Part three! I’m so sorry for how long it’s taken but I procrastinated about it for ages and I was doing college work but it’s here! Part one has been like hidden but i’m gonna try and fix it dw, part two is still up though.
Content Warnings: I don’t think there’s any but mild language in this part as I wanted a lighter part three after part two but feel free to let me know otherwise!
If you’d like to be tagged in the next part, just reply down below!
Without further ado, enjoy! 3.2k words!
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Standing in the toddler’s toys selection aisle in Toys R Us, a deep frown was embedded in Eddie’s features. What the hell does he buy as a birthday present for a four year old that he’s never even met before? His eyes scanned the shelves, hoping that something suitable would magically appear out of thin air that he could buy for Ozzy. You had reassured him countless times that he didn’t need to get him anything when he came over to the trailer, but he of course disregarded that completely.
He wanted to get something for him. He just didn’t know what yet.
Littering the shelves were an assortment of kids items, Glo-Worms, Etch-A-Sketches, Care Bears, and Boglins which he thought would be far too scary for a child. They even creeped him out and he definitely didn’t want to give your son nightmares. After a minute of pondering on it, he shoved one of everything in the cart—minus the Boglin.
He picked up a set of new-in Micro Machine’s as he continued down the aisle, adding it to the pile in the cart, along with two Gummi Bears as you had mentioned briefly that Ozzy simply had to watch the show whilst having breakfast before Kindergarten or all hell would break loose.
A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Technodrome was promptly flung into the cart as quickly as Eddie had spotted it but that was more so for him than it was for Ozzy.
Content with what he’d picked, he moved to leave and head to the check-out, the wheels on the cart squeaking obnoxiously as he did, only to spot you coming down the very same aisle, evidently shopping for a gift for Ozzy as well.
“Shit, shit,” Eddie muttered, trying to move away as fast as possible, only to lose control of the cart and crash it into the shelf, an array of toys falling and making a shed load of noise. “Oh, Jesus H Christ!!”
“Eddie?” You rounded the corner of the aisle, only to spot him hovering by the trolley, keeping it out of your sight and standing nonchalantly. This was instantly suspicious to you. Eddie was an open book—sometimes too open.
“Y/N? Hey! Fancy seeing you here!” He laughed, stretching his arms on the cart behind him to further hide the contents within it.
Raising a brow, you fold your arms over your chest and he finally notices the shirt that you’re wearing. It’s a newer version of the same Black Sabbath t-shirt that you had been wearing when he first ever saw you. Shit.
“Uh-huh, what’s in the cart, Eddie?”
Panic flashed across his features as he scrambled to think of an excuse, “Uh, just just some..stuff for Hellfire.” He seemed pleased with his own lie, his posture and expression relaxing.
You took a step forward, Eddie moving in tandem with you as you stood on your tiptoes, craning your neck to peer at what was inside, him shuffling accordingly. He knew that if you saw what was in the cart, you would instantly refuse it and say that you couldn’t possibly accept it.
“Lemme see the damm cart!” You laughed, eventually spotting something that confirmed your suspicions. “Since when does Hellfire need Gruffi and Zummi Gummi teddy bears?”
Frozen on the spot, you could see the cogs in his brain turning as he raced to throw you off of the scent that you were rapidly picking up on. “Uh,” He stuttered. His mind went totally blank at being caught out.
No clever remarks, no jokes, nothing came to mind. For once, Eddie Munson was speechless.
“I knew it! You’re getting something for Ozzy aren’t you?” You playfully pointed a finger accusingly at him. “Move.”
“No no no! It’s for my…cousin. Gene. I’m picking up presents for him, got sent here by Wayne, y’know?” He knew that it was evidently a lie. He had no cousins, nobody except for Wayne especially not anywhere near Hawkins for a start. “Yeah he’s gonna be fou-three! on Monday.”
You couldn’t help but laugh, shaking your head in disbelief at the blatant—terrible lie that he had told you. “Oh yeah, I remember my four-threenth birthday. It was great.” You rolled your eyes as Eddie shifted his weight anxiously.
