Chapter 22

Steven woke up the next morning, he threw on a pair of sweats that he had pulled out to keep close and went to get a shower before everyone else got up, he would have loved to stay the morning alone with Jackie, he didn't have to open the store today but they were not alone in the house, and Jackie had a doctor's appointment. He also hoped he could talk to her about moving in with him when he got a house, which he hoped would be soon. When he got back he figured since no one else was moving around in the house so he crawled back in bed. Just as Jackie was starting to stir, "Morning doll"

Jackie bolted out of bed noticed Steven's questioning look, "Sorry I have to pee"

A little later she came back in, "Well its better than when I was waking every morning throwing up" she got back in bed to lay down.

"How bad was it?" he hated it he was stupid and missed out in being there for her in the beginning.

"It wasn't too bad, I guess the good thing for me was it actually stuck to mornings, a lot of women it goes all day that first morning Angie stayed with me she had put two and two together"

"She looked like she could kill me that day, I guess now I understand, I guess really I should feel lucky to be breathing"

"Eric said he had been working out, and was hoping to have enough muscles to be able to kick your ass when he came home in one of his letters"

"You have no idea how sorry I am, I love you I have always loved you in some way and I'll make sure you never doubt it again. Actually I wanted to ask you, I sort of presumed you knew, but then I see where presumptions have gotten us in the past, so I want to make it clear, I want you to move in with me when I get a house. I thought that was understood when I brought you with me the other day, but then I realized I never said anything to you direct. So Jackie will you move in with me?"

"Thank you for making it clear, and yes I would love to live with you"

"Well now that I know you can possibly cook without killing me" He started laughing as Jackie got out of bed and grabbed her robe.

"Just to prove it to you I am going to go down and make breakfast. You can do dishes after breakfast and I'll make sure Kitty knows it and doesn't try to do them herself." And before Steven could say anything else she was gone.

Steven came down to the kitchen to find Jackie pulling everything out she was needing, she shot him a look that told him he better leave her alone, so he went quietly over to the stool and sat down at the counter to watch her work. "Well this has got to be better than watching you and Kitty bake a pie all those years ago" he smiled at her

"Well I have gotten better but in truth there was no distractions in the house during those 2 months of lessons"

"You mean no one came by here while I was gone?"

"Well Michael came by first but stayed away after I kicked his ass, and I think Red threw a threat or two at him. Honestly I don't know what was going on with Fez, and Donna stayed away till she saw you was back"

Steven couldn't believe it that this house they was always coming in and out of for what seemed like their entire lives to stay away like that. "Did they know you were here?"

"Well my car was parked out front like I normally do, so I would guess they should have known."

Red and Kitty came down and joined the couple, Jackie went and poured three mugs of coffee. While Steven stayed on his stool, Red went and sat down at the table with his paper. Kitty went over to try to help Jackie, "Sweetie do you need any help this morning? You really should be resting, I can fix breakfast."

"No I need to show Steven I can cook so he knows I won't try and kill him when we move in together, and he is doing dishes this morning by himself, punishment for the remark he made this morning" She was staring him down and he just smiled back at her. He stopped himself from saying something inappropriate with Red and Kitty in the room.

Just as breakfast was being put on the table Eric came down fully dressed to join them. "Wow Mr Nude is wearing clothes" Red greeted his son.

"I don't sleep in the nude anymore, sort of broke that habit in Africa sleeping in a room with another guy" He left out the part where it just wasn't a need any more, he had broke up with the girl that had him sleeping in the nude and was just too close back then. His parents didn't need to know. Ready to change the subject, "So Jackie fixed breakfast this morning? The last think she fixed before I left for Africa left me bruised for days, but this looks safe"

Kitty looked up, "How did you get bruised from Jackie's cooking?"

"I was trying to cheer Steven up because he was upset over Angie and Michael dating and fixed cookies that came out too hard"

"I tried sucking on them, because biting into them was impossible, afraid I would chip a tooth or something. Then Eric and Fez starting taunting me about Angie and Michael and one thing led to another and Jackie and I was throwing the cookies at them."

"Luckily they missed our faces, we might have needed an eye patch if we had got hit in the eye" Eric began to play with the biscuit on his plate, "well the biscuit seems nice and soft. You are doing a lot better Devil"

"Thanks geek"

Kitty just shook her head at them, "Are you two ever going to stop with the names?"

"Is dad ever going to stop calling me dumbass?"

"Hey dumbass stop calling Jackie the Devil"

After breakfast Red and Kitty both left for work and Eric went to open Grooves. Steven got up and started dishes, while Jackie went to get ready for the doctors.

After the doctors they went to check on Grooves, Randy and Eric was both at the register helping customers and WB and Angie were in the office. Both got up to hug Jackie, "You know I would think you like her more than me, and I am your son and brother"

"Son we know you don't go for hugs, but if you want"

"I'm good" he cut his dad off.

They all sat around Angie was asking Jackie about the doctor's appointment and Steven was busy looking around the room thinking about some changes he wanted to make in the office. He was lost in his thoughts when Angie finally pulled him back, "Steven I was asking, if you guys have talked baby names yet?"

"Actually we haven't, sorry I was just busy thinking"

Jackie looked at him, everything had went great at the doctors, her blood pressure was better than it has been the entire pregnancy "What are you thinking so hard on?"

