This fic was written for Moondance_94 over on A03 who said: "...there really isn't a whole lot of monologue between joes mom and the others; however, it was kinda noticeable the chip she installed into Joe about her- lack of happiness of Joe accepting too fast into the Reagan name. Do you think you could write a scenario, nothing overly dramatic- but where Joe kinda puts his mom in her place in front of the Reagan's?"
I...may have gone overboard with the dramatic portion, cause you said nothing overly dramatic, but I will leave that up for you to decide!
Sorry this is so late, it's been really busy in the last couple months since you requested this, I still can't believe how busy this summer has been, haha.
Anyway, hope you enjoy! (and that goes for everyone, not just Moondance_94 )
Having two sides to your family was hard.
Now, Joe Hill realized that most families had two sides, and dealt with it just fine. It was just that he wasn't used to having two sides of the family to deal with, it had always just been him and his mom, and sometimes his mom's small extended family.
You'd think it wouldn't be so bad, having a bunch more family you could rely on, who would have your back when you needed someone, or even just to visit with so you wouldn't be lonely.
And he had that, it was nice. But it came with its own problems. Not the least of which being his mom's opinion of the Reagans. Or, well, of his spending so much time with the Reagans.
Technically it was her fault, since she had been the one to make the initial contact with the Reagan family. Specifically with Joe's grandfather, Frank Reagan. Who also happened to be the Police Commissioner.
But that was a whole other bag of worms that Joe wasn't going to get into right now..
Right now he had to focus on the matter at hand. Did he go to the Reagan Sunday family dinner like he had promised (he was bringing a salad), or did he go to his mom's place and have takeout, like they usually do?
He knew that she wanted him to skip on Sunday dinner and spend time with her, after all, they hadn't seen each other much lately with both of their busy schedules, and she wanted to catch up. It would be nice.
But it was also nice to sit around a family table exchanging clever banter. Hopefully. As long as there wasn't another family feud going on, likely with Uncle Danny right in the thick of it. He wanted to go.
He may have tried to distance himself from them originally, not quite sure if he wanted to be a part of their family, and if he did want to be a part, where he fit in. But things had been better lately, he had been more comfortable with them all, and he thought they were getting used to having him around as well.
So now the question was, how could he make both his mom, the Reagans, and himself happy?
He agonized over it during his entire shift on Friday, and finally at the end while he was changing out of uniform a light bulb clicked in his mind.
Later that night he was calling Frank Reagan. Not the commissioner, no, but Joe's grandfather.
"We're here!" Joe called out on Sunday evening, holding the door open for his mom, Paula Hill, to enter the Reagans' house through the kitchen doorway. Joe put the salad in the fridge as Frank and Erin came over to greet them.
Paula had met the family before, and had even been to a prior family dinner at the start of everything, but Joe knew that she still wasn't comfortable with this. She had tried everything she could to convince him against going, against bringing her, against it all. But he had made up his mind, either he went alone, or they went together. After all, he had already promised to be there before his mom made plans that involved him.
He just hoped that she could manage to be civil for the evening.
"Paula, it's nice to see you again," Frank said, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. Erin just smiled at them both as well, a silent backup and support if needed.
"Yes, it's been a while," was Paula's reply. Joe gritted his teeth behind upcurved lips. Her response was so passive aggressive while still being polite.
Don't get him wrong, he loved his mom, but she had been getting on his nerves lately, especially when the Reagans were involved.
"Well, don't stand in the entrance, come on in," Frank gestured with his hand as he backed up.
"Yes, the boys have been anxious to start eating," Erin continued as she followed them into the living room where the rest of the family was seated.
After the rest of the greetings were out of the way everyone converged in the dining room and took their seats. Paula ended up next to Frank, with Joe on her other side by Danny.
The first few minutes went fine, there was very little chatting as people were instead focusing on filling their plates.
And then the courtesy small talk started.
"So, Paula, we're really glad you could join us with Joe, it's been nice having him around more often, and more people are always welcome!" Henry said. The eyes at the table turned to him briefly, then turned on Paula, accompanied by agreeing exclamations.
"Oh, yes, well, you know. I have to keep an eye on Joe," Paula said, "and if he won't stay with me for Sundays anymore, I need to go to wherever it is that has his attention." She smiled as she said it, but the words and tone made her meaning clear, and there was silence at the table for a few seconds.
"Gotta keep an eye on the youngsters, absolutely," Henry said, mostly as a way to bring normalcy back. A few people laughed softly, and awkwardly, but Joe thought, hoped, that would be it, and nothing else would happen.
He should have known better.
"You know, I never thought Joe was one for crowds," his mom started talking again, and Joe knew her well enough to brace for impact, "but he sure seems to like coming here a lot, with you. It seems he can't get enough of your family."
