Jopper one shot: Go to the lake

Part 1

English is not my mother tongue, excuse the mistakes! There will definitely be a part two. Feel free to leave a comment! ;)

Joyce was behind Melvald's counter as usual. Since the closure of the Starcourt mall, the customers had started to come back to the store, which made Joyce happy because she no longer spent her days doing nothing, but on the one hand her pregnancy was tiring her quite well. It was 4:00 p. m., only 2 hours before she went home to rest in Hopper's arms. This simple thought made her smile. The customers had flocked in the afternoon but it was calm again, no customers in sight. She then took the time to sit in the chair and take a break. She had just closed her eyes when she heard the store bell ring. She sighed and opened her eyes in spite of herself.

« What a welcome... » sounds a voice that she could have recognized even with her eyes closed.

A smile appeared on her face.

« Hop, what are you doing here? » She asked, leaning her elbows against the counter.

« I wanted to see you » he replied before bending down to gently kiss her.

« I'll see you in two hours.... »

« I know, but I missed you too much and I wanted to know if you were okay. »

She leaned her head slightly to the side and raised her eyebrows.

« And we saw each other this morning... But yes, I, we are fine » she said, placing both hands on her rounded belly.

« All right. I love you, you know? »

Joyce smiled and walked around the counter to face Hopper. She laid her hands on either side of his face, stood up on tiptoe and kissed him with love.

« I know and I love you too! But don't you have work to do? Flo will get angry again.... »

Jim had wrapped his arms around Joyce. He started laughing.

« Don't worry, since she knows you're pregnant, she's almost forcing me to come see you and come home as soon as possible! Except for the diet, she still forbids me to eat. »

« Haha I'll go and thank her then. »

Jim kissed her hair.

«How about sending the kids to the Wheelers' house so we can spend the weekend together, just the two of us? »

Joyce opened her eyes.

« Just us, all weekend? »

« Yes, I want to take you somewhere. »

« Where?? »

Joyce looked like a little girl on Christmas Eve, excited and with stars in her eyes.

« Its a surprise! »

She opened her mouth to protest but she had no time to say anything that Hopper was already coming to put his lips on hers.

« I have to go » he said afterwards, « I'll call Karen and meet you at home around 6:30 pm. »

« But... »

« See you tonight, Joycie! Love you! »

Joyce stood in front of the counter half dumbfounded and frustrated. She didn't like surprises too much but she knew that the next 2 hours would be very long.

At 5:55 p. m., Joyce decided to close up shop. When she arrived home, it was already 6:10 p. m., only 20 minutes left to wait for Jim to return. She enjoyed her few minutes of solitude. The weather was very nice for a February month. She then decided to make herself a cup of tea and then went to sit on the swing under the porch of the front door. She tasted her hot drink while thinking of how lucky she was. She never had a chance to rest when Lonnie was still there, he was always on his back asking her for something. Sometimes she wondered if she had loved him. Of course she had loved him, she had loved the young man who made her laugh again after Jim left, the man who took her everywhere with her, who made her feel loved and alive. But she stopped loving him some time after Jonathan's birth when he lost his job and started drowning his boredom in alcohol. She had hoped that this would change with Will's birth but it hadn't... And now she was there, sitting in front of her new house, pregnant with the man she had always loved, even if she would never admit it. She ends up closing her eyes and falling asleep.