"I'm sorry my heart's too big for my own good! I just want to be a good person!"
~
Theodore Chambers moves from his home in London to Hawkins and realizes this town isn't what it seems
Or
In which the new kid in town is thrown into all sorts of insa...
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twenty-six; between father and son
There is an unbreakable bond between a father and son. A bond that has existed throughout time (though varying from person to person, family to family.) A bond that is meant to be one of the strongest in a child's life. A father was many things: a guiding figure; a loving figure; a father was meant to be there for his children, to care for them and support them through trials, tests, and different stages of life. That was how Thomas viewed fatherhood. That was how Thomas viewed his bond with his son.
He took up the responsibilities of being a father at a young age, at a time he never expect to. Not even 21 years old, not even graduated from university yet, in an extremely toxic relationship with a woman he was about to marry... and now he had a child. He could've ran. Thomas could've run for the hills and never looked back, leaving the child with Eleanor. He could've restarted his whole life and forgotten about the child... And yet, he didn't. He stayed for his son, not solely as an obligation but because he wanted to.
Truthfully, Thomas didn't want to be like his own father, a disconnected man who threw money at him to keep him occupied (he didn't want to be like his mother for that same reason, but his father controlled all the money). They left him behind while they traveled the world on their riches... Thomas was just their little accessory, their accomplishment, a little check on their list of to-dos in life, but they never truly cared or loved him. It was like they never wanted children but had one (and only one) because it was what society told them married couples did. The emotional neglect prompted Thomas to promise himself from a young age that if he ever had children, he would be the greatest dad in the whole world.
Tears of joy slipped down his cheeks as Thomas held newborn Teddy for the very first time. He was soft, almost scared he'd hurt the child. He cradled the baby close to his chest, his eyes full of love. He only knew the baby for a few hours but felt an instant connection, the utmost pure love for his son. He did everything that day: first wash, feeding him, and he was the one to name the baby: Theodore Winslow Chambers. It was an emotional day, one Eleanor would mock him for during their marriage. He still silently cried with his goofy grin spread across his face as he watched his son alone (as Eleanor requested, no, demanded to be separate from the baby. She was tired, which was understandable, but she didn't even want to see Thomas). The nurses noted that he was mostly quiet except for the muttering of how "... someone as ugly as me could make the most beautiful thing in the whole world."
Thomas knew at that moment that Teddy had become the greatest thing in his life.
The sentiment never died within Thomas regardless of what happened. Despite his wife beating him some nights, he always found the strength to pretend nothing was wrong and tuck his son tightly into bed. His son was not his therapist and he did not unload his burdens onto his son. Yes. They shared similar experiences under a house of abuse, but he refused to put it all on Teddy. He tried to shield it as much as possible, taking on more and more of her anger as he stood up to his wife. The man housed a lot of guilt for leaving both of them under Eleanor's roof and control, but her behavior was so bipolar and her promises to change still sounded so real. She changed the way Thomas saw the world and he did not know how to break the cycle at the time, but he slowly started to grow more of a backbone to protect his son.
