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Prologue
While you and Nancy were off getting your college degrees, Eddie performed at small venues with Corroded Coffin, racking up a decent amount of cash to start his future with you. It didn’t bother you one bit that Eddie skipped the college thing to pursue his music career. You’d see his shows on the weekends and he never books dates during your breaks. With the relative success of the band, you were fully prepared to spend your life with him touring around the world.
Eddie had other plans, though.
He suffered from burnout after 4 years of basically managing the band himself and keeping everyone’s shit together. He was growing further apart from his bandmates, despite playing with them every night on stage. He got clean, stopped smoking, and started to prefer nights in with you over the party life of a metal musician. As soon as you were done with college, Eddie called it quits with the band. He wanted to settle down.
“I broke up the band. I don’t wanna tour anymore. I just want to be with you and start our life together,” He whispered in your ear with his arm tight around your waist at your graduation party. God, nobody in Hawkins would’ve believed you if you told them Eddie Munson was a romantic… and the love of your life. You kissed him and asked if you could go apartment hunting the next day.
You found a two-bedroom apartment to rent in downtown Chicago— right across the hall from Steve and Nancy. You moved into your respective places the same weekend and spent that Saturday night on the rooftop drinking beers until 2:00 am. Was it a bit cliché to live in the same building and across the hall from your two best friends? Maybe. But it was so damn fun.
Nancy was just getting her foot in the door at the Chicago Tribune and Steve was going on his second year of teaching physical education at Lincoln Elementary School. Meanwhile, you and Eddie decided to spend all— well, most— of your savings on rescuing a music store that was set to close down after 25 years.
You two spent the summer of 1990 renovating the store and jumpstarting Eddie’s teaching business. The store was renamed Munson’s Music and sold everything from vintage guitars found at estate sales to brand new Fender’s and Gibson’s, Yamaha pianos, and amps. The lessons were slow going at first, but after Steve advertised lessons at his school, kids came flocking in and asking for guitar lessons from the “famous” Eddie Munson. You were in charge of the retail and scheduling while Eddie was holed away for hours on end teaching kids the basic chords of classic rock songs.
Eddie would come a little after 5:30 every night, and you’d have dinner ready for him on the table. You’d usually enjoy a glass of wine and Eddie would have a beer or two. Until one night, you sat down at the table with a glass of water instead.
June 1992
You are four months along— sixteen weeks in pregnancy terms— and it’s finally the night you and Eddie are going to tell everyone that you’re pregnant. It’s summer break for the kids and Eddie got Mike, Dustin, and Lucas out to Chicago for what they think is a very special Hellfire Club meeting. Mike is sleeping over at Steve and Nancy’s with Dustin and Lucas sleeping on air mattresses in the guest bedroom/soon-to-be nursery.
“So is it like some super epic campaign that we’re gonna finish in one night?” Dustin is asking questions in the kitchen while you and Eddie prepare the appetizers.
“Not quite.” Eddie pops a cracker in his mouth. He gives you a subtle smirk, to which you elbow him in the side. He is so obvious sometimes! But he can’t really help it. He is having a baby with the love of his life and is about to tell all of his closest friends. He has every right to be excited.
“I’m dying here!” Dustin whines. “I need to know what is so important that you guys took me away from Suzie for a week.
“You’ll find out soon enough, Dusty,” you corner the counter with a tray of fruit and ruffle his hair. As you place the tray on the coffee table, your front door swings open to reveal Steve with a bottle of wine in one hand, a case of beers in the other, and a 12-pack of soda lodged between his arm and torso. “You live across the way, you couldn’t have been bothered to make two trips?”
“Nope,” Steve says, already placing the beverages on the counter. Nancy and Mike follow closely behind.
You greet Nancy with a kiss on the cheek and hug Mike. He’s still gangly limbed and far too awkward to give normal hugs, but you welcome it anyway. He joins Dustin and Lucas by the cheese platter while Steve tells Eddie about the kid who fell off the monkey bars at recess and broke their arm. The thought makes Eddie wince as an expectant (first-time) parent. He knows his baby is a long way away from swinging on the monkey bars, but it makes him think of all the things you two need to do to prepare the house for the baby. Plug the outlets, put safety locks on the cabinets, pad the corners of the coffee table— oh God, he’s going to have a panic attack.
You see Eddie’s face blanch from across the room and you make your way over to him. You grab his arm and pull him aside. “Are you okay?”
“What? Yeah. Fine. I’m fine. Just thinking about all the ways the baby can hurt herself in this world. Steve just told me about a kid who broke their arm falling off the monkey bars. And the corners of the coffee table… deadly . I’ve bruised my shin running into it—”
“Hey, hey,” you cup Eddie’s face. “I love how concerned you are for the hypotheticals, but they’re just that. Hypothetical. We have plenty of time to get the house ready for her. And it’ll be a long time before she’s swinging on monkey bars. Okay? Let’s just start with telling everyone.”
Eddie nods and turns his head to kiss the palm of your hand. “You’re right. Hey, you called the baby a ‘she’.”
You did, didn’t you? So did Eddie. Is it wishful thinking? Or a feeling you both have? “Only because you said it first.”
“Yoo-hoo? What’s going on over there?” Steve interrupts.
Dustin punches him in the arm. “Dude, can’t you see they were having a moment?”
“It’s okay, guys,” you smile. You like that Dustin still thinks you and Eddie have moments like you’re in a romantic comedy. “We actually have something we want to tell you all before we sit down for dinner.”
“If you’d all be so kind as to come over here,” Eddie gestures towards the living room. Your friends file in— Nancy, Steve, Mike, and Dustin sit on the couch, while Lucas sits on the armrest. You and Eddie stand in front of your friends, all staring at you like you’re about to announce your run for Presidency.
