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Count this as one more thing he hasn't done in a long damn time.

The last time Hopper bought a Christmas tree, it had barely fit up the stairs of their apartment building in New York and now there are so many damn options he's not actually sure where he and Beverly are going to start. They've got a vague plan. Get a Christmas tree. Get decorations. Set up the Christmas tree.

But that doesn't even scratch the surface. In a place like this, the options are nearly endless. They can go down to the end of the block where a guy is selling nice looking real trees out of a small lot, which is what Hopper is used to, but then those die and shed needles everywhere and he's going to be shit about remembering to put water in the little reservoir at the bottom. So he's thinking about a fake tree, just going to the mall with Beverly and getting one that comes in a box, the lights already attached and ready to go. But that doesn't smell real, no matter what kind of scents they might offer in a spray bottle he can buy for just an extra ten bucks.

"Hey, kid," he calls, tapping a pen against one of the fliers he got in their mailbox for the store at the mall selling fake trees. "Fake or real?"

The rest they can decide when they're actually face to face with the decorations, but that's a question they need to answer up front.

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"Hey, it's perfect," Beverly says, grinning brightly when she sees the donut ornament. It looks different than other decorations she's seen, but she also really doesn't care about that. There are too many cute ornaments out there for her to get committed to some organized Christmas aesthetic or something ridiculous like that. A tree shouldn't have to be neat and tidy; she'd rather have it colorful and fun, full of the sort of spirit that Christmas has never really had for her.

"Do you think there's a coffee mug ornament or something? Because if there is, you need that, too."

He almost jokes that he'd need a beer can, too, but stops himself and instead looks for a coffee cup. There are a couple cute things and Hopper's never really wanted to have a tree that looks generic and colour coordinated, so he grabs whatever catches his eye.

"Pick whichever ones you like," he says to Beverly. "This is gonna be our tree and people'll know it."

He wants her to know it's her tree, too. More hers than it is his. Something he wants to be able to give her. Maybe he'll never be able to undo the shit she's been through, but at least he can try and give her new memories.

"Some of these are so cute," Beverly says, not entirely sure why that seems so surprising, except that all of this seems a little different when it's something she gets to do and be a part of. It's not like she spent a lot of time fixating on what she didn't have, not when it comes to little details. There wouldn't have been a point. It would probably have done nothing more than made the shitty circumstances she was stuck in seem that much worse.

She finds one that looks like a little record player and grins, holding it up. "Well, we definitely need this one."

"Yeah, we definitely need that one," he agrees and holds the basket out toward her so she can add it to their haul. They won't be able to fill the whole tree with individual ornaments, no matter how many they buy, so Hopper grabs a box of glass balls in silver and gold, then gets another box in blue and green. It'll be a good way to fill the space between the other things they get.

"Hey, you should get a stocking, too," he says. "I won't be embroidering your name on it any time soon, but you should still have one." It'll be the only one in the apartment anyway, it's not like they won't know it's hers, even though Hopper remembers having his name on his when he was a kid.

His mother had been good at shit like that, though. He's definitely not his mother.

"I can't say no to that," Beverly says with a grin. "Especially if that means you're gonna put stuff in it." It is, of course, entirely a joke. Given the extent to which they seem to be going all-out with decorating, it's not like she's expecting nothing to be under the tree come Christmas, but she's not used to getting much, either, and she doesn't want to overstep and ask for too much. Hopper has done so much for her already. She doesn't want to seem greedy or ungrateful or hard to please. "They probably have those here, too, right?"

It's kind of nice, having everything in one place like this. Somehow, being around all the decorations and everything does wonders towards making her actually feel Christmasy.

"Oh, hell no," he answers. "No, that stocking is gonna sit sad and empty pinned to the wall."

There's no way in hell he would do that to her, he wants to do everything he can to make this the best Christmas she's had. Hopper doesn't know if he's going to be any good at it, he hasn't exactly had a lot of practice, but he's going to do what he can. She deserves it. She deserves better memories to take through her life.

"There," he says, nodding down an aisle. "They've got a shit ton of options there."