With an exaggerated groan he moved away from the cart with his hands up in surrender, your jaw hanging open at the amount of gifts tucked inside. “Eddie. This is far too much.”
“No, no it’s not.” He shook his head, hands now holding the bar of the cart, the clang of his rings resounding as he tapped his fingers on it. “This is great, he’ll love it all! Didn’t you say that Dummy and Fuzzy were the ones he’s missing? It’ll be great, trust me, it’s not too much.”
Biting your lip to stop your eyes glossing in appreciation at the kind gesture, you smiled, lightly punching his arm before you hooked one of your own through it. “Okay fine, but that’s it. Nothing else for him, okay? Promise?”
“Pinky swear, doll-face.”
You blushed when he called you that. It had been his latest pet name for you. They usually alternated whenever he saw you, but ‘doll-face’ seemed to be the lucky one, sticking around for the long run. You didn’t understand the name to be perfectly honest, you didn’t think you were particularly doll-like. Dolls that came to mind were white, skinny and blonde with porcelain skin—you were none of those things.
Your skin was dark with an iridescent shine—thanks to the cocoa butter and Vitamin C you applied every morning. You certainly were not skinny, you were mid-sized at least, curvaceous from pregnancy but also genetics. Your hair also was very much not blonde, dark tight coiled curls littered your head, sporadic strands falling in front of your eyes from time to time.
Now freely grinning, you rolled your eyes and grabbed a hold of his cart, spinning it out of your way as you started to reshelve the toys that Eddie had caused to plummet to the ground. You turned over the box of the Boglin in your hand, jumping back and pulling a face at it.
“This is for kids?” You scoffed, placing it back on the shelf with a noise of disapproval. “If anyone showed up with one of these for my child, I would burn it.”
“Yeah, I'm with you on that one.” Eddie agreed, leaning on the cart and moving out of the way as you grabbed ahold of it and pushed it down the aisle.
You took a hastily scribbled shopping list out of your jacket pocket, it was written with one of Ozzy’s crayons and on the back of a brown paper bag that had been used for your groceries, it was the first thing that you could see as you left the house. Eddie quickly spotted the note in your hand and took it from you, eyes scanning over it and determinedly seizing the trolley back from you.
“Okay, doll-face, let’s get this party started.”
The next day you were sitting in your Biology class, glancing at the clock and eagerly awaiting the bell to ring, signifying that you could run the hell out of here. Eddie was going to pick you up and drive you back home and help you set up the decorations for Ozzy’s birthday party. Some little friends of his from Kindergarten were coming as well as their parents so you wanted everything to be perfect especially since the mothers of these kids were considerably older than you and you didn’t want to give them any excuse to look down at you.
Tapping your foot in time with the minute hand of the clock, you could practically count down all the seconds leading up to the bell going off and everyone exploding into action, frantically shoving all of their things into their bag and sprinting out of the classroom.
You had already packed your stuff away ten minutes early so whilst everyone was preoccupied with that task, you made your escape and legged it out of the classroom, zooming down corridors and dodging the incoming flux of students.
You finally reached the awaited double doors and sat outside the entrance to Hawkins High, taking out a cigarette and lighting it with the lighter Eddie had gifted you. It was black and detailed, with a delicately painted devil face, a sword on one side and a mace on the opposite side. A hand-painted rendition of the Hellfire Club logo, a D&D club that he had been talking you into joining.
When you argued that you didn’t know the first thing about Dungeons & Dragons, he had assured you that he would teach you everything. He showed up to your trailer on more than one occasion with books and books about the game, determined to get you to join the club.
Taking your first drag from it, a small voice shouted from behind you. “Hey, you can’t be doing that here, lady, I've got asthma! Sensitive lungs!”
Turning around, you took the cigarette out of your mouth with a laugh and stood up. You came face to face with not just the man you were waiting for to give you a lift home, but his friends Gareth and Jeff—who you already knew from late nights at The Hideout with Corroded Coffin— and his new younger Hellfire Club members.
