I feel I should a warning: This story is very sweet, like, so sweet, you may catch Diabetes. If you are Diabetic, take a shot of insulin now, you'll thank me later. without further ado...

"Is she here yet?"

'She'll be here soon, Holly, and then we can go play at the park together."

"I like it when Eleven comes with us, she's always so much fun."

"Yeah, I like it when she's here too."

Mike's dad was in Indianapolis on business for a few days and since his mom was busy, she figured Mike could use one of his Summer Fridays to babysit his little sister. Mike wasn't crazy about the idea, Holly could be a real pain in the neck sometimes, but his mom did say he could invite Eleven over if he wanted and any time spent with his girlfriend was time well spent in Mike's book and naturally, Eleven jumped on the idea immediately. They had planned to take Holly to the park for the afternoon, but Eleven was running a little late.

"Of course you like it when she's here, then you can be with your girlfriend." Holly said to Mike , drawing out the last word in a teasing tone.

"Watch it, Holly."

"Mikey and Eleven, Sitting in a tree-"

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G?" Eleven said sticking her head around the corner, having let herself in.

"Eleven!" Holly cried, running over for a hug.

"Hey, Holly, ready to have some fun today?" Eleven said, leaning down to hug her.

"Yeah, I love this park, it's really a lot of fun!"

"Oh, I bet it is."

"But first..." Mike said stepping over to where the girls were standing, he gently took El by the shoulders and kissed her on the lips, "Hi" he finally said, shortly after the inevitable "Eeeewww" from Holly

"Hi" El said back, trying desperately hard not to blush.

"You're late" Mike said, joking a little.

"Yeah, it's pretty hot out, so I decided to get us some water so we don't get dehydrated." El said holding up the small cooler in her hand.

"Ah, good idea."

"Come on, you guys, let's go, let's go!" Holly yelled from the doorway.

"Okay, we're coming, we're coming." El said wanting to keep up with the 8-year-old.

All three went out the door and down the street to where the park is. Mike and Eleven lagged behind a little, knowing any effort to keep up with the overactive child was futile, but Mike did still want her to be careful.

"Don't run too far ahead of us, Holly!"

"I won't!"

"And don't cross at the crosswalk until we catch up with you, okay?"

"Okay!"

Mike wrapped El's free hand with his own and said to her, "Thanks again for helping me out today."

"You're welcome, I like playing with your sister, she's fun."

"Yeah, but, she can be annoying, too."

"Come on, Mike, she's just a little kid, and, besides, you didn't hear about this from me, but, she just really loves spending time with you."

This flattered Mike a little, "Really?"

"Oh yeah, she told me she's just crazy about her big brother, but, again, I didn't tell you that."

Mike was filled with a bit of pride, maybe this would be fun after all.

Eventually, they got to the park, and Mike leaned down to Holly.

"So, what do you want to do first?"

"Maybe a game of Tag?"

Mike started to smile, "Really? Well, only if..." he trailed off, "you don't mind being it first!" he yelled before tapping Holly's nose and running off.

"Hey, come back here!" Holly yelled laughing and running after Mike.

"I'll get the next game!" Eleven yelled, sitting down at a bench, thinking how cute it was Mike having this much fun with his little sister.

Eleven's thoughts were interrupted by a voice, "Hey, El."

She looked over and saw Steve coming over with some grocery bags in his hands.

"Oh, hey, Steve."

Steve sat down on the bench, "Mind if I sit here for a minute and rest my arms? Heavy groceries on a hot day, not the smartest mix."

"Sure, go ahead. This your day off?"

"Oh yeah, even us cops get them occasionally, what are you doing here?"

"Babysitting."

"Ah, now you know how it feels" he said jokingly, remembering how often he got roped into babysitting Mike, Eleven and the others when they were younger, even though, and he'd never admit it, he grew to love being around those little shits.

Steve and Mike saw each other across the playground, "Hey, Harrington!" He yelled.

"Hey, Wheeler!" Steve yelled back before he focused his eyes on Holly, "Holy crap, is that Mini-Wheeler?"

"Yeah, that's Holly."

"Jesus, I haven't been around in a while, she's grown like a little weed."

El had noticed this about the little girl, who was currently leading the game and chasing Mike up the steps to the slide.

"It really is cute to see Mike and his sister like this."

