A/N: we're finally starting to get into the ~parenting~, or at least jackie's experience, in this chap.

Jackie stays up all night getting things ready for Betsy. With Mrs. Forman's help, she made a list of things to get from the store including a crib, sippy cups, toys, and clothes. Betsy has recently been potty trained, but they add diapers to the list just in case. She ends up taking longer at the store than she initially thought because she hadn't realized how many choices there would be in brands and styles. She not only wants Betsy to have the highest quality items, but also the cutest.

I'll show Steven , I'm going to be the better godparent, she thinks before immediately feeling a stab of guilt. It's not a competition. Or at least it's not supposed to be.

Still, she reasons, reaching for the most expensive pacifiers. They're glittery pink and purple, and she thinks that this might be fun, raising a little girl. More fun than raising a little boy, anyway. This way she has someone to dress up all nice and pretty, put bows in her hair and do her makeup when she's older. It'll be like having a living doll, or a Mini Me.

At least that's what she hopes it'll be like. With Hyde raising Betsy half the time, who knows how she'll end up. She could turn out to be an emotionally constipated stoner just like him. Or she could be obsessed with obnoxious bands like Led Zeppelin. Or she could...Jackie stops herself right there. She'll just have to do her best to make sure Hyde's impact on Betsy is minimal.

By the time she's done shopping, Jackie's cart is more than full. Looking at her stuff, she almost feels like a fraud. She has no idea what she's doing, how to be a parent. Most people have at least nine months to prepare for this; to buy these things, to read up on what to do, to learn how to be a parent. But here she is, getting ready for a kid in one night after only finding out a week ago that she was going to have a kid to take care of in the first place. She'll probably never be deserving of being considered a real parent, she's just a godparent, a legal guardian.

Jackie sighs and shakes the negative thoughts from her head. She has too much to do to feel insecure right now. It doesn't matter what anyone labels it as, she has a child to take care of. She is legally responsible for the welfare of a two year old. That means the physical and emotional wellbeing of a little girl. And that's all that matters right now.

She focuses on finding an empty checkout lane and getting her items on the conveyor belt. After impatiently waiting for the cashier to ring up all her items, she's told her total. 115.67. Damn.

Frowning, Jackie opens her wallet to take out her credit card. She really needs to start budgeting her own expenses if she's going to support a child. Maybe she can change her weekly hair appointment to every two weeks. Or cut back on her shopping sprees for clothes. She wants to cry at the thought, but if it's necessary to provide for Betsy she knows she'll do it.

Finally, Jackie manages to get home with her purchases. She spends the rest of the night transforming the guest room into Betsy's bedroom. The walls are already an ivory color and she adds blush pink curtains to the windows. She also hangs up some unicorn decorations on the walls so it feels more like a little girl's room.

When it comes to assembling the crib Jackie struggles, she struggles more than she is willing to admit. After four failed attempts she collapses to the ground, fighting tears of frustration. Normally Jackie is pretty handy with tools and whenever she had trouble she would call Steven to help, which she can't do anymore. In her moment of weakness she picks up her phone and calls a number she knows by heart and 10 minutes later Eric Forman shows up at her door.

Without a word he wraps his arms around her and provides the comfort that she desperately needed. Once her breathing has calmed to normal, Eric releases Jackie from his embrace. "You must be pretty desperate to call me. I mean, you do realize I'm worse with tools than you are, right?" he jokes to lighten the mood.

She lightly smacks him arm. "Duh , of course I know that," she smirks with a bit of pride. "I just...need you here, okay? Just keep me company so I don't lose my mind." His presence always calms her somehow.

"Moral support, got it," he nods, "I guess I can do that."

And he does. His presence helps and he talks as she continues to assemble the crib. They talk about Kelso and Brooke, about Donna and Fez, Mr. and Mrs. Forman, even Bob, but stay away from the one person they know better than anyone else in the world. He also reads the instructions out loud for her when she asks him to, his voice guiding her as she manages to figure out what goes where.

Walking home late that night, Eric thinks back to his high school days, if he had wishes he would have probably used them for making out with Donna. But now there is only one thing he wants; his friends back, including the ones that aren't dead, just lost.

By the time Jackie finishes the crib, it's after midnight. Still unsatisfied with her preparedness, she sits down with a stack of parenting books she got at the library.

She falls asleep at the table.

At 9 A.M. sharp the next morning, Jackie shows up at the hospital with Donna, who agreed to go with her when she takes Betsy home. "Oh my God, I'm so nervous," she says to Donna for the fourth time, "Like, more-nervous-than-a-first-date-nervous."

"Jackie," Donna laughs, "it's gonna be okay. Its nothing like a first date, alright? You've met Betsy plenty of times."

"Yeah, as her godparent ," she explains, "now I'm more than that. I'm her legal guardian."

"Well, regardless, you know her and she knows you. And she likes you, that's the important part," Donna reminds her.

"Of course she likes me, anyone would be crazy not to," Jackie shrugs.

Donna just shakes her head, smiling.

The two girls make their way through the maze of halls and floors until they reach Betsy's room. Jackie has to sign a few release forms and is given some medicine Betsy still needs to take for the next few weeks. Soon enough, everything is done and they're good to go.

"Okay Betsy, are you ready to get out of here?" Jackie asks.

"Go home?" the little girl asks.

Jackie shifts uncomfortably. Betsy had been told that her parents are dead and aren't coming back, but death is a difficult subject to grasp, especially for a two year old. Her grandparents (and doctors) had tried to explain it to her as best they could.

