Joyce, Jim, Will, and Jane cheered loudly as Jonathan walked across the auditorium stage. Graduation seemed like it would never come after the wild events of the Upside Down, but Joyce couldn't be more proud of her son.

"He has your eyes." Joyce said calmly as she watched Jonathan walk across the stage.

"Excuse me?" Hopper whispered with a look of confusion on his face.

"I said, he has your eyes. He always has. Since the day he was born, he's always had your eyes." She felt a small smile creeping onto her face as she watched her oldest baby collect his diploma.

"How is it possible that he'd have my eyes, Joyce?" Hopper felt his heart rate rising as his pulse pounded through his chest.

"After 18 years, you never figured it out, did you?" Joyce whispered under her breath as the next kid came up to retrieve his diploma.

"Figure what out? I'm so lost right now." He couldn't understand what she was talking about, or why she was smiling.

---

As the groups of parents and children piled into the Hawkins High Cafeteria, Hopper pulled Joyce aside by the vending machine.

"What were you talking about back there?" Hopper questioned with concern as Joyce looked up at him with a smile.

"Have you ever noticed that Lonnie and I have similar eyes? Along with Will, who has the same eyes as us." Joyce asked with a know-it-all look on her face. Hopper nodded as she continued.

"Lonnie and I both have rather roundish eyes, obviously so does Will. But we also both had dark brown hair, which is obviously where Will got his hair from too." Joyce stated, but Hopper was still having trouble following along.

"Jonathan doesn't look anything like Lonnie, not even the same hair color. He's been blonde since the day he was born, just like you were." Joyce smiled but Hop could only look more concerned.

"I saw your baby pictures, Hop. You and Jonathan were literally twins." Joyce waited for Hopper to say something for a long time as it all seemed to register in his mind.

"How on earth did that happen?" Hopper asked with his eyes wide and his face unreadable.

"Senior prom night. You and I ditched and we... you know... in the back of your car... remember?" Joyce said as she felt the awkwardness start to climb into her belly.

"Yeah, yeah I remember. Joyce, why didn't you tell me?" Jim's eyes started to look sad at the revelation, was Jonathan really his son? He hadn't been there for so long, he missed so much.

"Hop, how could I tell you? You left for Chicago right after graduation and I was already four months pregnant by then. I just convinced Lonnie that he and I had hooked up that night but he was too drunk to remember. I wanted you to have a shot at getting out of this town. I didn't expect things to go so haywire but you ended up back here anyway and we're a family now. I guess it worked out in the end." Joyce said as she cupped his cheek.

"I missed so much." Hopper said simply, his voice shallow and shaking. He felt like he was going to cry, how could he miss all of this?

Joyce turned him around and hugged his waist. "Look at him." She said while pointing towards her eldest. He was smiling and laughing with Nancy and Steve as they had their pictures taken. "He's happy, Hop. He's a great kid and he gets it from you. He's loving and caring, he's smart and hard working. Don't beat yourself up over it." Joyce said as she nuzzled the back of his neck.

"He's always been a special kid. I think he gets all of that from you." Hopper added with a grin as he cradled her hands around his waist.

"Does he know?" Hopper asked.

---

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Hopper asked before Jonathan went off to bed.

The teen stepped into the kitchen with a nod as he stood alone with Hopper.

"I'm uh... I'm really proud you, kid. You've done really well." Jim stated as he patted Jonathan's shoulder.

"Thanks... pop." Jonathan said with a knowing smile. He saw his mother talking to Hopper earlier that evening, and he knew by the way Hopper looked at him just what Joyce had said.

Oh, Jonathan knew alright. Almost a year prior, he had picked up Will from Hopper's cabin. Jane and Will had been digging through an old box of pictures when he found one of Hopper as a kid.

When he saw a baby picture of the Chief, he thought it was himself. The back was labeled "Jimmy, 1943", and he quickly realized the truth about his paternality.

As Hopper pulled Jonathan into a hug, Joyce stood from the hallway and watched.

The universe really had a way of working everything out.