Hopper stops chewing his club sandwich and looks over in time to see the little kid - Steve - with a brown paper lunch sack take the seat across from him and start peeling his gloves off. Hopper scans the restaurant and sighs when he doesn't see Steve's parents.
"I saw you flip your name back. On the board," the little boy clarifies, pointing to the bulletin board in Benny's Burgers. "Well, not that one. The one at the pree-seet that's got everybody's name on it."
Hopper looks on as Steve opens his lunch sack and starts pulling out is contents, continuing to explain, "Your name had Naughty underneath it, but I saw you change it to Nice."
Hopper's eyebrows shoot up. This kid sees everything.
"That was smart. But don't worry," Steve's face scrunches in effort while opening his little carton of milk that he'd pulled out of his backpack. "I don't think Mrs. Florence saw you."
"I don't care if she did, kid." He takes another bite from his club.
"You should care!" Steve's eyes are huge and urgent when he wipes off milk with the back of his sleeve. "She could flip it back, and, and then Santa won't come or, he'll put cold in your stocking!"
Hopper frowns. "Coal," he tries to clarify, but Steve doesn't hear him, choosing the same moment to confess, "I don't like being cold."
Hopper sighs and watches as Steve takes a bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, still bundled up in a scarf and his coat.
Little Steddie + Stobin meet cute; Eddie and Robin decide they must take Steve trick-or-treating, and they absolutely must make him their friend (a really special friend in Eddie's case) - fluffy! (5.5 k words)
This was all inspired by this tweet. It was so heartbreaking and upsetting I just had to fix it :)
🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃
Steve hasn’t celebrated Halloween since he was five. Not properly, anyway. Hasn't dressed up, or gone trick or treating even once since then. And he’s ten now, almost eleven.
He doesn’t want to admit it, but he misses going trick or treating. His mummy used to take him, until she stopped being home as much, and his babysitters could never be bothered.
He used to love dressing up, it was his favorite part. Liked to talk to the other kids in the street and play spooky games. But he’ll probably never do that again.
It’s probably stupid anyway. Steve’s double digits now, and his dad says that makes him a man, and men aren’t supposed to get sad about stupid things like Halloween.
Besides, his mum says candy’s bad for him. It will make his teeth fall out and his tummy fat, and his mum really hates that stuff.
Steve’s grown up knowing to always believe her, but he sees kids at school eating candy all the time, and they still have all their teeth and aren’t fat. Even his teacher eats candy, and offers a bowl of it around every holiday.
But Steve never eats it. His mom will be upset with him if she finds out.
But Steve’s a big boy, he can handle himself now. He’s got a bowl of sweets sitting by the door, eyeing him off and he’s trying his best not to eat one, because it’s for the trick or treaters.
The little kids, the ones his age, the older ones, and even some parents.
Steve pretends he’s not disappointed when they show off their awesome costumes that their moms made for them. He pretends he’s fine, he’s becoming a man, he shouldn’t care about kid things like Halloween.
He gets up when there’s another knock on the door, what feels like the millionth one of the night, and finds three people waiting there all dressed in cool costumes.
There’s a girl with freckles, short brown hair, and she’s done it all messy, dressed up like a scarecrow with a glowing lightbulb on the top of her head. She looks awesome, even has makeup on her face and real pieces of straw sticking out in random places.
There’s a boy beside her, with big brown eyes sweet like the chocolate Steve’s giving out, with long hair like a mane with golden shimmers of tinsel through it. He’s dressed like a lion, a showy badge on his chest, and he roared when Steve opened the door.
Behind them is an adult, probably their dad or something, dressed in grey with silver all over him, a funnel wrapped in foil on his head, a big red heart stitched into his shirt, and he’s holding a lead that’s got a little black cat on the end of it, with bows around its collar.
They’re dressed as The Wizard Of Oz, Steve thinks, and they look awesome. Steve wishes he had friends or family to go trick or treating with. All he’s got is Mrs. Delores, from across the street to look after him tonight, and she’s been asleep on the couch since five o’clock. She’d never take him anyway, says Halloween is for the energised, whatever that means.
“Cool costumes!” Steve says, puts on the brightest smile he can muster, just like his mom taught him. He grabs the candy bowl and holds it out for them to stuff their pillow cases with, “I love Wizard Of Oz— isn’t Toto a dog though?”
“Yeah, but Eddie only has a cat.” The girl answers as the boy digs through the bowl, clearly looking for something specific, “I think she’s crazy enough to be a dog though! Makes the funniest noises ever.”
“Yeah, she’s the funniest.” The lion boy giggles, waggles the Milky Way he found in the air, “She’s crazy too, I found her by the quarry one day, and Wayne said I can keep her.”
Steve thinks the tin man is Wayne, gives the man a smile and offers the candy bowl to him, which he politely declines.
“That’s cool, I’m not allowed pets. Especially strays, mom says they’re filthy.”
“Cthulhu is filthy, but she doesn’t stink more than Eddie!” The girl teases, already eating a caramel treat, chocolate all over her mouth.
Eddie punches her in the arm hard, “I don’t stink! Cthulhu is the best kitty in the world.” He bends down, picking the cat up under the arms and snuggling her, and she hisses and squeaks at him, “Aren’t you Cthulhu? You’re the best kitty cat in the world.”
Cthulhu meows and puts her paw on Eddie’s face, and Steve laughs. He’s always wanted a pet, loves them so much. He Loves all animals.
“Can I pet her?”
Eddie looks up at him from his snuggle with Cthulhu and arches his eyebrow, “Perhaps.”
“Oh, lord.” The man mutters to himself behind them, and it seems like maybe Steve shouldn’t have asked.
“Eddie’s very protective of Cthulhu because she’s a scared cat. She was really sick when we found her! So small you could see her ribs, it was so sad!” The girl informs him, very eager to teach, “She’s just a poor little kitty, and only loves me and Eddie and Wayne and no one else.”
“It’s true, she bites people you know? If they get too close.” Eddie says ominously, holding onto Cthulhu like she’s a precious treasure that Steve is trying to steal, “One time Nash from across the trailer park tried to feed her tuna and she bit a chunk out of his hand! It was so funny, there was blood everywhere. He screamed so loud, the stupid fuck-“
“Language.” The man said, glaring at Eddie.
“Uh, I mean, the stupid wimp.”
