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Author's Note: Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! Hope you all had a very wonderful Christmas and some very happy Holidays! Sorry this chapter is a little late, Christmas Eve and Christmas were a lot busier than expected and then afterwards I was either feeling too lazy or ill to write. I really am so happy that so many of you all are interested in the story though! I love writing stories with these two pairings and this time it's a little different. Your reviews were all so kind and wonderfully sweet, thank you! I really hope you all enjoy this chapter! It was longer than expected so it looks like this story MIGHT be a four chapter story instead. We'll see how long the next scene is. Also I would really, really, REALLY love to hear your thoughts on this chapter because it's sort of a bit of practice for an upcoming story I'm working on posting in the somewhat near future. Thank you so much once again for all of the amazing support! I hope you like this chapter, I'll try to post the next chapter soon, I really don't want to drag this story on for too long got some big Fanfiction plans for January. Thanks for stopping by to read, hope you enjoy this chapter, and please if you have the time leave a review with your thoughts, I'd love to hear them! Thanks for everything, hope you like, and as always, please, Enjoy!
Red Forman shuffled through his muffler shop.
It had been almost three years since he had decided to undo his retirement, gave back Muffler Master's their check, and reopened Forman and Son's Muffler Shop. Red had quickly learned that he wasn't as ready for retirement as he thought he was. His ideal image of retirement was staying home all day, relaxing, and doing nothing but enjoying some peace and quiet.
Therein lied his problem. His house was still full of dumbasses. They weren't over as much as they used to be but there were more moments of loud chaos than peaceful quietness.
So Red and Kitty decided he'd go back to work for a little longer until Kitty was ready to retire and they could spend their golden years traveling across country or until the dumbasses started spending more of their time out in the real world of adult life and less of it goofing off and doing who knows what in his basement.
Sometimes Red was sure that he would never be able to enjoy the sweet taste of retirement.
He gazed up at the clock on the wall. 11:58. Jackie said she's be by at noon which meant she would be there any minute. So much for his escape plan of leaving the shop before she showed up, Red thought to himself. But maybe he could still hideout in his office or maybe Jackie had forgotten about their plans and wouldn't show up at all.
Just as Red was beginning to get his hopes up, the Christmas bells, which had been hung on his shop's door by his wife, cheerfully rang out loud and he hung his head. Not only did the ringing bells mean that a few angels had received their pair of wings but they signaled that there was a visitor, and Red knew exactly who it was.
"Hi Mr. Forman, are you ready to shop till we drop?" Jackie greeted with her natural perkiness that had made her a shoo-in member of her high school cheer squad.
Lifting his head back, Red revealed his usual scowl, "No."
"Are you ready to find a Christmas gift for your wife that tells your wife how much you love her instead of telling her to cover up her wrinkly old turkey neck?" the brunette asked taking a different, more dangerous approach. As soon as she saw Red's glare deepen she lifted her palms up in front of her. "I'm not the one saying it, your satin scarf gift is."
Red's frown stayed in place but if one looked closely, his annoyance seemed to have faded. "Let's get this over with before I change my mind."
"That's the spirit!" Jackie cheered on his grumbling then reached into the green tote bag she had slung over her shoulder. Out she pulled a large pile of what looked like magazines with a few sheets of loose paper that landed on the countertop with a loud slap. She split the heap of paper in two and gave the top half to the shop owner. "These are for you."
"What the hell is this?" He asked as if he'd been presented with some foreign object.
"Just some catalogues and a few sales ads."
The older man resisted rolling his eyes at the response he'd been given. "I know what they are. What're we doing with them? Tomorrow's Christmas Eve anything we order from one of these things won't get here in time for Christmas."
"We're not ordering anything from any of these catalogues," Jackie started to explain her game plan. "We're just gonna look through them and get some ideas of things you could get for Mrs. Forman. This way when we go to the mall we won't have to spend so much time there since we'll at least have an idea of what we're looking for."
As the corners of Red's mouth were pulled down his brows rose upwards, "That's not a bad idea."
"You're not dealing with an amateur, Mr. Forman," her tone was quite serious as she spoke her words.
Now that he'd been given the prospect of not having to spend endless hours at the hell hole The Point Place Mall became during this time of year, Red was in a much better mood. He even pulled up two stools toward the counter for Jackie and himself. Jackie responded to the kind gesture with a polite smile and silent thank you before she sat on the seat closest to her.
