Chapter Text
March, 1996
Ten months had passed since this mid twenties couple had gotten married, promising to be together for the rest of their lives, officially becoming Michael and Jane Wheeler. They lived together in a not-very-large but quite cozy apartment in downtown Chicago. Most importantly, they were both happy with their current lives, stayed in frequent contact with their friends and family in Hawkins, and had both graduated from college, so they were now doing internships or working in small jobs. Everything was going more than well, until El noticed an inconsistency in her daily routine.
2 weeks, 14 days, or 336 hours...
It was how much time Eleven had noticed she was late with her period. She had never been very organized about tracking her cycle; it simply arrived whenever she least expected it. Except for tonight, when, before going to bed, she became unusually curious about how many days had passed since her last period, only to be surprised by nothing less than that exact number of days.
She was sitting with her legs crossed on top of the sheets, her notebook in her lap and her pencil lying on the floor, having fallen when she was startled. On her left layed Mike, her husband of almost a year, fast asleep with his mouth slightly open in relaxation, which made him look incredibly adorable to her.
Purrr... the intense internal engine of their cat could be heard, breaking the silence of the early morning, as he slept curled up on Mike’s back, right on top of him.
"I’d like to hear your concerns, Mr. Mittens. Can you think of anything we could do?" El asked the little grey cat, gently stroking his fluffy chin with her index finger and sighing deeply.
The cat just meowed in response to his owner.
And as if a light bulb had lit up in El's head, she perfectly recalled the Cosmo magazine that her best friend Max had given her some time ago. Ever since Eleven had her sexual awakening in her adolescence, Max finally dared to talk to her without shame about such topics, recounting her multiple sexual experiences with Lucas and exchanging magazines of that nature with the brunette.
This magazine, curiously the latest edition, was as if it had been written specifically for Eleven; she clearly remembered an article on "How to Bring on Your Period" that was just what she needed in these moments of panic.
As she flipped through its pages, she jotted down every idea that came to mind, from applying heat to the area and “miraculous” cinnamon infusions to aspirin and even exercise... Reading this last piece of advice, she remembered that Karen had given her a DVD compilation of Jane Fonda’s most famous jazzercise routines for Christmas last year. Anyone who knew El well enough could attest to how much she hated physical activity, but on this occasion she couldn’t help but thank her mother-in-law for the unexpected gift.
El quickly put on her only workout clothes she owned and went to settle in front of the living room TV at home.
"I hope it works." She said to herself before starting the exercise.
Strangely, it never crossed the young woman’s mind that she might be pregnant as the cause of this delay, not even as a remote possibility. She was convinced it was just a normal delay that any woman could experience in her life, or a simple hormonal imbalance. This was because her mind had perfectly recorded her doctor’s harsh words from four years ago, when she said it was almost impossible for her to get pregnant again after her previous miscarriage, due to the condition her body was left in by her dark past at the Hawkins Laboratory.
About fifteen minutes into the workout, which she felt was slowly killing her since she wasn’t used to the pace, she heard a familiar husky voice from the doorway of the room.
"Is... everything okay, El?" Mike asked, rubbing his eyes, his tall body leaning against the doorframe almost sleepwalking.
"Better than ever." She replied breathlessly, pausing the video to sit down for a moment and hydrate herself.
"I know you, and you never exercise, let alone at one o clock in the morning." He laughed, doing his best to stay awake and on his feet.
"Uh, yeah... It’s just that Max told me the other day how amazing these workouts were for getting her figure back on postpartum." Eleven lied, coughing fakely and taking an even bigger gulp of water.
"I don’t understand a word you’re saying, babe. You haven’t even gained an ounce.” Mike yawned. “Anyway, let’s go back to bed?” He reached out his hand toward his wife.
"Give me a minute and I'll come up." She said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and a subtle pat on the shoulder, leaving him alone on the living room with his hand outstretched.
El went to the bathroom to check if the recent activity had borne any fruit. However, nothing happened.