"Yeah, I bet. Hopefully, it'll be good practice for when it's your kid some day."

"Steve!" Eleven said lightly smacking him on the arm.

"What? Look, I don't like thinking about you little shits having little shits of your own, but, you've never thought about it?"

El got a little nervous and started to stammer.

"We...we're only 16, Steve!"

"Yeah, what's your point? You two are practically inseparable, I sometimes think it's part of some kind of ancient prophecy or it's written in the stars or something that you and Mike are meant to be together forever."

El did like that thought.

"Well...yeah, it's crossed my mind from time to time. Living together, getting married, having a baby, a little combination of the both of us. Mike's brains and heart, my toughness, just the right combination of looks from the both of us, something that would make you go "Oh, yeah, that's a Wheeler kid." Eleven said wistfully.

"Sounds almost perfect, you talked to him about that?"

El suddenly got nervous again, "Well...something like that would scare most guys away, wouldn't it?

"Most guys? Yes. Hell, I'd say almost all guys, but Mike isn't your average guy. remember, I was a long-time, on-call babysitter for you kids, I like to think I got to know you pretty well and I can tell you, no dude your age is even capable of the kind of love he has for you."

Eleven didn't have anything to say to that. She was too lost in thought over what Steve had said.

Steve started to gather up his bags, "Look, I gotta get home, wanna thaw out this chicken for supper tonight. Kid, I'm not gonna tell you what to do, I'm not your dad, I just work for the guy" this got a chuckle from El, "But, if I were you, I'd talk to him about it, he might surprise you."

El turned from her thoughts back towards him, "Thanks, Steve."

"No problem, later."

"Later."

Steve waved goodbye to Mike and Holly as they were coming over, Mike holding Holly by her feet over his shoulder.

"I like to think I won that game" Mike said with confidence, getting a laugh out of Eleven.

"Put me down, Mike!"

"Only when you admit I'm the best."

"Never!"

Mike laughed and turned to Eleven, "So, what did Harrington have to say?"

"Oh, not much, he just stopped by to chat" El said, still lost in thought, which Mike noticed.

"You all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine" El lied.

Mike pulled Holly over his shoulder and set her down.

"Hey, Hol, why don't you go swing for a while? See if you can make it go over."

"Mike, you know that's not possible."

"Well, you'll never know unless you try, try and prove yourself wrong."

"Okay." Holly said running over to the swings.

Mike turned back to his girlfriend, clearly sensing an uneasy feeling about her, "Bottle of water, please?"

"Oh sure, here you go" El said handing him one.

Mike took a slug off of it and sat down next to her, still curious.

"You sure you're all right?"

"Yeah, Mike, I told you, I'm fine." El said getting a little defensive.

"Okay, okay, it's just...you can tell me if something's wrong."

"Mike, you know I'd always tell you if I had a problem, I love you."

"And I love you."

There was silence for a minute, until Mike spoke back up.

"We're still on for tomorrow, right?"

"Oh yeah, your mom is taking Holly for a girl's day, right?"

"Yep, so we can have the house all to ourselves for a movie day or whatever else we have in mind." Mike said wagging his eyebrows.

"Sounds like a good plan, Mr. Romance."

The three of them had a good rest of the day at the park, Mike was even feeling good enough to buy all of them ice cream on the way home.

The next day, El was still thinking over the whole future conversation, and decided she and Mike should talk it over. She went over to the Wheelers' house at around 11 and knocked on the door instead of letting herself in like usual.

"Coming!" she heard a voice from inside yell followed by the fast stomping of feet up the stairs and Mike opening the door.

"Hey" Mike said before giving her a quick hello kiss.

"Hey" she said pulling back from his lips.

"You know, you can just come in, the door's always open for you."

"Didn't wanna seem rude."

"Eh, whatever, come on downstairs, I got some movies and drinks and I was just about to make the popcorn."

"Sounds great," El lied again, knowing what she wanted to say and feeling uneasy about it.

In the years that had gone by, the whole group had taken to hanging out in the basement more and more, and it wound up getting a bigger couch, A somewhat nicer TV, a microwave and a mini-fridge for drinks. They all thought it was a pretty sweet deal.

After heading downstairs, Mike asked, "you want something to drink?"

"Got any Sprite?"

