Once the rites at the water tower had been concluded – the mayor had decided to permit Kelso's body to be buried in the grove near the water tower since he was a decorated officer who died in the line of duty – the gang had returned to the Foremans' for reading Kelso's will. There had been no protest from Brooke or Betsey; it had been Brooke's suggestion since it had been Kelso's home for all practical purposes. They sat in the living room, waiting for the lawyer to come in.
"It was perfect they got to bury him up near the water tower. God knows he landed in those trees way too many times when he was alive," Eric sighed, running his hand over Donna's.
"Yeah, I think he took more swan dives off that thing than all of us combined." Hyde chuckled, not liking that despite sitting beside her on the couch, he couldn't embrace her in the way he wanted to and was forced to settle for holding her hand lightly. After spending the night together, Hyde wanted to make sure that before she left, they sorted out everything. And a repeat performance of the night before wouldn't hurt either, he thought bemusedly. But for now, he had to keep those thoughts to himself, especially with all the weird looks he was getting from Foreman. He had a sneaking suspicion that frog-mouth Jackie had told Donna who'd told Eric. Thankfully, before Eric could say a word, the front door opened and Brooke came in with a middle aged man carrying a large stack of envelopes and a leather briefcase.
"Hi, everyone, I'm Leo Wilder, Sergeant Kelso's attorney. I know this is a difficult time for all of us, but as I said to Brooke, it's usually best to get these things over with as quick as possible, so that if there are any contests to the will, they can be resolved just as quickly." He sat down on the ottoman across from the coffee table, organized his papers. "Now, as far as the immediate effects, such as car, house and so forth will be under Brooke's purview which I assume will also include her daughter. For specific bequeaths, Sergeant Kelso has made these requests."
Leo cleared his throat before reading from the official document. "To my best buddy Eric I leave my collection of Star Wars memorabilia, so that the Force may be with you at all times."
The sentiment of it had Eric smiling as he swiped at his eyes. Even with all his teasing, Kelso knew how much it would mean to him.
"To my favourite red-head, Donna, I leave half of my record collection in the hopes you'll have a Kelso Corner on your show at WCRB. To my other best buddy Hyde I leave the other half of my record collection so that you can also have a Kelso Corner at Hyde in the Wall."
Donna leaned over Eric to Hyde and whispered, "How will we divided that up?"
"Easy, I get the cool ones and you get the 'radio-friendly' or 'loser' ones," Hyde chuckled.
"To my favourite foreigner, Fez," Leo continued, "I leave my candy cookbook that we got on our road-trip together to Atlantic City, so that you can make some more of that saltwater taffy you enjoy so much. And finally to Jackie, my first girlfriend, I want you to have my high school yearbooks so that when you look back, you can hopefully remember the good times we had together."
Jackie's fingers tighten around immediately around Hyde's, and he immediately put his other hand over top of hers, making the tears stay in her eyes just a little bit more. She was so glad that things between them after their night together hadn't turned awkward. Resting her head on his shoulder Jackie continued to listen to the lawyer drone on about who got what of Michael's things.
"To Red and Kitty, even though I know I probably corrupted your son way too much, I want to leave Red my Packers' jersey that was signed by Bart Star and Miss Kitty my favourite napping blanket so that when the grandkids visit, they'll remember their Uncle Kelso."
Leo took a pause, sipped his coffee before reaching for the thick stack of envelopes. He then passed them all around to Red and Kitty, Eric, Donna, Fez, Hyde, Jackie and Brooke, the last of whom looked very concerned.
"What's all this?" she asked warily.
"It was an unspoken tradition for all the officers in Sergeant Kelso's division once they began taking their ranking exams to keep a safe deposit box with audio tapes for their spouses, family, anyone they felt warranted it, in case they were killed in the line of duty. Under the instructions of his commanding officer and in accordance with the terms of the will, those tapes have now been distributed to their rightful recipients and it is the decision of said recipients what they will do with them."
Everyone looked at each other a little shocked. Kelso was not the guy to put his thoughts all down on tape, but then, no one had expected him to become much more than another gas jockey in Point Place, never mind a decorated officer of the law. Being a cop had meant the world to him, that and becoming a father to Betsey, so really at the heart of things, it surprised no one he'd leave one last momento of himself like that.
Sensing the silence, Leo stood, adjusted his tie. "Well, I think I've said just about all I need to. Brooke, call me when you've returned to Chicago and we can wrap up any loose ends."
Once he'd left, the group of mourners stared blankly at one another.
"So," Brooke said, "who wants to listen to their first?"