"Gone?" Betsy had asked, trying to understand.

"Yes, they're gone. I'm sorry honey."

"Why?"

Why? That was always the hardest question to answer, the most painful one. Why did this have to happen? Why does Betsy have to grow up without her real parents now? No one has the answers, especially not for a little girl to understand.

"Well," Jackie tries to think of a good answer for Betsy, "we're not going to your home. We're going to my home, which is going to be your home now." She cringes at the confusing response she just gave, but she doesn't know how else to put it.

The little girl frowns, not quite understanding but wanting to leave the boring hospital all the same. "Okay."

"Come on," Jackie invites, taking the hand of Betsy's non-broken arm while Donna follows close behind.

"Here we are Betsy, this is going to be your new home from now on," Jackie says as they enter her apartment. "Or one of them," she adds, referring to the Forman's. She'll have to explain that whole thing later.

"Home?" the little girl questions, looking up at Jackie.

"Yes, your new home," she repeats.

Betsy just frowns, not letting go of Jackie's hand. She looks around the unfamiliar territory, appearing to be slightly uncomfortable.

"Hey, why don't we play with some toys?" Donna suggests. She runs into Betsy's bedroom and reappears with some building blocks and little dolls. "Come on, Betsy. Let's build a house for these dolls to live in."

At this, Betsy let's go of Jackie's hand and wanders over to Donna, sitting herself down on the carpet. Jackie kneels down beside them, but she mostly just watches the two as they play. She knows Donna is trying to help Betsy feel more comfortable and she's very grateful. The sight of her best friend and her goddaughter playing together brings a genuine smile to her face.

The rest of the day is spent playing with toys and watching cartoons with Betsy. After dinner, Betsy falls asleep and Jackie gently places her in the crib, kissing her head. She looks down at the little girl sleeping peacefully in the crib and is rewarded with a rush of warmth that goes from her the bottom of her feet and up into her chest. She loves her goddaughter so much and it's been so nice taking care of her today. It makes her feel like she's doing something really important and for the good of someone else. She finally understands why Mrs. Forman enjoys being a nurse so much. Smiling to herself she leaves the room and quietly closes the door.

When she returns, Donna is putting her coat on. "Well, this has been fun I guess. But now that you've put her down for the night, I'm gonna get going," she explains.

"Wait! Please don't go," Jackie protests. "It's my first night with Betsy. What if something goes wrong and I don't know what to do? What if she wakes up screaming or gets sick or-"

"Jackie," Donna stops her, amused, "I'm sure you can handle it. Really."

"But Donna, it's still so new and I'm just...nervous to be by myself. Just stay the night, please," Jackie pleads.

Donna hesitates. Not only does she think Jackie can handle whatever might happen, she also knows that Jackie needs to learn to be able to do this herself. But she also knows that these are difficult times- for all of them.

"Fine, I'll stay with you tonight. But this better not become a habit," she warns.

"It won't, I promise."

"Alright, I'll sleep on the couch then," Donna offers, and Jackie feels a rush of appreciation for her best friend. She sleeps her first restful night in a week knowing that Donna is in the other room.

Luckily, there are no issues with Betsy during the night and Donna leaves in the morning after breakfast.

In the next few days, Jackie starts to get into the routine of taking care of Betsy. She feeds her dry cereal and fruit for breakfast, gets her dressed (Jackie has way more fun picking out Betsy's outfits than she should), and usually takes her out to the park to play. They come back for lunch and spend afternoons reading books and watching cartoons. After dinner always comes the hardest part: getting Betsy to take her medicine.

"Come on Betsy," Jackie sighs, exasperated, "you need to drink this so you can better."

"No! Yucky!" she yells, running out of the kitchen and away from the offensive medicine.

"Please?"

"No!"

Jackie pinches the bridge of her nose, coming to the last resort. "Okay, fine. I'll give you ice cream afterwards if you take your medicine. You want ice cream, right?" She says the words ice cream like it's something magical and one of a kind- and it kind of is, she supposes.

It works, like it usually does, because Betsy slowly peaks from around the couch, looking at Jackie standing in the kitchen as she considers the offer.

"Strawberry ice cream," Jackie adds just for effect, but she doesn't think it's necessary. She's just impatient at this point.

"...okay," Betsy reluctantly agrees as she comes over to take her medicine.

At the end of her fourth day with Betsy, Jackie tells her she'll be staying with Hyde for the next few as she gets her ready for bed.

"Unca 'Teve?" Betsy asks.

"Yes, you're going to stay with him tomorrow. But don't worry, you'll come back and stay with me again in a few days, okay?" she assures her.

"Okay," she agrees, but she doesn't really understand.

"Good girl," Jackie says, putting her in the crib. She tucks her in and kisses her head as she always does before turning to leave.

"I miss Mommy," Betsy suddenly says, causing Jackie to freeze in her tracks.

She asks for her parents every so often, and each time is just as painful to hear as the last. Sometimes she cries, and sometimes Jackie cries with her.

"Why she no come back?" she asks with childish innocence.

"Betsy," Jackie says softly, like she always does, "she died, honey. Your daddy too. They're gone. They can't come back, okay? That's just what happens when people die."

"Oh," Betsy sniffles.

Jackie's heart breaks at the little girl's deflated spirit and she feels the desire to fill the whole in her heart, or at least as well as she can. "I can be your new mommy, if you want," she offers.

"No!" Betsy protests, "I want my Mommy."

She winces, regretting bringing it up at all. It's way too soon. "I know," she says, because there's nothing else to say.