“It’s true, did you know?” The girl nodded as she spoke, nodded so much Steve thought her head would fall off, “We hate Nash, he’s so mean.”
“I would maybe let you pet her, if she likes you, which she probably won’t because she doesn’t like anyone except for us.” Eddie said, scratching Cthulhu behind the ear to make her purr, giving her little kisses to make her smile, “But, you must also pass the test.”
“What test?” Steve asked, curious now. He’d really like to pet Cthulhu, if she’d let him.
“First, you have to swear to never, ever be mean to an animal ever.” The girl said.
Then dramatically, Eddie added in, “Second, you have to swear allegiance to Robin and I forever and ever, which also means you swear allegiance to all underdogs by proxy-“
“I don’t know what any of that means.” Steve mutters, ashamed of himself. He’s been doing really bad at school lately, he knows he’s dumb, his dad tells him all the time.
“Ed, remember not everyone reads Tolkien by the time they’re eight.”
“Right.” Eddie nods, smiles up at Steve, “Uh, it means you have to swear to at least be nice to us always, like, friendly! No bullying us or being rude or anything. And also the same goes for every nerd or weird kid.”
“Yeah, you can’t be mean to weird kids ever.”
“Are you weird kids?” Steve asked, looking them over. He doesn’t think they’re weird, he thinks they’re cool, they have the coolest costumes he’s seen all night, they put a lot of effort into them.
“The weirdest ever, actually.” Eddie states, nodding like he’s proud of it.
Robin, the girl, nods in agreement.
“Okay.” Steve shrugs, “I don’t care if people are weird, you have cool costumes.”
“That’s really nice, thanks!” Robin says, but Eddie gives him a funny look.
“Where’s your costume? And why aren’t you trick or treating? Are you sick or something?”
“Uhm, I just don’t want to.” Steve lies, he feels stupid because he wants to cry.
“Oh, okay, weird.” Eddie says and stands again, keeps Cthulhu in his arms and Robin leans over to pet her too, “The third rule is that you have to give us an extra candy bar-“
“That’s not one of the rules?” Robin intervenes, clearly confused by this, which Steve finds funny.
“Shh!” Eddie hisses, “Come on, it’s Halloween, it’s a special extra holiday rule.”
“I don’t think that’s fair.”
“It’s just one extra candy bar. Besides, would you prefer stupid Jason come by and steal an extra one like he did at the last house?”
“No.” Robin admits and turns to Steve, “Okay, yeah, an extra candy bar.”
“And also, the last rule is-“
“You have to stand on one foot and hop on the spot and sing Soft Kitty!”
“Hey, I wanted to say that part.” Eddie groans at her.
“You always say that part.” Robin bickers back, and Eddie starts to sulk.
Steve wishes he had friends like that.
“Do you agree with the rules?” Robin asks, and Steve nods.
“Sure.” He says.
“Okay, fine.” Eddie said, snapping out of his hunch to grin at Steve again, “But don’t be offended if she doesn’t like you. She hates everyone. She was even scared of us for the first few days!”
“Yeah, it’s true.” Robin agrees, watching Eddie set Cthulhu down, taking the leash from the older man, “She’s such a poor little kitty. Eddie, show him the scars you have! I can’t or it will stuff up my costume.”
“Oh, yeah!” Eddie grins, shoving the sleeves up his arms to reveal an array of tiny bites and scratches, “Gnarly, huh?”
“I thought he had rabies! I was so scared, but it’s okay, we all got a rabies shot.”
“Yeah, I almost passed out, I hate needles.”
“It was really funny, the nurses had to give him three lollipops to stop him crying-“
“Hey! Don’t tell him that, he won’t think I’m cool.” Eddie punches her again. Robin punches him back.
“He probably already thinks you’re not cool, Eddie. Everyone thinks you’re not cool, and he’s rich.”
“Oh, yeah.” Eddie mutters, shrugs like he no longer cares, loosens Cthulhu’s lead a little, “Anyway, just don’t take it personally if she tries to kill you or anything, she especially doesn’t like mean people or rich people. She only likes freaks and weirdos I think, ‘cause we’re like her, you know? She’s a good cat like that. So yeah, just don’t like, get upset if she hates—“
They all stop and stare when Cthulhu wanders over the threshold to Steve’s house, looking up at him with her tail in the air as she goes. She walks right up to Steve, rubs her face against his shin and weaves between his legs, stretching out and laying on his fluffy slipperd feet.
Behind them, the older man snickers, and Eddie glares back at him.
He takes a few steps away to catch his breath as he laughs, muttering as he goes, “Spoke too soon, boy, what’d I tell ya?”
Eddie growls and looks back at Cthulhu like she’s betrayed him. Robin is just smiling, which is nice, she has a very happy smile.
“I think she likes him, Eddie.” Robin says, and Eddie growls again.
“So, can I pet her?” Steve asks.
“You have to do the ritual.” Eddie says with sass, like it’s a challenge, like Steve won’t do it, “Swear kindness to all animals.”
“Obviously, I love animals.” Steve said with a frown.
“That one’s easy, you’d be a total psycho if you didn’t!”
“Okay, swear you’ll never be mean to an outcast or a weirdo.” Robin said.
“Okay— but what about if a weirdo is mean to me first? Can I be mean back?” He asked, because the rules seemed a little biassed.
“Eh, makes sense.” Robin nodded, “What do you think, Eddie?”
“I agree. Not like a weirdo would ever be mean to a rich kid.” He said, shrugging.
Steve arched his eyebrow at the boy, put his hands on his hips unimpressed, “I swear it, idiot.”
“Hey, you can’t—“
“You said I can, if you’re mean first.”
“I’m not— Wayne! Stop laughing at me!” Eddie huffed back at the man, facing Steve again, he said, “I’m not mean to you.”
“You are. You said Cthulhu would probably hate me cause I’m rich. I’m not even rich, I just live here.”
Beside him, Robin nodded, “You are kinda mean sometimes, Eddie.”
Eddie looked like a fish out of water. The old man was still laughing, hunched over from it now.
“We can call it even, if you’re nice to me from now on.” Steve states, holding out his hand in an offer.
Eddie looks at his hand and considers it, looks back at Steve and sighs, “I’m sorry, okay, you're right. We can call it even.”
Steve smiles and solidifies the shake, wondering why his stomach goes all fluttery.
