junebug

-june jj beckett.

age: 49. birthday: february 22, 1973. pronouns: she/her. birthplace: lockwood springs, CO. occupation: part time cleaner at the stanley hotel / self-employed business owner. best traits: nurturing, dependable, motherly, loving worst traits: overly ambitious, impulsive, quirky, unserious sexuality: wyatt.

-more. infertility tw

Emma keeps an arm draped loosely around Sawyer and shakes her head at her sister. “Okay so Ethan said that Beau likes Tammie, wait –– ” she scrunches her brow as she watches her daughter run away, trying to recall the trail of second-hand information she’s now passing to her sister. “Okay so Ryan and Tammie were together, we know that, but I think Beau liked Tammie even then,” she clarifies, helping Sawyer with the bag of goldfish that keeps closing on him, “so apparently he told Ryan to break up with her and when he didn’t he ran him out of town?” Emma wrinkles her nose, “But I don’t get how Beau ran him out of town? Have you seen him? But yeah, he kissed Tammie but not when she was with Ryan? Though I mean, I don’t know? He doesn’t seem the type but if you run your best friend out of town for a girl…not a great look either.” She shakes her head disapprovingly before shouting take turns, Vivi, as her daughter tried to get on the slide yet again before Henry had a chance. “Yeah, but you know Ethan’s probably going to lose it when he sees them. Though I guess if they know what’s good they’ll keep their heads down.” 

———♡———

                        June followed along the best she could, nodding and then furrowing her brow, nodding again and humming. “No!” she gasped in-between her sister’s retelling of events. “So the younger Sullivan held a torch for Tammie this whole time? Well, we all kinda thought something was going on but then we figured it was just...us being hopeful she’d leave Ryan for him.” June rambled and she’d never say any of this to Tammie, not wanting to upset her. “Beau does not seem the time to run anybody outta town, but then again, there’s something about the Sullivans, you know?” June shrugged. “If I was 15 years younger and didn’t love Wyatt with my whole heart. They’re good men, or seemed it. Just shows you don’t know what the hell anybody is like.” June sighed, looking down at Cooper and giving him a little kiss on the top of his head as he struggled with a yogurt pot. “I’m guessing neither of them would be dumb enough to go to Boots any time soon, right?” June smiled a little cheekily to her sister. “So you know, maybe we should do a few nights at Boots just to...make sure they’re not dumb?”

;

Cricket smiled at the woman, impossible to really let any mood she had linger when June was around. Even watching her with Sawyer and Cooper warmed her heart, and Cricket knew she could always go to June for help with them too. “Oh for sure, they’re basically trying to charm everyone into getting extra cake.” she laughed and reached across to wipe some crumbs from Cooper’s cheeks. “Which obviously is working.” she observed, smiling big again. It changed to a sadder smile when June talked and she nodded to show she was listening. “Honestly, June if there’s anything I can do please just ask.” Cricket said, feeling hopeless with this sort of thing. She thought about Spence, glancing up to June with a small shrug. “I think he’s okay. Obviously not amazing, but you know…he’s not spiraled…yet.”

———♡———

                       “Well, who could ever say no to these two cute faces?” June swooned at the toddlers, pinching their perfectly dimpled cheeks and watching them laugh back at her. She held onto them both, one on each knee and then looked at Cricket, definitely not wanting anybody to be worried or sad on her behalf. “Crick, you got more than enough on your hands. I promise, we’ll be fine.” she nodded to the younger woman before humming about her nephew. Spence was a tricky one, a little more complicated than people gave him credit for. But Cricket seemed to know him well enough by now, small things or big things could send him off. “If anyone can keep a good eye on him it’s you, and you let me or Wy know if something ever seems off to you. Spence carries a lot on his shoulders sometimes and then just snaps, and we don’t want that.”

“Nothing,” he nuzzled into her neck and planted a couple kisses there, “scares me as long as I have you there by my side, baby.” No truer words have ever come out of his mouth short of his wedding vows. Together they were unstoppable and they had decades under their belt to back them up on that statement. “More space would be great, I can start looking at things. I’ll call Greg tomorrow to have him do an off the books inspection. Give him a free oil change or something. Then I can get to work.” The mention of a man cave made him chuckle. “Rather you have one of them she-shed things. I can use the shop for my tinkering if I need it. Or the garage I s’pose.” The mention of Dusty had Wyatt thinking in a different direction all of a sudden. “Hey, you seen Dusty around? I haven’t since the storm. You don’t think Bobby is trying to move back in with them, do ya?” It worried him. He was always worried about those boys but the reappearance of the bane of Southside’s existence had him even more worried. 

