The nice doctor wrote her weight on a chart, -'So...118 pounds', the lady looked up from the paper and frowned at the young girl. She was basically skin and bones if It wasn't for the belly in her middle section which wasn't very big to begin with, -'Okay...how have you been feeling?', -'Fine I guess. Just nervous', El responded. the lady smiled -'Yeah that's normal...okay let's take your vitals, see if everything is in order and we can get going!'.
Mike felt light headed as he walked back into Hawkins lab. He felt nervous, first because he was returning to a place of dread. It wasn't now, it was full of specialised good doctors but still. Second, his girlfriend was about to go into surgery to deliver their only kid. And he was sixteen. Sixteen...soon to be seventeen...but still sixteen. A kid himself.
Karen walked behind him trying to catch up to his long legs, -'Slow down Mike', she rolled her eyes, getting winded just trying to keep up. Mike looked back, -'Come on mom, surgery's in ten minutes I have to be there', -'Fine fine! This place is fucking enormous', Mike nodded vaguely and then stopped in his tracks, -'Is dad coming?', -'Dont hhink so he's at work', ...he's really gonna miss this...he thought.
Of course. That's his thing. Missing important shit.
-'And-and Nancy?', -'She's coming tonight, remember I told you', Karen responded calmly.
Mike shook his head as if to clear his mind, -'Right. I'm just forgetting everything now, I'm sorry', Karen chuckled and laid a hand on his shoulder, -'Calm down. It'll be okay'.
El was sitting at the edge of her bed sobbing into Hopper's embrace, -'I'm scared dad' she mumbled.
The man nodded, -'I know kid. It's fine to be scared though, it lets out emotions. It's normal. And this will be over before you know it', -'C-Can you stay in here with me?' She looked up at him with big, frightened eyes.
The numerous doctors turned their back and looked at them, -'No, only her mom can be here'
-'And-and what about Mike?',
-'No minors'.
Hopper closed his eyes, -'Shit...you'll have Joyce here is that alright?', El sobbed some into her hands before agreeing, -'I-I guess' she bit her lip.
El grabbed Hopper's neck and lowered him down so only he could hear what she was saying, -'Don't let anyone take the baby dad...please'. This made Jim's blood run cold. Of course he wasn't gonna let anyone get hurt.
-'I promise...I promise I won't let anyone take anything away from you'.
As soon as Hopper came out of the surgery room area, Joyce jolted on her feet, -'S-So? Can I go in?' She asked shakily.
Hopper nodded and held her arms to keep her in place since she was pacing and swaying nervously.
He looked beside Joyce.
Mike and Karen.
The boy looked 5 seconds away from throwing up and Karen was just giddy and excited. Jesus, what a pair.
Mike's head shot up, -'I can't go in and be with her?' He frowned, Hopper laid a hand on his shoulder -'They say no minors...I'm sorry', -'That's BULLSHIT! I should be there for her!',
-'Mike, those are the rules. Can you fucking abide to them for one second of your life? This is important, son' Hopper insisted.
Mike got up and looked at Joyce in the eye, -'Let her know Imm here but they won't let me in. Just tell her I'm here waiting for her, okay?'
Joyce Byers had never heard Michael Wheeler talk more seriously and clearly; the woman nodded and hugged him tight
-'Just calm yourself down, Karen make sure's he's calm okay? Everything's gonna be okay', Mike had started shaking like he was freezing, he nodded and hugged Joyce again.
For some reason he didn't dare to look at Hopper. Who unfortunately sat beside him.
The huge man glanced at Mike. His hands were trembling anxiously and Hopper noticed, -'Kid...calm down', he pleaded for his own sanity.
Karen watched the interaction from afar.
-'C-calm? Calm down? Excuse me, do you-'
-'Michael not now' Karen sighed deeply,
-'Kid I'm a forty year old man. I've been through some shit. And that's my daughter in there. My teenage daughter. Who you put in that situation. Do you think I'm any calmer? But do you see me shaking like a leaf? Now stick this in your head: She's fine, the doctors are good and everything's gonna be okay. GOT IT? Do not stress me any further, kid cuz I swear to God', Mike nodded quickly, his face getting even paler.
