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If it was one thing the party and the Byers’ family loved it was their beloved son, Will Byers.
So whatever chance they got to celebrate him, they tried their best to make it special every single year.
Today was Will Byers 6th birthday, March 22nd was usually a normal day for Will. All he usually got was cake, a song, and to hang out with his friends. His family didn’t have much money, and even at a young age he knew that, but despite not having all of the lavish other kids did he still learned to appreciate his family.
The morning Will woke up was bliss, he could smell pancakes drifting down the hall and the hum of his mother, Joyce, in the kitchen where she was flipping pancakes.
He scrambled out of bed, still in his pajamas, and slowly made his way down the hall. Once he got there, he saw his brother plating pancakes and pushing them to the spot where Wills stool sat in place. Jonathon saw Will at the end of the hall, and smiled. “Will!” Will smiled and ran over to Jonathon, to which Jonathon picked him up, lifting his body into the air and swinging him.
Will emerged into giggles of happiness as his brother continued to gently swing him in the air. “Will the Wise, the birthday Wizard!” Jonathon enthusiastically yelped before stopping and holding Willproperly. Will slung his arms around Jonathon’s neck as Jonathon set him down in his stool.
“Breakfast,” He pointed at the plate, which had eggs, bacon, and pancakes that were poorly misshapen hearts. Joyce walked up with some whipped cream and sprinkles, before adding some on top of Wills pancakes. “Better,” she said, gently ruffling Wills hair.
Will grabbed his fork and took a big bite of his pancake, to which he let out a soft hum at, and continued to eat. Joyce and Jonathon sat down at the table as well, also enjoying their breakfast.
“Will, today is very special, do you know why?” Joyce asks, smiling down at her son. Will grins and kicks his feet under the table, clearly excited. “It’s my birthday!!” Joyce nods, confirming his statement. “And how old are you today?”
Will beams “I am six years old!” Jonathon nods and so does Joyce. “Wow, Will, you’re so big now. I remember when you could fit in my pocket,” Jonathon claims, to which Will shakes his head. “I could never fit in your pocket!”
“Could too.”
Joyce smiles. “Eat up boys, we’ve got a long day ahead,”
After Will and Jonathon finish their breakfast, Joyce gets up and smiles. “I’ll be right back, stay with Will, Jon, okay?” Jonathon nods and stays with his brother as their mom heads to her bedroom.
When she comes back, she has a small paper bag, with some old, torn wrapping stuffed inside. She smiles, slides the bag over the table to Will, and nods encouragingly. “It’s for you, Honey.” Will claps his hands, giggling. “Really? For me?” Joyce nods. “Open it!” Will excitedly takes out the wrapping paper, and pulls out some paints for kids his age, and a small sketchbook.
“We saw you were running out of paints,” Jonathon says “so we got you some more.” Will beams, hugging the gifts to his chest, cherishing them. “Thank you, thank you!” He shouted.
Later that day, as Will was testing out the paints, the doorbell rung. “I’ll get it,” Jonathon declared, before unlocking and opening the door. Will curiously turned his head to look over at who was coming in, and he excitedly hopped up from his seat when he saw the familiar faces of his friends, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas. “Guys!” He hopped over, pulling all three of them into a small group hug.
“You guys are here! Guess what? Mommy made me some great pancakes and Jon and her both got me these cool paints!” He lets go of them, grabs the paints, and shows them, his eyes glowing with pure happiness.
“Dude, that’s awesome!” Lucas says first, “look at all the colors!” The boys all exchange smiles. “I brought the cake.” Dustin says, pulling up a bag which so happened to hold some delicious chocolate cake. He didn’t have it for so long, because Jonathon took it from his hands to put it on the counter, worrying his small hands would drop it.
The boys all sat around, watching Will play with his paints. “Will, you’re really good at this,” Mike said, gazing at him. Will smiles “thank you,”
Later, Joyce calls the boys into the kitchen. Joyce helps Will settle onto his stool. “Okay, gifts?” Joyce says, and Dustin is the first to step up. He hands a bag to Will, and Will opens it. Inside is a small blanket. “I got it for you because you always get so cold, but you’re a big kid now so maybe you’ll be warmer!” Will beams. “Thanks, it’s super soft.”
He sets the blanket to the side as Lucas steps up, handing him a wrapped box. Will tears off the wrapping paper and opens it. He pulls out a set of glittery pens and stickers. “You’re creative so I thought you’d like those.” Will smiles and thanks him, as Mike steps up.
His face is flushed as he hands him a small bag. Will opens it, pulling out a small rabbit plush, and a folded paper. Will hugs the rabbit to his chest before opening the hand-crafted card.
Inside there was a poorly drawn image of the party, with Mike and Will holding hands. On the other side, scribbled in blue crayon, said “Happy Birthday Will.” And at the bottom, poorly written, it said “I love you.” Will smiled and blushed gently. “Thanks, Mike. I love it.” Mike just nods and quickly steps back.
Everyone sings happy birthday to Will, letting him blow out the candles. Will gets the biggest slice of the chocolate cakes, and quickly eats it.
The evening is filled with laughter and wishes and the warmth of happiness. After everyone goes home, Mike is about to go out to his parent’s car.
“Goodbye, Will.” He smiles softly, to which Will smiles back and just nods. Mike pulls Will into a hug, and hesitates before pressing a small, innocent kiss onto his cheek. “I hope you had a good birthday.”
Will nods. “I did.” They let go of each other after hearing the honk of Ted Wheelers car. Mike waves, and leaves.
Will stands there, bathing in the warmth of his birthday.
That night he goes to sleep, and dreams of days just like these, ones full of love from family and friends, and cake of course.
Happy Birthday Will Byers!
3/22/26