1976

The streets of Hawkins, Indiana passed by in a blur from the backseat of the squad car, the house on Old Cherry Street that the Munson family once considered a home now long faded from view. From the front seat, Officer Calvin Powell's voice could be heard over the low hum of music on the stereo as he conversed over the radio with a colleague, though to eight-year-old Margaret Munson, it was merely the sounds of static accompanying the blur outside, moving in one ear and out the other.

On Maggie's other side, her older brother Eddie stared out a window of his own, while each of them held one of the five-year-old twins in their laps, who listened closely to Powell's words over the radio. Penny sat in Maggie's lap, playing with her older sister's hair, while Connor sat still in Eddie's, not daring to make a move as he watched Chief Powell with curious eyes.

As they neared the edge of town, the buildings began to shift into trees, though the car began to slow as a sign came into view for the Forest Hills Trailer Park. Maggie knew the park like the back of her hand, having spent several weekends there with her siblings when her mother had to work and her father was out of town, but this trip had been different, more permanent than the odd weekend away that the kids had grown accustomed to.

Officer Powell slowed the car to a stop as he neared the trailer, Wayne Munson already standing outside on the front step to wait for the children, though as he caught sight of the cop car, he began to pace nervously through the yard. He walked through the grass to reach the car, opening the door on Maggie's side first, the sunlight instantly beginning to stream in through the open door.

"Hi, girls," Wayne greeted softly, a sad smile on his face as Maggie set Penny down before climbing out behind her.

"Hi, Uncle Wayne," the girls chorused as he shut the door after them, moving around to the other side to let Eddie and Connor out while Officer Powell opened the trunk to retrieve their backpacks.

"Maggie, Eddie, why don't you two get the twins inside while Officer Powell and I chat for a bit? Mr. Hammond came by and dropped off lunch for you kids, it's on the counter." Wayne said, and Eddie nodded, already beginning to corral the twins to get them inside the trailer.

"Yes, Uncle Wayne," Maggie said, bringing up the rear of the group as she walked slowly behind their siblings.

"We found him," Maggie could hear Powell's soft voice as he spoke to Wayne, low enough not to expect the kids to be able to hear him, but it nearly stopped Maggie in her tracks just the same. "Shame, what he did to that poor woman, and just leaving those kids behind like he did."

"Thank you for bringing them," Wayne said, but Maggie shut the trailer door behind them, cutting off the voices of the two men and getting as far away from their conversation as she could.

The inside of the trailer had been cleaned, most likely in Wayne's best efforts to make the place look tidy in case Officer Powell decided to take a look inside. Next to the couch, a new fold out mattress sat collapsed against the wall, and in the middle of the kitchen counter sat a takeout bag from Benny's Burgers, lunch courtesy of their mother's old boss at the diner.

"Connor, Penny, have a seat," Eddie instructed as he grabbed the bag, and the twins each took a seat at the table, Maggie between them as Eddie placed it down in front of them, opening it and pulling out its contents.

In front of each of them he placed a burger and a side of fries, crumpling the now-empty bag and setting it on the table next to him. The four of them ate in silence, looking around their new home with curious glances, as if trying to envision a life within the walls of their uncle's house. As they ate, the front door opened once more, revealing Wayne carrying the four backpacks, which he placed next to the doorway before shutting it behind him.

"Alright then," he said, his eyes falling on the four kids sitting at the kitchen table, the nieces and nephews he used to take in on the weekends now under his sole custody, and he wrung his hands together nervously at the sight of them. "You're welcome to use the two bedrooms in the back, the twins can keep the room you usually stayed in, and Eddie and Maggie, I cleared my stuff out of the back room for the two of you. I still work nights, but if you ever need me, the phone number's taped to the wall next to the phone."

"Thanks, Uncle Wayne," the kids chorused softly, Maggie already having finished her cheeseburger after a couple bites, her appetite having dissolved completely over the past few days, and she pushed the plate in front of her before rising from her seat to grab her backpack and follow the path to her new bedroom.

Inside, the queen sized bed that had once belonged to Wayne was long gone, instead replaced by one of the two sets of bunk beds that used to reside in the other bedroom for the kids' weekends at Forest Hills, and she climbed onto the bottom bunk, hiding under the covers as she finally let the tears soak into her pillow, the past few days finally settling into her mind, and the new life it meant for the Munson siblings.

The first few weeks had proven to be the hardest, of the four children scrambling to find a routine. Wayne had come home from the night shifts nearly two hours before the kids had to be up for school in the morning, leading them to tiptoe around the trailer to get ready for school without waking him up. Eddie and Maggie began taking turns sneaking into the kitchen to make breakfast for the twins, while the other one snuck into their bedroom to make sure they were up and ready on time, so as not to miss the bus.

Although there were the unfortunate times that they'd wake up a grumpy Wayne attempting to sleep off an unfortunate night shift at the plant, with Eddie once accidentally knocking the plate off of the counter only to have the dish shatter upon making contact with the floor, or Maggie closing the refrigerator door just a little too hard, Wayne continued to care for the kids to the best of his abilities, even if he relied on the eldest two Munson kids more than he wanted to admit.

For Wayne loved his kids as if they were his own, and maybe, just maybe, that would be enough to give them the life they deserved.