Time After Time (a Stranger Things fanfiction)

The Love Boat

"The Love Boat"

Love, life's sweetest reward

Let it flow, it floats back to you

- The Love Boat

Joyce paced the kitchen floor. Back and forth, practicing what she would say. In a million years, she had never expected to have this conversation with her boys, but she couldn't keep hiding it from them, either. Jonathan, at least, was getting suspicious—and Will just looked at her with those big eyes in that pale face that still wasn't regaining its color, even months after his experiences. No, it was time to tell them, even though she fully expected they weren't going to take it well. She had never expected to have a boyfriend—a boyfriend, at her age!—to tell them about, and she was sure they had no idea that was where she had been all those evenings recently. No, this was going to be awkward, no getting around it.

They came in the door talking animatedly, singing scraps of some new song. Joyce felt she should probably know what the song was, but that was the thing the two of them shared, and she didn't want to intrude on it.

"Hey, Mom," Jonathan said, dropping his bag on the kitchen table. He looked at her more closely, and frowned. "You okay?"

"Oh, sure! I'm fine. I just ... Can you sit down, boys? Or do you want to get something to eat first?"

"Mom?" Will asked. "What's going on?"

"Nothing! Nothing, sweetheart. It's just—something I need to talk to you both about. Oh, this is a disaster. I knew it would be."

"Okay. Just calm down, have a seat." Jonathan put a hand on her shoulder and gently urged her into a chair. Next thing she knew her cigarettes were in front of her, and a hot cup of coffee. Here he was, taking care of her again. Maybe she shouldn't do this. Maybe she should break things off with Bob so she could focus on her boys.

But even as she thought about it, she pictured his sweet smile and his gentle eyes. She could practically hear his deep warm chuckle and feel the careful way he cupped her elbow or placed his fingertips at the small of her back to lead her into a room. The way he made her feel safe, and cared for, and trusted.

She couldn't give that up, not now. Not even for them.

"I've been seeing someone," she said, not having intended to blurt it out like that but unable to stop herself.

The boys shared a look, and Will giggled, which was not at all the reaction Joyce had expected. "The guy from Radio Shack, right?"

She looked from one boy to the other in shock. "H-How did you know that?"

"Oh, he always smiles at me when we go in and tells me to say hi to you."

"And you got that we were dating from that?"

"You'd have to see his face. It gets all funny and weird."

Well, now she'd have to get Bob to make the face for her.

"It's okay, Mom," Jonathan told her.

"Are you sure?"

He wasn't sure, she could tell, but he was trying, for her sake. He always did try for the sake of the people he cared about. She loved that about him and wished he would stand up for himself more, all at the same time.

"Yeah. He seems like a nice guy."

"He is. He really is. I ... want you guys to meet him. Okay?"

They looked at each other again, appearing to have talked it over already and resigned themselves to it. "Okay," they said at the same time.

"Wow. I ... did not expect this to go that well."

"You weren't exactly subtle, Mom," Jonathan said, giving her a gentle pat on the head. "All those late nights? You never work that late."

"I guess not. I sure can't put one over on the two of you. How'd I get so lucky to have two such smart boys? So—you're both okay with Bob being around sometimes?"

"He's not going to, like, move in, is he?" Will asked, wrinkling his nose.

"No, honey! Absolutely not. Just come over sometimes. Or maybe we'll all go out to dinner."

"At the Chinese place?"

"Sure." She didn't want to know how they knew that was where she and Bob had gone on several of their dates. Hawkins really was such a small town. It occurred to her she probably ought to tell Hopper about Bob, too, since he undoubtedly already knew. Not that she owed Jim Hopper any explanation about her life—but they were friends now. At least, they were when he wasn't being standoffish and weird and hiding himself away in his grandfather's old hunting cabin. "You know what Bob likes? Movies. Maybe we can make movie night a regular thing."

Jonathan stood up abruptly, muttering something about homework. He grabbed his bag off the table and went to his room, closing the door firmly behind him.

Joyce looked guiltily at Will. "Too much?"

"Maybe. He'll get over it."

"You have a good day at school?" She got up and started getting him something to eat. He was still too thin. She wanted to see him putting some meat on his bones, growing a little faster.

"Fine." He dug around in his backpack, pulling out papers and books. "They call me Zombie Boy, did you know that?"

Stupid kids. "Well, that's kind of a cool name, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I guess it could be worse." He picked up a pencil and started doing math.

"You need any help?" It was a standard joke, since Will's math ability far surpassed hers and had since he was about eight.

"I got it, Mom, thanks." He filled in a couple of problems as Joyce cut up carrots for him. She put the plate down next to his math book, and Will looked up. "Mom?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"I'm glad. About you and the guy from Radio Shack."

"Bob."

"Bob, right. You deserve to be happy."

Touched, she smoothed his hair back from his forehead. "You make me happy, you know."

"I know. I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, sweetheart." Happier than she'd been in quite a while, Joyce went into her room and started getting dressed for her shift at work.