It was Sunday morning, and the newly married couple was in the kitchen preparing breakfast waffles, as was typical for a weekend with the now Wheelers.
"You know I hate having to leave you alone all day, but you know Mom called me at the last minute asking me to go home to Hawkins." Mike lamented as he served his girl two portions of waffles with a fresh orange juice.
"Don’t worry. I’ve got some things to do today, you know, work and stuff." El looked away, lying to him.
She hated having to lie to her husband about what she was going to do with every fiber of her being, but this time she felt it was necessary. El intended to call Max so she could help her with her “feminine problems.”
“By the way, what was up with last night?” Mike wondered, taking a sip of his black coffee.
"Nothing, babe. I just wanted to try what Max was doing so I could lose weight."
"I swear, if she's putting ideas about your body into your head, I'm going to have a serious talk with her." Mike protested, frowning at the thought.
"Relax, Max hasn’t told me anything. It’s just that I felt like working out last night, okay?" She placed her hand on top of his.
Mike simply nodded with a half-smile on his face, then glanced at the watch on his wrist.
"Shit, shit, shit... Mom’s gonna kill me." He muttered under his breath, grabbing all his stuff to leave.
"Are you leaving already?" Eleven asked, choking on her juice.
"Yes. I’m really sorry I have to leave you all afternoon, but I promise I’ll make it up to you when I get back." He quickly gave her a peck on the lips before rushing out the door to the car.
Eleven stood still for a few moments, waiting to hear the car engine start and leave. When she saw through the window that her husband was leaving, she ran as fast as she could to the house telephone to call her friend.
"Damn it, Max, answer." Eleven thought, leaning against the wall with the phone in her hand, twisting the cord into spirals as her foot moved desperately up and down.
"—Yes?" She heard a female voice on the other end of the telephone, accompanied by a loud baby’s cry in the background.
The sigh Eleven gave filled the room.
"Max, it’s me, El. I need your help urgently before Mike gets back here."
"I’ll be right there. Wait, did you say Mike?" She retorted furiously before El hung up.
Five minutes later, Max arrived, stomping in with her characteristic heavy footsteps when she’s angry.
"I can’t believe that son of a... He—I swear, if he did anything to you, I’ll go cut off the bastard’s balls myself." The redhaired breathed through her flared nostrils, her fists clenched with rage.
"NO! Mike didn’t do anything to me. Come on, let's sit down." El reassured her, sitting down and patting the spot beside her so her friend would do the same.
"So, what’s going on?" Max’s eyes were wide with curiosity.
El took a deep breath.
"Last night I realized I was two weeks late on... you kno. And—and that means I might have a hormonal problem or some kind of cancer, I don’t know, and I’ll die. How am I going to tell Mike? I can’t just walk up to him and say, “Hey, I have a uterine disease and I’m going to die soon.” Then I tried everything I saw in a magazine to make my period come quickly! I exercised and then had an infusion of…—Eleven was having a mild panic attack at the thought, waving her hands frantically as she explained and starting to sweat.
She was interrupted by Max’s loud laughter as she doubled over, clutching her stomach.
"Wait, El. Did you say you were going to die?" Max asked, laughing even harder. "I stopped listening there".
"It’s not funny, Max. I'm probably seriously ill, and you’re laughing. I can’t wait to see you laughing at my tombstone." El crossed her arms, annoyed, and leaned back against the couch.
"Girl, you're not sick; you're pregnant," Maz said, shaking her vigorously and smiling.
Eleven froze for a few moments. How was that possible? After what her doctor told her during her previous pregnancy...
"But my doctor told me that was almost impossible. That can’t be, Max. I think it’s more likely that she’s sick with something." She insisted on hesitating, her brows furrowed, looking her friend up and down.
"Of course not. He also said "almost impossible," but not entirely impossible." Max air quoted with her fingers.
Eleven visibly relaxed, a faint smile playing on her lips as she bit her short nails, imagining that a life was once again growing inside her, after almost resigning herself to the fact that it would never happen again.
