eddie-mon-amour

[eddie-mon-amour]

Surprise!

Word Count: 869

Synopsis: Eddie doesn't usually celebrate his birthday, but his friends have other plans.

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Eddie never really celebrated his birthday. So, when Dustin asked him for a ride home that day, he didn’t really mind.

As they drove up to his house, Dustin didn’t make a move to get out of the car. “Dude, aren’t you gonna get out?” “Yes, right, of course I am. I just wanted to show you something really cool I found the other day.” “Well, what is it?” “It’s a surprise.” Eddie rolled his eyes at this, “Fine, but I’m only coming inside for a second.” 

When they open the door Eddie is surprised to see all of Hellfire, Nancy, Robin, Steve, Erica, Max and some of their parents and siblings standing in the Henderson’s living room. The room had been decorated with various colors of streamers and balloons. They all yelled “Surprise!” but surprise didn’t even begin to cover how Eddie was feeling. He felt his eyes well up with tears. To cover it up, he coughed. He chucked Dustin on the arm, “You organize this, kid” “Actually, even though it was my idea, everyone helped out” To put an end to the silence that had ensued Dustin and Eddie’s conversation, Robin yelled out, “Well, come on, let’s start the party already.”

As the party went on, Eddie couldn’t shake the overwhelming feeling of appreciation he felt for everyone in the room and for what they had done for him. That feeling only grew when he saw Mrs. Wheeler walk out of the kitchen holding a cake covered in candles. “Alright! Cake time,” she called out. As he sat down in front of the cake with everyone singing Happy Birthday, he felt that overwhelming feeling of appreciation for everyone again. He also noticed that Mike and Nancy’s younger sister, Holly, was staring at the candles. He tapped her shoulder, breaking her out of her trance, “Can you help me blow out the candles, I’m not sure I can do it by myself?” She nodded enthusiastically. He sat her on his lap as the song came to an end. He blew out half the candles while Holly blew out the rest. He sat her back on the floor and gave her a high five, “Nice job!” Eddie couldn’t remember a time he had been so happy.

While everyone was eating cake, Ms. Henderson walked up to Eddie. “Sweetheart, what time would you like to open your presents?” Eddie looked bewildered, “Presents?” “Yes, your birthday presents.” Eddie sat there in awe for a few seconds, they had thrown him a party, gotten him a cake, and bought him presents. He looked at his friends, “I don’t-I don’t know, guys when should I open my presents?” Dustin being Dustin answered, “Now! and you should open mine first.” Eddie looked back at Ms. Henderson, “Now, I guess, if that’s okay.” “Of course it is,” she said before calling out it was time for presents.

As he sat surrounded by gifts, he couldn’t help but feel excited. It had been so long since his birthday was more than just him and his uncle. As Eddie tore the wrapping paper off of Dustin’s present he saw an official Dungeon Master’s campaign journal, a step up from the composition notebook he had been using. As Eddie stared at the journal, Dustin broke the silence, “I noticed your notebook was getting full, so I figured it was about time for a new one.” Instead of saying anything he gave Dustin a slap on the back. After that he received several more gifts. Some new cassettes from Mike and Lucas, A VHS of Friday the 13th from Robin, that she swore she “bought” from Family Video, Steve had gotten him a new Judas Priest tee,Erica had gifted him some hand-painted D&D figures, Nancy had gotten him hair detangler, and Max had gotten him a giant pack of batteries for his walkman. He sat down the last gift and went to thank everyone. But, before he could get a word out, Ms. Henderson cut him off, “ We have one more gift, it’s from the moms.” She pulled a present from behind her chair and handed it to him. Eddie unwrapped the last gift and when he saw what it was, he was brought close to tears again. It was a quilt with the Hellfire logo on the front. His voice was quiet as he asked, “You guys made this for me?” Mrs. Wheeler answered, “Of course, honey, you’re a part of the family now.” At this, Eddie jumped up to pull the moms into a hug. “Thank you, so much. I feel honored to be considered a part of your guys’ family.”

After that the party slowly died down and people started to leave one by one. Until only a few people were left. Eddie stood up, “Well, I guess I better get home.” But Dustin stopped him, “Hey, man, we were gonna continue hanging out in Mike’s basement after this. If you wanna join.” Eddie looked at Mrs. Wheeler for confirmation that she was okay with him coming over. As she nodded, Eddie’s grin grew, “Alright, Henderson, what are we waiting for.” With that he gave Ms. Henderson a hug and gathered his stuff.

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