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writer-in-theory · 1 year

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Ever since he can remember, everyone has always said Steve looked like his Mama.

He acts like her too—that persistent kindness and protectiveness for the people they love, the ability to talk to people with relative ease, even the propensity for having a bit of an attitude. Even his soft brown eyes and the texture of his hair, all of it was Maggie Harrington.

Maggie always said that Steve was her greatest accomplishment, one of her best friends. She was so proud of her son, first for being Hawkins High's first All-State Champ in swimming and then for being a good role model in town. She'd missed the moment when he began to distance from her, from his parents, until she hardly knew anything about his life. She thinks it might've been because of Robert.

Steve Harrington could only have the best in store for him, which is why she'd allowed Robert to be tough with him. He knew what it meant to build a good future, what it would take to find happiness and stability. So she'd let Robert yell at him for throwing a party at their house and allowing a poor girl to go missing there. And she'd thought it had worked, based on the way Steve started bringing around sweet Nancy Wheeler and stopped hanging out with the Hagan boy. She thought it had worked.

When the Harringtons came home from their last business trip to Chicago, Steve was being dropped off by Police Chief Hopper. It looked like he'd been in a fight, and as much was confirmed when the Chief told him to stay out of trouble. Robert had been furious, ready to lay into Steve about the Harrington name and respectability, but then a group of kids Maggie didn't recognize tumbled out of the car, too, all hugging Steve and thanking him. He was their hero, they'd told the Harringtons, Steve was the best babysitter ever. Steve had never showed interest in babysitting before, but the way all of those kids so clearly looked up to him had Maggie in near tears.

Maggie had a feeling the mall job was a mistake. She'd felt it the moment Robert made the decision, loudly proclaiming that their son would learn what it was like to work a tough job, that he'd realize how lucky he had it that there was a family business he could be hired in. Maggie hated the humiliated look their Steven had given the first time he set out for the mall in that sailor's uniform, but her husband knew what it was like to be a teen boy, surely he had Steve's best interests at heart.

But then she'd gotten the call that there had been a fire, that Steve was involved and they needed to get down to the hospital. If she thought the fight in '84 looked bad, then nothing could have prepared her for the sight of her son in that hospital bed, vomiting profusely into a container and wincing through the obvious pain in his head. The morning after, that same group of kids fought the hospital staff to visit Steve, demanded it. The one with curly hair and the youngest girl loudly proclaimed that Steve had saved their lives, that he'd risked himself to make sure they were safe. Her baby was an actual goddamn town hero and she'd almost missed it, she almost never knew because she was too busy worrying about his future.

Maggie stopped worrying about family names and legacies, after that. She was the first to ask how his shifts at the movie store were and never minded when his talkative friend came over for dinner. Maggie kept waiting for the moment Steve would admit the two of them were dating, but he kept insisting they were friends, best friends.

She never saw Eddie Munson coming.

After the fourth tragedy to befall Steve, Maggie was convinced he needed to get out of Hawkins before it destroyed him. No one could find Steve in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. He wasn't at the shelter, or the hospital, or with any other search parties. She'd worried briefly that the serial killer had gotten him, too, that they'd have to see what was so horrific about the method of killing that had left the town sparking a witch hunt for the guy.

He was found later at the Munson trailer, wearing military-style gear and bleeding out from his abdomen and neck. Maggie would never understand how an earthquake could cause that level of damage, nor the kind that was found on Eddie Munson just beside him. When Steve had woken up in the hospital, he'd simply told her that he couldn't talk about it, that it was better if she didn't know. She thinks that might be true.

Once Steve recovered, he stayed by the Munson boy's bedside every day. He'd bring a book, or a hacky sack, anything to keep himself busy while Eddie slept off his injuries. And when he came home, Steve was with him constantly. They were volunteering, he'd told her.

Then one day, months after the earthquake, Steve came home looking nervous.

"Mom." Maggie ached for the days when he'd come waddling into the living room screaming Mama, missed when he felt like he could tell her everything. When had that disappeared? "I need to tell you something."

