Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

April, 1985… 

It all started with Nancy Wheeler, he supposes. She was the first person to ever make him feel something, she made him want to be something. He wanted to be better for her, to make her proud of him and proud to be with him. It seemed as though that dream would never come to fruition.

Steve remembered standing very still, his eyes wide and wet with unshed tears, his lips slightly parted, “You don’t love me?” He whimpered. 

“It’s all bullshit,” Nancy drunkenly proclaimed. And that was all he needed to hear to send him spiraling.

That resulted in him being pressed up against the wall of a rickety wooden shed, head back and neck exposed with his leg hooked around new alpha student, Billy Hargrove. Days later Billy would attempt to break his face  in the Byers’ kitchen. 

Which leads to now. It’d been a few months since that fateful Halloween night and  Steve had just been informed he would be having Billy’s baby. 

Steve wanted to die, no scratch that, he wanted to throw up and then die, while also taking Billy down with him. He thought they were careful, he thought he was safe, but alas, Steve was on track to be a mother at the ripe old age of eighteen. 

****

“We have to talk,” Steve said, approaching Billy behind the bleachers.

It was nighttime in April and there was a chill still hanging in the air. Steve knew Billy liked to hang out there, Max had mentioned it before. She said that he goes there to get away from his overbearing and volatile father. Billy had a cigarette between his lips as he stood looking up at the cloud cover sky. Steve pulled his jacket tighter around himself almost as if he could hide his middle. He had only known about the pup for a few days now and the subtle swell of his abdomen suddenly seemed to make a lot more sense. He wasn’t showing a lot for someone in their fifth month, which, he assumed, was why he didn’t notice for so long. 

Billy took the cigarette out of his mouth while blowing smoke through his nose.

He snorted, “Last time you and I “talked” my little bitch stepsister shoved a fucking needle in my neck, so excuse me Harrington if I’m not interested in-” 

“I’m pregnant.” Steve blurted out, “It's yours, you’re the only alpha I’ve been with in the last year. Nancy’s a beta.”

Steve was looking at the ground. He focused on the little bits of grass that peaked out of the cracks in the concrete. It was the only thing keeping him tethered to reality. Over the last few years Steve had seen monsters- literal monsters and had his face smashed in, but for some reason this seemed to be the most terrifying moment of his life: telling the biggest asshole on the planet that he was having his baby. Nothing felt real anymore. Then Billy started to laugh, like outright laugh. 

“Oh this is just great, so fucking great.” his tone then became aggressive, alpha rage being used to mask his fear. Billy gripped Steve's chin between his fingers, “What do you expect me to do about it, Pretty Boy?” Steve wrenched his face free as he forced himself to look Billy in the eye. 

“I don’t expect-” 

“I can’t be anyone’s dad, Harrington.” Billy said, cutting Steve off, “ You should get rid of it.” 

“I can’t, it's too late” Steve whispered. His eyes began to water. He looked at Billy. The steely blue of his eyes (and the terrified rage of his scent) giving away the storm of emotion Billy’s face refused to show. 

His mouth pressed into a thin line as he stared at Steve, “fine, whatever. Do what you want.” Billy turned to leave before calling over his shoulder, “I’ll give you money if I have it, but don’t expect much else.”

The interaction was over just like that, then Billy walked away, leaving Steve alone in the chilly night air. 

****

Telling his parents was actually a lot easier than he expected. His mother fell into hysterics as per usual, her scent a confusing array of emotions, no doubt panicking over what others would think. Having a pregnant teenager at home was a sure fire way to get dirty looks down at the country club. His father was much more stoic in his reaction.

“Pregnant? Really Steven?” His father sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose, “you know of all the stupid things you could’ve done since you presented, I had really hoped it wouldn’t be this”. Steve sat on the couch while looking at his lap. 

He felt tears stinging in his eyes, but he wouldn’t cry, he was so tired of crying. “I’m sorry dad, I was careful, I promise.” 

“Can you terminate?” 

“It’s too late for that and I don’t think I would want to anyway.” he said quietly.

Steve had grown attached in the few days he’d known. For the last several months he’d been growing a little life, even though he didn’t actually realize it until a few days ago. He wanted to see this through, the whole parenthood thing.

“Ok” 

“Ok?” 

“Yeah, ok.” His dad said with a hint of aggravation in his tone and his scent. “You’ve clearly made up your mind. Now we have to discuss what to do next. You have to get a job and we’ll help you find a place to live after it’s born, but that’s it. I’m done, there will be no more from us” 

“Gary-!” his mother cried.

“No Melinda, he wants to be a parent, then fine. We'll set him up for it, but he’ll have to provide for this kid on his own.” 

“What about the father Stevie? What does he have to say?” His mother asked wetly. 

“He’s not interested in being a part of it, but he said he’ll give some money if he has it,” Steve mumbled.

“Oh you sure know how to pick ‘em don’t you?” his father snorted while lifting a glass of whiskey to his lips. His mother shot him a withering look. 

“Don’t worry, baby. Your dad and I will help you til we can get you on your feet. We just have to leave for business at the end of May, but we should be back by the Fourth of July. Do you know when you’re due?” his mother asked while stroking his back. 

“August” Steve whispered. 

“It’ll be ok, sweetheart” his mother whispered back with a strained smile. She was disappointed in him, Steve could smell it in her scent. His father was always disappointed about something or other, but not his mother. Never his mother. 

****

After the events of the Fall of 1984,  Steve had found himself often flanked by a group of feral unpresented middle schoolers. Mostly it was a very loud, curly haired pup named Dustin who would not leave him alone. Steve loved it. He spent a long time being alone, so having Dustin to talk to was a nice change. They even had a special handshake, it was dorky, but it made Dustin happy and Steve loved to see him happy.

Steve knew he would have to tell Dustin and once Dustin knew the entire party would know…which means that eventually Nancy would find out. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Nancy to know, he just didn’t want her to look at him with that face. The one she makes when he does something spectacularly stupid. He didn’t want her to think less of him, but it didn’t matter, as soon as this baby was born she’d know that he opened his legs for someone only hours after she drunkenly called him “bullshit”. He had considered them broken up at that point, but based on the way Nancy stormed into the gym the next day, Steve thinks she might see his tryst as cheating. And wouldn’t that just be rich, Nancy who only pretended to love him, being upset over how he reacted to their breakup.

Steve really didn’t have the energy for any of it. He just wanted to tell Dustin and then curl up and hide for the rest of his life. So on a overcast day in early Spring, Steve picked Dustin up from his house. The pup has the biggest smile Steve had ever seen. His cheeks were so round that his eyes looked like they were closed when he smiled.

“Steve!” Dustin exclaimed excitedly, “what’s up? Thank you for driving me to the arcade. Are you busy today? You could come with! Oh I need to tell you all about this project I’m working on for science…” 

Steve smiled softly as he listened to Dustin ramble. Just being around the pup made him feel lighter and all he wanted to do was pinch those cheeks. “Hey Steve, are you listening?” Dustin interjected his thoughts 

“Sorry bud, I’ve got a lot on my mind, sometimes I just kinda blank when it gets too much.” 

Dustin nodded solemnly, “Is it about the Upside Down? You know you can always talk to me about it. We went in to those tunnels together, so we can metaphorically come out of them together.”

 Steve offered a tight smile “No it’s not the Upside Down, it’s just some grown up stuff.” 

Dustin looked at him incredulously, “you literally turned 18 a few days ago and you’re still in high school. You’re not a grown up, ergo whatever is bothering you can’t be grown up stuff so you should be able to talk to me about it. We’re friends, Steve and friends don’t lie, not even by omission.”

Only some of that sentence registered to Steve as Dustin was talking so rapidly, but Steve understood that he needed to tell Dustin what was going on. 

“Fine, I’ll tell you, but I will only answer questions I’m comfortable with, all right?” Dustin nodded. “Ok so you know how I’m an omega?” Dustin nodded once again. “So like most omegas, I am able to get pregnant and to prevent pregnancy I have to be careful.” He paused for a moment, “I was not careful.” He sighed. 

Steve was staring at the steering wheel boring a hole into it hoping that Dustin would get what he was implying. He did not dare look at Dustin, terrified that he would see judgment and horror on his little face. Then he felt a hand touch his arm. He looked over and all he could see on Dustin’s face was concern and kindness.

“Are you ok with that, Steve?” Steve understood what Dustin was alluding to and part of him wanted to grab him by the shoulders and ask “how the hell do you know about that!?!?” And another part of him was proud of Dustin’s understanding and maturity. 

“Yeah buddy, I’m ok with it. I’m going to be starting a job at the mall when it opens after the school year ends. My parents aren’t thrilled, but they’ll help me till I can get a place. It’s more than they should be giving me, honestly” 

Dustin’s eyebrows knit together with concern, “Steve, they’re your parents, they’re supposed to help you, it’s like, their job.”

It’s times like these Steve is reminded just how young Dustin really is, despite the insane amount of information he keeps stored in his brain. He’s still so innocent, he’s only ever known his mother’s unconditional and all accepting love. Steve hoped he would stay that way forever. 

“My parents aren’t exactly the helpful type, I’m honestly shocked they didn’t throw me out on the street” Steve said sardonically. 

“Well if they did you could’ve come to live with me and my mom.” Dustin was so sure of himself in the way he said it. Steve almost believed him, almost.

Steve reached over and ruffled Dustin’s hair before smiling softly, “thanks, bud” 

Dustin’s face split into a blinding smile, “so are you going to find out what the baby is? When will it be born? Are you excited?”

And just like that the inquisitive kid Steve knew and loved was back. He knew that within a few days the rest of the kids would know (he gave Dustin permission to share, but asked him to tell the others to keep quiet). He feared what Nancy would think and,god forbid, what Billy would say, but right now he was with Dustin and his endearing 20 Questions. He would be ok, at least, he hoped he would be.

Chapter Text

May 1985…

Steve hadn’t shown very much for the first few months (clearly as he hadn’t noticed he was even pregnant until he was over half way through) so he had hoped he would be in the clear for the rest of the school year. The last thing he wanted was for everyone to see that he was pregnant. Sadly, luck was not on Steve’s side as within a week of telling Dustin his stomach popped and he looked pregnant. It was early May at this point and there were only a few weeks left until graduation. He got a lot of judgmental looks from his peers (and a few from his teachers) but so far no one had dared say anything, until now.

“Oh how the mighty have fallen. Letting yourself go there, aren’t we Stevie?” It was Tommy Hagan, Steve’s ex-best friend.

Steve stood looking into his locker hoping Tommy would just walk past him, he did not get his wish. Tommy was soon leaning against the locker next to Steve, facing him. 

“Really got yourself into quite a conundrum there- oh sorry didn’t mean to use such big words on you. You sure wasted no time on getting back in the game after Wheeler dumped you. Kids not hers because she’s a beta, so who was it that got king Steve to spread his legs?”

Steve refused to look at him. His eyes were quickly filled with tears. They burned as he tried not to blink, desperate to prevent them from falling.

“No response, huh? Bet you don’t even know. I always knew you were an idiot slut, but this is just-” Tommy cut himself off with a laugh before starting again, “you know? I bet that little shits gonna be just as dumb as you. Just a stupid little basta-” all of a sudden Tommy was covered in soda. “What the fuck Munson?” Tommy screeched.

Eddie Munsun had the nerve to look a bit sheepish, “Sorry, man. Laces came untied and you know I’m not always steady on my feet.” Eddie threw Tommy a shit eating grin. 

“Ugh you fucking freak” Tommy raged as he stomped off. Steve turned to look at Munson. His face turned serious as he nodded at Steve before setting off down the hall.

As Steve’s gaze followed the alpha, he saw Billy standing at the end of the hall, eyes fixated on Steve. He looked frozen as his eyes traced Steve’s form. Steve couldn’t bear it anymore. He slammed his locker shut and headed down the hall, the opposite side of Billy and his unyielding stare. 

***

Starting his job at an ice cream parlor in the mall was not how he always imagined his post-high school life, but he also didn’t picture having a baby at 18 either, so there’s that.

The new mall opened a week before the end of school. His dad wanted him to work almost immediately after the year ended. So two days after graduation, he stood behind the counter of a nautical themed ice cream shop called Scoops Ahoy- at seven months pregnant. His co-worker was one of his old classmates. She was a beta and he had no idea what her name was, or well, he didn’t know until she told him.

Robin had dirty blonde hair and ever present bored expression. She took to calling him dingus and kept a tally of all the people who rebuffed his friendly flirting. Steve thought she was funny and he genuinely liked spending time with her when she wasn’t actively making fun of him. 

“You know, I feel like if I was in your position I wouldn’t have taken such an on your feet job, or any job really. Shouldn't you be at home or something?”

Robin was sitting cross legged on the table in the back. It seemed to Steve that it was impossible for her to sit normally (or still for that matter). Steve was sitting in the chair beside her. They were on break as it was so quiet in the store, it was 11 in the morning and not many people were looking to eat ice cream at this time.

Steve sighed, “as much as I would like to be at home right now, I can’t. My dad says that if I want his help with hospital bills and a place to stay I have to work. Plus I want to make some money so I can get out of there as fast as possible.” 

“I mean I get wanting your parents to not kick you out, but if they’re letting you stay, why would you want to leave right away? Like most people’s parents just throw them out to fend for themselves when they get knocked up. Them letting you stay at home seems like a sweet deal to me.” Robin commented off handedly.

Steve rubbed his face before starting, “Thing is though I’m not in the mood to continuously deal with my father’s passive aggressive need to voice how “unseemly” my situation is and I am NOT letting my kid grow up hearing that”

He didn’t know why he was telling her this. Something about the way she assumed living with his parents was easy rubbed him the wrong way. Yeah, they had money, but they barely paid attention to him, sometimes he wondered if they even cared. The most his dad talked to him in the last few weeks was to reiterate how stupid he thought Steve was for getting himself knocked up. He feared that that attitude would continue even after he gave birth and he would not subject his child to his father’s insults.

Another part of him feared that hearing his dad’s disappointment would make his baby think lowly of him and he didn’t know if he could live with himself if his kid thought as little of him as his parents seemed to.

“I didn’t- I’m sorry your dad says stuff like that. I’d want to leave too. But why Scoops Ahoy?” Robin asked. 

“I didn’t have a choice, no other place would hire an unmated pregnant omega.”

Steve had tried to get jobs at other places, but none of them called him back. Some places refused to take his resume and one even saw the manager throw his resume in the trash- while he was standing right there. Robin was quiet after that, she seemingly didn’t know what to say. The silence was cut when the bell at the front of the store rang. Robin scrambled out front to tend to whoever was insane enough to want ice cream this early in the day. Steve laid his head on the table. He was tired and sore and he just wanted to be alone.

Billy hadn’t spoken to him since Steve told him about the baby, but he did find a few unmarked envelopes in his locker and the mailbox filled with varying amounts of cash. He saw Billy’s stepsister, Max, quite often and she never made mention of Steve or his condition so he assumed that Billy hadn’t told his family. It was whatever, Steve didn’t care. Billy had said from the beginning he didn’t want anything to do with them, but that didn’t stop Steve from hoping. It’s not like he wanted to be with Billy or anything- he was a dick, but he did want his pup to have a father. He already loved it and it made him sad that Billy seemed to not give a shit.

Robin’s voice pierced through his thoughts, “Harrington! Your little heathens are here!” And with that Steve hefted himself out of the chair and made his way to the front of the store. 

***

June 1985

The end of May came and Steve’s parents had left for Europe or Australia or whatever, Steve wasn’t listening when his mother was telling him about the trip. It was nice not having them there, his mother hovered and his father made his disdain for Steve’s condition well known. It was not a healthy environment, but that doesn’t mean Steve liked being alone. When he told his doctor that he would be by himself for a little over a month she looked worried.

“I’m just concerned with you being alone. If you ever feel like something is off, please call the office anytime and if we’re unavailable go to the hospital. I’m serious about this, Steve.” He should have listened. 

It was Saturday June 22nd, 1985 and Steve woke up feeling crampy. It was normal for him at this point, he was almost 34 weeks pregnant. He went into work around one in the afternoon, Robin was already there.

“You’re five minutes late, dingus,” she said in an agitated tone. 

Steve sighed, “I know, I know. My back was really bothering me and I had to pull over for a few minutes on the way here. I was afraid to cause an accident, or something.” 

Robin bit her lip as her eyebrows knit together in concern, “ Is that normal? Should you be here right now?” 

Steve rolled his eyes with a fond smile, “I’m fine Robin, it’s just normal aches and pains. I’ve still got like 6 weeks before it’s go time.” 

Robin shifted a bit, “all right” she said, skeptically. She then dropped the issue. Steve spent the rest of his shift on his feet, in pain, scooping ice cream. It was miserable, but it wasn’t something he felt too concerned about.

He got off that day at 8. The pain hadn’t abated and if he thought about it, only seemed to get worse, but he wasn’t worried as he walked out to his car. He waved goodbye to Robin as she got on her bike and headed home.

Once the omega got home he went straight to the bathroom. He planned on taking a shower and going to bed. He hoped that the hot water would make the pain he had been feeling on and off all day go away. He grabbed a pair of old sweatpants and ratty long sleeved t-shirt to sleep in, then went to the linen closet to grab a towel. He reached up as a very strong cramp hit him. It felt all encompassing. Steve had been having pains all day, but this one made him stop. It felt like his middle was in a vice grip. The omega froze with his arm in the air. His hand grasped one of the shelves as he squeezed his eyes shut. After the pain passed, Steve walked back to the bathroom where he stood with his arms braced against the sink. He looked at himself in the mirror. He looked awful, there were bags under his eyes and he looked pale. Long gone were  the days of “King Steve”.

His stomach had been protruding noticeably since the beginning of May. He ran a hand over his bump. It felt heavy and low. Part of Steve wanted to cry for what his life had become, while another part wanted to smash the mirror into pieces with his baseball bat. All of a sudden the vice-like pain was back. Steve leaned forward, placing his hands against the sink again. His face scrunched up as his grip tightened. Steve could hear himself moan in response to the pain.

Then something gave inside himself. Steve’s eyes widened as he felt his work shorts soak through. He looks down and sees a growing puddle of pink tinged liquid. His feet are covered, and with a sinking feeling, Steve realized his water had broken.

“No no no no” he started frantically muttering to himself, “it’s too early, it’s too early!”

Steve began to cry silently, knowing no other way to deal with this. He stumbled out of the bathroom, bracing himself on his dresser along the way, before heading to the phone. He didn’t even think as he dialed 911.

Through his tears he managed to tell the operator what was happening, “M-my water broke, but it’s too early, and I’m alone and I-I don’t know what to do” the woman on the other end quickly begins to try and soothe him, “ok, it’s ok, hun. Can you tell me how far along you are?” 

“34 weeks” 

“Ok good, and what’s your name, age and your designation?” Steve thinks it’s obvious what his designation is, but he assumes these are all questions she’s has to ask because of protocol. 

“Steve Harrington, I’m 18 and an omega.” 

“Ok Steve, can you tell me your address?” With all the adrenaline coursing through him Steve barely focuses on the pains- no the contractions going through his body at a very regular pace. He shakily gives the operator his address. 

“Ok sweetheart, I’ve dispatched to your location and an ambulance is on its way. If this is your first pup, you should have time. First labors always take long. Would you like to stay on the phone until the ambulance gets there?”

Steve thought for a moment. He really didn’t feel like having this woman, as nice as she was, on the phone while he cried. He was in pain and he could barely talk anymore, “N-no it’s ok. I need to hang up.” Steve said breathlessly.

“Ok Steve, they’re only a few minutes away, you’ll be alright.”

Steve hung up the phone and slid down to the floor. His back was against the wall. He could feel the chill of the plaster against his spine, he didn’t care though, he could barely think at this point. The pain and the pressure were unbearable and without even thinking he began to bare down. 

“No not yet, not yet!” He moaned, the back of his head hitting the wall behind him.

Steve struggled out of his shorts. There was a little blood on them, but he couldn’t focus on that now. Another contraction came and he reached back and tried to grab the carpet for leverage, but couldn’t. Steve bent his legs at the knee as he spread them as wide as he could, his muscles stinging as he stretched. He gripped the back of his knees, fingers digging into the sensitive flesh as he bore down again, straining against the pressure.

He could hear someone screaming, only to realize it was himself. Steve felt the baby move slowly as it breached his hole. It was crowning. He reached down and felt the top of the head poking out, the hair wet with fluid.

Steve felt like he was on fire as he pushed again. Steve was having an out of body experience. This wasn’t happening to him, but at the same time it was. There was no denying that as he sat against the wall, legs spread and half of a baby’s head between his thighs. He screamed through gritted teeth as the head popped out, stretching him painfully. His one hand let go of his leg and reached forward to cup the baby’s head. He was breathing shakily. He tried to lean and look between his legs, but he couldn’t see anything, except for blood. The next contraction came and he was desperate to get this baby out. The first shoulder came out, then the other, he still had the head in his hands trying to support what he could.

The baby was halfway out, he leaned forward, as far as he could comfortably go and groaned loudly as he bore down one last time. He felt the baby slide out with a burst of fluid. It was silent, Steve held his breath. He quickly snapped out of it and pulled the baby up from between his legs. The chord was stretched tight over his abdomen as he looked over the goop covered baby. Steve patted it’s back as it started to cry weakly. It was a girl.

“Holy shit” he said as he held her against his stomach. She was tiny, but her limbs were moving wildly as she screamed. Steve pulled her closer trying his best to let her know he was there.

She continued to cry, but it wasn’t one of those loud boisterous cries. It was soft and it sounded like she was struggling. She was so small and he was so tired. He grabbed the shorts he discarded earlier and tried to use them to keep her warm. Steve could hear people banging on the door, but he couldn’t get up. He tried to call out to them, but he was too tired.

He heard the door break open and heard feet pounding up the stairs as paramedics burst into his room. They were talking to him, but he couldn’t understand them, he was so tired. All he could feel was the blood sticking to his thighs and the chord stretching over his stomach, pulling at something still inside him. His whole lower half ached as he felt the blood drying. Steve’s head began to feel light as his eyelids drooped unconsciously. 

“Steve, please try to stay awake.” But he couldn’t and everything went black. 

Chapter Text

June 1985…

Steve woke up to a steady beeping noise. He started to thrash his head around before he heard a voice, 

“woah slow down there kid. You’re in the hospital. You’ve had a long night” it was Cheif Hopper. Steve struggled to get his eyes open, they felt so heavy. 

“Chief? What happened where’s…” he trailed off as he remembered the events of the day. “My pup? Is she ok? Please-”Steve cut himself off, beginning to hyperventilate. 

Hopper put his hand on Steve’s shoulder, 

“She was breathing when we got to you, it was weak, but she was breathing. The doctors will know more. I’ve let them know you’re up and they should be here soon to let you know what’s going on.” 

Steve was relieved to hear that she was breathing at birth, but he was still scared. He began to sob, taking big heaving breaths as his hands covered his face. Hopper rubbed his shoulder in an attempt to calm him. Slowly Steve regained the ability to breathe normally and stopped crying. He sniffled and turned to the chief of police,

 “I need to call my job.”
Hopper nodded and pulled the phone over to Steve who then dialed the number to Scoops Ahoy. He heard Robin’s bored tone through the receiver, 

“Thank you for calling Scoops Ahoy, how may we assist you today?” 

“Robin?” Steve choked out.

 “Dingus! Where have you been? Our shift started three hours ago!” She sounded annoyed, but there was a hint of worry in her tone. 

Steve took a shaky breath before speaking, “I had the baby last night, Robin” 

There was a moment of silence before Robin erupted.

“OH MY GOD! Are you ok? Is it ok? I should probably stop calling it “it” now. I thought you said you still had weeks left?” 

“I did have weeks left, I went into labor prematurely and she was born on my bedroom floor. I’m in the hospital right now and I need you to let the managers know what’s going on.” 

“Of course, Steve.” Robin said softly, “Congrats on the baby.”

Then she hung up. Steve rubbed his hands against his face, forgetting that Hopper was even in the room, until he started speaking, 

“We've notified your parents of what happened. Your mother said she’d catch the next flight home.” Steve nodded. 

It was quiet for a moment before Steve asked, “Why’re you here, Chief? I would think you’d have more important things to take care of.” 

Hopper got a strange look on his face that Steve could not interpret, “I figured you’d want to see a familiar face when you woke up. You’re a part of our little Upside Down gang, Steve. We stick together.” 

Steve teared up at that before whispering “Thank you” to the Chief. Hopper nodded and they lapsed into a comfortable silence. 

A beat passed before there was a knock on the door and a doctor came in, 

“Hello, Steve, Chief. My name is Dr. Atkins.” The man smiled warmly at Steve. “I think you might have some questions and I think I might have the answers.” 

Steve didn’t even hesitate,

 “Where’s my baby? Is she ok? When can I see her?” 

Dr. Atkins put his hands up to stop the flow of Steve’s questions, 

“She’s ok, Steve. Just a few weeks early. She was breathing on her own when she arrived, but it was very weak. Her lungs are not fully developed yet and she is still very small. For the next couple of weeks we’re going to have to keep her in the NICU so she can get stronger. She will be in an incubator, but I want to stress to you that we have full confidence that she will pull through and live a healthy life.” 

Steve sat there frozen. An incubator? He wouldn’t be able to take her home? Hopper’s hand on his shoulder was the only thing that kept him from completely spacing out. 

“And as for you, Mr. Harrington, you lost quite a bit of blood. With her birth being so quick you tore a little, but you were stitched right up. It’s only a few stitches so it was a very mild tear and it should not affect your ability to give birth in the future. Do you have any questions for me?” 

Steve just sat there blinking back tears, “Can I see her?” 

That was all Steve wanted right now. He didn’t care that he tore nor did he care about his ability to have more kids. He just wanted to see his baby that was already here.

Dr. Atkins smiled softly at Steve, “Of course you can. I’ll get a nurse to come with a wheelchair and take you up to the NICU. I am going to warn you she will have some tubes and wires, but I promise you she is ok” 

Steve just nodded as Dr. Atkins left to go and find a nurse. 

“You ok after hearing all that?” Hopper asked. Steve nodded. 

“I’m ok chief, don’t worry. You don’t have to stay after they take me up. My mom should be here soon.” Hopper gave him a strained smile. 

Steve’s mother did not show up until the next afternoon. 

***

He names her Elaine Elizabeth Harrington. The father's spot on her birth certificate remains blank. Steve smiled softly as he brushed her arm with his fingers. He was sitting beside her. She was still in the incubator, and had been for about 2 days now. He had been allowed to hold her for a few minutes the other day and the feeling of the high had not yet gone away. She was tiny, only 5 lbs. He knows that there have been smaller babies, but his mom had told him he was 8 lbs. at birth so to him she seemed so little. His mom came to the hospital a day after Elaine was born. 

“She’s such a pretty baby, Steven, like a doll. Such a shame she had to ruin a nice carpet on her way out.”  

Steve knew his mom was trying to make a joke, but it still rubbed him the wrong way. The birth of his daughter was traumatic and all she could talk about was the goddamn carpet? The thing about his mother was that her “jokes” always had a hint of truth behind them, so Steve knew that deep down she was pissed about the carpet. Steve was expecting his mother to come back and head up to the NICU to sit with him again. He wasn’t too thrilled about having to spend a few hours with his mom. It usually meant that he would have to pretend that he cared about what she and his father did while they were away, and on a normal day he didn’t want to hear it, but two days after having a baby? He didn’t know if he’d be able to hide his irritated expression. All of this to say that he was not surprised when a nurse came in and told him that someone was there to see him and the pup. 

Steve smiled at the nurse, still touching Elaine’s arm.

 “It’s ok, Sheila. We were expecting a visitor today.” Sheila nodded and headed out to get his mom. Only it wasn’t  Steve’s mom who walked in the door, it was Billy Hargrove. 

He stared at Billy in shock. He was the last person Steve expected to show up. “What are you doing here?” Steve asked tiredly. 

Billy stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“I heard Max going back and forth with the little shit brigade about the kid. Said she was in one of those sick baby wards.” 

Billy was looking anywhere but at Steve. It was almost like he was nervous. 

“She’s 6 weeks early, but she’s doing ok. Her lungs just need some time to grow before she can come home.” Billy nodded, still not looking at Steve. 

“Her name is Elaine Elizabeth, I know it’s a lot of “e’s” but I thought it sounded nice.” Steve began to chew on his inner cheek, “You can look at her if you want. You could even touch her, she’s only 2 days old, she won’t bite.” 

Steve knows that he sounds a bit bitchy, but he hadn’t heard from Billy since April (and no Steve does not count blank envelopes of cash as “hearing” from him) so sue him for feeling a bit snippy. Billy flinched at his tone, but still came closer. 

“They let me hold her for a little bit each day so I can scent and feed her. She’s strong and should be out of here by the second week of July.” Steve just kept talking to try and combat the silence. It was awkward and he knew that both his face and his scent were giving him away. 

“She’s- uh- she’s cute.” Billy mumbled. He was looking down at the incubator whilst shuffling his feet. Steve could smell the anxiety on Billy, and so could Elaine because she started to fuss inside the incubator. Steve immediately jumped into action as he stuck his hand back in, allowing her to grasp his finger in her little hand. He made soft shushing noises to try and soothe her. Her head began to turn towards Steve’s voice. He knew she was itching to nuzzle her little nose into his neck and it killed him that he couldn’t just scoop her up. 

“Shit! I didn’t mean to-“ Billy huffed in frustration. He sighed before continuing, “I shouldn’t have come here.” 

“So that’s it then? You’re not even going to talk to her?” Steve bit out. He was just so angry. How could Billy see her and feel nothing? To Steve, Elaine was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, but it seems that Billy just found her disconcerting. 

“Fuck Harrington! I told you I can’t be anyone’s dad! It looks like you’ve taken to being a mom and shit, she’s in good hands. She doesn’t need me.” Billy pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried not to yell. 

“She does need you! You’re her father, Billy! What am I supposed to tell her when she’s older? That you showed up, took one look at her and walked away?” Steve said wetly. He was trying so hard not to cry right now. He didn’t like Billy, he was a douche and a racist to boot, but the idea of telling his daughter that she wasn’t worth anything to her father frightened him.

“You tell her that this is for the best!” Billy was breathing heavily now. His eyes finally met Steve’s and he could see the sadness and the tears in them, “and don’t call me that.”

“Ok.” Steve whispered, “you could at least touch her before you go. At least let her get to know your scent, even if it’s just for a moment.” Billy went over to the incubator and tentatively stuck his hand in. He ran his fingers over her arm before he gently touched her cheek with his thumb. Elaine cooed as Billy’s scent washed over her. Steve watched as his lips twitched upwards in a small smile. 

