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Richie Tozier turned down the radio slightly as he pulled into the parking lot of the school his daughter attended. She was nearly halfway through her second-grade year at Derry Elementary, the same school Richie had gone to during his childhood, and the same school that, coincidentally, employed the man he was dating. He pondered over the last ten months as he found a spot at the end of the carpool line and let the car idle, spewing exhaust into the frigid December air.
He’d met Eddie in January of the previous school year after an incident with his daughter Sarah, one that required he come retrieve her early. A random asthma attack suffered by Sarah during recess one below-freezing afternoon had been the initiation of a whirlwind, secret affair during which Richie had fallen hard and fast for his daughter’s first-grade teacher--and he’d fallen just as hard in return. Once the school year drew to a close, meaning that they could be in the open about their relationship, everything had become much more routine and didn’t cause Eddie weekly panic attacks, something neither of them could complain about.
Richie chuckled to himself softly as he unbuckled and got out of the car, movement catching his eye caused by a mass exodus from the building, nearly three hundred kids all under the age of twelve were now swarming the sidewalk out front, waiting for their rides, chatting in small circles; all of them eager to get home for the Christmas break. Richie bobbed and weaved through the small bodies, trying not to knock anyone over, scanning the crowd for Sarah. He found her standing with her class, her gloved hands clutching a book up by her face, her green eyes poring over the words rapidly, magnified behind a thick pair of glasses.
“There’s my little bug,” Richie called out as he bounded over to her, scooping her up in his arms and planting a kiss in her dark curls.
She squealed. “Daddy, we talked about this!” She exclaimed through laughter, pushing her glasses up on her nose. “Now, put me down or else I’ll tell Eddie and he’ll yell at you.”
Richie mock gasped, “Don’t even joke about that young lady, we both know he would.”
She raised her eyebrows, a mischievous look on her face, “Mhm.”
“Alright fine, fine,” he said, groaning overdramatically as he put her back down. “You’re getting too heavy for me to do that anymore.”
“Good!” She turned on her heel to find Eddie, not bothering to look back and check if Richie was following. He shot a wave at Sarah’s teacher, a sweet old woman who absolutely adored her, and he wished her a good vacation before breaking into a jog to catch up with Sarah, already standing at Eddie’s feet.
“You better watch out for that Mrs. Harwell,” he joked as he approached the two of them. “She’s a stone cold fox, I may just leave you for her any day now. You know I’ve got a thing for teachers.” Richie leaned in, placing a soft kiss on Eddie’s lips.
Eddie pulled back after a second, blushing. He muttered, “Hi.”
As Eddie cleared his throat and looked around sheepishly, he caught the eye of the principal, who raised a single eyebrow at the pair of them. “Really guys?”
Richie smiled at him mischievously, “Big Bill. We’ve talked about this! And we recently reread the policy. It just says that he can’t date me if my kid is in his class. She’s not anymore.”
They watched as Bill rolled his eyes. “I know, but you could at least... Whatever.” He closed his eyes and sighed before turning around, walking away without another word, rubbing at his eyes under the wire-framed glasses he’d recently started wearing. Eddie had commented one day that he thought they suited him, although Richie contended that they aged him too much.
Richie just shrugged at Eddie, a stupid grin on his face. “You can come over whenever you’re done, I’m dropping her off at my parents’ house around 4 for a sleepover,” he said as he reached down to ruffle Sarah’s hair.
“Okay! I actually was wondering if. Well. My mom called me earlier, and you know how she’s been on my case about not going home for Thanksgiving. Um. Would you maybe want to come with me to Bangor to have dinner with her tonight? You definitely don’t have to though.”
Richie smiled, a toothy grin that he usually wore when he was about to make a joke, but Eddie knew he meant it to be more sincere than it was coming across. Just a few weeks earlier, there had been a night where Eddie had had a particularly nasty fight with her over the phone about not being home for the holiday, and Eddie had just broken down and told Richie everything. He had been born prematurely, only four and a half pounds when he came into the world. After the death of his father before he’d even grown to be six months old, his mother had made it her mission--obsession--to do everything in her power to make sure he never got hurt, was never at any risk of getting sick, nothing that could put him in even a lick of danger. When she had begrudgingly sent him to kindergarten, it had been a traumatic experience for the both of them. She had already been extremely hesitant to leave him in the care of public school providers, but had no other choice due to their lack of income, just living off of what was left behind after the death of her husband. Eddie, at five years old, had never once been under the care of anyone besides his mother. He had a host of ailments, mostly due to his incredibly sensitive immune system: once brought home from the hospital, he didn’t leave the house again for almost three years. His mother had been terrified of getting him ill, and in doing so, made him more predisposed for it. The asthma would have been easy enough to deal with on its own, but due to his body’s severe response to many allergens stemming from his lack of exposure, and due to the anxiety his mother surrounded it with--in turn exacerbating Eddie’s own fear of it--the disease had become a nightmare. She had carried this extreme version of parenting throughout Eddie’s entire life, affecting everything from his friendships to his school attendance. When he’d moved to Derry, it hadn’t been on the best of terms, and he’d been avoiding a visit ever since.
“I’d love to join you, Eds,” Richie replied, “How could I make you face her alone?” The smile on his face now a bit more sincere, his eyes soft and warm.
Eddie smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Rich. I’ll go home and change and stuff then pick you up at like 4:30?”
