…

"You sure I can't come inside and we can go for round four?" Nate asked, his arm draped behind Jackie's shoulders as they sat in his car.

Jackie giggled flirtatiously. "No, Nate, I have to be respectful of the Formans, okay? I'm sure one day you can come in and meet them and everything, but… tonight isn't a good night."

Nate leaned toward her and pulled her shoulders closer to him. "Okay, sweetheart," he murmured in her ear just before kissing her neck sensually.

"I know what you're doing," Jackie said, laughing as she pulled away, "And it's not gonna work."

"Seems to always work," Nate mentioned, tucking a strand of Jackie's hair behind her ears.

"You're only gonna tease yourself," Jackie pointed out. She gave him a quick peck on the lips and turned to get out of the car.

"Oh, no, you don't," Nate said with a grin, pulling her back in. She leaned in and he gave her a softer, longer kiss on the lips. She smiled at him as they pulled away and he smiled back. "That's more like it."

Jackie opened the car door and stepped out.

"Sleep tight, sweetheart," Nate called, and she waved goodbye.

Jackie's stomach fluttered after that kiss, but then it dropped when she remembered her potential situation at hand.

She opened the sliding door to find Kitty in the kitchen, furiously beating some batter.

"Brownies at this time, Mrs. Forman?" Jackie asked. "What's the occasion?"

"When I can't sleep, I bake," Kitty told her, her eyes focused on the giant mixing bowl before her as she whisked.

Jackie sighed and sat on one of the stools behind the counter.

"Now, what's wrong?" Kitty inquired, noting the sigh.

"Mrs. Forman…" Jackie drew in a deep breath. "I'm late. I'm really… really late."

"Well, sure you are," Kitty said, as she began greasing the pan for the brownies. "But you don't have to be up too early tomorrow, do you?"

"No," Jackie said, shaking her head. "Mrs. Forman… I'm late."

Kitty dropped the pan and looked at the young brunette whose eyes were wide and concerned. "You… oh, no."

Jackie nodded slowly.

"How late?" Kitty asked.

"Um…" Jackie looked down at her feet. "It's been about a month."

"Well, that's no big deal," Kitty reassured her. "A month since you had it?"

"A month since… since I was supposed to have it," Jackie admitted.

"Jackie!" Kitty scolded. She set down the utensil that was still in her hand and walked away from the oven and closer to the girl. "Have you taken a test?"

Jackie shook her head.

"Do… do you know who the father could be?" Kitty asked hesitantly.

"Well, yeah," Jackie stated. "It would be Nate."

Kitty looked uneasy. "What about Fez?"

"No, Mrs. Forman, Fez and I never… well, you know," Jackie responded.

"Really?" Kitty asked in surprise, and Jackie nodded. "Well… well, I guess we should just get you to the doctor's office and find out for sure. There's no use in fretting over something that could be a fluke."

Jackie bit her lip and nodded slowly. "But what do I do… after?"

"Like I said," Kitty repeated, "There's no use worrying until we're sure."

"We've only been together for a short amount of time," Jackie continued. "It's only just now kind of getting serious."

"If it's true, then you'll have to talk with him," Kitty told her. "And I'm sure he'll be understanding. Everything happens for a reason, you know."

Jackie sighed. "I guess so… I'm gonna go to bed, then." She stood up and started walking toward the living room. "And… thanks."

"Sweetie, you can talk to me anytime," Kitty replied sympathetically. "We'll… we'll just figure this out together, okay?"

Jackie nodded and began heading up to her room.

…

Six weeks. She had officially been knocked up for six weeks. Jackie could even trace it back to the day.

It was their first date; the first time they got to know each other. They each had a few drinks and were now at his place. She was lying on his bed and they both knew what was about to happen. He was teasing her in such a way that she couldn't focus on anything but the pleasure that she was feeling and the euphoria that was to come. He had mumbled something, just as she uttered something affirmative, simply out of pleasure. That's where the misunderstanding lied.

The next time they did it, he tried to go in without protection. Jackie had stopped him.

"You said you were on birth control," Nate had pointed out.

"I never said that," Jackie insisted.

