~*~Ten Years Later~*~

Derek figured teaching was like any other job out there. There were good days, bad days, days that just were. But at no point did he regret his decision to become a high school American History teacher.

He didn't get the job the fall after he and Stiles got together and wound up spending the year working at Oak Creek Day Center. Then it was two years substitute teaching at Beacon Hills High, filling in wherever he was needed, slowly gaining the respect of both students and other teachers alike.

But now he'd been employed for nearly seven school years, which meant he'd honed in his skills and was able to tell when a student was breaking the rules or not paying attention, even with his back turned to the class as he wrote down key inventions of the Industrial Revolution on the chalkboard.

"Garrett," he called out, dotting his i's and putting the piece of chalk on the rack then turning around, smug smile on his face. "That text better be an apology you're sending Violet explaining how you'll be unable to hang out after school as you'll be busy in detention." He swiped his hands together to get rid of the chalk dust, not wanting to get it on his vest or khakis, before folding his arms over his chest and giving the student a pointed look.

Garrett wore a look of innocence, the "who, me?" as plain on his face as his blue eyes or the smug grin he usually wore. Not much had changed in the Alpha over the past decade or so since Derek had watched over him at Oak Creek Day Center. Sure, he was taller now, reaching about five-foot-eight or so, and his blond hair was longer, styled with a side-swipe straight out of the fifties, but he still kept to himself, still wore an air of superiority that gave Alphas a bad name, his general disdain for those around him now hidden behind charismatic smiles and saccharine words that would easily fool those who didn't know him well.

But Derek knew him, and therefore knew it was an act, knew that deep down, Garrett was just as disgusted and annoyed with everyone as his girlfriend Violet, only she wore it on her face on a daily basis.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Mr Hale," the young Alpha replied with a smarmy smile, forearms draped across his open text book.

That was currently displaying the wrong page and had obviously just been opened in order to hide a cell beneath it.

"Uh huh," Derek deadpanned with a dubious expression on his face, arms crossed as he made his way down the aisle between two rows of desks. "And it's Mr Stilinski-Hale," he reminded him.

Unnecessarily reminded him anyway, considering the fact that Garrett had known him as "Derek" during his day care days and the older Alpha had been going by that name since his Mating nearly six years ago.

He drew to a stop by Garrett's desk in the back row and held out his hand, fingers repeatedly curling in a "gimme" fashion. "Hand over the phone."

That wiped the cocky grin off the kid's face, features falling, lips parting in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"Can and am. Hand it over."

Garrett glanced at Violet for back-up and when he got nothing in return, he shuffled in his seat, rising up from his previously slumped position. "I'm pretty sure you aren't allowed to take my personal belongings."

This time, it was the teacher's turn to smirk in a smug fashion, arms folded up, biceps on display despite the button down covering his arms. "Actually it says in the teacher's handbook that I'm allowed to confiscate anything and everything that I believe to be disruptive in the classroom environment. It's also up to my discretion whether or not to allow cell phones for calculators or research purposes and I say no. So," he paused, holding out his hand once more. "Hand it over."

The student's scent was full of anger and resentment, his eyes narrowed and his jaw working, and he begrudgingly flipped his textbook closed, revealing a still lit smartphone. The fool hadn't even bothered to lock the damn thing to cover his tracks. He slapped it into Derek's palm, the older man sarcastically thanking him with an even smugger grin, turning on a booted heel to head back to the chalkboard.

"Mason, unless you feel like joining your friend this afternoon, I suggest you get your goo-goo eyes off Corey and onto the board," he commented, his own green orbs fixed on the phone he was currently switching off, not bothering to look at the mentioned student until he was at the front of the room.

Mason had grown, too, and his sunny outlook and eternal optimism was still just as strong as it had been when he was a kid. He sat there gaping at Derek, the kid next to him flushing wildly beneath brown eyes and messy brown hair, hiding a smirk behind his hand.

"Me and Garrett aren't friends," Mason muttered almost absently, pointing behind him at the blond boy.

