When Hyde and Eric walked back into the house, Kitty threw confetti at Hyde and blew a New Year's Eve Horn.
"Con-gratulations, Steven!" she said happily, and laughed her little laugh. "We thought you'd've been home a bit earlier, so we went ahead and opened the champagne... she explained, and Red lifted up a glass to show.
Jackie and Donna smiled at him from the table, and Bob came over and patted him on the shoulder.
"Hey, you all are making a party for him?" Eric asked incredulously. "When Donna and I got engaged, you firedme from my job, and blacklisted me at other places! You threw fits!"
"Well, yes, but we knew you and Donna weren't ready yet." Kitty said airily.
"And, we were right, stick-boy; you left her at the alter, leaving me with two tons of food and a $5,000 bill for a wedding that never happened!" Bob chimed in.
"Oh..." Eric winced. "Right... Um... sorry?"
Bob growled at him and Eric shrank back behind Donna, who patted his hand on her shoulder.
"Okay! Ha ha ha ha..." Kitty said, laughing uncomfortably, "Let's have more champagne, celebrate..."
"It's so nice that I'm going to have a son-in-law... with a job, no less!" Pam said happily. "I mean, granted, you're... entry level..." she said a bit distastefully.
"Mom! He manages his own store!"
"Oh! Really?"
"Yes." Jackie hissed.
"So... you're able to buy my daughter a house?"
Jackie flushed, looking annoyed. "Mom, I don't have a job yet."
"Well, you will; housewife is full time, darling." Pam soothed. "Besides, who's going to take care of the babies if you work?"
Jackie and Hyde both looked like deer caught in the headlights.
"Babies?" they both yelled out.
"Well, yes... that is what happens when one gets married..."
"But, I'll get fat! And... what if I was horrible at it?" Jackie asked, her lower lip trembling.
Everyone in the room looked around uncomfortably, the tone quickly changing in the room. But, Hyde sighed, dropping down in front of her.
"Relax, doll; we should get used to being married, living together full time before we bring a kid into the mix too fast. Eventually, yeah, but not now. And, by the time we do, you'll be a great mom. Because it'll be ourkid, not someone else's."
Jackie smiled tearfully at Hyde. "Really, Steven?"
Hyde nodded seriously. "Yes."
"What about the getting fat part?"
"Ahem, well... ah..."
"Steven!"
Hyde grinned, brushing her hair gently back from her face. "There are aerobic classes at the Y, okay? You'll be fine."
Jackie launched herself into his lap, knocking him off balance since he was squatting on the floor, kissing him fully.
"Awwww..." went around the room.
But, the envelope got pushed out of his back pocket, and Eric dove to retrieve it.
"What's that?" Kitty asked Eric curiously.
"It's... nothing I gotta go." he said quickly, running out of the house like he was on fire, and then spinning his car out of the drive.
Hyde shook his head. "Moron..." He muttered.
Jackie looked at him curiously, and Hyde kissed her forehead. "That's just Eric being Eric, don't worry about it."
Jackie nodded, but in the back of her mind, she did wonder...
Later that night, Eric came back into the basement.
"Hey, Hyde." he said, looking a bit sheepish.
"Yeah, hey. Your parents think you've gone wackadoodle. Not that that's anything new."
Eric shrugged, flopping onto the couch and handed Hyde the envelope.
"Thanks for jumping on the grenade for me though, man. Really."
"You should just tell Jackie."
"Are you kidding? She'd flip out."
"Yeah, cause that's not gonna happen when she finds out you've been holding out on her..." Eric said sarcastically.
Hyde walked to where he kept the matches and grabbed an ashtray, putting the envelope on top. "Burn, baby, burn." he said, lighting it up. "Solves that problem."
Eric watched the fire spark out, and then Hyde went to the back, getting some lighter fluid to help it along before lighting it up again.
"It doesn't 'solve' it, you know. Some pervo is still stalking one or the other of you. Maybe both." Eric said seriously. "You need to find out who- and I'm not so sure we can figure this out alone. Where is Jackie, anyway?"
"Sleepover with Donna."
"Great, Hyde, drag my girl into this..." Eric started huffily.
"Pfft, what are you talking about? If anyone could protect Jackie- besides me, that is- it'd be Donna. Donna could beat up most guys."
"Okay, fine... But, Hyde... we need to find out who and why. It's weird, man. I mean, who has Jackie even dated besides Kelso?
Hyde frowned thoughtfully. "I dunno... I mean there was... Chip..." he said distastefully.
"Yes, yes, Chip... anyone else? I mean, there was a seven or eight month period there where she didn't date Kelso or you, and Chip had just shown out of the woodwork, likely to make you jealous... For all we know, she dated a lot of guys we didn't know about."
Hyde frowned at him. "What?"
"Well, yeah, I mean... girl like Jackie doesn't stay lonely that long..."
"What the hell do you mean, 'a girl like Jackie'?"
"Uh... look, an alien!" he said, and began running up the stairs...