Chapter 5
All You Need Is Love
---A Thursday night in Wisconsin---
Eric tried not to dwell that he wasn't hearing from his son. Maybe, he was going to have accept the fact that he rejected him twice and now he had to pay the consequences of being "too little, too late". To visit Mark again or to try to look up a phone number or email would definitely alienate him more. There was nothing left to do but plod on with his life. When Megan went into her room to work on her homework assignment, Eric went to his desk and took out a brown envelope, walked into the kitchen, and handed it to Donna.
"What's this?" Donna asked, letting the dishwasher DO the work.
"Why don't you open it and see?" Eric let out a small smile. What else could he do?
"Plane tickets to Chicago?" They could have just driven there, it would have been easier, but she loved her Husband for having the gesture.
"We BOTH need a break, Donna, and our plane leaves in two hours, so let's pack."
"When did you decide this, Eric?"
"Yesterday,"
"I could do with a weekend getaway, BUT—"
"No buts—"
"Are you forgetting our daughter?"
"Either Hyde or Jackie will be here with Hunter, they can look after Megan. —Besides, didn't we decide we were going start treating her like an adult?"
"Okay," she kissed him on the cheek, "There's a play at the Shubert that I've wanted to see. Good idea, Eric," she slapped him on the rear.
"You act like I rarely have them."
"Why don't you tell Megan—"?
"I can't, it'll ruin the surprise, remember?"
"Well, you still have to tell her we're going away for the weekend," Donna sighed, "I'm sure she'll be fine by herself for one night."
But Donna wasn't worried about that so much as she was about her not being here to supervise her daughter for Hunter's arrival. And what did he want to surprise Megan with? Her daughter was quite moody lately and it wasn't just their 'normal' mother-daughter angst either, she knew it had everything to do with Hunter, but she didn't want to argue with Megan over this so she just refrained from discussing it with her.
"And I thought I couldn't let go?" Eric said
"I'll start on your packing, too, we don't want to miss our flight."
The more Donna thought about it, the more she liked the idea of getting away.
It would be nice to have dinner, see a play, and other nighttime activities without
any interruptions. Donna needed to get out of her career funk and Eric needed to NOT think about his son for a few hours at least. That was the plan.
Megan was happy for a short second the moment that Eric and Donna threw their suitcases in the car and left for Chicago but then she was upset because she hadn't checked her email since she got that strange one from Hunter and for someone who was supposed to love her and wanted to be married to her was not picking up a telephone to call her. Megan was too stubborn to put on her computer and check her email. She did want to call him, but again was too inflexible. 'Don't be mad?' He asked her, well f*** that! She was mad! She couldn't pig out on ice cream and didn't care to eat the organic vanilla frozen yogurt that her mom had in the freezer. Her homework was done and she was already in her sleeping clothes, so she figured she might as well take off her hearing aid and her glasses and go to sleep. Hunter, she decided, was going to make the first move. Why should she have to?
Hours later at the Monaco hotel
Donna did not feel guilty leaving her daughter alone in the house as she enjoyed a hot bubble bath with the overpriced blue bubbles that Jackie gave her as a sample because she knew Donna only bought her beauty supplies in the drugstore. She sent Eric out to try and get tickets for "Love Affair" it was a play loosely based on the Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn union, where the man couldn't leave his Wife to be with the woman he loved. She didn't care if Eric didn't want to sit through it, he didn't say, either way, she wanted to see the play and that was that.
"Hi, Donna," Eric walked in the bathroom
"Eric, don't you knock?"
He grabbed the door and tapped it with his fist. "Happy? I got the tickets," he
bent down to kiss her wet lips.
"Hmm—they're for tomorrow night, tonight's show already started by the time we arrived."
"That's fine," she lightly splashed him
"Well," Eric started to take off his shirt, "Do you want any company in there?"
"Only if you are up for it," Donna teased, like she used to
"I've never had that problem, lucky for you, Donna—" Eric started to take off his belt.
