Disclaimer: Only thing I own here are Jamie and Will. I don't own That 70s Show or anything related.

Kids copy what they see

7.00 PM

"And may I ask who approved that? Because it sure wasn't me."

Jamie looked up from her drawing. Dad was walking around the store, talking on the phone, and he didn't look very happy. Then again, he never liked it when people called to the store. Jamie didn't like it either.

See, sometimes Mom was out of town and Daddy picked Jamie up from school, and sometimes Dad's employ had the day off and they all had to go to the store before going home. And when no one called, Daddy was happy and played with Jamie and they had a great time. But when someone called, Dad got all sad and tired and wasn't in the mood to play with Jamie and they all felt bad. And that's why it sucked when people called to the store.

Out of nowhere, her tummy began to growl.

"Dad, I'm hungry"

Dad stopped next to the couch and winked an eye at her. She knew what it meant: "keep drawing, we're going home soon". Mom sometimes said that it scared her how well Dad and Jamie understood each other. She said it was unfair that she had to carry Jamie for nine months only for her daughter to have telepathetic talks with her dad instead of her.

She went back to her drawing and Daddy walked back to his desk, still listening to his friend.

"So what, this Tom guy says ok and suddenly everything I've been saying for months gets ignored?"

She was drawing herself and Will, his little brother. She drew them sitting on the couch, just like they were right now. She didn't know what to draw, so Dad told her to draw Will and herself, that way he could have it at the store with him when they weren't there. But she would have to make another one for Mom, because she would get jealous. And also, Mom travelled a lot, so she would love to have a drawing of Jamie and Will just like Dad.

"I don't care! If someone explicitly ordered you to hide information from me, your first instinct should be telling me. Especially if it's about moving money around. Dammit, I thought you were smart!"

Jaime giggled as she looked at her dad talk. He was making a gun with his hand and putting the fingers to his temple.

"Oh oh, he's mad" she sang nibbling on her pinky. At her side, she heard Will copy her.

"Oh oh!"

Jamie laughed at him and said it again, knowing that he'd say it back. Will copied her a lot, because he was little and he didn't know any words, and she was five and she knew a lot. So, he wanted to be like her and be grown up and smart and know a lot of words. Mom told her so.

They kept sayin "oh oh!" one after the other, each time a bit louder until they were pretty much screaming. Jaime heard a "ptss!" and looked away from his brother. Dad was looking at her and had a finger over his lips. She shut up for a while, but only until Will started to make whimpering noises.

"You thirsty?" she asked. Will cooed and Jamie went to get his bottle from her dad's desk.

"Well, guess what man. It's not his damn store! And if the sales go down, he's not the one getting hell from W.B., I am! Are you gonna come with me and tell him that we might have to close? Huh?"

Sadly, the counter was too tall for her, and she had to stand on her tip toes to reach it. She ended up knocking the bottle over, and the liquid spread over the counter and onto some papers full of numbers her dad had taken out.

"Jamie, for God's sake" Dad hissed, drying the counter the best he could with only one hand.

"Sorry" she muttered. Still, she took the bottle and went back to Will.

"How am I supposed to react? You tell me Wisconsin's in red numbers and I'm supposed to jump and clap?!"

She put the bottle close to his brother's mouth, and while he gulped the whole water in, she looked around the room for what to do next. She was getting really bored and being bored was the worst. Finally, her eyes stopped at the table right beside the stereo, full of bins and records.

"Dad, I wanna listen to music" she said. Dad ignored her.

"No, the problem is that you're all frigging kids! And if your first couple jobs don't turn out right, then it's all cool!"

"Dad, I wanna listen to music and I can't reach the bins!"

"Because you still have a lot of other jobs to apply for and daddy's money to fall back on. Now, what am I supposed to tell my wife? ...Oh, oh I'm the one playing victim, right?"

"Dad!"

"Jamie!" he snapped, putting a hand over the phone "you interrupt me again and I swear you're grounded for the whole weekend."

She glared back at him and sulked, but she wasn't about to give up. Once his dad turned away from her, she walked up to the table where the finyls were and tried to grab one, holding onto the bin. Then, before she knew what was happening, the bin was on its side and every single record had fallen and spread all over the floor.

