AU: Thanks for the reviews!

Chapter 2

Red had told Jackie that it looked like Steven was going to be keeping his stripper wife while he took Jackie home. Red noticed when they got to the house there was no sign of Pam, and he wondered if she was gone again.

At the door, Red looked at the girl that he had come to like over all his son's friends and the one he loved like a daughter, "is your mom home? And don't lie to me"

Jackie looked at the man she wished was her father and knew she couldn't lie to him, "No"

"How long has she been gone?"

She knew he was going to be upset with her answer, but she couldn't keep this from him. "She left right before my graduation"

"You have been living here by yourself for 5 months? Did Steven know?"

"Steven never bothered to notice this time around, I am working on getting my own place that is smaller and more homier in a few months when I have access to my trust fund."

Red let it go with that but didn't leave till he made sure that every window was locked and the doors were locked. He wanted to bring her home, this time he would give her Laurie's room like Kitty had suggested the first time she was on her own, but he knew he couldn't ask her to live in the same house as Steven and his wife. Though the thought of kicking the two out was crossing his mind, but he knew even with them gone that house had too many memories for Jackie. He was going to have to come up with a new plan.

Jackie went up to her room and got into her pajamas and tried to sleep, but really all she could do is cry.

Steven sat in the basement with his wife who was bitching about the living arrangements, he hoped that maybe this would be cause for her to walk out and end this farce of a marriage since he didn't have it in him to do it himself.

"There are other bedrooms in this house not being used, why on earth are you down here?"

"Well one is Forman's, and the other is Laurie's, and I am not about to go near that room"

"Well if I am going to sleep on that cot with you I best be drunk"

"That sounds like a plan, and grabbed beer out of the deep freeze"

Jackie woke the next morning to the phone ringing, "Hello"

"Jackie, I wanted to check on you this morning, how are you doing sweetie?" Mrs. Forman asked

"I am doing as well as can be expected since I have no boyfriend and no friends it seems"

"Well honey know that you always have me and Red if you need anything"

"Thanks Mrs. Forman, I am not sure what I am going to do today, but I do think that our cooking lessons probably will be over, it is going to be too much to come over there, I hope you understand"

"I understand, maybe I can come over to your house a few times a week"

"But you have a house to cook for over there, it would be too much" Jackie was going to miss hanging out with her surrogate mother, but she couldn't ask her to cook over here and at home too.

"Nonsense, if anything I'll have Red come over when dinner is done and we will just all eat over there like we have for the last month, just the 3 of us." Red had told her about Pam being gone, and it broke her heart all the more. Her son didn't show up for her to watch him graduate, while Jackie's mom was the one that missed out by her own doing watching her daughter graduate.

"What about the others in the house? Who is going to cook for them?"

"Well if he can run off and miss my cooking for a month then maybe he can miss more, he's married now, his wife can cook for him, if she knows how"

Jackie thought about it, if anything she knew that the Formans had her back, she thought about her secret, maybe she should let them know during dinner. "OK, when do you want to come over? And I'll go grocery shopping"

"How does tonight sound?"

"OK see you tonight, how does roast and vegetables sound?"

"That sounds great, and maybe we can try cookies for dessert"

Steven woke up with a hangover and cramped in his bed, he looked over at the blond next to him and the details of yesterday till he had gotten wasted was coming back to him. He could smell Kitty's breakfast from above him. He hadn't had a decent home cooked meal since before he left for Chicago. Getting up and getting dressed Sam rolled over and started to wake up.

"What is that smell?" she asked

"That would be Kitty's famous breakfast, she maybe making up for not cooking much for her and Red for the last month"

They came up the stairs and both took the seats at the table as Red came in with his newspaper to join them at the table. He couldn't help but frown at the blond wearing too short shorts and a tube top at his kitchen table.

"Red this is Sam, my wife" Steven said making the introductions

Red could only grunt, as he watched Kitty bringing everything to the table alone, breakfast had been just the two of them and Jackie always gave her a hand with setting the table for the dinners she was here for. Red got up and started to help his wife, he could see the hurt in her eyes as the other two in the room just sat at the table waiting to be served.

As the four began to eat Sam broke the silence, "Wow this is good Kitty, I can't wait to see what you do for dinner, Hyde told me how great of a cook you was. I don't know anything about cooking and really never felt the need to learn"

Hyde piped in, "Yea her roast and vegetables are the best"

Red noticed Kitty's eyes grow a little sadder, and then she said, "Well I am not going to be cooking here tonight, so you are on your own."

"So I guess that means Red is picking up the Colonel then?" Hyde asked

Red could read his wife's body language that she had other plans for the two of them tonight, and she looked at him and said, "well Red and I both have plans tonight. So I guess one of you will pick up the Colonel or learn to cook!" and with that she stormed out of the room.

Red turned and looked at Steven, "you are lucky you still have a place to stay, but maybe if you are responsible enough to get married, you are responsible enough to find your own place" and at that Red stormed out

Hyde felt that he had been punched in the gut, "Well I hope she doesn't expect me to clean up after all that, I can't get my hands in dish water anyway, do you know that does? Plus I need to see about jobs around here, are there any strip clubs?"

