Chapter Text
Sometimes things never really work out the way they were intended to.
Joyce had a nice life, it was better than anything she had with Hopper. Lonnie doted on her and her daughter, he treated her like she was a queen. They moved to his trailer on the outskirts of the city, she was happy there, her daughter grew up in the exact life Joyce had pictured for her. Both parents, no, it was better than that. She had three parents because Lonnie was practically another dad to her.
Hopper, Joyce and Lonnie talked about that and Joyce admired her ex-husband for making an effort with Lonnie, she also loved how Lonnie never expected anything from Hopper in regard to Madeleine.
Everything was just simple and Joyce realised she liked that a lot instead of the complicated lies she had in her life before.
Sometimes the kids would hear her out, she would go to those meetups with Madeleine and Hopper and sometimes El would be there if she wanted to see her sister but she never really spoke to Joyce, it was mainly to Madeleine. It did hurt Joyce a bit that she blatantly ignores her but she does understand. Will also went too, he was much more willing to give her the time of day and she probably had the best relationship with him compared to El and Jonathan. As for Jonathan, he didn't really care, he just had his own life now and never really looked back.
This was a process, Lonnie always tells her that.
Hopper tries to get the kids to talk to Joyce but it's never enough.
Soon enough El stopped going, she couldn't quite stand the sight of Joyce so it was just left to Hopper and Joyce to take Madeleine places, sometimes Lonnie would go if Joyce was tired or she was working. It just worked, well it worked as well as it could.
"Are you sure you're ok going this time?" Lonnie checks with her, he wraps his arms around her from behind, he smiles
"I think so"
"I just wanted to make sure because Sammy's going to be there and I know this is the first time you're going to meet him alone without me being there and with the wedding being postponed-"
"Lonnie" she turns to him with a small smile "Stop talking, I just don't want to think about it, the more I think about it the more anxious I'll be"
"How about I drive you?"
She thinks about it for a moment and nods.
"Yeah, ok" she confirms with a small smile "Thank you"
She reaches out and squeezes his hand, he smiles softly and kisses her gently.
The sad thing was that this was the only thing that would most likely go to plan. She doesn't know why she thinks it but she thinks that Hopper has turned her son away from her on the way to meet them both, she knows it's stupid, she's seen her son before in the flesh with Lonnie but this time it was different, she would be on her own. Lonnie could tell she was nervous so he places a hand on her leg, she takes it and squeezes it before turning to look out of the window whilst listening to her daughter ramble on about every little thing in her life to her fiance.
Madeleine had met her brother quite a few times, mainly when El went to see her with Hopper as he usually dropped Sammy off with her whilst he went to see Madeleine. At first, Joyce was sceptical, she didn't want to confuse her daughter with her past mistakes but Madeleine seemed to understand that she had another sibling who was younger than her just not why he was living with Hopper and not Joyce.
This is where Lonnie was great.
He managed to explain it in ways that Joyce couldn't and she thanked him for that, it just made it easier for when Madeleine would talk about her brother because she did. She talked about him a lot.
"Can Sammy come to ours?"
Joyce turns her head and looks at Lonnie.
Her eyes widen.
"Um, maybe not Maddy" Lonnie starts and immediately he was faced with pouted lips "I know all of your friends come over and you all play together but it's a bit different isn't it? Sammy lives very far away-"
"It could be a sleepover!" Madeleine beams and Lonnie smiles slightly at her before noticing Joyce stare out of the window
"I don't think so Mads" Lonnie murmurs and she frowns softly
If this was any other occasion with her friends then usually they would say yes.
"Does mama not like Sammy?"
Lonnie groans softly.
Joyce's daughter was too smart for her own good sometimes, he even saw the slightest smile from Joyce knowing she was thinking the same thing.
They pull up to the diner and Hopper's already there, Joyce frowns and notices him and Sammy standing there beside a police car, she turns to Lonnie who bites his lip and helps Madeleine out of the car. She immediately runs over to Hopper and he lifts her up into his arms balancing her using one arm. He then lifts Sammy up into his other arm and grins at Joyce and Lonnie making their way over.
"What's all this then Jim?"
"Back working at the station, took a lot of convincing but I've been clean for some time now" Hopper shrugs causing Joyce to swallow "It's just light duties, fitting around pre-school and all that"
"Right" Lonnie smiles weakly "Are you going to be ok or do you want me to stay? I don't mind, I can ring work and-"
"Um," Joyce drops her gaze and Lonnie gently takes her hands "Could you...could you stay?"
"Of course" he whispers and rubs his hands up and down her arms knowing she wasn't feeling quite ready yet to take this step on her own "Let me just ring work ok?"
She nods and turns to Hopper who smiles softly at her whilst nodding along to everything Madeleine was saying.
"Shall we go and get a table?" he suggests "My arms are killing me holding these two, I'm strong but I'm not that strong"
"Yeah sure" she whispers as Hopper walks into the diner, she turns to Lonnie with an anxious expression as he finishes his call
He walks over to her and puts his arm around her, telling her that she'll be ok because he was here.
It didn't shift Joyce's uneasiness.
The uneasiness she couldn't put her finger on.
