Author Note: So glad that y'all are caught up and current with what's happened so far. Hope you enjoy and remember, I am no expert on knowing the future. :)


Chapter 07 – Crossing Paths

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"How do you get here?" he asked as he rubbed the bruise on his bicep.

"What's your name?" Jackie inquired.

The woman smiled and replied. "I'm Beulah Von Skylar and I'm from the year 2071."

Both Jackie and Eric fainted on the spot. Beulah chuckled and murmured, "Gram always said they did that a lot."

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Jackie was woken by a gentle shaking of her shoulders. "Come on Gran, open your eyes." Eric stirred and was startled to see that Beulah was becoming transparent. He sat up and tugged on Jackie's arm. "Jackie! She's fading."

Beulah smiled at Eric. "Thanks Pop. I don't have a lot of time so let's finish your questions okay?"

Eric dismissed Jackie's lethargic state and leaned forward to touch the soft arm. "Are you real?"

Beulah moved to sit in the chair. "Sort of. I'm just here on borrowed time." Jackie began to rouse again and yelped when she saw Mystery Woman was still there. Meanwhile, Eric was peppering her with questions.

"So, you can come back in the past any time you want?"

"Well, yes. I'm borrowing time from my future to come back to a specific time in the past so I could make things right."

Jackie rubbed her eyes. "Sorry. Just how do you know exactly when to show up?"

Beulah sighed, "It's a mathematical computation that you probably won't understand but let me give you a quick overview. There are 525,600 minutes in each year and 86,400 seconds in a day. So I have to figure out how many minutes in the past I need to travel to and then add in the seconds so I don't show up when you're taking a shower or something. The Leap Years are horrible because I came back one time so see my Great-Great Grandpa Jack having sex with someone that was not Great-Great Grandma Pam. So you can see how it's confusing?"

Eric did some calculations in his head. So you came back 91 years or about 47,829,600 minutes just to see us?"

She nodded. He could only say "Wow."

Jackie blinked, "So all these stuff you left. These pictures. How could they have happened because me and Eric? We aren't getting married."

Eric nodded to confirm Jackie's statement and Beulah only laughed and said, "Not yet."

Flummoxed, Jackie demanded, "How do you know?!"

Beulah added, "In the future, we can bend time backwards for short trips just as long as we don't try to change the future. That is how we are crossing paths right now. Whatever happened in the past still happens to stay in the future. I know because we've read your journals."

Jackie gasped. "That's private!"

Beulah smiled, "In the future, The Exploits of Jackie Burkhart is a bestselling book. I think you sold over 2 trillion on digital. Pop, your findings in Africa changed the world forever. The cotton that you crossbred was used for more than just cloth, it had military applications that were adapted for war time; it's still be using in food preservation today – I mean in my time. You were famous."

"Were?" Eric asked hesitantly.

The smile was soft. "You didn't live forever. Neither of you and no, I'm not going to tell you how you died so don't ask."

Jackie didn't like the answer so she asked a different question. "Okay, if you know everything about us, why did you have to come back this time? Why here? Why this day?"

Beulah exhaled slowly. "After 1980, you quit writing in your journal. We only know that you were interested in a Fez and thankfully that was short lived but you didn't start writing again until 1983. There were years where we didn't know what happened – like how you two got together…how did Grandpop propose? Where did you get married? That part of your lives is missing."

Eric nodded in understanding. "You thought that if I married Donna then you wouldn't be born."

Beulah leaned her head. "You would have had different children and then my grandparents and your descendants down the line wouldn't have lived such a blessed life. You may have been happy with Donna, but not like my Great-Grandparents."

Jackie lifted a brow. "You said that Eric was going to die. That someone like you was putting events in motion."

Beulah nodded. "Yes, if Donna had married Grandpop, there is a descendant of Mitch Miller that wanted to go back and destroy the crop and kill him. The Forman Agriculture Conglomerate would never have been established and I would never be born."

Eric tried to wrap his head around Mitch and Donna and well, the short guy really did have the hots for Eric's ex-girlfriend, but a mini-offspring of the Miller family would go so far as to kill Eric Forman for something he hasn't yet created? What a wild theory! He looked at the documents on the table and could see the writing was beginning to fade.

"So what happens next?" Eric asked.