Derek cocked an eyebrow as he stashed the confiscated phone in his desk and locked the drawer. "Funny how that's the part you choose to correct me on and not the flirtatious eye contact."

Liam snickered as Mason floundered once more, Hayden reaching across the aisle to smack his shoulder and give him a disapproving look. The young Omega immediately sobered up under his Alpha's chastising head shake and Derek watched the exchange with care, making sure no one was being coerced into anything against their will.

Not that he thought Hayden would pull anything like that. Hell, she was the reason why Liam was as well-behaved and as calm as he was. Halfway through his freshman year, he'd gotten kicked out of his previous school Devenford Prep for behavioral issues that had culminated in a physical altercation with his friend Brett. Apparently the young Omega hadn't appreciated his efforts to calm him down, screaming that Brett wasn't his Alpha as he clawed and bit at him.

When Derek heard about the incident, he immediately went to Liam to offer him someone to talk to should he need it, adding in that Stiles would be more than willing to give advice as another Omega, one not as keen as others when it came to being controlled by an Alpha. Liam had thanked him and had even called Stiles a few times for help with "Omega issues"—something Derek didn't even want to know what it meant—but reconnecting with Hayden—who turned out to actually be his Alpha—had gone a long way in leveling the kid out.

Derek gave another long look at his students, all of them with serious, focused faces—minus Violet who was grinding her jaw and glaring like she was plotting the teacher's murder in her head, and Garrett who was staring at where he was aggressively tapping his pen on his textbook like he was stabbing something. Satisfied, he gave a quick nod and turned back to the board.

Really not how he'd wanted his Friday to start.

Detention was always an hour, no more, no less, and Garrett showed up to his bitching and complaining—"I had plans, you know?" "And I didn't? It's Friday for me, too, now wash those desks."—but a threat to discuss this with Principal Finch quickly shut him up.

Derek's desks had never looked shinier.

At four-thirty-five, he was finally climbing into his Toyota FJ Cruiser, the car a purchase five years ago when he and Stiles had become more safety-conscious and it was clear the Jeep was going nowhere. They still had the Camaro, of course, but it mainly stayed in the garage, only coming out on monthly date nights or when going to the school by himself on parent-teacher conference nights.

"Aw hell," he muttered as he pulled out the parking lot, realizing that night was coming up soon.

He got stuck in Friday traffic and barely made it to his destination before five, struggling to find a parking spot amongst all the other cars rushing to get home to start their own weekend. Vest abandoned on his passenger seat, he only just remembered to lock the car in his haste to get inside, running down the hall to the right room in order to find—

"Daddy!"

A huge grin broke out in his face at the sight of his four year old daughter, the reason for the safety-conscious car and the debate over minivans—"Death first." "Tell me how you really feel, Der."—and why he was at Oak Creek Day Center in the first place.

Claudia rushed over, bright pink tulle skirt fluttering and bouncing above her black leggings, thick brown curls flying above her blue tee with the Captain America shield on it, purple rain boots completing the look. A wide smile was on her face, freckles across her cheekbones and nose, three moles forming a perfect triangle near her left temple, and with her button nose, it was no surprise whose biological kid she was.

And that was before factoring in the love of comic book superheroes and the endless amount of energy and sass she contained.

Derek scooped her up in his arms in a well-practiced maneuver, swinging her up high before putting her on his hip, rubbing their cheeks together to scent-mark her and making her giggle. "Hey, Princess," he replied when his wolf believed she was sufficiently marked, raising his head to smile at her. "I see Papa let you pick out your own clothes again."

"Yup!" she yelled proudly, rubbing her hands down her torso, grin still on display.

It was something new that had apparently been going on, something Derek had no control over. Their morning routines consisted of him making breakfast as Stiles showered, the family all eating together before the Alpha had to head to work, leaving Stiles to get the kids dressed and taking them to day care. And since his shifts were all over the place, Derek was the one who picked them up on the way home.