They sit in the diner, Madeleine and Sammy were doing some colouring whilst Joyce rests her head against Lonnie's shoulder, she wasn't tired, she just felt dazed. She turns to Madeleine and smiles softly at her before running her fingers through her daughter's hair, Sammy passes Joyce a crayon and she joins in with the colouring whilst Lonnie and Hopper talk. They both get up to order some more drinks leaving Joyce with the kids.
"Is she ok?" Hopper asks Lonnie, he smiles weakly and lets out a breath
"She's on edge, the wedding keeps getting postponed so naturally she just thinks the world is against her or is trying to tell her something" Lonnie smiles as Hopper orders some milkshakes for the kids "How's it going with the kids?"
"El's stubborn, Will's come around to the idea and I won't even mention Jonathan because that would be pointless" Hopper states with a small smile, Lonnie nods and takes one of the glasses for him "Sammy's excited though, you made the right choice by the way, slowly integrating him into Joyce's life through Maddy and these meetups we're doing"
"I know Joyce regrets everything, she does want to be that boy's mom, she tells me it during those moments when she's so-"
"Anxious?" he looks at him and Lonnie nods "She's strong"
"I know she is under everything but I don't know, I think she feels like there's something missing from her life-"
"You mean Sammy?"
"Maybe" Lonnie shrugs "She tells me things but she doesn't tell me that, "I have something to cheer her up though"
"Oh really?" Hopper laughs softly before looking over at Joyce, she offers a weak smile before turning back to Madeleine
"I'm going to suggest we move back to Hawkins, I um...put an offer in on a house, been thinking about it for a while working all of these extra shifts. Keys got mailed in the post the other day so we could have a look around" Lonnie grins and Hopper's eyes widen, he turns to look at Joyce and then back to Lonnie "You don't think it's a good idea?"
"No, no that's not what I think" Hopper starts and lets out a small sigh "I just...with the kids...they don't..."
"I know but I really think she'd be better off being around them, she's stronger now and today it was just a blip, she needs to be around the kids and Sammy more to help her recovery besides my trailer isn't the best place to bring up Maddy"
Hopper seemed sceptical.
"If you think that's best"
"Don't tell her though, I want it to be a surprise, for the wedding...whenever we get around to actually getting married"
"My lips are sealed-"
"Daddy!" Madeleine scowls and he chuckles, he makes his way back with Lonnie following behind "You took ages!"
"I was just talking to Lonnie" Hopper reaches over to ruffle her hair causing her to grin "Why don't I take them both out for you?"
"You don't have to do that" Joyce whispers and turns to Lonnie "Unless you want to?"
"Yeah, I mean...I would like to but I understand if you wouldn't...the kids they'd like to see Maddy so..."
"Please" Madeleine pouts her lips and Joyce sighs, she runs her fingers through her daughter's hair "Please mama, Lonnie..."
"Ok fine" Joyce agrees turning to Lonnie "I guess it would be nice for us to do something together"
"It would" Lonnie confirms with a small smile
"Alright then, sounds good" Hopper grins and looks between them, he smiles at Joyce tucking herself into Lonnie's side
She smiles up at him and he smiles down at her.
She gets confused when Lonnie drives her further into Hawkins, she frowns softly and constantly asks him why they're here knowing they hadn't been here in a good few months. They pull up in one of the more affluent neighbourhoods and Lonnie gestures for Joyce to get out of the car, she turns to him and frowns before he takes her hand into his. He leads her to one of the houses and stands there.
"What do you think?"
"It's a house?" she raises an eyebrow with a small laugh "I don't understand Lonnie"
He pulls out a key from his pocket and she frowns.
"Wanna take a look inside?" he offers and she looks at him, she was so confused but she takes the key and walks up to the door, she opens it and frowns
"It's...been refurbished?" she looks at him and Lonnie nods "Why have you brought me here?"
"I was going to wait until the wedding" he starts and she frowns "But I put an offer in on this place, it has four bedrooms, two bathrooms and everything has been refurbished, do you like it?"
"I love it" she whispers and looks around "Was this supposed to be my wedding gift?"
"Yeah, yeah it was" he confirms with a grin as she walks around the place "So what do you think?"
"Can I look upstairs?"
"You can do whatever you like" he smirks as she giggles and heads upstairs, he follows her and shows her into the master bedroom, a gasp escapes her lips "Like it?"
"I love it" she bites her lip "You did all of this? Why?"
"So we could be closer to the kids, so you could start making amends. You're better now and I think you're strong enough. You'll also get to be around Sammy and build that relationship with him-"
"What about your job?"
"It's a few hours drive there and back Joyce...besides I can take Fridays off and no longer work weekends now we have the money situation sorted out. This place, it's as good as ours all I have to do is say the word go"
She turns to him and hooks her arms around his neck gently.
"So is this a yes?"
"Definitely a yes" she confirms and kisses him softly "You do realise Madeleine is going to be insufferable when it comes to designing her room"
"Oh, I know" he smirks and looks around the room "I'm glad you like it anyway, I was going to wait until the wedding but...it keeps getting pushed back so..."
"Maybe we could get married here instead of in the city" Joyce contemplates causing a soft hum from Lonnie "Might be easier and more straightforward and with a bit of luck it might not get pushed back all the time"
"Sounds like a good idea" he comments and smiles down at her "The future starts here"
"It really does"
Even if the unknown was scary.