A/N: Here's the next installment, folks! As usual, thanks for sticking around for the ride with me. This chapter Eric gets to spend a little more time with Natalia, and the Jackie/Fez/Hyde triangle takes its first big dip on the rollercoaster. Some of you have also predicted Red's condition, and you'll learn a bit more about that. If you're still with me, please drop a review! It means a lot to know folks are still reading my story and still care about it after all this time. Love to you all!

Chapter 10 (X)

October, 1984

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to make an appearance!" Red snarked as Eric pushed open the swinging door between the living room and the kitchen. It was nearly noon, and Eric was still wearing his pajamas and sporting bedraggled hair. He held up his hand to his father in protest, but moments later he moved it in front of his mouth to stifle a yawn.

"Hey," Eric began. "It's Saturday, and I need my sleep. Teaching those monsters – it's no joke, alright?"

"Yeah," Red agreed, mock sympathy laden in his tone. "That one class you teach a day must really take it out of you."

"Boys, boys," Kitty interrupted. She scooted between them. "Now, Red, he's a hard worker and needs his sleep on his day off." Despite Red's ribbing, it was true – even though it was only one class, Eric found himself exhausted by the time the weekend rolled around each week. Between the constant discipline and classroom management he was responsible for, to the emotional energy of being "on" with the kids all the time, to the effort and time it took to plan meaningful lessons and then grade their work and give feedback that would help them grow as writers… none of it was as easy as Eric had imagined.

"I put some leftovers from brunch in the fridge for you, Sweetie," Kitty continued. Then she turned her attention to Red. "And you. We need to leave soon. You remembered to put on the underwear I ironed for you, right?"

"Jesus, Kitty. The boy," Red hissed, gesturing towards Eric.

"Yeah, 'the boy' has zero interest in what kind of underwear you have on. Same page. Thanks." Eric took the plate Kitty fixed for him from the fridge, and lifted himself up to sit on the counter while he dug in greedily with his fork. "Where are you guys going, anyway?" He paused. "I mean… do I want to know?"

"No," Red snapped, just as Donna entered the kitchen through their sliding door. Just like when they'd been growing up, no one ever knocked. The Forman's house was all of theirs.

"Donna, what a nice surprise," Kitty smiled. "Want me to fix you some brunch?"

"Hi Mrs. Forman," Donna gave a light wave. "Oh, no, that's alright. We had waffles this morning. Casey's special recipe."

"Wow," Kitty began. "He cooks, he owns his own business, and he's not hard to look at," she gushed. "What more could you want?" Eric rolled his eyes. His mother's obsession with Casey Kelso had really run its course.

"Yeah," Donna smiled briefly, but it faded quickly. Eric detected a sense of urgency. "Um. Look," she began. "I'm so sorry to ask last minute like this, but would you be able to watch Natalia tonight? Casey's company has their annual banquet tonight, and our babysitter Jess just called to say she's got the flu and can't make it."

"Oh, shoot." Kitty brought her hands up to her mouth. "You know I would, honey. But Red and I – well, we have something going on, and I'm not sure when we'll be home tonight. Did you ask –"

"Jackie," Donna finished for her. "Yeah. Her mom's in town and she and Fez have plans with her. Hyde too. I mean," Donna corrected herself, "Jackie and Fez don't have plans with Hyde. But he's in Chicago visiting his sister. I can't get ahold of him."

"Okay. Well, I'm sure you'll find someone, honey. Maybe Micha –" she interrupted herself. "Brooke? Maybe Brooke."

"Betsy has a dance rehearsal in Kenosha tonight," Donna answered glumly.

"Okay. Well –"

Eric cleared his throat.

"Hmm," Kitty continued. "Hard to think of someone else on such short notice…"

Eric cleared his throat again, and this time everyone in the room looked at him. He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm free tonight."

"You?" Donna said slowly.