“Three!” Robin interrupts, literally leaning over to get between them, “Extra candy bar.”
Steve smiles and lets them both have at it again, holding it steady as they aggressively rifle through the bowl in hunt of their desired treasure. Robin eats half of hers again when she gets it, drops the other half in her pillow case.
“And the dance!” Eddie chimes in, carefully placing his sweet in the sack, “For a whole minute.”
“How am I supposed to hop on one foot when Cthulhu is laying on my slippers?”
“Uh, that’s a good point, Eddie. You know Cthulhu hates being disturbed.” Robin whispers, like she’s scared she’ll suddenly wake the sleeping kitty.
Eddie pouts, looking down at the animal to come up with an answer. It takes him a while. Steve comes up with one first.
He grabs the bowl of sweets again and dumps half in Robin's sack, and the other half in Eddie’s. A trade, extra candy so he doesn’t have to do the dance.
“Awesome!” Robin grins, beaming down at her loot.
“What about your leftovers?” Eddie asks, looking sadly at the big empty bowl, “You won’t have any leftovers! And you’re not trick or treating, so how would you get chocolate?”
“It’s okay, mom doesn’t really like when I eat chocolate. Says it will make my teeth fall out—“
“Ah! Is that true?” Robin asks, her mouth full of melted chocolate again. She looks back at the man in fear, “Wayne! Are my teeth gonna fall out?”
“No.” He says, stern and sharp, “My mama used to tell me the same thing. You’re supposed to have treats, you’re a kid.”
Oh, Steve thinks to himself, he’s a kid.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Robin huffs and keeps munching away.
“Here.” Eddie smiles, and he’s got a handful of candy bars taken from his pillow case, holding them out to Steve, “You deserve some chocolate too!”
Steve blushes and takes the sweets, can’t find the Strength to protest when he really, really wants it. He stashes them in his pockets and tells himself not to forget about them.
“Do you want some more?” Eddie asks, “I know how it feels to have no candy on Halloween, it sucks. I never got to trick-or-treat when I was little, my dad couldn’t be bothered and my mama was always sick.”
Steve frowns, looks at the boy and doesn’t even get another word in before Eddie’s reaching over and stuffing another handful of chocolate into Steve’s other pocket. He gives it a firm pat, stands up straight again, and smiles.
Steve doesn’t know what to do.
He thinks he’d like to be friends with these kids.
“Can I pet your cat now?” He asks, too scared to say anything else. His dad says he’s too much of a wimp these days, and needs to man up.
“Of course.” Eddie smiles, nods his head.
Steve crouches down, careful not to move his feet and disturb the kitty, and he strokes from her head down her back until she purrs. She purrs so much her whole body starts to vibrate, it makes the three of them laugh.
“She’s so cute, huh?” Robin asks, crouched down too to watch.
“She’s the best kitty cat ever.” Eddie agrees, reaching to scratch under her chin with a finger, and Cthulhu smiles and tries to bite his finger, “No silly! I’m not a Halloween candy.”
“She’s so soft.” Steve muses, can’t stop petting her, “She’s so cute.”
“Super cute.”
“The cutest!” Robin shouts, slaps a hand over her mouth when she realises how loud she was.
“I wish I had a cat.” Steve sighs.
“You can visit her sometimes, if you like?” Eddie asks, his cheeks all red for some reason, “Wayne doesn’t mind if I have friends at the trailer, and it would be mean to keep Cthulhu from her new best friend.”
“You mean it?” Steve asks, feels himself smiling so wide his cheeks get warm, “For real?”
“Yeah.” Eddie nods, gets very nervous when he says, “And… and maybe we could play, or something?”
Steve nods his head, he hasn’t had a friend to play with since Tommy decided they were too cool for make believe, “Yes please.”
“You probably won’t want to if you’re cool and not a weirdo.” Robin says, doesn’t even look up as she speaks, too busy petting Cthulhu, “Eddie likes weird games, he always makes me be the dragon he has to fight and slay.”
“I thought you liked being the dragon? You make such good dragon noises.”
“Of course I do.” Robin huffs, looking over at him, “But he might not like being a dragon.”
“Well he wouldn’t be the dragon, ‘cause you’re always the dragon.”
“We’ll, maybe he won’t want to be the knight either!”
“I’m always the knight.” Eddie huffed and turned to Steve, wearing a very determined glare, “What do you want to be when we play fantasy? You could be the horse, but that’s probably boring. Or I suppose you could be the princess I rescue, because Cthulhu is always the princess. You can’t be the evil troll because Wayne’s really good at being grumpy. Or you can be something new if you like?”
“I can be anything.” Steve shrugged, “I’ve never played fantasy before. It sounds fun.”
“It’s so fun!” Robin grinned, “Maybe you could be the prince and Eddie can rescue you too!”
“I’m really good at rescuing.” Eddie stated.
“Okay.” Steve smiled, “Whatever you guys want.” He says, because he’s excited enough they want him there at all, he would play the tree if they wanted.
“Cool.” Eddie grinned, totally delighted by this.
“Thanks for letting me pet your cat.” Steve said, knowing he shouldn’t keep them any longer. They have more trick-or-treating to get too, and the man taking them is probably bored. “I think your costumes are really cool and creative.”
“Thanks, we made them ourselves, Eddie’s really good at sewing and painting!” Robin grinned.
“Well, Wayne had to help with the sewing machine. And Robin did all the decorations.”
“That’s so cool.” Steve grinned, the words toppling out of his mouth before he could stop himself, “I wish I knew how to make costumes, my mom never makes me costumes, I miss trick-or-treating.”
“I thought you said you didn’t feel like it?” Robin asked, and Steve stared at her, caught red.
“Why doesn’t your mom make your costumes?” Eddie asked, looking so terribly sad about it, “Why don’t you go trick-or-treating? Is your mummy sick too?”
Embarrassed, Steve shook his head, eyes averted to the ground as he shamefully admitted, “My parents don’t really care about this stuff, they say it’s for kids, and it’s silly. They’re never home anyway.”
“But you are a kid.” Robin says, confused.
Steve feels that harshly for the second time tonight.
“I think your parents are stupid.” Eddie says flatly, and Steve thinks he’s awesome.
“Eddie!” The older man snaps from behind, “That’s not very nice now, come on.”