She started to laugh, she couldn't help it. The noise had made his dad jump, and he was now looking at the mess with wide eyes and pulling at his hair with his free hand. He rushed to the table, got to his knees and started picking up the records, with Jamie laughing harder and harder. He only made a pause to say bye to his friend.

"Well, you know what? Fuck you too. It's not my fault that you're all useless."

That's it, that's how it ended. He still had the phone in his hand and Jamie was still laughing at him. And then she wasn't.

In a matter of seconds and without any warning, he threw the phone to the wall behind Jamie, grabbed the girl by the shoulders, shook her strongly and screamed into her face.

"WHY CAN'T YOU BE FUCKING QUIET?! WOULD IT KILL YOU TO STAND STILL FOR ONE DAMN MINUTE FOR FUCK'S SAKE?! YOU'RE DRIVING ME INSANE!"

Jamie's laugh stopped instantly. Her eyes were wide, and she could feel his fingers digging deep into her arms. The room was completely silent, no one was moving. She didn't need to look behind her to know that the phone had broken in a million pieces. She still could hear the sound.

Dad never yelled. He never, ever yelled. Grandpa Red yelled a lot, although he never yelled at her. Mommy sometimes yelled too. She yelled when she was angry and also when she was happy. Like when something exciting happened at her job and she called Dad to tell him and Jamie can hear her through the phone because she's so happy and that's why she's yelling.

Dad never yelled. He had a soft voice, Mom called it "raspy". It was like whispering but it wasn't whispering, it was stronger. He had never grabbed her and shook her like that before either, or said bad words at her. Dad loved swearing a lot, and then Mom smacked him because he shouldn't say bad words in front of Jamie. But Dad never talked mean right at her. He never threw stuff. He never grabbed her. He never shook her. Dad never yelled.

As they stood there, an unknown feeling started to fill her tummy. It was like a hole that pulled against the walls of her belly and made her feel a bit sick. The first thing she thought was fear, but it couldn't be fear. Nothing scary had happened, this wasn't scary. Her dad, though, he was definitely scared. The anger on his face was becoming horror.

Out of nowhere, Will started to cry. Daddy let her shoulders go and looked at the baby's chair, startled. He turned back to Jamie once more, stroke her hair and stood up. Daddy took Will into his arms and calmed him down. He looked pale and avoided looking at her

To be honest, Jamie didn't really understand what just happened. But in any case, she decided it would be best if she didn't talk for the rest of the day.

10.00 PM

Later that night, Jamie sat in her bed breathing heavily. She hadn't been able to fall asleep anyway, the hole in her stomach didn't let her.

The trip back from the store had been weird. Usually, Daddy put some of his music and they sang together. Then they stopped to get fast food from some restaurant and they ate it in the living room and watched TV. Only that they later had to clean up everything very well because mommy could find out, and then she scolded Daddy because he shouldn't give Jamie junk food or eat in the living room, because it could get messy.

This time they hadn't played any music, or gotten fast food or watched TV. They'd gone straight home, Dad had cooked some chicken that Mom had left defrosting in the fridge and they ate it in silence. Jamie could barely eat at all.

She got out of bed and headed to the kitchen. She was just passing the living room when she heard his dad's voice. He was there, talking on the phone again, this time on the one hanging from the wall. She got closer to the door and listened.

"No, I just... I grabbed her by the shoulders and..." he put his hand on his forehead "Fuck, what the hell's wrong with me, man? Fuck!"

The door was only half opened and Jamie could see his dad perfectly without being noticed. Also, his back was towards her anyway.

"No, she didn't look scared. Hell, how would I know? She hasn't talked to me all afternoon." Jamie concentrated in figuring out who was on the other end, but she had little doubts really. Mom and Dad always called each other at night when she was away.

"For Pete's sake Jackie, that's not the point and you know it. Even if I'd forgotten about all the shit Edna and Bud did that wouldn't mean… Oh come on, it has everything to do with them, why should I deny it? Kids copy what they see, am I right?"

He rubbed his face, walking back and forth like those tigers she had seen in the zoo. Jamie could now hear her mom's voice perfectly, but she couldn't make out the words.

