This is one of the longer chapters. At least, it seemed that way writing it. I'd just like to give a big thank you once again to everyone who has reviewed so far. THANK YOU! And drummergrl, thanks for continually posting your comments! It really encourages me. ^.^ And now, chapter 7!
Legal: I do not own the rights to Three's Company or its characters, thanks.
=-=
Chapter 7: Larry Saves The Day
Janet was up early the next day. She went into the kitchen and tried her hand at some scrambled eggs and toast. She set the table for four and poured four glasses of orange juice to go with the meal. In a short period of time Terri came out of the bedroom yawning. They heard Jerry yelling at Jack in the bathroom. "You missed! How could you bloody miss? My *mother* could aim better than you!"
Terri laughed. "Let me just say that I am *so* glad we don't have to teach Jack how to pee in a toilet."
Janet giggled. "I'm with you there, Terri."
The bathroom door opened and Jack scampered out, glancing nervously over his shoulder at Jerry, who was wiping himself off with a towel. "Problems, Jerry?" Janet asked.
He glared at her. "No, if *I'm* the toilet," he said bitterly.
Terri covered her mouth to stifle another laugh. Janet smiled. "Oh, Jerry. Anyone could--"
"I was behind him," Jerry interrupted.
Terri burst into laughter. Janet couldn't resist and she began laughing, too. Then Jack joined in and Jerry marched to Jack's room to get dressed. "Don't be too long, Jerry! I want everyone to eat together this morning," Janet called.
The three roomates waited patiently for Jerry to come back out (well, Jack got a little impatient and began walking in circles around the couch) and then Janet led them all into the kitchen. "It's the third of November so I think it's about time we got serious about training Jack," she said solemnly.
"You're right," Terri said with fervor.
"So, everyone sit down! We have to show him how it's done," Janet said as she took her seat.
Terri sat across from Janet and Jerry sat on one side of the little table between them. Jack took the hint and sat on the other side of Jerry in between Terri and Janet. He scooted his chair closer to Janet and fell off of it in the process. When he was situated back on the chair, Janet proceeded to dish everyone out some food. Soon everyone had food on their plate. Jack seemed to sense that there was something going on because he didn't dig in as soon as she put the food on his plate. He looked around at everyone anxiously. Janet nodded. Jerry picked up his toast. Janet forked up some scrambled eggs. And Terri picked up the butter knife to butter her toast. Unfortunately Jack saw her hold up the knife and suddenly leaped on her, knocking her from her chair. Terri screamed and dropped the knife. Jerry was up in a flash. Janet ran over to Jack. "No, Jack! Down! Get off of Terri! Get OFF!" She yelled.
She grabbed his hair and pulled. He leaped off of Terri, yelping. Jerry helped Terri up, who was quite shaken up. Jack hid under the table. Janet sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Are you all right, Terri?"
Terri nodded. "Yes. It was just a surprise, that's all. I'm going to go get ready for work."
Jerry picked up his toast and left the kitchen as well. Janet bent down to look at Jack. He scooted back a little bit. She sat down on the floor and leaned back against the refrigerator. "Jack, I need to train you before Thanksgiving and nothing is working. I wish you could see what I'm trying to tell you, Jack. I need you to cooperate! I need you to try not to attack Terri and to learn how to act like a gentleman."
Jack crept out from under the table and slowly approached her, pawing at her face. She continued talking. "And don't expect to butter up to me, Jack Tripper. When you do something bad I need to punish you. How else will you learn not to do it again?"
"Janet," Jack said quietly.
Janet looked up at him. He was looking at her with a face lined with concern. His eyes were soft. He reached out and touched her face gently. "Janet," he said again.
Janet felt warm all of a sudden. She looked down. "Oh, you and your puppy-dog eyes, Jack. I'll let you off today, but if you do something like that again it's the doghouse for you, mister."
Jack jumped up and licked her face before jumping on his chair and happily eating his breakfast. Janet stood and looked at him as he tried to lick up some orange juice and then spit it out because he didn't like the taste. She shook her head. "And my plans for training him this morning have just gone down the drain."
That afternoon Janet and Jerry tried to get Jack to eat a meal like a civilized person again. Just when they all sat down to eat the doorbell rang. Janet made a growling noise. "Ooh, if that's Larry I'm going to kill him." As she left she hollered back, "Try to get him to pick up his sandwich with his hands, Jerry."
She opened the door. It was Mr. Furley. He marched in. "Janet, I need last month's rent and I won't--"
"Yes, Mr. Furley! I'll get that to you, uh...tomorrow, okay!" She said loudly.
