"What do we need to talk about?" Derek asks, legs swinging and bouncing off the couch. His mum and dad are sat on the couch opposite him with hesitant smiles.

"I'm sure you've heard us talk about soulmates before," his mum begins.
"Yeah?"
"Well, we need to tell you about them properly. Because you're a boy your soulmate will be able to get pregnant," Andrew starts.
"Like Auntie Cloud?" Derek smiles.
"Yeah. But it could be a boy, too, love," Talia says gently. She knows he understands what gay relationships are, but this is a tad different.

"Okay," Derek shrugs. He doesn't really understand why his mum and dad think it's so important.
"Derek, we think you've found your soulmate."

Talia's head snaps to the left to look at the door when she hears a gasp.
"Away, girls. This is private," she tells her daughters. They run away, Laura ushering Cora up to her room.

"Who?"
"Stiles," Andrew says quietly. Derek's eyes go wide.
"So Gem is mine? My Gem?" Derek asks, brows furrowing as he tries to wrap his head around it.
"Well, he will have to agree with it when he's older. But he is your soulmate, he just has the choice to not go through with it," Andrew explains. His parents smile proudly when a grin grows on Derek's face. Talia stands and kisses Derek's head.
"You can ask your dad whatever you want, I'm going to sort out the girls. I love you, Der," she whispers.

Derek wraps his arms around her neck and kisses her cheek.
"Love you."

Andrew moves to sit beside him, knocking their shoulders together. Derek sighs and leans his head onto his shoulder. He feels a whole lot older than he did before this conversation.
"How you feeling, bud?"
"I don't know. I'm glad because I love Gem. But what if I tell him when he's older and he feels like he has to be with me? Or if he doesn't want to?" Derek asks.
"We'll come to that when it happens. For now I need to tell you some other things."

He explains that Derek will probably be very aroused around Stiles, as he has been since he was five when Stiles kicked off an early puberty, and that's okay, but Stiles can't help until he's old enough. His wolf will consider Stiles his so he might get jealous when other people are close to him. Derek is bright red to the tips of his ears as his dad explains that he can watch porn and masturbate so he's not overwhelmed. He already knows these things, but now he doesn't feel so guilty about it.

"We're going for a run tonight. You still need to practice shifting. Do you want to come with us?" Andrew offers.
"Is Stiles' arm still hurting?"
"It will be for a few weeks. You can't take his pain. Running will get your mind off it."

---

The night before Stiles turns 6 Derek stays at his house, cuddling up to him at bedtime.

"Der?" Stiles whispers. Derek mumbles his name and nuzzles his face into Stiles' neck. "What's that?"
"What?"
"Something in your pants,"Stiles tells him.

Derek feels his face flush in the dark.
"Go to sleep, Gem."
"What is it?" Stiles persists.
"It happens when you're older, Gem. Go to sleep or you'll be too tired to open your presents tomorrow."
"But I'll be older tomorrow!" Stiles whines. He turns so he is facing Derek.

Derek closes his eyes, smiling when Stiles pokes him over and over again. When Stiles' finger comes near his mouth he gently bites it between his teeth. Stiles gasps and pulls his hand away.

"Hey, no wolf tricks. That's cheating," Stiles pouts. Derek chuckles and kisses his cheek. Stiles blushes and squirms even closer to Derek.

"I didn't even use my fangs," Derek tells him. Stiles grins. He loves it when Derek shifts. He stares hopefully up at him. "If I get them out will you go to sleep?"
"Yeah. Pinky promise," Stiles offers. When Derek holds his pinky out his claws are out and his fangs are down.

"They are so cool! Bet being a werewolf is great. I'm just a stupid human," Stiles sighs. He taps at Derek's fangs and admires his claws carefully.
"You're amazing," Derek admits. He buries his nose in Stiles hair. "You're the best, werewolf or not. My Gem."

Stiles beams and finally settles down with Derek's non-clawed fingers in his hair. Derek sighs and presses his lips to Genim's head.

Stiles wakes Derek up early the next morning, patting at his cheeks and bare chest.
"Der wake up! Wake up!"

Derek groans but opens one eye, smiling up at Stiles.
"Happy birthday, Gem," Derek grins and pulls him into a hug. Stiles wriggles excitedly and squeezes him back before he bounces off the bed.
"Come on, Der! We have to go down!" Stiles shouts S he tugs Derek out of bed.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Go wake your mum and dad up and I'll make them coffee," Derek offers. He makes his mum and dad coffee at home, so he knows how. Auntie Cloud and Uncle John both take theirs black with two sugars for Claudia and none for John.

Stiles hurried towards his parent's bedroom while Derek stretches and makes his way downstairs.

John and Claudia wrap Stiles up in a hug, cuddling him between them.
"Happy birthday, *kochanie," Claudia grins. John ruffles his hair.
"You'll be in the force before you know it," he teases. He knows that Stiles admires everybody in the force and wants to follow in his dad's footsteps.
"My baby is growing up," Claudia coos sadly, as Derek walks through the door with two mugs of coffee.

