DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME
The Mama & The Papas

Pregnancy can be a gift, to some women, it's an important part and goal in life for many but for Melissa Byers she didn't realise how much she needed to hear You are pregnant. Growing up with a single mother, she beared the world of responsibility on her young shoulders to help her mother raise Jonathan and will, it gave her a first hand account of what mothers willingly gave up for their kids.

She admired Joyce, she admired how her mom made sure to put her in the best and latest clothes even when working two jobs to pay for them. Give her the last two dollars, for a fair game at each of the Fourth of July events that rolled into their town of Hawkins each year.

It was the best memories she could tell people, a catalyst for her reason why she wanted to be a successful businesswoman. To give back to her mom. ( unknown to her Joyce had hidden the checks she would send, and not show any of them to Lonnie, under Milly's bed frame.)

On her way to the convenient store, Joyce was working at, Milly is cleaning her face from the tears which were previously left on her cheeks and a small smile graced her lips seeing Joyce in her check-out lane.

Joyce squealed, seeing it is Milly walk in with the overhead bell tolling, rushing around to greet her little girl. " It feels like I barely see you, no more, my baby girl! Oh I missed waking up and seeing you make your brother's breakfast, while I am sleeping. Come here, honey bunny." Joyce scattered kisses on Milly's face, squishing her cheeks, and Melissa laughed at the tingling sense of Joyce kisses. " You've been crying." She frowned at Milly's blood shot eyes. " Why are you crying, honey?"

How could Melissa tell her mom she's having a baby? That She is three months along? Joyce's support of hers and hoppers relationship had been nothing but positive but she did worry of the fact Joyce could secretly be concerned with how much of an age difference there is ( even if she didn't say if out-loud.) she could be over thinking, which she is great at. Melissa started breathing, in making the choice to take off her sweatshirt and the material of her tank top she layered under her shirt rose up. Joyce's widens her eyes at the small Bump.

It isn't the fact her daughter is pregnant, that startled her, it's the pulsating gooey veins on the outside of her girls tummy which disappear after light touches the surface of the skin. Milly frowned, at Joyce's reaction, while running a hand over on her pelvic area soothing the pain she feels. Thinking it's a normal part of the process of a baby growing in her belly. " You.. you're pregnant? H..How far long are you.. oh, my gosh, I'm gonna be a grandma! Oh my!".

Joyce covered her nose and mouth using her hands, she tenderly ran a finger around the spot on Melissa's stomach. " I'm two months in already, Mom. I don't know if I am having a boy or girl. I want to be surprised. You are the first, well second technically cause that Steve Harrington kid knows after I told him before, to know I am pregnant." Melissa explained, to Joyce before placing back on her sweatshirt, and she unconscious started to play with the hem of her shirt. " Jim.. he doesn't know, yet."

" Well, Honey. It's up to you, I don't wanna make the choice for you, when you tell hopper. But may I give you a little advice, as your mom and a woman?" Joyce guided Melissa to one of the stores benches which is opposite to a candy dispensary machine. She held her daughter by both hands. " if you are worried how hop will react, to you carrying that precious little gift in your belly, you and him should have an honest talk. The key to a healthy relationship is one of being uncomfortable and upfront with how you feel. They're about making compromises."

Melissa had her head down, listening to Joyce. Taking in her words feebly nodding and while her mom wiped her tears off she moved her leg to rest it over her other one.

" I'm sure hopper will love to hear the news about him having the second chance of being a father. He'll love this baby, honey. I just know he will. I know I am excited about becoming a granny. Though, Granny makes me sound old. I'll be called his or hers nanna." Joyce brings Melissa in for her famous hug, wrapping her arms tightly around Milly's shoulders holding her head.

" Whose baby are we talking about.. wait. Wait, Milly are you pregnant?" Bobs voice sounded in the store, he almost dropped the brown bag that a Bologna sandwich is in, his lisp became noticeable as he joyfully smiled.

