AN: I know this took forever. A solid month. I wanted to get this done but I have a philosophy that is making me take my time with writing, a phrase I took from a cooking show. DON'T FORCE IT MAKE IT and it has helped with my writing. Anyway I hope you like the chapter.
Chapter 5 Redemption
Ted Wheeler sat alone in the room he usually shared with his wife. Lately she was sleeping in the living room both to be close to Mike if something happened and also to avoid him. Ted was sitting in his bed, a large photo album in his lap. He never really bothered to look through them before, mostly out of being witness to Karen's endless photo crazes.
He was going through the ones from when Mike was in elementary school, winning several science fairs with his friends. So many were pictures of Nancy or Karen proudly standing with him and the first prize ribbon his team would win. None had Ted. Ted made the usual excuse of work but the truth was, he could have easily asked for time off to see it. Hell, he could have spent the evenings helping Mike with the various projects, even if they go over his head.
There were very rare pictures of Ted doing anything with Mike, even to the point where in family pictures, he could see Mike not even sitting near Ted. Hell, it looked like Mike would spend more time with Nancy than anyone else. Ted often wondered if he actually loved his own son. He remembered the frantic call he got from Karen when Mike collapsed. Ted thought he was fine but when the doctors explained he had cancer, all Ted could think about was how much it was going to cost. Luckily Ted's insurance covered ninety percent of the costs. But Ted still made Mike feel like he was a burden on the family.
Ted stood up and walked to the bathroom and began washing his face. When Ted looked at himself in the mirror, he hated the person he saw. His son was going to die thinking he hated him, and the worst part was it might be true. Ted slowly walked back into his room, sitting alone with the horrible thoughts that consumed him.
A few minutes later, The smallest member of the house walked uneasily out of her room. Holly Wheeler was crying from a horrible nightmare. It was the same one she had when her mom sat her down to explain that one day, her big brother was going to be gone forever. They were terrible dreams of her walking into Mike's room and finding nothing but dust and cobwebs. So Holly tried to spend every moment she could with her brother, not wanting to ever forget him.
She walked towards the bathroom but her own natural clumsiness took over and she tripped and fell over. She made a slight noise as she hit the floor. Nancy's door opened up and her big sister stepped out, looking confused and bleary eyed. "Holly, what's going on?" She asked. Holly picked herself off the floor, her eyes still wet from crying from her nightmare. "I was…I was…" She couldn't finish as she began crying again. Nancy pulled the young girl into a hug and pulled her into her own room.
Nancy sat on her bed and put the crying girl on her lap as she held her tight. Nancy sometimes wondered if she was just going to be some kind of replacement parent for these two. Nancy remembered fully when Mike came to her, scared of his own fate. She held Holly tight, whispering words of comfort to the girl. Soon Holly's cries began to subside and Nancy looked at her. "You wanna tell me whats wrong little miss?" Nancy asked.
"I had a bad dream, I was looking for Mikey and when I went to his room, it was dusty and full of cobwebs. When I asked mom where Mikey was she told me that Mikey was gone forever. It was terrible." Holly said. Nancy pulled her into another hug. "Yea, that is pretty terrible." She said. She was trying not to talk down to Holly, who was obviously still shaken from her dream. "How do you deal with this Nancy?" Holly asked. Nancy didn't have any easy answers, so she figured honesty is the best way to go. "Honestly little miss, I don't deal with it very well. I always felt like we were all going to be together until we were old and successful. When I had to spend time away, god I was scared he would pass away and I wouldn't get my chance to say good bye to him. God the fights me and Dad would have." Nancy said. Holly looked up at Nancy in confusion. "Dad kicked me out because I was always arguing with him. When Mike was first diagnosed, Dad barely took him for treatment. And the doctor he was seeing, Dr. Brenner, was not a cancer specialist. He was some doctor that Dad knew. Even he was telling Dad to take him to see Dr. Owens or Dr. Frasier. But it got worse and I was so furious with Dad that he threw me out while we argued." Nancy explained.
