imjuststeddietrashatthispoint

[imjuststeddietrashatthispoint]

Little reminder that you’ll need to follow @lonelysatellites for all my fic updates now 😘

Steddie x Babysitter!Reader Part 4

A/N: oh my god we’re finally here! All I can say is that this was a labour of love and sweat and tears. It probably sounds ridiculous to get so worked up over a silly little fan-fiction but I can honestly say I felt the pressure when writing this (probably mostly self-inflicted) because I’ve never had something I create be as popular as this series and I was so desperate to do it justice. It got to a point where I wanted to scrap the whole thing and forget it, but I’m glad I kept going and we got here in the end. I’m awfully fond of this little imaginary family, and so I wanted to give them a proper send off. I hope none of you are lactose intolerant because we’re about to get cheesy. There’s smut, angst, super sickly sweet mushy love, and an ending I hope you’ll all enjoy. There won’t be anymore parts to the series, but who knows I might write some blurbs here and there if inspiration strikes. Also just a heads up - tumblr really struggled with the formatting of this one because it’s so long (21k). I’m going to have to share the taglist in a reblog because there’s no room to fit it in here, and you may notice (particularly towards the end) that there’s some pretty long paragraphs. I couldn’t add new lines where I wanted them because there’s a max to how many you can have in a post, so I hope that won’t cause too much of a distraction to the flow of the story. If you’ve made it to the end of this rambling I’d just like to say thank you for all your love on this series, and for your support of my writing in general. And a massive thank you to my wonderful friends here just for being so sweet. Much love xxxx

Warnings: age gap relationship (reader is in her early twenties, Steve and Eddie are late thirties), unprotected piv, oral (m & f receiving) threesomes (obviously), breeding kink, pregnancy mentions, swearing, smoking, mild angst, Steve’s parents are shitty people, lots of tears, reader can be insecure in her relationship at times. I think that’s all but let me know if I’ve forgotten anything!

Find all the other parts in my Masterlist here

————————————————————————

Hawkins kindergarten was a relatively small building, just a few blocks away from your former high school. You’d walked past it every day for the duration of your school years, the front gate bustling each morning with parents and small children, some laughing and bouncing around, others clinging to their parents legs and shrieking, begging not to be left.

This morning it’s quiet, the children already inside, although you can hear faint shouts and laughs from the yard out the back.

Trees line the path leading up to the office steps, and a soft breeze whispers through the branches. The spring sun is bright enough to fend off any potential chill, but Eddie’s still wrapped in his leather jacket, his cloak of protection against the world. His leg had been bouncing anxiously in the car the entire ride here.

The three of you had decided it was time for Isla to join the school. She was a sociable girl, and most days she’d beg you to take her to the park, to soft play, to the community pool, anywhere that she could find other kids her age to play with.

Charlie spent weekdays here, and Nancy and Robin had assured you all that the preschool was great. Despite his shyness, their son loved it here, and you were sure Isla would feel the same. There had been the brief mention of enrolling her in the private preschool on the outskirts of town, the same place Steve had attended as a boy. But Eddie had been quite insistent that he didn’t want his daughter going there, being surrounded by the spoiled offspring of Hawkins elite. So here you were.

Steve squeezes your hand as he leads you up the concrete steps, Eddie following close behind you, your other hand clasped in his. He presses the buzzer on the office door, and a moment later it clicks to indicate it unlocking. Inside a pane of glass separates you from the young woman behind the desk. She’s on the phone, but gives the three of you a small smile in greeting, gesturing for you to take a seat on the chairs against the opposite wall.

“Good morning Mrs Clarke, it’s Gina. I’m very well thank you. Sorry to bother you at work, but we’ll need someone to come and pick up Thomas, he’s not very well. No, no he’s fine, a little upset but he’s alright. Okay, thank you, just tell your husband to come to the office to collect him. Thank you, goodbye.”

Gina hangs up the phone, scribbling something in the notebook on her desk. Then she turns her attention back to you.

“Good morning, how can I help?”

“Hi. We’ve got an appointment with Ms Lang.” Steve says.

“Lovely! You must be the Munson-Harrington’s. I’ll let Ms Lang know that you’re here.”

She picks up the receiver again, her longs nails clacking on the plastic buttons as she punches in the extension.

“Ms Lang, your 10 o’clock appointment is here. Okay. She won’t be a moment.” She says with a bright smile.

“Thank you.” Steve says.

Eddie’s leg continues to bounce beside you, only stopping when your palm comes to rest on his knee.

“It’s okay.” you whisper, leaning over to press a quick kiss to the corner of his lips.

“I know.” He grumbles.

“Just worryin’, that’s all.”

You pat his knee reassuringly, a reminder that you’re with him. You know he’s got good reason to worry, they both do. In fact Steve is just as worked up as his husband, he just does a better job of hiding it. The only indication that anything’s wrong is the constant combing of his fingers through his hair, tugging on the roots in frustration.

They’re used to judgement and cruelty when it comes to their family dynamic, even before you came along and complicated things further. They can take the hits, so used to the snide remarks and jabs that they roll off their toughened skin like water. The kids were a different story entirely. Both men were terrified of their children being ridiculed or mistreated because of them.

The door to your left swings open, a woman probably in her late fifties stepping through. Her cool blonde hair is streaked with silver, pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck, and a thin framed pair of glasses rest on the end of her nose. Her sensible brown loafers squeak on the tiled floor as she approaches you. You swallow a gulp at the thin gold chain around her neck, a small cross hanging between her collarbones. Steve squeezes your hand harder.

“Hello! Pleasure to meet you all. I’m Ms Lang. You’re here about your daughter, Isla, correct?”

She holds out her hand, a few sun spots littering her skin.

Steve stands, taking her hand in a firm grasp and shaking.

“Yes. Nice to meet you too, I’m Steve.”

She nods, releasing his hand and turning to Eddie, who also stands and introduces himself. Finally she turns to you, her grey eyes crinkling at the edges when she smiles.

“Hi. I’m Y/N.” You say, taking her hand in your own, cringing at the clamminess of your palm.

“Y/N.” She repeats brightly. “You must be Isla’s mother.”

“Um, no I'm not. I’m… I’m-“ you falter, suddenly unsure of how to introduce yourself, your eyes locked onto the shining crucifix.

“Actually,” Eddie interjects, “Isla is mine and Steve��s daughter. Y/N is our partner.”

He says the words calmly, but you can see the twitching of his jaw, and when his arm winds around your waist his hand squeezes you in a fierce grip.

If Ms Lang feels any judgment towards your set up, she doesn’t let on, her kind smile never wavering.

“I see. My apologies. Well shall we get going? I’m sure you’re all eager to look around and see if this is the place for Isla.”

“Of course. After you.” Steve smiles.

Ms Lang leads you through the school, down corridors lined with low coat hooks, colourful jackets and lunch boxes hanging either side of you. You stop to peer into a few classrooms through the small glass windows on the doors. The first is more of a nursery, and Ms Lang explains that the school takes in children as young as 6 months for daycare. The women inside bounce babies on their hips, some laying on their tummy’s across the play mat in the centre of the room, attempting to crawl to the bright plastic toys scattered around.

“Maybe we could bring Ben here a couple of days a week.” Eddie comments.

“No.” You whine. “I’m about to lose my best friend, don’t take Ben from me too.”

Eddie laughs at your pout and fluttering lashes, booping you on the end of your nose.

“You have a little boy too?” Ms Lang asks, her shoes continuing to squeak with every step.

“Yeah. He’s almost one.” Steve replies.

“How lovely. Well I understand your hesitation Y/N, it can be hard to feel like you’ve got an empty nest.”

You nod, turning a corner to stop outside another room. The laminated sign blu-tacked to the door reads “Sunshine Room” with a clip art image of a sun wearing dark glasses.

“This is for children a little older than Isla.” Ms Lang explains. Through the window you spot Charlie, sat beside a woman reading a story to the children gathered in a circle at her feet. Eddie taps on the window, interrupting story time as all the children and the teacher look up at the disruption. He grins, waving through the window, and Charlie gives him a smile, his cheeks blushing deep red.

“Eddie.” You hiss, pulling him away from the door.

“What? I was just saying hi to my little buddy!”

“You know one of the other children here?” The woman besides you asks.

“We’re friends with Charlie’s moms.” Steve explains.

“Ahh yes, Nancy and Robin. Lovely girls. And Charlie’s a sweet boy. It’s a shame Isla will be in the class below him, but all the children get to play together outside at lunch time.”

“She’ll love that. She always wants to be outside, doesn’t she baby?” Eddie says, hugging your waist.

“Yeah, she’s happiest when she’s covered in mud.” You laugh.

You move on, eventually coming to “The Rainbow Room”, Isla’s potential new class. The children inside are grouped around low plastic tables, splatting paint and smearing glitter across sheets of paper.

“Let’s go in, I’ll introduce you to Ms Hart.”

You follow Ms Lang and the boys into the classroom, all eyes in the room turning to the four of you.

“Good morning Ms Lang.” A young woman says, standing up from beside a table and making her way over to you.

“Morning Ms Hart. I thought I’d introduce you to Steve, Eddie, and Y/N. They’re thinking about enrolling their daughter here with us.”

“How nice!” Ms Hart says. She waves her paint covered palms at you.

“I’d shake your hands but-“

“Don’t sweat it, occupational hazard right?” Eddie chuckles.

“Yeah. So what’s your daughters name?”

“Isla.”

“Oh, that’s beautiful!

“Although she prefers Princess.” You joke.

“Ahh, don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of experience dealing with royalty.” The young woman explains, gesturing to a small girl at the nearest table, her blue plastic apron covering a glittering lilac dress, the polyester ruffles and netting swallowing the chair that she sits on.

“Ms Haaaart.” Comes a whine from the back of the room. A little boy has managed to tip over the plastic cup of water he’d been washing his brush in, soaking himself and his unfinished masterpiece. His bottom lip wobbles, and tears spring up in his eyes.

“Oh dear Harry! I’m coming!”

Ms Hart turns back to you, giving you an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, duty calls. Nice to meet you all!”

“You too!” You all call back, leaving her to clear up the mess, and calm down the now wailing Harry.

“She seems nice.” Steve comments when you’re back out in the quiet corridor.

“Yeah, I think Isla will like her.” You smile.

Ms Lang shows you the rest of the school, the cafeteria where all the children gather for lunch, and the vast playground with hopscotch grids painted onto the concrete, a wooden jungle gym stood on spongy astroturf.

When you return to her office she pauses.

“Well that’s just about everything! I can start the process of enrolling Isla now, or you’re more than welcome to go home and take some time to think about it.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary, I’m sure she’ll love it here.” Steve says.

“Perfect. Shall we get started?”

You file into her office, a large room with noticeboards covered in colourful paper across each wall. Beside the computer on her desk sits a collection of art projects: a toilet roll pencil holder, a clay disc with a tiny handprint pressed into it, a bunch of cotton balls glued together with googly eyes on top.

“It’s a sheep.” Ms Lang explains with a laugh when she catches you looking at it.

Behind her desk is a large plush chair, but on the side you’re standing there’s only two seats.

“Oh I’m sorry,” she says, sensing your hesitation. “Let me go grab another chair from reception.”

“I’m on it.” Eddie says, the chains on his jeans clinking as he heads out of the room.

You take a seat next to Steve, and Eddie returns a moment later, plopping himself down the other side of you.

Ms Lang begins by asking the boys for basic details about their daughter, full name, date of birth, her fingers tapping away on her keyboard after each answer.

“Any allergies or medical conditions we need to be aware of?”

“No.” Steve replies.

“Okay. And I need details for emergency contacts, and anyone who may be doing drop offs and pick ups.”

Steve and Eddie recite their information, then the woman turns to you.

“And now for Y/N.”

You tell her your address is the same as the boys, then give her your mobile number. You think you catch a quirk of her brow when you say your date of birth, and you wonder if she’s doing the math, figuring out the gap between you and the men at your sides. It could just be your anxious mind reading into things too much.

“And what would you like me to put as Y/N’s relationship to Isla?”

There’s a pause, Ms Lang glancing up at you as boys turn to face you.

“Um.. well-“ Steve starts.

“Mother.” Eddie says suddenly.

Your head snaps in his direction, jaw hanging agape.

“I thought you said Y/N wasn’t Isla’s mother?” The woman asks, no judgment in her tone, just curiosity. She peers over the thin wire frames of her glasses.

“I’m not.” You reply quietly.

“Yes you are.” Eddie insists, a fierceness in his voice that makes your chest ache. He takes your hand, interlacing his fingers through yours. “You’re her mom.”

“She doesn’t call me Mom, Ed.”

He shakes his head, curls bouncing with the motion.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s the best way to describe what you are to her.”

“I agree.” Steve says, giving you a small smile when you turn back to him.

Your throat feels too tight to respond verbally, so you just give a small nod of your head. Biting hard on your bottom lip you will yourself not to cry.

“Lovely.” Ms Lang says, a soft expression on her face.

She clicks her mouse, then swipes her finger across the small ball, scrolling down, then back up, then down again. She gives a few more clicks, the tapping of her finger getting harder each time, and she frowns, exhaling a frustrated sigh.