"You know? Right now, the two of us are going to buy a pregnancy test." Max stood up energetically, holding out her hand to the brunette.
It was as if the same scene was repeating itself from when they first went to Starcourt Mall together at age 14, only now with adult problems.
Once inside the pharmacy closest to his house, El was trembling with fear and nervously rolling up the sleeve of his T-shirt.
"Listen, I’ll be here if you need me. You can do it." Max reassured her, gently rubbing her back in circles.
Eleven nodded and headed toward the saleswoman.
"Hello. Ehh, I... I need one of those, please." She pointed with her index finger at the pregnancy test toward the woman.
“Girl, I don’t know what you’re pointing at; there are millions of products on display.” The woman complained, chewing her gum audibly with her mouth open.
"A pregnancy test." El finally blurted out, her eyes closed in fear. While the woman was looking for the item, she spoke again. “I-it’s not f-for me, it’s for my friend over there,” she stammered, pointing to the redhead who was intently trying out fragrances in the perfume section.
"I see. I used to say the same thing at your age, and I ended up with four kids by different fathers. That’ll be five dollars.” The cashier said reluctantly, nodding.
"What the hell is wrong with you, El? You’re almost 25 and married, you’re too old to be afraid of this." El thot to herself.
When El finished paying, she nodded for Max to come closer.
"Listen, Max, thanks for coming with me; I really appreciate it. But I feel like it’s something I need to continue on my own from here on out." She smiled shyly.
"I understand. If you need me, call me anytime. And if Mike does anything to you, don’t hesitate—I’ll come and kill him if I have to." Max laughed, pulling her best friend into her arms.
"You’re my soulmate. I don't know what I'd do without you."
When El got back home, she threw her keys and purse straight onto the floor and ran to the bathroom as fast as she could. She carefully unwrapped the pregnancy test to read the instructions; even tho she’d taken one before, she didn’t want to mess up and get it wrong.
While she was sitting down peeing, a series of memories flooded her mind like a movie.
(Flashback)
"El. Are you okay?" Mike whispered.
"It's positive." She couldn't help but cry from nerves, as they were only in their second year of college.
"Oh my God. Does that mean we’re going to be parents?" Mike couldn’t help but shed tears of happiness.
"Wait, are you happy? I thought you didn’t want to have a baby with me—I mean, we’re really young, we don’t have a stable economy, and we live in the university dorm. I don’t have the slightest damn clue about babies; I don’t know how to change diapers or feed them… and neither do you. Shit, how am I going to tell Dad? He’s going to kill us—or rather, you." El began to have a mild panic attack at the thought.
"It’s true, we’re still young. But how could I even deny myself the chance to have a child with the woman of my life?"
(End of Flashback)
Eleven felt her heavy eyes grow watery, and a couple of subtle tears trickled down, caught between the happiness of recalling that moment and the sadness of how that story ended.
Once she had finished collecting her urine, she put the lid on to rest the test stick on top of the sink while she waited for the result. El couldn’t help but feel extremely guilty for going through this whole process alone. If the result were positive, Mike would be missing out on the thrill of reliving the joy of being a dad. However, she would risk the possibility of a negative result much more, since she didn’t want to get Mike’s hopes up for nothing. El knew how important it was for him to have a child someday, even though he kept telling her that she alone was enough to make him happy; that’s why she wanted to bear the potential disappointment on her own.
After the indicated time had passed, still sitting on the toilet, El timidly picked up the rod with her eyelids closed and turned it.
Her hand, which held the definitive answer, trembled with fear; any of the possible scenarios terrified her.
"Shit, I can’t be such a coward. On the count of one… two… three." She said aloud to herself, quickly flipping over her sweaty hand that held the result.
El was completely perplexed when she saw two clear lines drawn on the small screen. She was pregnant again.
She stood still for a few seconds, trying to process what was happening, one hand covering her mouth in surprise and the other holding the test.
When she finally snapped out of his shock, a series of high-pitched squeals of excitement came out, hopping up and down with her pants still down on her ankles, while gasping for breath, her heart pounding a mile a minute.