"Of course, Stevie. You can tell me anything." Steve winced in the way she figured he would: they both know that hadn't been true in years.

Steve shuffled on his feet, wrung his hands together and worried them through his hair. Finally he stood ramrod straight, eyes focused directly on hers as he blurted the truth out. "Mom, I like guys. And girls. It's called being bisexual and I'm not sorry for it. I can pack a bag tonight if I have to, but I won't pretend anymore. I won't."

It was supposed to be scary. Maggie knows the version of her four years ago would have been terrified by the statement, angry or upset. Maybe she still is a little scared, only because she knows what the world is like for people who are different. She used to be upset by people who were different. In '83, she might've kicked Steve out for the fear of it all. But looking at him now, she saw the kid who drove those middle schoolers to the arcade because he could, and who saved peoples' lives in the mall at the near expense of his own, the guy who believed Eddie Munson was innocent even when the entire town had turned on him out of fear of the Other. She saw Steve Harrington, her darling son who'd grown up before she even realized it, becoming far greater a man than she could have ever hoped for.

"How long have you two been dating? You and Eddie Munson?" Maggie asked gently, a smile working its way on her face. She'd wondered why he hadn't dated anyone after Nancy, but maybe it was simply that he wasn't telling her about that part of his life anymore.

Steve's eyes widened, lips parting like he was surprised by the response. He floundered a little, looking around for an explanation. "Um. Since last summer, we met at the mall. How did you...?"

Maggie laughed then, far brighter than it ever had been in years. "I know when my son's in love. I just didn't know where to look, didn't notice the answer was right there."

"You're not...mad? Disappointed?"

"Honey," Maggie sighed, taking a few steps forward so she could grab onto his arms. "Steven Robert Harrington, you are my son. I will always love you, no matter what. I'm so sorry I ever ever made you feel otherwise. All I've ever wanted for you is happiness, and if that's with Eddie Munson then that's that."

"Mom," Steve croaked, voice cracking around the word as he pulled her in for a hug. She could feel him shake in her arms, sniffling like he was trying to hide the tears. "Do you want to meet him? Eddie, I mean, do you want to...?"

"He's outside?"

"He came over to support me, in case we needed to, well." In case his parents were kicking him out. God, where had they gone so wrong? "Do you want to?"

"Please," Maggie answered quietly, knowing this wouldn't be enough to make up for the years of wrong they'd done. She wanted to know her son, wanted to know the people who made him happiest. She wanted to hear about his day and know that if something ever went wrong that he would call his parents himself, not wait for the hospital or the police to do so. "Please."

Then Steve was bringing in Eddie Munson, who stood out in the pristine, polished Harrington home but who made Maggie's son's eyes light up in a way she'd never seen them. He was smiling, holding his hand out for a handshake.

"Mama, this is Eddie," Steve was saying, and Maggie could cry because it felt like she'd done something right, because she could see how deeply in love Steve was with Eddie because it was a mirror of her own expression when she looked at Robert. This was her son, and her future son-in-law, and Maggie couldn't be prouder.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #mrs harrington #implied homophobia #but like the harringtons are cool #stranger things #steddie ficlet #steddie headcanon #jay writes in theory

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derangedhermit · 10 months

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Per the most popular fanfiction, we agree as a fan base that Steve’s parents suck. What if they didn’t though? Specifically Steve’s mom. He uses her as a reference for his job at Family Video. That’s canon.

What if they’re kind of close. Talk on the phone every night close. Nervously tell her about his crush on Eddie close.

What if Steve’s mom is the first person he comes out as bisexual to? What if Mrs. Harrington is the one who gives him the confidence to be unapologetically Steve because when he shyly tells her about his budding feelings for Eddie she reacts in the way a mom who loves her son unconditionally would?

Mama Harrington helps Steve get the boy.

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marya-blackbone · 1 year

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part 1

It’s movie night at Steve’s place – a sacred tradition Steve and Robin have maintained despite Mr and Mrs Harrington being in town for the weekend. Robin finds herself humming the Time Warp under her breath in the Harringtons’ big fancy kitchen, sliding the Jiffy Pop pan over the hob with each jump to the left and step to the right.

