(Disclaimer: I own nothing, they are the property of their respective owners).
Chapter Two - Tea Time with Mrs. Forman
Laying on the hide-a-bed, Donna is awake, Jackie's words continue to echo in her mind, she wondered though, was she really over Eric?
They had grown up together even since she and her family moved in next door all those years ago, eventually they had gotten together, and they had a brief breakup, and later got back together, only to break up again for good when he went off to Africa, he returned home, but things had changed, during that time she had briefly dated Randy Pearson, the new employee that Hyde hired at his record store, after that, she wanted to go off to college, Eric had returned, but they both decided not to get back together, it was mutual, their lives drifted in different directions, she didn't keep in touch with him, last she had heard was that he had gotten married to someone that he had met at a Star Wars convention, other than that, she hadn't heard much, which was probably for the best, better to move forward, than dwell on the past, at least that's what she thought, but the question remained, was Jackie right? Was she really not over Eric Forman? No, of course not, this is Jackie that we're talking about, the same girl who thought that Kelso was hot, which is something that Donna still thinks is gross, ironic since she had briefly dated Kelso's older brother, Casey, and even more weird since Casey had married her older sister, Valerie, with whom he had a previous fling with, yeah, even this is getting very weird, shrugging the thought off, she dozes off to sleep, in what is probably her final night on the hide-a-bed.
Driving through the familiar neighborhood that she knows like the back of her head, Donna drives up to her old family home, the outside still looks decent, some windows are boarded up, she heads to the backyard, which still looks in good condition, like someone has been maintaining it, she gets the keys, unlocks the back door, and enters her old home.
In the kitchen, which still looks the same, except a little dusty, and deserted, she turns on the light, now she has a better view.
Donna - Lot of memories here.
She hears a noise from the hallway, like a glass bottle breaking, catching her off guard, she gets out something from her purse, a can of pepper spray.
Donna - Who's there!?
Silence.
Donna - Come on out now, you son of a bitch! Show your face!
Someone enters the kitchen, it's a young man, about late teens, early twenties, he has short grungy hair, like a young Jim Morrison, dressed in a red flannel button up shirt, blue jeans, doc marten boots, and a home made t-shirt that says "Corporate Rock Sucks", he looks like he's a little hungover, something about him reminds Donna of someone.
D.J. - Hey.
Donna - Hey.
D.J. - Who are you?
Donna - I'm Donna, this is my house. Who are you?
D.J. - I'm D.J. I live next door.
Donna - Oh.
D.J. - What time is it?
Donna - It's almost noon.
D.J. - Crap, I gotta go. You never saw me here.
Donna - No harm done.
He gets to the door, but turns around.
D.J. - Oh, by the way, you should throw out that old mattress in the upstairs room, smells like moldy cheese.
Donna - Thanks?
D.J. - See ya!
The young man exits the house, she shrugs it off, and goes upstairs.
Donna enters her old bedroom, it's empty, save for a old mattress, and a few posters that have since been ruined due to the passage of time, except for the Led Zeppelin poster, which still looks in good perfect condition, maybe that D.J. kid has been in here, he wasn't joking about the mattress, it does smell like old moldy cheese, she shudders at the thought of who has been in here, using said mattress, she looks out the window, and sees that the movers have arrived with her furniture, she goes downstairs.
The next day, Donna is standing at the front door of the Forman residence, she's hesitant, but she takes a deep breath, and knocks on the door, a moment or two passes, she hears the door unlocking, and opens, it's an old face, Red Forman, he still looks and dresses the same, except his hair has since tuned gray, he recognizes her.
Red - Hello, Donna.
Donna - Mr. Forman.
Red - Kitty! Your guest is here!
He invites her in the house, she goes inside, the house still looks the same, except for a few different things here and there, the door to the kitchen opens, Mrs. Forman comes out, she looks like she has aged gracefully, she immediately recognizes her.
Kitty - Donna Pinciotti!
She runs to her, and gives her a hug, like a child that she hasn't seen in forever.
Kitty - Look at you.
Red - Ok, you two get reacquainted. I'll be in my study.
Red runs off, leaving them alone.
Kitty - Jackie told me that she was sending someone to fill in, I didn't expect it to be you.
Donna - She didn't tell you?
Kitty - Jackie likes to surprise people.
She has a little laugh, the one she remembers.
Kitty - Well, let's go outside.
Donna - Yeah, let's.
They head out the back door.
In the back yard, Donna and Mrs. Forman are sitting at a table, sipping tea.
Kitty - So…how have you been?
Donna - I've been good, how about you?
Kitty - Oh, you know, just here, keeping busy.
Donna - You retired from the hospital?
Kitty - No, I work part time, I help recruit new nurses, and train them, it's really fun teaching, I can see why Eric enjoys being a teacher.
Donna - I can imagine.
Kitty - Other than that, me and Red keep busy with our Grandkids.
Donna - Grandkids?
Kitty - Yup. We have eight of them.
Donna - Eight? Wow, that's a lot.
Kitty - Some we knew about, and some caught us by surprise.
Donna - Really?
Kitty - Yeah, half from Eric, and the other half from Laurie.
Someone hops the fence, it's that kid that Donna caught in her home.
D.J. - Hey, Mrs. Forman.
Kitty - Hi, Dylan. This is Donna.
D.J. - We've already met.
Kitty - Have you?
D.J. - I met her yesterday when she moved in.
Kitty - Well, that's nice.
D.J. - I'll be in my room.
Kitty - Ok.
D.J. Runs off into the house.
Donna - Is that one of your grandkids?
Kitty - No.