" Congrats on your new baby, sweetie! Oh, how rude of me! I forgot to bring a second sandwich for you. Do you want my sandwich? Wait can you have the bologna? Is that bad for the baby to eat?"

Bob presses muttering a curse word, at the fact he completely forgot to get a meal for Milly as he said he would. He planned to visit Milly at her boutique, wanting to bring her lunch at her break time, and he forgot. Milly burst out in a fit of tears at how sweet Bob was being to her. Those darn hormones.

" I'm sorry! That wasn't meant to make you cry, Mel." Bob, worriedly, shot out hurrying to hug Melissa and it made her cry more. Lonnie wouldn't had been gentle like Bob. He'd call her a slut for sleeping with hopper and luckily for Milly Lonnie had moved out of Indiana. He was last seen, by hopper, evading Callahan and Powell for questioning about his outstanding warrants. He was gone for now. " Don't cry!"

Joyce smiles at the scene before her. Bob being kind to Melissa is what drew her to him. Milly, her girl, her only daughter. A mother won't let people know but their first born child holds a special place in their heart. And Melissa is her first baby, who made her a mom. How she did wish Abraham was alive to see how much their daughter grew up.

" I would like to take you out shopping, Mel! You know to buy you and the baby some new clothes! Yeah. After I'll take you to the mall, we can eat all the fries and drink some milkshakes til our hearts contend. How does that sound?"

Even with him knowing Milly has her own literal boutique, of clothes, he saw this as his chance to really bond with her. Jonathan was a hard kid to break through and will is always reserved, even with his own family, Bob saw it as a good opportunity to get know the real her.

" what do you say to getting a sugar rush and a day out at shopping, Mel? Yeah? You can have Kathy and Mandy join in on the fun! Bring em too!"

" I would love that, Bob. I'd love to do that with you."

Spending the day with Bob turned out great, it was therapeutic to do retail therapy and Milly couldn't turn down an offer to shop.

She isn't a fashion designer for the sake of creating things and wearing her own clothing-line. Katherine, Amanda and Melissa had to watch their budget with how they used their money. ( Despite the hundreds and thousands of dollars in Melissa's bank account ) Bob bought them a milkshake, or two, in the hours they spent at the mall. Now it was time to pick will up, she had become the designated driver for her mom when she didn't have time to get Jonathan and will from school— she knew full well Jonathan could drive home himself.

Kids were excused out of the classrooms and it didn't take long for Melissa to find Jonathan in the crowd. He is with Nancy wheeler, they are both in a deep conversation which made them not see her park her convertible adjacent to his car. Nancy is the first to see Milly and she gets off of the car, greeting Melissa by giving a long hug. Jonathan did the same. " Mel-Mel what're you doin here? I thought you'd be at the store until tonight. Not that I'm glad you are here."

Milly meekly shrugs.

Jonathan noticed Melissa is acting unusual, it was unlike her to be quiet this long and her smile vanished completely off her face. She isn't herself.

" Mom wanted me to pick will up, for his therapy appointment with doctor Owens. I hope to beat the rush hour, and I know fourth period is about to start. I see I was wrong." She said, looking around at the wave of middle schoolers across the street from Hawkins high. " I came here to tell you something important I learned this morning, Johnny."

" What is it, Mel's?" Jonathan asked, holding off the plan to visit RadioShack to see Bob, and Nancy had a good instinct this was something she would need to exclude herself out of. " Is it bad news? Good news? You're scaring me."

He got more anxious each time he spoke, worried for his sister's health. Nancy tilted her head at the sense of what it is, lightly smiling and her eyes twinkled. Jonathan's face morphed into a shocked, puzzled, stare at the realisation Milly is holding her stomach like she is cradling the most precious thing to her. " You're pregnant. Aren't you?" Nancy giggles at Jonathan giving his sister a tight squeeze, of a hug, mindful of how he used his strength.

" Congratulations, Milly! I'm so happy for you! I call being the cool aunt to him or her." Nancy claps her hands after pulling away from Milly.