“Is something wrong?” Eddie asks.

“No, no. It’s just this is an.. outdated system. It will only allow you to allocate two parents per child. I can’t list Y/N as Isla’s mother if you’re both selected as her fathers.” She explains, still glaring at her screen and giving the occasional click.

“Oh. It’s okay.” You say, trying to mask the disappointment in your voice.

The woman gives you an apologetic look.

“What I can do, is put you down as a stepparent. But I’ll add some details in the notes section at the bottom of Isla’s file, explaining your relationship to her.”

“Thank you.” You reply.

Ms Lang takes her glasses off, folding them carefully before she leans forward on her desk, her hands folded beside her keyboard.

“I would just like to take a moment to reassure you all, that Isla will be very happy here. But we want you to be happy too. It’s important to me and the rest of our staff here that parents feel welcome and involved with the school. We appreciate and understand that families come in all shapes and sizes, and so while I don’t want to make any assumptions, I would like to reassure you if it is a concern, that the structure of your family is not a problem for myself or anyone else here.”

You let out a breath you didn’t realise you’d been holding, the two boys sinking into their chairs as their own bodies relax.

“Thank you.” Steve says. “Really, we appreciate it.”

With everything finalised, and a date agreed for Isla to start, Ms Lang wishes you well and shows you out. Once you’re outside and the door is closed behind you, you fling your arms around Eddie’s neck, burying your face in his curls and leaning your weight into him, almost toppling you both down the concrete steps.

“Woah! Hey, what’s this for?” Eddie says, steadying himself and holding you tight.

You tilt your head back, his features blurry from the tears in your eyes.

“What you said in there - did you mean it?” You sniffle.

“About you and Isla? Of course I meant it baby. You’re so good to her, she loves you so much.”

“I love her. Really, I love her and Ben so so much. I know they’re not really mine but-“

“Sshhh honey.” Steve whispers, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear so he can kiss your temple.

“They’re yours as much as they are ours.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

You’re a giddy emotional mess as you stumble down the stairs, jumping into the passenger seat of Steve’s car, eager to pick the kids up from Wayne and give them the biggest squeezes.

————————————————————————

“What’s wrong Princess?” You coo, watching as Isla pushes her spoon around, her cereal now just soggy milky mush.

“Don’t feel well.” She whispers, not looking up from her bowl.

You brush back her curls, pressing the back of your hand to her forehead.

“Mmmm. You don’t have a fever.”

“Tummy hurts.” She whines.

“Do you want a cuddle?”

She nods, reaching her arms up for you to pull her off of her stool. Her legs wrap around your waist while her arms snake behind your neck, and you rock her gently from side to side.

“What’s up?” Steve asks, frowning as he steps into the kitchen, carefully knotting his tie.

“She’s got a tummy ache.” You say softly, kissing the curls on the top of her head.

Steve strokes her back gently.

“Are you nervous about going to preschool?” You whisper in her ear. Her head nods against your neck.

“Isla, look at me.”

The girl tilts back her head, her doe eyes wet, bottom lip trembling.

“It’s okay to be scared. Everyone gets scared when they have to do new things.”

“Do you get scared?” She whispers.

“I do sometimes. You know, I was pretty nervous before I came here for the first time.”

“Why?”

“Well,” you say, hopping a little to shift her body higher, “I was worried you might not like me. Maybe you wouldn’t want to be my friend.”

“You’re my best friend.”

“Exactly. I didn’t need to be scared because you did like me, and now we’re best friends. It’ll be the same at school, the other children there will want to be your friend too.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very sure. How could they not like the funniest, smartest, bestest princess in the whole world!”

Isla giggles, and you smack a wet kiss on her cheek which has her squealing. You plop her back down on her chair.

“Do you want some new cereal?”

“No, this is okay.” She says, spooning the mush into her mouth, milk dribbling down her chin.

Steve gives you a grateful look, kissing you sweetly. He takes a step back, ruffling Isla’s hair.

“You’ll be fine kiddo.”

————————————————————————

Steve pulls up outside the school, killing the engine then turning in his seat to flash a bright grin at Isla in her car seat.

“Ready?”

She hesitates for a moment, glancing up at you in the middle seat, sandwiched between her and Ben. You squeeze her tiny hand.

“Yes.” She says quietly.

Eddie helps her out of the car, and Steve pulls out Ben’s carrier, giving you room to shuffle out. Isla grips yours and Eddie’s hands as you lead her up to the building, surrounded by chatting parents and laughing children. Ms Hart is stood by the gate, greeting children as they arrive. She occasionally cranes her neck, looking out of the crowd with narrowed eyes. When they land on you she grins, waving excitedly in your direction.

“Hi guys! Good to see you again!”

“You too.” Eddie replies.

“And this must be Isla!” The woman bops down to her level, her smile kind and warm.

“Hi.” Isla whispers.

“Hi sweetie. I’m so happy that you’re joining us. Are you excited?”

The little girl nods, and you breath a sigh of relief.

“Give me a big hug princess.” Eddie requests, stooping down to pull Isla into his arms. She squeezes Steve next, then turns to you.

“Remember what I said to you.” You whisper, feeling her arms cling to you. “It’s okay to be scared. But you’re going to have fun, and make lots of friends.”

When she pulls away there’s a determination on her face, and she nods fiercely.

Ms Hart extends her hand to Isla, and the girl takes it. With one last glance back at you and her dads she follows through the gates, disappearing from view around a corner.

Eddie sniffles beside you.

“Are you crying?” Steve teases.

“Shut up.” Eddie bites back, wiping his eyes.

“Aww Eds, it’s okay.” You coo, slipping you arm around his waist.

“I know.” He says. “She’s just growing up so fast, I feel like we’ll be waving her off at college before you know it.”

“We’ve got a while until then, thankfully.” Steve laughs.

Eddie points a finger at Ben in his carrier.

“You better stay a baby forever young man.”

Ben giggles as if he understands. Steve shifts his carrier further up his arm, glancing at his watch in the process.

“Come on, I need to drop you all back home so I can get to work.”

————————————————————————

With Steve out and Eddie tucked away in his studio, you focus your attention on Ben. He sits beside you on the couch, propped up against the cushions, looking intensely at the cardboard book in your hands.

“Cat.” You say brightly, pointing to the colourful illustration. “Can you say cat?”

Ben gurgles, clapping his hands together.

“C-c-c.” You sound out, laughing as his little brows furrow in concentration, trying to repeat the sound back to you.

You flip the page to a drawing of a man and a woman labelled ‘Daddy & Mommy’.

“Dada. Can you say Dada?”

“Dadadada.” Ben laughs, drool spilling down his chin.

“Good boy!” You cheer, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek.

You hesitantly glance back down at the page.

It couldn’t hurt, right?

“Mama.” you whisper, pointing to the lady in the book.

“Mmmm.” He hums.

“Mama.” You repeat.

The baby blinks up at you, confused. With the book discarded you point a finger at your chest.

“What’s my name? Who am I?”

Ben squeaks out a high pitched laugh, babbling an attempt at your name.

The disappointment mixes with pride, it was too much really to expect him to call you Mama when your name is all he’s known before now. You try not to feel too upset, instead focusing on the joy of Ben repeating your name over and over.

“Clever boy.” You coo, scooping him up into a hug.

A little over an hour later he’s asleep, tucked into his cot, his tiny fingers grasped around the paw of his favourite bear. You slip out of his room and back downstairs, scooping up the baby monitor and fiddling with the settings, until you can see him clearly flat on his back, his soft breaths picked up by the microphone.

The house feels unnaturally quiet. Still. Sure, there’s plenty you could be getting on with, the dishes from breakfast still waiting in the kitchen sink, a pile of clean laundry that needs to be ironed and put away, the living room carpet could do with a good vacuum. You lack the motivation to do any of it, without your curly haired shadow following you through the house, asking random questions, cracking silly jokes that don’t make sense, whining until you give up on your task and pick her up.

The loneliness gets the better of you, and you fill two cups of coffee, carrying them through to Eddie’s studio, the baby monitor tucked under your arm. At the door you press down on the handle with your elbow, careful not to let the hot liquid slosh over the rim of the mugs.

Eddie sits at his desk with his back to you, headphones smushing down his wild hair. The screen of his laptop glows and illuminates his face.

He’s on a call, the face of some guy you don’t recognise filling the open tab on his screen. You creep up behind him, careful to stay out of the view of the webcam, and leaning forwards you put the cups down side by side next to him.

Eddie jumps slightly as you enter his peripheral vision, looking up at you with a wide grin.

“Uh yeah, sorry man just give me a sec.” He says to the screen, pulling his headphones down to rest around his neck.

“You okay baby?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You whisper back.

“I’ll only be another couple of minutes.” He says quietly, and you nod for him to continue. You put the monitor down beside your cup, and walk quietly across the room to grab the spare chair, wheeling it across to his desk, still out of sight of the man he’s talking to.

“I get what you’re saying, but if we push things back much further the label’s gonna lose their shit.”

Leaning back in to the soft padding of the chair you take a moment to study the man next to you. The sharp angle of his jaw, covered with a fine layer of dark stubble, the occasional silver hair winking at you like stars amongst the black. His dark eyes shine in the light from the screen, thick lashes kissing his skin with every slow blink. He reaches up a hand to brush a loose curl from his eyes, thick calloused fingers wrapped in heavy silver. You gulp at the veins and tendons moving under his skin, the leather bracelet you’d gifted him shifting on his wrist, leading down to toned forearms, black ink swirled across alabaster.

A familiar ache begins, a heat in your core that Eddie manages to ignite with the smallest movement. A tilt of his head, a wink across a crowded room, the brush of his knuckles against your cheek. That’s all it takes to have you desperate. Needy.

A quick glance at the baby monitor confirms that Ben is still asleep. Your eyes flit to Eddie. He’s still focused on his call, looking at the man on his screen. You move slowly, letting your body slide down in the chair.

Eddie doesn’t notice until you’re most of the way under the desk, just your head still poking out and your hands gripping the wood to steady yourself. He gives you a confused look, and you wave him away dismissively, encouraging him to look back at his laptop.

“S-sorry man, what did you say?”

Now fully under the desk you crawl until you’re face to face with Eddie’s legs, spread wide in his chair. You lean forwards, pressing a kiss to the skin exposed through the slash in the fabric at his knee. His leg jumps, and he shifts in the chair, his voice raising an octave when he speaks.

“H-how long do you think that’ll take?”

Feeling bolder, your hands smooth up the rough denim covering his thighs, nails sinking in at the top and dragging back down slowly. The zipper of his jeans is straining now, the fabric pulled taught over the growing bulge between his legs. You repeat your motion a few times, and Eddie relaxes, probably assuming you’ll just tease him until he finishes his call. You grin to yourself, sliding your hands back up, but not stopping until they brush over his erection. His body jolts, and you can see his eyes drop momentarily, round and pleading. You’re not sure if he’s begging for you to stop or continue, but the latter is the only thing on your mind.

Removing his belt is more of a challenge than usual, given that you’re trying your best to remain silent. You slide the leather through the loops, but his buckle provides more of a challenge, metal clinking on metal when you move it. Eddie coughs to cover the sound, his hips raising slightly to aid in your task. With the pesky item finally undone you reach for his zipper, and he coughs once again as the metal teeth peel away from each other.

“Well I get that they’re on a different schedule, but if they really want him to provide guest vocals I need him to hu- shit!” Eddie chokes on his words when you pull him free from his boxers, giving a few languid strokes to his now fully hard cock.

“Ah no man I’m fine, just uh, remembered I have to um… go pick up dry cleaning soon, so we’ll need to wrap this up in a minute.”

You stifle a laugh and Eddie cringes.

Your lips seal around the warm head of his cock, the flushed skin already wet with precum. You suppress a moan at his taste, swirling your tongue around the tip, flicking across the slit.

Eddie bites down on his lip, nodding hurriedly as blush creeps up his neck.

“Yep. Yeah, g-got it. Well just tell them to get the vocals over to me asap, because I uh.. I can’t really do anything until.. y-you know until I’ve got them.”

Relaxing your throat you sink your head lower until your nose is nestled against the curls at Eddie’s base.

“Okay. You t-too man. See ya.” He stammers out, clicking furiously on the laptop and wrenching his headphones off.

“Jesus fucking Christ sweetheart.” He groans, a large hand instantly finding purchase on the back of your head. You moan as he tugs on your hair, keeping you pressed against him. His cock flexes in your throat.

He lets you pull back, your lips leaving him with a lewd pop, a string of salvia keeping you connected to his length.

“Dry cleaning huh?” You tease.

“Shut up. Not my fault my brain stopped functioning. You trying to get me in trouble sweetheart?”

“Maybe.”

You take him back in your mouth, bobbing your head up and down in a fast rhythm, desperate to see him unravel for you. You reach up to put your hands over his, encouraging him to hold your hair harder.

“Want you to fuck my mouth Ed. Please.” You whine, giving him your best pleading eyes. You swear you can see his pupils blow in real time at your request.

“Yeah baby?,” he breathes, “you gonna let me use that pretty mouth of yours?”

