The Choice of a Lifetime

Choice One – Point Place, Wisconsin – The Beginning

Here we are in Point Place, a small town in middle Wisconsin. You're the only child of Jack and Pamela Burkhart. Jack is an entrepreneur and politician, and Pamela is…well, she's a socialite, to put it nicely. You're family is wealthy and live very comfortably (sometimes excessively) in the nicest neighborhood, drive the newest model cars, wear the most fashionable clothes. It's a beautiful way to live…

"Mommy! Daddy!" A little girl, just an inch over three feet tall, skipped down the velvet-red carpeted staircase. Her raven pigtails leapt wildly from her head as she did. "It's my birthday!" She jumped off the landing and continued her joyful journey through the long hallway, her jubilant voice echoing.

Love stared in awe at the beauty of the house. Everything seemed to shine; the marble floors, rich, dark mahogany crown molding and chair rails, the golden frames that bordered pastel paintings. Even the thick blue wallpaper, textured, was lined with threads of gold and glimmered in the light coming from elaborate sconces.

The little girl turned into a large living room, as lushly decorated as the staircase and hall, and stopped. Her head turned to the left, then the right. "Mommy? Daddy?" Her voice lowered and shriveled. "It's my birthday."

A woman, her dark hair pulled back in a tight bun with no strands breaking free, lumbered in. Her body was large, round and soft-looking, and she wore a plain blue dress. The sleeves were short, and the skirt ended just below her knees. Not the height of fashion, its only accessory was a white apron that, rather than being separate, was part and parcel of the dress. She carried a pile of white towels.

Love smiled. The white of the towels reminded her of home.

"Jacqueline," the woman spoke in a heavily accented and rather deep voice. Her olive cheeks hinted of a flush, and her nearly black eyes darted in seemingly every direction.

The little girl turned, and her pretty face, just a few slight shades lighter than the woman's, struggled to hold a smile. "Martina, were are Mommy and Daddy? It's my birthday!"

"Si, si," the woman said. Her plump face widened further with a grin, but the eyes held tight to the vacancy of no understanding. She lifted the towels and gestured towards the doorway. "Si."

"Wait!" The little girl rushed to Martina and tugged on the blue skirt. "Don't you know where my mommy and daddy are?" She sighed with surprising impatience for a child so young. "Mama y papa?"

Martina nodded quickly. "Ah, mama y papa." She frowned. "No. No here, Jacqueline. No here." She reached down and patted the girl's head. "Feliz Cumpleaños, muchacha bonita. Te amo." She leaned down and kissed the top of Jacquline's head.

Jacqueline hung her head and shrugged tiny shoulders. "Te amo. Gracias." She turned and shuffled over to the couch, a huge thing compared to her. She climbed onto the lusty red leather upholstery and sat, her lower lip forced out in a pout. Her legs swung out, then back in, and she appeared to not mind how hard she kicked the couch with her heels.

Martina shook her head and headed towards the doorway, mumbling to herself, he her eyes lowered and closing frequently.

Love looked at her guide. "That poor little girl. Are her parents not home? It's her birthday! If they're rich, shouldn't they be having a party for her, with mountains of presents?"

Paul merely raised an eyebrow. "Just watch."

"Jackie?"

The girl's head shot up, her cheeks nearly instantly flushed, and her eyes brightened. "Mommy?" She jumped off the couch and ran towards the doorway she'd just walked in from, but when a woman walked in, her movement stopped. Her smile fell. Her eyes dulled. "Oh. I thought you were Mommy."

Another woman, this one only slightly less voluminous than Martina, joined the girl, the corners of her mouth rising a tiny bit. "I know, sweetums. But she left something for you." She held out an envelope.

Jackie sighed with obvious disappointment, but took what was offered. She opened it, and inside the card she didn't bother to read, there were two crisp, fifty dollar bills. "Money," she said with a reluctant smile.

"She's supposed to be happy with money? She's what? Six years old?"

Paul nodded. "Five, actually."

Love grimaced and resumed her watch. What kind of parents left their only child alone on her fifth birthday?

The woman wrapped an arm around the young shoulders. "Do you want to go shopping? I'm going to take the entire day off so we can spend all that money, however you want." She drew the little girl closer to her and laid her fifty-ish looking cheek on Jacqueline's head. "And then I'll come home, make your favorite dinner, and for dessert, we'll have that chocolate cake I baked for you. How does that sound?"

Every muscle in Jacqueline's face strained to keep from crying, and a forced smile lit her lips. "Okay, Katherine," she mumbled.

