Love Is A Battlefield (A Stranger Things/Steve Harrington Fanfiction)

Bonus Chapter: Your Parents and Ours

Thanks @florflorflorestella for suggesting this idea! Again, I have no clue where we'll be going into Season 5, so I have no idea where we'll be with the continuation of storylines, but regardless...here is Steve with Baby Sara. :)

~~~Steve~~~

I woke up in the middle of the night and found that the space beside me was empty.

It wasn't exactly surprising, and I didn't even need to get out of bed to know where my wife had disappeared to, but...that wasn't going to stop me.

I yawned, pushing the blankets off of my body and walking out of the room. Something about the atmosphere of the apartment felt different. Maybe it was just the fact that this was the first night we'd spent in it in a week but...I think the real reason was that instead of two people coming home to the cozy two-bedroom apartment...we'd walked in that evening with three.

The door to the second bedroom, which had originally been intended for El, was propped open three inches. I lightly pulled it open, careful not to squeal the hinges, as I heard a hushed voice coming from inside.

"Shh, shh, shh, its alright, " Riley whispered, "It was just a bad dream. Mommy gets them too."

I slowly stepped inside, and Riley's head jerked up slightly at the movement. She was sitting in the rocking chair, our newborn baby girl cradled in her arms. She smiled as I leaned against the doorframe, folding my hands under my arms.

"I don't think babies have dreams." I whispered, "I read that in a book."

She raised her eyebrows at this.

"What book?"

"One of the parenting books." I said, nodding out to the ever-growing pile that was currently sitting on our coffee table.

"You read those?" She wondered. "On purpose."

"Yes, I read a book. You don't have to sound so surprised." I retorted, moving over to sit on the ottoman just beside the chair. "You do need to get some sleep though. You've been up with her every night for a week."

"I just can't help it," She said, rubbing her fingers over Sara's head, "If she needs me, I want to be here."

"I know," I said, putting a hand on her knee, "But she does have two parents."

"Aren't you tired?" She questioned. "You've been up for a week too."

"Yeah, but my job was easy. I just had to hold your hand and stay out of the way." I replied. "Come on, let me sit up with her for a bit. You know how your dreams get when you're overtired."

She nodded in agreement, staring at the baby for a long moment before leaning up in the chair. I sat forward too, letting her deposit the baby gently in my arms. She stood up and I took her place in the chair, leaning back and cradling her against my chest. I smiled, adjusting her blankets under her chin as Riley wrapped her arms around herself.

"Wake me up if you need me, ok?" She asked. I nodded.

"I will. I think we'll be ok though." She nodded and I grabbed her hand, pulling her down and pressing my lips against her forehead. "Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too." She yawned, leaving the nursery and closing the door behind her...once again leaving a three-inch crack, which allowed the light from the living room lamp to shine through into the dark room. I propped my feet up on the ottoman, turning my attention to Sara.

She was tiny. I mean, obviously, I knew babies were small, but she was way smaller than I was expecting. I put my finger beside her hand for comparison and she grabbed onto it, her tiny fingers barely able to wrap all the way around. I smiled.