"No, I'd say that was lucky for you,"
Welcome to those happy golden years.
The Visitor
Hunter was the recipient of some very fortunate luck when his and Hannah's school had a water main break making him able to see Megan on Thursday night instead of Friday. Hyde could've killed Forman for not setting the controls on the garage door panel so he could park in there instead of in the driveway. He probably was in the 'get Donna's panties' off mode. He couldn't fault him for that too much, as he always wanted to get Jackie in that state as often as possible.
"All the lights are off, except for the back porch light." Hunter observed getting Hyde out of his impure thoughts.
"Donna left the key in the flower pot by the back door."
"I hope Megan's okay?" Hunter asked softly
"Hunter, you've been more quiet than usual for awhile and normally I respect your privacy, but is there something that you want to tell me?"
Hunter looked at his father, he didn't want to lie to him, but what could he do, it was basically all his and his mother's fault anyway.
"No, I'm fine, Dad."
'I just want to see my fiancée, if you don't mind.'
'Megan, don't be mad? I'm such a jerk!'
Megan heard a pounding sound coming from upstairs. Did Donna and Eric have a fight and came home so she could witness it? She put her hearing aid on, but snuggled back into the covers as she forced herself to go back to sleep. More thumping from upstairs and they didn't sound like her mother's and father's movements. Was it a burglar? Maybe, it was Mark breaking and entering again. She was a little scared but figured as long as the noises stayed upstairs and didn't come down in her basement bedroom she would be okay. As soon as Megan thought that she heard a thump and click sound on her ramp and was slightly frightened.
'Daddy—'
"Megan, are you up?"
'Hunter?'
"Hunter! I have no desire to talk to you." She stayed with her back facing him.
He gently turned her light dial up a notch, not that her room wasn't lit with the glow of her computer, nightlights, and the moonshine coming from the windows.
"Megan, I know I sent you a confusing email, I'm sorry, but—I—can you put your glasses on and turn around, please?"
"No."
"You are very stubborn."
"Good!"
"You have to—"
"Oh, Hunter, I don't have to DO anything."
"You know I love you---"
"Love is not sending cryptic emails and THEN not even phoning me."
"Say it to my face." He had to get her to turn around somehow.
"Fine! Then will you leave me alone?"
"If that's what you want, Megan."
She turned her body around and put on her tap light as she reached for her glasses.
"Hunter!" She was ready to jump out of the bed and into her wheelchair
"Surprise," He was out of his wheelchair and holding a metal cane.
He sat next to her on the bed.
"One kiss—then you better start explaining."
Hunter put his arms around Megan and pulled her to him for one perfect kiss.
"Love you."
"That's nice. Explain."
"Before you left to go back home, when we were lying together in bed, I felt my right leg shiver. But nothing else happened until later when I was in math class and I started getting the feelings back in my legs. —And I wanted to tell you, Megan, you have to believe me, but I overheard Hyde and Jackie wanting to keep it private because of all the Mark stuff that's going on with your Dad. They DIDN'T tell me I couldn't tell you, but I figured, I didn't want to tell you over the phone or in an email, I wanted to tell you in person—and I begged my Dad if I could come visit you ---And---."
"Shut up, Hunter," she kissed him again, "I love you, too. I should've known it was PARENTAL cr**."
She hugged him tight. It made her feel jubilant that he was out of his wheelchair.
"You don't know how bad I felt, Megan," Hunter spoke when they finished their kiss, "When you weren't answering my emails, and I wanted to call you too, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise for you."
"Kids," Hyde came down the ramp, "Hey, Megan."
"Hi, Hyde."
"I got a phone call from a band that I produced around here a few years ago and well the moral is never promise anyone a favor when you are drunk. I'll be back in a few hours. I left money for you on the table if you need it."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Bye." Megan waved as they watched Hyde leave through the back door and walk back up the ramp where the stairs used to be.