And with Stiles being the "Fun Parent"—not Derek's words, of course—that meant Claudia got away with a mishmosh of a crazy outfit that she chose for herself.

Derek wondered if she wasn't a little bit colorblind. Or if she just didn't care, like her Papa.

Jennifer walked over with a smile on her face, hands on her hips as her own twins made a loud ruckus in the background. "You gonna show your daddy what you found today?" she asked Claudia with a wink, causing Derek's eyebrow to quirk up in confusion before turning to his daughter.

She gasped excitedly, eyes going wide and hands flailing about, her dad missing getting smacked in the face solely due to his faster reflexes as an adult Alpha. "Daddy, look!" she instructed, showing off her teeth and pushing her tongue against them repeatedly.

Making one of the top ones wiggle ever so slightly.

Oh fuck, his little girl was getting her first loose tooth. She was growing up.

Shit shit shit.

He smiled widely, hiding his upset from his face and scent despite her not knowing how to decipher chemosignals just yet, but knowing when someone smelled "funny" with negative emotions. "That's great, Princess," he stated, bouncing her slightly and making her giggle again. "Why don't you get your stuff so we can get your brother and go home? Then you can show Papa."

"Papa Papa Papa!" she began chanting, wiggling before sliding down her dad's leg and racing to the back table to grab her Iron Man backpack.

Derek turned wide eyes on Jen, knowing she'd be able to decipher his terrified expression and relate to the fear of one's kids getting older. Over the years, she and Kali had adopted four pups of their own, two boys and two girls, their oldest just turning twelve the previous month and their youngest—the fraternal twins—coming up on turning five. The family had joined in with Derek's and Stiles' brood, as well as those of all their friends, for parties and play dates, almost always leaving a disaster area in their wake.

Was a lot of kids though.

Twenty-two to be exact.

With more on the way.

Stiles liked to joke that it was a good thing Derek's trust fund was so huge; they were gonna need it for all the toys for all the birthdays they had to go to.

Derek joked back that they could always move to a remote island and not deal with their Pack and the many, many pups that came with it.

Sometimes it wasn't a joke.

The slap to his chest was always worth it, no matter what.

Jen put a commiserating hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze, sympathetic smile on her face. "It happens to all of them," she reassured him, hand now rubbing the round of his shoulder. "First they lose teeth, then start school, then high school, then learn to drive, prom, boyfriends, girlfriends, graduation, college—"

"Not helping," he ground out, feeling overwhelmed by it all.

Feeling pissed that at some point, some kid was gonna come along and date his daughter.

He was gonna have to borrow one of his father-in-law's guns when that happened. No way his Mate gets to be the only one with a firearm when interrogating the prospective suitor.

Jen let out a small laugh, patting his shoulder before dropping her hand away completely. "I get it, trust me," she said with a sigh, folding her arms and peering at her kids, wistful smile on her face. "Both a pro and a con of parenthood."

He hummed in agreement, watching as his four-year-old waddled over, hauling her backpack with her.

"I ready!" she declared as she drew to a stop, grinning wide, beaming up at Derek with a look that was pure Stiles.

He couldn't help but smile back, helping her put her bag on and reminding her to say goodbye to Miss Jennifer—or Miss Dennifer, as Claudia called her. The adults exchanged farewells before Derek led his daughter out the room, hand on the back of her head, going for a door halfway down the hall on the opposite side.

The toddler room was less of a disaster than it usually was when Derek showed and he peeked over the half-door to make sure no pups were hiding behind it before he and Claudia entered. About half a dozen kids were still in the room awaiting parents and Derek quickly found his two-year-old son Aaron sitting amongst them, fabric picture book on his lap as he pat his hand on it like it was a pet. The Alpha made his way over, Claudia on his heels yammering about the Tooth Fairy, and scooped his son up, earning an excited squeal.

"Dada!" Aaron yelled in his ear, squidgy arms wrapping around his neck and hugging him tightly.

"Hey, buddy," Derek replied with a smile, rubbing his back with a hand and his cheek on his baby boy's black hair.