"Why didn't Mom stop it?" Holly asked. Nancy took a deep breath. "Mom was trying to take care of Mike, and she kind of didn't feel like dealing with the fighting me and Dad had. I guess this past weekend she snapped. Mom never really stood up to Dad like that." Nancy explained. Holly just nodded, her eyes were getting heavy now. She still hated how things were unfair for her brother and also for her older sister but she could at least fall asleep. "Okay little miss, you need some sleep. You think you will be okay going to your room without tripping?" Nancy asked with a smile. Holly nodded and she stepped off of Nancy's lap and headed for the door. "Thanks Nancy." She said. Nancy smiled. "No problem little miss." She said.
Karen woke up to noises in the kitchen. She sat up from the couch and saw Ted looking through the cabinets, looking through the cook wear. Curious she stood up and headed into the kitchen. Ted had quite a few things already on the counter, namely eggs and sausages, but he seemed to struggle to find the right pans. Karen was slightly amused seeing him try and figure it all out. "You know Ted, I usually leave the right skillets out from the night before." Karen said, startling Ted. "Jesus Karen. Sorry I woke you." Ted said after jumping from being startled.
"What are you doing?" Karen asked. Ted shrugged. "I thought I would help you get breakfast ready. I see you have your hands full with Mike and Holly." Ted said. Karen smiled slightly at him. "That's sweet of you Ted, but there is a reason I brought Nancy back. You were not much help before. So why the change of heart?" Karen asked. Ted picked up a spatula and began turning the stove on. "I have been a bastard. I just stuck my head in the sand and god I told him to kill himself. I dunno if I can ever be forgiven for that. But I want to make a few things right." Ted said. "I can't ask for forgiveness, but maybe I can try and earn it. I love you Karen, I really do. And I do love this family. I love our children dearly. The burden on this family wasn't Mike, it was me." Ted explained.
Karen sat down at the table as Ted explained himself. He had never been this open before. Mostly just trying to be stoic while looking lazy and ignorant. Most of what he was doing felt like gestures, but even Karen was still struggling to keep up with Mike even with Nancy's help. Not that Mike was a handful, it was just easier if everyone was helping out. "Okay Ted, I'll give you another chance. But you better understand, I don't want you faltering just because you are too tired or want to zone out in front of the TV. I need a real commitment." Karen said. Ted let out a breath and resumed cooking.
Coughing from down in the basement alerted both and Karen took over cooking. "Take care of your son." Karen said. Ted nodded and headed to the basement. Mike was coughing pretty bad and Ted hurried down. "I'm here son. What do you need?" Ted asked as he got to his son's side. Mike pointed to a cup and when Ted picked it up, it had no water in it. Ted hurried to the bathroom sink and brought the filled cup back to Mike. As he approached, Mike quickly put away a handkerchief that Ted could see had blood on it. Ted kept his comments to himself as Mike gratefully took the cup from Ted. Ted knelt down by Mike as he drank from the cup. "You need anything else Mike?" Ted asked. Mike shook his head and he weakly laid back down. "Having a bad day." Mike said. Ted saw more of Mike's hair had fallen off and was all over his pillow. Ted grabbed his hand, which Mike did not pull away from. "I'm sorry Mike." Ted said. Mike gripped Ted's hand, giving his dad a slight smile. "I'm sorry I disappointed you Dad." Mike said. Ted shook his head. "No, I failed you. I should have been a better father to you and your sisters. I'm so sorry I told you to jump off that bridge." Ted said, slight tears in his eyes. Mike for once felt that his dad meant what he said and he reached out for him and the pair embraced. Ted cried as Mike clung to his father.
After a short while, Ted let go of his son and he looked at his hand and had a few clumps of hair in his hands. "You sure we can't shave your head?" Ted asked. Mike shrugged. "Mom might freak. But I am tired of waking up with clumps of hair in my pillow." He explained. "Well, we can talk to your mother about this later. Do you need help getting upstairs?" Ted asked. Mike nodded and Ted helped him up.
