A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROSIE KNOLES! I hope you have a great day filled with laughs and love, just like El did. This was going to be a chapter in my Stranger Things Prompts story, but it got long and I think that called for a stand alone fic. Mike's present is kind of cliché, but that is one of my favorite clichés ever, and if my boyfriend ever got that for me I would marry him in that second. Awkward-happy-birthday-song-smile for everyone who reviews and F/F! Love to everyone, and Happy Birthday again, Rosie! I hope you enjoy this present :)
"What's a birthday party?" El asked her curiously as she colored a seahorse in Will's coloring book.
Joyce paused her stirring, the spoon stilling inside the coffee mug. "Uhmm," what's a good explanation for little girls who have no idea what a birthday is because they've been locked inside a lab to have cake? "When it's your birth day, you get a party where you celebrate getting another year of life."
El furrowed her eyebrows as she switched to yellow. "How do you celebrate it?"
Joyce carried her mug to the table and sat down next to El, careful of not touching the various crayons spread out on the surface. "Well, you invite your friends, family and the people you like. You put some colorful things on the walls so they look pretty..."
"Like balloons?" El asked her as she stopped her coloring to give her all of her attention.
"Yes," Joyce smiled. "Like balloons. And streamers. You get yummy food and a cake with candles to signify how many years you're turning. And your guests bring you presents."
"Presents?" El asked her with wide eyes.
"Yes. The ones wrapped with pretty paper and a little bow on top."
"That sounds so pretty." The younger brunette sighed wistfully as she returned to her coloring.
Joyce stared at her for a few seconds more, before she got up from the table and returned to the kitchen to keep herself busy.
When Hopper returned from work, she cornered him in the shed, startling him out of his mind as she appeared rather suddenly.
"Jesus, woman!" He panted, hand on his chest as he leaned against the wall. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry," Joyce grimaced as she closed the door of the shed. "But I needed to talk to you without El hearing us."
"Why? Is something wrong?" He asked her, more concerned now.
"No, not really." She answered as she took a flash light and fiddled with it.
"Then, what's going on in that beautiful head?" He asked her softly, coming closer and taking her face between his hands. He leaned in and kissed her gently, savoring the peacefulness of the moment.
"El asked me what a birthday party was." Joyce told him once they broke the kiss.
"Did she?" Hopper asked with raised eyebrows as he leaned back against the table and pulled her into his arms.
"Yes, and it made me think... when is her birthday?"
Hopper sighed, looking up for a few seconds before his eyes swung back to hers. "I don't know."
"You don't know?" She frowned.
"The papers I have of her don't say anything about the day she was born; and given what El told me about what Terry and Becky Ives showed her, it seems like there was no register of her being born."
"Oh my god," Joyce gasped softly. "But, in the adoption paper Owens gave you... it didn't say anything about her birthday? Her age?"
"It states that she was born in 1971, but it doesn't say what date exactly." Hopper shrugged.
"The poor thing," Joyce frowned again with a sad pout. "Hop, we have to give her a birthday!"
"When?" He asked amusedly.
"This Saturday," Joyce exclaimed with sudden clarity. "The kids don't have school, you have your off-day and I can get Donald to give me the day off, too!"
"February 10th," Hopper hummed for a few minutes, before nodding, much to Joyce's excitement. "We have a party to plan, then.
"Yay," The petite woman clapped, her childish action making Hopper laugh. "She's going to love it!"
.
.
.
On Saturday late-morning, Jonathan convinced El to ride with him to the store, the girl blissfully oblivious to the fact that the tomatoes and cheese they were buying was for the spaghetti that it would be served at her party.
Somehow, they managed to keep Eleven busy the whole day; with Jonathan inviting her to improvised trips and runs-to, Will making her color with him in Castle Byers to avoid her walking out to the living room and seeing the whole ensemble Joyce had put Hopper to hang around the walls.