"Well, with all due respect to the man, maybe he shouldn't have gone around yelling at Forman either! What do you know? Maybe the 70s parenting style was all sorts of messed up and I don't want that shit for my kid!"

Jamie saw his dad open his mouth to keep talking, but he shut it closed when mom started speaking again. The girl still couldn't understand what she was saying, but she was using that tone she used when she really didn't want to ardue with Dad about something anymore. And the more she talked, the more her dad's face soften. The speaker finally went silent, and Dad waited a bit before he continued speaking.

"But what if it happens again?" he said, and his voice was now much calmer. "...Ok, but what if it does?"

It looked like he wanted to keep talking, but once again, mom didn't let him. He looked down at his feet. "I... yeah. Ok, whatever. How's the meeting going?"

Losing interest in the conversation, Jamie tiptoed towards the kitchen. The hole had reached her throat and made it feel very tight.

"Huh? I thought you finished at three. …Should I be at the airport at six just in case? …Ok. See you tomorrow, Jackie. …Love you too."

She heard the click of the phone but didn't pay attention, she was busy trying to get a cup from the sink. Her throat was still tight and wanted to make her cry. She hated when that happened, when she felt like crying and she didn't know why.

Someone was standing by the kitchen door, she could tell, and she turned around with a gasp. His dad was there, and when he heard her gasp, he tensed. Jeez, what was wrong with him today? Why was he so scared? There was no reason to be scared.

Anyway, her Dad walked towards her and picked her up. He grabbed the cup she'd been reaching for and looked at her.

"Milk?" She shook her head and pointed at the sink.

"Water?" She nodded.

"Ok then."

With Jamie still in his arms, he walked back to her bedroom. He left the water on the nightstand and sat on the bed with Jaime on his lap. He didn't let go of her then. Actually, he drew her closer, pressing his cheek to her head.

"Honey… If you see me speaking to someone, you can't keep distracting me like that, because it could be something important and I need to pay attention. I know it sucks, but you gotta help me." Jamie didn't say anything, but she gave a little nod thentually, hoping that his dad noticed.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you." He muttered after a few seconds. Jamie just shrugged, not looking at him.

"It's ok." She said.

Dad fell silent again, still holding her close. Finally, he let go a bit so that he could look at her.

"No, it really isn't. No one should ever speak to you like that, or grab you or..." He hesitated. "Or hit you."

Jaime looked at his dad's face, thinking she might find a clue there for what to say next. She didn't find anything. But it was okay, because Dad kept talking.

"Will you tell me if someone does that to you?" She shrugged again and Dad raised an eyebrow.

"Say yes"

"Yes."

Now Dad was the one watching Jamie's face, and when he spoke again, he did it on a very soft voice.

"Will you tell mom if I do that to you?"

"Yes." She answered, this time more firmly as she knew what she had to say.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"You promise?"

"Yes!"

"Very good." He grinned. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and patted her butt. She knew what that meant, and she crawled off her dad's lap and under the covers, letting him tuck her in. "You wanna come with me tomorrow to pick up mom?"

"Yay!" She squealed. Dad laughed and put a finger to his lips.

"You're gonna wake up Will."

He kissed her once more and left the room. As Jamie's eyelids started to close, she thought back on all she'd done that day. At school, Sid Hunter had pushed Paola Romano and the teacher had given him detention. And at lunch they'd had broccoli and they'd all hidden it under the table so that it looked like they'd eaten it. And in the way to the store, Dad and her had sang one of those songs that dad loved and mom hated. The hole on her stomach disappeared slowly, and soon everything that had happened in the store was all but forgotten.

Minutes later, when she was just about to fall asleep, Will started to cry, and she couldn't help but think about how quick he would shut up if Dad just shook him a bit.

"Kids copy what they see…" she mumbled.

FIN

A/N.: Well, that was frustrating to write. Hope the "childish" writing style wasn't too distracting. Anyways, don't worry! I'm 100% sure Hyde's gonna become an awesome dad. Unlearning unconscious behavior and breaking the cycle is just hard sometimes. :/

Hope you liked it!