Homecoming for the Omega

[fadingspark]

Scott's car was silent as they drive back from Mountain View. Dina was fast asleep in the booster seat that belonged to her cousin, his tiny plush dragon clutched in her hands. It was raining as they got over the mountains, and as they passed the sign welcoming them to Beacon Hills, Stiles just sighed.

"You know, I wasn't really planning on ever coming back here," he admitted to Scott.

Scott looked over and gave him a half smile. "Yeah, we all knew. But it's your home too, bro. You belong here."

"I don't know where I belong anymore."

Google had gone through a new cycle of employees, and Stiles found himself with the pink slip he had feared was coming. Things at home hadn't been good, and his focus had suffered because of it. The daycare hadn't asked why Stiles was picking his daughter up early that day, but he didn't want to have a fight when he got home, and Suzanna at least didn't like to fight in front of their daughter. It was his one saving grace.

But today was different, and even Dina's crying from her room wasn't enough to stop the screaming from his wife about just how worthless he had become, how he couldn't even hold down a job anymore, and why couldn't he see what he was doing to the family. And then came the bombshell - she was leaving him. His lack of attention had made her look to another, and he at least knew how to treat her.

She started for the stairs and it was there that Stiles found his strength to fight back. "Fine, leave if you want, but like hell I'm letting you take Dina with you."

The hand slapped across his face, hard enough to snap his jaw. "Claudia is my daughter, and she's coming with me."

It was a raw look in his eyes that made Suzanna step back as his fingers gripped the railings for all his worth. "She's my daughter. You barely spend any time with her since she stopped being a baby. You can have whatever you want, but you're not taking her from me."

He was given until morning to get out. Scott had been there in three hours with the SUV to help. Boxes with clothes, toys and a computer were packed and secured. A Google Bike - last year's office christmas present - was strapped to the roof and the three of them disappeared into the night leaving Mountain View behind.

"I just wanted to be happy, Scott." Stiles touched his cheek at the bruise forming there. "Why is it I can't ever get what I want?"

Scott looked in the rear view mirror. "You did, Stiles. You got one thing."

Turning to look into the back seat, Stiles smiled at his little girl sleeping, then resettled back in his seat. "Yeah. She's enough."

They arrived at the Stilinski house just after one in the morning, and the family came outside as Stiles and Scott exited the car. Carefully, Stiles carried his daughter inside and Melissa showed him where she could sleep in the den in a pile of pillows and a tent made from sheets. Once his arms were free, his father pulled him into a hug, then looked at his face and shook his head. "You okay, son?"

Stiles shook his head. "No. But I'll get there."

*~*

It took him a few weeks to get things in order, but he finally got a small home business up and running in Beacon Hills providing help for small businesses looking for web presence as well as app building. It was easy to work from home, but with Melissa and his father watching Dina, he could get away and focus at a coffee house or in the park for a few hours.

Scott had warned him that he had told the Hales of his return. All but Cora, who was out in Boston, which was a relief in a way. It would make readjusting to the town easier. But he was expecting the slow manifestation of friends he hadn't been able to see in the last three years as Suzanna's control had kept him close to home. Only now, far from her and that life, did he see what had been happening and he was angry that he had let it all happen.

But that was his past. He was working on making a future for himself and Dina, and that was all that mattered now.

Comments

[wildkingdom]

What do you do when your packmate's pregnant wife is managing her two year-old on her own while her husband is off working and you have the day off from being Sam Winchester's willing legal slave? You let Allison take a load off by swanning in as Aunt Malia and to spoil said hyperactive two year-old rotten, wrangle him into sneakers and a jacket and shuffle him and mom off to the park.

Allison is incredibly grateful. She's only just getting out of her first trimester, which from what Malia's heard is the worst of it when it comes to morning sickness, but that doesn't make being the mother of the spawn of Scott McCall any easier. This isn't to say that she didn't adore Ryan, to pieces in fact, but the kid did not slow down for a second.

"Aunt Malia!" he shouts, tugging on her hand as he races into the park as fast as his little toddler legs can carry him. "I wanna - wanna on the slide!"

"Alright, alright," Malia laughs as she's dragged after him. "Let's slide."

Allison, however, is going to take advantage of the distraction and make her way over to the bench that Stiles is sprawled across. She gives him a small smile, before nudging his legs lightly.

"Hey, you. Move over for the pregnant lady."

[fadingspark]

Stiles looked up from his tablet where he had been hard at work to see Allison over him. He scrambled to sit up, managing to almost knock over his coffee but he had actually grow a bit more graceful in his fumbling moments to avoid breaking or damaging things.

Survival skills. Don't ask.

"Again? Really? Scott didn't tell me that." He smiled at his sister in law. "Congrats."

[wildkingdom]

Allison lowers herself down onto the bench with a soft sigh, moving her hand to the small of her back as she did. She's not showing much, but everything is already starting to hurt.

"I guess he's just used to everyone already being able to tell." Because werewolves and all. She smiles a bit as she nods. "But yeah. Thirteen weeks."

