Author Note: ….some things need to be seen to be believed…

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Chapter 25 – The Truth Comes Out

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"…"God Jackie, I love you so much!"

"…"Yeah, and I'm pretty damn fond of you too."

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Eric's hand dropped to Jackie's collarbone. He was very aware of how fragile she was – even more so now. His fingers found the pulse in her neck as he pulled her towards him for a proper kiss.

Jackie leaned in towards him as he pressed his mouth against hers. His fingers were tugging her dark hair as he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss, his tongue coaxing her before low moan escaped her throat. Why was she pulling away?

She smiled into his eyes. "My boobs." He laughed, "Yeah, I'm very aware you have a pair."

She kissed him, "They're sore….you need to be careful." Eric ran a thumb over her lips. "You know, this is torture."

She pulled his shirt out of his pants so she could feel the muscles under her hands, "I know! My hormones are going crazy!"

Eric could feel the baby kicking against him, "If I continue, it'll only get worse and little Forman here is telling me it's a bad idea."

Jackie rubbed her stomach, "Yeah that happens a lot. This kid is going to play sports." She laughed. "But any other day….this would definitely happen."

He smiled, "I'm glad we made up."

Jackie smirked, "You just have to work on your technique. I'll deduct points because of your age." She added cheekily. Their conversation was interrupted by a pair of bright headlights shining into the front window.

"Were your folks expecting company?" she asked.

"Not that I know of." Eric replied.

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The limo honked its horn several times until Kitty and Red came out to see what was going on. Eric and Jackie came down the apartment stairs. Steven poked his head out of the opening door. "We have good news for you!"

Red looked at the smiling face of his adopted son, "Well this family could sure use some right now!"

A red head emerged behind Hyde and Kitty screamed, "Oh my gosh! Donna! Oh honey!" The tall girl was crushed in a Kitty Forman hug. "I missed you too." Her eyes gazed at Red and he smiled. "Oh, where are Chris and that adorable little Bobby?" Kitty was trying to look through the darkened windows of the limousine but couldn't see.

Chris's blonde head surfaced and he smiled at his favorite older woman. "Mrs. Forman, I swear you just get prettier every year!"

Red grinned, "You sure know how to kiss up don't you Chris?" Red clapped the tall boy on the shoulders. "Where's that son of yours?"

Chris smiled, "He's with Bob. They're practicing some new kind of fishing gear – you know how the Pinciotti side of the family can be."

Donna smacked her husband lightly across the chest. "That's my dad, be nice!" Donna turned and exclaimed, "Oh my god! A chubby Jackie!"

Jackie laughed with glee and ran to her long time friend. Donna made a big show about trying to get her arms around Jackie's stomach. "What's in there? A watermelon?"

"You were bigger with Bobby so don't compare."

Donna grinned, "I never thought I'd see you wearing an extra large anything! Eric! What did you do to this girl?"

Eric smiled and gave Donna a hug. "It's nice to see you again." He shook hands with Chris and gave Hyde a man-hug. Kitty was crying happy tears at seeing her basement babies standing in the drive. "Everyone come in for brownies."

Steven uttered, "Yeah…I'm still the man."

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They were in the kitchen and the mood had turned back to somber. Kitty explained about the telephone call and Tulia's subsequent death. Steven could see the pain in her eyes about losing the potential grandchild but he decided seeing is believing.

"I think we should all watch the evening news. I'm guessing none of you have seen the headlines."

Red shook his head, "No, we hadn't felt like it."

Hyde stood up and pulled on Red's chair. "Come on. Forman, get up and let's go watch the news. I think you'll find it….informative."

The party of seven found a place to sit in the living room while Donna turned the television on to a network news station.

"…This exploitation of reproduction is a felony and the defendant has been charged with selling babies over state lines as far away as Washington to Orlando. With me is Henry Sails, an FBI field agent who arranged for the arrest of this terrible family business."

"Thank you Miss Cantana, we have recovered an infant who was born just this morning and reunited him with his donor parents who had been told that they could not have children. This was a surprise and a delight to all of us at the FBI office. We were glad that one good thing came of this tragedy."

"Mr. Sails, can you tell us what the pending charges will be?"

"Yes ma'am. We have arrested a boyfriend, two daughters and the defendant will be charged with Interstate Trafficking, which is a felony and we have determined that there are at least 15 counts of this activity. The trafficking of children for the purpose of sale or exploitation carries with it a long prison term. There were some minor arrests for nurses in the hospital that assisted with the illegal birth and death notices. They will be charged separately."

"Thank you Henry, we wish that new family all the best. This is Anna Cantana with the Channel 8 news."

Eric's mouth fell open. The baby was still alive! This whole thing had been a living nightmare. Donna looked at Eric, "Chris and I pretended to be buyers for Tulia's baby. He's a healthy boy and his natural parents are the nicest people you would ever want to meet. The blood was type "O". He wasn't yours Eric."

Hyde quickly explained how WB, the private investigator and the Lyons family were working with the FBI to charge the Banks with multiple counts of baby selling. Donna clarified, "We couldn't tell you anything because if Dorothy Banks, that bitch, if anyone suspected this wasn't real then they couldn't have been caught. Tulia's death was a surprise to everyone."

Jackie looked at Donna. "Tulia had sold other babies? Her own?"

Chris replied, "Yes, Frank was the natural father of at least eight other children over the last five years. That whole family is corrupt but now comes the hard part of telling of telling the adoptive families that the baby they thought was theirs, biologically, may not be. I heard they are working on developing DNA tests but it's going to be a sad day when the truth all comes out."

Kitty was still saddened but relieved that Eric wasn't Tulia's only target. Red shook his head in amazement. "You know, I've heard of this thing, and I've suspected something like this…but when it actually happens to your family….it is a lot different."

Hyde spoke up. "Well, we wanted to tell you guys earlier, but the arrests had to be made and we had to get that baby to his rightful parents. It had a good ending…except for Tulia."

Jackie needed to know. "Did she die because of childbirth?"

Donna replied, "No. She had high blood pressure but the initial determination was that she died of an aneurysm. It didn't matter that it was today – it could have been tomorrow when they lied and told you guys to be down there. She was going to be dead either way."

"God, that is so sad." Jackie squeezed Eric's arm, a motion that didn't go unnoticed but Hyde. He looked at his friend, "So….when's the big day and who's going to be your best man?"

Eric looked up. "She only said yes. In fact, it was tonight she finally said yes but she never gave me a date."

All eyes were looking at Jackie. "What! I told him yes. He still has to work to do to get a commitment date."

Donna smiled. "Well, I'll make sure Dad and Bobby comes up for the wedding. You make sure Kelso's kid doesn't end up in the emergency room and spoil the celebration."

Kitty laughed, "Kevin Kelso is on a first name basis with all of the nurses, just like father dad used to be."

Red smiled, "You know…it almost seems like the old days."

Hyde glanced at Red. "Yeah but aren't you glad it's not?"

Laughing, Red Forman replied, "You bet your ass I'm glad!"

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