A year after Claudia had been born, Stiles and Derek decided to go through the process of surrogacy once more, this time with Derek's sperm. And luckily for them, the female who'd donated before was glad to help them a second time and a few months later, she was pregnant with a boy they named after Derek's late father, keeping with the theme they'd set by naming Stiles' biological daughter after his deceased mom.

Aaron lifted his head, wide grin of baby teeth on display, showing off his dimples that Stiles fawned over, set below a sharp nose that he'd inherited from his grandma and bright blue eyes that he got from his namesake. He peered down when he felt a tugging at his foot, giggling again and letting out an excited "sissy!", unable to pronounce "Claudia" just yet.

Derek set Aaron on the floor and let Claudia tell him about her loose tooth and the Tooth Fairy and the money she'll get from her, turning his attention to his son's belongings. Aaron's caretaker, an Omega named Lisa who made no attempts to hide her ogling of Derek when he'd worked there, approached him, updating him on his pup's potty training, eyes not so subtly slipping to the Claiming Bite high and proud on the left side of his neck—"So all those bitches at the PTA meetings fucking know to back off." "Sounds good to me 'cause I'm putting yours where anyone who has any illicit ideas about a man in uniform can see and know not to touch." "Possessive you is beyond a turn on and you need to fucking stop before I orgasm to death without you inside me."

Satisfied that Aaron had ruined only one Pull-Up—and making a mental note to check the grocery list had them on there—he gathered up his kids, Claudia insisting on a piggy back ride and Aaron cradled against his chest, a bag hanging off each elbow as he made his way out the day care center and to his SUV. His daughter blathered about how the shark Tooth Fairy must be broke because they keep growing teeth forever while he buckled them in the car seats, double-checking they were secured and nothing was going anywhere. Behind the wheel once more, Claudia yelled a demand for "Bon Dobi!", causing Aaron to chant "Dobi Dobi Dobi" as he shook his stuffed octopus and nearly sent it flying.

"Okay, okay," he placated with a smile, telling Siri to pull up "Claudia's Bon Jovi Playlist". Matching cries of joy sounded out from the backseat, his son's more out of copying his sister than knowing what was going on, both wiggling and dancing as Livin' On a Prayer started up.

Derek smiled proudly as he pulled out the parking lot and headed home. He didn't give a rat's ass what Stiles thought; eighties hair metal was at least fifty times better for their kids than any of that crap played on Nick Jr.

The Stilinski-Hale house sat in the middle of a cul-de-sac that was practically filled by the entire Pack. On their right was Boyd and Erica with their three kids, the left was Scott and Allison with their own three pups—with one of the way. On the other side of them was Laura and Chris Argent in a surprise that shocked everyone and now Allison was the oldest of five kids—which was apparently gonna be it thanks to Laura's lack of boundaries when wine was involved and her drunken confession to Derek that Chris had gotten a vasectomy because he was "too old for all this shit", a declaration that had come after the birth of their second set of twins.

Malia and Kira were next to Boyd and Erica with their daughter, then Lydia and Parrish with theirs. Danny and Ethan had two boys of their own and Isaac and Jackson were raising one of each.

A lot of kids.

Derek unlocked the front door and let the kids run inside, reminding them that Papa wasn't home yet so they needed to stop yelling for him.

The house was an open concept that had reminded the Mated pair of their loft, only instead of exposed brick, it was painted white walls and wood floors. The dining room was on the immediate right upon entering, the chairs pushed back against the wall due to Aaron's recent habit of climbing up furniture. Neither Stiles nor Derek wanted to wake up to find him sitting on the table again.