A few more minutes into the waiting and Karen gasped, -'Oh I forgot! We brought this!' She pulled out a small pastel green blanket from a gift bag. Mike found solace in the piece of fabric and held it tight for the rest of the way.
Joyce came out an hour later, cheeks blushing. She actually looked happy and glowing.
-'So?' Hopper stood up first, almost knocking Mike back, -'So she's still under anaesthesia, but everything went really well, and...', -'And?' Karen insisted, Joyce looked around Hopper's shoulder over at Mike, -'You won the bet, Mike'.
The young man felt like he was punched in the chest and he couldn't gain his breath back. He felt his limbs go limp, only feeling strong enough to lean into his mom while sobbing uncontrollably.
Karen was flashing her usual, stunning wide smile, a few tears prickling around her eyes while she tried to make her son stop crying.
Hopper hugged Joyce tight and kissed her head, -'Thank fuck' he sighed in relief a bit too loud.
Joyce giggled, -'I cried in there, I just wish El had been awake to see it happening', Joyce looked up and saw Hopper's eyes watering, he was so proud and relieved tht everything was okay it was like nothing could break this joy.
••••
Mike laid his head on the side of the plastic incubator that held his son. He was so small, he almost didn't looked real. The young man's big brown eyes had skimmed over the baby's little body so many times he was positive he knew it by heart. Was it normal to be looking at someone for an hour straight? He asked himself. Didn't mattered. All Mike knew was that this was probably what love was all about.
-'And to think I was actually scared of you' he mumbled, trying to keep himself from drifting asleep, -'I don't know why though. You don't look scary at all' he chuckled to himself and inspected the little face again, the kid's tiny eyes covered by thin eyelids, the skin so pale 'it almost glows in the dark' El used to teased Mike, who had the same skin tone as the small being before him, and a soft layer of black hair that seemed to look like lint carpeted the crown of his head, -'Ah, yes. Black hair. Hopper said you'd be blonde' Mike snorted, -'I hope you get freckles like me as well so we can piss him off together'.
The main doctor called Mike back into El's room. First thing he saw was her 6ft3 father engulfing her in a hug. He really was just sobbing into her skinny shoulder while she cuddled into his coat, a huge smile on her face. Mike felt like he was falling in love all over again. Her face was fresh as a lettuce, as if nothing had happened at all. She had found the time to braid her god damn hair too, like, WHO has time for that now? He only saw her face transform into a crying expression when she saw him approaching the bed. She slithered her arms out of Hopper's grasp and shot them out at Mike who almost got into the bed with her, eager to cuddle her whole, -'El' he gasped into her hair, -'Mike...' her voice was calm but wavering nonetheless, her shoulder bones poked at his arms, her ribs grazing his fingers,
-'I'm so proud of you, I love you, you're so brave' he blurted out, a bit too loud;
El smiled and nodded -'I love you too'
-'Are you-are you okay? How are you?'
El sighed deeply and let him go too, -'Well my surgery wound hurts' she took some blankets off her and showed him a stitched vertical scar on her stomach, -'It looks gross and it's gonna hurt for a while but now I just wanna see him, have you seen him?', she talked about their son like he was some friend coming to visit. The inmense sense of love hadn't overwhelmed her yet.
Jane Hopper held the small baby into her. Like a hug. Instead of just grabbing him conventionally. -'I like feeling close' she explained while tears clouded her eyes, Mike chuckled and sat beside her. El had an amazing way of making connections with people with TOUCH. Which is why she liked hugging. She held her face against the little boys' shoulder and kissed his cheek, -'So cute, isn't he the cutest?', -'I agree' Mike smiled so wide his freckles looked like they were gonna fly off his face; he grinned even wider when he saw El make contact with the small being, -'I love you, you know that? My little sunshine' she giggled and cuddled the little boy again.