"Good," Beverly says with a crooked grin. "I mean, if it's just gonna be a useless wall decoration, it might as well be a cute one." She's joking as much as he is, and unsurprised by the fact of his doing so. She likes that, actually, the easy banter they have with each other, nothing she would previously have expected from a parental-type figure. It makes her a hell of a lot more comfortable than she would be otherwise, and that comfort is something she's been nothing but appreciative of since she started living with him.

Mostly, the decorations are all about what she would have expected, Christmas-colored felt shaped like ornaments or trees, all with a space for a name to be embroidered. "Okay, do I go typical Christmas, or typical Christmas?"

"I guess the real question is whether you want elves, reindeer or Santa," Hopper says as he appraises the wall of stockings. They're all pretty typical, like she's said, but he likes the idea of having something like that on their wall, typical or not. It's Christmas. It should look like Christmas.

"I like the reindeer," he says. "Maybe I should get one for myself, too. Maybe someone else knows how to get our names on them without them looking like complete shit."

Lucy doesn't strike him as the sort to know, but maybe she'll surprise him.

"Reindeer for you, and I think..." Beverly takes a stocking off the wall and holds it up, grinning. "The cute penguin in a scarf for me?" She's not really sure what penguins have to do with Christmas, except there seem to be a lot of them on Christmas-related merchandise, and this one is pretty adorable. There's one with a Christmas tree on it that she likes, too, but that seems a little redundant when they're here mostly getting tree decorations. Except for one kind of demonic-looking snowman, she thinks it would be hard to go wrong here, anyway.

"At least we'll know whose is whose, even without names."

"Put 'em in the basket," Hopper answers, holding it out toward Beverly. They're cute and they seem to be making her happy and that's truly the only thing he gives a damn about in this whole thing. It'll be nice to have some decoration, too, of course, nice to have a place that actually feels festive for the first time in however many years, but his main goal is to give her a good Christmas. He doubts he'd be doing any of this if not for her.

"Hey, I guess we need one of those, too, huh?" he asks, nodding toward the tree skirts. It's the sort of thing he would never have considered, but it's right in front of them now and it makes sense. A nice place to actually put the gifts so they're not just sitting on the floor.

"Oh, yeah, I guess we do," Beverly says, nodding. It hadn't even crossed her mind, but it only makes sense, having something to go under the tree like that. Getting ready for Christmas, she's finding, is far more involved than she would have expected, but she has to assume that Hopper would say something if it were getting to be too much. Besides, they're basically starting from scratch now, but they won't have to the next year or the year after that. They'll already have lights and ornaments and stockings and a tree skirt.

It's kind of nice to think about that happening, that one day this might be normal and not completely novel, that she might still be here.

"And a star or something. For the top."

"A star," he echoes, having completely forgotten about that. Turning on the spot, he looks for the right aisle with the stars and tree toppers and then nods down toward the end.

"There," he says, pointing. There are a few cheap looking plastic things and weird creepy angels, but there are some nicer ones, too, made of canvas and lights. They look a little rustic, but that's part of what he likes so much about them. "What about one of these?"

He likes it, but he wants Beverly to like it, too.

"Oh, those are pretty," Beverly says as she takes in the sight of them. She doesn't think she's ever seen a Christmas tree star quite like these, but they look much nicer and not as cheaply made as some of the others, and she likes that they're unusual. She wants to go all-out, to get all the trappings and decorations and such, but that doesn't mean she wants to go the totally generic route. "I like that. It's sorta different. It'll look nice, I think."

It's already going to be the best tree she's ever had, but that's not actually saying much.

Reaching up to the shelf, Hopper grabs one so they can look at it better before he gives Beverly a smile and a shrug. He likes it and she likes it, so it goes into the basket without another thought. They're doing this their way and he's enjoying all of it.

"Alright, kid, you think that's enough for the tree?" he asks. They're bound to forget something, but he can come back later, once they've figured out what it is. What he wants right now is to get this paid for and then go get the tree itself so they can get it set up. He doesn't want to say he's excited about this now, but he's looking forward to it.

There's a tradition in setting up a Christmas tree. Something they'll be able to do again and again if this place lets them.