Richie nodded and leaned in to place another kiss on Eddie’s cheek. With that, he whisked Sarah away to the car, both of them conversing back and forth in some new voice Eddie had never heard before. He smiled as he watched them go, Sarah skipping ahead of Richie towards the car in her bright pink dress and matching snow boots.
“Dude. You are so whipped.” Eddie heard Mike’s voice beside him and turned to face him, scowling. Mike Hanlon was Eddie’s best friend, they’d met shortly after Eddie had started working at Derry Elementary. He was the art teacher at the school; he was mild-mannered but with a biting sense of humor--Eddie had immediately taken a liking to him. The two of them spent a lot of time with Bill before he’d been promoted to principal, and were now close enough to give him shit about being their boss.
“Whatever.” He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
Mike’s voice took on a softer tone, Eddie looked over to see an almost sad look on his face as he said, “So... did you ask him?”
“Yeah, just now. He’s gonna come with me.”
“Does he know she doesn’t know? Does he know about the whole...” Mike trailed off, still quiet.
“No. And no.”
“Oh. Are you gonna--”
“Yes, Mike! Obviously, I’m going to tell him. I’m not going to pretend he’s my friend or something when we get there.” Eddie put his head in his hands and rubbed at his eyes. “Sorry. I’m just freaking out.”
Mike put his hand on his shoulder, “It’s okay. Just let me know if you need anything from me.”
Eddie nodded. “Thanks.”
Two hours later, Richie was climbing into Eddie’s passenger seat with a bottle of wine for his mom. He looked nice in a pair of dark slacks, a light blue button down and tan suede shoes. He had topped the ensemble off with a tie that was printed with some heinous floral pattern--but it still somehow worked with the outfit.
“Oh, you didn’t have to get her wine. God knows she doesn’t need it,” Eddie said as Richie settled in and put his seatbelt on.
Richie looked over at him, letting his curls bounce around his face as he turned his head. “Well, Eds, how else am I going to get her in bed with me?”
“I fucking hate you,” Eddie replied as he put the car in reverse. Richie just chortled next to him, proud of his obnoxious joke.
After about fifteen minutes of Richie fiddling with his phone to find a good playlist and rambling on about his day, he turned to Eddie. “So is she gonna go all Munchausen-by-proxy on me too?”
Eddie gripped the steering wheel, trying to relieve the pressure on his head from clenching his jaw. “She was just trying to help. She just got scared. It’s scary to have a sick kid!”
Richie looked over at him, eyebrows raised over his eyes, which were warm in the fading light. “Listen, I understand that struggle. Sarah having asthma is literally the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me. But you don’t need to justify her actions just because of that. I don’t act that way to Sarah even though it does scare the bejesus out of me. The kid can barely breathe normally as it is, I don’t wanna suffocate her.”
Eddie nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on the road. “You’re right. It’s just… hard.”
“Yeah I get it, she’s your mom. But you don’t need to rationalize her behavior to yourself just because of whatever you think she went through, I have first-hand experience with it and it doesn’t have to be like that. But you managed to come out of all that shit relatively well-adjusted because you’re strong as fuck. I love you, Eddie.”
“I know you do,” Eddie replied, blinking tears out of his eyes and smiling. At this, Richie reached out and softly punched Eddie’s shoulder, jostling him slightly in the driver's seat. Eddie mock gasped in response. “Richard! I am driving.”
“Oh god, you sound like my mom.” Richie laughed.
Eddie sighed and instinctively reached a hand up to smooth down his hair. “So… There’s some things I should tell you about my mom before we get there. That you don’t know yet.”
Richie smiled. “Hit me with your worst, Kaspbrak.”
Eddie took a deep breath and tightened his fingers around the steering wheel, the knuckles going white. “So obviously you know about how controlling she was with me when I was a kid, but it got worse before I left for college. She had almost started letting up a little around my junior year of high school--she was helping me look at colleges, it even seemed like she was going to let me move out. I figured, she trusted me more then than she ever had, so maybe I should trust her too. I told her...” He sighed. “When I told her I was gay she just... didn’t react to it well at all.”
“Oh god...” Richie whispered.
“How did your parents take it?” Eddie asked, brows furrowed.
“Well... honestly, we never really talked about it. I’ve only dated two people in my life--you and Sarah’s mom. I definitely slept around a little in college, but they didn’t need to know about that. And I haven’t really been with anyone since I had Sarah. So when my mom found out about you she was mostly mad about me being an idiot and dating my kid’s teacher, not that you were... you know. You.”
Eddie nodded. “Well...” He bit his lip. “My mom lost her shit. Went off about how it was because my dad died when I was young and I never had a father figure, and about how we should have gone to church more. She even looked into conversion camp, but I was weeks away from turning 18. She knew I’d just run away. So she just kind of... never brought it up again. When she calls she asks if I’ve been dating any girls. And I lie.” He looked over across the car at Richie. “Rich, I’m--”
“Don’t apologize. Do not. We don’t have to do this tonight, we can just pretend.”
Eddie let out an exasperated breath, “No! I’m sick of pretending with her!”
Richie turned to face him, a challenging look in his eyes. “Then let’s do this.”
They arrived a little before 6:30, just shy of the time Eddie had told his mom he’d be arriving. As usual, he’d planned down to the minute, and he knew they’d arrive exactly at 6:30--not a minute late, not a minute early. Over the years he’d come to the conclusion that it was best to spend as little time with his mother as possible. As they got off the highway, the closer they got to Eddie’s house the more nervous he got, his knuckles white on the steering wheel as they drove through the picturesque neighborhood Eddie had grown up in. Most of the trees were now bare, the only ones that still had foliage were the tall pines, their dark leaves casting a stark contrast against the white of the snow that laid on the ground. It looked like a movie, and, Eddie thought, what was about to happen may as well have been a god damn movie. As he was making one of the last few turns before his street, he thought of what he’d said to his mother on the phone the night before: “Mama, I… uh… I met someone.”