"Hunter," Megan asked, when she saw the bright lights of the Hyde mobile leave the Forman residence, "Let's make love."
Donna rested her head on Eric's chest as they lie in the soft sheets with the non-gender threatening small blue floral pattern.
"That was quite good," Donna whispered into his shoulder.
"Only quite good?" Eric asked, willing to play along
"Tell your friend not to be so insecure."
"What friend?" Eric asked
Donna lifted the sheet up and proceeded to look downward; Eric put the sheet back down on top of them.
"Ha ha, Donna. Do you want the big blanket that we threw on the floor during our top notch make love session?"
"No, sweetie, you're enough," Donna snuggled closer
Eric hummed the theme from the Twilight Zone.
"What's your problem now?"
"Do I have to wait for the gauntlet to drop?"
"What's a gauntlet?" she asked him, remembering the first time he said that to her at the Hub a zillion years ago when she wrote the story of Derek and Wanda from Point Upon the Place.
"A glove worn with medieval armor to protect the hand or to an open challenge. I went to college and everything!" he mocked shock while sticking out his tongue at his Wife.
"Ooh, are you sure you didn't get that from the Reader's Digest?"
"You are SO going to get it, Donna." he replied as if he were seventeen again.
"Not if you get it first, Eric!" She knew exactly where all of his ticklish spots were and she was not afraid to do it.
For the first time in a long while Donna felt younger than her actual age, too bad it wasn't going to last.
"W-what?" Hunter dropped his cane out of his hands.
"Aww,
you're so cute! I'm going to the
bathroom and you are going to put blankets and pillows on the floor, we're
going to 'Do It'."
"Are you really ready, Megan?" Hunter
asked with a lump in his throat
"Yes, Hunter, I am, ready. The question is ARE YOU?" she kissed him on the lips before getting into her wheelchair.
'I'm ready. I am. No, I'm not-but I love her—'
Indy
God, he was certifiably insane! Mark allowed himself one small smile on the matter as he was the only one in the pizza place and able to use the manager's computer while the new kid had to make the deliveries. Ten thousand posts on the one Star Wars forum alone, granted there were few recent entries and he knew why, but his father was such a nerd! He was bored and figured he would put the name "Eric Forman" in a search engine box to see what came up and that's where he found some of the Star Wars forum messages, his companies website, and finally something that caught his eye—
AdoptionCircle on Yahoogroups
Mark clicked on it, as the archive was available for public reading. Only the member's list was for moderator's only to allow for lurkers. It was a discussion list for parents who adopted special needs children. There was a website link on the main page for the older posts that the server wouldn't archive due to the volume so the people on the list donated money so the moderator could make a separate website to house all of the old messages. He clicked on a random year and put Eric's name in quotes in the search box and then hit the enter key.
---Donna and I are pleased with Megan's progress. The doctor's didn't hold much hope for our daughter. They like to keep pointing out that she almost died numerous times. I'd rather they focus on her being alive instead of harboring over the fact she "almost died". She's going to be five years old tomorrow, her speech has improved greatly since she started Pre School and Donna and I also take her to another speech therapist on our own time and money. She's a very optimistic and bright child. ---
Mark clicked on the back button and picked another year and searched Eric's name again.
---It hurts me when people on the street only see my daughter's wheelchair. It's a form of bigotry that I wish I could erase from the world. When Megan cries in my arms and asks me "Why are people like that, Daddy?" I don't know what to say to her to make it all better. —
The phone rang, no doubt the typical frat party was running late and the jocks needed refueling. Mark let his cigarette burn in the ashtray as he left the computer screen up. One thing was for certain Eric Forman seemed like a caring father.
'Do I let you in, Eric?'
Megan came out of her bathroom to find her comforter on the floor complete with six fluffy pillows as Hunter found two candles and put them on her desk.
"Hunter, it's beautiful, the matches are upstairs in the utility drawer."
"No, Megan, you are beautiful," he walked over to her with his cane and kissed her on the lips, "I'll get the matches. Are you sure, you're ready?"
