A/N: I know...I know! I'm really bad at updating this story on here. Mostly, the reason was I had a lot going on in my personal life between work and roommate drama, and finding time to write hasn't been very easy. I'm not going to make any promises about posting more quickly, but one promise that I will make is that I will NOT abandon this story. I've spent years working on it, so it will be finished one day!

Neither of them said much when they first left the crime scene.

Stiles just kept wanting to ask her if she was okay and if she really wanted to go with him. He knew he shouldn't though. She'd already answered both of those questions, and Lydia wasn't one to change her mind on a whim. If anything, asking her would just piss her off.

Lydia was the first one to break the silence. "I'm going to take some classes at the community college over the summer."

"You are?" Stiles asked, glancing at her a moment before looking back to the road.

"Yeah. I thought maybe I could graduate early if I have enough credits."

'Oh...when do your classes start?"

"Next week." She looked over at him and smiled for the first time since learning about the body. "Don't act so depressed, Stilinski! There's only two and they're first thing in the morning. I'll be done by noon everyday. You probably won't even be awake. You won't even realize I'm gone."

Stiles felt the corners of his mouth upturn. "You say that like I'll know where you are the night before."

Lydia felt a blush creep into her cheeks before deciding to roll with it. "I'm just saying, I feel like these classes could be stressful...and you know what a great stress reliever is? Sex...That's what this arrangement is for. Is it not?"

Stiles bit his tongue and nodded slowly. "Yes. You're absolutely right."

The smile and flirtatious attitude from Lydia evaporated the moment they pulled into the hospital parking lot.

"Lydia..." Stiles said her name slowly.

"Let's do this."

"I'm here to see my mom," Stiles told the nurse at the desk when they walked in. He figured if he could find her, Melissa could get them access to the patient.

"Stiles?" Stiles heard his name, and looked over at the girl in the wheelchair.

"Caitlyn?" Stiles questioned, before everything clicked. "Oh my God! You were in the woods...are you okay?"

"I guess I'm as okay as can be expected," she shrugged.

"Sorry, we need to get you back in bed," the nurse pushing her wheelchair interrupted.

"You can come in," Caitlyn told Stiles as she motioned her hand to follow them. Stiles looked at Lydia as Caitlyn disappeared into her room. They were both slightly surprised at how easy that had been.

"Uh," Stiles began as he turned back to the nurse. "Don't worry about finding my mom. I'll catch up with her later." He tilted his head toward Caitlyn's room and Lydia nodded as the two of them began to walk that way.

The nurse was walking out as the two of them were walking in.

"So, what were you doing in a wheelchair...are you okay?"

"I was getting a CT Scan. It's just standard procedure."

"A CT Scan?" Lydia asked. "Did you hit your head?"

Caitlyn shrugged. "They think I may have. I...I told the police that I saw a giant lizard."

"Did you?" Stiles asked, then clarified. "Um...I mean...did you see a lizard?"

Caitlyn sighed. "That's what it looked like. I don't know...we split a tab of X. Maybe I was hallucinating...or maybe it was a mask." Caitlyn got a faraway look in her eye, and bit her lip. "I walked away for 5 seconds. When I came back, I felt something hit the back of my neck and all of a sudden, I couldn't move."

"Like...out of fear?" Lydia asked.

"No, like I'd been paralyzed. I fell to the ground and that's when I saw this lizard thing dragging Emily off."

"Was she...already..."Stiles didn't know how to ask.

"You mean was she already dead?" Stiles nodded, and Caitlyn shook her head. "No...she looked at me, and said 'help'...but I couldn't do anything." She began to cry and Stiles reached his hand out to place on the top of hers.

Lydia realized she was glaring at them and cleared her throat. "Um...what were you guys doing out in the woods anyway?"

Caitlyn shrugged. "It was officially summer vacation and we were going to camp...you know...by ourselves...alone." Caitlyn sighed. "She's never...been...with anyone before." She swallowed. "I guess now she'll never be."

