Hopper finally pulled up to the cabin after a long day. He glanced over at the half drunken wine bottle from Enzo's and the two take out containers for the girls that he sat on the passenger seat. He snatched the containers before barely falling over as he stumbled out of the blazer and walked to the front door.
He opened the unlocked door and squinted his eyes as shouting came from the bedroom.
"Hey!.... HEY!!! BREAK IT UP-", he shouted as he burst into the room only to find Jamie and El sitting inches from the tv while watching a scary movie.
The two girls looked over at him in disgust as his clothes were a mess, and he reeked of alcohol and cigarettes.
"Geez, do you knock?!", Jamie said.
"Yeah, Geez", El echoed.
"Oh, heyyy. I'm sorry. I though that uhh..."
"We're just watching a movie", Jamie replied.
"We're were yelling at the character in the movie. She's a dumb bitc-", El added as she started to repeat her sister's words.
"Did you need something?", Jamie quickly interrupted.
Hopper looked at El and then at Jamie. He blamed everything on one too many drinks and figured that El's phone call a few hours earlier was a false alarm.
"No, no, no. I just got you guys some food but I'll just... I'll just leave it", he said before quickly shutting the door and feeling like a dipshit.
He then chuckled to himself and feelt foolish for thinking that Jamie could possibly be a host to something that hasn't been an issue ...
Until recently.
Hopper shook his head to clear his thoughts. He went over towards the couch, kicked his boots off, and set his feet on the table as he reclined in his chair.
He filled his coffee mug with chianti, and took one last glance at the closed door before resting his eyes.
————-
Hopper rested his forehead in his hand while his elbow balanced the weight on the table. He blew a puff of smoke before putting out the butt of his second cigarette. He glanced at the clock and and took a deep breath while anxiously tapping his foot.
"Look, it's like 4 in the morning", he groaned into the phone. "I'm sure we can talk about this later."
The person on the other end continued to speak as they weren't satisfied with his answer. Hopper huffed again and leaned back in his chair before balling his free hand into a fist.
"No. Absolutely fucking not. I won't do it", he said
Before they could finish their response, Hopper slammed his fist down on the table out of frustration.
"Well I just want to remind you of something, damn it", he said aggressively. "Last time I checked, she shot out of my balls, not yours. So if I say no, then the answer is n— We'll being her granddad doesn't mean jack shit Dennis!"
After another eyeroll and the responses of Diane's father, Hopper huffed one last time.
"Frankly, I don't give a damn whose house it is. If Jamie still wants her things then I'll come get them and that's it. I'm done. Goodbye", he said before hanging up.
Hopper finally stood up from the small dining room table and stretched before walking over to the bedroom door. As he peeked his head in, he only caught a glimpse of El before the sound of gunfire sounded right outside the cabin.
A sudden rush of adrenaline kicked in as he turned off the light. El shot up out of her sleep while Hopper was already on his way out the door with his gun in hand. He quickly ran outside and shone his flashlight that he kept near the door towards the trip wire.
"HAWKIN'S PD HANDS UP!!!", he shouted with his finger on the trigger.
Jamie stood there in her pajamas like a deer in headlights as the sound of gunfire triggered a panic attack. She stared into the barrel of the pistol as Hopper quickly lowered it once he realized that the intruder was his own child.
Jamie's chest began to rapidly rise and fall as she slowly started to come to her senses as to where she was.
"Daddy?", she mumbled before flinching as Hopper stormed towards her and pulled her towards the cabin by the collar of her shirt.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE?!? I COULD'VE KILLED YOU", he shouted on the verge of tears.
Jamie stood there speechless as she watch her dad bury his face in his hands to suppress his oncoming tears.
"I'm sorry", she whispered, barely audible.
"I could've killed-", he continued as he bit his lip at the thought of him loosing Sarah and now possibly Jamie.
Jamie attempted to clear her throat but breathing suddenly became harder.
"I can't-", she started before starting to cough and wheeze in the fold of her arm.
"Dont give me that bullshit right now because I don't give a damn. Why the hell are you outside at 4 am?!", he shouted, his face suddenly bright red and lit by the moon.