Mrs Harrington walks in as she gets to the pelvic thrust, earning Robin an odd look that could be for the dancing, or could be the familiarity with which she propels herself around their kitchen. But Mrs Harrington says nothing, involving herself with finding a wine glass and rooting around in a couple of draws. After a few moments, Robin wordlessly hands Mrs Harrington the corkscrew she was looking for. She smiles tightly and accepts it, but hesitates, lingers, before setting it aside to wring her hands anxiously.

Robin has a few ideas of what Mrs Harrington could be working herself up to say. And when Mrs Harrington tells her outright, without preamble, that she should break up with Steve, she’s not even a little bit surprised. She gets it – she’s poor, she’s alternative, she’s not good enough. And maybe Robin expected Mrs Harrington to be subtler, snider, more knife-in-back about her efforts to drive her off, she still knew this was coming.

What she doesn’t expect is what comes after.

“I wish someone had said this to me when I was your age – I really do. And I love Steven – with all my heart – but he’s too much like his father,” she says.

“What do you mean?” asks Robin – because this conversation is too weird not to. And the way Mrs Harrington is looking at her with such imploring eyes makes her want to see where this is going rather than disabuse her of the notion that she and Steve are a couple. She wouldn’t listen anyway.

“He’s leading you on, darling. Cheating on you. This morning, I went up to let him know we were back from New York, and I saw a girl in his bed. Long dark hair, perm.” Mrs Harrington casts a pitying look over Robin’s dirty-blonde bob. “I’m only telling you for your own good. Leave. While you still can,” she urges.

Robin grins something maniacal. Steve is a scoundrel, but not for the reason Mrs Harrington believes. No, Steve always tells Robin when he has a hot date, and yet he conveniently forgets to mention anything about this? Much more likely it’s that Steve is intentionally holding out on her.

Because it’s not just a hot date, not just a hookup. And Robin has a pretty good idea who that girl was.

“Thank you, Mrs Harrington – for your concern, I mean. Steve and I are totally not a thing, but I am so, so glad you told me about this. Honestly, thank you,” she says, grinning from ear to ear.

Mrs Harrington – now under the impression she failed to get through to her – tries repeatedly to impress upon her the fact that Steve is an irredeemable rake, and really she should just cut and run before it’s too late, but Robin’s not listening. Instead, she’s scheming ways to get Steve to reveal that which she thinks she already knows.

A/N: This is part 1 of a 3-part drabble I’m doing. I feel like if Mrs Harrington and Robin ever interacted she’d probably project a little bit because she doesn’t understand her and Steve’s relationship.

Here’s part 2

#steddie #stranger things #stranger things 4 #steve harrington #robin buckley #mrs harrington

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kozmicxblues · 2 years

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I've been a pretty firm supporter of Wayne Munson/Susan Hargrove, mainly because I love the idea of Eddie and Max being siblings. But a brand new possibility presented itself to me this morning: Susan and Steve's mom.

It still has the benefit of Max getting an older brother who loves her and looks out for her. And we know he would be so nice to Susan, he would absolutely warm up to her as a second mom.

Steve's mom (let's call her Dottie, because it's her name in my heart) finally leaves her dead-end marriage to an unfaithful jerk. Susan breaks her bad luck streak with terrible men.

Steve's over eighteen so there's no legal custody battle, but Mr. Harrington promises that if he goes with Dottie, he'll never see a cent of the Harrington money again. Steve goes with his mom.

(Dustin is crazy jealous that Max gets Steve as an older brother, but he lets it go when he gets Eddie after Wayne and Claudia get together)

#stranger things #steve harrington #max mayfield #susan hargrove #mrs harrington #dottie harrington #steddie #st4

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devondespresso · 3 months

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Find the Word Tag Game!!

tagged by @lingeringmirth and my words are: beloved, insipient, clever, diverse and pervasive

unfortunately, my vocabulary hasn't extended to any of these, outside of one joke use of "my beloved" in the planning notes of my doc, and since i see no rules I'm making my own and stealing (oh so evil) lingeringmirth's words (because i already know i use them all the time)

Tear, Frown, Skin, Heard, and Lean

Tear -

Steve shook his head, finally sitting up and breathing. “No, sorry I– hey, what’s wrong?” He leaned forward to get a better look at Dustin's face, and as his mind woke up he finally heard the shakiness of his breath and saw light reflecting off tears falling just below his eyes. Steve dropped his feet to the ground and gave Dustin the space to sit.

