The park was surprisingly warm for this May afternoon, Bill Denbrough feeling perfectly comfortable in just his loose-fitting jeans and thin flannel. Children ran all around him, with each other and their parents and the occasional pet. Usually seeing children like this would remind Bill of his own youth, running around with Eddie and Stan and Richie- or even sometimes of a young Georgie. Now, however, it just made him sick to his stomach and triggered a headache. Yet here he was. Watching the kids in the park.
Somebody sat to Bill's left on the bench seat, and he turned to find Eliina Tozier looking at him in mild amusement. It had taken Bill a second to recognize the girl when she'd checked him in at the reunion- she had, realistically, completely grown up since the last time he'd seen her- but there was no missing that mischievous Tozier charm. "Why are you just sitting in the park staring at kids? Do I need to call the police?"
Bill chuckled. "My girlfriend is pregnant. I'm observing parents in a natural habitat. Because we both seem to agree that I'm going to be an almost terrible father so I'm trying to get a learning curve."
Elii crinkled her nose. "Not that your creeping in the park isn't endearing, but why didn't you just ask Eddie and Richie? I'd never compliment my brother to his face, but he's done a pretty great job."
Bill blinked. Opened his mouth then closed it again. Shook his head. "I'm sorry... but they're doing a great job at what?"
Elii opened her mouth, then closed it again with a smirk.
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"So, you took the job?" Alexander said slowly, hands clasped together on the dining room table.
"No," Mike said firmly. "I didn't take it.. not technically. I just never officially turned it down and they're sort of expecting me to start on Monday."
Alexander breathed out slowly, twiddling his thumbs together. He pursed his lips, and closed his eyes. "What about your job here? My job here? Your house? Your father? Mike, we can't just pack up and go to New York on a whim! We don't have anywhere to live out there!"
"They can set us up with an apartment," Mike said pleadingly. "My dad should have been set up in a full-time care place a long time ago, we both know that. It kills me but he needs more than we can give him. This job... it's a great chance for us. To start over, and my dad will have all the care he deserves. We'll sell the farm and the money can-"
"It's great opportunity for you," Alexander interrupted him. "You should have told me that you wanted to take it in the first place. We could have figured out but now you're just... springing this on me. You think we can get your father into a permanent care facility by Monday? What about Henry? You can't just take a puppy raised on a farm and stuff him in a New York apartment! It's not fair!"
"I know," Mike said slowly, shaking his head. "I meant to turn it but every time I went to I... I just couldn't. I should have told you, I know. I know. But I think I need to do this. I've been stuck in this town my whole life, I gave up school for my dad. This is something I need to do for me, and I want you to come with me. I understand if you can't, but I'm asking you to come with me because I love you and I want us to do this together."
Alexander rubbed at his face and sighed softly. "Okay, okay. Let's try to figure this out."
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Elii let them into Maggie Tozier's small little house just off old Neibolt Street, Bill still following behind her in a dazed confusion. The girl gave a shout of greeting and Richie came padding into the front entry. His curls were pulled back from his face in a small ponytail and his white T-shirt seemed to have small purple handprints all over them. He raised his eyebrows.
"You bringing home strays now, El?" Richie asked, shooting a wink in Bill's direction. "Isn't this one a little old for you?"
Elii clasped Bill on the shoulder. "Found this little guy all alone in the park, creeping on some poor innocent childrens. Seems to have gotten it into his head that he's gonna be a bad daddy and that potentially getting arrested for being a park creep is the best way to figure it all out."
An odd look of understanding settled on Richie's face as he looked between Bill and his little sister. He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth before letting out a horse-like sound. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Eds is upstairs. But if he tells you to fuck off, then you know what to do."
Elii saluted and took off up the stairs. Bill hesitated and looked around, utterly confused, before slowing starting up the stairs after her. Elii was leaning against one of the doors, smirking at him, and clicked open the door. Right behind her, he watched Elii skip into the room. Eddie turned around, seemingly holding an arm full of pastel coloured blankets. His hair was left in his natural soft curls, and there seemed to be some sort white mess on the shoulder of his shirt. His face lit up when he noticed Elii.