You nod, shuffling into a better position. Eddie takes himself in his fist, tapping the head of his cock on your bottom lip.

“Open up sweetheart.”

Obeying, you let you jaw hang slack, tongue laying out ready for him. Eddie guides his cock back into your mouth, sliding over your wet muscle, and he groans when you close your lips around him once again. With his hands back in your hair he begins his harsh thrusts, the end of him hitting the back of your throat with each movement. You do your best to suppress your gags, breathing through your nose, but when you do choke a little the tightening of your throat has Eddie’s head falling back, loud moans filling the room, so you stop trying to fight it. He’s brutal in the way he thrusts into you, but his care for you never wavers, occasionally pulling out to let you catch your breath, showering you in sweet praises that only serve to add to the tears spilling down your cheeks. You reach up to cup his heavy balls, rolling them in your palm and humming when you feel the velvety skin drawing tighter ahead of his release.

“Shit, shit!” Eddie whimpers. He plants his feet onto the floor and pushes back so his chair rolls away from the desk. You whine when his cock is pulled from your reach.

“Get up here.” He orders.

He chuckles as you scramble out from under the desk, pins and needles settling into your legs that leave you trembling like a baby deer.

Eddie grips your hips, guiding you down to straddle his lap, and his lips smash against yours in a messy kiss. He sucks on your tongue, distracting you while his hands flip up your skirt, and a finger hooks under your panties. He breaks the kiss to look down as he pulls the garment aside.

“Fuck baby, look at her. She’s so wet and needy for me isn’t she?” He purrs.

You nod, grinding yourself down on him.

“Please Eddie. Please touch me.”

Despite having just begged for it, you still gasp when two thick fingers breach you entrance, curling to press against your g-spot.

Eddie holds your neck with his free hand, guiding your lips back to his.

“Always so fucking tight,” he hisses through gritted teeth. “Got to get you all stretched out sweet girl.”

The thin tattered cotton of his shirt is gripped between your fingers, and you tug so hard he’ll be lucky to make it out without a few extra holes in it. Each press of his fingers has you mewling, your head tipped back to expose your throat, which Eddie latches onto eagerly. Your walls flutter around his digits, arousal seeping down to coat his palm and wrist, causing an almost embarrassingly loud squelch. Eddie pulls you higher and higher, until the air is too thin for you to breath, chest heaving and swallowing nothing. Then his hand retreats.

It’s his favourite trick, taking you right to the edge, then pulling you back cruelly. You cry out in frustration, scowling at him with furious eyes, and he just laughs, loving when you pout at him, all pent up with no release. Not unless he says so.

“Something wrong pretty girl?” He mocks, his eyes round and innocent, his grin wicked.

“So mean.” You huff. You shift your weight until his length brushes against your slick folds, and Eddie moans, the smug grin wiped from his face.

“Nah I’m not mean baby. I’ve got you.”

Eddie’s hands pull you up roughly, guiding you forwards so he can angle himself beneath you. You both let out sighs of relief when you sink down onto him, his thick length filling you perfectly. He presses against your soft inner walls, each ridge and vein of his cock teasing sensitive flesh.

The chair groans beneath you when you begin to ride him, your hands still holding his shoulders for leverage while you bounce up and down on his lap.

“Fucking hell sweetheart. Always so good for me.” He groans, his teeth nipping at the sensitive skin of your neck. Your release begins to build again. You’re edging closer once more, but your movements alone aren’t enough to get you there.

You say his name in a broken whimper, and Eddie knows just what you need, his hips thrusting to meet yours, the head of his cock punching against your sweet spot. You’re climbing higher again, toes curling, eyes screwed shut. With one more harsh thrust stars burst behind your lids, and you’re thrown over the edge, falling falling falling.

You’re really falling.

A creak, followed by a sharp snap of plastic, and the chair tips back, the seat detaching from the legs and wheels underneath.

Eddie’s reaction is swift, his hand instinctively grabbing the top of your head to cushion any impact as you both hurtle backwards to the floor. He lets out a pained “ooft!” when his back collides with the carpet, still cradling you to him.

“Fuck! Baby are you okay?” He gasps, voice flooded with panic.

All you can do is moan, your body still spasming from the aftershocks of your orgasm.

Eddie rolls you over to your back, his cock slipping from you in the process and you whine at the loss.

“Y/N, I just want to check you’re not hurt.”

“M’fine.” You grumble, reaching out to him with grabby hands. “Don’t stop.”

The boy laughs, his body falling back over yours. He guides himself back to your entrance, sheathing himself inside you with a smooth roll of his hips.

“A-are you okay?” You stammer between thrusts.

“I’m fine baby.” He grins. “Can’t say the same for my chair.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You can break all the furniture in this house if I get you have you like this.” He groans.

The carpet scratches against the back of your arms, each punch of Eddie’s cock shifting you across the floor, until his hands find your hips and pull you back to him, pressing himself impossibly deep into you.

“Fuck!” You cry out.

“Yeah? That’s the spot baby?” Eddie pants, rutting into you furiously.

You nod, blinking back tears. Eddie’s lips seal over yours, hot breaths mingling, moans being shared and swallowed.

“Want you to cum.” You plead, biting his bottom lip between you teeth and pulling the soft flesh.

“You gotta cum with me angel. Want you to cream all over my cock again.” He orders. A calloused thumb presses down on your swollen bundle of nerves, and your body vibrates with another approaching release. It only takes a few quick swipes of his digit against your clit before you’re cumming again, back arching away from the scratchy carpet, Eddie’s name falling from your lips like a prayer.

“That’s it. Good fucking girl.” He growls in your ear, the movement of his hips becoming sloppy, his own high nearly at its peak.

“Please Eddie.”

“You want me to cum?” He pants. “Want me to fill this pretty little pussy up?”

“Uh huh.”

He tilts his head back, dark eyes meeting yours, glinting mischievously.

“Want me to fill you up huh? I know what you want. You- shit! You want me to give you a baby?”

You’re not sure who’s more surprised by your reaction to his words. Your walls clamp tight around Eddie’s cock like a vice, almost making it impossible for him to pull out. He buries himself into you, bruising your cervix while his cock twitches. You cry out in unison when his warmth begins to flood inside you, and Eddie’s babbling against your ear between strained breaths.

“That’s what you want isn’t it? Want me to claim you, get you all pretty and pregnant so everyone knows that you’re mine. Everyone knows you’re s-stuffed full of me.”

Eyes rolled back into your skull you manage a nod, whispering a soft ‘yes’ that almost lost to Eddie’s loud moans.

Almost.

Limbs tangled together, you lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, both breathing heavily. When cramp settles into your legs and you attempt to stretch out Eddie carefully clambers off of you, tucking his softening cock back into his boxers.

“Sorry about the chair.” You grin.

“S’fine.” Eddie laughs, looking over at the broken furniture beside you. You sit up, rearranging you underwear to cover your leaking cunt.

“So,” he whispers, bright eyes twinkling, “you want my babies huh?”

You scoff, shoving him lightly in the chest. He catches your hand, refusing to let you pull away until you meet his eyes. He tilts his head to the side, a brow arching.

“I’m on the pill Eddie. It’s was just dirty talk, that’s all.”

He shrugs, relenting when he senses your discomfort. He brushes your damp hair from your forehead, pressing a kiss to your cheek.

“I’m only teasing sweet girl.”

“I know.”

Eddie helps you to your feet, then nudges the broken furniture aside with his foot, wheeling your chair into his previous position at the desk. You scoop up the baby monitor in one hand, your now cold coffee in the other.

“I’ll bring you some lunch in a little while.” You smile, kissing the top of his head when he sits back down.

“Just lunch? Or will I get another surprise blow job?”

“If I told you I’d wouldn’t be a surprise would it?” You tease, giving him a wink as you slip out the door.

————————————————————————

With Ben still sleeping you head into the living room and drop to the couch, now too tired to face any of the chores. You turn on the TV, but it’s just background noise, you’re too distracted by Eddie’s words on repeat in your head.

“You want me to claim you. Get you all pretty and pregnant so everyone knows you’re mine.”

Cheeks burning, you glance around the room, looking for a distraction. But everything here just reminds you of the longing aching in your chest. The picture book beside you, the pile of bright plastic toys at your feet, the black and white photos on the wall of Steve and Eddie cradling a new born Isla. Another of the three of them with a tiny Ben, his features still squished.

You’d always known you’d wanted children. While you’d never had any burning desires for a particular career path, you always knew that one day you’d be a mother. You’d tried not to let yourself think about it much over the last few months, you were too young for one thing, but your relationship with the boys was a little more complicated than you’d ever envisioned in your previous fantasies of marriage and kids. You hadn’t even talked to them about it, you didn’t know if they even wanted more children. And if they did - would they want them with you?

You push the thoughts to the back of your mind. It wasn’t a discussion for right now, it could wait. Unfortunately you didn’t realise that Eddie had other ideas.

————————————————————————

“Ed stand still. You’re making me nervous.” You tease, digging you elbow into the ribs of the man jostling beside you.

“I can’t help it.” He whines. “What if she’s had a bad day and doesn’t want to go back? What if someone picked on her? What if-“

“What if-“ you interrupt, “she had an amazing day and made loads of friends?”

Eddie glances sideways at you, letting out a deep exhale.

“You’re right. I’m sure she was fine.”

Right on queue, you spy a bouncing mop of dark curls amongst the sea of children making their way out to their parents. Isla’s hair is falling loose from the topknot you’d twisted it into this morning, her t-shirt half untucked from her skirt, backpack dragging behind her, only held on by one strap over her small shoulders. She looks a mess, but thankfully she’s grinning from ear to ear.

“Hi princess!” You call out, crouching down with open arms for her to run into.

“Did you have a good day?”

Isla tips her head back, chin resting on your chest.

“It was so much fun! We played outside and made mud pies, and then we painted pictures, and then we did dress up, and then we had a story about a princess who peed her bed!”

“She peed her bed?” Eddie asks, his nose wrinkling.

The little girl nods eagerly as she steps back from your hold, extending her arms in a request to be picked up by her father.

“Yeah daddy! She peed her bed and then they put lots of mattresses on the bed but she kept peeing!”

“Do you mean ‘the princess and the pea’?” You giggle.

“Yeah!”

Eddie let’s out a booming laugh.

“She didn’t pee the bed Isla, there was a pea in her bed. Like the vegetable.”

“No!,” she scowls, “she peed. I listened to the story daddy.”

You catch a wave in the corner of your eye, looking up to see Ms Hart approaching.

“Hi guys! Isla’s had such a busy day!”

“We’ve just heard all about it,” Eddie chuckles, “she was just telling us about the princess and the pea.”

“Ah, yes. You enjoyed that didn’t you Isla? She seemed to find it hilarious.” Ms Hart comments, oblivious to the fact that Isla had completely misunderstood the story.

“Did she get on okay?” You ask quietly, while Isla continues to babble at Eddie about story time.

“She did. She was a delight all day, and she’s made lots of friends already.”

You breath a sigh of relief, and Ms Hart gives you a small smile.

“Well Isla it was lovely to have you with us today! I’ll see you in a couple of days okay?”

“I’m not coming tomorrow?” Isla asks with a frown.

“No baby, remember. You’re going to come here three days a week, just to start with.” Eddie says.

“But I want to come every day.” She whines.

“Oh I see. I’ll have to go to the park with just Ben tomorrow!” You say.

The little girls eyes widen, and she shakes her head, the last few tendrils of hair falling free from her scrunchie.

“No! I want to go to the park!”

You pull the girl out of Eddie’s arms, holding her tight to your chest.

“Okay. If you’re a good girl tonight and have a bath, I’ll take you to the park tomorrow. Say bye to Ms Hart honey.”

“Goodbye.” She says with a small wave.

“And what else do you say?” You whisper in her ear.

“Thank you!”

Ms Hart beams.

“You’re very welcome Isla! Have fun at the park tomorrow!”

She waves you all off, before turning to another parent who’s been trying to get her attention.

You clip Isla into her car seat, her mouth still moving at a mile a minute as she recounts every detail of her day.

She talks non stop for the first five minutes of the journey home, until a sudden silence falls over the car. When you glance in the rear view mirror you giggle, seeing her head lolled to the side, eyes closed and jaw hanging slack. Sound asleep.

“Bless her, she’s exhausted.” You say softly.

“I’m exhausted just listening to her!”

“Eddie!” You hiss, smacking him lightly on the arm.

He laughs, glancing in the mirror to look at her.

“Nah, I’m just kidding. I’m really relieved she had fun.”

“Me too. Although she had me worried there for a moment when she said she wanted to go every day.”

“Why’s that? You feeling a little jealous sweet girl?”

“Maybe.” You grumble, fiddling with the strap across your chest.

“You’ll always be her favourite babe. After me of course.”

“I don’t know Ed, she hugged me first when we picked her up.”

“Only because you grabbed her before I could get a look in!”

“I did not!” You protest.

“Shhh. You’ll wake the princess.”

————————————————————————

Eddie carries Isla into the house, and you let her take a quick nap on the couch. She rises when she hears Steve’s voice, finally home from work, and jumps to her feet, stumbling still half asleep when she runs through to the kitchen.

