Ellen Harvelle (roadhousehbic) wrote in papillonlogs, |
Ellen Harvelle was many things but a bad mother was certainly not one of them. There was no doubt in the minds of anyone who knew her just how much she loved her daughter and what lengths she would go to in order to protect her as a mother was meant to do. Yes, she knew she could be a bit hard on Joanna at times - her Joanna, back home, especially - and she knew she was far more overprotective than she really should be given that her daughter was a strong young woman in her own right. However having lost Bill when Joanna was so young had made Ellen not even willing to consider the same possibility with her daughter. She hadn't sheltered her - life in the Roadhouse was anything but that - but she'd definitely perfected the 'momma bear' down to a fine art by the time her little girl had come of age.
Unfortunately, the Joanna from her reality wasn't here and the ones that were... well, Ellen of course loved them just as she loved her own. They were both her daughters and she'd die, or kill, for them without a second thought. However their relationships were obviously not the same as the one she had with her own daughter. Especially when it came to the elder of the two.
That version had grown up without her, living a life as a Hunter with Bill and Bobby as her two main examples of how to live your life. Now, Ellen loved her husband and she adored Bobby Singer. However neither man was exactly known for living the sort of life that an impressionable young girl should live. Which meant that, while Ellen still loved this Joanna, she really had no idea how to be a mother to her. At least, not in all the ways that she was used to.
She talked to her, of course. She offered advice and she had her back in a crisis. She didn't intentionally treat her any differently. But she knew - hell, they both did - that things were hardly ideal between them. So she was faintly surprised when she heard her call out from the bar area, knowing that it had to be the elder version of Joanna because the younger wouldn't have called out in that manner. She would have just walked right on back into the stockroom, where Ellen was currently gathering up some cases of beer for the upcoming night shift.
Stepping out of the room, two cases piled on top of one another in her arms, she smiled at the blond from across the bar. "Hey yourself," she greeted her. She was still a little confused, uncertain why Joanna had stopped in and worried - for the briefest of seconds - that something was wrong. Then she realized why the young woman was probably there and she tipped her head toward the stairs that led to the rooms above the bar.
"You're daddy's upstairs, honey. Second door on the right," she said as she set the cases of beer down and began to systematically place them in their assigned coolers with the practiced ease of someone well versed at doing precisely that.