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COMPETENCE
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WHAT ROBIN AND Max had said to Irina earlier was playing on her mind. She wasn't pregnant. There was no way. Yes, herself and Steve 'did it' rather frequently, but they were always careful. Always. Just because she vomited once doesn't mean she was with child for goodness sake.
Her mind was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice Steve calling out her name until he placed his hand on her bouncing thigh while his other hand stayed on the steering wheel. Irina blinked a couple times to come back to her senses when Steve's voice finally became clear.
"What wrong, babe?" He asked, concern written all over his face. It wasn't just the current situation that was bothering her.
"It's n-nothing specific. Just everything that's happening, I suppose." She answered. Steve knew that there was more, but judging by her answer, she didn't want to tell him there and then, so he decided to change the subject to something more lighthearted. To something he'd been thinking about a lot lately.
"You know, it sounds silly, but I... I've actually, uh, always had this dream that we would have one of these. O-or something like this." Steve said, tapping the steering wheel as a gesture to the van that he was driving.
"You have?" Irina asked, turning to face him with a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"Yeah, we'd save up a bunch of cash and buy a super big one and we'd go on all these road trips with all our kids." He smiled at the thought.
"All? How many kids did you have in mind?" Irina smiled through the deep breath she took at the mention of kids.
"A lot. A full brood of Harringtons. Like six kids." Steve said.
"Six?!" Irina chuckled. I mean, if they were gonna have that many, then maybe it was best they started soon. Just not this soon.
"Yeah. Six little nuggets. Three girls, three boys. I got some name ideas too." Steve smiled at the thought.
"Yeah? What did you have in mind?" Irina smiled back at him.
"W-well for the boys, I was thinking Alexander, Luka and Dimitri. You know, if they're taking my surname then they need names with their mothers roots. And for the girls, I was thinking Anya, Sasha and Katerina." Steve told her, making Irina smile wider. She loved this man so much. He was so thoughtful. And the name Dimitri reminded her of her uncle Enzo. His actual name was Dimitri.
"That sounds perfect, Steve. Those names are perfect. The Harrington family." Irina grinned. "But damn, six kids, my poor vagina." She laughed.
"Y-yeah, that's if you're willing to birth that many Harringtons." Steve chuckled.
"I'll birth as many Harringtons as we want. All six of them." She giggled.
"A-and every summer, I figured all of us Harringtons would pack into something like this and... just see the country. With our dog, of course. You know, we could see the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone. End up in some beachside town in California. Spend a week parked in the sand, learn how to surf or something." Steve explained.
"I've wanted to see the Grand Canyon ever since I got to Hawkins." Irina gasped with a grin. When she first heard of after getting to America she thought it looked incredible, but she never thought she'd be able to go and see it.
"Yeah?" Steve smiled and Irina nodded. "And then when we finally get home after travelling, we'd, uh, we'd have to carry the kids in two at a time because they'd all be asleep." He chuckled and so did Irina.
"They'll all be sleepyheads like their dad." Irina laughed with Steve.
"But, you see, they'll be the coolest kids ever because you can teach them how to speak Russian so they'll be bilingual and I can teach them how to style their hair like their old man did back in the day. And we'll be the cool parents whose house our kids friends always wanna come round. I mean, we've already had the practice. But before all this w-we can get married, and Dustin can be our little flower boy and my best man. Max and El can be your bridesmaids. Joyce can walk you down the aisle, a-and I'll probably cry when I see you in a wedding dress." Steve grinned. "And we'll never have to think about Vecna or the Upside Down or any of this ever again." He added. Irina looked over at him with pure adoration in her eyes. Steve's words almost brought her to tears. He'd put so much thought into their future. It just made her heart swell. She didn't know how she'd come to be so lucky.
"I love you." She said, placing her hand over his hand that was still on her thigh and giving it a squeeze. "And I can't wait."
"I love you, too, future Mrs Harrington." Steve replied. After a moment of silence, Steve couldn't help but ask a burning question he'd been thinking about since they'd formulated the plan to kill Vecna. "Irina, h-how exactly are you planning on getting away from Vecna this time?"
"I..." Irina trailed off. "I'm not exactly sure. But it's my mind, right? I can control where I am and what I'm doing, so if I hide in the light, you know, find a good, happy memory and stay there, I think I can do it." Irina explained.
"You got a memory in mind?" Steve asked.
"Yes." Irina nodded. "A time when I was the happiest."
"... was I there?" He asked with a smirk growing on his face as he watched Irina's smile grow.
"Steve?" She grinned.
"Yeah."
"Of course you were." She told him. "You are my happy place."
"I really wanna kiss you right now, but I'm scared to take my eyes off the road." Steve chuckled.
"Didn't seem to scare you when you were staring at my boobs." Irina smirked.
"Don't tempt me, sweetheart." Steve blushed.