Author Note: For those readers still following; please excuse the author's lack of knowledge regarding tenure and art – again I'm winging there. Thank you for the reviews and enjoy.

Chapter– Seven - She has a plan

Jackie was still looking at the baby sketches and reached for her colored chalks. "Eric, I've gotta go. I'll talk to you later." She blindly hung up the phone as her fingers itched to sketch another baby with those dimples and green eyes. This was her destiny – she had the career she always wanted, she had a nice sized nest egg earning money, she had health insurance all she needed was a baby. She knew in her heart of hearts how to be a good mother.

Pam Burkhart was the personification of a terrible parent often leaving Jackie at the mercy of Martina, the house maid, but Jackie learned a lot about being a loving parent by watching Kitty Forman through the years. Jackie knew she had lots of love to give to a child and she would finally have the little family she wanted and deserved. This was the most adult decision she had ever made. It was a promise for her future.

*

Eric hung up the phone and blinked. What just happened? Did she really say what he thought she said? Jackie was the most level headed friend he had. Granted they teased and mocked each other now and then, but what he heard her say was the most out of this world proclamation he had ever heard.

"Eric, are you okay honey? You look a little pale." Kitty reached out to touch her sons forehead. "You don't have a fever."

He shook his head, "Mom, I'm okay. It's Jackie – I think she's gone crazy." Eric was looking for the keys to the Vista Cruiser.

"What makes you think Jackie is crazy? She's smart, responsible, and successful – I couldn't be more proud if she was my own daughter. Unlike Laurie….." Kitty's voice dwindled down to a groan.

"Mom, she said she wants to have a baby."

"What?????"

"I Know!!!!! I'm going over there to talk her out of this."

Kitty pulled the car keys out of the desk drawer. "Honey you go and do that. If anyone can put sense in her head it would be you." Eric grabbed the keys and ran thru the kitchen door only to run back into the living room. "I don't know where she lives."

*

It was as if an artistic muse took control of her hands – sketch after sketch of brown haired, green eyed, smiling babies appeared on canvas and craft paper and backs of grocery lists. She pulled a large piece of craft paper out of her work portfolio and reached for her colored pencils. She hastily sketched an older woman sitting at a table with a baby on her lap. The child was holding the woman's finger in his drooling mouth and little pudgy green eyes were smiling – this woman and child had a secret. Jackie added Kitty's curly hair and laugh lines.

There was an insistent knocking at her front door. She set the woman and child picture on the coffee table and dusted her hands. How long had she been drawing? She looked out the peephole and was surprised to see Eric on the other side.

"Eric – how did you know where I live? Do you know how late it is?"

Eric burst into the room to make sure she was alone. Satisfied that they were the only people in the small apartment, he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Jackie, are you crazy?"

She swatted his hands away, "Why would you think I'm crazy? Can I get you something to drink?"

How could she act so normal? This was how crazy people worked! Eric would appeal to her sensible self. "I'm good, let's sit and talk okay?"

Jackie sat on the end of the couch and drew up her knees. "You're using your teacher voice on me again. What's going on?"

Eric took a deep breath and tried to be calm. "You want to have a baby."

She looked at him like he was the crazy one. "Of course, every girl does. I just want to do it sooner than later."

Eric fell to the floor. "Why? How?"

Jackie smiled. "Silly boy. You know the how. I want a family and I want my own baby. I want to be a single mom."

Eric dared to ask the question he hoped she didn't have a yes for. "Are you pregnant?"

Jackie laughed, "No you goof. Come sit with me. Just get your ass on the couch – let me show you something." Eric gave her a wide berth – if she was going to go wacko he wanted to stay out of scratching range. She scooped up her recent drawings and dropped them on his lap.

Eric picked up the picture she drew of the beach baby. "Hey this is cute. Look at the little toes." He smiled at the happiness in the babies face. "Jackie – you are a good artist." He flipped through the rest of the sketches and started to notice that all of the babies had green eyes and they looked like his. He felt his stomach flip. "These babies look like me."

