Author Note: Please enjoy and cry a little with me – where's a tissue when you need it? Oh, watch out Hyde!!!!!
Chapter 49 – Receptions & Karma
"… what I mean to say is that of all the crazy stunts he's completed in his life, meeting and marrying Brooke was the smartest thing he's ever done. Cheers to Michael and Brooke Kelso."
Annie stood on the stage in front of the wedding guests with a microphone and the DJ from the club. "Ladies and Gentleman, in lieu of the traditional first dance, our newlyweds would like to share something with you from their hearts."
Brooke smiled at Jackie and Kelso grinned. This was a secret that even Eric didn't know about. Kelso grabbed Brooke's hand and led her to the stage. The club DJ turned on his karaoke machine and the drums and background music to Peaches and Herbs', I Pledge My Love started to play.
Michael picked up the microphone and started singing to his new wife.
I will love you till the day I die
I know this now and my love won't run dry
You came along, my life has begun
Two hearts are now beating as though they were one
Brooke picked up the second mike and sang to her husband.
Like the stars that make the night so bright
You shine on me with a love that's so right
A love that is lasting, a love that's so pure
Each time I feel it, it makes me more sure
I know with all my heart we'll never part
For this is the day when our love comes alive
And I mean what I say
As I stand here saying
As they sang the chorus together, Annie encouraged everyone to get up and dance.
I pledge my love to you
I pledge my love is true
I pledge my life to you
I do, my dear, I do my, dear
Eric took Jackie's hand and led her to the dance floor enfolding her in his arms as they swayed together to the chorus. Kitty grabbed Red's arm, "Look at them. He never loved Donna that way…" Red was touched by what he saw in his son's eyes when he looked at Jackie. "Kitty, those two are going to be married. I think I might be eating that steak sooner than I'll be eating cabbage!"
"Red Forman… will you dance with me?" Kitty's eyes were glowing. Red was happy to oblige as he joined his son on the dance floor.
Michael was still looking in Brooke's eyes as he sang.
Like a river finds the deep blue sea
Love took your hand and led you to me
This is the us that I'll never forget
Both sparkling with love, both happy we met
Brooke was nearly crying as she sang her verse
I know with all my heart we'll never part
For this is the day when our love comes alive
And I mean every word
And I want you to know that
By now the crowd knew the chorus and sang with them.
I pledge my love to you
I pledge my love is true
I pledge my life to you
I do, my dear, I do my, dear
Although the song only lasted four minutes, it was the best song Jackie ever heard Michael sing. She was dancing with the love of her life and her best friend was crying tears of pure joy. She looked over to see Kitty smiling at them. Eric pressed his cheek against Jackie's to see his mom's happy face. This was a great party.
"So Jackie, where are we sending them for their honeymoon?" Jackie twirled out and spun back. "I had a gift certificate to New York with a couple of tickets to see Cats on Broadway." The song ended and the dancing couples started to go back to their tables.
Eric laughed. "Of course you know Kelso is going to get lost on the subway." Jackie chuckled, "I know, but he'll find his way back. Brooke is with him now so everything is perfect."
"Not quite perfect." Eric said. She looked up, "No? What's not perfect?" Eric danced her over to the side of the stage. "Wait here." She sighed exasperatedly and tapped her foot while Eric said something to Annie who smiled. Eric whispered something to Kelso who grinned and left the stage.
The DJ put on another record and the piano melody for Open Arms started playing. Jackie's mouth fell open and she turned around to see Eric standing on the stage with a microphone in one hand and a spray of carnations in the other. He looked her straight in the eye and sang,
Lying beside you
Here in the dark
Feeling your heart with mine
Softly you whisper
You're so sincere
How could our love be so blind
We sailed on together
We drifted apart
And here you are
By my side
He put the microphone in the stand and set the flowers on the stool and pulled his class ring off of his finger. Jackie started walking towards him disbelieving he was actually doing this in front of everyone at Brooke's wedding.
So now I come to you
With open arms
Nothing to hide
Believe what I say
So here I am
With open arms
Hoping you'll see
What your love means to me
Open arms
Brooke gasped and covered her mouth as she realized what was happening. Kelso put an arm around her waist and whispered something which made her smile.
Living without you
Living alone
This empty house seems so cold
Wanting to hold you
Wanting you near
How much I wanted you home
But now that you've come back
Turned night into day
I need you to stay
Eric knelt down on one knee and held out his hand with the ring in the palm. "Jackie Burkhart…will you marry me?" The melody played without words as Jackie walked to the stage and stood in front of him. She smiled and now he was nervous! He quickly handed her the flowers as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Yes, I will marry you Eric Forman."
Red stood up and shouted. Kitty started clapping and ran towards the stage. Eric was sliding his thick Point Place High School ring on her small finger. "Now it's perfect." He said before he kissed her.