"O-ooh," Kitty nodded her head. "I didn't think of that! Sure, Eric could do it."

"I don't think so –" Donna began, but Eric cut her off.

"Yeah," Eric nodded, seeming to become more confident as he spoke. "Sure, I'll do it. I mean, how hard can it be? I'll feed her dinner, watch a movie, put her to sleep. That simple, right?"

"Her bedtime is 8:30 and Casey and I don't need to leave until 6:00, so it will just be for a few hours." Donna chewed on her lower lip and spoke cautiously, but it looked like she was beginning to consider the idea.

"Natalia loves 'Mr. Eric'," Kitty volunteered, with her signature laugh.

"And hey, we know he's well rested," Red added sarcastically. "He should be rearing and ready to go by 6pm, just hitting the middle of his day."

Donna tapped her foot, and raised her nail to her mouth to chew on it subconsciously. It was a habit she'd had all their lives, and Eric recognized immediately that she was anxious and weighing her options.

"Donna, I'm a teacher now. I'm good with kids." Eric slipped from the counter and moved to stand closer to her.

"Good?" came Red's comment.

"I'm," Eric faltered. "Well, fine, I'm okay with kids." He stood closer to her now than he'd been in ages, and waited until she reluctantly brought her eyes up to meet his. "But I can promise you that I'll take good care of Natalia. I can do this," he assured her. "Really."

Donna sucked in a sharp breath, and then slowly released it. "Okay," she agreed, reluctantly. Her shoulders slumped, indicating a release of tension. "And thank you," she added, softer.

"Anytime." He smiled. "I'll come over a few minutes before 6."

"You almost mucked it up, you know," Red remarked to Kitty a while later. They were in their car on the way to a UW Health clinic in Janesville, nearly two hours away. "With your underwear comment."

"Oh, Red," Kitty made a movement with her hand like she was swatting his words away. "Eric has no idea. You don't need to be concerned about that." She paused. "What you might want to be more concerned about is the shape your underwear is in," she gave a teasing laugh. "I've told you before, I have a reputation to uphold!"

Red grumbled, "It does the job." They were silent for a few moments, the hum of the Toyota's wheels on the pavement and the flash of other cars as they passed by the only sounds between them.

Eventually, Red grunted, "Not sure what you think this is going to accomplish, anyway."

"The underwear?" Kitty smiled over at him from her place in the driver's seat, clearly trying to be cheeky. The smile dropped from her face when she saw her husband's hardened expression, though.

"Red," her voice was soft now, and she reached her hand towards him across the center console, wiggling her fingers at him until he took her hand in his. She squeezed a few times. "We've been over this. And it's okay to be scared."

"I'm not scared. Scared isn't the word."

"Fine. Then I'm scared. How's that?"

Red sighed, clearly uncomfortable. "You know, Kitty, none of this was –"

"Your idea," she finished for him. "I know, Red. It's just… Dr. Granger, I worked with him for ten years, and honey, he is the closest thing to a medical genius I have ever seen. His medical trial… well, it's your best chance."

"It's my only chance," Red corrected her gruffly. "Doctors have been pretty clear about the timeline, here."

Kitty sniffed and pulled her hand back to the steering wheel, and Red looked over at her. She'd started crying, and reached up to dab her eyes with a tissue.

"That's right," she warbled, still keeping her eyes on the road. "It's your only chance. And Red, I know… I know you've made peace with this. I know you say you're ready to go. But I just, well… I'm not ready to let you go yet." She glanced over at him with wet eyes, before darting them back to the road. "So I'm asking you to please keep fighting, okay? Please give this a shot. Even if it's just for me."

"Kitty," Red swallowed, collecting his thoughts. "It's always for you. Everything I do. And I've made my peace with dying, but not with leaving you. Believe me." He glanced out the window for a few moments at the dry, Wisconsin farmland that flashed by. "So if this guy, if you think there's a chance this might help… then I'll try it. Okay? I'm here."

