Mr. Wheeler is sitting in the driver's seat of their car when he arrives at the Wheeler's, parking his own car by the curb. Jonathan gives an awkward nod to his girlfriend's father, who nods back just as awkwardly. He knocks on the front door which quickly swing open. Nancy smiles and says hello but then quickly turns back to her mother who's standing next to her in the hall.
"But we've got plans, we were going to see a movie and-, whatever, I just thought you were taking her with you," Nancy said, slightly agitated.
"Hello Jonathan," mrs. Wheeler greeted. He mumbled a hello back while mrs. Wheeler continued the discussion with Nancy. "Well it's not that kind of trip, you know, your father and I haven't had any time to ourselves for a long time and when I was at the hairdresser's I read this magazine article that said-"
"Oh God I don't wanna know what it said!" Nancy cut off, looking horrified.
"Well I'm sorry if we weren't clear before and sorry about your plans, but I need you to watch Holly! Can't you just watch a movie here instead, Jonathan is welcome to stay of course." That statement silenced Nancy, not expecting her mother to have such a relaxed attitude to her boyfriend. Then again she seemed desperate.
Right at that moment the little girl came running in with a stuffed animal clutched firmly in one hand. She looked from her mother to her sister but then discovered that there was another person there, someone she also recognised.
"Jon-a-than!" She sounded out the three syllables, very proud of mastering it.
"Hi Holly!" He smiled. He had always had a way with young kids, finding them easier to interact with than most people his own age. Since he started spending more time at the Wheeler's then before Holly had quickly taken a shine to him.
Mrs. Wheeler beamed at them and he could see a smile tugging at Nancy's lips as well before she bit it down and crossed her arms.
"Fine," she huffed.
"Thank you honey," mrs. Wheeler started. The sound of the car horn outside interrupted briefly. "Okay, I gotta go, I left some money on the counter for food if you need it, there's still some leftovers in the fridge too, we'll be back tomorrow afternoon," she continued before quickly kissing both of her daughters goodbye and giving Jonathan a pat on the arm on her way out the door.
"So uh, yeah. I'm apparently babysitting this weekend," Nancy started as they heard a car pulling out of the driveway. "You don't have to stay, I mean. If you don't want to."
"No I want to," he answered, putting an arm around her and settling for a kiss on the cheek as he felt Holly's eyes staring up at them. "Who's that, Holly?" He asked and gestured to the stuffed animal she held, who he now recognized was a dog.
"Kenny!" She yelled and held him up excitedly.
"No one knows why," Nancy answered as he looked to her for an explanation.
"Okay, hello Kenny, nice to meet you," he greeted the toy, making Holly giggle.
"I wanna play," the toddler then announced and promptly took a firm grip of his hand, making them follow her as she trudged off to the living room where he soon found out she'd left about six other stuffed animals.
"So what are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?" Nancy asked, they were able to keep a conversation going while simultaneously playing with Holly. The little girl were satisfied with them sitting with her on the floor and each holding the stuffed animal she had delegated to them (insisting that Nancy have Kurt the Turtle and Jonathan have Bun-Bun) while she herself orchestrated a tea party between them.
"Oh, uh, same as usual I guess."
"Which is?"
"Mom gets a good deal on one of the cheap turkeys at work, we cook it together. Eat, then we watch Charlie Brown. That's basically it."
"That's nice."
"Yeah," he shrugs. "What do you guys do?"
"Mom fusses in the kitchen all day, dad sits in his chair and watch tv as always, mom gets mad because no one's helping then gets mad when I screw up the cranberry sauce and Mike sets the table wrong and Holly gets cranky 'cause she's hungry and dad still can't be bothered. Then we sit down and eat and say how thankful we are for each other."
"Sounds traditional," he quips.
"Yep," she smirks, before her face falters. "Last year was the worst. Just weeks after… you know. Dad was as he always is but Mike was sad about Eleven so he just sat in the basement clutching his Super-Com the whole day, he barely came up for dinner even. And mom and I fought the whole day."
"Why?"
"I wasn't very helpful. Had a nightmare the night before so I didn't sleep at all so I screwed up more than normal in the kitchen – you know I can't cook right?"
"Right."
"Yeah so she got mad and I got madder and just, yeah. It sucked."
"Sorry."
"How was your last?"
"Good, actually. Will came home from the hospital the week before. He couldn't eat much but we got a turkey and everything. It was like our first night back to normal since… I mean, as normal as it ever gets, after everything."
"Yeah. That's good."
"Yeah, traditions can be good sometimes," he looked far away as he kept remembering. "And we had stuff to be really thankful for. It was the first time in years we actually said what we were thankful for. We stopped doing that after-" he suddenly trailed off.
"After what?"
"Uh, after dad left."
"Oh. Sorry, I didn't rea-"
"We always had to say we were thankful for him, if we didn't he got mad…" He stopped again and blinked rapidly.
"Hey," she reached out and took his hand. "It's okay. I'm sorry." Her heart broke for him as she thought of everything he, Will and Joyce had to endure, and she felt silly for complaining about her dysfunctional but non-abusive family.
"No it's just I… I've never told anyone that."
"Well I'm glad you told me," she squeezed his hand and looked him in the eye. She was touched that he felt comfortable enough with her to open up like that. She knew he kept a lot of things bottled up. She also knew he had taken the brunt of it from Lonnie to protect Will. "You don't have to tell me that stuff, if you don't want to. But I'll always listen if you do, okay?"
"I know. Thanks."
"Hello mr. Bun-Bun how are you?" Holly suddenly interrupted, breaking the tension.