Stiles looked over at Lydia, and that's when she realized she'd subconsciously reached for him, grabbing onto the thin fabric of his shirt. She wasn't sure why she'd done it. Maybe it was hearing Caitlyn talk about her girlfriend in the past tense that made her grateful that Stiles was still here. Her best friend. Or maybe it was the talk of first times that made her reach for hers. She didn't know. She slowly removed her hand, almost embarrassed. With the way she'd caught herself reacting to Caitlyn and Stiles, she didn't want either of them to think she was trying to assert her position as Stiles's...whatever... because she wasn't...and they weren't actually dating-per their agreement.

Lydia slowly turned away, but felt Stiles's hand wrap around her own and she looked down.

"We'll let you get some rest," Stiles told Caitlyn.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Lydia told her softly.

"Thank you," Caitlyn managed a small smile.

Stiles and Lydia walked out of the room, and before either could say anything, Melissa, who was standing at the desk, turned around. "Stiles!"

"Mom!" Stiles replied, and began to take a few steps toward her.

"Lydia!" Lydia turned her head to see Aubrey walking toward them, and the strawberry blonde took a few steps toward her, letting Stiles's hand go in the process.

"Were you looking for me?" Lydia heard Melissa ask her son, but didn't hear his response because that was the moment Aubrey caught up with her.

"Sweetie, Aaron told me what happened. I'm so sorry. My son is an idiot. Are you okay?"

Lydia chuckled. "I'm fine, Aubrey. Really. You know...Aaron needed to be single. I don't think the long distance thing would have worked out. It's probably better to break up in person now than over the phone later. You know?"

"Yeah..."Aubrey said slowly. "You know...you're being surprisingly calm about all of this..."

"Am I not normally calm?" Lydia, asked semi-frantically.

"No! That's not what I meant... it's just... The way he told me about it... he made it sound like you were really upset. That's all. But it's good you're not!"

Lydia shrugged. "I mean.. I was when it first happened, but...I've thought about it, and I really liked Aaron, but I didn't love him...you know? I mean... I think I wanted to love him, but you can't force yourself to feel that way about people. Right?"

Aubrey nodded slowly. "Well, I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks, Aubrey," Lydia smiled.

"Lyds!" Stiles called and Lydia turned back to look at him. He tilted his head toward the door, telling her he was headed out.

"My ride's leaving," Lydia told Aubrey as she turned back to her.

"Oh, okay...yeah...let me know if you need anything."

"Will do!" Lydia told her cheerily before quickly trying to catch up with Stiles.

"What were you talking to Aubrey about?" Stiles asked as they walked out of the hospital.

"Nothing really...she was just asking how I was doing post-break up."

"Ahh..."

"Yeah...what were you telling your mom about?"

Lydia hadn't seen the phone in Stiles's hand until that moment. "The same thing I'm about to tell my dad about," he said as he put the phone to his ear. "Hey, Dad. Lydia and I are leaving the hospital right now. We spoke to Caitlyn. She said she was paralyzed...Emily was too...yeah... I'm thinking maybe you should tell Deaton, or let Scott tell him. Find out if there's something that can do that...maybe even something that looks like a lizard." Stiles nodded, even though his dad couldn't see it. "Yeah, you're welcome... Love you too." He hung up the phone and put it away.

"So...Caitlyn..." Lydia began after a moment. "Wasn't she one of your rebound girls?"

"Yeah...it lasted for a couple of weeks."

Lydia nodded slowly. "I never really saw her face. You were always too busy sucking it off when I'd pass you."

Stiles raised an eyebrow and turned to face her. "Am I sensing jealousy?"

"No!" she said quickly.

Stiles let out a laugh as he threw his arm around her shoulders. "Yeah...okay."

Lydia bit her lip, debating whether or not she wanted to ask the question in the forefront of her mind."Um...how was she?" Stiles turned back to her. "I mean... was she...you know..."

"Better than you?" he supplied. Lydia felt a blush creep into her cheeks. "No," he said softly. "No one's better than you."