"I'm here to see the best member of my family," she sang as she bounced into the room. She pressed a kiss to Eddie's cheek before leaning down and pulled a face at the blankets in Eddie's room. "and of course this pretty little princess!"
Bill's jaw nearly detached from his face when he realized that the bundles of blankets in Eddie's arms wasn't simple blankets at all- it was an actual human infant. "I... Eddie, what..."
Eddie's face jerked up, eyes blown wide. "Bill!" Eddie cried, then coddled the little person close to his chest as they made small whining noises at his loud voice. Eddie hushed the baby, kissing them softly on their head. "It's okay, baby... Everything's fine."
"Is it..." Bill shook his head. "This is your baby? Why didn't... I am so confused."
Elii chuckled. She launched back into the story of finding Bill down a the park, Eddie's amused smile started growing the longer it carried on. He glanced back over at Bill, grinning when Elii finished. "I asked why he didn't just ask you and Rich, and imagine my surprise when he had no idea what I was talking about."
Eddie sighed, smiling softly down at his baby. "Leave it, Elii." He took a few steps towards Bill, rocking the small human. "So, you're absolutely terrified about being a dad, huh? That's fair, you know it's the biggest life change you can make. But, Billy, it's so worth it. There's nothing better." Eddie looked up at Bill, eyes glazing with what could have been happy tears. "This is Martina, given an old lady name specifically so that Richie can call her Marty and make Back to the Future references. She's five months old, we've had her about three and a half."
Bill leaned in closer and all he could see was small. Small face, small nose, small hands. Just the tiny, small little person that can't take care of itself, can't do anything. That needed Eddie, fiercely and for everything. Just months from now, Bill would have his own little small human that needed him. His heart felt like it was going to explode.
"She'll be sitting up and rolling over by herself soon," Eddie was still speaking with the soft, sweet, and utterly loving voice. An absolutely devastating love voice, something so pure that Bill almost didn't recognize his old friend. "She can already sit up by herself for short periods of time, with help from a pillow. It still makes Rich a little nervous, he'd never let her out of his or my arms ever if I'd let him get away with it."
"Wait, wait," Bill closed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't understand. You and Richie just adopted a freaking kid one day?"
Eddie made an odd face. "I mean... it's a lot longer and more tedious a process than just 'adopted a freaking kid one day' but yeah. But most agencies aren't too keen on un-conventical relationships." Eddie rolled his eyes and Elii made a dirty look over his shoulder, but Bill sort of thought it was a little understandable that the government didn't just hand over children to random dudes sharing an apartment in New York. "Marty here was a little bit easier to get all sorted out because we already had Frankie-"
Bill made an odd noise. "Who... is Frankie?"
"You didn't see her downstairs?" Eddie asked innocently. "She, Maggie and Richie are doing finger paints until Rich needs to go to dinner with his dad. She's just turned three and she's got Richie absolutely whipped-"
"Okay, stop, I don't understand." Bill rubbed at his temples. "You and Richie adopted two kids? Two actual human children and this never came up? Not the entire time we've all been hanging out since showing back up in Derry, discussing our lives? Your two children with your high school best friend didn't seem like might be relevant to those conversations?"
"That's what I was thinking," Elii said from where she was pressed beside Eddie, letting Marty grab her fingers in her tiny baby hands. Eddie hushed her.
"Richie and I discussed it at lengths," Eddie said. "We thought it would be best to keep it private, since we didn't know how any of you would react."
Bill nodded slowly, chuckling. "Well... I imagine your and Rich's dating lives are pretty dead with these two sharing your apartment. Don't you get sick of only having each other around?"
Eddie and Elii glanced at each other in mutual looks of disbelief.
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Ben Hanscom pulled his rental car over to the side of the road, and pressed his forehead against the steering wheel. When he glanced up and looked at the WELCOME TO DERRY sign that was taunting him. The car dealership in Portland, Maine had a partner branch in New York where he'd planned to return the car once he got home, but his brain seemed to have other plans and found himself driving back to Derry. It was amazing the hold of a town he hadn't thought of in near-on a decade had on him.
Or maybe it wasn't the town, Ben thought to himself as he looked over to the passenger seat at his Motorola cell phone. Beverly had personally placed her direct line in the hotel room she was staying in as they'd parted ways at the reunion last night. He'd opened the contact seven times since then, but had yet to make the call.
