"You ready to go?" Melissa asked as Allison packed the last of her stuff into her suitcase.
"Yeah," Allison said.
Scott had remained silent the entire time while he cradled Katelyn.
"Scott?"
"ill never let anyone hurt you my little katelyn"
"SCOTT''
"Huh?" Scott turned to see his mother looking at him.
"Did you hear me?" Melissa asked her son with a cocked eyebrow.
"Sorry, mom. What did you say?"
Melissa sighed before repeating what she had said before. "I said are you ready to go?"
"Oh yeah," Scott placed Katelyn into the carrier just as Stiles and Lydia walked in.
"Ready?"
"Yeah," Just as Scott spoke Katelyn started to cry.
"Oh what's wrong Katie?" Stiles cooed as he scooped up his goddaughter. The infant stopped crying instantly.
"Wow, she loves you uncle Stiles," Scott teased.
"Yeah, she does,"
"Come on lets go," said Allison as she picked up her bags.
"Right," Stiles put Katelyn back in her carrier and allowed Scott to pick the carrier up and carry it from the room with Melissa and Lydia following suit.
Melissa signed Allison's release papers before leading the kids to the car. Strapping her granddaughter into her car cradle, Melissa watched as Stiles and Lydia headed to Stiles' car while Allison and Scott climbed into the car itself.
As Melissa drove down the road, she listened to Katelyn's happy gurgling and smiled. It reminded her of when Scott was little. Through the mirror, she watched as Allison took the infant's tiny hand in her own. The smile on the young mother's face was something that Melissa had to admit was magical. She had been young when Scott was born; she had been barely 20 years old when Scott was born. Now she was 36 and a grandmother.
"Mom, are you alright?" Scott asked.
"Oh sorry, Scott. Yeah, I was just thinking about your father, that's all," she lied.
"You're a terrible liar Melissa," Allison said from the back seat.
Before Melissa could speak up Scott spoke for her. "Dad was a dick for leaving us," he grumbled. Melissa ignored him and continued to drive.
Before long, they were home with Stiles and Lydia sitting on the doorstep waiting for them. "How did you get in front of us?" Allison asked.
"We took a shortcut," Lydia shrugged. Allison nodded.
"Is it alright if I spend some time with Katie?" Melissa asked.
"Of course you can," Scott smiled. "We were going to ask you if we could get lunch at the mall anyway,"
"Well, have fun and she'll be here when you get home," Scott gave his mother a grateful smile before heading towards his parked car and climbed into the driver's seat while Allison climbed in the front and Stiles and Lydia climbed in the back. Melissa watched as they sped down the road towards the mall.
Walking back into the kitchen, Melissa found that Allison had placed Katelyn's carrier on the table. Going over to tend to her granddaughter, she scooped her up gingerly as if she was afraid of dropping her. The baby gurgled as she looked up at her grandmother. To Melissa's shock, the child displayed almost every appearance of her mother except for the hair and nose which she inherited from her father. She was a rather cute child and knew that she held great potential.
Scott sat with Allison, Lydia and Stiles at a double table in the food court of the local mall. He absentmindedly played with a curly fry.
"Scott?" Stiles said. When he received no reply, he punched Scott in the shoulder rather hard.
"Ow!" What the hell was that for?" Scott asked as he rubbed his bruised shoulder.
"You were off with the fucking fairies again," Lydia said with a roll of her eyes.
"That's a big word for you, Lyd," Allison smirked.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Lydia said with cocked eyebrows.
"We get it," Scott grumbled. "I wonder how mom is coping with Katie,"
"She raised you, remember? She'll cope," Allison told him gently.
"For Katie's sake I hope you're right,"
Melissa sat in the living room bottle feeding Katie. The infant was definitely like her father: not extremely picky. As the baby leaned against her grandmother's shoulder, she burped.
"There you go," Melissa chuckled as she lay the baby in the crib that sat next to the sofa. Within seconds the child was asleep.
The front door opened and Allison, Scott and the others crept inside.
"How is she?" Scott whispered.
"Asleep. One thing I can tell you about her is that she is not picky. She reminds me of your as a baby," Melissa smiled as her son stepped away from his friends and joined her at the side of the crib.
"Look at her," he said in the smallest voice he could manage. "She is so innocent. She will grow up loved and nurtured," Scott smiled at his mother and she returned his smile. Allison, Stiles and Lydia joined them. Allison placed a hand on Scott's shoulder. The new parents, grandmother and godparents looked down at the infant, they beamed.
