Stiles had never expected to end up like this. Of course, he had had a vague idea of what his future would be (give or take) but he hadn’t exactly planned as far and accurately as this. He hadn’t expected to have his first child while still in university. He’d wanted to wait till he’d at least earned one degree so that he could have his life on track. Juggling school, a side job and a child was a challenge and it left him exhausted by the end of the day.
The pit-pat of feet clambered down the hallways followed by Stiles’ own clunky ones. “Caden! Caden get back here!” he shouted, stomping across his dorm. Bath time was always difficult with the half werewolf boy who was always so defiant about getting into the water.
It was becoming exhausting and Stiles wasn’t sure he had it in him to chase him any longer. He’d had three classes today, two of them being classes where he’d had finals because the end of the semester had closed on him all too soon. And then he’d worked a shift at work and he’d finished late so he’d arrived to the university daycare late and had to stand through a lecture from the same old lady about punctuality. By now he’d just stopped trying to feed her his excuses since she didn’t care that he had to make a living somehow.
“Caden!” he shouted again, catching the door just before the two year old could close his fingers on it.
Stiles squatted down in front of his son, staring at him with a stern gaze. He caught the boy by the shoulders and kept him in place, ignoring the cute, devilish grin splayed wide on his face. “That’s enough now,” he reprimanded, his voice giving no leeway for correction. It pained him to see his son’s smile off his face but he no longer had the patience. “It’s time for your bath. Daddy is tired and needs to sleep and so do you so you’re going to march into the tub and let daddy wash you, do you understand?” he asked him.
He regretted it almost instantly. Though Caden was a lovely boy but he was a wild spirit and when things didn’t go his way, especially this close to his bed time, he had break downs. Those big eyes of his filled with tears and Stiles cursed himself for having been so stern. The last thing he needed was for him to start crying. He almost had hope that Caden wouldn’t burst but his small mouth opened and wails exploded from him.
“No, no, no… Don’t cry,” Stiles pleaded, picking up his nude body. He rocked him up and down as he walked back down the hall to the bathroom. “Please stop crying Caden… Daddy didn’t mean to be mean; he just wants you to take a bath. Stop crying, stop crying!” he begged.
He still had to get him cleaned, despite his cries, and if Stiles waited for Caden to calm down they’d be here till morning. “Stop crying,” he begged, placing the boy in the small seat in the tub and resting his head momentarily against the edge of the bath tub.
There was too much noise everywhere that Stiles missed the door to the secluded door opening. It wasn’t until he heard his name being called that he picked up on the sound of keys falling on the entrance table and the closet door opening.
“Stiles?” Derek called, lumbering loudly down the hallway.
“In here,” Stiles answered, the exasperation clear in his voice.
He heard Derek walk closer to him and when he lifted his head he was standing in the doorway, taking in the scene before stepping in to help. He kneeled next to Stiles, a hand placed delicately on his thigh. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked him quietly and then quickly focusing his attention to Caden.