"Yes, Hunter," She put her hand on his shoulder, "I've never been more ready."
When Hunter was safely up the ramp, Megan got out of her wheelchair and
permitted herself to 'fall' on the floor. She was nervous, but tried not to show it, even to herself, but they needed to get rid of the first time stigma. Not just for the reasons that they loved each other, but they needed to advance to the next level. The level that tells the parents to STOP interfering, whether intentional or not, STOP interfering. She put her perfume on when she was in the bathroom. She undid her clothing quickly and threw it in a pile on the floor until she was in her bra and panties. She covered her body with the top sheet as Hunter came down the stairs slowly but surely. The cane was turning her on, and she didn't quite know exactly why.
"Megan," he saw her sleep clothing in a pile and got incredibly nervous, "I-I found the matches."
"Good," she smiled, "Light the candles."
Megan watched, as Hunter had to light three matches to get one to light.
"There," he said as he turned off her light, "You look very beautiful."
She smiled, "Thank you. Would you mind getting closer?"
Hunter Hyde let out a small laugh as he took off his trainers before gently putting himself on top of Megan.
"Can I ask why you took off all your clothes except your underwear? I thought that to be my duty." He whispered
"To save time, foreplay's important, but—Hunter, just kiss me all ready."
Hunter put his hands on Megan's shoulders and kissed her deeply, she didn't waste any time ramming her tongue in his mouth, the rhythm was easy, as they've done this before. She undid the buttons on his yellow shirt with the white swirly stripes.
"Closer," she whispered, then she got nervous as to how they were going to get into position, nature would have to kick in and take care of things she hoped, as she led his arm to the back of her bra strap.
"A-re you sure?" Hunter asked
"Yes!"
She wanted to remind him that he did take her bra off when the parents caught them on the sofa but she didn't want to spend the time talking.
"Would it be easier for you to be sitting up?" Hunter asked like a surgeon in the middle of an operation.
"I don't know," Megan replied breathlessly, "I've never made love before."
"Neither have I." He undid her bra strap as he hoped this evening would be romantic for the both of them.
Eric woke up in the middle of the night, when he didn't feel Donna's presence in the firm hotel bed next to him. He saw the light coming from the bottom of the bathroom door and heard the water running. But what he didn't know was that Donna sitting on the edge of the bathtub crying. Donna splashed her face with the cool water before drying her face with the plain white cotton towel. She flushed the toilet and washed her hands.
"I love you, Eric." Donna snuggled up to him tight
"I love you, too, Donna, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just cold, did that heater finally kick on? Because I definitely do not feel it."
He kissed her on the lips and it soothed her soul.
"I'll check the heater,"
"No, Eric, stay in bed next to me. We can warm each other up."
"Are you sure you are all right, Donna?"
"Yes. Are you ready for another roll in the hay my sexy Jedi Knight?"
'Why is she using Star Wars terms?'
"You are changing the subject, Donna. What is it?" Eric gently asked
Donna rested her head on his chest like she did hours ago.
"I found a lump on my breast,"
"WHAT?"
"It wasn't there when I was in the bath—I noticed it just now—it's probably nothing."
"We're leaving now, I want you to see a doctor as soon as possible." He started to get out of the bed, but Donna pushed him back down.
"No, Eric—I want to see the play and go out to dinner tomorrow night."
"Donna," he sighed, "Okay, but I want you to see the doctor on Monday morning."
"I will," she kissed him on the cheek and let out a small yawn, "For now will you hold me?"
"You never have to ask. I will always hold you, Donna." Eric whispered trying not to think of the "C" word.
Eric Forman could NOT live on this Earth anymore if Donna was not there beside him.
"Goodnight," Donna said while she fell asleep in her Husband's arms five minutes later.
"Goodnight, my beautiful Donna, and don't you worry, you're going to be just fine." Eric kissed her head, but he could not sleep.
Now it was Eric's turn to cry.