Taking the phone, he pressed call before he could talk himself out of it. It rang once, twice, three times before Beverly's voice came to him. "Hello?"
"You know the funniest thing just happened to me," Ben said, smiling to himself. "I paid for a taxi from here to Portland and rented myself a car. Was gonna head back to New York tonight and then I found myself staring at the Derry town sign. What do you make of that?"
Beverly hummed on the other line. "I don't know, Benny. You're the one who's supposed to be good at symbolism, not me."
"I think you're mixing me up with Bill," Ben chuckled. "He's the writer."
"You've got a heart of a poet, my dear Ben," Beverly said. "Always have."
Ben bit back a smile. Your hair is winter fire. January embers. My heart burns there too. He never knew if Beverly figured out that letter had been from him, all those years ago, but he'd never really tried to hide his poetic side the older they got. "Maybe. But I still couldn't tell you what I'm doing back here."
"Well..." Beverly hummed on the other side of the line. "Even if you don't know you're here, if you plan on staying I won't be doing anything and this hotel room is surprisingly nice for downtown Derry. And I've got wine."
"Can't say I'm much of a wine drinker," Ben laughed.
"I've also got whiskey."
"Sold. See you in ten."
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Richie ducked into the room, with a small giggling girl wearing pigtails on his shoulders. Her legs swung out as Richie moved, kicking him in the chest on the backswing, but he didn't seem bothered in the slightest. "How are things going in here- Ah."
Elii had dropped herself onto the bed, but Eddie and Bill were both still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room with Marty in Eddie's arms. Bill eyed the little girl on Richie's shoulders as though she was going to morph into some sort of monster and swallow him whole. Richie backed up to the bed and let Frankie drop off his shoulders onto the mattress. The girl immediately crawled over to her aunt and mimicked how Elii was laying.
Eddie smiled softly at his girl before turning to Bill. He stepped closer with the small bundle in his arms. "Come on, you can hold her."
Bill cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, no, that's uh- that's okay. I'll just watch from over here."
"Dude, come on," Richie rolled his eyes. He'd changed out his paint splattered clothes into a nice clean shirt and pressed jeans. "I have a dinner with Went in like... fifteen minutes. I'm not leaving here until you grow a pair of balls and hold my freaking baby."
"Watch your words," Eddie said softly, moving closer to Bill but eyeing Richie carefully.
"Wash your words," Frankie called from the bed in a matching tone, not looking up from the stuffed toy she was dancing in Elii's face. Eddie and Richie both beamed at the little girl before turning their attention back to Bill.
"I...." Bill stuttered. "I don't know how to hold a baby."
"Like a football," Richie told him with a shrug. Eddie glared at him as a nervous Bill accepted the sleeping Marty. Just to promptly start to tuck the baby under his arm.
"NO!" Eddie, Richie and Elii all shouted in unison. Frankie's eyes went wide as she looked around the room, Bill startled and released little Marty. Richie took a mad leap forward, catching the cooing child and dropping to sit crossed legged on the ground. He pulled Marty to his chest and rocked her. Eddie had his hands pressed over his mouth, and Elii and Frankie were staring up at him with looks of surprise.
"Dude..." Richie said, shaking his head and letting out a nervous laugh. "You're so fucked."
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Ben walked up to the outside door of Beverly's apartment and knocked once. Beverly pulled the door open immediately, red hair tied up messily on the top of her head while rocking an oversized Bates College and flannel pajamas. Her feet were tucked into fuzzy bunny slippers straight out of the 1980s. She was as beautiful as she had ever been.
She beamed at him, moving forward to throw her arms around his shoulders. She still smelled like vanilla extract and Marlboros, even after all these years. "I'm so glad you came back, I feel like I barely even saw you my whole trip!"
"Well..." Ben snickered, leaning back and grinning at her. "You and Richie did disappear not even half an hour into the night and came back completely sloshed."
Beverly shrugged, smiling up towards him. "What can I say? It's me and Rich."
"Rekindling the old flame?" Ben asked as Beverly ushered him into her hotel room. She was right about it being nice. It was no big city 5-star suite, but it was clean and the bed was large and it was heated. That was already more than Ben would have expected from some downtown Derry motel.