“Dada!”

“Hey sweetheart!” Steve smiles, picking Isla up and spinning her until she giggles and shrieks for him to stop.

“Did you have fun today?”

“Yes!” She says, eagerly recounting her day once again. When she finally pauses for breath Steve places her back on her feet.

“Can I watch Bluey?” She asks, looking up at you.

“Of course baby. Go put it on and I’ll come watch it with you in a minute.”

You watch her skip out of the room, and feel an arm loop around your waist. Steve pulls your back flush to his chest, peppering kisses up the side of your neck.

“Did you have a good day too honey?” He murmurs.

“We had a very good day.” Eddie grins, leaning back against the kitchen counter, crossing one ankle over the other.

“Oh really?” Steve smirks, his lips brushing against the shell of your ear.

“Yeah. I learnt a few new things about our girl Stevie.”

You tense, feeling heat creep up your neck, your face warming with embarrassment.

“Like what?”

“It’s nothing.” You say, pulling out of his arms and shooting Eddie a glare.

Steve gives him a confused look, and Eddie waits until your back is turned to mouth “I’ll tell you later” with a wink.

————————————————————————

Steam spills from the shower, rushing through the gap created when you slide the glass door across, slowly rising and dissipating in the room. Wrapping a fluffy towel around your dripping figure and bringing the corner up to your head, you squeeze the excess water from your hair, then begin rubbing roughly at your body, attempting to soak up as much of the moisture as possible before the damp on your skin cools. With your body throughly dried you hang the towel back up and make your way to the cupboard under the sink, pulling out a bottle of lotion and squirting a generous dollop onto your palm. Foot rested on the lid of the toilet you smooth the thick cream over your leg, massaging it into the freshly shaved skin. You repeat the process on the other limb, and then the rest of your body, until your skin shines beneath the light of the bathroom, the sweet scent of cocoa butter wafting with your every move.

Opening the door to the bedroom and walking over to the closet, you earn a low whistle from Eddie.

“Stop it.” You grin, rifling through a drawer for your underwear.

“Nuh uh baby, don’t need any of that.” Eddie says, having followed behind you. He pulls on your hands, guiding you to the bed and pushing you back on the mattress beside Steve.

“Hey honey.” Steve murmurs, hooking his hands under your arms to pull you up the bed. He adjusts his position, letting your cheek rest against his firm thigh.

“Hey Stevie.” You whisper back, tearing your eyes away from his cock barely an inch away from your face to look up at him. His honeyed gaze is soft, lips kicking up into a sweet smile.

“D’you have a nice shower?”

You hum in affirmation, lashes fluttering up at the boy as he swipes his thumb over your bottom lip. You let them part, and Steve grins cockily, pressing the digit into your mouth, flat against your tongue. Meanwhile large hands squeeze your thighs, parting your legs and putting your glistening cunt on display.

Eddie loves to tease you. Chaste kisses starting at you ankles, inching higher at a snails pace. Sucking hickeys into the plush flesh of your thighs and laving his tongue across the bruises. Hovering his mouth over your core, his breath hot against your folds, making you whine and beg to the point of tears until he finally gives in.

Tonight he changes tactic. He dives straight in, burying his face between your legs, his skilled tongue swirling to collect your arousal and spread it.

“F-fuck!” You whine, voice muffled by Steve’s thumb still pressed to your tongue.

Eddie’s blunt nails dig into your thighs, pushing back when they fight to snap shut, pinning you in place.

“Been dreaming about returning the favour all day baby.” He groans.

His tongue flicks up, catching on your sensitive bud, an action that has you mewling, so he repeats it over and over and over. Broken moans tumble from your lips, and you tilt your head back to look at Steve. His eyes are locked on Eddie lapping greedily at your cunt, his fist slowly stroking his cock. He twists his wrist when he reaches the head, smearing precum on his fingers and sliding it back down his length. He must feel your eyes on him, because he looks away from Eddie for a moment, his blown pupils dancing across your face.

“Keep sucking honey.” He says, stern but still gentle. You do as you’re told, eagerly closing your lips around his thumb, swiping your tongue across the rough pad.

“Good girl.”

Eddie pulls back momentarily, letting a glob of spit fall from his lips, landing on your throbbing clit. He grins devilishly at the high pitched whine it pulls from you, and goes straight back in for more, the lewd slurping and squelching from the added wetness making your cheeks prickle hot with embarrassment.

Your breath is reduced to shallow pants, toes curling and spine arching as the heat in your belly builds, the tense coil within you ready to snap. With one last suckle at your clit Eddie breaks away, laughing cruelly when you yelp in frustration, legs kicking furiously against the sheets.

“Oh, someone’s a little feisty tonight.” He mocks, mimicking your angry pout.

“You’re so mean!” You whine for the second time today.

“I told you before baby, I’m not mean. I always gives you what you want don’t I?”

You huff, rolling your eyes.

“You’re so cute when you’re angry.” He chuckles, reaching up to boop the tip of your nose.

“C’mon Harrington. You’re up.”

The bed creaks from their shuffling, rearranging themselves until your head now rests in Eddie’s lap and Steve is positioning himself between your legs.

His fingers dance lightly through your folds, moving down to circle your entrance. Before he can sink them in you reach down to grab his wrist.

“What’s wrong?” His brows knit in concern, dark eyes staring intensely into your own.

“Don’t wanna wait anymore. Want your cock Steve.” you beg.

“You think you’re ready for me honey?” He says softly.

“Mhmm. I’m ready, I can take it.”

Steve nods, gripping himself at the base and lining up. He nudges in slowly, knowing that the stretch would be more intense without his fingers working you open first.

“M-more.” You gasp. “Please, need more.”

Steve responds with a harder press of his hips, your tight walls stretching to welcome him in, until he’s buried to the hilt, his heavy balls pressing against your ass cheeks.

“Fuck. You feel so good.” He moans, veins in his neck threatening to burst through his skin.

You wiggle your hips, encouraging him to move.

He builds up to a quick pace, bracing his body weight on his hands clenching the bed sheets, rutting into you so hard if it weren’t for Eddie holding you tight against his lap you’d be shunted up the bed.

“See baby?” Eddie coos in your ear, voice sweet like honey, but you can hear the cocky smirk he’s wearing. “I always give you what you want. Why don’t you tell Stevie what it is you want?”

You’re too fucked out to know what he’s talking about. Lost in the delicious drag of Steve’s cock against your walls, the wiry curls at his base brushing teasingly over your clit. Your head lolls back against Eddie’s thigh, and you blink up at him.

“What we talked about earlier sweet girl. Where do you want Stevie to cum?”

“I-inside.” You stammer between moans, still not understanding what he’s getting at.

“And why do you want Stevie to cum inside?”

The realisation hits you. If it weren’t for Steve bullying your cunt with his relentless thrusts you’d give Eddie the most vicious look you could muster, but a particularly harsh snap of Steve’s hips has your vision growing hazy, your mouth hanging open in a silent scream.

“Is it because you want his babies? You want Stevie to stuff you full too huh? You want to make Steve a daddy again?”

“W-what the - oh fuck! Fuckfuckfuck.”

Warmth floods inside you. You have a second to catch Eddie’s shocked expression before Steve’s body collapses down on you, his breathing ragged.

“Steve, did you just-“

“Shut up Ed.” Steve groans, burying his face into your neck.

“Stevie?” You squeak, trying to push him up to get a look at his face.

“Are you okay?”

“No!”

“What’s wrong?”

“M’embrassed.”

“Why?”

“Because-“ Steve sighs, pushing up from your body. His still twitching cock slips from between your legs, and he keeps his eyes locked on where his seed spills out from you, not daring to look at your face. His cheeks are bright pink, the colour spreading down his neck and up to the tips of his ears.

“Because you didn’t cum. And that’s like my golden rule - you always cum first.”

“What happened big boy?” Eddie grins.

“You happened!” Steve snaps, stabbing his finger into Eddie’s chest.

“You were saying all that shit, and I just couldn’t help it!”

Eddie laughs, a deep sound that comes straight from his belly.

“Eddie! Stop it.” You hiss.

“I’m sorry.” He wheezes, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “It’s just funny, that’s all. I mean I had a feeling you’d like that Steve, but just not that much.”

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up.”

Steve turns his attention to you, smoothing his hands over your thighs.

“M’sorry honey.” He pouts.

“Don’t be. Come here.”

Steve finally smiles, eagerly clambering back up the bed to reach you, capturing your lips in a slow, tender kiss.

Your body jolts when you feel two thick fingers sweep from your ass cheeks up to your entrance, pushing in slowly.

“W-what are you doing?” You gasp, craning your neck to look down at Eddie.

“Gotta make sure you keep all this in baby.” He murmurs. When he slowly drags his fingers back out of your cunt he curls them, catching on your frontal wall on the way out. You moan loudly, your previously denied orgasm leaving you sensitive.

“Do you want to cum now?” He asks.

“Please.”

“Okay. Be a good girl for me first and clean these up, yeah?”

His glistening fingers press against your lips until they part and let him in. You suck on them eagerly, swallowing down the mix of Steve’s cum and your arousal, until Eddie finally pulls his hand free with a pop.

He grips your hips, pulling you down to him as his cock slides in, his head slamming against the end of you. It punches a moan from your chest, and he gives you no time to adjust, matching Steve’s previous speed immediately.

“Oh shit. Eddie, that’s so good.” You whine, grabbing at his forearms and sinking your nails into his skin.

“Yeah? This what you wanted baby? You want me and Steve to take turns filling you up?”

“Yes, please! I want it.”

Eddie’s hands wander, bruising your hips, squeezing the soft flesh of your sides, reaching up to cup your breasts that rock in time with his movements. He rolls the hardened buds of your nipples between his fingers, pinching just a little mean, the way you like.

“You gotta cum for me baby.” He spits through gritted teeth. “Cum for me and I’ll fuck you so full you’ll be leaking for days.”

His filthy words have you spasming, the heat that had built before engulfing you. Your pussy gushes around his him, and just seconds later Eddie loses it, spilling into you with a loud cry of your name.

He pushes through the sensitivity, rocking into you to until his cock softens, and he finally slips out, a mess of combined releases flooding onto the sheets.

Eddie flops onto his back beside you. The three of you lay looking up at the ceiling, you and Eddie catching your breath, Steve completely silent.

After a few moments, he clears his throat.

“Did you mean that?”

“Mean what?” You ask, rolling onto your side.

“Do you want to have a baby with me? With us, I mean?”

The mattress creaks behind you, Eddie rolling onto his side. He lays a hand on your waist, massaging your skin gently. Steve won’t look at you, his eyes fixed on the ceiling above him.

“Yes.” You whisper.

Eddie’s hand squeezes your waist a little harder, his lips brushing against your shoulder blade.

A wide smile breaks out across Steve’s face. He turns his head to you, hazel eyes wet and glassy.

“Really?” He breathes.

“Really. I mean, it’s not a good time now, right? I’m still so young, and we haven’t been together that long. Plus Ben’s still a baby, so that would be difficult to cope with two little ones.”

“Seems like you’ve given this a lot of thought baby.” Eddie murmurs.

“Well I - kind of, yeah. Because I do want to have a baby with you, eventually.” You admit. “If that’s what you want.”

“Yeah. I want that.” Steve smiles.

“Steve actually always wanted six mini Munson-Harrington’s running around.” Eddie grins.

“Six?!”

“Alright Ed, don’t scare her off, Jesus.”

Eddie laughs, flipping you onto your back and pressing kisses to your neck.

“I can just picture it.” He mumbles against your skin, his hand sliding down to rub over your stomach.

“You’d look so pretty, your belly all round. And these-“ he grabs at your breasts, squeezing them together, “would be huge, bouncing around all the time.”

You giggle, turning your head away from his onslaught of wet kisses, your eyes widening in surprise.

“Steve! You’re hard again already?”

“It’s him!” He groans, shoving Eddie’s shoulder.

“He won’t shut up about all my favourite fantasies!”

Eddie’s lips brush against your ear.

“What do you think sweetheart? You ready for another round of practicing?”

————————————————————————

A few weeks had passed since the baby conversation, and it had been left alone for the most part.

The only exception is Eddie occasionally riling you and Steve up, using it as his secret weapon when he wants to distract you from whatever you’re doing.

“Gonna pump you so full tonight baby. Get you all messy and dripping.” He murmurs in your ear, the bowl you’re washing dropping into the soapy water with a plop, your thighs squeezing together and your breath catching in your throat. He chuckles lowly, enjoying every second of seeing you so flustered, leaving with a firm squeeze of your ass as a parting gift.

You’d made him pay for it that night, using a couple of Steve’s ties to knot his wrists to the bedposts, riding him until he was on the edge, then halting your movements and sliding off his lap. He’d been forced to watch Steve bend you over the end of the bed, his arms straining against his restraints and mouth babbling desperate pleas, wanting his turn. You’d only given in when he seemed on the verge of tears, sinking back down onto him, Steve’s load dripping out, soaking down to his balls.

After a while the teasing stops, the conversation dropped, at least for now. You wonder if it still lingers constantly in the back of the boys minds like it does yours.

