A/N: Thank you all for being patient between these updates. With this one, I decided to go a little bit in a different route and make this a prequel to chapter 7. Adult Mileven received good feedback, and I wanted to develop their story a little more. So, I hope you enjoy this. Please remember to leave a review!

The Mandalorian Terminator: Thank you. Jealous El is fun! And I'm glad you enjoyed her interactions with Holly.

Ejbeckmann: Both of those would've been good! Glad you liked it. Hope you like this one too!

Disneyprincess315: I do think Mike and El really would handle their physical progression of their relationship maturely. And yes, jealousy can be ugly, but Mileven makes it through everything : )

UnoPeso22: I'm glad you liked it! I agree, I wish the Duffers would use their existing background characters for conflict or plots instead of adding slews of new characters that no one asked for (talking about you, season 4). I would also love to get to see El interact with the Wheeler family! Don't worry, this one-shot collection is still going to see regular updates even though I have another story going. I like the freedom this gives me to write a variety of stuff that comes to mind. I hope you like this one!

OdoMango: Glad you liked it! I can definitely explore post-season 3 Mileven more in coming chapters!

Shrike176: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. I think it's important to show that while El still feels that jealousy we saw in season 2, her way of handling it matures with age. I'm glad you enjoyed the portrayals of Stacey and Holly, too. I hope you like this chapter as well.

Afanofstrangerthingsandstuff: I'm glad you liked it! I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.

Setting: 1991, four years before the events of Chapter 7.

Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or any of its original characters.

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El laid the stick on the counter before pulling up her pants and flushing the toilet. She washed her hands and used all of her willpower to keep her eyes off the stick laying next to the sink. Three minutes. They needed to wait three minutes, and El knew she could not torture herself by watching that tiny screen in the meantime.

Mike came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist while she dried her hands. She turned around in his arms and looked up at him, and she saw the anticipation, hope, and fear staring back at her from his dark orbs. El offered him a small smile and caressed his cheek with her thumb, silently reminding him that everything would be okay no matter what. Mike kissed her forehead, and El laid her head against his chest, closing her eyes in a silent prayer that it would finally work out for them this time.

El had always known that Mike was the one for her. She was in love with him even before she knew the feelings she was experiencing had a word to describe them. And even then, "I love you" just didn't seem to capture how she truly felt about him. She had put her life on the line for him numerous times, and El knew she would do it again in a heartbeat. She would die for him, she would kill for him. The only sound that could calm her racing, panicked heart after waking up from a nightmare was Mike's voice. The one place she felt truly at home, at peace, and safe was wrapped in Mike's arms where she could lay forever just breathing him in. El had everything about Mike memorized from his eyes that she still got lost in, to his freckles that she had traced millions of times, to his smile that could stop her heart and brighten any day. She had completely given herself to him years ago, so when Mike asked her to marry him just two months after graduating high school, El had said yes before the question had fully left Mike's lips.

They still went to college, and Mike and El had a small wedding ceremony during Christmas break. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler had thought getting married at eighteen years old was irresponsible, but Mike and El didn't care. They knew their love had endured enough over the years, and they wanted to start their life as one as soon as possible.

They were able to move into a one-bedroom apartment off-campus which they paid for with the part-time jobs they both worked while attending college. It was a hard adjustment, but even when there would be uncertainty about bills or work and class schedules conflicting, El knew this was where they were meant to be and that they would figure it all out together.

Over the next two years, things became less stressful. Mike and El both worked extra shifts during holiday and summer breaks from college, so during each semester, they knew they had a growing savings that they could pull from if they absolutely needed to in order to cover bills. Luckily, they had not needed to. They were both happy with their classes and their jobs and, most importantly, with each other. El didn't think she could ever want more than what they had.

Then one day, just under a year ago, she and Mike had gotten into a discussion about having children.

"Isn't nineteen too young?" El had asked.

Mike's face had fallen, and El had kissed him deeply, not wanting him to misunderstand.

