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farfromharry · 1 year

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Beth [ 24 ] | Dad!Eddie Munson series

Twenty-four, Jessie

Word count - 5666

Warnings - mentions of birth and i literally have no idea

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November 1999

For the first few months, you hadn’t mentioned anything about the baby to anyone. It was one big thing after another that you didn’t want to take attention away from, but at a certain point you couldn’t hide it anymore. Your babies were the first ones you told, as you and Eddie believed they deserved to know before anyone else. The new baby would affect their lives more than anyone else in your families, so you thought it was only fair.

You were hoping that telling your kids about the new baby would go increasingly better than it had the first time around. You didn’t need another Beth situation like that of the first few months of Lola’s life. But she was older now, and knew what having a sibling was like, so she’d hopefully be more open to it this time. Lola? Well, she was still fifty-fifty, you wouldn’t know until you told her.

You and Eddie decided to sit the two kids down on the couch, sitting across from them with, probably creepy, smiles on your faces. Bat decided to join them also, adorably, situating himself in Beth’s lap, deciding he was going to take a nap there.

Although the elder of the two was confused about all this formality, not used to the randomness of her parents acting so serious, she didn’t say anything just yet. She did eye you both though, so you knew that she wasn’t happy about this situation. As for your Lols, she was using her dad as a jungle gym. She could never sit still for too long, and she was giggling away as she crawled all over her dad. He usually would have entertained her for a while, had you not needed to get this news out.

“Lola girl, need you to sit down for a few minutes,” Eddie told her, kindly, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. He didn’t want to upset her or make her think she was in trouble at all, and although she let out a little huff, she did sit down for him. However, she did steal one of his big hands to hold with her tiny ones in her lap.

“We have some news,” you started. You had already agreed your husband would be the one to tell them, as he was probably the one they would take it the best from. Your girls were wholeheartedly daddy’s girls. You could hear quiet ow’s falling from Eddie’s lips as he pulled his hand away from his daughter, she’d let her impulsivity get to her and sunk her teeth into her father’s hand just because. He didn’t seem to like it.

Beth sighed loudly, slouching. “Are you dying?” she asked. You hadn’t expected such a grim question to come your way, and you were a little shocked that she’d even ask that, but either way you had to give her an answer.

You and Eddie both tried to answer at the same time, with you reassuring her that you were perfectly fine, no one was dying, and your husband muttering something about how your news was even worse than that. Although, you’d expect any regular thirteen year old to be concerned by those words, Beth was used to her fathers shenanigans by now. “Oh god, is Auntie Tulip pregnant again?”

The man beside you began to chuckle under his breath, and you had to whack his thigh for him to shut up. He would have a field day telling his best friend that one.

“Look,” he began. “We don’t want you to worry, because it’s a big change, but you’re going to have a new baby sibling in a few months.” He did a little show of jazz hands that was supposed to make the news go down more lightly, but you didn’t know if it had worked. You had yet to gauge the reaction of the kids.

“Huh?” Lola asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

You thought it was positively adorable.

“There’s a baby in mom’s stomach, Lala,” your eldest explained. It was clear even that brief statement didn’t help her entirely get what was going on, but she had a better idea than before, and it broke her little heart.

“Baby?” she whimpered, her big brown eyes welling with tears. You hadn’t expected such emotion to overcome her, but it was mere seconds before she burst into tears right in front of you. You tried to reach for her, hoping she would let you welcome her into your arms and soothe her sadness away. But she wouldn’t let you. She outright refused to go anywhere near you. She didn’t hold the same view for Eddie.

She was more than happy to force her way into his lap, burying her head in his chest as she cried. “Mater,” she mumbled.

Your brow furrowed, repeating the word to yourself under your breath. Beth was once again happy to help with the bewilderment. She seemed to be very good at doing that today, so much so that she hadn’t even voiced her own reaction to the news. “She means traitor.”

You muttered an ‘oh’, taking a little offense to the words of your child, but you brushed it off due to the fact she was a small child dealing with some pretty big emotions. Though you didn’t know exactly what was wrong, and she probably wouldn’t tell you now, you could probably make a pretty accurate guess.

