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Post by stiles on Apr 20, 2022 19:43:40 GMT -5
It’s not until Stiles starts to plan a date night that he realizes… well, he’s not sure if they’ve ever been on a date.
At least not these adult versions of themselves. Sure, there had been burgers in the parking lot of In-N-Out and a movie or two when they were together back in high school, but he had been dependent on the money he made umping over the summer, and she hadn’t been that big on crowds of people. Now, they’ve been together for almost a year, but he’s not sure there’s been a single date along the way. Instead, she had come to stay for a few days, they had started sleeping together, and then she had just adapted to his life like she had been there for years. The closest they came to a date was the Friendship Ball, and he’s pretty sure they both equally hated that night. So now, a year later, there’s a lot of pressure to plan the perfect date night.
Especially four weeks after they’ve welcomed their daughter into the world. That first month of Ava’s life passes faster than Stiles thinks should be humanly possible. For as much as they stumble their way through the first two weeks, the second two weeks are gone before he knows it. Going back to work is hard. He misses both of them all day long, and he hates his job with even more vengeance than before. Plus, they’re both learning how to run on four hours of sleep - on a good night. So he’s exhausted, and he’s frustrated, and all of the days start to bleed together once they settle into a routine: Mornings spent with Ava laying in bed between the two of them after her last feeding until his alarm goes off. Days spent begging her for a picture every hour, even on the days when he’s able to come home for lunch. Evenings spent with the baby in his arms just as soon as he’s changed out of his uniform, or cradled against his chest while he cooks dinner, or watching her scream her way through the few minutes of tummy time they subject her to every night.
Tonight, though, is different. He had made a promise to Malia back when she had broken down over the struggle of trying to make sense of this new body, and he intended to keep it, even if she seemed far more secure four weeks after Ava’s birth. It still felt important to set aside this time for just the two of them, even if he couldn’t quite put into words why it felt so important. It’s already hard to imagine a time before Ava, but at the same time, he very vividly remembers a time before Ava. And as much as he loves that baby, far more than he ever imagined he could love anyone, a part of him misses that time with Malia, too. And tonight feels like a solid first step to making sure they don’t lose that part of themselves.
He gladly takes the baby from her as soon as he arrives home that Friday, but it’s short lived before he’s pressing a kiss to her tiny cheek and handing her back to Malia. It’s a small window of time they have between feedings and bedtime, so he promises to be ready in just a minute before leaving a matching kiss on Malia’s cheek and disappearing into their bedroom. He takes his time then, knowing she had seemed more nervous than excited that morning when he had gone over the plan to have his dad watch Ava. So he changes as slowly as he can, letting her have this time with the baby for as long as she needs.
It’s his nervous energy that wins out in the end, though, following the sound of her voice to the nursery. He finds her in the same cutoffs and tank top she was wearing when he got home, one of his shirts thrown over it. She’s sitting cross legged in the rocking chair with the baby at her breast, and for a split second, Stiles almost caves and tells her they’ll just stay home instead. He can just watch her like this all night instead. But as much as he loves Ava, he loves Malia, too. And right now, he selfishly misses having Malia to himself - even if it feels impossible to leave the baby.
“Hey,” he says gently as he leans against the doorframe. Malia looks up, a little startled to find him there. “Are you almost ready to go?”
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Post by malia on Apr 21, 2022 21:45:21 GMT -5
Malia has been looking forward to this night. She’s been looking forward to it a lot. The thought of getting to spend a few dedicated hours alone with Stiles for the first time since Ava had been born making her stomach tingle with butterflies that she hasn’t felt for a while.
But she’s also dreading it. In fact, dreading it is probably a bit of an understatement. The thought of leaving Ava making her feel both nauseous and guilty at the same time. It’s not that she doesn’t trust Noah. She does, she loves him, and she trusts him explicitly with the baby. She knows how much he loves her and she knows how much he loves them. In fact, outside of her and Stiles, she doesn’t think there’s anybody she trusts more with Ava, not even Derek or Scott.
But she hasn’t been away from the baby. At all. Sure, she’s been in other rooms while Stiles has spent time with her, and she’s left her napping in her bassinet the to do other things when she has the precious few free moments to do something for herself like shower or read, or even try to grab a little nap. But she hasn’t been AWAY from her. She hasn’t left her in the care of somebody else. And the thought makes her feel awful. Ava was a part of her. She had been since the day she’d found out she was pregnant. For almost a year, Ava has been a part of every single moment of every single day that she’s lived. And for equally as long, she’s been fiercely protective of their daughter.