“She is beautiful.” Billy whispered. Steve could see the tears pricking at Billy’s eyes. He delicately brushed his hand over her head. Steve knew what Billy was feeling. That feathery hair, the downy skin, everything about her just screamed “soft”.  Billy spoke again in a gentle tone, one Steve didn’t think he was capable of. 

The doctors, they said she’s healthy? Or that she will be healthy?” 

Steve nodded, 

“Yeah, she’s ok. She’s already basically breathing on her own, they just want her oxygen levels to be more stable and for her to gain some weight.” 

“And you, you’re ok?” Steve was taken off guard at that question. Billy didn’t seem like the type to give a shit about how Steve was feeling. 

“I’m fine. She was born before the ambulance could get to my parents’ house, so I ended up giving birth on my bedroom floor. I lost some blood, but other than that I’m good.” Billy nodded at that. 

“I’m glad you’re both ok.”
Billy was uncomfortable, Steve could tell. They remained silent for the rest of Billy’s visit. Steve was sitting with a blanket on his lap as he was still not strong enough to stand for a long period of time. Billy was standing right next to the incubator, trying to drink up as much as he could of the pup before he left her forever. 

***

Steve went back to work on June 30th, against doctor's advice. Elaine was 8 days old and still in the hospital. He held her everyday, scenting her skin, feeding her, letting her know that he’s there, and that he will always be there. But he needed to get out, if he wasn’t at the hospital worrying about her, he was sitting at home worrying about her and Steve feels that it might be more productive if he went to work and worried about her. At least he’d be making money then. Dr. Atkins and his obgyn were not thrilled with his decision. They were concerned about him not taking things easy. They worried he’d push himself too much and he’d get hurt. He brushed their concerns aside, he worked at an ice cream shop in the mall, it wasn’t like he was going back to work at the goddamn rail yard. 

“You’re back!” Robin exclaimed in surprise. 

“Yeah, I figured it would be better to worry and get paid at work than to worry at home alone.” Steve’s mom was technically at home with him, but she spent most of her days “out”. What she was doing, Steve didn’t know, he was just glad she didn’t feel the need to tell him every little detail about her life. 

“How is the kid? You didn’t really say much over the phone.” Robin asked. 

“She’s good, they’re keeping her in an incubator , but they’re hoping she’ll be strong enough to get out soon. Her name’s Elaine.” Steve said with a small smile. 

“That’s cute, you could call her Laine or Lainey or something.” Robin rambled.

They quickly settled back into their routine and soon enough Steve was in the back on break. He was supposed to be resting before continuing on with the rest of his shift, but he was instead shaking his leg and contemplating calling the NICU for the 5th time today. Steve heard Robin droning on in her customer service voice out front. All of a sudden there was a new voice, a familiar voice. Steve burst out from the break room to see Dustin standing at the counter.

“Henderson!” Steve shouted. They both ran over to each other talking at a rapid pace. Steve was sure that their conversation sounded like gibberish to the rest of the store, but he and Dustin understood each other on a different level. Dustin was like the brother Steve never got to have and seeing him after a month away was such a relief. They did their little handshake before they both broke off into a fit of laughter. 

“How many children are you friends with?” Robin cut in. Steve just gestures towards her before he herded Dustin over to a booth so he could give him as much ice cream his little heart desired. God, Steve missed that kid.  

“And she doesn’t even care that my real pearls are still coming in!” Dustin said enthusiastically, “She said kissing is better without the teeth.” 

“Wow, I’m uh proud of you, bud.” Steve wasn’t totally sold on Dustin’s “super hot genius girlfriend from camp” story, but he wasn’t going to rain on the pup’s parade. 

“So” Dustin said in a prompting manner. 

“So?” Steve questioned. 

“So you had the baby, Steve! Before they ditched me yesterday everyone said that it was a girl and that she’s still in the hospital. Is everything ok?” 

“Everything is fine Dustin. Elaine was early, but she’s ok.” 

“Did it hurt?” 

“Very much so.” Steve really hoped Dustin didn’t ask anymore questions. He didn’t know how to explain the rapid birth of his daughter to a thirteen year old, or if he even wanted to. Steve quickly attempted to divert Dustin’s attention, “wait you said they ditched you? On your first day back? Not cool, man.” Steve was successful.

“I know! Too bad for them cause they won’t get to be a part of my glory.” 

Steve raised his eyebrow, “Your glory?” He questioned. Dustin began to look around wildly before trying to whisper into Steve’s ear. Unfortunately for him, Steve’s hearing hadn’t been the same since Billy hit him over the head with a plate, so Dustin’s whisper sounded like nothing to Steve. “What?” Dustin whispered again. “Dipshit, I can’t hear you!” 

“I intercepted a secret Russian communication!” Dustin shouted. 

Steve blinked, “That’s what I thought you said.” And that was how Steve was roped into round three of the Upside Down bullshit. 

*** 

July 1985…

The events of the next several days were still coming back to Steve in a blur. There were Russians and elevators and gates to the Upside Down. He was beaten up, again, but this time it was due to russian torture techniques rather than teenage angst. Sometimes he wonders how his life came to this. A mother, a hostage and a total loser by the age of 18. He was thankful he could cross “dead under the mall due to Russian truth drugs” off that list, for he found himself on the bathroom floor with Robin. They were earthside now, no longer in a secret Russian bunker. 

“I haven’t thrown up that much since I was pregnant.” Steve said. 

“Holy shit” Robin responded.

“Do you think we puked it all up?” Steve asked

“Maybe, ask me something” Robin asks from a stall over, “interrogate me.” She joked.

“Ok, uh, when was the last time you peed your pants?” 

“Today.” 

“What?!?” Steve shouted in amusement. 

“When the Russian doctor took out the bone saw, only a little bit though.” Robin laughed. Both Robin and Steve then fell into a fit of giggles. Whether it was from the drugs remaining in their system, or out of pure relief, Steve didn’t know. 

“All right my turn.” Robin said with a hint of a giggle in her voice.

“Hit me”

“Have you ever been in love?” 

“Yes. Nancy, beginning of senior year.” Steve admitted. Robin laughed before calling Nancy a priss, if only she knew, Steve mused.

Robin got quiet before asking again.

Are you still in love with her?” That question stopped Steve in his tracks. He had loved Nancy with his whole heart, but was he still in love with her? 

“No.” Steve said quietly. 

“Is it because of Elaine’s father?”

Steve snorted at that

“Elaine’s father was a one night mistake. He made that very clear when I told him I was pregnant. He then reiterated that he wanted nothing to do with her when he came to see her in the hospital. So no, there's absolutely no love between Hargrove and I.” 

“Oh my god.” Robin said. 

“What?” Steve asked, confused as to what Robin could be reacting to, “look I get it I’m slutty but-”

“No, dingus! Hargrove, Billy Hargrove is your baby’s father?” Robin asked in complete astonishment. Steve had not realized he let that bit of information slip. He hadn’t told anyone who Elaine’s father was, not even Dustin. It felt good to say it to someone, that Elaine’s father is Billy. Steve knew most people assumed he didn’t know, he had a reputation after all. The rumor mill had gone quiet while he dated Nancy, but it started back up again after their very public break up (and it got really running when he showed up to school pregnant.) 

“Um, yeah. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, guess the truth stuff is still in there somewhere. Shit.” Steve said as he hung his head.

Robin was quiet for a moment. Steve thought she might have been judging him, who wouldn’t? Billy Hargrove was hot, but he was also one of the grossest people in school. When he first showed up Steve honestly didn’t understand why all the omegas and beta girls were hanging off of him. Then he charmed his way into Steve’s pants, so he really had no room to judge anymore. 

“Remember what I was saying about Click’s class?” Steve was confused at the change in subject. He crawled in the next stall as Robin continued, 

“about me being jealous and obsessed?” Steve nodded. “It wasn’t because I had a crush on you, it was because she wouldn’t stop staring.” Now Steve was really confused.

“Mrs. Click?” He asked. 

“Tammy Thompson. She wouldn’t stop looking at you. You and your stupid hair and your stupid questions and your goddamn bagel crumbs! And it was because I wanted her to look at me. And I didn’t get it because you-you were a douchebag and you didn’t like her! I would just go home and scream into my pillow because I just didn’t get it!” Robin ranted. Steve cocked his head to the side.

“But Tammy Thompsons a beta girl? And you’re a beta girl?” That just didn’t happen, two betas of the same primary gender? Not something Steve had ever heard of before. Beta girls only ever got with beta males or male alphas or male omegas, not other girls. 

“Steve…” Robin whispered. 

“Yeah…? Oh.” 

“Oh” 

“Shit” 

“Yeah” they both lapsed into silence again. 

“Steve, did you OD over there?” Robin asked. There was a tremble in her voice as if she feared Steve and his reaction. 

“No, just thinking.” It was quiet again. “I mean, Tammy’s cute and all, but she’s a total dud.” Steve smirked. 

“No she’s not!” Robin shouted while slamming her hands against the title floor. 

“Yes she is! She wants to be a singer and go to Nashville and-”

“She has dreams!” Robin cut him off, but Steve just kept going. 

“She’s basically tone deaf. Can’t even hold a tune!” Steve started to mimic Tammy’s singing to get his point across. 

“You sound like a muppet.” Robin snarked. 

“She sounds like a muppet! She sounds like a muppet giving birth ! And I’m very fucking familiar with what that sounds like!” They both laughed as they continued to sing in that stupid muppet voice. 

Steve got serious for a moment, “These last few weeks I’ve worked with you have been the most fun I’ve had in a while. I wouldn’t trade it for anything and I don’t want you to think that there’d be anything that would keep me from being your friend.” 

Robin gave him a watery smile, “You told me your biggest secret, I wanted to tell you mine.” Her face showed complete and utter relief, the same feeling Steve felt having told someone about Billy. They laughed quietly between each other, content to just sit there together.

Then Dustin burst in, “what the hell!?!?”

***

There was a lot that happened during the lead up to Billy’s death. After Steve and Robin stumbled out of the bathroom with Dustin and Erica, he found out that this was a lot bigger than just Russians trying to open a gate. The group was reunited in the food court of the mall, where Nancy proceeded to freak out.

“Steve! You shouldn’t be here!” 

“Nancy!” Jonathan scolded. 

“No, Jonathan! He had a baby like a week ago! He should be far away from here! What if he gets targeted by Billy!” That made Steve freeze. What the hell did Billy have to do with anything? He could understand where Nancy was coming from in terms of him being only days postpartum, his doctors had warned him against going back to work, but did she know about Billy?

“What does Hargrove have to do with this?” Steve asked. He was tense and he could feel Robin’s hand brush against his, as if to remind him she was there and that she had his back. 

“Billy’s possessed by the Mind-Flayer, Steve. He’s become inhumanly strong, what if he goes after you because you’re not fully recovered?” Nancy asked with concern in her voice.

Steve went to respond when Eleven cried out in pain. Things began to move fast after that. Eleven had a piece of the Mind-Flayer trapped in her ankle (this is when Steve learned that the mind-flayer was currently made out of liquified people.) Hopper, Mrs. Byers and a balding man then showed up and Steve was all of a sudden driving a Cadillac up to the highest point in Hawkins with Dustin, Robin and Erica so that way they could stop the Russians and the mind-flayer or something. Steve was a bit lost at this point and he was pretty sure he had a head injury. Looking out across the town, Steve could see the lights flashing in the mall. 

“Things aren’t looking good down there.” He said.

Dustin quickly tried to get in touch with Nancy’s group, but got nothing. Steve quickly made the decision to go back down. Robin went with him. Dustin tossed her a walkie and soon enough Steve was slamming into the side of his baby daddy’s camaro in order to prevent him from murdering his ex-girlfriend. 

“Are you ok?” Steve asked Robin. 

“Ask me tomorrow?” Robin responds. 

There was a whirlwind rush as he and Robin were shoved into the trunk of Nancy’s car as they attempted to lure the Mind-Flayer away from Eleven. There was singing and numbers and Dustin’s not so fake girlfriend made an appearance. Then they were back in the mall throwing fireworks at the most disgusting beast Steve had ever seen. He could feel himself tiring out. He was sore and his head was pounding, but he just kept throwing until there was nothing left. The whole world got lost in the haze. It was like he was surrounded by a fog. He thought of Elaine, wondering if he’d seen her for the last time.

A scream pierced through the fog. Steve looked over and saw Billy holding back the mind-flayer. Tentacles reached out and stabbed Billy on each side before going straight through his chest. Steve could still hear Max screaming as he fell to his knees. Robin wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The monster began to writhe in pain as it died. 

“Steve we have to get out, the place is on fire.” Robin pleaded, but Steve felt frozen. She pulled on his arm and he followed. There were no thoughts in his head, the only thing he could see was the blood covered body of his child’s father

Chapter Text

July 1985…

The aftermath of Starcourt left the group scarred. None more so than Max. She had held Billy in her arms as he died. She heard his last words, felt his last breaths. That was a lot for one kid to handle.

Steve had been taken to the hospital due to his extensive facial injuries. He had a concussion and he needed stitches in his lip, but nothing else was severely wrong. He was let out in a few hours.

Robin filled him in on what happened while he was being treated. Hopper hadn’t made it out of the mall. Steve’s heart broke for El, she has been through so much and the universe just wouldn’t give her a break. Steve also mourned for the man who sat with him in the hospital after his daughter was born. Hopper didn’t have to stay with him, but he did anyway. He kept Steve steady when he panicked. Losing Hopper was going to be a massive blow to the group and Steve could already see the ramifications. 

A few days after the Fourth found Steve in the NICU once again. The nurses on the floor were shocked to see his face and horrified to hear about how he had barely made it out of the mall fire that killed the Chief. Robin was with him this time, finally getting the chance to meet the little girl. Steve was holding her against his chest, her little face squished up against him after eating. 

“She really is cute, Steve.” Robin said, peering over his shoulder. 

“Thanks Robs. I like to think she got that from me.” Robin poked him in the shoulder. 

“If she’s going to get anything from you, it’s going to be that hair! I mean, look at her! She’s already got a mop of it!”

Steve laughed at that as he adjusted the blanket around Elaine. Her temperature still fluctuated from time to time, but her lungs seemed to be up to full capacity and she had already gained a pound and a half. 

“The doctors say she should be out of here in a few days.” Steve said softly. Elaine made a little squeak while nestled against Steve’s chest. 

“Oh that’s good! You hear that Lainey? You’ll get to go home with your mama soon!” Robin said.

Steve beamed at that. He hadn’t really heard anyone refer to him as being Elaine’s mother. His mom had steadfastly ignored the fact that he was a teen mom and the hospital staff just didn’t refer to him as “mom”. It felt good to hear himself called “mama”. It was nice. 

“How’re you doing?” Robin asked.

Steve rolled his eyes in response, “I’m fine, Robin. I don’t know why you keep asking.”

Robin’s face scrunched up in annoyance, “I keep asking because it’s not everyday you get tortured by Russians and then watch your baby daddy die. You’re allowed to have feelings about it, you know?”

Robin went and sat in the chair across from him. 

“I do have feelings about it, but compared to the others I think I got off scot free. It feels wrong to complain about what happened.” It was Robin's turn to roll her eyes. 

“Steve Harrington you self sacrificing idiot. Just because other people have it worse, doesn’t mean your feelings don’t matter.”

Robin reached over and flicked him on the shoulder, “Now tell Auntie Robin what’s wrong.” Steve gave her a “really?” look before he began. 

“Part of me is pissed that he’s dead. I get that he didn’t want any part of her life and I would be doing this alone, but this just feels like a cop out. He died a week after she was born, no one will know what a deadbeat he planned on being. And then another part of me is, like, sad because he doesn’t even get the chance to change his mind. There is no option for Elaine to get to know her dad, because he’s dead. It’s just not fair.”

Steve sighs when he’s done. Robin is sitting with her legs pulled up on the chair and crossed at the ankles with her fingers steepled in front of her face. 

“Now doesn’t it feel good to let it out?” Robin asks.

Steve sighs and rolls his eyes again. He nodded in concession to what Robin said, because it did feel better to talk about it. Steve wondered if this was what it was like to have a real friend his own age. Not someone who would help bolster your popularity, someone who actually cared about you and gave themselves the title of “auntie”. Someone he could talk to about adult-ish things rather than what they got on their last science test.

Don’t get Steve wrong, he loves Dustin, he’s the little brother Steve thought he’d never get to have, but that does not mean he’s comfortable telling a soon-to-be freshman about his sordid sexual past. 

“I don’t really know what to say to fix what you’re feeling, but I do know that it’s normal. Hargrove was like Satan incarnate, but it sucks that he left you with this mess. I would suggest vandalizing his grave, but I think it’s too soon.”

Steve barked out a laugh at that. Robin continued, “Be as upset and angry as you want, but know you’ll get past it and you’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Steve smiled while looking down at his daughter, “I think I already have.”

***

August 1985…

Things changed with his parents in August. It was the second week of the month when the proverbial shit hit the fan. Elaine was a little over a month old and had been home for a few weeks at that point when Neil Hargrove appeared on his parents’ doorstep. He was drunk off his ass, ranting and raving. Steve’s father answered the door. 

“Who the hell are you?” His father demanded.

Neil swayed on his feet before speaking, “Where’s your omega slut of a son?”

Steve’s mother came up behind his father and balked at Mr. Hargrove. 

“Excuse me? Who do you think you are showing up on-” she was cut off by Mr. Hargrove. 

“Shut up you self righteous bitch! I know your omega bitch son had my son’s baby!”

Something about the way Mr. Hargrove said “my son” perturbed Steve. It was like Billy was his possession rather than his own person. 

“How dare you accuse my son of anything!” Steve’s father bellowed. 

“I’m not accusing, my shitstain of a son left this pathetic ass letter!”

Neil punctuated this by waving around a notebook. It was beat up and covered in weird doodles Steve assumes had to do with bands Billy liked.

“Now he’s fucking dead and I demand to see his whore and my grandchild.”

Steve was standing in the foyer now, Elaine in his arms. He pulled her close, supporting her head as he pressed his face into her hair. Steve breathed in her delicate pup scent. He didn’t know if he was doing it to relax her or himself. Elaine must have been the calmest baby ever because she just slept through the drunken tirade.

Steve saw his father tense before he punched Neil straight across the face and threw him to the ground. Grabbing Neil’s collar, Steve’s father got in his face and said in the deepest growl he had ever heard,

“You call my son a whore again and I’ll do much worse than that. Your son is dead and I am sorry for it, but you have no right to my grandchild. Now get the hell off my property before I call the police and if you ever come near my son or his daughter again, I will fucking kill you.”

Steve’s mother put her hand on his fathers shoulder, “Gary, get off him, I think he gets the point.”

Gary Harrington shoved Neil Hargrove to the ground again for good measure. 

“You rich bastards!”

Neil tried to spit in their faces, but missed terribly. He threw Billy’s notebook to the ground and stormed off. Steve’s father stood and took a few heaving breaths to calm himself before turning to Steve. 

“It’s not safe for you two to be here now, your mother and I will be helping you get a place of your own by the beginning of next month. We’ll pay for half, but you can’t stay here. I won’t let that man threaten you again.”

His dad looked deadly serious. Steve had never seen his father that angry. Sure he’d yell at him for bad grades or for getting into trouble, but he’s never seen his dad hit someone. And he did it to defend him. It was weird and Steve did not know how to process that.

Gary left to go to his study without acknowledging Steve. Steve handed the baby over to his mother before going out and picking up Billy’s notebook. He wanted to see what it said and what made Neil so mad. 

***

Steve was up in his room later that night, Elaine was in the cot next to him. He was sitting on his bed with the notebook laid out in front of him. Most of it was filled with school notes and semi-violent doodles, but as the dates in the book went from March to April things began to change.

Steve felt weird reading Billy’s private thoughts, but the man was dead and whatever this book contained caused his father to show up on his front lawn and seemingly threaten Steve’s child, so maybe he did have a right to read it.

Steve was shocked to see a letter written to Elaine dated the day Billy had first seen her.  

Elaine, 

I don’t actually know what to say here, or if I’ll ever have the balls to give this to your mother, but I’m writing this to explain myself. I met you today and I was overwhelmed by what I felt when I saw you. You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. You’re tiny, but your mom says you’ll be ok, so I have that to hold on to. I’m sure that by the time you read this you’ll have noticed that I’m not around, there’s a reason for this. I’m a shit person, pup. I mean, I beat your mom up after he tried to stop me from hurting a kid and I never apologized to either of them. I treat my stepsister like crap and I ignored your existence until I couldn’t anymore. I know I’m not endearing myself to you, but I need to say these things. I’m not fit to be your dad. My dad is an abusive asshole and I picked up some of his traits, I only came to that realization when I saw you today. So I’m not going to be around to protect you from both myself and my father, because god knows what he’d do if he found out about you. I’m not doing this to be a dick, I’m doing this because I love you and want what’s best for you. I hope you understand that one day. 

-Billy

Steve was trembling as he read it. With shaking hands he turned the page. Next was a note addressed to him. 

Harrington,

I wrote a letter to our kid, I hope you have the courtesy to give it to her one day. I know I’m a coward for writing it and then walking away. I hope I get the courage to give these to you. I got into an accident yesterday and shit has been weird. I know this sounds crazy, but there is someone else in my head. He’s telling me to do things, to hurt people. I think I’m going to die soon, so please protect her, especially from me. 

-Billy

Steve choked back a sob, it was apparent to him that Billy wrote this just after the Mind-Flayer possessed him. The next page was even worse. It was another note for Elaine. This one was short and the handwriting was jagged. It looked like Billy was fighting off the Mind-Flayer when trying to write it. 

Elaine,

I’m sorry. I love you.

-Billy 

Seeing Billy write these things knowing he was going to die caused the tears Steve was holding back to spill over. He broke down into heaving sobs. It brought up his own thoughts from that day in the mall. Steve had thought he too was going to die, first in that Russian bunker and again when they ran out of fireworks.

The severity of the situation had finally sunk in. Steve had almost died for the third time in his short life. And then what? He had a pup now, he’d have left her alone with his parents and while they seemed to care somewhat, they were still neglectful. His sadness enveloped the air, causing Elaine to cry out in response to her mother’s distress. 

“Steve!” His mother burst in. She ran over and  sat next to him on the bed while placing both her hands on his shoulders.

“Steve, darling, what’s wrong?” But he couldn’t answer.

“My poor sweet baby.” She laid her head on his shoulder as Steve continued to cry.

“It’ll be ok.” Steve really wondered if it would be.

***

September 1985…

Early September saw the kids starting high school. It was an adjustment for them and Steve felt useless. The Byers had moved to California with Eleven. Dustin and the other pups were shattered at the loss of Will and El, but they understood why they had to get out of Hawkins. Steve hadn’t been there for the goodbye, but that didn’t stop El from showing up at his parents’ house a few days before she left.

To say that Steve was surprised to see her would be an understatement. He’d never really spent any time with El. He’d known her, of course, but he didn’t spend time with her like he did the other pups. Will was with her as well and Jonathan had driven them.

Steve was by himself when they came over, so when the doorbell rang, he immediately went into protect mode. The last time someone showed up at his door unannounced he got called an omega slut, so he was understandably perturbed. 

“Uh, hi…?” Steve said as he answered the door.

He was wearing an oversized t-shirt that went to his knees and  a pair of old shorts. His hair was a mess and his shirt had a faded spit-up stain by the shoulder. He really did not look like he was expecting visitors. 

“Hi.” Eleven said. Jonathan gave an awkward wave from behind her and Will was just staring at his feet. 

“Oh, uh come in,” Steve said while stepping back from the door.

He gestured for them to come inside, “The baby’s in the living room if you want to see her. She sleeps a lot, but she’s up right now.”

The group followed him to the living room. Elaine’s eyes brightened when she caught sight of the movement. She began to make little noises which Steve knew meant that she wanted to be held.

“Hi, love.” Steve whispered as he picked her up from her cot. He sat in his dad’s recliner where he began to gently rock the baby, who was looking up at him with big blue eyes. He smiled lightly at her as he gave her his finger to grip onto. 

“We’re sorry to barge in like this, but El really wanted to see you before we left.” Johnathan said sheepishly.

He was rubbing the back of his neck, giving off strong awkward energy. Johnathan was a beta like Nancy, looking back Steve wonders how he didn’t see their relationship coming. Steve just nodded. El went over to Steve and looked down at Elaine. 

“She looks so much bigger now.”

Steve furrowed his brow, but didn’t comment. If El wanted to tell him, she would. She looked over to Johnathan and Will, “Can I please speak to Steve alone?” Both boys nodded and went to the other room. 

“What’s up, El?” Steve asked. 

“She was in his memories.” She whispered. “So were you. You were in the hospital and she was in the glass box. He got to touch her face. I-It was his happiest memory.” Steve’s eyes flicked to El. She was looking right back at him. 

“Billy?” Steve asked.

“Yes,” Steve nodded in acknowledgment. Steve didn’t know how to respond or if he even should. 

“She’s the reason he stopped him. She’s the reason he saved me.” El had tears in her eyes. 

Steve took a trembling breath, “Would you like to hold her, El?” 

“I am afraid, I have never held a baby before.”

Steve stood and gestured for her to take a seat. 

“Hold your arms just like I am.”

El cradled her arms, mimicking Steve. “Good,” he said, encouraging her.

“Now you need to support her head,” Steve gently placed Elaine in El’s arms.

“Just like that. See you’ve got it.” Steve said smiling.

With that Will and Jonathan came back into the room. Will went over to see the baby in El’s arms. The two started whispering back and forth to each other while Steve went to stand by Johnathan.  

“I never got the chance to say congratulations on her. So uh, congratulations,” Johnathan said. 

“Thanks, Johnathan.” Steve said, “When will you guys be leaving?” 

Johnathan sighed as he shifted, “Next week. Mom says that they need a fresh start. Can’t say I disagree with her.” Steve nodded. 

“Be safe there.” 

“Be safe here.” There was an understanding between them now. The next week the Byers headed out, hopefully leaving the Upside Down behind forever. 

***

Soon after the Byers moved, Steve moved as well. He and Elaine were going to be living at the Forest Hills Trailer Park. His parents paid for the trailer, Steve would be responsible for the utilities and the place's upkeep. It was also up to him to pay for his food, gas, and Elaine’s needs. He didn’t mind that, he was her mother, it was his job to take care of her.

Moving into the actual trailer was a lot less eventful than he thought it would be. His parents paid for movers to bring his and Elaine’s stuff over. They also gave him hand me down furniture and cutleries. Steve didn’t mind, he’d take what he could get from them. The first night at their new home was a welcome change for Steve. He felt like he didn’t have to walk on eggshells anymore. He was finally free. Free of his mother's overbearing nature and his father’s underhanded jabs. It was just Steve and his pup and that’s all he needed. 

The kids started to show up more often too. Dustin would ride his bike over whenever he could, as did Robin. Max and her mother had moved into the trailer park as well after Neil had taken off. Steve was not sorry to see him go.

During this time, Robin had managed to get them a job at The Family Video. How she convinced Keith to hire him, he didn’t know, but he had a feeling it involved how kind and charitable the ladies would find him when they heard how he had hired an unmated single teen mom when no one else would. Gag.

Things were good, things were peaceful, until Eddie Munson fell into his life like a ton of bricks. 

Chapter Text

October 1985… 

The first time Steve met Eddie Munson, like really met him, was a few weeks after he had moved in.

He had been hearing about Munson for sometime now. Dustin had been talking about the guy non-stop since school started. Steve would just roll his eyes and let the boy talk.

The Munson trailer was several yards away from his (ergo so was the Mayfeild one). So it was no surprise when they encountered each other.

Steve was out checking the mail one day when he heard a voice call from behind him.

“I had heard rumors that King Steve had moved in with us peasants, and lest my eyes deceive me they appear to be true.”

Steve turned to see Eddie Munson a few feet behind him with a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin on his face. Steve rolled his eyes. 

“You know, they don’t call me that anymore.” Steve says. Eddie raised his eyebrow with his grin still in place. 

“Oh? Then what do they call you nowadays.” 

Steve looked him straight in the eye and with the most serious face he could muster he said, “Omega slut most recently, but I prefer Steve.” Eddie winced at that. 

“Damn Harrington, tough break. Well I was just coming by to welcome you to the neighborhood,” Eddie moved closer to Steve and leaned down so he could speak in his ear, “and to offer you my services if you ever felt like dabbling in the devil’s lettuce. 20% off for your first order.” He pulled back and flashed Steve a good natured smirk, “I call it the ‘welcome to the neighborhood/sorry for being a dick’ discount.”

Steve tried to bite back a smile at that, “Creative, Munson. Really rolls off the tongue.” Eddie put his hands up in mock surrender. “I appreciate the offer, but I have to decline. Can’t smoke when you’re nursing.” Steve finished. 

Eddie nodded, “I get that. See ya around, Harrington. Oh and tell the little munchkin I said hi.”

With that Eddie spun around on one foot and headed off towards his trailer. Steve huffed out a small laugh before going back inside.

Shifting through the mail, Steve thought about Eddie. They had gone to school together, Eddie was a year older than Steve, but he had been held back twice and was now on his third round of senior year.  

He’d heard a bit about the alpha from Dustin. He had apparently adopted the boys into his little group of misfits and while Steve was jealous of how much Dustin talked about Eddie, he couldn’t help but feel an appreciation for the other. He had been so nervous about the kids starting high school and knowing that the boys had someone on the inside looking out for them put his mind at ease.

Max was another story entirely. She had begun withdrawing from the group little by little. Steve wanted to reach out and help, but every time he tried, Max just retreated further. He saw her once in a while though, when she’d come by to visit Elaine. She had been witness to Neil’s discovery of Billy’s notebook, so it was only a matter of time before she began asking questions. Steve kept the details to a minimum, saying that he and Billy were a one time thing and that he did have the chance to meet her before he died. That last bit of information seemed to give her some peace. 

“She has his eyes.” Max said one day while playing on the floor with Elaine. Steve was at the sink washing dishes. 

“Yeah, she does.” 

“I have some pictures of him if you want to give them to her someday.”

Steve was startled by Max’s sudden appearance behind him. He still smiled nonetheless. 

“I think she’d like that very much. I’m sure she’d love anything her Aunt Max gives her.” 

Max’s eyes widen a fraction before she breaks into a small smile, “Aunt Max. I kinda like it.” And with that she stalks off to go and play with Elaine again. 