At that his head felt like it was going to explode, his wife was going to keep stripping even though she was married? But then did he care? He got up and started cleaning the kitchen, he already felt the need for a beer.

Red came back in on his way to work, "You have really gotten yourself in a mess, maybe it is time you cleaned up your life" looking at the beer in his hand, and stepped out the door.

Later he finally made it into work at Groove's to find it closed, unlocking and opening the door he was greeted with thick smoke, he found Leo surrounded by a bunch of hippies and kicked everyone out. The place was a mess, maybe he shouldn't have taken off for a month and left Leo in charge. While cleaning up the mess a guy walked in with a help wanted sign in his hand.

"Hey I was looking for a job and saw this help wanted sign"

"Leo you put out a help wanted sign?" Hyde asked the dirty hippy

"Yay dude I needed help opening a jar of pickles…Hyde man your back!" Leo said despite Hyde had been in the store for the last 2 hours with him. "What happened to the loud girl?"

"Its over with Jackie, Loud girl, I am married to a girl named Sam now" Hyde told Leo. He turned the new guy, "So you want a job here? What is your music tastes? In other words what is your thoughts on disco?"

"Well disco sucks, and my name is Randy"

"Well Randy you're hired, welcome to Grooves, call me Hyde"

Later that day Fez, Kelso and Donna all walk into Grooves, it was starting to look back to its old self. "Hey we haven't had a circle since you left man" Kelso said as they walked in.

"Randy, watch the store, we will be in the office" Hyde said as they walked into the office.

Right after they walked in the office Jackie came into Grooves, she looked up at Randy "excuse me is Steven here?" She thought maybe if she could catch him alone sans stripper they could have the talk they needed to have.

"Steven? I don't know a Steven?" Randy answered her.

"Steven Hyde, this is his store" Jackie replied

"Oh, well a blond chick and two guys just showed up and they said they were going to have a circle and went into the office."

"Ok" Jackie's heart sank, she didn't need to expose her baby to that and there was no talking to Steven while he was high. "well if you can tell him Jackie stopped by" she took and turned to walk out. She wondered if Steven was going to end up like Leo, drinking and getting high the rest of his life and the only clear thought of a car that ran on water.

As she stepped out of the store she ran into WB, he had been trying to call his son for the last month, sales reports were missing along with inventory lists and such. He knew Angie did all that when she was working with her brother, but Steven had been doing pretty good on his own until the last month. He noticed a sad look on Jackie but was frustrated with how his son was running the store he gave him. "What has been up with that boyfriend of yours?" He asked Jackie.

Jackie took a deep breath, she couldn't break down in front of WB, "I wouldn't know, he's not mine anymore, he married someone else sometime in the last month, he disappeared and spent the month in Vegas, some stripper followed him home said they got married."

WB looked on at Jackie, this wasn't the same girl that went off on him when he first met his son thinking that he was after money, or the same girl that still encouraged a relationship with him, this girl was broken and he didn't have to think hard to figure out who had broken this girl. "Jackie, let me go yell at my son, but I still want to keep in touch with you." He watched the girl walk away, he could feel his blood boil at what his son had done to that girl, and then what could he have done to the store he had put him in charge of.

"Welcome to Grooves, how can I help you" a strange pretty boy greeted him

"I am looking for my son and the reports he was supposed to turn in on this store he is supposed to be running. I am WB, who the hell are you?" This wasn't one of his son's friends and wondered where the boy was.

"I'm Randy, Hyde just hired me today, he's in the office" unsure if he should keep him out of there, but had a feeling there wasn't going to be any stopping this guy.

"STEVEN HYDE! WHERE ARE THE REPORTS I WAS SUPPOSED TO GET WEEKS AGO?" WB yelled as he walked in to see his son with his friends all stoned. Donna, Fez and Kelso bolted out the door.

"Hey WB, welcome back"

"Actually I think I am the one to be welcoming you back, gone a month in Vegas when you have a store to run, and reports on how you are doing are late. But I am guessing they are not done at all. I am going to give you a week to get this mess straightened out. And I am not just talking about the store, apparently you need to clean up your life.

Hyde slumped down in his chair as WB left, for the second time that day a father figure has told him he needed to clean up the mess of his life. He gathered the papers on his desk and tried to make sense of the numbers before him. Jackie had been the one to take over the paperwork and accounting after Angie moved back to Milwaukee, but now he had to do this on his own.

Several hours later and the numbers still didn't add up, Hyde went home. As he reached the basement door he found Fez and Kelso sitting on the couch, the wife that followed him home from Vegas no where to be seen, maybe making dinner he could only hope since he hadn't ate since breakfast that morning.

"Hyde there's a stripper in your room!" Kelso shouted excitedly

"Yes we came by and she said she needs to practice and we get to watch" Fez said

"Great" was Hyde's only reply

"Hey baby" Sam said as she came out of the back room "I was going to practice my Taps routine and needed an audience"

Hyde needed a drink, grabbed a beer and sat down on his chair, this day was getting worse.