He looked at her suspiciously. "You know what, Janet? I think you're hiding something," he said resolutely, crossing his arms over his chest.
Janet shook her head a little too vigorously. "Oh, no, Mr. Furley! No, of course not! Everything's fine here! Terri's at work, Jack's in the kitchen making lunch and--"
Suddenly they heard a loud crash in the kitchen. Janet laughed nervously. "Oh, that Jack. He probably knocked over the, uh...the stove again. I'll have to go help him clean it up."
She ran into the kitchen. Jerry was on the counter, backed up against the wall and holding a sandwich above his head. Jack was barking loudly and trying to jump up to get it. Janet brought her hands to her face. "Jack!"
Mr. Furley went to the door and listened in. "He's trying to get me!" Jerry exclaimed. "He wanted this, but I said he couldn't have it unless he could do it right!"
Mr. Furley's eyes grew as wide as saucers.
Of course Jerry was talking about the sandwich. Janet sighed and took it from him. "I'll give it to him, then."
Mr. Furley brought a hand to his face.
"Now Jack," Janet said, "I want you to use your hands. Can you use your hands?"
"What was he using before?" Mr. Furley whispered to himself in shock.
Jack nodded. Janet handed him the sandwich. He held it to his mouth and took a big bite out of it. Janet squealed with joy. "Oh, Jack! You did it! Oh, I'm so proud of you!" She patted him on the head. "Keep going, you can finish it!"
Mr. Furley fainted.
Jack finished. Janet grabbed Jerry and they began dancing around. "He did it, he did it!" They sang, surprising Jack (it was way out of character for Jerry). But Jack soon joined in, himself shouting, "He did it, he did it!"
Mr. Furley stood up and shook his head. "This place is a madhouse!"
Suddenly the kitchen door swung open and Janet came out. "Well, everything is nice and tidy in there." She smiled.
"Sure it is!" Mr. Furley exclaimed. "I know what's going on in there, Janet, and if you don't shape up NOW then you're outta the apartment!" He pointed an accusing finger at her.
Janet gasped. "No, Mr. Furley! You don't understand! It might take a little while for me to fix Jack, but I promise I *will* fix him!"
If Mr. Furley's eyes could have gotten any wider then they did. "What are you thinking? Maybe he's a little loopy the way he is, but if you fix him you'll be out of this apartment for sure!"
Tears filled Janet's eyes. "I don't understand why you're doing this! Why are you being so cruel? You can't kick us out, you just can't!"
"I can and I will if I don't see some improvement around here and that's final." He crossed his arms over his chest.
Suddenly they heard Jerry shout, "Jack, no!"
The kitchen door swung open and Jack pounced on Mr. Furley, barking angrily. Mr. Furley screamed. "Help! He's finally done it! He's going to molest me!" He exclaimed.
Janet grabbed Jack around the waist and heaved him off of Mr. Furley. She shoved him into the kitchen and picked Mr. Furley up. She pushed him, dumbfounded out the door. "I'll have that rent for you tomorrow, Mr. Furley."
She slammed the door and hurried into the kitchen. "WHAT was that?!" She exclaimed.
Jerry shook his head. He was patting his forehead with a damp cloth. "I tried to stop him, Janet. He heard that man raising his voice to you in a threatening way and he began to growl and walk toward the door. I knew there would be trouble so I grabbed him and tried to stop him from leaving. Unfortuntely my efforts didn't last long. He broke free and you know the rest."
Janet looked around. "Where is Jack?"
Jerry pointed to the table. Janet knelt down. Sure enough Jack was cowering under the table again. She stood up. "Come out from under there right now, Jack."
He slinked out and sat down at her feet, his head bowed. She shook her head. "I can't believe you attacked Mr. Furley, Jack. You may have eaten your sandwich the right way, but you turned around and did something bad afterwards. She knelt down and lifted his chin so that she could see into his eyes. "Look at me, Jack. You never, ever, *ever* attack someone, do you understand me?"
He nodded. She sighed in frustration. "I am very disappointed in you, Jack."
Suddenly a great big tear rolled down Jack's cheek. Janet's mouth opened in surprise. "Oh, Jack. I didn't mean to make you cry," she said, tears filling her own eyes.
He sniffed and looked down. She threw her arms around him. "I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, Janet," Jack said quietly.
"Well, he sure is picking up on speech quickly," said Jerry.
Janet stood up suddenly and gave Jerry a brief hug. "Oh, Jerry, thank you! That means we are getting somewhere! I'm not a complete failure!"
"Knock knock!" They heard Larry's voice from the living room.
