Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Daddy! Daddy!”

Derek groans as he hears the high-pitched voice of his daughter, Erica. He turns in his bed, burying himself further in the bed sheets.

“Daddy!” She whines, now crawling onto the lump that is her father, sitting on him. “Wake up! I have my ballet today!”

“Yeah, dad, seriously, she hasn’t shut up since she woke up, and I don’t know how to put a tutu on someone, or a bun, so… I’ll go make the breakfast,” his oldest son, Boyd, states, gripping the youngest of the three, Isaac’s, hand to lead him to the kitchen.

Derek sighs and rubs his face, throwing the covers off of him and causing Erica to squeal as she’s tossed onto the other side of the bed.

“Alright, alright. Go get your clothes, I’ll be ready in a minute,” he yawns, sitting on the edge of his bed as Erica giggles and runs off to her and Isaac’s room. He shakes his head to help himself wake up, standing and trudging to his bathroom for his morning shower. Once he’s done, and has finished dressing, he walks out of his room to find Boyd holding a giggling Erica upside down, by her left ankle, and Isaac intensely staring at his food.

“Boyd, what are you doing with your sister?” He questions, walking to the coffee Boyd already made for him. Erica giggles more as she’s set down, sitting on the floor with her tutu on her lap and her ballet flats beside her.

“She was dancing around the kitchen and almost knocked over the coffee pot out of my hands, so I held her ‘till she calmed down,” Boyd smoothly answered, sitting down next to Isaac and helping him eat.

“Daddy! My shoes and tutu! Help!” Erica… babbles. Her sentences are sometimes half complete, but they’re working on it. Derek nods and kneels down to Erica, standing her upright and instructing her to lift her legs so he can slip on her tutu, tying it in the back.

“Shoe!” Isaac giggles, holding up the shoe Derek hasn’t put on Erica yet. Derek smiles and kisses his forehead as he takes it, tying it onto his daughter’s small foot.

“Alright, all done eating?” Derek asks after helping Boyd put all of Isaac’s entertainment into his backpack.

“Yup!” Isaac exclaims, making grabby-hand motions to his father until he is actually lifted up into his arms and carried to the car. Derek buckles the two kids in as Boyd buckles himself into the passenger seat, turning the ignition for his dad. Derek thanks him with a nod and puts the car into drive, backing out of the driveway and driving off to the Junior Dance Studio, forty-five minutes from Beacon Hills.

Erica hums to herself as they drive, Isaac staring out the window, completely fascinated with the forest on his side of the car.

“Twee,” he coos, pointing out the window. Derek chuckles and Boyd smiles, Boyd turning in his seat to look at his little brother. “Yeah, Isaac. A tree,” he chuckles, earning a toothy grin from the curly-haired boy.

Derek finally pulls into the parking lot of the Dance Studio, Erica squealing as she sees her best friend, Lydia, by her parents, Scott and Allison (Yes, bam, I put Allison in here, you can’t tell me who to write. Suck it) and quickly runs to them once the car is off. They smile as the hyper blonde and strawberry blonde giggle and point to each other’s tutus and flats.

“Hey, Derek, Boyd,” Scott greets as Derek unbuckles Isaac from his car seat.

“Hi, Isaac!” Allison coos once Derek and Boyd reach them, already gripping the younger child and holding him against her hip.

“Hi, auntie!” He giggles, hugging her happily. Scott rolls his eyes, but with a fond smile, Derek and he making small talk as they enter the window-lit building, each man holding their daughter’s hand as the two girls also hold each other’s hands.

The two girls suddenly squeal and escape from their fathers, running to a small counter with a handful of items.

“Daddy! Daddy, look!” They giggle in unison, jumping up and down as they point at the T-shirts being displayed. Allison stifles a laugh as she looks at them, already wearing her respective purple ‘Dance Mom’ shirt.

“Aw, c’mon,” she chuckles, looking at the reluctant men. “I’m wearing my shirt, and they really want you guys to wear them! Please? Just in the studio, never out of it, I swear.”

The two Alphas grimace but nod in defeat, Scott knowing better than to argue with his wife, and Derek knowing better than to argue with a woman.

“Fine,” they grumble in unison. The two little girls cheer and take two shirts as Scott pays for both of them, Derek staring at the pink shirt and sighing as he slips it on, Scott soon doing the same.

