Author's Note: ...coming in to home stretch...thanks for hanging in there!

Chapter 29 – I Would Walk 500 Miles

Donna

Donna patted her pocket as if to reassure herself that the plane ticket to Paris was still there. Confirmation came with the touch of the hard cover of her passport which held her identification and the ticket to her new job. But the icing on the cake was that Henrik had information on Anna's last known whereabouts and Donna finally had hope. She would spend this last American Holiday with her parents at this dreaded traditional barbecue. Her suitcases waited by the front door for her trip to the airport. She was going to be free of this little town once more!

Steven

Steven Hyde filled two more coolers with fresh ice cubes and added in the extra cans of beer that were warming in the morning sunlight. Red was busy laying out wrapped beef on the folding table and shouting directions to his wife on what barbecue sauces he was missing. Hyde grinned and watched the busy Forman's preparing for one of Red's favorite holidays.

Kelso

Michael Kelso was pulling on his terrycloth headband while nine year old Betsy was pinning his number to the front of his shirt. "You're gonna do good daddy!" She said enthusiastically. Kelso tousled her dark brown hair, "I'll do really good if I know you're at the finish line!"

Betsy stepped back and clasped a hand, "Aunt Jackie and Uncle Eric are gonna wait with me."

Kelso grinned at his friend and his smiling ex-girlfriend. "So…like you guys are a….thing?"

Jackie smiled, "Yes Michael, Eric and I are a thing."

Kelso tugged on the locks of her blonde wig. "It's gonna be weird having you around again." He reached out and pretended to slug Eric in the arm but instead shook his hand. "Thanks for coaching me dude. I'll see you at the finish line."

Fez was running and wailing Kelso's name. "Stop! Wait for me!" The poor brown skinned friend was perspiring unattractively in his satin running outfit. "You forgot your lucky charm."

Kelso frowned, "I don't have no lucky charm."

Grinning, Fez pointed at his chest. "Me. You have me."

Jackie snorted and looked at Eric, "They never change…do they?"

Eric put an arm around Jackie's shoulders and held Betsy's hand. "Nope. They never change – thank God!" He steered the pair of girls towards the bleachers so they would have a front row seat. Eric marveled that Betsy was a bundle of excitement at seeing her father running a race. Six months ago, Kelso was three beats short of a heart attack and now he was entering a 5K run. Jackie smiled at Eric and scooted closer so Betsy could stand on the platform and cheer for her dad.

The announcer commenced with the usual Memorial Day speech, followed by a moment of silence and then he shot the ceremonial gun which started the race. Eric couldn't see his friend in the throng of hundreds but knew Kelso was in the swarm somewhere running his legs off.

Betsy turned to Jackie, "I missed you."

Jackie smiled and kissed the top of the small dark head. "I missed you too!"

"I saw you on TV and I use your shampoo! Mom says it's for big girls and now that I'm almost 10, I'm a big girl!"

"Yes you are and you are old enough to join my fan club! Let's get together with Uncle Fez after the race and he'll get you set up with all the goodies."

Betsy clapped her hands, "Goody! I like stuff."

Eric looked at Jackie's sparkling ring and uttered, "I think all girls do!"

Kitty

"Oh Red, this is so exciting. Everything smells so good." Kitty set the bottles of sauce on the table. "I have the potato salad in the fridge and I'm about to bring out the ears of corn." Kitty spied Hyde sitting in a chair drinking a cold beer. "Steven….what did you contribute to the barbecue?"

Hyde held up his beer can, "I brought refreshments." Kitty frowned. "Why don't you do something nice and get soda? Michael is bringing little Betsy and I don't want her drinking beer."

"I'll get Forman to do it." Hyde suggested.

Red smirked, "See Kitty? That's called delegating. The men are preparing the feast and delegating. You should try it."

She put her hands on her hips, "Red Forman, I'm going to delegate you to cleaning up if you get sassy with me. Jackie is coming and I want this to be a nice barbecue. She's been very good to our family and we're going to have a nice celebration."

"Heidy ho neighbors!" Came Bob Pinciotti's happy voice. "Midge and I are bringing the extras." He carried a large tinfoil covered pot and set it on Red's worktable. "You might want to dig in now before everyone gets here. Good eats." He bragged.