But it appears that something else is occupying Steve’s head.

The changes start off small. Smiles that don’t quite meet his eyes, grumbles here and there about minor inconveniences that usually wouldn’t faze him. A couple of nights he heads up to bed alone, complaining that he’s tired and wants an early night. When you and Eddie head upstairs a few hours later Steve is still, rolled over on his side. You’re not entirely convinced that he’s asleep, but when you press a quick kiss to his cheek he doesn’t respond. You try to ignore how it stings.

His mood continues to sour. He refuses to admit that something’s wrong, won’t let you in on what’s bothering him. He snaps at Eddie regularly, and you’re surprised when the older man refuses to bite back. He’s usually keen to have the last word in an argument, but now he just sighs, leaving Steve alone to stew in his own juices.

On a drizzly Sunday afternoon you’re walking on eggshells. Steve’s been scowling all day, massaging the pinched muscles of his forehead. You slide him a couple of Tylenol and a glass of water for his headache, and he takes them without thanking you. You and Eddie do your best to keep the kids entertained, but Isla’s overflowing with energy that she’d have usually run off at the park. Despite your pleas to stop, she skips around the living room, crashing against the furniture as her shrill giggles shoot straight through Steve, making him jolt.

On her third trip around the room she misjudges the swinging of her arms. The remainder of Steve’s water is tipped over, creating a small puddle on the carpet.

“For goodness sake Isla will you just sit still!” Steve snaps. His tone is far sharper than necessary.

A heavy silence descends on the room, both yours and Eddie’s jaws hanging slack.

Isla stops dead in her tracks, blinking up at her father in shock. Her pouty bottom lip begins to quiver, tears welling in her eyes. You snatch her up in your arms as she inhales a shuddering breath, eager to get her out of the room before the wailing begins.

“You’re okay, it’s okay.” You say between her sobs, pressing kisses to her wet cheeks as you carry her into the kitchen.

“Dada didn’t mean it. It’s okay baby, I promise.”

Your words offer her little comfort, and she howls against your chest, staining your shirt with snot and tears. Your blood runs hot with a brewing anger. Smoothing your hand over Isla’s soft curls, you hope the action will calm you as much as her. You were worried about Steve, and whatever had him acting this way, but now you were pissed. Pouting and sulking was one thing, biting Eddie’s head off at every opportunity was another, but to make his daughter so distraught was crossing a line.

————————————————————————

The following morning Eddie leaves for another work trip. He kisses you in the doorway until you finally shove him off, laughing and giving an apologetic wave to the Uber driver who’s impatiently tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

“What’s the plan for the day honey?” Steve asks, wrapping his arms around your waist from behind as you close the door.

Thankfully he seemed in a better humour this morning. You’d been worried sick all night about Eddie’s departure, not sure how to navigate Steve’s mood without him. He’d given Isla a grovelling apology the night before, and had waited to go to bed with you and Eddie. But there was still a darkness that loomed over him, a heavy grey cloud that cast you in its shadow, a lingering threat that you might get swept away by the eventual downpour.

“Once we’ve dropped Isla off, I need to do the grocery shopping.” You reply with a forced smile.

“Okay. Well if you go get the princess ready, I’ll sort Ben out.” Steve murmurs. He presses a kiss to your temple before heading upstairs.

With Isla at preschool, you make the short drive across town to the supermarket. Ben is plopped into the small plastic seat in the cart, and you and Steve begin to make your way around the store. You start with fresh produce, loading up on fruit and vegetables that you’ll have to fight to get Isla (and Eddie) to eat.

Steve’s clearly making an effort, which you appreciate. He’d held your hand for the duration of the drive to the store. He offers no complaint when you spend an eternity gently squeezing avocados before making your selection. When a man too busy looking at his phone to pay attention to where he’s going crashes into the end of your cart, Steve’s jaw twitches, but he forces a smile and mumbles a ‘no worries’ to the guys apology.

In the cereal aisle you place a box of Honeycombs in the cart, ticking it off the list on the notes app on your phone.

“What’s next babe?” Steve asks.

You open your mouth to reply but you’re interrupted by a woman’s voice behind you.

“Steven?”

You and Steve turn to see an older woman stood in front of the Cheerios. She’s impeccably dressed in designer clothes, a bright diamond resting against the papery skin of her chest hanging from a thin gold chain. Her chestnut hair is perfectly curled, but a few streaks of silver at the roots indicate she’s due for a freshen up on her dye job. Her painted lips are pressed in a tight line as her eyes scan over you and Steve.

Steve’s hand finds yours and he squeezes you tight.

“Mom.” He replies, his voice low.

So this is Steve’s mother? You can see it now as your study her face a little closer, the same full lips, although hers are lined with age. Her hazel eyes match Steve’s colour, but they lack his warmth and bright shine. You suppose she was pretty once, a hint of Steve’s strong features on her face, but it’s hard to think of her ever being beautiful when you know what she’s like. She’d been absent from her son’s life for years.

“How are you?” She asks. Her tone would suggest she doesn’t really care, like she’s speaking to a casual acquaintance rather than her own flesh and blood.

“Fine.”

She nods.

“And Edward?” She snarls his name like it’s a dirty word.

“He’s fine too.”

Her gaze drops to where your and Steve’s hands are clasped together, your thumb tracing small circles over his.

“And you are?”

“Y/N.” You reply, meeting her eyes. You put out your free hand to hers to shake, trying to make an effort for Steve’s sake. She doesn’t bother accepting the olive branch you’ve extended.

“Y/N.” She repeats, humming as though your name poses a question.

“How do you know Steven?”

“She’s my partner.” Steve interjects, his voice cold. “She’s mine and Eddie’s partner.”

Mrs Harrington sneers, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

“Steven.” She sighs, shaking her head. Your fingers itch to slap her across her smug face.

“We’re a little busy Mom. It was nice to see you. Say hi to Dad for me.”

Steve pulls you in next to him as he hand rests on the cart, pushing down the aisle away from his mother, who doesn’t say another word as you leave.

“Are you okay?” You whisper as you round the corner of the aisle, hugging Steve’s waist closer.

“M’fine.” He replies curtly.

It’s obvious that he isn’t, his jaw clenched tight and eyes staring vacantly off into the distance. You finish the rest of your shopping in total silence, simple domestic bliss ruined.

As you queue at the check out you see Mrs Harrington making her way out of the store, the canvas tote on her arm clinking, full of bottles of wine. You’re not sure what comes over you, but your feet move before your brain can keep up, and you chase after her into the parking lot.

“Mrs Harrington!”

She stops, her heels clicking on the concrete when she turns to face you.

“How do you do it?”

“How do I do what dear?” She sighs, impatience evident in her tone.

“How do you treat your own son like that? Like he’s a stranger?”

Mrs Harrington’s mask slips for a moment, her delicate brows furrowing before she quickly rearranges her face back into something perfectly pleasant. She gives you a small smile that doesn’t meet her eyes as she takes a step towards you.

“I’m not sure what Steven has told you, but I doubt you have the faintest idea about the reality of my relationship with my son. My husband and I have always made it clear that Steven is welcome in our family, should he choose to lead a more.. acceptable lifestyle.”

“What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

She fixes you with a pointed look.

“You seem like a smart girl. I’m sure you can understand which aspects of Steven’s life we’re not thrilled about.”

You scoff, waving your arms in frustration.

“So what? Because you don’t approve of who he’s fallen in love with you’re happy to cut him off? You don’t care about not seeing your own son? For goodness sake you have two beautiful grandchildren who don’t even know you!”

“One grandchild.” She snaps.

“The girl isn’t Steven’s.”

The girl. She speaks about Isla with such disdain, as though she were an abomination, rather than the most wonderful little girl you’ve ever known. Your blood runs hot, molten metal coursing through your veins. Your teeth grind together in fury.

“She is Steve’s. She’s like him in so many ways - ways that you wouldn’t understand because you hardly know your son at all! Isla is the kindest little girl, and she gets that from Steve. Every time we go to the park she looks around for the kid on their own, the one no one else is playing with, and she befriends them. She can’t stand to see anyone left out or alone. And she’s smart like him.”

You ignore the snort and eye roll from Mrs Harrington, too busy with your rant to care about her opinion.

“She is! She’s smart, and beautiful, and sweet. All of that she gets from Steve. And Eddie. But you’ll never know, you’ll never get to understand just how much you’re missing out on, because you’re too stuck up and stubborn to care!”

Your chest heaves and you can feel the warmth on your skin, your heartbeat pounding in your ears as blood rushes to your face.

“Are you finished?” Mrs Harrington asks, like she’s talking to a child who’s just thrown a tantrum. She seems unfazed by everything that you’ve said. You realise then just how pointless it is. You can’t appeal to a woman like her, there’s no way through to her.

“Yeah. I’m done.”

You spin and stomp back to the store, blinking rapidly to hold back the angry tears that threaten to spill. The last thing you want to do is cry in front of Steve and make him feel like he has to comfort you. Because this isn’t about you.

He’s finished bagging the groceries, you find him waiting by the front doors to the store, anxiously watching your confrontation with his Mother.

“Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t help you much with all of this.” you say gesturing to the cart. You try your best to force a smile, hoping that you’ve hidden the wobble in your voice enough.

Steve doesn’t say a word, just rolls the cart in the direction of the car.

“Steve?” you say softly.

You scramble to keep up with him as he stomps across the parking lot. At the car he pops the trunk, angrily throwing the bags in with his back to you.

���Stevie, please. What’s wrong?” You plea, voice strained from the way anxiety has your throat closing.

He spins suddenly, facing you with a fury in his eyes that makes you shrink, instinctively taking a step back.

“You had no right Y/N. No right at all so do what you just did.” He snaps.

Steve’s never spoken to you like this before. In the time him, Eddie, and you had been together you’d never once argued with them. They’d had their own rows, leaving you as the peacekeeper in the middle, mediating between them until they both gave up on their stubborn desire to be right, grumbling apologies. Their disputes barely ever lasted more than an hour, always over something small and petty, tempers usually just frayed from work stress or Ben keeping you all up at night.

Now on the receiving end of Steve’s foul mood you don’t know what to do, especially without Eddie here to help.

“I - I’m sorry.” You croak.

“Just forget it.” Steve snarls. He slams the lid of the trunk down hard enough that Ben jumps, immediately crying at the sudden bang.

You watch through teary eyes as Steve lifts the baby from the cart, cooing to him softly as he puts him in his car seat. All of the tenderness you’re craving is now reserved only for his son.

Steve gets into the car while you push the cart back to the front of the store, ignoring the concerned look from other shoppers as you choke back sobs. When you return to get into the vehicle, he continues to give you the cold shoulder, not sparing you so much as a glance as he reverses out of the parking space.

————————————————————————

At home you leave him to sort out Ben and the groceries. One more minute of his coldness and you know you’ll lose your composure. You walk quickly into the house, heading straight upstairs to the spare room that used to be yours. Under the soft cotton sheets, with your head resting on the pillows you pull your phone from your pocket, trembling fingers fumbling to swipe to the right contact.

The phone rings three times before Eddie answers. You can hear the busy hum in the background, various conversations around him, and final calls being made over the airports PA.

“Hey baby. You missin’ me already?” Eddie teases.

You whine out his name in response, the tears you’d been fighting to keep back now spilling.

“Baby? What’s wrong?” Eddie asks, but you’re crying too hard to answer him.

“Y/N? Sweetheart please, you’re scaring me.” He pleads.

“H-he’s m-mad at me.” You stammer.

“Who’s mad at you sweet girl?”

“Steve.” You whine.

“Steve’s mad at you? What do you mean honey- what could you possibly have done to-“

“We s-saw his mom at the grocery store. A-and I - I just-“

Eddie sucks in a sharp breath.

“Fuck. It’s okay baby, it’s okay. I’m coming home.”

“No! Eddie no, you can’t!” You protest, crying harder at the thought of him missing out on a job just because you’re upset.

“Don’t argue with me Y/N. I’m coming home. Just give me a sec.” Eddie says firmly. You can hear him muttering under his breath, the wheels of his suitcase rolling across the floor as he walks.

“Okay.” He says a moment later.

“I can get a flight home in about an hour.”

“Eddie please.” You whimper.

“Enough Y/N. I’m coming home. I’m not leaving you upset like this baby, you’re breaking my fucking heart here.” He says softly.

“I’m s-sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’re okay. I’m gonna go get a ticket and then I’m calling you straight back okay? I’ll stay on the phone with you until I have to board.”

“Thank you Eddie.” You whisper.

“You don’t need to thank me. I love you baby.”

“I love you too.”

You stay in your old room for the rest of the day. Steve moves through the house below you, dishes clattering in the kitchen, Sesame Street playing on the TV for Ben. When it gets close to Isla’s pick up time the front door slams, as Steve leaves to go get her. He hasn’t checked on you once.

————————————————————————

“Y/N?” A quiet voice asks, the door squeaking open. You roll over in bed, finding Isla stood hesitantly in the door way.

“Hey princess! How was your day?” You say, the fake smile on your face feeling more like a grimace.

“Why are you in bed?” She asks, ignoring your question.