She can’t bare the thought of leaving her with somebody else.
So, as excited as she is for Stiles to get home, and to spend some time with him. She’s almost praying that he’ll get caught at work and she can’t rectify the two in her mind. But he does get home, right on time. And he seems excited as he disappears into the bedroom to get himself ready. And she feels more possessive than ever as she coos softly to the baby who she needs to feed one more time before they leave her for a few hours (for her own benefit as much as Ava’s). She’s lost in the baby’s gaze when she hears his voice, Ava staring up at her as she sucks lazily against her breast. She looks up at him, standing in the doorway. He looks handsome, eager, and she remembers how much she just wants to spend some time with him even as she looks back down at the baby.
“No,” she tells him. “I mean, I think I need to change,” She wasn’t really sure exactly what they were doing, but she’s pretty sure her standard go to of cut off shorts and a t-shirt probably isn’t quite suitable for their first night out of the house since they’d become parents. She’s also pretty sure she’s not sure what IS acceptable for the occasion. Ava pulls away and she lifts the baby to her shoulder to pat her back gently. “But it’ll only take me a few minutes.” Maybe she was procrastinating…pushing back the inevitable? But they were going to have to leave the baby at some point, she knows that. “Will you take her?”
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Post by stiles on Apr 22, 2022 23:01:12 GMT -5
Stiles has mentally prepared for this moment when she says No. He’s been careful to consider the possibility of her backing out ever since he asked her if she wanted to go out just the two of them. Ava is still tiny, and Malia hasn’t been away from her yet, so he’s spent the past week telling himself it would be okay if she bailed. So he’s ready now to just nod along with her, to press a reassuring kiss to her lips before calling his dad to let him know there’s been a change in plans. To remind her their life will be filled with other opportunities for a date night, but Ava will only be this small once.
Before he has the chance to swoop in, though, Malia corrects herself. She bites her lip after she says she needs to change, her indecision plainly written across her face. Part of him is tempted to ask her if she wants to postpone - the same part of him that can’t quite look at Ava in her arms because she suddenly seems tinier and more helpless than she did just that morning - but he tries to quiet that voice in his head as he takes the baby from her instead. “Y’know, I think you look great,” he tells her, bringing the baby to his shoulder to finish burping her. It’s hard to deny how much he loves the way she steals his clothes, or the way her legs seem to go on forever in her cutoffs, but Malia rolls her eyes before moving past him to their bedroom to change.
And then it’s just Stiles and Ava.
He walks a circle over and over again in the nursery until she finally burps, then immediately starts to fuss. “Oh, Aves,” he coos as he pulls her away from her shoulder to offer her the pacifier that’s perpetually attached to her clothes. “You’re gonna have so much fun with Grandpa, I promise.” The baby quiets almost immediately, staring up at him with her big gray eyes, and it makes his heart swell as a knot forms in the pit of his stomach. Tonight will be the longest Ava has been away from both of them at the same time, and staring down into her tiny face now, it feels like a terrible idea. Her mouth opens in a wide yawn as her hands move aimlessly through the air before settling on either side of her cheeks, framing her face. “Now you’re just doing this on purpose,” he sighs, “Aren’t you? Now you’re just trying to guilt trip me.”
Before the baby can do anything else to make him regret this decision to go out, the doorbell rings, announcing Noah’s arrival. Unlike every other time his dad has come to visit, Stiles doesn’t immediately hand the baby over to him. Instead, he milks every last second he has with her in his arms as he runs through Ava’s routine with his dad. He shows him where the bottles are and how to work the bottle warmer in the kitchen, then where her sleepers are in the nursery in case she needs another one, and the swaddles they put her in every night for bed. Stiles goes over how to lay her down in the pack-’n-play in the living room and how often to burp her and how to know if she’s wet and in need of a diaper. He rambles until he’s exhausted all of the baby knowledge there is to impart with his dad. And he feels that knot pull tighter in the pit of his stomach with the realization that this is it. They’re going to have to leave her now.
He finally hands the baby over to his dad, aware of how empty his arms feel the second she’s with Noah instead. “I’m just going to check on Malia,” he says, lingering there to watch Ava for another minute before finally turning to head to their bedroom. He finds her still in the bathroom, now in only her underwear as she pulls her hair back up into a messy bun. “My dad’s here,” he tells her, like her supernatural hearing might not have caught every word of their conversation. But Malia nods as she stares at his reflection in the mirror never making him feel dumb for relaying that information. He moves farther into the bathroom, sitting down on the edge of the bathtub as he watches her drop her hair and start over, trying to form a uniform ponytail with her hands before pulling it back up into a bun. He watches her, catching her eye every so often in the reflection in the morning, for a long moment before he finally clears his throat. “Are we terrible parents for leaving her like this?”
