It's crazy to think that he lost his life. It was an accident, a senseless and tragic act that stemmed from a moment of not thinking and culminated in death. They had no way of knowing that this was how it would end up. Honestly, it wasn't supposed to go like this. But Hyde was gone and Jackie was left with their newborn child and Eric knew that he had to step up.
It had been a long time since he had been around either of them all that much. After that New Year when the 70s had given way to the 80s, Eric had disappeared toward the East Coast to take a teaching job in Connecticut. Six years later, he was back in Point Place attending his former best friend's funeral. His parents weren't taking the news well but had stepped up to take care of Jackie and the baby.
Eliza Grace Hyde was this tiny breath of a thing, with dark curls and her father's eyes and this smile that was enough to break your heart. Jackie had spent all her hours since Hyde's death rocking in a chair, staring out the window, as if she was waiting for him to come home. The only people allowed near the baby were Red and Kitty. Even her own parents had been kept at a distance. She was set on protecting the only connection she had left to her husband. It was only when Eric showed up that she even let anyone else in the house.
"It's nice of you to finally show up," she told him bitterly when he finally darkened her doorstep a week after Hyde's funeral. She didn't even bother looking up from the copy Rolling Stone that had come in the mail in her husband's name the night before. "Your mom is in the nursery with Eliza. Your dad ran to the store to pick up some essentials."
Eric sat down cautiously on the edge of the sofa across from her. Her hair was unkempt and her shirt was wrinkled - an alarming sight for the usually immaculate Jackie. He wanted to reach out and smooth down her wayward curls but knew his touch wouldn't be welcomed. It just felt wrong to see her like this.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here," he said softly. He hadn't wanted to come. As long as he didn't come home, he could pretend that his best friend was still alive and that his goddaughter wouldn't have to grow up without knowing her father. "I know that I should have come sooner. There isn't an excuse I could give that would make this okay." Only his father's harsh words had brought him back here in the first place. "I just didn't want to deal with it. I didn't want it to be real."
"And you think I did?" Her words are soft but accusatory. "God, Eric, I wish more than anything that it wasn't real. You have no idea how much I wish that. But that's the funny thing about life, it doesn't really bother asking what you want." She looked down at her hands, trying to keep the tears from falling. "I just wish you had come earlier. I could have really used you here. You're the only one who understands..."
Jackie trailed off as she buried her face in her hands. Eric moved immediately from the couch to kneel at her side, carefully wrapping her in his embrace so that he could hold her. Somewhere between hating each other in high school and that one conversation on the phone before he left for Africa and when she gave birth to Eliza, Eric had come to value Jackie as a friend. "I miss him, too," he whispered softly, stroking her hair. He could hear his father's car in the driveway but didn't make a move to pull away. "I am so sorry that I wasn't here, Jackie. I promise I am not going to go anywhere again."
She nodded but didn't let go as Red came into the room. "Oh, great, I just got her smiling again. What did you do to her, Dumbass?" Red asked harshly before depositing the brown paper bag on the counter. He came over to Jackie immediately, pushing his son aside so that he could hug the tiny brunette. "Are you okay, honey? You just let me know if my boot needs to go anywhere near Eric's ass."
Jackie giggled and hugged her surrogate father back. Red had been amazing to her and Eliza since Steven died. "I'm fine, Red, thank you. Actually, your son was just apologizing for being stupid. Something tells me you're the reason he's here, so I should be thanking you," she told him before kissing him on the cheek. "I appreciate you sending for him. Eliza could use her godfather right about now."
Red blushed at her praise. "Alright, alright, enough of this nostalgic crap. Eric, there are more groceries in the car. Go get them and then greet your mother," he ordered his son. "I am going to go upstairs and see that gorgeous baby of yours. She hasn't had any Grandpa Red time all day. You just relax here, Jackie. I'll take care of everything."
She smiled at him appreciatively and waited for him to disappear upstairs before turning back to Eric. His eyes were wide as he looked between her and the stairs.. "Grandpa Red?" he repeated. "What the hell, Jackie?"
"Your parents are afraid Eliza is the only grandchild they are ever going to have and since they were basically Steven's parents and might as well be mine, they have adopted her as an honorary Foreman," she explained. "I don't know what I would have done without them. They're the only people who bothered to stick around after the funeral. Everyone else went back to their lives. Eliza and I are stuck here. We're alone now. I guess I have to start getting used to that."
Eric just patted her shoulder once and headed outside to get the groceries. As he climbed out of his father's new car with an armful of brown paper bags, he couldn't help but look back at the two-story house Hyde had left behind. He had built a successful presence in the local music scene with a trio of Grooves stores when he had bought the quaint Victorian house just a few blocks from the Foreman house. Jackie and he did a little bit of restoration work before moving last year. She found out she was pregnant after they had been there a few months. Eliza was just a month old now and had been shy of two weeks when he was killed in the car accident.
"Honey!" Eric looked up to see his mother leaning out a window upstairs. She looked tired but happy. "Why didn't you come see Eliza? Hurry up and carry those bags in. There is someone waiting to see her godfather!"