"It isn't that I don't want to," she had clarified. "But we are still in school, and we only have part-time jobs. This apartment only has one bedroom, and babies are expensive."

"Those are the same types of excuses that will always be around, El," Mike had said gently. "A few years from now, it will be 'we just graduated and are starting our new jobs, and this place is too small, and babies are expensive.' Babies are always going to be expensive, and it's always going to seem like we aren't stable enough to have one."

"People will think we're crazy," El had chuckled.

"People always think we're crazy," Mike had laughed as well. "They thought we were crazy for getting married at eighteen, but we made that work. You would be such an amazing mom, and I am so ready to have a baby with you."

El couldn't lie and say she hadn't been thinking about having kids with Mike for years. Since they were fourteen, and El saw how well Mike interacted with his little sister Holly, she knew Mike would be an incredible dad. It was something that she had always dreamed would happen for them, and El thought it probably would happen at some point in their twenties, but as she laid there thinking about Mike's words, they really did make sense.

"You really think we could figure out how to raise a baby?" she had asked with a grin creeping across her face.

Mike had kissed the tip of her nose softly and took her hands in his.

"I know we could. We can figure anything out together," he had said.

El had wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers while Mike wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against himself.

"Then let's do it," she had panted when she pulled back.

"You mean…?" Mike had asked hesitantly. El had begun nodding vigorously.

"I mean it. Let's have a baby," she had confirmed against his lips.

El hadn't remembered seeing Mike's face light up with so much excitement since the day she had said yes when he asked her to marry him. Seeing that happiness was enough to make El know that they were making the right choice. Even though they were young, El knew any baby that she and Mike brought into the world would be met with nothing but love.

So, they had started trying to get pregnant. For the first couple of months, Mike and El were simply having sex and trusting nature to be on their side. When her periods kept coming as regularly scheduled, Mike had suggested that the two of them meet with El's gynecologist to talk about family planning and see what they could do to increase their chances of pregnancy.

The meeting with the gynecologist hadn't really made El feel any better. Her doctor had explained ovulation and when El would be most likely to become pregnant based on her menstruation cycle. She had also given El some basic suggestions such as reducing caffeine intake and maintaining a healthy diet.

"So, just keep doing what we're doing? Have a bunch of unprotected sex and wait to see what happens?" Mike asked.

"Basically, yes," Dr. Solomon had responded. "Most importantly, don't stress yourselves out over it. A lot of people don't get pregnant right away, and it takes some couples a year or longer before they are able to get pregnant."

"A year?" El had repeated.

"In some cases," Dr. Solomon had nodded. "But you are still so young. There is plenty of time for this to happen for you."

"And, if it doesn't happen for us?" El had asked quietly and Mike squeezed her hand.

"Well, there are tests we can run in the future to ensure that both of you are fertile. If problems persist, we can explore alternative options such as adoption or surrogacy," Dr. Solomon had explained gently.

When they had left the doctor's office that afternoon, El had been unusually quiet, and Mike must have suspected that the reality of the doctor's words was still sinking in.

"Are you okay?" he had asked gently, caressing the back of her hand while he drove them home.

"I just didn't think it would be this hard to have a baby," El had admitted.

"I know. Neither did I," Mike had agreed. "But like the doctor said, we shouldn't stress about it. You already live a pretty healthy lifestyle, and you honestly don't drink much caffeine at all. We'll just keep doing what we're doing and hope for the best."

"It doesn't bother you that we didn't get more of a definitive answer?" El had asked.

"It doesn't bother me that we just got doctor's orders to keep having unlimited unprotected sex," Mike had smirked in response.

El had rolled her eyes and playfully smacked him, but she was thankful that Mike was not only there to support her, but also make her laugh despite her fears and uncertainties. El tried telling herself that Mike and Dr. Solomon were right. It was just going to take time. She had nothing to worry about.

But, the months had kept passing, and El was no closer to being pregnant than she had been when they sat in Dr. Solomon's office. She had completely cut out caffeine, not even having a cup of coffee in the mornings anymore. She kept a daily planner in her nightstand to track her periods and ovulation so she could make sure that she and Mike had sex on the right days, in addition to all the other times they had sex throughout each month. To her disappointment, El's periods kept coming.

