spamalot } { hey it's good to be back home again

[impetere]

Cora: So you're saying he's not really going to be able to figure that out until we figure out where we stand?

Derek: I think he doesn't know what he wants right now beyond keeping that little girl safe. He needs to get that first before he's probably going to even think about himself.

Cora: [sighs softly] I'll do whatever he wants me to ...

Lydia: No. You aren't listening. As the resident crazy person, I'm making an executive decision. [she huffs and leans back against the seat] We're staying with your mother. And you and Stiles can deal with this like the theoretical adults that you are.

Derek: Thank you for being a voice of reason, Lydia. [looking at her in the rear view] And you're not a crazy person.

Cora: [is making a face but doesn't argue]

Lydia: You're not the one who had a mental breakdown and needed to leave Boston.

Derek: No, but at least you didn't a near death experience that drove you across the country for your own safety.

Lydia: That's self-preservation, not insanity. I had a screaming fit and was hearing voices in the middle of the commons.

Derek: Did they are least tell you how pretty you look today? [trying to make her feel a bit better]

Lydia: [a small smile at that, before turning her eyes out to the window] Well, it's certainly intersting to be home.

Derek: It's nice to have you home. [looks at his sister] You too, pup.

Cora: [glances back at him with a small smile] Any other surprises I should know about?

Derek: His daughter doesn't know what we are yet. But she's only three.

Cora: [she nods] So ex-nay on the erewolf-way.

Derek: Pretty much. [thinks] Oh, and Peter is Malia and Isaac's pet dog. [such a smirk]

Cora: [a sharp laugh] And he let her?

Derek: He was in coyote form at the time, and Dina is three. Pretty sure he didn't have a choice in the matter.

Cora: [she laughs harder] Poor Peter.

Derek: Dina and Ryan fell asleep on him. Mom has pictures. He couldn't shift out for almost two days [is laughing too hard]

Cora: [is laughing so hard she can't breathe] I'm sure he was very happy with that.

Derek: I think he secretly was, but we didn't see him for a day after.

Cora: Are he and Nadia still ... ?

Derek: I don't think Nadia's going to leave him because he became a pet for 48 hours.

Cora: No, but I think he might have been in it for the belly rubs.

Derek: [nope, back to laughing too hard]

Cora: [grins as her eyes turn back to the window again. She's missed this, being home with her family. It's good to be back]

Comments

[grumpypuppy]

Derek sighed as he pulled up at the Hale house and looked out at the familiar porch that currently had a group of children on it, laying on their stomachs coloring. "Home sweet home. I have to go pick up Liam from lacrosse practice, or I'd stay longer. You two be okay?"

[impetere]

"Fine," Lydia says with a nod as she grabs her bag and slides out of the car. "Come on. Time to put on your big girl pants."

That is directed more at Cora.

Cora rolls her eyes a bit, before leaning in and giving her brother a hug. "Thanks for coming to pick me up."

[grumpypuppy]

He hugged back back. "We'll see you Sunday at dinner. And if you need to talk, just call."

Almost immediately after she shut the door, twin heads popped up. "AUNT CORA!" they shouted in unison and she was hit with two canonballs to her waist.

Derek laughed. "Oh, thank you karma for these twins."

[impetere]

Cora laughs as she catches them, sliding her arms around them and holding them close. They've gotten bigger since she last saw them, closing her eyes and sinking into it. "Hey, guys. Oh, I missed you."

Ryan perks up from his seat on the porch as well, bouncing on his heels and waiting for his turn. "Aunt Cora, Aunt Cora."

Lydia smirks at him as she makes her way closer. "What am I, chopped liver?" He turns and his eyes light up, before throwing his arms around her legs.

"Hi, Aunt Lydia."

[fadingspark]

Which left just a tiny blonde girl standing on the porch, biting her lip and inching her way down. She doesn't know either person, but Ryan, Haru and Kichi seemed to think they were friendly so she wasn't running inside for her daddy.

She's wearing her tutu with leggings and t-shirt with a rainbow cat on it.

[impetere]

"Okay, guys, guys. I need to actually be able to walk," she laughs a bit as she manages to extract herself from the two of them and move towards the steps. She stops when she sees the little girl on the steps. It takes all of second to recognize her as Stiles's kid. She'd know those eyes anywhere.

She takes another tentative step closer and gives her a wave.

"Hi. You must be Dina. My name's Cora, I'm Talia's daughter."

[fadingspark]

Dina nodded. She heard the name Cora a lot. Her daddy mentioned that name. If daddy talked about her, she couldn't be a stranger. "My name is Claudia Marie. I'm three and a half years old. I'm gonna be Thor when I grow up, and my favorite color is rainbow."

Haru laughed. "Thor's a boy. You can't be Thor."

Kichi punched her brother. "She can be whatever she wants to be when she is a grown up. Mommy says girls can do everything boys can do, remember?"

[impetere]

"Kichi's right," Cora says with a nod, moving a bit closer to her with a smile. "Besides, a girl was Thor in the comics once. No saying a girl couldn't be Thor again."

Apparently some things Stiles taught her when they were together still rubbed off.

"I bet you'll make an awesome Thor."

[fadingspark]

"Thank you." That got Dina smiling, and that was the other thing she got from her father - the full, innocent ear to ear grin. "You're very pretty. You look like your mommy."

[impetere]

She smiles widely at that. People have been telling her she looks like her mom since she was a kid. She still never really gets sick of hearing it. "Thank you. You're very pretty too. You remind me of your dad."