After Mike was settled in the kitchen for breakfast, Ted still felt unwelcome at the table, especially with Nancy there. He made a move to head back to the living room, but Karen stopped him. "You should eat at the table at least." She said. Nancy also nodded to him, having gotten a slight talk from Karen about Ted's change of heart. And so the family tentatively had breakfast together.
Will saw Troy leaving his house by himself, and now he needed to talk to him. Will walked quickly to catch up to him. He was nervous, this was a first for him. He got behind Troy. "Hey Troy." Will said behind him. Troy jumped at being startled. "Jesus Byers, you almost gave me a heart attack." Troy said, griping his chest. Will smiled slightly at him. "Sorry, I just needed to talk to you, without anyone around." Will said. Troy nodded and the pair walked together, with Will walking his bike. "You still riding a bike? I thought your mom would have taught you by now." Troy asked. Will shook his head. "I have a license, I'm just low priority to use a car. Mom and Jonathan work more than I do." Will explained. Troy nodded, his own mother refused to teach him to drive, but that didn't stop him from learning from James' uncle.
"Yea, I know how to drive but Mom doesn't want me driving till next year. Hopefully she lets me take the test. I mean, you hit one mail box with her car and suddenly you're a delinquent." Troy said. "I mean, you are one." Will said with a smile. "Hey, I resemble that comment Byers." Troy joked. "So what do you want to talk about?" Troy asked, knowing what its about. Will took a breath, he never thought he would ever talk to anyone like this. Least of all Troy. "It's about Sunday night, when we kissed. I was just wondering…" Before Will could finish, Troy pulled Will into a kiss. Holding him tight as the pair kissed in the early morning haze.
When they separated, Will smiled at Troy as they held each other close. "I can't stop thinking about you. Both out of guilt and out of just how cute you are Byers." Troy said. Will looked at him questioningly. "I was a jerk to you and your friends. And I hate how I was. I don't want to be that guy." Troy explained. Will nodded, he understood how he felt. "Lets just figure all this out together okay?" Will said. Troy nodded, and the pair walked off to school.
When Mike and Holly left for school, Ted stayed behind at the house, looking at the living room. "Do you think we can move Mike here?" He asked Karen. She looked around and she shook her head. "He is still way too tall, and he is still very much active." Karen explained. Ted nodded. "Yea, but that couch sure as hell isn't very comfortable. I just need to find something comfortable." Ted said. Karen nodded. "Well, if you can, we could move his bed down to the basement. But that thing is large and awkward." Karen explained. Ted looked up the stairs and thought about it. "Well, how about he gets more help getting up the stairs? He might be tall and lanky but I think I can get him up there. It will reduce how much stairs he has to go up." Ted suggested. Karen thought about it. "If I had more help. That was the issue we had before. I needed help and you didn't give it. I don't want you to commit then give up." Karen said. Ted nodded. "That's fair." Ted said.
"Look Ted, this is just a new thing. I don't want you to tell me something I want to hear then go back to being lazy all the damn time." Karen said. Ted just nodded, he knew she was right. And he did say awful things about Mike, things no parent should ever say about their kids. "What can I do to fix this?" Ted asked. Karen sighed as she thought about it. "I just want you to help out Ted. That's all I ask." Karen said.
Ted nodded. "You can start by going to work and not making everything a pain." Karen said. Ted looked at his watch, grabbed his keys and headed for his car. An idea came to Ted as he drove to his job.
Billy came off his lunch break to his boss telling him someone was looking for him. It was either Heather being coy or some idiot who didn't know better. Upon seeing Ted Wheeler, Billy knew it was the latter. "I thought you took your car someplace fancy?" Billy asked. Ted just kept looking at him stone faced. "I need a hand." Ted said simply. Billy smirked at him. "Why?" He asked simply. Ted pulled out a brochure from Sears and showed it to Billy. "I am making sure my son is in comfort." Ted said. Billy smiled as he looked at the page.
Nancy got a frantic call from her mom while she was at her desk. In the strange haste of the morning, Karen forgot to make Mike lunch. Nancy laughed and said she would handle it. So, she rushed over to the house, grabbed the bag and hoped Mike didn't have the first lunch of the day.