" How did the chief take the news, Mel? Is he happy about becoming a dad, I bet he is! cause you and him are going to be parents!" Nancy's eyes gleamed happily. The wheelers were the most supportive, a genuine shock to the Byers as Ted and Karen were known to be Judgey to anything they found unorthodox in their mind, of Milly's love life and relationship with Jim.

" I haven't told hopper, Nance. Not yet, I'll tell him once I get the chance to this evening. If I can." Milly furrows her brows at the indistinct sound of vibrating flutters and coercing muster of words in her ear. She feels a trickle from her nose. Jonathan and Nancy watch as dark blood came out of Milly's nostrils, the last time that occur is when Eleven was using her powers to stop the Demogorgan. She wiped it cleaned off. " I don't want to keep will waiting." Melissa all but mutters, going back to her car.

Jonathan watches his sister drive off, her car wheels sending dust and smoke into the air as the ignition screeched to a start. Nancy crosses her arms, concern etching on her face visibly.

" I don't like how she looked, Jonathan. She... looked really pale and sick. Does pregnancy.. usually make you that deathly sick, and so.. I can't even finish my sentence."

She frowned. It was like Milly's life and soul is being siphoned out of her.

" I saw that too, Nance." Jonathan replied with a frown of his own.

Something tells him this is to do with the upside down all over again. But how could it be? Is the same thing that Will is having, happening to her too?

All those things, and worries, ran in his brain.

Milly walked into the halls of Hawkins middle school, kids gave double takes of an adult like her in a place of middle-schooler. She knew she is out of place amongst the children. Will hadn't come out at his usual time, so she took it upon herself to see what was going on. If she knows her brother, he hung out inside of the AV room Mr. Clarke during free period and he did it with Mike, Dustin, and Lucas.

Milly found Max mayfield pounding on the AV room's door, the party excluded her out of the intervention of Dustin's Pollywog discovery, it made feel sorry for max at how she is treated. Max, surprised at seeing Milly coming towards the AV room, paused her knocking.

" It's you. From Halloween night. I remember you, Milly right? Will said you are his sister? Can you tell your brother, and his idiot friends, to let me in cause I want to see that freaky animal Dustin has."

Max frustratedly said, kicking the door.

" Milly is here! Let her in. Let her in."

Melissa heard wills voice faintly say, urgently, before an arm attached to Dustin pulls Milly in and he's quick to slam the door on an irritated max who gave up trying to get it.

" Willy wonka what's up? You had me worrying there, when I didn't see you come out of the doors." Melissa said, coming around to will putting an arm on his shoulder. Lucas smiled, briefly, waving his hand shyly at Milly. Dustin and Mike both had been whispering about if they should tell Milly of Dart being found in the Henderson household trash bin. " Mind telling me what is going on, here, boys? Yeah?"

" Dustin found this really, and I mean really, slimy and disgusting alien-looking creature that looks exactly like a Pollywog but it hates any light source that goes on it. Whatever that means." Lucas explained, rushing out what he wanted to say, and Mike glared at Lucas like he had sold top-secret information to the highest paying bidder. " Sorry, Mike, dude. I can't keep secrets when it comes to.. comes to M-Milly."

" Yeah and will was telling us that he saw.. he saw something like dart last year." Dart? Milly blinked hearing the name. She was out of the loop with the new lingo kids these days made. " Dart is the name of Dustin's discovery, it's a long story of where the name came from, but I won't get into all of it right now."

Mike said, he has a strict No girls allowed rule when it came to the party and he is irritated Milly is there to begin with. He respected Melissa, she is after all wills sister, enough to ignore his own rules.

" Will heard it yesterday. The same sound."

The same sound. Melissa had a theory about the sound will heard, and if she is right she too heard it. " why didn't you tell me you heard it, will? I could have helped you."

Milly softly put her hand on his bowl-cut fringe and will take's her arm in his fingers.

" Remember I told you, to tell me, if there was anything even a little bit wrong you'd come to me."

" Wait. I just remembered something!" Dustin exclaimed, making Lucas and Mike flinch with how loud Dustin was. Dustin pointed at Milly, she cocked an eyebrow.

