Disclaimer: I own nothing affiliated with 70s SHOW nor SUPERFREAK.

Jackie had calmed down a little bit, and was now simply fuming on the bed. There was a knocking on the door.

"That had better be Donna!" she called.

"It's your lucky day," Donna said, opening the door. She brought in two sandwiches, and handed one to Jackie. "Eat. Temper tantrums can take a lot out of you." Jackie nodded, and took the sandwich meekly.

"Are you calm?" Donna asked. Jackie nodded, chewing the tuna fish. "Are you sure? Because getting this mad can make your kid all freaked out, you know." Jackie nodded, and brushed tears from her face.

"Oh Jackie, why are you crying?" Donna asked, rubbing her back.

"He lied to me," Jackie said, muffled by the tuna.

"Time for the best friend to play devils advocate," Donna said. "He didn't lie. He didn't tell you, but that wasn't lying. Who knows? Maybe he was going to tell you later, after Eric and Tommy and I had gone to bed."

"I doubt it," Jackie said. "He is going out to lunch with HER. His hot ex who probably doesn't look like I do!"

"You look beautiful, Jackie!" Donna exclaimed. "Come on, don't be dumb. He was going to lunch with an ex. It happens. Don't you ever go to lunch with your exes?"

"The only ex I talk to who I have the opportunity to go to lunch with is Pete," Jackie said. "We haven't gone to lunch in a long time, not to mention he's married…. But I guess I see your point…"

"Of course you do, I'm the rational one."

"Thanks a bunch," Jackie said, wiping more tears from her eyes. "I trust him, I do, I really do. But I don't trust HER."

"Well, that's true, I wouldn't trust her either," Donna said. "… Okay. I think I have an idea that can solve this whole thing."

------------------------------------

When Eric, Hyde, and Tommy came back that afternoon, the girls were sitting on the couch, legs crossed and magazines open. Hyde had expected a huge blow out. He was quite surprised that his wife, whom he had left in a state of rage and fury, was now on the couch reading a Cosmo. She stood up, and faced him.

"Steven, it's true that I was pretty mad when you left," she said.

"I'll say, you nearly traumatized my son," Eric said, and Donna shot him a look. Jackie looked at him, and then continued.

"But here is the deal," she said. "I am not mad anymore. I don't know how long you've been planning this-."

"Since this morning, Jacks, I swear," Hyde said. "She came into the store, completely randomly, and she asked if I wanted to go to lunch and I thought why not? I didn't want to be rude."

"Ah ah ah ah," Jackie said, holding up her hands. "Let me finish. I'm sure you would have eventually told me about it, or I would have figured it out. So here is my idea."

"Well, my idea," Donna said.

"I modified it," Jackie stated, and Donna rolled her eyes. "Instead of lunch, make it dinner. And instead of the two of you, make it all of us. I'm sure that she would LOVE to catch up with the rest of us as well."

As much a Hyde knew that Sam didn't like his friends, and as much as he knew it would be rude to spring this on her, he also knew that Sam was looking him over that morning. The same look she first gave him on that Vegas trip which sent his life off course for ten years.

"Okay," he said. "And she can bring the friend she's staying with."

"It will be like a dinner party of old acquaintances," Jackie said.

"As much as I would love to go to dinner with this woman, someone has to stay behind and take care of Tommy," Eric said. "Oh! I guess that'll have to be me."

"No problem, Eric," Donna said. "We already called Barry. He said that he would do it on whatever night we chose, except tonight."

"He has a date, you know," Jackie said. Eric groaned, and nodded. He was caught.

"Okay, fine," he said. "I thought Barry didn't like kids."

"He said that he'd better start liking them, since I'm having one in four months," Jackie said, proudly.

"I believe his terminology was 'T Minus four months'," Donna stated, and Hyde chuckled a little bit.

"So what you are going to do is call Sam, and tell her that we are all going to dinner, let's say tomorrow night," Jackie said. "And let her know that it's going to be fun and very nostalgic."