The other kids had been informed that this was a surprise party, so El had only gotten a morning call from Mike in Will's Supercom; he had avoided talking to her for long because he felt like his excitement would somehow show through the walkie-talkie and she would find out about her party. Will had been making sure none of the others told her a thing, nearly numbing Max's wrist when the girl had almost hinted about the party on Thursday while they had been having lunch at school, and managing to keep Dustin away from his sister at any time ("Do not leave her alone with him." He had told the Party as Dustin grumbled in the back of Steve's car once the older boy had taken the girl inside for some ice cream, leaving them all inside because 'You little shits need to learn some manners from her').
"No, Hopper!" Joyce exclaimed exasperated, leaving the noodles in the sink to rinse later, walking towards her boyfriend who was tangled inside a net of lights. "You need to guide yourself from one end to the other!"
"I know how to put Christmas lights on, Joyce." He frowned, a little insulted as she took the tangled bundle from his hands.
Joyce had everything planned out.
The decorations would consist in a pretty string of white lights on the walls (nothing like the previous craziness of 1983), a few silver streamers hanging from the ceiling (held in place with tape), a 'Happy Birthday!' banner and some pink balloons around the house.
The spaghetti recipe her grandma had lent her once upon a time would finally make an appearance, and the vanilla cake that she had tricked El into choosing would be delivered by Karen Wheeler.
Sodas and junk food would be gifted by Steve Harrington, who somehow had managed to weasel his way in into the party plans.
El's present was stashed away in her closet, and Joyce was nearly vibrating with excitement as she returned to her spaghetti-making; everything would be perfect for El's first birthday party.
A few hours later, when El had accompanied Jonathan for another trip to the store (this time for Eggos, which El had to absolutely pick because Hopper always gets only the plain ones) Karen and her little band of Wheelers arrived at the Byers (née Hopper, unofficially) house, a growing-taller-by-the-day Mike carrying the cake in both arms while Nancy carried 3 wrapped presents.
"Here, sweetie." Joyce ran to make space on the counter top, Mike sighing in relief once his arms were free of the heavy dessert.
"Where is she?" Karen asked her with a smile as Ted entered, carrying a curious Holly in his arms.
"Jonathan took her to get something from the store. We've been keeping her out of the house for the whole day." Joyce laughed as Will came out of his room, dressed in a pair of nice jeans and a red sweater.
"Oh, El's present is here." He smiled teasingly as he spotted Mike.
"Shut up." The Paladin answered in a heartbeat as his face flushed, making the mothers present laugh endearingly.
As Lucas and Dustin arrived, along with their mothers (and sister), and Max was dropped off, Mike started getting anxious. What if she didn't like his present? Maybe it was too stupid and she would laugh at him. No, El wouldn't do that, he kept reminding to himself as his friends discussed what El's reaction to the whole Party would be.
"She's totally gonna pop a balloon with her mind. She's going to be so excited." Lucas said as he munched on a chip from the bowl in the coffee table.
"Yeah, what a great way of showing her powers to your mothers." Steve snorted from the couch as he heard the kids' conversation, throwing a pointed look at the women in the kitchen.
"Nobody would suspect it was her," Will said logically as he drank from a cup of Sprite. "Balloons pop on their own sometimes."
"Yeah," Dustin nodded. "Scared the shit out of me when I was a kid."
"She's here." Holly said quietly from her place in the window as she inspected a car coming through the lone road; but being so small in a room full of talkative people, nobody heard her.
Until a beep from Jonathan's car made the room erupt in silence.
"She's here!" Hopper yelped suddenly, closing the curtains again and channeling a 6 year old as he ran with Holly to hide behind the table.
"Everyone hide!" Lucas exclaimed, sitting down on the floor next to Max as Dustin clasped Will's hand in excitement. Mike followed his friends and crouched down next to the coffee table, while Steve threw himself down on the couch, his sneakered feet hanging from the arm of it.