Stiles flushes and worms his way out of his parent's arms.
"Thank you, Derek. Are we ready to open presents?" John asks. Stiles perks up from where he's pushed his way into Derek's side beside the bed.

"Der sit up here with me!" Stiles shouts like Derek isn't right beside him. Claudia kisses Derek's head when he comes close enough.
"Thank you, love."
"It's okay," Derek shrugs, cheeks pinking.

They sit together and Derek helps Stiles open his presents while John takes pictures of the pair.

"Who wants a birthday breakfast?" Claudia grins. Stiles gasps and chants 'me' until Derek nuzzles him, which always leaves him at a loss for words. He hugs Derek.
"Are you staying?"
"Yeah, of course I am, Gem."

They eat their pancakes and ice cream, as per tradition, sat close together. When they've finished Derek is more than happy to go and play with Stiles' new toys and go along with whatever Stiles wants to do.

Later on the whole Hale family is around, wishing Stiles a happy birthday. Stiles is sat on Derek's lap, his constant wriggling affecting Derek as he flushes and tries to keep Stiles still.

Adam comes over, encouraged by his dad to help, and nudges Derek. When Derek looks at him, panic in his eyes, he winks.
"Hey Stiles I'll put your lego together with you," Adam offers, smiling when the young boy nods quickly and runs over to his new tub full of it.

Derek blushes when he walks past Laura, who smiles softly.
"It's normal, it's fine. Go on. Go shower and get dressed," she winks. Derek flushes even darker but nods his head and hurries up the stairs.

He can hear Stiles asking where he is, always disappointed if Derek isn't by his side. So he hops in the shower, getting his business over and done with quickly to save him anymore embarrassment.

He changes into his clothes and towels his hair off before he goes downstairs. When he reaches the bottom of the steps he gets an armful of Stiles.
"Hey," Derek chuckles, scenting him briefly.
"Missed you," Stiles pouts.
"I only went to shower. Come on, you haven't tried the dinosaurs out yet."

Stiles sticks to his side for the whole day, sharing his cake and sweets with Derek. Derek let's him hug him goodbye as long as he wants, well until he really has to leave. If it was as long as he wanted Stiles wouldn't let him go.

---

There are times when Derek wants to tell Stiles that they're soulmates, just put it out there instead of waiting until Stiles is old enough.

Like when Stiles is ill and refuses to let Derek leave his side, even if it's to get him medicine. He clings to Derek as if he can't live without him. Derek leeches his pain from his sore belly as much as he can and soothes him while he sweats out a fever.

Or when Stiles proudly tells him he was put in the golden book for being a good friend and helping Scott when he fell over. Stiles tells him first because it's what Derek thinks that matters.

Derek gets jealous when he sees Stiles and Scott playing together, but Stiles always comes over and snuggles into Derek's chest.

Stiles tells him often how much he loves him and Derek wishes Stiles could comprehend how different it could be.

Sometimes it gets a little hard for Derek when he feels like he'll never have his Gem actually be his. His family help, encourage him to shift when he's sad so they can go tumble around and have fun in the woods. When he is in his wolf form he can smell Stiles even better, drawn to him, so Laura and Adam distract him with a chase or hide and seek that spans across the woods.

John and Claudia help him too, reassuring him that Stiles absolutely adores him and that nothing will change that.

Derek dreams of Stiles at night, sometimes waking up embarrassingly hard or even worse, sticky.

---

When Stiles turns ten he is ill again. His temperature starts to rise and it doesn't stop as he moans in pain.

Genim clutches at Derek's hand whimpering as Derek moves his hair away from his eyes.

Derek is terrified. He can't let anything bad happen to Stiles. Andrew rests a hand on Derek's back.
"It's okay. It's okay," he soothes and begins to take Stiles' pain. "He'll be okay, Derek. I promise."

Claudia's mother arrives, a grave look on her face as she envelopes her daughter on a hug.

They speak in Polish to one another and Claudia hurries her into the living room where Stiles and Derek lay.

"Everybody needs to leave the room," she says calmly, but her voice wavers. Stiles shrieks when Derek is pulled away.

Stiles' gran looks over at Derek who looks close to crying himself.
"Soulmates?" She sighs. Derek nods minutely. "Okay then. You stay. Everyone else leaves."

Derek is relieved, clutches Stiles' hand again as he strokes his sweaty hair over and over again. 
"You're okay, Gem. I've got you."

She's a chubby lady, short. She kneels beside the two boys on the couch and rests her hands on Stiles' chest and his hand encased in Derek's.

Derek closes his eyes and holds on tight to Genim that as his gran begins to murmur something in Polish.

After a few moments her hands begin to glow a gold colour and her mutterings get faster. Stiles grows more still and eventually stops wailing until he silent.

"What just happened?" Derek asks, chest heaving.
"I'll explain later Derek. For now just be with him. He needs you."

So Derek curls around him and noses along his hairline, holding him close to his chest.