“I’m not feeling too well sweetie. I just need to rest.”

“Why aren’t you in your bed?” The girl frowns. You have to think on your feet to come up with a lie that will hopefully satisfy her.

“I don’t want to make Dada sick too. So I came in here.” You say.

Isla nods.

“I hope you feel better soon.” She says sweetly. It makes your chest ache.

“I’m sure I will angel. Go spend some time with Dada, I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay.”

You blow her a kiss, and thankfully she smiles, returning the gesture before slipping back out of the room.

A while later sleep finds you, your body exhausted from crying, mind tired from rerunning the situation over and over in your head. You only wake when you hear the slam of the front door, and by now the room is shrouded in darkness, no sunlight leaking through the blinds.

Deep voices rumble below you. You can’t catch what’s being said exactly, but it’s clear enough from the tone that the two men are arguing.

A few moments later you hear footsteps padding along the hallway carpet, followed by three gentle taps on the door.

“Baby? You awake?” Eddie calls.

“Yeah.” You call back, pushing to sit up against the headboard.

The door swings open, and Eddie flicks on the light. You squint in the sudden brightness.

“Oh my poor girl.” He murmurs, crossing the room in quick strides. The mattress dips when he takes a seat, pulling you to him until your head is tucked under his chin, cheek resting against his chest. You thought you had no tears left to give, but you were mistaken, sobbing like a child as Eddie rocks you from side to side, pressing kisses to the top of your head.

“It’s okay. I’m here. I’ve got you.” He whispers.

When you’ve finally calmed down a little, Eddie holds your chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting your face back to get a good look at you. You study him too, finding purple shadows under his eyes, evidence of a long day flying pointlessly back and forth across the country.

“What happened angel?” He says.

You tell him. You tell him everything, about what Steve’s mom had said in the store, about your confrontation with her in the parking lot, about Steve’s anger at your intervention, and the way he’d ignored you ever since. The more you speak, the more Eddie’s frown deepens, the corners of his mouth turning down.

“I’m so sorry baby.”

“S’not your fault.” You reply.

“I know. But, I think it should’ve done a better job of warning you. Steve’s.. he’s touchy, when it comes to his parents.”

“I’ve gathered that.” You grumble sarcastically.

Eddie gives you a sad smile, sweeping his thumb over your tear stained cheeks.

“You remember what I told you before, about Steve’s mom and dad?” Eddie asks.

You nod. He’d not told you much, but it was more than Steve ever did, the other man never mentioning his parents once in the time you’d known him. But Eddie had filled in some of the gaps.

Mr and Mrs Harrington had treated Steve awfully, never showing him an ounce of affection or kindness. They were two people obsessed with image, it was everything to them. Outwardly, they looked like the perfect family: successful husband, beautiful housewife, and their charming, star athlete son. But behind closed doors it was a different story. Mr Harrington was a liar and a cheat, a string of affairs under his belt, his marriage to his wife all for show. Mrs Harrington was a cruel woman, a vicious tongue always ready to hurl insults at her son, especially when she’d had a few drinks, which more often than not, she had. And poor Steve. Left in that huge house for weeks, or even months at a time, always alone. In the time that Steve did spend with his family it was almost never pleasant. He was a perpetual disappointment, unable to meet his parents high standards. It only got worse when he told them about Eddie, after that they’d wanted nothing to do with him.

“Even after all of that, all they’ve done to them, Stevie won’t have a bad word said against them.” Eddie admits sadly.

“Hell, we’ve had plenty of fights about it. If I so much as breathe a word about those assholes he gives me the same treatment you got today.”

“Why?” You whisper.

Eddie sighs.

“I don’t know. I know it kills him that they treat him the way they do. But after everything, I think he still holds out hope that they might change their minds. He still wants to be that perfect son that’s good enough for them. And it always gets worse around his birthday.”

You drop your head to rest on Eddie’s shoulder, thinking back over the last few weeks. Anytime you’d asked Steve what he wanted for his birthday he shrugged off the questioning. Each time you suggested a way to celebrate, he’d grumbled and insisted it was just another ‘normal’ day, which seemed odd considering how much Steve usually loved any excuse for a party.

“Every year it’s the same.” Eddie says.

“He gets all moody and snappy in the run up. Then on his birthday he goes through the cards that arrive in the mail, and I can see him get sadder and sadder with each one that he opens, because none of them are from his parents. He flinches every time the phone rings, or someone knocks on the door, and he gets his hopes up every time. And every time he’s let down.”

“That’s so sad.” You say quietly.

“It is.” Eddie agrees. “But it’s still no excuse Y/N. He shouldn’t have spoken to you the way that he did.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. And he knows that. Do you feel up to talking to him about it?” He asks.

“Is he still mad at me?”

“God no. Truth be told baby, he wasn’t ever really angry at you.”

“Okay. Then yeah, I wanna talk to him.” You say.

“That’s my girl.” Eddie smiles, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“Oh and by the way,” he mumbles against your skin, “between you and me? I’m proud of you. S’about time someone told that old hag a few home truths.”

You giggle, and Eddie chuckles too, standing up from the bed and helping you to your feet.

————————————————————————

Steve’s pacing back and forth across the plush bedroom carpet, his hair sticking up in all directions thanks to constantly tugging his fingers through it. He turns as the door opens, bloodshot watery eyes meeting yours.

“Honey, I’m so so sorry.” He says, choking on the words.

You cross the room in an instant, throwing yourself against his chest as his strong arms wrap tight around your shoulders.

The two of you cry together, your tears staining Steve’s shirt as his fall into your hair. A warm weight presses against your back, Eddie sandwiching you between their bodies, his face alternating between pressing kisses to the top of your head and Steve’s wet cheeks.

Steve pulls back, cupping your face in his hands and tilting you to look at him.

“Please forgive me.” He whispers.

“I do. Of course I do. And I’m sorry too.” You whisper.

“You don’t need to be sorry. Y-you didn’t do anything wrong. I should’ve never-“

“Steve, stop. It’s okay.” You reassure, leaning to press a firm kiss to his lips.

“It’s not okay. It’s not. You shouldn’t let me off the hook that easy.” He mumbles, tears still streaming.

“C’mon.” Eddie says softly, moving to take a seat on the bed. He pats the empty space beside him.

“Let’s get it all out.”

Steve crawls up onto the middle of the bed, sitting cross legged on the comforter. You take a seat by the pillows, legs stretched out over Steve’s lap, his thumb tracing gentle circles over your ankle.

He sighs deeply, his shoulders shaking as he exhales.

“You’re okay Stevie. We’re here.” You say.

He nods, giving you a small grateful smile.

“I know I’ve never really spoken about my parents to you.” He starts.

“And I’m sorry for that too. I know I need to get better at.. being open, I guess? It’s just hard to talk about.”

“I know.” You offer.

“It just hurts.” Steve says, whining much like Isla does when her emotions overwhelm her.

“I keep hoping, after all this time. I keep hoping things might be different - they might be different. But it never happens.”

“I’m sorry Steve. You don’t deserve that.” You say sadly.

“They don’t deserve you.” Eddie grumbles.

“I just keep thinking I could be good enough for them somehow.” Steve whispers.

Shuffling down the bed, you pull yourself onto Steve’s lap. You cradle his face in your hands much like he had done to you moments ago.

“Steve, listen to me. You are good enough. You are enough. I’m so sorry that your parents can’t see all the good in you, and I know that nothing will ever take that pain away. But you have so many people who adore you. People who see you for who you are and love you just like that. Our love doesn’t come with conditions. You’ll always have us, no matter what.”

His face crumples, more pained sobs tearing from his chest. You let him bury his face in your neck, holding him tight as he cries, whispering softly in his ear all the things you love about him. All the things that make him perfect.

“I love you. I love you so much.” He cries.

“I love you too honey.” You reply, nuzzling your nose into his soft brown locks.

————————————————————————

A little over a month after Isla joined preschool you received an email from the head office, an invitation to an open afternoon. It’s a chance for the parents to come and take a look around, catch up with the teachers and see what the kids have been getting up to.

Eddie and Steve flank either side of you, the latter carrying Ben strapped to his chest. Eddie is delighted to no longer be missing the event, thanks to his work trip being cut short, and he bounds through the open gates, the chain hanging from his jeans clinking with each energetic step.

“Maybe we should see if they can take in an extra kid, wear him out a bit for us.” Steve laughs.

“We can’t do that to poor Ms Hart. She’d never cope.” You grin.

“Hey! I’ll have you know I was a delight as a preschooler, and I’m even more delightful now.” Eddie says, pointing a ringed finger at you and Steve accusatorially.

“So you were just a nightmare in high school?” Steve teases.

“Shut up. Everyone knows high school sucks.” Eddie grumbles.

He slows down enough to let you both catch up with him, his hand finding yours and squeezing your fingers tight.

Ms Hart’s classroom has descended into chaos, excited children running around the room weaving between the legs of parents, grabbing at finger paintings and lumpy plasticine figures, showing them off proudly.

You spot Isla instantly. She’s sat at a small table in the corner, her legs swinging over the edge of her plastic chair, her sparkly pink sneakers not quite reaching the floor. Her neck is craned, dark eyes sweeping the room, bottom lip being chewed between her teeth.

“Princess!” Eddie bellows, releasing your hand to wave dramatically at his daughter. The brightest smile spreads across her pretty face when she sees you, leaping down from her chair and sprinting across the room into Eddie’s outstretched arms.

“Daddy!” She squeals, giggling shrilly when Eddie swings her up into the air.

“Ed. She’ll throw up if you keep swinging her around like that.” Steve chuckles.

Eddie relents, carefully placing Isla back on her feet.

“Are you here to see my stuff?” She asks breathlessly, wide eyes staring up at the three of you.

“We sure are sweet pea.” Steve smiles, reaching down to ruffle her curls.

You let Isla lead you around the room, babbling constantly as she goes, pointing out her friends, and her favourite toys to play with. It’s clear that you had nothing to worry about in sending her here, she’s popular, other children frequently interrupting her tour to say hi. You, Steve, and Eddie watch on proudly.

Being the big kid that he is, it takes little convincing for Eddie to get down on his knees and crawl into the tiny play house set up at the back of the room. The leg that won’t fit in is stretched out the door, one leather clad arm hanging from the window, his grinning face peering through another. He expertly plays the role of a wicked giant, grunting and growling, pulling delighted giggles from the kids who attempt to tug him from the house, Isla leading the charge swinging an inflatable sword at his shin.

Steve sits at a table nearby, the chair comically small for his large frame, his knees practically up by his ears. Ben gurgles away happily in his holder against his dads chest, while Steve chats to another father, the two men swapping opinions on some recent basketball game. The conversation isn’t particularly enthralling for you, so you wander away, hands held behind your back as you slowly pass a wall of drawings.

The artworks depict the children’s families, abstract, messy paintings of people and pets, some contained within the walls of wonky square houses with triangular roofs. Isla’s handy work is easy to spot, the figures on her page each a different bright shade of felt tip, a rainbow family.

The people look a little like potatoes, uneven circles for bodies, with short straight arms and legs, and large smiley faces in the centre of the ovals. Beneath each person, Ms Hart has written their name, with Isla’s shaky handwriting underneath. You can picture her trying so hard to copy the words, her tongue poking out between her lips, brows furrowed as she grips her pencil in whitened knuckles. The first two figures are the smallest, one green, one pink.

Ben

Isla

The other three are a little bigger, one blue, one red, one orange.

Daddy

Dada

Mommy

You blink rapidly, expecting those five wobbly letters to suddenly disappear, replaced with your name. But they don’t change, the grey granite lines indented into the paper from how hard Isla had pressed with her pencil.

“It’s cute right?” A soft voice says over your shoulder.

You jump, turning to find Ms Hart at your side, smiling at the drawing.

“She’s quite the artist. She draws something every day.”

The young woman looks over to you, expecting a response, but no words come to you. Her smile falters when she sees the tears pooling your eyes.

“What’s wrong?” She whispers, taking a step closer to you. She glances over at Isla, too busy attacking Eddie to notice your crying.

“S’nothing.” You sniff, wiping your sleeve over your cheeks to catch the few tears that spill.

“Are you sure?” Ms Hart presses, her hand coming to rest on your forearm, giving a reassuring squeeze.

“Y-yeah. It’s just - she, she’s doesn’t call me that.” You whisper.

“What do you mean?”

“Isla. She doesn’t call me m-mommy. Just my name.” You explain sadly.

One of Ms Harts brows arches delicately, confusion clear on her face.

“Oh. I - I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” You reply with a forced smile.

“You weren’t to know.”

“No, well. You see, that’s what Isla calls you here. She’s always talking about her Dads, and her Mommy. That’s why I wrote that for her to copy. I didn’t realise she usually calls you Y/N.”

“S-she calls me Mommy?” You ask quietly.

Ms Hart nods.

“Oh.”

“Hey honey, whatcha looking at over here?” Steve murmurs, having stepped up behind you.

You and Ms Hart watch as Steve looks over the drawing, realisation dawning on his face.

“Wow.” He breathes.

“Yeah. Wow.” You repeat.