Eddie, though he really should be acting like a parent right now, was finding her rejection of you actually rather amusing. “Mommy’s a big meanie, right?” It didn’t matter to him that it took two to tango apparently, he was pinning this all on you to earn brownie points with your child. You hated that she nodded too.

“Now who’s the mater?” you grumbled.

You shot your husband a glare, watching as he got the pleasure of cradling your toddler to his chest, big hand stroking her back in hopes of cheering her up a little bit. Knowing he was loving this only made you scoff, deciding you were going to head out and take your beloved Beth with you, maybe then the two of you could talk about how she felt at the information of a new baby in the house. “Come on, Bethy, we’ll leave these maters here.”

She was happy to follow, on the condition that she could bring Bat along with her. The cat didn’t protest, happily being scooped into her arms, so neither did you.

“Lols?” Eddie spoke quietly. She shook her head. He tried again, but only got the same response, so he had no choice but to stop letting her hide. She didn’t take too lightly to that, trying to fight back against her dad. “Need you to talk to me, my pretty girl. I can’t have you all upset like this.”

She sniffled. “I-If mommy has a baby, I won’t be the baby anymore.” The words had only made her cry harder. She didn’t mean to, but telling her dad the truth had only brought all the emotions back up in her chest.

With that admittance, Eddie knew that she was just scared. It was exactly what had happened with her sister when she was born. “Oh, sweet girl,” he frowned. “You’ll always be our baby.” That much was true, even though she hadn’t been the youngest for a few years now, Beth was also your baby. None of your kids would be made to think they were anything less than vitally important in your lives.

Her teary eyes peered up at him, a pout prominent on her lips. “Promise?” It hurt his heart that she wasn’t entirely convinced, but he would sit there and reassure her all day long if he had to.

“I promise.”

The further along in your pregnancy you got, the more your girls warmed up to the idea of having a new sibling in the house. Lola was particularly excited, she already loved her big sister to death, she was positive she’d love this one just as much, if not more. And she would have been more excited the day of that baby's arrival, had she not been so sleepy from a nap.

Going into labor in the middle of the day was not what you wanted to do. In your mind there were still a thousand and one things you needed to do before you had this baby, you’d been so busy the entire month, what with trying to plan a surprise for your husband’s birthday– now really wasn’t the time for them to decide to make their appearance. But of course you can’t predict or choose when stuff like this is going to happen.

Despite having done this once before, Eddie was freaking out again, big time. You tried to put off alerting him for as long as you could handle, gathering your belongings, letting Wayne know and then waking your toddler from her nap. Beth was at a friends for the time being, though she would have to go back to her grandpa’s when she got done with that. So all you had left to do was make your husband aware and pray that he wasn’t too irritated you’d waited so long to tell him.

He had been in the living room playing some song on his guitar to pass the time while you and Lola napped in your bedroom. The exhaustion that had accompanied this pregnancy had really been wearing you down; part of you was glad to have a toddler by your side that you could have mutual naps with, though it often left your husband lonely. Only on occasion would he join the two of you. When you’d woken after your first contraction, you had heard the soft strumming, leaving you with the impression that you had time before he realized something was wrong. Thankfully he never did notice there was a problem occurring just beside the room he was in.

In the first moments when you let him in on the fact you were in labor, you didn’t know if he was going to explode. He seemed angry with you, with the fact you hadn’t let him help and had instead suffered in silence. He could have done half the things you did with more ease and you could have been off to the hospital in a third of the time you were now. However, he wasn’t going to yell at you when he knew the kind of pain you were in, that was a step too far in his book. “Let’s just get going, yeah?”

You didn’t like the animosity that was lingering over the two of you as he scooped up Lola. With regrets about your prior decisions of the day, you followed him out of the house, making sure the door of the cabin was locked and going over your mental checklist to make sure you had everything.

The first stop was Wayne’s, the man kind enough to allow you to drop Lola off there for him to take care of her while you were at the hospital. Just like the first time you gave birth, when he was generous enough to watch over Beth, he was going to bring both girls to the hospital after your baby was born. Though you weren’t sure when that was going to be just yet. It seemed like they wanted to take their time with their exit, which wasn’t really good news for you. You’d preferably like them out as soon as physically possible.