" You were in there as well! The upside down! Yeah, will he told us of you bravely going into the upside down to get him! Didn't you?"

Mike, Lucas, and will slowly turn to Melissa who craned her head at Dustin.

" Yes, that's right, Dusty. Why?" She asks while her face twitched at the sudden attention given to her and will's lips form a pouted expression. " What's swirling in your head, sweetie?"

" What if, while you were in the upside down and will was there as well, what if.. maybe he somehow acquired true sight? And you did.. as well? Dustin overheard Katherine telling Lucas and Mandy that you were acting strangely last night. Spacing out, like will. Jumping when the sprinklers turned on. Hearing things others do not. Like will." Mike stated, a realisation pools in his eyes with each point he made knowing it is a possible chance Milly could have Powers. If only he knew how right he is. " Milly, you're probably psychic like will and don't know it."

" True sight?"

Lucas pipes in, confused on the term and Melissa as well. She is averse to some d&d lore but her knowledge is limited. Dustin's words explained the true sight, making it easy to understand.

" it gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane."

" Elaborate."

" Maybe these episodes will, and Milly, keep on having aren't really flashbacks at all. Maybe.. they're real. Maybe both of them can see into the upside down."

Mike further stated, he was glancing back at Milly— noticing she is getting paler with time passing. She is clinging to will.

" So that would mean.."

" Dart is from the upside down."

Mike finished Lucas sentence. Will winces at the temperature of Melissa's hand, it's Freezing and it's as if it's losing the heat it should be. Melissa is blinking excessively every five seconds. The boys hadn't noticed except will, while Mike discussed Dart being taken to hopper. Will softly taps Milly on her left arm.

" No, No. if we take him to hopper, he's good as dead. Milly knows how much chief don't like things out of the ordinary! How do you think he is going to take seeing dart?! Are you nuts?"

" Maybe he should be."

" How could you say that?"

" How can you not? He's from the upside down Dustin."

Mike and Dustin debated, Well argued, about if the chief of police would take to seeing Dart while oblivious to Melissa's fast deteriorating physical condition.

Milly sat down on the VHS cabinet, placing her head between her hands. Will became disturbed, by how fast the colour of Melissa's skin changes to a staunch tone of grey.

" Guys! Stop! Stop arguing, please! Look at Milly!" Will cries out. Dustin, Lucas, and Mike all stopped talking staring in fright at Melissa's appearance. " what is happening to her? Milly! Are you there? Milly! Talk to me, please!"

Dart bangs himself around Dustin's Halloween ghostbuster costume power pack, itching to be released, and his unearthly squeaks and growl startled the boys. Mike grabbed a microphone connected to a communication box. " Please, don't hurt him, Mike." Dustin said, despite the thing wanting a taste for human flesh.

He goes to reach for the microphone but Mike snapped at Dustin to open the power pack. Will stands protectively, in front of a rocking Melissa, with his face contorting in a scared expression as it revealed a New mutated dart. He had turned green, and had evolved into an angrier vicious thing. The boys mumbled their own 'Holy shit' when dart sprouted legs out of his stomach. He bared his pin-like needle teeth at the party, a snarling sound came out of him.

Mike did a war cry, aiming the microphone at dart but Dustin jumped at the chance to stop darts execution and made Mike miss.

Dart did a sniff of the air, scurrying to catch the scent it could smell, his flared talons squelching from his repetitive motion of running as he made a turn to Melissa.

He recognised her.

Mike had a great idea of swinging the microphone to make dart go away and it worked, dart hisses while it swooshes an inch away. The door to the AV room opens up and dart runs at max, and she shuffled herself out of the room staring in disbelief at Dart, while Dustin screamed out to dart.

Will didn't leave Melissa behind letting Mike, Dustin and Lucas run after dart arguing about who was dumber. Max came into the room, about to ask why the party hadn't let her in, but stops seeing Milly still had her head which hung low. Her eyes out of sight.

" .. What's up with her?" Max asked, staring at Milly's hands.