Kitty didn't say anything, but reached over to clasp his hand again. Slowly and deliberately, she squeezed it three times. It had always been their code, since they were teenagers and had started dating. They'd use it in situations where they wanted to communicate privately in public or in front of their parents. One squeeze meant 'yes', and two meant 'no'. Three squeezes meant 'I love you'.

Eric sat in the Pinciotti living room, admiring the home décor changes Donna had brought to the place. Gone was the turquoise and chrome disaster of a room he'd once criticized. The loud paint and tacky furniture had been replaced by warm tones and worn, comfy furniture. The room held a certain cozy, homey touch that Eric knew his apartment in New York lacked.

Eric sat on the cushiony grey couch with Natalia splayed out across the floor at his feet, neatly setting up her Care Bear teddies collection in order of her 'favoritest' to 'yucky colors'. "This one is Good Luck Bear," she narrated for him, carefully touching a green one's head. "This one is Cheer Bear, and that one is Wish Bear." She looked up at Eric thoughtfully. "Which one do you wanna play?"

"Oh, um," Eric made a show of sizing up the bears. "Definitely Cheer Bear," he nodded.

Immediately he could tell he'd done something wrong, because her face fell flat and she pursed her lips. "That one's my favoritest of them all."

"Oh. Well then you can play with that one," Eric backtracked. "I'll take, um. This one." He patted a yellow teddy's head.

"That one's Funshine," Natalia informed him. She picked it up and held it in Eric's direction, but after a moment she faltered. "But it's okay. You can be Cheer Bear. Mom says I'm a'pposed to let the guest pick first, cuz that's being polite."

"You know," Eric shrugged, "I'm not really a guest. Really – it's okay. I want you to play with Cheer Bear."

"Natalia?" Donna's voice rung out from the kitchen. Eric could hear the clip of high heels as she crossed the tile.

"We're playin' Care Bears, Mom!"

"Oh, there you guys are." Donna had rounded the corner into the living room, and Eric swallowed hard and trained his eyes away from focusing on her body. She cleaned up well – she always had – and looked stunning in a slinky black dress with a dipping neckline and high heels. Her red hair was slicked back into a stylish, sleek ponytail. Clearly the Kelso Konstruction annual banquet was a classy, up-scale affair. Eric wouldn't have guessed.

"Whoa," slipped out of Eric's mouth before he could take it back. He closed his mouth and then opened it again. "Sorry. You look – you look nice."

"Thanks," Donna smirked. She definitely noticed he was having trouble putting a damn sentence together.

She turned her attention to her daughter, "Okay Natalia, you get to have a frozen dinner tonight as a special treat. I laid them out on the counter in the kitchen, so go choose one, okay?"

"Yes!" Natalia bounded up from her spot on the floor and took off for the kitchen.

"They're frozen kids' meals," Donna offered to Eric. "She'll pick the one with chicken nuggets. You just have to heat up the oven and put it in, really easy. Um, and you can…" she trailed off. "I mean, help yourself to a frozen kids' meal if you'd like. Otherwise," she reached around herself for her black clutch bag. "I can like, leave you money for pizza or something."

"Don't," Eric stood. "Seriously. I like chicken nuggets, too." He smiled at her.

"Okay then," Donna returned his smile, and raised her eyebrows. "That's easy."

"Anything else I should know?"

"Um. I left the number for the banquet hall on the pad by the phone, for emergencies." Donna shifted from foot to foot, thinking. "She goes to bed at 8:30, and likes you to read her a story first. And we might be kind of late – sorry." Donna cringed. "Last year it went until, like, two A.M."

"Wow. Big party, huh?"

"Yeah," Donna sighed, and lifted her head to brush a strand of hair from her forehead. "I guess. Casey and his buddies like to drink a lot at these things and…" she trailed off. "It just gets rowdy. You know."

Eric frowned. "Is it any fun for you?"

