Hiiiii! Here's the final chapter to Promise for Life! I know it's sad, but don't worry! I am still continuing with Runaway's and with my Stranger Things one-shots. If you would like any other stories, please let me know! Anyway, enjoy the final chapter of Promise for Life, and if you haven't already, check out El's First Birthday for more background to this story. Enjoy and review!

Chapter 4: Expansion to the Wheeler Family

Henry gave a tired sigh as the last person left for the day. The tiny bell above the door jingled as the customer left. Henry got out of the creaky wooden chair and prepared the store for closing. He shuffled across the floor and out the door, locking it behind him. He took a deep breath, breathing in the warm summer air. He gave a little smile and headed home.

Henry pulled into the driveway of his little bungalow home. He closed the door of his Vista Cruiser and walked back down the little driveway to the white mailbox with the red cardinal bird painted on it. The bird was faded but it still held its shape. He chuckled at the memory of painting that with his wife, Mary.

She had hated that mailbox so much and had forced Henry one day to knock it down and buy another one. As Henry went to destroy the mailbox he decided to paint it instead. His idea had worked and Mary had loved that mailbox and wouldn't let anyone go out to get the mail but herself just so she could see the beautifully painted birds.

Henry opened the rusted box and pulled out the assortment of ads and bills, until he stumbled upon a creamy white card with sleek handwriting on the envelope. He opened carefully, curiousity getting the best of him. His eyes widened as he read the message inside.

Dear Mr. June,

We would be honored if would join us on August 3rd for the wedding of Michael Wheeler and El Hopper.

Time: 1:00

Place: Springfield Lake Church

On the bottom of the card written in pen was Mike's messy handwriting.

Hi Henry! I'd love for you to come, without you this wedding wouldn't be the same (or most likely possible) if it weren't for the engagement ring and that charm bracelet that I asked you to make all those years ago. You have gotten me through all the highs and lows of being in a relationship, and taught me that love was the most important thing to have in life. Please let me know if you are able to come, both El and I would love to see you! Thank you,

-Mike

(Also I have a little favor to ask of you)

Tears of joy filled Henry's eyes, before he broke out into a happy jig in the middle of the street.

"Ugh! Why won't this fit?! I tried it on two weeks ago and it was fine!" Nancy complained, as Johnathan tried to zip up the dress.

"I don't know babe, you are pregnant. You've completely outgrown two shoe sizes already." Johnathan said finally getting the zipper all the way up. He put his hand on her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. She huffed irritated.

"But if it makes any difference, you're still beautiful." Nancy snorted and was about to retort when Johnathan gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. She gave a light chuckle, before giving out a slightly pained sigh. Johnathan let go, suddenly nervous.

"Nancy? What's wrong?" Nancy looked into his big brown eyes. She couldn't lie to him. She couldn't keep the secret anymore. She sighed.

"Johnathan... it's about the pregnancy." Johnathan felt his hands get clams and his heartbeat quicken. He thought everything was going well. Was it not? Oh god!

"Johnathan... I- I went for a check up... three weeks ago and I uh... found the gender." His eyes lit up. How had she not told him sooner. He didn't care if it was a boy or girl, he just wanted something that him and the love of his life created. A child that he could give the world to, unlike his father. He vowed to never become his father. He motioned her to continue.

"Its a... girl...and...a b-boy." Nancy barely spoke the last two words. Johnathan felt a sudden rush of emotions. He was thrilled, no doubt... but also terrified.

"Twins?" Nancy nodded. It wasn't a second after that Johnathan picked her up and swung her around laughing and grinning his brightest smile.

"Oh Nancy! This is fantastic! I mean terrifying, but amazing!" She laughed along with him, feeling suddenly so much better that the secret was out... well almost. She hadn't told anyone else, other than El. But now she had Johnathan with her. That was all that mattered.

"Hey Nance?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love your too." The two held each other in their arms, the palms of their scarred hands pressed tightly together.