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Post by malia on Apr 24, 2022 22:27:33 GMT -5
As soon as she hears the sound of the doorbell, she knows that there’s no going back now. They’re doing this. They’re going to leave their month old newborn and go out without her, for the first time, and Malia all of the sudden doesn’t know what to think or how to feel. Before she’d had Ava, she coudln’t imagine either of their lives with a child, a baby no less. They’d both been living their own lives, and then they’d created this life together, and in no part of that could she picture a baby being in the equation. And now, now that Ava is here and real and so perfect and so very much a part of everything she does and every moment of her day, she can’t imagine their lives without her.
And as if they’re leaving her forever, she can’t imagine walking out the door and leaving that baby alone with her grandpa, no matter how much Malia trusts him or how much they both love him.
But they were going to have to leave her at some point. And they desperately needed the time together, she knows that.
But that doesn’t stop her from standing there in front of the mirror stupidly, like she has no idea what she’s supposed to be doing or how to even function without Ava in her arms. She sighs, looking at herself, lifting her arms and pulling her hair out of the messy bun that it had been in all day. It falls long and unkempt over her shoulders. She needs a haircut. She needs sleep. She needs a lot of things. And she needs to spend this night away from the baby. She hears him, smells him, before she sees him lean against the doorframe, watching her. She nods at his statement. She’d heard Noah, she’d heard everything that they’d said when he came in, and she knows that he’s talking softly to the baby in his arms right now and that she’s perfectly content without either of them standing right there by her side. She tries to pull her hair back in a ponytail as he sits down beside her on the edge of the tub, but it doesn’t work out the way she thinks it should so she settles for the bun again. She looks over at him when he speaks again, and she doesn’t know. If she were a coyote, and they were in the wild, she’d have to leave her pups to go hunt for their food. They’d be alone and vulnerable. At least they were leaving Ava with somebody who would protect her with their life.
But they also weren’t leaving to do something to take care of her. They were just…leaving.
“I don’t know,” she replies honestly, coming to sit down on the side of the tub next to him without moving into the bedroom to get dressed. “We’ll have to leave her some time.” She thinks out loud, looking over at him as he looks down at his knees. All of the sudden, she realizes she’s the one worried about whether he’ll be able to walk away from the baby more than she’s worried she won’t be able to.
“Did you change your mind?” She asks him honestly, watching him carefully as he avoids her gaze. “If you don’t want to go, we don’t have to.”
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Post by stiles on Apr 25, 2022 22:43:07 GMT -5
The words spill out of his mouth before he thinks better of it, and then it’s too late. He’s said it. He asked the question, and now he can see the indecision on her face in the mirror. Immediately, he wishes he could take it back. But at the same time, it’s the question that’s been on his mind all day. (Part of that has his job to blame because it’s way too easy for his mind to drift to all worst case scenarios alone in his squad car.) Ava looked so tiny when he transferred her to his dad’s arms. It’s been almost three decades since Noah cared for a newborn. And Ava has only taken a bottle successfully a few times. He keeps picturing the baby hungry and furious, refusing the bottle when what she wants is her mother, and even just the idea of her struggle makes his chest feel tight.
Maybe she’s just too little for a babysitter.
In reality, though, some part of his brain knows that he’s the one who’s not ready. Ava settled into his dad’s arms without protest, even while wide awake and staring up at him with those beautiful gray eyes. Even now, he can hear his dad’s calm voice down the hall, but the baby is quiet and content. As long as someone is willing to hold her, she doesn’t seem to care who it is.
Malia settles on the side of the tub beside him, seeming to have absorbed some of his uncertainty. He stares down at his feet to keep from looking back at her, knowing that if he finds that same amount of indecision on her face, that’ll be it for him. He’ll be back in the living room in a heartbeat, peeling the baby away from his father’s arms. It’s better to not see her face as she tries to be the voice of reason. He nods along with her statement, knowing that she’s right. Eventually, they’ll have no choice but to leave the baby. Surely, it had to be easier at a time like this, when they were totally in control. They could stay out for as long or as short of a time as they wanted to and check in with his dad as often as they wanted to. It honestly does feel pretty perfect, as far as a first time leaving the baby goes. But before he has the chance to say any of that, she speaks again, some of that confidence gone from her voice.
