Chapter Forty-Eight

Goodbyes and Nursery Rhymes

My arms were locked around Danny's neck, my cheek pressed against his cheek. I could feel him crying against me, though he wasn't crying as badly as I was. He was having just a steady, silent tear stream whereas I was a mess, full on sobbing into him.

"I, I'm gonna mi," I hiccuped while pulling away, sniffling afterward, "miss you." I wiped at my eyes, removing some of the tears that had made home dripping off my chin. I hated crying but, the hormones made me so emotional. I was almost always a wreck. s

We were outside the airport, just us two. I drove him, seeing as he's my best friend and I had nothing else to do since everyone went 'camping.' And I don't mean actually camping, no, my brother, Scott, Lydia, Kira, and Malia (they had to convince her to go, she actually was refusing to leave me for a weekend. I love her) were in Mexico searching for Derek.

I guess he got himself into some trouble? I dunno, I'm trying to stay out of the whole supernatural world right now. I've been stressed out enough through this pregnancy, I don't need to add any more to it.

Danny used his thumbs to swipe away the tears on my cheeks and then he placed a kiss to my hair, "I'll miss you too, Vic. I promise to call every Saturday, we can video chat and watch horrible 90's movies like normal."

I smiled slightly, nodding my head, "even Clueless?" I asked, sniffling. Danny hated Clueless, he said that the ending sucked and he felt that Josh deserved way more screen time. I agree but, Clueless was basically a classic and one of my faves.

Danny rolled his eyes but there was a smile on his face, "fine. We can watch Clueless but, only because your pregnant and I don't wanna deal with your bad side." I went to whack him on the arm but he was jogging backward and away from me. "Love you, Vic!!"

I waved him off, "love you, Danny!" I blew him a kiss, frowning once he was out of sight. There goes my best friend, all the way to Texas. Ugh, the only reason he's excited about going to Texas is because, and I'm quoting him here, 'everything is bigger there... even the men.'

♡♡♡

I had on a pair of cheap, canvas overalls, a tank top, and my hair was tied back with a hair tie with a bandana on as a headband; I was painting the nursery that used to be my dad's office. Scott, my dad, Stiles, and especially Malia, insisted that I don't paint the nursery on my own, but I wanted to do it. I needed something to clear my mind and distract me from focusing on what's happening in Mexico.

Besides, they're not here to stop me, so I'll do what I want. I was painting the nursery an off-white color that had a slight blue undertone but, you couldn't really see it unless you were obsessing like me. I also planned to do a light grey on the wall across from the door, the same wall that has one window centered on the wall and directly across from the door.

I picture their cribs to go on either side of the window with their changing table in between. My rocking chair will go the the right of the door and on the left will be a dresser just big enough for all their clothes and such.

Lydia, Malie, Kira, and I are supposed to go shopping for nursery decorations in a couple weeks, after the painting is done and the furniture is set up. For now all the baby stuff I have, is stuffed in my closet or sitting in the bassinet beside my bed, waiting to be moved to its permanent home.

I continued to roll on the off-white paint, music was playing from my small stereo in the doorway of the room. I was listening to Avril Lavigne, Complicated, swaying my hips to the beat while mumbling to the words.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞. . . 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞.. "Somebody else, round everyone else. You're watching your back, like you can't relax!" I sang along to the words, nodding my head. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 "Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated? I see the way you're acting like your're somebody else..."

I spun on my heels dancing to the music and going over to the pan to grab more paint on my roller, but I didn't make it that far. My music clicked off and I jumped when I turned to the doorway. My dad was standing there, leaning in the doorway, watching me with a smile.

"Dad..." I trailed off awkwardly, setting down the roller, like that would make me look more innocent. "I thought you were at work?" I smiled slightly, my hands moving to rest on my hips. My dad rose a brow at me, his blue eyes that matched my own, scanning me.

He sighed, "I came back for dinner....Victoria, you're 24 weeks pregnant. You can't be painting this whole room by yourself. Your doctor said you need to take it easy for the rest of your pregnancy, especially after all that you've been through so far."

I bit my lip, sighing. I know he's right but, I really wanted to do this. I let out a breath before nodding, the paint fumes probably weren't good for the babies anyways, now that I'm thinking about it. "Fine, I'll stop painting."