"I asked you last time," Nate responded adamantly. "You said you were."

"Well, I'm not," Jackie had said, and they let it go.

Now, here she was… pregnant and terrified.

Kitty told her that she had to tell Nate when he got off, which was four o'clock. It was now four thirty.

Dinner was being prepared when she left. Jackie had grabbed a banana on her way out because she knew she'd be missing out on eating that night. However, her appetite was basically nonexistent for she was way, way too nervous.

"Mrs. Forman, just do me a favor," Jackie had said before she left. "Will you tell them? I can't handle telling any more people today and… well, I'm sure Mr. Forman's feedback may not initially be positive."

"Well, of course, honey," Kitty responded.

Now, Jackie had been gone a good twenty minutes. Dinner was being served and it was only Kitty, Red, and Eric.

"Jackie with her boyfriend?" Red inquired, plopping a pile of potatoes on his plate.

"Yes," Kitty said, feeling a little anxious.

Everybody continued dressing up their plates, and once Red and Eric began eating, she decided it was time to tell them.

"So… Red, Eric," Kitty began nervously.

Eric raised his eyebrows at her. "Mom."

"Jackie and I took a little visit to the doctor today," Kitty stated. "Um, it turns out that Jackie is six weeks pregnant."

"What?"

Red dropped his fork and Eric's mouth hung open.

"Kitty, if you are trying to tell me that there is going to be a baby in this house, well… that is just not going to happen," Red said, his voice grave but firm.

"Well, Red, I don't know what you think she's supposed to do," Kitty told her husband. "She is over there, telling him right now, and I think it all comes down to how he handles this. Maybe he'll want her to live with him; I don't know!"

"Yeah, well this is their responsibility—not ours!" Red's face was, ironically, turning a shade of crimson.

"Yes, well, she doesn't really have anybody else," Kitty pointed out.

Red was fuming and he looked at his son. "This is your fault."

"How the hell is it my fault?" Eric asked in surprise.

"Why do all of your friends have to have crappy parents?" Red slammed his fist on the table. "This house is supposed to be getting emptier, not more full! We just keep adding dumbasses in the mix until we're all full up."

"Red, a baby is not a dumbass," Kitty said firmly. "And I happen to know that you are actually quite fond of Jackie, so there's no way you think she's a… a dumbass, either." She rolled her eyes as she uttered her husband's favorite word a second time.

"Fond of her?" Red asked. "Kitty, I'm not fond of anyone, quite frankly, except for you. I only happen to dislike her a little less than the rest of the bunch." He sighed. "Listen, I know that this is what you think is right, but for God's sake, Kitty, will I ever get some peace and quiet in this house?"

Kitty narrowed her eyes, feeling triggered. "You keep acting like this, Red Forman, and you can get all the peace and quiet you want." She got up and stormed out of the kitchen.

Oblivious, Red continued eating. "See, that's all I wanted to hear."

"Oh… Dad." Eric shook his head.

They finished eating in silence and it only took Red about ten minutes to realize that his wife was actually mad.

"Oh, crap." He got up from the table and headed to their bedroom where he was sure his wife was.

Eric couldn't help but giggle at his father's ignorance. He got up and headed to the basement to watch some TV.

As he got to the bottom of the stairs, he saw a figure on the couch and gasped.

Jackie turned around, noticing him, and slumped her shoulders.

"What are you doing down here?" Eric asked. "I thought… well, why didn't you come in upstairs when you got back?" He walked over to where she was sitting, noticing her eyes were red and puffy, and not in the fun way.

Jackie stayed silent but her lip kept trembling.

"Jackie," Eric said again. "Mom told us… did it not go well?"

"Oh, Eric!" Jackie jumped up and hugged him as she began to sob uncontrollably. He was slightly taken aback at first, but decided that he and Jackie were friends now, so he should comfort her.

"What… I mean, what did he say?" Eric asked, gently patting her on the back as she continued to weep into his shirt.

"He… said… that…" Between her sniffling, hiccupping, and the fact that her face was buried in his shirt, Eric could barely understand what she was saying.

"Okay, just… you can wait until you've calmed down a little," Eric told her.

