Home The Hard Way *Single Dad! Eddie Munson X Steve Harrington Steddie Series*

Part Seven

It had now been over a week since Eddie bought his car. Or rather, since Wayne had bought it for him. He spent his evenings with Steve at the shop, watching uselessly as Steve worked for free to make it safe enough to put Lucy's car seat in.

Eddie was going on about Lucy, how she's learning to crawl but she only gets a few timid paces forward before falling on her face. Steve was listening while he worked, hands moving nimbly to undo bolts.

"When do I get to meet her?" He asked suddenly, stopping Eddie's story.

"What?"

"What?" Steve echoed the question. "You afraid she's gonna like me better than you or something?"

"Yeah, that's definitely it," Eddie scoffed. He took a moment, just a beat of quiet before asking, "You really wanna meet her?"

"Course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

Eddie shrugged. His fingers pulled at a loose thread on the knee of his black jeans. The idea of introducing Steve to his daughter had crossed his mind, but he shut it down. He had, seemingly incorrectly, assumed that Steve wouldn't have any interest in spending time with a six month old little girl who he had no attachment to.

Steve suddenly rolled out from under the car, more than just his legs now in view. He leaned up and Eddie was impressed by his core strength as he held his body in what looked to be an uncomfortable position.

"Look if it's weird or something, just forget it. But you're my friend and she's your baby, so I just thought it'd be cool to meet her. I mentioned her to Robin, and we both agree that she sounds awesome.”

Eddie could have cried on the spot. Steve was the first person to ask to meet Lucy. Wayne and Sarah two doors down had been forced to meet her. But Steve was asking. He’d even talked about her to his other friends. Steve was interested.

"Not weird, just surprising," Eddie answered with a smile. "How about tomorrow, you take the night off and come over. Wayne goes to work at 7, but if you come around 6:30 I'll have food made."

"I get to meet the famous Lucy Munson, and dinner? How'd I get so lucky?"

"Why don't you wait and decide if you're lucky or not after you see what's for dinner," Eddie laughed. Steve nodded, his smile wide and he laid back and pushed himself back under the car.

The following evening Steve showed up promptly at 6:30. Eddie was scooping steaming Hamburger Helper into a plastic bowl for Wayne when the three solid knocks sounded from the door. Lucy, he realized, had never heard that sound. He grinned at her confused expression as she watched Wayne stand from the couch and walk across the room to answer it.

"Your friend's here," he announced, opening the door wider to allow Steve to enter.

Eddie looked over from where he was now packing Wayne's lunch into the blue cooler he took with him every night. He zipped it and carried it to Wayne, handing it over before retrieving Lucy from where she was banging blocks together on the floor.

"Bye, grandpa," Eddie cooed, his voice high pitched and soft as he raised her hand to wave at him. Wayne smiled, waving back to her across the room as he closed the door behind him.

"So," Eddie started, resuming his normal voice as he turned his attention to Steve. "Uh, this is Lucy."

"Hi, Lucy, I'm Steve." He introduced himself, taking her hand between his thumb and pointer finger, moving it up and down. "It's lovely to finally meet you."

"Dude, she's six months old," Eddie laughed. "She doesn't understand the concept of a handshake."

"I'm trying to make a good first impression," Steve answered, giggling to himself. Lucy seemed to like his giggle almost as much as her daddy did. She immediately leaned forward, stretching her arms towards Steve. He looked surprised, unsure of what to do until Eddie titled his shoulder forward, pushing her towards him. He hooked his hands under her armpits and pulled her away from Eddie, holding her tightly to his own chest.