Frown -

The sound of scattered clinks came from behind them, stopping just as sudden as it started. Steve turned around and saw Mrs. Henderson paused after pouring cat food in a dish. She put the box down, opening the bag inside to put the food back. Steve turned back around quickly. He chanced a glance at Dustin, who was still looking back over his shoulder, eyes shiny and mouth hanging in a small frown. After a moment he turned back around, busying himself with spreading jelly but blinking too much to be really over it.

Skin - (the most painful one to just choose one from, so we picked my favouite from the Dustin pov chapter)

Dustin had to take another breath. At least he was getting it out of the way. Better now in the house with clean supplies than in the car, or the tunnels, where Upside Down stuff could get in and make him sick. He took the wet side again, trying to scrub the dried blood off while being gentle, using a different spot on the towel every time it got too dark. The dry blood was stubborn, sticking to the skin like a scab and he couldn’t be sure how hard he could scrub without hurting Steve more. Not that Steve could feel it right now.

Heard -

Steve huffed a laugh before pressing the button. “Well right now I'm sitting in Dustin’s room talking to nerds on a walkie.” “You’re so funny, Harrington, now why are you at Dustin's?” Steve laughed again, this time letting it be heard, and leaned back against the dresser. “Hopper freaked when he heard my parents are out of town and can’t check to make sure I don't die in my sleep. Dustin volunteered his couch till they're back.”

Lean - (also difficult to choose, but mostly becuase it's apparently all i write with 84 appearances in my document, so heres the most recent one)

He turned back around to the house, looking just as he left it. He walked around to the back of the patio to grab the slipper that he dropped, but turning the corner he found the area empty. Steve tiptoed up to the sliding door, opening it just enough to slip inside. The house looked empty with one glance around. He slid the door shut behind him, intending to go upstairs, but a few steps into the room and he made eye-contact with his mom. Leaning against the kitchen wall, arms folded with the missing slipper in hand, watching and waiting for him to notice.

and im tagging @marvel-ous-m @eriquin @roguenancy @sharpbutsoft @itsthestrangestthings @findafight

and your words are: strange, shaking, smile, scratch, and still.

#steve harrington #steve and dustin #steve and the party #steve and claudia #steve and his mom #mrs harrington #her first teaser-appearance actually #not counting that one post i reblogged with the fic tag #devon's steve henderson au #tag game #wip game

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dopeasspancake · 2 years

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This idea got very out of hand but:

I just really love the idea of Steve going toe-to-toe against Neil Hargrove with his S1 attitude. Like Neil wouldn’t know how to handle this cocky little All-American hometown golden boy who is used to daddy’s money always saving the day.

Maybe Neil goes after Billy because he finds out about him and Steve, but Steve steps in and is like “yeah I don’t think so.” But we all know Steve isn’t the best fighter, so Neil clocks him.

But instead of getting mad, Steve thinks it’s hilarious because he’s totally about to pull a “my father will hear about this” and tells Neil how bad he’s fucked up and to expect a call from the family lawyer.

And maybe Neil thinks when he tells Mr. Harrington about what Steve and Billy have been up to, then he’ll understand. But he grossly underestimates the toxic impact wealth can have on people so instead Mr. Harrington is just like “I don’t care if my son was sucking cock on Main Street in the middle of the day, a Harrington does what he wants when he wants.”

And Neil is absolutely floored that Mr. Harrington could not care less about his son’s sexuality. Meanwhile Steve’s dad is still just like “My son can sleep with whoever he wants and I can’t believe you would be stupid enough to punch a Harrington. I’m going to ruin you.”