*
Red danced with Brooke and then again with his future daughter-in-law while Kitty danced with Kelso. "Michael, I always knew you were a good boy and you have made me so proud of you." Kelso grinned, "Well Mrs. Forman…if you hadn't been married to Red…." She tittered and laughed before Eric swept in to dance with his mom.
"Oh, Eric, honey… I didn't even know you could sing so well… just look at you." Kitty started to cry, "Please don't elope this time!"
Eric laughed. "Mom, I'm going to marry a wedding planner – I doubt that eloping will ever be a topic. You don't mind that Jackie will be a Mrs. Forman also?"
Kitty smiled and sniffed, "No honey, we'll still love her just as much."
Eric grinned, "Well, you might love her more because we plan on having two kids." Kitty's eyes got big. "Oh, I think I might faint! Eric, you'll give me grandbabies? I love both of you!" She kissed her son's cheek, "Dance me over to your dad, I've gotta tell him."
Eric laughed and dropped his mom off at the table and went in search of Jackie. He found her sitting with Brooke and said, "God, I don't know which of you is prettier…Brooke you're beautiful because well, you're the bride, but I have to dance with my fiancée who is…well she's pretty freaking hot herself." Jackie looked at Brooke. "I'm a fiancée!" Both girls screamed and squealed before Eric could drag Jackie back to the dance floor.
"Hey Jackie." He said low in her ear which gave her shivers. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hey yourself." She replied. Eric danced her near the potted plants, "I'm thinking maybe we should buy a house. You know, some place to raise those kids we're going to have."
She looked up at him with wet eyes. "I'd love a house. With a yard?"
"Of course - maybe… in the same neighborhood as Kelso? Betsy could babysit our kids." Jackie laughed at that remark. 'Your folks would babysit our kids."
It was Eric's turn to laugh, "Mom would pitch a fit if someone else watched a Forman baby besides her."
"Oh Eric, this is the best day of my life. I can't imagine being happier than I am right now."
He bent down to kiss her and said. "Neither can I."
*
Annie had finally got home around 11:00 o'clock that night. Her feet were killing her but her heart was singing at the success of the party. Her new boss and her old boss were getting married too! The whole unscripted event was so romantic! She locked her car and spun around to see a tall figure sitting on the stoop of her house.
"Estefan - Is that you?"
He stood up and shook the light dust of snow from his boots. "I couldn't wait until Saturday." He said from the shadow of the porch light. Annie smiled and carried her bags to the door and unlocked the house. "Come in – it's chilly out here."
Hyde sat on the edge of the frayed sofa and could still smell the fiery peppers and salsa from last night. Annie flopped in a chair with a smile. 'I just worked the most wonderful wedding."
"Did you – want to talk about it?"
She looked at him…his brilliant blue eyes were waiting for an answer. "The bride was just gorgeous and we sent them to the reception in a horse and carriage. Then during the reception, my old boss proposed to my new boss and she accepted. Guess who gets to plan the new wedding? Me!" Annie hugged her self with excitement.
Hyde sighed. It was inevitable - Eric proposing to Jackie - he knew that - but something Annie said the night before changed his whole outlook on life, "Estefan, did you know that sometimes people go looking for something they wish they had or thought they lost never realize that what they want is right is front of them the whole time?" and during the course of the day and he remembered that it was the Rolling Stones song You Can't Always Get What You Want.
He was hanging a sheet of drywall when something Mrs. Forman also said hit him in the head like a sandbag. ".. Honey, there's this thing called karma or fate. Life is giving you back for what you gave…" When he thought about it, he did give Jackie a lot of misery and Samantha gave it right back to him tenfold.
"Well, Steven. Maybe this is your chance to turn your life around." When Hyde thought about it, he didn't really want to go back to being a pot smoking burnout sitting in a basement. That was where he hid. This last week spending time with Annie opened his eyes in a way that he could never conceive of. He liked surprises. He liked salsa and homemade tortillas. He liked Annie.
He didn't understand it, but in his first step at changing his life around he decided to tell her truth. Take off the shields and remove the shades and see if she stayed or would run away. He cleared his throat. "Annie, there's something I need to tell you."
She smiled and looked at him with those big brown eyes. "Yes Estefan?"
He took a deep breath and exhaled. "I haven't been entirely truthful to you." She didn't run… yet. "My name is not Estefan Barnett. It's really…"
"Steven Hyde." She said for him. Hyde fell off the arm of the sofa. "What?"
Annie stood up and walked over to the couch. She took his face in her hands. "O sabía quién eras – I knew who you were."
She smiled, "Did you not think I would check you out? I recognized you the first time I saw you but couldn't remember from where. I looked through some old pictures that Roger had in his tool box and there you were. Maybe you were 18 or 19 and you looked like an angry young man." She pushed her fingers through his hair rubbing on those pressure points.
