Chapter Text
Mieczysława was a curious and wild child adored by her parents. Her eyes, big and amber brown, were filled with mischief and a sense of knowledge beyond understanding. Those who did not know her were unnerved by her inquisitive stare, as if she could uncover one's deepest darkest secrets if she looked long enough. She easily filled silence with chatter and questions about anything and everything. Questions that sometimes made adults stumble because they didn't realise that 'I don't know.' was just as an acceptable answer as a definite one. If not better. 'Because that's just how it is.' was the most frustrating answer for little Mieczysława to receive and often sent her into a fit of anger that only her family could calm down. Sometimes only her mother. Her father wasn't always as capable to handle his unruly child or her constant barrage of questions, but he adored her all the same. Claudia, her mother and his wife, was the same. Sure she had mellowed down with the years, but he remembered the first time they met in her teens. He almost couldn't stand her then, but now he adored her more than anything else in the world. Same with their little daughter. Even if they left him a little exasperated at times.
Little did they know Claudia was slowly growing sicker by the day. She hid the symptoms as long as she could. Maybe she knew or maybe she thought it was something that would pass. Either way she didn't want to worry her husband and child, so she played off her growing forgetfulness when she could not hide it. At first it was just small mundane things such as forgotten keys and leaving things on the stove. Anyone could do that. The first time she forgot to pick up Mieczysława she blamed it on lack of sleep and being tired. They all soothed her guilt by saying that happens sometimes. Worried eyes looked upon them as it kept happening. At one point Mieczysława walked home herself, she didn't want her mother sad like the last time. Though it only made Claudia feel more apologetic. It wasn't safe for a child to walk all the way home from school. In their little family they knew Claudia kept forgetting it, but to onlookers Mieczysława argued and fought to convince people it was her idea. She lied to everyone else that she had told her mom she'd be getting a ride and instead would be walking home herself. Because she was independent and strong. Her brave face and stubborn tone of voice convinced many, despite the hurt she hid to herself.
When Noah Stilinski heard his wife sweetly ask their daughter for her name and if she was lost, he took Claudia to the hospital. She was sick and there wasn't much the doctor could do about it. They could only give medication to slow it down slightly and help improve the quality of the rest of her life. Which wasn't long. If they had discovered it sooner maybe she could have lived a longer life, but her illness had progressed so much already. The memory losses were on and off, but even when she remembered it wasn't a good time. As much as Mieczysława and Noah tried to keep the mood up, Claudia constantly felt guilty and depressed. She did try to give as much love and comfort to her daughter whenever she could. However after countless times of coming to her senses seeing her precious child scared or sad she couldn't bring herself to keep doing it. Despite Mieczysława being able to quickly hide her emotions behind a goofy grin and a joke. That hurt almost as much.
Most of the time during her memory losses it was mostly their child she forgot and the most recent years. While Noah was worried, he didn't notice how bad it was getting. He spent a lot of hours at the station and only experienced some of them. It was like having a younger Claudia with him again, although it hurt him that she couldn't remember their child. However when she started getting apathetic towards him as well he regretted letting Mieczysława be alone with her mother. How could he have let a child be alone with Claudia? It wasn't good for any of them. He started bringing Mieczysława with him to work when she was done at school. The officers, other deputies, and even the sheriff were more than happy to see her there. She got to do homework by the desk and make strangers nervous at her inquisitive looks. Some of the younger officers started to call her their little genius interrogator. He had neighbours and friends to look after Claudia when he was at work while he was looking into getting a nurse to stay with her. It was expensive, but he'd rather have her at home. In hopes of having her in a familiar environment would help with the memory.
The sickness wasn't only affecting her memory. Her muscles grew weaker as well and her coordination got worse. She was bedridden most of the time and eventually Noah just couldn't take good care of her at home. Even if he got more time off work, there wasn't much he could do when she would inevitably have problems with her bladder and eating. She was admitted to the hospital and Mieczysława started spending some of her time after school there. She grew tired of people pronouncing her name wrong when she didn't get to hear her mom say it either. Mischief was a nickname only her parents got to use, so she insisted on being called Stiles instead. It was a nickname that had been in the Stilinski family for a long time. Shifting to the new nickname was easy for everyone, though at the station she got a larger variety of nicknames. They got to know a kind nurse, Melissa, at the hospital that had a boy Stiles' age. Though neither adult said it, they both figured it would be nice for Stiles to make more friends her age. Though as Claudia got sicker the more Stiles refused the idea to go anywhere or be with anyone but her parents. She didn't enjoy being at the station anymore and would rather sit quietly in the corner of the hospital bed or even just outside of the hospital room.
When Claudia died, Stiles was alone with her in the room. Her immune system was ruined and it had been an infection that had taken her life. Stiles froze still, or rather broke as it happened. Nurses and doctors gently removed her from the room as they tried to save Claudia, to no avail. The room span and she couldn't breathe. She wanted to scream, but couldn't move besides shaking. If someone tried to help her, she didn't notice. Not until she was in the warm embrace of her father, telling her to breathe. Only then did she start crying. A loud weeping that was hardly muffled even as she pressed her face into her father's shoulder. It was only briefly interrupted by tiny gasps for air in between. Her face was snotty and her tiny hand was grasping onto her father's jacket as firmly as she could. Already afraid of losing him too. Noah cried as well. He didn't make much noise, if any at all, but his body was shaking. Hearing his daughter's sobs was making it even more heartbreaking. He wasn't sure how they would go on without Claudia.
While Noah didn't expect his daughter to jump back to how she usually was straight away, it was an alien feeling to see her so quiet. Maybe it was because she had done her best to cheer up Claudia, that it was such a stark contrast to how she acted now. Sometimes when Stiles caught him looking worried she managed to put on the goofy grin, but there was no joke following it. However she started picking up new and strange habits. She would sit or lie down on the floor, staring in one direction. Sometimes she would tilt her head to the side as if she heard something no one else did. The sparkle of mischief in her eyes were gone, but she still looked so much like Claudia. Sometimes it hurt to look at Stiles, and the guilt from that hurt as well. He took to the bottle more than he would dare to admit, glad that for once his daughter didn't barrage him with questions.
When he started up work again it felt better. He still drank at night, but at work he could distract himself with a purpose. After someone commented on the smell of alcohol on him, he started drinking less. Instead he took up more hours. Sometimes Stiles was with Melissa and her son, other times she had a babysitter. But he couldn't bring himself to ask either of them to watch her all night. Stiles told her dad she'd manage being alone, and he listened. At first it was only a couple of hours and Noah worried if it really was okay for her to be alone. Stiles insisted she was fine, and the hours got longer and longer. When the sitter was unable to watch Stiles anymore, Noah didn't hire a new one. Stiles knew it didn't look good that she was alone as much as she was. She didn't want to worry her father so she lied and told half-truths. She was good at those. No one but them knew truly how often she stayed home alone.
Normally Noah checked up on his daughter as soon as he came home. However one night after a particularly rough and long shift at the station he took to the bottle instead. He fell asleep on the couch with the bottle in his hand. The next day he woke up to a phone call from the school. They informed him that Stiles hadn't shown up to school. However they had noticed she was still grieving, so it was understandable if she needed a day off or two. Noah figured they could spend the day together since she was already home. The sheriff would be glad to hear that he would take the day off as he had insisted. When he walked into Stiles' room and didn't see her his heart sank. Then he remembered Melissa had a night shift that day. It would make sense that Stiles had gone to her house alone. He tried to ignore the open window that was facing towards the big tree by their house. He quickly rang Melissa up and calmly asked if Stiles were there.
She wasn't.