"So, have you thought of any gifts you could get Mrs. Forman?" questioned Jackie, just a few seconds into their silence.
Red flipped open the catalogue at the top of his stack. "There's an idea I've been toying with."
"Is it better than a scarf?" was the first and most important question Jackie swiftly asked.
"I think so," he nodded, looking up from the book to let Jackie see his smug smirk. Red was sure this new gift was a winner.
"What is it?"
Seeing how excited Jackie was appeared to be make Red's own excitement grow. He shifted slightly in his seat and released the glossy page from his grasp, making his left hand free to move as he spoke. "I was thinking of getting Kitty a brand new," his grin grew wider, Jackie's mirrored his, "pair of earmuffs!"
Immediately Jackie's grin was swiped off her face. She just stared back at Red who was still grinning largely, thinking he had hit the gift giving jackpot. She couldn't tell him that earmuffs were probably a worse gift than a scarf. So she didn't.
"Let's look at the catalogues," Jackie smiled sweetly while patting his arm a few times.
Jackie's reaction to his gift idea had Red scowling once again, but he didn't argue with her and instead turned his attention back to looking through the Sears catalogue he'd been handed.
"You know, I've come up with a few ideas too," she shared and when Red grunted back she took it as his urge for her to continue. "You should take Mrs. Forman on a trip!"
"A trip?"
She nodded, "You and Mrs. Forman have talked about traveling once you're both retired. This could be a little preview to that," Jackie explained with great eagerness, you'd think it was gift she was asking for for herself. "You could go somewhere far away like Italy or romantic like Pairs. You could even stay in the country and go to Hawaii. And just remember I get the best souvenir since I gave you the idea. What do you think?"
"Let's look at the catalogues, Jackie," Red shot down her idea in a similar fashion she'd used on him.
Since she had a feeling the idea was a longshot, Jackie shrugged her shoulders and went back to looking at the glamour magazine she'd given herself. It took a few turns of a few pages before Jackie finally had an item grab her attention.
"Ooh Mr. Forman, look at this pretty dress!" she pointed at a scarlet colored wrap dress that she knew would look great on Kitty.
"No."
Jackie lifted her head to find that Red hadn't even looked up from the catalogue he was searching through. "You haven't even seen it."
"I don't need to see it. It's a 'no' to any new dress," Red told Jackie, holding up a halting hand before she could argue. "If I buy Kitty a new dress she'll want me to take her out for a night on the town to show it off. No new dresses."
Red's negatively towards a romantic evening out upset Jackie more than she expected. "Mr. Forman, how can you not want to take Mrs. Forman out of the house for one little date night?"
An exasperated sigh was breathed out of Red. Did these kids really think he was that heartless?
"It's not that I don't wanna take Kitty out. I just don't wanna take her out where there's people," Red said, trying to get her to see where he was coming from. "I hate people."
With this explanation, Jackie could better understand Mr. Forman's point of view of Date Night with his wife. She, herself, had never really felt such feelings but did know that her boyfriend could fall into similar moods. And things would sometimes work out even better when they stayed in for the night.
Once more Jackie shrugged her shoulders and returned to her magazine; dropping the topic of a new dress as Kitty's present.
This time around Jackie didn't have to flip through too many pages to find her next gift idea. It was on the page beside the page that contained the party dress; only unlike the image of the party dress that had been only one or two inches this new image took up a whole page ad!
"Mr. Forman! You should buy Mrs. Forman a new car!"
Red looked up but didn't share Jackie's enthusiasm. "Jackie, you think if I could afford a new car I'd be driving around the piece of foreign junk I drive now?"
"I guess not," Jackie agreed, her excitement fading. This was the problem with shopping on a budget, you couldn't buy the really big, really expensive, stuff that people really wanted. "Well I still think someone should get someone a car. I mean cars are a great Christmas gift. They're big, they're practical," she added in for Red. And you get to put one of those cute big bows on them."
Suddenly Jackie took in a sharp gasp that startled Red more than just a little. When he turned to her, he expected to see her cowering from some kind of bug of some sort but instead found her looking extra happy with a huge smile and bright eyes. Red was almost afraid to ask her what she was thinking.