Ms Hart let’s go of your arm, giving you a kind smile as she retreats wordlessly, letting you and Steve have a moment alone. The noise of the room dims around you, the only sound you can hear is the pounding of your heartbeat in your ears.

“Apparently, that’s what she calls me here.” You whisper.

A large hand takes hold of your waist, pulling you in close. As Steve tucks you into his side, Ben grabs at your shirt with his chubby fists, drool tricking from his gummy mouth and shining on his chin.

“Well it makes sense.” Steve murmurs, his lips buried in your hair.

“You’re her Mommy. Ben’s too.”

As though he understands, Ben giggles softly, staring up at your with warm honey eyes. You swallow down the lump in your throat, capturing his little hand in yours and bringing it to your lips so you can press kisses to his squishy knuckles.

Steve lets go of you for a moment, reaching out to carefully peel the paper from the wall, leaving behind small blobs of blu tac.

“Steve! You can’t take that.” You whisper shout.

“I’m sure Ms Hart won’t mind.” He smiles, rolling the drawing into a small cylinder and tucking it into your bag.

“This is special. It deserves pride of place on our fridge.”

————————————————————————

Back at home you take a seat at the kitchen island, watching Steve as he pulls out the pots and pans needed to make carbonara. Balancing Ben on his hip, Eddie reaches into your bag and retrieves Isla’s drawing. He struggles to unfurl it on the fridge door with just one free hand, but eventually manages to secure it in place with a handful of bright alphabet magnets.

“Look at that!” He beams.

“My daughter is an artist!”

Isla preens at the praise, pressing her face against Eddie’s leg as he stands back to admire her work.

“And your writing is so good too! Can you tell me what this says princess?” He asks, pointing to the wobbly lettering under the potato people.

Isla hums a vague sound, burying her face harder into his denim clad knees.

“C’mon.” He encourages softly.

“What’s this say?”

Taking a deep breath, Isla look down at her feet, reciting the words from memory.

“Ben, Isla, Dada, Daddy, and Y/N.” She says quietly.

“Almost. That last one’s not quite right. Look again baby, what have you written here?” He whispers, tracing his fingers over ‘Mommy’.

“Y/N.” Isla repeats, still not looking up.

“Sound it out. It starts with an ‘m’ right? That makes a mmm sound.”

“Ed.” You warn quietly. It was clear that Isla wasn’t about to say it, and you didn’t want her to feel any more uncomfortable than she already was. Steve stops chopping pancetta, crossing the kitchen to crouch at her side.

“It says ‘mommy’, doesn’t it Isla?” He whispers.

“Do you tell your friends at school that Y/N is your mommy?”

“Sometimes.” She says quietly, eyes locked on her toes, curling in her frilly white socks.

“Do you want to call her mommy at home too?” Eddie asks gently.

Isla shrugs her shoulders.

“It’s okay if she does, right honey?” Steve says to you.

You nod, clearing your throat.

“Of course. I-if she wants to.”

Isla’s chin is still tucked down, but you can see a small smile pulling at her lips, her cheeks glowing a rosey shade of pink.

Steve leaves a kiss to the top of her head, pushing up to turn his attention back to the dinner.

“C’mon. Let’s go set the table while Dada cooks.” Eddie offers, extending his hand to his daughter.

“Who do you want to sit next to?” He asks as he leads her out to the dining room.

“Mommy.” She whispers.

Your heart feels like it could burst.

————————————————————————

You wake early on Steve’s birthday, despite the alarms on your phone being switched off. Sunlight filters through the blinds, casting the room in a warm glow, that you bask in as you snuggle closer to the sleeping figure in your right.

“Mmm. Mornin’ honey.” Steve whispers, his voice thick and groggy with sleep.

“Good morning birthday boy.” You smile. You move up to press a kiss to his cheek. The motion has Eddie stirring. He rolls over, arms winding around your waist and chin hooked over your shoulder.

“Happy birthday handsome.” He purrs.

“Thank you.” Steve replies. He rolls over too, sandwiching you between his body and Eddie’s as he kisses his husband sweetly.

“Can you open your presents now?” You ask.

Steve chuckles.

“You’re as bad as Isla at Christmas, I’ve only just woken up angel.”

“Yeah we should wait for this kids. You know the princess will be disappointed if she doesn’t get to help Dada unwrap his gifts.” Eddie grins.

“But I’ve got you something that you need to open before they come in here.” You protest. Wriggling out of their hold, you clamber over Steve to get out of the bed. Eddie sits up, cocking one brow at you. He wasn’t in the loop with this mystery gift.

You head to the dresser, digging through your underwear until you find the small box hidden at the bottom, wrapped in delicate blue tissue paper.

Once you’re settled back between the boys, you pass the gift to Steve. He presses a quick kiss to your temple, thick fingers unwinding the ribbon and sliding under the tape that holds the paper together. A stark contrast to the feral way Eddie had torn through the gift wrap with his own presents some months ago.

With the paper discarded, Steve lifts the lid of the gift box. Nerves swirl in your belly, hoping for a good reaction.

“What - what is this?” He asks. He holds up the blister pack, empty of pills.

“It’s my contraceptive.” You explain.

Steve looks confused.

“Okay.. and they’re empty.”

“Yep.”

“And you’re giving me this because?”

“Because they’ve been empty for two weeks. And I haven’t bothered getting another prescription.”

The room falls to near total silence, the only sound the faint ticking of the alarm clock on Steve’s nightstand. Each second that passes has your heart beating harder in your chest.

“Oh shit.” Eddie whispers.

It takes Steve a few seconds more to catch up. His confused frown melts suddenly, replaced with wide eyes and raised brows.

“Oh shit.” He echos.

He turns to look at you, his pouting bottom lip wobbling.

“Are you serious?” He whispers.

“Yes.” You smile.

“You really want to have a baby with us?”

“Of course I do my love.” You say softly, cupping his stubbly cheek so you can press his pout to your own. Steve kisses you back, sweet and gentle, his tongue brushing over your bottom lip. Not so gentle lips attack your neck from behind, a rough palm wrapping around your throat to pull you to a better angle. Eddie flips you onto your back, settling between your spread legs, already tugging himself free from the confines of his boxers.

“Better do some more practicing huh baby?” He grins.

“Eddie it’s my birthday! Stop trying to hog her to yourself.” Steve whines. He gives Eddie a playful shove, almost toppling him from the mattress. Steve takes his place, rubbing his hands teasingly up over the sensitive skin of your thighs.

“Gonna make you feel so good honey. Love you so much.” Steve murmurs, nuzzling his face against your neck.

“I love you too.” You sigh.

“I love you both.”

“Fuck, I love you both.” Eddie says through gritted teeth. His fist pumps his cock lazily, fingertips teasing the leaking head as he watches your ankles hook over his husbands lower back.

Your hand strokes the thick curls on Steve’s chest, snaking down over the softness of his stomach. His muscles tense beneath your touch, cock twitching in anticipation.

Your hand is so close to where he wants it.

Hurried footsteps pound down the hallway.

The three of you share panicked looks for a split second, before scrambling to cover yourselves and lay back in bed. The boys are desperately pulling up their boxers while you fight to get the comforter up as the door flies open.

“Happy birthday!” Isla bellows at the top of her lungs. She takes a running leap at the bed, landing on Steve chest.

“Ooft! Jesus Christ Isla.” He groans, grinning ear to ear despite the assault.

“It’s your birthday Dada!” She exclaims excitedly.

“I know it is. And you know what that means.”

“Presents!”

You laugh, shuffling up to make space for her to lay in between you and Steve. Eddie gets out of the bed, heading to the closet to retrieve the various gifts hidden in there.

“Okay, we’ll do presents, then I’ll go wake Ben and we can have pancakes in bed.” He says, plonking the gift bags onto Steve’s lap.

“And we’ll finish what we started later.” He whispers lowly in your ear, cackling when his words have you squirming.

After Isla had ‘helped’ Steve to open his presents, Eddie retrieved the baby, and you all sat in bed, eating syrupy pancakes with slices of sweet strawberries. The quiet chatter and sound of munching is disrupted by Steve’s phone ringing, just as you and Eddie had expected.

Robin puts her years of high school drama club experience to good use, babbling away in a panic.

“Rob.” He groaned, dragging his palm over his stubbly jaw.

“I’m having my birthday breakfast.”

“I know! I’m so sorry, but we need you Steve!”

At the sound of Robins voice coming from the speaker of Steve’s phone you glance over at Eddie, who snorts a laugh, hiding it with a loud slurp of his coffee.

“Fine. I’ll be over in like an hour.” Steve grumbles.

“Thank you! You’re the best.”

“Yeah, you better remember that.” Steve grins, hanging up the call.

“What’s up honey?” You ask, pretending to not see Isla’s little hand as it darts out to steal a strawberry from the plate balanced on your lap.

“Apparently Nance had a new desk delivered, and the courier just left it in their hallway. Neither of them can carry it up the stairs, and so I’m pretty sure they won’t be able to assemble it either. Which means I have to spend my birthday doing DIY.”

“Oh, don’t worry Stevie, I’m sure it won’t take long.” You smile, running your fingers through his bed head.

In reality, you knew it might take more than a little while. Nancy and Robin were under strict instructions to keep Steve busy until at least midday, even if it meant deliberately hiding necessary screws and tools from him to make his job that much harder. He was in for a frustrating morning, but it would be worth it. At least you hoped it would.

Thirty minutes later you stand at the front door waving Steve off, waiting until his car has disappeared out of view before slamming the door closed and running back into the kitchen.

“You ready?” You call out.

“Oh I’m ready baby.” Eddie replies.

Your burst into a fit of giggles when you round the corner into the room. Eddie’s hair is pulled up into a loose top knot, a tea towel wrapped around his forehead like a bandana. In the time it had taken you to say goodbye to Steve he must have delved into your make up bag, two thick black streaks of gel liner across his cheeks.

“What’s with the war paint?” You wheeze, clutching at your sides that ache from laughing.

“I’m ready to complete my birthday mission, obviously.” He grins.

“You’re the fiercest party planner around.” You smile.

“I need to be. Got to live up to Stevie’s high standards.”

“And mine. I want everything to be perfect. So you can start by hanging the banners and blowing up the balloons.”

“Yes ma’am.” Eddie says with a salute. As you go to move past him he grabs your waist, pulling you flush to his chest.

“I love it when you’re bossy baby.” He drawls.

“Stop it mister.” You laugh, slapping playfully at his chest.

“Get on with your jobs. We don’t have much time.”

————————————————————————

Looking down at your phone, you watch as the tiny icon of Steve’s photo moves closer on the map, turning onto your street.

“He’s almost here! Everyone get into position!” You shout, hurriedly shoving your phone into your pocket.

Everyone scrambles, Hopper, Joyce, Will and Mike crouching down behind the table covered in food and drinks.

Max and Lucas clamber up Isla’s jungle gym, ducking behind the small wooden ledge at the top.

Your Mom giggles, pulling Wayne by the hand to hide behind the shed, like a couple of naughty school kids sneaking off to share a kiss.

The rest of the guests find their own hiding places, excited chatter dying down to hushed whispers.

The gate at the side of the house creaks, and you gasp, spinning in place. Why on Earth would Steve come through the side gate?

You breathe a sigh of relief when Nancy and Robin come rushing through, tugging Charlie along behind them.

“Jesus, you scared me. Wait - how the hell did you beat Steve here?” You ask.

“Nance drove like a maniac.” Robin grins, her wife rolling her eyes as she drags her to squeeze behind the table with the others.

Before you reply you hear the unmistakable sound of gravel crunching beneath tires.

“Ready baby?” Eddie grins, taking your hand to lead you back into the house.

“I’m so nervous. What if doesn’t like it?” You whisper.

You knew Steve didn’t like to celebrate his birthday, he’d made that abundantly clear. He was happy with breakfast in bed, and a lazy day chilling around the house, or playing with the kids in the garden. But you’d wanted to do something special for him. Show him that he had so many people around him who adored him, who loved him exactly as he was. You wanted to make him love his birthday.

“Oh course he will, everyone loves a surprise party.” Eddie says.

“I don’t know if that’s true Eddie…”

“Well it’s too late now babe.” He laughs.

The pair of you stop in the hallway just in time for the front door to swing open, a disheveled looking Steve stepping over the threshold.

“Hey Stevie.” You say brightly.

“Did you get everything sorted for Robin and Nancy?”

“Yeah, eventually. It was a nightmare. Rob managed to loose the screwdriver three times. Three times!”

“Yeah that sounds like Rob.” Eddie laughs.

Steve pauses, his eyes narrowing.

“Why are you two both just stood in here?” Steve asks.

“Uhh…”

“We heard you pull up!” You reply quickly, before Eddie can fumble and give the game away.

“You heard me?” Steve says suspiciously.

“Y-yeah. We were playing in the garden with the kids.”

“Where are they?”

“Who?” Eddie asks.

“The kids.” Steve says incredulously.

“They’re still in the garden.”

“Alone?! Ed, the pool’s uncovered. Are you nuts?!” Steve exclaims. He barrels past the two of you before you can protest, running through the house, you and Eddie hot on his heels.