“Well, sweetie that’s great!” His mom had replied ecstatically. “What’s her name?”
“Um,” he had swallowed thickly, “You’ll find out tomorrow? At dinner? If you want. I know I told you I wasn’t gonna come, but...”
She had gasped, Eddie could picture her facial expression perfectly: her round, full cheeks turned up into a smile that looked more like a grimace, the poorly done lipstick smudged onto her teeth. “Oh, Eddie-bear. That would be amazing! I can’t wait to meet the girl who’s good enough for my Eddie.”
“Mhm, Ma. See you tomorrow,” He had wheezed out quietly, his chest already tight from anticipation, a feeling that had just continued to get worse in the last twenty-four hours. He had hung the phone up quickly, trying to steady his heart hammering hard in his ears, trying to keep his panic to a minimum--just the same as he was doing in the car as he turned onto his street. As they crawled closer and closer--Eddie was driving the car almost fifteen miles an hour at this point--he just focused on steadying his breathing and slowing his heartbeat.
He pulled into the driveway and turned to face Richie. “This is it,” he whispered, his voice shaky. The house was a modest-sized brick colonial house. It was almost cute; very picturesque with the snow gracing the mansard roof. He hadn’t been in the house since he’d moved out nearly four years earlier. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he turned the car off, pulling the keys out of the ignition slowly with shaking hands.
Richie leaned across the center console of the car to grab both of Eddie’s quivering hands and envelop them in his own large ones, wrapping his fingers tightly around them in attempt to quell the trembling. “You got this, Eddie. You don’t have to be who she thinks you are, show her who you actually are.”
Eddie nodded solemnly before taking a deep breath and unbuckling his seat belt “Alright, let’s go.”
The “dinner” ended up lasting about fifteen minutes, ending with Eddie storming out of his childhood home, dragging Richie behind him. About an hour later, the two of them were back in the car, silence filling the small cabin of Eddie’s sedan. Richie was driving this time, Eddie was sitting in the passenger seat trying to calm himself down.
“She just makes me so,” he took a puff from his inhaler, “fucking furious.”
“It’s okay, Eds. Just chill out on that thing, you’re gonna like.. OD or something.” He reached across the center console to try to hold one of Eddie’s hands, which were now shaking with rage rather than anxiety.
Eddie pulled his hand away and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and raking his fingers through his hair. “I’m fine.” He took a shaky breath, “Fuck. I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me but I just can’t handle her anymore. I used to be able to be so calm around her.”
Richie sighed as he turned onto Eddie’s street. “I don’t know how. I’ve interacted with her for fifteen minutes, I can’t imagine twenty-seven years of that.” He chuckled. “I can’t believe she called us sinners... Is she literally quaker? I didn’t realize people still talked like that.”
“You lived in California too long, dude.”
“Alright fair point.” He turned into Eddie’s driveway and turned the car off. The lights came on, illuminating Eddie’s face which was still red and tear-streaked. Richie looked over at him, his head still in his hands and his eyes focused on his feet. “What do you say we just get some pizza and watch a stupid movie?”
Eddie looked up at him and nodded, cracking the first smile Richie had seen from him since he’d gotten in the car almost three hours before. Eddie groaned. “I was supposed to go home for Christmas in three weeks. No way in hell am I doing that anymore.”
Richie cupped Eddie’s face in his hands, letting the keys dangle in the ignition. “Well hey, you can just spend Christmas with my parents if you want, Sarah would love it. And my mom really wants to actually hang out with you.”
Eddie could feel tears welling up in his eyes again as he nodded back, happy this time rather than angry. Richie pulled him closer and kissed the top of his head, lingering for a few seconds and just listening to Eddie’s now steady breaths. In the quiet, Eddie whispered, “I love you.” Richie smiled into his hair.
“You too. Endlessly.”
The few days of break that followed were uneventful, most of them spent snowed in, the three of them curled up on the couch watching dumb Christmas movies. On Christmas Eve, Sarah woke them up with the bright idea to make cookies for dinner that night, deciding to share her brilliant plan with them at six in the morning. She bounced into Richie’s bed and landed just in between the two them, her sleep-messed curls bouncing and falling around her as her head hit the pillow.
They both slowly opened their eyes, Richie let out a loud, long, exaggerated yawn. “Yes?”
“Can we make cookies today? To bring over to Mags and Granddad’s?”
Richie rubbed at his eyes, pushing his glasses over them to check the time on the small clock that sat on his bedside table. “Sure, honey. But that’s in eleven hours. We have more time for sleeping.”
“ Ugh ,” she groaned, making a show of it. “Fine. Can I stay here though?”
“As long as I get to go back to sleep I don’t care,” Eddie replied drowsily from her other side.
“Yay!” She exclaimed, scuttling under the covers quickly and handing her glasses to Richie, who placed both of their frames carefully on the bedside table before pulling her in tight and placing a soft kiss in her messy bedhead.
After a reasonable amount of time had passed, Richie woke up once the light broke through the window, and he opened his eyes to be met with a set of bright green eyes only a few inches away from his own. “My god, Sarah.”