“But it’s true.” Eddie huffs, “Your parents sound like they suck. My dad sucked too. He’s in prison, you know, cause he sucks.”
“Eddie really doesn’t like his dad.” Robin said, still crouched down to pet Cthulhu, not looking up at them as she spoke.
Quietly, for the first time ever, Steve admitted something back, “I don’t like my dad either.”
Eddie smiled at him, held up his hand in this strange symbol, his pinky and pointer finger extended whilst the others were folded.
“What’s that?”
“Metal.” Eddie said, a cool smile as he nodded. And Steve had no idea what metal means, but he makes the symbol back and smiles, because Eddie seems to think it’s cool, so it must be.
“Cool.”
“Do you want to come trick or treating with us?” He asks, and Steve thinks yes, but holds himself back.
“Oh, yeah, please come!” Robin grins, up and jumping on the spot now.
“We don’t even have a Dorothy.” Eddie says, “We don’t even have the main character!”
“I told you to be Dorothy.” Robin tells him, “You have the perfect hair for it.”
“Yeah, but I wanted to wear my lion costume again. It saved more time! We had to spend all our time making your costume!”
Robin shrugged and looked back at Steve, “Do you wanna be Dorothy?”
“Isn’t she a girl?”
“So.” Eddie shrugged, “I think Toto’s a boy, and Cthulhu is pretending to be him— and Robins being a boy scarecrow. It’s just a costume.”
“But she wears a dress. I don’t have a dress.”
“You can be a boy Dorothy if you like?” Robin answers.
“Or, you can be a girl Dorothy in pants.” Eddie adds on, “And I’m really good at making costumes, I bet I can help you come up with something cool. And then you can walk Cthulhu all night if you like, ‘cause Toto is Dorothy’s pet!”
Steve does like the sound of going trick-or-treating with these guys. And he really likes the sound of hanging out with Cthulhu all night, she’s such a cute kitty, still sleeping on his slippers.
Steve worries his lip and looks at the old man past them, wondering if he’ll tell Steve to stay home for wanting to dress up like a girl.
“You’re welcome to join if you want, kid, I’ll just need to talk to whoever’s lookin’ after ya.”
Steve is sort of scared to wake Mrs. Deloris, she’s a real hag when she’s grumpy.
But, he’d like to go trick-or-treating even more. And this might be his only ever chance.
”I’d really like to.” Steve says, and the three of them seem happy with his answer.
Eddie dives down and grabs Cthulhu so Steve can move, which is a big mistake because she starts hissing and trying to scratch Eddie’s face, and he screams, the old man and Robin have to intervene.
Steve rushes over to Mrs. Delores to wake her with a fright, and he tells her his plans, doesn’t ask, and she gets up in a grump to go talk to the man at the door.
When Steve makes it back to them, Eddie’s got a bloody scratch on his cheek, but he doesn’t seem to mind it, he’s still holding Cthulhu as she naps in his arms, and he kisses her between the ears adoringly.
“I wouldn’t know how to make a Dorothy costume.” Steve says, and this seems to excite Eddie and Robin.
“Can we come in? We’ll help!” Eddie asks.
“And your house is so big.” Robin wonders, leaning forward to inspect the inside, “I’ve never been in a house this big before.”
“Me either.” Eddie muses, “Do you have a hot tub?”
Steve leads them inside, and up the stairs, “No, but I have a pool.”
“Cool!” Eddie grins.
“Do you have a cinema?”
“No.” Steve giggles, “Of course not.”
“Do you have two bathrooms?” Eddie asks.
Steve furrows his brow at the weird question, “Uh, yeah— or three if you count the extra toilet.”
“Woah!” The two say in unison, their eyes wandering around Steve’s house as they walk.
“That’s so cool.” Eddie says.
“I’ve always wanted two bathrooms. My dad gets pee all over the toilet seat, and me and mom hate it.” Robin adds, and Steve decides to laugh, because Eddie is.
He thought everyone had two bathrooms. He’s never shared one with his parents. That seems so strange. He’s not even allowed in his parents bathroom, they get so mad at him if he goes in there.
He leads the pair into his bedroom and they go right for his wardrobe, diving right in without asking. Not that Steve cares, he thinks they’re so nice, and he’s excited to have more friends.
They’re talking amongst themselves, chattering and chattering, agreeing and disagreeing.
“Would you wear a skirt?” Eddie turns around to ask.
“I don’t have a skirt.” Steve says back.
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I guess.” Steve shrugged, “But it’s too cold for a skirt! It’s windy outside.”
“He’s got a point.” Robin says, and Eddie nods.
“Will your dad be mad if we cut up one of his shirts?”
Steve’s eyes widened, he think his dad would definitely mind. But, he’s not home, won’t be for another week at least. Besides, he might not even notice, if Steve hides the evidence.
He shakes his head no.
“Does he have a blue button up?”
Steve nods, knows he does. He has like, a billion of them.
He races to go get one, finding one that’s got little blue and white checkers all over it, thinking it would be perfect for Dorothy. When he shows it to Eddie, he’s excited, says it’s perfect.
Robin hands Steve a white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans and tells him to change into them whilst they work on the dress. Steve rushes to change in the bathroom, can’t wait, he’s so excited.
By the time he comes back out, the sleeves of his dads shirt have been cut off, and the collar removed to make straps instead, and Eddie’s making Steve put it on, and it’s long, like a dress. He’s cut one of the sleeves to make a belt, ties it around Steve’s waist with a bow, and Robin ties the other on his head.
He’s still got his slippers on, which they decide are perfect, because they’re fuzzy red Elmo slippers, just like Dorothy’s shoes. Steve hasn’t felt this cool in a long time, he likes how creative Eddie and Robin are.
He half expects to be told off when they get back down, yapping away to Cthulhu about the next houses they’re gonna hit, but the old man doesn’t mind that Steve’s in a dress.
In fact, he compliments him, “Cool costume, looks just like the movie, kid.” He says, waves them all out the door, “Come on, it’s getting late and I have to have you home by ten.”
“Quick!” Eddie says, putting Cthulhu down and letting Steve take her lead, “We’ve got so many more houses to get to.”
“Wait! Dorothy doesn’t- wait, what’s your name?” Robin asks, and Steve feels silly for not having introduced himself.
“Oh, it’s Steve.” He says, walking down the steps, Cthulhu right beside him.
