Archive of Our Own ^beta

Derek is having a very stressful day.

Carrie was feeling sick earlier that morning, so Derek had to take a day off of work so that he could take her to school later when she began to feel better. His boss has been hounding him for an update report that he only had half finished, and and Lydia (their surrogate, not Martin) has her last appointment with the doctor regarding his and Stiles' second child that day.

Needless to say, Derek is on the verge of pulling his hair out. He doesn't even know if Stiles is going to be home for the birth of their son/daughter. 

He'd talked to Stiles over skype the day before, but they had been throwing a party for one of the men who was heading home the next day, so Stiles didn't get to talk much. 

Lucky man.

The ringing of the doorbell sounds, and Derek grumbles, shoving his chair away from his desk, wondering who would be at the door.

The sight of the pizza man is not what he expects.

"Already paid for," the kid says, smiling.

"Oh-kaaaay," Derek replies, eyeing the boxes handed to him warily before thanking the teen and sending him on his way.

Derek fishes his ringing phone out of his pocket absentmindedly as he sets the pizzas on the counter. "Hello?"

"Like the pizza?"

Derek can feel his stomach flutter. He pulls the phone back slightly to see Stiles' face grinning back up at him. "Stiles..." Derek sighs adoringly. "You know how dangerous it is to give our credit card number to random pizza places. Also, how expensive is this call right now?"

Derek hears a car horn honk on Stiles' end, and his eyes narrow. Stiles speaks up and says, "Um, actually..."

Derek looks out the kitchen window and sees a taxi pull onto their street. His heart beat quickens. "Stiles..." his voice is broken sounding.

"Surprise, babe."

The taxi stops right outside their house, and Derek can't get his phone back into his pocket fast enough. Instead, he chucks it onto the table and rushes out the front door. Stiles is swinging himself out of the taxi as Derek reaches him. His uniform is nicely pressed and everything. 

Derek doesn't give him a second to let his feet touch the ground before Stiles is swept up into his arms. Stiles buries his face into his shoulder, taking in the scent of Derek, family, and home that always seems to encase the man. 

"I missed you so much," Stiles sobs and Derek nods, face wet from tears as well. The taxi honks impatiently, and Derek gets Stiles' bags out of the trunk after reluctantly pulling away, while Stiles pays the man. 

"Thanks asshole!" Stiles waves the driver off, and Derek can't help but laugh, voice high and happy, before sweeping Stiles into a heated kiss for the whole neighborhood to see. 

"I love you so much," Derek breathes against his husband's lips, and Stiles simply nods.

When the kiss becomes too frantic for a public viewing, Stiles pulls back with a laugh. "So, um, when I told my superior my kid was gonna be born soon and I didn't want to miss it, he got the big men in charge to end my tour early."

Derek looks at Stiles like he's not really there. "So you're here to stay?"

 "Here to stay," Stiles echoes, and Derek wants to kiss him all over again. Instead, he collects Stiles' bags and leads his husband back into their house.

Stiles spots the pizza and phone sitting forgotten on the table and laughs. "How about this: We eat that pizza because I am starving. And then, we go up to our bedroom and have all the sex. Then we go and pick Carrie up from school, together."

Derek is already pulling out some plates. "That sounds fantastic."

Before they get too caught up in each other, Derek calls the school to let them know that Carrie is to go to parent pick-up rather than the bus. 

A few hours later, after a nice cleansing shower that ended in a round of shower sex, Derek and Stiles set off towards the elementary school. Stiles fiddles with his fingers nervously, and Derek takes his hand in his to still them.

"What's eating you?" he asks.

"What if she's angry at me?" Stiles blurts out, "Like, what if she feels like I've abandoned her. Derek, what if she hates me?"

Derek shakes his head. "She will never think that. She missed you every day- we both did. But she doesn't hate you. She knows you're protecting our country. She-" Derek chokes up, "She said you were her favorite superhero, Stiles."

Stiles fights back tears as he grips Derek hand. After a few seconds, he whispers, "Okay."

"Okay," Derek replies, pulling into the school parking lot. They both dry their eyes before they exit the car together. "I'm gonna hang back a bit, let you have your moment with her."

Stiles nods numbly. "It's been so long since I've seen her."

"She got bigger."

Stiles laughs. "Of course she did."

Derek pushes open the gym door and moves over to the wall. He watches Stiles hesitate before walking further into the large room, and move over to where Carrie's first grade class sits and waits for their parents to come. Derek watches as Carrie looks up as her name is called, eyes at last landing on Stiles.

The book in her hands falls to the ground as she screams, "Papa!" and flings herself at Stiles. Stiles drops to his knees to hug his daughter, burring his face in her dark curls. 

Derek approaches them then, and rests one hand on Stiles' back, and the other on Carrie's head.

Stiles looks up at him, face read, eyes shining as he holds their little girl, and Derek realizes that this is all he could ever want, and more.

"I missed you," Carrie whimpers, and Stiles replies, "I missed you too."

"Come on you two," Derek says softly, "Let's go home."

He looks at Stiles as he stands and lifts Carrie into his arms and thinks finally.