Jopper's Holiday

Subtle hints

December seventh

The key to catching the whole conversation is to turn up the kitchen radio a notch or two just as Will starts talking. Hopper answers the boy's questions more candidly when he thinks that Joyce is listening to music rather than eavesdropping. These chats – or interrogation sessions, as Jim calls them – are always interesting, since Will's innocent curiosity softens Hopper's tendency towards gruff, monosyllabic answers.

Joyce is preparing dinner, shaking raw chicken drumsticks in a plastic bag of breadcrumbs as she goes to listen in at the doorway to the living room. Peering around the corner, she sees Hopper and Will watching some dull police drama. Hop is making his usual commentary about how shabbily cops are portrayed on television. "Look at this guy – you can't go into something like that without calling for back up. What's he gonna do - solve the whole thing by himself?"

Will listens to Hopper's observations for a while before he begins his inquiry as he always does. "Sir, can I ask you something?"

Hopper's response is equally predictable. "Call me anything but "sir", and you can ask me whatever you want."

"Hop, is this what you do at your place – watch shows like this?"

"No, I can't. My TV's broken," Hopper explains, failing to add that his television was among the casualties of a half-deranged search for surveillance equipment.

"So you'd rather watch TV at our house than get yours fixed?"

Joyce has never heard her son ask about Hopper's place before, and wonders where this line of questioning is headed.

"It's much easier to watch a show on an unbroken TV," comes Hopper's cryptic response.

"Well, yeah," Will laughs. "But you also like watching TV here, right?"

"Sure. Especially when I find myself answering so many questions that I can't even follow the plot anymore." Hopper's manner is sarcastic but not unkind.

"What do you make for dinner at your house?"

It is becoming clear to Joyce that Will is trying to gauge Hopper's feelings about the time he spends at the Byers' place. Joyce and Hop have been seeing each other for almost a month now but they haven't broached the topic of where their relationship is headed. Will is boldly going where Joyce has feared to tread.

"I'm not much of a cook but I make a lot of sandwiches," Hopper replies. From the amused tone in his voice, Joyce senses that Hop is also catching on to the objective of Will's questions.

"You eat sandwiches for dinner every day? That must get boring." Will draws out this last word in a theatrical way. "I bet you've hardly ever had the same thing here even once, because whenever you're coming over, Mom pulls out her recipe books and tries to find something special, even if it's a different meatloaf."

"Oh, she does, does she?" Hopper chuckles. Joyce can just picture the wicked grin on Jim's face - the adorable dimples, the crinkles around his eyes - and she can't stop blushing. She moves away from the doorway, places the chicken carefully into a baking dish and slides it into the open oven.

As she re-approaches the doorway, Joyce can hear her son expounding on the ridiculous things that his mother does when she's expecting Hopper's company. "She's always really happy and nervous. Sometimes she even bumps into things, or trips over the dog. She keeps checking herself in the bathroom. It's pretty funny, when she's so excited like that."

Joyce feels like a teenager again, hiding behind her locker while blabbermouth Karen goes right up to James Hopper and tells him that Joyce has a notebook with just his name in it, written over and over.

She can hear Hopper lighting a cigarette as he digests this new information. He takes a drag, and says, with the smoke still in his mouth, "Does your Mom know that you're telling me all this stuff?"

Following Hopper's lead, Joyce reaches for her Camels, and lighting up with shaking hands, moves back towards the hallway. Will's voice has gotten quieter and Joyce strains to hear him. "She would never tell you this stuff, because she probably doesn't want you to know how much she likes you. But I think it's important, and that's why I'm telling you."

The water Joyce has been heating for rice starts to boil over and Joyce runs to pull the pot from the burner. She wipes up the mess with a cloth, cigarette clenched between her teeth, cussing under her breath and lamenting that she'd taken such trouble to teach her boys that honesty is the best policy. Setting the rice on the stove to cook, she turns back to the doorway, her breath catching when she discovers Hopper standing there with a smug, sexy smile on his face.

"I think your son just gave me the old "what are your intentions with my mother?" talk," he says. The twinkle in his eye assures her that he knows she's been listening all along.

Joyce takes the last drag of her cigarette, and puts it out clumsily in the ashtray. "And just what are your intentions, Hop?" she asks, trying for nonchalance.

Jim comes towards her and puts his hands on her waist, holding her gaze. "I intend to stick around as long as the thought of me makes you trip over the dog. And probably longer than that." He puts a finger under her chin, and tips her face up to him. Joyce is sniffling a little, but he kisses her anyway. She can hardly get enough of his soft lips and rough beard against her mouth.

When she opens her eyes, Joyce is alarmed to spy Will coming into the kitchen, a little smile on his face. "Merry Christmas, you crazy kids!" he giggles.