“Eddie,” you whined, blindly reaching for the man’s hand. He offered it to you with a frown, painfully sympathetic to the position you were in. “Please tell your kid to get out of me,” you begged. You sounded so desperate that it physically hurt his heart.

He sat on a chair beside the bed you were in, bringing his head down near your stomach. His mouth was basically against your skin now, and you could feel the vibrations of his voice against you. “Hi, baby, it’s your dad,” he greeted them first off. “We’re so excited to meet you, but we can’t if you don’t get out of there.”

You smiled sweetly at his words. He just always seemed to know the perfect thing to say.

It was probably just an amazing coincidence, but it seemed like Eddie’s little chat with the baby did actually speed up the whole process. Within the next ten or so minutes, you were ready to start pushing.

You could admit that this time around was a lot harder than last time. This baby decided they were stubborn, much more than your Lola, and they were adamant they were staying in your womb for as long as they could. Although it was tiresome and grueling, it all became worth it when the nurses announced you had a healthy baby boy.

When the little boy was placed on your chest, you had flashbacks to the first time you met your precious Lola. The feeling was the same, one of warmth and nothing but bliss towards the child that had made you a mother again. It didn’t matter that he was screaming or covered in weird goo, he was yours, you and your husband had made him out of love. It was a feeling you would never be able to verbally explain to someone who hadn’t had kids. But you were sure it was what heaven on Earth felt like.

Despite the chaos of the room around you, your little boy was all that you could focus on, at least until you were informed they needed to take him to be cleaned up. It was the only moment you’d really been given to breathe in hours, no one bustling around you or shouting instructions at you, it was pleasant.

Eddie took the opportunity to talk to you, praising how well you did. “He’s perfect. I’m so proud of you,” he gushed, brushing your sweaty hair away from your forehead. You flushed under his compliments. He didn’t stop there, they kept spilling out of his mouth without a filter, all the way until your baby was brought back to you.

The yet to be named Munson, the youngest of the bunch, was practically passed out. You’d think he was the one who’d just experienced childbirth with the way his eyes were glued shut as he snoozed in your arms.

“Such a sleepy baby, huh?” Eddie muttered, stroking over the minimal hair on the little boy’s head.

It was a beautiful sight to see your husband so entranced with the baby. You wished he could see how amazing of a dad he was from your perspective. He would truly be blown away. Which is all the more reason why it would be so special that your boy decided to make his appearance on the day of the thirtieth. It was by pure chance that your eyes had caught the clock beside your hospital bed, but you were forever glad you did, because it was you who had the pleasure of telling your husband that this little baby was his first birthday present of the day.

“Hey, Eddie. Look at the time,” you whispered, not wanting to startle the newborn resting in your arms. There was a smile on your face that was nothing but blissful. The hustle and bustle of the evening had finally calmed down, and only now were you realizing it was almost four in the morning on the thirtieth. Your baby boy was born in the early hours of November thirtieth, conveniently, your husband’s birthday. “Happy birthday, honey. To both my guys.”

He let out a quiet laugh, running his thumb over the baby’s cheek. “My own little birthday present, huh?”

That fact was bathed in by him for the rest of the morning, while you got your rest and Eddie got the chance to hold your baby for a little while. It gave him the chance to think about names, you would be way too exhausted to even begin to consider them, so he thought he would take that burden off of your shoulders. You didn’t need any more struggles to handle. He proposed the idea once you woke up.

“I uh, I was thinking of baby names while you were asleep,” he told you. While you fed the little boy, he held your other hand, occasionally dropping a kiss down onto the back of it in a sweet gesture. “I think I’ve got one I really like.”

You hadn’t expected him to take the initiative, but you were happy to hear that he had. “Hit me,” you said.

“Well, I wanted to stick with the little song theme we’ve got going,” he explained. You honestly didn’t expect him to stray from that anyway. But you could say you were excited to hear his suggestion. You were so tired that you would probably end up agreeing to it anyway. “How about Jessie?”