Jamie coughed again and went to cover her mouth with her hand. Hopper raised an eyebrow and squinted his eyes as he grabbed her dirt covered hands.
"What the fuck is this?! Is this dirt?!"
"I... I have to go back", she said innocently.
"You have to go back where?! Back to New York?", he asked, thinking she may have overheard his conversation.
Jamie grabbed the back of her neck and quickly looked behind her as if something had touched her. She coughed again, but this time the wheezing became more apparent. After Hopper shook his head waiting for her to say something, he looked at the dark woods surrounding them and groaned.
"Just get your ass in the truck", he said before he turned around and headed back to the cabin.
El stood in the doorway and watched as he grabbed a beer and changed from his house shoes into his work boots .
"What's going o-", she started to ask before being interrupted.
"Let's go. I'm not doing this shit", he said on his way out the door.
————————————
Joyce squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath as another contraction started. She bit her lip and reached to start the timer while sitting on her exercise ball.
70 seconds had passed before she finally stopped the timer. She pulled her oily hair from her face and pulled it into a ponytail before looking picking up her phone.
She put it on speaker as it seemed to be dialing forever.
"Hello, you've reached Dr. Sam Owens. Please leave your name and a brief mess-"
"Shoot!", she whispered to herself as she hung up.
She stared at her call log and slightly rolled her eyes at Hopper's name. She huffed when she started to press his name but all of a sudden she remembered the danger and stress she endured throughout her pregnancy.
Joyce started to panic as the thought about all of the the things they have yet to buy. She continued to bounce on her ball while debating whether or not to call the twins' father or to hold on to her grudge.
"No, I don't need him. I got this. I can do thi—- Ughhhhh", she whined while wincing her eyes when another contraction started.
She gripped the bedsheets for another 70 seconds and sighed in relief once the pain was over. After swallowing spit, she finally caved in and hovered over his name before the doorbell rang.
~~~
Hopper walked up to the door as Joyce simultaneously opened it and was surprised to see him standing there. Sammy ran past the two and immediately ran up to Jamie and started barking.
Jamie stood there frozen as she watched El intervene and assumed it was due to the two being apart for a few days.
Hopper quickly looked over his shoulder in concern before his attention was redirected by Joyce.
"Jim", Joyce said after a short, deep breath.
"Hey, look. First, I just want you to hear me out, alright."
Joyce nodded her head impatiently as she kept her breathing steady. Time was of the essence before another contraction started.
"I'm sorry. About everything. I know I haven't been the best at dealing with everything and It's important to me... it's important to me that you feel safe. That you and our family feel safe."
"Uh huh, baby", she replied with a quick nod of the head and a forced smile.
"I love you, and the girl's love you, and they both need you in their life. Especially during this whole teenage phase. And right now you won't believe what just happened with Jam-"
"Baby", she said, cutting him off.
"I'm almost done", he replied. "I feel like such an asshole for storming out of here and leaving you guys by yourself. But I need you. I just... I think there may be something going on with her and—"
"Babies", Joyce interrupted again between breaths.
"Oh! Babies. Yeah yeah, I'm sorry. We can talk about the babies too because it's still a lot of things we need to get-"
"Babies", she said again.
"Babies?....", he replied with an eyebrow raised confusion.
"BABIES", she said more aggressively as she held her stomach and squeezed his hand at the start of a contraction.
"OH!! BABIES", he said with a little more urgency. "Okay, okay. I gotta call Owens and let him know that we're coming and we gotta grab a few things from the house and we'll be there in no time.
"Jim, how long is it going to take to get to Owens'?"
"Um with the road blocked and given that it's 4 am and no traffic maybe about 15 minutes", he said as they both rushed to the car.
"Honey, I can't wait that long. I cant wait that long", Joyce replied impatiently.
"It's okay, baby. I'll drive with the lights I can probably do about 60 before we hit the curves and—Owww you're hurting my hand", He stopped mid sentence when Joyce squeezed the living daylight out of him.
"It is happening now."
"Now?"
"NOW!!!"