"Dad? You forgot the ladle." Donna stopped short when she saw the expression on her ex-in-laws faces. It didn't occur to her that when divorced Eric, she divorced the whole Forman family. Kitty did not look happy at all and Red rolled his eyes in that aggravated way he does before his foot starts looking for an ass. Donna side-stepped her way to stand slightly behind her father. "Red…Kitty….how are you?"

Kitty tried to be nice but her "fine" came off as sort of flippant so she just marched back into the kitchen. Red, however, held up a beer and motioned for Bob to have a seat. "Sorry we missed you at Christmas, Donna….and Easter….our anniversary…but Eric's not here yet. You might want to come back in about an hour."

Donna knew she wasn't going to get a warm welcome, but those words coming from her ex-father-in-law chastised her in a way she hadn't expected. She exhaled sadly, "I'll go see if Mom needs help. " She kissed her dad on the cheek and practically ran back to the Pinciotti house.

Bob set his potholders down on the table and accepted the cold beer from Hyde. "Red…that's my little girl. Don't you think you were a little impolite?"

Hyde sat up – he could sense there would be some fireworks even without Kelso here yet. Red took a long sip of his beer and looked at Bob. Several seconds passed by before he spoke and then when he did, it was with careful words. "Bob…you and I have been neighbors for over 25 years. We've been friends before and after you and Midge split up, while you were diddling with Pam Burkhart and we were even in-laws for ten years. What your daughter did to my son was wrong. You just don't divorce someone without a reason and before you say anything, leaving a note and flying off to Europe is more like going AWOL from the Military. They shoot you for that. And while I don't approve of what happened between the two of them, Eric is finally happy. Let it be."

Bob's eyes were tearing up. "Donna was unhappy."

Red toasted his beer towards his neighbor. "And there you have it. They were both unhappy. Let it go."

Bob's lips started flapping and Hyde handed him a beer. "Bob….let it go." Hyde suggested.

Bob sat done and sullenly drank his beer. Except for the delicious smelling food, this barbecue was a disaster!

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Betsy was riding high on her father's shoulders as Kelso stumbled under the weight. The little girl was showing everyone the medal her dad won for third place. Fez came running in from somewhere with a wet towel and some water. Following the littlest Kelso, was Jackie and Eric with big smiles for their friend.

"Dude! You did it! You ran the 5K!" Eric held out a hand for Kelso to "high five". Jackie gave Michael a squeeze around the waist. "I guess somebody is ready for a trip to Disneyworld…"

Betsy squealed with happiness and hugged her daddy's head. "Disneyworld!"

Fez was like a proud father himself. "Kelso really worked hard this last week. Not one donut crossed his lips."

Jackie held Eric's hand. "Did you tell them the news?"

Kelso looked down and saw the diamond on Jackie's right ring finger. "What news?"

Fez looked over, "Why am I always the last to know?" he muttered sadly.

Eric playfully punched his brown friend in the shoulder, "Jackie and I…."

Two friends stood with baited breath for Eric to make the expected announcement. Jackie was smiling with her brilliant white teeth and blurted out, "Eric and I are going to…..cohabitate!"

Fez frowned, "You have a habit?"

Kelso added, "Are you on drugs?"

Eric laughed, "No you idiots, Jackie and I are cohabitating. We are sharing a house…living together."

Jackie turned her hand so the ring sparkled. "We are roommates."

Fez crossed his arms, "Aaiiyyy, you are shacking up. Have you done it yet?"

Curious, Betsy perked up. "Done what?"

Kelso covered his daughter's tender ears and parroted Fez's question, "Well, have you?"

Eric ventured so boldly as to kiss Jackie's lips in front of his friends and smile, "Not yet, but it's in the plans….right?"

Jackie grinned. "Oh yeah…it's in the plans."

Eric beamed. "It's in the plans!" he added enthusiastically. He looked at Jackie, "You aren't teasing me are you?"

A small hand slid into the back pocket of his acid washed denims and gave a little squeeze. Eric's eyes slightly bugged and he exhaled happily. "It is in the plans." That was when it occurred to Eric that the days counting down to May 16th had been forgotten. He no longer needed to know when his divorce was final. He finally found happiness without that piece of legal paper saying he was official free.