You were quiet while you thought it over, testing it a few times to see how it felt. “Where’d you get that?”

He smiled. “Jessie’s girl, Rick Springfield. Played non-stop this one summer I visited Tulip in New York. Hated it at first, not my style, but it grew on me,” he explained. There was a dumb little grin on his face while he told you the story. It showed you how much such a simple thing meant to him and your heart fluttered. That was the summer he’d got lost on the subway, ended up in Brooklyn like a lost puppy and Tulip had had to bribe him not to tell her mom. “It’s a really good memory. Mostly.”

You were more than happy to accept that as your son’s name. The final decision came to the baby himself though, hoping he’d maybe give a sign or something if he liked it. It probably sounded silly to most, but Eddie would always indulge your silly behavior. “Let’s see what he thinks, huh?” You stroked his cheek lightly, and his little eyes blinked open. “Hi, Jessie. How’s that sound? You wanna be Jessie Munson?”

You could’ve sworn the little boy smiled at you, and he definitely squeezed your finger. Maybe it was just wishful thinking but you swore that was him telling you yes.

Like he felt the same, your husband’s eyes flickered to your face. “Jessie it is.”

Only shortly after you named your boy, were you greeted with a knock at the door. It was still early, barely even nine, so you assumed it was a nurse or someone, but then you were met with the kind face of Wayne.

The first visitors in to see the baby, were of course your family. Beth had done this once before, but she was over the moon to do it again with a baby brother this time. Lola sort of knew what was going on, but she was a little too small to have a complete idea. Wayne was just happy to be meeting a third grand kid.

The first thing you noticed when the three entered the room was the tired expression written all over your eldest’s face. She was far from a morning person, the opposite of how she used to be, but also the opposite of her younger sister, of whom was almost bouncing off the walls of the room she was so awake. “Hey, sleepyhead,” you greeted, pulling her into a quick hug as she checked on you. Her eyes weren’t on you though, even as she asked questions about how you were and how everything went. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the sleeping boy in your arms.

You noticed. “He’s cute, huh?”

She nodded, itching to climb on the bed with you. You happily invited her up. She made herself comfortable, resting her head on your shoulder so she could gaze down at the baby while Lola scurried off to her father. You could hear her saying the word baby over and over again, so it was obvious she was excited. Beth was happy to make her greeting to her brother quick so that her sister could meet him sooner. She might explode if she didn’t meet him sooner.

“What’s his name?” the teen asked.

You glanced at your husband, offering him a sweet smile. “Jessie.”

She repeated it to herself quietly. She wouldn’t know where it came from, probably never having heard the song that was released before she was born, but the smile on her face was telling you she liked it. The older man who was still in the doorway however, got the reference, grinning to himself knowing it was his nephews doing.

A single look from your youngest daughter told you she was desperate to meet him, unable to stay still in her father’s grasp. You didn’t want to force her to keep waiting any longer, so you summoned your husband over to take Jessie from you.

It was familiar, watching Eddie sit Lola on his knee while he helped her hold Jessie. You recalled him doing the exact same thing with your other baby the first time she was introduced to Lola. Now though, she stood watching over her dad’s shoulder, but he still made sure to keep an arm around her to make sure she felt included. You felt transported back to where you were four years ago, with Wayne by your side congratulating you. “Another beautiful baby. D’you think this one will be the last?” he asked.

You couldn’t have gotten your answer out quick enough if you were being honest with yourself. “Definitely. No more Munson babies from me.” Eddie was yet to be told that part, but he didn’t really have much of a choice but to agree. The older man would happily back you up if need be though.

“Who needs more when you’ve got the three cutest babies in the world?” You silently agreed, pressing a kiss to the top of sleepy Beth’s head. She hummed quietly, snuggling closer into your side. “Sometimes I can’t believe Eddie helped make them.” One of your favorite things about the older man was his ability to make you laugh with his jokes and random comments every now and then. You didn’t even know if he knew how funny he could be sometimes.