*** 

Christmas Eve 1985… 

Christmas Eve hit two days after Elaine turned six months old. She was able to sit up on her own and even hold herself up with her arms, which let him know she would be crawling soon. She had also begun to babble a lot. To say Steve was proud was an understatement.

His parents called every once in a while, but they still hadn’t been out to see them at the trailer, so Steve was not surprised when his mother called to tell him that they would be going away for the holidays. Steve had spent many celebrations alone, but he had hoped that his parents would take an interest in their granddaughter’s first holiday season. Steve had thought that they were changing, his dad punched a guy for calling him a whore, but it appears that without him in the house they were back to their indifference. His mother did reassure him though that she would be sending him a turkey for Thanksgiving and a ham for Christmas.

Steve had talked to Max and she too would be by herself for most of the holidays due to her mother’s work schedule, so that’s how Steve, Elaine and Max ended up spending Christmas Eve 1985 together.

When Dustin had heard about it he begged his mom to let him go, but Mrs. Henderson was adamant that they would be going out of town to see Grammy Henderson. He was not excited. 

“The ham should be ready in about a half hour. I’ll heat the sides up after I finish feeding Elaine.” Steve said as he carried the baby back to his room. 

“Ok.” Max responded. She was sitting in the living room watching the tv, some Christmas special was on. At six months old, Elaine was well on her way to eating puréed baby foods. She had tried both vegetables and fruit and she had made it very known that she preferred the fruit. He still nursed her, but it was not as exclusive as when she was first born.  

Her features had also really begun to develop. Her hair was dark and thick like his, but her eye color was all Billy. They were brilliantly blue like his, but the sparkle behind them was from Steve.

After she was finished he sat her up in front of him and urged her to burp on her own. Soon enough Elaine was on the couch with Max and Steve was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on their feast. It was modest, but he was proud of it. 

“I think Eddie is alone tonight.” Max said casually as she helped set the table. 

“Munson?” Steve questioned. 

“Yeah. I think his uncle works the night shift so he’s by himself.” 

“Even on Christmas Eve?” 

Max looks at him with a deadpan expression, “Christmas Eve isn’t a federal holiday, so some places still make people work. Like the factory.” Steve nodded as he thought for a moment. 

“Maybe we should invite him over. This is a lot of food for two people.” 

Max was already heading towards the door, “I’ll go ask him.” Ten minutes later Eddie Munson was sitting at his crappy old table. 

“Didn’t think I’d ever see the day I’d be breaking bread with Steve Harrington.” Eddie said with a smirk. 

Steve rolled his eyes, “Keep that attitude up Munson and you won’t get any pie.” 

Eddie’s eyes brightened as he leaned forward on his elbows, “What kind of pie?” 

“Wouldn’t you like to know-,” Steve started. 

“Oh my god, stop flirting with each other. You’re going to scar Elaine for life,"Max snarked. 

“Max-!” 

“Red-!” They both said at the same time.

Eddie caught Steve’s eye at that and gave him a charming grin. Steve could feel himself starting to blush. 

Eddie reached over and rubbed at Max's hair, “Oh dear sweet little Red has some jokes huh?”

Max pushed his hand off  her head with some disgruntled grumbling. 

“Ok, no messing with each other's hair at the table. It’s time to eat,”Steve said. 

Max rolled her eyes, “Ugh fine mom ,”

Eddie burst out laughing at that while Steve began to dish out the food. Elaine squealed from her high chair. She really liked watching the group at the table. 

“Sorry, Laine. No ham for you.” Eddie said, pointing at her while making a face.

She let out a giggle at that and Steve choked on his water. 

“Holt shi-cow!” Max shouted. 

“What?” Eddie asked. 

“That was the first time she ever laughed.” Steve said quietly. 

Eddie lit up at that before hopping out of his chair, “I am the baby god!” He shouted, making Elaine laugh again.

Steve also found himself laughing. 

After dinner and dessert had been eaten, Steve put Elaine to bed before sending Max home with some leftovers.He began to pack up some for Eddie before he came over.

“You don’t need to make me a doggy bag, Princess.” 

 “It’ll just go to waste if I don’t give some of it away. It’s gonna go bad before I can eat it all,”

Steve turned to look at Eddie and found himself basically nose to nose with him. Eddie had come even closer while he was talking. 

“Sorry,” Steve said while trying to hide his blush. 

“No need to apologize.” Eddie said with a fond look on his face.

They stared at each other for a moment before Steve went back to packing up the food. 

“You know, Red was funny with that whole “flirting” joke she pulled,” Steve nodded with his mouth in a thin line.

He wasn’t sure where this was going. “Makes me wonder what it would really be like to see Steve “the Hair” Harrington flirt.” Steve couldn’t see, but he knew Eddie was smirking right now. 

“If I actually started flirting with you Munson, you wouldn’t know what hit you.” Steve said with a joking lilt. 

“I bet.” Eddie said, “I’ve heard you’ve left many alphas floundered with your sweet talk.”  

Steve couldn’t help but think that Eddie was a dork. Who says “floundered”? Steve smiled to himself thinking about Eddie’s weird and fantastical way of talking.

Eddie was close enough that Steve could feel the heat coming off of him. That was the thing about alphas, they were like human space heaters and Steve couldn’t stop himself from leaning in a bit closer.

Their arms touched and Steve could feel Eddie’s fingers tangling with his own. Their eyes met for a moment. It was tense and heated. Eddie smirked, the light bouncing off his curls and Steve thought “has he always been this nice to look at?”  Steve smiled back and moved closer. They squeezed each other's hand before their lips crashed together in a desperate kiss.  

Steve hadn’t been with anyone since his daughter was conceived and he wasn’t sure about Eddie. They held each other close. It was a hungry and needy kiss. 

Between kisses Steve said, “Eddie, I have Elaine-“ 

“S’okay, Stevie. Doesn’t have to mean anything.” Eddie cut him off.

Steve felt a pang in his chest from hearing that, but he knew Eddie was right. He was a mother now, he didn’t need to be in a relationship. That does not mean that he couldn’t have some fun once in a while, right? Fun that didn’t have to mean anything? It was just sex. Besides, why would Eddie ever want him in the first place? 

***

Steve couldn’t help himself. After that first time on Christmas Eve, he and Eddie had begun to regularly meet up. Eddie would come over after Steve put Elaine down for the night. They’d stay up and talk and then they’d have sex. Steve would always say it to himself in such a casual way. It was his way of trying not to get attached, but god was he getting attached.

Prior to Nancy, Steve would just have flings. He’d be someone’s perfect omega for a month before they got bored with “King Steve” and moved on. He also had an endless number of one night stands, he was the school slut after all.

Nancy was different, she was so nice to him. She paid attention to what he would say (or at least he thought she did). It was nothing like he had experienced before.

Sleeping with Billy was a completely different story. They were both drunk, but not drunk enough to not know what they were doing. Billy was rough and he could be mean if he wanted to be. In his inebriated state Steve found it hot, but looking back he was embarrassed of that night.  

Being with Eddie was something new. They weren’t together, but he cared. He cares about what Steve likes, he listens to what Steve wants. Eddie called him “beautiful” and “gorgeous” which were words he would have never used to describe himself before getting pregnant, let alone after. Eddie made him believe these things. Eddie would kiss Steve’s neck and lay him down all so gently. He took his time before he ravished Steve completely. And Steve could pretend that it wasn’t just an arrangement, that Eddie liked him. 

Steve became aware of his feelings for Eddie in mid-January.

He was over visiting after school had ended. Steve was off from Family Video that day so Elaine was home with him rather than with the older lady two trailers down.

Her name was Mrs. O’Shaunassey and she refused to take any of the money Steve would try to give her. That didn’t stop him from hiding some twenties around her trailer for her to “find” every once in a while.

Eddie was on the floor with Elaine, trying to balance one of her soft cloth blocks on her head. She was blissfully unaware of what Eddie was doing, just continuing to shake the toy keys in her hand. Eddie’s tongue was poking out as he concentrated on placing the block. 

“Ha!” Eddie shouted as he got it to stay, “Look at that Lainey-Loo! You’ve got a new hat!” He gently took the baby in his arms, keeping the block in place, “Look! Show Mommy your new hat!” Elaine squealed happily as Eddie lifted her up.

Steve just chuckled from where he stood in the kitchen. 

“Ma!” They both froze. 

“Did she just-?” Steve asked. 

“Ma! Ma! Ma!” Eddie laughed wildly. 

“Well look at that!” Eddie said, “Seems like someone’s broken out of their shell.”

Steve teared up a bit, Elaine had been babbling things like “ma” and “da” for a little while now, but this was the first time she said it and knew what she meant. This was the first time she truly called for him.

“Aww don’t cry, Stevie. Tell him Elaine, Mr. Eddie’s just really good at getting little sheepies to open up.”

Eddie looked up at Steve and smiled, that’s when he felt it. The tell tale butterflies in his stomach. The slight fluttering of his heartbeat and the blush rising in his cheeks. He was falling for Eddie Munson, the town freak, the guy he was friends-with-benefits with. God, Steve was so screwed .

*** 

Steve sat and stewed with his feelings for a few weeks. He didn’t stop seeing Eddie, he couldn’t stop. He missed him when they were apart. He felt pathetic. It’s not supposed to mean anything, they’re just sleeping together. Figures that the healthiest relationship Steve had ever had was a friends-with-benefits thing. 

“Have you ever thought about telling him?” Robin asked one day while they were behind the counter at the video store. 

“It’s not that simple, Robin.” Robin rolled her eyes. 

“Really? Cause it seems that simple when you tell me to make a move on Vickie.” She had her arms crossed over her chest and her left eyebrow raised. 

Steve sighed, “Trust me it’s different. I have a baby, he’s hopefully on his last try at senior year, he’d be crazy to want something more with me. And I’m crazy for wanting more.”

Steve knew that his prospects were at basically zero now. He was an unmated single mother, no good upstanding alpha wanted that. 

“Whatever.” Robin says dropping the conversation. 

***

March 1986…

Steve started to feel sick in February. Just simple nausea. Nothing he was too concerned about. Elaine was being slowly weaned off and he knew that with weaning would bring back his heats. He never really had many to begin with. He was on suppressants since he presented and those only permitted one heat a year. He assumed the nausea had something to do with that.

By mid-March he was becoming more concerned. 

“Maybe you should go to the doctor.” Robin said firmly.

She had been on him about this for a few days now. She was always more concerned about his health than he was. 

“I’m fine” Steve said stiffly. 

“Really? Cause you just puked in the dumpster behind the store. That doesn’t seem fine to me.” 

“Leave it Robin please. It’s just my body preparing for heat, that’s all.”

Robin didn’t look convinced. And by the end of March Steve wasn’t convinced anymore either.  

He slipped out to the clinic after dropping Robin off at school for the pep rally. He did not expect to receive the same life altering news he did a year prior, and yet here he was, 12 weeks pregnant. 

***

“How am I supposed to do this again, Rob? How am I supposed to care for two kids by the time I'm nineteen? I live in a trailer paid for by my fucking parents because they didn’t want to deal with me.”

Steve had his elbows on the table with his face covered and resting in his hands. Robin fidgeted in her seat across from Steve. She was an ever present ball of nervous energy, but she was also the one person Steve found the most comfort in, and she knew that.

“I feel like I’m supposed to say that everything is going to be okay, but I’m not actually sure about that. For what it's worth though, I’ll always be by your side? You’re my best friend and I-I want to help you. You know you don’t have to go through with it, right? I mean like you don’t have to keep it, you have options and I won’t judge you for whatever you decide because its like your body and you have a  right to it and-” 

“Robin” Steve cut her off.

“What?” 

“Please stop talking” Robin visibly deflated and dropped her shoulders, slightly curling in on herself. 

“Yeah- yeah ok I can do that”

“Shit no not like- I don’t mean to sound like a dick, but I can’t think right now and this is something I really need to think about. I didn’t have this option with Elaine, it was too late and god- I don’t even like thinking like that. I sound like such an awful person” Steve rambled as he rushed to correct himself.

He didn't mean to be bitchy towards Robin, he loved her more than anything. She was his (platonic) other half, he didn’t know if he could live without her. 

“No you’re not awful, you were scared and you’re still scared. You’re a good parent” Robin started, “You love Lainey more than anything and she loves you, in her own weird little baby way.”

Steve’s eyes began to water as the gravity of the situation began to sink in even further. He was weeks away from his nineteenth birthday and he already had one baby. A baby who wasn’t even a year old yet, she still needed his undivided attention, especially since he was her only parent.

“I just don’t know if I can do this again. Have a kid with someone who wants nothing to do with it. I mean Elaine’s dad is dead, but for that week between when she was born and when he died he only came to see her once and she was in the hospital in a fucking incubator , Robin” He sighed.

Billy showed up when he heard Elaine had been born, he even seemed worried for her, but not worried enough to stay. Billy had told Steve that it would be better if he wasn’t in Elaine’s life and while Steve agreed on the principle that Billy was a massive douchebag who beat the shit out of him in Joyce Byers’ living room, he couldn't help but feel sad for his daughter. 

“It wasn’t supposed to be anything serious, Eddie said that!”

It was just meant to be two former classmates hooking up on the side in a mutually beneficial arrangement.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not again. We used protection, Robin!”

Steve rested his head against the table in what could only be described as despair. Robin cocked her head to the side as her eyes squinted a little, like she was mulling over the words Steve had just uttered.

“Do you know that he wants nothing to do with it?” Steve, who had been busy staring down at the old wooden tabletop, looked up and turned towards Robin,

“What?”

Robin raised her eyebrows.

“Do you know that Eddie wants nothing to do with this kid? Like did you actually tell him about it?”

She spoke in such a way that Steve knew she was itching to call him “dingus”, but was too aware of the situation to actually do so.

“Uh no-not yet, no” Steve stammered as he flushed with embarrassment. 

“Then don’t speculate,” Robin stated “You can’t just assume that he wants nothing to do with it. You should give him a chance, it’s his kid too. And you should give yourself a chance to think if you want to go through with this.”

Steve knew what she was implying, and he knew he really should think it over. Abortion is not something to be ashamed of, Steve knew that, but he couldn't help the strange feeling that came over him when he thought about terminating, but he didn’t have time to think about that now.

“You’re right. I- I need to think. I still have time to decide what to do. I just- I’m scared.” 

“I know” Robin’s face softened as she cooed, her eyes showing the intense emotions she herself was feeling. Steve rubbed the bridge of his nose as he heard Elaine stir in the next room. He breathed deeply as he stood to go and check on her,

“I need to think on this for a few days, just a few days and I’ll know what to do.”

Steve did not, in fact, have a few days to think about it as the next morning a cheerleader was found crumpled up and dead on the floor of his second baby daddy’s trailer. 

Chapter Text

March 1986…

The next morning found Steve at Family Video with Robin. Elaine was with her babysitter. It had been a rough start to the morning, what with the stomach problems (Steve refused to call it morning sickness) and the police all over the trailer park. Steve had seen the commotion, but he did not know where the police were headed.

Trying to leave the park was a nightmare. He kept getting stopped and asked where he was going, plus one of the officers who stopped him had an awful cologne on, which almost made the omega puke.

Standing behind the counter Robin and Steve began opening procedures. Robin was talking about Vickie again, but Steve could only focus on the migraine forming. 

“Oh! I know our morning movie!” Robin shouted, grabbing a copy of Dr. Zhivago . 

“No no no! You know I don’t do double vhs,” Steve sighed.

His head was really starting to bother him. He had been getting headaches more frequently after starcourt, staying up with a teething Elaine was not helping. 

“But it’s about doomed love!” Robin says dramatically. 

“Oh, well that’s relatable.” Steve aquieses. 

“Precisely!”

Steve goes over and turns on the tv, seeing the local news station on. 

“We're in the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County. We don't have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not released the name…” the reporter says.

Steve was frozen, he knew the trailer in the background, he lived only a few yards away from it. He gripped the counter, leaning on it slightly. 

“Holy shit,” he says quietly. 

“What- oh my god,” Robin says bounding over. “We should leave this on.” Steve nodded. He felt lightheaded and shaky. 

“Hey? Do you need to sit? Are you going to throw up?” Robin asks, with her eyebrows knitted in concern. 

Steve shook his head, “I’m fine, it’s just- that’s Eddie’s trailer.” Robin’s eyes widened, “How did I not see it when I left this morning?” Steve questioned.

Robin stepped out from behind the counter and pulled a stool over to Steve. 

“You should really sit down.” She said, “You look like you might topple over.”

Steve sat down carefully. He leaned forward with his elbows on the counter. With his head in his hands, he released a shaky breath. 

“Do you think he’s dead?” Steve asked quietly. 

Robin bit her lip, “I don’t know, Steve.” She said truthfully.

Robin put her hand on Steve’s shoulder and squeezed in an attempt to keep him stable. Then the door burst open with a cacophony of bells with Dustin and Max barreling in at full speed. 

“Steve!” Dustin said, running up to the counter. 

Steve looked up and put on a neutral expression, “Did you see this?” He asked, pointing to the tv, “someone got murdered.” 

Dustin was entirely uninterested, “How many phones do you have?” 

Steve raised an eyebrow, “Two. Why?” He asked incredulously. 

Robin popped up from behind saying, “three if you count Keith’s.” 

Dustin looked contemplative for a second before going, “That works.” He then jumped over the counter knocking vhs tapes everywhere. 

“What the hell-?” 

“Dude, my pile!” Steve and Robin shout at the same time. 

“What are you doing, Henderson?” Steve asked with his hands on his hips. 

“Setting up base of operations,” Dustin says as he begins to type frantically on the computer. 

“Get off!” Steve said, sounding exasperated.

“No! I need it to look up Eddie’s friends numbers!”

Steve faltered at that, but didn’t say anything. 

He felt panic rising in his chest when Robin cut in, “Seriously?!? Maybe you could do this on a Monday, but Saturdays are the busiest days!” 

“This cannot wait!” Dustin said, gesturing wildly.

Steve turned away as Robin and Dustin continued to bicker over whether this was an emergency or not. He began picking up the tapes when Robin came over. 

“You want to strangle them or should I?” He asked.

“We could take turns” Robin jokes back. 

Dustin rolled his eyes while still looking at the computer, “Can you please fill them in while I do this?” He asked Max, who then began to tell the story from the night before.

She tells them about the lights flickering and Eddie driving off like the devil himself was chasing him. She told them about how she saw Chrissy Cunningham going into the Munson trailer the night before.

Steve leaned back against the counter, nausea bubbling in his stomach. Based on what he was hearing, the father of the fetus currently gestating in his womb was a murderer. He had let a possible murderer around his baby daughter. He was really starting to feel sick. Then it got worse, for Dustin and Max began to theorize that the Upside Down was involved and Steve had to excuse himself to go and throw up in the bathroom.

This was going to be a long day. 

***

After hours of calling Eddie’s friends and acquaintances (and Dustin accusing Steve of being jealous and too focused on his love life) they finally got a lead.

Reefer Rick was a local legend. No one knew his full name and he apparently supplied Eddie with his drugs. After going through the system, they had an address and Dustin was climbing up the walls to get there. 

“I don’t know if I can go tonight, I have to get Elaine. Mrs. O’Shaunassey doesn’t have enough supplies to keep her for hours on hours.” Steve said, picking at his fingernails. 

“Then let’s close the store early and go now!” Dustin said. 

“We can’t just do that, Dustin,” Steve said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. 

“I don’t know Steve, maybe we should. If this is the Upside Down we should get to Eddie as soon as possible. Besides, don't you have to talk to him about the thing he left at your place ?” Robin said, trying to be subtle, but failing completely. 

“What-?” Dustin started before Steve cut him off. 

“Nothing! It’s nothing, I borrowed some sugar and I just need to give him his container back” Steve said, trying to stop the questions before they started.

He gave Robin a hard look before going over and flipping the “open” side to “closed”. 

“Come on, we don’t have all day.” Steve said, already heading out the door. 

***

Getting to Rick’s house was a trip. Robin and Dustin were fighting over the radio and Max was in the back brooding, her glare getting deeper and deeper every time Dustin moved. Steve just wanted to go home and hold his baby, and not think about Eddie Munson (or his current predicament.)

Dustin was out of the car as soon as Steve pulled up. He took off like a shot to the front door, slamming his fists against it. 

“Eddie! Eddie, are you in there?!? It’s Dustin, there’s no cops!” He shouted. 

Steve tugged in the back of Dustin's shirt and hissed in his ear, “keep your voice down! Do you want the whole world to know we’re here?”

Steve and Dustin continued to bicker while Max pointed her flashlight at a boat house some ways away. 

“Look,” she said. The group headed over to the decrepit looking building.

Once inside Steve grabbed an oar for protection. They found snack wrappers and crumbs, indicating that someone had been there. Steve began to poke at the tarp cover boat floating in the middle. 

“What are you doing?” Dustin asked with an irritated tone. 

“He might be in here.” Steve says back. 

“So take off the tarp!”

“No, you take it off!” 

“Maybe he got startled and ran off?” Max mused. 

Dustin rolled his eyes, “Don’t worry Steve will get him with his oar.” 

Steve was pissed at Dustin’s tone. He had been being a real snooty son of a bitch lately. Always acting like he was smarter than everyone else. Steve wasn’t sure if he was actually upset with Dustin right now, or if it was just his hormones. 

“I know you think you’re being funny, but considering we’ve all almost died, like 1000 times, I don’t find it funny in the slight-”

Steve was cut off by Eddie jumping out from under the tarp, wielding a broken bottle. 

“Wait! Wait!” Steve shouted as Eddie pinned him against the wall, the broken bottle held against his neck. 

“Eddie! Eddie, it's me! Dustin!” Dustin shouted trying to get the alpha’s attention.

Steve had dropped the oar and pointed his eyes to the ground, trying to show Eddie  that he was submitting to him. For the second time in his life, Steve wondered if he’d ever get to see Elaine again.

Steve could hear Robin in the background, but he wasn’t sure of what she was saying. He could only hear the blood pumping through his veins.

Thinking only of his daughter and his unborn pup, Steve began to speak, “Eddie you have to let go. Let. Go.” He said quietly.

Eddie’s hands were trembling as he looked into Steve’s eyes. It was almost like recognition came over him and he dropped the bottle and fell to the floor.

Steve retreated towards Robin who had him sit on a milk crate. He lightly touched his neck, checking to see if any damage had been done. Luckily he found none and proceeded to take a minute to relax himself. 

Eddie was telling everyone what he saw that night, “Her body just lifted up and she just hung there,” Eddie’s eyes made it look like he was far away, “And her bones, t-they just started to snap!” He took a deep breath, “Her eyes man, It... It was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling… and I just ran. I left her there.”

Eddie was quiet for a moment, “You all think I’m crazy.”

Eddie shook his head, as if he were trying to break himself away from the memory. 

“No we don’t,” Dustin said firmly. 

“Don’t bullshit me!” Eddie growled, “I know what this looks like!”

Steve shuddered. He could see the feral fear behind Eddie’s eyes. 

“We’re not bullshitting you!” Max snapped back, “We believe you.” 

Dustin’s shoulders sagged as he began to talk about the things going on right beneath their feet, “So you know how people say Hawkins is cursed? They’re not far off…” 

Steve tuned Dustin out after this. The Upside Down really was back and it struck just a few yards away from where his pup sleeps. He felt like he was going to be sick (again). Robin put her hand on his shoulder, he was trembling. This couldn’t have been happening at a worse time. 

“That night, did you see anything? Particles maybe?” Robin asked.

“It would look like dust.” Max added.

“No, nothing. Nothing you could see or touch. I tried to wake her. I tried . But it was like she was in a trance.” Eddie said. 

“Or under a spell?” Dustin questioned. 

“A curse,” Eddie continued.

“Vecna’s curse.” Dunstin finished. 

“Who’s Vecna?” Steve asked. 

“An undead creature of great power.” Dustin said. 

“A spell caster,” Eddie replied.

“A dark wizard.” Dustin said again. 

“Ok can we please stop talking cryptically?” Max said, getting irritated. 

“Sorry.” Dustin said. 

“What should I do?” Eddie asked, putting his head in his hands. 

“You should stay here, we’ll bring you food in the morning and reassess.” Dustin said.

Eddie nodded. Steve began to collect the things that had scattered on the ground during the little scuffle with Eddie. 

“Hey, Harrington?” Eddie asked from behind him. “Can I talk to you?” He looked around at the others, “Alone?” He emphasized. Steve nodded.

Max and Dustin filed out, but Robin looked hesitant. She bit her lip and looked at Steve with concern. He gave her a small smile, trying to reassure her that it would be ok. Steve did not know if it was going to be ok. Did Eddie know? Was he able to smell the pregnancy on him? He didn’t think it was possible this early. 

“What’s up?” Steve asked once they were alone. The omega tried to project a calmness and confidence that he definitely did not have. 

“I wanted to apologize for pinning you to the wall and threatening you with a broken bottle.” Eddie wasn’t looking at him, choosing instead to stare at the wall while rubbing his neck. “I was really scared and I didn’t realize it was you.” 

Steve tried to smile a bit, “It’s ok, I understand.” 

“No! It’s not ok! You could’ve been hurt! I-” Eddie sighed as he cut himself off. 

Steve fidgeted with his hands, feeling a lot like Robin, “I- uh actually have to talk to you too.” He said, staring at the floor.

Steve couldn’t believe he was about to do this, but he feared that if he didn’t tell Eddie now, he wouldn’t ever tell him. Eddie was looking at him with big eyes, so sincere and inquisitive, Steve could feel his heart beginning to pound. 

“Steve, are you ok?” Eddie asked. 

Steve took a shaky breath, “I’m pregnant, Eddie.”

It was silent. The only sounds Steve could hear was the water lapping against the side of the boat and the creaking of the wood beneath his feet. 

“It’s mine?” Eddie asked.

It stung. Steve knew what people thought of him, he had hoped Eddie was different. 

“Do you think that low of me? Do you think I’d lie about this?” Steve found himself asking before he could stop himself.

Eddie reeled back at that, “Shit no Stevie- shit I,” Eddie tried to reach out for him, but Steve jerked away from his touch. 

“Whatever, I just thought you should know.” Steve said defeated. 

Eddie leaned back against the wall, “This is really shitty timing isn’t it.”

Steve just nodded with his arms crossed, not looking at him.

“I don’t think low of you. I’m sorry, I’m stupid and wasn’t thinking-” 

“It’s fine, Munson. I know what people say. You’re right to be wary.” 

“No!” Eddie shouted, his fists clenched at his sides, “those people, they’re wrong. You’re not a- you’re not a bad person. I’m just scared and I’m gonna need some time.”

Steve felt tears beginning in his eyes. He quickly turned to leave the boat house. 

“Steve, wait-” but he was already gone. 

Chapter Text

Steve walked silently back to his car. He hadn’t even got one foot in the door before Dustin started asking questions. He gave some vague answer about Eddie feeling bad for holding him at bottle point and prayed that Dustin would let it go. He did not.

“I feel like he could’ve apologized to you in front of us, plus I don’t think it would take that long to-”

“Oh my god Dustin shut up!” Max groaned.

By the look on her face she was about one step away from shoving a sock in his mouth.

“Aren’t you even a little bit curious?” Dustin asked.

“If he wanted us to know he’d tell us,” Max replied.

“Ok both of you enough!” Robin shouted, shocking even herself.

“What Robin said,” Steve said tiredly. Behind him, Max emphasized the point by pinching Dustin on the arm causing him to squawk in protest.

Under her breath Robin whispered to Steve, “we’re going back to your place and you’re telling me everything.”

Steve just nodded knowing that Robin was the only person he wanted to talk to.
***
After dropping off the kids and picking up Elaine, Steve found himself on the couch with Robin and a very clingy baby in his arms.

Elaine had been very attached lately, never wanting to be too far away from him. It made dropping her off with Mrs. O’Shaunassey very hard. He currently had her laying against his shoulder while rubbing her back. Elaine was playing with his hair with her nose pressed against his neck.

Breathing in her baby scent, Steve began to talk, “I told him about the pup.”

Robin’s eyes widened, “What’d he say?” She asked tentatively.

“He asked if it was his,” Steve snorted.

“That bastard,” Robin grumbled.

“He was apologetic after and told me he needed time. I didn’t really know how to respond to that so I left,” Steve said.

He felt Elaine huff against his neck. She was getting sleepy, but she was fighting it. She was always afraid to miss something.

“You handled that better than I would’ve,” Robin said, “I think I’d’ve started world war three.”

“No, I get where he’s coming from. You should see the way some people look at me when I’m out with her. I’m the Whore of Hawkins.” Steve sighed.

Robin reached out and touched his arm.

“You’re not a whore, Steve. Those people suck and they don’t know shit!”

“That’s what Eddie said.” Steve mused.

“What?” Robin asked.

“When he first asked if the pup was his I asked if he thought that low of me. He freaked and started apologizing. I told him I got it, I know what people say about me. He got all indignant and told me I wasn’t a bad person and that he was just scared. Didn’t even get to tell him I wasn’t 100% on keeping it,” Steve responded.

Robin blinked at him.

“Ok, so he’s not as much of an ass as I originally thought. What do you think that means? Do you think he wants the baby?” Robin questioned.

“I don’t know, after he told me he was scared and needed time I walked out. I just couldn’t deal with it anymore.”

“I mean it is a lot. Someone died in his living room and now he is on the run from the cops and you’re pregnant. I’m surprised he didn’t stab himself with that bottle.” Robin said, trying to joke.

Steve just rolled his eyes. He looked down and saw that Elaine was out.

He stood up and said to Robin, “I’m going to put her down, call your mom if you’re planning on staying the night.”

Last time Robin slept over she forgot to call home and Mrs. Buckley ended up sobbing on his doorstep asking if he’d seen her. Robin then stumbled off the couch and her mother proceeded to tear her a new one for not letting her know where she was. Steve did not want a part two of that situation.

“Fine, but I’m telling her it’s because you’re afraid of the killer!” Robin whisper-shouted. Steve just gave her the finger before turning the corner to Elaine’s nursery.
***
The next morning saw the group back at the boat house delivering food. Steve was standing off in the corner desperately trying not to meet Eddie’s eyes. It was very hard seeing as Eddie kept staring at him. Steve knew he wanted to talk, but the matter at hand kept them apart.

“So we have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” Dustin asked.

Eddie was sitting on the floor with a box of cereal in his arms. He was shoving it into his mouth like a goat at the county fair.

“Bad news. Always.” Eddie answered.