When Steve shoves through the glass patio doors, he falters, slowing to a stop as he looks around the garden, decorated in bright bunting and balloons.

“Happy birthday!”

You collective friends and family jump out from their hiding spots, clapping and cheering for the arrival of the birthday boy. Steve stands shell shocked on the patio, his jaw hanging open.

“Happy birthday my love.” Eddie smiles, looping his arm around Steve’s waist and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“What - what is this?” He stammers.

“It’s a party, for you. We wanted to show you how much you mean to all of us.” You reply.

Steve’s eyes are glassy. He pinches his nose, a tell tale sign that he’s fighting back tears.

“Do - do you like it?” You ask hesitantly.

Thankfully, he nods.

“I love it. Thank you.” He smiles.

“Come on Harrington, don’t just stand there! Let’s get this party started!” Max shouts.

Steve laughs, grinning from ear to ear as he steps forward to greet his guests.

————————————————————————

Lounging back on a deck chair by the pool, you sip sweet punch from a solo cup, the heavy glug of vodka that Eddie had added warming your chest. You watch Steve as he emerges from the pool, having just lost a particularly vicious pool noodle fight against Mike, Dustin, and Lucas. Cool water drips from his broad frame, tanned skin glinting in the late afternoon sunshine. He stretches his arms up, pushing sopping locks of hair away from his face, exposing the delicate lettering inked on his ribs.

Your name was the latest addition. Swooping across his side just above his waist, sitting under Eddie, Isla, Benjamin. His family, now including you.

There’s the perfect spot left for another name. A part of you, and Steve, and Eddie. A little soul, who since this mornings conversation feels a little more real, a little closer. You were going to get the life you always dreamed of.

Steve catches you staring, shoots you a wink. Your cheeks grow warm, thighs clenching together instinctively. He laughs, breezing past you to grab another beer. Thankfully no one is paying you enough attention to notice you squirm.

Isla and Charlie splash in the pool, water wings squeaking, the boy squealing each time Isla sends a mini tidal wave crashing into his face. Nancy and Max keep an eye on them both, hands held out in the glistening turquoise ready to catch them if either of them stray too far from the shallow end.

Wayne and Hopper sit by the porch, reminiscing about the old days, grey swirls of smoke spilling from laughing mouths and pirouetting up into the warm air.

Robin is attempting to out chug Steve, their heads thrown back as they guzzle from cans. She struggles to keep up, spluttering as foamy beer spills past the seal of her lips and dampens her shirt.

You can’t see your mom, or Eddie. Glancing over your shoulder, you find them both sat on the grass a little ways behind you, stretching out in the sun. Ben sits on your mom’s lap, tugging her long beaded necklace in his chubby fist, trying to chew on it to soothe his sore gums. Eddie plucks long blades from the ground, winding them around his ringed fingers. His expression is uncharacteristically serious. Not wanting them to catch you eavesdropping, you turn back to face the water, but tune out the laughter and splashing, ears straining to catch snippets of their conversation.

“Well when are you going to do it?”

“I don’t know. Just waiting for the right time I guess.” Eddie mumbles.

“What about now?” Your mom suggests.

“Nah. I don’t think she’d like the attention, with everyone here. She planned all this for Steve. She wouldn’t want to detract from his big day.”

Your spine straightens against the deck chair. They’re talking about you. Eddie exhales a deep sigh.

“I just… I don’t know.”

“You’re worried, about what she’ll say.”

“I guess. We both are.”

Anxiety twists your stomach. What was this big secret that he and Steve had clearly been keeping from you? Why did your mom know about it? Does everyone here know apart from you? Your brain buzzes with too many questions.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about Eddie. It’ll be okay.” Your mom says softly.

“But what if-“

“Mommy! Come swim with us!”

Isla waves eagerly at you from the pool. You’re still not used to hearing that name fall from her lips, joy flooding your veins each time she says it.

“Yeah! Y/N come in!” Dustin calls.

A hand lands on your shoulder, squeezing affectionately.

“You ready for a dip baby?” Eddie smiles, the nerves present in his voice just seconds ago now replaced with his usual teasing tone.

“S-sure.” You reply, swallowing down the lump in your throat. You shrug off your floral cover up, letting Eddie take your hand and cannonball with you into the pool. Under the water the world goes quiet for a moment, bubbles bursting in front of your eyes, stinging from the chlorine. As your feet touch the tiles at the bottom, you decide to push your anxiety to the back of your mind, at least until the party is over. You owe it to Steve to let him have the best day. You kick up, breaking through the surface with a smile on your face.

————————————————————————

By the early evening the excitement of the day has overwhelmed Isla. She falls asleep curled up on Grandpa Hop’s lap, his bear paw like hands rubbing soothing circles over her back. Charlie isn’t faring much better, his eyelids drooping and head lolling against Nancy’s shoulder. She and Robin say their goodbyes, carrying their sleepy boy back to the car. Steve scoops Isla up, shushing her half-hearted protests when she rouses.

He pauses as he passes you, letting you sweep back her curls and kiss her forehead.

“Night sweetie.” You whisper.

“Goodnight.” She murmurs back, her eyes already closed again.

The evening air brings a chill, those warm summer nights still a few weeks away. No one wants to risk waking the two children who now sleep soundly upstairs, so instead of moving the party inside it begins to fizzle out slowly. Everyone wishes Steve a final ‘happy birthday’ as they go, thanking you for the day and parting with tight hugs and kisses pressed to cheeks.

Finally alone, you, Eddie, and Steve ignore the clean up that needs to be done, a job that can wait for the morning.

You expect Eddie to be eager to make good on his promise of finishing what you started that morning. But he’s unusually quiet as the three of you ascend the stairs, bristling with nervous energy when you step into the bedroom.

Warmth surrounds you when Steve’s arms wrap around your waist, tender kisses trailing up the side of your neck.

“Thank you for such a good day honey.” He says.

Spinning in his arms, you find his hazel eyes gazing at you softly, butterflies in your stomach unfurling their wings and beating wildly when he kisses you firmly, deeply. His tongue pushes past your lips, gliding over your own, hands pulling on your waist until your flush to him.

Behind you Eddie clears his throat.

You and Steve break apart. You turn to your other partner, finding his bouncing his leg anxiously, bottom lip caught between his teeth.

“You okay Ed?” You ask. Concern pulls your brows into a frown when he won’t meet your eyes. Instead he looks up at Steve.

“I want to do it now.” He says. There’s something off about his tone, a wobble underneath the determination that makes the butterflies in your belly swoop low, now with fear rather than anticipation.

“Okay. We’ll do it now.” Steve replies. He seems calmer, whatever it is that they’re planning not terrifying him like it does Eddie.

“Do what now?” You ask.

“Can you sit down for us angel?” Steve says softly.

Eddie stands, and you take his place, settling into the dip in the comforter left by his body.

Your hands tremble where they rest on your thighs. The tense atmosphere has your whole body shaking with anxiety, Steve’s reassuring smile not enough to offer you any comfort. He settles by your feet, resting on his knees. Eddie’s left the room, slipping into the walk in closet and returning a moment later. He takes a place beside his husband.

Steve’s hands take hold of yours, his thumbs rubbing across your palms.

“You know how much we care about you honey.” He says.

Oh god.

This is it. The moment you’ve feared ever since those first kisses beneath the mistletoe.

They’re done with you. This has run its course, they’ve changed their minds, and now they want you out. They’ll go back to their happy life, just the two of them, and you’ll be alone.

“Please don’t.” You whisper, your voice croaking as tears pool in your eyes.

“Don’t what honey?” Steve asks.

“P-please don’t leave me.”

Steve gasps, his fingers curling tighter around your own.

“Leave you?”

“That’s what this is, right? You’re b-breaking up with me.”

“What?” Steve whispers. He turns to Eddie, his husband looking just as confused as him.

“Baby, what on earth has got you thinking we’re leaving you?” Eddie asks.

“You’re just acting so strange. I overheard you talking to my mom about me earlier, like you’re keeping some secret from me. And now you won’t even look at me Ed.” You whine.

He shakes his head, placing his hands over yours and Steve’s.

“We’re not breaking up with you angel. We love you, we love you so much. I’m sorry I’ve been acting weird, I’m just nervous.”

“About what?” You sniffle.

“About this.”

Eddie reaches into his back pocket, fist unfurling to reveal a small velvet box. He lifts the lid with shaking hands.

Against the silky cushions inside sits a ring. The platinum band glows, three equal sized diamonds in a row blazing with fire and refracted light.

“Wh-what… why do you have that?” You whisper.

“We’ve been wanting to ask you for a while now.” Steve says softly.

“I know we can’t do it legally, but still, we wanted to make it more official somehow. We wanted to ask you to be ours.”

“We figured that we could just have a little ceremony, book out somewhere nice. Get everyone together again, like today. But to celebrate you. To celebrate the three of us.” Eddie explains.

“Like - like a wedding?” You ask.

“Like a wedding.” Eddie nods.

Both boys let out pained grunts when their backs hit the floor, the force of you launching yourself off the bed knocking them flat.

One arm loops around Eddie’s neck, your other hand grasping at Steve’s shirt, pulling them both in as tight as you can manage.

“Oh my - is that.. is that a yes?” Steve laughs.

“If it wasn’t then I’d say it was a pretty aggressive no.” Eddie chuckles, his voice quietened by the weight of you laying on his chest.

“Of course it’s a yes!” You exclaim. You pull your face out from where you’d buried it against Steve’s collar, smiling up at the boys with bright eyes shining with tears - the good kind. They both grin back at you, all their nerves evaporating, pushed aside by the overwhelming joy of the moment.

“Baby, as much as I’m loving this, I’m pretty sure when you body-slammed us into the carpet I threw your ring across the room. We need to find it, ‘cause I’d rather really not have 25k sucked up by the vacuum, or have it stab me in the foot when I get up to pee in the night.” Eddie laughs.

“How much?!” You shriek, clamping your hand over your mouth in horror.

Eddie tuts and rolls his eyes at your dramatics, shrugging his shoulders like it’s no big deal. Steve wriggles free from your hold, scrambling across the carpet to pick up the band which had almost rolled under the dresser.

“Got it.” He says triumphantly.

Eddie pulls your hand away from your mouth, holding it steady as Steve slips the ring onto your finger. It glides smoothly over your knuckle, the perfect fit.

“Do you like it honey?” He asks.

“I love it.” You reply breathlessly. Wiggling your fingers in the air the stones sparkle, so brilliantly bright you feel dazzled. The cool metal hugging your skin is unfamiliar, but something you’re more than happy to get used to. You’re so in awe of it, you know you won’t be able to take your eyes off it for weeks.

“It looks perfect.” Eddie says softly. He presses gentle kisses to each of your knuckles in turn, before turning your hand over to leave one more on your palm. His umber eyes flit up to you, lashes fluttering as he mumbles ‘I love you’s against your skin.

Not wanting to be left out, Steve shuffles in close to your side. His lips trace a faint path up the side of your neck, ghosting over your ear, sweet words of affection shared in quiet whispers.

“Our beautiful girl. Y’gonna be the most stunning bride anyone’s ever seen.”

“Our beautiful wife.” Eddie hums in agreement.

Your head tips back to the ceiling. Body melting at their words, at the soft presses of their lips, of the reassuring pressure of their roaming hands.

“I love you. I love both of you so much.” You sigh.

“We love you honey.” Steve says.

His teeth nip at your lobe, eliciting a desperate whine from the back of your throat. You feel his lips pull into a smirk. Eddie chuckles lowly, pushing your back against the bed, positioning himself over you so you’re caged in by his body.

“We might have to make it a shotgun wedding baby.” He says teasingly.

“Why?” You ask.

You shiver when his hands part your legs, revealing the damp spot on your panties.

“Because,” he says slowly, his fingertips dancing in a lazy waltz up your inner thighs. “I believe this morning Steve and I promised that we’d take turns stuffing you full.”

The man at your side groans. When he shifts his hips you feel the hardening length trapped beneath his shorts pressing hot and firm against you.

“You still want that honey?” He pants desperately in your ear. “You want me and Eddie to fuck you ‘til it takes?”

Eyes rolling back in your skull, you whimper as his filthy words have another wave of arousal gushing from your core. You jolt when Eddie’s finger presses firmly against the cotton that covers you.

“Oh boy. I’d say she definitely wants it Stevie.”

“Please!” You whine.

“I want it. Please, please I want it.”

“Okay angel. We’ve got you, no need to beg. You can have whatever you want. You can have it all.” Eddie promises.

You know he means it.

When you lay basking in the afterglow, bare except for the diamonds glinting on your finger, knees pushed to your chest to keep in everything they’ve given you. When Steve rubs a soothing massage on your calves, and Eddie peppers kisses across your cheeks and forehead. When they tell you they love you just before sleep takes hold, and you dream of a life that blossoms deep within you, born from that love.

You know that you get to have everything you’ve ever wanted, and more.

[imjuststeddietrashatthispoint]

Find all my work here!

✧Fic Masterlist ✧

Eddie Munson

Steve Harrington

Steddie

Gator Tillman

✧Taglist Rules ✧

✧ Drawings and Stuff ✧