This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening.

Nancy paced anxiously back and forth across Jonathan's small apartment, weaving her way in between the scattered moving boxes strewn across the floor. Some were already filled to the brim with his belongings and some still waited patiently to be packed for their impending move back to the Midwest. They were going back to Hawkins for just a few weeks to spend time with their families, but the two of them were ultimately bound for Chicago after his graduation taking place in a couple days. She had been living with him in New York since her own graduation last year from Indiana University, and the two had been working together to pack up the apartment's contents all day.

But when Jonathan left to get them some take-out for dinner, the 23-year-old woman raced to the bathroom with her purse, withdrawing a terrifying object she'd bought from the corner store that day.

A pregnancy test.

She'd been feeling ill for quite a while now, but she'd only started to fear the worst the previous week when she realized she had missed her period. She'd wanted to tell Jonathan for the past few days, but she didn't want to worry him since he was busy studying for finals and working on the many projects that came with the last semester of his senior year. So she'd suffered in silence until today when she received her final paycheck from her internship so that she could buy a few tests without spending the last of their budgeted grocery money.

And that's how she found herself in this position, three prepared tests lying facedown by the bathroom sink as she nervously awaited their results.

In her haste, she'd almost forgotten that Jonathan was returning with dinner, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the door open and his keys jangling as he replaced them in his pocket. She quickly kicked the bathroom door closed and sprinted back out to the living area where he was placing a couple brown paper bags on the coffee table in front of the TV. "Hey!" he greeted her. "That Thai place you like closed early today, so I just got Chinese."

She twisted her features into what she hoped resembled a grateful smile. "That sounds great, thank you," she replied, fervently hoping that her casual tone of voice didn't sound too forced. She tried to busy herself so she was distracted from the tests sitting in the bathroom and quickly moved forward to relieve him of the last bag in his arms. However, her heart jumped into her throat once again as she felt a bottleneck shape and peered inside at its contents: an expensive-looking bottle of wine.

Jonathan noticed. "Oh yeah, I stopped by the liquor store on the way back too. You like White Zinfandel, right?"

Nancy's already-fake smile stretched even tighter. "Yeah," she replied somewhat stiffly. "That's so thoughtful of you."

"Well, we're celebrating, so…" he trailed off with a smile, stepping forward to wrap his arms around her waist. "I figured we deserved it."

She nodded, resting her hands gently against his chest as she tried to figure her way out of this. "I agree… but how about we save it for after you graduate? Then we can share with your family when they get here."

He raised his eyebrows. "I mean… sure, that's fine, I guess," he stuttered, surprised.

Nancy sighed. "I'm sorry. I just—you know I haven't been feeling very well lately," she acknowledged. "I know I'm probably just getting over a flu or something, but I don't want to push it and make myself sick before your big day."

Jonathan shrugged, apparently taking the bait. "I suppose that's fair," he agreed, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "But I hope you're still hungry, at least. Because they gave me a lot of food."

She smiled. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

They sat down at the table to eat, mindlessly channel surfing while dug in, but a few bites into her chicken lo mein, Nancy started to feel the familiar discomfort of nausea bubbling within her gut. "Oh… fuck," she whimpered, placing her hand over her mouth and jumping to her feet.

"Nancy?!" Jonathan exclaimed, replacing his food on the table. "Are you alright?"

Before he could follow her in, she dived into the bathroom, hurriedly locking the door behind her since the tests were still sitting on the counter. Dropping to her knees, she began to retch over the toilet, her boyfriend rapping his knuckles on the door behind her. "Nancy, c'mon. Please let me in," he pleaded from behind the wooden barrier. "I want to help."

"There's nothing you can do. Go away!" she groaned, her breath hitching as she continued to vomit. She couldn't help the tears that were now streaming in torrents down her pale face, and the sounds of her puking were now interspersed with involuntary, pained sobs.

"Wait… Nance, are you—are you crying?" he asked, his voice soft but concerned.

"I said go AWAY, Jonathan!" she bit out, a tinge of hostility in her voice, but the effort she put into yelling just caused her to bring up another wave of vomit. The lack of oxygen she was receiving caused her ears to ring, so much so that she didn't hear the sounds of Jonathan fiddling outside the door, worriedly attempting to pick the lock with a paper clip.

However, just as she finished being sick and flushed the remnants down the toilet, the door began to open with a loud click when he finally managed to manipulate the lock. She desperately threw herself against it as Jonathan started to push through into the bathroom. "No!" she exclaimed, weakly trying to brace the door with her body, even though throwing up had taken a great deal of energy out of her.

Jonathan stared at her through the small crack, his expression completely bewildered. "Nancy…why are you doing this?!" he demanded. "You're seriously starting to scare me a bit here. What's going on?"

"I—" she opened her mouth to make up some bullshit excuse, but she realized it just wasn't worth it anymore; he obviously already knew something was up. Her face crumpled as she began to cry, but she slowly opened the door for him, falling against his chest and hiding her face in his shoulder.

