Two of a Kind

Names

2 months later

About two months had passed since Joyce and Hopper got back from Miami. They spent a week at the beaches and different restaurants and enjoyed each others' company. It was bittersweet when it was time to fly back to Hawkins. Joyce was starting to get nervous about telling Will and Jonathan about being pregnant. She knew the age gap would be large, seeing as Jonathan was seventeen and Will was thirteen, but she hoped they would be happy regardless. First, the two sat the boys down and announced their engagement. Will was very happy for them and was excited to be seeing more of Hop, and Jonathan came around to it, too. Mostly he was just shocked because his mom would be getting married, but it didn't really bother him since he would be eighteen soon enough and already had plans to move out with his girlfriend, Nancy. He was just glad that his mom was happy again.

A week later, Hopper moved in. He sold his trailer and had some of his cop buddies help him either sell his unwanted furniture or move the rest of it in with Joyce. They had already been seeing each other frequently, but Hopper was still trying to adjust to living with a woman again and fit into the family. Things were going smoothly at the Byers-Hopper household since then, and a week or so later, the couple sat down to tell the boys that they were expecting a baby.

"Wait... what? Aren't you guys too old to have a baby?" Jonathan asked, looking between Hop and his mother, wondering if this had been their plan or if it happened on accident.

"Woah there kid, your mother is not old. We are in our early forties, and it wasn't expected, but we're going to make it work," Hopper scolded Jonathan.

"I guess. It's just weird to have a little brother or sister that much younger than Will and I, don't you think?" Jonathan continued.

"Yes it will be an adjustment, but I will still always be your mother and nothing about our relationship is going to change, okay?" Joyce assured him.

"Wait, so, how did this happen, exactly?" Will asked. He was still young despite having learned about sex recently, and he didn't think out the awkwardness that his question would ensue.

"Uh, well..." Joyce cleared her throat. "When two people love each other very much—" she began. Jonathan interrupted to cut to the chase and avoid the less than comfortable situation that was ensuing.

"They had sex, Will," Jonathan looked at his brother, pulling a grotesque face to express his disgust.

"Jonathan!" Joyce yelled.

"What? It's the truth. Besides, he should know that by now, shouldn't he?" Jonathan defended.

"Yes, bud, but that's a bit crude. Your mom was getting to it," Hopper interluded.

"So, like, you guys didn't use a condom?" Will asked.

Joyce put her face into her hands, shaking her head at Will's blunt questioning and her embarrassment.

"He has a point..." Jonathan interjected.

"Alright, that's enough," Hopper slapped his hands onto his lap, trying to settle the conversation. This wasn't the direction he had expected this talk to take.

"No, we didn't use one every time, so yes, Will, that's how it happened," Hop said, sighing.

"EW! You guys did this multiple times?!" Will asked, making a face that suggested he was about to throw up.

Jonathan couldn't help but laugh now, entertained by Will's naivety and the fact that Hop and his mom had to answer these painfully personal questions about their sex life.

"Oh enough, Will. And you too, Jonathan. When you two are adults, you'll understand. Sex is perfectly normal and it's how you express love for someone else, if you choose," Joyce explained, exasperated.