“No,” he says immediately as he lifts his head to meet her gaze. As uncertain as he felt, his mind had never truly changed. He moves his hand to her face as he leans in, pressing a kiss to her lips that hopefully conveys his surety. When he pulls away, he keeps his hand on her face, rubbing his thumb across her cheekbone. “I love you, and I want to spend time for you. “Ava’s gonna be fine.”
It’s on the tip of his tongue to follow up that statement with a ... right? But he swallows that down before leaning in to kiss her one more time. ‘You should finish getting ready. We can try to be home before she wants to eat again.” He pats her knee gently in encouragement, waiting until she stands up with a sigh and disappears in the direction of the closet before he finally stands up, heading back out into the living room to check on Noah and the baby.
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Post by malia on Apr 26, 2022 21:58:16 GMT -5
As soon as his lips are against hers, she feels better about the entire thing. She’s not really sure why. They’re still leaving their infant daughter alone for the first time, without either of them within a rooms distance of her. But his lips are soft and his palm is familiar against her cheek and she wants to be able to focus on him for a little while. Just him. As much as she loves their daughter, she still loved him just as much.
She nods before he leans in to kiss her again. He was right, she’d be fine. She was with Noah. Somebody that they trusted second only to each other. She would be fine. And they wouldn’t miss her first smile, or her first steps, or her first words. They’d probably be back before her little baby brain could even really register that they’d been gone at all. He seems to be on the same train of thought as he instructs her to go ahead and finish getting ready and that they could try to be back before Ava is even ready to eat again. He pats her knee, and she can still smell his anxiety, but she follows his instructions and stands up.
She’s not sure why, but his hesitancy to leave the baby makes her love him even more than she already did and she wasn’t sure that was possible.
She makes her way to the closet, finding one of the only dresses that she owns. It’s a soft, flowy sundress that they’d bought when she’d first found out she was pregnant. He’s disappeared from the bedroom again when she emerges from the closet and she can hear him talking to his dad in the other room. She stops in front of the mirror, making one more attempt with her hair and finally getting it to lay in an easy ponytail that spills down her back. She slowly paints a little lip gloss on her lips, more make up than she usually wears, and she thinks that’s good enough as she leaves the bedroom and makes her way to the living room where Noah is standing with the baby, Stiles sitting on the arm of the couch as they talk.
She makes her way over to Noah, Stiles father offering her an easy and familiar smile and greeting. She leans in to press a soft kiss to his cheek, moving her hand to rest on the baby’s cheek as she does. She’s not sure how or why, but sometimes when she touches Ava she can get a little insight into how the baby is feeling. At the moment she feels content. Satisfied and relaxed, probably on the verge of falling asleep. It makes her feel better, a little more at ease as she turns to move and stand beside Stiles.
“Thanks for coming over and staying with her,” she tells Noah, looking down to meet Stiles’s eyes as he looks up at her. “I’m ready if you are.”
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Post by stiles on Apr 27, 2022 19:44:33 GMT -5
Out in the living room, Stiles finds his dad mostly where he left him. Ava is cradled in the crook of his arm as his dad stares down at her, saying something to the baby that’s too quiet for Stiles to hear but far more animated than he’s ever seen his dad before. But everything about Noah around the baby has felt new to Stiles. Noah would probably never admit to the exact amount of apprehension he experienced after learning they were expecting, but it had disappeared pretty quickly. It had surprised Stiles how invested his father became in updates on the pregnancy, especially once Malia was showing, but even that paled in comparison to the way he is with Ava now. She already had her own room at his house, Stiles’s old baby swing back in the tree in the backyard even though Ava wouldn’t be big enough for it for months still. Their standing Sunday night dinners relocated to Stiles’s when they brought the baby home for their convenience, but then his dad started offering to bring dinner over in the middle of the week, too. If there’s anyone who comes close to loving the baby as much as they do, it’s his dad, without a doubt.
Noah looks up as he hears Stiles again, raising an eyebrow in an unspoken question. “Malia’s finishing getting ready,” Stiles explains, gesturing back towards the bedroom. Ava spasms in his arms, knocking her pacifier loose, and Stiles is quick to step in, adjusting it back into her tiny mouth before she can freak out. Noah might misread his actions, though, pulling the baby slightly away from his chest. “You want her back?” he asks, offering the baby, but Stiles shakes his head. He desperately wants to hold her again, but already, he knows that if he does hold her, he might never hand her back.