Two months ago, El really thought it was happening when her period didn't start on the day it was scheduled to. She wanted to wait a week before telling Mike that her period was late, just to ensure that it wasn't just delayed by a day or two. But, she wasn't able to keep the secret for more than a few days, and just three days after her missed period, she told Mike that she was late.

"You… you're late? So, does that mean…" Mike trailed off.

"I have to take a test to be sure," El smiled, though the hope and excitement shining in her husband's eyes and the smile he was unable to contain made her hope harder than ever that the test would be positive.

El took one of the pregnancy tests that she was keeping in a drawer beneath the sink in the bathroom, and she and Mike waited an excruciatingly long three minutes. When it was time, El picked up the stick from the counter and her face immediately fell when she saw the screen. She heard Mike's sad sigh behind her as he read the test over her shoulder, and tears began to fill her eyes.

Mike wrapped his arms around El from behind and kissed her temple. She turned to face him in his arms, and Mike was heartbroken to see the tears in her eyes. Maybe this was becoming too much stress for her. Before Mike was able to say anything, El had thrown her arms around his neck and buried her face in his t-shirt. Mike held her tightly and silently stroked his fingers through her hair.

"I'm sorry," El finally whispered.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. You can't control this," Mike said softly. "I'm sorry for putting so much pressure on you. Let's just forget about ovulation days and no caffeine and whatever else, and let's just go back to normal and trust that it will happen when it's meant to happen. I don't want to see you stressed like this."

El pulled back and looked up at him, her eyes completely welled up with tears as one finally escaped. She bit her bottom lip, and Mike could see on her face that she was holding something back.

"What is it, baby?" he asked gently as he wiped the escaped tear from her cheek.

"What if… what if it's me?" El asked.

"What if what's you?" Mike asked, furrowing his brow.

"What if I'm the reason this isn't happening for us? What if I can't have babies because of… because of…" El's voice broke as more tears spilled out. "What if they ruined me?"

The idea that she was made infertile at some point during the first twelve years of her life, either intentionally or as a side effect from something the bad men had done to her at the lab, had briefly flashed through El's mind several times throughout her life, but she had never given it much thought. It had started to creep back into her mind a few months ago, and the thought stayed longer and longer until it was always there.

Mike felt his stomach sink as El's words set in. She had never voiced this fear to him before. He swallowed down the lump that had formed in his throat.

"El, you're not ruined. You are perfect. There is nothing wrong with you," Mike insisted in a firm but sweet tone.

"But what if I can never have kids, and you married me not knowing that? You want kids, Mike, and what if you can't have them because of me?" El asked shakily. "What if you start to resent me or regret marrying me or-"

"El, we could keep trying forever and never get pregnant and I would never for a second regret marrying you," Mike interjected. "You're my whole world. You mean everything to me, and that will never change, especially over something you can't control. If we can't have our own kids, we can look into adoption."

"You would do that?" El asked, her eyes softening as she looked up at him.

"Of course I would. Hell, maybe we should look into adoption even if we are able to have our own kids," Mike said. "Hopper wasn't your biological dad, and you never felt like he loved you any less because of it, right?"

"Right," El agreed.

"The point is, no matter how many kids we have, and whether we have them biologically or through adoption or both, I will love them just the same because I'll be raising them with you. And I could never think less of you for not getting pregnant. Please don't ever think that I could regret anything about you," Mike said, resting his forehead against hers.

"Thank you," El choked out.

"Do you feel better?" Mike asked.

El nodded against him. She truly felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders and she could breathe easier. The fear of letting Mike down had been eating away at her each month that she started her period, and hearing his words dissolve her fears was like a breath of fresh air. With that fear, paired with the stress she was putting on herself to get pregnant, plus studying for midterm exams, El couldn't really feel surprised that her period was delayed a few days. She took a deep breath and let it go, happy to stop stressing and let whatever was meant to happen, happen.