“That’s cool, I’m Robin, and he’s Eddie.” Robin said, “We’re best friends, we take art class together.”
“Wow, you do art?” Steve asks, “I like colouring.”
“Colouring is cool.” Eddie smiled, five steps ahead of everyone else, “I like drawing best. I draw monsters mostly.”
“They’re so creepy.” Robin giggles, “It’s for his nerd game he likes. Watch out, he’ll probably make you try and play it. It’s so confusing.”
“It’s not confusing. It’s just roleplay! It’s called Dungeons and Dragons, and it’s the coolest game in the world.”
“Sounds fun.” Steve says, even though the dungeon part worries him.
“What were you gonna say before, Robin?” Eddie asked, “You seemed so worried.”
“Oh, uhm, I can’t- Steve doesn’t have a pillowcase!” She gasped, turning to Steve.
“Oh no.” He said, looking back at his house, already a block away now.
“It’s okay!” Eddie said, running back to them, “Steve can share mine, we’ll split all my candy down the middle since you missed so much. Come on, that house always has the best stuff.” He says, grabbing Steve by the wrist and pulling him along to run.
Steve lets him, giggling as the three of them run through the street up to the house. His skin tingles where Eddie holds it, which is strange, but he doesn’t mind. It’s sort of nice. Eddie is really nice.
“Come on.” He says, shoving Steve to the grand front door of the house they’re at, “You should do the honours, Steve, since you haven’t in ages! Come on, come on!”
Nervously, Steve lifts his hand and rings the doorbell. And when the woman answers the door, he grins, and shouts, “Trick-or-treat!” Louder than he should have.
The three get their fill of candy and head away to the next house, playing with Cthulhu as they go, comparing which chocolates are their favourites.
Eddie says his favourites are milky ways, Steve says they’re his favourites too, and Eddie’s cheeks go red again at the fact.
They manage to hit fifteen more houses before Steve has to go home, and Eddie’s pillow case is so full they decide to carry it together, so it’s not too heavy.
They sit on the floor by the open door to divvy it out, Robin sits beside them eating more of her candy. Mrs. Delores comes out to flirt with Wayne, who Steve learned is Eddie’s uncle that he lives with, and apparently a lot of old ladies flirt with him.
They split the chocolates clean down the middle, having an even amount in the bag. And Steve’s excited, because he’s got five milky ways, can’t wait to eat them. Eddie’s got six, at Steve’s insistence as payment for making his costume.
At the last minute, when they’re scooping their treats back into Eddie’s pillow case and the candy bowl by Steve’s door, he remembers the pocketed treats from before, and races away to get them. He quickly divvys them between him and Eddie, gives the extra one to Wayne as a thank you, and says goodbye to his new friends. Especially Cthulhu.
“Remember you have to come visit.” Eddie says sternly, watching Steve snuggle the cat, “Cthulhu will get depressed without you.”
“Promise.” Steve nods.
“Maybe you can come on Saturday! And maybe Tuesdays after five o'clock! And also Wednesdays after school, and Fridays too—“
“That’s when Robin comes over to my house. We hang out a lot.”
“We’re best friends.” Robin nods.
“That sounds like a good idea. Maybe I can come after school on Wednesday.”
“Okay!” They both shout in unison.
“Bye, Steve!” Robin shouts, beginning to hop down the steps, “See you around.”
“Come here, kitty kitty.” Eddie says, tries to grab Cthulhu but she doesn’t let him. Hisses at Eddie and snuggles against Steve. Eddie looks very betrayed again, “Cthulhu! I said come here.”
She just meowed.
Steve laughed, handed her back over to Eddie with a little fight and apologised, “Sorry, Cthulhu. We’ll have to cuddle another time.”
“She really loves group cuddles, you know.” Eddie blurts out, looks embarrassed again, “Just so you know.”
Steve smiles, thinking he might like a group cuddle with them some time, “Okay.” He’s got butterflies again.
“Okay.”
Eddie’s so nice.
“I’m gonna go now.” He mutters, “But you can come play whenever— not just when Robin’s there, okay?”
“Okay.” Steve smiled again. It’s all he can do, really.
“Nice to meet you, Steve.”
“Nice to meet you too, Eddie.”
Eddie blushes and ducks his head, waving as he turns away, “I think you look nice, by the way, in your costume. Blue looks really nice on you.”
Steve blushes too, “Thanks, Eddie.”
He doesn’t say anything else, just bounces away, catching up to his uncle who’s holding Robin's hand as they walk. Steve watches them walk away, stands silently at the door with a fuzzy feeling in his stomach.
Wayne scruffs Eddie’s head as they walk away, “Steve seems nice.” He says, sounds like he’s teasing.
Eddie hunches his shoulders up, glances back at Steve and looks away again immediately, grits out, “Shut up.”
“What’s going on?” Robin asks, leaning into Eddie’s space.
“Nothing!—“
“Eddie thinks Steve’s nice.”
Eddie groans, and Steve doesn’t understand why that’s such a big deal. Steve is nice, isn’t he?
Isn’t he?
“Ohh!” Robin muses, skips a few steps ahead and starts singing as the reach the street, “Eddie and Steve, sitting in the tree—“
“Shhh! He’s gonna hear you.”
“K. I. S. S. I. N. G—“
“I’m gonna kill you!” Eddie groaned, running straight for her.
Robin erupted in giggles, running away down the street, into the night.
Steve closes the door and looks down at his bowl of candy, can’t help himself, just wants one before bed. He goes to grab a Milky Way, and something catches his attention.
He’s supposed to have five. But there are— one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven in the bowl.
Eddie snuck Steve all of his, even though they’re his favourites.
Steve can’t wait to hang out with his new friends Robin and Eddie.
Especially Eddie.
Steve doesn’t think he’s gonna have a lonely Halloween ever again.
Age regression kind of, but Steve getting upset and crying in Eddie’s lap, and he’s so distraught that he’s doing that little hicupping thing and when he calms down a bit he sucks his thumb, and Eddie rocks him in his arms and kisses his hair and lets him fall asleep feeling safe.
He just needs to be Eddie’s baby in Eddie’s arms for a bit :(
When Eddie wakes up and can't hear Steve's usual bustle he goes in search of his little Leliphant.