He settles half-sitting on the arm of the couch instead, catching up with his dad while he waits for Malia to appear again. Ava stays asleep and content in her grandfather’s arms as Stiles asks about the softball team he chose to sit out on this year, Melissa, and a case his dad’s been working on that might have a connection to the supernatural. He tells Noah about Ava’s reaction to a lick from a neighbor’s dog no one could stop in time, and he’s just about to show him one more time how to use the bottle warmer when Malia materializes in the living room. On some level, he registers the way she greets his dad and checks on the baby one last time, but he doesn’t process any of it - he’s too busy taking in her appearance. It’s rare when she wears a dress, but he loves it every time she does. This one is one he bought her when she kept cycling through the same handful of outfits after she decided to stay in Beacon Hills. Now, it hugs her new curves in a way that makes him acutely aware of just how long they’ve been celibate for.
He’s still a little caught up in her when she comes to stand beside him, and it takes his brain a full minute to comprehend what she’s saying. “Right. Yeah,” he says as he scrambles to his feet, patting his pockets to check for his wallet and keys on the way. “Text us if you need anything,” he tells his dad as he reaches for his phone where he must’ve left it on the coffee table. “We can always come home.”
Noah rolls his eyes. “You’re not coming home,” he insists, but Stiles doesn’t feel that same certainty. His chest feels tighter than he expects it to as they finally say their goodbyes, both kissing Ava one last time before he takes Malia’s hand, pulling her towards the door with him before either of them can change their minds. It’s very purposeful, the way he doesn’t look at her as he gets her door for her and then circles around to the driver’s side. He starts the car, checks his mirrors, and backs slowly out of the driveway without saying a word. It’s not until they’re safely down the block, stopped at a stop sign that he finally steals a glance in her direction. “You okay?” he asks gently, unable to read her expression. Or maybe more truthfully, he asks because he’s not sure he’s okay.
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Post by malia on Apr 30, 2022 8:28:22 GMT -5
She is very well aware of the way that he practically drags her to the door, walking much more briskly than his normal at home pace would be. He’s silent, another tell, as he opens her door even as she rolls her eyes. She’s quiet capable of opening her own door, but he was always very conscious of being a “gentleman” no matter how many times she told him that very fact. She settles in the passenger seat without trying to strike up any conversation.
She can feel his anxiety, and she is having enough trouble battling against her own. She stares at the front door, biting her lip as Stiles pulls out of the driveway. She was leaving her baby. For the first time. And as much as she was looking forward to spending this time alone with Stiles, it felt really bad to leave tiny Ava behind no matter how much they trusted her with her grandfather. It was like she was turning on some kind of instinct, the very feral need to always protect and take care of her young.
But they weren’t leaving her forever. It was just for a couple of hours. It was fine. This was fine.
Her thoughts are a jumble of hesitation and self-doubt as Stiles come to a stop at the sign. She’s not prepared for him to not just immediately begin moving forward again so she looks over at him and they lock eyes for the first time since they’d left the house. She nods in response to his question, not sure if she’s really okay or not. But she wants to be okay. She really wants to do this. The longer they wait to leave Ava, the harder it’s going to be. “I’m good,” she tells him, resolve setting on her face. This was the right thing to do, for all three of them. “Are you?” She asks him just because she feels like she should. She knows he’s not. She doesn’t know if either of them will be until they get where they’re going and really try to get their minds off the fact that they’d left the baby for the first time. He nods without saying anything as he pulls away from the stop sign and heads them in the direction of where ever they’re going.
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Post by stiles on May 8, 2022 11:18:41 GMT -5
A nod feels like the safest option. Last he checked, she can’t scent a nod or hear something off in his nod. He eases his hand away from her knee as he turns his attention back to the road, taking his foot off the break. Her gaze lingers on him as he turns at the next stop sign, but he doesn’t feel the weight of the judgment that comes when she can hear his lie. Instead, there’s only curiosity there. Stiles shrugs his shoulder as he catches her eye. “I’m excited to be with you,” he admits easily, letting his hand come to rest on her thigh. “I want to do this. It’s just harder to leave Ava then I thought it’d be.”
