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Derek and his family had been living in Beacon Hills for just over five months before Laura and Stiles became friends. And like most things with Laura, it was sudden and irrefutable.
Laura and Derek had lived together for so long that they had their little rhythms down to an exact form. She knew when to stay out of his way if he hadn’t had his “yoga time” as she called it. He knew when she needed to be handed a candy bar and left alone. They knew how the other liked their breakfast and coffee—and both knew exactly what to do to drive each other crazy. No matter how much they enjoyed pulling each other’s hair (sometimes literally, but most of the time figuratively,) they always had each other’s backs. At the heart of it all, they would always do what they could to make sure the other was healthy and happy.
So when Laura came down one morning with her scent shifted just a little, Derek scrunched up his nose a little, because it was better if she had a warning day. They had learned that long ago.
Laura saw his look and groaned. “Damn it,” she complained. “I hate being a lady.”
He snorted. She was a lot of things, but no one had ever accused her of being a lady.
“I’m gonna go buy a bucket of chocolate for tomorrow,” Laura grumbled.
Derek carefully didn’t comment, knowing that she would in fact return with enough junk food to fill a large bucket. He handed her a cup of coffee and left her to it.
The next morning he woke up to a very forceful shove that almost knocked him out of bed. He scooted over to make room in the bed and let Laura crawl in. She curled up against him and tugged his hand to press against her stomach.
He started draining the pain immediately, too used to this to complain about being woken up. She groaned and went limp. He blinked, trying to wake up enough to focus. She patted his face with a clumsy hand and muttered, “Good, good….”
“Bad one?” He punctuated the question with a yawn.
She grunted and carefully did not move.
And that was that. They stayed in bed as long as they could before Caleb and Maisy woke up. Derek tried to explain to Caleb that Auntie Laura’s tummy hurt that day and she wasn’t going to play very much, but it was hard for a six year-old to understand menstrual cramps and he asked her three times during breakfast alone if she wanted to go exploring in the woods or play outside.
Maisy was a little extra grumpy because she could sense that her Alpha was hurting and upset, but Derek did his best to distract her. When he got everyone settled at the breakfast table, he reached across the table to hold Laura’s hand and tug a little more pain from her body. She clutched at him but didn’t complain when he had to take breaks to shake his hand out to get rid of the pins and needles that always came from pulling pain for too long. It was difficult to eat between spooning bits of food at Maisy with one hand and losing feeling in the other, but he made it work.
They piled onto the couch after breakfast, Laura pressed up against his side and the kids sprawled over their laps. They put on some Dora The Explorer keep the kids amused for a little bit and Derek kept a hand on Laura as long as he could. It couldn’t last forever though. They only let the kids watch two episodes before making them go find something else to play with. Maisy got dropped off in her playpen with some blocks and stuffed animals. Caleb got his dinosaurs out. And Derek and Laura stayed curled up on the couch. It was gonna be a long day of cuddling and his arms were gonna ache by the end of the day, but that was okay. Derek was in for the long haul.
That’s where Stiles found them when he dropped in. Derek got up off the couch when he knocked, trying to ignore Laura’s annoyed groan. He half heartedly swiped at her leg when she kicked at him for leaving.
“Hey, are you ready to go?” Stiles asked when he opened the door.
Shit. Derek winced.
Stiles just smirked, because he was perfect somehow. “You forgot, didn’t you?”
“Laura’s…” Derek waved a hand behind him. “I don’t think I can go today.”
Stiles didn’t look annoyed, but maybe a little cautious? They were supposed to go to a farmer’s market that morning. It was going to be their first time away from the kids and the Pack in a week.
“Is everything okay?” Stiles asked.
Of course, Laura got impatient before Derek could reply. “Come back while you talk, butthead! I’m dying over here!”
Derek rolled his eyes but waved for Stiles to follow him inside. Laura was sprawled across the couch, trying her best to look pitiful and make him feel bad for leaving her. He would have to remember to accidentally kick her tomorrow. But for now he propped her up and slipped back into his seat and settled his sister back against him to start tugging the pain away.
“Menstrual cramps,” he explained to Stiles simply.
Stiles scrunched up his nose cutely. “That sucks.”
“I hate everyone and everything,” Laura said smartly.
Derek pointedly lifted his hands off of her. She growled and bit his arm. He rolled his eyes and put his hands back on her stomach.
Caleb chose that moment to dive-bomb Stiles’ legs and Stiles made a show of groaning about how strong his was and pretended to almost fall over. Derek watched them play fight for a moment, which came to a standstill with Stiles flipped Caleb upside down and held him by his feet so his head was almost resting on the floor. Caleb swiped at his legs but couldn’t get all the way free.