"Shh, everyone, shh!" Nancy hissed as Erica giggled in her palm, squished in the kitchen with all the moms and Ted, who had wandered inside when he spotted food.
Jonathan's voice was heard, mixing with El's as both siblings chatted while they made their way into the house.
Joyce's heart thumped frantically in her chest when the door creaked open, and she felt a wide smile tug her lips when her daughter's foot stepped inside.
"SURPRISE!" Everyone yelled as El entered the house.
The startled girl froze in shock in the doorway, her wide eyes taking in the room full of people while Jonathan chuckled amusedly behind her.
"What's going on?" She asked with a confused smile as everyone stood up/came out of their hiding spot.
"It's your birthday party, sweetie!" Joyce smiled, hugging the girl to her chest as she dropped a kiss on her curly hair.
El gasped, her eyes going wide again as she turned in her step-mom's arms, taking in for the first time the decorations in the room. "Balloons and streamers." She mumbled in awe as she inspected the house.
Everyone came to congratulate the birthday girl, giving her hugs and kisses, presents thrusted in her arms as she grinned widely, enjoying the whole thing.
Once she was safely inside and the entrance thing was over, the moms returned to the kitchen to help Joyce serve the food, Hopper handing plates out.
Ted sat down on the table and engaged Steve in a chat about the boy's future and 'why did you and Nancy break up? Much to the older boy's awkwardness and to the younger pre-teens entertainment.
"Man, look at him," Dustin laughed as he swallowed a forkful of spaghetti. "He needs some serious help."
"Nancy, go save him." El told the older girl as they all sat down around the coffee table.
"Why me?"
"Uh, cause that's your ex and your father?" Max said as Steve threw desperate looks in their way.
Nancy sighed, handing her plate to Mike as she stood up and went to save her ex-boyfriend from her dad.
"Are you enjoying your party, El?" Dustin asked her as the girl chewed her food.
She nodded happily. "I love it. I never had one before, but this is the best party ever."
They all smiled fondly at her, Will leaning in to side-hug her as Mike twirled a lock of her hair around his finger.
They sang happy birthday to her, watching as she smiled awkwardly to all of them as they all watched her, and then she blew the candles with a serene face, making her wish while they all clapped.
Karen's cake was a success, all of them chewing happily as the soft concoction and the sugary icing melted in their mouths; Max, Dustin, Claudia, Jonathan, El and Hopper getting double servings.
Then it was time to open the presents. They crowded around the living room, El sitting down on the couch to unwrap the colorful boxes and bags with eager fingers, Jonathan capturing everything with clicks of his camera.
She received clothes from Lucas' and Dustin's moms, all colorful and pretty; a pair of ankle boots from Mike's mom and dad, along with a lip-gloss from Holly because the little girl wanted to give El her own present; Nancy gifted her a jean jacket and a book about a poor boy who finds a new world inside a chocolate factory, which she promised El would love; Jonathan gave her Michael Jackson's album, Thriller, which he had been meaning to get her to listen, and a stack of poker cards ("So you can play something else besides D&D with these nerds." He said fondly as he eyed the boys, Will's face growing into an excited grin as he was the only one who knew how to play with them); she got a bitchin' pair of aviators from Steve, along with a pair of jeans which he insisted Nancy had not helped him buy.
Max gifted her a pair of earrings ("You just need his permission and I'll totally take you to get your ears pierced." The redhead whispered as they threw a glance in Hopper's direction) and a funny gift card from Melvald's, which made her laugh a lot; Dustin gifted her his own well-cared-for first few editions of Uncanny X-man ("Are you sure, Dustin? I know you love these." She asked with a light frown as she looked down at the colorful comics in her hands. "I can always get them again, Jeany." He told her fondly, reaching out to mess her hair with a big smile), an insight of the reason for his Jean Grey nickname to her; Lucas' gift was a pink-wrapped box, which she later found contained movies like The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and E.T, along with a stuffed toy of her favorite extraterrestrial being ("You're welcome, El." He'd laughed when she leaped out to hug him tightly, squealing around him as she clutched a small E.T in her right hand).