Jackie frowned. 'No, they look like me. I have a green eye and a blue eye. I chose to give the baby green eyes."

Eric pulled the last picture of the woman and baby and he could feel some kind of tender emotion well in his heart. "This looks like my mom and how she would look if…." He looked up to see Jackie's glowing eyes, "….If she had a grandchild. I like sketching your mom – she has character in her face and since Laurie will never give her a grandchild, I drew a baby "Eric". This is what she must have looked like when you were little."

Eric wasn't convinced – for starters his mom would have been 25 years younger. He turned to his dear friend who clearly hadn't thought this out. "Jackie …who will be the father of your baby?" Jackie shrugged and started picking up her drawings. "Eric, not that it's any of your business…but they have clinics just for this. Didn't you take the Feminism class in your junior year?"

Eric smirked, "No, I chose to tutor a cheerleader in math."

Jackie smiled, "Well I did and I learned that successful women don't always need to a man to complete their life. Many successful women go on to have families and careers without husbands."

"Well, call me old fashioned but I still think a baby should have its fathers name. If you go to a clinic, you don't know who the dad would be."

Jackie patted his hand – she was the teacher now. 'Eric, they interview the donors and check the medical backgrounds for history of any hereditary diseases. Really, you should have taken that class – it was very informative. Plus, when you have a baby you're getting 50% mom and 50% dad. My baby will be gorgeous!"

Eric started to realize he wasn't going to talk her out of this. All he could do was be a friend and friends don't let friends get pregnant by test tube!

"Jackie, why don't you want to do it the conventional way?"

She looked at him with a serious expression. "Eric, I made it a personal policy to never date anyone I work with or any of my friends - bad experiences there. Over the last two years I have dated doctors, pilots, lawyers and they only have one thing in common."

"What's that?"

"They just want to play baseball."

He shook his head, did he hear her correctly, "What?"

Jackie turned and slid the pictures into a large envelope. "Every guy I've dated wants to know how long it'll take to get to second base or will they score a homerun."

Eric started laughing as she glowered at him. "What's so funny?"

"Jackie, they aren't talking about baseball. They're talking about sex."

She folded her arms over her chest. "Well I know that NOW, and believe me, I'm swearing off men!"

*

Eric didn't exactly know how she did it, but he was deftly scooted out the door with a picture and the sound of the deadbolt clicking in the locked position. He wanted to knock on the door but knew that was a dead end. Jackie was set on having a baby.

He walked to the Vista Cruiser and thought how strange it was that Kelso had a beautiful daughter and yet Hyde and Samantha still hadn't produced any spawn after two years. That was just odd.

*

Jackie leaned back against the closed door. Eric slightly stymied her plans with that one question, "…who will be the father of your baby?" She honestly hadn't thought about the daddy part. Eric was right, a test tube baby, while practical wasn't a guarantee of what type of person was on the other 50%. They could be a serial killer and she would become the mom of a serial killer's baby. Jackie shuddered. She would have to think about this some more.

*

Kitty was in the kitchen with Steven when Eric came home. "Your late, honey. Did you take care of your business?" Hyde lifted a brow at Kitty's attempt at hiding something. "What's going on Forman?"

Eric watched as Hyde swallowed the remaining beer in his bottle. "Nothing man - just going to apply for a job tomorrow." Eric looked at the man who was like his brother but so different in everyway. The friendship they used to have just wasn't there anymore. What happened to the days of hanging out watching TV and trying to sneak a beer or have a logical conversation in the circle?

Hyde stood up and pushed the chair out. "Well Mrs. Forman, I'm going to catch some sleep before the little woman gets home – if you know what I mean." He wanted to make sure Eric caught his meaning. "Okay honey, get some rest." Kitty waited until she knew Steven was downstairs and she pulled Eric to the kitchen table.

"Now tell me what happened." Kitty demanded. Eric shrugged and unrolled the woman and baby picture and slid it towards his mother. "Jackie drew this."