“About time! I’ve been waiting for ages ,” she replied, her lips pulled back into a grin, revealing the two teeth she was missing.
He peered above her head and squinted across the bed to see a still fast-asleep Eddie, a slight frown on his face even though he was entirely unconscious. God, he loved him so much. “Eds,” he whispered, to no avail.
Sarah flopped over and nestled herself in between Eddie’s arms, which were pulled in tightly up against his chest. “Eddieee,” she sang out, nudging his chin with her face, to which he replied with just a groan.
“Fine, fine. I’m up. Happy?”
“Your eyes aren’t even open, silly!” Sarah replied, giggling.
He wrapped his arms the rest of the way around her and squeezed tight, grinning. “Well, you better watch out, even with my eyes closed I could still take you.”
She squealed with laughter, squirming out of his grip. “I may be blind right now but we both know I’d pummel you,” she replied, punching her fists into his stomach.
“Alright alright, I’m stopping this before someone gets kicked in the face. Again,” Richie said, reaching between them in attempt to break it up.
Eddie laughed as he sat up, “You’re just butthurt because that was you and you got beat up by a seven-year-old girl.”
“Yeah!” Sarah twisted around to face him and stuck her tongue out.
“Mhm,” Richie grumbled, handing Sarah her glasses, the lenses almost as thick as his were, held by a set of soft pink frames. “Now go brush your teeth, young lady.” He watched her scoot out of the bed and hop off the end before sprinting full speed into the bathroom that lay between their bedrooms.
He chuckled as he lay back down, resting his head against the pillow and turning slowly to smile at Eddie. “Morning, beautiful.”
Eddie grinned, “Good morning, my average-looking lover.” He leaned forward to kiss Richie softly, both of their lips still pulled back into smiles.
“You wanna make cookies today?”
“Well, seeing as it’s 8:45 in the morning, we should probably eat breakfast first.”
“Boo, you’re no fun,” Richie replied, rolling over to sit on the edge of the bed. “Okay so dinner is at five tonight, then I’m gonna go pick up the surprise from Stan’s after we get home and put Sarah to bed.”
Eddie chuckled, “You can just call it the puppy, she’s not in here.”
Richie gasped, “She could hear though.”
Eddie punched him softly in the lower back. “I’m surprised Stan agreed to keep a puppy at his apartment, even for the day.”
Richie shrugged, “Eh, I’m sure that was mostly Mike on that decision and Stan just went along with it.” Richie made the sound of a whip cracking as he stood up, stretching.
“Oh shut up you don’t have any room to talk,” Eddie retorted, giggling.
Richie turned around, a thousand-watt smile on his cheeks, “Well yeah, but Mike isn’t as cute as you are, Spaghetti.”
Eddie grinned. “Shut it.” He rolled out of bed and retrieved his jeans which were sitting folded neatly on Richie’s desk.
As he slipped into them, Richie said, “You know you really gotta start keeping a few more clothes here, people are gonna think you only own like two shirts.”
Eddie shrugged, “This coming from the man who has the three of the exact same pair of black jeans.”
“Hey! They make me look hot, I don’t see you complaining,” Richie shot over his shoulder as he walked out of the room, heading towards the bathroom. “You can give me shit when I can’t feel you undressing me with your eyes every time I leave a room.”
“Hate to see you leave…” Eddie started, a grin slowly growing on his face as he stood in Richie’s room.
“Exactly, my love.” Richie turned his head to wink before turning the corner.
When he returned a few minutes later with teeth brushed and contacts in, he began rifling through his dresser for something to wear. He opted for a pair of dark gray joggers, throwing on the band tee he’d been wearing the day before after giving it a hearty sniff, at which Eddie turned his nose up in judgment. The three of them ate breakfast together at the small table off the kitchen, a routine that they had adopted over the last few months. Eddie and Sarah sat opposite each other, each with a bowl of cheerios. Richie opted for peanut butter toast and about a gallon of coffee, eating with one hand while the other was slung over Eddie’s shoulder.
“I was looking around, I’m pretty sure you guys have enough stuff here to make cookies,” Eddie announced after he’d finished his cereal, nestling into Richie’s side.
“Cookies!” Sarah exclaimed, dropping her spoon into her bowl accidentally, a loud clang sounding from the ceramic bowl.
Richie reached across the table to ruffle her hair, “Careful, bug. If you spill milk everywhere I’m not cleaning it up this time.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, her eyes mischievous. “I’m done anyway. Cookiescookiescookiescookies--”
Her chanting was cut off by Richie picking her bowl up along with Eddie’s bowl and his plate and taking them to the sink. He turned around, a playful look in his eye. “Did I hear someone wants to make cookies?”
Sarah’s hand shot up in the air, she leaned to one side to raise it up even further.
Richie pretended to look around, squinting his eyes. “Hm, that’s a shame. I don’t know if I see anyone in here who wants to make cookies…”
Sarah looked over at Eddie, a perplexed look on her face. “Why do you like my dad, Eddie?”
“I don’t know, honestly. What a loser… ” Eddie joked, standing up and crossing the kitchen to wrap his arms around Richie’s waist. He craned his head up to grin at Richie, placing a small, quick peck on his lips.
Sarah began to make faux-vomiting sounds from the kitchen table. “Nasty,” she yelled.
Richie laughed, “Okay, sorry. Cookies?”
“Mhm!” Sarah exclaimed, nodding wildly, a look of crazed excitement in her eyes.
