Chapter Text
Every storyteller has an ending. This is his ending.
It has been almost nine months since his third book was released to the public. Another huge hit around the book seller charts, and another great paycheck was included for Michael Wheeler. But Mike had spent only three weeks on the book tour, much to his publisher's disappointment, and he refused to continue much longer. Claiming he had a personal obligation to attend to at home. But offered the news that the fourth instalment would come soon after he took a small break. He ended up completing a few online interviews from a local computer store, where he had to pay the shop owner to use his internet phone line, which was private. But eventually he went back into seclusion.
And so Mike was settled back into his comfortable, quiet life.
Today, Mike was arms deep in the nearby allotments' garden soil. Trying to find some potatoes that he could use for a meal tonight. This was where they grew a lot of their food. Kept fresh and natural. He had found three small spuds, but they were much smaller than he desired. Since El was pregnant, he had taken over the upkeep of her vegetable garden. With a little success throughout these months. El was clearly better at it than him. But it also could be due to the time of year, it was when potatoes were at their smallest. And as for Mike, all he had to do was give his best puppy dog eyes at some kind neighbours who would share some of their grown food if he were to ask.
Suddenly, a loud voice is calling him. Mike looks over and sees one of the neighbours waving at him, “Michael, your wife needs you”.
Mike stands up instantly and leaves his small collection behind as he runs over. “What is itㅡ? He asks.
“It's Ellie, the baby… I think -the baby is coming".
Mike looks towards his cabin home at a slight distance; the lights are flickering upstairs, and he gasps and starts to run.
He rushes to his home with a speed that is not common to him, as Mike hates running, but for her, he will. Eventually, he arrives at his home and gets inside. He can hear El groaning from upstairs. Mike kicks off his shoes and runs to the sink, quickly washing his hands and arms of all the mud and soil. Before running up stairs to the bedroom where El is. Half of her body is leaning over their bed. She is sweaty and groaning. Wearing a knee-length spring dress. Her fingers were gripping the bed sheets tightly.
Mike quickly comes over.
“El?”
El looks at him, a long trail of blood coming from both her nostrils. “Mike… It's coming.” She grips the bed sheets, letting out a disconsolate groan. “This baby is going to come –right now. I thought it was those Braxton-Hicks pains, but my waters just broke.” El briefly points to a small wet patch on the flooring and her discarded underwear.
Mike glances around as she starts to scream; the lights all begin to flicker around them. Mike, for a brief moment, panics; all those days studying books he read and videos he watched seemed to have gone from his head.
He rushes over, “Okay, okay…I got this…uh, you got this, El… I just need to-” he kneels beside her, lifting her dress to make sure he didn't need to catch it, as he had with one or two of the animals in the farm-yard recently. But then remembered what he had read the night before.
The overall plan was to have a natural birth, since they were avoiding all aspects of the hospital. They had no idea what would happen when she gave birth, either. And the fact that every electrical item in the house was flickering was a clear sign they were right to do so.
El huffs, “Mike, the pool”. She groans again.
“Yes, I know, honey, I just need to-”
Mike gives himself a personal slap to the face to get it together. Then tells her to get on the bed after laying a towel along it so he can check her properly. El does. Legs spread, Mike investigates. And his face is left in shock. The baby was already crowning. It was small, but a tiny dark mop of hair was clearly visible. She starts to scream again. “Mike, the pool now!”
Mike quickly rushes downstairs to the spare room, where a fitted-together homemade birthing pool is. Which he had spent weeks building. He checks the temperature. It's lukewarm. He turns on the small water heater. Everything is ready in this room. It had been for the past few weeks since her due date. There were fresh towels and baby items all neatly prepared. A pair of medical scissors and other items were also there for when Mike would have to deal with the afterbirth.
Also, there is Mike’s own pregnancy guide booklet, which he made while studying El for 9 months. To hopefully help in case they choose to have another one in the future. He learnt of her likes and dislikes. What she reacted to and didn't. What the baby liked and didn't. It hadn’t been a normal pregnancy.
Mike runs back upstairs, lights flickering as he joins her. El has her face shoved into one of the pillows as she screams again. He helps her come downstairs and into the room. El pulls off her dress, leaving only her comfortable, cropped bra on. And Mike helps her climb into the waist-high pool. Mike quickly takes off his socks, dirty jeans and top and climbs in also. The water is still lukewarm, but the small water heater is usually fast. El groans again. Leaning against the far end side that was designed for her. And grabbing at some ropes with handles to grip and squeeze, which her husband had added there for her. Since Mike’s hand would be busy helping her give birth to the child.
The water starts to warm up before the water heater shuts off at its comfortable temperature.
“El…” Mike says, her eyes landing on him as he gently strokes her stomach, which was more eased in the warm water. “When you feel that next contraction… just push, okay?”