She made her way intot he school and found Mike's class and noticed he was missing. Catching Dustin's eye, he made in indication that Mike went for a smoke so Nancy nodded and headed to the boys room where sure enough she could smell weed.
Walking in, Mike made no effort to hide what he was doing. He was sitting on the floor by one of the stalls, rather than sit in the stall. "You are a brazen little shit aren't you?" Nancy asked with a laugh. Mike smiled at her. "What are they going to do? Expel me?" Mike laughed with his sister who sat sown next to him. Mike passed the joint over to Nancy, who took it and took a puff. "Getting bad huh?" Nancy asked. Mike nodded.
"You might need to tell someone about that." Nancy commented handing the joint over. "I don't want to be seen as just sick all the time. If this is my last year, then I just want to live it like it is my last. Not waiting to die." Mike said. Nancy nodded, understanding his thoughts. "Then make a list of things you wanna do. And we will see about getting it done." Nancy said. Mike thought about it before nodding.
Both exited the bathroom, matching red eyes on both of them. Nancy handed Mike his lunch before she forgot and are it herself. After seeing him off to class, Nancy saw him pull out a pen and paper and she could tell he was making his list.
Ted came home early and sent Karen off to get some stuff from K-Mart while he waited for Billy to show up. Sure enough, at two thirty, Billy's car arrived. "Okay Mr. Wheeler, lets see what you got going on." Billy said.
Karen arrived a few hours later and found two strange sights. First was Billy's car was there, and second was a large box on the curb for trash pick up. Karen headed inside and heard what sounded like arguing voices from the basement. "Look I'm telling you. The frame goes like this!" Came Billy's voice. Ted's voice responded. "The instructions say they go like this." He argued. "Screw the instructions!" Billy countered. Karen headed down the basement and found the couch had been moved and in its place was a large king sized bed. Well the makings of one. Both Ted and Billy were arguing over how to assemble the bed. Karen was amused.
"What is going on here?" Karen asked. Both Ted and Billy jumped. "Oh shit, she got here early." Billy said. "So this was a big surprise for Mike?" Karen asked. Both men nodded as Karen walked up and grabbed the instructions. "You two aren't installing the base correctly, it goes like this." Karen said, effortlessly Both men looked embarrassed by each other. "Now, lets get this set up quickly." Karen said, barking orders to the two men.
Mike was driven home by Hopper, he was going to have El stay late with them because he had to work late. "Now, I don't have to go over the rules with you two do i?" Hopper said giving both teens the evil eye. Both smiled innocently as Hopper burst out laughing. "You kids have a good time all right?" Hopper said as he helped Mike out of the truck. Both walked into the house hand in hand, oblivious to Billy's car.
They walked in hearing the sounds of laughter. Curious, both went into the kitchen and saw Ted, Karen and Billy laughing around the kitchen table. Billy turned to see them. "Hey, welcome home." Billy said. "What the hell is going on?" Mike asked. Ted turned to them. "Language. And we did something for you in the basement." Ted said indicating the basement door. Both El and Mike headed downstairs and Mike was in awe. The large couch was moved under the stairs, and in its place was a large king sized bed. Both teens walked slowly to it.
El put her hand on the bed and noted it was very soft. Both heard Ted walking down the stairs. "I figured you could sleep in comfort. I'll still help you get to the bathroom on the second floor for showers and such but I just wanna make sure your comfortable." Ted said. Mike had slight tears in his eyes as he walked to his father and pulled him into a hug.
"I do have a few rules for you two though." Ted said. El snorted with laughter. "Door remains open if we are here together?" El suggested. Ted pointed to her and nodded. "Bingo. And no funny business." Ted said, making Mike red with embarrassment.