Tags - Little age-re Steve and Caregiver Eddie, slice of life
Word count - 1.3k
read on Ao3
Eddie woke late, it was unusual for him to sleep through when Steve was an early riser. He was also absolutely terrible at being quiet. Eddie knew how hard he tried, it was a joke between them now. No matter how hard he tried Steve was a noisy, fumbling, uncoordinated mess.
Outside of their mostly quiet home the world saw Steve as some sporty preppy athlete, whereas Eddie saw his little elephant. He didn’t mind getting up early, not really, Steve made the best coffee and if Eddie fluttered his eyelashes just right Steve would make waffles with a ridiculous amount of syrup and the crispiest bacon.
Going down the stairs Eddie had his ears pricked, there was none of the usual shuffling, bumping and clashing of a Steve in the kitchen. All he could hear was the tv on very low in the den so he followed the sounds.
Steve was laying on his tummy, legs kicked up watching cartoons. There was a mostly empty tray of oreos beside him and a little puddle of milk beside a knocked over glass.
Eddie smiled seeing his little one and crouched down, “Hey little Leliphant, whatcha doing?”
Steve hadn’t been able to get his mouth around elephant so Steve became his little Leliphant.
“Daddy!” Steve squealed, rolling over and launching himself into Eddie’s arms, knocking them both backwards.
Eddie laughed, Steve was so soft like this, all that pressure he put on himself just melted away. His whole body seemed to change, he was less certain on his feet, held hands with Eddie to keep himself balanced. If Eddie wasn’t paying attention most things made their way into his mouth, and just about the cutest thing- in Eddie’s humble opinion- was when Steve was busy he dribbled a little. Steve got grumpy when he was tired, had thrown down more than one tantrum during their time but Eddie didn’t mind. His baby needed it and Eddie prided himself on being a very good daddy.
“Come on, Mr. Leliphant, let's go get some breakfast,” he looked back at the oreos, knowing full well they were unopened when they went to bed. “Perhaps something unprocessed.”
Steve just giggled and started to push himself up off the floor. Eddie wrapped an arm around Steve’s waist and kissed him on the cheek. “Daddy, don’t forget Kevin.”
Eddie looked around finding the huge elephant plushie hiding behind the sofa and scooped him up.
Steve had wanted to call the plush Leliphant, but Eddie vetoed declaring he could only handle one elephant at a time. So Steve named him Kevin. Eddie’s eyebrows had raised but then his baby giggled, his eyes scrunching up as he nearly toppled over holding Kevin tight to his chest.
With Kevin in tow they went up to the kitchen, Steve holding Eddie’s hand with one and Leliphant’s nose in the other. “You didn’t wake Daddy up this morning, sweetheart.” Eddie said, watching as Steve’s tongue slipped out the side of his mouth as he came up with an answer.
“No, cus I’m a big boy. You saided so”
Dammit. Eddie couldn’t even be mad when Steve got so little he spoke in the most adorable way ever.
He shook his head trying to overcome the cute in order to give Steve a gentle reminder. It was true he’d told Steve he was a big boy last time he’d dropped. Steve had asked to use the toilet without prompting which was something they were working on.
He sighed and smiled, “I know I did, Leliphant. You are a big boy, but big boys still need to wake their daddy when they get up. How else are you gonna get pancakes?”
Steve perked up a little at that, “With choccy chips?”
“Sorry my little Leliphant. I think you’ve had enough chocolate for the next week.” Eddie said and kissed the pout off Steve’s lips.
Steve sighed and leaned heavily into Eddie's side. His heart always felt like it might burst when Steve took what he needed to feel small. Steve tucked Kevin under his chin, side by side with Eddie bouncing a little as they walked through the slim door. HIs baby had suddenly become very needy and Eddie wasn’t sure if he was feeling bad about not waking his daddy up or he was feeling sorry for himself because he couldn’t have choccy chip pancakes.
He always laughed the day after Steve had been little. If Eddie told him he wasn’t allowed something, Steve would find some way to have it the next day. Tomorrow he was sure to be served pancakes for breakfast, some yummy fluffy buttermilk pancakes and the tell tale signs of melted chocolate on a plate in front of Steve. His baby never forgot anything and boy could he hold a grudge.
Steve shifted from Eddie’s side and watched Eddie walk around the island to start heating the pan up. No sooner had Eddie turned the hotplate on than he saw Steve bouncing foot to foot. His hand was grabbing his crotch and his face was flushed pink.
“Do you need to go to the toilet, baby?” Eddie couldn’t help the smile when Steve’s eyes went owlish like Eddie could read his mind before even Steve could. He nodded quickly, sucking his lip between his teeth with a look of panic on his face.
Eddie ushered him into the downstairs bathroom and towards the toilet. “Does my Leliphant need help? He asked gently.
Steve shook his head a little “nu uh I got it, Daddy” he declared, his tongue snuck out the side of his mouth as he fumbled with his pants.
Eddie turned away so Steve could feel independant, “I’ll be just outside, Leliphant”
Eddie started to whistle a nursery rhyme and a few seconds later he heard Steve peeing, his poor baby was a little bladder shy. It was just another part of what made his teeth ache from how sweet Steve was.
Eddie needed to gently guide Steve back to the basin to wash his hands.
“Help dry them, Daddy,” Steve asked. He smiled up at Eddie, those bambi eyes killing him every time. Of course he was going to help Steve
“Here you go, baby. In between the fingies too.” Steve started to giggle “And don’t forget your,” Eddie wiggled the towel in front of Steve's face, “nose!” his hand moving quickly and rubbing all over his face eliciting the most adorable squeals.
“Let's get you dressed, baby.” Eddie said, his hand fell to the small of Steve’s back and led him up the stairs to their nursery.
“Then pancakes?” Steve murmured, slipping his first two fingers into his mouth
Eddie felt a little bit bad but that was toddler manipulation for you. “Yes, baby, then pancakes”
Steve toddled out of the nursery in footed pajamas, sinking even deeper into his headspace. Steve’s fingers slipped in his mouth and his doe eyes got even rounder than Eddie could ever think possible. He slipped his arm around Steve’s middle helping him down the stairs, as he gurgled happily to himself.
Eddie set Steve up at the table with paper and crayons so he could start cooking. It was times like these when Eddie was able to watch his little elephant be happy and safe, that he felt so honored to be there. Steve shared this big part of his life, opened up the most vulnerable part of himself and had chosen Eddie.