Jackie looked at the sweaty Michael Kelso, the excited Fez and delighted little Betsy. "Say, aren't we late for a barbecue?"

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Donna sat at the kitchen table and fumed. How dare Red and Kitty Forman treat her so disrespectfully! She looked at her mother who was blissfully handwashing dishes. "Mom? Was it so wrong for me to want to have a happy life?"

Midge turned her head and smiled over her shoulder. "Oh course not honey. Every woman deserves to be happy."

Donna slapped the table with her hands. "Then why am I catching hell from everyone for going to Europe to do a story?"

Midge pulled a towel from the drawer and wiped her hands as she came around to sit across from her daughter. "Donna. Do you remember when your father and I separated?"

Donna's brows knitted together. "The first time?"

Midge gazed off into the distance as she remembered the dissatisfaction she had with her life and then the passionate make up in the car. But to her daughter she said, "No, when I moved to California to pursue my Broadway career…" she pressed a finger to her lips, "Now that I think about it, I should have found out first that Broadway was only a street name in California…but the point is, your father and I got back together. Just like you and Eric did when he came after you that summer."

Donna smiled when she remembered seeing Eric running to her on the beach but that was so long ago! Midge continued, "And then he proposed to you at the water tower….right?"

Donna nodded. Midge sighed, "I'm sure Kitty and Red weren't happy with that at all."

Nodding her head, Donna agreed. "We couldn't tell anybody for like….a long time."

"But you planned for a wedding and everyone showed up….except for the groom…." Midge said softly. "Honey, I don't think you wanted to get married then…I think you wanted to prove a point. You really wanted to go to college and be in Madison but you felt guilty. You stayed here when Red had that heart attack. You thought that staying here to support Eric would be the right thing to do but Donna…sometimes the right thing to do is what makes you happy.

"I'm guess Kitty and Red weren't happy finding out about Eric and me getting divorced."

Midge nodded her head. "You were considered family sweetheart. The Forman's included you in everything and we were all one big happy….well, almost happy family. If you didn't want to be married Donna, you should have gotten divorced earlier….you two let ten years go by and Eric was a good husband."

"Did you know he sold our house?" Donna asked quietly.

Midge fiddled with the salt and pepper shaker. "I heard about it but honey, you left him everything except your car. Did you think he would want to stay in a house without you in it?"

"But Mom, he sold it! We spent a lot of time and money to get that place."

Midge admonished her daughter's faux sentiment of shock. "Sounds more like you cared about the house than your husband." She covered her daughter's hand. "What's done is done. Attend the barbecue, ignore the gossips and when it's all over, you are going to Paris to get me some French bread!"

Donna smiled at her mother. "Paris. Yeah, it's gonna be a good day when this is all over."

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Hyde heard the approaching partygoers long before Red. He could almost smell Kelso's perspiration but was still proud of his friend. Betsy was the first of the group to arrive as she ran up the driveway holding the third place medal. "Daddy won! We're going to Disney!" She said excitedly.

Hyde held out his hand for the brass award and nodded kudos to his pal. "Looking good man." As if Kitty had sonar for the sound of tiny young voices, the elder Forman came out of the kitchen with a bowl of popsicles. "Betsy Boo! Look at you growing up so pretty!"

Betsy skipped over to the Popsicle bowl and pulled out a lime green treat. "Thanks! Daddy needs ice water."

Kitty looked over at a Michael Kelso she hadn't seen 50 pounds ago. "Oh Michael! Look at you! Red, honey….look at Michael."

Red turned his head for a glance and then did a double take when he saw how much thinner the Kelso kid was. That boy really did lose some weight! "Well I'll be damned. You look almost normal. Have a beer son."

Exhausted, Kelso collapsed into a patio chair. "Thanks, but there's a butt load of calories in there. I'll just drink water."

Hyde held up the medal. "Third place. That's great Kelso! I can tell your little girl's pretty damn proud of you."