And maybe Mr. Harrington isn’t going to win a Father or Husband of the Year award anytime soon, but he’ll be god damned if anyone is going to lay hands on a Harrington without suffering the consequences.

Following this Billy moves in with the Harringtons and Steve’s parents just jokingly refer to Billy as “Steven’s little boy toy” for a while not taking the relationship seriously, thinking his infatuation is cute but will eventually die off. But then after a while they start noticing Steve doing better in school, becoming more goal-oriented, and realizing the positive impact his relationship with Billy has on him.

So now Billy is basically their son too.

#this escalated so quickly #but I am obsessed with the idea of Steve’s parents being very Kennedy Family #like they are open minded about a lot of things #and just operate under the assumption you can do anything when you’re rich #so maybe they are absent af and not great parents #but they don’t try to make Steve’s life any harder #and end up fully supporting billy being part of their family #harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #stranger things #mr harrington #mrs harrington #neil hargrove sucks

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milf-harrington · 1 year

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the last drawing for tonight: how i always picture steves mum in my head

#i like to think he got his nose and his hair from her #steve harrington #steve harringtons parents #mrs harrington #idk how to tag this lmao #stranger things #stranger things fanart #my art #no id

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frostfairysteve · 1 year

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half the time that i think of mrs harrington, i think of a woman that lost all of herself after getting married

so consider

she's a jewish woman marrying a christian man, due to an unplanned pregnancy rather than love. all to save her family's reputation.

she spends all her time with her son, all while trying to make hawkins a better town. maybe her family owns a store that she helps out with, maybe she gets together with the other parents.

she needs to play nice with her husband to keep a roof over her - and her son's - head.

he's christian, so she's not allowed to bring any of her jewish roots into the house. she mourns the lost identity that her son will never know about, but she still has her parents and other relatives so she doesn't feel as lost.

he's not going to be careful about his affairs, so she has to travel with him. her son is old enough to be left alone for some longer periods, and she swears to call.

and then she never gets to, her husband always finding something that needs her immediate attention or presence.

and her son never got to know her family, doesn't know he has relatives in hawkins that would take him in and love him.

she has failed both herself and her son by trying to keep them from ruin.

#mrs harrington #i'm not jewish so please correct me if i worded something badly #the other half of time i think of mrs harrington as at least a negligent parent for angst reasons #but i prefer the version where she does everything for her son and loses herself along the way #jewish steve harrington

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likecastle · 1 year

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I need everyone to know that my best friend decided Steve Harrington’s mom should be played by Jennifer Coolidge and I have genuinely never heard such an inspired piece of casting in my entire life.

#steve harrington #mrs harrington #stranger things

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swiftietartt · 1 year

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this is my harrington family truth

#im writing a spec for season five #so i have to cast it #but denise gough was giving mrs. harrington in under the banner of heaven #she had the perfect hair and haunted look #and she voiced yennefer in the witcher 3!!#and they all have little moles 🥺#harrington family #mrs harrington #mr harrington #steve harrington #stranger things #joe keery #denise gough #timothy olyphant #fancast #under the banner of heaven #justified

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ghostlynimbus · 2 months

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so steve's mom is going to be a way more important character in this AU than I initially planned.

#xD #I dont usually like to do too much with his parents #bc lbr we know so little about them any depiction of them with any depth is basically making OCs #but i had an idea #and its just been so compelling i just keep pulling at that thread #ghost.txt #fic: godsverse au #mrs harrington #now i gotta figure out her name #and her parents names #and the names of at least some of her siblings #also steve's mom is the goddess of pregnancy among other things #so whoops steve has a BUNCH of older sisters now and i gotta do something with at least some of them

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writer-in-theory · 1 year

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related to this post but can be understood on its own

Mother's Day hadn't been important to the Harrington family since Steve was still a little tot. He would proudly hand off messy crayon drawings of their family, proclaiming for the entire house to hear that Maggie Harrington was the best mom ever.

She hadn't heard that statement in years. She's sure she hadn't earned it in even longer.