Both teens sat on the love seat in the basement, doing more of their homework. "Okay, why was Australia at war with Emus?" El asked as she got to a part of her history homework. "War with what now?" Mike asked incredulously. Both looked in the book to find out the story about the oddest thing ever. Once satisfied, and mostly done with their homework, A folded piece of paper came out of Mike's backpack and El picked it up. It had a bucket on it. "What's this?" El asked. Mike gently took the paper. "My bucket list." Mike said simply. El looked confused. "It's a list of things I want to do before i…." Mike started. "Kick the bucket." El finished. Mike nodded as he opened the paper up.
El looked over the list and saw lots of interesting things on there. One was ride a motorcycle, another was work a job. One seemed to be erased and written down many times. El had a sly smile as to what Mike had written down. "I can help you with this." El said. "R-R-R-Really?" Mike stammered. El smiled. "One of these we will talk about later, but everything else, I think we can get it done. Even if I have to carry your sickly body myself." El said. Mike smiled at her as she leaned forward and kissed him.
Upstairs, Ted sat at the kitchen table, holding a squirt bottle that Nancy said was just in case things got hot downstairs. "My dad just used a shotgun." Ted said with a laugh. He was helping Holly with her homework so Nancy could relax while Karen made dinner. "Dad, is this going to be normal now?" Holly asked. Ted merely smiled at her. "I hope so little Miss. I made mistakes and I want to make up for a lot of them." Ted said. Holly nodded and went back to her homework.
Karen watched her husband, still wary he will go back to his old ways. And in many ways, the things he said were unforgivable. But she had to see he was trying. Hell, he called Billy over for help and Ted made it clear he hates the younger man. Maybe she will talk to him later.
Hopper stopped at Melvald's, getting a call from Joyce about rowdy drunks. Hopper knew the bars were not far from Melvald's and he would normally send one of his officers, but he had nothing better to do, plus it was Joyce, Hopper would still do anything for her. He walked inside as Joyce was shutting the store down. "We're closed." Joyce called out, Hopper laughed. "I am your escort mi'lady," Hopper said. Joyce looked over and saw a smiling but very tired Hopper. "You look like you had a rough day." Joyce commented. "No worse than you. But drunks tend to avoid me." Hopper said.
"Well, I'm glad you're here. Had a few drunks kind of orbiting around my car." Joyce said. Hopper nodded and he waited for Joyce to shut the store down. Hopper walked with Joyce over to her car and as a courtesy, he looked over and made sure no tampering was done. "I guess your all set." Hopper said. Joyce smiled at him. "Well, thanks Hop, how about dinner at Enzo's Saturday?" Joyce said. Hopper looked at her, confused. "As thanks for coming out." She said simply. Hopper nodded. "Yea, I'll just make sure El doesn't get in any trouble that day." Hopper said as Joyce got in her car. "Pick me up at my place. I'll see you then." Joyce said as the Pinto started and drove off.
Hopper was in a slight daze as he drove to the Wheeler house, where El and Mike were sitting on the porch swing laughing at something funny. "All right, say your goodbyes and don't make me get the hose." Hopper said. Both teens laughed as they kissed each other goodbye and El got in the truck with Hopper.
The pair drove off, with El having a small smile on her face. "You two seem to be getting along again." Hopper observed. "Its good to have him back. He is having a Dungeons and Dragons game this weekend. I haven't played in a while so maybe I can join?" El asked. Hopper nodded. "Joyce Byers and I are going out that Saturday night. So works out." Hopper said. El brightened up. "Oh good, I can get you date ready. You need new shirts." El said. Hopper looked indignant. "My shirts are fine." Hopper grumbled.
"Dad, Magnum P.I. isn't a good look for a date. Or for regular wear. You need to look respectable." El said. Hopper grumbled but he knew his daughter was correct. "Fine, I'll have you update my wardrobe." Hopper said. "Okay awesome. There is also something else I might need." El said. Hopper gave her a questioning look.
The subsequent near crash and argument that came later would be told another time.
AN: Okay, another reason it took forever. In early August I was diagnosed with diabetes after my toe got injured. Subsequently, the next month it got badly infected and I got super sick. They took the toe and I am also on lots of medications so I don't lose more body parts. I'll be writing still but bear with me, I am still very sick.
