Chapter Text
The morning sun peeked through the curtains, Joyce frowned before groaning softly at the time. It was too early. She gasped softly as Hopper wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his body, she smiled to herself before smirking as his hand squeezed her hip softly. Hopper ruffled her hair with his fingers, dragging them through her hair causing her to hum as the tips of his fingers brushed against her scalp. The both of them winced at the sound of El and Will having an argument in the hallway, she outstretched her hand and he sighed slightly, shaking his head with a smirk on his face.
"Rock paper scissors?" she raises an eyebrow, he nods and lets out a little laugh
"Joyce!" El's voice shrieks outside of the bedroom door, she sighs and he snorts at her having to drag herself out of bed to deal with this
"Here was me hoping for a lazy morning"
"You have the day off" she smirks, he shrugs and pulls the covers up and over his body "Lucky for you...I have to work"
He bites his lip before hearing Will shout at El in the hallway, Joyce steps out of the bedroom and glares at them both. Will was just standing there, El raising her hand as she held whatever they were fighting over in the air, blood dripping from her nose.
"What is going on?!" Joyce raises her voice, El narrows her eyes and continues to hold Will's Walkman in the air
"She was trying to use my stuff!"
"Well, I can't find mine!" El glares, Will tries to grab his Walkman before sighing in annoyance at El moving it above his height
"Right" Joyce tries to compose herself "El, go and use Jonathan's stereo and Will, take your thing back"
She looks between the two teens, El releases the Walkman causing it to drop to the floor, she storms into her room using her powers to shut the door.
"All of this over some stupid cassette player" Joyce mutters as Will goes into his room, slamming the door behind him
"Everything alright?" Hopper asks coming up behind her, he places his hands on her hips as she hums and nods "What were they arguing about this time?"
"Will's Walkman" Joyce sighs, Hopper kisses her on the back of the head "I'm telling you something, we're getting her a new one for Christmas as hers broke"
"We also need a new house" he points out, she groans at the thought
They were saving up, they did need a bigger place with that came working all hours. This one was pokey, it worked but it was pokey, there was barely enough room to swing a cat with five of them under the same roof let alone when the kids' friends stayed over.
"We have time for that though" she whispers turning around in his arms, she hooks them over his neck and presses her lips to his, he smiles against them, his hand tangling in her hair
"I'll get looking for houses today," he tells her, she hums and kisses him again, El appears out of her room and shuts the door in front of the two adults making out "El!"
"Your daughter is so much like you" she pokes him on the cheek, he rolls his eyes "Grumpy in the mornings"
"I'm not grumpy"
"Hm yes you are"
"I got you some more apricots by the way, I know how you've been obsessed with them lately" he presses his lips to her forehead as she opens the door
"You do treat me well" she pecks him on the lips before heading into the bathroom with a smirk
He smirks and heads downstairs to start on breakfast he loved her, he fucking loved her
There was something about him interacting with her kids that caused her heart to flutter, she smiled at him and he eventually noticed her smiling back. They ate, the teenagers grumbling stuff under their breath, yes and no answers causing Joyce to roll her eyes at their moodiness. El told them both that she was spending the day with Max, Joyce nodded and Hopper seemed pleased with that. Will said he was going to Mike's so Joyce let them go before getting ready for work herself. In a way, she envied Hopper who climbed back into bed for a bit now the kids were dealt with.
"You should wear that more often" he tilts his head to the side, admiring her from the bed as she stood in front of the full-length mirror
She frowns looking down at her work clothes, he smirks at her causing her to grunt
"I know there's an empty house right now with all of the kids out but I do need to get to work" she whispers, he appears behind her and pulls her up into his arms, she squeals "Hop! Put me down!"
"Only if you give in" he kisses her, she kisses him back as he places her on the bed, climbing on top of her body
She moans softly against his lips as he pushes his groin into her, she pushes her hips into his causing him to sigh lightly and her to grunt in annoyance.
"I'll be quick" he tries to persuade her, she raises an eyebrow as if to question his statement
"You, Jim Hopper, are never quick"
"I can do quick" he nods, she snorts and continues to stare into his eyes, he stares into hers before their lips connected, Joyce moans softly against them before pulling away
He tucks his hands into her jeans and pulls them down causing her to gasp for breath, she goes back to kissing him, he kisses her neck before she uses the heel of her foot to nudge his ass.
"Get on with it and be quick"
Joyce ended up being late for work, Hopper smirked at his ability to be 'quick' and because of that she was angry and would no doubt have to explain herself. To help her out he cleaned the house from top to bottom, ran the vacuum through the kid's rooms, and swept the floor in the kitchen before sighing. He wanted her to have a nice relaxing evening where she didn't have to worry about anything. Hopper glanced at the clock, somehow doing all of that made time speed past, Joyce would be home soon. The simplicity of that thought put a smile on his face. So he started on dinner, the kids came home and he greeted them all whilst El sat at the table in an obvious mood with Will, the both of them sharing sour expressions with each other.
"Right what's going on?" Hopper sighs placing the spatula down, El clenches her jaw "Something has obviously happened-"
"It's him-"
"You started it!" Will exclaims "By rummaging through my stuff-"
"You're not still on about that Walkman, are you?" Hopper drones, he didn't really see the point but El just glares at him "Can we please just drop it before-"
"I'm home!" Joyce enters the house, Will smiles at her and El flashes a smile at her before glaring at Will
Hopper places the lasagne down on the table and El uses her powers to take the serving spoon so she could serve herself first.
"No powers" Hopper warns, El grumbles something under her breath as Joyce walks over to him and kisses him softly on the lips
"I see our brooding teenagers haven't shifted their mood" Joyce whispers as he hugs her, he hums against the side of her neck
"Sit down, eat, I'm doing everything this evening"
"You do treat me well"
"Only the best for you" he quips, she smirks and sits down with the kids, they all begin to talk so he looks on
Longingly, thinking about the future.
Then it hit him.
He was going to put a ring on that girl's goddamn finger.