New Fic: Twofer

[jackwabbit]

Twofer

Fandom: Stranger Things
Rated: G
Category: Ficlet. Friendship, family. Max and Eleven. Implied mild Jopper.
Time Frame: Any time after season two.
Spoilers: Stranger Things, season two.
Summary: In which Eleven gets a much better deal than Max.
Word Count: 272 

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“So, let me get this straight,” said Jane, pinning Max down with her eyes as they shared a basket of fries at the arcade while the boys played games. “Billy’s dad married your mom after your mom and your real dad broke up.”

Max nodded. “Divorced.”

“Right, divorced,” repeated Jane. “So now Billy’s dad is your stepdad and Billy is your step brother.”

“Correct,” said Max, trying to be patient with Jane’s efforts to understand family dynamics and expand her vocabulary now that she spoke mostly like a normal kid.

“So if Hopper ever gets married…” mused Jane. She didn’t complete her thought, so Max tried to.

“You’d get a stepmom.”

Jane nodded. “OK. What about…stepbrothers? Or sisters?”

Max shrugged. “Would depend on if she had any other kids before.”

“That seems… complicated.”

“Believe me, it is,” mumbled Max.

“And what if…”

“What?”

“What if mine was like yours?”

Max blinked and just stared at Jane for a minute before she got it. “You mean, like Billy?”

Jane nodded, with an odd mixture of fear and anger in her eyes.

Max laughed out loud.

“What?” asked Jane defensively. “He’s not very nice. And what if?”

Max cut her off with a wave of one hand.

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Why not?”

Max glanced over at the Galaga machine, where the rest of their usual party plus their older siblings were gathered, then looked back at Jane.

“Cuz if you ever get a stepbrother,” she said clearly, “you’ll get two. And they’re both pretty awesome.”

Just then, Jonathan whooped after Will cleared a level, and Jane decided Max was right.