The living room was in the back, filled with a fluffy u-shaped black couch the kids loved jumping on—despite repeated instructions not to—TV fixed to the wall, blu-ray player and gaming stations hidden behind locked doors of the entertainment unit below. Windows made up the back wall, giving a view of the open backyard and jungle gym, complete with slide and swings

The kitchen was set back between the living and dining rooms, all white cabinets, white subway tile on the walls, stainless appliances and gray marble counters. A giant square island was in the middle, stools tucked under the side by the rest of the house where breakfast was usually eaten and the kids did arts and crafts. A mud-room with washer and dryer was to the side of the kitchen by the back of the house, office on the other side where Stiles and Derek both had desks for working on cases or grading papers.

A staircase—with baby gate on each end—on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen led to the three bedrooms, the kids on either side of the hall, the parents at the end. The attic had been fixed up by the Alpha, half for storage, the other half turned into a Heat Room. Not as big as the one Stiles'd had back in the loft, but he didn't care, too in love with the rest of the house to say "no" to it.

Derek turned the TV on to Noggin and let the kids enjoy another mind-numbing episode of Dora the Explorer while playing with the toys that had been left scattered across the white shag rug. He really needed to talk to Stiles about that.

He was in the kitchen for a total for five minutes when Claudia joined, wanting to help with dinner, and Derek gave her instructions on what to grab from the fridge.

"Stir Fi-Day?!" she asked excitedly, bouncing in place and grinning, hope flooding her scent.

"You know it, princess," he replied with a smile of his own, ruffling her hair. "Get me the bottle with the blue sticker, okay?"

"Okay!" she yelled, literally hopping to the fridge to get the right sauce out the bottom tray on the door.

The colored stickers had been Stiles' idea, Claudia wanting to help with dinner, but unable to read the labels. So circle stickers were used instead, not only allowing her to assist, but giving sneaky practice of her colors.

She cradle the bottle in her arms, knowing to be careful as she carried it over and gave it to her daddy. "Wish one is it?"

"Szechuan," he informed her, pulling the wok out the cabinet below the stove on the island.

Her arms flailed in excitement. "Sess-wan!"

He laughed, ears pricking at the sound of a familiar rumbling engine. "I think I hear someone coming," he singsonged, making his daughter gasp, the sound catching his son's attention.

"Papa!" she squealed, running to the front window and the two chairs purposely placed there for just this reason, Aaron rising to his feet and toddling over to join her. Banging on the window started immediately after, Derek chastising and telling them to cut it out while filling the rice cooker.

He supposed there were worse things than kids being excited over their parents coming home.

Not that Derek was any less excited. His heart was pounding, stomach flipping, wolf yipping and wagging its tail. More than ten years after making it official with Stiles and he still got butterflies and grinned stupidly over his impending arrival.

The front door opened and Claudia damn near fell off the chair in her haste to get down. Aaron was more careful, sliding down instead, losing to his older sister in the race to their papa. Stiles crouched down and pulled them both in for a hug, an arm around each kid, smiling wide as he kissed their heads and scent-marked them in turns.

Derek got the rice going then made his way over, Stiles rising to his feet, still grinning wide as his whiskey eyes met the Alpha's green ones.

"Hey, Professor Hot Stuff," the younger man smirked, making his Mate roll his eyes, refusing to take the bait and point out—again—that he wasn't a professor, choosing instead to envelope him in a hug.

"Evenin', Deputy Gorgeous," he replied, nuzzling into the crook of his neck to sort through all the smells of the day and get to the pure scent of his Omega.

Stiles snorted, but returned the nuzzle, scent-marking and mingling, neither ready or willing to let the other go.

Until a tugging at his work slacks pulled the Omega's attention down south where Claudia was beaming up at him.

"Papa! I gots a loose toof!"

Derek went wide eyed at the reminder of his little girl growing up, his grip tightening on Stiles, and his Mate turned to him with a raised eyebrow before realization dawned on him.

"You can have your freak-out later," he murmured against the older man's lips before pecking them quickly and pulling away. He picked Claudia up, holding her against his chest, careful of his utility belt. "C'mon, munchkin. You can tell me all about it while I get changed, all right?"

Claudia didn't wait until they reached the stairs, immediately launching into her rambling spiel about discovering the loose tooth and discussing sharks once more.