"Mike!" She shouted, looking for her husband as she came out of the bathroom, completely forgetting that he wasn’t at home.
Eleven ran to the telephone for the second time that day to call Max again. The hold music was driving her crazy; she needed to be the first person to tell her the news.
"El? Are you okay?" Max asked, sounding scared on the other side of the telephone.
"I'm pregnant!" Eleven shouted with joy.
"Oh my God... that’s incredible! I’m so happy for you. Can you imagine how wonderful it would be for our kids to grow up together as friends?"
"Of course, I hope they don’t start their friendship on the wrong foot like we did."
"I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. The next time we see each other, I’ll make sure to give you all my maternity books, clothes, and Eric’s things that I no longer use. See? You didn’t have to worry. Now that I think about it, probably when the baby is born, it’ll come rolling out from all the twists and turns you did yesterday during your exercises."
"Thanks." Eleven laughed at her friend's last comment, until she remembered her husband, and her expression turned more serious. "Do you think I should tell Mike?" she asked, biting her lower lip nervously.
"Uhm, yeah! Duh of course, he’s the dad; he has the right to know."
"I know, but what if the same thing happens to me again in the first trimester? I couldn’t hurt him like that again; he really suffered a lot."
"El, stop blaming yourself and torturing yourself over it, okay? It doesn’t have to happen again. Beside, Mike will probably hate both of us for the rest of his life if he finds out we hid something like that from him, don’t you think?"
"You’re right. But I don’t know how to tell him, I mean, I want it to be special, but not so special that I get his hopes up unnecessarily."
"Relax, it's not like you have to hire a helicopter with a 'You're going to be a dad' banner hanging from it, or have mariachis show up at your door to sing." Max joked. "Just make sure it's a quiet moment for both of you. Everything will be fine, trust me."
"You’re the best, Max. Thank you so much for everything. I almost forgot—not a word of this to Lucas, please. You know how the boys are; they’ll go running to tell him the news before I do."
"I know, I’m the best. And as for the second thing, of course not; the only witness to this conversation was Eric, but he promises not to say a word." Max boasted, listening to her little son babble meaningless syllables, at which they both laughed.
Mike had already arrived home after a long day in his hometown; his mother had called him and his older sister to discuss certain inheritance matters, since their maternal grandparents had recently passed away.
The young couple was snuggled up on the couch, watching their favorite TV show: "Seinfeld." It was a pretty cold night; they were in their pajamas, wrapped in a thick blanket to keep themselves warm, and also ironically eating ice cream straight from the container with two spoons. One of the biggest advantages of being adults for them was that they could have their own rules at home, without Hopper, Joyce, or Karen around to control them.
"How is it possible that Elaine always falls in love with someone different when she barely knows them?" Mike wondered aloud, confused, as he took a bite of ice cream.
"You're the last person who should be complaining about love at first sight." Eleven bursted into an audible laugh at his words. "Don't you remember when you confessed that you felt something for me the moment you first saw me?" She asked, looking him straight in his deep black eyes.
"It’s different; you were the first and only person I fell in love with at first sight. Unlike her, who’s always someone different.” Mike clarified, laughing as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.
Their faces were practically side by side, their noses brushing as they stole some kisses from each other. It was the perfect moment for Eleven to tell Mike the news; they were both calm and comfortable, just as Max had advised her to be.
"Mike..." El called, drawing his attention as she pulled away slightly from his face and sat on his lap.
"Yes, El?"
"There's something I want to tell you; it's important." El murmured, fiddling with her gold wedding ring and looking down at the floor.
Out of nowhere, a new fear grew in her. What if Mike didn’t react the way she expected, and it would be a problem for him to have a baby like this? When they’re just getting started with adult life and married life...
"Don’t scare me, El. Did something bad happen?" He asked, gently tucking a strand of the girl's hair behind her ear.
"Not exactly, it's just that..." She was about to tell Mike about her pregnancy when she heard a bloodcurdling meow in the distance that immediately pulled them apart. "What was that?"