"Does he always just walk right in like that?" Jerry asked.
They left the kitchen and were surprised to find Larry setting up a slide projector and a bedsheet. Janet put a hand on her hip. "Larry, what are you doing?"
Without looking up he replied. "Why, I'm getting ready to teach Jack, of course."
"With a slide projector and a bedsheet?" Jerry said doubtfully.
"That's right, J. Can I call you J?"
Jerry narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything.
In a moment Larry was done. He turned off all the lights and shut all the curtains. Then he put some slides in the projector and pressed a little button on a remote that was attatched to the projector. Suddenly on the bedsheet appeared the picture of an apple. Jack stared at it with wide, curious eyes. Larry took a small metal thing out of his pocket. He pulled on one end it and grew longer. It was a pointer. He pointed it at the apple. "That is an apple," he said as he pulled one out of his pocket and tossed it to Jack. "Whoa, hey, what's that you have there?"
Jack looked down at the apple in his hand. He looked back up at Larry. "Apple."
Jerry's eyes grew wide. Janet gave a squeal and impulsively gave Larry a hug. "Larry, you're a genius!"
Larry grinned. Jerry rolled his eyes. "There's four words you'll never hear again," he said disdainfully.
Larry ignored him and flipped to the next slide. It was a flower. "Flower," he said simply, pointing to it.
He left the apartment for a moment and came back with a small, purple flower. He handed it to Jack. "What is that?"
Jack stared at it stupidly for a moment and then suddenly exclaimed, "Flower!"
The other three cheered. Larry stepped up next to Jack. "And a little tip for later: a flower is a great thing to give to that special girl." He winked.
Jack nodded and set the flower on the couch. Larry went to the next slide. It was a picture of a girl. Larry chuckled. "Ho ho! Speaking of girls...Jack, that's a girl."
"Girl," Jack echoed.
"He's a fast learner," Jerry remarked.
Jack picked up the flower and gave it to Janet. "Special girl," he repeated Jerry's words.
Janet blushed and took it.
"A *very* fast learner," Larry said with obvious interest. "Now you're getting smart, Jack-O!"
Larry continued running through slides. Janet watched Jack pick up more and more words and by the end of the day form the sentance, "The girl ate an apple." All the while she held the little flower close.
=-=
Okay, I just realized that Terri was hardly in this chapter and I miss her, so she'll be in the next chapter much more, I promise! WE LOVE YOU, TERRI!!! ^__^
Legal: I do not own the rights to Three's Company or its characters, thanks.
=-=
Chapter 7: Larry Saves The Day
Janet was up early the next day. She went into the kitchen and tried her hand at some scrambled eggs and toast. She set the table for four and poured four glasses of orange juice to go with the meal. In a short period of time Terri came out of the bedroom yawning. They heard Jerry yelling at Jack in the bathroom. "You missed! How could you bloody miss? My *mother* could aim better than you!"
Terri laughed. "Let me just say that I am *so* glad we don't have to teach Jack how to pee in a toilet."
Janet giggled. "I'm with you there, Terri."
The bathroom door opened and Jack scampered out, glancing nervously over his shoulder at Jerry, who was wiping himself off with a towel. "Problems, Jerry?" Janet asked.
He glared at her. "No, if *I'm* the toilet," he said bitterly.
Terri covered her mouth to stifle another laugh. Janet smiled. "Oh, Jerry. Anyone could--"
"I was behind him," Jerry interrupted.
Terri burst into laughter. Janet couldn't resist and she began laughing, too. Then Jack joined in and Jerry marched to Jack's room to get dressed. "Don't be too long, Jerry! I want everyone to eat together this morning," Janet called.
The three roomates waited patiently for Jerry to come back out (well, Jack got a little impatient and began walking in circles around the couch) and then Janet led them all into the kitchen. "It's the third of November so I think it's about time we got serious about training Jack," she said solemnly.
"You're right," Terri said with fervor.
"So, everyone sit down! We have to show him how it's done," Janet said as she took her seat.
Terri sat across from Janet and Jerry sat on one side of the little table between them. Jack took the hint and sat on the other side of Jerry in between Terri and Janet. He scooted his chair closer to Janet and fell off of it in the process. When he was situated back on the chair, Janet proceeded to dish everyone out some food. Soon everyone had food on their plate. Jack seemed to sense that there was something going on because he didn't dig in as soon as she put the food on his plate. He looked around at everyone anxiously. Janet nodded. Jerry picked up his toast. Janet forked up some scrambled eggs. And Terri picked up the butter knife to butter her toast. Unfortunately Jack saw her hold up the knife and suddenly leaped on her, knocking her from her chair. Terri screamed and dropped the knife. Jerry was up in a flash. Janet ran over to Jack. "No, Jack! Down! Get off of Terri! Get OFF!" She yelled.
