Niȟópeča is Lakota for "you are strikingly beautiful." Keep that in mind.

This is a one-shot in my Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt universe. The only real changes are that Xan has left her parents to go back to Kimmy and Jacqueline, who are slowly becoming a thing. Major spoilers for S2E5, which you must watch for many, many reasons.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and its characters are owned by Little Stranger, Bevel Gears, 3 Arts Entertainment, and Universal Television.

Enjoy.

Buckley Voorhies was sleeping soundly in his bedroom. The kid had quite a day. So did his mom.

Jacqueline Voorhies has made a list of mistakes that would rival the US tax code in volume, but feeding her son a tranquilizer to make him easier to handle would probably be at the top of that list. The drug Dyziplen, Jacqueline thought, should be banned by the FDA. It turned her explosively hyperactive son into a zombie. Obedient. Quiet. An 8-year-old zombie.

And once again, it was that mole woman, Kimmy Schmidt, that changed everything. Her assistant, babysitter, maid, and...if she would ever admit it to either herself or Kimmy...currently the keeper of her heart...admonished Jacqueline...Kimmy's boss, friend, and...if she would ever admit it to herself or Jacqueline...currently the keeper of her heart...for giving Buckley those pills. Kimmy asked Jacqueline if the upscale blonde ever took Dyziplen herself. Jacqueline noticed the bottle and, not wanting to lie to the redhead, she took the pill and said she did...no problem.

Jacqueline Voorhies would give anything to remember the six hours that damned pill took away from her. The pantsuit she was fitted in was beyond hideous, and the gala she was hosting was the next day!

But the thing that struck the socialite the most was what the damned drug did to her son. He wasn't that beloved...Jacqueline only had the boy to save her marriage. But when she saw that the drug erased all his spirit to the point that all of his dreams were flat and white, that was it. Whatever was left in that bottle went into the insinkerator. And as those white pills disappeared into the sink, she realized that Kimmy saved the day again.

The next day Jacqueline and son show up dressmakers and after the designer (who was zonked out on Dyziplen herself) made the mistake of saying she was a size 10, the drug-free Team Voorhies wreaked havoc on that dress shop.

And when they went home, and Buckley immediately drew the events of that morning on the wall with his crayons, Jacqueline threw back and laughed as hard and as easy as she's ever had. In fact the only person she laughs like that with is...

Then Buckley came and hugged his mom. For the first time in a long time. And it hit her...someone actually loved her. Not just tolerated...loved. And as she felt that, she looked at the door. She didn't remove the picture of a certain redhead that Buckley drew a couple of days ago. And as Buckley looked at the drawing, the more entranced she was with the subject.

"Niȟópeča..." The Lakota word for "strikingly beautiful." Jacqueline whispered that word to herself as the boy clinged to her she realized what she needed. Xan and Buckley. That crazy woman and that crazier Titus guy. And Kimmy.

An actual family who Jacqueline did not have to conform to fit in. Especially with Kimmy. She could be free to Jackie Lynn with Kimmy. As much as she wanted.

Jackie looked down at Buckley, smiled at the boy, and shuffled the little troublemaker to bed, and told him "I love you" as she bade him good night. Buckley wondered about that, since she does not say that to him often. Her reply, referring to the Transformers-inspired reign of terror mother and son participated in that day: "Well, my little Autobot, you better get used to that...because Optimus-Mommy Prime is going to be saying that a lot from now on!" Buckley reached out for one more hug before sleep, and Mommy hugged hard, with tears in her eyes.

And when she closed the bedroom door, leaving a little crack in the doorway, Jacqueline walked to the living room, iPhone in hand, dialed the number, plopped on the sofa facing Buckley's drawing of Kimmy Schmidt, fighting tears hard. "Niȟópeča" she whispered to herself as the phone rang. The phone picked up on the third ring.

"Kimmy!" Her best upper-crust attitude had to show. "I'm calling because Lillian told me the other day about the poor boy you were dating...what was his name...Doug?" When she told Jacqueline that the boy's real name was Dong, Jacqueline chuckled to herself and thought "only Kimmy..." "Anyway, I was bored and was thinking we could share some pizza while we binge-watched 30 Rock." Kimmy quickly agreed and said she'd be there in a half hour.

And after they disconnected., Jacqueline walked over to Buckley's portrait of Kimmy, stood in front of it and said, with tears again welling, "tonight, Kimmy Schmidt, I, Jackie Lynn White, will tell you to your amazingly beautiful face, that I love you...," And then kissed the picture.

The picture has never come down.

FIN