"Are you sure this is okay? Not too much? Too little? Will he even like it?" El asked examining her dress that she was sure she was going to need help to get out of.

Max chuckled. "El, you look beautiful, and whether you got out their in the sparkliest dress, or pajamas, Mike is still going to think you are the most beautiful star in the sky." El blushed slightly and tried to laugh off her nerves. She hadn't felt this nervous since her first day of high school.

The unknown scared her.

But she was going to have Mike by her side. The rest of her life.

El examined her dress again, checking it over to make sure it was perfect. Today had to be perfect. Max suddenly shook her from her thoughts.

"El. It's almost time to go. I need to go out there and find Lucas. El gave a nervous smile and nodded.

"Relax. All you have to do is speak the truth and kiss him... which I know you are very good at both, when it comes to Mike." El tried to lossen up, but that was like asking her to stop breathing.

"Well, you'll see the stress when you marry Lucas." Max blushed a bright red and gave a small glare. Lucas hadn't asked her yet. Max complained about it all the time. El personally thought that Max should just go ahead and ask, but Max wanted him to quit being a chicken and just marry her.

Max left the room and El looked in the mirror at the almost unrecognizable woman that stared back. She wasn't used to fancy clothes and super done up hair. She didn't mind it, but the twisted nervous fighting it's way through her stomach interrupted her thoughts. Then a knock at the door.

"Uhh... Kid? Time to go." It was Hopper. El gave a small smile, before carefully opening the door to see her father in a suit. That was a rare sight. Another rare sight was the tears forming in his eyes.

"Are- are you crying?" El questioned with a chuckle. He glared at her.

"No! Steve got hair spray in my eyes! Geez kid, I don't know how Mike's going to live with that attitude." El shook her head and smiled.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Dad."

"...I know, by girl is all grown up." Hopper said with a hint of sadness in it. El smiled, tears forming in her own eyes, and hugged him tight.

"I will always be your little girl." She sniffed.

"I know kid, I know." Hopper patted her back and let go. As Hopper was about open is mouth, Holly came bouncing towards them with her basket of flower petals in her hands.

"Come on El! I want to have another sister!" Holly threw open the large wooden doors and bounced down the isle. Everyone turned their heads to look back as El took hold of Hopper's arm and with a deep breath took a step into the room. Up in the front of the room, was Nancy the maid of honor, the minister, and of course looking more handsome then ever, Mike.

Everyone gasped at El's dress and hair as she grinned at each person she passed. Will smiled and waved. Lucas Max smiled proudly at their friend, and Dustin gave her the thumbs up. As they made their way to front of the church, Hopper let go of El's arm and gave Mike a nod. Mike gave a nervous smile. The couple faced each other.

"Friends, we have joined here today to share with El Hopper and Michael Wheeler, an important moment in their lives. Their time together, they have seen their love and understanding of each other grow and blossom and now they have decided to live out the rest of their lives as one. Uh, would you like to exchange vows?"

The two nodded and Mike cleared his throat.

"El, I have to start out by saying, by how I can't believe I'm standing up here with you. Fourteen years ago, I found you, and instantly fell in love. At the time I didn't quite know what love was, but I knew that whatever it was, I could find it when I was with you. I don't know if it was fate for us to meet at Mirkwood or if it was just some weird coincidence, but being here with you, I realize that that doesn't matter. The year that you were gone, I had gone off the rails. I didn't focus good, I caused more than enough trouble for my family, and most of all, I missed you. But then you came back into my life, and I knew... I just knew that I could never lose you again. Before I met you, I thought I was whole. But when I lost you, I realized that you were a part of me that I never knew I couldn't live without. Without you El, I'm just not me. I love you, and always will."

El stared into Mike's big brown eyes, and felt her own tear up. She gave a quick glance at the crowd of their family and all had tears in their own eyes. The official motioned for El to speak.