“Dustin, leave it.” The boy you knew as Mike, Nancy’s little brother nudged his friend—Dustin, you had just learned.
“No, no no,” You shook your head, holding out a hand to silence Mike. “It’s fine, Wheeler, let him talk.”
Glancing at Gareth and Jeff, you saw how uncomfortable they looked, shifting their weight on their feet and looking at Eddie every so often who stood with his arms folded, clearly wanting to see how this would go. Once Mike had picked up on this, he did too, keeping an eye on Eddie.
“Nothing else to say?” You asked Dustin, “Those sensitive lungs just..poof! Magically fixed?” You snapped your finger to emphasise, unable to contain the smugness and goading tone in your voice.
“Oh, I’ve got lots to say!” He began, “First of all, you know that piercing you got up in your nose you think is so cool? Yeah well guess what, they were used to mark se—“ He cut himself off when Eddie stepped forward and slung his arm around your shoulder, taking the cigarette out of your hand and having a drag himself.
“Used to mark what, huh?” You grinned, taking back the cigarette and inhaling one last time before you put it out, placing it back into your cigarette carrier for later. “Your kid’s boring me, Ed, we gotta get the house sorted and then to the daycare before they charge me another hour,” You patted his chest.
It was Mike’s turn to speak, “Daycare? Why do you need to go to the daycare?”
You rolled your eyes, “To pick up my son, why else would I need to go to the daycare?” You don’t miss the surprise on almost everybody's faces, Gareth, Jeff and of course Eddie being the only ones who weren’t blindsided. “You’re really nosy, Mike, you know, Nance did mention something about you being freakishly similar but I just assumed she meant looks.”
Smiling as his face dropped slightly, you waved. “Bye kids, see you later guys.”
Eddie ushered you to his van, bowing deeply and extending his arm when he opened the passenger door, saying the very same thing he said when you met at Steve’s party, “M’lady”
With a raised brow, you smirked, “Why thank you, Sir Eddie, the Banished.”
The grin now on his face was unmatched, the redness on his cheeks extremely prominent on his pale skin. He ducked his head with a small laugh and shake of his head and closed the van door, jogging to the drivers side.
That exact moment was when you realised that you were definitely falling in love with Eddie Munson. Fast and hard, at that. Eddie leaped into the van and buckled his seatbelt, pressing play on the same Metallica tape that had been playing in the van that morning as you’d drove to school.
Ozzy’s party had been a huge success. His friends had eagerly joined in on the games with no fuss, the cake that you had spent majority of the night beforehand making was quickly devoured and the mothers had been lovely to you, praising you for the decorations and effort that had gone into the party, even inviting you out for coffees and suggesting play dates. Most of all, however, Ozzy adored it.
Your son had almost fallen over as you led him into the trailer, your hands covering his eyes as he giggled excitedly and his little face lighting up when he saw all of the balloons and banners that covered your living room. Eddie had taken over the job of blowing up the balloons as you spelt out Ozzy’s name and glued them to the personalised banner.
Ripping open his gifts had certainly not been a challenge for your toddler either, the paper being torn into and quickly flung to another part of the room being followed by gasps and noises of awe from his friends who eagerly went to inspect the presents.
Ozzy sat on the sofa contently watching a tape of the Gummi Bears that your mom had sent for his birthday as you and Eddie tidied the living room. You had told Eddie that he had already done enough and didn’t need to help but he had playfully thrown a ball of wrapping paper at your head in response and continued picking pieces of it up.
Grabbing a sweeping brush, you swept the remnants of cake crumbs and tipped the pan into the bin. Ozzy suddenly sprung up from the sofa and ran to the corner of the living room, excitedly pointing.
You frowned, unable to see what your son saw and so you left the kitchen, standing where he had been to see what it was that gained his attention, Eddie joining you with a heap of paper in his hands.
It was a present tucked into the corner, it had been hidden behind all of the other presents and hadn’t been noticed. Ozzy quickly ran to it and sat himself down, grabbing it and itching to open it but Eddie quickly spoke up.