Derek glanced at Aaron, finding him in the living room surrounded by blocks, his attention occupied by them, then turned back to watch Stiles head up the stairs, eyes glued to his Mate's ass in his work slacks.

Hate to see him leave...

Later that night, with his Mate on his lap and his knot held within him—because they were chancing it with the knot that Derek usually tried to hold back but Stiles had decided the Alpha needed it—he felt more clear-headed and relaxed. His mini-orgasms had died off, leaving him relaxed and sated, with an armful of pliant Omega.

And a whole lotta sweat. And come. They were gonna have to shower as soon as his knot went down.

Shit, he hoped the kids stayed asleep for the next twenty minutes. Thank fuck there was no thunderstorm coming anytime soon or they'd have a bed full of pups.

Stiles lifted his head where he'd had it buried in the crook of Derek's neck, sleepy smile on his face, eyes half-lidded. His fingers were absently playing with the hair at the back of the older man's head, the marks Derek had sucked and bitten onto his skin disappearing, but the pleasure was still there, etched onto every line of his face and filling his scent.

"Wanna talk about it now?" he murmured, rubbing their noses together.

Derek let out a confused hum, distracted by the feel of his Mate's naked skin against his, how nice his fingers felt against his scalp, how fucking good he smelled. Fuck, he'd never get over that scent, wanted it in his nose, his lungs, his—

"Claudia's tooth."

Oh. Right. They were talking.

He put a muzzle on his wolf's practical purring, focused on the conversation, his mind still fuzzy with pleasure and making it difficult.

"You were freaking out about it earlier," Stiles went on, voice still low, tone still gentle, fingers still scratching. "Wanna talk about it?"

He let out a sigh, head falling back against the wall. "She's growing up," he muttered almost petulantly, lifting a hand to smear it down his face, palm rasping against the whiskers his Mate insisted he always keep. "And I know it's gonna happen eventually, but when I pictured my life and being a dad, I just. Didn't imagine these milestones, didn't think it'd be such a slap in the face that my little girl was getting bigger."

"I get it," the Omega admitted, corner of his lips tugging up in a sympathetic smile. "Life isn't how I imagined it at times either, but I like to think it's better than I ever thought it would be."

Derek grinned, heart thudding loudly and wolf barking happily at that. "Yeah. It's definitely better," he agreed, hands on Stiles' hips, thumbs rubbing at the protrusion of bone. "In the beginning, I didn't think I'd have this at all. Or at least not have you with me, given your anti-Mate rants."

Stiles' scent grew sad and he pressed their foreheads together. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "In all honesty, I said all that anti-Mate shit because I thought I wasn't gonna get to have the one person I wanted."

Derek smirked, poking his Mate in his side and making him squirm. "Better be talking about me, you li'l shit."

The Omega smacked his chest. "Of course I am, you giant asshole," he replied, no heat behind the words, fond smile on his face before he sobered up, hands absently stroking Derek's chest now, eyes focused on them. "Thanks for choosing me."

The Alpha was instantly reminded of their fateful conversation in that hospital room over a decade ago, of Stiles paraphrasing something he'd read on the Internet about how love was a choice rather than a feeling. He thought about how he chose to tell Stiles he was in love with him, chose to form a Bond with him, chose to Mate him, chose to start a life with him. He thought about how he continued to choose to stay, choose to go home to Stiles, choose to wake up next to him. He thought about how they both chose to stay together, chose to go to bed together, chose to work out any problems or issues they had.

He thought about how it almost didn't feel like a choice because he couldn't see himself being with anyone, living with anyone, raising a family with anyone. Even being alone didn't feel like an option, not when he knew how great things were with his Mate by his side.

"I love you," Derek stated, arms sliding around the Omega's waist. "The choice was easy."

Stiles beamed at him, eyes sparkling, scent lit up with joy and happiness. "I love you, too, big guy."

With that, they kissed and Derek knew for a fact his life was better than any dream or fantasy or imagined revery he could ever come up with.