Katherine lifted the little face, and pecked Jacqueline's nose. "I'm looking forward to it, sweetums. So lets go have breakfast, and then we'll get ready to go." She stood, and pulled Jacqueline to her feet, clutching her hand the way one would clutch a child's while crossing a busy street.

Jacqueline tugged the woman to a stop. "Katherine?" She swallowed hard. "Why aren't my mommy and daddy home?"

Katherine's smile instantly disappeared, and her eyes raised to the ceiling. Her mouth opened, closed, opened again as the words struggled to form. "Well, Jackie, you know your mommy and daddy are very busy this time of you. They'd be here if they could." Her top teeth scraped over her lip before another bright smile eased the slight irritation of it. "They'll make it up to you. Now. Let's go, so we can spend that wonderful money!"

Love watched as the little girl straggled along with her adult guide. An odd sensation, hot and cold, inspired what felt like millions of tiny bumps on her form. Jackie looked back, almost directly into Love's eyes, and she gasped. The tiny one's face was full of youth and yet etched with sadness and loneliness. Love turned to Paul. "Are her parents ever around? Oh holidays? Other birthdays? Just regular days?"

Her guide smiled, reached forward and again tapped the center of her chest.

And she knew.

No.

"Come. We have more to see."

Jackie is in high school now. She's a sophomore. She's beautiful, like her mother, and calculating, like her father. Her passions are cheerleading, shopping, and…Michael Kelso.

"Michael, I thought you said you had a surprise for me!" A petite brunette, her ebony hair hanging long and luscious down in contrast to her white and green cheerleading sweater, stood in front of a row of school lockers, her hand firmly planted on her hip. "Where are the roses?"

Love frowned. "Is her voice always so shrill?"

Paul nodded. "I'm afraid that's set in stone. No choice about it. I'll warn you now, certain things will be the same in each of your choices. Like Jackie's…your…voice."

Love shrugged. "Well, at least she looks good. She is beautiful! Wait, will that be the same in each choice?"

Paul chuckled and nodded. "Yes. You will be an extraordinarily beautiful woman."

She grinned. "Good!"

Jackie shifted on her feet, her legs, while short, perfectly toned and shaped; a blended harmony of feminine sweetness and athletic strength. She arched a groomed eyebrow. "Well, Michael?"

A tall, lanky, quite handsome young man smiled down at her. His brown hair dusted his eyes, and he brushed it back.

Love gasped. "Oh my goodness! Is that her boyfriend? He's so cute! That dark hair, dark eyes, chiseled face…"

Paul rolled his eyes. "Yes. He's good looking. Keep watching."

"Yeah, that. Well, I was gonna get you flowers, but I found something better." He patted Jackie's shoulders, then backed up, his lean form surprisingly uncoordinated. He nearly tripped over his heels into the wall. "I'll be back."

Jackie rolled her eyes but stood there, waiting as Michael ducked into the boy's restroom. Her foot tapped almost violently on the floor as she did.

Love giggled. "This better be good, or else I think she's going to have a fit."

"Surprise!"

Michael dragged forward a nervous looking young man, quite a bit shorter than him, much darker skinned. He looked Mexican, or Spanish, or Portugese…something Latin or Mediterranean. Or Carribean. Or something.

Jackie stared at the boy, her eyebrows raised in disbelieving scorn. "Michael, who is this?"

"This is my new buddy, Fez." Michael leaned closer to Jackie. "That's not his real name. We just call him that 'cause we can't understand anything he says."

The boy approached her and spoke softly, something Jackie obviously didn't understand. She backed away, scowling. "Don't you speak English?" Her hand flew forwards toward Fez, and she glared at Michael. "This is your surprise for me? A foreigner? God, Michael, you are so stupid!" She turned and stalked away, with such force her hair bounced nearly five inches above her back as she went.

Michael waved his hand after and turned to a wide-eyed Fez. "Don't worry, Fez. She's just mad 'cause I didn't give her another rubber chicken." He grinned and patted his backpack. "She'll cheer right up when she sees the chattering teeth I have for her! Come on!"

"Wow," Love said, her own eyes as wide as the foreign boy's had been. "Is she going to end up with Michael? He's cute, but he just doesn't seem…" She paused. "I mean, he doesn't seem very…uh…"

Paul nods, an amused smile playing on his lips. "I know what you mean. And no, he's not the one she ends up with. You'll see who she ends up with soon enough."