"I am very well Kenny, how are you?" Jonathan immediately played along, putting on a higher voice for the stuffed bunny in his hand as Holly held up Kenny the dog against him. Nancy couldn't stop grinning.
They continued playing with Holly for the rest of the afternoon, with a stop for a juice and banana break which went over smoother than usual after Jonathan managed to convince Holly of the fruit's tastiness by snatching one of the pieces Nancy had cut up for Holly and making some extraordinary yummy-noises as he ate it. In the early evening both of their brothers came in with Dustin, Lucas and Max in tow.
"Hey, did mom and dad leave?" Mike asked as they all stood in the doorway to the living room.
"Yep."
"Huh, I thought they'd take Holly with them?"
"I did too. But apparently it wasn't 'that kind of trip'. Think about that for a minute."
"I'd rather not," Mike answered and made a disgusted face. "Hey can we have a sleepover?"
"I guess, have you guys called your parents?"
"No," or variants of it, were the collective response.
"Well, do that first. Then we can order pizza."
That got all the kids scrambling towards the phone in a hurry.
After gathering for the pizza in the kitchen with them the kids disappeared down to the basement where they'd spend the rest of the night.
"I want to see movie!" Holly proclaimed after they'd stowed away the dishes in the sink.
"Okay, what movie?" Nancy asked.
"Muppets!"
"Okay, if you brush your teeth first we can watch it," Nancy answered, knowing that Holly would never stay awake for the whole movie. "And you know what? Jonathan hasn't seen your Mickey Mouse pyjamas, want to show him?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, let's go get ready!" Turning to Jonathan she continued. "Could you get the VCR going? I think the movie's on the shelf."
"Sure," he smiled and went to prepare the movie while Nancy helped Holly brush her teeth and change into her pyjamas.
Nancy turned off the lights in the living room as they came back to further trick Holly into sleep eventually. She settled next to Jonathan on the couch while Holly ran to retrieve Kenny off the floor. Holly then quickly climbed onto the couch, pressing herself in between them.
"Ready?" Jonathan asked and picked up the remote.
"Yes," Holly answered as she snuggled deeper into the couch and him. Nancy found a blanket to cover them all.
Holly lasted a little over half of the movie before she fell asleep. They let the movie finish before taking her to bed, Jonathan carrying her upstairs.
"Think I'm not the only Wheeler girl with a thing for you," Nancy said as they closed the door behind them after exiting Holly's room.
"Maybe it's biological," he teased.
"Well. Now it's my turn to play with you."
She grabbed his hand and dragged him down the hall to her room at the opposite end. Her parents were away, her sister sound asleep and there were two floors between them and their brothers. They could take it slow and have their fun.
xxx
Thanksgiving goes just as she predicted. That is, until someone calls just as they've finished dinner.
"Wheeler residence."
"Hey Nancy, it's Joyce."
"Hi! Happy Thanksgiving!"
"You too. I hope I'm not interrupting…"
"God no! What's going on?"
"Well uh, I don't want to intrude on your holiday but if you and your brother have the time you're very welcome to come over now. There's someone here who wants to see you both…"
"Oh," she understood immediately. "Thanks, I'll talk to mom!"
"Give her my best!"
"Will do, bye!"
"Bye."
She returns to the table.
"So that was mrs. Byers, she wanted to wish us a happy Thanksgiving."
"Oh that's nice of her!"
"… and she said that I could come over if I wanted, so can I? Oh and Mike too, Will's got something to show him I think."
"Well I suppose if she invited you… yes. But oh you can't come emptyhanded," her mother quickly decided and soon shoved a pecan pie in her hands.
"Thanks mom!" She stood up and gave her mom a hug for good measure.
"Yeah, thanks mom," Mike repeated as he stood up.
"So what's going on?" Mike asked in the car on the way over to the Byers.
"You'll see."
The Chief's cruiser in the driveway must've at least given him an inkling but the look on Mike's face as they went inside and saw El was still priceless.
"He burnt the turkey," El explained after they all had exchanged seasons greetings, shooting a look at Hopper, making everyone laugh.
"Well you do it next year then and see how easy it is," he countered. "Thanks again Joyce. And Jonathan, for the food," he added.
"No problem, happy to have you," Joyce smiled.
"Same thing next year I'll bet," Jonathan muttered.
"A new tradition," Nancy smirked and leaned into his side.
They gathered in the kitchen for the pecan pie they brought and a pumpkin pie by Joyce's making.
"So El, do you like Thanksgiving?" Nancy asked.
"Yes! The food is nice. And… I like that you all are here."
"We like that too," Mike answered.
"Yeah thanks so much for calling," Nancy turned to Joyce.
"Oh of course!"
"When does… the giving thanks happen?" El asked hesitantly.
"Oh uh, now if you want to," Joyce answered.
"I am thankful for you, El. That you came back," Mike was quick to start.
"I think we all are," Hopper added and everyone chimed in with affirmatives.
"I am thankful for you… all of you," El said an looked shyly around the table.
"I think we all can agree on that too," Nancy said and everyone nodded.
Then it was time for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving so they all gathered in the living room. Nancy snuggled up with Jonathan in an armchair while Mike and Eleven sat next to each other on the floor. Hopper settled on the couch next to Joyce and Will. Looking weirdly in-place, Nancy thinks.
Later as they're saying goodbye at the door, El and Hopper having just left, she leans in closer to Jonathan.
"I think Mike and El summed it up nice before," she starts, looking down at their interlocked hands. "But most of all I'm thankful for you," she finishes, looking up at him.
"Same," he murmurs before kissing her goodnight.
A/N: Thanks so much for all the response! Next chapter might be a while 'cause I'm busy busy busy this week but here's some Holly-day fluff!