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Something pulling at Lydia’s socks woke her up. When both her feet were bare, she had a pretty good idea who was behind all of this. She opened her eyes sleepily and spotted Claudia at the end of her bed. She didn’t need to wake Stiles, who was sleeping next to her, as Claudia had now started to pull off her dad’s socks as well, waking him up in the process. Lydia kissed his cheek. “Good morning.” She whispered in his ear. Little Claudia crawled upwards. Filling the gap between her parents. “It’s Christmas. Today is Christmas.”, she stated excitedly, kissing first Stiles and then Lydia on the temple. “Yeah it is, little one.” Stiles said pulling the girl into a tight embrace, tickling her, making her laugh and flail uncontrollably.
Lydia smiled at him. Seeing them together always made her heart grew big. Even though they had now been married for seven years, Lydia still couldn’t stare long enough into his whisky eyes, count all of his moles or get enough of his obsession with Star Wars and his analysis of Obi-Wan as the best character in the whole series. Lydia was madly in love with this man and she couldn’t see how this was ever going to change.
Stiles kissed Claudia on the forehead and sat up. “How about we make breakfast and then get going? You wouldn’t want to miss a single minute you could spend with grandpa instead.” He said and Claudia shot up and ran to her room, already getting dressed and ready. Lydia shook her head smiling. “What?” Stiles asked her. “Nothing. I’m just happy.” She responded and then lunged forward kissing him sweetly on the lips.
They all had a quick breakfast and then left for their forty minute drive. Their bags were already packed and stored in the car. Stiles for once had proposed to do it that way, because the last years they had always been late. And really, this time they actually left when they had planned to and expected to arrive even a bit early.
They listened to a Christmas audio book Claudia loved. She knew the dialog by heart and always insisted that Lydia spoke the voice of the elf and Stiles the voice of the bear. It was one of her favourite things to do, when driving for a longer time. And it also kept her from asking, when they were finally going to arrive, every five minutes, so everyone in the car played along. They listened to the audio book twice and stopped at a rest stop because Claudia wouldn’t stop asking for a chocolate cookie.
Even though Lydia repeatedly told her that she could get one when they stopped at the supermarket in Beacon Hills, she started to pucker her lips, furrow her eyebrows and kept repeating “I want a chocolate cookie.” in different voices. Stiles suggested that they should just give in because he wasn’t going to take this for fifteen more minutes, so they stopped and Claudia jumped out of the car, already running for the sweets shop.
“She’s got that from you, you know. The stubbornness.” Stiles whispered teasingly in Lydia’s ear once they were paying for the chocolate cookie. He kissed her on the cheek quickly and smiled cheekily. Lydia just huffed and shook her head, but couldn’t stop herself from smiling when she looked down at the little redhead that was jumping up and down with excitement. She did remind her of herself.
They arrived in Beacon Hills not much later. The moment the car stopped, Claudia jumped out and ran into her grandpa’s arms. The Sheriff was waiting outside, crouching as he saw Claudia running for him, so he could pick her up. “You look beautiful today, Diddy.” He said to the little girl with the bright brown eyes that resembled his late wife’s so much. Claudia beamed and wouldn’t let go of her grandpa’s waist. Stiles was carrying the bags and set them down on the porch, stretching his arms out wide and embraced his father. “Hi, Dad.” He exhaled. “Welcome home son.”, responded the Sheriff. And Lydia could have sworn she saw Stiles’ eyes get a bit misty. She hugged her father in law and then they all went inside.
Melissa was waiting for them in the kitchen, already cooking the dinner. “Already busy?” Lydia greeted her. Melissa had her hair in a bun, her red apron was dirty and there were so many knifes and ingredients lying around, that the kitchen counters were barely visible. “Lydia, hello honey.” The curly haired responded. The girls hugged. Lydia put on an apron herself and looked around in the kitchen, looking for the recipe Melissa was using. She found a paper with a vage recipe scribbled on it. Lydia studied it quickly and then went over to Melissa to help her.
“How are you, Lydia. How is Claudia?” Melissa asked honestly. Lydia smiled, cutting the carrots in front of her. “Oh we are good. Claudia is already looking forward to school, we thought about sending her early next year, she has finished her first book a week ago. Stiles is so proud of her.” Melissa stroked her arm. “I’m glad you are happy.”
The two kept preparing the dinner and talked about Lydia’s work. Melissa’s raise and Stiles’ promotion. They talked about Claudia and Allison and Scott’s daughter Mary. They talked and cooked and drank some tea until it was getting dark outside.