Love didn't look at her guide. "Wait, she ends up with the other boy? But she obviously doesn't like him."

"Keep watching."

A few weeks later, Jackie is hanging out with her group of friends, or rather, her boyfriend's group of friends. They're usual hangout is in Eric Forman's basement, where they watch television, listen to music, and do other things the parents upstairs wouldn't approve of, like sitting in a smoky circle.

"Michael," Jackie said, her voice tight and demanding as she led her boyfriend by the hand towards the back entrance of the Forman basement. They approached the driveway, where Fez and another boy, Steven Hyde, were playing basketball. She tugged on the hand she held. "We are not hanging out here for hours today. We're having dinner with my parents and you need to go home and clean yourself up." She stopped walking, dropped his hand and turned to face him, pointing a thin index finger at the meek Michael. "We're just gonna get your stuff and go. Got it?" She poked him in the chest.

Kelso released a sigh that sounded as if he'd done exactly that millions of times. "Fine, but after dinner, we're totally doing it! You promised!"

She smiled sweetly and rose to her toes, hardly able to reach the bending Michael's cheek. "Thank you, honey. Now come on."

Just as she turned, the boys playing basketball stopped, and Steven Hyde, a curly-haired, nicely built though dirty looking guy with sunglasses and an angry frown on his face, dressed in jeans, a tee shirt and a jean jacket, stuck his foot out directly in Jackie's path.

Love frowned and reached for her guide's arm. "Why is he doing that?"

Jackie stumbled over the unseen foot, and although her arms searched the air for balance, she fell to the ground, landing on her knees with a small cry.

"Oops, didn't see the cheerleader. Must be because she's the size of a troll. Wait, she is a troll." The curly haired guy grinned as he watched her sink back to her behind on the cement.

Michael laughed. "BURN! Man, Hyde, that was classic!"

Love's frown grew deeper, and something in the center of her – her heart, she reminded herself – ached. She watched the poor girl look up at the dirty boy with tear filled eyes, just briefly before she closed them and rubbed her knees. "Why did he try to hurt her?" she asked softly. She frowned. Steven Hyde was watching Jackie as she examined the torn knee of her jeans, and his smirk was gone. Love trembled; she could see through the sunglasses, and his eyes seemed…sad. "Why does he look sad? He did that to her. And he laughed, but now he looks said."

Paul sighed. "Steven Hyde is complicated, Love, and you really shouldn't worry about him or why he does the things he does." He paused, and his voice lowered. "She scares him."

Love made a face. "That tiny little girl scares him?"

Paul held up a hand. "Enough. Sheesh, you're as bad as he was. Always asking questions." He gestured towards the group of kids. "When I guided…" He shook his head.

Love furrowed her brow. "When you guided who?" He said nothing, and she tugged on his robe. "When you guided WHO?"

"Never mind. Be quiet, Love, and watch. It doesn't matter who I've guided in the past. What matters…." He clenched his teeth. "Is that I'm guiding you now. So watch."

She sighed and turned her attention back to the kids. Steven Hyde was still staring at Jackie while Michael continued to laugh rather than helping her up. And Steven was swallowing. Love thought she noticed his arm twitch, move forward as if he was tempted to offer her help to her feet.

But he didn't, and when Kelso elbowed him, grinning, the deadly smirk was back.

Jackie pulled herself together and the initial wince of pain and embarrassment morphed into utter disgust. She didn't say a word, nor throw a glance to Steven Hyde. Instead, she glared at Michael. "Michael, help me up."

He kept laughing, hard, as if he would never stop. "I…god, Jackie, you should have seen your arms! You looked like some…some…monkey or something!" He imitated her, flailing his arms wildly, with insane motions.

Fez, all the while frowning as he stood near Hyde, shook his head angrily and took the few steps to the damsel in distress. "That is not how you talk to a woman." He looked down at Jackie and held a hand towards her. "I will help you up, Jackie."

At first, she stared at the foreign hand, her eyes cold. But after a moment, she looked at his face, and her own softened into a slight smile of gratitude. She took the hand, and he gently helped her to her feet. "Thank you, Fez."

He beamed, clearly enamored by her attention, for the half a second it lasted.

She turned a nasty look to her boyfriend. "As for you, Michael, you know what I promised? Yeah. You can forget that." She linked her arm through a pleased and proud Fez's, and gave Michael her best smirk. "For the next year." She turned to Fez. "Come on, Fez. I'll let you walk me home."

Fez visibly trembled, his lips twitching. "Oh! My first time to walk a girl home!" His eyes danced wildly, and the two took off.

