Chapter Text
If you had told him that he was going to discover the career he was meant for through monster fighting, Steve would have been completely disbelieving before his junior year, but after, he would have probably just shrugged or sighed, considering he’d found himself in so many over ways because of monster fighting.
Of course, it didn’t happen overnight. He didn’t wake up the morning after Vecna died and know what he was going to do for the rest of his life. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Despite the constant trauma of monster fighting, once the dust settled and the Upside Down could no longer affect their world, Steve felt lost. It didn’t help that Robin left for college the following August. Unlike Nancy, who was more determined than ever to go to Emerson, Robin very seriously considered deferring university for a year or not going at all. It took the combined efforts of everyone in their crew to convince her to go. Steve was of course included in that, as he wanted his best friend and platonic soulmate to live life on her terms, but admittedly, the departure cut into Steve like a knife.
But, slowly, Steve was nudged into carving out a life for himself. Steve took care of his kids, but as they matured and their traumas became more distant, they pushed Steve. Despite being cleared of all wrongdoing, Eddie left before Nancy and Robin, since he’d been forced to complete his degree with Hawkins High through correspondence and had departed directly after getting his diploma (it was recommended he not actually show up to walk the stage at graduation) to pursue his musical career since Corroded Coffin broke up. Yet, on his occasional calls, Eddie was insistent on how much he thought Steve would enjoy city life. Credit went to Jonathan of all people for Steve’s first major step. He had decided to stay at home with his family, but he had compromised with Joyce by attending a community college a few towns over. Once he was there, he quickly manipulated Steve into attending as well. Steve hadn’t expected to get a degree, and it was hard work, but in what felt like no time at all, suddenly he had an Associate degree. It was more than he had ever expected back when he was eighteen and had been rejected by every school he had applied to.
And that had been the start of what had led him to here and now: sitting with a coffee in his penthouse apartment looking over the portfolio from his next potential clients. At times, it was wild to him that he made enough money to have a city penthouse apartment in a very similar role to the way he used to look after The Party. But Steve was a nanny for high-profile (usually celebrity) clients, and they paid him for overtime, odd hours, and discretion, in addition to his skills.
A lot of people he used to know, including and especially his parents, would likely scoff to hear that he was a nanny, but Steve loved it. There had been periods where he had had several part-time clients, and times where he had been a live-in nanny for a single family. He had originally gotten into the gig while he had been pursuing his Bachelor’s, and had corralled some seemingly-unattended kids in public one day, as he often did, only to find out that this time, their parents were recognizable faces. As it turned out, it was hard for high-profile parents to find suitable caregivers that they trusted not only to care for their children but to not flaunt their family and threaten their privacy and safety, or manipulate or steal from the parents for their own fifteen minutes of fame. At first, it was more like babysitting than nannying, but as skills and responsibilities increased, so did pay and status. Some of his clients had even chipped in to help him pay off his education, and his major had gone from Undecided to Child Development. While his clientele had shifted often, Steve was still pen-pals with most of the kids formerly under his care. And the more clients he had, the more he was introduced to, and the more Steve Harrington became known as a name of someone trustworthy and professional.
Which was great, because Steve loved his work. He spent his hours on the job taking care of kids, which he had been doing since his previous career as a monster hunter. His child clients all either attended school or had private tutors, so Steve only had to worry about their socioemotional education and occasionally homework, which was far less daunting than the idea of being a teacher that Nancy and some of The Party had tried to push him into. He got to keep kids safe and make sure they grew up with someone in the home that they knew loved them and saw them as a priority, make sure that they weren’t alone.
He got to make sure other kids didn’t grow up the way he did.
Neglected and unwanted.
And now, he sat in his apartment, drinking coffee and once again vetting the client that was interviewing him later that day. The husband was a drummer in a band that had started as a metal band but had shifted to more of a hard rock sound when they saw that the wind was blowing in the direction of the grunge scene. The wife was a fairly well-known actress that seemed to be rising in popularity. They had been co-parenting and sharing responsibilities well previously, but as their careers boomed, they had an increase in commitments that took them both away from home, and they wanted to make sure that their children had a stable and reliable figure to fill in the gaps. There were three children: a pair of eight-year-old boy-girl twins and their four-year-old younger sister. The more Steve read the provided information, the more he liked the family, which had happened every time he had gone over the portfolio. He had to be careful though, because if he landed the position, they would be his primary clients. His most recent clients were parting ways with Steve, since two of the families were moving and the third was adding a new member to their family so both parents would be home and focused on parenting in the imminent future. If this didn’t turn out to be a good fit after he took the job, that would have shitty consequences for Steve.