"Hardly," Beverly scoffed, grabbing the bottle of amber liquid and two plastic cups from the beside table and sitting down. She patted beside her on the bed and Ben sat down. "I think uh..." Beverly poured out the liquid and waggled her brows at Ben. "I think he's married."
"Huh." Ben said, accepting the extra cup from Beverly. He thought back to what he'd seen on Rich's Facebook page, the implication of a long-term relationship. "You know that actually makes sense." Beverly took a long sip of the drink, eyeing Ben over the rim of the cup. "When Mike got in contact with us all, I looked up Rich on the Facebook. He doesn't get too deep into life, it's mostly about his work, but there is some stuff that made me think he was in some sort of serious relationship."
Beverly leaned back against the pillows and dropped her feet into Ben's lap. It had been years since they'd sat like this together, but they fell back into the position like riding a bike. She smiled up at him. "Enough about Tozier and his secrets. Tell me about yours."
Ben drank deeply and then sighed. "My life is actually pretty boring, Bev. Crap apartment in the scuds of New York, working myself half to death just for the chance to get my dream. And before you ask- no. There's nobody special. Don't really have time for dating these days."
Beverly smiled at him. "You never did give yourself enough credit, Benny. We're still young, I bet you'll be raising the skyline of Manhattan with buildings soon enough."
"Thanks, Bev," Ben smiled bashfully, scratching behind his ear. "But you... you're married, huh? What's that like?"
Beverly rolled her eyes. "You know what I said to Richie last night- you know, before we were too drunk for our words to not matter anymore? That he was the only good guy I've ever dated... and I was only fucking fifteen. Tom he's.... he's not a bad guy, he's not. I've just been thinking that maybe we're not the best match. I don't know how I didn't see it before."
Ben nodded, pursing his lips. "Are you leaving him?"
Beverly shrugged one shoulder, taking in the rest of her drink and Ben followed suit. "I don't know. Rich offered me to stay with him if I decide to."
"Living with Eddie and Richie?" Ben chuckled. "Sounds like a riot."
Beverly beamed. "I think it sounds amazing. I just can't believe they kept in contact this whole time. It's wild, nobody else did."
"Some people had their reasons," Ben said airily and Beverly nodded as she refilled their cups. "I mean, you saw Richie and Stan last night. Not that I can really blame Rich."
Beverly nodded, knocking back half her drink. "It was a shitty thing... but it was a shitty thing ten years ago. Sometimes you need to let things go to heal from them."
"Let's all speak from experience there," Ben chuckled darkly. He and Beverly both lifted their plastic cups and clinked them together.
"Enough of this," Beverly chugged back the rest of her drink and adjusted to sit crossed legged in front of Ben. Watching Beverly finish her drink pulled at something deep in Ben's subconscious, and he took his whole cup in one gulp. Beverly raised her brow, undeniably impressed. "You a big drinker, Mr Hanscom?"
Ben chuckled. "I can out drink even the best of men, Miss Marsh."
A small, bashful smile across her face at Ben's use of her maiden name. Maybe she'd grown up ready to escape that name, tied of being connected to her father, but hearing it brought a small thrill to her chest. Whether the name itself- or the person who was using it- Beverly didn't really know.
Her head was swimming from drinking so quickly- and the two glasses of wine she'd had before Ben had called her- and she knew she wasn't exactly thinking straight. "I had a crush on you in high school, did I ever tell you that?"
Ben's eyes went wide. "I.. what?"
"Yeah," Beverly chuckled drunkenly. "After Richie and I broke up, I was so confused, I.. didn't know what happened. One day things were fine, the next they were just... over. And you... were so supportive through the whole thing but I... I chalked up my feelings for you to a rebound. Because I sad about Rich and you were there for me."
Ben's eyes danced from one of Beverly's eyes to the other, heart racing and entire body filled with a strong unsure feeling. It was words he'd imagined- he'd dreamed- for years as an adolescent, but they never came from a drunk Beverly Marsh. A drunk, married Beverly Marsh.
"Ben, I-" Beverly swayed forward, pressing a hand to Ben's cheek and exhaled hardly. "I....'m gonna puke."
She barely managed to grab the waste basket before throwing up, Ben laughing and pulling back her hair.