler selves for a month now and it didn't look like they were getting any bigger any time soon. The mini pack were supposed to be getting ready to go to Scott's mum's house for the day so that him and Derek could have some time to have a beer and watch TV without worrying that one of the pack were getting themselves killed. Papa Stilinksi and Mama McCall hadn't even looked surprised when Stiles had explained what had happened.
Jackson stared at Stiles in shock. He barely ever yelled. Tears suddenly filled his eyes and he ran off.
"Oh, no, baby, I didn't mean it! Jackson, come back!"
Stiles had taken to using terms of endearment after about week and they seemed to like it. He'd even caught Derek calling Lydia 'princess' and the boys 'buddy'. It was cute. Something about the big bad alpha being all affectionate was a little overwhelming for Stiles, seeing as he was usually grumpy.
Derek had been helping Allison pack in the girls' room which was supposed to be where the girls sleep but is actually where they do everything but sleep. Him and Stiles had had to go shopping for new clothes for them all since they'd shrunk suddenly. Thank god for his inheritance.
Anyway, he left Allison to finish up and went to go check on the boys when Jackson ran into his legs. Almost automatically, he lifted him up and frowned when he saw Jackson's tears.
"Hey, JJ, what happened? What's wrong?"
"D-daddy yelled at m-me!" Jackson hiccuped. Derek frowned. Daddy?
"Who?" he asked softly,
"D-daddy Stiles," Jackson wailed. Derek almost crumbled into a mass of feelings at how adorable 'Daddy Stiles' sounded.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't worry, I'll go tell Daddy off, yeah? You just go finish packing, okay?" Jackson nodded and ran off when Derek released him.
The alpha made his way downstairs to the kitchen where Stiles was leaning against the kitchen island with his head in his hands.
"Hey," he murmurs softly, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck soothingly. He was glad there wasn't another werewolf to pick up on his rather possessive gesture. The human had started to smell like him and he couldn't deny that he liked it.
Stiles glanced up and Derek was startled to see tears running down the human's own cheeks.
"Did he speak to you?" Stiles croaked.
"He called you Daddy Stiles," Derek said as a reply. Stiles' eyes widened and the tears stopped which made Derek feel a lot happier for some reason.
"He did?!" Derek chuckled at the excitement in Stiles' voice. He nodded and Stiles immediately took off to go smother Jackson in affectionate kisses.
*************************************
The whole pack had now resorted to called Stiles 'Daddy' and Derek 'Papa' which they were both quite pleased about. They couldn't even manage to be annoyed when the were woken up by the mini werewolves chanting it because they wanted breakfast at four o'clock in the morning.
Things between Stiles and Derek themselves were also relaxing. John was quite surprised when he turned up with Melissa one evening to find his son lounging with his back against the alpha's chest watching TV, surrounded by little children. For a split second he could've been certain that he was visiting his grandchildren instead of a few teenagers turned toddlers.
"So, how long are you taking them?" Stiles questioned. John shrugged,
"We thought we'd take them for the weekend up to our old lake house to let them out free for a bit and give you both some peace and quiet."
"Yeah, you guys deserve it, what with there being ten of them and only two of you," Melissa added, struggling to keep Scott from climbing up her legs. He obviously recognised her scent.
"But, dad, are you sure? I mean you can't let any of them out of your sight or they'll disappear and that can't happen, I mean Liam is always wandering off with Isaac and Allison has the tendency to go off into any large body of water and if she drowns I would never forgive myself and Jackson is a very needy toddler, I don't think he'd like being away from me for so long, and-,"
"Stiles they'll be fine!" Derek interrupted, taking a hold of Stiles' hands to stop him from clenching them nervously.
"Derek we don't know what could happen,-"
"Nothing. Nothing will happen, okay? It's two days, that's it. Relax."
John looked between his son and Derek as they stared at each other, obviously having a little silent argument. Melissa nudged him, raising her eyebrows in question. John shrugged and sighed deeply, turning instead to pick up Boyd who had been sitting at his feet for a while.
Stiles finally sighed in defeat.
"Okay, fine, but only two days."
