A/N: So this was originally a part of Argo Navis' Chapter 6, Baelfire and Swan, but got cut because that chapter was huge enough as it was honestly. It's mostly centered around Joy's little subplot, which is why it got chopped, but there are hints regarding one of Emma's future storylines so I figured why not post it as a one-off for anyone that might be interested.
X-x-x-X
The spur of the moment trip to Adventureland turned into a weekend thing. Though, from the way Neal packed, over-stuffing their ratty dufflebag, someone might have thought they'd be gone for a month or more and eventually Emma had to stop him from trying to smuggle along some of their more sentimental (and clearly unnecessary) items. Dreamcatcher included. She even tried her best to not belittle his fear as she did it. Because hurricanes were a real threat, she knew that, but on the list of all the things they had to worry about, it just seemed practically microscopic to Emma.
(Maybe because it was clearly out of their control so why bother.)
Along the way, Emma and Neal attempted to pay Joy's way for things they could barely afford for themselves, each of their attempts getting rebuffed. Swinging for gas was even off the menu apparently. And while Joy didn't try to pay their way in turn (this time anyway), Emma still felt bad, worried that she wasn't doing enough to return the kindness the woman had shown them.
"You're her friend," Neal had said when she shared this, leaving Emma positively baffled as to what that had to do with anything.
She let it go, the hotel (cheap as it was) coming with some much needed air conditioning and a pool, letting Emma escape the unbearable heat and finally, finally, she got a full night's sleep for the first time in what felt like forever (y'know, minus the five trips to the bathroom she had made during the night but whatever.)
She had wanted to stay behind, let the others go on ahead to the park while she napped and vegged in front of the tv and, maybe, waded in the pool. But apparently Joy did have a secret agenda for inviting her and Neal along.
"If you come," Joy said, eyes drifting toward her swollen stomach pointedly, "I'll have an excuse to not get on the merry-go-round five times in a row."
And this worked out well because Neal apparently didn't mind doing things like stand in line for the same ride repeatedly. In fact, much to Emma's amusement (and Joy's relief), he had a thing for theme parks, giving Maya an eager partner for all the rides she wanted to go on (of which she had a very thorough list).
Emma couldn't do much in the way of anything and in reality wanted to do even less and so she and Joy would meander from bench to bench, settling down under the cover of trees, nursing waters and sometimes ice cream.
"We came here once with her dad," Joy explained after Emma asked why they had gone to Alabama when Florida, if anything, was already brimming with theme parks. "There wasn't much we could afford and this place is cheaper." She smiled big, returning Maya's wave from inside a race car, only sobering when the little girl disappeared from view. "Plus, you know, Omar."
"You really think it's gonna be that bad?" Emma asked, somewhat distractedly as she tried to capture the trail of melting ice cream dripping down her cone. "I just figured those guys exaggerated the danger to save their own ass."
"Sometimes, maybe," she agreed, giving a half-shrug. "Mostly I just wanted to get out of town. Give her a good day."
There was a weight to Joy's words that made Emma forget about her frozen treat and focus on her, offering a significant look. "She seems happy."
More than actually. Maya had bounced her way into their apartment yesterday, had bounced in her safety seat all the way from Florida to Alabama, sharing her very specific plans about which rides she wanted to go on and in which order (between repeated statements of "Are we there yet?" and "I'm hungry."), and then bounced her way into the park and from attraction to attraction, the plans she had made quickly getting dashed when she spotted the park's newest attraction - the teacups. Neal had dutifully accompanied her seven times, looking greener and greener each time he stumbled off, until finally admitting that he just couldn't handle it anymore. His resistance lasted all of five seconds, and right about when Maya's lower lip began to wobble, eyes filling with tears, Neal had opened his mouth to clearly say that maybe one more time wouldn't hurt and only Joy swooping in, pointing out the kiddie boats to her daughter (something Neal and his very adult height were not allowed on) saved him.
(Emma had a very bad feeling she was gonna get stuck as their kid's primary disciplinarian.)
Joy smiled softly. "Yeah. The move's tough on her though, you know? And –" Her words caught on a sob, startling Emma, who flailed a bit before giving her a few awkward pats on the back, Joy simply settling on her shoulder. Naturally, Neal and his excellent timing returned a few minutes later, clutching Maya's hand and, after catching a glimpse of the scene, managed to whisk Maya away before the little girl caught sight of her distraught mother, distracting her with a fake sighting of the Adventureland mascot.
(Emma still had time to make a silent but frantic gesture, attempting to get Neal to take over because obviously he was much more suited to this sort of thing. He, however, merely mouthed that she had this.)
(She definitely did not have it.)
"Well, maybe you don't have to move," said Emma, thinking that Joy could just make an appeal to the bank. It turned out her situation was somewhat more complicated than just money issues though, given that Joy lived on a military base and that the family member that served had passed.
(They had given her time, half a year of it, just not the forever they obviously would have liked.)
So she tried something else. Emma had never really carried any sort of emotional attachment to the homes she'd gotten placed in growing up. They didn't last long enough, for one, and so she'd come to know better. Moving around as much as she had meant Emma knew a bit about having her life completely uprooted.
She'd gotten used to it (mostly).
And she learned to value the constants (few as they were).
Joy was a bit luckier in this regard.
"It's not like you won't have something to remember him by though," she said, reflecting on the albums and frames full of photos Maya had proudly pointed out during a visit. "You have all those pictures. And there's Maya."
Joy gave a watery laugh. "She does have his smile."
"Yeah, see? Your house, his stuff. It's only as good as the memories attached and you'll always have those."
It seemed to help, maybe, despite surpassing the usual emotional sappiness Emma typically endured. Joy didn't seem to mind anyway, squeezing her tight when Emma gathered her in another awkward hug, murmuring a heartfelt, "Thank you."
Maybe, Emma thought, there was something to Neal's 'you're her friend' theory after all.
After the tears had all dried, they gathered Neal and Maya, settling in for dinner at one of the park's overpriced restaurants as Emma and Maya's stomachs both agreed that food was long overdue. After, Neal dragged them to some distant corner of the park, stopping them in front of a familiar ride: The swings.
"Ne-John, uh, took me on this ride the night we met," Emma explained when Maya noted that this ride had very specifically not made her list (she had a thing about heights). But this seemed to placate her because she awed in exactly the right place. "But they're not gonna let me on."
Pregnancy really had its disadvantages.
"The line's winding down. Park's closing up," he said, taking Emma by the hand and tugging, a tempting smile playing on his lips, "maybe they'll let us sit for a bit."
After the last customer had their turn, the operator reluctantly, annoyed confusion marring his features, let them sit for a bit. It was kind of awkward.
"So what's your story?" Neal asked, a teasing smile on his lips and Emma laughed, ignoring the bewildering looks from both Joy and Maya.
It was, all in all, the perfect way to end the weekend.
(Y'know, once Emma obviously decided to ignore the suddenness of Maya's meltdown as they left Alabama and Adventureland behind. Or the fact that they had returned home only to discover that the hurricane had missed land and they had missed the rain she had so desperately been hoping for.)