Nia's POV
"Eli!" I shout for the fifth time.
"I'm ready mommy." Talia says as I hand her a breakfast muffin.
"I know you are, and you look so beautiful. Are you excited for school?" I ask and she nods eagerly.
She's our social butterfly, Eli isn't as much.
Derek walks into the kitchen and Talia stands on her chair to attempt to level his height.
"Daddy!" She jumps into his arms.
"I love this colour." Derek says spinning her around.
"Mommy said it makes me look like a princess." Talia says smiling widely.
"Because you are." He whispers making her giggle.
She doesn't know about werewolf's yet, after what happened with Eli we're holding back till it's necessary.
"Can we go see grandpa after school?" Talia asks. I look up at Derek.
Eli has a match tonight and we're all going, me, Derek, Talia and my dad.
I miss when Stiles used to come with us to Eli's matches.
"Eli!" I shout again.
"I'm coming!" He shouts back as he runs down the stairs.
"Who's on school drop off?" Eli asks looking between Derek and I.
"Me." I twirl and throw my keys in the air before catching them.
"Are you going to work today?" Eli asks Derek.
Derek opened up his own mechanic store, he didn't like being a barista. I do and I don't really care what he says.
"Eli you should brush your hair." Talia scrunches up her nose.
"It's better than yours." He argues.
"Don't be mean." Derek jumps in to defend Talia straight away. Talia is his baby. He bends to all her wills.
"My hair is fine." Eli says.
"You look great honey. Have something to eat and we can go." I tell him.
There's seven years between Eli and Talia, similar age gap to mine and Stiles.
Derek puts Talia down so she can finish her juice before coming over to me and kissing me.
"Oh guys, please!" Eli cries.
"What? we love each other. Don't we Derbear?" I ask and Derek rolls his eyes.
"Yeah Elbear! Love!" Talia puts her cup down and claps her hands.
I love that my nickname for Derek has rubbed off on our whole family. It makes me so happy.
Derbear!
Elbear!
Talibear!
I'm the only one without the nickname because to my kids I'm mom and to Derek I'm bonked nose.
"Yes. Love." Derek squints his eyes at me as if he isn't fully in love and obsessed with me still. Don't know what the point in acting disgusted in it is going to do.
"You love the pants off of me." I tell him and he scoffs.
He does. I don't know why he tried to deny it. Wr all know it.
"More like the nose off of you." He says and Eli scoffs.
"This joke is old." I roll my eyes.
"Not to me." He says.
"You haven't got the best nose Mom." He tells me and I shake my head, moving away from Derek
I look between Eli and Derek before grabbing my bag.
"You can walk." I say taking Talia's hand and her bag and heading out to the car.
I lead Talia into the car and help her into her seat. As I do, Eli climbs into the front seat.
I drive Talia to school and then Eli.
"I know your nose wasn't always like that, dad told me what happened a little while ago." He says and I nod slowly.
Derek didn't tell me that.
"It's fine. I looked hotter when my nose wasn't falling off of my face but it's fine because I don't have a psycho ex to break it anymore." I say coughing to cover the last part.
"Was he really crazy?" Eli asks.
"He broke my nose!" I exclaim.
"Why did you date him then?" Talia asks.
"I didn't know he'd be crazy! People just love me I can't help it. I'm loveable." I shrug and Talia smiles.
"Me too mommy, not Elbear. He smells." Talia says and I let out a laugh.
"I don't! It's just your in-"
"Individual interpretation of the smells around you. Could be me for all we know." I cut Eli off, shrug and sniff myself.
"You're so silly." Talia laughs.
I pull into Talia's school and help her out.
I kiss her cheek and give a hug before letting her run inside.
"Sorry." Eli apologises once I get back in the car.
"It's okay. Just be careful, she doesn't need to know yet." I squeeze his hand before heading off to drop him to school.
"Can you ask dad to cool it off a bit? He's literally so crazy obsessed with me shifting." Eli asks and I glance over at him.
Eli hates and I mean hates being a werewolf more than anything. He's scared of all of it, fangs, claws, all of it.
I feel kind of bad about it buts who he is and I know he's a werewolf. I know because the way he came out of me nearly killed the both of us, meaning he isn't human.
"He just wants to help you. I know he's far from helpful, believe me. He just... your all he has. I know next to nothing about werewolves and I'm married to one and have two of them. I wouldn't know how to help you. He does. Trust me, he knows what he's doing he's helped a lot of people. Let him guide you." I tell Eli who is glancing out the window.
"You don't need to be scared. He won't let anything bad happen to you. He promised me. He wouldn't break my promises." Not since the first and last time he did.
Eli doesn't say anything else, he gives me a side hug before climbing out the car and heading into school.
Once both the kids are in school, I head to the coffee shop.
****
"There's another fire." Derek tells me and I groan.
There's been so many fires recently it's a bit crazy. Why are people setting fires?
Derek and I do this thing. It's like the 12 hour check in. We check in with each other at 12am and 12pm. Parenting is hard. Life is harder.
We check in to just see what we're doing and how we're feeling.
