THIRTY DAYS OF US

DAY 26 - GETTING MARRIED

Pairing: Sterek

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf

Stiles looked beautiful.

It was the only thing Derek could think when he saw her walking towards him, a blushing smile on her face, a white veil only skewing the image fractionally. She stumbled a bit in her heels, laughing it off nervously as she continued on towards him.

Derek felt like he couldn't breathe as he took her hand in his. He kissed it gently before lifting her veil, gently laying his lips on either of her cheeks chastely, taking a deep breath as he looked deep into her eyes. Stiles giggled, shaking her head at him. "Don't be nervous," she whispered as they grasped hands, turning to face the stumpy minister.

"Dearly loved, we are here today-"

Derek zoned out, his eyes drifting over to Stiles. She looked like herself- natural and bright, only with a tad of blush on her cheekbones and a gentle, sparkling glaze over her lips. The Alpha's breath hitched when he saw the girl's tongue jut out nervously over the gloss. Warmth pooled in the pit of his stomach, and Derek had to calm himself down. He couldn't just jump Stiles with the kids there.

Speaking of the kids, little Jeremy was stumbling on the stool in front of the couple, letting out a screech as he toppled over. Derek just managed to dart forward and catched him. Stiles let out a delayed sigh of relief as Suzie- a baby of only eight months- clapped her hands and giggled. Jeremy, in his father's black suit jacket with a napkin tucked in his shirt collar ("So I can look like those churchy guys!" "You mean a priest, Jer-bear." "Yeah- that!"), shook his stand-in Bible, a Batman coloring book, at the baby. "It's not funny, Suzie!"

Ingrid, the eleven-year-old who insisted she didn't need to be babysat, but still loved for Stiles to come over because she got to do the much older girl's makeup, shook her head at her younger brother. "It was kinda funny, Jeremy."

"No it wadn't!"

"Wasn't," Stiles corrected as she hefted the child out of Derek's arms.

"Can we finish the wedding now?" Ingrid whined petulantly. Stiles shook her head, taking off the toy veil and handing it to the girl before wiping the lip gloss off her mouth. Derek frowned, almost missing the sticky mess's shine.

"Nope," Stiles said, messing up Jeremy's hair as she set him down in favor of picking up Suzie. "I need to change Suzie, if you can't smell that." In fact, Derek could- he had been smelling it for the past half hour. "Derek, watch them for a minute, mm'kay?"

Several hours later, Derek was regretting agreeing to help Stiles babysit. Jeremy and Ingrid were having a very loud argument about who got to have the last chicken nugget. Meanwhile, the fire alarm was going off because Derek had let Stiles try to bake cookies. Unfortunately, she had used baking powder instead of baking soda, causing a mini-eruption. Stiles was rapid-pace cleaning it up, and was fortunately almost done, right as Suzie decided she was hungry. With the baby wailing, the kids screaming, and the fire alarm going off- Derek could see tears welling in Stiles's eyes, and he could hear her heartbeat rising rapidly.

"QUIET!" The Alpha roared, using only his human voice, thank God, because Ingrid and Jeremy looked ready to cry. Derek tore the chicken nugget in half and handed either piece to both children before scooping up Suzie, allowing her to gnaw on his finger while he quickly got out a box of Cheerios. He worked wickedly fast, strapping the baby into her high chair and putting a handful of cereal in front of her, a bottle in the microwave by the time he got over to Stiles and helped her up, hugging her tightly before finishing up the oven.

When he stood, wiping his hands on his jeans, Derek saw Stiles staring at him slack-jawed. Then, the tears in her eyes welled further. The girl charged out of the kitchen and into the backyard, the kids yelling after her and getting up to chase her. Derek caught them in either of his arms, carrying them back over to the table and sitting them down. "Stay. Put."

With that, he followed Stiles out into the yard.

Stiles was sitting on the swingset in the dim evening light, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs as she rubbed her damp eyes. Shoving his hands into his jacket pockets, Derek walked over to his girlfriend and sat on the swing next to her. They were silent for several moments; then, Derek pulled Stiles's hand off of her lap and held it. Stiles whimpered at this and tried to pull away, shocking the werewolf. He let her go, mostly out of surprise, and watched as she stood and walked back towards the sliding door.

For the next half hour until the children's mother arrived back home from her extra-long day at work, Stiles avoided talking to and looking at Derek. The Alpha was on edge and at a loss for what to do, so he simply stayed close to Suzie. He fed her and changed her diaper, and all the while, Stiles seemed to only get further away.

It was a blessing when they started to walk towards the Camaro. Unfortunately, they had to park outside the housing addition, as they didn't have a permit to park inside for longer than a few hours. So, not too much of a blessing.

The air was crisp, and Stiles shivered in her thin hoodie. Derek saw this and instantly took off his leather jacket, making to drape it over Stiles's shoulders. The girl quickly shoved him off, though, walking forward at a quicker pace. Derek growled in his throat and reached forward, grabbing Stiles's wrist and jerking her back towards him. "Stiles! What is going on with you? You've been avoiding me all night. I get that you're stressed, but what the Hell is wrong with-"

"Everything is wrong with me!" Stiles exclaimed, tears in her eyes. "I can't cook, I can't watch over a couple of kids, I can't even keep my cool- How the Hell am I going to be a parent someday?!"

Derek let out a breath, dropping Stiles's hand. "Stiles..."

"You are the one good with kids, you are the one that can cook, you are the one who knows how to keep his cool- There is nothing I can give you!" Stiles exclaimed, tears running down her face. "I want to have kids someday, Derek- Hopefully with you, but I- I- If I can't even be a babysitter right, how am I gonna be a mom right?!"

By now, Stiles was a blubbering mess in the middle of the street. Derek didn't know what to do, so he simply hugged her. Wrapping his jacket around her shoulders, Derek kissed Stiles's hair, closing his eyes and taking in her scent. At the present, the Alpha was brainstorming how to let his girlfriend see how much he really did want her and want her to be the mother of his children- but at the back of his head, Derek was wondering when he had gone so soft...

"I love you, Stiles," he whispered into her ear, kissing along her jawline. "I love you, and the point of that is you don't need to give me anything... Not like that, at least. You already give me so much..." Talking was uncomfortable for Derek, especially talking about feelings, but he knew it was necessary. Stiles already had a very low self-esteem- Derek did not want to revisit walking in on her Junior year- and she had moments, very much so like this, where words had to be chosen carefully, as anything could set the girl off. "You give me happiness, Stiles. And that's saying something."

Stiles looked up at Derek with wet eyes. "Yeah?"

Derek chuckled. "Yeah."

And then he kissed her. Gently and softly, he kissed her and held her, stroking her hair. All the while, Derek couldn't stop thinking about their children.

Sappy and terrible, I know! GAH! I'M SORRY!