No one will tell her what happened in May of 1987, or what Steve was doing out in the old junkyard in the first place. She knew it wasn't what the gentle man from the federal government had told her, that someone from town had seen him and Eddie together. The town was a lot of things, but even Maggie knew that no one was capable of producing injuries like the ones Steve had. All she had to cling to was the steady beeping of the heart monitor and his friends' fierce insistence that he would wake up.

But Steve hadn't, so now Maggie was spending her first Mother's Day with her son in years within the sterile walls of Hawkins Memorial Hospital.

It's the same routine she had for two weeks. Maggie would wake up, pick out the comfiest clothes she could find in her closet (which were, admittedly, slim pickings) and drive to the hospital the second visiting hours started to stay until they ended. Sometimes the staff would let her come early or stay late. The girl who called herself Steve's best friend (who Maggie doesn't ever remember meeting) said it was because, even unconscious, Steve had a way of winning people over. That had been the first time Maggie had laughed since she got the call.

It had been Eddie who'd done it.

Maggie could still remember the fleeting chill that latched onto her back when the phone rang that night, like somehow she had known her sweet son was hurt.

"Maggie." Eddie's voice was hardly there, scraping through his throat past the hurt and tears. It had taken nearly three months to convince him to call her anything but Mrs. Harrington, but he'd finally given in. There were times—that she's sure will never be vocalized as long as she lives—that Maggie wished she couldn't be called Mrs. Harrington, that she didn't have to be associated with everything she and her husband had messed up along the way.

"Eddie, what's going on?" She asked when he didn't explain right away, clutching the phone receiver tightly. "Is everyone okay?"

"You need to get to Hawkins Memorial," Eddie choked out, and Maggie wondered only briefly if the words were fishhooks scraping cruelly at his throat. "Maggie, it's Steve."

The whimper that escaped her didn't register as human to her ears, only pain. It was better than the clinical calls she'd received after Starcourt and the earthquake, when police officers and hospital staff had to inform her where her son was because he hadn't asked anyone to contact her. But this time, she had begun to make her peace with her son. She'd met Eddie, had him over for family dinners while Robert was in Chicago at work—because, truly, why would she miss out on all this to follow someone across the country just to make sure they didn't cheat?

Since then, the hospital had become more of a home to Maggie than the house did. She was a constant by Steve's bed, sometimes working on a random hobby to keep her hands busy and sometimes simply holding onto Steve's cold, clammy one, begging him to wake up soon.

She may have been the most consistent, but she wasn't the only one. All of the middle schoolers (who weren't quite so young anymore, were they?) stopped by when they could, more frequently now that school was out for the summer. Joyce Byers and Police Chief Hopper came by occasionally, who held Maggie's hand and promised everything would be okay. Steve was a fighter. Nancy Wheeler and Steve's new friend, Robin, would come by too. It took three times before Maggie had laughed and gently told them that they didn't have to hide around her, prompting them to tentatively hold hands on the other side of Steve's bed.

Maggie hadn't heard from Eddie since the phone call. The others kept saying he was coming, that he asked them how Steve was every time they left. He even asked how she'd been doing a few times, Robin said.

She supposed it was only fitting that he showed up on Mother's Day. He stood hesitantly in the doorway of the room, holding onto a bouquet of pink flowers. It took a few minutes for her to even notice, Maggie fully focused on brushing away some of Steve's hair off of his face and rubbing at his lower arms as if to protect the circulation there.

"Oh, honey, come on in," Maggie told Eddie the second she noticed, moving to the chair beside hers so Eddie could be nearest to Steve. "I'm sure Steve'll be so happy to hear your voice?"

"He can hear us?" Eddie asked, breath sounding a little wispy.

"I'd like to think so," Maggie said back. "The kids tell him all about their days. Did you know how much the one with the curly hair can talk?"

Eddie laughed at that, a small little noise that falls flat amongst the white walls. "You can't let Henderson talk without a time limit. I had to bring a Talking Stick to D&D meetings so he'd let everyone have a turn."