"You don't have to be so pushy, you know I will," he said, slightly grudgingly.

"Of course you will, honey," she said, pecking him on the cheek. "So Donna! What do you think about going to 'Phantom of the Opera' two nights from now?"

"I think that could be arranged," Donna said, picking up Tommy. Hyde and Eric looked at each other. Once again, their wives had been much more merciful than they probably should have been, and yet they still didn't quite appreciate it.

------------------------------

Sam was not too pleased with the news.

"Hyde, I thought that we were going to be able to catch up alone," Sam whined into the phone.

"Well, I never said that," Hyde growled.

"Ugh, come on, are you going to let her run your life like that?" she asked.

"Hey, don't start this again, Sam," Hyde said. "You tried that argument eleven years ago, and I'm still sick of hearing it."

"I'm just disappointed," she said, voice pouty.

"What did you think this was, Sam?" he asked.

"Oh, fine," she said. "I'll bring my friend and we'll have a double date."

"Triple."

"What?"

"Remember Donna and Eric? They're here too."

"I'm being triple teamed, Hyde."

"Sam, it's been a long time, we've all grown a lot, and I'm sure you have too," he said. "So we can all come together as adults, have a nice dinner at Victors, and all catch up."

"Okay, fine," she said. "Dinner with my ex husband."

"We were never married," he reminded.

"Ex fiancé then."

"Okay. So we'll see you and your friend tomorrow at Victors at seven o clock," Hyde confirmed.

"Yeah yeah."

"Cool. Night."

"Night." He hung up, and sighed. As much as he knew that Sam was manipulative, he couldn't help but feel that she kind of had a point about Jackie running his life. She hadn't even asked him if he was okay with it, but like a 'good' husband he had relented and gone with her desires. Should he have? He wasn't sure, and he wasn't used to someone running his life again.

He shook these thoughts from his head. He knew it was a perfectly reasonable request. Hyde, you're so spiteful still, he thought, and laid back on the bed.

Jackie came into the bedroom in her maternity nighty, drying her face off.

"So did you call her?" she asked, sitting on the bed.

"Yep."

"And?"

"And we're all going to Victors."

"Okay!" she said, and kissed his forehead. "Thank you. This means a lot to me, you know."

"Yeah," he said, rolling over. She looked at him, skeptically.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Sure," she said. "Come on, Steven, I know you're mad about something."

"You know, I just wish that you had asked my input on this whole thing," he said, rolling over again. "I thought you were past the whole 'I'm used to getting my way' mentality."

"Whoa whoa whoa," she said, holding her hands up. "Were you even going to tell me that you were going out to lunch with your notoriously skanky ex fiancée? That's the question I want an answer to."

"Of course I was gonna tell you," he said, though it probably wasn't the truth. She sighed, and crossed her arms.

"Look, I don't see why this bothers you so much," Jackie said. "For one thing, she stepped all over your heart eleven years ago-."

"No, that was you."

"Nooo, that was YOU to ME," she shot back. "Okay fine. If you want to spend quality time alone with the woman who lied to you and left you twice, that's your own preference. I trust you. You know that I trust you. But Steven, I don't trust her. I don't trust her at all." She rolled over, and covered herself with the blankets in a huff. Hyde sighed, and the room went black as she turned out the light.

"I don't want to go out to lunch with her," he said, quietly. "But it's probably the polite thing to do."

"Since when are you polite anyway?" she asked.

"Well I better start so we aren't raising a kid with absolutely no manners. I mean, look at us, we're completely tactless." She tried not to laugh, but it struck her as funny, and a giggle escaped her throat.

"Look, we can all go out to dinner," he said. "But run it by me next time. I also don't want to raise a kid as presumptuous as you are."

"Fine. Are we good?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Good. I love you."

"You too." They kissed quickly, and went to sleep.

TBC