"I love you," she said softly, her lips just inches from Mike's.

"I love you too," Mike said.

With his arms still around her waist, Mike pulled El closer to himself and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and melted completely into him, letting him guide her backward and lay her gently on their bed where she let him love her and comfort her and prove the meaning behind his words.

The next two months, El had felt more at ease than she had since the first time she and Mike had discussed having children. She was no longer tracking her ovulation days, and that daily planner had sat untouched in her nightstand for eight weeks. Midterm exams had gone well for both El and Mike, and for the first time in nearly a year, El felt no stress.

Since midterms were over, they were both working longer hours during their short break between semesters, so El was not surprised when she started feeling extra tired and sluggish. She had also written off her sudden aversion to the smell of tuna when she got a whiff of her coworker's lunch one day. After all, El had never particularly been a fan of tuna anyway, and her stomach had already been feeling a bit uneasy, so the instant nausea that was brought on by the smell was understandable.

When El had woken up that morning with sore breasts, she had even reminded herself that sometimes her breasts become extra tender during her period. But then El realized she wasn't on her period… come to think of it, when was the last time she even had a period? El's eyes had widened as all the signs suddenly came together.

She had told Mike carefully, not wanting to risk him getting too excited only to be let down again. El knew there was always the chance that this would be another false alarm, but at the same time, she just felt like this time was different than last time.

So, as she stood in their bathroom with her eyes closed and her head rested against Mike's chest as their arms were wrapped around each other, El's mind filled the three minutes by replaying their journey over the last year. She felt Mike kiss the top of her head and nudge her slightly, so she looked up at him.

"It's time," he said softly.

El nodded and offered another reassuring smile before turning and walking to the sink. She picked up the stick and turned around to face Mike before looking down at the screen.

Her eyes instantly doubled in size, and El leaned back against the sink for support. She raised her shaky hand to cover her mouth, and she blinked several times, hoping her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.

"What does it say, baby?" Mike asked, and El finally ripped her eyes away from the stick in her hand.

Wordlessly, she reached forward and placed the stick in Mike's hand and watched as he looked down at it.

Mike was certain his heart stopped. He heard El sniff and giggle, and when he looked up to meet her eyes, he saw tears were already spilling out of them.

"It's positive," he breathed.

"Uh huh," El nodded, her wide smile already starting to hurt her cheeks.

"We're having a baby?" Mike voice caught in his throat.

"We're having a baby!" El exclaimed.

She jumped forward, and Mike caught her and spun her around. He held her tightly and placed kiss after kiss on her lips, tasting the salt from the mixture of her tears and his.

"Holy shit," Mike said through a breathy laugh. "I can't believe it."

"I know," El beamed, placing a hand lovingly over her stomach.

Mike looked at her glowing face and wiped the tears from her cheeks before leaning in to kiss her deeply.

"I love you so much," he said when he pulled back.

"I love you more," El grinned and placed another peck on his lips.

Mike chuckled and kissed El's forehead before kneeling down so he was eye level with her flat stomach. His mind was running rampant with visions of El's stomach growing over the next nine months while their little one developed inside her. He smiled as more tears rolled down his cheeks, and he placed a hand next to El's hand on her stomach.

"And I already love you more than you could ever know," Mike said softly before placing a gentle kiss on El's stomach. "I can't wait to meet you."

El wove her fingers through Mike's hair and felt her heart swell at watching him talk to their unborn child. Mike stood up and pulled her close again to kiss the tip of her nose which made her giggle.

"I can't wait to have a baby with you," he said against her lips.

El smiled into their kiss and wrapped her arms around him. She was ecstatic. She was married to the most wonderful man in the world, and now she was carrying something within her that her heart was already overflowing with love for. El never knew she could love something so much without ever having seen it, but she knew that just like her love for Mike, she would do anything for this baby. Their baby.

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A/N: I hope you liked this one! Thanks for reading, and please leave a review to let me know what you think.