"Damn, it’s probably Mittens. Maybe he’s run out of food in his bowl. I’ll be right back.” He grumbled, pulling the blanket off himself and getting up from the couch.
As the minutes ticked by, El noticed that Mike wasn’t coming back. She couldn’t help getting nervous; she didn’t want to keep putting off the news any longer. She had to tell him tonight, no matter what—she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep until her husband knew. Eleven was about to get up when she finally heard Mike say something in the distance.
"Eleven, could you come here, please?" Mike asked her, sounding a bit serious.
Why did his voice sound so tense? Had he gotten angry? Those were the questions that ran through her head.
El walked with her whole body trembling, to the room they shared. She noticed her cat playing with his tiny claws with what appeared to be the pregnancy test she had hidden in her purse on the king size bed.
Her face turned as pale as snow in a matter of seconds; of all the ways Mike could have found out, the worst one had happened, and not even because of her. She slowly raised her gaze to the boy, afraid he might be upset that she had kept the recent news from him.
"Is this yours, El?" Mike asked, taking the test stick from his pet to examine it in his hands.
"Y-yes, it is." El stammered.
There was nothing but silence from both of them. All I could see was that Mike’s jaw was slighlty hanging open, his eyelids and eyebrows raised wide.
"I’m really sorry you found out like this; I honestly didn’t mean for things to happen this way. I was planning to tell you myself right now, in a… nicer way, I guess. I only found out a few hours ago; don’t think I’d hide something like that from you, and I…" She was interrupted by her husband, who kissed her passionately, pulling her close with a bit of force out of excitement.
Pulling away from his lips, the girl resumed the conversation:
"Wait, aren't you mad at me?" She asked, confused by the excessive display of affection.
"Of course not, how could you even think I’d be angry with you about this?" Mike said firmly, shaking his head from side to side. "So, are we going to be parents?" he added, his eyes visibly moistening as a couple of tears slid down his cheeks.
"Yes. I think I must be about a month pregnant."
Mike didn’t let her finish the sentence, as he unexpectedly swept her into his arms, twirling her through the air while she laughed uncontrollably with happiness.
"Okay, okay, slow down." Eleven said still in the air, so he would put her down.
"I’m sorry, but I can’t help feeling happy. I remember when the doctor said it was highly unlikely you’d be able to get pregnant, and look at you now—it’s a dream come true." Mike smiled as they both fell onto the bed, their bodies side by side, gazing intently at each other.
"As for that, I’m not trying to be a pessimist , but I don’t want us to get our hopes up too much about this baby on the way. What if it happens again and I lose it again?" El sobbed, wiping away the tears that were beginning to well up in her eyes.
"I promise you we’ll do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen. I’ll help you in any way I can over the coming months from now on. You know? I have a good feeling; I’m sure everything will turn out fine."
"I hope so."
"Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves with catastrophic events that haven’t even happened yet. Right now, we have a little creature on its way into our lives that we need to take care of." Mike smiled, crying in joy, and placed his big hand over El’s still flat stomach.
"I love you. I love you both.” She corrected herself, resting her hand over Mike’s on her belly. They shared a warm, emotional kiss, tasting the salty flavor of each other’s tears on their lips.
They felt something furry rub against their cheeks, abruptly pulling them apart. It was the kitten joining in the affection, purring in their ears screaming for some attention.
"We love you too." They replied in unison, giving him a quick kiss on the cat's head.
"You're going to be a big brother, little Mittens." Mike whispered, stroking him.
As if the animal knew what was happening, it began kneading Eleven’s belly with its tiny paws.
Although the news came to light in a rather curious way, nothing like how El had planned, she was extremely grateful.
She had built a small family, just as she had always wanted. A place where she felt happy, at peace, and loved. Her childhood and adolescence were unstable; she experienced many traumas and was constantly involved with people of ill intent who only saw her as an object. However, she was sure that she was fi8nally now in the place where she always belonged.