By the time the cookies were out of the oven and iced, all of them messy besides the few that Eddie had decorated, they had just a little over an hour to get ready for dinner. Eddie ran home to get dressed, it had been four days since he’d been back to his house and the jeans he’d been wearing needed desperately to be washed. Richie busied himself with wrangling Sarah into a red plaid dress his mom had bought for her a few weeks earlier. After the forty-five minute ordeal that was trying to get her into a pair of tights despite her arguments that “twelve degrees isn’t that cold” and “there’s only a little bit of snow on the ground,” Richie walked into his room to find something to wear. He fished out a pair of dark gray chinos he hadn’t had much use for since college and a dark green sweater and dressed quickly, slipping into a pair of black dress shoes.
Eddie arrived back at the house and let himself in quietly, walking past Sarah’s room to find her laying on the ground pouting about her tights and working on a sudoku puzzle from the book Richie’s parents had gotten her for her birthday in May, she was almost on the last page. He continued down the hallway, dark now from the setting sun outside. Once he reached the end of the hallway, he poked Richie’s door and let it swing open a few inches, peeking his head into the room and watching Richie fiddle with his shoes, sitting in his desk chair with his back to the door. Eddie let out a long, low whistle.
“When did you learn to--” Richie turned around, the confusion on his face dissipating into a look of affection when he saw Eddie’s face. “Oh, I didn’t even hear you come back.” He stood up, crossing the floor and reaching out to run his hands through Eddie’s hair, still slightly wet from the shower he’d taken. “Well well well, you look nice.”
Eddie blushed, “As do you.”
Their attention was pulled from each other when they heard a voice coming from the hallway, Sarah had leaned into view just enough so that the top half of her face was showing, her hair hanging loosely beneath it. “ Hello?” She asked, eyebrows raised. “We’re gonna be late. ”
Richie laughed and tilted his head so that he could make eye contact with her around Eddie’s face. “Alright, alright. We all ready?” Eddie and Sarah both nodded in response, Sarah with slightly more enthusiasm. Richie pointed at her. “You got the gifts?”
She nodded, a smirk falling over her features. “Yeah, I got the goods.”
“Then let’s go!” Richie exclaimed, grabbing Eddie’s hand loosely and pulling him down the hall.
Once in the living room, Eddie grabbed the Tupperware container of cookies and slipped his coat on, pulling his hood up over his head and fastening it securely under his chin. Sarah grabbed the gifts they’d wrapped for Richie’s parents as Richie was bringing her coat over, holding it open for her to slip her arms into. She rolled her eyes. “I’m already wearing tights, why do I have to wear a coat too?”
Richie raised his eyebrows. “I’m not having you get sick on Christmas Eve.” She slumped over, a whine growing in her throat. “Nuh uh. Santa won’t come if you’re sick, he can’t risk catching a cold on the one night of work he gets a year.”
She closed her eyes, groaning as she set the presents gingerly on the ground at her feet. “Fine.” She lurched forward and fell into the coat, slouching it over her shoulders backwards. “Will you zip it? ...Can’t reach,” she said, smiling.
“That’s very funny,” Richie said, pulling it off and zipping her into it the right way, leaning down and picking up the presents as he stood back up.
“No, I wanna carry ‘em!” She exclaimed, standing on her tiptoes and reaching up towards Richie earnestly, brows furrowed.
“Okay okay!” Richie replied, handing the gifts back and eliciting a proud smile from her.
The ride to his parents' house was quick--as usual--and once they arrived, Sarah sprinted immediately into Maggie’s legs, colliding with them with almost enough force to knock her over.
She laughed softly, “Well, Merry Christmas to you too, munchkin.”
“Hi, Mags,” she said, beaming up at her.
She smiled back. “Hi, sweetheart.” She looked up, making eye contact with Eddie. “You must be the famous Eddie?”
Eddie nodded solemnly. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Tozier. And, uh, thank you so much for having me tonight, it’s--”
“Oh, nonsense. We’re happy to have you.”
“I’m gonna show Eddie around, mom. We’ll be back,” Richie said, taking Eddie’s hand and inching towards the stairs.
“Okay that’s fine, but dinner will be ready in around a half hour!” Maggie warned over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen to check on the potatoes.
Richie led him up the stairs, letting their hands, fingers interlaced tightly, dangle between them as they marched up, Richie just a few steps ahead. “So, my parents’ room is just down that hall,” Richie pointed toward a door at one end of the narrow hallway they’d ended up in at the top of the steps. He continued to pull Eddie along, turning right to follow the hall in the other direction. They came upon a door and Richie let it swing open slowly. “And this is where absolutely no magic happened and I was cursed to stay a virgin all of high school,” Richie said through a laugh.
Eddie giggled, forging ahead of Richie to push the door the rest of the way open and take a few steps into Richie’s childhood bedroom. It appeared unchanged since 2007 when Richie had graduated from high school, the desk in the corner cluttered with books in the same chaotic-yet-neat way his and Sarah’s house seemed to always be. His eyes pored over the small room, the twin bed in the corner the only thing kept neat, a single quilt lay over it, ostensibly undisturbed in years. The walls were covered with posters, the bookshelf scattered with old books and old CDs, snapshots of all the interests Richie had gone through during his teen years. Eddie walked over to the bookshelf, running his finger along the spines of the CDs. A lot of The Cure, some Coldplay, The Smiths, and then stuff like Billy Joel, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, a good mix of just about everything. A lot of the albums were ones Richie still favored, Eddie recognized album covers from the records in Richie’s living room, and from the songs in playlists Richie would have him listen to. He turned around to make eye contact with Richie, still standing in the door, leaning nonchalantly against the door frame. “It’s very you,” Eddie said as Richie began to make his way closer, his sock-footed steps padding softly on the hardwood floors.