"Of course," Donna's tone changed and became chirpier, as if she sensed she'd been too candid with Eric. "There's great food and people. It's always a good time."

"Right."

Natalia barreled back through the living room door. "I want the nuggets, Mom!" she announced, and wrapped her arms around her mother's legs.

"How did I guess?" Donna smiled and leafed a hand through Natalia's hair.

There was a sudden HONK! HONK! from the direction of the driveway.

"Oh, that's Casey." Donna readjusted her clutch and kissed the top of Natalia's head before gently prying her child from her legs. "Okay, I have to go now Natalia. Be nice for Eric, okay? I'll be here when you wake up in the morning. Promise."

Natalia started to whine and Eric stepped forward, holding Cheer Bear and Funshine out in front of himself. "Right. Say bye to your mom, Natalia. She'll be back soon. Bye Mom," he pitched his voice, and made Funshine wave at Donna. "Have a good time."

"They can't talk, silly," Natalia giggled, reaching out for Cheer Bear. She was successfully distracted.

Donna was occupied with the hallway mirror. She reapplied her red lipstick and nervously straightened her dress. When she looked back to Natalia one last time, Eric caught her eye. "You really do look amazing," he told her sincerely. "Have a good time, okay? We'll be here."

"Thanks, Eric." She released a nervous breath, and took a step closer to him. "You know, I really do appreciate – "

HONK! HONK, HONK!

Donna shook her head, flustered at the disruption. "Guess I've gotta go," she rolled her eyes, a hint of annoyance flashing across her features. But in the next moment she readjusted her clutch, and the expression on her face fell away. "Goodnight," she said, softly, and started backing out of the room quietly, so as not to disturb Natalia.

"Night," Eric replied. He felt a stab of pain at the thought that Casey Kelso – rude, honks for you from the driveway, Casey Kelso – got to enjoy her tonight. She was a vision in that dress, and even better company at an event like this. Eric swallowed hard to redirect his thoughts – after all, he had some babysitting to do.

"What is this?" Pam asked for at least the third time, gesturing to her dish with her fork. She was seated around the apartment's small kitchen table, along with Jackie, Fez, an open bottle of wine and an abundance of home cooked Thai food. Jackie began to roll her eyes, but Fez smiled with patience.

"Curry. Creamy red chicken curry over rice," he supplied.

"Oh, it's so good!" Pam made a show of rolling her eyes towards the sky and leaning back in her chair in bliss. "I don't even want to know the calorie count." She winked at Jackie, like it was an inside joke.

"Thank you – again, Pamela. It is one of my new favorites dishes to cook for my love." Fez turned to Jackie and smiled, and Jackie smiled back and took his hand.

"So it's a cultural dish?" Pam probed. "From your home country?"

Fez laughed. "Oh, no, I am not Thai. I'm –"

"Mom!" Jackie screeched, interrupting the end of Fez's sentence. Pam had reached over towards Fez, and set a hand on his upper leg suggestively. "Let go of him!" As an afterthought, she corked the bottle of wine. "I think that's enough for you," she grumbled under her breath.

"Oh Jackie, calm down," Pam groaned, but she removed her hand from Fez's leg. "I'm a touchy person – you know this. It's just how I express my love."

"It's okay, Jackie," Fez insisted, but his facial expression revealed how uncomfortable he was. He scooted his chair a few inches away from Pam's side of the table and towards Jackie's. "We're all just getting to know each other."

"That's right," Pam playfully smacked the side of Fez's arm in agreement. "Thank you!" She reached for the bottle of wine Jackie had corked, reopened it, and poured herself a generous glass.

"I don't know where you found him, Jackie, but I have to say that I approve. He's just so… exotic. And suave." She took a sip of her wine, leaving a remnant of a red wine above her lip like a mustache, and winked across the table at Fez.

"He might not be the best-looking man you've ever dated," she continued. "I mean… it's hard to beat that one from high school. Michael?"