We implemented it when we went through a rough stage a few years ago just after Eli was born.
"Did dad call you?" I ask typing on my laptop in my office.
"Yeah. I'm just going to check it out. It's probably nothing." He tells me.
"Maybe." I shrug.
"You should head over there. He loves that you can help him. It makes it so much easier for him." I tell Derek.
"Dad is fine. He's living his best life Nia, don't stress. He isn't." I love when he calls my dad, dad. It makes me so happy.
He's never really had a father figure and I'm so glad my dad can be that for him.
"I'm not stressing. Stress is a cause of wrinkles. I never stress." I tell Derek and he scoffs.
"Must be why you look so young." He says and I laugh.
"Tell me about it. I could pass for 25." I say and he just laughs.
"I'm going to head over to the auto shop soon and grab those files. Will you be there?" I ask pressing my phone to ear with my shoulder.
"If you wait a while I will be." Sex. I can't hear it in the tone of his voice.
"Okay, I won't move too fast." I say.
"I love you, drive safe." I tell him and he scoffs, I can feel the eye roll.
"I love you too." My heart still flutters like I'm still that same 23 year old that fell a bit too fast for Derek Hale.
I end the call and stare at the Lock Screen for a little too long.
My life feels so complete. I've been very sentimental recently.
The photo is Derek sat on a trail with both kids asleep in his lap. It's the most adorable thing I've ever seen.
Derek and I had to grow up a lot when we had kids.
But not too much, that would take away all the fun.
I love hanging out with my babies and just being fun with them.
****
Derek's pov
"Why does he keep taking that Jeep?" Stilinski asks. Not Nia, her father.
"Because he knows I hate it." I tell them.
That Jeep is the bane of my existence.
Nia didn't want to get rid of it but we don't use it so once Stiles left it behind I decided to work on it.
Nia was so happy and I would do anything to keep her happy.
I realised that a long time ago and I have fought so much to keep her happy.
She's like a ball of sun she doesn't stop being happy.
I'm glad she can give that to our kids because I'm not warm and happy.
Dad gives me a ride to the Jeep.
It's actually a weird one.
One day out of no where I just called Noah dad and now I haven't stopped.
"You still coming to the game later?" I ask as my phone rings.
"Wouldn't miss it." He says and I look down at my phone.
Nia <3: Talia isn't feeling well, leaving to pick her up from school.
Me: She seemed fine this morning?
Nia <3: I'm rolling my eyes at you so hard right now. Just because she was fine this morning doesn't mean she's going to be fine throughout the day.
Me: I'll be home soon.
I skip the part about Eli, she'll only tell me to let him be.
Once Eli stops at a red light, the sheriff and Jordan pull over and I head over to the car to claw through the car wheels.
Eli tries to move but obviously can't go anywhere because of the tyres.
He climbs out of the car and groans.
"I'm not paying for those." Eli says as I put my claws away.
"Oh yes you are, your mom will happily take it out of your allowance and you know it." I tell him and he scoffs and looks behind me to his grandfather and Jordon.
Whenever Eli gets bored he comes to the auto repair store with me and we'll work on some cars.
Now he's old enough, Nia offered him a proper job and the coffee store to earn actual money.
He doesn't want to do it but he is a mommy's boy to the end and he doesn't want to upset her.
Nia was so happy when she thought of the idea, she started showing him out to use the coffee machine.
She would always bake and cook with him too. He is her baby, she loves Talia just as much but there was a very special bond her and Eli formed when she was pregnant with him, when she gave birth to him and when she breast fed and it just continued on.
Both our kids can instantly calm down at her scent it's kind of crazy actually it's so beautiful.
"Hi grandpa!" Eli gives an awkward wave whilst scratching the back of his neck.
The thing is Nia will not punish him because he's stealing the Jeep.
'It's a Stilinski family heirloom and it should go to him next regardless.'
I say we just buy him an actual car, but nope.
Why would we do that?
Once we get home, Nia isn't back yet with Talia.
Eli storms in the house and slams his bag down as I take my jacket off, accidentally taking the hook off with it.
Nia is going to kill me. I was supposed to fix that weeks ago but forgot.
This is bigger than the car it's about being a werewolf. I hope this is so much easier with Talia because I can't do this again with another Eli.
He's such a... teenager.
Was I ever this bad?
"Alright. Can we just.. can we just stop before either of us does anything completely embarrassing?" I ask him.
"I think that qualifies as pretty embarrassing." Eli says.
I'm so glad he doesn't talk to Nia the way he talks to me.
"It coming loose anyway." I tell him,
"Are you going to punish me or not? Or are we just going to wait till mom gets home because I'll just go to my room." He says gesturing to the hall.
The attitude.
Obviously Nia is like at the top, she's everyone's favourite. So that being said she always has the final say in anything. Meaning that a lot of the time I can punish the kids if they need it but she can take that away.
I don't want to punish Eli but no one except for Stiles has ever spoke to me with this much attitude.
I kind of need Nia's reassurance that I'm being right, right now.
"Eli I don't want to punish you. I would like to maybe understand what you think you were doing?" I ask.