In reality, he knows that the baby will be just fine. She’s in the best hands, and they’re not going far. But it still doesn’t change how tight his chest feels the further they drive away from the house. He focuses his energy on the feeling of her thigh beneath his hand, the warmth of her body and the soft fabric of her dress. He had been surprised when she had walked into the living room in that dress. The last time she had worn it, she had barely been pregnant with Ava. Everything about their relationship had felt fragile and tentative, and now, he can’t even remember what it was like to feel that way about her.
“You look beautiful,” he tells her when he catches her eye again. He sees the start of an eye roll just before his eyes dart back to the road. “I’m serious. You look incredible.” He gives her thigh a gentle squeeze, keeping his hand there as she thanks him softly before they both fall silent. It’s a comfortable quiet as they move through familiar streets. That tight feeling in his chest is starting to fade the further they get from that moment of leaving Ava, giving way to his genuine excitement to have this night with her. The last time they had come even close to a date was that weekend in Sedona just before Ava was born, and now that felt like a lifetime ago. It felt a little like it had happened to two different people, the two of them now so changed by the experience of becoming parents together. It felt good to have this time just the two of them again.
In no time at all, he turns into the parking lot of one of her favorite restaurants. He circles twice before finding a spot someone else is leaving, the crowd of people waiting for a table spilling out the door. But as soon as he turns off the car, he gives her leg another squeeze. “Just wait here,” he tells her. “I’ll be right back.” If she has a question, he doesn’t stick around to hear it as he climbs out of the car, heading for the door. A few minutes later, he’s back, setting a bag in the backseat. “I figured it’d be packed,” he explains as she twists in her seat to look back at him. “So I figured a picnic would be better.”
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Post by malia on May 15, 2022 22:34:40 GMT -5
Even though she rolls her eyes, his compliments aren’t lost on her. In fact, as soon as she looks away from him and back toward the window, she smiles. There was no doubt, she hadn’t felt very sexy, or even very confident in herself since she’d delivered Ava. As much as she tried to deny the fact that she needed praise or compliments, hearing Stiles tell her that she looked beautiful made a bigger impact on her than he would ever know. She doesn’t really know how to respond. He looks handsome, in fact, she’d like to just take his clothes off right now and forget the rest of the date. But saying that seemed trite and silly so she stays silent. He turns the music up a little, and she watches the view as they drive up the coast a little. She knows he’s thinking about the baby, and she can’t stop thinking about the baby. But she also can’t deny how good it feels to be a lone with him. To have that little flutter in her chest of excitement over what they’re going to do and where they’re going. And just getting to be with him.
She’s excited when he finally pulls into her favorite restaurant. One of them places that they’d come on dates before on the very rare occasion that they’d actually had one. But she’s surprised when he squeezes her leg and tells her to stay in the car, that he’ll be right back. She arches an eyebrow curiously at him, but before she has time to say anything at all, he dashes out of the car and runs into the restaurant. She sits and admires his backside as he rushes away from her. But just like he promises, he is back before she knows it with an armful of food. He’s right, the place is packed, and she watches as he settles the food on the backseat before starting the car again. “A picnic?” She asks curiously as he pulls out of the parking lot. “I think that sounds perfect.” It really does too. He knows her so well at this point, that she knows he’s doing this specifically for her. Eating outside in the open was much more something she was fond of doing than something he enjoyed. It definitely wasn’t his go to, so she knows that this is specifically for her.
“Where are we going?” She asks him as he continues to drive down the familiar coastal road. She’s looking more forward to the destination than she has been since they’d first decided they were going to go out. She can’t wait to see what he has planned. She doesn’t excite easily, but she’s very excited about this date. Enough so that she’s only thinking about Ava every other thought instead of every single thought.
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Post by stiles on May 29, 2022 13:07:13 GMT -5
There’s shockingly no apprehension on his part when he tells her the plan. Because he’s thought this through over, and over, and over again. Ever since he suggested a date, he’s spent time thinking through their many options. His dad as babysitter was an easy decision, considering he wasn’t sure Malia would trust anyone else. (Except maybe Scott, and Stiles wasn’t totally sure he trusted his oldest friend alone with their baby.) And then, he had taken his time thinking through the best possible date until he settled on a picnic. Malia loved the outdoors almost as much as she hated crowds. The beach wouldn’t have enough cell service to ensure she could check in on the baby whenever she wanted. And it couldn’t be anything with a set time limit - she had to be able to have the option to leave whenever she wanted to return to Ava. And a picnic fit the bill.