Kitty looked at the adorable baby and her eyes widened when she realized that Jackie had drawn her into the picture. She gasped and bit her knuckle – this picture was secretly Kitty's every wish come true. She gently touched the fingers of the baby's plump little hand and could imagine the baby powder scent that children were born with. When Kitty looked up she almost cried, "This is just how you looked as a baby. I think I'm going to cry. Look how pretty she made me!"

Eric looked at the picture from his mothers point of view. The sketch clearly was his mother but now that he looked, he could see some of Jackie's characteristics in the child. The girl did have a talent. "Did she say I could have this?"

Eric shrugged. "She stuck it in my hand and kicked me out of her apartment."

Kitty smoothed the edges of the paper that wanted to roll. "Is she pregnant?" Kitty was afraid of the answer.

"No. Not yet but she says she has a plan."

Kitty covered her heart with her hand. "Thank God. There's still time to stop her."

"I agree. She wants to be a single mother."

Kitty looked at her son. "That's not going to happen. If she wants to have a beautiful baby like this one, you are going to be the father."

Eric's head shot up as he squeaked, "What?!"

Kitty smiled as all mothers do. "Jackie is old enough to know what she wants and after seeing this beautiful drawing, I can see what's in her heart. She wants me to be a grandmother. That means YOU have to be the father. Now go get some sleep and find a job. I have confidence in you." Kitty urged Eric towards the living room and exclaimed, "I am so glad you came back from Africa – if you were still there, who knows who would be the father of her baby!"

*

For the most part, Jackie spent long hours at work and modeled twice at the college for the "baby fund" she started. She spent her lunch hour at the library and learned that In Vitro Fertilization was about $12,500 so she needed some extra cash to cover the ovulation drugs and other medications. The sale of her drawing could easily cover the cost but she wanted some cash for emergencies if she didn't go back to work right away.

She drew the paint covered sheet over her shoulder and sat on the stool so that her naked leg other shoulder was exposed. The classroom asked if she could show some of the line of her back for the pose. She smiled and pulled her hair over one shoulder and froze into the required pose.

*

Eric was walking the hallway with Charles Dubois, the College Dean who was giving him a tour of Kenosha's Community College. "We have all kinds of academia available for the students that find that Madison is too far away. We are competitive in price and pay our teachers well. In 15 years, you would get academic tenure because we would take into consideration your time spent teaching in Cape Town."

Eric was speechless; he landed a job in only three days! How could he say no to such an offer? Eric turned and shook Mr. Dubois's hand, "I'll take it. Just tell me what you need so I can start."

Charles smiled wide with bright white teeth. "This Monday, we have one of our professors going out on maternity leave so you can take the geometry course in her absence. When the regular session starts in September, you will be on staff with your own classes. If you can come back tomorrow with your transcripts and resume, the personnel department will get you set up for next week. Welcome aboard Professor Forman."

Charles slapped Eric on the back and walked back to his office whistling a happy tune. Eric was ecstatic – the first person he wanted to share his good news with was Jackie. There was a pay phone around the corner and he couldn't wait to hear her voice. She would be so happy for him.

He dropped the required coins in the slot and waited while the phone rang. Five rings later and her answering machine picked up. "Leave a message and maybe I'll call you back! "

"Jackie – it's me. I have some good news – if you're there, please pick up." He waited and she never came to the phone. She was probably still pissed at him. If only he hadn't protested her baby idea so much…..

He walked down the halls, looking into open doors at the night school students anxious to learn and smiled. Four days from now, that could be him standing in front of the blackboard teaching something new to a student and seeing the look of amazement when they grasped a new concept. That was what made teaching so exciting.

He passed through a hallway full of artwork – a glass display with head busts of ceramic creatures and broken pottery. The door was open and he peeked in to see what clay disasters were being molded by young hands. To his surprise, it wasn't a clay sculpture everyone was looking at; it was a Greek Goddess with long curling tresses half naked on a stool. There was a soft smile on her lips as she looked at some spot on a distant wall. She was just too beautiful for words.

She was Jackie Burkhart!

*