"Well, we're his family too, he's one of us," Frank said, smiling. His smile wasn't as natural as usual, it was more similar to one you would see on his face at work.
"Well, we appreciate you saying that, but surely it must be hard to accept someone you just met as part of your family," she was saying it all with a smile. "Of course I commend you for your efforts."
"Mom, can we not talk about this?" Joe muttered, glancing over at his mom. He didn't like where this conversation was going, or where it was at.
"What do you mean, honey? I'm just trying to thank them for acting so kind to you, it's only polite."
Joe lost it.
His chair screeched against the floor as he stood abruptly, hands flat on the table. "Mom, stop!" He shouted, looking only at his mom and trying to block out all the other surely-shocked and uncomfortable faces around him. "They're not acting kind, they are kind! And they're not just 'the Reagan family' like you think of them, they're my family, they're Dad's family, and I don't like how you're talking to them about me."
"W-well, Joe, surely you're not serious, you hardly know them. And how dare you speak to me that way, I am your mother!" She was furious, he could tell, but also slightly embarrassed. He knew her well enough to know, and he felt a spark of shame and sorrow at saying this to her, but it needed said.
"I do know them, they're good people, they took me in as one of them even though they didn't have to, they've shown me so much about myself, and about Dad, that you never did. I don't want to hear you talking about them as if they treat me as some kind of charity case, that's hurtful to me, and it doesn't give them the amount of respect they deserve."
His mom was quiet, and so was the rest of the table. The only sound for a few seconds was the sound of his own laboured breathing as he tried to calm down. Then, there came the sound of slow claps. All heads snapped over to Henry Reagan, who had a wry smile on his face as his hands clapped together.
"Way to stand up for yourself, Joseph," he said in the slow voice of his. His face was impassive, but the people who knew him well could see the pride in his eyes, and layered beneath that, his burning anger and frustration.
"Well, it's good to know that's how you feel," was all his mom said in response, before staring at her plate and picking up her fork.
Joe tried to calm down, and leave it all behind. But he looked around at everyone there, at the rest of his family, and he knew he couldn't leave it there. Everyone was feeling awkward, and that's not how Sunday family dinners were supposed to feel. Even if they did end up being that way quite a bit.
"Mom, let's go," he said, wiping his face with a napkin and standing up.
"You can't leave in the middle of a meal, Joe, I thought I raised you to be more polite than that!" Paula exclaimed.
Joe knew he should have left it at that, he really should have. But he wasn't that good of a person, and he was stubborn, he needed to have the last word. "I am politer than to do that without cause, but clearly I couldn't have learned to be polite from you. You've shown tonight that you're not capable. Let's leave, so the rest of my family can eat their meal in peace."
"It's really not necessary, I said you were both welcome when you got here, and I never go back on what I say," Frank started to say, leaning back in his seat as he tried to pacify them. The rest of the family chimed in too, some of them less enthusiastically and genuinely than others.
"No, really it's alright, Grandpa," Joe replied, softening his tone while speaking to Frank. "Thank you for having us, I appreciate it, but we'll be leaving now."
His mom was silent as they walked out the door and got in Joe's car. He had driven them both over tonight, so now all he had to do was drive her to her place, and then he would be able to go home to his apartment and crash.
The drive was silent. When he finally parked at her place he could tell that she wanted to talk to him, she even opened her mouth to do so. But she had known him all his life, and one side-glance from him was enough to tell her that it wasn't a good time. At least not yet. She got out of the car, and he drove away. He just wanted to forget this night, but he knew he couldn't.
Joe went over for dinner again the next Sunday, somewhat unsure of how it would go, but pretty confident that they wouldn't treat him differently. It was one of the things he liked the most about his new family: they fought often, but they forgave and forgot easily. Feuds never lasted long.
He, of course, apologized for his mother's behaviour, and of course the Reagans were all eager to excuse her. Some more than others, as predicted, but they did all say that it was fine.
He was thankful for it, more than they would know, but he still burned with both shame and fury when he thought of it. He had really hoped that his two families, old and new, could get along. And he still held out hope, but he knew that it would be a long journey before they could reach that destination. And even if they never got there, as long as he had both of them, he would be fine. After all, a journey is more fun when you have someone to travel with, even if you need to switch between cars multiple times on the way.
I'm not sure how happy I am with this, but writing emotions is hard, it's not my comfort zone, and Joe is an especially hard character. So, yeah, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Also, I made Paula way more cruel and annoying than I'm sure she is in the show, but I just needed her to be that way for the fic. So, sorry if that turned anyone off, but, had to be done!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it at least a little bit!