His tone changed quickly, upon his eyes landing on the sight of his nephew and two of his kids. It was a sight he thought he would never see, unsure whether the child he raised would ever want to raise some of his own, considering the parents he had that had left a pretty permanent mark on who he was. “It’s crazy remembering he’s a dad sometimes,” he told you. There was a look in his eye that you couldn’t quite explain, but you would assume it was overwhelming love or pride– or something similar to that. “I’m so proud of the both of you. You’re amazing parents.”

You hadn’t intended on crying during this visit, but you supposed all the new emotions within your body meant it was inevitable. “God, Wayne. You big sap,” you teased. You dabbed at the tears leaking from your eyes, making the man grin.

“Sorry, Sunny.” He aided his words with a kiss on the top of your head, and a tight squeeze. It was after that that he left you to get his own cuddles in with the babe.

Your hand was stroking Beth’s wild hair as she fought sleep. She was still trying to come around after being woken up a couple hours earlier. If it was any other time of the day she probably would have been just as bouncy as Lola at the prospect of the new baby, but as for now, her excitement would come later when she finally got her energy back. “He’s really cute, mom,” she said.

You smiled. “You think?” There was never more pride for a mother than being told your baby was cute. You could hear it over and over.

“Yeah. Can I help take care of him?” She had never offered to do that for her sister before, maybe that was due to her age when her sister had been born, or just because she thought you could handle it, but that didn’t matter, you were honored by the offer anyway.

“Of course you can. Thank you, baby.”

She did in fact grow more and more excited over Jessie throughout the day. They stayed for as long as they could, keeping you company until visiting hours were over. You were sad to see your two babies go, convinced you didn’t get enough cuddles from either of your girls today, but you didn’t have the energy to argue. You were much too tired and Wayne could tell, scooping Lola up into his arms to stop her from poking at your cheek any more.

“Well, we’ll let you get some more rest. God knows you’re gonna need it,” the man joked. You both knew he was right. You had pretty much forgotten what it was like to care for a newborn, what with both your kids having slept through the night for a while now. It was going to be a whole new round of hell for you both. But, you were willing to make these kinds of sacrifices for your boy.

“If he’s anything like you said Eddie was, we’re gonna need it.” You had been told by Wayne on many occasions that your husband was a screamer as a kid. You had seen that behavior exhibited in your Lola a little bit in the first few weeks of her life, but it hadn’t lasted as long as you expected it to. It might be a whole different story for Jessie though. You would come to find that in the next few weeks.

He didn’t find that joke amusing, despite the fact that Beth definitely did. She was giggling as her father glared at you. She was the one to dispel his anger thankfully. You could almost visibly see him deflate when she tackled him in a hug. Eddie loved all his kids, but you could tell he had a different connection with Bethy. He reminded her that he loved her, then the same for Lola, before his beloved uncle was leading them out of your hospital room for the night. You’d see them again soon enough.

You started letting friends come by the day before you were due to go home. Certainly more would be showing up at the cabin throughout the week, all of whom wanting to be introduced to the new member of your big extended family. You would have no problem with it, though you were glad they were so kind to do it in small groups, lord knows so many people at one time would be overwhelming.

The first non-biological family visitors were of course the Harringtons, insisting they had to meet him before the rest of your friends did.

“Munson, not only did you steal my birthday, but now your kid stole it too?” His voice was much too loud for the hospital room, startling both you and your husband who had been having an extremely quiet conversation. Both sets of eyes jumped to him and immediately took to shushing him.

“Dude, he’s sleeping,” Eddie whisper-yelled. Tulip was happy to scold him with a slap to the arm, glaring at her husband for being so irresponsible. He looked back at the three of you with a look of complete disbelief on his features, finding it hard to believe he’d only walked into the room and suddenly he was the bad guy already. That was actually a common occurrence for Steve, though he would always argue it was never his fault.

He rolled his eyes at the sudden attack. “So, where is he?”

“Sleeping,” Eddie repeated, nodding his head in the direction of the small bed just beside you both. He looked so effortlessly peaceful in his slumber, but if Steve kept up his loud tone, he wouldn’t stay that way for long. The metalhead was happy to lead his friend to look, insisting that it was okay as long as he was silent.

