AN: Heyo! So, I've never written for stranger things... I'm jenson40, and I normally write for Gilmore Girls, but I have no motivation for that at the moment. I do however have motivation to write this! I've had this idea basically since Nancy and Jonathan had that conversation in season one about like you know being carbon copies of everyone else like them and crap... so yeah... I hope y'all enjoy. If you do, I would love a comment to see if I should continue. Or if you have any constructive criticism, or whatever. I'll be looking forward to hearing from you guys. Have a great Sunday!

October 1990

It wasn't supposed to be like this. She wasn't supposed to be pulled into suburbia like the women before her. She was supposed to get a job, travel, live in a dingy apartment in New York with Jonathan. She wasn't supposed to be buying a house in an up and coming neighborhood in a suburb that was ten miles (but a 40-minute drive) from Indianapolis. She wasn't supposed to be pregnant! But she was. She was pregnant, and buying a house in Carmel, and engaged, and getting welcome casseroles from her new neighbors, and living the life she had always sworn off.

She wondered if this wouldn't have happened if only she had gone with Jonathan to New York for the summer. Or maybe she would have just gotten pregnant there instead of ridiculously hot and humid Indiana. Or maybe if she'd gotten pregnant there, Jonathan would have let them get an apartment in the city. Served her right for keeping them in-state that summer. Served her right for thinking that she could actually break away from the cycle.

She probably wouldn't have been as frustrated with the situation if she hadn't just graduated from college. She was barely 22, and her life was planned out for her in a way that she had never wanted it to be. But, she loved Jonathan, and she was happy to be engaged to him. If only the circumstances were different. She didn't want them to get married because she was "in the family way." No, she wanted them to have had time to live in the city. Stupidly in love, and not having a care in the world. Now, she would play the part of doting mother, living in the stupid suburban neighborhood of Village Farms, and taking care of the stupid house at the end of the cul-de-sac.

That fucking cul-de-sac. Of all the places their house could have been. She knew it was God playing some ironic trick on her. She was going to be living out her parents' life… or so she thought until she saw that look Jonathan gave her as he brought in another box. He actually loved her, and she actually loved him. That was more than either of their parents could say for themselves. But just because she loved the man she was going to marry didn't mean that she was content to live in a cul-de-sac.

Nancy placed her hand on her stomach, looking around at their new home. This had all come upon them so suddenly. The house, the baby, the new town, everything. Two months ago, Jonathan proposed. She knew why. When they told her parents, her mother had gone on and on about how a child should have two parents and a stable home. Barely even three days later, he was at her door on his knee begging for her to say yes. She did. Then that following week, he had mentioned off-hand that there was a company in Indy that had been taking a look at his portfolios. And the week after that they had contacted a realtor about finding a house in close proximity to the city. It was all a whirlwind that couldn't seem to end.

A whirlwind that no one was letting her help with. She was getting tired of hearing people tell her to take it easy, not to strain herself, go sit down. That was exhausting in itself. She was close to pulling at her hair and stomping on the ground like a little kid with boredom and annoyance. She grabbed the next person to come through the door, thankfully it was El, and pulled her up the stairs towards what had been designated as the baby's room. Nancy slammed the door shut behind them, closing themselves in the room filled with boxes.

"If I don't do something soon, I'm gonna scream," Nancy told her future sister-in-law when she noticed the wide-eyed concerned look she was being given. El nodded her head, plopping onto the white carpet next to an unopened box. Nancy was surprised that the 19-year-old girl didn't protest or return to the others to tattle on her. But she was pleased, so she sat adjacent to the girl, tearing at the taped edges on the box.

El stared curiously into the box, pulling out a few old dresses that had been Nancy's when she was a baby. "Pretty," she noted, brown eyes alight.

Nancy nodded, "My mom thinks it's going to be a girl." She smiled for the first time since they had arrived in Carmel, not feeling a sense of dread when she placed her hand over her ever-growing stomach. When the normally quiet girl didn't respond, Nancy took that as a moment to begin sifting through the other things in the box.

