A is for Al

November 2000, Indianapolis, IN

"MIKE!"

Mike Wheeler was still in bed. He was accustomed to being on his own time since he worked from home. He was a novelist. Eleven Wheeler, on the other hand, was always running on a very organized schedule since she needed to be at the office and visiting foster homes quite often. She was a social worker for the Indiana state government. The fact that her husband was still in bed at this time of day (10:23 AM) irked her. How did he manage to take care of their hyperactive son when she wasn't home?

She stormed into the hall and towards their bedroom.

"Michael Wheeler! Get your ass out of bed right now or so help me God I will drag you to the kitchen!"

There was an audible groan from under the covers.

"Five more minutes, El, please," came the muffled voice.

"Up! Now! This is an important day and I need your help! I cannot believe you're still in bed!"

A messy mop of dark hair appeared, followed by Mike's bleary face. He glared at her.

"It's morning! And I was up late last night. Nobody's gonna be here until like 3. Why do you need me now?"

She glared right back.

"You being up late last night is your own fault, idiot. Things take time! If you're not going to help me set up then at least watch Henry while I do! I left him in his highchair but he'll start screaming to get out any second now."

As if on cue, their son started screaming from the kitchen. El walked back out into the hallway and headed in the direction of the cries.

"The cake needs to be picked up at 1, please take him with you when you go," she pleaded.

Mike forced himself out of bed to the bathroom. He really hated mornings. Sometimes El was so much like his mom that it was scary.

Well, they do say that boys marry their mothers, he thought.

Today was Henry's first birthday. He was a very energetic child, always causing chaos. Even though he was a bit of a trouble-making baby, his parents loved him all the more for it. Karen had been so excited when they announced the pregnancy that she had spilled half of the apple juice she had been pouring. Her first grandchild! Nancy was grateful to her brother for that, because it distracted Karen from the fact that her oldest daughter had been engaged for about two years and didn't seem to have plans for a wedding any time soon.

When El had gone into labour last year, Mike hadn't even been home. He had been at the small grocery store on the next block shopping for Eggos, which were still her favourite food, and cheese because she wanted lasagna. Although his pasta-cooking skills were very sharp, El still preferred Dustin's lasagna. Mike would always try, though. She had called his cell in a panic and he ran out of the store with Eggo boxes in his arms (he forgot to pay for them, but the owner knew him well enough to know that Mike would eventually come back to settle it once he realized his mistake). It would make for quite a funny birthday story when Henry was older.

On this day, many people were coming to celebrate. Karen, Ted, Joyce, and Hopper were driving up from Hawkins. Will was actually in Indianapolis at an art exposition, so he would be coming too. Lucas, Dustin, and Max couldn't make it and neither could Nancy and Jonathan, but they would all be returning to Hawkins for Thanksgiving at the end of the month and would see each other soon anyway. They hadn't invited any of El's co-workers because five extra people was already a lot of extra people for Mike and El's tiny apartment.

Mike made his way into the kitchen, where he found El attempting to feed Henry the last of his breakfast (which he very clearly was not interested in eating). The baby was violently squirming in his high chair in a vain attempt to escape the spoon. Mike took it and nudged El towards her own breakfast.

"I'll feed him the rest, you need to eat," he said.

"Thanks, Mike." she sighed.

Once Henry was fed (he yielded to the spoon from his father), Mike took him out of the chair to bathe and dress while El cleared up the kitchen. Henry was a baby that liked water very much. Once you put him in the bathtub, it was almost impossible to get him out before the water went cold. This day was no different, and Mike decided to let his son have some fun. The cake didn't need to be picked up for another two hours, anyway.

About fifteen minutes into Henry's bath (the water was starting to cool), Mike noticed something unusual. Henry appeared to be eating something. But what...?

The soap! Mike remembered putting it on the tub ledge about forty minutes earlier. It was no longer there. He scrambled to the tub to get the soap out of Henry's mouth, but slipped on the rug and fell in face first. Mike came up gasping to the sound of giggles. His hair was plastered to his face and he spotted the remnants of the bar of soap sitting in the water, where it must have fallen off the ledge. So if he hadn't been eating the soap, what did Henry have in his mouth? Mike frowned and pried open the baby's mouth. There was nothing in there, but he was holding a small white rag in his hand.

"EL! I'VE BEEN TRICKED! HOODWINKED, I TELL YOU!"

"WHAT? I can't hear you!"

"Come here!"

Mike heard her coming down the hall.

"What did you- what happened to you? Why are you all wet? It was supposed to be him taking a bath, not you!" she said as she gestured towards the still-giggling and smiling Henry in the tub.

Mike glared at her playfully.

"This kid! I thought he was eating the soap so I ran over to the tub and it turns out it was just that rag. He tricked me! On the way over I tripped on the rug and I fell halfway in, that's why I'm wet." he explained.

El shook her head, smiling at her boys and their antics.

"You let a one-year-old trick you, Mike? Really? What kind of adult are you?"

"Hey! I know you think I'm adorable, okay, don't start denying it after nearly seven years of marriage!"

"Yeah, yeah, wastoid. Clean him up and get him dressed, alright? I need to finish in the kitchen."

Mike attempted to flip his wet hair away from his face so he could see her better (needless to say, he failed).

"Yeah, I'll finish off with this little joker!" he said as he turned back to Henry.

El was already halfway back to the kitchen when she heard her name being called.

"What do you want now?" she asked as she walked back into the bathroom.

"Al!" Mike was looking at their son with an expression of dawning understanding on his face.

"Do you mean mommy? El?" he asked.

Henry pointed at his mother in the doorway and repeated himself. "Al!"

Mike turned back to El with a huge smile.

"I think that's his first word, El!"

"Al!"

"Well he isn't saying it right, but I think it is! I have to document this!"

She ran to their bedroom to grab the Polaroid camera off the dresser. When she returned, she snapped a quick photo of her husband and son in the small bathroom, the former with sopping hair and the latter pointing at her, both with huge smiles on their faces. She would label it as: Nov 4, 2000. Henry + Mike, bathroom. Henry's first word "Al".

"Al!"

This was life, and life was precious.