While the two men admired the baby, you found yourself talking with Tulip, discussing how you were, how she was, all of it. You were too distracted talking with his wife to even notice when Steve had taken your boy into his arms with the help of your husband. If there was one thing Harrington could do, it was look like a dad always. He looked so at ease and peaceful with a baby in his arms, so used to holding his own that it just became natural for him.

“What d’you think, Steve?” he asked, eyeing the man holding his son in case he needed to step in at any point. It didn’t matter that Steve had been a father almost as long as Eddie has, he was still terrified his newborn son may get harmed in some way– even if that was due to being held incorrectly by the man who was practically a pro by now.

“Had to have a boy too, huh? Right after I had a boy,” he grumbled. It was a dumb thing for him to be annoyed about, but he was also Steve, if there was something silly to be made over, he definitely would take that chance. Regardless of what he was saying, he was still smiling down at the baby boy smiling in his arms. “On my birthday, as well?”

The new father scoffed. “Hey, it’s my birthday too that I’m giving up.” It truly wouldn’t be a family related event if the two didn’t start arguing at some point, that was what they were best at. They would never just admit they were friends, they always had to make things awkward.

He huffed. “Okay, maybe that was a coincidence. But the gender too?”

Eddie felt like his head was going to explode. “That was a coincidence too!” he borderline yelled. Then he remembered that his baby was still asleep and lowered his voice so he wouldn’t wake the newborn. “You know we don’t get to choose, right? I’m not copying you, Steve. Get over it.”

That was pretty much how the rest of the visits from the couple went too.

Going home with three kids rather than two was strange. It was so weird to think that just a couple days ago, Jessie was in your stomach, and now he was in your arms as you brought him inside his home for the first time. It was truly a surreal feeling that you didn’t think you would get over any time soon.

Lola ran inside as soon as the door was open, scouring the place for the house cat who would probably be sniffing around his food bowl like usual. Beth followed suit, offering to be the one to feed Bat for you so you didn’t have to worry about doing so. And who were you to say no to that offer? It allowed you the opportunity to go and lay Jessie in his new crib in the nursery. You’d had to transform one of the girl’s rooms in order to have somewhere for your boy to stay. It was less than ideal, but this cabin meant a lot to a lot of people, and you didn’t plan on getting rid of it.

As you settled the baby boy down into his crib, Eddie practically clinging to your back, you couldn’t help but think about how perfect your family was now. It had never been your intention to end up with three kids. If you told you from fifteen years ago that you’d be in this position now, you probably would have freaked out. Never did you think you’d be a good mother, due to your own bad role model growing up. But here you were, arguably one of the greatest mothers you knew. And even if you weren’t, at least you loved your kids to death.

“He’s so gorgeous,” Eddie whispered, pressing a kiss to your temple.

You hummed, leaning back into him. “We made him.”

The next kiss was placed on your clothed shoulder. “We did. And he’s absolutely perfect.”

The two of you stood there fawning over his sleeping form for a short while. You had no idea how long it’d been when a shrill cry erupted from his mouth, but you certainly didn’t waste a single second when it came to taking him into your embrace. You held him as close to your chest as you possibly could. When he’d begun to cry, you pouted, cooing quietly. He had barely been out of them and he had already decided he didn’t like it. “Oh no, what’s wrong my Jessie boy?”

Eddie watched on with such adoration. The sounds of your child crying were never particularly enjoyable, but right now he couldn’t find it in him to find it as awful as he would say in the middle of the night.

The first sign of what it was like to raise three kids at once was shown to you within the next few minutes. While your baby boy cried his little lungs out, your other two found themselves fighting like the sisters they were. “Daddy!” Lola called, sounding as though she was distressed. You could see the concern flashing in his eyes before she tamed it with her next words. “Beth took my toy!”

Your husband sighed, dropping his head onto your shoulder in exasperation. This was going to be more difficult than you originally thought. Your kids could certainly make it easier on you if they tried, but they certainly weren’t going to try. “Go on, dad. You’ve got work to do.”

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