She began making piles, noting that El was following her system strategically. Still not saying a word. The silence was nice. Everyone seemed to be fretting over her more often than not. Her mother had been hovering while she still stayed with them, and when she finally got her free time to go to the Byers/Hopper household, Joyce and Hopper were quick to keep her seated comfortably on the couch. Even Jonathan was giving her ideas on how to keep herself occupied yet off her feet. It was overwhelming, and this move wasn't giving her much to do.

"I can already tell this place is gonna suck," Nancy finally broke the silence. El's head snapped upwards from the drawer she was organizing, her eyes full of questioning. "Ok, well, maybe not this place exactly… this wasn't supposed to be my life." The curly haired girl had officially abandoned the task she had been given and was now sitting cross-legged in front of her boyfriend's sister. "I-I love Jonathan, and I love my baby, but… I just can't help thinking that there was supposed to be more to my life than going from my parents' home to running my own. I probably sound selfish to you; don't I? I've got such a nice cushy life, loving fiancé, baby on the way, nice house, and then there's your shitty life, and I'm complaining that I've got the American dream."

After her rant, the room fell back into silence. El didn't know how to respond the that, and Nancy felt like she couldn't get her words across correctly. She couldn't explain her feelings to herself either, and she didn't want to think about trying to explain them to Jonathan. He was excited about his job in the city. It may not have been New York City, but it was a city, and it was a little bit more than an hour away from Hawkins. That in its own right was more than he had ever thought possible for himself.

"Steve and Dustin just got back with pizza," the man in question stuck his head through the door, smiling at the sight of the two women. Nancy still couldn't believe how her ex-boyfriend had been able to not only stay on friendly terms with her but with her future husband as well. Seeing Steve get along with Jonathan, sharing a beer over moving boxes blew her mind.

Nancy held her arms up, struggling to gain her footing. Jonathan came to her rescue, placing his hand on her lower back once she finally stood. His eyes searched her face, silently asking if she was ok. It took all of Nancy's willpower not to roll her own eyes in response. She nodded softly, allowing him to herd her out of the room and graciously taking his help down the stairs. She didn't like when they entered kitchen, and nearly every person offered her a chair to which she declined every one of them. Not like they had any chairs or the space for them.

Being fresh out of college, the new homeowners had scrounged up just enough money for their own mattress and bedframe. The baby's things and sparse furniture they acquired were all hand-me-downs from her parents' storage or Hopper's leftovers from the cabin. They had been able to move all the furniture in two trucks, and the boxes in the back of Jonathan's car and the Wheeler station wagon.

The pizza was distributed, and groups began forming on the ground to eat. Nancy leaned against Jonathan, finally giving into her swollen ankles and lower back pain to seat herself on the hardwood floor (it did nothing to ease the pain). Around them a circle was formed, consisting of the D&D party and Steve. The adults moved to the living room, their mothers weepy eyed as they realized their eldest children were moving on and having a life of their own.

The only noise that could be heard was the chatter from the parents and the chewing of pizza. Everything was changing. The most obvious being the fact that Nancy and Jonathan were having a baby. That fact alone signaled to the others that they weren't kids anymore. They weren't playing Dungeons and Dragons in basements, hunting monsters, taking down government conspiracies. They were going to college, getting jobs, moving to other towns, having kids of their own. This world was more upside down than the separate universe.

Obviously, this day was taking its toll on the younger group. Steve, long since claimed to have gotten over it and even extended an olive branch to the couple, was caught (by Dustin) staring longingly at Nancy and her bump. He waved it off, but the college student knew (that was probably the thing he was now struggling with the most). Mike and El and Will struggled to come to terms with their siblings not being there with them. Not everything revolved around Hawkins. Lucas and Max realized that their actions came with consequences. That sometimes life came full circle.

Life coming full circle…

That probably scared all of them more than any Demogorgan or Mind Flayer could.

And it was becoming Nancy and Jonathan's reality.