She grabbed his hair and pulled. He leaped off of Terri, yelping. Jerry helped Terri up, who was quite shaken up. Jack hid under the table. Janet sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Are you all right, Terri?"
Terri nodded. "Yes. It was just a surprise, that's all. I'm going to go get ready for work."
Jerry picked up his toast and left the kitchen as well. Janet bent down to look at Jack. He scooted back a little bit. She sat down on the floor and leaned back against the refrigerator. "Jack, I need to train you before Thanksgiving and nothing is working. I wish you could see what I'm trying to tell you, Jack. I need you to cooperate! I need you to try not to attack Terri and to learn how to act like a gentleman."
Jack crept out from under the table and slowly approached her, pawing at her face. She continued talking. "And don't expect to butter up to me, Jack Tripper. When you do something bad I need to punish you. How else will you learn not to do it again?"
"Janet," Jack said quietly.
Janet looked up at him. He was looking at her with a face lined with concern. His eyes were soft. He reached out and touched her face gently. "Janet," he said again.
Janet felt warm all of a sudden. She looked down. "Oh, you and your puppy-dog eyes, Jack. I'll let you off today, but if you do something like that again it's the doghouse for you, mister."
Jack jumped up and licked her face before jumping on his chair and happily eating his breakfast. Janet stood and looked at him as he tried to lick up some orange juice and then spit it out because he didn't like the taste. She shook her head. "And my plans for training him this morning have just gone down the drain."
That afternoon Janet and Jerry tried to get Jack to eat a meal like a civilized person again. Just when they all sat down to eat the doorbell rang. Janet made a growling noise. "Ooh, if that's Larry I'm going to kill him." As she left she hollered back, "Try to get him to pick up his sandwich with his hands, Jerry."
She opened the door. It was Mr. Furley. He marched in. "Janet, I need last month's rent and I won't--"
"Yes, Mr. Furley! I'll get that to you, uh...tomorrow, okay!" She said loudly.
He looked at her suspiciously. "You know what, Janet? I think you're hiding something," he said resolutely, crossing his arms over his chest.
Janet shook her head a little too vigorously. "Oh, no, Mr. Furley! No, of course not! Everything's fine here! Terri's at work, Jack's in the kitchen making lunch and--"
Suddenly they heard a loud crash in the kitchen. Janet laughed nervously. "Oh, that Jack. He probably knocked over the, uh...the stove again. I'll have to go help him clean it up."
She ran into the kitchen. Jerry was on the counter, backed up against the wall and holding a sandwich above his head. Jack was barking loudly and trying to jump up to get it. Janet brought her hands to her face. "Jack!"
Mr. Furley went to the door and listened in. "He's trying to get me!" Jerry exclaimed. "He wanted this, but I said he couldn't have it unless he could do it right!"
Mr. Furley's eyes grew as wide as saucers.
Of course Jerry was talking about the sandwich. Janet sighed and took it from him. "I'll give it to him, then."
Mr. Furley brought a hand to his face.
"Now Jack," Janet said, "I want you to use your hands. Can you use your hands?"
"What was he using before?" Mr. Furley whispered to himself in shock.
Jack nodded. Janet handed him the sandwich. He held it to his mouth and took a big bite out of it. Janet squealed with joy. "Oh, Jack! You did it! Oh, I'm so proud of you!" She patted him on the head. "Keep going, you can finish it!"
Mr. Furley fainted.
Jack finished. Janet grabbed Jerry and they began dancing around. "He did it, he did it!" They sang, surprising Jack (it was way out of character for Jerry). But Jack soon joined in, himself shouting, "He did it, he did it!"
Mr. Furley stood up and shook his head. "This place is a madhouse!"
Suddenly the kitchen door swung open and Janet came out. "Well, everything is nice and tidy in there." She smiled.
"Sure it is!" Mr. Furley exclaimed. "I know what's going on in there, Janet, and if you don't shape up NOW then you're outta the apartment!" He pointed an accusing finger at her.
Janet gasped. "No, Mr. Furley! You don't understand! It might take a little while for me to fix Jack, but I promise I *will* fix him!"
If Mr. Furley's eyes could have gotten any wider then they did. "What are you thinking? Maybe he's a little loopy the way he is, but if you fix him you'll be out of this apartment for sure!"
Tears filled Janet's eyes. "I don't understand why you're doing this! Why are you being so cruel? You can't kick us out, you just can't!"