Beulah shrugged. "I guess the future is up to the two of you. If you get together somehow, despite for your dislike for each other right now, I will be born in 2052 and your legacy lives on. If you despise each other so much that you can't see a bright and lasting future….then I've come to say good bye and just let you know how very much I loved both of you. Seeing you so young and with the world at your feet has been my privilege. Thank you."

Beulah stood up and moved to the couch to kiss Eric on the cheek and gently hug Jackie. "I'm going home where I still have at least six more years before I cease to be." She chuckled a little. "I was hoping I could convince you to think about it, but as I see it now….my borrowed time is going to be over."

Eric watched as the tinkling bells began and Beulah stared to fade into nothingness. Jackie could only stare at the space where her great granddaughter was standing. She was so beautiful and poised and part Forman? What a crazy concept that was! Jackie looked at Eric who appeared equally stunned.

Jackie ventured the question that needed to be asked. "What happens next?"

Eric shrugged, "Well, obviously, I can't go home. Donna's there."

Jackie sighed, "Sounds like I have or had a great future ahead of me, but why us?"

Eric looked at his cohort in future crime. "I don't know. We really have to think about this."

"You're right. There's a lot to consider." Jackie agreed. "I don't know that I'm comfortable making decisions right now and Fez will be coming back soon and I can't hide you forever…."

Eric decided to make a plan. It had to be good because two lives were affected by it. He'd tell his parents later.

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Amber looked at her granddaughter and laughed, "I told you it was a bad idea."

Beulah swept aside the silk drapes that covered the windows and she gazed at the waves crashing into the shore. "No, I got you meet your parents and whatever they decided I'm glad I was there at the beginning."

"You lied." Her grandmother pressed.

Beulah smiled, "I implied. Just because we lost a piece of the journal, doesn't mean she didn't write it. Great Grandma always said that her marriage proposal was private and romantic and well, I wanted to see them as a couple so I could have that memory for the children I may have one day."

Amber walked over to the wall of windows and hugged her only grandchild. "I love you darling. I'm proud that you went back to living history and learned about your family. I'm sorry that your life will be cut short by an hour but hopefully that happens after I'm dead so I won't have to mourn you."

"Jeez Gran, you are so melodramatic!" Beulah exclaimed.

Amber took her hand and led her to the dining room. "Let's have some tea and I'll tell you more about your mother."

Beulah smiled, "I'd really like that."

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Eric dialed the number and waited for the ring. His mom answered the telephone. "Hello?"

"Hey mom? It's me. Your son, Eric."

"Eric?! Where are you? I thought you were coming home?" Kitty asked frantically.

"No, they asked me to stay and work on some project. I'll get to visit this summer, but I have the chance to make some really great money here. Can you tell everyone I'm sorry I got their hopes up?"

"But Eric, honey….Donna's here. She was waiting for you to come back." There was a muffled conversation and Red came on the line, "Eric Forman, you better be making a hell of a lot of money to stand up your mother like this."

Eric replied, "Dad…it's totally going to be worth it. I promise. Well, I gotta go; I'll see you guys this summer. Bye!" Eric hung up the phone and turned around. Jackie was struggling with a large suitcase. "Eric Forman, if Africa is just a hut in the desert, I'm gonna kill you."

Eric gave her a friendly arm around the shoulders. "Jackie, there are tribes of women that will welcome your wonderful sense of fashion. You can help design new grass skirts and hut interiors!" he joked.

Jackie's eyes lit up, "I can bring Cosmo to the masses! I'll be famous."

Eric laughed. "You know….I don't think it matters what you do….we are both going to be famous."

She smiled. "I can't wait to find out what happened to the other twin. I could not believe I would have twins - ever!"

Eric nodded. "I guess my life could have turned out drastically different."

Jackie handed her passport to the ticketing agent. But to Eric she replied, "And I never thought about living my life in Africa either. We are going to have an adventure."

Eric looked at the attractive brunette and smiled, "Jackie...you just said a mouthful."

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Weighing in at 6 lbs 5 ounces, little Amber Forman was the first grand baby to greet the world. Little Joshua Forman followed with a loud robust cry. Eric had stopped at the family home to pick up his parents on the way from the airport as he sped to the hospital.

Kitty and Red Forman each had a grandchild to hold in their arms. Jackie was exhausted but the smile she gave Eric was one full of love.

Whatever happened between 1980 and 1983 was never recorded in any journal, but lived out vivaciously and with life abundant. The new Forman's were creating a future that would forever change the world.

The world just didn't know about it yet.

The End.

Or should I say, The Beginning?