For All the Right Reasons
Point Place, WI
(same time as the end of chapter 2)
Jackie walked over to Eric and rubbed his shoulders. Despite letting it all out
when he went on his 'breaking spree' earlier and taking a hot bath he was still tense.
Eric Forman never wore his pain well.
"Eric, you did not betray Jacen. You kept this information from him for all the right
reasons."
"For all the good it did. Jackie, I need to go to talk to him. I need to explain---"
Eric started to get up, but Jackie pushed him back down.
"No, you and Jacen both need to breathe a bit. Let him sleep."
"But he hasn't eaten any supper."
"You are a great father, you know that."
"I wouldn't go that far as to say I'm a great father."
"I would. He's hurting thinking you kept his mother away from him."
"I wish I gave Jacen the twenty dollars for Mindy's necklace after all, then he wouldn't
have gone snooping around in my desk for money, and none of this would have ever
happened."
"Eric, you cannot blame yourself. As Jacen's father you have to decide what is best
for him. You would never hurt your son. Come on, sit on the sofa, let me finish the
grilled cheese I was making. You need to eat too you know."
"What are you going to have?"
"I'll make one for me too."
"I could use a scotch and coke."
"Eric, if you reach for alcohol because you are upset I will kick your ass."
He could tell by the tone of Jackie's voice that she would do it too.
"Is soda fine?"
"Oh, I missed your smart mouth."
Eric decided to keep Jackie company in the kitchen while she made the sandwiches
even though it was hard for him not to run into Jacen's room to explain everything
and to be rewarded with his son's loving hug making everything right once again.
"So," Eric played with the sugar packets that he brought home from the local
luncheonette to keep his hands occupied, "how are you and Phillip?"
"Good. I just want to take it slow."
"Living with him is taking it slow?"
"He's away a lot on business so in a strange kind of way it is."
"That doesn't bother you?"
"He's shown me more affection in the limited time we spend with each other than
some people that I was with everyday. What would you like in your grilled cheese?"
"Nothing, just cheese, please." He tried to make the both of them laugh.
"Oh and by the way, Eric, I would love to go."
He made a tiny house with the sugar packets before wiping his creation away with
his hand.
"Huh…go where, Jackie?"
"Your reunion next month. I would love to go!"
"What? Why? I threw my letter away in the trash."
"I want to see how fat Donna got!"
Eric let out a slight giggle. "But I don't want to see Donna or Hyde for that matter.
And also who is to say that they are even going?"
"I want them to see us as successful…."
"I'm not successful. I have to cut coupons out of the Sunday paper for gods sake."
"It has nothing to do with how much money you make. You are successful in other
ways."
"Oh you mean my supreme fathering skills?"
Jackie put the sandwich on a plate and sliced it on the diagonal before she gave it to
Eric.
"Knock it off, Eric."
He sighed, "Thanks, Jackie. But I just don't want to see THEM. You of all people
should understand."
"I do…and I'll admit it'll be difficult to see Steven, but I feel it's something that I need
to do. Especially since they're so ignorant and probably don't think that I'd be even
attending considering I graduated after you guys."
She sat at Jacen's place on the table with her sandwich.
"Do you have diet soda?"
"Sit down, Jackie, I'll get it for you. You didn't answer my other question."
"Which was?"
He handed her a can of diet soda.
"How do you know that they will even attend?"
"I can find that out very easily and even if I wanted to be surprised I know that they
wouldn't pass up a chance to lord their "celebrity" over this tiny town. It'll probably
make the newspaper the day before."
"I don't know…"
"You desperately need a night out and I'm not taking no for an answer so RSVP
Jake Bradley and set it up."
"But---I don't want to see Donna."
"I think it'll be good for you to face her. You don't have to talk to her, you know. I'll be
right next to you. And we know other people so the night doesn't have to be all about
Steven and Donna."
"Kelso---what if Kelso's there?"
"I can deal with Michael."
"I wonder if Fez will be there? I haven't seen that guy in decades!"
"I miss Fez, too. Remember he had that crush on me?"
"Who didn't have a crush on you?" he revealed
"Really?"
"But I was with Donna and I believed that she was my soulmate. What a fucking
crock. Do you want some chips with your sandwich?"
"No, thanks, Eric. I have to stay in shape."
"You look great to me."
"Thanks. So you'll set it up?"
He sighed a happier tone, "All right. We do have other friends and you are right the
whole evening doesn't have to be about the male bashing author and her sell-out of a
musician husband."
"That's the spirit."
Eric put a handful of barbeque chips on his plate.
"How long are you staying?"
"Not long, sweetums. I just came to check on you and I'm very glad that I did."
"Me too."
"Eric, promise me that you'll take it slow with Jacen. Now that you know what the
real problem is, I'm sure the two of you will be able to work it out."
"I will. Scout's honor."
It was the first time that he smiled that night.
It was five thirty in the morning when Eric woke up. He felt empty as if his best
friend had died. He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. He needed a shave
and his eyes were all puffy and red. He knew what he had to do remembering the
promise he made to Jackie that he would take it slow. He knocked on Jacen's door
but when he tried to open it the door was locked.
"Jacen," Eric knocked harder, "are you awake?"
"I am now." He mumbled into his pillow
"I'd like to talk to you, son, please open the door."
Please
He felt a lump growing in his throat as Jacen opened the door and crawled back into
bed.
"OW," Eric stepped on something sharp and looked down to see the pieces of the
model airplane that he made his son was in tatters all around the clothes, books, and
toys laden floor. "You need to pick up this mess."
"Uh ah."
"Jacen, I know you found your mother's contact information."
"You lied to me." His son yawned as he forced himself to sit up right.
"Yes, yes, I did," Eric tried to sit next to Jacen, but his son backed away, "but only for
all the right reasons."
Jacen got out of his bed and took the piece of paper that he had hidden in his old
pencil box that he kept in his drawer. It didn't matter. He wrote his own copy in his
school composition notebook. She lived two town's over. Which was a mere 45
away minutes by bus.
"You can have this back." He handed the paper with his mother's address and
phone number on it to Eric.
"Okay. You clean this mess off the floor and get dressed for school. We can talk
about all of this over breakfast. You must be starving. What would you like?"
He had to be kidding.
"I don't care."
"Jacen, I want you to know that I love you very much and I would never hurt the person
that means the most in the world to me."
Eric tried to hug him but his son rejected him.
Eric felt his eyes water over as he tried to remember what he promised Jackie and
in truth also promised himself.
He sighed. It was going to be a tough mountain to climb. "Okay. I'll see you soon
and get these sharp objects off the floor before someone gets hurt."
"Yeah."
It was going to be a tough mountain to climb all right but in Eric's mind Jacen was the
only one on Earth who was worth climbing it for.
After all he only did it for all the right reasons.