He sighed, "Betsy's happier since Jackie told her that she's old enough to be a Jackie Burkhart Fan Club member." Kelso hadn't yet learned that a pre-tween's attention span was short. "I guess that I'll get to spend more time when we go to Disneyworld. " Kelso pretended to frog Hyde's shoulder, "Thanks for giving up your ticket."

Hyde grinned. "Aint that what friends are for?" From the corner of his eye, he spied Jackie and Eric holding hands as they walked up the drive. "Speaking of friends….what's up with those two?" He bent his curly head towards the driveway.

Kelso looked up and grinned. "They are officially coordinating."

Red and Hyde looked at Kelso like he was dim. Eric waved and Jackie smiled, "Smells good!"

Bob came back to his pot of Memorial Macaroni Salad and gave it a stir. "Hey Eric." He said gloomily. Then as an added measure he greeted Jackie, "I liked your last movie."

Jackie grinned, "Did you watch it in Spanish?"

Bob nodded. "Didn't understand a word, but it was very good." Jackie walked over to the large silver pot. "Bob….did you make my favorite macaroni salad?" she asked with her big movie star smile that had the elder Pinciotti blushing under his wig. He looked at the ground before gushing. "Yeah! But I didn't know you were gonna be here or I would have made a pot to take back to Hollywood with ya!"

Jackie gave Bob a kiss on the cheek, "I'm living back in Point Place now so I know where to go to get my salad fix."

Bob smiled like he had been bestowed the greatest compliment in the world. "Anytime. Call me."

Jackie returned the smile and walked back over to Eric who was talking with his dad. Bob noticed they were holding hands but didn't think too much of it.

"We're not coordinating anything." Eric tried to untangle Kelso's statement. "I told him we here cohabitating. Sharing a house."

Red interrupted. "Shacking up."

Jackie kissed the weathered cheek, "Yes. I have a reputation as a successful single star and if my fans thought I had a boyfriend….well, Eric and all his family would be smeared all over the newspapers and I know how you hate to be fussed with."

Red softened, "Well, I do like my privacy."

Kitty's ear perked up. "Is Mel moving out here too?"

It was Eric's turn to speak, "As a matter of fact, he and I will be co-owners of a store in Kenosha." Eric studied the confused expression on his father's face. It was so nice to throw a surprise at the old man. "You heard correctly….I'm starting my own business!"

Kitty plopped down into a patio chair. "Oh honey, that's wonderful but what about your city job? Those jobs are keepers."

Eric sat down in a chair next to his mother while Jackie stood next to him. "I have a retirement account that I intend to keep. Jackie's accountant has some special funds that I can invest my earnings into and I own my house. I'm at a perfect place in my life to take a chance. Dad….remember you started the muffler shop?"

Red wanted to grumble but his son did have a sound plan and if that boy made anywhere near as half of what Jackie made…. He nodded his head. "I think you are making adult decisions and I shouldn't be calling you a kid anymore. That was a very un-dumbass decision." A little sparkle caught Red's eye and he looked at his wife who also noticed the sparkle.

"Jackie…Eric…is there something else you want to tell us?" Kitty asked with a curious smile.

Jackie smiled brightly. "Well, as you both already know, Eric and I are….shacking up together…" she laughed using Fez and Red's terminology, "….but down the road, there may be or not be… a marriage, but I can assure you there will be children."

Kitty could have been knocked over with a feather. A promise of grandchildren? Albeit bastard grandchildren, but little Forman babies to hold in her arms? She asked hopefully, "Will I still be alive when you have these promised children?"

Eric laughed, "Of course Mom, who do you think is going to be our number one babysitter?"

Kitty nearly launched out of her chair and hugged the pair. "You've made me so happy!" she said as she wiped her eyes. "I just won't think about the living in sin part."

Grinning, Eric replied, "Don't worry Mom. Sometimes Jackie has to go back to Hollywood for work, but with the new mall being built, she's calling Point Place home again."

Kelso felt a definite lack of attention. "Hey guys! Did you forget about me? I walked 500 miles and got third place."

Betsy chided her father, "Daddy, you ran 5 kilometers. Not miles. Even I know that."

Kitty smiled, "Michael honey, we are proud of you too. Just for a treat, I'll make you a chilled fruit plate. You lost a lot of weight…we want to keep it lost."