"Yes," Derek breathed. And so the little ones got packed and made sure to give their 'Papa' and 'Daddy' big hugs and kisses before they left. Derek and Stiles had agreed that it was best to encourage love and affection because they didn't know how long this would last and they weren't prepared to deal with moody, aggressive kids.
"Bye sweethearts, Daddy loves you all, stay safe!" Stiles called after the Sheriff's big minivan that he'd borrowed especially for the occasion.
"Papa loves you as well!" Derek shouted, wrapping his arm around Stiles' waist, feeling the human relax into him slightly. The alpha would always insist that it was a show for the children and if they didn't see them then it was good practice. Stiles always knew it was bullshit.
"And Dad remember to call us when you get there!" Stiles yelled. He saw the sheriff's thumb sticking out of his window as a sign of confirmation but that didn't make him feel any better.
*************************************
Stiles had been muttering worriedly to himself the entire way through the baseball match he and Derek were supposed to be watching and, frankly,
the werewolf had had enough of it.
"Come on, we're going out," he declared as he stood suddenly and went to switch off the TV. Stiles' head snapped up in confusion,
"But your favourite team is playing," he stated, raising an eyebrow.
"They'll play again," Derek replied dismissively. Stiles frowned deeply.
"Derek just sit down and watch the game, I was watching it as well."
"No you weren't, Stiles, you were worrying. And when my-," MATE,"- pack is worried then it is my duty to release them of said worries. Come on, you'll like it. Promise."
Stiles finally got up and followed Derek to the front door.
"Just stay here for a minute, I just need to grab something," Derek said as Stiles shoved on some Vans. Raising an eyebrow was his only reaction to the werewolf's statement. Minutes later, a pick up truck was parked in front of the Hale house.
"Where the hell have you been hiding this?" Stiles questioned, leaping off the large porch with a grin nearly cracking his face in two. If he wasn't so dedicated to his beloved jeep, then this was the sort of thing he'd had an eye on.
Derek shrugged,
"There's an old garage out back - this was my cousin's...," he trailed off and Stiles didn't ask anymore questions about it. Instead, he watched as the alpha busied himself with dragging a duvet, blankets and pillows from the house to fill the bed of the truck.
"Get in," Derek said finally when he'd finished, opening the passenger side. Stiles climbed in without hesitation. Derek locked the house up and then got into the pick-up as well.
"So where are we headed?" Derek didn't reply. Stiles huffed but didn't ask again.
*************************************
Finally, Derek pulled the pick-up from the road and into an empty field. They were in the middle of the woods surrounding the Hale house, somewhere Stiles had never ventured before.
Derek didn't say anything as he parked in the centre of the field, turning off the ignition and getting out of the truck. Frowning slightly, Stiles copied his actions and followed the werewolf to the back of the pick-up.
Derek looked at him and smirked,
"Get in." Stiles' frown deepened,
"What?"
"Get in," the alpha repeated, his eyes accidentally flashing red. He'd grown accustomed to flashing them when giving orders to his pack during training.
"Okay, alpha, relax I'm getting in," Stiles raised his hands in mock defence. Derek had to stop himself from growling in appreciation at how Stiles addressed him. Taking a deep breath he climbed in after the human.
*************************************
"You see Orion up there? There's Canis Major just at the bottom left of Orion, and then Canis Minor above it - you see it, Derek?"
The alpha was staring fondly down at Stiles, watching the human with mild adoration as he named each and every constellation he could think of. Stiles realised he was being watched and frowned,
"Are you listening Derek?" The werewolf nodded absentmindedly, focusing more on the way the teen's mouth moved to form his words.
"I think my favourite is the Pegasus," Stiles continued. Derek listened to his ramblings, lazily carding his fingers through the long, soft threads of Stiles' hair. After a while the boy stopped talking and they simply laid together, Derek humming some tune that Stiles didn't know.
"Stiles?" the alpha murmured. The younger man glanced up at him with those gorgeous brown eyes of his and Derek found himself at a loss of words for a moment. Blinking, he carried on,
"Stiles...I need you to know something."
Stiles rolled onto his stomach, resting his arms on Derek's chest so he could look at the werewolf curiously and gesture for him to continue. The alpha fidgeted a bit, not sure about whether to continue or not. He closed his eyes and took a chance.