Michael frowned at the duo. "Hey! You can't just…" He turned back and glared at Hyde. "Damn, Hyde! You always get me in trouble with her!" He stomped off after Fez and Jackie.

Love didn't watch him, she watched Hyde.

His smile again faded, and he shook his head, looking down at the ground. He tapped the basketball with his foot, then kicked it hard. It sailed into the Forman's backyard. He rolled his eyes, and looked disgusted. "God, why is he with her?" he muttered. A sarcastic grin crossed his face for half a second. "Why is she with him?"

Love shook her head as Hyde stalked off towards the house. "Why does he hate her so much?" When he turned from the sliding glass door, staring back at the driveway for no apparent reason, she looked at him. His sunglasses were dark, but she'd already learned that if she really looked, she could see through them. His eyes were blue, and foggy. Sad. "Why is he so sad?"

Paul lifted his shoulders. "Steven Hyde is complicated."

"Why do I want to know more about him?"

Paul looked away, then back at her. "I don't know. I will tell you that he is not the one Jackie ends up with. He is not Jackie's life mate."

Love nodded. Hyde turned away, retreated into the house, and she shrugged. "Well, obviously," she said. "I mean, he hates her, and treats her badly. He just tried to hurt her. On purpose." Heat flushed her cheeks and she nodded. "Yeah, I'm glad he's not the one. He's just a dirty jerk." She took a deep breath. "Are we done here?"

"Yes. Come along."

Jackie's best friend is a girl named Donna Pinciotti, who is Jackie's opposite in most ways. They're friendship isn't exactly…conventional, but it seems to work. They spend a lot of time together sitting on the front porch of Donna's boyfriend Eric's house. Don't ask me why they don't sit on Donna's front porch. It could be because of her father's tendency to get the morning paper and the afternoon mail in nothing but leopard print briefs.

"So Fez yelled at Michael," Jackie said, a smile on her face. "He told him that he isn't a real man if he lets his best friend treat me that way."

Donna, a tall redheaded girl whose fashion sense was much less feminine and refined than her tiny friend, nodded. "Not surprising, since he calls you his goddess."

Jackie's eyes lit up. "Really? He calls me a goddess?"

Love raised her eyebrows. "Wait, Jackie has one eye blue, the other green." She smiled. "That's neat!"

"Yes." Paul stared at the earthly Jackie and softly smiled. "She is a beautiful girl."

Love elbowed him. "Hey!"

Paul grinned. "Hey, I'm an angel, but I'm still a man!"

Donna chuckled and made a face. "I shouldn't have told you. Now you're head is going to swell to the size of the moon."

"Oh, please, Donna. I mean, maybe it would if a guy like Steven said that about me. But Fez is a foreigner. He doesn't really count." Jackie looked away and didn't notice the impatience flashing in Donna's eyes. "I mean, Steven is a real man. He really knows who he is. Not like Michael." She stared out at the street. "Has Steven said anything about me ever? " Her right hand rested on top of her left, and she began rubbing her fingertips over her knuckles.

Donna opened her mouth, then closed it, and her eyes wandered as she searched for something to say that wouldn't completely shatter Jackie's wishful heart. "Well, I mean…not really, Jackie. He's always too busy making out with those skanks he doesn't…date."

Jackie nodded, her eyes lowering.

Love shook her head, feeling a bit annoyed with Jackie. "Wait, she has a crush on Steven Hyde, doesn't she? Why? He hates her! And she has a boyfriend! I mean, yeah, he's not the world's brightest bulb, but he's cute, and he treats her….well, sometimes he doesn't treat her like he should, but generally he's a nice guy. Unlike Steven Hyde." She threw up her hands. "God, why does she like Hyde? He hates her! He HATES her!"

Paul smiled benignly at her tirade. "The heart is the most mysterious thing in life, Love. Even an angel cannot explain it. Just remember, she doesn't end up with Steven Hyde."

"So…it's just a crush?"

"Some would say that."

Paul led her away, and Love followed, still stewing about this Steven Hyde. He was nothing but a jerk. And it was fine, because Jackie, SHE, would never be with him.

"Thank God," she muttered.

There must be someone better, she decided. A man of every girl's dreams. Jackie definitely deserved that. After all, she was beautiful and rich.

"And she does dress really well," Love told herself, thinking of the pretty dress Jackie had been wearing.

Yes. Jackie was destined for the perfect love.

Love smiled. 'I'm destined for the perfect love.'