———♡———

                         “Oh stop, you know it’s just because we’re a good team. Tammie said that to me the other day, actually.” June giggled, which was a common sound she made whenever Wyatt was with her. He still had all the power to make her feel like they were teens all over again. Whoever said love died out just wasn’t doing it right, or with the right person. She sat up slightly to kiss him again but also to smile at how he always just ran with her stupid ideas, never made them feel stupid either which was why she now had a supply cupboard full of plain t-shirts and a printing machine. “Honey that’d be amazing, I can also throw in some apple pie or something or inviting him and his wife over for dinner. Or offer to take the kids somewhere, maybe Mile High for an afternoon.” she rambled the ideas, knowing that giving back to friends and the community was a better currency than dollars most of the time. “I don’t think I should be allowed more space, Wiley. I’ll just...occupy it up.” she laughed before humming about Dusty. “I don’t know, that man is a nasty piece of work. He’s probably got all sorts’a plans that I don’t even want to think about. I worry the boys will...y’know how they used to be? He’s their dad so they always...just kinda accepted it.”

- 

“Ooh, smart.” Tammie mused, knowing that she’d probably parent in a similar way. The thought of discouraging knives altogether didn’t even seem like an option. Sighing as the bag landed on her legs, Tammie did as she was told and rifled through the items to try and find the mysterious card. She scoffed slightly about Spencer, rolling her eyes before she looked back at June. “It’s how we communicate, Auntie. Always has been. But he knows I have his back and he has mine, s’all that matters. Last time I was nice to him I was sick a little in my mouth so…nothing will change.” she grinned before shaking her head. “Nope, nothing. Are you sure you even had one?”

———♡———

                              “Right? I think it was Wy’s idea, but we always forget who’s idea is what so we both take the credit anyways.” June laughed, securing the coffee and then passing them over to her niece so she could pay. Usually Tammie and Spence bickering wasn’t anything new, but after the loss of Jason it made June realize how quick things could change. “I’m just saying, Tams. I know you love him, but maybe let him know that from time to time?” she suggested, even though she expected Tammie to laugh in her face. “I know I had one so maybe your uncle took it.” she figured, driving from starbucks so they could head towards the lined stores. “Thrift or Target? I need Target but, I love a thrift store so...both? I think we got time for both.”

———♡———

                        The picnic bench had become June and Emma’s base. They’d offered to bring the little twins along, one on each of the sister’s knees while they watched Vivi, Henry and the new girl Ashley enjoy some enrichment time. It also meant June could catch up on some gossip, because good and bad news traveled fast even though she was all the way in Southside. “So wait, Beau...okay, back track for me.” she flipped some hair out of her face that Cooper was tugging. “So Beau told Tammie to end it with Ryan or Ryan to end it with Tammie? And he just kissed her on a roof the other week? I can’t keep up.” she gasped, knowing exactly why their niece was annoyed. “My God, both of those boys were lucky all of us weren’t around. Can you imagine?”

+ JUNE BECKETT HOME

“You still make the best fried chicken, Aunt June,” Nora compliments, taking a big bite. “I tried the other week and nearly burnt down the house.” And that had been the end of that. She was a bit too jumpy to be around the crackling frier if she was supposed to be the one watching it. “You should eat too though…can’t keep feeding people if you’re running on empty.” She pats the seat next to her with an earnest smile, keen to see her aunt take a break, even for a few minutes. She knows this is how Aunt June shows she loves people but Nora also knew it was how she coped. Serving others. It wasn’t a bad thing but she thinks it can become a slippery slope in the midst of grief.  @junebeckett​

———♡———

                        “You sure it’s not too dry? You can tell me, I’m getting better at constructive criticism. Last week, someone told me the doughnuts I made tasted like pretzels and I didn’t even cry.” June laughed, impressed with herself as she began to clean up the kitchen. “Next time I’m over at the ranch I’ll make some with you, you probably learn better seeing and doing.” she suggested as she came to join her niece at the table. It was true that she preferred to ensure everyone else was okay and sometimes forgot about herself, luckily with Wyatt and a great family, she never forgot for long. “You’re right, I am pretty hungry.” June admitted, fixing up her own plate and coming to join her niece. “How are you doing with everything, sweetie?” she asked, taking a bite. She knew it was a time that was hard for everybody, but she always worried about the younger ones. “It all feels weird, right?”