What they had wasn't conventional, but that didn’t matter, because it worked for them. Eddie wouldn’t have it any other way.
Chapters: 7/10
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Stucky - Fandom
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Maria Hill/Sam Wilson, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Darcy Lewis/Loki, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Characters: Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, Peter Parker, Sam Wilson (Marvel), George Barnes (Marvel), Winifred Barnes, Darcy Lewis, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Wanda Maximoff
Additional Tags: Accidental Marriage, Marriage of Convenience, flower shop owner Steve, ceo bucky, Steve has a chihuahua, Vegas Wedding
Summary:
James Barnes doesn’t believe in love. He believes in contracts, legacy, and keeping Barnes & Co. exactly where his family built it—untouchable. Steven Rogers believes in growth, small kindnesses, and making something beautiful with his hands. Their worlds aren’t supposed to overlap.
But grief has a way of rerouting plans, and Las Vegas has a reputation for making things… complicated.
What begins as coincidence turns into routine. Routine turns into trust. And somewhere between coffee dates, private flights, and a city built on bad decisions, two men discover that sometimes the most binding agreements aren’t the ones written in ink.
Chapter 7: The English Manor
Snippet:
"You did it, Steve," Bucky whispered, his voice vibrating against Steve's ear as they swayed. His gaze swept the room—the socialites, the CEOs, and the flowers that outshone them all. "Look at this. You built a kingdom."
Steve leaned his head against Bucky’s shoulder, closing his eyes as he inhaled the scent of Bucky’s cologne mixed with the lingering sweetness of the roses. "We did it, Buck. I couldn't have handled those logistics without you."
"Don't sell yourself short," Bucky murmured, his hand sliding slightly lower, his thumb tracing the line of Steve's hip. "I’ve seen men move mountains for less than what you’ve accomplished today. You’re incredible."
He pulled back just enough to look Steve in the eye, his blue gaze dark with a terrifyingly deep pride. Bucky leaned in, his lips brushing against Steve’s in a soft, public display of affection that quickly began to deepen. What started as a gentle press of lips turned into something hungrier. Steve’s hands slid up to the back of Bucky’s neck, his fingers tangling in the hair at Bucky’s nape, pulling him closer until their breath was shared.
The kiss grew heavy, unsuited for a ballroom full of Manhattan’s elite. Steve let out a soft, jagged hitch of breath as Bucky’s tongue swiped against his lower lip, a claim made in front of everyone.
"Buck," Steve gasped against his mouth, his face flushed. "People are... we're in the middle of the room."
Bucky pulled back just an inch, his eyes blown wide and glassy with a sudden, sharp intent. "I don't care. But if we stay here, I'm going to do something that’ll get us banned from the Botanical Gardens for life."
Hmmm GOSH I wish I could flood my brain with ideas for requests to you 😭 I did have one tho the other day Maybe something like a play date with Steve, Where Bucky’s pretty much playing caregiver with the two of them and maybe they’re both tugging on his hands and wanting him to carry em’ both on his hip and Bucky’s heart is just fluttering of how the two get along play together so well and it’s only their first play date together (it was Bucky’s idea lol)& maybe he’s making them lunch and etc
Grilled cheese, and juice (Part Two)
Two best friends one daddy
Bucky x little!Steve x little!reader (no gender specific pronouns used)
This is like a “sequel” kind of to “grilled cheese and juice : the way to anyones heart” fic which can be found here (you don’t have to read that fic first, they can both be read as separates)
warnings - fluff, some angst, tears, literally everyone cry’s at one point, but it ends very super happy! mentions of eating!
Authors note : this is kinda out of my comfort zone, i really tried to make it as natural as possible and really just write what i felt but i am aware that the story might be not as good as my other fics because this is something new for me (writing more than two people in a relationship, though its something I’m totally open to doing and something I’m willing to work on to get my skills to a prefect level for fics like these)
“Y/n?” Bucky called out, hoping y/n could hear him from where ever they were in the house. “Y/n, come here i have a surprise for you!” He called out again, a little louder this time.
“Y/n?” Bucky called out, hoping y/n could hear him from where ever they were in the house. “Y/n, come here i have a surprise for you!” He called out again, a little louder this time.
“Y/n?” Bucky called out, hoping y/n could hear him from where ever they were in the house. “Y/n, come here i have a surprise for you!” He called out again, a little louder this time.
Y/n heard Bucky from their playroom that was upstairs, after putting their crayons down and making sure the room looked as clean as possible they began to run towards Bucky.
“A surprise daddy?” They shrieked as they walked down the stairs, a large smile plastered on their face, ready to see Bucky and give him a hug.
“Mhm come here” he chuckled.
As y/n rounded the corner they saw their daddy, dressed in his favourite Henley and his hair down like usual, and then their eyes landed on the man next to him. The man was as tall if not taller than her daddy, his blonde hair short and his blue eyes shining.
The man had his hands grasped in front of himself, a shy smile on his face and his eyes seemed to wander around the front entry.
“Y/n, this is my friend Steve” Bucky said as he began to take his coat off, Steve following his actions quickly.
“Da boy like me?” They asked, Bucky had shared some stories from before the war and before his avenger days about his friend who was just like y/n, someone who also loved grilled cheese and juice.
Bucky nodded his head, taking Steve’s jacket from him and walking towards Y/n. Before he could give them a hug their hands grasped his face and held it still. “You said dat he was tiny, like a lil short” they whispered, peeking over Bucky’s shoulder to get a look at the very tall boy near the door.
“I did, but he’s the same as daddy bub.” Bucky said “In the war he also got the shot that made me big and strong.”
Y/n nodded their head, that made sense, they thought and walked over to Steve, simply looking up at him. “Let me see your arm pease” they said while making continuous eye contact.
“Mm why?” He said, his tone shy and his shoulders curling in, subconsciously making himself smaller.
“Daddy said you were da same as he is” Y/n paused and looked back at Bucky, he currently had a smile plastered on his face, his heart warm seeing the two of them interact. “So you gotta have a metal arm too?” They asked, the idea making sense in their mind.
“Baby, Steve doesn’t have a metal arm.” Bucky’s voice was playful but stern “Steve loves to colour, why dont you bring him upstairs and show him all your crayons?”
“Otay daddy” y/n said, maybe they could ask Steve later if he had a metal arm.