"Mike, I would be here all day if I list the things you did for me... but you saved me. You saved me more than you will ever know. You taught me about friends, and family, and love. I had a rough childhood. We all know this, but you were the one to seem to understand me the most, even though you had no idea what I had been through. You loved and cared for me for all these years. Through all the crazy events in our life, you never lost hope. For those grueling 353 days that our life was torn apart, I loved you. Even when I couldn't explain the butterflies that I got in my stomach at just the thought of you, and the feeling of that fist kiss, even when I didn't know what a kiss was. I didn't know a lot of things when entering the world, but I always knew that I could count on having you by my side. I always knew that through life, I would have you to love. I have so much more I can say, but I got to wrap it up somewhere."

The crowd chuckled.

"Mike. You are my hero. I don't know how to begin to thank you. Without you Mike, my world just wouldn't be complete." El barely got out the last word as tears flooded her eyes. Hurry up and let me kiss him already!

The official cleared his throat. "The rings please." Dustin bounced up and handed the little box to Mike. Mike opened it carefully, having not even seen the rings yet. He smiled at them. Henry made them for him and El. They were silver simple bands with the word promise engraved in the inside. They were perfect.

They exchanged the rings and looked at one another. In the next couple minutes, they were to become husband and wife.

"Michael Wheeler, do you take El Hopper as your wife and promise to love her until death?" Mike, tears in his eyes smiled and nodded.

"I do."

"And El Hopper, do you take Michael Wheeler as you husband and promise to love him until death?" El nodded.

"I do." I made that promise to myself years ago.

The official smiled. "You may now kiss the bride." Mike took no time to hesitate, and reached forward and pressed his lips against hers. He could feel her smile, which made him smile. The two held on for another second before letting go and turning back to the crowd, to realize all the commotion from their family and friends.

Everyone erupted into cheers and clapping and smiles. Dustin was the first out of his seat and rushed up to hug his friends. Then Lucas, Will, and Max followed.

"Yeah! Food time!" Dustin roared, causing everyone to erupt in laughter. Everyone stared to file out of the stuffy church and toward the beautiful lake with tables lined up and decorated up for them. El gasped with excitement and squeezed Mike's hand.

Everyone got food, and stared talking as the sun began to set over the lake. Beautiful lights that were wrapped around the trunks and branches of tree's ran over there heads connecting from tree to tree. A DJ played music and Lucas and Dustin were busy with a dance competition with people laughing and joking with them. Everything was perfect. And finally El and Mike got the chance to talk.

Henry was one of the first to come up to Mike.

"Henry, thank you so much for making the rings. It means so much." Henry smiled.

"Anything for you and your girl." That's when El came up to us. Henry had only met El once before, but they knew each other as if they were best friends through Mike.

"Henry! Oh I'm so glad you could come." Henry smiled.

"Michael, you really did get yourself one beautiful, smart woman." El blushed slightly and smiled. They chatted some more, when Henry gave a small smirk.

"I think it's about time, that you two newlyweds enjoy a nice talk." Henry patted Mike on the back and walked off.

Mike's P.O.V

I couldn't remember a time I needed my life that I was happier. The love of my life now by my side forever. I still had to blink a couple of times every now and again to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Everyone congratulated us and talked to us about the future. While I enjoyed the attention, I just wanted to talk to El. But she was being rushed with talk too.

Finally Dustin and Lucas got them distracted and I was able to talk to her.

"Did I tell you that you look beautiful?" El smiled fondly.

"I don't believe you have." She said jokingly. I rolled my eyes and laughed with her.

"I can't believe it." El said sighing contently, watching everyone have a good time.

"I can't either. It seems like just yesterday that we found you in the woods." I thought back to that night. I would have never thought that that girl would end up to be my wife.

"Hmm, Yeah." El hummed as she laid her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her and just watched everyone goof around. It seemed like everything was still the same, yet everything was still different. Then Hopper came up to us.

And of course Joyce followed and pulled El away to chat. Oh boy.

"Hi Hop." I said a little nervously.

