"You Really Screwed Up This Time, Carver..." - Eddie Munson x Y/N Story

Epilogue - Happy New Year

TW - Swearing

31st December 1991

Standing in the kitchen of a modest 3 bedroom bungalow sitting an equal distance between the trailer park and the shopping mall, I start pouring various bags of chips, pretzels and sweet snack into bowls to lay out on the kitchen island for tonight. Eddie and I decided we would host a little New Year's Eve party for us and our loved ones, nice and cosy in our own little home Wayne helped us buy, along with my parents who finally came around to being grandparents when Jason told them Eddie and I were planning to get married. It's nothing flashy or decedent, but it's ours. There's a cosy family living room at the heart of it all, which leads to a small hall peppered with white wooden doors leading to a family bathroom and a master bedroom. A little further down the hall sits a smaller room decorated with bats and fairy lights for Arwen, and a box type room containing a nursery, decorated in blue motor cars with the baby's name painted on the wall, Ronnie. Born only six months ago, named after one of Eddie's favourite musicians, of course, Ronnie James Dio, by some miracle I managed to talk him out of 'Ozzy' somehow. The middle name was chosen by both of us, it was the obvious choice, named after the greatest surrogate parent either of us could have asked for, Wayne. I got to see Wayne cry again when we told him about the pregnancy and the gender and the name. And naturally, I decided I couldn't bare to have the baby without Wayne there by my side just like before, a wish he was more than happy to fulfil, sobbing again as he heard the baby cry for the first time. His weakness seems to be our beautiful children, Arwen definitely knows this and has him wrapped around her finger. Eddie is currently in the nursery with Ronnie whilst Arwen plays in the living room with her teddy bears, cartoons playing on the VHS player in the background.

"There we go! All dressed up and poop-free!" Eddie announces as he exists the nursery holding a very well dressed baby boy, a baby who, just like Arwen, has Eddie's curly brown hair and huge dark eyes. I've seen baby pictures of Eddie and I'm telling you, this kid is his exact double, hopefully they just share appearances and not a flare for mischief. Arwen on the other hand... she is just as cheeky as her father, but those beautiful eyes seem to get her off the hook every damn time.
"There's my little guy!" I say, walking out of the kitchen towards my two favourite boys, reaching my arms out to take the little boy from his father. "Hello my handsome boy! Did you have a nice bath?" I coo as I pepper his chubby cheeks with kisses,
"Say 'Yes, momma! I kicked and splashed so hard, daddy got soaked!'" Eddie chuckles as he lightly tickles the baby. I giggle at the thought of Eddie being bested by a baby at a water fight, causing Eddie to fake a frown as Arwen giggles herself silly at the seemingly sad daddy. "I see how it is... you've turned both my kids against me, huh?" he chuckles, walking over to Arwen and tussling her wild curls causing her to huff and giggle. "I mean, her sure, 'girls club'. Fine. But you too Ronnie!?" he jests, folding his arms over his chest and pouting at the oblivious baby in my arms. Chuckling at the grown man's tantrum, I turn and pop Ronnie in his bouncy chair near the couch before extending my arms out, offering Eddie a hug. He frowns a little longer before submitting, scooping me up and spinning me around in a tight embrace as I giggle hysterically at him, Jellybean back to having a giggling fit on the floor.

After a couple of hours, the house is alive with bodies and music, everyone chatting and having a good time. Steve and Nancy arrived together as a newly engaged pair, Dustin hitched a ride with Steve as his mom is at a friends for NYE so he's staying with us, despite him being old enough to stay at home alone now... but you know Mrs Henderson, always the worrier. Mike, Nancy's little brother, came with Steve and Nancy as his girlfriend, El, is going to be here too. Robin came with her girlfriend Vicky, such a cute pair! Jason is planning on moving out of our parents in the new year and continue his basketball career, for now thought he's joined us for the party with Chrissy who I actually like spending time with now, not just because we were both cheerleaders but because she's actually a super sweet person. The Byers came with Hopper and El as they all live together just down the street, except for Jonathan who lives in his own apartment following his new ownership of the photo store in the mall. Wayne was one of the first to arrive and obviously made a bee-line for my son, immediately stealing him from my arms and scurrying away to the nursery with Arwen in tow, he'll be spending the first couple of hours hiding in there with the kids, being the best Pop-pops in the world. Even my parents agreed to come, it's been a rocky relationship but they're trying very hard to repent for their previous absence in our lives. My mom loves being a grandmother, always buying Arwen the most frilly, pink outfits she can find, despite Arwen being obsessed with her dungarees, wearing a different pair everyday. My dad was just happy that I was "finally an adult" when Ronnie was born, plus, Eddie and I got married about a year ago, so I think that sweetened the deal for him.

A few hours into the party I'd taken myself off to our room for a breather from people and music, it didn't take long for Eddie to come and find me. "Everything okay, princess?" he asked walking toward me and wrapping his arms around my waist, chin resting on my shoulder.
"Hmm? Yeah..." I sigh as I stare at the array of photos on my dresser; photos from our wedding (with Arwen as the most chaotic flower girl ever), some from graduation, some of Eddie and I together, and one of the photos taken by Jonathan when I was pregnant with Arwen - one of my favourites. "I guess... I'm just thinking about everything we've been through and everything that's changed since we first met." I said, running my hand along one of the polaroids of Eddie and I, taken when I was pregnant with Arwen, before he even knew about her, before I knew about her actually. From our seemingly 'care-free' summer together, where all we worried about was the approaching September.
"Changed for the best though, right?" he asked, peppering my shoulder with kisses, he wasn't wrong.

I loved our life now. Eddie was opening his own auto shop in a few months and I was a manager at the music store in the mall, which I loved. I was working on the side as Corroded Coffins tour promoter and manager, which meant I got to be with Eddie when he was on the road and Wayne agreed to take the kids if we couldn't take them with us. "I love our life! I wouldn't change it for the world! I suppose I just wish we had more time where it's just us. No kids, no jobs, no responsibilities. Like that summer." I sighed, putting the picture back on the dresser. Eddie turned me in his arms to face him, placing a soft kiss on my lips and I melted into his touch, for the first time in a while, it was a moment between us not interrupted by work calls or kids.
"Y/N Munson... I promise to you that we will have that time together again. I was going to save this as a surprise, but I've arranged for Wayne to take both kids for a whole week in the Spring so I can whisk my beautiful wife away on the honeymoon she deserved. Just us. No kids, no work." he smiled, his eyes staring into my soul as he spoke. I couldn't help but start crying, he really in the most perfect husband I could ever ask for. And you know what? I'm so fucking grateful for that drunken fling in Benny's bathroom.
"That sounds perfect, Ed's. Thank you!" I sobbed as he held me so tightly, like I'd float away without his grip.

"Happy New Year, Mrs Munson!" he soothed as he buried his face into my neck,
"Happy New Year, Mr Munson... '92 baby, it's our year!" I whispered, melting into the arms of the man I loved from the minute I saw his brown curls down a crowded school hallway. The man who changed my whole life for the best. The man who ends up fathering my third child on that trip away...

What did you expect? Surely you know by now what happens when Eddie are I are left unattended.
And we do make damn beautiful children...