Creating A Life With You

11- Old Men

Stiles fixed Derek's tie with experienced fingers. You'd think Derek would know how to do this correctly by now, but it's always Stiles fixing it for him. Stiles is convinced it's because Derek simply likes when Stiles does it. But (not so) secretly Stiles likes doing it too, so he has yet to call Derek out on his bull shit.

Stiles finished, smoothing out Derek's shirt. Derek caught Stiles' hands in his own, holding then tight. Stiles sagged a little, closing his eyes. Derek pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around his mate. He pressed his lips to Stiles' head, closing his eyes too. Finally Stiles, of course, broke the silence.

"I think we can be classified as old now." Derek chuckled quietly.

"I think that day passed a while ago." Stiles let out a small whimper.

"Where'd the time go? It feels like yesterday we were freaking out because we found out he was even a possibility."

"I know."

"He was so tiny. He used to fit in my arms, and he'd just look up at me with his big beautiful brown eyes. We used to be his whole world. What happened, Der?" Derek sighed, pressing another kiss to Stiles' head.

"We knew he was going to grow up eventually." Stiles shook his head, pressing farther into Derek's arms. They stood like that for a couple minutes, enjoying the peace the other was offering. Of course it didn't last long, it never does in their house.

"Dad! I can't find my dress shoes!" Stiles sighed, pulling away from his husband.

"I'll handle the pre teen, you grab the clones?" Derek chuckled.

"And be out the door by 9:30." Stiles groaned, but left the room. Derek shook his head fondly, following after his dramatic mate. They managed to get out of the house with a minimal amount of screaming, and only running ten minutes late. Derek counts that as a win.

They met up with the pack at the high school, the kids running off to join their cousins. Stiles sighed, they were so stressful. Scott came up, clasping a hand on Stiles' shoulder.

"How you doin?"

"It's a very bitter sweet day." Scott chuckled, shaking Stiles a little.

"Where is the man of the hour?"

"He spent the night with some friends, something about getting ready together. Buy I'm pretty sure it's just because he didn't want to deal with my emotions." Scott laughed. Derek came up behind Stiles, putting a hand on his mate's waist.

"We better get our seats." Stiles pulled his shoulders back, nodding.

"Let's do this thing." Their little hoard moved into the building, claiming seats that Stiles found suitable. 'They needed to be the perfect distance from the stage.' Derek just followed.

Lydia and Jackson's little girl, Ava, came up to Derek, reaching her arms out to be picked up. Derek smiled, obliging. Everyone knew that out of the pack, Derek was her favorite uncle. She tended to gravitate to him during pack gatherings, even if the other pups were off doing something else. Ava sat in his lap, content to sit there and play with his tie. Derek shared a smile with Lydia, who sat down the row from them.

Boyd sat on Derek's other side, trying to wrangle his son, Vernon Boyd V, into sitting properly in the seat. Derek chuckled, earning a glare from Boyd.

"Watch it, Hale. I know where you live." Derek laughed again, Boyd smirking. The craziness continued for a couple more minutes, people walking in trying to find seats, everyone in the room trying to talk at the same time, pups needing to be tended to, etc. The wolves in the room were taking it in stride.

Finally the principle stood up on stage, the room going quiet. The older gentleman stood behind a podium, a mic adjusted to his height.

"Welcome ladies and gentleman, thank you for joining us today. For most of you..." It seemed as though the old man went on forever, until finally the procession began. Everybody in the auditorium stood, watching as their child or loved one walked to their seats. Stiles pulled out his phone, pulling up his camera, waiting for Toby to come into view.

Finally they spotted him, dressed in his cap and gown. He looked so handsome and grown up. Stiles started to tear up as he snapped away with his camera. Toby waved as he walked past, before finally taking his place in his row. As all the kids made it onto the stage, the principal asked for everyone to be seated.

The ceremony droned on as speech after speech was given, until finally it was time for the valedictorian to give his speech. Stiles clung to Derek's arm, tears falling down his cheeks as Toby stood behind the podium. Derek wasn't much better off, but he was allowed for today. As they watched their son speak in front of the whole room, delivering his amazing speech, there was so much pride in their eyes. That was their little boy. Finally the names of the graduates were called off, and Stiles waited impatiently for the end of the alphabet.

"I knew we should have made it Hale-Stilinski, instead of the other way around. This is killing me." Derek chuckled fondly, holding Ava closer. At last they got to the S's and when Toby's name was called, the auditorium erupted into cheers. It was the loudest cheer of the day, and the pack was very proud of that.

Afterwards, Toby shuffled through the crowd to find his family. Derek and Stiles were the first ones to him, smothering their son inbetween them. Toby laughed, but snuggled closer. His siblings weren't far behind, pushing their way into the group hug. And then the rest of the pack showed up, joining the group hug.

Toby was just happy that he was in the middle of the giant pile, and no one he knew could possibly see him.

"We're so proud of you, Tobe." Toby smiled.

"Thanks, Papa." The pile didn't seem like it was dissipating anytime soon, so Toby started squirming, signaling he wanted out. Derek chuckled, before letting go, the rest of the pack following suit. Well, except Stiles. He clung to his son, who was now taller than him, trying not to cry again.

"Okay, Dad. You can let go."

"I'm never letting go. You're not allowed to go to college. You're staying in our house, where I can keep you forever." Toby gave his Papa a pleading look, causing Derek to chuckle.

"Stiles, why don't we take Toby for some celebratory curly fries?" Stiles was quiet for a moment, before he huffed. He let go of Toby, who took a couple steps away.

"I'm acknowledging that I was just tricked, but I'm setting it on the back burner. Damn curly fries." He reached back out, pulling Toby back into his arms, just not as tight.

"I told you that you're gonna do great things. This is just the beginning." Toby smiled, hugging his dad back. It lasted a minute, before Stiles let go.

"Okay, come on my lovely hoard. My son deserves some curly fries." Derek smirked, following his mate and pack out the door. He put his arm around Toby's shoulder, the two of them sharing a smile. Derek cleared his throat, ruffling Toby's hair. It said what he didn't know how to verbalize, and Toby got it. After all, he took after his Papa like that.