When Richie reached him, he pulled Eddie into a tight embrace, running his hand through his hair gently. “I’m glad you’re here.” He pulled back to look Eddie in the eye. “Are you okay?”
Eddie nodded, he could feel tears threatening to well up in his eyes, tears he’d been attempting to ignore all day. “I mean, I’m not surprised she didn’t call…” He sniffled quietly. “But you know. It still hurts.”
Richie pulled him back in, squeezing him tightly, enveloping him entirely. And when the tears that Eddie had been fighting all day finally fell, Richie just held him, shushing him softly, letting Eddie’s head rest against his chest and brushing the tips of his fingers through Eddie’s hair. After he’d cried out all the tears he had, Eddie looked up, his eyes round and sparkling with wetness. Simply put, to Richie, he looked beautiful. “Thank you, Rich,” he whispered, reaching a hand up to cup Richie’s jawline. He pushed up onto his toes and placed a kiss on Richie’s lips, soft, gentle at first. But after a moment he began to move his lips, Richie reciprocated, faintly tasting the saltiness of the tears that had rolled down Eddie’s cheeks just moments before. It was a slow, warm kiss, unlike the way they normally kissed--it was just like their first. Eddie leaned into it, licking into Richie’s mouth to deepen the kiss with a practiced maneuver that reminded both of them that this was, in fact, not their first kiss. Richie hummed appreciatively, wrapping his arms tightly around the small of Eddie’s back, lifting him up and carrying him over to the bed in just a few steps. He sat down backwards onto the stiff, small bed and let Eddie settle in on top of him, spreading his legs out on either side of Richie’s hips.
Eddie pulled back to look into Richie’s eyes, his tears now but a memory.
Richie whispered, “Better?”
“So much better,” Eddie replied, almost unable to pull the smile back from his lips to lean in and reconnect their lips. He wrapped his arms around Richie’s back, pulling him down so that he was on his side next to him in the bed, Eddie on his back.
“Boys! Dinner!” Maggie called from downstairs, “Rich, I really don’t know how it can possibly take you this long to show him the house. It’s not that big.”
They broke apart quickly and Eddie began blushing immediately, almost as dark as the sweater he was wearing. “I can’t believe we just got interrupted making out in your childhood bedroom by your fucking mom. Are we sixteen?” He said with a quiet giggle.
Richie shrugged, smiling. “Pretty much.” He hopped up from the bed and clapped his hands softly. “Shall we?” He extended a hand to Eddie and did a mock bow, Eddie made a flourish with his own as he played along and took a hold of Richie’s outstretched arm and let himself be hoisted up.
He rolled his eyes as he stood up, “Why thank you, good sir. I don’t know if I could have possibly gotten up on my own.” Richie beamed at him and they made their way out of the small room, still hand in hand.
Once they arrived downstairs, they found Sarah laying on her stomach under the tree, picking through the boxes to see which were for her. “Sarah!” Richie yelled, and her head snapped to the side so hard her curls fell in front of her eyes. “Get outta there or else Santa might not come tonight! You’ll see those tomorrow!” Her expression changed into one of horror and she scrambled up and ran over to them, colliding with Richie and hugging his legs.
“Sorry,” she whispered and looked up at him, her green eyes wide.
“God, you’re lucky you’re cute,” Richie said, trying to fix her hair.
She smiled, “Yeah, I know.” She ran away to find Maggie in the kitchen.
They followed her in, Richie clapping his hands together loudly as they entered putting on a southern accent, “Oh well ah do say, ah do say, this smells mighty good, mama.”
Sarah nodded her head exuberantly and mimicked his accent almost perfectly, “Lawks-a-mussy, mighty good. Need it in muh belly now!”
Maggie shook her head, looking at Richie, “You two are ridiculous. You know she doesn’t do this when you’re not around, right?”
Richie smiled, “Well at least she’s better at it than I used to be.”
Wentworth piped up from behind the newspaper he was reading at the kitchen table, “And thank god for that.” He folded the paper up and put it carefully in front of him on the table, removing his reading glasses and setting them on top. “We eating?”
Sarah yelled back, “Yesssss! I’m staaaarving.”
“ Sare , you’re always starving,” Wentworth replied, getting up to join them.
“Well, Dad never feeds me.”
Richie pouted dramatically, “Excuse me young lady! You are a vacuum!” To which she simply stuck her tongue out at him. Eddie just watched with fascination, the dynamic between Richie’s family was something he didn’t think he’d ever get used to. His family gatherings involved his aunts coming in from Haven and Portland to visit; the two women were exactly like his mother, so dinner conversation was excruciatingly boring. He couldn’t stop a smile from spreading on his face at the thought of never having to go to another dinner with the three women, the thought accompanied by not one ounce of guilt for the first time in his life. This was better. It was right. Richie had noticed him beaming and smiled back, reaching down to grab his hand and intertwine their fingers. Eddie felt his entire body react to the physical gesture, his chest almost tight from the happiness; he squeezed Richie’s hand.
On Christmas morning, Richie was awoken abruptly by a small body landing on his chest and fingers poking at his cheeks. “Jesus, Sarah. What time is it?” He grumbled, cracking one eye open in the dark room to see a tiny face inches from his, propped up on two hands as she laid on her stomach on top of him.
