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The first time Sheriff Stilinski saw his son and Peter Hale interact with each other, he knew that this would be the man he would call his son-in-law.
Actually…no, that wasn’t quite right. The first time he saw his grown-up son and Peter Hale interact with each other, he remembered the first time he had seen them together and realized that the glint in Peter’s eyes and the way the man stopped breathing for a second wasn’t the reaction a person had when they first met their ‘soulmate’. It was the reaction of a lover who was finally reunited with their love again after spending years apart.
John Stilinski was an observant man, something that had proven to be an advantage when he had first started working as a deputy. And while the Sheriff liked to think that he had passed it on to his son through the Stilinski genes, Stiles could be painfully oblivious. Especially when it came to Peter Hale.
But John wasn’t.
He had noticed the way Peter’s body had stiffened, when he had opened the door and come face to face with Stiles; had noticed the way the wolf had flashed his eyes just for the fraction of a second, how his clawless hand had clenched around the door knob and most importantly the longing, yearning expression on his face.
John knew what a man in love looked like; hell, he saw a man stupidly in love every time he looked in the mirror, even though the one possessing his heart had long passed away; and Peter Hale was head over heels in love with his son.
He remembered when Stiles had disappeared at the grocery store, almost two decades ago. How he had just finished a double shift and been dead on his feet, and then suddenly startled awake when he realized his son wasn’t next to him anymore. Panic had frozen his heart, he had remembered the case he was currently working on, about a boy Stiles’ age who had been found dead after being seen climbing into a stranger’s car. He had felt sick, abandoned the cart and started to search for his son, thoughts circling fanatically in his head.
He had almost reached the end of the store, with every empty isle his stomach had become heavier when finally, finally, he had spotted his son. Stiles had been talking avidly not with but at a young man, who had watched the boy with wide, attentive and a bit overwhelmed eyes.
For a second, he had been worried, until he had realized that it was Peter Hale, the town major’s youngest son. Relief had weakened his knees because if there was one family you could trust in Beacon Hills, it was the Hale pack. They were known for being charitable, friendly and always willing to help those in need. Their kids had never been in trouble, every major for the past 50 years had been a Hale, they owned half the town and on Halloween the Hale House was the must-go for every child because, while it was a little out of town and the long driveway through the woods was creepy at night - even though the Hale’s placed lampions along the path to make it more welcoming- apparently the Hales were handing out full sized chocolate bars, whole bags of candy and enough sweets to keep even the most ravenous child happy until at least Christmas.
Perhaps if he hadn’t been as distracted by the relief of seeing his child unharmed after fearing the worst for a few painful minutes, he would’ve noticed the dopey look on Peter Hale’s face or how the young man had blushed when Stiles had kissed him on the cheek. But as it was, he forgot about it until almost 15 years later.
A smirk fought his way onto his face when his son gaped at Peter Hale before a bright flush colored his cheeks when John eyed him knowingly. Stiles liked to think of himself as a good liar, but John could read his son like a book. And it was written in broad, blinking letters that his boy had fallen in love. This time not with a feisty red-head his age but with a man more than a decade older, who turned into the devil whenever he stepped into a court room. Sheriff Stilinski had seen Peter Hale destroy solid cases within seconds, had seen him use words like the weapons they were without knowing any mercy.
He had also seen the pictures of the rouge Alpha Peter Hale had killed a few years ago. Had seen the strategic slashes on the Alpha’s throat, wrists, back of his knees and heels. Peter had known how to fight; had disabled the rouge Alpha by cutting his tendons making it impossible for the rouge to walk or swipe at Peter, before the young Hale had taken the final step and cut his throat.
John knew that Peter had come out of the fight unscathed, that the rouge hadn’t even touched him and that the only thing hinting at a fight had been a speckle of blood on Peter’s cheek, which he had wiped away with a tissue before calling the authorities to report the death of the rouge Alpha that had been responsible for the death of four college students.
Most parents would’ve probably been hesitant about their child dating such a person, but John was good at reading people and he knew that Peter Hale was a good man. A damn good man who, despite seeing the world in different shades of grey instead of black and white, had a good heart and a straight moral compass. Peter would look after Stiles, protect him, cherish him and never do anything to break his son’s heart. And considering Stiles’ tendency to poke his nose into things he shouldn’t and therefore getting into trouble a lot, an alpha werewolf would at least keep his son safe.
-
Really, it wasn’t a surprise when Peter and Stiles walked into the house the day after Stiles birthday, after having spent the night at Peter’s place, with his son’s left hand suspiciously buried in the pocket of his jeans. John didn’t want to know what they had done, but after they had all gone out to dinner last night to celebrate, including Scott, Allison, their daughter and Mellissa, from the way they had looked at each other and how they had shared dessert while trading kisses and from the fresh bite marks on Stiles’ throat, he knew far too much about what his son was up to.
“Dad, guess who had the best night of their life?” Stiles beamed at him, while still hiding his hand in his poket.
“Perhaps the future Mr. Hale?” He smiled amused, while squirting some almond milk into his decaf coffee. Stiles’ mouth dropped open in surprise.
“You already know? How?!” Stiles squeaked in disbelief and flailed with the hand that wasn’t holding Peter’s, finally revealing the engagement ring. It was beautiful and considering the sparkling amount of gold and diamonds, carefully woven into each other to give it a romantic look without being feminine, it was hard to miss. “Did you already tell him?” Stiles turned to Peter, who shook his head.
