It was a joke that turned into reality for one grocery store worker.

Raley’s grocery store in Woodland was where assistant store team leader Toni Jones said she always joked with her employees if they won the jackpot.

“When it gets to $37 - $38 million, people will pull together. And I’ve always joked, ‘Oh great, if you guys win when you’re on, call in tomorrow,’ ” Jones said. “Never did I think that I would have ever somebody do that!” Jones told CBS13.

One of her employees won $9 million with her Super Lotto ticket from the Raley’s, but news came to her a little bit late.

Brandi and james Swift with the $9 million California SuperLotto Plus check. VIDEO: CBS13

Jones said the employee, Brandi Swift, left work on her lunch break, asked her spouse if they had won and they did.

Then she went back to work to break the news of this big payout.

Brandi Swift and her husband James say Sunday felt a little like a dream.

“Our kids wouldn’t believe us when we won. It took them literally five hours to believe us,” Brandi Swift said.

James Swift said he buys lotto tickets probably once every two to three weeks, spending $5 dollars on a ticket.

The Woodland Raley’s store at 367 West Main Street where Brandi Swift worked, and her husband bought the $9 million California SuperLotto Plus winning ticket.

This time he spent $1 and it was a winner. A $9 million winner.

Brandi said she went to work on Sunday not knowing her husband drew the winning ticket at her Raley’s on Main Street in Woodland. She went home on her lunch break and found out the great news.

“When I walked in the door I was like, ‘Someone won $9 million, did you buy a ticket?’ He said yes,” Brandi said. “And, I won’t use the language are used but said ‘don’t mess with me right now, did you really buy a ticket?’”

“Out of nowhere behind me, she comes out and says I was the one who won the ticket,” Guillermo Munoz said. “And we were just like what and then she was just like shooting with like excitement.”

Jones said, “It’s amazing to think she works for four hours and then went home and found out she was a multimillionaire.”

Jones said the employee told her she was quitting her job at the grocery store following this massive win.

“When she quit, I did make a comment that you do realize you don’t have any medical benefits if you quit,” Jones said. “She kind of put her head on her shoulder and laughed at me.”

Her now-former coworker said this winning employee was deserving to get this life-changing ticket.

“She seems like a very nice genuine person. I’m just happy that she got what she got,” Munoz said.

“You can tell that at home she’s got a lot on her plate too,” Felix Castaneda said.

Jones told CBS13 “Just to know that somebody from this community won is great. But to realize it’s actually a team member that so deserves it…it’s just unbelievable,” Jones said.

So what are the Swifts going to do with all of that money?

“Buy a little house. We’re downsizing everything that we have so that we can have a quiet life and that’s gonna be our first thing,” Brandi Swift said.

It couldn’t have come at a better time. James has been on disability from his job at Walgreens and they had a death in their family.

“We had a change in our lives. Things got rough and here we are every answer to our prayers in one second,” Brandi Swift said.

READ MORE: CBS13