"Is Steven buying me a car?" she asked before Red could.
His brows furrowed slightly and he shook his head, "I don't think so."
"Did he say anything about buying me a car?" Even though Jackie loved Steven's from the heart, rich with love gifts, she couldn't help but get excited by the idea of getting a really big and really expensive gift this year.
"No," Red replied, his eyes back on the catalogue before him.
"What about Mrs. Forman? Has she said anything?"
"Jackie, you're not getting a car," Red snapped, harsher than he'd meant.
Jackie didn't seem to mind though and she rolled her eyes as she shook her head back and forth. "I meant has Mrs. Forman said anything about what she wants for Christmas? Has she given any hints or pointed anything out to you?"
"Well," Red mulled over the young woman's question then scratched at his cheek when he recalled a conversation he'd had with Kitty a few weeks ago. "She did say she needed a new crockpot."
Once again Red's words flattened out Jackie's smile. "Oh Mr. Forman, you can't buy Mrs. Forman a crockpot," she said still shaking her head.
Red's scowl deepened, "Why not? Hers broke when the kettlehead and the foreigner tried to melt all those damn balloons. She hasn't made chili since September."
"That's why you can't buy her a crockpot," Jackie replied. "That would be a gift for the family not for her. Mr. Forman, you need to buy Mrs. Forman a gift that's just for her. One that she can look at and be reminded of how much you love her. It should be something that sums up the fifty something years you two have been together," she said, not catching the sharp glare Red sent her when the made the error of making him and Kitty older than they were, and continued on. "Something that will tell her how much she means to you."
"Fine," Red grumbled, he hated how difficult this was. "But what kind of gift is gonna say all of that?"
It took Jackie mere seconds before she was hit with sudden realization of what the perfect gift for Kitty Forman could be.
"Of course! Jewelry!" she exclaimed, surprised that she hadn't thought of the obvious choice much sooner.
"Jeeze, jewelry," repeated Red with a heavy grimace.
Jackie continued smiling though, positive that they were on the right track now. "Mr. Forman, every woman loves and wants jewelry."
"Yeah and every dumbass goes out and spends hundreds of dollars buying it for her."
"I don't think a man buying his girlfriend or wife jewelry can really be considered a dumbass," she shared then titled her head and began to arch her eyebrow upwards. "But I don't know if the same can be said for a man who buys his wife something that goes around her neck that isn't sparkly and shiny."
There was a deep fury in Red Forman's eyes as he glared at the petite woman sitting beside him. If it had been anyone else like Eric or the kettlehead the look would've had them scurrying off to hide, but not Jackie. Jackie stayed in her seat, appearing unafraid, looking back at Red as he glowered at her simply returning his look with a knowing smile.
Jackie's reaction or lack thereof, had Red heavying out a sigh that seemed to rid a lot of his anger.
"Jackie, I've done the jewelry thing with Kitty before," he began to tell her. "Before the whole scarf thing my Christmas gift to Kitty would be a new piece of jewelry. I've been there and done that."
This information shocked Jackie's ears. Mr. Forman went from giving Mrs. Forman lots of pretty jewelry to giving her some lame pretty patterned dust rags? Poor Mrs. Forman, she wanted to say again but thought better of it. Besides she had another thought occupying her mind.
"What made you switch from jewelry to scarves?"
Red stared back at Jackie, his fingers fiddling with the edge of one of the catalogue pages as he debated over sharing these details with her. She was known for talking a lot but she was here trying to help him out.
"It was the first Christmas when The Plant started cutting back hours," he began after a quick clearing of his throat. "I was bringing home smaller paychecks and Kitty hadn't started working extra hours at the hospital. We were on a tight budget and agreed to spend our money that holiday season on things like food, heat, bills and crap that the kids wanted. We agreed to not buying each other any gifts that year but I still felt like I had to get Kitty something. So I bought her a scarf."
He paused as he recalled that Christmas, the memory of his wife bringing a faint smile to his lips. She had loved that first scarf.
"Kitty was so excited when she unwrapped that first scarf. She wore that one all the time, I remember," he stated firmly. "She was happy and I was happy too because I had been able to get her something that she really liked without having to spend cash that I didn't have. I was able to still make her happy." Red's voice and features began to soften. "But I guess I may've overdid the scarf thing for longer than I had to."