Malia, in the meantime, is just going to follow Ryan all over the playground, soaking in as much kid time as possible.

"Where's Dina?

[fadingspark]

"Go team human." He smirked at Allison. "But no really, that's awesome. You guys are like, the perfect family already."

He reached for his coffee. "Dad's getting in some grandpa time with his granddaughter and they took her to IHOP. Melissa is meeting me here soon to drop her off when they leave for work."

[wildkingdom]

"Good. Then she can get some cousin time." She glances up to where Malia is hanging out with Ryan on the swings. He's laughing loudly as he swings back and forth in the kiddie swing. Malia's pushing him and he's chanting for her to go higher, higher, higher. "Provided Malia's willing to separate herself from him."

Not that she minds. It's better this way. It's better than Malia making puppy faces at the kids because she wants one of her own so badly even Allison can feel it.

[fadingspark]

"Dina could use it." He rubbed his neck. "I should have brought her around to see you guys more. You're all family, and yet basically strangers to my daughter. I'm sorry about that."

He was apologizing a lot, way more than he used to.

And wouldn't you know it, at that moment there is a little girl coming running at him, a mess of a blonde ponytail, jeans and a tutu, and a shirt that read WARNING: TINY GEEK APPROACHING. Daddy! she cries as she all but flings herself into Stiles' lap.

[wildkingdom]

Allison smiles a bit as she sees her approach. She can see a lot of Suzanna in her, which is a shame, because that's a reminder that no one needs, but there's a lot of Stiles too. That smile? All Stiles.

Melissa comes up behind them and gives Allison a wave which she returns, bearing coffee for Stiles. With it also comes chants of "Grandma Grandma Grandma" from the tiny McCall on the swing set, which gets Melissa laughing all the same.

"Looks like he's having a good time."

"Oh, Aunt Malia time is always a good time."

[fadingspark]

"You are a godsend, Melissa." It had taken a lot of work not to call her Ms. McCall. He still slipped, which was especially awkward with it being Mrs. Stilinski now. He took the coffee and sipped it, then watched as Dina saw Allison and curled up into his lap, waving at her aunt.

"Don't be shy, Dina. You know your aunt Allison."

"Hi Aunt Allison. I got my nails painted." and she shows her, each finger a different bright color. "It's a rainbow."

[wildkingdom]

Allison gives her a wide easy smile, even though it hurts a little that she's still so shy with her. She shouldn't be. They should have all been one big happy family, and she doesn't know how they got so off course, but that doesn't really matter now.

"They look very pretty, Dina. I especially like the blue ones."

Ryan is toddling his way across the park, eventually latching himself on to Melissa's leg with a big grin. "Hi, Grandma."

"Hi, Ryan." She crouches down and kisses the top of his head. "I would love to stay but I gotta go to work. I will see you later, kiddo."

"Okay!" He laughs a bit as Malia catches up with him, scooping him up to pull him into her lap.

"Alright, munchkin, listen up." She crouches down on the ground so that Ryan is looking up at Dina. "That is your cousin Dina."

Ryan's eyes go comically wide. "I have more cousins?!"

"Yes, silly, you knew that," Allison scolds him gently, even though there's a smile on her face.

"I must have forgotten," he says innocently with a bit of a shrug and Malia digs her fingers into his side a bit, making him laugh.

"Yes, well, your cousin, Dina is new here, and she's also a Stilinski."

"Like Grandpa John?"

"Exactly like Grandpa John. And Stilinskis and McCalls have a very, very longstanding history of being super awesome friends." She turns him so that he's looking at her. "Now, I know you know this playground like the back of your hand. Think you can teach her all your secrets?" Ryan nods in agreement before wriggling out of her lap and reaching for his cousin's hand.

"C'mon Dina let's go! We don't have a lot of time!"

He lies. They have plenty of time. It just never feels like it when you're two.

[fadingspark]

Malia was a stranger to Dina, and she retreated a bit more into her father. But she knew of Ryan and had seen him once even though that had been forever ago. When Ryan went to take her hand, she looks up at her dad.

"It's okay, Dina. Ryan will show you everything. Just remember, no talking to strangers."

Yes, Daddy. She kissed his cheek, then took Ryan's hand and she went with him.

Stiles smiled a bit. "Five minutes, and we're going to have to pry them apart," he told Allison, then looked up at Malia. "Hey stranger."

[wildkingdom]

The retreating hurt, just a little, but she knew that kids needed time to warm up to people, and Malia had no problem with waiting. It's hard, sometimes, to be thrust into a family and not really know who they are, so Malia was more than willing to give them a little time. She watches the kids run off, before taking the seat on the opposite side of him from Allison.

"Hey yourself. Nice to have you back."

[fadingspark]

There was a reason why Dina retreated that he wasn't going to speak out loud. Same reason he warned her not to talk to strangers before she left with Ryan into a town as small and safe as Beacon Hills. But it was the same reason Stiles wasn't nearly as relaxed as he used to be in his own skin, and problems that were going to take a long time to fix.