"I think so," Beverly says with a nod, assessing the contents of their cart with an exaggerated seriousness. She can't think of anything they need that they haven't gotten, and while she could probably just keep grabbing things that look cute, they've got enough here for a good tree, as far as she can tell. Granted, she's hardly an expert, and her standards are probably pretty low, but that seems beside the point. They've got the things that count, good lights and cute ornaments and a star to go on top. It'll be perfect.

"We just need the actual tree to go with 'em."

"Then let's get this paid for and go do it," he says, flashing a grin before leading the way toward the checkouts.

It doesn't take long to get through, the store isn't altogether busy tonight, which is nice. Hopper pays for things after passing the bags to Beverly and asking her to bag their things up and once they're all done, he puts them back in the cart to push out toward the car.

"Did we decide on a big tree or a small one?" he asks. "Do you want one of those sad, skinny Charlie Brown trees?" They had been Sara's favourites. The most pathetic trees on the lot.

"I don't know, maybe something in the middle?" Beverly asks, nose wrinkling. The sad, skinny ones are actually pretty cute, but she can't deny the appeal of something nice and full, either, a Christmas tree like the ones in pictures usually look. They only have so much space, though, and it should probably be something they'll be able to get into the apartment and stand up, so something between the two might be the best bet anyway, scrawny but not too much so, with branches enough to hang their ornaments and lights on without being too weighted down. "I mean, we don't want to have all this and not be able to do anything with it. But someone's gotta get the littler ones, too."

She nods once having spoken, pleased with her own logic and already more than a little excited to get to the lot and look at the actual options.

Once the bags are back in the car and they're both inside, Hopper starts the car and drives them toward the lot not far from their apartment building where he'd seen the trees being set up a few days ago.

There's plenty to choose from, which they can see as soon as he pulls up and parks. Some of the trees are enormous, nothing that would have any hope of fitting into their apartment, but there are more reasonably sized ones, too, things he can easily see with all their decorations and lights hanging from the branches.

"Hey, you sure you don't want this one?" he asks with a grin, gesturing to a tree that seems to be more branch than needle.

"Yeah, I think I'll pass on that one," Beverly says with a laugh. "Have to go return all those ornaments otherwise." It might hold a few, but probably not very many or very well. They'd look a little silly, too, all big and shiny and hung on bare branches. There are plenty of others that are fuller, though, the scent of pine needles crisp in the air, and for a moment, she lets herself just take it in. She's not used to feeling Christmasy in this way, the season full of promise the way it's supposed to be. It seems like it should be weird, being happy in a place like this, but she really is.

"These are nice, though, over here." A few in a row aren't enormous, but seem reasonably full, the way it seems like a tree is supposed to look.

"Yeah, I like these," Hopper says as they head toward the proper trees. They're not too tall, so they'll fit in the apartment, but they're still full enough to look like they're supposed to, and he moves between them a few times before settling on one that he thinks looks a little deeper green than the others.

"This one, I think," he says to Beverly. "How do you feel about it?"

No matter what, this is a joint effort. When she looks at the tree, he wants her to feel like it's something she chose for their home.

It's a good tree. A picturesque sort of tree, without seeming ridiculous and excessive, something that will hold their ornaments and lights and look good, tall enough for the star to sit on top of it and not scrape the ceiling. Beverly considers it for a moment, leans in just a little so she can try to smell the pine needles, though it's impossible to differentiate one tree from another in the whole lot of them, and then nods, smiling broadly as she does.

"I think this is our tree," she agrees, slowly walking in a circle around it so she can take in the whole thing. "This seems right."

"Then this is our tree," he answers without hesitation, lifting his hand to wave over the guy in charge of the lot. Once the tree is paid for and he's helped Hopper strap it to the top of the car, they're ready to go. Hopper stands by the car for a second, his hand on the roof, then nods for Beverly to join him.

"Alright, kid," he says. "Let's go make our apartment look like Christmas."

After losing Sara, he'd never thought he would do this again. Any of it. Never thought he would let himself get caught up in what will inevitably go away again, but it's worth it. All of it is.

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