Will had gifted her a scrapbook, filled with sketches of herself, the boys, Max and her family, all in colorful strokes of his artistic fingers. Half the book's pages were blank, waiting for her to color them with her new box of crayons that came along with the scrapbook. Her brother had put so much thought on it, that she couldn't help but feel the tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, burying them against Will's red sweater. Hopper's present took her outside, which confused her a little, but then she actually shrieked when a bike with a giant pink bow was leaning against Joyce's car ("Full on happy!" she mumbled against Hopper's chest when he hugged her); then her step mom had gotten out of her room holding a medium sized box, a sparkly purple ribbon tied around it.
"Open it," Joyce encouraged as the girl looked up with a tentative smile. "I want to see if you like it."
El wasted no time, tearing the wrapping paper off and then opening the sides of the box, gasping when an antenna poked out.
"It's a Supercom!" She squealed excitedly, pulling the walkie-talkie out as the boys gasped behind her.
"So you can talk with your friends. Now, you can stop using Will's. You like it?" Joyce grinned, biting her lip nervously as the brunette girl inspected he present with curious eyes and tweaking fingers.
A hug was her response. "Thanks, mom." The girl mumbled quietly against her chest, and Joyce's heart sped up in happiness, kissing the girl's head with a big smile as she fought back emotional tears. "You're welcome, sweetie."
After a few hours, the party was winding down. Mrs. Sinclair threw pointed looks in her son's direction, but Lucas was oblivious to his mom's tiredness as they all continued to play with El's new stack of cards, Will shuffling them as they played Go Fish.
"Lucas," Mrs. Sinclair finally broke down, crouching down to catch her son's attention as Erica began dozing off on the couch. "Time to go, honey."
"Mom!" He groaned. "Another hour!"
"Your sister is tired, and so am I," she said, giving him a sympathetic shrug. "C'mon, say goodbye."
Lucas sighed, and as he went around giving kisses to the mothers' cheeks and good-naturally shoves to his friends (except for a soft touch to a certain redhead), the Party began to dissolve.
"Everything really was delicious, Joyce." Claudia Henderson smiled, squeezing the petite woman's arm as Steve twirled his keys around his fingers by the door, and Dustin teased Max one last time before the redhead got in Lucas' family car.
After only the Wheelers remained, getting ready to leave as well, El's mind drifted to a certain boy who had notoriously not given her a present yet.
"El?" The object of her greatest affections called to her.
"I'll give you guys some space." Will smiled mischievously, walking towards the dining table where Holly was putting his crayons away, as Mike took El's hand and guided her outside.
"Did you have a good time?" Mike asked her softly once they were standing on the porch.
"Yes," she smiled, looking up at him with bright eyes as she fingered the blue bracelet around her wrist. "Everything was perfect."
"I'm glad," he smiled back, shifting on his feet, and it was then that El noticed the wrapped present in his grasp. "I, uhmm, wanted to give you this in private."
Her eyes widened curiously, taking in the shape of the circular box and the silver patterns on the soft pink paper as he got closer and peered down at her with dark eyes and long eyelashes.
"This is for you," He murmured, handing her the present. "I really hope you like it," he continued, hands twisting together nervously as he watched her tear the paper apart eagerly. "Because I had a really hard time finding one, and I wanted it to match them perfectly, so when I saw it..." he sighed, looking at her with a lopsided smile, and she now understood what Hopper was taking about when he said Mike got 'heart eyes' when he looked at her. "I just knew it was for you."
She looked into his eyes for a few beautiful seconds, their smiles matching each other's as the air shifted with the love they hadn't voiced out yet, and she tore her eyes from him to look down at the gift in her hands, Mike taking the wrapping paper from her when she finally took it off, and then she gasped softly when the open lid revealed what was inside.
