Work Text:
Christmas 2025
Steve and Eddie always enjoyed a good-natured spat over who was Maggie's favorite. The truth was, they knew it was Grandpa Wayne.
She sat in his lap as he read her a story about Jesus being born in Bethlehem from a book that belonged to Eddie as a boy. His spectacled blue eyes reading clearly but slowly, in a gentle drawl that had Maggie calm and still for the moment. They weren't religious, any of them, but they didn't need to be. As Wayne told it, it was simply the story of a child that would be a wise and great man someday that wanted to people to love each other, and that it was such a beautiful time of year to remember him.
Steve and Rose, their daughter, were in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner, Rose making mulled wine from a recipe older than that book, belonging to Eddie's own grandmother Beatrice. This might be Wayne's last holiday; though they had said that almost every year for a while now. For every year he defied that, it was another year blessed as a family. One that Eddie and Steve marveled over still.
As he was finishing, Rose came in. "Dad, Pop, dinner's ready. Maggie come on, baby. Go wash your hands and then sit down." Steve's instinct was to chide his daughter just a bit for her mild sternness, but he also knew from experience that kid's mood could switch on a dime, especially when she was enjoying a story by her favorite person in the world. Steve was always the stricter one anyway when Rose was growing up, having to moderate his husband's loving indulgence.
It was a hard time of year for Rose, in spite of everything. She came to them so young after her mother died, a long-time friend and found family who helped run the Hideout like a well-oiled machine. A little girl who had to grieve her mother's loss, then adjust to having not just one but two dads, and a grandpa, something she'd never known. They were grateful there had been no legal battle, as her mother had to spend far too much of what little time she had left making arrangements. None of her own family had stepped up. The Wheelers, whom they had always been thankful for in more ways than one, had kept her while everything was worked out; Nancy and Robin, thank god for them, had helped them when it came to so many of the particulars of having a girl.
But they could always tell when Rose, even as an adult now, had a hard time during the holidays. It might always be this way. Wayne would not be around forever, and they were now almost 60 (60 is the new 40, baby, Eddie had said) and knew they didn't have tons of time either. The dread of leaving their daughter and granddaughter without them was too much, they couldn't even imagine living without each other.
Maggie descended from Wayne's lap and skipped over to Eddie. "Poppy, will you help?" Eddie picked her up and carried her towards the sink. "Of course, little love." She practically choked him hugging his neck. While she washed her hands, Wayne came over to compliment the wine. "Rosie, honey, it smells and tastes just my mother used to make it." "Thanks, Pop, I followed all the ingredients and instructions." He smiled at her lovingly, could see the slight sadness in her eyes, a picture of her and mother on a shelf near the sink where Eddie was helping Maggie wash her hands.
"You ok, sweetheart?" Eddie asked her as he handed Maggie off to Steve to get her settled and food on her plate. "Yeah, Dad I'm fine. I just....sometimes." He knew. It had been hard for him and Steve as well. Rose's mother had been one of their biggest supporters from the time she arrived in Hawkins, looking to start a new life with her daughter. They had been dropped into parenthood much the same way Wayne had; unexpectedly and still grieving a loss. Rose was 10, not a baby and still decades later with enough conscious memories of her to linger on.
"I didn't mean to sound so harsh just now, I'm sorry," leaning into Eddie's embrace and Wayne patting her shoulder. "You weren't, dear," Steve spoke up. "I know a little someone who is going to bed soon so Santa can visit." Maggie was already making a mess and fidgeting, but Steve had it under control. "The sooner you eat dinner, the sooner we can leave out cookies and milk and watch where his sleigh is going."
Listening to everyone chatter away, Eddie couldn't help watching the man he had loved for almost 40 years now. They'd gotten through so much, and had done it all in Hawkins. So much for running like hell out of there. Now they wouldn't trade any of it. Steve looked up to find his husband looking so lovingly at him, and blushed, something he still did after all this time. But that's what happens when you have a crush on a cute metalhead for 40 years.
Steve and Maggie were tracking Santa's sleigh on the internet, when Eddie saw Wayne begin to look tired, and knew it was time to get him home. They'd be back tomorrow for breakfast and presents, and then dinner at their trailer tomorrow night. "Look, he's getting hear us. Just over Chicago now, where Aunt Nancy lives. So, Poppy, Grandpa and me are going to go home now, but you be good and go to bed for Mommy, ok? And Santa will be here soon, but only if you're asleep." "Ok Geebee." She was yawning as they got up from the computer, and Steve passed her off to Eddie as Wayne got a kiss good night."
If only they could all see him now, tucking in his granddaughter on Christmas Eve. Dungeon Master, Freak, Poppy. "Merry Christmas, baby, I'll be back first thing in the morning, ok?" She nodded her little head as she was dozing off.
As they walked in their trailer door after seeing Wayne safely inside his own, they turned on their own tree. Settling on their couch to watch the news with a little more of that wine Rose sent home made them feel warm and a little giddy. What was in their hearts didn't always line up with their bodies, but tonight felt like an exception. Eddie leaned over and kissed Steve sweetly. "Merry Christmas, baby, I love you." Steve reached up to give Eddie's nose a little boop and kissed him back. "Merry Christmas, angel, I love you so much."
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