She cried and cried for a few more minutes, and when she could finally manage to pull herself together a little bit, she pulled away from Eric and sat down.

He sat next to her. "What happened?" He was genuinely concerned.

"He… he got mad," Jackie said, her voice shaky. "He said it was my fault."

"Your fault?" Eric asked in disbelief.

"Well, there was this misunderstanding," Jackie admitted. She told him what happened on their first date.

"Well…" Eric shook his head. "I mean, still."

"He told me he can't do it." She tried to take a deep breath but was interrupted by a hiccup. "He won't do it." Another tear emerged from her eye. "He acted like… like I inconvenienced him or something. I mean, do you think I want to get fat?" She began sobbing again, this time onto Eric's shoulder.

He patted her back again as she cried. "Jackie… you, like, just told him. Maybe he didn't have the best response… like, at all, but he'll probably come around. Just give him a few days."

Jackie sniffed again, removing her face from his shoulder. "Do you really think so?"

Eric shrugged. "Probably."

Her chin trembled. "Eric, I have no idea how to be a mom… like, my mom didn't even know how to be a mom."

"You'll get the hang of it," Eric reassured her. "I think you've already become a lot less self-absorbed since high school." He cracked a smile even though he was serious. Jackie's eyes were still filled with tears when he looked at her. "Okay… so you were telling me you needed something more in your life. Maybe this is it?"

"I needed fulfillment, Eric, not a full-fledged responsibility growing in my uterus," Jackie told him sharply.

"I'm just saying that once it's a baby, and it's out, and not, like… a pending concept," Eric said, "I don't think you're gonna see it as a responsibility. Not overall, at least. It's gonna be, like, this little thing that you made and you're gonna feel so much love for it."

Jackie thought about what he said and looked down. "I guess you're right." She felt a rush of affection for the child she just learned about earlier that day and placed a hand over her temporarily flat belly. "You must have thought a lot about being a dad when you were with Donna."

Eric sighed and nodded. "Yeah, well… turns out she doesn't even want kids. Didn't, I mean. Maybe she'll want some one day, just with someone else."

"Yeah, well… I'm sure you'll be a great dad when your day comes," Jackie kindly told him.

"Thanks," Eric said, feeling slightly uncomfortable after discussing Donna again. "Maybe we should just distract ourselves with some good old fashioned American Bandstand."

He flipped on the television. They sat in silence, paying attention to the program as Jackie calmed down. All that crying was exhausting and her eyes were tired as hell.

Eric watched intently as Jermaine Jackson performed, and was suddenly surprised to feel a head gently drop on his shoulder as Jackie's breathing became slow and steady. She was asleep. He wasn't very tired himself and the thought that she of all people had fallen asleep on him was a little odd, but he decided to let it go and allow her to rest.

The program ended and Jackie began to softly snore into his shoulder. He chuckled to himself… who would have ever thought Jackie Burkhart would snore? Upon his movement, she started to stir and began to snuggle into him. Instinctively, he put an arm around her and then realized what he did. The whole thing was very strange to him.

After two more shows, Eric was beginning to get pretty tired, so he gently poked her a few times with his hand that was around her waist.

"Hmm?" Her eyes fluttered open as she awoke and suddenly realized how close she was to Eric. She backed away quickly as he removed his arm. "Oh, um… I'm sorry."

"I was just gonna say, maybe we should go to bed," Eric said, and then instantly felt embarrassed. "Well, not 'we', more like you go to bed and I go to bed."

Jackie laughed sleepily. "I know. How long was I asleep for?"

"A little over an hour," Eric told her. "Also, you snore."

"I do not snore!"

"You do, too."

"Yeah, well… you're so bony that I'm surprised I could fall asleep on you," Jackie huffed.

"Yeah, sure, Jackie," Eric said with a laugh. "It's not like you've ever said I filled out nicely."

Jackie narrowed her eyes at him and smiled. "I never said nicely. You're embellishing."

"Like you've never flattered yourself." He stood up. "Come on, I actually have to shut the lights out down here now that Hyde's gone, and I'm just thankful I'm not alone for that."

"Wuss."

"Bitch."

The two went upstairs to their own bedrooms and fell asleep.