"My husband liked you a lot evidently and that says a lot in your favor. Then my boss confided that she used to date an asshole named Hyde and I just put two and two together and you know what I got?"
Hyde was embarrassed, "What did you get?"
Annie bent down and pressed a soft kiss on his mouth. "I got two - Me and you. I think the memorable event you wanted to plan was really fate intervening to bring us together."
"Karma" he said thickly. Annie had busted him. She ran her strong fingers over his chest. "Yes, karma – you may have thought you were planning an event but the event was actually planning for this moment."
She knocked him down on the sofa and straddled his legs. "Can you honestly look at me and tell me that you are still that angry 18 year old hombre?" He looked up and liked this forceful woman who didn't take any shit from him. She just let him play the game and busted him. He admired that immensely.
"No, I still get angry but I promised someone I was going to change my life around. I can't believe you faked me out."
Annie leaned over his chest, her black hair pooling on his white tee-shirt. "Well, maybe you call yourself Steven, but I like Estefan better. If you are changing your life, why not change your name? I'm not Bella anymore but I'm still the same woman."
Hyde reached up and touched her cheek. "What does karma say about me if I hurt a lot of people – okay girls – on my path of self discovery?"
She took his finger and nipped the tip with her teeth. "Maybe it says you needed a strong woman to guide you and led you to me." She bit the pad of his finger and he yelped. Very sexy! "What do you think karma is saying to you?"
He gulped as her lips hovered over his. Hyde was never one to be in a non-dominant position and yet Annie had this power over him that stymied everything he knew about women. "I think I need to pay more attention to karma." He dared to wrap his arms around her waist. He liked the voluptuous hips and narrow waist and all the good stuff on top.
"There's more you need to tell me."
He sighed, "Yes, and it's not good and you may not like me very much."
She looked down at his beautiful eyes – he was baring his soul as if for the first time. "Let me decide if I like you or not."
"Okay – The Kelso wedding? Michael and Brooke used to be good friends of mine but I let my ex-wife run them off. Your boss Jackie Burkhart – she was the girl I was cruel to and I let my ex-wife run her off. Eric Forman, your old boss? He used to be like a brother to me but I didn't stay in touch with him. The only friend I have left is Fez."
Annie chuckled. "I like Fez – he's so silly and Rhonda is good for him. What other secrets do you have?"
"Well, I'm living in Forman's house because I'm trying to rebuild Grooves. My dad, my real dad is William Barnett, he owns the chain."
"Ah…Estefan Barnett – that is still your name if he is your father."
Confession felt good for his soul. "I was raised and abandoned by Bud Hyde. Everyone just calls me Hyde."
Annie leaned down close to his ear, "But I don't Estefan." Her breath tickled his ear and he pulled her close to his chest. "Red and Kitty Forman are like my parents should have been. Eric is their son and when he went to Africa I had married a stripper and my life fell apart after that."
Annie nipped a spot on his throat with her teeth. "So if you have a relationship with the Forman's it should be easy to repair the damages with their son."
God that felt good – her lips were sucking on his ear lobe. How could he have an intelligent conversation when she was doing that? He sat up and shook his head. "You are driving me crazy. Anyway, Eric hates me and will always hate me for what I did to Jackie."
Annie sighed. "Estefan, people are very forgiving if you apologize with your heart. I suspect you have a big heart under those big muscles." She stroked his ribs and chest through his shirt, "Te gusta cuando hago esto?"
He grinned. "Yes, I like it when you do that." Her brown eyes were glowing and she bit back a laugh. "Estefan Hyde – I don't like so much, but what is a name? I like you and I think that you have a good soul. You are deserving of a second chance in life."
"So are you saying that I can…date you?"
She nodded her head. "That's a start. But, if you want me to be your Amiga, you have to introduce me to your parents - The Forman's."
Hyde smiled. "I can do that."
"I have a very important question to ask you. This might make you run away. I have a daughter – does that intimidate you? I have to ask now because everything I do affects her."
"I like kids. I have a god-daughter. Betsy Kelso." He liked kids. What? I do? Oh yeah, I actually do!
Annie grinned. "I love little Betsy. You should have seen the little Nina in her tiny dress today. So sweet!" Annie stood up and offered her hand. "Well, if I'm going to meet the Forman's tomorrow, we should get to bed now. Don't you agree?"
Hyde looked up to see she was unbuttoning her vest. His mouth felt dry and he could feel his hands shaking when she slipped off her skirt standing only in a bra and slip. "Estefan, you are so slow!"
Hyde slapped at the light switch and tackled Annie on the big bed. "I think you're going to want me to be slow tonight."
"Oh Estefan….don't tell me….show me!"
*