“Do you do this every month?” Stiles asked while Caleb was distracted.
“The whole first day,” Derek confirmed.
“You should’ve said something.”
Laura opened up her eyes to fix him with a flat stare.
Stiles smirked. “Right. Sorry. Yeah how could you know? Never mind. What I mean is I’ve got something that’ll fix you right up. Here, just give me like thirty minutes to run to my shop and grab some supplies. I’ll be right back.”
He gently let Caleb down into a puddle of limbs on the floor, promising he would be back soon. Then he headed out the door.
It didn’t take very long. Stiles came back like he had left, a bit like a force of nature. He let himself back in the door that he had left unlocked. He was carrying two grocery bags of supplies and handed one off to Caleb. His sleeves had been rolled up sometime between his last time in the house and now. His tattoos were visible from the elbows down, glimmering and twisting in eye-catching patterns.
“Come on, buddy, it’s time for a classic Stiles and Caleb Magical Adventure!”
“Yay!” the kid cheered, almost dropping the bag in his excitement. “Can Maisy come too?”
“Well of course!” Stiles exclaimed. He grinned at Derek on his way to the playpen. “The most important ingredient today is love and I’ll need everyone who’s available to blow kisses at our magic potion.” He blew one such kiss Derek’s way, and Derek had to fight not to blush.
Laura pretended to gag.
Stiles settled his bag of supplies on his arm while bending over to lift Maisy from the playpen, casually competent about balancing a toddler and everything else. It shouldn’t have been a turn-on, but Derek had stopped worrying about being turned on by weird things with Stiles long ago. He watched the muscles flex underneath tattooed skin and it made him want to gather his boyfriend up in his arms and threaten not to let go.
“Hello, Maisy Daisy!” Stiles cooed at his baby girl. He had long ago stolen Caleb’s favorite nickname for her. “Are you ready to make a mess of Daddy’s kitchen? We’re going to have so much fun!”
Derek watched as Stiles nuzzled his nose against her cheek, scenting her until she started to giggle uncontrollably.
A sharp pinch made Derek jump.
“Stop it,” Laura grumbled. “I can’t deal with smelling your feelings right now.”
Derek pushed her head back down. “Shut up.”
“You shut up.”
He stuck out his tongue at her once her eyes were closed.
She pinched him again, with claws. And now he would have to wait for that to stop bleeding. Great.
He was going to have to kick her twice tomorrow.
Stiles and the kids disappeared into the kitchen, but a few minutes later Caleb returned. “Auntie Laura,” he yelled, running out of the kitchen carrying something. “This is for you!”
It looked like a sock that was knotted at the end to hold something inside. “Stiles says it’s for your tummy.”
Bemused, Laura took the sock, which smelled like heated rice. She made a pleased sound when she rolled onto her back and plopped it against her lower stomach. He could’ve sworn she was already relaxed, but now she went boneless. He was pretty sure she would have purred if she could have.
After a moment she made grabby hands in his vague direction. “Hit me.”
He rolled his eyes but grabbed a Reese’s out of the bag next to the couch and handed it to her.
He tried to follow what was happening in the kitchen for a while. Stiles was quietly giving orders to Caleb on how to stir and pour things into whatever was on the stove while buttering up Maisy with compliments and tummy tickles. Whatever they were making smelled pretty good, minty but also a little like honey?
Derek closed his eyes and laid his head back against the couch. He knew if he started to fall asleep, Laura would wake him up. He relaxed into the feeling of his family safe and content around him.
The moment was broken when Stiles returned with the kids and a mug of something that smelled good. “This will fix you right up,” Stiles told Laura. “Budge up.”
She sat up with a wary frown. “What is it?”
“Just something I’ve learned to make over the years. Erica was horrified to learn that being a werewolf rendered her pain medication obsolete and much as she and Boyd love each other I think they would murder each other if they had to stay within touching distance for an entire day.”
He handed her the mug of...whatever it was. She sniffed it, and grudgingly took a sip.
“If you aren’t a fan of the flavor, I can adjust it to a certain point, but this is what I make for Erica every month. She pretty much swears by it now. Boyd just swings by the shop the day before she needs it and they reheat it on the stove later.”
Laura hummed and took a larger sip.
Derek could feel the pain dissipating from where he was pulling and he slowly stopped tugging. He flexed his fingers against the pins and needles.
“Is it working?” Caleb asked, crawling onto Laura’s legs. “Stiles said it only works if we blow three kisses at the end to make the spell work. I blew the best ones I could, but Maisy’s were kinda not good.”
Stiles laughed. “Harsh, dude. She did all right for herself.”