My hand went to flick off the light and grab the stereo from the ground, but I couldn't bend down to reach the stereo. I stood up and frowned at my dad, "willyoupleasegrabthat." I mumbled quickly.

He laughed and nodded, bending over and grabbing it for me. I took it from his hands with a sarcastic smile before walking out of the nursery, which was right across the hall from where my room is, and went toward the kitchen, fully intending to get some food.

I could hear my dad following behind me after he closed the nursery door. I think I might switch the door out for a door made completely our of mountain ash. I know it'd make it to where Scott couldn't enter the room but, when would he be at the house without myself, Stiles, or dad here? Also, at least then, the babies would be completely safe.

I dunno, I'll need to talk with Scott about it and see what he thinks.

"I pulled out chicken earlier and made up a salad," I set the stereo on the counter and went over to the fridge, pulling out the freezer bag that had the marinated chicken in it. "Do you have time to wait for me to cook it up?" I set the bag down on the counter and turned to the sink to wash my hands. "Yeah, I got time."

My dad moved to the counter and leaned up against it, watching me as I prepped my kitchen. A small smile lit up on his face, showing off his wrinkles in the most incredible of ways. His pale blue eyes twinkled as they looked at me and I rose a brow before looking to him, "what?" I asked.

He laughed while I turned back to the chicken, turning on the stove so the pan could heat. "You look so much like your mother," my hands froze over the bag of chicken I was opening, I could feel my heart ache at the thought of my mom.

"She liked to cook too, you know?" Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my dad roll up his sleeves and go to wash his hands. I cleared my throat and went back to putting the chicken in the pan, it began to sizzle in the pan and I could smell the garlic and lemon immediately.

"Yeah. I remember her teaching me when I was little," I smiled at the fond memory of my mom. I was only six when she first taught me how to fully cook a meal, younger when she started teaching me how to bake cookies and such.

My dad began getting out stuff to make some rice to go with our chicken, "do you remember the first dish she taught you to make?" He asked and I turned my head to smile up at him. At the same time we said, "spaghetti and meatballs."

I laughed lightly while using my tongs to flip the chicken breasts over. "You got so excited when she let you strain the noodles by yourself, she was so proud of you." I hummed lightly, "if she could see me now."

My dad was quick to reply, "she'd be even more proud of you, Victoria." I was shocked to say the least, would she be more proud of me? Or would she be disappointed that I'm pregnant at 17? I thought back to the journals, the notes she's written to me. There's one way to find out more about how she feels about it...

♡♡♡

With headphones on my belly, playing Destiny's Child 'Say My Name' through the small headset, I pulled out my phone and clicked on Stiles' contact. I knew that between him and Scott, Stiles was the one who's more likely to check their phone.

I put the phone of speaker and listened to the line ring. Once... Twice... Three-- Malia's voice quickly cut through the speaker. "Victoria, it's Malia, are you okay? Is something wrong with the babies?"

She threw the questions at me so quickly I got whiplash, but it was comforting knowing she cared. I let out a breath, "hi Malia, everything's fine. The babies are listening to music and I'm relaxing. How is it with you guys? Everything alright?"

My brows knitted together as I waited for a response, I was mentally chanting 'donotstress. donotstress.' over and over again, hoping it would work to calm me down. Malia sighed, "not exactly. We're on our way to the animal clinic now with Derek. Don't worry though, we're fine."

I sat up from the bed quickly, knocking the headphones off my bump, 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. I quickly fumbled for the off button. 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐢𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦-- it cut out and I set the iPod and headphones aside while I got out of bed and grabbed Scott's keys from the bedside table, he left me his car since Stiles insisted they take the jeep.

"I'll meet you guys there." I hung up before Malia could reply with a lecture on me being on bedrest and protecting my offspring, she had to give me said lecture about once every other day. She was very persistent, I'll give her that.

I was quick to grab a raincoat and boots, pulling the bright yellow coat over my tan canvas overalls and black tank-top. The overalls were only hooked up by one strap since if I had both hooked, it wouldn't fit me.

Once in the car, it only took me fifteen minutes to get to the animal clinic. I could see Stiles' jeep parked in the back and the lights were shining out from the open door. Why would they leave a door open like that.

I locked Scott's door behind me and rushed through the rain, my yellow rain boots protecting my feet and ankles from the cold rain puddle that was formed outside the door. Once inside the clinic I pushed the hood off my head, my hair sticking up in every direction as I did so. I made sure to close the door behind me.

