Steve never really had a childhood, parents were never there so he didn't know what a 'good' childhood was supposed to be. That was until Nancy and Jonathan stepped in and showed him.
Set in Modern times.
"Mmm, eat up baby come on" Nancy gently taps his tray as he was starting to get distracted.
"Mama" Steve gently smiles at her.
"That's right, eat up" she chuckles. They soon have lunch and they play with him for a while until nap time.
"Nu nu?"
"Right here baby" Jonathan says as he passes him the dummy and cloth.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
About half way through Steve's nap, Hopper's police car shows up and at the door.
"Hopper? Why didn't you just come in?" Nancy asks him, confused.
"Because...I'm on patrol and I have some bad news about Steve's parents" he sighs.
"What? Come in" Nancy ushers him in.
"Where's Steve?"
"Napping"
"What's going on?" Jonathan asks. The three sit at the table and wait for Joyce to show up.
"What's happened? What's going on?" She rushes in.
"It's Steve's parents...they want him back"
"Absolutely not, they are no longer his parents"
"It's protocol, since he's not actually adopted by you guys yet"
"No, you think they can just parade him around? That he's better with them so they can what? Show him off like he's a puppet? Boost their ego to show everyone what great parents they are. They have never once called or asked or even bothered to show up and now? Absolutely not" Jonathan rants.
"Trust me I don't want this as much as you guys do, but if Steve tells the truth, he could be back with you guys tonight"
"Oh I'm not finished, they don't even know what he likes or dislikes, what his favourite shows are, what his favourite food is, his favourite colour, god damn it he even has a favourite dummy" Jonathan was seething and to be honest no one could blame him.
"I want to speak with them" he says.
"Jon, please, you might get hurt"
"He won't" Hopper says.
"Mama? Dada?" Steve woke up scared, he heard his dada shouting and he never shouts.
"It's ok baby" Jonathan calms down for Steve before picking him up.
"Want me to break the news?" Hopper asks as he nods his head toward Steve. Jonathan sets him down and they tell Steve about his parents once he regressed back to his big self.
"No, I don't want to go" he mumbles.
"I'm really sorry Steve, the only thing I can do right now is support you but if you don't want to go back you need to tell the truth once we get down to the station" Hopper explains. Steve gets changed and they all head to the station.
"Oh Steve" Steve's 'mum' tries to hug him but he shrugs her off.
"Hey, give your mother a hug"
"He's not going to do that, you can't force him" Hopper glares at Steve's dad as he gently grabbed Steve's arm to stop him from hugging his mother because that meant he was listening to his father and doing something he didn't want to do. They interview all three of them whilst Nancy and Jonathan talk to someone about adopting Steve and how it all worked.
"And?" Nancy asks Hopper once he came back out.
"Steve told the truth, he's allowed in your care" they both sigh in relief and wait for Steve to come back out but all they heard was shouting.
"You think they'll lock me away Stephen? Huh? You're no son of mine and never will be" his father shouts as he was being arrested.
"Who are you?" He snarls at Nancy and Jonathan.
"What's his favourite colour?" Jonathan sneers at him.
"What? I don't know probably something girly" he snarks back.
"What.Is.His.Favourite.Colour?" Jonathan punctuated every word.
"Jonathan please" when he didn't get an answer, Jonathan was angry.
"You don't even know your own son, you're no father to him and never will be"
"Have him for all I care" Steve was silent the whole ride back, that he clung to Nancy.
"Hey, you ok?" Nancy asks him. He just shrugs.
"Do you want to be little again?" That's all it took for Steve to break down crying.
"Oh honey" Nancy hugged him tight.
"It's over ok? You're safe with us I promise" they were gonna wait to tell Steve about the adoption process as right now he clearly wasn't in the right mind. Everything was scary for him at the minute, going from a chilled day to a completely anxious and stressed out day, he was scared.
"Thank you" he mumbles.
"For?" Jonathan asks.
"Everything that you guys have done, I really appreciate what you and your families have been doing for me. I like it too but I'm scared how little me is going to react, I don't want to have nightmares or be defiant"
"You do whatever you need to do, whatever you feel like. We know the next few days are probably going to be hard for you but we are going to be here no matter what, ok?" Jonathan reassures him. It took some time for Steve to regress so they let him be for now.
"Ready for bed?" Nancy asks him. She helps him into some pyjamas before tucking him in. It had seemed like little Steve had gone mute.
"Night honey" everyone soon headed to bed themselves, glad that Steve could come back to them.