“It’s definitely after 6:30. Don’t put your glasses on, you don’t need to check. I’m telling the truth. Promise.”
Eddie groaned from next to him, his words slurring together in his sleep-deprived state. “It’s 4:38,” he whispered, moving his head back to its original position on Richie’s pillow, his nose tucked into the space under Richie’s ear.
“Nope. ABSOLUTELY not,” Richie replied, still unmoved. “We wait until 6:30 like we do every year. You know the rules.”
She whined and reached her hand out to poke Eddie’s nose where it was nestled into Richie’s hair. “Edddiiieee it’s Christmas. Come on, get up,” she whispered.
Eddie, his voice thick with sleep, muttered a grumpy, “No. It’s nighttime.” She sighed dramatically, dropping her head onto Richie’s chest with a soft thud, her dark hair falling around it.
Richie reached a hand up to cup her head, massaging her scalp with his fingertips, “Just go back to sleep for a little. Want to sleep in here again?” She nodded, although neither Richie nor Eddie saw it as they had both closed their eyes, chasing sleep again. Half asleep already, Richie faintly heard her glasses clatter on the bedside table before falling to the floor. She whispered, “Oh shit,” leaned over the edge of the bed a bit, then apparently decided it wasn’t worth it and crawled under the covers, sandwiching herself in the warmth between the two of them.
About an hour later, Richie woke back up at Sarah shifting at his side. He looked over, the first hints of daylight coming through the window and illuminating the scene next to him. When they’d fallen asleep, Eddie had had his arm laid out across Richie’s stomach and his head tucked into the crook of Richie’s neck, his nose just brushing the ends of his dark curls. Sarah had wiggled her way in between them and essentially just taken Richie’s place. Warmth pooled in his chest as he looked at the two of them, Sarah’s face pressed into Eddie’s chest, his chin in her hair, flattening the frizzy mess. His arm was over her back, reaching across the bed so that his hand was still resting on Richie’s stomach. He just laid there for a while, listening to their slow, even breaths, appreciating the peacefulness of a moment where the both of them were breathing completely fine.
About thirty minutes later, Richie noticed Eddie’s eyes flutter open and take in his surroundings. He smiled down at Sarah pressed tightly to his side and looked up at Richie, his eyes soft. He mouthed, “Should we...?” his voice at a whisper, knowing that Richie wouldn’t be able to make out the shape of his lips with his uncorrected eyes.
Richie nodded, leaning over to put his glasses on and pick Sarah’s up from where they’d fallen earlier. They both climbed out of bed, being excruciatingly careful not to wake her. After they were sure she was still asleep, looking impossibly tiny in the middle of Richie’s huge bed, they shut the door softly and made their way out to the living room to start a fire in the fireplace. Richie immediately made a beeline for the kitchen, starting a pot of coffee.
Eddie got the dog out of her kennel and took her outside while Richie made coffee. He stood outside shivering in just a coat and his pajama pants while he waited for her to pee. He brought her back inside and found Richie setting the presents out under the tree. He just watched for a minute, Richie hadn’t heard him come back in yet. He was concentrating, his tongue barely sticking out the side of his mouth the same way Sarah’s did when she was focusing on something. Eddie bent over to unlatch the leash from the puppy’s collar and hung it back up by the back door then shucked off his snow boots. He made his way over to meet Richie by the Christmas tree, following the dog as she clumsily bounded over to him.
After chasing her around the living room for a few minutes, Eddie managed to catch her and he sat down by the tree with her in his lap. He started scratching behind her ears and looked up at Richie. “She really is cute. Almost as cute as you.” He joked.
Richie scoffed. “Nobody’s as cute as you, though.” They heard short, but steady breaths coming from Eddie’s lap and both looked down; she was asleep in Eddie’s arms. Richie looked back up at Eddie, his eyes wide and his mouth a little o. He whispered, “Holy shit. Give her here while she’s asleep, I’ll put her in the box.”
After replacing the lid on the large box, Richie turned back around to face Eddie, who quietly said, “Merry Christmas, Rich.” Richie leaned across their laps to close the space between them and joined their lips.
Eddie kissed back, licking into Richie’s mouth and sucking on his bottom lip softly. After a few minutes, he pulled back. Richie spoke first, in a soft voice he reserved only for these moments. “Love you so much. So much, Eds. You don’t even know. Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Um. So. What would you think about? Maybe? Moving in with us? You don’t have to if this is too fast I don’t really know but I know Sarah loves you so much and you’re already here like every night anyway... So, I just thought I’d ask. I don’t know. You probably don’t want to. But. Yeah.”
Eddie watched him struggle with a soft smile on his face. After he got through it, Eddie whispered, “Of course I want to, you idiot.” He leaned forward, resting his forehead against Richie’s.
They broke apart a minute later when they heard soft footsteps coming from the hallway. Sarah was walking out, rubbing at her eyes and yawning. “Why didn’t you guys tell me we were allowed to be awake?”
Richie chuckled. “And Merry Christmas to you too.” She stuck her tongue out at him and brought her hand up to mimic a mouth, opening and closing her small fingers repeatedly. “Let daddy get some coffee then we’ll do presents?”
She nodded frantically, “PRESENTS!”
Richie got up and made his way into the kitchen, both of them trailing behind him. He looked over at Eddie and the dark circles under his eyes. “I’m making you some too. Milk, yes?”
Eddie shrugged, “Yeah that’s fine. Thanks.” The three of them made their way back into the living room, Eddie with his coffee and milk, Richie with his black coffee, and Sarah with a mug of milk.