Whilst the two cooked, Claudia, Stiles and the Sheriff spent their day outside, playing in the snow. Claudia wanted to build a snow-bear. Bears were her favourite animals and even though Stiles and his dad really tried hard, the bear Claudia had cutely named Albert, looked more like a pile of snow with stones as eyes and a twig as a mouth, rather than an actual bear, but Claudia loved him nonetheless. She even gave him a hat, a red bowl she had snatched from the dining table.
The three had no feeling left in their fingers and toes when it started to get dark outside. Albert now had a wife and two kids and Stiles’ as Noah’s fingers were about to fall off. The last half hour Claudia had instructed them on what to do and wasn’t building herself anymore, she was head supervisor of the snow-bear builders, at least that’s what she proudly called herself. After they had finished the bear family in the garden Stiles stated that he now desperately needed coffee and his Dad agreed laughing.
Stiles spotted Lydia through the kitchen window, seeing her laughing, her hair a messy bun, her eyes small from the honest smile on her face. Stiles couldn’t help himself but smile too and ask himself how he deserved such a wonderful woman as his wife.
Claudia ran up to him and he picked her up, cuddling the little redhead. He gently put her down and kissed her on the forehead. She was smiling brightly and Stiles was just in awe of this little girl, that he proudly called his daughter. “You,” He said tipping her tiny nose with his cold index finger, “are the most beautiful girl in the world.” Claudia beamed and kissed him on the cheek. “You are the best dad ever.” She whispered in his ear. Her warm breath tickled his ear, but he didn’t mind. He picked her up again and carried her inside.
Melissa greeted them with a tray of hot cocoa and coffee. “What did we do to deserve this?”, Noah asked and kissed Melissa sweetly on the cheek. Stiles shook his head as he watched Lydia across the room, thinking the exact same thing.
The dining table was beautifully decorated, with holly and red ribbons, twigs and pine cones. They had all settled down and drunk their hot beverages, when the bell rung. “I’ll get it!” Stiles offered. He was so excited to see his best friend again, he jogged over to the door and swung it open forcefully. In front of him stood Scott with Allison, Mary in her arms and Chris beaming in the background. Stiles hugged his best friend and both were equally happy to see each other, they never wanted to draw out of the embrace.
It was the first Christmas eve they all spent together. The previous years they were spilt up and everyone celebrated separately, but this year it was Melissa’s idea to combine their celebrations and nobody had any objections to that. Melissa and Lydia had prepared stuffed turkey, roast potatoes, brussels sprouts and red cabbage. It all looked and smelled incredibly delicious. They all helped themselves, and soon everyone was deep in conversation.
The two little girls talking about Santa and Mary swearing, that she had seen Santa’s sleigh in the sky just before they went into the house. Scott and Stiles catching up, and Stiles somewhen in the middle blurting out “You still haven’t seen it!?”. Allison and Lydia talking about everything they’ve missed these past six months and Melissa interrogating Chris about his love life.
It was past eleven when everyone left. Mary and Claudia had fallen asleep on the sofa, Melissa and Allison were both slightly tipsy due to the four glasses of red wine they had. They kissed goodbye, Stiles picked the little ball of duvet, which was Claudia, up and carried her to his dad’s room. He had offered, that she could sleep in his room, so Stiles and Lydia had some privacy. It was two minutes before midnight, as they whispered a good night to Noah and closed the door to Stiles’ old bedroom.
They slipped under the covers, snuggling up next to each other. Lydia rested her head on Stiles chest, who was stroking through her long wavy hair. “We had our first time in this room. Remember?” Lydia asked chuckling silently. “How could I forget?” He responded and Lydia could practically hear the smug grin on his face. Stiles leaned down to her a bit and kissed her forehead. “It was the most memorable night of my life.” He whispered. Lydia huffed. “Apart from our wedding and Claudia’s birth obviously.” He corrected himself quickly. Lydia drew circles across his chest all the way down to the hem of his boxers. “How would you feel about revoking said night?” Lydia asked in a flirting tone. But before she could slip her hand into his boxers, Stiles threw himself on top of her, slipping a hand into her underwear, making her laugh and shudder at the same time. “But we can’t be as loud as last tim-” Lydia was about to finish her sentence but Stiles cut her off with a kiss on the lips. Though Lydia definitely didn’t mind not being able to finish her sentence, as she was solely focused on what he did next.