“All right, so we tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with the cerebro and they’re looking for you. They’re also convinced you killed Chrissy, like seriously convinced.” Dustin said.

“And the good news?” Eddie asked incredulously.

“Your name hasn’t gone public yet!” Robin piped up.

“But if we found you, it’s only a matter of time before others do.” Max added.

“And then everyone and their shallow minded mother will be gunning for you.” Robin gestured.

“Fuck. Hunt the freak, right?” Eddie said while rubbing his face.

“Yeah…” Robin sighed.

“So all we gotta do is kill Vecna and prove your innocence!” Dustin said excitedly.

“Oh that’s all Dustin?” Eddie said sarcastically.

“Yup! Pretty much!” Dustin said with a smile, sarcasm going completely over his head.

“Look, I know that everything Dustin’s saying sounds…delusional, but we’ve been through this before. Well, they have, a few times and me once,” Robin cocked her head to side her tone becoming lighter, almost like her mind went somewhere else, “Mine was more human flesh based and theirs was more smoke like,” she snapped out of it and got serious, “but bottom line is I feel like we collectively got this.”

“We usually rely on this girl with powers, but those are gone so…” Steve trailed off.

Eddie was back to staring at Steve intensely. Steve shifted back trying to make himself smaller, he really didn’t feel like doing this today.

“So we’re in more of a brainstorming phase.” Robin finished.

“There’s nothing to worry about!” Dustin said way too positively. Then there were sirens.

“Shit!”

“The tarp!”

“Tarp! Tarp!”

There was a mad scramble and Steve wasn’t sure who was saying what. Eddie was quickly shoved back in the boat and covered up. Steve looked out the little window to see the police cars driving past.

“They’re not stopping here. They’re headed towards the trailer park,” Steve said.

“We should go!” Dustin said, bounding towards the door. The others went to follow.

“Steve…” Eddie had lifted the tarp and was sitting up.

They locked eyes. Steve pressed his lips together in a thin line and nodded slightly. He wasn’t sure what Eddie was trying to convey, but he knew he had to get out of there.
***
Fred Benson was dead. Victim number two and now Nancy Wheeler was involved. They were sitting at a picnic table in the trailer park relaying everything they knew to Nancy.

“So you’re saying that whatever killed Fred and Chrissy is from the Upside Down?” Nancy asked.

“If the shoe fits,” Steve said.

He kept glancing at Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's trailer. Part of him just wanted to scoop up Elaine and get as far outta dodge as he could. He had hoped that the Upside Down was over with and that he would never have to fear dying by the hands of a monster again, and yet here he was.

“This doesn’t make sense.” Nancy stated.

Steve had been zoned out for a bit so he had missed whatever conversation the group had been having.

“It’s only a theory.” Dustin said with an attitude.

“No,” Nancy said back, also with an attitude, “Fred and Chrissy don’t make sense. Why them?”

“They were both at the game,” Robin mused.

“And by the trailer park,” Max added.

Steve started to feel anxiety creeping in, “we’re at the trailer park, should we maybe not be here? Should I go get Elaine?”

“There is something about this place,” Dustin said offhandedly.

“Fred started acting weird the minute we got here.” Nancy said.

“As in…?” Robin asked.

“Scared, nervous, on edge.” Nancy replied.

“Max said Chrissy was upset.”

“Yeah, but not here. I found her crying in the bathroom at school. Basically told me to fuck off.” Max said.

“Maybe they saw vecman?” Robin questioned.

“Vecna,” Dustin corrected.

“Whatever,” Robin said back.

Steve was picking at the dirt under his nails again, “I don’t know about you guys, but if I was seeing some freaky wizard monster guy, I’d tell someone.”

Max perked up, “maybe they did! I saw Chrissy leaving Miss Kelley’s office the day she died. Maybe she told her.”

“If you saw a monster you wouldn’t go to the police, but you would go to your shrink.”

Now they had a plan. They all began to walk to Steve’s car when Nancy moved to go to her station wagon.

“Nance, where are you going?” Steve asked.

“There’s something I want to check on.”

“Care to share with the class?” Robin piped up.

“Look, I don’t want to waste your time. It’s a real shot in the dark.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Steve asked.

He could feel his nerves acting up, his protective instinct going into overdrive, “You can’t go alone with Vecna lurking around. We shouldn’t split up or go solo.” Steve looked around before deciding, “I’ll go with you, Robin take my car.”

“You don’t want me driving your car.” Robin said nervously.

“Why not?”

“Cause I don’t have a license.”

“Why don’t you have a license?”

“I’m poor.”

“I can drive!” Max said a little too excitedly.

“No, no way, never again.” Steve said, shuddering at the memory of Max driving Billy’s car with him in the backseat.

It felt so long ago that that happened, and yet it had only been a little over a year. Steve was pregnant at the time (though he didn’t know it) and now he was pregnant again. Funny how history tends to repeat itself.
Dustin gave Steve a hopeful look.

“Never,” he said. Dustin pouted.

“Ok, this is dumb. I’ll go with Nancy, you stay with the kids.” Robin said, walking over to Nancy’s car. “Unless Mama Bear here thinks we need protection?”

“Just be careful,” Steve said, defeated.

Nancy and Robin climbed into the car as Steve watched. His anxiety was going haywire. Everything in him was telling him to bundle the group up and hide. He was surprised to see that Eddie was a part of the group his brain supplied.

“You gonna stand there and gawk?” Dustin asked snootily.

“Shut up,” Steve said, rolling his eyes, “Get in the car, let’s go.”
***
Dustin and Steve were sitting in the car across the street from Ms. Kelley’s house. Checking the time, Steve saw that he still had a few hours before he had to go pick up Elaine, and boy was he itching to hold his baby.

“So are we going to talk about it?” Dustin asked.

“Talk about what?” Steve asked, genuinely confused.

“Uh, about your temporary insanity today when you threw yourself at Nancy? And the way you and Eddie seem to be having some sort of secret communication that I don’t know about?”

“Dustin, there’s nothing to talk about,” Steve sighed. He really didn’t know how to explain the deep need to keep everyone he cared about close.

“Sure there isn’t.” Dustin said incredulously, “I mean you basically offered yourself up to Nance on a silver platter.”

“I was just trying to protect a friend.”

“A friend?” Dustin snorted.

“Are you implying that I’m still into Nancy?”

“Not implying, stating.” Dustin said smugly.

And wouldn’t it be so convenient if that were the case? If it wasn’t that his instincts were wracked up to ten because he was pregnant by Dustin’s nerd mentor? If he wasn’t hiding the fact that he had been fucking Eddie Munson for the last several months? Yeah, but that would be too easy.

“Look, I'm just nervous. I don't want to find Nancy dead by Vecna, ok?”

“Then why won’t you date Robin?”

“Because we are just friends! And I don’t know if you remember this, but I have a baby to take care of!”

“Are you seeing Eddie?”

“WHAT?” Steve cried.

“Are you. Seeing. Eddie?” Dustin asked again, slowly.

“I heard you the first time, dumbass!”

“It’s the only explanation I have for the secret meeting you guys had and for the way he looked at you today.” Dustin began, “it’s ok if you are. I won’t be upset, however I will be upset if you leave eddie for Nancy because that’s not cool and-”

“Dustin, enough,” Steve said tiredly. He sighed before continuing, “Eddie and I are not dating or seeing each other,” Steve couldn’t believe he was about to say this, “we were just meeting up on the side.”

Now it was Dustin’s turn to shout, “WHAT?!?” Steve winced at the volume, “what do you mean by that?!?”

“What I mean is, Eddie and I were secretly hooking up. It’s not a relationship.”
Though it kinda stung Steve to say that. He had definitely been falling for Eddie before finding out he was pregnant and before the Upside Down reared its ugly head.

“People can do that?” Dustin asked.

“Yeah, they can,”

Dustin looked contemplative for a moment, “That still doesn’t explain why he looked so freaked in this morning or why you guys took so long yesterday. Were you guys having sex in the boat house?” Dustin asked, scandalized.

“No, Dustin. Ew,” Steve knew he had to reveal the truth now, “the reason we took so long and why he was acting all strung out is-“ Steve took a deep breath, “is because I’m pregnant.”

“Oh,” Dustin said with wide eyes.

“Yeah,”

“And you told him?”

“Yup,”

“Which is why he was so freaked,”

“Yes,”

“Huh,” Dustin said in slight shock, “Well this just makes things more complicated.”

They didn’t have time to continue the conversation because soon enough, Max was out of the house and yelling at them to drive to the school.
***
Going through the files in Ms.Kelley’s office led to the discovery that Max was one of Vecna’s intended victims. Steve had to actually take a moment to breathe after that realization. He really thought he was going to throw up all over the guidance counselor’s floor.

Steve will never forget the blank look on Max’s face as she went into some sort of trance. The emptiness in her eyes would haunt him for a long time. While driving to the school the group had also managed to get into contact with Lucas.

The basketball team had decided to turn into a full on vigilante group and they were looking for Eddie. All of this was on Steve’s mind while he sat rocking Elaine. He had gone home after the incident at the school. The rest of the crew were sleeping in Nancy’s basement in order to keep an eye on Max, but they told Steve to go home and see his baby.

Steve knew things were about to get crazier. His thoughts kept wandering to Eddie in the boat house. Steve hadn’t really had a lot of time to think about his predicament, but he’s sure that Eddie has. He wonders what Eddie feels, if he’s scared for himself, the pup, steve?

Looking down at Elaine, Steve knew she was his first priority. She would always come first. After the day's events, he really didn’t want to be apart from her, so he was contemplating bringing her to the wheelers tomorrow.

Due to the murders and the subsequent panic, Family Video had been closed down. So Steve was off the hook for work. Sighing, Steve stood and deposited Elaine into her crib. He knew he had to leave to go to bed, but he just couldn’t stop staring at her. Watching her little chest go up and down, letting him know she was ok.

He really wondered if they would be able to get out alive this time.

Chapter Text

The next morning Steve stood in his trailer packing a bag of Elaine’s things.  He didn’t want to leave her behind, nor did he want to keep sending her over to Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's, he feared she would out stay her welcome. Buckling her into her car seat, he set off. 

Arriving at the Wheeler’s house, Steve took Elaine to the basement. Everyone was scattered about reading the papers Nancy and Robin had gotten from the library.

“You brought the baby?” Lucas asked. 

“There was nowhere else for her to go.” Steve said, picking up some papers.

Elaine was currently sitting on the floor with some of Holly’s old toys. Steve had barricaded her off to the side with pillows to try and keep her from getting into things. 

“Uh do you guys understand any of this?” Steve asked.

Dustin of course did understand it and he had a theory. 

“Clearly Vecna was around in the 1950s, so he predates El opening the gate. He might even predate the dinosaurs.”

Steve rolled his eyes while Lucas muttered “the dinosaurs, really?” 

“But it doesn’t make any sense. He just pops out of the Upside Down in the 50s, kills a family, minus Victor, and pops back in only to reappear 30 years later to kill random teenagers? I don’t buy it.” Steve said.

Dustin made a face which caused Steve to get pissed off.

“You know Henderson, a little humility now and again wouldn’t kill you!”

Dustin raised his hands in mock surrender, but his face screamed, “ha ha you’re moody because you’re pregnant.” Well at least that’s what Steve was interpreting it as. 

“Has she been up all night?” Steve asked, turning to Max.

He felt concerned watching her sit there, writing for god knows how many hours without sleep. 

“Yes,” Lucas said, “I mean, knowing what we know, would you be able to sleep?”

Steve had to give it to the kid, he probably wouldn’t sleep well if he thought he was going to die the next day.

The thought struck fear into his heart and he went over and picked up Elaine. Pulling her close he sat down, pressing his nose into her hair.

Elaine was unaware of the distress in the room as she held onto her stuffed bear. Steve had bought it for her in the hospital gift shop a few hours after he gave birth.

The idea of his pup being alone in the incubator without anything to comfort her almost sent him into hysterics. The nurses suggested he get her a toy that he could scent. Elaine and the bear had been inseparable ever since. 

Soon Nancy and Robin came bounding down the stairs to talk about their new plan. They intended to get into Pennhurst asylum and try to get a meeting with victor creel. Steve was miffed to find out that their plan did not involve him.

He followed them up to Nancy’s room, pleading to let him come with them. While doing this Robin let it slip that it would be safer for Steve to stay away from the asylum. 

“What do you mean “safer” for him?” Nancy asked. 

“Uh, you know because he has nice hair- AND a baby, he has a baby and stuff,” Robin finished lamely.

Steve just shook his head while Nancy looked really confused. 

“You know what, whatever.” Steve said “I’m pregnant.”

Nancy was stunned for a moment before starting, “What! Steve? You can’t- this is really dangerous right now! You can’t go to the asylum, you should go home and stay away from this! Oh my god.”

Nancy was uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

She then turned to Robin, “You knew?” 

Robin nodded, “I was there after he found out.” 

Nancy shook her head and sighed, “Ok so this complicates things, but we can still handle it. Steve, you're staying with the kids and that’s that. You are not to do anything dangerous.” 

“Nance I don’t even know if I’m going to keep it!” 

“Doesn’t matter, I’m not letting you get into a situation where you and the pup might get hurt. Whether you keep it or not is your decision, not the Upside Down’s,” Nancy said firmly.

It’s times like these that make people confuse nancy for an alpha. She’s not, of course, but the way she takes charge and her determination is so stereotypically alpha. Steve’s always hated stereotypes. Stereotypes said that he shouldn’t be playing sports or have a life outside of having a mate and pups. 

Steve nodded and sighed, “Fine I’ll stay here. Make sure Max is ok.”

Nancy gave him a small smile, “Now we need to do something about Robin’s clothes.” 

“About my what?” Robin squawked, as Nancy moved towards her closet. 

***

“Can you guys stop staring at me?” Max asked.

They were all back in the basement. The boys (and Elaine) were all on the couch, while Max was sitting at the desk still writing. They all quickly moved to look like they were doing something else. Max wasn’t fooled. 

“Staring at the back of my head isn’t going to protect me from Vecna.”

Max stood up holding a bundle of envelopes, “You can look at me now,” she said.

Handing the envelopes out, she gave two to Steve. One for him and one for Elaine. Steve’s heart lurched. 

Dustin being the bullheaded pup he was, went to open his, much to Max’s chagrin.

“Hey! Don’t open them yet!” She snapped. She handed three more to Lucas, “These are for Mike, El, and Will.” 

“What are these for?” Lucas asked quietly. 

“They’re a fail-safe, in case I don’t survive this.” 

“No! Max everything’s-” Lucas started. 

“Don’t tell me that everything is going to be fine because we don’t know that!” Max snapped back.

They continued to argue, but Steve was just looking at the envelope addressed to Elaine. The delicate strokes of Max’s handwriting. It was painful to think that this could be the end. It wouldn’t be the end, Steve had to make sure of that. 

“If we go to East Hawkins, will this still reach Pennhurst?” Max asked, lifting the walkie. 

“Yeah,” Dustin answered, “Why?” 

Lucas scrunched his eyebrows together, “Why are we talking about East Hawkins?”

All of a sudden Max was bounding up the stairs and towards Steve’s car. 

“Wait, wait, wait! No way am I driving you anywhere!” Steve said following behind her, Elaine in his arms.

“I’m not spending what might be my last day alive in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler’s basement!” She started firmly. “So either take me where I need to go or tie me down, which is technically kidnapping and I swear Steve, I will prosecute! Open the door.”

“Uh, no,” Steve replied. 

“Open. The. Door.” Max said, punctuating every word with a tug at the door handle.

Steve just shook his head.

Max crossed her arms, “I know a good lawyer.” And then they were off to the trailer park. 

*** 

While Max went to her trailer, Steve dropped Elaine off with Mrs. O’Shaunassey with the promise of it only being for a few hours.

Mrs. O’Shaunassey was a lonely older woman and she insisted that she did not mind, but Steve minded. He felt like he was taking advantage of her, but there was nothing else he could do. 

Heading back to his car, Steve felt defeated. Max was in danger and he didn’t know what to do to keep her safe. He hoped that Nancy and Robin could figure something out.

All the worrying made his stomach churn. Then that feeling a person gets just as they’re about to vomit hit him. His mouth watered, and just a few feet from his car, in full view of all the kids he threw up.

“Shit,” he muttered, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. He got into the car, just as Max was approaching. 

“You good?” She asked. 

“Yeah,” Steve said, “I just get too anxious sometimes.”

He really hoped that was enough of an explanation for her. Dustin knew, but he wasn’t sure that this was the right time to tell Max and Lucas about his unplanned situation.

Dustin was giving him a concerned look from the backseat, whereas Lucas looked at Steve like he was carrying the bubonic plague. 

“Where to next?” Steve asked and Max began to point in the direction of the cemetery. 

***

Pulling up to the cemetery, Steve knew where Max was gonna go. Billy’s grave was one he often thought about going to see, to give updates on Elaine, but he never mustered the courage to do so.  Now it was Max’s turn and she was much braver than he.

She got out of the car without looking back, Lucas followed asking about what happened with her mom. Steve was in the car with Dustin, who was fiddling with the walkie. 

“Don’t mess with it, Dustin,” He said tiredly, “and make sure you have batteries in it.”

Steve still remembers how the batteries went out at Starcourt and he did not want a repeat. 

“I just put new batteries in,” Dustin said, rolling his eyes.

Steve just sighed and leaned his head against the window.

Lucas trudged back over as well, climbing back into the car, while Max headed up to Billy’s grave. 

“What do you think she’s going to talk about?” Dustin asked. 

“I don’t know, and it’s none of our business. This is between her and Billy,” Lucas said back. 

“I know that! I just wonder what she’s going to tell him? Like will she talk about school, her family, Vecna? Like what do you say to a dead person?” Dustin mused.

Steve just kept quiet. He had a feeling that his daughter might end up as a part of this letter, but the boys did not need to know that.

Steve shifted around a bit and got out of the car. 

“Are you going to throw up again?” Lucas asked, poking his head out the open window. 

“No,” Steve said firmly. 

“Why did you throw up?” Dustin asked. 

Steve looked at him oddly, “Because I did?” 

“No, I know that, but why now? Aren’t you only supposed to do that in the morning?”

Steve froze.

Leave it to Dustin and his big mouth. 

“Why would Steve only throw up in the morning?” Lucas asked curiously. 

Dustin’s face took on an anxious look. He had just realized what he had said, “Uh because…Steve has IBS?” 

“I don’t think you throw up with that,” Lucas states. 

“Yeah you can! I had a cat with IBS who puked all the time!” 

“But Steve’s not a cat!” 

Steve was tuning them out as he watched Max. She had not moved for a while and he was getting nervous. 

“All right, she’s been up there long enough. I’m calling it,” Steve said staring up the hill. 

Broken out of his argument with Dustin, Lucas said, “Just give her some time!” 

“I have. If she wants to get a lawyer she can.”

Steve approached Max and put his hand on her shoulder, “Max? I think it’s time to go.”

She didn’t respond.

He began to shake her a little, “Max? Max, can you hear me?” Steve asked.

He was starting to become frantic. “Max! Max! Please come back, Max!” His yelling brought Dustin and Lucas up.

Lucas grabbed Max’s shoulders, “Max! You gotta get outta there!” 

Steve gripped onto the collar of Dustin’s jacket and shouted for him to try and get Nancy and Robin. Lucas and Steve just kept trying to rouse her. They shook her, yelled into her ears, anything to break her loose.

Nothing was working. 

Dustin soon came running up with a Walkman, “They said that music can break the trance!” He shouted, “Lucas, what's her favorite song?!?!?” 

“I don’t-” 

“You have to! What song is it, Lucas?!?”

Lucas began scrambling through the tapes Dustin laid out. He grabbed the Kate Bush one and slid it into the machine.

Grabbing the headphones they put them over her ears. They sat with baited breath and watched as she began to levitate.

Steve tried to grab onto her legs, tried to keep her on the ground, but he couldn’t get her. He began whimpering, feeling absolutely helpless.

The boys were pleading with her to come back. All of a sudden she came  out of it. It was like the wires holding her up snapped and she was hurtling towards the ground. Lucas caught her.

It was silent for a moment 

“I thought we lost you,” Lucas whispered. 

“It’s ok, I’m still here…I’m still here,” Max said.

Steve could feel the tears of relief welling in his eyes. He put his hand on Lucas’s shoulder and they all just sat there for a moment, listening to the leaves rustling in the wind and the faint sound of Kate Bush through the headphones. 

*** 

The next day saw the crew at the Creel House. Max had seen parts of it in a vision. She had drawn it out and Nancy put the pieces into place. As they headed out to the car Nancy pulled Steve to the side,

“Steve?” She asked. 

“Hmm?” Steve responded. 

“Eddie called, he needs more food, I told him we’d bring it soon.” Steve nodded, not really sure why she was telling him this.

“He also asked about you. He asked if you were ok and how you were feeling.” 

“Oh,” Steve said.

He didn’t really know what to say to that. He hadn’t expected Eddie to ask after him. Nancy had a look on her face, one that Steve knew all too well. It was the face she made when she’s putting the pieces of a story together, the face she makes when she cracks the case. 

“Steve, is Eddie the fa-” 

“Yes,” Steve cut her off abruptly. 

Nancy took a deep breath, “Ok.” She looked around, “is he Elaine’s?”

Steve shook his head, “no not Elaine’s,” he crossed his arms over his abdomen, “but he is this one’s.”

Nancy began to chew on her bottom lip.

Steve began to speak again, “We’re not dating or in a relationship or anything. It just happened, then it happened again and again.”

Steve was looking down in shame, this was not a conversation he wanted to be having with his ex-girlfriend. 

Nancy put her hand on his shoulder, “it’s going to be ok, Steve.” 

“I hope so.”

Steve really didn’t want to have two pups with missing and or dead fathers. It would be just his luck though, wouldn’t it? 

***

The Creel house was dank and decrepit. Robin had broken the window on the door so they could get in.

Stepping over the broken glass, the group made their way into the house. The air smelled stale, Steve didn’t know any other way to describe it. No one had lived in the house since the Creels and it showed.

Pulling out flashlights (which Steve did not know they had) everyone began to look around the first floor.

“You guys all see that?” Max said, looking at an old grandfather clock. 

“Yeah, is this what you saw?” Nancy asked.

Max nodded. 

“Why is the wizard obsessed with clocks?” Steve asked, “is he like a clockmaker or something?” 

“I think you cracked the case, Steve,” Dustin said sarcastically. 

“We should split into groups of two,” Nancy said, “Robin, you’re with me.”

Max and Lucas went off together, leaving Steve and Dustin. Steve had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for. Pulling up a metal grate he found jars filled with dead black widow spiders. He soon felt one crawling on him, causing him to flail about, nearly crashing into Nancy.

After making an ass of himself while Nancy was picking the spider webs out of his hair, Steve began to pace. He really didn’t know what else to do. He wanted to go home and get his pup, but he also wanted to figure this out for Max. He mostly just felt really tired.

Max soon got everyone’s attention. The lights in the house were flickering, despite the fact that the house had no electrical connection. They managed to follow the lights into the attic, where the light bulb burst into an array of shattered glass.

Vecna was in the house. 

Chapter Text

“Not to be a wimp, but can I stay in the car? Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck,” Robin said from the front passenger seat.

They were all in Nancy’s car driving to the boat house where Eddie was hidden. Steve was in the trunk with Dustin, while Elaine was in the car seat between Lucas and Max. 

“It'll be fine,” Nancy replied. 

“I can’t stand to see those dull eyes of Eddie’s break again,” Robin moaned with her head in her hands.

Eddie’s eyes were something Steve was very familiar with. The earnesty in them as he pulled Steve close. Steve shook his head a bit, he had to get a grip on himself. 

“At least he can drink himself into feeling better,” Steve grumbled.

The idea of alcohol made his stomach churn, but he knew that Eddie needed something. 

“That’s what my mom does,” Max says offhandedly. 

Robin rolled her eyes, “Let’s give this a trial run,” she sat up straight and put a false smile on her face, “Hey Eddie! Good news first! We got you your six pack and some Dustin approved snacks! Oh and we found Vecna, only he’s in another dimension and we can’t get to it because the gate is closed! So you’re screwed! The end!” 

Nancy looked at her flatly, “Well maybe we don’t put it like that. We could say that we’re one step closer to finding Vecna and that that’s what’s important.” 

“See Robin positive spin,” Steve said tiredly.

She glared back at him. She went to say something back, but the group was rendered silent when they saw the police surrounding the lake. 

“Well shit,” Dustin said.

There were camera crews pointed at Chief Powell who was giving a statement. 

“We have identified a person of interest, Eddie Munson…”

The chief was still talking, but Steve had stopped listening. He felt light headed and nauseous. 

He quickly walked away. He could feel himself starting to hyperventilate, when Eddie’s voice came over the walkie. He was ok and at Skull Rock. 

Climbing back into the car Steve said, “I’m not taking her into the woods.” 

Dustin just gave him a smile, “Don’t worry, I have a plan.” 

*** 

Said plan involved Dustin lying to his mother. He claimed that he had promised Steve that he would watch Elaine overnight while he (Steve) went to the city to go to the doctor, but he (Dustin) had forgotten about a huge project he had to do for school, “so could you please watch her for me mom?”

Mrs. Henderson caved right away and they were soon traversing through the woods. Dustin was in the lead with his compass. 

“We’re going the wrong way,” Steve said. 

“No we’re not! Skull Rock is north and we’re going north!” Dustin was very sure of himself. 

“Look, Skull Rock is a super popular make out spot and I practically invented it and I’m telling you we’re going the wrong way.”

Dustin just rolled his eyes. Steve sighed and swiftly turned in another direction. 

“Steve!” Dustin shouted, “Where are you going?” Dustin was running after him now. 

“Looks like we’re going that way now,” Max said as she followed Steve and Dustin.

The rest of the group trailed behind. They were all talking, but Steve wasn’t listening, his only focus was proving Dustin wrong. Skull Rock loomed in the distance. Parting the bushes, Steve made his way towards it. 

“There it is, Henderson! Skull Rock! In your stupid cocky little face,” Steve was gloating a bit. 

“It doesn’t make any sense?” Dustin said, swiveling his head around. 

“Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face you can’t admit it. You just can’t admit you were wrong, you little butthead.” Steve was facing the rock, when he heard a rustling.

“I concur,” there was a thump, “you Dustin Henderson are a total butthead,”

Eddie stood there in all his glory. Their eyes met and Eddie opened his mouth, but whatever he wanted to say was cut off when Dustin barreled into him, “Jesus we thought you were a goner!” 

“Yeah, me too man. Me too,”

Eddie was still looking at Steve, once again trying to convey something with just his eyes. Steve was never good at understanding subtlety. 

Eddie quickly broke into the food they brought. Steve was standing off to the side, again, listening to Eddie talk of the events of the night before.

Jason and his goon squad showed up, causing Eddie to try and take the boat across the lake. Jason and Patrick were chasing after him, but Patrick was yanked out of the water and he soon died, just as Chrissy had. Eddie had to swim the rest of the way, causing his walkie to get drenched. It was rendered useless. 

Eddie sighed, “I tried to call you guys, but the walkie was wrecked. So I ,uh, did the thing I do now, I ran.”

Steve wanted to reach out and touch the alpha, let him know that running was the right thing to do, but he stayed quiet. He didn’t think it was his place. 

“Do you know what time the attack was?” Nancy asked. 

“Yeah, I know. Walkie wasn’t the only thing that got soaked,” Eddie lifted his watch up, “9:27 pm.” 

“That’s when the flashlights blew up,” Robin said. 

“Which means what, exactly?” Steve asked. 

“That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick.” Nancy said with a look of horror on her face. 

Everyone devolved into the various ways in which they could kill Vecna.

It left Steve confused because as far as he was aware, there was no gate and Eleven was still powerless. Eddie’s saddled up to steve. 

“Hey, uh, is Henderson cursed?”

Steve looked over and saw Dustin pacing frantically with his compass in his hand. 

“Cursed, no. Mental, absolutely.” 

Eddie looked at him, he was very close, “So, uh, we should probably ta-” Eddie was cut off by Dustin shouting. 

“Boom! Badda…badda…boom,” he had a gigantic grin on his face, “I was right! Skull Rock was north!” 

“What? Seriously?” Steve asked.

He wasn’t sure if he was referring to Dustin’s cockiness or the fact that every time he and Eddie tried to have that super important, life altering conversation, something interrupted them.

“This is Skull Rock.” 

Dustin nodded, grin still in place.

Steve continued, “You’re totally, absolutely 100% wrong right now!” 

“Yes and no.” 

“Oh my god,” Steve sighed. 

“So it worked correctly when we left the Wheelers and when we were on Curly. It only started slipping the further East we went, now it’s way off. I wasn’t wrong when I was leading us here,” Dustin explained. 

“So it was faulty equipment, still wrong.” 

“Except it isn’t faulty. Lucas, remember what can affect a compass?” 

“Strong electromagnetic fields!” Lucas answered and the two soon began to weave together a theory about there being a little gate somewhere in the area.

Dustin and Lucas looked absolutely giddy at the idea of a gate. This was their way of getting to Vecna and saving Max. They went to run off when Steve stopped them.

“Hey! Hey! Eddie’s still a wanted man, we can’t just go hiking through the woods.”

Dustin brushed Steve off completely. 

“This little steel capsule might be the key to saving Max and Eddie. What say you Eddie the Banished?” 

Eddie looked contemplative for a moment.

“I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor. Which, if I’m being totally honest, is a really bad idea. But the Shire,” he stopped for a moment, voice softening as he looked at Steve, “The shire is burning…so Modor it is.”

Eddie’s gaze never faltered from Steve. They were looking into each other's eyes. Steve could sense Robin’s smirk without even glancing at her. He knew she was going to give him shit for this. 

Steve looked away as the group started to move, “What the hell is Mordor?” He turned to Eddie, “Get your stuff, let’s go.” And they were off. 

***

The gate was in Lover’s Lake because of course it was. Nothing could ever be easy for them.

Dustin was so focused on following his compass that he almost walked right into the lake. Only reason he didn’t was because Eddie grabbed him by his shirt collar. 

“There’s a gate in the lake?” Robin asked. 

“Appears so,” Dustin replied. 

“Why?” Steve asked. 

“Well the demogorgon opened a gate every time it attacked, maybe Vecna’s the same way.” Dustin theorized. 

“Only one way to find out,” Eddie said, gesturing to a rickety little boat up on the edge of the lake.

Steve and Eddie held the boat still as Nancy and Robin climbed in. Eddie got in next while Dustin tried to follow. 