“Okay, princess. Which one first?” Richie asked as he and Eddie hung back, watching her set her mug down delicately on the side table and run for the tree.
“The big one, duh!” She yelled behind her. When she got there, she ripped the lid off the box. She turned around to look at the two of them, eyes wide and bright in the dim morning light. “WHAT? Can we keep it?”
Richie took a sip of his coffee and smiled down at her from where he stood next to Eddie a few feet away. He nodded as he said, “Of course. She’s all yours.”
She giggled as she pulled the puppy out of the large box, plopping down on the floor on her back and balancing the dog on her chest.
“What should we name her?” Richie asked softly.
She gasped, her face broke into an even wider smile than before, if possible. “I GET TO NAME HER?”
Both Richie and Eddie broke out into laughter. After about an hour of discussion, which mostly consisted of Sarah and Eddie yelling at Richie that “ No ! We are absolutely not naming a dog enchilada where did you even come up with that.” The three of them settled on a name that they were all happy with: Lady.
“Well, do you want to open the rest of your presents?” Richie asked after Lady fell asleep for the third time in the hour since Sarah had opened the box.
She whipped her head around, tearing her eyes from the puppy who was curled up in her lap. “There’s more than this?”
“Well yeah! She’s from me. You still have your presents from Santa left. And Eddie got you something too.”
Her eyes lit up and a huge smile broke out on her face. She looked down at Lady in her lap and back up at the two of them where they were now seated on the couch, Richie with his third cup of coffee in one hand and his other arm draped around Eddie. She whispered, “She sure is sleepy, huh? I don’t wanna wake her.” She giggled softly as Lady moved in her lap, rolling over in her sleep.
Eddie leaned forward, letting himself slide to the floor and settle next to her with his legs crossed in front of him and his back leaning against Richie’s shins. He outstretched his arms and whispered back, “I’ll take her. She’ll fall right back asleep I promise.”
She did, in fact, fall back asleep almost immediately after Eddie took her. All in all, opening the rest of Sarah’s presents took about thirty minutes, as she ripped the paper off each one hastily before moving immediately on to the next. Eddie had gotten her a lamp that projected stars onto the ceiling for her to sleep with, as well as a set of puzzle books, as she’d recently discovered crossword puzzles and word searches to add to her obsession with sudoku.
After the frenzy of gift-opening had died down a bit, Eddie turned around to look at Richie from the floor, his eyes warm. “I got you something too, Rich. It’s under the tree,” he murmured as he lost his fingers in Lady’s soft, fluffy coat.
Richie’s eyes lit up, “Really?? OOH!” He clambered off the couch, pulling his legs out from where they were pinned between Eddie’s back and the couch.
Eddie pointed to a neatly wrapped box, almost as big as the one Lady had been in that was tucked behind the tree. “That one. In the green paper.” Richie dropped to his knees on the floor, eagerly ripping open the wrapping paper as Eddie and Sarah watched, both with a hand on Lady, who’d woken back up but was content to sit still as long as someone was petting her. “It’s a Keurig? I know you drink the whole pot anyway, but I thought this might make it easier. And you won’t have to wait.”
Richie got up and sat back down next to Eddie, taking his head in both hands and kissing the top of it. “It’s perfect. I love it almost as much as I love you.” He reached under the couch, pulling out a long, thin box and handing it to Eddie. “Merry Christmas, Eds.”
Eddie smiled at him and handed Lady over to Sarah, who took her with a thrilled look on her face, picking her up and nuzzling her nose against Lady’s snout. Lady’s tongue lapped out of her mouth and licked Sarah on the nose, drawing a squeal of laughter. “ So cold,” she whispered, putting Lady back in her lap and scratching the top of her head softly.
Eddie opened the box, discarding the lid on the floor next to him. Sarah leaned forward, stretching her neck to look inside the box. “Daddy, that’s so boring!”
Eddie put a hand on the top of her head, ruffling her hair. “I love it, Rich.” He pulled the watch out of the box and fastened it on his wrist. It was gold, with a simple face and a brown brushed leather band. “It’s beautiful.”
Sarah slumped back to her original position. “Not enough diamonds.”
They both chuckled. “Hey princess, Eddie and I have something to ask you.”
“If you’re gonna ask if you can hold the dog it’s my turn,” she said, furrowing her brows as she looked up at them.
Richie shook his head, laughing harder. “That’s not what I was going to ask. We were wondering if you’d be okay with Eddie moving in with us? So he’d live here all the time?”
Her face went blank, then a confused expression grew on it. She put a hand up on the side of her mouth that Eddie was sitting on in attempt to block him from hearing, making her mouth a line and whispering out of the corner of it towards Richie, “Does he not already live here.”
They both broke out into deep, boisterous laughter. “Honey, he still has his own house. He just sleeps here a lot.”
She shrugged. “Oh. Okay. Well, that’s fine with me as long as he’s not gonna move into my room. I like it.”
Richie just looked over at Eddie with tears in his eyes from trying not to crack up again. “Yeah, you don’t need to worry about that, sweetheart.”
“So then are you guys gonna get married too?” She asked, genuinely curious, her eyes wide behind her glasses.
Richie blushed deeply, stammering, “Oh. God. Well. Um. I don’t kn--”
Eddie just grabbed Richie’s hand where it was resting in his lap. “Probably.” He looked over at Richie with a grin, which was returned with a crooked, dumbstruck smile.