"Not even Allison?" she didn't know why she asked. She horrified herself that she'd even entertain the thought. Stiles stopped walking and he stared wide-eyed. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. "Forget I said anything," she told him, then briskly walked ahead.

PRESENT DAY

"Thanks for meeting us," Lydia told Argent as she climbed out of the jeep.

Before Argent had a chance to respond, Stiles came around the jeep and groaned. "Lydia, I told you to wait for me!"

"Oh my God! Stiles, calm down! I can get in and out of the jeep by myself. I'll let you know if I need your help!" She rolled her eyes then looked back at Argent to provide an explanation. "My stomach grew like one centimeter since last week and all of a sudden he doesn't think I can do anything by myself." Lydia rolled her eyes, "It's not even like you can tell I'm pregnant unless my shirt is really tight."

Argent stifled a chuckle. "How far along are you now?"

"Fourteen weeks tomorrow... which means the morning sickness is pretty much gone, I'm not as tired, and I'm supposed to be doing workouts." She looked pointedly at Stiles. "I'll let you know when we need to start leaving a step stool in the back." She sighed and looked back at Chris. "Sorry. As I was saying...thank you for meeting us here."

"Yeah, it's no problem...I'll be honest though, I don't know how much you'll be able to get out of him. He hasn't been doing too well. What was it that you needed to talk to him about?"

"I just want to hear his story about the couple that kidnapped him."

"Really?" Argent asked in confusion.

"Yeah...at Kate's funeral he thought that Stiles and I were them...and that was the first time someone called me a banshee. It was like he knew...and I don't know...maybe we won't learn anything, but...I just needed to try."

Argent nodded, "Alright, well let's go."

As the three began to walk inside the nursing home Lydia spoke again, "I saw Allison."

"You did? How is she?"

"She's good. Nic's good. They're both good. She's got a job and a roommate. She seemed happy."

"That's nice," Argent replied softly. "I'm glad."

Lydia hung back next to Stiles while Argent talked to the front desk about visiting.

"Okay, Stiles. I'm going to need you to let me talk to him okay? If he gets agitated we'll walk away, but don't interfere. Got it?"

Stiles sighed, "I'll try."

"Guys, come on." Argent waved at them to follow him down a hallway. They walked through the common area and into another hallway where the residents' bedrooms were.

When Argent opened the door to Alexander's room the older man was facing the window. "Uncle Alex?" Argent asked gently and Lydia and Stiles exchanged looks.

Argent looked up at Lydia as if to say, "You try."

"Alexander?" Lydia asked hesitantly as she inched toward him. "Mr. Argent..my name is Lydia Martin. We met at your niece's funeral...do you...do you remember me?" There was no response from the hunter and Lydia continued, "You... you called me a banshee before I knew I was a banshee. How did you know that?" Lydia slowly reached her hand out to place it on top of his. "Alexand-"

His hand came up lightning fast and grabbed hold of Lydia's wrist. The banshee gasped, and Argent's hand went out to stop Stiles from rushing to her side.

She wasn't hurt, just surprised.

Alexander looked up at Lydia. "Are you going to save me?"

"Sa-save you? From what?"

"I'm going to die," he said softly. "You said I was going to die."

"When? When did I say that?"

Alexander looked away from her and back to the window. Stiles locked eyes with the older man in the reflection, and something in his countenance changed.

"Ow..Alexander you're...you're hurting me," Lydia told him gently as the man's hand began to grasp her wrist tighter.

"It was you," Alexander scowled.

"Let go!" Lydia finally yelled, and Argent and Stiles both jumped in. Argent made his uncle release Lydia's hand as the banshee fell into Stiles's arms.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked her.

Lydia nodded. "I'm fine," she told him as she looked back at the two Argents. Chris looked up at her and mouthed an apology.

Lydia sat in the passenger's seat of the jeep rubbing her wrist gently. It had started to bruise. Stiles was saying his goodbyes to Argent before climbing into the jeep.

