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"Dad! Look! New sneakers!" Daniel says as soon as the front door opens.
"Really? Come here and show me. Let me see them." Jackson says from the sofa.
"He insisted on wearing them," Stiles says, closing the door.
Daniel goes running to the sofa and Jackson helps him to sit on his lap.
"They are pretty, see? You like?" Daniel says smiling, bouncing his legs.
"Yes, very nice. You have good taste. Very colorful," Jackson nods. He runs his right hand through his son's hair distractedly, looking at his son and glancing at Stiles who smiles at Daniel's antics.
The sneakers are a vivid combination of colors, neon green matched to blue, red, and white with red shoelaces.
"I like blue, green and red..." Daniel says, pointing at the colors.
"Yes, I can see that." Jackson nods again. "I like them too."
"I guess he won't want to wear the old ones anymore." Stiles is holding a bag with the old trainers inside the new sneaker's box.
"No, they are still good for school. He'll still use them when the excitement wears off a bit."
"I guess he didn't give you any problem, right?" Jackson continues.
"No, It was fine... just the usual Whittemore stubbornness..." Stiles smiles, his eyes crinkled at the corners.
"Yeah, he knows what he likes, y'know?" Jackson grins.
"Are you happy? Did you say thank you to daddy?" Jackson asks Daniel.
"Yes! I'm happy. Thank you, daddy. I'm hungy!" Daniel says, making a sudden movement with his left arm, hitting Jackson with his elbow.
"Shit." Jackson shakes his head, rubbing his belly with his left hand, his right one around Daniel's waist.
"Dad! Bad word! Bad word!" Daniel says, frowning.
"Yes, bad word, I'm sorry, baby." Jackson adds touching his belly.
"Are you okay?" Stiles frowns.
"Yeah, I'm okay, don't worry."
"Baby hurt?" Daniel says with a worried expression, resting his hand over Jackson's.
"No, the baby is fine." Jackson places Daniel's smaller hand under his where the baby is kicking. "Can you feel that? It's saying hello."
Daniel's expression turns into a big smile, raising his eyebrows with surprise. "The baby is happy! Little brother!"
Stiles sits sideways on the sofa, next to them. "We don't know, baby, maybe it's a baby girl."
"I like a brother, please!" Because apparently, when you say please, you usually get what you want.
"Sorry baby but you can't choose. It doesn't work that way. Maybe it's a boy, but it could be a girl too... it will be a surprise," Stiles says amused.
"Maybe your son is right... I didn't want to say anything but I've been having this feeling... and I think it's a boy. I can't really tell you why... it's a gut feeling but I was right with Daniel..."
"Yay! Little brother! Little brother!" Daniel repeats excitedly.
"You were?" Stiles asks.
"Yes. Derek says it could be a wolf's sixth sense... but I don't know... he has zero experience..."
"Want to see the baby," Daniel says with a sad expression.
"We want to see it too, baby, but it needs to grow and get bigger and stronger before it's ready to come out to meet us. We just need to be patient and wait a little longer," Jackson says, running a hand through Daniel's soft hair. "Which reminds me that we should start to remodel the room."
"I thought you wanted to wait," Stiles says.
"Well, everything is fine and I want to do as much as I can, so I'd rather do it now that I'm still feeling pretty good, y'know? We need to paint, and change the furniture." Since they are getting rid of the guest room which is barely used anyway. "I'd prefer not having to ask Scott for help, or anybody else for that matter. We still have Daniel's crib and everything we bought back then, including most of his clothes, so that's something we don't have to worry about."
"If you want," Jackson continues. "I was thinking that we could choose some paint on Monday. In a couple of weeks I don't think I'm going to be able to go shopping again for a long time."
"Yeah," Stiles nods, "we could go in the morning when Daniel is at school."
"Okay, let's go wash these hands," Jackson says, getting up slowly. "You're hungry and I don't know about your daddy, but I'm hungry too and the pasta has been ready for a while."
"Yes! Spaghetti! I want Spaghetti!" Because usually when Jackson cooks pasta is always spaghetti bolognese.
"Yes, bathroom first, come on." Jackson says, following his son to the bathroom on the ground floor.
**************
Once they have finished lunch and Daniel is taking a nap. They sit down to watch some TV.
"Derek came by this morning while you were at the mall." Jackson says distractedly, not paying much attention to the movie.
"Really?" Stiles says surprised.
"Yeah, I told you I'd talk to him about what happened..."
"I thought you were coming with me to the pack meeting tomorrow." Stiles sits sideways to look at him.
"And I'm going. But I sent him a text..."
Stiles can't help but snort a small laugh. "You shouldn't be allowed to text anybody. Like there should be a law forbidding it." Because Jackson is the worst at texting. "Next time, just call him, okay?"
"I can't make any promises..." Jackson says with a chuckle.
Stiles rolls his eyes dramatically and smiles at the same time.
"Anyway, he asked me how the date went... how we are doing, y'know. Of course, he also asked what was wrong and I explained what happened. I tried not to give too many details but I mean, I had to explain stuff..."
"Yeah, I bet." Stiles says. "What did he say then?
"He pretty much confirmed what I told you. That six months is a long time and I shouldn't have taken the risk if I didn't want that to happen."
"So he thinks it could happen again?" Stiles frowns.
"I didn't ask him... but yeah, I'm not gonna lie to you... I think it's possible," Jackson admits.
"He also said that my wolf would never really hurt you. So, I mean, he thinks it's safe... that's there's no reason to worry. And I'd rather not repeat other stuff he told me..."
Stiles is confused by that but he doesn't feel like pushing.
"So, it's safe, that's all he said?" Stiles asks.
"Yeah, he understood why I was worried but he basically asked me not to mention this stuff to him again. But if you still want, just ask him tomorrow."
"I don't think so." Stiles shakes his head.
"Stiles... You don't have to worry, okay? I'm not going to put you in that position again."
"What do you mean?" Stiles frowns.
"Just what I said. It was my fault. I started it and I won't make that mistake again. You don't have to be afraid." Jackson insists.
"Jackson, I'm not afraid, okay? I was just temporally surprised but I can handle it. Besides, I don't think you started it... I had a something to do with that too, y'know?"
"But you shouldn't have to handle anything..." Jackson waves his right arm.
"But what if I want to?"
"You want to?" Jackson asks.
"Yeah, I've been thinking about it and the more we wait the more anxious or whatever... you wolf is going to be. I don't want to make things worse."
"Well, I don't know. Despite what happened, things are definitely better now." The truth is that what Stiles just said has taken him by surprise. "I guess we should take things slow. One step at a time. Trust me, it's going to be okay, I promise," Jackson says.
"Okay," Stiles agrees, taking Jackson's left hand. "I trust you. we'll do it your way."
Trust you. Probably Stiles doesn't know the effect that those words have on him but they calm his wolf and warm his heart in a way that Jackson has really missed.