He wrapped his arms around her without a second thought, apparently not caring that she probably reeked of sweat and puke. "Hey, it's okay. I've got you," he whispered, rubbing her back soothingly as she sobbed into him. "Please just tell me that you're okay."

She nodded. "I-I'm okay," she assured him weakly. "But I… I'm just—"

He raised his eyebrows questioningly. "You're just what?" he prompted when she trailed off.

Nancy took a deep breath to brace herself for what came next, slightly relieved that doing so didn't cause her to vomit again. "I… missed my period, Jonathan."

His face slowly went blank, his eyes briefly darting down to her abdomen and back. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, obviously unsure what to say, so Nancy opened the door wider to reveal the tests sitting near the sink. "I haven't checked them yet, but…"

"Wait… why didn't you tell—"

She hid her face in her hands, tears filling her eyes again. "I-I didn't know for sure, and so I didn't want to stress you out while you were finishing your exams," she murmured, looking back up at his confused face when her tears began pooling in her palms. "I-I've just been t-trying so hard to k-keep it-t together, but… Jonathan, I'm so s-scared!" she sobbed.

Nancy wasn't typically a very tearful person, but she knew it broke his heart on the rare occasions he did see her cry. She could practically hear it splitting in two as he pulled her tightly against him once again, allowing her tears to soak the shoulder of his thin jacket. She noticed his eyes were now glistening with tears of his own, as well, but he didn't let his own emotions stand in the way of trying to comfort her. "Shhh, it's okay. It's gonna be alright," he finally managed to choke out past the lump in his throat. "I'm not going anywhere, Nancy. We'll figure this out."

She took a few deep breaths to compose herself before pulling away from him. "I-I suppose I should, you know… check them, I guess," she stammered, her heart anxiously racing as she took a couple slow steps back toward the sink.

Jonathan followed, nodding his head as if he knew how to do nothing else. But before she could muster the courage to turn them over, he suddenly reached out and took her left hand between both of his, subconsciously pressing their matching scars together. "I love you," he said, squeezing his fingers around hers. "No matter what these say… I'm with you."

She gave him a small, watery smile. "I love you, too," she whispered, extending a shaking hand over the tests. And finally, as if she were ripping off a band-aid, she flipped them over quickly in rapid succession, one right after another, and she almost stopped breathing in the process.

All three of them displayed two pink lines: positive. Pregnant.

They stood in silence for a few moments before Jonathan suddenly turned tail and left the room. Nancy felt a cold wave sweep over her heart, and she had the sudden inclination to yell, to scream, to bash her fists against the ugly, patterned wallpaper. A small part of her suggested maybe her newfound hormones had something to do with the motivation behind these urges. But instead, she simply slid down the wall and buried her face against her knees, holding them to her chest as she tried not to fall apart.

However, not even a minute later, she heard soft footsteps as he re-entered the tiny bathroom. She felt his shaky, uneven breaths as he lowered himself down to her level, but she refused to look up. "I know this may not be the best place to do this…"

"It's fine," she croaked, her voice hoarse with tears still threatening to fall. "You don't have to say anything you don't mean."

His hand fell gently onto her back. "N-No, I'm not… I just had to get—" he stuttered, but he soon trailed off, letting out a long, nervous exhale. "Nancy… Can you please just look at me?"

She let out a long breath to steady herself before she finally lifted her head, but her heart nearly stopped when she faced him. He was crouched beside her holding a small, velvet box, which housed a simple yet elegant ring. He smiled at her flabbergasted expression and reached out to wipe away the remnants of tears from under her eyes.

"I've had it for a while, and I was going to do this right after I graduated, but… well, I think I want to do it here and now," he said, trying to keep a light tone to his voice in order to put them both more at ease. "Nancy… I love you. But even before I loved you, I liked you, which is definitely saying something since you know I didn't like most people in high school," he chuckled. "Ever since we were kids, you were always the smartest person in our class. That was obvious to everyone… But more importantly, you were kind; you respected people and demanded that same respect be shown to everyone. Do you remember when you slapped Henry Kovak in first grade after he pushed me off the jungle gym?" he recounted with a grin. "I think that must've been the first time I realized you were something special."

She choked on a laugh as she remembered back to that day herself. "H-He was asking for it," she hiccupped, holding her closed fist against her lips to keep herself from dissolving into full-blown sobs. She didn't want to interrupt this speech that he'd apparently prepared, knowing he must have spent time practicing it. She almost laughed out loud again at the mental picture of Jonathan standing in front of a mirror reciting to himself, but she held it together.

He inched a bit closer so he could cradle her face in his hand. "And then we grew up, and you only became smarter and kinder… and braver than anyone else I've ever met. And even though you barely knew me at first, you helped me save Will. Twice! And I'll still neverbe able to thank you enough,"he told her, tears coming to his eyes as he recalled the day he got his little brother back from the Upside Down. "And I know we've both been through hell and back, Nance, but as much as I wish we didn't have to suffer through all of it, it brought us together… and I'm so grateful for that."