Y/n began walking through the house towards the stairs, “scuse me, you need to walk wif me” they said when they noticed Steve wasnt following behind them.
Steve mumbled a ‘sorry’ and began to follow y/n, the two of them eventually made it to the playroom. The playroom walls were white, a few rugs littered the floor, and shelving units covered the back wall from the ceiling to floor. “Dis is where all my stuff is” y/n said as they walked further into the room.
“Um would you like t’pick a colouring book?” Y/n asked shyly, not completely confident in Steve’s presence.
“Any one?” Steve mumbled as Y/n showed him all of their colouring books.
“Mhm! Daddy buys a lot, ‘s nice dat you’re here, he doesn’t like to colour wif me” Y/n’s body language went from happy to a hint of sorrow, clearly upset that they had always coloured alone.
“Hm I like dis one” Steve said as he grabbed a colouring book off the shelf, opening it up to an empty page and laying on the floor next to where y/n currently sat.
“Dat’s a good one” y/n mumbled before laying down too, pushing the crayon box closer towards Steve so he could also use the crayons. The two of them falling into comfortable silence as they coloured beside each other.
- - - - - -
Bucky decided to make all three of them lunch, some grilled cheese and homemade juice, maybe even let them eat in the living room and watch some cartoons. After preparing the food and setting up the coffee table with Steve and y/n’s plates he began walking up the stairs towards the play room. He was met with deafening silence, the only thing he could hear was crayons on paper and their breathing.
When he made his way to the playroom door his heart swelled, Y/n and Steve were colouring beside each other, crayons sprawled around them, both of them to focused on the books to notice him in the doorway. “Bub’s” Bucky called out, Steve and Y/n looking up at him, smiles present on both of their faces. “Lunch is ready, why don’t you two clean up and then we can eat!”
“Otay daddy” Y/n cheered as they sat up, closing their colouring book and putting some crayons back in the box.
Steve’s smile faded a little when he heard Y/n call Bucky ‘daddy’, Steve always called Bucky that and felt like he no longer could because Y/n had taken his spot. Steve stayed sitting even when Y/n got up, not sure how to deal with or express his feelings.
“Stevie?” Bucky cooed walking closer towards him “whats wrong?” He asked, Steve just frowning instead of answering.
Before Bucky could press the situation further Steve finally spoke up “You said dis would be fun” Steve’s voice teetering on the edge of crying, maybe even sobbing “ s’not fun”
Y/n stood beside Bucky, tears welling up in their eyes when they saw Steve start to cry. “Why isn’t it fun Stevie?” Bucky asked, now crouching down to meet Steve’s sitting frame.
“You love dem, not me no more” Steve sobbed “Your deir daddy now, ‘s mean”
Silence covered the room, Bucky close to tearing up as he saw Steve cry.
“Wat if, wat if he was both of us’s?” Y/n spoke up, their tears still making their way down their cheeks.
“What was that bub?” Bucky asked, not totally sure he heard them right.
“You can be my daddy and Stevie’s too!” Y/n cheered as she ran towards Steve and hugged him from behind.
“I like that idea, what do you say Stevie?” Bucky asked as he sat down on the floor, y/n walking over and sitting in his lap.
“Maybe” Steve whispered, his crying now stopped, a look of numbness taking over.
“Why don’t we have some lunch and you can think about it?” Bucky asked, Steve nodded and the three of them stood up, Bucky holding both y/n’s hand and Steve’s.
- - - - - -
The three of them sat in the living room eating lunch, y/n and Steve sitting on the floor using the coffee table as a lunch table and bucky sat on the couch as cartoons played on the tv.
Y/n really liked their daddy’s grilled cheese, it was their favourite, always so cheesy and perfectly made, his juice was also quite good in their opinion. Y/n looked over the Steve’s plate and saw his grilled cheese untouched, frowning they looked to Bucky who was too engrossed in the show to notice Steves full plate.
Steve still looked numb, his eyes glued to the tv, a frown permanently stuck on his face. Y/n knew that the grilled cheese was good so obviously Steve would like it, unsure of what they should do they simply picked up a half of Steve’s crilled cheese and held it up to his mouth.
Steve sensed the grilled cheese in front of him and absentmindedly took a bite, the grilled cheese just as good as he remembered, if not better. Y/n sat with their grilled cheese in one hand and Steve’s in the other, both of them once again glued to the tv.
Bucky eventually snapped out of his thoughts that seemed to consume him only to find y/n feeding Steve and themself. Bucky began to tear up, he felt like the worst person ever for not paying as much attention to Steve as he once did. Why didn’t he realize Steve was sad before it was too late? Why didn’t he notice Steve wasn’t eating? Through the tears a smile made itself present, Y/n seemed to be some sort of magic glue that held everything together without even trying.
Y/n helped come up with a solution to make Steve happy, heck they were currently feeding Steve. At that moment Bucky vowed to keep all three of them close together, become a small family that loved each other and helped each other out.
- - - - - -
“So Stevie what do you think? Would you like me to be your daddy too?” Bucky asked as he placed the dishes in the dishwasher and turned it on, Y/n and Steve sitting at the kitchen island.
Instead of hearing an answer he heard both y/n and Steve whispering to each other, turning around he saw the two of them huddled together quietly talking and laughing every once in a while.
Quickly the two of them turned back to Bucky, smiles on both of their faces. “I say yes” Steve said happily.
“But daddy” Y/n interrupted “You hab to pinky promise to pick both of us up all da time, put both of us to bed in your bed and … buy us new stuffies” y/n meant business, a serious look on their face and their words stern.
“Wait we neber said anything about new stuffies” Steve said, clearly confused as he turned towards y/n.
“Shhh, maybe he can do it anyways” y/n responded.
Bucky just chuckled at the two of them planing out their ‘contract’ “I will buy you two new stuffies, but only if you give me a hug” Bucky spoke, his arms crossed as he stood behind the island.
Y/n and Steve looked at each other, their faces lighting up instantly as they hopped of their seats and ran towards Bucky. As they hit his chest he scooped them up, placing one on each hip and giving both of them a kiss on the cheek. “I love the both of you so so much” Bucky said, a few tears escaping his eyes.
“Lub you too” both Steve and y/n mumbled as they snuggled Bucky closer.
The three of them felt warm and content, like they all finally found the missing pieces to their puzzle, finally a small family together.