He wasn’t asleep yet but he was definitely somewhere between asleep and awake. Content with his arm around June and the quiet. Normally he’d be looking over paperwork from the shop or at an issue of Popular Mechanics, but tonight he just wanted to lay there. “Hmm?” He perked up when his beautiful wife rolled toward him and returned her kiss. “Okay, but I don’t think there’s ever a dumb question, pumpkin. What’s that sayin’? Only dumb people and you’re far from dumb, hon.” If anything, he was the dumb one trying to do his best to just get the simple stuff out of the way so Junebug could handle the complicated problems. Like third grade homework. The worst. “Maybe? We need to fix some stuff up and get it inspected but I think it’s doable. We’d just need to figure out what our budget is and what we can afford.” Wyatt nodded. “Maybe we can get an apartment in the garage to help some of the adult children we got around here, too.”

———♡———

                         June believed with her whole heart that Wyatt was like an angel, even if he was a goofy angel at that. Without him, there were so many things June would have found hard to overcome and she wished everybody in the world was able to find their Wiley. Laughing at his sweet words, she gave him another kiss. “I just wanted to check so I didn’t scare you with the idea.” June smiled, cuddling up closer to him. The way he always supported her thoughts made him even more lovable and she listened to him closely. “It’ll be a lot of work. There’s no rush, honey. I was just thinking how having more space is never a bad thing. And an apartment to help the adult kids too would be great. As long as Dusty doesn’t move in permanently and treat it like his own.” she rested her head back on the pillow again chuckling. “Be nice if you could have a place for all your tinkering and whatever it is you do. A man cave.”

;

Even though being a mother felt lonely sometimes, Cricket couldn’t ever accuse any of the Jones family for making her feel that way. June especially, who seemed far more maternal than Cricket ever did. “That’s impossible.” she gasped and laughed, shaking her head. “That’s lovely, thank you. I’m good for now, I think they’re enjoying having more people to wrap around their little fingers.” she chuckled, watching both of the twins swarm over to June when she held out her hands. “How are you feeling? It’s kind of everyone to do this for Jason, but it must be tough for you and Ethan too.”

———♡———

                        “N’aww, you’re too sweet.” June laughed happily, always a smile on her face whenever she was with Cricket. From the moment her nephew introduced her to the family, June could just tell they were going to be together forever. The boys were just a lovely surprise. “Of course they are, because who could resit!?” June cooed to the twins, swooping one up to her lap and lightly biting his cute little arms with chomping noises to make him laugh. “Oh, I’m fine, sweetie. Thanks for asking. It’s always gonna be tough but just seeing how much he meant to everyone...it’s a little bit easier. How’s Spence doing? He holding up okay?”

-

Tammie laughed as she watched her Auntie June, throwing her feet up onto the dashboard as they waited in line. Sometimes, it was like looking at who Nora would grow up to become. Even though her little sister was grown…but still. “Is he the kid who’s got a thing about knives?” Tammie asked, hoping she hadn’t got it wrong but it was often difficult to keep up with how many kids her aunt and uncle waved through the door. “We can just get the coffee without the starbucks card, they allow that.” she suggested playfully before laughing at June. “Oh he won’t even notice I’m gone. I gave Spence something to do that he 100% will suck at so dad will be pre-occupied tryna fix his fuck ups…screw ups.”

———♡———  

                        “Mhm, that’s him. He’s got a lot better, Wy and me got him one of those little prop knife thingies that...retract.” June explained to her niece, carefully placing her purse onto Tammie’s lap so she could drive towards the window. “Just have a little look for me, sweetie in the zipper.”  she laughed, placing their orders and then shaking her head. “I wish you two got along better sometimes. You remind me of Ethan and Jason, always teasing each other and nothing was ever serious.” she laughed sadly, peering to her purse. “Did y’find it?”