There was no point in even trying to suppress her tears anymore. They ran freely down in face in torrents, but her heart practically did a somersault when she noticed a tear sliding down his, as well. "I'm grateful, too," she agreed, bringing her hand up to cover his own, which still rested on her cheek.

But he surprised her then, twining their fingers together and swinging their joined hands down to her abdomen. ''And I'm grateful for this," he assured her without a hint of dishonesty. "Yeah, it is unexpected… And I know you're scared, Nance; I am, too. But we've been up against much scarier things before, and we've always come out okay," he reminded her. "And God, if this baby is anything like you, then they're going to be one lucky kid. Jeez, they're already going to be lucky enough having you for a mom," he insisted, a genuine smile quickly overtaking his face at the thought. "And I want to spend the rest of my life loving you both and trying to make you as happy as you make me."

They continue to stare deeply into each other's wet eyes for a moment, but she couldn't contain her watery laugh when Jonathan awkwardly shimmied around on the tile so that he was on one knee. He extended his hand to her, and she gladly gave him hers in return, her heart beginning to race in anticipation of what she knew was coming next. "So… Nancy Miranda Wheeler," he said, a slight quiver in his voice. "Will you marry me?"

She nodded, a wide smile overtaking her face. "Yes," she choked out, her voice thick with emotion. "Of course I will."

He grinned, slipping the ring into place on her finger, before pulling her into his arms again and cradling her head lovingly against his shoulder. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear before pulling away so their eyes met. "Nancy, I just want you to know I won't let us turn into the nuclear family from the cul-de-sac you grew up in," he assured her, referencing their conversation from so many years ago after their paths first crossed. "I promise… I'll never take you or your love for granted," he told her sincerely. "And I'll always do what I can to try and be the kind of man you deserve."

Nancy made a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob, but regardless, her joy could not be matched in that moment. "I know," she replied confidently, reaching out to cup her hand around his cheek. She tenderly ran her thumb across the small amount of stubble on his jaw and considered how much he had grown, how much they both had grown, since the days when they were just two shy kids trying to figure each other out. In a couple days, they would both be college graduates. They were moving to Chicago together, a big city they enjoyed that was a bit closer to home. They had managed to secure jobs there, both of them doing what they loved. And now, they were engaged, and in a matter of months, they would be adding a son or a daughter to their family.

Letting the reality sink in for a moment, she unconsciously moved her other hand back down to her stomach, which was still flat as of now. But even though it wasn't obvious yet, she was still growing a living part of them inside of her… it was surreal.

Jonathan's eyes followed her hand, and his smile grew a bit wider, his eyes softening. "Are you okay?" he asked gently, wiping a few more of her tears away. "With this?"

Nancy looked up at him and managed a genuine smile of her own. "Yeah," she affirmed. "I mean, I know we weren't planning on it. And I'm definitely still terrified, but… I think we can do this."

He nodded reassuringly, placing his hand next to hers. "Of course we can."

She twisted her wrist slightly to intertwine their fingers together, her newfound engagement ring sparkling magnificently in contrast to the harsh, fluorescent light of the dingy bathroom. She smiled at its brilliance before leaning in to press a kiss to her future husband's cheek. "I love you, Jonathan," she whispered, nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," he replied, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling them both back onto their feet. They simply stood there for a few moments and held each other, both unwilling to let go, until Jonathan finally broke the silence. "How about we call it quits on packing for the day?" he suggested. "I think we both need some time to unwind, right?"

Nancy nodded, eager to let go of their responsibilities for the rest of the night. "That sounds perfect," she agreed quietly, reaching up to wipe the last remnants of tears from her face. "I need to brush my teeth and shower first though… I'm a little bit disgusting right now," she acknowledged, wrapping her arms across her sweaty body with slight embarrassment. She still couldn't believe he'd proposed to her immediately after she'd finished vomiting.

Jonathan shook his head with an affectionate smirk, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Don't talk that way about my fiancée," he insisted teasingly, which managed to bring a happy blush to Nancy's face. "But if you really want to, then go for it. I think I'm gonna run back out quickly and pick up a few more things anyway."

She pouted for a moment, having hoped that he would join her under the warm spray, but she was hardly able to contain herself when he returned thirty minutes later with a couple cases of ginger ale ("for your stomach…"), a big bottle of prenatal vitamins ("for the baby…"), and a VHS of Ferris Bueller's Day Off ("…and a little something for you"). She even surprised herself a bit when her legs propelled her towards him and jumped up to wrap around his waist, allowing her to kiss every inch of his face she could reach.

And as the two of them laid tangled together on the couch that night, laughing lightheartedly at the admittedly cheesy movie, they felt their anxieties slowly turning into something a little more like excitement.

There's much more of this story to come, so stay tuned! And as always, please leave a review, follow and favorite, let me know about your comments and suggestions, and/or message me prompts and feedback to keep my little Jancy-loving heart inspired :)

See ya real soon!