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It feels like Joyce’s body doesn’t quite…bounce back, like it had with the boys, after her daughter is born.
She supposes it’s a combination of things: pregnancy in her 40s, a healthier lifestyle, a husband that makes sure she’s fed well every day. And it’s not that she’s unhappy with her body, particularly, especially because Alice is here and happy and healthy, and that’s all that matters to her in the long run.
Hopper is more than happy with her new curves, though he never truly comments on them. But with four kids- one of which was a newborn- and a busy schedule, they don’t have time for much more than quick trysts in the dark once the kids are asleep.
One night though, about six months after Alice is born, Karen appears at her door with a smile.
“I’m stealing your child,” she says simply, and Joyce lifts an eyebrow from where she’s washing a bottle in the sink.
“Are you?” Joyce asks, and Karen nods.
“You and Jim deserve a night to yourselves, so Alice is staying with us. The other kids are already over at the house,” Karen informs her, and Joyce lets out a soft laugh, drying her hands. “Besides, I know how hard it is with a baby to get properly fucked.”
Joyce chokes at that and rolls her eyes as she goes to prepare an overnight bag for Alice, who was babbling happily in her swing. She sends Karen and Alice off with kisses, and decides to make a simple dinner for her and Hop, given that they were eating alone. She settles on chicken and pasta salad, and by the time Hopper arrives home, hanging up his gun and hat, she’s got it on the table with a glass of whiskey each.
“I forget a special occasion?” Hopper asks, eyebrows furrowing, and Joyce shakes her head, lips curled in amusement.
“Just you and me tonight,” she tells him, and he tilts his head in question. “Karen’s got the kids. Figured we’d enjoy it.”
Hopper smile softens at that, and he bends to kiss her, nipping at her bottom lip. He tells her about his day as they eat, the antics of the young new officers that were fresh out of the academy, and Joyce listened happily as she chewed. Steve Harrington was one of them, Joyce knew, but Hopper had a soft spot for the young man.
After dinner, they watch television for a while, relaxing, but Hopper’s hands stroke over her skin with intent, fingers circling the inside of her bare knee, moving up to her inner thigh. Goosebumps crawl over her flesh, and Joyce straddles Hopper’s lap, kissing him deeply as her fingers wound through the hair at the base of his neck.
She rocks down into him, the thrill of feeling how much he wanted her flooding her veins.
Hopper groaned, hands gripping her hips and helping her move over him. They move together until Hopper stops them, kissing the underside of her jaw.
“Not out here. Wanna lay you out,” he murmurs, and Joyce shivers in anticipation, though she’s reminded once again that it had been a long time since he’d seen her naked with the lights on.
He carries her up the stairs and into their room, carefully depositing her on their bed and looming over her, kissing her thoroughly as his hands tugged at the hem of her shirt. He leaves her briefly to get it off, and her bra follows shortly after, leaving her bare before him from the waist up.
Large, rough palms cup her breasts- still full from nursing Alice- and squeeze, eliciting a whimper from Joyce as her hips rocked down into Hopper’s thigh. Everything about her was still so soft and supple, left over from a healthy pregnancy, and Hopper’s palms skim down her torso to her waist.
His thumbs stroke over the silvery stretchmarks their daughter had left on her belly, and Joyce tries to squirm away from the touch. While content in her body, she wasn’t fond of the marks, and Hopper pulls back, frowning.
“What?” Joyce pants, and Hopper’s palm covers the marks, squeezing the flesh tenderly. “Hop…”
“Do you know how beautiful you are?”
It’s a simply enough question, but Joyce feels her cheeks heat up at it, a blush moving from her face down her chest. Hopper looks at her intently, clearly expecting an answer, and Joyce shakes her head, rolling her eyes upwards.
“Hop, I cleaned baby puke out of my hair this morning,” she counters, and Hopper shakes his head, shifting so he was kneeling above her, kissing the silvery stretchmarks lightly.
“Only more beautiful ‘cause of how your body made our little girl,” Hopper tells her, and Joyce swallows a whimper, hips arching up into his chest. “These marks? They’re only there ‘cause your body grew Alice until she was ready to come out. Means you’re fuckin’ incredible, Joy.”
He kisses lower, licking over a hipbone until he can nudge her thighs apart to where she’s already dripping wet. His tongue cleaves her open, sliding from her entrance to her clit and then circling the bundle of nerves lazily. Joyce twitches, moaning, and her hands sink into his hair to clutch at him as he slid his tongue deep inside her. Joyce cries out, remembering there are no children at home, and spasms around his tongue as she orgasms.
Panting, Joyce collapses against the pillows, eyes sinking shut as she feels Hopper kiss his way up her body until he found her mouth; she moans at the taste of herself on his tongue, and plucks at the buttons of his shirt.
“Get naked,” she whispers, nudging his nose with her own gently. He rolls away, kicking off his clothing, and pulls Joyce astride him. She shivered at the intensity of his gaze, sinking down onto him with a roll of her hips and biting her lip as he entered her. She felt treasured; worshipped, even, with the way he looked up at her in reverence as she rode him. Any doubts she had about her post-pregnancy body disappeared in the light of his gaze.
When she shivered to competition atop him, Joyce pulled Hopper over with her, reveling in the feeling of his warmth filling her before she collapsed against his chest, panting and sweaty as Hopper’s lips press to her forehead. His large palms smooth up her spine before tangling in her hair, and Joyce grins against his chest, kissing the skin there.
“Feel beautiful now?” he asks, massaging her scalp, and Joyce smothers her laugh in his chest before she leans up, kissing him firmly.
“When I’m around you? Always, Hop.”