"Well the doctor talked about how the last few months of your pregnancy you are going to be more tired and need rest, I was just thinking of maybe adding a couch in here, something that we could use instead of chairs and you could rest on here while I am working. Also wondering about eventually adding a crib or something for the little guy" he kept looking around the room while he spoke mentally placing where a crib would go along with the couch. He wanted to keep Jackie close to him as much as possible. And he really didn't want her alone the closer it got to her due date, but he wanted to make sure she was comfortable too.

"I think that sounds great, dad and I can help maybe tomorrow before we head back to Milwaukee" Angie was going to miss Jackie, but she knew this was where she needed to be and her gut told her that she would be her sister for real soon enough.

WB looked at the girls, "why don't you girls go and see if you can find a couch for here and I'll help Steven around the store for a bit?"

Steven looked at Jackie, "I just have no request, no pink!"

"Lavender?" Steven just smiled and shook his head.

"Make that two request, no twinkle lights"

"Ok, but lavender scented candles are good"

Angie looked at her brother, "What she can't do to the office what she did to your bedroom?"

Crap, Jackie had told her about his room, probably knew how he threw a fit when she took it down after he ordered her to take it down, she never did anything he ordered her to do normally, so he didn't think she would actually do it that time, and she did.

"OK girls, Jackie you make sure it is something comfortable and something you won't have too much trouble getting off of as you get bigger, Angie you make sure Jackie doesn't go too girly" WB handed Angie his credit card and keys and shooed them out.

Jackie turned around ran back to Steven placing a kiss on his cheek, "bye, see you in a little while, I'll try to behave and not go overboard"

"I trust you doll, at least with Angie" and gave her a kiss on the lips.

After the girls left WB turned to Steven, "well it looks like that house on Oak is going to be the best one if we want to put an offer on it. I figured we could take care of that while Angie has Jackie out"

"That was the one Jackie liked the best and it's already empty so we would be able to move in sooner than the others"

"Have you talked to Jackie about living together?"

"Yes we talked this morning, I still haven't told her I have a ring, I think I've decided on New Year's to propose, so you and Angie better come back for that"

"We will, I already have made arrangements for the two weeks at the hotel for us, maybe we can move you guys in right after the New Year, we have the offices all shut down for the two weeks anyway and I can finally get my space in my garage back"

"What is in your garage?"

"Some things of Jackie's that she wanted that belonged to her grandparents and such, stuff she wanted to make sure she kept and didn't get taken with the house, Red and I arranged it to be moved to my house, it would be more noticed in Red's garage"

"You guys won't get in trouble if it is found out that you took stuff out of the house?"

"No we checked and made sure of that, when that SOB gets out he has nothing, what there was either went to Jackie or the state to cover the money he had taken. Jackie still has her trust fund in tack. She had hoped to try to get it earlier before she was forced out of that house, but Red had gotten word that it was happening sooner than she hoped and well she needed out of Point Place and I wasn't going to let her be on her own. Neither was your sister."

"Jackie has a trust fund?"

"oops, sorry I said anything, yes but it is not available tell she turns 19. She had money saved up that she was paying utilities with on that house after her mom left. I have said I would never hit a woman, but I could seriously go back on that if I ever see that woman again."

"Does anyone even know where Pam is now?"

"From what Red has said, no but I think Jackie thinks she will turn up on her birthday when she gets access to her trust fund to try and get what money she can out of her"

"Yea, it won't be pretty if she shows up now that I know what I know"

"You do your best to protect Jackie, Red and I have your back, and I already have the lawyers ready if need be. Jackie signed Pam out of her life at her graduation."

"I can't believe I never knew what was going on, she begged for us to come to her house for a graduation party, for months she did everything to keep me away from her house and her mother. Her mother wasn't even there, she was keeping me away from finding out she was alone again." He sat with his head in his hands.

"Son that girl was scared and confused, she didn't want to go back to Donna's again. She never told me the details, but something happened right before she moved back to the house with her mom. She won't talk about it, but she said she was doing everything she could to keep from being shipped to stay with Donna"

Steven thought back to Pam moving into the house with Bob, the almost wedding, Midge coming back, Eric coming back, Pam and Jackie moving back to the mansion, he was under strict orders he wasn't helping the move this time, not after seeing Pam topless last time. Jackie and Donna was never the same around each other after that, but he never put much thought into it. So much happened around that time, then his mind went to that night on the water tower, just him and Donna. She had basically made a pass at him and tried to kiss him, he pushed her off that is when she got mad at him and ended up pushing him off the water tower. He told Donna when they were in the room at the hospital before everyone came in that he would never tell anyone he didn't want Jackie to be hurt over her best friend's actions, and he didn't want Eric to be hurt either, so he had tried to forget it. And the news of a new father that followed the incident helped. He needed to talk to Jackie and Eric tonight.

As they walked out they noticed that Eric, Randy and Leo who seemed to remember to come in today was all there, "Eric why don't you go home and come back later, I'll show you how to close up"

"Really? Remember I am only here for a few weeks and I thought you liked closing with just Jackie" Eric gave his a friend a smirk that said he knew what went on when it was just him and Jackie in the store at night.

"Look just tonight OK, and in case something comes up, I trust you and I need to talk to you about something with Jackie and it would be better if we talked here, Randy you and Leo have the store till we get back, WB and I have some things to take care of."

"No problem" Randy said as the three walked out of the store.

A/N Next will be flashbacks of the night at the water tower before Steven fell off, and Donna and Jackie's fight before she moved out of the house.