"Yeah, well, I wish I could say it's nice to be back, but you know." He shrugged. "It is nice to have you guys around again though."

[wildkingdom]

She nods a bit as she turns to look at him, and then she stops. Her eyes narrow slowly, before reaching for his chin gently - he can shrug her off if he needs to, but her eyes are roaming over his face, more concern than anything else.

She works in family law. She knows that Stiles being back home isn't the end of the road. Just like she also knows that those scares aren't from some being excessively clumsy. Stiles was never incredibly graceful, but he wasn't that clumsy either.

"Did you document these when they happened?"

[wildkingdom]

As they pull up to the Hale House, Isaac's car is already parked in front of it, and he and Talia are sitting on the front porch, waiting for their guests. Malia glances up at them, a smile crossing her face at the sight of Isaac before climbing out of the car. "Home sweet home."

She piles out, making her way around the front of the car and up onto the porch, sliding her arms around Isaac's waist as she reaches him. "Hi, husband."

Ryan, on the other hand, eagerly points out the two people on the porch to Dina. "That's Uncle Isaac making kissy faces at Aunt Malia, and the other lady is Talia."

Talia's gotten a little older, a little more silver in her hair, but she still looks mostly the same. She lets Isaac and Malia have their moment behind her, and leans against the side of the porch as she waits for everyone else to disembark.

[fadingspark]

Stiles is working to unstrap Dina from her seat, listening to Ryan speak. "Anyone inside the house is a friend, baby. You're safe here and can talk to any of them."

"It's a very big house. I may get lost."

"You stick with Ryan. He'll make sure you don't." And the kids were released. A moment later, Stiles was on his way to the porch, giving Talia a smile before he was sideswiped by Isaac wrapping him up in a hug.

"It's darn good to see you, Stiles," Isaac said, slapping his back hard.

"Ow, watch the strength, will ya?"

"Sorry." Isaac let him go. "Good that you're back though."

"So I've heard." He pat Isaac's back, then started up the porch and smiled at Talia. "Hey Mrs. Hale."

[wildkingdom]

Her head tips to the side at that, a bit of a wince at the formality. "Most of you haven't called me Mrs. Hale in a very long time." Which means it's okay to call her Talia. She does take a few steps down to meet him halfway and pulls him into a warm, solid hug. "Isaac's right. It is good to see you."

[fadingspark]

"I haven't been around in a very long time." He hesitated, but he leaned into the hug, and for a moment just closed his eyes. Because Talia always gave him hugs that made him feel safe and secure, and he hadn't felt that in awhile.

[wildkingdom]

Talia lets him hold onto the hug as long as he needs to, one hand rubbing his back lightly as she does. It's true, he hasn't been around in a very long time, but that doesn't mean she thinks of him as any less hers. "Welcome home."

[fadingspark]

Dina walked over and pulled on her Dad's leg, and Stiles pulled out of the hug to look at his daughter.

"Is she the alpha?" Dina asked softly.

Stiles smiled and picked his daughter up, holding her on his hip. "Yes, this is. Talia... this is my daughter, Claudia."

[wildkingdom]

Talia smiles widely at her, amused that she's already referring to her as the alpha, but she has a feeling that that's Ryan's doing more than anything else. "It's nice to meet you, Claudia. I've heard a lot about you from your grandfather." She reaches out and tugs at the soft material around her waist. "I love your tutu."

[fadingspark]

"Daddy says that all superhero princesses were tutus."

Stiles chuckled a bit, bouncing her on his hip. "I may have overdone it a bit with the Marvel movies during late night feedings."

[wildkingdom]

Talia laughs as she shakes their head. "They all have something. One of my daughters couldn't decide between an astronaut, Wonder Woman and owning and ice cream shop. The heart wants what the heart wants."

[fadingspark]

"Wonder Woman. When you can be a superhero, you're always a superhero."

Stiles kissed her cheek, then put her down. "Go let Ryan show you around, honey."

"Okay!"

And Dina runs off to grab Ryan's hand and go inside. Stiles watched them go, then looked back at Talia with a small smile. "So how have you been?

[wildkingdom]

The rest of the adults make their way in as well and Talia herds Stiles over to the porch seat to get some time with him to herself. She's heard thing, and she wants to assess how bad this is.

"Getting used to the empty house. Thankfully Thomas is here, or else I think I might go insane from how quiet it is." Not to say that when Laura's kids were here, there wasn't enough noise to go around, but in the early mornings and late in the evenings she missed having her children around.

[fadingspark]

Scott gives him a quick look, but Stiles nods. He can handle this, and the other man just put his arms around Allison and Malia to lead them inside.

He sat next to her, resting his elbows on his legs, hand folded in front of him. "Good to know he's still doing well. I know it's probably hard and all at his age, but you really were happier when you had him than when you didn't."

He can hear Ryan and Dina talking up a storm. "With that one around, I'm sure you get to miss the quiet."