He smiles just a little smugly to himself as Malia says that it’s perfect. “I thought so,” he says as he reaches over to rest his hand on her thigh again. Her skin is warm, the fabric of her dress soft, and it’s all he can do not to stop the car long enough to kiss her. The road’s empty enough this far away from downtown that he could, but he resists the urge as he rubs her thigh with his thumb instead. Her question pulls him away from his own thoughts again as he glances quickly over at her before glancing back at the road. “I thought the preserve?” he says, more a question than a statement. It was familiar, but far enough away from more traveled parts of Beacon Hills that Stiles felt certain it would be fairly empty. And it was still close enough that it didn’t feel like they were too far from Ava.
Malia seems satisfied with this plan as she nods, sinking back into the passenger seat. He keeps his hand on her thigh the rest of the way there, turning in at the public entrance instead of continuing down the road like they normally would to Derek’s loft. He parks the Jeep and turns it off before turning back to Malia, hand still on her thigh. “Want to text my dad and check in?” he asks her, making no move to get out of the car. “Totally up to you.”
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Post by malia on Jun 6, 2022 22:06:20 GMT -5
“No,” she says confidently when he asks her if she wants to text and check in. She did. She desperately did. Every instinct in her brain was telling her that she should text and check in. But every part of her heart and her body were telling her that she needed this night with Stiles and as little distraction as possible. They both needed it. She trusted his dad. He would call them if he needed something. And she’s confident that if something was wrong…she’d sense it. She’s not sure why she’s so confident of that fact, but she is.
She offers him an easy smile, an attempt to assure him as much as it is to assure herself. She’s not sure if it works, so she leans in and presses a quick peck to his lips before she climbs out of the car and walks away. She’s sure she can find them the perfect spot for a picnic. Not too far away from the car, but secluded enough that they won’t be interrupted. She doesn’t turn around to see if he’s following her, but she knows that he is. She can hear him as he shuts the door, rustling to gather up all of the food that he’d picked up. Maybe it was rude of her to walk away and leave all of the carrying to him, but those were the kinds of things that her brain just didn’t think about…still…even after all this time.
When he’s close enough that she knows he can hear her, she turns and looks at him with a grin. “How’s this?” It’s a small clearing, just off the main road of the preserve. He seems satisfied and he tosses her the blanket that he’d packed ahead of time. She spreads it out as evenly as she can before she settles down on top of it and helps him set the food out. It smells delicious. She hadn’t realized how hungry she actually was, but now that she smells the food her belly growls with anticipation.
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Post by stiles on Jun 12, 2022 12:14:57 GMT -5
Stiles does his best to hide the flash of disappointment he feels when Malia says she doesn’t want to text. He forces himself to think about everything but Ava to bury that sudden reaction somewhere deep where Malia can’t sense it. He knows the baby’s fine. There’s no one in the world he’d trust more with their daughter than his dad. And yet, part of him is desperate to just send a text. Just to check in to make sure she took the bottle okay, and that Noah found where the wipes are, and that Ava didn’t wake up distraught that they were gone (even if she’s far too young to react that way). But he trusts Malia’s judgment, so he forces that feeling down as he nods instead and finally climbs out of the Jeep.
She never waits for him to get her door, but he still tries to race her to it, at least taking over holding it once she’s halfway out of the car. By the time he’s retrieved dinner and the blanket he packed earlier when she was busy with the baby, Malia has started to slowly wander into the preserve. And Stiles is more than content to just follow where she leads.
He catches up easily, but he stays a pace behind her, watching the way the waning light catches in her hair. The way her dress flows around her knees. The easy way she makes her way through this familiar space. And in that moment, he’s the most grateful they decided to do this. As much as he loves Ava, adores Ava, would absolutely die for Ava, there’s times when it feels hard to recognize the people they are. On one hand, he loves who they’ve become. It’s the most rewarding thing in the word to watch Malia with their daughter. But on the other hand, he misses who they were before the baby sometimes. And the girl in front of him now is very much the girl he’s always known. The most herself in the middle of the woods.
She stops in a clearing that’s far enough in to not hear the noise of cars passing on the road just on the other side of the trees, but not so far in that they couldn’t make it back to the car quickly in case of an (Ava sized) emergency. He spreads out the blanket and unpacks the food and is just about to settle in when Malia is suddenly right there. Her hands are firm against his chest when she pushes him back, and he falls back on the blanket with a grunt that’s muffled when her mouth covers his own. Her kiss is insistent, hard and clearly meant to be the opening act and not the main event. He sinks into her, wrapping his arm around her waist as he moans gently, her tongue running against his own. He waits until he has to catch his breath before he finally pulls back, cupping her shoulder to keep her from immediately diving back in. “Really?” he asks with a short laugh. “We finally get time away from the baby, and this is all you want?”