“Whoa what do you think you’re doing? Only three people or you’ll sink us,” Eddie said.

Steve didn’t actually know if this was true, he was just glad they would be keeping the kids as far away from the gate as possible.

Nancy then reiterated his point by telling the kids to stay ashore and watch out for Max. Dustin became petulant, stating that it was his theory and asking who put Nancy in charge. Robin cheekily said that she did and effectively shut Dustin up. Steve then hopped in the boat. 

“But you said only three people,” Dustin whined.

Steve mouthed an apology before starting the boat. 

“Bedtimes at nine, kids!” Robin joked.

She had the compass in her hand, getting ready to let everyone know when they were by the gate. It was quiet on the boat and they were moving very slowly. Eddie was staring at him with that face again. Steve wondered if he would ever stop.

“Whoa whoa guys slow down!” Robin said. 

“What’s going on?” Came over the walkie. Dustin had his binoculars fixed on them from land. 

“It’s gone really really wonky,” Robin answered.

Steve stood up and began to toe his shoes off. His shirt was next.

“Hold on-” “Wait-!” “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!?” Nancy, Robin and Eddie all chorused together. 

“I was co-captain of the swim team and a lifeguard for three summers, I think I can handle swimming down there and checking it out.” Steve said. 

“You shouldn’t be going down there!” Nancy exclaimed. 

“Yeah you’ve got precious cargo and all,” Robin added.

Steve put his hand over his stomach unconsciously. 

“Wait, you guys know?” Eddie asked. 

“Uh yeah? He told me, like, immediately,” Robin seemingly bragged. Nancy gave her a look.

 “You told Nancy and Robin before me?” Eddie asked, he sounded a bit hurt. 

“I told Robin before you, mostly because she convinced me to go to the doctor, Nancy found out after you,” Steve’s tone took on a bit of an edge, “And don’t act like you’re worried and shit!” 

“I am fucking worried , Steve!” Eddie shot back. 

“You didn’t even think it was yours!” Steve yelled. 

Eddie opened his mouth to retort when Nancy cut him off, “You what? ” She snapped. 

“I didn’t say it wasn’t mine, I asked if it was… uh, mine…that is,” Eddie paused for a moment, “Yeah saying it like that really doesn’t make it sound better.”

Eddie was fumbling with a cigarette and put it to his lips. Robin immediately plucked it and tossed it into the lake. 

Nancy was glaring at Eddie, “No it’s not better , Eddie. What’s wrong with you?” 

“I tried to apologize, but he left-”

“Why the fuck would he stay-” 

“Ok, can we talk about this later? We really need to check out this gate,” Steve said. 

“You shouldn’t go, Steve,” Robin said. 

“I’ll be fine, I’m just looking. I’ll swim down, confirm it’s there and then come back up. Nothing else.” 

“You swear?” Nancy said, incredulously. 

Steve rolled his eyes. “Yes, Nance I swear.”

“Fine,” she said, backing down. 

“I don’t like this,” Eddie said, handing Steve a flashlight covered in a plastic bag. 

“You don’t have to,” Steve said. 

Nancy and Robin were both giving Eddie looks of disapproval. He was used to Robin having his back and being protective, but this was new for Nancy. Steve did not know how to handle it, so he dove into the lake. 

Swimming down, Steve saw the lake bed was devoid of life. Fish skeletons littered the floor. There was also a giant gaping red hole.

It gave the water an eerie red glow, it was very unnerving. He poked at it a bit and something poked back. There was a skin like film over the top.

It was disgusting if Steve was being honest.

This was all the confirmation he needed for the Upside Down, so he made his way back up to the boat. He resurfaced and leaned against the side of it. 

“There’s definitely a gate,” he said. 

“Ok, let’s get you back up here,” Robin said, reaching out for him.

She and Nancy both had their hands on his arms, ready to yank him up, when he felt a tug on his leg. Next thing Steve knew he was being pulled under the water and through the gate.

Steve was slammed on to the cold hard ground on the other side. He gasped for air as he was dragged to a bed of vines.

He took a minute to look at his surroundings. He could tell that he was in the lake, but, like,  if the lake was dried up. There was red lightning in the murky sky. It was dark and putrid.

Steve stood and scanned the horizon.  All of a sudden there was a screeching sound and then Steve was bombarded by a gaggle of bat-like creatures. They knocked him to the ground. They used their tentacle-like appendages to pin him down.

Steve could feel their needle sharp teeth biting into his abdomen. One began to wrap around his neck tighter and tighter.

As it became harder to breathe Steve could only think of two things. The first was Elaine and what would happen to her without him. The other was that he really really wanted this next pup. He wanted to keep it. He wanted to have this baby.

Tears were blurring his vision as the grey sky began to fade to black. Was this really it? Was this the last of the great “king” Steve Harrington?

What a shitty way to go. 

Chapter Text

Dying in a parallel dimension was not something Steve had ever imagined for himself.

Over the last few years he had spent many a nights worrying about if or when something from the Upside Down would kill him. It never crossed his mind that he would be killed in the Upside Down. He closed his eyes.

This was it, wasn’t it?

Then he heard a noise. It was a whooshing type of sound. He could feel the creatures releasing his abdomen. He looked over and saw Nancy, Robin and Eddie. 

“Hey there,” Nancy said breathlessly.

Nancy and Robin quickly got to work trying to get the bat things off of Steve, while Eddie was hitting away the ones trying to dive bomb them.

Steve felt the grip around his neck loosen. He bit down into the tentacle appendage as hard as he could. He could taste the blood as it poured into his mouth. The bat thing screeched and tried to fly away, but Steve held on to it.

He slammed it against the ground over and over again before stepping on it and ripping it in half. He was breathing heavily, but the group had managed to get rid of the creatures. 

Nancy ran over to him, “Steve! Are you ok?”

Eddie was pacing around muttering to himself. 

“They took about a pound of flesh,” Steve said.

Nancy was inspecting his injuries. There were the obvious ones on his abdomen, plus the cuts and scrapes on his back from being dragged across the ground. 

“Do you think those things have rabies, because like, rabies is my number one fear and I really think we should get you to a doctor because once the symptoms start you’re already dead!” Robin ranted.

Steve went to respond when there was chattering on the horizon. More bats began flying in and surrounding the gate. 

“The woods! Quickly!” Nancy shouted.

They all began running and running.They didn’t stop until they reached the Upside Down version of Skull Rock. Once there they all took a moment to catch their breath. 

“S-shit,” Steve said, stumbling a bit. He fell to his knees and began retching. 

“Steve!” He could feel Robin and Nancy on either side of him. 

“ He’s losing a lot of blood,” Robin said.

At this point Steve was sitting against the rock. his eyes drooping, he felt a lot like he did after having Elaine. 

“That’s because of the blood loss,”

Steve hadn’t realized he said that out loud.  Robin was babbling about rabies again, but Steve couldn’t focus. Nancy began to rip at the bottom of her sweater. 

“I’m going to wrap this around the bites to stop the bleeding, ok?” She asked.

Steve just nodded. The wrap was tight, but he knew he needed it to keep him from bleeding out. 

“So this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?” Eddie asked. 

“Basically,” Nancy answered. 

“Great,” Eddie deadpanned. 

“Watch out for the vines. They’re a hive mind, it’s all connected,” Eddie looked at Nancy like she had two heads. She just sighed, “You touch the vines, you touch Vecna.” 

“Damn,” Eddie said as he rubbed his chin.

“But everything from our world is here, except the people?” Robin asked. 

“From what we understand,” Nancy replied. 

“So theoretically we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and stuff?” 

“I doubt the police have grenades, Robin,” Steve said, “Guns yes, grenades no.”

“I have guns,” Nancy said with a look of realization. 

“You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural? ” Eddie asked. 

“Yeah, in my room. A revolver and a Russian Makarov,” she said, like it was just another Tuesday.

Eddie had a look of disbelief on his face.  

Steve stepped up and stood behind Nancy, “You almost shot me with that one.” 

“You almost deserved it,” she retorted.

It was like a switch flipped in Eddie’s head. His eyes darkened as he looked at Nancy. If Steve didn’t know any better, it almost seemed like he was jealous. Next thing Steve knew he was being tossed a denim vest. 

“For your modesty, dude,” Eddie said, with a strange look on his face. 

“Thanks,” Steve whispered. He was starting to get cold anyway.

The group began heading to the Upside Down Wheeler House. Steve was considerably slower than the others. He didn’t have any shoes on and he was terrified to move the wrong way, afraid that he’d cause more bleeding. There was another, darker more terrible fear nagging at the back of his mind, was his pup ok?

When all this was over he was going to go to the doctor and pray that it survived. He hopes it survives, he thought he’d feel guilty for the rest of his life if something happened to the baby because of his actions. 

Steve was silent, his hand slightly rubbing his bandages, when Eddie approached. 

“Hey, uh, you good?” Eddie asked awkwardly. 

“I’m fine,” Steve replied stiffly.

Nancy and Robin were up ahead of them, Nancy walking with her head held high, with purpose. Robin, on the other hand, was looking at the ground, trying not to touch (or trip) over the vines.

Neither of them were paying attention to what Eddie and Steve were doing. He didn’t know if that was a blessing or a curse.

“Thanks for saving my ass back there,” Steve said quietly. 

Eddie snorted, “I didn’t do shit. It was all Wheeler and Buckley. And you, you saved your own ass.” Eddie rubbed under his nose, “I mean that was a real Ozzy move.” Steve just blinked at him, “Osbourne? He bit a bat’s head off on stage?”  

Steve shook his head, “Sorry, I don’t…” 

“You know? Doesn’t matter, it’s very metal what you did,” They lapsed into silence for a moment before they both began to speak. 

“I think we-”

“Steve I-”

They both looked down, “I uh- I think we should finally talk now,” Eddie finished. Steve nodded as Eddie continued, “So you’re like, for real pregnant?” 

“Yup. Been to the doctor and stuff, even got to see it, hear its heartbeat. Everything,"Steve said, finishing with a sigh. 

“D-did they give you those pictures of it?” Eddie asked while fiddling with his fingers, looking anywhere but Steve’s face. 

“Yeah,” Steve smiled softly, “I have them back at my place if you’d want one.” 

“That’d be-I’d like that,” Eddie said softly, “So we’re- you’re keeping it?” 

“If it’s viable after all that, then yeah, I want to keep it,” 

Eddie’s eyes widened, “Oh shit. We should really get you back- you need to see a doctor. I- shit, I don’t know what to say.”

He was quiet, then Eddie put his hand on Steve’s shoulder, “Steve hold on,” Steve stopped and turned to listen to Eddie, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for doubting you, I’m sorry I wasn’t  more careful and I’m sorry that you have to go through this with me being wanted for murder and just- fuck, this is not an ideal situation.”

That was a real simplification.

“This place always seems to strike at the worst times,” Steve sighed. 

Eddie nodded, “If we do make it out of this- and my name gets cleared- I want you to know I’ll be around.” Eddie was looking at his feet, “You don’t have to do this alone.” 

“Eddie, if you don’t want to-”

“No, Steve. I want to, I want to be a part of this. That’s my kid in there. Whatever it takes, I’ll be there.”

Eddie was looking at him with such intensity. His eyes were wide with an emotion Steve couldn’t put his finger on. It was like he was pleading with him, but what he was trying to convey was lost on Steve.

“So we’re going to do this?” Eddie asked. His hand was held out.

Steve took it in his. 

“Yeah, we’re gonna do this,” Steve replied softly. 

Eddie beamed at him, putting an arm around his shoulder, “Come on we gotta get out of here.”

And with that they caught up to Robin and Nancy, who were looking up at the looming form of Nancy’s house.

***

The Upside Down version of the Wheeler house was just as vine covered as one would expect. There were vines all along the furniture and climbing up the walls. The particles floated through the air, like some sort of sick dandelion fluff.

All of it was just unnerving to Steve. Nancy, Robin and Eddie had all gone upstairs to Nancy’s room, but Steve stayed down. He kept hearing what he thought was Dustin. Steve didn’t have very good hearing, but he could pick out Dustin’s cadence from anywhere.

“Dustin? Dustin! Hey!” Steve shouted.

Eddie came bounding down the stairs, followed by Nancy and Robin. 

“Steve, what's wrong?” Nancy asked.

“I-it’s Henderson! He’s like, in the walls or something!” Steve said. 

“Maybe he does have rabies,” Robin said. 

Ignoring her, Steve continued to shout for Dustin. Then they heard it, clear as day, Dustin’s voice carried into the Upside Down.

They all began to call out to him, Steve was becoming frantic to the point where Eddie had come over and put both his hands on Steve’s shoulders in an attempt to settle the omega.

Steve turned his head slightly to look at him. They’re faces were really close and steve could’ve sworn that Eddie was about to kiss him when Nancy (and her big beautiful brain) came up with an idea.

“When Will was in the Upside Down he was able to communicate with Joyce through the lights!” 

“The lights?” Robin asked. 

“Yeah, try the switch.”

Eddie went over and turned the lights on. The chandelier began to glow. There were these glittering particles around it, kinda like the pixie dust from that Disney movie. They all reached out to touch it. 

“Does anyone know Morse code?” Nancy asked.

Steve was surprised that she didn’t.

Everyone was shaking their heads and looking around all bewildered, until Eddie spoke. 

“Wait, does SOS count?”

Next thing Steve knew they were all in Nancy’s room (and boy hadn’t it been a long time since he was in there?) surrounding the floating glitter that was apparently emanating from a LiteBrite.

The group was able to let the kids know they were stuck and that they couldn’t get back through the “watergate”, as Dustin called it. He had a theory, because of course he did (Steve definitely made a comment on Dustin’s attitude, which Eddie agreed with. Maybe parenting with him wouldn’t be so bad).

Then they were on bikes, speeding off to the trailer park. Steve couldn’t wait to be right side up again. 

***

The kids met them in the trailer. It was trippy to look up into the ceiling and see the kids looking back. Erica had also joined the group. They had dragged Eddie’s mattress from his room. 

“Those stains- yeah I don’t know what those stains are,” Eddie said while looking up at his bed.  

Steve just grimaced a little. 

“I’m not sure how the physics is gonna work, but- uh, here goes nothing!” Dustin said as he tossed a rope made of tied up bed sheets through the gate, “and if my theory is correct,” he tugged on the rope, it stayed suspended, “Ha! Abracadabra!” 

The rope was just hanging there, how it worked Steve didn’t know, nor did he care, he just wanted to get out of the Upside Down.

They were all standing there looking at each other, not knowing what to do next.

“I guess I’ll be the Guinea pig,” Robin said.

She climbed up the rope and then flipped onto the mattress on the other side. Eddie went next. He had wanted Steve to go, but Steve made it clear he was going to go last.

Steve looked up to make sure that Eddie and Robin were ok, he then turned to Nancy. Her face was blank and her eyes were glazed over. She looked like Max did at the cemetery. 

“Nancy? Nancy! Hey!”

Steve shouted. He clapped in her face hoping to snap her out of it, but she didn’t budge. “Guys! Somethings wrong!” Steve shouted through the gate.

Panic spiked through his system. He could smell the fear coming off of him. He couldn’t watch Nancy die, he just couldn’t.

Chapter Text

“Guys, please hurry!” Steve shouted.

Nancy was still in Vecna’s trance and each minute she was in made his anxiety go up. There was a mad scramble on the other side of the gate as they looked for music. Steve had his hands on Nancy’s shoulders, shaking her, trying to do anything to snap her out of it.

Nothing appeared to be working, then suddenly, she lurched forward. Steve caught her and lowered her to the ground. Nancy was breathing heavily, the fear evident on her face.

She reached out and touched Steve’s face, like she was trying to make sure he was real. She then threw herself into his arms and buried her face in the crook of his neck. She was crying.

Steve projected a calming scent and purred, “It's ok, it’s over.” He whispered.

He was rubbing her back like she was Elaine, god, he was such a mom. Nancy pulled back and wiped her eyes. 

“We have to go through,” Nancy said, gesturing to the gate. 

“Ok,” Steve nodded.

Nancy climbed through and Steve followed. Eddie was on the other side waiting to help Steve up. 

“You good?” Eddie asked. 

“Yeah,” Steve breathed, “We should go back to my place.”

They slipped into Steve’s trailer under the cover of darkness. Steve had taken Eddie’s head and pressed it against his neck in hopes of obscuring his face from any prying eyes. 

“You smell pregnant,” Eddie whispered. 

“You don’t say,” Steve replied. 

“Yeah, don’t know how I didn’t notice before.” 

They made it to the trailer, Steve locked the door behind him before making his way to the couch. Eddie was on his heels. 

“We should really clean those bites,” he said. 

Steve nodded, he was already starting to fall asleep.
“It’s in the bathroom, under the sink,” it was silent, “first aid kit,” Steve clarified.

There was movement and soon Steve was laying on his back with his head in Robin’s lap. Nancy and Eddie got to work on his wounds. 

“They’re not as deep as I originally thought,” Nancy said. 

“Still pretty fucking gnarly though,” Eddie said. 

“Does that mean the pup’s okay?” Steve murmured. 

“Pup? What pup?” Lucas asked. 

“Oh my god, Steve, are you pregnant?” Max asked.

Steve was already out of it, so it was Eddie who answered.

“Yeah, he is.” The alpha fixed them with an intense look, daring them to say anything. Max just nodded. 

“Ok, that’s all done, Robin can you help him sit up so we can clean his back?” Nancy asked.

The bites had been rebandaged, but with actual medical bandages, rather than Nancy’s sweater. Steve sat up and immediately leaned forward into Eddie. His eyes were closed, his head against Eddie’s chest, by his shoulder. Eddie’s hand went to his hair.

“It’s ok, Steve. Let Nancy clean your back then you can sleep.” 

“Elaine…” Steve whispered. 

“She’s with my mom, Steve, remember? She’s fine,” Dustin said.

Steve nodded against Eddie’s chest. 

“Ok, we’re good. All disinfected,” Nancy said, “Eddie, can you help Steve to his room?” 

The alpha nodded and helped Steve to his feet. Eddie took on most of Steve’s weight as he led him to his room. 

“Come on, lay down,” Eddie said softly. He had unfurled the covers and helped Steve in. 

“Thanks,” Steve whispered. 

“I didn’t really do much,” Eddie responded. He was sitting on the bed next to where Steve was laying. 

“Stay? I don’t want to be alone.” Steve said. Eddie smiled softly. 

“Of course.” 

***

The next morning everyone was scattered around Steve’s living room. Earlier, before the others had woken up, Steve had given Eddie a copy of the ultrasound. The look on Eddie’s face was something Steve hadn’t seen before. It was soft and almost relieved. There was a joyfulness in his demeanor, it was radically different from when he told Billy about Elaine. Steve felt like a weight was taken off of his shoulders. 

Steve and Eddie were on the couch next to each other. Everyone had eaten and Nancy was finally ready to tell everyone what she saw. 

“He showed me things that haven't happened yet. The most awful things. I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this… Giant creature with… a gaping mouth. And this creature wasn't alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes. And then… He showed me my mom. And Holly. Mike. And they…They were all…” Nancy cut herself off with a sob. 

Steve rubbed her shoulder, “He’s just trying to frighten you, Nancy. It’s not real.” 

“Not yet,” she whispered, “T-there was something else. He showed me gates, four gates, spreading across Hawkins. And they looked like the one in Eddie’s trailer, but they didn’t stop growing. And it wasn’t the Upside Down, this was our Hawkins, our home.”

Eddie reaches for Steve’s hand and squeezes it. Both of them fearful of what the future holds. 

“Four chimes,” Max starts, “Vecna’s clock always chimes four times. Exactly four.” 

“I heard them too,” Nancy replied. 

Max shook her head, “He’s been telling us his plan the whole time.” 

“Four kills. Four gates. End of the world,” Lucas said. 

“If that’s true, he’s only one kill away…” Dustin said, looking at Max. 

“Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ!” Eddie said with his head in his hands. 

“Try them again,” Steve said in reference to the Byers.

They had been trying to call them for the last couple of days, but the line was always busy. Dustin attributes this to Joyce’s new job, but it had been days at this point. Something was up. 

“It can’t be a coincidence,” Nancy said, “Whatever is happening there is connected to here.” She paused for a moment, “But Vecna can’t hurt them, not if he’s dead.”

Nancy turned and faced everyone with a determined look, “We have to go back into the Upside Down.” 

“No. Nope,” Eddie started. 

“Nancy, let’s think about this!” Steve said, “We barely made it out of there!” 

“Yeah, because we weren’t prepared!” She said, “This time we’ll go in with weapons an-and protection and we’ll kill him!” She was really revving herself up. 

“Or he’ll kill us!” Steve shouted back, “The ONLY reason you survived is because he wanted you to! He’s not scared of us!” 

“And for good reason!” Robin said as she jumped from her position on the floor, “We were wrong about Vecna, Henry, One, whatever his name is. What are we calling him now?”

There were a series of different answers, none of which answered Robin’s question,

“Right,” she deadpanned, “We’ve learned something new about Vecna/Henry/One. He’s like Eleven- only a sick child murdering version of her with bad skin….My point is that he’s super powerful and he could kill us with a snap of his fingers, it’s not a fair fight!” 

“Then why fight fair?” Dustin asked, “If he’s like Eleven then we have the upper hand. We know her weaknesses.”

”Weaknesses?” Erica questioned. 

Dustin paused for a moment, ignoring Erica’s jab. 

“When El remote travels she goes into some sort of trance. I bet Vecna does the same, so all we have to do is get into the Upside Down when he’s in a trance and attack his defenseless body!” 

“I’m sorry? Defenseless? What about his army of bats?” Steve asked while gesturing to his neck. 

“We’ll have to distract them,” Dustin said nonchalantly. 

“And how are we supposed to do that, exactly?” Eddie asked. 

“Not sure yet,” 

“Great,” Eddie said under his breath.

Steve had sat back down at this point. He didn’t want to go back in there, he couldn’t go back in there. It wasn’t safe for him in his condition, and by the look on his face, Eddie knew that too.

The alpha was tense, like one wrong move and he’d pounce. Steve shifted closer as if that would do anything to calm the man down. Everyone was theorizing about Vecna’s patterns and who he would hit next in order for them to attack. They didn’t know who his next target was. 

“Yes we do,” Max piped up, “I can still feel him, I’m still cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, I can draw his attention back to me.” 

“Max, no! He’ll kill you!” Lucas said.

Steve felt a pit in his stomach, Max was offering herself to Vecna. Steve’s hand went to his abdomen, the other to his mouth. He thought he might get sick, then Eddie’s hand was on his back. He was rubbing it in an attempt to soothe him. Steve was grateful. 

“I survived before, I can survive again. I just have to distract him long enough for you guys to chop his head off or blow him up or whatever,” Max said. 

Steve sprung up, “Excuse me, I have to-” he covered his mouth and ran to the bathroom.

He did not throw up this much with Elaine. He vomited whatever he had in his stomach, before leaning back against the tub, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. There was a knock at the door. 

“Hey, uh, are you all right? Should I come in?”

It was Eddie. Steve just reached up and unlocked the door with one hand, the other was resting on his abdomen. Eddie entered the bathroom and sat down beside him.

“So…” he said. 

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Steve said, rubbing his stomach.

“What? Fight Vecna? I mean you probably shouldn’t-” 

“No, Eddie! Just everything! I can’t do it! I can’t do it anymore,”

Steve was crying now, his knees pulled up to his chest. The bites were burning, but he didn’t care.

”I can’t- I don’t know what to do.” 

“About what?” 

“About this! Do I go in and risk myself and my baby to get rid of Vecna? Do I sit this out and potentially let him destroy this town? Do I let him waltz in and hurt my daughter?!? ” 

“Steve, I get it-“ 

“No you don’t!” Steve shouted, “This pup is yours, but Elaine is mine . She’s all I have, she’s the most important thing in my life and I get that you don’t care cause she’s not yours-” 

“Who says I don’t care about her?” Eddie replied, “Because I’ve spent time with you and Elaine during our, uh, “ relationship” and I care about her and I care about you. ” Steve buried his face in his knees. Eddie continued, “We’re in this together, ok?”

Steve sniffled as he looked up into Eddie’s eyes, “You don’t hate me?”

 “Uh, no? How could I? Color me shocked when I realized that Steve Harrington was a good dude,” Eddie smirked, “I mean, rich parents, king of the school? How are you not a douchebag? It went against my Munson Doctrine.” Eddie chuckled, “instead you’re like this great parent, who looks after everyone and can beat the shit outta inter dimensional monsters. I mean, Henderson said you were a badass, me on the other hand?” Eddie shook his head. There was a pause. 

“You threw Coke on Tommy,” Steve whispered. 

Eddie winced, “You remember that?” 

“Yeah,” Steve smiled softly at Eddie. “It was the nicest thing anyone had done for me since, well, since they found out.” 

“I’d do it again,” Eddie said. He pulled Steve’s head to his shoulder.  

“I think that’s very badass,” Steve whispered. 

“What?” 

“Standing up for an unmated pregnant omega who was one of the worst people in school? That’s badass and very brave.” Steve said. Eddie smiled at him. 

They sat there for a moment in silence, just existing in each other's presence.

They knew they had to go and rejoin the others. They had a plan to make and a world to save, but for now they were with each other. Alpha and omega, the king and the freak. Absorbing what they could of each other, unknowing of what would come next, but they had the present and that was enough for now. 

***

Eddie had the brilliant idea of going to a place called The War Zone for “supplies”, and by supplies he meant weapons. 

“Is a place like this even legal?” Robin asked, with a touch of mortification in her voice. 

“Lucky for us it is so…” Eddie shrugged, “This place is just far enough outta Hawkins that we should be able to avoid cops and angry hicks.” 

“If we want to avoid angry hicks we probably shouldn’t be going to a place called The War Zone,” Erica sassed.  

“Normally,” Nancy started, “I’d agree, but we need stuff so it’s worth it.” 

“Will we have the time to get there? I mean, it’ll take hours to bike there,” Dustin said. 

“Who said anything about bikes?” Eddie said as he moved into Steve’s personal space. 

“Do you have a car we don’t know about?” Steve asked.

Eddie put his arm around Steve’s shoulder, “it’s not exactly a car and it’s not exactly mine, but uhhhhh it’ll do.” 

Next thing Steve knows they’re sneaking into someone’s RV/home in order to steal it. He was standing behind Eddie, who was hotwiring the RV, when he asked.

“Where did you learn to do this?” 

Eddie snorted, “Well when all the other dads were teaching their kids to ride a bike or playing ball, mine was teaching me how to hot wire,” he paused while he fiddled with the wires, “Now I always swore to myself I wouldn’t end up like he did, but I’m currently wanted for murder and soon grand theft auto, so I’m really living up to that Munson name.”
He reached back and softly patted steve on the stomach.

”Better hope this apple falls far from the tree.” 

Robin saddled up behind Steve as Eddie was talking, “Uh, Eddie? I don’t know if I like the idea of you driving.” 

“Oh I’m just starting this sucker. Harrington’s got her,"Eddie leaned in close to Steve, “Don’t ya, big boy?”

The RV roared to life and Eddie dove into the back. The owners of the RV quickly jumped up. They tried to get in, but Eddie had locked the doors.

Steve got into the driver's seat as he heard Dustin shouting at him from the back. He’d never driven anything this large before, and he was a bit nervous, but he pushed it aside and hit the gas. 

***

“How’s it handle?” Nancy asked, sneaking into the passenger seat beside Steve.

“It’s uh- not half bad, seeing as it’s a house,” Steve said, gesturing to the wheel.

Nancy was quiet next to him. He could sense that she wanted to say something, but was unable to form the words. In an attempt to combat the silence Steve started talking.

“You know I had this dream that I’d have a huge family, like six pups.” He chuckled a bit, “I always thought about how we’d all pack into something like this every summer and just see the country.” 

“That sounds nice,” Nancy said, “Minus the whole six pups thing. That sounds like a nightmare.” 

“Yeah well, I already got 1.5 outta six so…” 

Nancy was quiet again. Steve didn’t really have anymore to say to fill the awkwardness. 

“I’m sorry, Steve,” Nancy whispered.

Steve was confused, what the hell could she be sorry for? They’ve barely interacted since Halloween 1984. 

“For what?” He asked, voicing his confusion. 

“For how I ended things, for not being there for you at school when they- when everyone found out about Elaine.” 

“Nance, we had broken up, what happened after that was not your problem.” 

“No, Steve! I heard what they said about you and I did nothing . I never stood up for you and I’m sorry about that. And I’m sorry for calling you bullshit, you’re not bullshit, Steve.” 

“Nance…” Steve said, but she just kept going.

“What happened after that? Johnathan took me home, but where did you go?”

Nancy was always straight to the point.

Steve sighed, “I stayed, got wasted and got pregnant.” 

“That night?” She said with a bit of shock. 

“Yeah.” 

“I’m sorry, Steve, I’m sorry if I hadn’t-” she stopped herself. 

“I’m not.” Steve said firmly

“What?” 

“I’m not sorry for what happened. Yeah being called bullshit wasn’t fun and having a drunken one night stand was not my smartest move, but I’m not sorry that things happened the way they did. I got Elaine out of that night and it made me realize things. I got a thump on the head, from you and her, I think- plus I know now that we wouldn’t have worked. It was fun, but we’re different people and we want different things,"Steve finished. 

“Is Eddie what you want?” She asked. 

“I- I don’t- why would you say that?” 

“You’re having his baby, Steve” she deadpanned “And he looks at you like you’re the only person in the room. We’re all together, freaking out and all he can do is look at you. He likes you, Steve” 

“No he doesn't, Nance. It was just- he said it was just- no feelings.” 

Nancy raised her eyebrow, “Friends with benefits?”

“Sort of?” Steve replied. 

“Well I’m not going to pry,” and wasn’t that a shocker, “but I do think he likes you. And I think you like him too.”

And boy did she hit that one right on the head. Nancy was quiet for a moment, “Are we ok?” 

“Yeah, Nance, we're ok.” 

“I just- I really missed being your friend,” she said quietly.

“I missed being your friend too,” Steve smiled softly, “I accept your apology and I hope you’ll accept mine,” he sighed, “for being a shitty boyfriend and for, you know, rebounding the way I did.” 

“Don’t be sorry for that,” she was silent looking down at her lap.

She looked at him and held out her hand, “Friends?” 

Steve smiled and grabbed her outstretched hand, the other still on the wheel, “Friends.” 

And he felt a small bit of the knots in his stomach beginning to unravel, maybe this was what healing felt like. Steve hoped he’d live to feel more of it.