———♡———

                       It was so touching seeing everyone show up for Jason but it was also exhausting. June had said thank you to so many people and finding all of the condolences as a reminder of losing her brother. After she noticed Ethan had his fix of the little wigglebugs, she hopped from her seat for her turn. "You’re gonna get sick to death of me by the end of tonight.” she chuckled at Cricket, sitting beside the younger woman and holding her arms out for one of the twins to come to her. “If you need help setting them down, I’m sure Sofia won’t mind you using the big house. And I won’t mind sitting with them either so you can still enjoy yourself.”

———♡———

                       They probably had the same night routine for years now, sitting in bed together reading or when June went through her TikTok addiction scrolls. She’d deleted the app now. It was a far cry from when they’d dance the night away at Neon Boots, or get into harmless trouble together when they were young. But the peacefulness was priceless. “Wy, honey?” June asked, rolling over from her side to invade his and give him a little kiss. “You gotta be honest if this is a dumb question, okay?” she pre-warned him for one of her wild ideas. “Do you think we’d be able to sell this house for a bigger one? That way we’d be able to be a home for more kids. I know Henry’s tried his hardest to make us hate it but it’s not worked. I feel bad we can only take two at a time.”

                         “Goodness, I have so many receipts in my purse. I’m turning into my mother, no cash but plenty of proof where I’ve been spending it.” June laughed as she pulled out a large handful of crumpled paper. “Look at this. Door handles, because Henry worked out how to unlock the ones we had. He’s a cute kid but he’s definitely difficult.” she said, flicking through them for a trip down memory lane. “Oh, a tool set. Wy loved that, think he still uses it. Ha...a receipt for a phone case from 2019.” she rolled her eyes, tucking them away again. “It feels like a while since I had an afternoon free. You sure your dad won’t mind that I stole you?”

edison high school

@junebeckett​

Not being able to hear his own thoughts from the sound of his racing heart, Ethan had almost dissociated completely. He was nodding to the cops that were apologizing, the medical staff too. Suddenly he was back in the hospital with Ava and then with tiny Nora. The thing with their family is that love flowed through each and every one of them. When one of them hurt, they all hurt. He could see the look on June’s face and feel the heartbreak she was trying to console. Without thinking twice, he stepped forward and agreed to identify the body. It was his responsibility and there was not a hope in Hell’s chance he’d let June witness something like that. He couldn’t bear seeing Jason butchered like his body meant nothing, but Ethan still whispered low words of sorry’s. He walked back out to June, already with tears in his eyes. “Yeah.” Ethan whispered, opening up his arms ready to help his sister through her hurt too. 

———♡———

where: edison high school, early saturday morning

who: @junebeckett​

Wyatt had woken up from the commotion and slipped out of the room they had commandeered for their ever extending family, to see what was going on. It was hard to get a straight answer at first, but finally he found out what happened from Leo. His heart sank. Jason ‘Kamikaze’ Jones, his brother in law, was murdered. What kind of sick bastard would do that? Especially with all the kids and families around, plus the storm going on outside. He tried to figure out what was being done about it, if they caught who did it already. However, that was about the time that accusations started flying and people started fighting. He needed to get back to his wife, kids, and family. Keep them safe and inside the room. There were plenty of hard conversations in June and Wyatt’s past. But, telling her that her brother was murdered just a few hours before had him torn up inside. It didn’t seem real, he had just talked to Jason earlier that night. 

“Hey Junebug,” he whispered moving back into the room and rubbing her back to gently wake her up. Wyatt waited for her to wake up a bit and took her hand. “I got some real bad news, honey. Uh, I went out to check out the noises and, um.” He paused and cleared his throat, severely wishing there was a better way to deliver news like this. “Jason was, um, he was murdered, June. He was found in the hallway just an hour ago.”