"How much have you researched about us werewolves and...,"
"Mates?" Stiles whispered. Derek's eyes snapped open and down to look at the human's face in a mix of fear, surprise and slight admiration.
"Um...yeah." Stiles smiled softly,
"I looked out for signs,"
"You did?"
"I kinda wanted it to be you," Stiles shrugged, his eyes sliding away to stare at Derek's chest.
The alpha couldn't stop the massive grin from spreading across his face, and he tipped up Stiles' chin to look him in the eye.
"I think I might like you, Stiles Stilinski," Derek murmured.
"Oh that's good, cause I think I might like you too, Derek Hale," the teen replied just as softly. Stiles had to shuffle up awkwardly in order for him to press his lips against the older mans lips, mumbling for him to stop chuckling.
*************************************
The first one to change back was Lydia. Stiles woke up one morning, about six months after the pack had first shrunk, with this weight on his chest. He was used to it by now. Both he and Derek would always wake up with their pups sprawled all over them, snoring their heads off. However this time he knew something was different when he had a face full of strawberry blonde hair.
"The hell?" Stiles murmured, fidgeting slightly. That woke up Derek immediately, the werewolf sensing his mate's arousal from sleep. The alpha blinked sleepily when he realised there was no danger, then his eyes snapped open in shock.
"Lydia!" That woke Stiles up.
"Lydia?!"
"What? I'm trying to sleep!" the ginger moaned, shifting slightly so that her arms wrapped lazily around Stiles' waist. Derek growled lowly in his chest before remembering himself and grinning instead.
Thankfully, Lydia slowly began to remember her time as a toddler. She laughed as Stiles and Derek told her stories and showed her pictures from their six months as toddlers. After going to fetch he dog Prada from Mama McCall, Lydia came back to help look after the rest of the pack. By the end of the day she was exhausted and asking how the hell they coped for so long.
*************************************
One after one the pack became teenagers again. After Lydia came Kira, then Allison, and then, later in the day, Boyd. A few days past before Erica returned to normal, along with Malia and Isaac the day after. Liam came back a week after Lydia, with Scott waking up the right size the next day, nearly crushing Stiles under his weight.
What came as the biggest shock was the fact that Jackson only came back to them two weeks after Lydia. He woke up as an eighteen-year-old snuggled between Stiles and his sourwolf, and Derek could smell the happiness radiating from him when Stiles whooped, kissing him all over his face.
It took him a moment to gather his wits before he asked nervously,
"Do you think I can still call you Daddy and Papa?"
Derek had never before seen someone cry so much with happiness as Stiles did in answer to that question.
*************************************
The alpha fondly remembered that moment as he watched his mate sob in delight when they were declared fit parents to adopt a toddler named Jaime. He might have also let a few tears slide when they received a call about a tiny newborn girl with no name. He definitely wept when Stiles suggested they call her Talia, before gathering up the courage to ask Stiles to marry him the next day as the human held their baby in his arms (which Derek decided had been a bit of a bad idea when he had to catch Talia as Stiles dropped her in shock).
And so the pack grew. Erica and Boyd got married and had a little girl with tan skin and dark blond curls. It was barely a year later when the pack started sensing yet another heartbeat in Erica's stomach, and then a few months later, she had to be rushed to hospital in the middle of Liam's graduation.
Lydia was pregnant when Jackson asked for her hand, which caused him to get a smack on the back of the head because she "wouldn't be goddamn fat on her wedding day". Stiles and Derek held a red-headed twin each whilst watching the two become man and wife.
Isaac and Allison had vowed never to have children after agreeing to look after all five pack children at once for a day. However that idea quickly dissolved when Allison threw up all over her dress the morning of their wedding. Their little boy had pale skin and dark curls, and those big puppy eyes from Isaac.
Kira and Scott were the last to be married. They waited until they were both through college and Scott was officially a trained veterinarian. Kira announced she was pregnant during the following feast that Stiles had ordered to be customary for every wedding within the pack.
As far as Malia and Liam went, last the pack heard from them Malia was dragging the boy through Australia towards China and promising to be back by Thanksgiving.
Derek had never been happier with a witch's curse.