As her boyfriend opened the door, she quickly covered her wrist so that he wouldn't see it.

Neither of them said anything immediately. Stiles didn't even start the engine.

Finally, he was the first to break the silence.

"How's your hand?"

"It's fine."

"Lydia-"

"It's fine!" Stiles only gave her a look that made her feel like a small child. She sighed. "There's a bruise but," she quickly continued before he had a chance to reply, "it's okay! Honestly."

Stiles took a deep breath. "Let me see it."

Lydia bit her lip, thinking it over, before showing him her arm. He held it gingerly, carefully examining it before bringing his lips to the most prominent bruise and kissing it tenderly.

He looked back up at her, the softness of his gaze sending butterflies to her stomach...wait a minute...

"What happened?" Stiles asked as Lydia let out a gasp. "Are you hurt? Is the baby-"

"No, everything fine," she assured him. "I just..." she closed her eyes, to focus on the sensation to be sure she wasn't making it up...but sure enough...there it was again. She smiled, "I just felt the baby move for the first time."

"Really?" Stiles asked, a smile forming.

Lydia nodded. "I mean, it's still too light for you to feel, but..." She trailed off. "Wow..they must have just woken up. They're moving so much."

"It's the guppies, right?" Stiles asked.

Lydia looked back at him, about to ask him how he knew that, but then she remembered their conversation after they found out she was pregnant.

"Yeah... the guppies." Lydia looked down at their hands where Stiles had intertwined their fingers. "Stiles...I need to know..."

"What?" He asked, confused.

"I need to know for sure that this baby is...that it's more than just a feeling that you're..." Stiles let his fingers go limp. "I just...I've been thinking about it for a couple of weeks, and no matter what, it's you and me in this together, but I need to know...if for no other reason than health history purposes. I spoke to the doctor at the last ultrasound, and there are a few different tests we can do...the least invasive one is a blood test..." Lydia stopped talking for a moment to look at Stiles, and she sighed. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine...no...you're... you're right. You need to know."

"What's wrong?" Lydia asked as she tightened her grip on his hand.

"What if...what if my feeling is wrong?"

"That doesn't change anything,"

"It changes the fact that there's somebody else out there that's influencing our kid's DNA! And we'll know it...and because we'll know it, eventually we'll have to tell them and they'll resent us, but mostly me since you gave birth to them, and all I did was sit back and lie to them for eighteen years."

"You waited to tell them until they were eighteen? Well that was your first mistake right there." Lydia joked, but Stiles didn't appreciate it. In fact, when Lydia really looked at him, he looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack. "Stiles..." Lydia said gently. "Calm down."

"I mean, maybe it's better if this kid doesn't have my DNA because anxiety can be inherited, and I'd hate to saddle some poor kid with this shit."

Lydia hadn't buckled up yet, so she crawled across the seat until she was in his lap. "Stiles, look at me."

"Oh God...what if it is my kid, Lydia...think of all the things that I could be passing onto it. I can't-"

Lydia cut him off as she crashed her lips onto his. How'd you do that she heard in the back of her mind. I read somewhere that holding your breath could stop a panic attack. So when I kissed you, you held your breath. It felt like she was remembering something, but...it was something that had never happened.

She kissed him harder, hoping it would trigger another memory or make her forget. She was fine with either. His hands came up to her waist, and slipped easily under the flowy shirt she was wearing, his thumb grazed the skin above the waistline of her pants.

I am absolutely positively 100% madly in love with you. Lydia heard herself say in another memory, but this one was weird. It felt more like a memory of a memory, which didn't make any sense. She pulled away, breathing heavily as she rested her forehead against Stiles's.

"I love you, Stiles. I've loved you for as long as I can remember. And no matter what the results actually say, you're going to be this baby's dad. You already love it as much as I do..." Lydia let out chuckle, "maybe even more. So stop worrying, because no matter what happens you and I are going to face it together. You got that?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah. I got it."

"Good."