Chapter Text

The War Zone was massive, like hugely massive. Steve had never seen a store so big. It was like a gun and outdoor store all rolled into one. You could get a shotgun in aisle seven and a kids sleeping bag in aisle ten. It was a bit jarring to see.

Steve had gotten changed out of Eddie’s vest back at his trailer, but he needed to pick up clothes to wear back into the Upside Down. His closet of polos and sweaters would not be able to slow down demo-bat teeth. After picking up some new clothes, Steve and Robin began to collect what they’d need to make a crap ton of Molotov cocktails. 

“How many of these do you think we need?” Robin asked, holding some canisters of gasoline. 

“About five or six,” Steve said, grabbing a few to put in the cart.

He looked over to Robin to see what she was doing and he caught her staring at her crush, Vickie.

Steve hooked his chin on her shoulder and asked, “What’re you gonna do? Stand there and gawk?” He nudged her a bit, “Go talk to her!”

Robin smiled a bit, but it was wiped away as quickly as it appeared. A boy, someone Steve vaguely remembered from school, came up behind Vickie and startled her. They talked with each other all flirty before kissing in the very romantic gun store. Robin’s face showed her heart break, Steve went to say something, but she took off without a word. 

“Robin! Robin, wait!”

But she was already heading towards the checkout. Soon enough Erica came over and let them know that Jason was prowling about. They quickly got everything and paid before they were on their way out of The War Zone. 

*** 

The open and empty highways of Indiana were probably very nice to look at, but Steve wasn’t able to focus on the scenery. The group was currently looking for a place to stop and gear up. They had weapons and explosives to make. Nancy was in the back with the rest of the group. She and Robin were sitting with each other talking quietly. Everyone could tell Robin was a bit down, but Steve was the only one who knew why.  

Steve was looking out the windshield when Eddie flopped gracefully into the passenger seat. 

“So, there's a clearing a ways out of Hawkins that we can go to to get ready,” the alpha said. Steve just nodded. “I’ll direct you to it,” Steve nodded again.

He could see from the corner of his eyes that Eddie was fiddling with his fingers. He wanted to ask the omega something, but was currently mustering the courage to do so. 

“What- uh- what were you and Wheeler talking about?”

And there it was, Steve had come to the realization that Eddie's strange behavior had to do with jealousy. The incident with the vest was because the alpha thought he and Nancy were flirting. Why Eddie was jealous, Steve didn’t know. Eddie said no feelings.

“We were just… tying up some loose ends,” Steve replied, “We’re going to try being friends . ” Steve paused, “Why do you ask?” 

“Oh, you know, I just like knowing things…” Eddie said bashfully.

Steve wasn’t in the mood to look further into that.

“So, what do you think it’s gonna be?” 

“What?” Steve asked, confused. 

“The pup- boy or girl? What do you think?” 

“I don’t know, I don’t have a preference really,” Steve said, “I didn’t find out with Elaine, but I also didn’t think much about what she would be.” 

“I would want to know if I was in your shoes, but I can be a bit nosy.” Eddie smirked. 

“It’s nice to know you’re invested. I didn’t really have anyone the first time around. My parents were away on business when Elaine was born.” 

“They left you by yourself that close to your due date?”

Eddie sounded horrified as he said it. Steve was quick to jump to his parents' defense, even if they didn’t really deserve it.

“Not exactly. She was just born early. I’m pretty sure they were planning on being back before she was supposed to be born. My mom came home after she found out though so…"Steve shrugged. 

“Well, I’ll be there, for everything,” Eddie smirked a bit, “You know, if I don’t die in the Upside Down.” Steve reached over and smacked him lightly on the knee. 

“Don’t joke about that!” Steve said. 

Eddie lifted his hands in mock surrender, “I know, I know, Stevie. I’m just messing with you. You’re stuck with me. I’m like rubber cement or one of those fish that have suckers for a mouth.”

Steve tried to smile at his joke, but he couldn’t help but feel like this was the part of the story his English  teacher used to call foreshadowing.

***

The clearing Eddie knew was big. It was a huge expanse of grass with trees lining the edge. Nancy was with Max, sawing the barrel off her shotgun.

Getting that gun was a harrowing experience as Jason chose that time to harass her with questions about the whereabouts of her brother. Lucas and Erica were bickering while creating makeshift spears with knives and sticks.

Steve was watching Dustin and Eddie. They were hammering nails into trash can lids to create shields. The goal was that if the bats flew at them they could lift the lid, thus impaling said bats. Steve thought it was a very smart idea. He kept watched as Dustin and Eddie devolved into roughhousing. Eddie was good with kids of all ages. He had adopted Steve’s teens as his own and he was also so good with Elaine. Steve smiled to himself thinking of the time the alpha got Elaine to laugh. It gave him a warm feeling in his stomach. Eddie would be a good dad, Steve was sure of it. 

He turned back to Robin, who was busy making Molotovs. Steve picked up a funnel and began to pour some gasoline. They planned on having a whole arsenal. 

“It just doesn’t make sense,” he mused aloud. 

“What doesn’t?” Robin asked. 

“That was Dan Shelter. He graduated like two years ago.” 

“Ok…?” Robin prompted. 

“He’s in college, which means he’s just visiting. Fast Times was returned a week ago,”

Steve was referencing a conversation he and Robin had had a few days prior. They had been discussing Robin’s crush on fellow beta girl, Vickie. Steve was convinced that Vickie also liked other women of any designation as she had returned a video tape paused at the right time to see a pair of bare breasts. 

“Steve?” Robin interrupted. 

“Yeah?”

“I don’t care about that anymore.” She was quiet for a moment, “With everything happening the stakes of my love life feel spectacularly low.” 

“I get it, I still like to have hope though,” Steve said. 

“Not everything has a happy ending.” 

“Trust me, I know,” Steve said, thinking about, well his whole life. 

“I’m not talking about failed romance. I just…I have the gnawing feeling that it might not work out for us this time,” Robin said softly. 

“You think we shouldn’t be doing this,” Steve said, a hand flying to his stomach. 

“I think we’re mad fools, the lot of us, but if we don’t stop him, who will? We have to try, right?” 

“Yeah,” Steve whispered, “To killing Vecna.” 

“Slash Henry.” 

“Slash One.”

They clinked their Molotov bottles together. The fate of the world was in their hands, and wasn’t that a scary thought?

***

There were four phases to their plan.

Four .

These four phases were to assure that they all made it out in one piece. No bat bites, no broken bones and no deaths.

So why was Steve hearing four chimes after throwing the cocktails at Vecna? They had trudged their way through the Upside Down, dealing with earthquakes and trees that Robin insisted that they’d seen before. They almost got choked out by vines while walking up the steps to the attic and Steve felt that paralyzing fear again, one that said that this was it for him.

Eddie had been against Steve going back into the Upside Down. Nancy and Robin were hesitant as well, but the kids were insistent that Steve had the best aim. While being choked by semi-sentient vines, Steve found himself wishing he had listened to Eddie. Not for his own sake, but for his pup’s and for Elaine who, in the event of his death, would have lost both her parents before she was even a year.

When the vines freed them, Steve thought it was a miracle, Steve thought setting Vecna aflame would be the end of it and yet…

“ Max, ” Nancy whispered and Steve felt his heart shatter.

If the chimes and the continued earthquakes were telling the truth, then Max was dead. Steve knew that shooting Vecna and setting him on fire felt too easy. He knew it. He could hear himself starting to whine in a way that only a distressed omega could do. 

“Come on!” Nancy said, grabbing both Steve and Robin's hands.

They ran as fast as they could back to the gate in the trailer park and that’s when Steve heard it, Dustin was crying. 

“Dustin? What’s wrong?” Steve asked as he ran.

His question was answered as he approached. Eddie was lying in Dustin’s arms, covered in his own blood.

“No…no no no,” Steve said as he fell to his knees beside them. Nancy and Robin were on his heels. 

“Hey Stevie…” Eddie said quietly. Talking seemed painful for him. “Guess I wasn’t really joking huh?” 

“Shut up,” Steve said, as he began to pull off his backpack, “you’re not dying, I’m not going to let you die.” 

“Steve…” he heard Robin say behind him.

Steve had come prepared with a massive amount of first aid supplies. He quickly got to work trying to stop the bleeding. 

“Dustin, keep him awake,” Steve ordered, “slap him if you have to.”

Steve started on the bites on the alpha’s midsection.

“Nancy, Robin help me.” He said, handing them some gauze.

They were all working hard on trying to keep Eddie alive. 

“Steve, it’s ok,” Eddie slurred. 

“No it’s not ok! You said you’d be here so- fuck you you’re going to be here! I’m not watching another one of my babies' fathers die! I’m not !”

Nancy stiffened beside him, coming to the realization of who Elaine’s father was. Dustin was too focused on Eddie to connect the dots.

“I told you not to be a hero! Why didn’t you listen to me?” Eddie made a noise, but he was too out of it for it to make sense. 

“Stevie…” Eddie slurred. “The pup… I…” he trailed off.

Steve grabbed the alpha’s hand and pressed it against his abdomen, there wasn’t much to feel, but Steve knew that there was already a bit of a curve. 

“This is what you’re staying alive for. You live for this! Do you hear me?!?” Steve roared.

Eddie nodded weakly.

“You’re going to survive this Eds and we’re going to clear your name and, you’re going to know your child!” 

“Steve, I think we’ve done all we can for now,” Nancy said softly, “we have to get him to a hospital.” Steve nodded.

Eddie was bandaged up to the best of their ability. Steve had Eddie draped over his back as he climbed through the gate.

Getting to the hospital was stop and go. There were cracks opening up all over Hawkins. Buildings were on fire and Steve ended up having to do CPR on Eddie twice, but they got him there. 

“Please!” Dustin shouted, running into the emergency room, “You have to help him!”

The staff was already swamped with people, but one look at Eddie’s bloody form got them over.

The smell of distressed omega permeated the room. Steve was about one moment away from going into a full on panic. They quickly took Eddie off of him and rushed him to the back. Steve feared that they would just let him die. That they would ignore his injuries because of the allegations. Robin put her hand on his shoulder, he was trembling. 

All of a sudden there was a flurry of movement in the room and Steve watched as Max was rushed in on a stretcher. Her body looked mangled and there was an EMT above her performing chest compressions, while another used a mask to pump air into her lungs. She was fighting for her life right now. That foreboding feeling was back. Steve was petrified. A nurse came up to him. 

“Sir, are you all right?” Steve opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. He began to hyperventilate. 

“Sir, maybe you should sit down,” and Steve was going down, he could see the tiled floor getting closer, he could hear Robin shouting and Dustin sobbing. There were hands on him, trying to break his fall, but it was all so fast. Steve was unconscious before he even hit the floor.

Chapter Text

Steve was in and out of consciousness. Each time he came to he woke to a steady beeping noise. His eyes were never ready to fully open, they were heavy and sore. He felt like he’d been sleeping for days. Steve could hear voices all around him, in bits and pieces each time he awoke. 

“Is he going to be ok-?” 

“What happened-?” 

“How much longer will he be asleep-?” 

Steve mumbled a bit and whoever was there took notice. 

“Steve? Steve-!” But he was out again before he knew it. 

***

He woke up fully four days after passing out in the emergency room. It felt eerily familiar as he moved his head side to side, trying to get his bearings. 

“Hey, dingus,” he heard softly beside him. Robin was there.

The lights were bright as he cracked open his eyes. The ceiling was a blinding white. 

“Robin?” Steve croaked. 

“It’s ok, Steve. I’m here,” she said, rubbing his shoulder gently. 

“Elaine? Where is she? Is she ok? The cracks-?” Steve asked in a panic. 

Robin shushed him, “She’s ok, she’s safe. She was with Mrs. Henderson when the earthquake hit.”

The way she said earthquake was all Steve needed to hear to know that the government had already come through with a cover story.

“Elaine’s with your mom right now. Would you like me to call them?” Steve looked over at Robin. 

“In a minute. I need to know what’s going on with everything first.” 

Robin sighed, “You passed out from exhaustion after we brought Eddie here. Both he and Max are in a coma right now, although the doctors think Eddie will come out of his coma faster than Max.” 

“Why?” Steve asked, bewildered. 

“Because Max died, Steve. For a minute anyway. All her limbs are broken and the doctor doubts that if she ever wakes up she’ll have her sight. Eddie never fully died because you kept him alive with CPR. You saved his life.”

Steve was stunned for a moment. Not about Eddie, he remembered performing CPR, but about Max. Hearing the chimes vs. actually being told she died was a shock to his system. It sat heavy on his heart.

“Eddie’s ok?” Steve asked quietly. 

“He will be, at some point. They just don’t know when. The governments already come in and cleared his name. Said he was taken by a serial killer, who also took you and Max. Lucas and Jason found you all at the Creel house where the serial killer murdered Jason after you all escaped. The “killer” was shot and died apparently. It’s all very confusing, but it does weirdly make sense…? Anyways, you, Lucas and Eddie are being called heroes in the newspaper after the “FBI” had a press conference on tv. Jason’s also a hero, so that sucks because of all his vigilante shit, but it was better than telling the feds to pin this all on a dead guy.”

Robin was rambling and she wasn’t really making any sense, but Steve was just glad to hear her voice. There was a knock at the door. The doctor was waiting to come in. 

“Hi, Steve, Ms. Buckley.”

She was a tall woman, mid to late thirties from what Steve could tell. “Steve, would it be alright if I spoke to you for a moment?” Steve felt dread pooling in his gut. He touched Robin's arm and asked her to go call his mom. She quietly slipped out the room, leaving Steve and the doctor alone. 

“My baby?” Steve whispered, a hand on his stomach. The doctor smiled at him,

“They’re perfectly fine, Steve. Ms. Buckley let us know of your condition  so we were able to check on your pup right away. They’re in great shape and are developing nicely.”

Steve felt all the tension leave his body. His baby was safe. 

“Thank you,” he whispered. 

“Now as for you, we did have to go in and clean up those wounds you had. They were from the killer, yes?” She asked.

Steve nodded, not having the energy to respond verbally.

“Ok, your spill a few days ago was from exhaustion. You put yourself through a lot with doing first aid and CPR on Mr. Munson. For the rest of this pregnancy, I want you to take it easy. No more serial killers, ok?” She chuckled.

Steve nodded as she headed out. 

*** 

Seeing Elaine again, after a few days apart was like breathing in fresh air after being trapped in a collapsed coal mine, or at least that’s how Steve felt . He cried quietly as he held her. She had her nose pressed against his neck, it felt like she was trying to burrow herself into it. 

“Shhh it’s ok, baby…” he said softly. 

“Mama…” she said.

Steve’s bed was propped up as he held Elaine. She was laid against his shoulder and he rubbed her back, scenting her and trying to take in everything he could. 

“You really scared us, Steve.” His mom said, “When Claudia Henderson called and asked where you were and if  you were ok we were so worried. I’m so glad that you’re ok. you and those others, those poor kids. I hope they recover soon.”

Steve hoped so too, for one of them was the father of her second grandchild. His mom just didn’t know that yet.

Throughout the next day or so, Steve had several visitors. His mom left Elaine with him, saying she’d send his father to pick her up later. Steve was not looking forward to that.

Robin stayed a constant presence by his side. Dustin and the other kids came through as well. He was surprised to see Eleven and Will. Eleven was sitting in a chair beside his bed with Elaine in her lap. 

“She’s gotten so big,” she said, looking at the baby with wide eyes.

Elaine was looking back with equally wide eyes. Steve just nodded with a small smile. Will, Dustin and Mike were spread out around the room.

Eleven started to talk again, “Max said in her letters that she got big, but I did not think she would be so…” she trailed off, trying to find the right word. 

“Chunky?” Dustin interjected. 

“My daughter is not chunky, Dustin! She’s just the right amount of plump,” Steve said.

Elaine was reaching out and grabbing at the strings on El’s hoodie, completely fascinated by the knot at the end. Eleven kept softly touching the baby on the nose. 

“Hopper is alive,” Eleven said, not even looking at Steve.  

“That’s nice,” he said. At this point Steve wasn’t shocked by anything, not even the police Chief coming back from the dead. 

***

“Mom I don’t think I should move back in with you guys,” Steve said, sitting fully dressed in the hospital bed, Elaine in his arms. 

“Well you can’t go back to the trailer park, it’s been destroyed! And I am not letting my granddaughter stay in one of those emergency centers. I don’t know why you’re being so stubborn,” his mom sniffed. 

“It’s not that I’m stubborn,” Steve sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Mom- I- I’m pregnant, again.” She sat down in the chair in a state of shock. 

“Oh,” she said, “What- Steve, how?” 

“I was seeing someone, we- we weren’t dating or anything, but we were not careful enough,” Steve couldn’t meet his mother’s eyes. 

“Does this person have the intention of being involved?” His mom asked stiffly. 

“He uh- he did, but he’s in a coma right now so…” 

“Oh Steve,” she sighed with pity in her voice, “please come home with me, you can’t live in the shelter with a pup and one on the way. You can’t.”

Steve knew she was right, but he was scared of what his dad would say. He didn’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes again. 

“What would dad say?” 

“He wouldn’t say anything, I won’t let him,” she sounded so convinced. Steve knew he didn’t really have a choice. 

“Ok,” he said.

After his discharge Steve moved back into his childhood home. 

***

Steve spent the first two weeks at his parents' house avoiding his dad. They saw each other, of course, but they didn’t talk. At dinner they’d just sit awkwardly at the table while Steve’s mother chatted amiably to fill the silence.

Elaine was completely oblivious to the tension between the two. She was a baby, what would one expect? Steve’s mom had bought her all new things after the “earthquake” destroyed everything Steve had at the trailer. She needed all new clothes, toys and she even needed a new crib. Almost nothing from their place was salvageable. Luckily her beloved bear was with her at the time of the quake so she still had her favorite toy (she also still had the blanket Steve brought her home in. Her “blankie” if you will).

Nancy had also brought over a bunch of Holly’s old things, Steve thanked her profusely for that. His mom was wary of Nancy when she showed up. 

“You’re back with the Wheeler girl?” She asked that night, after Nancy had left. 

“No, mom,” Steve sighed. “We’re just friends. We’ve gone through a lot together over the last three years, we’ve kinda platonically bonded. Like me and Robin.”

Mrs. Harrington has met Robin in the hospital and had immediately suspected she and Steve were dating. Steve shut that down right away, explaining how he and Robin had worked together at Scoops and had survived the “mall fire” together.

Mrs. Harrington had her lips pressed in a straight line, “Fine. But she best not try anything with you, you’re a mother now, you don’t need some flighty girl coming in and out of your life.” 

Steve sighed, “Trust me, mom. It’s not like that.” 

Steve had also been to visit Eddie in the hospital. He only went when he knew he would be alone. He feared running into Eddie’s Uncle Wayne. Steve had never met the man and he was nervous of how he would react to some rich boy jock being in his nephew’s room. Eddie had obviously not had the time to tell Wayne about his connection to Steve, or about the baby, so Steve felt it was best to steer clear of the man until Eddie could talk to him himself. Granted, based on his lack of waking up, it would seem there’d be some time before Wayne was informed of his new grand niece or nephew. 

Steve likes to give updates about the pup when he was with Eddie.

Telling him things like , “ the doctor said that their heartbeat is very strong.” Or “ the pup is growing right on track, you have to wake up soon so I can show you the photos.”

He was met with silence every time. 

Seeing Max was different. Lucas was always with her if he wasn’t at school. Oftentimes going to visit Max was also an opportunity to try and get Lucas to take care of himself. He was worrying himself sick at times, the smell of distressed pup filled the room so often that the nurses began to open the windows.

When Steve first saw Max he cried. She looked so small covered in bandages and wires. It ripped him in two that they weren’t able to stop Vecna before he hurt her.

El had said that he was gone, that she had quote “ ripped him in half, and then ripped him again and again until he was like dust,”  

Will had also corroborated on him being gone, but Steve felt that he would fear his return for the rest of his natural life. His parents still had no idea about what had truly happened. His mother often commented on how skittish he was and his father…his father just watched him with an unreadable expression. 

As two weeks became three, then four then five and Steve still continued to avoid his father, until one day.

Steve had been visiting the hospital with Dustin and the other kids, he had left Elaine at home with his mother. When he got back he saw that his mother wasn’t there, but his father was. He was sitting in his recliner with Elaine in his lap. He had the newspaper open in front of her. She was staring at the pages and occasionally reaching out to pat the paper. Steve’s dad was watching her with an amused expression. 

“Dad?” He asked with trepidation, a hand on his abdomen. At this point Steve was about four months pregnant and he was beginning to really show. Unlike his last pregnancy, this one seemed to be much more visible. 

“Steven, you’re back,” his dad said, “how’s that girl you used to babysit? Is she improving?” 

Steve swallowed harshly, unsure of where this was going, “She’s the same, still in a coma. No better, but no worse.” His dad nodded. 

“I think we need to talk, Steve,” his dad said while folding up the newspaper.

Elaine continued to sit on her grandfather’s lap, unaware of the absolute panic those words shot through her mom. 

“About what exactly?” He said cautiously. 

His father sighed, “I’ve been spending time with Elaine recently and I have come to the realization that I was not a good parent to you.”

Steve sat down in shock. Did those words really just come out of his father’s mouth?

“Uhhh…” He was staring at his dad, blinking dumbly, completely unsure of what to say. 

“I thought that by being hard on you, I was helping you get ready for the real world. It wasn’t until your mother told me that you almost went and stayed at the emergency shelter rather than coming home that I realized I was too harsh. You didn’t want to come here because you were afraid of what I would say about this next pup and that is not ok. I am sorry, Steve.” 

That was unexpected. Steve had never heard his father apologize for anything, but here he was, apologizing. 

“I um, I don’t know what to say,” he stuttered. 

“I understand. This is a lot and it is not something you are used to hearing from me, but I do not want to go the rest of my life with a contentious relationship with you.” 

“Uh, thank you?” Steve said dumbly. His father nodded. 

“I also wanted to say that I am proud of you and how you’ve grown as a mother. Elaine is a good girl and I would like to be a part of her life, as well as this next one, that is if you are ok with it?” 

Steve didn’t know if it was the hormones or the shock of hearing his dad say that he was proud of him, but he began to tear up.

“I- um of course you can- uh be a part of their lives. I- I would like that.” He gave his dad a shaky smile.

His father returned it, he looked relieved. 

“Good, t-that’s good. I am glad,” he began to stand, gently passing Elaine to Steve, “I have to go to my study now, I have a lot to do at work tomorrow.” He turned and left abruptly. 

After that conversation things between the two changed. It became more comfortable between them and Steve often found his dad playing with Elaine. Steve didn’t know if he was ready to forgive his father for all the pain he’d caused him, but the fact that he actually apologized meant a lot to him. It was a start and it made the whole house feel lighter. 

***

May 1986…

The school gives Eddie an honorary diploma. His picture is on the stage along with Chrissy, Jason and Patrick’s. It feels like they already decided that he’s never going to wake up.

Steve was at the graduation in order to watch Robin walk. She looked so happy on that stage and Steve was so proud of her, he had to hide a few tears. The rest of their little ragtag group were also there in order to watch Nancy and Robin walk.

Jonathan, Will and Mrs. Byers had gone back to California to finish out the school year, but once summer hit they planned on moving back to Hawkins. El had remained in town with Hopper. They feared sending her back to school would be too dangerous. 

May began to bleed into June and there seemed to be no progress in Max and Eddie’s states. Steve was five, soon to be six months pregnant now, and he looked it. He had begun to feel the little flutters of movement in early May, but he began to feel real kicks just a few weeks prior. Robin had been the first person other than himself to feel the baby move. 

“Holy- was that the baby?!?!?” Robin asked, surprised. 

Steve smiled and rubbed by where Robin was touching, “Yup. They’ve been moving a lot lately. Way more than I remember Elaine moving. 

“Cool.” 

It was June 10th, 1986 when he got the call. Steve was in the living room of his parents house, Elaine was on the floor, she had begun to pull herself up and was trying to walk. She only made it a few steps on her own before she’d wobble and fall on her butt. Steve was on the couch, holding Elaine’s hands as she stood in front of him. 

“Mama,” Elaine said. 

“That’s me,” Steve said with a smile.

The phone was ringing in the background, he could hear his mom answering it. He paid it no mind, it was probably one of her friends calling to talk about another one of her friends. 

“Steve…?” He heard her call. 

“Yeah, mom?” He looked up and saw her in the doorway looking at him nervously. 

“There’s someone on the phone for you,”

Steve nodded and handed his baby to his mom. He went to the phone, taking a deep breath before he spoke. 

“Hello?” 

“Is this Steve Harrington?” A gruff voice asked. 

“Yes? Who is this…?” he trailed off. 

“My name’s Wayne Munson. My nephew Eddie woke up screaming for you about an hour ago.”

And Steve felt his mind go blank.

Chapter Text

Steve had told Wayne that he was on his way. Eddie had woken up and immediately began to try and rip out his IVs, shouting about a “Stevie”. One of the nurses there told him about Steve’s visits (and the CPR that saved Eddie’s life) which lead to Wayne reaching out. Wayne had told him that they only got Eddie to calm down by giving him a slight sedative and promising that Steve was on his way.

So here Steve was in the parking lot of the hospital. Steve had thought about calling Robin or even Dustin, but he knew that he needed to go by himself. Wayne had asked for him and him alone. It didn’t stop Steve from being absolutely terrified of what he’d see when he got to Eddie’s room.

His baby was moving all over the place today, it’s almost as if they knew their dad was awake and apparently looking for them. Steve rubbed his belly for good luck before opening his car door and heading towards the hospital. 

The walk to Eddie’s room felt longer than usual. The white hallway seemingly went on forever. Steve could hear raised voices down the hall and he began to pick up his pace. 

“I told you boy, he’s on his way,” the gruff voice of Wayne Munson said. 

“No Wayne I need-“ Eddie cut himself off when he saw Steve in the doorway. “Steve,” he breathed.

Steve smiled and gave an awkward wave. He was holding a light jacket over his bump, he was not yet comfortable with people looking at it. 

“Hi, Eds,” Eddie began to reach out towards Steve in an attempt to get up. “Hey, no you have to stay where you are,” Steve said softly.

He pulled to chair in Eddie’s room closer to the bed. Eddie was propped up and was able to look Steve in the eyes. 

“Steve,” Eddie whispered with tears in his eyes, “Steve pl- please tell me everything’s ok. Tell me it’s ok” 

“It’s ok, Eddie. It’s over, it’s all over,”

Steve took Eddie’s hand in both of his. He could see in Eddie’s eyes what he could not say. He wanted to know of the pup and if it survived. Steve squeezed his hand,

“They’re ok,”

Eddie’s face crumpled in relief. Tears were falling down his face. Steve subtly shifted his jacket and Eddie got full view of his bump. 

“How long?” Eddie asked. 

“You were out for a little over two months, I’ve told you that son,” Wayne said from behind steve.

Steve had forgotten he was even there. 

“Wayne, could you give us a minute?” Eddie asked.

Wayne nodded gently and headed out the room, closing the door behind him. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Steve said. 

“I never got the chance to tell Wayne about everything before-” Eddie stopped himself, “would it be all right if I told him about the baby?”

Steve nodded with a soft smile. 

“You weren’t asking how long you were out, you were talking about this,” Steve said, gesturing to his stomach. 

“Yeah,” Eddie breathed. 

“Just about five, soon to be six months,” Steve said, “they’ve really been moving a lot. Would you like to-” 

“Yes!” Eddie blurted out, “I mean only if that’s ok with you.”

Steve just took Eddie’s hand and laid it against his abdomen. It only took a few seconds before the pup made its presence known. Steve could see the moment Eddie felt it on his face. His eyes brightened and a massive grin spread across his face.

“Well damn!” He said. Eddie’s face sobered for a minute, “How’s Red? Did she…?” 

Steve sighed, “She’s…she’s alive. She’s in a coma, like you were. They don’t know if she’ll ever come out.” 

“Shit…” Eddie said, rubbing his hands over his face. 

“Vecna’s gone…” 

“T-that’s good,” Eddie was quiet for a moment, “how are you and Elaine?” 

“We’re ok. The trailer park got destroyed so we had to move back in with my parents,” Steve smiled to himself, “She's going to be a year old this month.”

“God,” Eddie said softly, “they grow up so fast.” 

“You should get some rest,” Steve said. 

“Been resting for the last two months,” Eddie said with a smirk. 

“You know what I mean,” Steve said fondly while getting up, “I’ll see you later.” 

“Steve?” Eddie asked quietly. 

“Hmmm?” 

“Thank you- for saving me. I know that I would be dead without you.”

Steve nodded and smiled as he turned to leave.

“Oh and steve? Could you bring Elaine next time? I kinda miss the little goblin.” 

“My baby is not a goblin, Eddie.” Steve said. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

Steve left after that. Wayne was in the hallway. giving Steve a nod he went back into Eddie’s room and steve headed back to his car. 

***

 Over the next couple of days, Steve found himself bringing the kids to and from the hospital.

Dustin and Mike were with him today, Lucas was still in Max’s room. He had brought Elaine today, just as Eddie had asked, but he had to lie and say Eddie was her father in order for them to allow her in.

When he awkwardly told Eddie this, he threw his head back laughing, completely amused by the lie. Eddie was sitting up in bed, Steve was in the chair beside the bed with Elaine on his lap. 

Eddie had reached out and was letting Elaine play with his fingers. She began to make grabby hands towards Eddie, indicating she wanted to be held by him. 

“No, baby. Eddie still has too many ouchies," Steve said. 

“Oh come on mama bear,” Eddie said with a smirk, “I’m not so broken up that I can’t hold my favorite girl.”

Steve gently shifted Elaine into Eddie’s arms. She gave him a beaming smile and reached to take a bit of his hair in her little hands. 

“Laine,” Steve said exasperatedly, trying to pry her fingers from around Eddie’s hair.

Eddie just laughed and held her closer. 

The boys ended up engrossing Eddie in a conversation about some nerd thing Steve had no idea about, so he slipped out and went to the vending machine to get some snacks for everyone. He was not expecting Wayne Munson to come up behind him. 

“Eddie told me about the pup,” he said bluntly. 

“Uh, yeah. I’m about five months,"Steve said nervously. 

Wayne nodded, “Well, uh congratulations. I’m glad you and Eddie are working together on this.”

Wayne smiles and walks back to Eddie’s room and steve just kinda stands there. 