Donna - Who is he?
Kitty - That's Steven's son.
Donna - What? Hyde has a kid?
Kitty - Well, he came to us from New York, when he was six years old, his mother had…well abandoned him.
Donna - What happened to her?
Kitty - She got caught up in the scene, you know, drugs…
Donna - Oh.
Kitty - Always against the grain, but she couldn't put the dirty needle down.
Donna - That's horrible.
Kitty - All Dylan needs to know is that his mother abandoned him when he was little, and we took him in, and raised him as our own.
Donna - What about Hyde's parents?
Kitty - Bud died of alcoholism a couple of years ago, Edna went and got married to a shoe salesman, then she ran off with some bikers, lord knows where that woman is now.
Donna - And W.B.?
Kitty - We haven't heard from him in years, last we heard he had purchased a radio station, and Angie is the general manager there, WKRP in Cincinnati.
Donna - And Hyde?
Kitty - Well….
Donna - What happened?
Kitty - Well, Steven got into some trouble, and he left.
Donna - He just left?
Kitty - Moved to Canada, and he refuses to come home. He still sends us postcards.
Donna - Does he know about Dylan?
Kitty - We told him over the phone, he calls on occasion sometimes.
She sips her cup of tea.
Kitty - Anyways, what were we discussing?
Donna - Your grandkids.
Kitty - Oh, like I said we have eight. We're raising three of them.
Donna - Really?
Kitty - Yeah….we adopted the girls after Laurie died.
Donna - She died?
Kitty - A couple of years ago, car accident.
Donna - I'm sorry to hear that.
Kitty - It's okay.
Donna - So you and Red adopted three of them?
Kitty - Yes, Christina, the youngest one, went to live with her father, Lisa, Robin, and Kelly live with us.
Donna - Where are their Fathers at?
Kitty - I don't know…I don't think Laurie even knew.
Donna - That's unfortunate.
Donna takes a sip of her tea.
Donna - So, what about Eric?
Kitty - Oh, their kids are wonderful. Three boys and a girl.
Donna - Wow, he immediately went to having kids right away.
Kitty - Well, the first two were planned, the twins were a surprise.
Donna - Twins?
Kitty - Yup, who knew?
She laughs.
Donna - Tell me about them.
Kitty - Well, Leia is the oldest, she's really smart, but she gets that from her mother, and more importantly, me.
Donna - And the boys?
Kitty - Luke is the second oldest, he's athletic, and a quick learner, Red thinks he's got a bright future ahead of him.
Donna - And the twins?
Kitty - Well, Eric wanted to name them Han Solo and Chewbacca, but the Mother said no, and Red threatened to stick his foot somewhere, so they got named Ronald and Reginald instead.
Donna - Those are good names.
Kitty - Yes, they are.
Donna - And Eric's wife?
Kitty - She's a good woman, Eric fell for her so bad he hit the ground.
Donna - Ouch.
Kitty - She found it amusing.
Donna - And they got married right away?
Kitty - Oh, It was so beautiful, she looked gorgeous in her dress, Jackie helped set it up, well she did the whole thing.
Donna - I'm glad he's happy.
Kitty - How about you? Is there anyone special in your life?
Donna takes another sip.
Donna - No, I'm just too committed to my job, and my independence.
She gets a little sad.
Donna - But I always thought that he'd wait for me….
Kitty - Oh, sweetie, don't think like that.
Donna - I know I shouldn't, and I know that you were disappointed that me and him never got back together.
Kitty - The kids are coming to visit for the summer.
Donna - Really? That's great.
Kitty - Just do me a favor.
Donna - Sure, anything.
Kitty - Stay away….
Donna - What do you mean?
Kitty - Don't think I forgot what you did all those years ago, a mother never forgets when her baby gets heartbroken.
Donna - But me and Eric both decided not to get back together.
Kitty - I don't want you to break up my sons family, you red-headed harlot.
Things look tense for a moment. But then she laughs it off. Donna joins her in laughing, albeit nervously.
Kitty - You can stop by, but bring Jackie with you.
Donna - Ok.
Kitty - I mean it.
Red (off screen) - Kitty!
Red comes out to the backyard.
Red - Your sister is on the phone.
Kitty - Oh, what does that woman want this time?
She turns to Donna.
Kitty - I'm sorry, but we have to cut this short, my darling sister needs me.
She gets up and heads back into the house.
Red - So, how was tea time?
Donna - Interesting. She just told me to stay away from Eric and his family.
Red - Oh, yes, that old story.
Donna - I can't believe she's still mad about that, it was a long time ago.
Red - Donna, look, we love our son, but he's not moving back in here if you break up his marriage.
Donna - I'm not gonna do that, Red.
Red - Good, I have enough to worry about, especially with three teenage girls, and a runaway living under my roof.
Donna - But Mrs. Forman said that y'all liked Hyde's son.
Red - He's useful, and knows how to work on cars. But when it comes to the girls, we swore to take care of them, and steer them in the right direction.
Donna - You mean when it comes to dating.
Red - As much as I loved my late daughter, she had questionable taste in men, especially dumbasses who work at strip clubs.
Donna - Are you implying something?
Red - Nope, and if you do figure it out, just hope that the rumors are not true, and don't bring it up ever again.
Donna - Ok.
Red - We'll catch up later.
Red goes inside.
Donna - What does he mean by….
She thinks for about a moment or two, then she gets disgusted.
Donna - Ewww. I think I'm gonna hurl.
She runs out of the backyard.
End of Chapter Two.
(Author's Note: What do you think? let me know, stay tuned for the next couple of chapters).