Part II: Jack's Day

Jack waited for Janet to tell him what she thought of his idea to marry Cindy. He couldn't believe he was even thinking about getting married -- Jack Tripper, married?! -- but what else could he do? Cindy was his friend. He had to help her, and this was the only way he knew how.

Janet was still staring at him. "Earth to Janet," he said, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Uh, I have to go to the bathroom," Janet said.

"But--" Jack had barely said a word before Janet was gone, the bathroom door closing behind her. "Great, now what am I going to do?"

As if to answer his question, the front door opened and Cindy walked in, grocery bags in her arms. "Hi, Jack!"

Jack jumped up and took the bags from her. "Cindy, you shouldn't be carrying these in your condition!"

"My what?" Cindy gave him a strange look, then shrugged. "Okay, Jack." She followed him into the kitchen to help him put the food away.

Jack placed the bags on the counter and turned around, bumping into Cindy. He could feel himself breaking out into a sweat, and not because Cindy was standing on his foot. After taking a deep breath, he kneeled down and looked up at Cindy. "Cindy, will you marry me?" His voice squeaked.

Cindy laughed. "Good one, Jack. Marry you. Yeah, right."

"I'm serious, Cindy."

"Uhh... one moment please." She turned around and headed straight out of the kitchen.

That wasn't exactly the reaction Jack had been expecting when he finally proposed to a woman. He got up, and stretched. Okay, this was it. He had to convince Cindy that he wanted to marry her. Taking another deep breath, Jack walked into the living room. He heard voices coming from the bathroom, and walked over and pressed his ear against the door. He couldn't make out some of what Janet was saying, but he could definitely hear everything Cindy was shouting.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he heard her say she wasn't pregnant. He turned the knob and nearly fell inside. "You're not?!" he asked.

Cindy looked from him to Janet, her hands on her hips. "No!" She turned her attention squarely on Jack. "Is THAT why you asked me to marry you, Jack?"

"Well." Jack scrunched his shoulders, and scooted out of the bathroom backwards.

Cindy followed him into the living room. She kept turning her head from Janet to Jack. "I can't believe either of you thought that I was pregnant! I know how to take care of myself! And to ask me to marry you, Jack! You know what I think?"

"No, what?" Janet and Jack asked together.

Cindy broke out into a big grin. "That's just the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me!"

"Well, you know me, I'm a nice guy," Jack joked.

Janet just half-sighed, half-laughed in relief.

Cindy hugged them both for a moment, then let go, still grinning. "Well, I have to get to class! Bye!" She bounced out the door, and was gone.

Without a word, Janet and Jack both walked over and plopped onto the couch.

"That girl's got energy!" Janet said.

"You can say that again," Jack agreed. He breathed out and shook his head. To think, he had almost gotten engaged! He was glad for a few moments of peace, he needed to recover. He heard Janet say his name, and turned his head to look at her. "Yeah?"

Before he knew it, Janet 's lips were on his. They'd kissed before, but this was different. Very different. Before he could react, Janet stopped the kiss.

Jack wasn't sure if he'd just had one heck of daydream or not. He finally regained his voice. "Janet. you kissed me."

"Yeah. I'm in love with you, Jack."

Jack lost his ability to speak again, and he stared at her. He then remembered it was his turn to say something and all he could think of was, "You're wha-?" He didn't get the chance to say anything more because in the next five seconds Janet had disappeared through her bedroom door.

Jack sat glued to the couch, unable to move with his head still spinning. This had been one crazy day. First Cindy was pregnant, then she wasn't. Then Janet tells him she's in love with him. Jack couldn hardly believe it.

*Janet was in love with him.*

Should he go talk to her? He stood up. But what would he say? He sat back down. He needed to think this through before he said something stupid. He suddenly got an idea. He would make her her favorite dinner! Yes, he would go to the grocery store, come back, and take it from there.