"Hey Mike." I blinked. That was the first time (or only time that I could remember) where he called me Mike, instead of "kid" or "Wheeler."

"Your not going to give me a talk about how if I hurt her, you'll hunt me down?"

"Nah. You've had enough of those. I may not "like" you, but I trust you. She got herself one hell of a man."

"... Thanks Hop. That means a lot."

"No problem. But if you lay a finger-"

"Jim. I love El. I wouldn't do that."

"I know kid, I'm just protective."

"Yeah, no kidding." Hopper chuckled.

"The two of you and that attitude. It was meant to be." I laughed along with him, when a familiar tune filled my ears. Then I heard my name.

"Mike! It's our song!" El called out from the crowd of people on small dance floor. I smiled. It was the song we danced to at the snowball. I waved bye to Hop and followed El's voice onto the dance floor. She grabbed my arm and we danced.

El's P.O.V

The dance was wonderful. At the end we kissed and everyone started clapping. That's when I was harshly pulled away from Mike's lips by Dustin as Old Time Rock and Roll started to play. Dustin and I started laughing and dancing's like a couple of idiots. Before we knew it, everyone had joined us, all dancing like idiots. Mike took his sister from a reluctant Johnathan and danced with her.

Lucas and Max were laughing so hard that Lucas was now sprawled out of the ground. Hopper and Joyce were dancing. They were getting into it. I wanted my dad to date her so bad. It was so obvious that they loved each other. I wanted to just tell him to quit being a chicken. Dustin beat me to it.

"Just kiss already!" He shouted, making me laugh so hard that I stumbled backwards into Will. I then danced with him, glancing back at Dad and Joyce who were both now very red in the face. Dustin started chanting.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Others started to join in. I laughed until Joyce had had enough. She shrugged her shoulders, stood on her toes and pulled on Dad's shirt and kissed him firmly. We laughed and cheered. Dustin and Steve high fived. Will chuckled.

"Guess there's going to be another wedding soon... sis." I laughed.

"See you there bro." We laughed as he spun me.

The rest of the night seemed to fly by from all the laughing and joy that we had. I couldn't remember a time where I was happier.

"Hey El. Come on. I have something for you." I shoved the last bite of Eggo in my mouth and watched as Dad and Joyce were the only ones on the dance floor slowly swaying to the music and talking. Everyone else had gone home. It was very late. I yawned and stood up to meet Mike who was standing next to the car door with it wide open.

I called out to Dad to let him know that I was leaving and he waved me a good bye. I got into the car.

"Oh good! Home. These shoes are killing me." Mike laughed as we talked about old times. Our first kiss. First date. All the ups and owns in our relationship. The time Dustin accidentally told all of Mike's valentine day plans to me. Mike then turned the car right instead of left.

"Mike where are we going? Home is that way." Mike was silent for another minute, before we pulled into the driveway of a small cottage home.

"No actually, home is here." He said motioning to the small house. I gasped. It was perfect. I stood in the driveway speechless.

"If you don't like it, I can take back home to the cabin." Mike said walking around the car and next to me. I turned to him

"Home is wherever you are." I leaned forward and kissed him. He gently wrapped his arms around my waist. He smiled lovingly when we parted.

"Do you want to go inside?"

I signed contently as I pulled my hair back into a bun and watched Mike sprawl out on our bed. Our bed. It sounded weird. I went to the other side of the bed and crawled in next to him. We faced each other.

"El. I'm the luckiest guy in the world." I smiled as he gently took my hand.

"I think it's the other way around." I said with a sleepy smile.

"I love you El. I always have, and always will."

"I love you too." And with that, I fell asleep as Mrs. Wheeler in my Mike's arms.

Heyyyyyyy! So that's the end! Whoot! Whoot! I hope it turned out okay. I tried to put in as many ships as possible. ( hope it wasn't too cheesy) I haven't ever been to a wedding, so I kinda improvised. Thank you all so much for the support! Please review and request! Until next time,

-Daisy