They woke up early, both with a grin on their lips from the memories of last night. They had already put most presents under the tree the night before, but added now the last ones they had forgotten in the car. Stiles had already drunk the milk and ate the cookies the night before, which Claudia had obviously intended for Santa and not her dad. As a last little touch, they strew some pine needles from the chimney to the tree, to make it seem more realistic. Stiles had told Lydia, that that’s what his mom always used to do when he was little, the first time they celebrated Christmas together. And ever since it was a Martin-Stilinski family tradition.
Melissa had left an hour ago, to celebrate with Scott and Allison and Mary. So it was just the three of them and little Claudia. She woke up at seven and eagerly ran down the stairs. Stiles, Lydia and the Sheriff were already waiting for the little girl. Her eyes grew immensely big when she saw the presents and the empty glass of milk and plate of cookies. “Look there are even pine needles on the floor!” She exclaimed in such a sweet high voice, Stiles almost melted on the spot. Lydia grabbed the little redhead and lifted her up, kissing her on both cheeks. “Merry Christmas honey.” Lydia whispered in her ear and when she let her down again and looked into the big whisky marbles, that sparkled with the fairy lights of the Christmas tree, she could have sworn she looked right into Stiles’ eyes.
Claudia was so excited she snatched the first present with her name and place it on the coffee table. She handed a present to everyone and they all sat down together unwrapping their presents. Stiles’ had put on some Christmas songs, that now played softly in the background, as occasional “Oh thank you”-s and gasps from Claudia were audible over the carols. It was magical, seeing Claudia beam with joy and excitement every time she opened one of her presents. It made Lydia so happy, because it reminded her of her own childhood Christmases back when her family wasn’t broken apart and everyone was still joyful and happy.
“Santa is the best!” Claudia nearly screamed as she opened a present wrapped in gold wrapping paper, which contained a necklace with “Claudia” engraved into a gold circle. Ever since Stiles had given Lydia one for her 32nd birthday, Claudia was obsessed with it. Lydia was even wearing it now. “See, we match.” Lydia said as she showed her the gold necklace around her neck. Claudia smiled brightly. “Cloud you help me with that?” Claudia asked her granddad, giving him the necklace, so he could close it from behind. “You look just like your mom.” The Sheriff said, knowing Claudia would love to hear that, as she thought her mom was the most beautiful person on the planet.
Claudia ran over to Lydia and sat down on her lap, hugging her. “I love you, mommy.” She said. “I love you too, sweetie.” Lydia responded.
Noah handed Stiles a present and watched him unwrap it. It was an old photograph of Claudia and baby Stiles in the hospital. “I found it in the attic. It’s the first picture ever taken of you two.” He explained. Stiles’ eyes were watering, but he wasn’t ashamed. He stood up and hugged his dad, not saying the obvious thing, as love confessions weren’t suitable at this point anymore. They just hugged and their embrace said much more than words ever could.
They spent the day together, having a nice breakfast, taking a walk through the snow. Later Stiles read a book for Claudia she had got this Christmas. It was a tale about a bear family and their adventures through the woods. Claudia was hanging at his lips. Lydia just watched them, snuggled up in an armchair, drinking tea.
It was past six and Noah and Claudia were playing a card game in the living room. Lydia went over to Stiles, who had been flicking through the pages of a “On the set of Star Wars” book, he had got from Lydia. She offered him a hand and asked him to follow her in his room.
“There is a present I haven’t given to you yet.” Lydia started. They sat on Stiles’ bed, next to each other still holding hands. Lydia kissed him on the lips, a smile creeping up on her face. “A kiss is my-” Stiles began but Lydia cut him off. “Claudia is getting a sibling.” Lydia proposed smiling expectantly. Startled Stiles looked from Lydia to her belly and up again. “Seriously?” He asked, tears of joy blinding his sight. “Yeah.” She said kissing him again. As Stiles drew out of the kiss, eyes still wet he bent down to her belly and whispered. “I love you already, little one.” Lydia lifted her shirt up and Stiles gently kissed her belly. “And you-” he said, now face to face with Lydia again. “Are the love of my life.”
She squeezed his hands looking at him. “Should we go tell your dad and Claudia?” Lydia asked. Stiles just nodded smiling. “This is honestly, the best Christmas present anyone has ever given to me.” He said and kissed her one last time before they stood up and left to tell the two downstairs.
He closed his door and watched Lydia go down the stairs. But for one moment he didn’t move. He just looked at her gracefully walk down the stairs and then looked back at his old bedroom’s door. This was what he had always dreamed of. Returning to this room with Lydia as his wife. This was his sole wish. The girl of his dreams as the mother of his children. And in this moment he realized, just how lucky he was for his ten year plan to have actually worked.