*** 

Steve goes to visit Max, leaving Dustin and Mike in charge of Elaine. It’s nerve wracking having the two of them watch her, but he didn’t want to stretch his luck when it came to having a baby in the coma ward. Thankfully Eddie and Wayne were also there to keep an eye on all three. 

When he gets to her room, Steve tells Lucas to go and get something to eat, saying that he’d stay with her. It took only a little bit of convincing to get Lucas to go, but it was eventually just him and Max in the room.

Steve tried to stand, but his back and feet were bothering him, so he ended up sitting in the chair in Max’s room. 

“Hey, Max, it’s Steve,” he started.

He felt a little ridiculous talking out loud, but there was a possibility she could hear him.

“It’s been sometime since I was able to get over here, but um, hi.” He said lamely.

Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “This is gonna sound strange, but um, El keeps a picture of the two of you in her wallet and uh Elaine saw it,” Steve was starting to get choked up, “she recognized you and kept pointing to it. She misses you- we all do. She’s going to be one soon and I just wanted to give you some updates. She’s grown a lot since you last saw her, she can walk on her own a bit and some of her babbles sound like words. She misses her Aunt Max a lot so I really hope you’re healing in there and that you come back to us soon.”

Steve had tears in his eyes as he rubbed the back of her hand. Seeing her look so small and vulnerable made him feel so helpless. He wishes they had done better so that way she would be here now.

Lucas had told him that Jason broke the Walkman, rendering it useless when they needed it. Just one for the reasons he was bitter about Jason being heralded as a hero. Maybe if he didn’t interfere then Max would be ok, she’d be over at his house playing with Elaine and teasing the boys. Instead she was in here, looking so young and so small.

It killed Steve to see. 

***

Elaine’s first birthday had arrived on the 22nd. Steve’s mom was giddy at the idea of a party, but Steve quashed that idea real fast.

His mother did not do small parties. Everything she did was an event, with caterers and entertainment, and Steve did not want that for her first birthday.

It was crazy to think that just a year ago she was born on his bedroom floor. Those first few weeks of her life were nerve wracking, Steve spent so much of his time in the hospital with her. She was so small back then, it was amazing to see her thriving.

All Steve wanted to do was hold her tight and never let her go, but there were people coming over and he knew that Elaine would be itching to explore and socialize. 

Steve had invited all the usuals to Elaine’s birthday, Dustin, Robin, Nancy, El, Mike, the Byers, Lucas, Erica, Hopper etc., but he had also reached out to Eddie and Wayne- asking them if they would like to come over for some cake and coffee.

Eddie had been out of the hospital for about a week at this point and Steve didn’t really expect him to come. He was still recovering and the last place he would probably want to be was at a one year old's birthday party.

Needless to say, Steve was shocked to see Eddie and Wayne at the door. He was holding Elaine on his hip, his hand cradling his 24 week bump. 

“Oh, hi,” Steve said, a bit bewildered. “Come in.”

Eddie smiled at Steve as he and Wayne entered. He handed Steve a small gift bag. 

“I uh, got her a little something,” he said awkwardly. 

“You didn’t have to, Eddie,” Steve said. 

“I wanted to,” Eddie rubbed at the back of his neck, “Besides I couldn’t help myself when I saw this. It just screamed ‘buy me for the prettiest little girl in Indiana.’”

Eddie reached out and tickled Elaine under her chin causing her to giggle and reach for Eddie’s hair. 

“No hair pulling,” Steve said, gently pulling her hand away. “Sorry she’s been really into hair recently.” 

“That’s ok,” Eddie said, booping Elaine on the nose.

They all walked into the living room where everyone was waiting. Steve placed the gift bag Eddie gave him with the other gifts, he planned to help her open them later. 

The party went on smoothly. Robin spent most of the time slamming back highly caffeinated soda while dancing around with Elaine in her arms. The baby squealed and giggled, holding tightly to Robin’s shirt. It was cute to watch.

Steve trusted Robin with his life and that trust extended to his daughter's life as well. Robin was her honorary aunt and her godmother should Steve ever get around to getting her baptized.

Everyone was chatting and getting along. It was nice and calm, and Steve had fooled himself into letting his guard down. 

They were all sitting around eating cake. Elaine was on Steve’s lap as he fed her some bits of cake. Everything was fine, everything was normal. And then his mom opened her mouth. 

“You know, Steve,” she started, “My friend Karliene has an alpha son. His name is Tyler. I met him the other day and he was just wonderful. I really think you would like him.”

The room was silent. Robin’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. Nancy was shifting uncomfortably in her seat next to Steve, and Eddie looked absolutely murderous. 

“Melinda, do you really think this is an appropriate conversation to have at our granddaughter’s birthday?” Steve’s dad said, surprising everyone. 

“Gary-” she said, condescendingly. 

“Don’t ‘Gary’ me,” he said, “This is a highly inappropriate topic to speak about in front of guests, especially on a day that should be about Elaine.”

They were staring each other down now. Steve felt himself holding on to Elaine tighter, the tension making him nervous. 

“He has one pup with no father and he’s about to have a second one without being mated! I just think he should start looking to his future.” His mother says. 

“His future is for him to decide, not for you or one of your catty friends!” 

“Well he’s not going to have a lot of prospects-”

Steve couldn’t take it anymore. He passed Elaine to Nancy and walked out. 

“Steve-”

He could hear Dustin calling after him, along with Robin, but he didn’t stop. Not until he was standing on his back porch, furiously wiping at his eyes.

His mom had always been a nosy meddler and Steve knew that a lot of people looked down on his situation, but hearing it thrown in his face hurt. Steve knew his mom wasn’t trying to be cruel, she really thought she was helping, but it didn’t change the way he felt. Steve heard the door open and close behind him. 

“Hey,” it was Eddie. 

“Hi,” Steve said quietly. 

“Your dad’s really chewing out your mom and Nancy looks like she’s about to pounce on her.” Steve just nodded. 

Eddie sighed, “I don’t know what to say in these types of situations.”

“Then why’d you come out here?” Steve asked. 

“I don’t know, you looked upset…and it’s kinda my fault.” 

“How is it your fault?” 

“Hmm, you know, I uh- kinda did that,” Eddie said, pointing to Steve’s abdomen. Steve smiled a bit. Eddie reached out and pulled Steve to his side.

“It’s gonna be ok, you know.” 

“What is?” Steve asked, confused. 

“Your future,” Eddie said, simply.

Steve sniffed and wiped away some more tears. 

“Thanks,” he whispered. Steve turned towards Eddie, “My next appointment is in a couple weeks if you would like to come?” 

Eddie squeezed his shoulder, tightening his grip on Steve.

“I’d like that.” Eddie was quiet for a moment, “I-if ok with you, I’d like to take you out sometime, like on a date.”

Steve felt his face heating up in a red flush. Eddie was looking anywhere but at Steve. 

“Yeah, I-I’d really really like that,” Steve said.

Eddie let out a breath he must have been holding in anticipation. He smiled a big goofy grin and pulled Steve closer to press a kiss to his hairline.

Steve smiled and leaned his head back to rest on Eddie’s shoulder. Maybe his future would be okay, just as Eddie said. 

***

Steve and his dad were cleaning up after the party. Melinda had retreated to her room in a huff after her husband shot her down, so it was just the two of them.

Steve was collecting the wrapping paper that was strewn across the floor. Elaine had gotten some pretty nice gifts. She got some toys, books, and clothes, but Steve thought Eddie’s gift was the most special.

Steve could tell by looking at it he had gone out of his way to find it. The gift was a small plush dragon. She was covered in soft light green fur and her wings and accents were pink. She had a big smile on her face and Steve could almost see a bit of a shimmer to her. Eddie had even written a little note which included the dragon's name (Gracie) and her backstory (she was a baby dragon who loved flowers and butterflies). 

Steve found it all to be so utterly adorable. Elaine was currently in her crib in their room (they had been sharing since they moved back in) with Gracie the Dragon. She had been very interested in her for all of two minutes before she became enthralled with the gift wrapping.

It’s ok though, Steve was excited enough for the both of them. 

“Eddie Munson got her a nice gift,” his dad said, startling Steve out of his thoughts. 

Steve shook himself out of his daydream, “Yeah, it was very thoughtful.” 

“He’s good with her, not many alphas would be so willing to be so open with another alphas child.” 

“Eddie’s not like most alphas,” Steve said. 

“I figured, that’s why you like him, right?” 

“I- wha- dad!” Steve said, getting progressively louder with each word. 

“Don’t act shocked, Steven,” his father said flippantly, “you like him. And based on the way he looked when your mother was talking about Tim- or whatever that guy's name was- he likes you too.” 

Steve was curious now, “Why would you say that?” 

“He was all squirmy and uncomfortable, angry even. He was trying to control his scent, but I could tell that he was very upset. He was enraged at the thought of you being introduced to another alpha.” 

“I don’t know if it’s actually like that, dad. I mean yeah, we’re having a kid together and he wants to take me out, but- I don’t know,” Steve finished with a sigh.

He knew he had feelings for Eddie, he was shocked to see that his dad had even picked up on that, but he wasn’t sure how the whole “date” thing would work out.

His dad looked at him incredulously, “He asked to take you on a date and you don’t know if it’s ‘like that’? He has taken a liking to you, Steve and I would not be opposed to having him as my son in law.” 

Steve was surprised. “Even with the long hair?”

“Especially with the long hair. Elaine likes to play with it.”

And with that, Steve’s dad was done with the conversation. His father might have been done talking, but Steve had a million thoughts going through his head  and one of which was “Can this really work?” 

Chapter Text

July 1986…

The day of Steve’s appointment was bright and sunny. The humidity was high and the heat was oppressive. The air was stifling, it was a lot for Steve’s body to take. 

Eddie’s recovery had been going well. He still got tired easily and his physical movements were still a bit restricted, but overall he was doing great.

He was even allowed to drive again, which was why he was picking Steve up to take him to the appointment. Steve had been driving less and less as time went on, his bump making it harder to get in and out of the car without help. 

They had gone on a couple dates since the party and Steve felt like he was tentatively able to say it was going well. He had fun when he went out with Eddie. He was surprised to find that they actually had stuff to talk about.

There really was something to the whole “shared trauma bonds people” thing. When they weren’t out with each other (and Steve wasn’t tending to Elaine) they were talking on the phone. They even kissed sometimes.

It was different from the desperate heated kisses they exchanged before, these were soft and gentle and full of feeling. Steve already had feelings for Eddie, but now he was full on falling for him. He just hoped that Eddie felt the same way. 

Robin was biking over in order to watch Elaine while Steve went to the doctor’s with Eddie. Steve was currently fretting over keeping her at home. 

“Come on, you can’t think I’m that helpless with a baby?” Robin snarked. 

“It’s not that I think you’re helpless, I just worry. I don’t want her to think I’m leaving her,” 

Robin gave him a deadpan look, “you’re going to the doctor’s, Steve.” 

“I know I just- I get like this every time I have to leave her. After the last time-” Steve choked back a small sob, “After the last upside down incident I just hate being away from her for more than two hours.”

Steve sighed, running his hand through his hair. 

“I get it, I think,” Robin said, one hand on Steve’s shoulder, the other holding Elaine against her hip. “But you’re only going to be gone for a liiiiiitle over two hours. You’re not going on a world tour.”

Steve gave he a look and went to respond when there was a knock at the door. 

“That’s Eddie,” he said, making his way to the door. 

“Oh Eddie’s here,” Robin said. Steve glared at her as he opened the door. 

“Hey Steve,” Eddie said, with a smile on his face. He stepped inside, “Robin,” he nodded.

Eddie’s eyes landed on Elaine and he visibly brightened.

“And there she is! The lady Elaine! What a pleasure it is to see you,” he said while bowing to the baby.

Elaine giggled and reached out for him. Eddie took her easily and hugged her close. 

Steve smiled seeing them together,“She really likes that dragon you gave her, she sleeps with it every night.” 

“Does she now? That is very pleasing to hear!” Eddie said, wiggling his fingers in her face.

Elaine smiled and hid her face against Eddie’s chest. 

“Ok, come here Lainey,” Robin says, taking the pup from Eddie, “Mommy and Eddie have to go to the doctor’s.” 

“Mama,” Elaine whimpered a bit. 

Steve went over and kissed her forehead.

“I’ll be home soon, lovey.”

Eddie rubbed her cheek before putting his hand on the small of Steve’s back, leading him towards the car. He helped him in and then got in the drivers side. Steve could feel himself tearing up. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Eddie asked, taking Steve’s hand. 

“She didn’t want me to go,” Steve said, wiping his eyes gently.

He felt Eddie rub his thumb over the back of his hand. 

“It’ll be ok, Stevie. We’ll be back soon.”

Steve knew Eddie was right, but he couldn’t help but feel more and more emotional these days.

Eddie held his hand the whole way to the doctor’s office and Steve was thankful for the grounding effect it had on him. 

The office waiting room was quiet. There were others there, but they kept their voices to a whisper.

After checking in, Steve and Eddie sat in the stiff chairs. Steve’s leg began to bounce from his nerves and Eddie once again took his hand and gave him a sweet smile. Steve found himself smiling back. 

“Steve?” A nurse called.

Eddie stood and helped Steve up before heading to the back. The nurse did all the typical things done at an appointment. She took his weight, his blood pressure, she measured his bump and all the other things one would expect.

Soon it was time to do the ultrasound. Steve was laying on the table with his shirt pulled up, exposing his stomach. 

“Ok this might be a little cold,” the doctor said as she spread the gel on Steve’s abdomen. “Ok here we go,” the doctor said.

She had the wand on Steve’s bump, moving it around trying to get the best view. She pressed some buttons and soon the sound of a heartbeat filled the room. Steve heard Eddie give a slight gasp before squeezing his hand. 

“Looks like everything is right on track,” the doctor said, pointing to the screen, “and it looks like the pup is facing in the right direction to finally see what they are. Would you boys like to know the sex?”

Eddie looked at Steve with hopeful eyes. Steve just turned the the doctor and nodded. 

“Yes please.”  

“Ok….here we go… we’ve got a… baby boy!” The doctor said.

Eddie looked absolutely thrilled at the news. He quickly turned to Steve and pulled him in for a bone crushing hug. Steve squeezed him back, but he couldn’t help the nervous feeling developing in his gut. 

***

After the appointment, Eddie insisted on taking Steve out. They were currently at a diner in Hawkins and Eddie was talking up a storm. 

“So we should really start thinking of names, I mean you’ll get final say, but I would really like to give some input-”.

Steve was not fully listening to Eddie. He did not know why finding out the sex of the pup was making him so anxious.

“-Steve?”

Steve snapped out of his thoughts and looked to eddie. 

“What?” He asked. 

“You’re completely zoned out, sweets,” Eddie said. 

“Sorry, I was just thinking.” 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Eddie asked, popping a French fry on his mouth. 

“I just-” Steve ran a hand through his hair, “I’m nervous.” Eddie looked perplexed. 

“About what?”

“I don’t know, everything? Finding out he’s a boy makes it feel super real and after how traumatic Elaine’s birth was, I’m just scared.”

Eddie looked a tiny bit confused. 

“I know you said your parents weren’t home and that she was born early, is that what you mean by traumatic?”

Steve chuckled to himself. 

“She was born six weeks early, I was completely alone. My water broke out of what felt like nowhere. I called 911, but she wanted out. I gave birth on my bedroom floor by myself. She wasn’t crying very loudly and then I passed out. Woke up in the hospital a day later.”

“Jesus…” Eddie murmured. 

“Yeah…” 

Eddie cleared his throat, “Speaking of being alone- or not being alone how would you feel about moving into my new trailer with me?”

Steve was stunned.

“I know it seems so soon, but we don’t have to share a bed, we don’t even have to share a room! The government gave us this whole new place with three bedrooms! It’s even got a screened in porch! I just think it will be easier for both of us to take care of the baby if we’re in the same space…”

Steve was still in a state of shock. Eddie had asked for him to move in, but did that invitation extend to Elaine as well? 

“I can’t leave Elaine,” Steve blurted.

Eddie’s face looks confused before it morphed into one of total mortification. He got up and kneeled beside Steve, taking both of his hands.

“Steve, I would never ask you to leave her behind. I’m sorry if I didn’t make myself clear enough, but I want you and Elaine to move in.”

Eddie looked so sincere, his eyes wide and wet. He was gripping Steve’s hands so tightly. Steve felt the tears starting to roll down his cheeks. Eddie reached up to wipe them away. 

“You mean that?” Steve asked, softly. 

“With everything in me. I want both of you,” Eddie’s words were heavy with his own tears. 

“Ok,” Steve whispered while nodding, “We’ll move in with you.”

Eddie stood and pulled Steve into a hug. His bump pressed against Eddie’s middle. 

“We’re going to be ok, Steve, all four of us.” 

***

It’s late July when Steve and Elaine finally move into Eddie and Wayne’s new trailer.

This new trailer overlooked a lake and was in what felt like the middle of nowhere. There were other neighbors nearby, but the trees lining the road that lead to the house, and the ones surrounding it loomed tall.

The other trailers were close, but they weren’t on top of each other, Steve was in love. His parents and the kids helped him bring his and Elaine’s stuff over to the trailer.

Eddie immediately had Steve sit on the couch while he, Wayne and Gary began to set up furniture.

Dustin, Mike, Will and Lucas were supposed to be unloading the boxes of Steve and Elaine’s stuff, but Lucas was currently chasing after Mike with a giant stick with a snake skin hanging off the end. Mike was shrieking while Dustin and Will laughed at him.

Robin sat next to Steve rubbing his sore back. Nancy and Johnathan were in the kitchen reorganizing all of the cutlery. Well Nancy was reorganizing, Johnathan was trying to keep her from micromanaging.

Hopper, Joyce and El would be over later with some groceries that they were picking up for the whole house. Steve had told them they didn’t need to, but Joyce just waved him off saying that she wanted too. 

“This big room is where Steve’s stuff can go,” Eddie said.

It was clear that the “big room” was meant to be the master bedroom. Steve quickly went to protest. 

“I can’t take the master! Wayne should have it.” 

“I don’t want it,” Wayne said, “you should have it, you'll need the space when you bring home a new pup in three months.” 

“Listen to Wayne, Steven,” his father said, “you and Eddie will need all this room when you have a cot with the new pup in there.”

Steve blushed at his father implying that he and Eddie would be sharing a bed, they still had not talked about that yet. Steve’s mother came out of one of the smaller rooms with Elaine on her hip. 

“Look at the lake, baby girl! We’re going to have to get you swimming lessons so you can be on the swim team just like your mommy!”

Melinda pointed at the lake while Elaine squealed and clapped her hands. She smiled and showed off her two bottom teeth. 

“Mom she’s one,” Steve said. 

“You can never be too prepared, Steve,” she sniffed.

Melinda looked out and spotted the boys fooling around. She quickly placed the baby in Robin's lap before going out.

“Boys!” She shouted, “Don’t roughhouse like that, you’ll get hurt! Now get in here and help me sort Elaine’s clothes.”

Lucas dropped the stick and all four boys had the sense to look a tiny bit ashamed. 

“Sorry Mrs. Harrington,” they chorused together, sounding like a group of school kids. 

“Your mom would’ve killed it as a teacher,” Robin whispered to Steve.

Steve huffed out a laugh and watched as the kids filed in looking properly chastised. Eddie came over and pulled Steve to his feet. He gently made sure Steve was steady before he led him to one of the empty bedrooms. 

“I think this should be Elaine’s room,” he said.

The room was a soft baby blue. The carpet underneath was plush. There was a window on the far side of the room, with a closet across from where Eddie had marked off for the crib. The room was at the end of the hallway and it was the second biggest room. 

“Eddie,” Steve said, “this should be Wayne’s room, it’s too big for one baby.” 

“I know,” Eddie started, “that’s why we’ll be moving the new pup in here with her once he’s old enough. This room will be for the both of them, for now at least. Someday we’ll have to get something bigger, you know, for those six pups you want.” 

Steve’s mouth dropped open in shock as he blushed, “You heard that?” 

“We all heard it,” Eddie smirked.

It took a minute for Steve to realize that Eddie was implying that they would be together long enough to have more kids together. His stomach flipped at the thought. Steve looked down as his blush deepened. 

“Ok, I think that’s a good idea,” he agreed.

Eddie beamed at him and pulled him into a chaste kiss. 

“Wayne is going to take the smaller room and I’ll be on the futon-” 

“What?” Steve cut Eddie off. 

Eddie blushed and began to rub the back of his neck.

“Er well, we haven’t really talked about whether we’re going to share a room- or a bed so I just assumed-”

Steve put his hand on Eddie’s arm to get him to stop rambling. 

“Eddie,” he said softly, “I think we should share a room and a bed, especially since this one is going to need both of us close.”

Steve laid his hand on his stomach. Eddie smiled and placed his hand on top of Steve’s. 

“Really?” Eddie asked breathlessly.

Steve just nodded. It was at that moment the baby decided to kick right where they were touching. Eddie let out a slightly hysterical laugh.

“Would you look at that? He agrees!” He then pulled Steve into another, deeper kiss. 

All in all it took most of the day to sort out Steve and Elaine’s stuff. After the work was done, Steve’s parents ordered pizzas for everyone and they spent a few hours talking and laughing with each other.

El was on the floor with Elaine, playing with some toys. She was just as enthralled with them as Elaine was. It made Steve’s heart lurch a bit because he knew that El had not had toys while growing up in the lab.

Hopper slapped his thighs.

“Well, I think it’s time for us to get going.” He stood and looked at Joyce, who also began to stand. “Nancy, can you take Dustin, Lucas and Robin with you and Mike?”

Nancy nodded and began to gather her things. 

“It’s time to go?” El asked, sadly. 

“Yes, honey, but we can still come back and visit Steve and Eddie when they invite us,” Joyce said. 

“And Elaine?” El asked with big eyes. 

“Of course, Elaine loves playing with her Auntie El,” Steve said.

El’s eyes snapped up to Steve before she broke out into a huge smile. She quickly got up and enveloped Steve in a hug. Steve squeezed her back as hard as he could. It was easier to get her to say goodbye after that. 

Next to leave were his parents. Melinda was already crying.

“I just feel like we’ve all gotten so close and I’m so afraid that things will go back to the way they were,” she said. 

“My door is always open and you can call, mom. We don’t have to go back to that, but you and dad have to make an effort.” Steve said. 

Gary put a hand on Steve's shoulder.

“We will, son. We’ll visit, we’ll call, we’ll be here. We know we messed up with being so absent when you were a child, but we are going to do better.” 

“We promise,” Melinda added in a small voice. 

Steve smiled and hugged both of his parents.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

His mother laughed wetly and squeezed him tightly. 

“Goodbye my love, Grandpa and I will see you soon,” she softly kissed Elaine’s head.

She was currently in Eddie’s arms, trying very hard not to fall asleep. Steve’s parents left soon after saying their teary goodbyes. Even stone-cold Gary Harrington had tears in his eyes saying goodbye to his granddaughter.

They drove off with Steve watching from the window, and with that began what may be the first night of the rest of his life.

Steve wasn’t as scared as he expected himself to be, he felt excited at the thought of what would come next, and that was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long long time. 

Chapter Text

The first few nights in the new trailer were off to a rocky start. Elaine was none too thrilled to be sleeping in a separate room from Steve.

Whenever she woke up and couldn’t see him, she panicked. Elaine was a good sleeper, but on the rare nights she wasn’t, it could be a bit of a shitshow. Luckily, Wayne still worked nights, but Steve felt awful about her waking Eddie up, especially with him still recovering. 

“Lainey please go back to sleep,” Steve whispered to her.

He was standing in her room bouncing her while she fussed. Steve was doing whatever he could think of to calm her, he scented her, he purred for her, but nothing was working. 

“Is everything ok?”

Steve looked over and saw Eddie standing in the doorway. His hair was a bit disheveled and he was rubbing one of his eyes.

“Everything’s fine, she’s just not used to the new place and is fussy. Go back to sleep, Eds.” Steve said.

Eddie ignored him and walked into the room, he gently took Elaine from steve. 

“Hey there little one, why don’t we give your mama a break, yeah?”

Eddie laid her against his shoulder, she immediately turned and buried her nose into his neck. Eddie then began to rumble from his chest. It was something alphas did to help calm their loved ones. Omegas would purr, while alphas would rumble.

His rumbling even began to calm Steve. Eddie could see Steve beginning to relax and quickly pulled him in. Steve tucked his face into the other side of Eddie’s neck and began to stroke Elaine’s back. The pup soon began to drift off surrounded by Eddie and Steve. 

“She’s out, sweets,” Eddie whispered.

Steve took Elaine into his arms and gently placed her in the crib. He pulled her baby blanket up to her chest and just watched her for a minute.

She looked so peaceful, one would never know that just an hour ago she was a fussy little rage demon. Steve smiled softly down at her as Eddie came up behind him. He pulled Steve against his chest and hooked his chin on his shoulder. 

“She’s gorgeous, I know, but you need to get some rest, Princess.” Eddie whispered into Steve's ear.

Steve nodded and they both headed back to their room. Elaine began to sleep much better after that night. 

***

August 1986…

“Are you sure you’re ok with watching her?” Steve asked nervously, “I can just cancel and go another time.” 

“Don’t worry about it, Steve. You need to get your blood pressure checked, I can watch the little bug for a bit,” Wayne said from his chair, Elaine cuddled into his side.

Steve’s doctor had wanted to keep a closer eye on him the further along he got. She wanted to make sure this pup was full term, hence the more frequent checkups.

The only issue was that Steve could not find a sitter this time around. Eddie had just gotten into a local electricians union as an apprentice, he would be training and getting paid all at the same time.

Steve had reservations towards Eddie going to work, he feared that it was too soon after getting out of the hospital. Steve had insisted that he could find another job, but Eddie was hearing none of it, not until after this pup was born and Steve was recovered.

It was August at this point and everyone had stuff going on, whether it was getting ready to go back to school or leaving for college. Steve was about to take Elaine with him when Wayne offered to sit with her. 

“I really can take her with me, I don’t want you to miss out on any rest,” Steve said, chewing anxiously at his lip.

He was determined to not be in Wayne’s way. 

Wayne just waved him off, “If I wasn’t able to watch her I wouldn’t’ve offered. Now go, I can handle her.”

Steve reluctantly left the two and went to his doctor’s.  Everything was fine and normal according to his doctor and the pup looked like he would be staying where he was for sometime. It put Steve’s mind at ease to know things were going ok.

When he got home later that afternoon, Steve found Wayne asleep in the recliner with Elaine conked out on his chest, her little hands tightly gripping his red and black flannel.

Steve’s heart swelled at the sight. Later that night, when Eddie got home Steve told him about Elaine and Wayne. The smile that spread on his face could light up a whole town. 

***

It’s August when he gets the call. Dustin’s on the line, frantically rambling to the point where Steve couldn’t understand him. 

“Dustin, Dustin, calm down! I can’t understand you man!” Steve said into the phone. 

“Sorry sorry! It’s just, Max is awake!” 

“I- what? When?” Steve asked.

“I'm not sure when she woke up, but Lucas just called me and told me that she’s up! He’s calling the others as we speak, do you think you can pick a few of us up so we can visit her?” Dustin pleaded. 

“Dude, what do her doctors say about visitors?”

It was silent on Dustin’s end. Steve sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“So you haven’t heard anything from her doctors?” 

“No, but-!” 

“No buts Dustin! No bombarding her with visits until her mom and the doctors give the ok, okay?”

Dustin made a disgruntled noise of understanding before hanging up. Steve immediately called Eddie to let him know what was going on, and to make sure Dustin doesn’t try and rope him into anything until they get the all clear to see Max. 

The all clear came about a week later, when Joyce let him know that she had spoken to Max’s mom.

The first few visits with the kids were filled with hugs and catching up. They all rushed to tell Max about how Eleven had taken down Vecna.

Eleven herself was just sitting on the bed with Max, delicately gripping her fingers in her hands. She had tears in her eyes and just quietly watched Max as she tiredly listened to the boys regaling tales from the final battle.

Max could only stay awake for so long before she would need to go back to sleep, so visits with the others only ever lasted about an hour before Steve was rushing them out the door.

Today was different though. Steve was going to visit Max with just Elaine. It had been months since Elaine had seen her Aunt Max and Steve could tell that Max wanted to see her niece in person. 

“Hey,” Max said, tiredly from her bed. 

“Hi, Max,” Steve said. 

“You brought her,” she smiled

“Yeah,”

Steve moved a chair as close to Max’s bed as he could. Elaine looked nervous in the hospital room, she had never really been in one before. She clung to Steve tightly, or as tightly as she could. He could hear her whimpering a bit.

“Hey, it’s ok, it’s ok” he hushed, brushing a hand over her head, “It’s Aunt Max, she used to play with you.”

Elaine just buried her face further into Steve’s shirt. 

“It’s ok, Steve, I know this is probably a lot for her,” Max said with a tired smile. 

“How are you feeling?” Steve asked. 

“Really happy I’m not dead,” Steve winced at that, “though everything is sore so,” Max shrugged. 

“I’m sure you’ve been filled in on everything from the guys,” 

Max snorted, “Yeah, can’t believe Jonathan, Will, Mike and El drove in a pizza van with Jon’s stoner friend all the way here.” Steve smiled.

“It’s one crazy story, though ours was also quite out there.”

Elaine started to slowly look away from Steve’s shirt. 

“Mama?” She asked. Steve looked down as she started to point in Max’s direction. 

“Yeah, you recognize her! This is Aunt Max!” 

“El,” she said. 

“Yup, from the pictures El showed you!”

El had been showing Elaine pictures of max. She was afraid that the baby would forget who Max was and she was determined that Elaine wouldn’t. The pup reached out towards Max. 

“Aunt Max can’t hold you right now, but you can see her,” Steve said while gently pulling Elaine’s hands towards him. 

“Ow,” 

“Yeah, ow. Aunt Max got hurt so she can’t play. We have to be gentle and quiet, like when we go to the library with Eddie and Dustin," Steve explained. 

“Steve, can you please turn her towards me, I just- I just want to look at her, while I still can,”

Max hadn’t lost all of her eyesight after Vecna, but what little vision she still had was enough for her to be classified as legally blind.

The doctors also suspected that she’d eventually lose all her vision by the time she turned thirty. It was also believed that she’d have mobility issues that may never fully recover.

It was hard for Max to hear that. She was so independent before, but now she would need help for the rest of her life and her pride took a hit. Steve turned Elaine’s face towards Max, who then began to stare intensely at her. Elaine looked back just as intensely. 

“She stares like he did,” Max said quietly. 

“She still has his eyes,” Steve replied.