"I needed a ride to meet up with my friends after the game. What is wrong with that?" He tells me.
"Your mother or I would've happily dropped you off and picked you up." I tell him.
"The problem is that you are 15, you don't have a license and it's called breaking the law! Your grandfather is literally the sheriff!" I sigh.
"You've never broke the law?" Eli asks.
"Okay, you know what? If this is about the other thing" being a werewolf. "Then let's talk about the other thing." I suggest.
"I don't want to talk to you about anything!" Eli says.
Oh for fuck sake.
"I wouldn't push you if it wasn't for the thing but we both know it's not anything and now it's definitely something." I tell him.
"I don't even know what you're talking about. Are you listening to yourself? You sound drunk." He tells me.
Teenagers are so annoying.
"I can't get drunk, you know that!" I tell him.
We all know Nia can. She doesn't get drunk in front of the kids but a few weeks ago Nia got wine drunk (which is the worst kind of drink for her) and Eli came down because she accidentally woke him up.
"That's not my problem." He shrugs.
"Eli it's a thing!" I shout as the door opens.
Nia's home.
"Okay to you, not me." He sighs.
"I can teach you." I say stepping round the island but he keeps moving away.
"What if I don't want to learn?" He asks.
"You're going to have to learn, it's who you are. You're a Hale." I sigh.
"I'll change my name. I'm sure mom wouldn't mind me changing to Stilinski." He says glancing to Nia in the hallway.
"Well you can't change the fact that you're a-" I glance towards Nia and Talia.
"A werewolf." I say under my breath.
"Well what if I'm not? Maybe that's why I can't turn into one. What if I'm the first ever Hale who can't change into a werewolf?" He asks.
Oh how much easier life would be.
He's the hardest person I've ever had to teach.
"To be honest it might make it easier." I admit.
Nia's POV
Why would he say that?
The second I got through the door they were arguing.
"Go and play, Talibear. I'll heat up some cookies." I tell her and she nods, smiling before rushing into her room.
"Hi guys." I say looking between them.
"Hi mom." Eli says as Derek leans against the wall.
"Hi E, how was school?" I ask taking my jacket off but before I can put it on a hook, Derek takes it for me.
"It was okay." He nods and I put my bag down on the island.
"I hated high school too, it gets better." I say squeezing his arm as I headed to the other side of the island.
Not high school, life.
"Do you want some cookies? I'm warming some up for Talia." I tell him.
"Sure. I'll be in my room." He says before sending a glare in Derek's way then heading upstairs.
"What did you do?" I ask getting the cookies out.
"He stole your brothers Jeep again. But you know it's bigger than that." He tells me .
It's about him being a werewolf, that's all it's been about for a while.
"It's just the Jeep." I shrug.
"Nia he can get in serious trouble, he doesn't have a license. He's just acting out." He says and I can see why he thinks that. It makes the most sense.
I need to talk to him.
I warm up some cookies whilst talking to Derek.
"I'll talk to him and we should probably get his license soon." I say and he nods in agreement.
Once the cookies are warm I leave Derek and Talia with some whilst I head to Eli's room.
I knock the door and wait for Eli's call before entering.
"Hey. I brought you some cookies." I say placing them on the desk.
"Thanks mom." He says lying on the bed.
"You're a werewolf Eli." I tell him and he groans.
It's better to get straight to the point with everyone in this house.
"Not you too." He says and I sigh.
"Let me just tell you this and I'll leave it at that okay." I say and he slowly sits up.
"When I gave birth to you, I couldn't go to the hospital. I was a human giving birth to a werewolf. So we went to a friend who helped deliver you." I start and he looks at me curiously.
"I had a c-section. He cut me open and took you out. It was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. I knew there was a risk of you or I or both of us dying." I sit at the end of the bed.
"The whole pregnancy was scary. My stomach got so big, a lot bigger than someone with twins and it was just you in there. The contractions were the worst thing I've ever had. You were ready to come out and it was so painful."
He looks at me curiously.
We've never told Eli about the delivery. It's something Derek won't talk about at all. He refuses.
"I died shortly after I held you in my arms." I say and he raises an eyebrow.
"I knew the risks, being a human, my body couldn't do you the justice it needed to. I died and your dad had to take you home by himself and take care of you." I say.
"You had an amazing sense of smell and hearing. You knew when I was there. Your dad told me he had to put my shirt on his shoulder so you could get my scent off of it to fall asleep." I say and he raises an eyebrow.
"Really?" He asks and I nod.
"Yeah. You have everything inside you and I know, well I don't know, you're scared. That's okay but you are a werewolf and that part of you will come out and you need to help yourself. Let your dad help you. If I could I would. I just about know how to be a human, never mind a werewolf." I joke standing up and heading over to the window.
Derek and Talia are out there practicing lacrosse.
Derek is practicing so he can play with Eli as he was a basketball player, not lacrosse.
"Mom." Eli says and I glance over at him.
"Thank you for being so amazing." He says and my heart swells.
"It's the Stilinski in me. There's nothing wrong with being a Hale, they're just... boring. But you can change that stereotype." I tell him before leaving his room and heading back downstairs.