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The sheriff is already in the kitchen when Stiles and Noah come downstairs in the morning.
"Morning, boys," the sheriff says, drinking from a mug of coffee.
"Morning," Stiles says.
"Hi, Pa!" Noah exclaims. He's too wriggly to put in his high chair at the moment, so Stiles just hands him off to the sheriff. He then hands the sheriff the card he brought downstairs with him.
"Happy father's day," he says. "Don't spend it all in one place."
"Thanks, kid," the sheriff says. He gives Stiles a one-armed hug and starts opening the envelope with Noah's help. "Yours is on top of the microwave."
"My what?" Stiles asks, pulling away and heading to the fridge.
"Your card," the sheriff says. Stiles pulls out the bacon he'd hidden in the vegetable drawer (father's day is one of those special occasions where the sheriff gets to have real bacon and whatever else and Stiles isn't allowed to comment on it) and peers at his father past the open fridge door.
"My card..." He says.
"For father's day," the sheriff says, gesturing with Noah. "Your mom always got me one from 'you' when you were little, figured I'd get you one while Noah is still small. Derek chipped in though."
"Uh..." Stiles says stupidly.
"What?" The sheriff asks. "I know you didn't forget the day." He briefly waves the card Stiles had gotten him. Noah is gleefully tearing up the envelope, littering the table and floor around him with little pieces of paper.
"No, I just..." Stiles says. He somehow manages to close the fridge door on his arm. "Ow." The sheriff rolls his eyes, but he's smiling.
"The first father's day is a change," he says. "I remember mine. You were only about two months old at the time. I'd managed to get the morning off and then you spit up on my uniform shirt five minutes before I had to leave for my afternoon shift. Your mother laughed about that for days afterward. Here." He gets up and trades the bacon for Noah.
"Dada," Noah says, shoving a ripped piece of envelope in Stiles' face. Stiles' throat goes a bit tight. He looks over to the microwave and, sure enough, there's a slightly bulging white envelope propped on top of it that says 'Daddy (Stiles)'. His hand trembles slightly as he picks it up. He sits down at the table with Noah on his lap so he has both hands free to open the envelope. He removes the card and Noah instantly snatches the envelope from his hands, Stiles lets him.
Inside the card is a Steam gift card and a folded-up necktie (Stiles can't tell what the pattern is, but it's at least brightly-coloured). The card is signed 'To Daddy, Love Noah' in the sheriff's handwriting. Stiles feels tears burn at the backs of his eyes and he does his best to not ugly-cry all over the place.
"You got me a necktie?" Stiles asks, voice watery.
The sheriff, bless him, doesn't comment on it, just continues frying bacon on the stove. "It was Derek's idea. Figured you'd get a kick out of it, official symbol for fatherhood and all." He'd probably know; when Stiles was finally old enough to choose father's day gifts himself the sheriff had gotten a necktie for five years in a row.
"What do you think, Tiny Pants?" Stiles asks, clearing his throat. He unfolds the tie (and it is delightfully hideous, he's charmed) and puts it around his neck. Luckily for him it's already tied so he just has to slip the loop over his head. He supposes he'll have to learn how to tie a necktie now.
Noah inspects the tie, reaching out to run his fingers over it.
"Ooh," he says.
"My thoughts exactly," Stiles says. He grabs his phone and takes a selfie of the two of them and sends it to Derek.
***
Stiles is still wearing the tie – over his t-shirt now, having changed out of his pyjamas – when Derek comes to the house for lunch.
"Nice tie," Derek says. And then 'oofs' when Stiles throws himself in his arms.
"It's great," Stiles says, face buried in Derek's neck.
"Dee!" Noah shrieks, crawling across the living room towards them. He can actually walk now, but it's still faster for him to get around on his hands and knees. Stiles backs off a bit so that Derek can lean down and scoop Noah up into his arms.
"Lunch should be here in twenty minutes," the sheriff says, walking out of the kitchen. "Hey, Derek."
"Hi, John," Derek says. He doesn't stumble over the sheriff's name this time; he's improving. "I see you like the tie," he tells Stiles.
"It's absolutely hideous and I love it," Stiles says.
"None of those colours go with each other at all, do they?" The sheriff asks. "It's amazing."
"Ain't it, though," Stiles says.
"Are your eyes red?" Derek asks.
"No," Stiles says, defensively.
"First father's day," the sheriff says, helpfully.
"Dad!" Stiles whines.
"He had a moment," the sheriff continues. "Actually, it was more like several moments."
"Ugh," Stiles says, dropping his head on Derek's shoulder. He feels the rumble of Derek's chuckle through his whole body. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."
"It's sweet," Derek says. "And your first father's day is a pretty big deal. You would've just missed it last year."
"I didn't even think about it," Stiles admits. "It was so weird to be just like 'here's your card, Dad' and he's all like 'thanks, you have one too.' Like, what?" He waves one of his arms around as if to punctuate this statement. Derek laughs again and kisses the side of Stiles' head.
"Dee," Noah says.
"Yes, that's Daddy's new tie," Derek says. Stiles turns his head to see that Noah has grabbed the end of his tie and is shoving it in Derek's face.
"Ta," Noah says.
"Tie," Derek says. Noah blows a raspberry at the tie and Stiles dissolves into giggles.
***
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