“Wow, dad. Totally rockin’ the pink there,” Boyd snickers, partially hiding behind Allison. Derek glares at him, shaking his head. Erica giggles and attacks her father’s leg, hugging it as Lydia prances
around her dad with a large smile.

The two fathers sigh and take their daughters’ hand again, leading them to the respective class and introducing themselves to the instructor, Madam Viola. She curtsies and all the young girls giggle but do the same, lining up as the Madam instructs them to.

Derek makes sure his sons are situated near him, Allison and Scott waving as they sit in the two lone chairs on the other side of the room. Derek sits on the bench next to his sons, watching a blue crayon roll from beside him before a giggling Isaac runs to it and brings it back to continue his colorful drawing.

Derek watches his daughter with a fond look, Erica giggling happily as she twirls around bright and cheerful room with Lydia by her right, and her apparent new friend, Kira, by her left, the three girls twirling their tutus off.

By the end of the hour, Erica comes running up to him, bun messy and sweat lining her blonde hair, but she’s nowhere near tired.

“Daddy, Madam said we have to bring a parent to the dance floor with us to teach them what we learned! So, come on!” She loudly explains, grabbing his hand and trying to tug at his firm grip, her feet slipping on the floor as she tries and tries. “Daddy!” She whines until, finally, Derek stands up and reluctantly lets himself be dragged after his blonde ball of energy. Erica leads him next to Allison, who smiles at Lydia, and who he supposes is the mother of Kira. He looks around and it comes to dawn on him that he is the only dad being forced to dance.

He realizes that the Madam has already started the music and his eyes widen as Erica begins to do the short, simple routine and he is completely lost.

“Derek, keep up! Show your Beta you are at least kind of enjoying this,” Allison whispers, motioning to the glaring blonde that is looking at her father. Derek raises an eyebrow but sighs, following along with each plié and twirl and some other moves he’s not even sure have an actual pronounceable name, but smiling at his daughter with each giggle and laugh that leaves her lips as she watches her clumsy father dance with her.

Once they’re all done, sweat actually gathered above Derek’s eyebrows-because he did not know ballet could be such a work out, and he’s never underestimating it again-he goes to gather his sons.

Isaac runs up to him, his finished drawing in his hand. Derek smiles and opens his arms, picking him up and blowing a raspberry in his neck, his son laughing. Boyd cleans up Isaac’s crayons and grabs his bag, taking Erica’s hand as they follow their Alpha to the car. They say their goodbyes to the McCall family, making plans to have a family dinner later that week, after the next ballet class.

Derek unlocks the car and gives the keys to Boyd to start the car again as his son piggy-backs his sister to her car seat on their dad’s side of the car. Derek buckles Isaac into his car seat, putting his juice bottle in the cup holder, because it’s usually around this time that he drinks his juice.

Isaac grabs the bottle and begins to drink from it, confirming Derek’s fatherly instinct, making persistent noises when his father begins to stand back up and waving for him to come back down as he sets the bottle between his small legs.

Derek chuckles and nods, Isaac waving the paper with his masterpiece around, Erica giggling from beside him.
“Daddy, look! Is our family!” Isaac exclaims once Derek has buckles him in. He points at the colorful drawing excitedly, with a large smile on his lips as he looks up at his father. Derek smiles and kneels next to the leather seat in which Isaac’s car seat is situated on, taking the colorful paper and looking at his son once he’s analyzed it respectfully, giving his waiting son a fond and loving look as he ruffles the knotty, curly hair on his head.

“It’s beautiful, Isaac. Looks just like us,” he praises, kissing Isaac’s forehead. The young boy beams happily at his father’s praise, giggling and jumping in his seat.

“I even dwew your face hairs!” He points out, pointing to the drawn Derek and the real one, causing Erica to giggle and Boyd to laugh, Derek snorting.

“Yeah, I see that,” he chuckles, smiling at his son before standing up, paper in hand, and setting himself in the driver’s side, buckling up and driving home.

Once home, he grabs the magnet with their family picture and lifts Isaac up to the fridge, letting him pin up the drawing to the metal.

And after, if the three kids fall asleep against their Alpha dad in a small puppy pile as he reads them The Three Little Wolves, he doesn’t complain as he turns off the lamp.

Because he loves his Baby Betas, so why would he ever complain about his family?