El nods. Mike was her rock. He had taken his role as her husband so much better than she had thought; he had really grown since he moved here. He had studied pregnancy and how to have a safe home birth as if it were a college exam. She believed he would also be a wonderful father. He had faced every challenge with caution and grace. Every weird craving and bounce of emotions. Mike had remained by her side.
The heavily pregnant El feels that tightening and overwhelming desire to push and pulls in her legs and squats in the water. A contraction comes and goes. But she didn't push much.
Mike kneels inside the pool of water, which was just under his chin, as he moves closer to her. He smirks a little. The last time they were in this pool practising, they had a little too much fun.
“Hello again, Mrs Wheeler.”
“Not the time, Mike,” El whines.
Mike sighs, “Right! Right, I'm sorry, I was hoping to make you smile… okay, now remember- when you feel it, you need to push, push for me. Okay?”
El does as required, gritting her teeth and groaning, setting every single light in the house flickering. Mike reaches down to check. Hand observing where he had learnt. If someone had told his 13-year-old self he was going to do this one day, he wouldn't have believed it.
“The baby is really crowning now. The head is the worst part. Keep going”.
El reaches out to touch his face, breathing his name. Mike looks back up at her. “What?”
“Mike, we’re going to be parents.” For a brief second, she is smiling.
Mike grins back, “Yeah, we are”.
He leans in to give her a quick kiss. Eleven groans again. Lights are fizzling, and some are popping. She lifted an ankle onto his shoulder to ease into a new position. Mike brings her second leg up after they find it helps. She then screams louder, gritting her teeth together as she pushes through this next contraction.
‘Is it out yet?” She whines.
“Not yet, honey… I know this is hard and I really hope our baby comes quickly, but you have to keep going…okay? I don't have anything for the pain”.
El curses him, which is a rarity.
“You can call me every single curse word, I won't be offended,” Mike offers in the hopes that it will help.
Mike is trying to massage her belly now. On the next contraction, El ends up bending her knees over his shoulders, bringing Mike closer to her. Wrapping arms around his head.
“El, honey, I can't do this if you don't release me.” He laughs. His tone is more affectionate. She cups his face. A pout on her lips, “I can’t do it,” She sobs.
“Yes, you can. You have fought Demogorgons and a mind flayer, and you destroyed Vecna. You can so totally do this.” He kisses her, reaching his hands down. “Look, I feel the baby's head more… This is good. Just push honey, okay.”
El groans again. Mike ends up staying in this position blinding feeling his way through this. Until his wife finally released him. She curses as the next wave comes. Grabbing at the straps nearby.
Mike feels a change. Something round in his palms.
“Yes! That's it. The head is out,” he calls. “Come on, one more push”.
El uses the last of her energy, teeth clamped and screaming enough to make Mike’s ears hurt. Every light in the house goes out. And the very next second, Mike pulls the baby up from the water, placing it against El's chest. She starts to weep. Not from the pain but from joy. The infant was already screaming out its very first ever cry.
Mike smiles. Putting a towel around the infant, “It's a girl,” he says, his face now is awe of the tiny bundle, “We have a girl”.
…
Mike had only ever really loved one girl. And so it only felt fitting that, should he ever fall in love with another. When there could be a chance for him to love someone else whom he loved equally, if not more than El. It was because that certain person belonged to the one he loved first.
Sat on the floor in their spacious cabin home. Mike sits with his back to the sofa, his knees drawn up so his infant daughter can rest against them. Her tiny fists clamp both of his thumbs with the strength of a warrior.
Behind him, lying across the sofa, on her side and resting her head behind his shoulder, is El. Watching her two favourite people have quality time. Mike moves both his thumbs with those tiny fists clamped around them, to cover her small eyes before flicking them away.
“Pika-boo!”
The innocent and contagious laugh that rippled from the 4-month-old made both her newly made parents smile. El moved instinctively closer, resting her chin on Mike's shoulder. Who was bringing his gripped thumbs back over little eyes.
“Pika-boo!”
A second giggle left the small infant. A pure, delightful reaction to her new favourite game. Her laugh made every light in the house flicker.
“Pika-boo!”
This time, as she squealed out a shriek of joy, the few lights on in the small cabin brightened up before simultaneously popping and fizzling their last moment of life before becoming dead.
Mike and El look around in the now dark room. A soft ‘Oops,’ leaving the male's lips. “I should probably stop now,” he says as he subtly lets his little finger wipe the tiny trickle of blood that had dropped from the tiny one's nose.
“She's going to be just like her Mama,” El says.
Mike smiles, leaning his head against hers. As she kisses his temple.
“I think she is the best thing I've ever made.”
“You made?”
“Contributed to,” He corrects himself. “You made her. I just gave you all my best genes.”
