Chapter Text
"What do you want to be when you grow up?", his mom asks into the circle.
Laura is sitting on the couch, near her mother while Derek and Cora kneel by the little table in front of the fireplace. Derek keeps his eyes riveted on the paper in front of him, concentrates on coloring within the lines. Laura instantly launches into a story of her being a hero, a firefighter, or policewoman, or queen and Derek ducks his head further down.
Cora sits next to him, leaning against him, sometimes adding her own shapes in the corners of his drawing. He would chastise her but the last time he did that she cried for hours and Derek’s ears are sensitive and he is not willing to face his mother’s anger again, not when she for once has time she is willing to spend with them.
She looks so soft, in the comfortable clothes Dad bought her for Christmas, cozy and fluffy, and Derek wants to press his face against it, to inhale her scent.
He wants more of his mother but he does not know how to say it, how to make her understand the jealousy that courses through his veins when Laura, once more, hogs all the attention, leaves so little for Cora and him. He wants her to see how much he loves her, how much he yearns for her kindness, for her gaze to fully focus on him, not just as a sidetrack. He wants her to see him like his dad does, wants her to love him like he does, fully, unconditionally, wants her to be able to read him like he can, he just…wants.
"And you Derek?"
He looks up to see her watching him, mouth soft, eyes kind, but Derek has seen her when she is angry and he worries about ruining her mood. She will be disappointed in his choice, just like she is disappointed that he does not want to shift, that pain scares him, that he does not want to run at night and howl at the moon, that he wants to be told stories about princesses and anything human rather than to hear about their own bloodthirsty history.
"Derek?"
He looks at her, takes in her strong arms, knows that they are capable of carrying the three of them at the same time, sees her muscles ripple in her neck, their strong pack Alpha, his mother, his Goddess.
"I wanna be a healer.", he murmurs and flushes at Laura’s laughter.
"Laura.", his mom warns and his big sister quietens quickly, eyes wide and focused on their mother, like they all do, yearning for her approval, working for her affection, trying to be the perfect children she wants, she demands. They are like moths drawn to her, the light that glues them together, the light that keeps them grounded and focused.
Talia’s eyes are still on him and she smiles, reaches forward, places a hand on his hair. It is as if the sun has come out to greet him and he smiles back softly, carefully, and feels Cora hum into his arm, his little sister pleased by his warming scent.
"That is good. We’re going to need someone to fix up your sister if she really wants to become all the things she says she wants to be.", His mom says and Derek nods decidedly, tries not to let his heart stutter, tries not to feel dejected. He doesn’t want to become a healer for Laura, he wants to be a healer for himself, because he doesn’t like the hurt he feels spreading in his own chest whenever someone is mean to him, whenever Laura pushes too hard, he wants to be a healer and be approved as such, be loved as such. He wants to spread peace. Not for Laura’s sake but for his own.
"Mo-om.", Laura drawls, throws herself headfirst onto the sofa, and Derek feels warmth spread inside his chest, because no matter how annoying and how mean his big sister is, he still loves her, with all her antics, all her screaming matches that leave him clutching his ears, all her glittering teeth and sharp fingernails, he would take her in any shape or form, she is his big sister, the girl he looks up to, the one that made him want to finally be able to go to school, just so that he can keep up with her, so that he too can read her stories in the evening, so that he can proudly show his first scrawled out text that will be all about her. He loves her and he loves his mother and he loves Cora and so he smiles back at them, hopeful.
The Hale leader opens her arms and Derek abandons his crayons to crawl into her lap, make himself small so that Laura and Cora can fit as well, and he breathes in their mingling scent and purrs happily. He lives for these small moments of warmth and comfort, lives for his family’s happiness. They are his and he is theirs, truly, always.