"Always have some in here when you're coming over, my dear" Mike said, knowing his lady's favorite drink of choice, which highly flattered El.

"There you go" he said, tossing her a can, and getting one for himself "And I'm gonna get the popcorn ready" with that, he grabbed a bag and tossed it in the microwave, hitting the right buttons to get it started, after which, El finally spoke up:

"Uh, Mike, can we sit and talk for a minute?"

El's tone surprised Mike, but he went with it and sat down, "Sure, El, what's up?"

El was nervous and didn't know where to start,"It's just, yesterday, when Steve stopped by, I said something about you playing with Holly and he made a dumb comment about it being good practice for when it's our kid someday."

Mike casually interjected "What's dumb about that?"

"Huh?" El said, caught slightly off-guard.

"I would hope this time with Holly would be good for when we have kids of our own."

"No, it's just...thinking about a future for us and stuff like that, that doesn't scare you?"

"No, El, why would it scare me? I think about that kind of thing all the time."

This surprised El, "You..." she struggled to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat,"You do?"

"Well, yeah."

El wasn't sure if she was ever any happier than she was at the current moment, "What do you think about? Specifically?"

"Well, I don't know, for one thing, I think our parents would appreciate it if we waited until after college to get married. I think about us getting married someplace nice and small just enough for our families and all our friends. I imagine Hop giving you away at the altar, you in a stunning white dress, you look fantastic in my head, El, and I imagine you wearing my mom's bridal choker, it's a family hand-me-down and ideally, I would hope she'd give it to you. I picture Will as my best man, Dustin, Lucas and hopefully Jonathan as groomsmen and, this part's all you, but I figure you'd make Max your maid of honor and maybe have Nancy as a bridesmaid, but, you know, that's negotiable."

El was smiling the biggest smile she could and was struggling to keep herself from crying over how happy she was, "That...that sounds pretty nice."

"Well, I'm not done."

El wasn't sure if she could take any more but she kept listening.

"I imagine buying a little place in the suburbs, assuming we have jobs in the city or something, I kinda want a place with a big basement like here, So our place would be the house our kids and their friends would all want to hang out at, but, again, that's negotiable. Oh, and speaking of which, I figure we wait until we settle into good careers to have kids, but, I imagine a kid with my brains and your looks and as far as names go, this is just off the top of my head, but I thought, If we had a boy, Alex Wheeler kinda has a nice ring to it and maybe Gloria or Kathleen would work if we had a little gi-"

Mike's speech was cut off by Eleven pulling him in for a deep, strong, emotional kiss. Pulling back, Mike was a little stunned, but, not unhappy about what just happened. El looked at him with tears down her cheeks and said "I'm sorry, It's just...I thought you would freak out if I brought up this kind of thing, but, you...you have so much planned out and it all sounds so perfect, I want all of it, I want to be with you through everything you just listed off. I love you so much, Mike Wheeler."

Now, Mike was the one who was the happiest he'd ever been, "I love you, too, El Hopper" going in for another kiss, the both of them so distracted they didn't hear the microwave beeping.

Pulling back, El said, "Popcorn's ready, Mike."

"Oh, yeah," Mike stumbled with his words, forgetting himself for a second "Popcorn."

He got the food and drinks ready, and, being in a romantic mood, El wanted to watch Dirty Dancing. Mike was fine with that, it was decent enough and he liked that Patrick Swayze guy in Red Dawn. Besides, even if he didn't, he was in too good a mood to argue over it, he just wanted to be with the woman he loved and was going to spend a bright and beautiful future with.

Monday afternoon, El stopped by the police station. Hopper called and said he was actually going to get off early for a change and they could spend the rest of the day together and El was very happy about that. She stopped by his office and knocked on his door.

"Hey Dad, you ready?"

"Hey kid, almost, just gotta finish this paperwork."

"Hey, El." She heard a voice quickly say behind her, she turned around and saw it was Steve walking by. She quickly ran after him, "Steve!" she yelled in happiness. "Wha-" Steve started to say before nearly dropping the papers he was holding and nearly getting the wind knocked out of him from the tight hug Eleven had him in at the waist.

'Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! A million, billion, trillion times thank you!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Very confused, Steve just patted her on the back and answered, "Uh, you're welcome, El, any time...What did I do?"