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Oh brother, I can't, I can't get through
I've been trying hard to reach you 'cause I don' know what to do
Oh brother, I can't believe it's true
I'm so scared about the future, and I wanna talk to you
Oh, I wanna talk to you
College dorms were a bit of a strange ecosystem. You really saw all kinds of things.
Thankfully Will and the rest of the kids had made the decision to find a cheap apartment just off campus after a disastrous first year spent in that mousetrap.
On the first floor lived Wanda, a slightly eccentric old lady who was also the tenant and caretaker of the small three-story building.
It wasn't bad. She didnt care much about them and often made one of her cakes for them. She had become somewhat of the unofficial grandmother of the group (Dustin had recently lost his granny, Lucas's granparents lived far away, as so did Max's. Mike's only remaining grandmother was in a retirement home, while Will’s had died when he was kid and his brother Jonathan was the only one of them who barely remembered her. El had never even had parents. They adopted her even unwittingly).
In the end, the only thing about her they had to endure was her TV kept at such a high volume that it was not bearable for the other human beings and her five cats who, sometimes, ventured up to the upper floors.
The rent wasnt high, and in any case they managed to cover it quite well by dividing it by 4, it was close to the campus and close enough to the center of the city.
Plus, much to Joyce and Karen's delight, Nancy and Jonathan lived only a couple of blocks away.
The four boys had the largest apartment, while on the other side of the landing Max and El shared the smaller one.
Will was returning home at that moment after a busy day on campus.
The Art academy was literally a paradise for him, and he didn't want to be anywhere else to be honest.
But he had to admit that it was pretty stressful, and he tired him a lot.
At the moment he had at least five different projects to be done by the end of the month, but for today he literally couldn't take it anymore.
I savored the moment when he was finally able to set foot in his house, opening the heavy wooden door of the entrance.
As usual, Wanda was looking something on the tv at her usual inhuman volume, something like "Ok the price is right" or "The wheel of fortune".
Will smiled faintly.
Being Friday night, they too had a decent schedule.
The girls where supposed to bridged the gigantic distance constituted by their landing, and come to their place for a dinner that consisted of take-away pizza from the corner pizzeria and at least five different desserts that Max had prepared all afternoon.
Then they would run a marathon of the old Star Wars movies because El hadn't seen some of them,and Max had a bet to win with Dustin and Mike.
He set foot on the first step, dodging just in time to avoid El coming at full speed.
"Hey Will," she said with a smile
She kissed him on the cheek, still trying to tying up her long brown hair (it had finally grown back the way she liked it, after everything that had happened with Brenner, and she had refused to cut them ever since except for a few trims Max gave her in the their little bathroom)
"Where are you going in such a hurry?"
"Max ran out of eggs, and she wanted to try a new type of cake for tonight"
"I'm pretty sure there was at least one carton in our fridge" said Will "It's very likely there is just that, but at least it's a start"
El's gaze was eloquent.
"You guys survive thanks to Wanda's pies and what Max and I cook. I doubt you even have some butter and vanilla sticks"
"No, you're right," Will said laughing
“Ah, Jonathan is waiting for you up there,” El said. “I ran away with this excuse, but he looks like he saw a ghost. He need help. Do you know if something happened with Nancy? "
"No, do you know anything?"
"No, he didn't want to tell me anything" El said thoughtfully "Can you try to see what is going on?"
"I will" Will replied, sighing.
"Good luck" was the only thing his stepsister said, before disappearing beyond the door.
Will just needed to get to their landing. Jonathan was waiting for him, sitting on the last step.
"Hey Buddy" he said, the face of someone who had just seen a ghost.
His hair made him look as if he had survived an atomic bomb, for all the times he had passed his hands through it. His eyes were red. He had never seen him like this.
"Oh Jonathan," Will said. "What the hell are you up to this time?"
"Me? nothing"
"I tried ask him too," Mike said, appearing on the doorstep of their apartment.
"I can get it on my own,thank you" Will told him, handing him his backpack.
"Sorry if I'm worried" said Mike "He's married to my sister after all"
"Well, I think there's always a first time" Will replied, getting a dirty look from his bestfriend.
“No, you have every right to aks, Mike,” Jonathan said. “I swear, I didn't do anything. At least for now"
"Leave us alone, ok?" Will asked, one last time.
Mike finally went back inside, and Will sat down next to his brother.
Now that he sat next to him, Will couldn't help but notice how Jonathan shivered. Plus, he had certainly been crying.
"Tell me you haven't done anything illegal please"
Jonathan's alarmed face was almost comical.
"No, it's actually Nancy" Jonathan said.
Things were looking good for their older brothers too, for once. They had finished college a couple of years ago and both worked for a major newspaper like the Chicago Tribune (Jonathan as a photographer, Nancy at local news)
So Will was even more alarmed when he said so.
"What do you mean?"
“Okay, maybe I am wrong” Jonathan said. “It's about me too"
"I'm not following you, Jon" said Will "And honestly you're also a little scaring me"
"She's pregnant" said Jonathan, hiding his face in his hands "I will be a father"
"Oh, congratulations," Will said, cheerfully again. "I'm going to be an uncle"
"What part of" I will be a father "did you not understand?"
"I know, you must be terrified," Will said. "But I think we both had a perfect example of what not to do."
Jonathan, however, did not laugh.
"What if I am like him instead?"
He said it almost softly, looking straight ahead. Will laughed, almost thinking it was a joke. Jonathan, however, was quite serious.
"You're joking, right?" Will asked.
"I've never been this serious Will"
"Do you remember when Mum and Lonnie would screan at eachother, and you made me sleep with you in your bed(Since Joyce married Hopper he became, for them, dad. Lonnie, now, was just Lonnie)" said Will "Or when you made me all of those tapes with the music you liked? Who taught me to ride a bike? and to swim? to drive?"
"I understand what you mean"
"You were a more present Dad than the one with whom I have just some biological connection"
"I understand" said Jonathan "But your own child is another thing"
"I don't doubt it," Will said
The two brothers hugged tightly.
"Believe me," Will said. "I don't think Nancy Wheeler will ever let you become like Lonnie. And I'm more than willing to help her give you a lesson, if you know what I mean. Please tell me that you didn't leave her alone tonight "
Jonathan's eyes widened almost comically.
"You're right, I better go" Jonathan said.
He got up, turning to look at his brother immediately after
"In case she doesn't let me in again, can I sleep on your couch?"
Will laughed before answering.
"We have a Star Wars marathon planned and the girls have certainly cooked enough food to feed you too, you are welcome"
"Don't tell El and Mike" said Jonathan "I shouldn't even have told you"
"Mute as a fish" said Will "Say hi for me to my favorite sister in law"
When, 9 months later, his niece Alice came into the world, Will was among the first to visit her at the hospital.
He watched amused Jonathan with shining eyes as he rocked her, totally enraptured by his own daughter.
"Yeah, just like Lonnie" he said, laughing to himself.
El looked at him dazed, but Will didn't speak.
In his heart he already knew that Alice Barbara Byers would be the most spoiled and pampered child in the world.
With such a father this was to be expected.