"Yeah," Jackie agreed, but sounded sympathetic rather than insensitive. Knowing the story behind the scarf gave Jackie a better understanding of not only why Mr. Forman was so consistent in giving Mrs. Forman a scarf but also a better understanding of the man himself. "But now you're making more money again. You can afford to buy Mrs. Forman a new piece of jewelry. I know she'll love it."
Even though Red wasn't completely sold on the idea of jewelry being the best gift for Kitty this year, he relented and nodded his head. "Alright, let's see what we can find."
"Yay! Look there's even a catalogue of nothing but jewelry," Jackie announced as she pulled out a smaller magazine and placed it between the two of them. "I'm sure we can find something for Mrs. Forman that fits her style and shows how much you care."
"And isn't that expensive. I'm still not making any millions of dollars here."
Jackie nodded as she flipped over to the next page, "Right, right."
The two pairs of eyes ran over of the booklet filled with images of shiny pieces of jewelry, waiting for something to grab their attention.
"How about those earrings right there," suggested Red, his middle finger landing on a picture that had Jackie furrowing her brow. "They're nice, not that expensive…"
"Mr. Forman, those are cufflinks."
Red leaned in closer to the magazine and saw that girl was right. Catching his look of disappointment, Jackie patted Red's shoulder with one hand while using the other to turn the page over to the next section.
"Don't worry Mr. Forman, we'll find something," she tried to reassure him. "Look here's some nice stuff. There's a gold locket or a new diamond ring…oh look at these charm bracelets!"
"Charm bracelet?" Red echoed, sounding interested.
Focusing her attention on the page before her that was filled with the large selection of different gems and trinkets that could be added to the bracelet, Jackie nodded her head excitedly.
"Uh huh. You could personalize it just for her. They have so many charms to choose from," she shared before listing and pointing out just a few of the charms that were listed. "There's a nurses cap and charm that says 'Mom.' Oh! You could get the birthstones of Eric and Steven and even Laurie, if she has one."
The jab at his daughter went ignored by Red, he was becoming more and more intrigued by this charm bracelet idea, "What other charms do they have?"
"There's all kinds of stuff. There's a bouquet of flowers, a book, an envelope with a heart on it, I guess for a love letter or something, an apple—I don't know who would want an apple on a bracelet but whatever. Oh, look they have animals too a little dog and a cat…hasn't Mrs. Forman always wanted a cat?"
It was like a lightbulb had suddenly clicked on in Red's head.
"That's it!" he declared with great bout of excitement.
Jackie looked up confused, her confusion growing when she saw Red get up from his stool. "What?"
"I've got the Christmas perfect gift for Kitty," his broad smile continued to stretch out.
Red's enthusiasm was contagious and soon Jackie was smiling right along with him. "What is it?"
He smirked, "You'll have to wait till Kitty opens it."
"But I helped," Jackie pouted, surely that was enough reason to be let in on this surprise gift. A small frown formed on her forehead though when she replayed the sudden announcement. "I did help right?"
"You did. Thanks Jackie," Red gave her a soft smile while he slipped on his winter jacket. "Lock up when you're done."
As Jackie watched Red exit the muffler shop she felt a sense of panic and she rushed over to the main door. It wasn't that she was afraid of locking up, she'd done so before in the brief months she worked there with Red. She was more concerned with the thought of Red going out to buy Mrs. Forman's gift without her. That wasn't part of the plan!
By the time Jackie yanked open the door she saw that Mr. Forman was several yards away from the store already. She could probably catch up to him if she tried but it was really cold out there and so warm in the shop. Her arms wrapped themselves around herself as she watched Red's retreating form grow smaller.
"Mr. Forman, wait!" she shouted out but he kept walking ahead, her shoulders slumped. "You're not buying her the earmuffs, are you?"
Author's note: So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A mix of the two? Be sure to let me know in a review!
What do you think Red's Christmas gift to Kitty will be? Will he take one of Jackie's suggestions, does he have his own idea, or will he just go with another scarf? Or earmuffs? Feel free to share your thoughts/guesses. :D
Next chapter we'll see Hyde getting help from Kitty in figuring out what gift to give Jackie—Sorry I couldn't fit it into this chapter but it will be in the next one for sure!
Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!