"I can and I will if I don't see some improvement around here and that's final." He crossed his arms over his chest.
Suddenly they heard Jerry shout, "Jack, no!"
The kitchen door swung open and Jack pounced on Mr. Furley, barking angrily. Mr. Furley screamed. "Help! He's finally done it! He's going to molest me!" He exclaimed.
Janet grabbed Jack around the waist and heaved him off of Mr. Furley. She shoved him into the kitchen and picked Mr. Furley up. She pushed him, dumbfounded out the door. "I'll have that rent for you tomorrow, Mr. Furley."
She slammed the door and hurried into the kitchen. "WHAT was that?!" She exclaimed.
Jerry shook his head. He was patting his forehead with a damp cloth. "I tried to stop him, Janet. He heard that man raising his voice to you in a threatening way and he began to growl and walk toward the door. I knew there would be trouble so I grabbed him and tried to stop him from leaving. Unfortuntely my efforts didn't last long. He broke free and you know the rest."
Janet looked around. "Where is Jack?"
Jerry pointed to the table. Janet knelt down. Sure enough Jack was cowering under the table again. She stood up. "Come out from under there right now, Jack."
He slinked out and sat down at her feet, his head bowed. She shook her head. "I can't believe you attacked Mr. Furley, Jack. You may have eaten your sandwich the right way, but you turned around and did something bad afterwards. She knelt down and lifted his chin so that she could see into his eyes. "Look at me, Jack. You never, ever, *ever* attack someone, do you understand me?"
He nodded. She sighed in frustration. "I am very disappointed in you, Jack."
Suddenly a great big tear rolled down Jack's cheek. Janet's mouth opened in surprise. "Oh, Jack. I didn't mean to make you cry," she said, tears filling her own eyes.
He sniffed and looked down. She threw her arms around him. "I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, Janet," Jack said quietly.
"Well, he sure is picking up on speech quickly," said Jerry.
Janet stood up suddenly and gave Jerry a brief hug. "Oh, Jerry, thank you! That means we are getting somewhere! I'm not a complete failure!"
"Knock knock!" They heard Larry's voice from the living room.
"Does he always just walk right in like that?" Jerry asked.
They left the kitchen and were surprised to find Larry setting up a slide projector and a bedsheet. Janet put a hand on her hip. "Larry, what are you doing?"
Without looking up he replied. "Why, I'm getting ready to teach Jack, of course."
"With a slide projector and a bedsheet?" Jerry said doubtfully.
"That's right, J. Can I call you J?"
Jerry narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything.
In a moment Larry was done. He turned off all the lights and shut all the curtains. Then he put some slides in the projector and pressed a little button on a remote that was attatched to the projector. Suddenly on the bedsheet appeared the picture of an apple. Jack stared at it with wide, curious eyes. Larry took a small metal thing out of his pocket. He pulled on one end it and grew longer. It was a pointer. He pointed it at the apple. "That is an apple," he said as he pulled one out of his pocket and tossed it to Jack. "Whoa, hey, what's that you have there?"
Jack looked down at the apple in his hand. He looked back up at Larry. "Apple."
Jerry's eyes grew wide. Janet gave a squeal and impulsively gave Larry a hug. "Larry, you're a genius!"
Larry grinned. Jerry rolled his eyes. "There's four words you'll never hear again," he said disdainfully.
Larry ignored him and flipped to the next slide. It was a flower. "Flower," he said simply, pointing to it.
He left the apartment for a moment and came back with a small, purple flower. He handed it to Jack. "What is that?"
Jack stared at it stupidly for a moment and then suddenly exclaimed, "Flower!"
The other three cheered. Larry stepped up next to Jack. "And a little tip for later: a flower is a great thing to give to that special girl." He winked.
Jack nodded and set the flower on the couch. Larry went to the next slide. It was a picture of a girl. Larry chuckled. "Ho ho! Speaking of girls...Jack, that's a girl."
"Girl," Jack echoed.
"He's a fast learner," Jerry remarked.
Jack picked up the flower and gave it to Janet. "Special girl," he repeated Jerry's words.
Janet blushed and took it.
"A *very* fast learner," Larry said with obvious interest. "Now you're getting smart, Jack-O!"
Larry continued running through slides. Janet watched Jack pick up more and more words and by the end of the day form the sentance, "The girl ate an apple." All the while she held the little flower close.
=-=
Okay, I just realized that Terri was hardly in this chapter and I miss her, so she'll be in the next chapter much more, I promise! WE LOVE YOU, TERRI!!! ^__^