But for now, he had an interview to focus on. Steve chugged the last of his coffee and headed off to get cleaned up. He usually dressed in casual clothes he could be active in on the job, but he made an effort to dress more formally for interviews. Plus, even if he had adjusted his hairstyle slightly for 90s fashion, his hair routine was still extremely important to him. So, he went through his routines, because looking like your best was half the work of seeming like the best. It was a lesson he learned long ago, thanks to King Steve.
Once he was ready, he stepped out into the small floor lobby and locked his penthouse door before taking the elevator down to the garage. He’d upgraded his Beemer a few years back and gave his old one to El for her birthday that year. He taught her how to take care of it, and cars became a bit of a hobby for El since then. Dustin had felt a little passed over for not getting Steve’s old Beemer, but it wasn’t like Claudia Henderson hadn’t bought Dustin a car for his sixteenth birthday once he could drive legally. Steve didn’t tend to miss his car or anything like that, but as he slid behind the wheel of his current car, he did acknowledge that he didn’t feel the kind of safety in this car that he felt in the car he’d used while protecting his kids and fighting the Upside Down.
Lucky for Steve, his potential new bosses, Joey Dean and Gracie Martin, were hosting the interview at their home and it was just across the city. He let music blare through the speakers as he contended with urban traffic, the greatest battle he fought these days.
The house he arrived at was more or less a mini-mansion, and it was reminiscent of the house he grew up in. Steve stuffed that down as he parked and headed up to the house.
Gracie Martin answered the door. She was a gorgeous blonde-haired blue-eyed woman in her early 30s, and could definitely pull off the “America’s Sweetheart” kind of appearance if she wanted to. She smiled at the sight of him. “Good morning, Steve! Come on in!”
“Thanks, Mrs. Martin, you have a beautiful home,” Steve complimented as he entered, and then shook her hand after she closed the door behind them.
“Oh, no need for that, call me Gracie,” the woman demurred as she led him into a study-type room. “Make yourself comfortable while I’ll grab Joey, he’s practicing, musicians, you know?”
Steve briefly wondered if this was a tactic to test his nerves or his manners, but Gracie was back quickly with her husband. Joey Dean was equally attractive, but in more of a bad boy way, with curly brown hair, light brown eyes, full sleeve arm tattoos, and two pierced ears just like Gracie.
The interview went on for about an hour. Steve was relieved to find that his first impressions about the couple from the file were accurate. They were a good couple who loved their kids and wouldn’t be demanding or unreasonable to work for. Steve felt as though he was answering their questions decently as well.
The interview ended with an offer to meet the kids, and Steve took it, knowing it was a good sign. He followed Gracie and Joey to the kids’ playroom, where they sat coloring at a table. They all had the same honey-colored dark blonde to light brown curly hair that seemed to be a mixture of their parents’ coloring, but while the twins had their mother’s light blue eyes, the younger girl had her father’s light brown eyes. “Hey guys, this is Steve Harrington, we had an interview with him and thought you should meet. Steve, that’s Violet and Cole, and that’s Victoria, but she goes by Tori,” said Joey.
“What’s an interview?” asked Violet.
“It's when you have a conversation and ask someone lots of questions to learn about someone, often for a job,” said Steve. “Do you guys want to interview me too?”
“Yeah!” They chorused.
“Cool. May I sit with you please?” Steve asked.
Cole nodded, and Steve sat next to him on the bench.
Joey and Gracie watched amusedly as the three kids peppered Steve with questions. His favorite color was yellow. His best friend was named Robin and she worked as a translator, which was someone who helped people who spoke different languages understand each other. Steve liked basketball, swimming, and listening to music. Yes, Steve did his own hair, and thanks, he thought it was cool too. No, he didn’t have a girlfriend, or a wife, or a boyfriend. Yes, he could cook, and he liked cooking, and baking too. No, it wasn’t just for girls, because everyone ate food, didn’t they?
Eventually, after about an hour, Joey and Gracie called an end to the interview and sent Steve on his way. He was going to have to call Robin and tell her about the cutest interview he had ever had.