Caleb looked doubtful. “She spit in it.”
Stiles made a face. “Yeah,” he admitted to Laura, “sorry about that.”
Laura just huffed a laugh and settled Caleb more comfortably against her. “It’s all good. What can you do.”
She drained almost half the mug then sighed and stretched her toes. “You can probably let go now,” she told Derek contentedly.
“I already did.”
She cocked her head to the side like a confused puppy. “I don’t...I don’t feel anything.”
“Is there numbness?” Stiles asked. “Do I need to adjust the recipe for you or do you mean there’s no pain?”
“No pain,” she said, sounding confused. “I’ve tried all sorts of things—hot baths, pain drains, literally stabbing myself to jumpstart healing that my stupid uterus doesn’t feel like is actually a problem and nothing has worked.”
Derek nodded, a little surprised himself. “She even used some horse pills once. They just made her tired, but didn’t help the pain at all.”
“I feel like I could do jumping jacks,” Laura said in wonder.
Stiles chuckled. “Yeah Erica says it’s pretty good stuff. It should last for several hours, and I’ll put the rest in a container in the fridge for you. Just reheat it when you think you’re starting to need some more. Apparently the taste is better if you use the stove instead of the microwave. I don’t know why.”
Derek wasn’t even sure she heard that speech. “Nothing hurts,” Laura said stupidly.
She handed her empty mug to Derek and stood up, taking Caleb along for the ride. Then she started doing weird contorted twists and bends, causing Caleb to flop around and screech happily. When she was done proving to herself that she felt fine, she spilled Caleb back onto the couch, turned and pushed Stiles onto the couch beside Derek. Then she stole Maisy from Stiles’ arms and handed her to Derek before she threw her arms around Stiles’ neck and sat down on his lap. Stiles squeaked in surprise.
“If you weren’t gay I would offer to bang you right now,” she said seriously against his shoulder.
“Uh...well, I’m bi actually,” Stiles said awkwardly. “But uh…”
“Yeah, yeah,” she mumbled against him. “You’re into my brother, you don’t have to say it. I’m just letting you know I’m the more attractive of us two and I have a way better personality. If you ever get bored with the bozo you know where to find me.”
Derek figured it was fair time for him to displace her now, so he stuck his foot against her side and shoved. She flopped dramatically onto the floor.
Derek took Stiles’ hand in apology. “I’m pretty sure she was adopted.”
“Kids!” Laura yelled from where she lay, “it’s time for a wild adventure!” She pumped her fists in the air. “We’re gonna go play in the woods!”
Both of the kids cheered, and Caleb jumped off the couch to grab his “adventure bag” in case he found any good rocks or other treasure to bring home. He ran upstairs, then tore back down a few minutes later in his sneakers and hat. He pounced on Laura, because she was dumb enough to stay on the floor even though she had riled him up. She should have remembered that an excited Caleb was a jumping Caleb.
She groaned like Caleb had bruised her spleen. And he might actually have done that. But she was a good sport with the kids in a way Derek wouldn’t have believed back when they were kids. (She would have eviscerated him for doing that to her once upon a time.) It took her a minute, but after the probable internal bruising healed up, she got up off the floor, holding Caleb like a very lopsided backpack and stole Maisy from Derek’s arms.
“Time to adventure,” she sing-songed as she carried the kids to the door. “Stiles did a good job so he deserves a little nookie. Derek we’ll be back in two hours. Make sure to open the windows before we’re back!”
The door slammed on Caleb’s question to Laura about what ‘nookie’ was.
Derek sighed and held onto Stiles’ hand a little more tightly. “I am so sorry about her. But also it’s your own fault for making her like you. You get what you get.”
Stiles looked bemused. “So she likes me now?”
Derek shrugged. “I’m pretty sure you’ve been growing on her. She mostly glares at you because it amuses her now. She’s kind of a dick like that.”
Stiles chuckled, and slid over so he could be pressed up against Derek’s side. “Well, to be fair I do enjoy being petty back so there’s that. But it would be nice to be friends with her.”
“I think she’s adopted you now. There’s no going back,” he warned. “She’s your burden now.”
“Ah well,” he said with a happy shrug. “We can share.” He started petting a hand up and down Derek’s arm. “How are you today? Are your arms feeling all right after all that pain draining?”
“I’m good now.”
“Did you still wanna go to that farmer’s market? They won’t be open much longer but we could go for a little while.”
Derek squeezed his hand. “Or...we could stay in?”
Stiles grinned.
Derek stood and pulled him up off the couch. “Come on, she’ll give us an extra hour to be safe, so we have enough time for a nap somewhere in the middle if we play it right.”