———♡———

                        After the gunshots, June remained with the kids and family, not wanting to alert them and just said that someone silly had set off fireworks because they were bored. She could sense the tension that everyone was running on, but she tried to fall back asleep and wait for Wyatt to get back. June had never been much of a deep sleeper so as soon as she felt her husband’s touch against her back, she stirred easily and blinked up at him. She could see his concerned expression in the low light and it made her sit up instantly. “Wiley? What’s wrong?” she asked out of habit, expecting it to be something about the kids or Henry finding a knife and wanting to run around with it. But it was much worse, she didn’t even hear Wyatt’s voice properly. “No, no. He was...” June stuttered, looking to the bed Jason had made for himself. Then she remembered him restlessly leaving for a smoke. “Wh...he-we...he was...murdered? That doesn’t make any sense.” each time she spoke, her voice was wobbling more and more. “Wiley, who did it? What happened? Why would anyone do that? This...isn’t, he was right here.”

where: edison high school side room, saturday

who: @junebeckett​

With all the angry commotion going on, Wyatt did not want to stick around and watch. The moment he heard what happened he went right back to June and the kids. They didn’t need to witness all that. “Let’s just stay in her while Rt and his boys sort out all that mess.” He said, shutting the door to their little shared area. It wasn’t Wyatt’s business, his priority was and always would be his family. He waited until the kids fell back asleep to let his partner know what was going on outside with more detail. “Ugh, Junebug it’s awful. A couple of kids found a body in the hall. Guess it was Kamikaze.” Wyatt explained in a hushed tone. “Then people started pointin’ fingers which led to fightin’ so I got out of there before it got worse.” He managed to get out before fists started flying.

———♡———    

                        “Oh, honey. C’mere.” June swaddled her husband with the blanket she was wearing like a cape, so both of them were hidden under it and it turned into a make-shift tent. After the gunshots, June and the kids were wide awake and there was no way of telling when things would feel normal again. “Those poor kids...and Kamikaze. He was always so nice.” June sighed, stroking her husbands face. They both knew all of the club members well, and even though June didn’t want anything to do with it, they were still neighbors or friends. Even extra members of family sometimes. “Gosh, it’s going to turn into a riot if people aren’t careful. We better make sure we keep everyone together, let ‘em all know they can come with us if they need it.” she nodded, even though they were blanketed in darkness. “I don’t want you going out in the madness either, you stay right here.”

-

                            Millie was finishing patching up a young one who had tripped after running and slipping on some melted snow. A timid smile spread across her face as she waved the little one goodbye and heard June’s greeting. “Is that something you learned from one of your kids? Like is it opposed to us being fake?” She questioned and then the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. “I like it.” The smile grew and a quick laugh followed. She loved June Beckett with her whole entire being. The woman not only understood everything she went through with the kids, but she had the biggest heart in the world and had saved her from more than one bad day. “How are you sweetie? Oh, I’m fine just trying to help out where I can.” She leaned into the hug and gave her a tight squeeze back. “Nope! I think we managed to get settled. How about you guys? There was one freakout about a missing charger but luckily one of Drew’s friends had one he could borrow. You know kids and their phones.” Millie rolled her eyes, as it was a constant battle to get her children to shut off their phones and pay attention to the world around them for five whole seconds. “Ugh, yes, Blaze is a life saver as usual. Del is off somewhere hiding I think, but I just worry her drinking has gotten worse. She could have froze to death out there, you know?” Millie blushed at the mention of meeting Blaze’s son. “I had dinner with them a couple times, he’s a real sweet boy. Tall, cute, and goofy just like his dad.” 

———♡———  

                       “Exactly, it means we’re good friends or something too!” June was excited about the phrase, even if she didn’t understand it completely. The kids her and Wyatt welcomed home were always teaching her new things and she’d try and slip in the words to keep her feeling young. “The other day I heard something about hitting the griddy? Now that one is still a mystery right now but I’ll be sure to figure it out.” she laughed. The mention of a charger made June nod and look to her forehead, mumbling to herself under her breath as she tried to visualize the things she packed. “Shoot, I think we’re probably a charger or two down. I had to take some out so I could squeeze some fluffy socks in and something is telling me I didn’t put ‘em back in.” she shrugged and then laughed. “Then again, Wyatt is good with all the technical gizmos.” June was basically talking like an audio to do list as she sat down with Millie, but she squealed with interest. “Oh Gosh, I bet he’s just the loveliest person. I sure was sad that Blaze missed out on being there while he was growing up, but it’s so sweet they found each other now. It’s never too late to show someone you love ‘em, right?”