OK – so I'm finished the main part of the story, but this is just a little extra for the Jopper fans reading this.

Keep in mind El is pretty innocent, so chances are she doesn't really know exactly what is going on here. ;-)

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Chapter Seven

Six weeks after El's birthday.

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El was staying at the Byer's so that Hopper could go out. He said he had some "horrible work thing" to go to, and he had invited Joyce to go with him to keep him sane. She didn't quite know what he meant, but she was pleased to be able to hang out with Jonathan and Will. Nancy had arrived less than five minutes after the adults had left, and she and Will virtually had the house to themselves since Nancy and Jonathan were holed up in his room.

"Hey Will, can you teach me how to draw?" She asked her friend. She had been thinking about learning for a long time, but she was too scared to ask. She wanted to be able to draw just as well as Will.

"Yeah!" He answered enthusiastically. "I'll grab my stuff, you wait in the kitchen."

It only felt like minutes, but hours later Jonathan finally appeared out of his bedroom and told them they had to go to bed. She and Will grumbled a bit but cleaned up their mess and she settled onto the cot in Will's room.

"Hey Will," she rolled over in her bed and tried to see his face in the dark, but she only saw the whiteness of his face.

"Yeah?"

"What is a "work thing"?" She asked him.

"Oh, it's where adults go and have beer and smokes and stuff. I think sometimes they have dinner and dance too."

"Like the Snow Ball, but we don't have beer there."

"Yeah, a little."

"So… are my dad and your mom going on a date?"

"I think they are just friends." Will yawned. "Sorry, I'm so tired." He muttered. She fell quiet and eventually she realised Will had fallen asleep. She lay awake wondering what would happen if her dad did go on a date with Joyce. What if he and Joyce stayed together, would that mean Joyce would be her mom? Not her real mom, not like mama. But still… a mom would be kind of nice.

She must have fallen asleep at some point… but the sound of Hopper's truck rumbling up the driveway woke her, and on checking the digits of Will's glowing alarm clock – she discovered it was 2.13am. She couldn't believe how late they were coming home. She slid out of bed and tip toed down the hallway and poked her head around the corner into the lounge just as the front door opened.

Hopper was swaying a little, Joyce wrapped tightly in his arms and he was having some trouble shutting the door behind him. El was about to offer her assistance but Hopper managed to shut it, and then the next minute he was pushing Joyce into the door, kissing her fiercely. She covered her mouth to try and muffle the sound of surprise, but the adults were so busy they didn't even hear the little squeak that escaped. She quickly raced back to Will's room, shaking him awake immediately.

"Will, Will! Wake up!"

"Urgh," Will tried to push her arms away, she just shook harder. "What, what is it?"

"Hopper is kissing your mom."

"Wait, what…? Will sat upright. "For real?"

"Yes!"

"Eww!" Will covered his face. "I mean… it's… good I guess." He told her, his voice muffled between his hands. "Mom is lonely. Jonathan told me that." The two of them heard a thump outside their door and El couldn't contain herself anymore, she ignored Will trying to grab her and stop her and she opened Will's bedroom door.

"Dad!" Hopper and Joyce were just outside of her bedroom door, and she was pretty sure Hopper's shirt was mostly unbuttoned, but it was hard to tell in the dark. "Does this mean Joyce will be my mom?"

"Ah shit,"

"Language!" El told him sternly, and Joyce let out a giggle.

"Can we talk in the morning?" Hopper asked El, his face pained.

"I guess, yeah."

"I'll talk to her, Hop. You go on in." Joyce all but shoved him into her room, and then came over to El, giving her a tight hug, and a kiss on the top of her head. "El honey, it's all a bit more complicated than that. Let's not rush things okay? But I can be like your mom if you like, even if I'm not with Hopper. Does that make sense?"

"That's all I want." El told her and hugged her back. "Thank you." Joyce tucked her back into bed and have both her and Will a goodnight kiss before shutting the door behind them.

El couldn't believe her luck, even if Hopper wasn't going to be seeing Joyce, as in – you know – seeing her – she could still pretend her favourite adult apart from Hopper, was her mom! She had always wanted someone other than Nancy to teach her girl stuff. Maybe if she were lucky, Joyce might even let her try on some make-up. Nancy said she didn't want to get into trouble with Hopper, but Joyce wasn't afraid of him at all.

She fell asleep, contemplating all the things mothers and daughters do together, a smile on her face. Life was definitely pretty good right now.

THE END.