Max gave a shaky smile and Steve gently took her hand. He could tell she was getting tired. 

“Can you guys stay, at least until I fall back to sleep?”

Her voice was so small when she said it. 

Steve lightly squeezed her finger tips and with tears in his eyes he said, “of course.”

Max smiled contently and closed her eyes. 

***

September 1986…

It’s early September when Robin’s college classes begin. She was going to Purdue and everyone was proud of her. There had been a small going away party at Robin’s parents’ house. Steve went and brought Elaine, who spent the whole time playing with Mrs. Buckley’s (fake, she assured) pearl necklace.

Mrs. Buckley was delighted to have a baby in the house and she didn’t want to put her down. Robin ended up having to (gently) wrestle the baby away from her mother just so she could get some “goddaughter time”.

It was sweet. Steve liked knowing that there were people out there who cared about Elaine. He spent a portion of his life wondering if anyone actually cared about him, so seeing his daughter get all the love warmed his heart.

Saying goodbye to Robin the morning she left was not easy. Steve had left Elaine with Eddie (Robin had said goodbye to her the night before, along with Nancy and Johnathan) so it was just the two of them on the front lawn of Robin’s house while her parents packed up the car. 

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do without you here,” Steve said. 

“I was just about to say something similar,” Robin sniffed, “you’re like, my third leg.”

Steve laughed at that before he began to cry.

“No, no, don't do that! Now I’m gonna cry!” Robin said with tears already falling.

Steve pulled her into a hug, “You be safe out there.” 

“Then your dumbass better be safe here,” she said, wiping her nose on his shoulder, “and you call me the second you feel anything, a twinge, a pain, anything . I want to be here when this one’s born.”

Steve just squeezed her tighter. “Sure, Robs, but you better not use my baby as an excuse to skip class,”

They were both looking at each other now. They burst out laughing and hugged again.

“Good luck,” Steve whispered. 

“Same to you,” she whispered back and soon after Robin left for her first semester at college.

***

It was mid September now and Robin had been away for a few weeks. The two called often and updated each other about their lives. They hadn’t been apart long, but the way they spoke to one another, one would think that it’d been years since they’d last been together.

Steve also found Nancy calling every once in a while to ask about Elaine. The pup had noticed that two of her aunts hadn’t been around as often and she was getting more and more upset.

Steve quelled this by having Nancy and Robin talk to Elaine over the phone. She recognized their voices and would “talk” back to them. She had taken to calling Nancy “Nan” and Robin was “Obin”, Elaine still not having mastered the “r” sound.

She also began to call for the other kids when she saw them. Most of their names were shortened, there was just one name she was able to say full and that was only because she was mimicking Nancy.

She’d babble a bit before letting out a high pitched, “MIIIIIIIIIIIKE”.

Eddie thought it was hilarious and he prompted her to say it all the time. Steve had tried on multiple occasions to teach her the proper way to say “Mike”, but the way Eddie threw his head back laughing each time she screeched only encouraged her to do it more. 

Eddie and Elaine’s relationship continued to grow. Whenever Eddie got home, he’d pick the pup up and swing her around, causing her to let out the sweetest giggles Steve had ever heard.

She still liked to play with his hair, and she was getting better at not pulling it. They were attached at the hip. Eddie liked to read to her, with all the pomp and fanfare he had while he was dungeon master. It was nice, they had a routine and they were settling in. 

It was late in the afternoon and Eddie had just gotten home. Steve was on the couch with Elaine. 

“Hey there little girl,” Eddie said, swooping down to pick her up from what was left of Steve’s lap.

She giggled as he sat down next to steve. Elaine had one of her fingers in her mouth as she smiled and squealed at Eddie’s antics.

“You will never believe that kind of day I had,” he said dramatically, dropping his head back.

This was the routine every night. Eddie would come home and tell Elaine an elaborate story from work that definitely did not happen.

One night he told her that leprechauns infiltrated the site he was on. Another said that one of his coworkers was secretly a vampire. Elaine was enthralled every time.

Steve wasn’t sure if she actually knew what Eddie was talking about, but the way she watched Eddie with big adoring eyes was enough for him to not discourage it. Eddie had one of his hands on Steve’s belly, the other held Elaine close to his side. She still had her fingers in her mouth when she began to babble back. She had a bit of spit on her face and there was drool all over her fingers. 

“Oh, sweets you need a napkin,” Steve said, straining to get up. 

“Hold on, I got it,” Eddie pulled his handkerchief out from his pocket and proceeded to clean up Elaine’s face. 

“Thanks Ed,” Steve smiled.

Elaine reached out and smashed her face into Eddie’s chest, rubbing her forehead against his shirt. 

“What’re you doing, bug?” Eddie laughed.

“Da,” she said.

Elaine had made sounds like that before when practicing her vocal skills. What she hadn’t done before was continue to say it while patting Eddie’s chest.

“Dada dada,” both Steve and Eddie sat there frozen, unsure of how to proceed.

Steve felt himself beginning to panic, what if Elaine had crossed a boundary? It was one thing to allow another alpha’s child around, it was another to accept them as your own. Steve feared that this would shatter whatever bubble Eddie was in and make him push Elaine away. 

“I-I don’t know where she learned that, I’m so sorry Eddie,” Steve said a bit hysterically.

Eddie looked bewildered. Steve quickly went to take Elaine back, but Eddie just pulled her closer and kissed the side of her head. 

“It’s ok, Steve. It’s more than ok.” 

“You’re not upset,” Steve said as more of a statement than a question. 

“Uh no no, I’d only be upset if you’re upset. I just don’t want to step on her biological father’s toes-” 

“You don’t have to worry about him,” Steve cut him off, “He’s dead.” 

“Oh shit, I didn’t- damn,” Eddie said. 

“He wasn’t particularly interested in her when he was alive either, but he only died a week after she was born,” Steve sighed.

“He wrote a letter to explain why he couldn’t be in her life after he met her, but that’s the extent of his involvement before-”

Steve cut himself off thinking of Starcourt. The flashing lights, the Russians, the way the mind flayer impaled Billy, it was a lot and he found himself tearing up. Eddie placed a hand on his back. 

“Hey, you don’t have to talk about him if you don’t want to.” 

“I watched him die,” Steve whispered. He could feel Eddie’s hand still. 

“Y-yeah I think I remember you saying something about that when you were saving my life,” Eddie chuckled a bit. 

Steve turned to look at him, “It was the Upside Down. I don’t know how much you’ve been told, but uh- the mall fire wasn’t exactly a mall fire.” 

“Oh shit,”

Elaine was playing with Eddie’s guitar pick necklace, completely oblivious to the heavy conversation going on around her. 

“There were Russians under the mall, I know this sounds completely insane, but they were trying to open a gate to the Upside Down. The Mind Flayer got out and possessed Billy Hargrove, who then went on to possess more people. The fire was caused by the Russian portal thing blowing up, most of the possessed people were melted and turned into a monster- except Billy. H-he was being used to keep us out of the way, but he broke free and held off the Mind Flayer enough for the gate to be closed. It stabbed him with its tentacles a-and he just bled to death.”

Steve had his head in his hands now, the memories becoming too much.

All of a sudden Eddie was kneeling in front of him with his hands on Steve’s knees, Elaine occupied with a toy on the couch. 

“Steve, Steve hey, come back to me,” he soothed, “Is Billy Hargrove her father?”

Steve nodded.

Eddie gently pried his hands away from his face, “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Steve, and I’m so sorry I almost put you through it again,” Eddie paused swallowed heavily, “I just wanted you to know that when you brought Elaine to the hospital after I woke up and you lied telling them she was mine I-I wanted it to be true.”

Steve startled, that was the last thing he expected Eddie to say. Eddie was still holding his hands,

“And I get it if you’re not comfortable with me being a father figure in her life, but if it’s ok with you, it’s ok with me.”

Steve began to cry, deep heaving sobs. Eddie just pulled him into his arms. He rubbed along Steve’s spine, letting him know he was with him. 

“Mama, ow?” Elaine asked from where she sat, her little pup scent going sour with distress.

Steve pulled away from Eddie and wiped his eyes. 

“No baby, Mama’s ok,” he went over and picked her up, “everything is ok.”

He kissed her forehead as Eddie pulled them both into a hug. 

“So is that a…?” Eddie trailed off. 

Steve nodded, “yeah, that’s- yeah.” 

Eddie began to laugh quietly while still holding Steve and Elaine

”You know, Wayne keeps joking about when I’m going to make an honest omega outta you.”

Steve pulled away slightly and swatted Eddie on the arm lightly. 

“Not till after this pup’s born,” he said with a blush.

Eddie beamed and let out an excited laugh. He pulled Steve (who still had Elaine in his arms) close and pressed their lips together.

Elaine laughed and clapped her little hands together. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but she could tell by everyone’s scents that they were happy, which in turn made her happy. 

Eddie tickled her under her chin, “look at that! Even Lainey-bug is joining in!”

He took her from Steve’s arms and  swung her around. 

“Be careful, Eddie,” Steve said with an exasperated smile. 

Eddie smiled and with a seriousness in his eyes he said, “I will always be careful with her, Steve.”

And Steve felt himself let go.

Chapter Text

October 1986…

According to Steve’s doctor he was due the second week of October. Because of his last experience giving birth, he was extremely anxious about this pup’s upcoming arrival.

The last week of September saw him starting to really nest. He stockpiled things from his friends and he always wanted Eddie and Elaine near. 

Steve was worried he was going to go early again, so he began preparing before October even started. He had been getting those fake contractions, the first time it happened caused him to panic and rush to the hospital. He was embarrassed when he found out what was actually happening and apologized profusely to the doctor. She just laughed and told him that it happened all the time. 

Eddie was a bit on edge as well. He was always calling the trailer when he was on break at work and he told all his bosses that he had a pregnant partner at home who was due any day now.

Steve and Eddie did everything they could to be prepared for this child, so why was Steve feeling so anxious?

At first he thought it was just the remnants of Elaine’s birth, but then he realized something else. When he would be going in to have this baby, he’d have to leave Elaine with a babysitter, and that scared him. He still has flashes of those first days, seeing her so tiny and small in the incubator. He’d find himself waking up at night due to nightmares where those weak cries faded out. He found himself holding Elaine more and more, just to calm himself.

Eventually he had to tell Eddie what was going on. Eddie just held him close and promised him that Elaine would be well taken care of.

They had enlisted the help of Wayne and Steve’s parents. Wayne lived with them so he was ready for anything during the day. When he was working at night, Steve’s parents were on call.

It set his mind at ease to have a plan for Elaine. He still spent the next several days with her close to his side, wanting to soak up the last few moments of it just being to two of them. 

***

Looking back, Steve supposed everything started early in the morning. He woke up on October 10th feeling like his middle was heavier. He had read that this meant that the pup had dropped and that he would probably be born within the next couple of days. He didn’t stress about it because he didn’t want to have another false alarm. “A couple of days” could mean anything from one day to a week and Steve didn’t want to put anyone in a panic. 

The day seemed to go by normally. Steve took care of Elaine, who was being particularly fussy today. It was almost like she was afraid of missing something.

Every time Steve tried to put her down for a nap, she’d fight it, telling him “no” and that she was “no tied”. Steve would just sigh and go back to rocking her. 

Eddie got home around 5:30 and Wayne headed out to start his shift at the plant. 

“Hey,” Eddie said softly as he leaned against the doorframe of Elaine’s room. 

“Hi,” Steve replied from the rocking chair. 

“Still won’t sleep?” Eddie asked, moving closer. Steve just shook his head. “How are you feeling?” Eddie asked. 

“I’m fine. A bit sore.” 

“What kind of sore?” Eddie asked with concern. 

“Kinda like how I felt the day Elaine was born, but it’s not consistent yet.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows and fixed Steve with an incredulous look.

Steve just sighed and rolled his eyes, “It’s not time to go yet, don’t worry. I’ll let you know when things begin to change.”

Eddie nodded and kissed Steve on the temple before stroking Elaine’s hair.

“Hey, bug. Why don’t you come here so we can let mom rest?”

Eddie gently pulled Elaine into his arms and kissed her forehead. She leaned her head against his shoulder and gripped his shirt. 

“Eddie, don’t let her go to sleep yet. I know she hasn’t slept all day, but if she goes now she won’t sleep through the night.” 

Eddie nodded and gave Steve a blinding smile, “I know the drill, sweetheart.”  

***

Things begin to change around 8:15 pm. Elaine was asleep in her crib and Eddie and Steve were in their bed. Eddie was reading while Steve kept trying to get comfortable. He kept shifting, trying to alleviate the pain. 

“You good?” Eddie asked, putting a bookmark in his book. 

Steve sighed, “it’s getting more consistent.”

Eddie’s eyes widened, “How consistent is more consistent? Should we get ready to take you in? Do I need to call your parents?”

Steve put his hand up to stop the flow of questions. 

“I want to wait a bit, contractions are still 15 minutes apart. The doctor said to wait until they’re like 5-10 minutes apart.” Steve paused for a moment, “maybe we could call my parents though.”

Eddie nodded and went to the phone. Steve could hear him talking quietly, but he was too focused on the pain rolling through his back and stomach.

“Eddie?” He called, “Can you call Robin too? Please?” When Eddie came back in, he sat down next to Steve and brushed his bangs out of his face. 

“I called your parents, your mom is on her way. Your dad will be here in the morning to let her sleep some. Robin says she’s on her way, but I have no idea how she plans on getting here, seeing that she doesn’t have a car or a license. Also called Wayne, to let him know what’s going on.”

Steve nodded as he felt another contraction starting. He felt his body tense, eyes squeezing shut as he took a deep breath. He gripped tightly to the blankets as he rode it out, moaning softly.

“Steve?” Eddie asked, “How far apart was that one?” 

“12 minutes,” Steve said quietly. 

“Ok,” Eddie said, eerily calm, “the second your mom gets here, we’re gonna head to the hospital.” 

Steve nodded, “Can you help me up? I want to check on Elaine.”

Eddie helped Steve to his feet and held him steady as they walked down the hall to Elaine’s room. She was out cold. Steve leaned over and caressed her cheek. Her brown hair was mused with sleep. Steve felt his eyes well with tears as he watched her sleep. She looked so peaceful. She had her hands over her head, her legs had kicked her blanket off slightly.

Steve often found himself just watching her breathe. It’s a habit he picked up when she was still in the NICU, which continued after she came home. Steve stood up straight and turned towards Eddie. He nodded and started to make his way to the living room. Eddie had Steve’s hospital bag packed by the door, ready to go. 

“Do you want to sit?” Eddie asked, standing behind steve. 

“No, I need to be up,” Steve said.

He was leaning over the back of the futon, swaying his hips slowly. Eddie came up next to him. 

“Would you like me to rub your back?”

Steve nodded. The back rub gave little relief, but it kept him grounded. Steve heard himself groaning lightly. 

“Steve?” Eddie asked. 

“I’m fine,” Steve bit through the pain.

He spoke too soon because all of a sudden the pain sharpened. Steve had his head resting on the top of the futon as he leaned over the back.

“Oh goooood,” he moaned. His breath quickened as pressure began to build. Eddie’s got his hands on Steve’s hips. 

“Get back,” Steve said.

“What?” 

“Step. Back, "Steve says, straightening.

Steve stumbles away from the futon and braces against an end table. The pain tightened before giving out. He gasped as he felt his water break. The fluid soaked his sweatpants as it formed a puddle on the carpet. 

“Oh my god,” Eddie said, “was that-” 

“YES,” Steve cut him off.

At that moment, Melinda walked through the door. 

“Steve? Eddie?” She called.

Her gray brown hair was up in a ponytail and she looked like she just pulled whatever she could out of her closet. 

“Mom?” Steve whimpered. 

“Oh baby,” she said, making her way to where Steve was still standing, braced against the end table. 

She rubbed his shoulder, “Your water broke?” Steve nodded. 

“I have to clean it up-” Steve started. 

“No, you need to get to the hospital. Elaine’s asleep?” Steve nodded again, “Ok, Eddie get him to the car. I’ll clean what I can.”

Eddie quickly started to help Steve towards the door. He had the bag slung over his shoulder. 

“You ready, sweetheart?” Eddie asked. 

“As I’ll ever be,” Steve replied. 

***

“Well Steve, it looks like you’re at 6 centimeters,” the doctor said from between his legs.

Steve had his head against a pile of pillows, his eyes pointed towards the ceiling. Eddie was beside him, holding his hand.

“You can get an epidural, but it might slow things down,” 

“I want it,” Steve said with no hesitation. 

“Ok, I’ll send in the anesthesiologist,” she smiled. 

“Looks like we’re in the final stretch,” Eddie said. 

“Yeah,” Steve said, absently. 

“I feel like I’ve been asking this a lot, but uh- are you ok?” 

Steve rubbed his hands over his face, “I don’t know, I’m worried about Elaine.” 

“Stevie, your mom is with her. She’s ok.” 

“That’s not what I mean!” Steve snapped. 

“Ok,” Eddie soothed, “Can you tell me what you mean?” 

“I don’t want her to feel abandoned. Everything’s going to change now and I’m afraid she’s- she’s,” Steve cut himself off with a sob, “I don’t want her to think I’ve forgotten her.”

Steve knew where this was coming from. He spent a huge portion of his childhood alone when his parents went away on business. He often felt forgotten, it would kill him if his daughter ever felt the same way. 

Eddie gently placed both his hands on Steve’s cheeks,

”She will never be forgotten about. We will do everything we can to make sure she knows that she is loved. There will be no replacing or forgetting, I know there won’t be, because you are an amazing mother to her. And you will be an amazing mother to this next pup. I know it.”

Eddie pressed their foreheads together. Steve knew he was sweaty and crying, but he didn’t care. 

“Ok,” he whispered.

Eddie smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Steve’s lips. 

The anesthesiologist came in and gave Steve the epidural. The pain subsided, but he still felt the pressure each time one rolled through. He managed to get a few hours of sleep. Eddie stayed by his side the whole time. 

Steve woke up around 5 in the morning to a lot of pressure between his legs. Eddie was dozing in the chair beside him. 

“Eddie?” He asked, shaking his leg a bit. 

“Hmmm?” Eddie said, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. 

“We need the doctor here or a nurse, something. Now,” Steve said between gritted teeth.

Eddie scrambled to press the call button. A nurse came in a few minutes later. 

“Is everything ok in here?” She asked. 

“There’s a lot of pressure and I-I,” 

“Ok, I’m going to get the doctor,” the nurse said, understanding immediately what was going on. 

Eddie took Steve’s hand and brought it to his lips, “It’s going to be ok, Steve.” 

***

“We’re at 10cm! We’re going to raise the bed and on the next contraction I want you to push,”

Steve had both of his legs in the stirrups. His knees were pulled so far back he felt like he could touch his ears with them. The back of the bed was raised a bit and he was laying back against some pillows. He held Eddie’s hand tightly, the other firmly gripping the bedrail.

“Ok, Steve, are you ready?”  He nodded. Chin to his chest he began to bare down with a drawn out moan. 

“…9 10! Ok good job steve, keep going just like that!” 

“You’re doing so well, babe, so well,” Eddie said into his ear.

The next contraction started and Steve curled forward and pushed. 

“Holy shit!” He cried.

Eddie was brushing his sweaty hair back with his free hand. Steve could feel where his fringe was flat against his forehead, soaked with sweat. The pain radiates throughout his whole bottom half and with each push Steve could feel the baby move further and further down. 

“I can see the head!” The doctor shouted, “just a few more, Steve! Let’s bring this baby to a crown.”

Steve bore down, feeling the burning sensation between his legs.

“Oh my go-AHHd,” he groaned. 

“It’s ok, just keep going,” the doctor encouraged.

Steve pushed again, gripping tightly to Eddie’s hand and the bed rail. 

“I can see the top of the head,” Eddie whispered to Steve.

He was going between watching Steve and watching the baby come out. A nurse took Steve’s hand and placed it against the wet lump protruding out of him. 

“That’s your pup, come on just a few more,” 

Steve sat up straighter and pushed as hard as he could.

“There’s the forehead!” The doctor said cheerfully. 

“You’re doing so good, so so good,” Eddie whispered against his temple.

Steve felt another contraction building. He pushed hard into his bottom as he felt the widest part of the head moving out. 

“Ok, the heads halfway out Steve, looks like the pup has got a nice head of dark hair,” a nurse said.

Steve took a moment to breath before gripping tightly to Eddie’s hand and baring down. Steve let out a startled scream as the head popped out with a burst of fluid. He could feel the blood and fluid sticking on his thighs as he breathed deeply, trying to catch his bearings. 

“Ok hold off on pushing, I’m just going to check for the chord, just pant now, Steve,” the doctor said.

Steve could feel her working between his legs. Eddie was by his side, helping him stay upright. He was getting tired and was starting to slump over. 

“You’ve got this, baby,” Eddie murmerred. 

“Ok it’s all clear, on the next contraction, give a big push steve! The worst part is over!”

Steve braced himself as he pushed. He cried out as he felt the first shoulder begin to breach his opening. 

“Holy fuck, he’s right there!” Eddie said in awe.

Steve groaned, giving a small push to get the other shoulder out. He was breathing heavily now, with sweat pouring down his face. The nurses were bustling between his legs, grabbing supplies and handing them to the doctor. 

“Last one!” The doctor called.

Steve mustered up all his strength, bringing his chin to his chest, he bore down as hard as he could. Steve moaned deeply as the baby slid out, drenching the bed below him with blood and amniotic fluid.

He was sweaty and uncomfortable, trying to catch his breath while staring up at the ceiling, but then he heard it. A strong mewling cry from between his legs. 

“It’s a boy!” The doctor said, lifting the baby up.

He was pink and covered in blood and vernix. His mouth was open as he squalled, arms and legs wriggling about. The baby was lifted from between Steve’s legs and laid against his breast. 

“Oh my god, hi baby” Steve said, with tears in his eyes.

The baby was still crying as he put both of his hands on his back, a blanket quickly placed over them both.

“Shh it’s ok, it’s ok,” Steve soothed.

The baby was covered in blood and goop, but he was so beautiful to steve. The strong wail he let out made Steve start to cry in earnest. He was so relieved to hear his baby breathing and crying so boisterously. 

“You did so good! You’re so amazing, Steve! Holy shit! I love you!” Eddie said, kissing Steve’s temple.  

“Would you like to cut the chord, dad?” The doctor asked as she put the clamps on it.

Eddie nodded and took the medical scissors. Steve was entranced by his baby. He just kept stroking the boys back, softly whispering to him. Eddie came over to Steve’s side. They looked at each other and kissed tenderly. 

“Eddie?” Steve asked. 

“Yes, sweets?” 

“I love you too.”

Chapter Text

He was born on October 11th, 1986 at 5:37am.

Unlike the last time, Steve did not pass out. He also didn’t tear this time, which was a shock seeing as this pup was full term and much larger than Elaine was.

It took a good half an hour for them to clean up the afterbirth and then check over the pup.

He weighed 8 lbs 3 oz., so he was quite a bit bigger than his sister.

Getting to hold him after he was deemed perfectly healthy, was an amazing moment. Steve couldn’t stop himself from crying as he looked at the little boy wrapped in blue. 

“He’s beautiful,” Eddie said.

Steve nodded as he continued to stare at his son, gently caressing his cheek. 

“We should probably name him,” Steve whispered. 

“We never really talked about that huh?” Eddie chuckled. 

Steve smiled, “No we didn’t.” 

“Well I was thinking, maybe-”

“No D&D names,” Steve cut Eddie off, “he has to live with it, apply for jobs with it, go to school with it forever.” 

Eddie made a face, “You’re no fun. What were you thinking?”

Steve rolled his eyes, “ I can be plenty fun, I just want him to have a name he won’t try to change at 18.” He paused for a moment, “Maybe Richard?” 

“Nah, makes me think of Nixon,” Eddie said, “What about Nathaniel?”

“That’s a lot,” Steve said. He contemplated the name for a second, “Nathan?” 

“Nathan,” Eddie said, rolling the name over his tongue. 

“We could call him Nate?” Steve added. 

“I like it, what about a middle name?” 

Steve got quiet for a moment, “I was thinking maybe, Edward?”

Eddie’s eyes widened, “After me?”

Steve nodded. Eddie tried to hide it, but Steve could see that he was tearing up.

“I- uh I like it. Nathan Edward.” He leaned down and kissed the pup’s forehead whispering, “welcome to the world, little man.” 

***

Steve’s parents, Wayne and Elaine came to visit around 10am, after Steve had fed the pup his first few meals and gotten some sleep. 

“Oh, Stevie, he’s lovely!” His mother said, holding Nathan in her arms.

Steve was in the bed with Elaine tucked into his side. She had been so happy to see him, practically bouncing out of Wayne’s arms to get to him. Steve had taken her and hugged her close, knowing full well that he had missed her too. 

“I’m proud of you both,” Wayne said, clapping Eddie on the shoulder.

Steve’s dad was peering over his mom’s shoulder looking at the baby. 

“He’s going to look like Eddie,” Gary said simply. 

“You don’t know that yet,” Melinda admonished. 

“Yes I do, I know these things.”

Melinda just rolled her eyes fondly at her husband. 

Eddie was sitting in a chair next to Steve, holding his hand.

“So he’s gonna look like me, huh?” Eddie whispered. 

Steve gave him a fondly annoyed look, “With how loud you are, there’s no way your genes weren’t dominant.”

Eddie just chuckled. 

There was a clattering at the door. 

“What the hell?” Gary asked.

All of a sudden the door burst open, revealing a breathless Robin. 

“I made it!” She said between heaves. 

“Robin? How did you get here?” Steve asked as Robin came over and gave him a hug. 

“Oh you know, the bus, a train and hitchhiking with some possibly sketchy people,” she said like it was no big deal. 

“Robin!” Steve scolded. 

“What? There was no way I was going to let Dustin meet the pup before I did.” Robin looked over, “Hi, Lainey!” She said picking up the toddler. 

“Obin!” Elaine said, excitedly. 

Robin squeezed her tightly, “oh I missed you so so so so much.”

Steve’s mom placed Nathan in Steve’s arms, “I think some people would like to meet him.” 

“Look at the baby, Lainey,” Robin said pointing to Nathan.

She sat down on the edge of the hospital bed so that way Elaine could get a closer look. 

“Baby,” she said. 

“Yeah, pup, this is your baby brother,” Steve said, “his name is Nathan Edward.”

Elaine reached out and touched the blanket Nathan was in. 

“He little,” she said. 

“You know Lainey, you were even littler once,” Robin said.

Elaine looked at Robin with wide eyes. Steve chuckled softly. 

“Yeah, but look at you now, you’re all big and strong,” Eddie said.

Elaine reached for him and Eddie gladly took her into his arms.

”Hello, sweet girl,” Eddie said, kissing her cheek.

Elaine giggled and hugged Eddie’s neck.

“I know, I missed you too, gremlin.” He said.

Steve smiled at the affection the two showed each other. Elaine put her little hands on Eddie’s cheeks, he made faces at her, causing her to let out peals of laughter.

Robin nudged Steve on the shoulder and gave him a knowing smile. Steve just laid his head on her shoulder, sighing in contentment. 

***

“I’m terrified we are going to mess this up,” Eddie said looking at the birth certificate. 

“Relax, I filled out Elaine’s just fine,” Steve replied.

Nathan was asleep in the cot by Steve’s bedside. Everyone had left for the day, so it was just Steve, Eddie and the baby.

Steve and Nathan would be discharged the next day and they all knew that once they got home, the kids would be descending on their house to meet the baby.

It was decided that the party would wait until they got home so that way there was more room for everyone. That didn’t stop Dustin from calling Steve’s hospital room phone so that way he could ask about the pup. He was very excited to hear that he was healthy and thriving.

Steve couldn’t wait to ask him about being Nathan’s godfather. He just knew that Dustin would be over the moon. 

“Ok so I print here and then sign it all fancy?” Eddie asked. 

“It’s pretty straight forward,” Steve teased. 

“What about his name?” Eddie asked. 

“What do you mean?” Steve replied, confused. 

“Well” Eddie said, sitting down next to Steve on the bed, “obviously his name is Nathan Edward, but what about his last name? I mean we could combine them.” 

Steve pressed his lips together in thought, “Just put Munson.” 

“You sure?” 

“Yeah,” Steve said, nodding. 

Eddie shifted a bit, looking anxious, “You know I think it would only be right if mother and son had the same last name.” 

Steve raised an eyebrow, “Munson, is this your weird way of asking me to marry you?” 

Eddie blushed, “Maybe?”

He turned and looked at steve in the eyes. Taking both of his hands, Eddie began to talk.

“I uh, wanted to ask you about something else too.”

Steve nodded, urging him to continue.

“I know we uh, we talked about letting me be a father figure for Elaine, but um I think we should do something different.”

Steve became concerned. Was Eddie about to reject Elaine because he had a biological pup now? If that was the case steve would walk right out of the hospital with the baby, recovery time be damned.
Eddie took a deep breath.

“I want Elaine to have my last name too, if that’s ok with you.”

Steve cocked his head to the side, “You want me to change her name?” 

“No- yes, ugh,” Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose, “I love Elaine and I would like to adopt her, but only if it’s ok with you.”

Steve’s mouth dropped open in shock. 

“You want to adopt her?” He said softly. 

“Yeah I uh, I think then if you and I mate and get married then we can all have the same last name- I mean I’d still love Elaine and see her as mine even if you don’t want me to adopt her, or if you don’t want to marry me or uh change her name-”

Steve put his hand up to get Eddie to stop rambling. 

“Yes,” Steve said. 

“Yes, what?” Eddie asked, confused. 

Steve rolled his eyes fondly, “Yes I’ll marry you, you idiot!” Eddie beamed, “and as for Elaine, I think we should wait until she can tell us what she wants, but if you truly are dedicated to being a father to her, I can’t see her ever saying no. She adores you Eddie and she’s already called you dad.” 

“So we’re gonna do it?” Eddie asked. 

“Yeah, we’re going to do it,” Steve replied. 

Eddie let out a quiet whoop before diving in for a kiss. Steve kissed back with just as much fervor. When they pulled apart Eddie stroked Steve’s lip with his thumb.

“I love you Steve Harrington,” he whispered. 

“And I love you Eddie Munson,” Steve replied, putting their foreheads together.

They sat there like that, their foreheads pressed together, with Eddie stroking Steve’s arm. Just the freak and the king, alpha and omega, friends and lovers. Steve knew in that moment that things were going to be ok and for the first time in a long time he felt at peace. 

The end.