Fez put his hands in front of himself and chuckled. "Oh, I would never disagree. Michael Kelso is a work of art."

"…And he's not rich," Pam continued, as if Fez hadn't spoken. "But still. Even so. I think he's nice."

"He's more than nice, mom," Jackie sneered. She moved to wrap her arm in Fez's. "He's caring, thoughtful, spoils me, and wants the same things I do. That's what's important to me now." She gazed at Fez, and he smiled back at her easily. "Those other things, what you said? They don't matter. This matters."

"…Oh and don't even get me started on how awful that Steven Hyde was," Pam continued.

Jackie dropped Fez's arm from hers and brought her hand to her forehead in frustration. Her mother had always been like this, she now realized - especially when she was drinking. She had no regard for anyone else in the room or what they were saying. It was Jackie's worst nightmare to become like her.

"He was dirty, poor, and just awful to you, darling."

Fez frowned. He had reached over to place a comforting arm around Jackie's back. "Hyde is a friend of ours," he said.

"A friend?" Pam laughed condescendingly. "Oh, Jackie. You need to move on from high school and meet some new people. Like… like, um… like…Fez here." She clearly struggled to recall his name.

"I met Fez in high school, mom. We were all part of the same group of friends."

"Really?" Pam seemed shocked. "I don't remember you kids ever hanging out with someone so… ethnic."

"You mean 'not white'?" Jackie gritted her teeth, becoming more and more infuriated with and embarrassed by her mom. Thankfully, Fez intervened smoothly.

"Ah, yes. It's easy to forget, my dear, I understand." He squeezed Jackie's shoulder reassuringly. "I was a foreign exchange student. I lived with the Erdmann's."

"Oh, Michelle Erdmann," Pam nodded along, sloshing a bit of wine out of her glass and onto the table in the process. "I remember her. She was a bit of an alcoholic, wasn't she?"

Jackie's eyebrows shot up at the hypocrisy, and at almost the same moment, there was a loud knock on the door of their apartment. The entry way was around the corner from their kitchen, and Jackie sprang to her feet before anyone else could. "I'll get that," she announced. Perfect timing. She needed a break from her mother.

She padded around the corner and eased the door open, expecting a door-to-door salesman or perhaps their cranky landlord Louise. Instead it was Steven standing there in the dim light of the apartment building's hallway, and Jackie swallowed her small gasp.

"I can't talk now," she hissed.

"It's an emergency," Hyde whispered back, his eyebrows raised. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his brown overcoat, and he looked anxious.

"Who is it?" Fez called from the kitchen.

Jackie gave Hyde a bug-eyed look, and he shook his head and mouthed, "Not me,"

"It's, um. A saleswoman. She's selling beauty products," Jackie called back over her shoulder. "I'm gonna step outside and look at her catalogue, okay? I'll be right back."

She didn't waste time in waiting for Fez's response, and instead stepped out into the hallway with Steven and closed the apartment door behind her. "We can't talk here," she muttered. "My mother and Fez are right inside that door."

"Follow me." Hyde turned around and led her a few feet down, to the apartment stairwell. He opened the heavy door and held it while Jackie stepped through, and then shut it quietly behind them.

"I thought you were in Chicago," Jackie started in as soon as the door closed.

"I was. Just got back."

"This really isn't a good time, Steven. I mean it. My mom's here. She's drunk, like always but," Jackie hesitated, searching Hyde's eyes before pushing forward. "But I think Fez is about to ask for her blessing to propose to me."

Hyde's expression settled into a hard one. "Okay. Why are you telling me this?"

Jackie frowned, immediately noticing his change in demeanor, and narrowed her eyes. "Why are you here? What's the emergency?"

Hyde cleared his throat. "Casey Kelso knows about us."

"Us?"

"You, me. Fucking behind Fez's back."

"How could he –"

"No clue. But he knows. And I don't trust him with the information."

