"Will you please stop baking? It's a waste." Kitty Forman just looked up from her last batch of cookies at her husband Red. He was being an ass about her inviting their niece to stay with them. However, she knew that he wanted her there to in the way he referred to her as his niece. His niece was not going to sleep in the basement. His niece was not going to be corrupted by the gang of friends his dumbass son belongs to. "Jacqueline will not want this big of a damn fuss." He said as he grabbed his paper from the kitchen counter and sat down in his seat at their small kitchen table.
"I want her to feel at home." Kitty said as she walked across the room to the small coffee pot that sat by the refrigerator and poured Red his morning cup of coffee.
"Then leave her alone with a nanny." Red mumbled. His sister had run off with some big city lawyer when she was nineteen. Four years ago she was diagnosed with cancer and died two years later. Since then her daughter had been passed to nanny after nanny as that good for nothing father of hers traveled the world.
"This is her chance to know what a real family is like." Kitty said as she walked back towards the oven. She walked right passed it and opened up the door that led to their living room. "ERIC!" She yelled for her seventeen year old son. "What is he doing? You two have to be at the bus station in an hour."
"I thought Jack was driving her up?" Red asked.
"No, he hired someone to drive up her stuff they should be here sometime today." Kitty explained as she sat down across from her husband.
"He couldn't even bring her up himself. He is such a bum." Red said as he turned the page of his paper.
"You aren't doing this for him dear." She said as she smiled at him. "Have you talked to Laurie lately?" She asked about her daughter who was studying at Wisconsin University.
"Nope, I am sure she is just busy studying." He answered. Kitty just rolled her eyes. It would be a miracle if he daughter were actually studying something. Everyone in Point Place saw her as the town slut. Well expect for her father who was obvious to all her wrong doings.
Stepping off the bus in the hell hole known as Point Place, Wisconsin just made Jackie Burkhart sigh. How was she supposed to make this home? It sure the hell was not Dallas. She just pulled her sunglasses over her eyes before she grabbed the one bag she took on the bus with her. Walking towards the parking lot she was not surprised to see mostly beat up clunkers. People around here didn't have the money her father did. She knew that much. She was embarrassed to see a tall thin boy holding a sign that read: Welcome Home Jacqueline. He was standing next to the bald headed hard ass she knew as her Uncle Red. In reality she had only met him at her mother's funeral two years before. However, it is hard to forget Red Forman. Her mother always talked about him. Her brother the war hero is what she would say. "Give me that sign." She said as she walked up to the pair. She took the sign from the younger boy and ripped it in half before tossing it on the ground.
"It great to have you here Jacqueline." Red said as he took her bag.
"It's Jackie." She mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest. Red was surprised that the well-mannered girl he met before was standing before him in ripped jeans and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt. Her long black hair framed her body. It was much shorter before. In a way she reminded him of one of Eric's friends. He just wrote it off as having a rough time after her mother's death.
"Someone has an attitude." Eric said as he held the door open for Jackie to get in the orange Toyota.
"Can it Eric." Red replied as he placed the bag in the trunk before getting in the car himself. Jackie just faked the smile for them before sinking into thought as they drove across town. It wasn't long before she was staring at the house that sat at 827 Golden Ridge Avenue. It was very small town for her taste. Red took her in the glass sliding door that led to the kitchen. Her Aunt Kitty was standing there with a tray of cookies.
"Welcome home!" She squealed as she ran over to Jackie to give her a hug. "I think you are going to love it here." Jackie just smiled at the short blonde woman and took a cookie from the plate.
"With some greeting you with bake goods who couldn't." She replied with a bit of a chuckle in her voice.
"Mom bakes a lot." Eric said as he came in the room. Jackie just nodded at his words.
"Well, let me take you upstairs. We are giving you Laurie's old room." Kitty said as she put the plate of cookies on the counter before heading towards the door leading to the living room.
"Right dad told me she made it into college. How did that happen?" Jackie whispered. Kitty just shook her head as she led the young girl upstairs to the first door on the right. Kitty opened the door as Red trailed up the steps. "Wow, it's very pink." Jackie said as she looked at the pink walls that held a white bed with a pink quilt and a white dresser.
"Oh we can change that. It was just Laurie's favorite color." Red said as he stood in the doorway.
"I just might just put a lot of posters up. There is no point in painting." Jackie said as she looked at her Uncle. She couldn't blame them. They were trying their best to make this home. However, she knew that it was only a matter of days before she was counting down to graduation.
"That's fine." Kitty said as she looked at Jackie. "We will leave you to get settled in." She said as Red laid the bag by the door and the couple headed out the door. Jackie just walked over to the window and looked out at the backyard.
"It's only for two years." She said as she looked at the grass below her.
"Eric do you know there is a moving truck in front of your house?" Steven Hyde asked as he walked into his best friend's basement. This dingy basement was the hang out for his group of friends. Like usual Donna, Kelso, and Fez were sitting down there too watching television.
"Yeah, the devil got here today." Eric replied as he looked over at rock and roll crazed friend.
"This isn't the cousin who used to visit all the time is it?" Kelso asked as he looked up from the rerun of Scooby doo. Steven just took his seat which was the white chair that rested closest to the freezer.
"No, this is a different devil." Eric said as he looked at his dim witted friend. "We went to pick her up and she tore up my sign." He said as he looked around the room. "Then she was all like: "It's Jackie." Eric said as he rolled his eyes.
"Eric you have to go easier on her. She just lost her mother and has been forced to move here." Donna said as she looked at him. Everyone knew Eric would do anything the red head asked him to. Even if they are both to damn chicken to ask each other out.