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Post by malia on Jun 19, 2022 22:34:19 GMT -5
It’s a beautiful evening. The sun is shining through the branches of the trees, creating soft patches of light along the path as she moves easily through the familiar terrain. This had been her home for so long. She knows every inch, every cave and stream and meadow and thicket. Sometimes, it feels as though she’d never left, even though she’d been living as a human for years now, and she shakes off the urge to shift as her coyote form causes her skin to tingle with desire to run and roll in the fresh grass. Someday, she would take Ava running here, and she would show her all of the wonders of living in the wild, surrounded by nothing but nature. They would go home at the end of the afternoon, to Stiles, where they belonged. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t show her what it was like to live like a coyote.
When she finds the perfect spot, she watches Stiles get everything ready with a soft smile on her lips. He was so familiar, and it was so him to be so completely prepared for this outing. She loved him, so much. There’s no place else she’d rather be in this moment, and all of the sudden it seems as though it’s been forever since she’s touched him. Since she’s felt his touch. It feels like way too long and she aches for him. So she doesn’t waste any time once he has everything spread out to his liking. She rests on her knees as she pushes him back against the blanket, his chest firm under her hands as she straddles him and presses her lips hungrily to his own. He tastes minty, like the gum he’d been chewing as they were driving, and she lets her tongue tangle with his as she feels his arms wrap around her waist. He pulls her closer, until they both have to catch their breath. But when she wants to lean back in for another kiss, he keeps her at arms length and she twists her face in confusion.
She’s confused by his question. Did he not want this? Isn’t this why they had taken time away from the baby? She lets her hand run along the familiar lines of his chest, under the soft material of his shirt. “I miss touching you,” She tells him honestly. “Don’t you want this?” She shrugs off his hand so she can lean back in, this time pressing her lips to his neck and kissing her way up to his ear. She can feel his body responding against her, so she knows he must want something.
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Post by stiles on Jun 26, 2022 22:30:40 GMT -5
God, did he miss her touching him, too. Ava is incredible. Ava is, without a doubt, the best thing he’s ever done in his life - no matter how misguided her conception may have been. Stiles wants an entire litter of Avas running around their house someday. That’s how much he loves having a baby. But Ava has also been a tiny earthquake, rocking the life they had just barely built the foundation to together. Before, he barely stopped touching her when he walked in the door after work - running his hand hand through her hair while she rested her head in his lap, Malia wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder while he cooked, undressing her in the middle of the living room because it was just the two of them and there was nothing he wanted more. But now, it’s Ava who’s in his arms from the minute he gets home until it’s time for her next feeding. It’s her they spend the night marveling over and passing between them. And by the time they’re in bed, he’s too tired to even think about touching Malia.
But now, the baby isn’t in the middle of the preserve to serve as a distraction. There’s still hours of daylight left before they’ll both half collapse into bed. And her hips still press against his, even as he holds her at arm’s length. Her hand is warm against his skin as it slides under his shirt. It rests just below his ribcage, almost like it’s teasing him. Touching him, but not moving any further. Malia’s eyes are wide with her question, but she doesn’t wait for a response before she bends her head back down, pressing her lips just below his chin.
“Of course I want this,” he mumbles, his words vibrating against her lips. He closes his eyes as her lips move along his neck. She kisses a perfect line to his ear where she stops long enough to suck against a spot just below his earlobe. He hums contentedly as his hand moves down to her thigh, gently gripping her leg as he pulls it more tightly against him. His body had started to responded the minute she started touching him, but now it’s impossible to hide how hard he is as he pulls her body closer to him, and he sucks in his breath when her body presses more tightly against his. Malia sucks a little harder on that spot in return, and it’s too much and not enough all at the same time.
His other hand moves to her cheek, sliding under her hair and cupping it gently as he forces her away from her neck. “Hey,” he says before she can startle, assuming the worst - that he’s somehow changed his mind. Her eyes are a brilliant blue when they meet his before returning to their more normal brown and wide with surprise. “C’mere,” he says before raising his head and pulling her face towards him, meeting her somewhere in the middle as he presses his lips eagerly against hers. He lets her part his lips again, moaning against her mouth just once before he pulls back again. “You’ll tell me if you here anyone, right? You swear?”
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