In all the best ways.

"Is your dad here? I haven't seen him in a really long time." And more importantly, she isn't sure if he wants to see her, but Dina probably wouldn't know that.

[fadingspark]

Dina nods. "He was taking a shower but that was awhile ago. He moves a bit slower." Her smile fell a moment. "My uncles hurt him. But Auntie Malia says they won't anymore."

Haru and Kichi slid away and were back on the porch coloring again.

[impetere]

Cora's face falls a bit at that, because the idea of anyone hurting Stiles is not her idea of a good time either, but she nods, understanding. "Well, Aunt Malia is pretty smart. When she says something's going to happen, that's what usually happens."

She sighs softly, before glancing over to Ryan, who was standing there very patiently, rocking back and forth on his heels waiting for his turn. "Alright, Ryan, get over here before you explode."

And with that, he launches himself at her with a grin, throwing his arms around her neck. She hugs him back tightly. "Dina, Aunt Cora reads the best stories." He glances back at his cousin with a grin. "She makes noises and does voices and stuff."

[fadingspark]

"My daddy does that too," Dina smiled. "He makes really silly princess voices."

The little girl then looked at Lydia. "You have very red hair."

[impetere]

"Yes, I do," Lydia smiles, before holding out a hand to her. "My name's Lydia. I'm a friend of your dad's too."

A less notable one than Cora, she's sure, but still a friend all the same.

[fadingspark]

Dina reached up and shaked it firmly. "I can go get Daddy if you want to see him."

The front door opened and Stiles walked out onto the porch. He had on a purple hoodie, helping shadow the bruises on his face. It wasn't zipped up, and one arm wasn't through the sleeve and in the sling under it instead. "Actually, I'm right here, baby." He looked at Cora a moment with a small, sad smile, and then Lydia. "I thought I heard voiced out here."

[impetere]

Cora glances up from Ryan for a moment as well, and there's a small, sad smile right back. Seeing each other again shouldn't have been like this, but it is. She glances away when he looks to Lydia, though, schooling her face as though it never happened.

"I'd hug you, but I have a feeling that might be painful." She settles for a kiss on the cheek inside, moving closer and pushing up on her toes as she does. "How're you doing?"

[fadingspark]

"Feeling like the end of my first lacrosse practice except I was the practice dummy." He was trying to make jokes about it, since everyone know how bad the situation was. "How was the flight back?"

[impetere]

"Fantastic. I was sedated the entire time."

Cora grimaces a bit at that, not because of her being sedated but just because of how it sounded. "She was worried about having an ... episode on the plane. We decided against getting arrested."

Lydia gives a bit of a shrug, almost as though to say "it happens." "Is everyone here?"

[fadingspark]

"I um, I overheard about what happened. I'm sorry." He gave her a single shoulder shrug on his good side. "I can do some research on it if you want? I'm pretty useless otherwise right now."

Dina knew the adults wanted to talk from habit and went to take Ryan's hand. "Let's go color more," she told her cousin and led him back over to the others.

Stiles smiled at the kids, then moved to sit down slowly on the porch bench. "Most of them are. It's not five yet, but I think my dad's been trying to make sure there are at least four Hales in the house at all times."

[impetere]

"Well, that should be a little easier now that you're plus one more." Lydia goes to sit next to him easily, crossing her legs in front of her. Cora follows slowly, pushing herself up so that she's sitting on the porch railing next to them. "Plus she's already won the kids hearts and minds."

"I have a knack," Cora chimes in slowly. She lets her hands rub against her thighs for a moment, trying to figure out how to say it before glancing up at him again. "Circumstances aside, it's good to see you."

[fadingspark]

"Yeah, Dina's fitting in pretty good with them too, but she doesn't know about things yet. I'm not sure how to really tell her in a way to make sure she knows it's a secret."

He watched them a moment, then looked up at Cora. He was guarded in his eyes, the look of someone who's been hurt a lot in his life - which his body currently matched. But there was more of a sadness there, and loss. "It's good to see you too," he said after a moment, "I'm only going to be here until the divorce is finalized. Malia's boss got it expedited after the attack, so I shouldn't be in the way for long."

[impetere]

Cora isn't exactly all brash confidence either, but there's an openness there that he probably hasn't seen from her in a while. It's not in a way that's pressuring him to take, but more of a way of letting him know it's there, if that's what he wants.

And it's okay if it's not too.

"You're not in the way." It's stated quickly. Emphatically. Maybe a little too quickly, but after going so long without having him around, she's not exactly anxious to get rid of him. "I mean, I doubt my mom minds. She always liked having a full house."

[fadingspark]

"Yeah, she's said a few times about how nice it was having Dina around. Probably misses hearing all of us running around back in the day." stiles dropped his eyes first, looking at his hand that was tapping his leg nervously. "She really does miss you guys. And I'm in Derek's room. We put Dina in Laura's, but she can move in with me do you guys have rooms to stay in."

[impetere]

"No, it's fine." Cora doesn't want to put him out and if Dina is settled he doesn't have to move her. This is temporary for them, after all. "Lydia can have my room and I'll take the couch. We're supposed to be apartment hunting anyway."

"I'm sure sleeping on the couch will be an excellent motivator."

[fadingspark]

"Cora, this is your house. You're not sleeping on the couch in your own home." Stiles look at her his head tilted, his eyes asking her if she was really serious.