"Is she as easy as Laurie?" Kelso asked.
"Will you shut up Scooby is running from Minner 49er." Fez said as he looked at Kelso. Fez was the foreign exchange student.
"Wow, Fez you really are hooked on Scooby Doo." Eric said with a laugh.
"Eric, come help us move Jackie's stuff." Red said as he walked half way down the stairs. "Actually all you dumbasses come help." He huffed before walking back up.
"Man I should have stayed home." Kelso whined as he got up. No one ever tells Red Forman no. Ever.
"I already don't like this chick." Steven said as they walked up stairs.
"Hyde you don't like anyone." Donna said as she looked at her friend as they walked into the Forman's kitchen.
"So." He replied as he walked out to the driveway. He wasn't surprised about the amount of stuff in the truck. They type of stuff was odd to him. He didn't know a single Forman who was musically inclined, but this chick had tons of music supplies. He picked up a guitar case as headed back towards the house.
"Hey do the words Les Paul mean anything to you?" He heard a voice ask from behind him. He turned around to see a small girl with long black hair and a Led Zeppelin shirt standing there.
"You must be Jackie." He said as he looked at her. He was expecting the opposite of her the way Eric talked.
"No I am bloody queen of England. Of course I am Jackie. Now be careful with my guitar." She said as she looked at him.
"So this is really a Les Paul?" Hyde asked as she followed him into the house.
"Yep." She said as she smiled at him as they walked up the stairs. "It was a sweet sixteen present from my dad." She finished as they walked into her room. He just sat down the guitar case and turned around. "Why don't you help me unpack up here?" She asked. "I don't want you accidently breaking something." She explained.
"God you are such a princess." Hyde complained.
"That just shows me that you don't know me." Jackie said as she looked at him. Before digging into one of her boxes. It was still hard for her to believe how easily her life fit into these boxes. How easy it was for her father to relocate her.
"Well I know that you like unicorns." Hyde said as he pulled out a stuffed unicorn from one of her boxes.
"My mother gave that to me when I was five." She said as she ripped it from her hands before she looked in the box in front of him. "This box just goes in the bottom of the closet." She said as she put the unicorn back in it. It was her box of memories from her mom. Pictures, letters, notes, gifts all were in that box.
"What happened to your mother?" Hyde asked as he placed the box in the closet before opening up the next box.
"She died." Jackie replied as she stuffed some of her clothes in the dresser Red and Kitty left in the room for her.
"I gathered that much." He replied.
"Breast cancer." Jackie said weakly as she looked over at the curly headed boy who was helping her.
"Oh, that sucks." Hyde said as he looked down at the box in front of him. It was a bunch of albums mostly. There was some other crap in it. "Okay how do you explain the Abba?" He asked as he lifted up the album.
"Look inside of it." She said as she smiled at him. He pulled out pages of sheet music but no album.
"So you hide all of your secrets in Abba." He said as he put the papers back in the case.
"Not all." She said with a smile. He just shook his head as Red came in.
"What is so heavy?" He asked as he placed a box on the twin bed in the middle of the room. Jackie just walked over and opened the box.
"Let's see a camera, my flute, and some stupid awards." She said as she looked in the box.
"Well Red you have a kid who actually has awards now." Hyde said with a laugh as he walked over.
"Awards?" Kitty asked as she walked in the room. "Oh we have something to put on the shelf in the living room you were saving for Eric's football trophies." Kitty said as she pulled out some metal trophies. "Honor roll, cheerleading, oh look Red softball." She said as she handed one to her husband.
"You might just be worth keeping around." Red said as he looked at Jackie before he led his wife out of the room.
"Cheerleading?" Hyde asked.
"For my mother." She replied. "What is taking the other goons so long?" She asked him.
"I will go see." He said before he left. He walked out of the room. He found Eric, Kelso, and Fez goofing off out by the truck.
"I say we just leave." Kelso said as he looked at Fez.
"Why not? You aren't actually helping." Hyde said as he grabbed another box.
"Well then it's decided we are gone." Kelso said before him and Fez walked away. Hyde just looked at Eric.
"Come on let's get this down." He said as he handed Eric the box he picked up. With everyone working they managed to unload the truck after an hour. Then it was just a matter of unpacking the boxes. Kitty disappeared downstairs to cook. Eric claimed he had homework. Red had a game to watch. However, for whatever reason Hyde stayed. He tried his best to think of a reason why he did, but he couldn't.
"So how bad does the high school suck here?" Jackie asked him as she worked on hanging up the last of her clothes.
"You don't want that answer." He replied as he looked at her.
"Well, what is there to do for fun in this town?" She asked him.
"Next weekend we are going to a Todd Rundgren concert." He answered. "But, that is in Milwaukie." He just looked at her before saying "You know I think we have an extra ticket you can come if you want."
"I don't think Eric would want me to. If you haven't noticed he doesn't exactly like me." She said as she sat down on her bed.
"Point Place lesson one, no one cares what Eric wants." Hyde said as he placed the last record in the milk carton that he had brought up for her. "Well I think you did a good job making it your room." He said as he looked around the room that was now looked like the inside of a high class record store with the instruments and band posters all around.
"I guess." She said as she looked down.
"Well I will see you around." He said as he walked out of her room. He was surprised how much she stuck with him. The whole way home he couldn't get how sad she looked when he left. He wanted nothing more in the world than to cheer her up. He had never felt that way before. It was clear to him that something different was going to come out of meeting Jackie. Something New. Something Great. He could just feel it.
A/N: This story picks up before the pilot. I do plan on this being a Jackie & Hyde story. Let me know what you think. I don't own That 70's show. If I did it would have never ended.
~Willow