El laughs, “What brown eyes, freckles and black hair.”
“Of course, they're the visible parts of me you fell in love with.”
El smiles, rolling her eyes. “What about your lips?”
“Oh, I didn't share them; they are only for you, okay.” This earns him a big smooch from his wife, who kisses him.
“Good”
“On the other hand, she does have your beautiful lips, so I don't mind”. He leans in to plant a soft kiss on the infant.
“Just wait till she's a teenager, with a boy in her bedroom, using her lips with that three-inch gap”.
Mike’s smile drops from his face. The thought disgusts him.
“Bedroom, no way. He won't even get that far. If any boy even attempts to touch her. Whatever he does to her, he will have me do back to him. If he holds her hand, I will hold his. If he kisses her ill kiss him. And if he ever thinks about -”
El leans in and whispers something in his ear.
Mike lets a grin spread across his face. “ No! Absolutely not!… Anyway, that doesn't count. You're my wife, and we are allowed to do that.”
His wife giggles, “So I can do it tonight?”
Mike smirks as he moves his daughter from his lap to his arm. Her now tired head fit the curve of his elbow perfectly. He gently lays his hand against her chest. Her small eyes close softly before she drifts into sleep. Both her small hands clamped onto both his little finger and thumb.
El slowly shuffles. And Mike turns his head, planting a soft kiss against his wife's forehead.
“I love you,” He whispers.
El pulls back again, not used to this affectionate side he apparently picked up. “Imposter,” She mumbles. Though the truth was, ever since they met again, he had never stopped saying it. But now it was a daily occurrence.
The new mother then leans in to touch her daughter. Finger touching her freckled cheeks. “How long till we can make more superbabies?”
Mike laughs in surprise. “Maybe let our little one grow up first.”
El pouts, “But we can still practice, right?” She whispers something else. That has Mike smirking like an immature teen. He nods, “Oh yeah, sure we can do that”.
…
While the storyteller's personal story was one of uniqueness. He never stopped telling new stories.
He had three beautiful children now. A daughter and two sons.
Who gave him all the ideas for every book he published? As time had moved on slowly, he was able to allow friends and family to return to his personal life. He reunited with all those he loved. And happily introduced them to his children. El also reunited with her friends. Under her new name, now as Mary ‘El’ Wheeler. Friends who were just happy that she was alive and living a life they had always wanted for her.
It didn't take long for them to see what life Mike now had. His eldest was his twin in many ways. An impossible attitude, but had a strength about her as she held her own. Mike found her confident in her powers, which replicated those of Els. He had a son who was a mirror of his mother. Innocent and kind, but in control of his slightly different powers. Always seeking Mike's guidance on how to be safe. He could create powerful illusions and scenes. Which Mike had sometimes used for story ideas.
And lastly, their youngest. He had both gifts from his elder siblings. With an extra gift of invisibility. Which gave both his parents much grief when playing hide and seek as a young child. El wanted nothing more than for them to live a normal life. And Mike raised them accordingly as though they were the Clark Kents of the world. If they so choose to be a hero, they have to be smart.
As they gather around the small fire in the garden, Mike smiles at his friends who are here for an overdue reunion.
“So Mike… the Storyteller finally got his happy ending?” Will asked him.
He chuckles. “You could say that… but I still have much more room to add extra chapters in my life”. He briefly glances over at his 13-year-old daughter. Who hasn't stopped staring at Max and Lucas's eldest son, who was a year older, making the same admiring love heart eyes looking back at her. He'll make a note to never leave them alone. El comes over, sitting beside him, taking his arm and hugging it tight. She had just learnt some great news.
As the night sky turns black, his friends travel to their booked rooms for the night. Mike sits at his new laptop with the final draft of his final book. It was the 6th instalment of the book series.
He only had two words left to type.
El enters his room, sitting in his lap. Wearing a much more fitted outfit as a mother of three, some thick, fluffy pyjamas that her husband finds soft as he strokes along them, El is briefly distracting him now. Leaving Mike to kiss her neck, the only skin he sees.
“Are you finished yet?” She pouts while humming at the way he suckled her skin.
Mike looks up at her.
“Yep, completed the Epilogue, just have to write the last part”.
“Okay, good, I hope this one sells because we're really going to need the money for our baby.”
Mike frowns. “We are? I put enough away for each of their college funds. What would they need more money for?”
El smiles at him. Taking his hand, putting it gently on her stomach, “This one.”
Mike looks at her. A genuine surprised look on his face. El smiles. The author lets out a laugh. What a surprise it was. He was sure they weren’t going to have anymore. But he guesses one more couldn’t hurt.
As Mike hugs her with one arm, he drags his fingers across the keyboard.
‘The end,’ he types.
He thinks for a second. And adds two more full stops and more letters.
‘The end…or so they thought.’