Scott, Lydia, Stiles, and Deaton were all surrounding the examination table where a body laid. I met my eyes with Scott, he furrowed his brows, surprised by my appearance. I didn't see Malia or Kira though... they must've gone home. I looked to the body on the table, "who's that?" I walked over so I could stand next to Stiles, who immediately put his arm around my shoulders, giving me a side hug.

"That's... Derek," Stiles explained, scratching the back of his neck as he did so. Wait, what? I frowned, how? Lydia broke my thoughts, her hand was holding Derek's. Well, young Derek. "He's cold." She looked up to Deaton, "really cold."

Deaton grabbed Derek's other hand, feeling his skin and then he began an examination. I was left completely lost. How is this teenager-- this skinny, lanky teenager-- Derek Hale? It makes absolutely no sense at all.

"Do you think this is permanent?" Scott asked, gaining my attention. He was wet from the rain and he looked beyond stressed out. I'll have to help him destress later... maybe a hot shower and something extra?

I shook my head mentally ridding myself of those thoughts. Ugh, he's gone for two days and I'm thinking about jumping his bones while we stand around an examination table. Two days!? God, I need some self control.

"I'm not sure a medical diagnosis is even adequate. This is well beyond my experience." Deaton explained, shaking his head. He looked nervous too. What will Derek say when he realizes he's now stuck in a fifteen year olds body?

I rolled my lip between my teeth, looking from young Derek to my brother as he spoke up. "So what do we do with him?" Deaton sighed, "until he wakes up? Probably not much. It might be best to leave him with me. He'll be safe here."

"You mean from Kate?" My eyes went wide at the mention of that name. Kate as in Kate Argent? Allison's sociopathic aunt who killed Derek's entire family, Kate? I thought she died... I looked to Scott and he gave a shake of his head, fine, I guess I'll have to wait in suspense for the answers I'm searching for.

Deaton put his hands on the metal table beside Derek's body. "If she's alive and she is what you say she is, she won't be able to walk past that gate." Okay, so Kate is supernatural? This is just another reason as to why a mountain ash door would be perfect for my children's safety. Maybe I should just do what Scott did and mountain ash the whole house, make sure it's protected.

"Why would she want to do this to him?" Lydia questioned, shaking her head. "Knowing Kate, it's probably for a reason that won't be any good for anyone but her." I sighed, "and bad for all of us." I finished, running my hands through my messy hair.

Deaton looked at each one of us, "you guys should probably go home. He doesn't look to be in any danger. So maybe the rest of you should get some sleep? It's a school night." I laughed at that, looking at my brother, boyfriend, and friend, "he's saying you guys look like shit. Honestly," I grabbed Stiles' chin, examining his dark circles and tired brown eyes, "did you guys sleep at all in the two day's you've been gone?"

"And you all need to start taking care of your own lives again," Deaton added. Scott wet his lips quickly, "someone should stay with you." Lydia was quick to volunteer, "i'll stay. My grades are fine despite missing a few classes and Victoria is going to need you two to explain everything to her."

I nodded in agreement but, Stiles shook his head, "I'm so not okay with this." I rolled my eyes, "guys, let's go. Lydia can handle herself." Stiles shook his head, "no." Scott just nodded, ignoring Stiles' comment, "text us if anything happens."

"Nope, still not okay with it." I grabbed his arm and went to pull him but he didn't budge. "Not going anywhere." I gave Scott a look and he pulled Stiles with him, "All right, just 'cause you're stronger... doesn't mean you have to use physical force to get your way."

I laughed lightly at that, following the boys out to the cars. I gave Stiles a quick kiss on the cheek, "I'm gonna stay with Scott tonight. I'll see you tomorrow." Stiles nodded at Scott and myself before getting in the jeep and driving off.

"Alright, let's get you home," I turned to Scott. The rain was still falling from the sky at a decent pace, making Scott's hair completely wet just from the minute we've been out here. Thank god for my raincoat. I laughed up at him, watching as the rain droplets dripped down his nose and chin.

I grabbed the sides of Scott's face and rose up on my toes to plant a kiss to his lips, he was quick to kiss me back, his hands moving around my waste to hold me there for a moment. When I pulled back I tilted my head to the side and smiled at him, "I missed you."