Mama Steve (A Stranger Things AU story type of thing)

~El~

***This chapter will be from El's POV.***

The next morning, the bright white sunshine blinds me as I sit up.
Brushing off my sweats, I hobble towards Max and I's bathroom.

I look at my reflection in the mirror and scowl as the events of last night come flooding back to me.

I splash my face, use the restroom, and head downstairs.

The guys and Robin are sitting quietly and sulkily in the living room munching on bagel bites.

"Good morning, El!" Steve says cheerfully.

"Hey," I croak out, as he hands me a handful of bagel bites.

"Is Max awake yet?" He asks me, "We need to have a serious talk today."

"She was snoring when I left the room," I say, sinking onto the couch next to Dustin.

We sit in silence for a little longer until Max clumsily stumbles around, gripping her hands all around to find something to hold onto.

Steve grips her shoulders and leads her onto the arm of the couch, pressing bagel bites into the palm of her hand.

She squints and grumbles, "Good morning, I guess."

"We need to talk," Steve said, "About various things."

I cocked my head to the side and asked, "All good or bad things?"

"An assortment," was his clipped reply.

I sighed. This was not going to be good, no matter what.

"First of all, after the events of last night, we're going to take some precautions with other people. No one will enter this house without my and Robin's permission, and we must know them. On a personal level. No friends over past nine o' clock, unless of a sleepover. All these rules are all necessary for our safety," Steve's eyes glistened with tears and his voice shook as he talked, Nancy was obviously on his mind as he established the rules.

"Second of all: Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin-" he held up official looking adoption papers with a cheeky grin.

Cheers from the four filled up the room, as the me and Max glanced at each other.

Steve caught the looks and winked at us, as I felt my cheeks warm.

Max opened her mouth, but I gave her a sharp elbow to the ribs to stop her.

"And third of all, we've been invited to Jeremiah's funeral this Thursday," he said sullenly.

I blinked and asked, "Funeral?!?!"

"Jeremiah couldn't take jail," Steve said quietly.

Silence pulsed through the room. I blinked and looked down at my lap.

"Everybody get ready for the mall, so we can buy clothes," Robin finally said.

Steve put a hand up in protest and said, "Hold up a sec, Robin. There's one more thing."

"What?"

"I enrolled you all for next school year at HHS," He said calmly.

Silence. Absolute silence that hurt. I sighed.

Next year sure was going to be a "fun" time.