A beautiful, silver chain bracelet rested snugly against a soft little black cushion, the dark velvet fabric making the jewelry stand out in the obscure night. She touched the bracelet, cold metal against her fingertip, tracing the little charms clasped to the looped ovals.
"This is for the first night we met," he whispered, touching a tiny tree-shaped charm, the tender moment needing the gentle whispering, and she smiled, remembering the night he took in a stranger girl from the woods. "This one," He continued, touching a circular shaped charm, the front of it looking rough with lines cutting through the middle. "Is supposed to be a quilted purse, but I liked it because it looks like an Eggo."
"It does." She laughed softly, fingering said charm as Mike's warm breath puffed gently against her face.
"This," he touched a tiny bike, and a smile broke out in her face because she knew what it meant. "Is for the boys; but don't tell them I included them in my present, or else I'll never hear the end of it," they shared a laugh, their gazes lost in each other's again for a few seconds before Mike touched another charm. "This one's for your Mama," he murmured gently, and a pang erupted in her chest as a small sunflower was lifted by Mike's fingernail. She felt wetness pool under her eyelids, and Mike's soft kiss against her forehead helped her to contain them. "This one's for your family," he murmured with a smile, watching her chuckle wryly at the little silver house dangling from a loop. It reminded her more of the cabin than the Byers' actual home, but the cabin made her think of Hopper, and Hopper made her think of Joyce, and Joyce of Will and Jonathan, so it really did remind her of her family. "And this one," he smiled nervously, finger shaking as he touched the last charm on the bracelet. "Is for me."
Her eyebrows rose, her interest highly peaked as he shifted on his feet again. She threw him a curious look, smiling amusedly as he looked back with his bottom lip between his front teeth, and then she looked down to inspect the shapely heart that was front and center.
It was smooth, almost flat to the touch, and she smiled softly with warmth when she turned the heart around and a little 'M' was engraved into the otherwise smooth surface. Yes, she agreed to herself, he was definitely a heart in her life-bracelet.
"I didn't know if it would be too cheesy, but I just couldn't help myself," he admitted with a light grimace as he clasped the bracelet around her wrist, the charms making a tingling sound as they moved around in the air. "And so you wouldn't be alone," he lifted the sleeve of his striped sweater to show his forearm. "I got you on my wrist, too."
Her eyes glistened again as she held her gift box in one palm, and reached out to trace the tan leather around his wrist, smiling lopsidedly as her fingers traced the 'E' carved inside his own little silver heart. Her chest tightened with warmth, and affection, and love; she knew what love meant, and in that moment she decided it was love she felt for Mike.
"Mike," she breathed in, tears threatening to fall from her doe eyes as she became overwhelmed by her present, what it meant, by how much thought he had put in every charm, by how she was wrapped around his wrist, too, and by her immense feelings for him. "This must've costed you a fortune."
"Kind of," he murmured with a sheepish smile, his eyes sparkling in the darkness of the night. "But you're worth it, El."
Her chest tightened again, and she could only breathe shakily as he closed the space between them, their foreheads resting together as their eyes stared deeply into each other's.
"Did you like it?" He murmured, his nose rubbing against hers in a soft exchange.
"Yes," she whispered enchanted. "I love it. I love it, Mike."
"I'm glad. I was worried it would be too ridiculous and cheesy." He admitted with a self-conscious smile.
"Nothing about you will ever be ridiculous, Mike Wheeler." She murmured as their noses continued to bump together, their Eskimo kiss making her heart flutter.
"Happy birthday, El." He smiled, eyes a rich charcoal, and then she couldn't see anything else; because she was closing her eyes as they kissed.
His lips moved softly against hers, barely brushing them as they basked in the feeling of being together, of being alone outside, of being here and in love and happy.
Everything was perfect, and if this is what birthday parties ended like, El wanted to keep celebrating them until she was 100 years old.