"The kids said you haven't been holding those, since...," Maggie fought not to glance up at the bed.

"I can't focus on anything like that," Eddie admitted. "It's Steve, you know? I don't think I can be happy until he wakes up."

"You can," Maggie promised, and her chest warms as the truth of her statement rings clear. "It's hard, and somedays it feels impossible. But it helps having the people who love him most around. Don't shut the kids out, Eddie, you need them as much as they need you."

"You don't get it," Eddie whispered, fingers tightening around the flowers enough to make the plastic holding them together crinkle. "If you knew, you wouldn't want me here."

"Never." Maggie turned in her chair to face Eddie, who looked so pulled taught he might snap at any extra tension. "Eddie, you will always have a place here. Steve loves you, so much, and you've become a part of this family. Family always has a place here, no matter what happened."

"He fucking sacrificed himself for me, the fucking prick," Eddie hissed, before snapping his head up at Maggie and blushing. "Sorry."

Maggie couldn't help the laugh that stuttered out of her, surprised at first but then solely amused. "No, no, I'll be saying the same when he wakes up. It sounds like my son has a tendency for self-sacrificing moves."

"He does, like he's some knight in shining armor or something," Eddie huffed, tugging his fingers through messy curls. "I thought I was gonna die, but then Steve was there. Maggie, I didn't want him to, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

Maggie wouldn't say she always had a good motherly instinct, but even to her it's obvious then to reach out for Eddie. The moment she brought him in for a hug, he collapsed against her. He hid his face in her shoulder like Steve used to when he was a kid, sobs so loud they hurt her ears as he clutched onto her shirt and wailed. She let him though, simply holding on and feeling her own tears crash through her body.

"It's okay, Eddie, it's not your fault. It's okay," she told him, "it's going to be okay."

It has to be, because Steve had finally found someone who loved him without expecting anything in return. Because she was just beginning to repair her relationship with her son. Because she had finally been looking forward to Mother's Day for the first time in years. Because Steve was an incredible young man, and she wanted to see everything he could accomplish.

Eddie and Maggie didn't speak much after the tears slowed. Eddie held onto Steve's hand and spoke in a low enough voice that Maggie could only pick up on every other word. She focused on her knitting, because maybe Claudia Henderson had a point that the hand movements were soothing.

And when Eddie stood up to leave, the most remarkable thing happened. He bounced on his feet nervously for a few seconds before holding the flowers out toward her. "These are, um, these are for you."

Maggie was sure she'd heard him wrong. "I'm sorry?"

"I just, I know it's Mother's Day and you have to be here," Eddie began. "You shouldn't have to be here. Steve was talking about taking you to lunch and some play in Indianapolis I don't know anything about. And you can't do any of that because he's here, and so you're here."

Eddie sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before starting again. "You've been a great mom to him, Maggie. You've been a great mom to me, and you don't have any reason to be. I was looking forward to being able to say 'thank you' today, 'cause I haven't really had a mom to be thankful for in awhile. So thank you, and I'm sorry you didn't get the celebration you deserve, Maggie."

Maggie was crying again, she's sure that had been her default for the past two weeks. Mother's Day. The boys had really planned a day for her, had really wanted to spend a day with her.

"Oh, Eddie, this is all I need," she told him honestly, hugging him once more. "You're my favorite future son-in-law, for the record."

Eddie laughed, wet around the tears that had reformed in his eyes. "Yeah, well, that's a steep competition, I'm sure."

"Thank you, Eddie," Maggie said instead, sure that there were no words that could adequately describe what she felt in that moment. "Thank you for being so good to him."

Eddie comes back every day after, usually with a small bag of meals that he and his Uncle Wayne had come up with to get him and Maggie through the visiting hours. They both would talk, sometimes to Steve but mostly to one another. She was thankful for the chance to get to know the person her son loved, the person Steve was willing to risk everything for.

And when Steve woke up a week later, they both cried together.

#steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #mama harrington #mrs harrington #stranger things #steddie headcanon #steddie ficlet #steddie blurb #tw hospitals #jay writes in theory

357 notes · View notes