Jackie bit her lip. "You don't think he would tell Donna, do you? Or Michael?"

"Don't know what he's capable of, Jackie. Could be any of that, or worse."

"So what are you saying?" Jackie asked, a panicked edge to her voice. "That we should just – just break-up right now?"

Hyde laughed joylessly. "What do you mean 'break-up', Jackie? That would imply there's a relationship here to break. We were never together, that's never what this was about. Besides," he paused, gave a shrug, and moved his body away from her imperceptibly. "You won't be lonely for long, will ya?"

Jackie's jaw set, and she crossed her arms across her chest. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Hyde shrugged. "C'mon, Jackie. You've been hopping from one guy to another in this town for years. Next it's Fez's turn. Right?"

"Are you calling me a whore, Steven?" The implication was clear: I dare you.

Hyde raised an eyebrow. "If the shoes fits."

Jackie scoffed, and turned away from him to hide the burning in her eyes. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her tear up. She placed her hand on the door to the stairwell and prepared to walk away, but before she did she said, evenly, her gaze on the expansive cream surface of the security door, "You know what, Steven? You were the only one who never called me those names."

And she was gone.

"You're missing everything here," Eric's friend and producer, Bill, insisted. Eric sat on a stool in the Pinciotti kitchen, his hand curled around the cord from the phone. Natalia had gone to sleep a few hours ago. "Parties, press events, new releases. You're missing it all," Bill insisted.

"I don't see it that way," Eric smiled.

"You sound happy. Did you have a date tonight or something?" Bill guessed. "A little early to be home, isn't it?"

"Kinda, yeah," Eric's smile widened. "Tell you the truth, it was the best first date I've been on in ages. She wore footie pajamas, and laughed at all my jokes. Then we had chicken nuggets and played with Care Bears."

"Uh," Bill hesitated. "Now you're losing me. This some weird Wisconsin fetish shit?"

"No. God, no. I'm talking about Natalia," Eric explained. "I got to stay with her tonight. We had a good time, that's all."

"Care Bears?"

"Yeah, Bill. She's 4."

"Alright, alright. It just," Bill hesitated. "It sounds like you're getting kind of attached."

"Maybe I am."

"And maybe she's not your kid," Bill responded. "Right?"

Now Eric hesitated. "I know that's what Donna says but I just… I have a hard time believing it. It's hard to explain, Bill. I just… I just know she's mine. She has to be."

"Well, what if she's not?"

"What do you mean?" Eric blinked.

"I mean – would you stay? Would you still want Donna back?"

"Who said anything about wanting to get back together with Donna?"

"I've been your friend for too long, Eric. I can read between the lines. And as your friend, I'm just saying that I don't want to see you get hurt again, okay? I was there the last time it all broke down with her and I just… I just don't want to see you back in that place."

"I'm not."

"Not yet."

"Alright. I appreciate the concern, man, but really, I'm good here. Okay?"

"Still thinking about that sequel?" Bill changed the topic.

Eric hesitated. "Still thinking about writing. But I'm excited about some new ideas."

"Hmmm."

"What does that mean?"

"It means: hmmm. I'm thinking."

"About what?"

"Your career, Eric. It's my job."

After a few more minutes of banter, they ended the call. Eric didn't want to rack up too many long-distance minutes on Donna's phone line. He wondered a bit about what Bill said – some of his questions had caught Eric off guard. Would he stay if Natalia wasn't really his, if Donna's Pete Peterson story was actually true? He didn't know. Did he have a future as a writer if he didn't continue with a Small Pond sequel? He didn't know that either.

The front door burst open, startling Eric from his thoughts. It was Donna, her heels in her hand and a gigantic smile on her face.

"Eric!" she shouted excitedly, before lifting up her right hand to show him the gleaming ring on her finger.

"Casey proposed! We're engaged!"

A/N: Thanks again for reading everyone! If you have the time, please drop a review!