Her Veins were appearing translucent, dark. It took will a second to answer, while he checked his radios frequency to communicate with the party. " I don't know, it's scaring me. Melissa is never like.. this. I've never seen her in this kind of state." Will is on the verge of crying. Dustin, Lucas and Mike spoke all at once about where in the school they were.

" The south is clear. I am here with Milly, her condition is really not good, guys. I'm really scared for her."

Max sat next to Melissa, ducking her head and peaking under Milly's long brunette locks. Her hands were blocking her eyes. Max pried both of her cold hands away, she nearly loses what composure she had at how Melissa's eyes were void black. Her eyes are no longer a warm light brown. " Okay, I'm officially more weirded out, than i am now. Will, your sister's eyes they are real freaky." Will snaps his neck to where Milly sat, seeing max back off out of the room after a few seconds goes by and she mumbled about going to help look for dart. " That is scary."

Milly is mumbling incoherence, while listening in slinks closer to his sister and trying to make sense, understand, Melissa. She eerily turned her head up to stare at will.

It's not Melissa. It wasn't his sister.

Will, intimidated at how menacing Melissa did  look, backs his body up to the rows of VHS tape recordings which rocked when he hits the shelves.

Her face is blank, as she rose up with a tilt of her head, and he stared frightened as she went out of the room at a full speed sprint.

He gathered enough of what little courage, he had, to run after his sister yelling frantically for her.

In Melissa's mind a thick vapour of dark mist relentlessly chases her, it's ghastly groans and unearthly screams begging for her to give in to its control, and Milly ran for her life in the middle schools hallways. She desperately yells for anyone that could hear her but no one did.

" Milly! Milly! Stop! Don't let it control you."

" Milly! Please, you gotta listen to me! Don't let the mind-flayer in."

" Milly!"

" Milly!"

The mind-flayer emerges out of the alternate world version of Hawkins's middle school, the sentient tendrils whirring with pulses of dark matter. Melissa, worn down and sweating to a worrying degree, gazed up at the looming monstrous storm of nightmares. Wills voice is keeping her grounded. She feels her eyes open wider with rage.

" You won't win, HENRY." It snarls at her furiously, as if her words had an effect on it. " I won't let you hurt my family. Or my baby."

Her palms frizzled, she could feel her powers increasingly slipping and her palms shook as she kept them clamped.

" Go away. Go away!" Her voice grows louder and louder. " Leave! Me! Alone!" The mind-flayer's claw creeped in to her face, inch by inch it got closer. Like the creature wanted to take her. " I said LEAVE." Her palms opened releasing the energy which built up. She did a full on battle cry and push both hands out, at the dark matter tornado it created, hearing its anguish howls of pain in response to her onslaught of power pulses.

She could feel herself getter weaker, with how much of her power she is using and knowing she is reaching her limitations ( she didn't know how to be in control of her powers, she was never taught how to.)

she pathetically let herself cry, thinking this will be her last time to fight and stay alive. It motivates Milly and she pushes her palms outwards more.

Melissa's guttural, sickening, scream is heard by Joyce as she ran to the sports field towards Milly kneeled over. Dustin, Lucas, max, Mike and will all joined Joyce. Scared for Melissa's life. Will is now full on sobbing at the sight of his sister in agony. Joyce shook her daughter's shoulder, violently, while shushing Milly.

" Milly! Baby! Baby! Honey it's me, Mommy. I need you to wake up, baby. Mommy needs you back to her! MILLY!"

JASMINE SPEAKS;

Oh no, what happened to Melissa?? That girl is a true fighter! And she is always going through a whole lot of trouble/ Nonsense each chapter.

( I know, I'm evil for putting her through it.)

I changed this up for this book. Surprised? The way I was going to do the canonical route but I wanted to make a twist and did it was Melissa who is possessed. What did you think of it??

( Well technically will and Milly are both under the mind-flayer's possession, so yeah. That will be mentioned in the chapter after this one. )

I love will, Johnny, and Milly's relationship so much.

Her whole dynamic with her family in general.