“Oh, wait! I have to call Robin.” You grab the blue phone off of the side table and dial her number. “Robin? I’ve got Nancy, Steve, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas here. Everyone say hi to Robin.”
A chorus of “hey, Robin” and “hi, Robin I miss yous,” bellow through your home.
“Hey, dorks. I miss you all, too. Sloane and I wish we could be there,” Robin replies from Seattle. She and her girlfriend, Sloane, met at Seattle University and they are happily living together with 2 cats and lots of plants.
“So do we. We called you because Eddie and I have something to tell you all.” You give him the are-you-ready look and Eddie nods nervously. He grabs a small box from the coat closet and sets it on the coffee table next to the fruit.
“Dustin, would you do the honors of opening the box?” Eddie asks.
“Nothing’s gonna pop out and scare me, right?”
“Just open it,” Steve urges.
Dustin slowly lifts the lid off the box to reveal a white onesie. Nerves are running down to your fingertips as you hold your breath, waiting for a reaction from someone. Eddie reaches for your hand and holds it tightly. The room is silent until Robin says: “Well, what is it?”
“It’s uh—” Mike begins, “it’s a baby onesie with the Hellfire logo on it.”
“What?” She screams, making you jump and lose your grip on the phone. “What do you
mean
it’s a baby onesie with the Hellfire logo on it?”
Eddie picks up the phone. “The newest and youngest member of the Hellfire Club will be joining us in December of this year,” he says smoothly, only because he practiced the line at least 30 times that day.
“Holy shit!” Robin cheers. “Congrats, you guys. Your baby is gonna have the best hair.”
“Rude,” Steve mumbles.
“Thanks, Robin,” you giggle. You wish she is here with you. Although, if she was, she would’ve detected something was off with you. “We’re gonna celebrate over here, so you and Sloane open a bottle of wine and celebrate with us! We’ll talk soon, okay?”
“Sloane just got home, I’m gonna tell her the news, okay, bye!” Robin hangs up before you can all say goodbye.
Dustin tackles Eddie and bear-hugs him. He is so freaking happy that everyone knows. The secret was eating him alive and all he wanted to do was scream to the world that he is having a baby. With you as his sun, the people in the living room are damn near close to being his world.
Nancy grins at you, shaking her head as she brings you in for a hug. “I knew you were keeping something from me.”
“I’m sorry, Nance. Believe me, I wanted to tell you as soon as I found out but we… we kinda liked having it as our little secret. But I’m so happy and relieved that everyone knows now.” Your best friend gives you another joyous squeeze. You always thought Nancy and Steve would be the ones to have kids first. They are married, after all. It’s not like you and Eddie were trying, but you also weren’t actively taking the steps to not get pregnant. If it happened, it would be welcomed. But if it didn’t, then it wasn’t the time. But the time is now and it is oh, so welcomed.
Lucas and Mike are excited for you two, but not really into the whole baby thing. They’re also slightly disappointed that there’s no D&D game. However, they each give you a congratulatory hug and tell you they won’t be changing any diapers. You laugh at that while Dustin gives you an equally big hug. He’s crying on your shoulder, mumbling words that sound like, “I’ve never been so happy in my entire life.”
“I know, Dusty. Us too,” you reply. You look over at Steve, who hasn’t said a thing.
He’s sitting on the couch with a crease between his eyebrows and his hand in front of his mouth. Eddie pulls Steve off of the couch and into the guest room. “Are you okay, man? You haven’t said a single thing. I know you kinda thought you’d have kids first, I mean I can’t really believe it myself, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have kids soon, right?”
“It’s not that,” Steve finally speaks with bubbles in his throat. Is he crying? “I’m just so happy for you, Eds.” He takes Eddie into his arms and pats him on the back the way guys do when they want to maintain their manliness. “I mean, I’m bummed Nance isn’t ready for kids yet, but I’ll wait as long as I need to. I’m stoked for you to be a dad, man.”
“Yeah. Shit,” Eddie pauses. “I’m gonna be a dad,” he repeats, almost as if it’s the first time he’s really realized it. He falls back on the air mattress. It bounces beneath him as he stares blankly at the ceiling. “I’m gonna be a dad. Holy shit. I’m gonna be someone’s dad.”
Steve lays down on the second mattress and mimics Eddie’s position. “You’re gonna be a kick-ass dad, Eddie.”
“Thanks. And you’ll be a kick-ass godfather.” Oops. Eddie isn’t supposed to tell him that yet.
Steve jolts up, feeling dizzy from all the blood rushing out of his head. “What- what did you just say?”
“Nothing…”
“You said godfather,” Steve is standing over Eddie now, who refuses to look at his best friend. “Are you asking me to be your kid’s godfather? Because it’s a yes. It’s a thousand percent yes.”
Eddie stands up. “Really?”
Steve grabs Eddie’s shoulder firmly. “Hell yeah.”
“Cool. Just don’t tell Y/N that I already asked you. We were supposed to ask you and Nancy tougher.”
Steve pretends to zip his lip. “Secret’s safe with me.”
“Doubtful,” Eddie mumbles as he walks out of the guestroom.
As they return to the party in the living room, they see that you’re holding your shirt tight against your belly. During your first trimester, you just looked bloated. Now, you can still get by with wearing flowy shirts and no one would be the wiser, but if you wore something tighter, you’d see a small bump. It’s exciting and terrifying watching your body change.
You know you wouldn’t have made it through the first four months if it weren’t for Eddie at your side. He sings when you feel sick, he rubs your neck and shoulders when you feel tense, and he runs out to the store to get whatever food you’re craving. It’s times like tonight, when you’re surrounded by your friends, celebrating with juice and eating lots of cheese that you feel thankful for the life you’ve built with Eddie.
You’re 7 years in and you’re just getting started.