“Okay okay, I know that I said I wouldn’t get anything else,” He began, your gaze fell on him as you hummed, telling him to continue. “But I’d already gotten those, so just look.”
Ozzy stared wide-eyed and blinked at the pair of you, silently asking for permission to open it. “Go ahead, baby.” You smiled, also curious to see what else Eddie had bought.
At your words, the toddler eagerly opened the gift, pulling it out with a surprised look when there was not one but two t-shirts inside.
“What’s this?” Ozzy tilted his head and was now addressing Eddie, he tended to be quite reserved and quiet around new people but it seemed that this wouldn’t be the case with Eddie.
Looking at the shirt, your eyes lit up and your lips curled into a wide smile. It was two matching Black Sabbath T-shirts, identical to the one that you had been wearing earlier that day except one was considerably smaller. One was for Ozzy and the other for you so you could match.
As Eddie tried to explain what the shirt was to Ozzy, you quickly slipped into your bedroom and changed into the shirt that you had been wearing earlier that day.
Coming back out, Eddie and Ozzy were sitting and playing with the Etch-A-Sketch that he had bought him. The young boy grinning when he saw you were wearing the same shirt that he had just received and running towards you as fast as his legs could carry him, you quickly picked him up and hugged him to you, resting him on your hip.
“You have one!” He said excitedly, your eyes shifted to Eddie who still sat on the couch but now he was smiling back at you. “But what about that one?” He pointed to the shirt now open and resting on the arm of the couch. “You have one.” He repeated more sadly.
You understood what your son was saying and quickly formed an idea.
Leaning to Ozzy’s little ear, you whispered, “Do you know who doesn’t have one?” He shook his head, his thumb resting on his bottom lip as he did so. You subtly jerked your head towards Eddie who remained oblivious, your little boy, however, clicked onto what you were saying and nodded happily.
Placing Ozzy down onto his feet, you watched as he scarpered towards the t-shirt on the couch and grabbed it, thrusting it into Eddie’s face, who was very confused. “What’s up? Does it not fit?”
He looked at you and you winked, gesturing with your eyes for him to give his attention to Ozzy again.
“Mommy got one, I got one and now you got one.” Ozzy explained as he tried to shove the shirt into Eddie’s hands again.
You didn’t miss the way Eddie’s eyes very nearly glossed up as they went back to Ozzy or when they landed on the shirt and he realised what this meant, you saw it all.
“Wow, thanks, little man.” He laughed, wrinkling his nose with a small sniff and laugh. “I’ll wear it tomorrow, ‘kay?”
Ozzy didn’t think this was enough. “No! You need to put it on now, we all have to wear it!” He ran back to you with his own shirt in hand, “Mommy, I want mine on now too.”
You laughed, “Okay okay, i’ll put it on for you, Oz. You can go through to my room, Eds, then we’ll all match, yeah?” You looked down at your son who nodded in agreement with this plan and couldn’t help but beam at Eddie who disappeared off down the small corridor to get changed. You took the birthday boy t-shirt that you had put Ozzy in, off and put on his new one.
“You know, you were named after someone on this t-shirt,” You told Ozzy whose eyes grew wide yet again. “Ozzy Osbourne. He’s in Black Sabbath which is what your new shirt says. You were even born to one of their songs.”
“Woah.” His voice dragged out as he stared up at you in childlike wonder. The wonder fading to glee as Eddie came back into the living room, wearing the shirt and matching with both of you.
“We all match now!” He giggled, clapping his hands together excitedly and running full-speed to the couch.
“I think that’s our cue.” Eddie laughed when Ozzy grabbed the remote and switched the television on again, the Gummi Bears theme tune playing as you both made your way to the couch and sat with your son who had left space for you two.
Sitting with Eddie on one side of you and Ozzy on the other, you placed your arm around the toddler as Eddie placed his own around your shoulders. You looked at him and smiled warmly, mouthing an appreciative ‘thank you’ as he grinned in response with a dismissive shrug of his shoulder.
Leaning his head on your chest, Ozzy whispered softly to you with closed eyes and a tight hug.
“This is my best birthday ever.”