Kelso grinned and waved at Fez who was finally straggling up the driveway for the barbecue. "Oh Red, it smells like we are camping. Can I have one of everything?"

Hyde laughed, "Of course you tool. Red wouldn't have invited you and let you starve! Nice job on coaching Kelso."

Fez stood with his hands on his hips. "We all helped Kelso. Eric started him walking around the mall last year and even you came down to the track. We all lost weight and won third place with him." The declaration just hung in the air until Michael Kelso retorted, "Are you nuts? I'm the one that gave up donuts!"

Any further conversation was halted by the sight of Midge Pinciotti carrying her famous Pineapple Pie followed by a short dark haired version Donna. Her cheeks were still shallow and she could stand to gain 15 more pounds yet Donna Pinciotti was not the same woman who left Point Place in the winter of 1989.

Midge set down her dessert and greeted everyone by name. She took her daughter by the arm and plastered a smile on her face, "Donna is back from Baku and only got a little hurt. We wanted to thank Eric for his help with the Embassy."

Kelso, Fez and Hyde looked at Eric who only shrugged. Midge continued, "I know there are some bad feelings leftover from what happened last year, but I hope we can put all that aside and have a nice dinner with the meat Red is cooking, okay everyone?"

Kitty didn't like the tense atmosphere either and laughed superfluously, "Ahahaha….I hope everyone has an appetite!" She looked over at the burgers sizzling on the grill and the ribs glistening with sauce. The whole driveway smelled wonderful but Donna's arrival seemed to discombobulate the party! "Donna are you hungry?"

Donna took the opportunity to break the tension. "Sure Kitty. Those burgers look really good."

Kitty bumped Red with her hip, "Honey, why don't you put some of those on a plate and that will make room for the steaks."

Jackie took the moment to look at the party from a different view. Donna was trying to fit in like a square peg in a round hole. She had so distanced herself from her old friends that no one really knew what to say to her anymore. Jackie couldn't stop remembering the fight in Berlin and how Donna had betrayed Eric while they were still married! That was insufferable! He was so concerned that HE did something to ruin the marriage and never knew it was his wife that cheated.

She leaned down and whispered in his ear. "You should at least talk to her."

Eric tugged on Jackie's arm and whispered back, "Don't want to. Got nothing to say."

Hyde heard the whispered conversation and leaned forward. "Do it. She's gonna be leaving again so say what you want to say and get it out of your system."

Jackie seemed to agree with Steven. "Eric, you always wanted to know….this is your chance."

Eric could feel that familiar twitch in his eye at the thought of dragging back all those emotions he had thought were settled and put to rest. He was happy now. "Come with me."

Jackie was startled. "I've got nothing to say to her. You and I are the future. You and Donna are the past. This is your chance to close and lock the door."

Eric couldn't argue with sound judgement from his two best friends so he stood up and started walking towards the barbecue grill. In the meantime, Hyde took the opportunity to ask, "So….you saw Donna in Germany…"

Jackie gasped. "You know?"

Hyde liked having this little upper hand. "Yeah. Donna came into Grooves the other day and spilled her guts….on account of you know, everyone hating on her."

"So she told you what I saw." Jackie questioned in a low voice.

Hyde looked over at Eric to make sure he was out of earshot. "Yeah, she said you busted up her little romantic encounter…."

Jackie huffed. "Well, she was a married woman and wives just don't go to other countries to cheat on their husbands!"

Hyde wasn't thinking about it in that context so he asked, "Can you tell me who it was?"

"Donna didn't tell you?" Jackie's lips curled into a smile. "Well, if she didn't….I'm certainly not going to."

Hyde crushed his empty can, "Damn. I thought you would have spilled your guts."

Jackie crossed her arms over her chest, "Well you don't know me very well do you Steven?"

He smiled and tugged on her blonde wig until it fell off. "Nope and I think I like you a lot better these days."

Jackie returned his smile and whispered, "Thank you." She looked back towards Eric who was tentatively tapping his ex-wife on the shoulder. She could see him mime the words, "We need to talk."

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AN: I know, I know, you hate me, but the "talk" has to wait for the next chapter. :)