[Sterek] Cupboard Love (boyxboy) (complete)

Chapter 26

When Laura said lunch was Derek's treat he'd thought she meant Derek would pay after they ate at a restaurant somewhere, but unless a lot of things have changed in the year and a half he's lived in Berkeley, that's definitely not happening because Laura leads them right up the drive of the Hale house before she stops the car. Quick change of plans, she'd said? Stiles is a little confused.

Stiles shrugs off his dad's raised eyebrow and says, "Yeah, I've got no clue, either," but as they get out of the Jeep, an older woman, around his dad's age, steps out of the house with a bright smile. It's very obviously Mrs. Hale. Her hair might be a bit grey at the temples, but otherwise it's the same chestnut brown as Laura's, and she has the same bright grey-green eyes as her children.

Stiles darts back into the Jeep and grabs the large tin of cookies he made for the family, slightly embarrassed. Mrs. Hale has pulled Laura and Derek into a close hug at the same time and only lets them go as he and his dad make their way up to the porch.

"Sheriff, it's lovely to see you again," she says, pulling him into a hug, too. It takes a lot of effort but Stiles manages not to laugh openly at his dad's startled expression. Most of the people in town don't hug their local law enforcement on sight. "And of course this can only be Stiles," she adds, letting go of his dad and reaching for him. Laura deftly grabs the tin from Stiles' hands just in time for him to be pulled in for a hug as well.

"Ah, it's really nice to meet you, Mrs. Hale," he stutters out and she pulls back to frown at him.

"Call me Laurell," she insists. "I've heard so much about you I feel like I already-Laura!"

Laura pauses, half a cookie in her mouth and the tin open in her arms. She swallows. "Stiles made them for me! We made a deal!"

"Actually they're for all of you," he has to cut in, and Laura guiltily closes the tin back up before Derek can get a hand inside.

"Don't spoil your lunch," Laurell scolds and both Derek and Laura straighten their shoulders. It would be comedic but for the expression on his dad's face, thoughtful and directed right at Stiles which makes him straighten up, too. "Are you hungry? We're almost ready. Come inside!" She ushers them all in to step out of their shoes and head into the kitchen where Mr. Hale is poking a spatula at a small mountain of pork. Now that he could see them all at once Stiles couldn't help noticing that the Hales looked like a secret cloning experiment gone very, very right. Mr. Hale looked a lot like Derek, if slightly lighter and broader; a little less defined and with a wider jaw.

"Pull up a chair, both of you," he speaks up from the stove. "I'd shake hands but I don't want to burn these. Hope everyone's okay with pork chops!" Stiles and his dad chorus an affirmative and sit down while the Hales set the table and bring over plates loaded down with pork chops, tender cooked apples and a heap of bacon cheese grits.

Laurell glances up at the clock above the kitchen door. "Waiting on three more?" his dad asks and she sighs, smiling apologetically. Stiles counts up the chairs to figure out where his dad pulled the number from, but yes, there are three extra chairs crowded around the large table.

"You'd think they couldn't tell time," she explains, even as they hear the front door close. "Those three are always late."

"Lies and slander!" a girl calls from down the hall, door slamming shut, and Stiles can hear the sound of more than one person stomping their boots clean and hauling them off with their coats and scarves. "I got us here right on time," she finishes, and three more Hales pile into the kitchen, hot on each other's heels.

The girl who spoke has a rounder face than Laura and lighter hair, but the same eyes, the same curve to her mouth as if she knows something Stiles doesn't. "Hi, I'm Alex," she says, waving as she pulls out a chair. "Stiles and the Sheriff, right?"