“Well, considering that Peter asked for my permission to propose three months after you two started dating, I knew it was just a matter of time. And what better occasion than a birthday or Christmas? And you two are so in love, I knew you wouldn’t wait another half a year. Therefore, your birthday it was.” John shrugged and didn’t bother to hide his amused grin when Stiles turned towards Peter with a dopey smile on his face.
“You knew you wanted to marry me after just three months?” He asked in disbelief and awe, like he hadn’t known before what a sap Peter was when it came to Stiles.
“I knew I wanted to marry you when I first saw you.” Peter answered with an easy shrug and his eyes met John’s. Stiles probably thought he was talking about their first meeting at the sheriff station, but John knew better. He knew that Peter was talking about their fateful encounter in the candy isle, all those years ago.
He didn’t know if his son and future son-in-law had talked about the word ‘mate’ yet, but he knew that their love story wasn’t an ordinary one. He knew mates were rare, that only a fraction of wolves met that one special person, and he was happy that his son would get to experience the same all-consuming, breathtaking, ever lasting love he had been gifted with, when he first met his wife.
He was still in love with her, still wore his old wedding ring next to his new one, still dreamed about her every night. He’d never experience it with anybody else again, and he didn’t want to because it would lessen it’s worth, but he had something almost as good now.
Claudia would be glad, she would’ve probably beaten him over the head with a magazine like he was a naughty dog if he would be by himself for the rest of his life. And out of everybody in the world, she would’ve wanted him to end up with Melissa.
Speak of the devil. While Stiles and Peter had been busy sharing sappy glances, Melissa had come down the stairs, still dressed in sweatpants and one of his old police academy T-Shirts.
“Morning, love.” He pushed the second cup of coffee towards her and she thanked him with a quick peck, before turning towards Stiles and Peter. John saw her eyes flicker to the ring and a soft smile spread across her face.
“Is there something you want to tell us?” She teased playfully and Stiles beamed at her, while wiggling the fingers of his left hand in front of her.
“At least somebody has the decency to act surprised.” He exclaimed and showed her the ring. Melissa cooed about it, before embracing him into a tight hug. Stiles didn’t hesitate to hug her back, burrowing his face in her dark hair with a happy sigh.
John turned towards his coffee to avoid looking just as sappy as Stiles and Peter did. Claudia had died when Stiles had been so tragically young; he was glad that throughout the years, Melissa had become like a mother to him. She had made sure that Stiles was well cared for after Claudia’s death, when John had been too busy drowning his grief in alcohol to remember that he had a son who depended on him. He would never be able to express his gratitude for everything she had done for Stiles and by extension for him.
While the two were busy chatting about how exactly Peter had proposed – Stiles mentioned roses, a cabin in the woods and lampions- his now officially future son in law joined him at the kitchen counter. John added some cream into another cup of coffee and pushed it towards him, while begrudgingly drinking his almond milk decaf mixture.
Peter took a sip and grimaced. Oh yes, the exquisite flavor of decaf coffee. He had seen the shiny coffee machine in Peter’s kitchen and the large cupboard filled with all kinds of exotic -and sinfully expensive- coffee and sighed in envy. The only chance he had to drink some real coffee was at the station when his deputies were distracted, and it tasted worse than the decaf stuff Stiles bullied him into drinking.
“I’ll bring you some proper coffee the next time we watch a game.” Peter promised. “I ordered some Finca El Injerto Coffee and it’s exquisite.”
John glanced towards Melissa and Stiles and when eh was sure that they were still talking about the proposal.
“Melissa has her monthly night shift next Saturday. Are you free?” He asked and Peter nodded.
“The usual time?” The wolf inquired. “I’ll be sure to bring the coffee and the secret Hale marinade. If my uncle knew one thing, it was how to prepare a good steak.”
“Good.” John couldn’t have asked for a better son in law. “So, when’s the wedding?” He inquired, but before Peter had the chance to answer, the front door opened and his unofficially second son rushed into the house, his wife and daughter behind him.
“Did he do it?” He asked excitedly and then promptly swooped Stiles into a tight hug when he spotted the ring. “Dude, this is so awesome. Now I’ll finally get to be your best man too. I’ve already found the speech you wrote for me back in kindergarten and I’m ready. Just say the word.”
Stiles gawked and punched Scott’s arm in protest. The werewolf didn’t even pretend that it had hurt, and Stiles glared at him.
“Did everybody know except me? Did you all expect him to propose to me?” He asked in disbelief and Allison nodded sheepishly.
“Sorry sweetheart, but I was a long time coming.” She smiled, before hugging him as well. Their daughter, Madeline protested when she was slightly squished between the two adults. John quickly took the baby from Allison’s arms and she calmed down again. He smiled when his grandchild rested her little head against his chest and glanced at Stiles and Peter again.
He was glad that Stiles’ quite…lively genes would be balanced by Peter’s calmness. But considering that the wolf was quite mischievous as well, they’d have a little devil on their hands in a few years. John suspected there was another reason Peter only wanted one child. It had been hard enough to raise one Stiles Stilinski and the little monster they’d call their own would be more work than a whole gaggle of kids.
But first things first, there was a wedding to plan. And he would try his damn best to deliver a speech that would embarrass Stiles in a way only John could, as a little bit of payback for the speech his son had given when he had married Melissa. Somewhere, there was still a video of John blushing furiously while Stiles was chatting on and on in the background about his awkward -and according to Melissa charming- attempt to court her.
And he would definitely include the first encounter between his son and Peter, in that ridiculously large Target store, and the bar of chocolate that started it all.