A/N: Aaaand we're back. Thank you so much to anyone who's reviewed this story, favourited it, or put it in their story alerts. It genuinely means a lot. This also happens to be the last chapter of Part 1. Part 2/Chapter 5 will pick up on New Year's Eve at the maybe soon to be Kelsos in Chicago. As always, I hope you guys enjoy it.
Point Place, Wisconsin
August 11th, 1989, 3:29 PM
Eric and Donna's House
"Oh, get bent, Forman!" Hyde said, as Fez passed the joint to him. They didn't smoke as much, as they used to, but with everyone actually in Point Place for once, they might as well. Kelso looked like, he was about to start laughing. Really, Hyde should have seen this coming, as soon as he'd mentioned that he had taken Jackie home the night before. Maybe, it was just because they were all high, but all of them seemed to think, that he still had some sort of feelings for Jackie. Hyde hadn't even told them about the fact, that he'd kissed her, and he was absolutely not going to do that, no way.
"I'm just saying. Donna and I slept together, after we broke up, because her mom left. People relapse and get back together," Forman said. He looked like he was about to start giggling. Hyde kind of wanted to punch him. "And you were going to marry Jackie, so maybe you're still in looove."
"Oh come on, Forman. It's been like 10 years, since Hyde and Jackie broke up. If he's still in love with her, he's a wuss," Kelso argued. He laughed. "I mean, Jackie is hot and all. But if she wanted to get back together now, I'd definitely say no. Because of Brooke, you know."
"Yes, but you are in love and have babies with Brooke, Kelso," Fez said. Fez paused and looked deep in thought for a moment. "I wonder if Kelly's babies would like fruit loops?"
"Forman, I was never gonna marry Jackie!" Hyde argued. That was a lie, he hadn't really wanted to marry Jackie back then, but he'd bought a ring, and he had planned to propose. Maybe he would grow into the whole marriage thing, if it was with Jackie. She was pretty much the only person, he could see himself actually being married to, when it came down to it. Even if he hadn't felt ready for it. But whatever, he was too high, and it was too long ago, for it to truly matter. "And I'm guessing Kelly's not going to want kids, she's a model Fez."
"Yeah right," Forman said, and still looked like he was about to start giggling. This time, Hyde did decide to punch him. "Ow! Damn, I knew it was a bad idea to sit next to you."
"Betsy doesn't like fruit loops," Kelso said, with the dopey smile, he always had when he was baked. And sometimes, when he wasn't baked too. "She likes frosted flakes though. Willy throws most of his food on the floor, Brooke is trying to make him stop."
"A true Kelso," Fez said with something sounding a lot like pride, making all of them laugh, except Kelso, who looked a bit offended.
"Whatever, I love them. And I love Brooke," Kelso said. "Hyde, do you still have that ring you were gonna use, when you wanted to marry Jackie? Because, maybe I could use it when I propose to Brooke- Ow! Damn Hyde, don't hit me! I was just asking, man!"
"I already told you morons. I wasn't going to marry Jackie!" Hyde replied. It was none of their damn business, any of them, even if it hadn't already become a distant but faintly painful memory, a long time ago.
"Babies, huh?" Forman said, and now the laugh seemed a lot more nervous out of a sudden. They should probably explore this further, if nothing else for the potential for burning Forman. "I mean, it's already weird that Kelso has two kids, but if anyone else was going to have children, that'd be pretty weird right?"
"Children are not weird, Eric," Fez said in an overly serious tone. He always inevitably ended up talking like that, whenever he got high. "They are the miracle of life."
"Yeah, Forman. What's wrong, 'Donna pregnant with quadruplets or something?" Hyde added. If Forman thought, he didn't notice the way, his face went pale as a sheet, then he was overestimating how baked Hyde was. Even if Forman's panic hadn't been hilarious, Hyde was kind of happy with the distraction. He really needed to stop thinking about Jackie, just like his friends needed to stop asking about Jackie.
"Quadruplets? Women can't have four-" Forman mumbled quietly to himself. "Whatever, Donna can't be pregnant!" he said more loudly, in that panicked voice all of them had heard a million times before. Hyde had to admit, he wanted to laugh.
"Because you and Donna never do it?" Kelso asked, making everyone but Eric laugh. That was a solid burn, but Forman had also practically set himself up for that one. Forman was practically red in the face, and clearly struggling to come up with something to counter that bit, almost spluttering, when he tried to talk.
"No. Because- Guys, Hyde walked Jackie back home and voluntarily spent time with her!" Forman squeaked, clearly trying to distract from something. Hyde had a pretty good idea, what it was. But Forman was bound to squeal, if he wanted to tell them. Donna must have shut him up on whatever it was, he was trying to hide from them. "Seize on that!"
"I bet you kissed her, and told her you loooved her," Fez said, also earning himself a punch. Because really at this point, all of these morons needed to shut it, about whatever the hell, they thought, they knew about him and Jackie. Because they didn't know shit, and there wasn't even shit to know. Besides the fact, that they'd accidentally kissed. But that was none of his friends' damn business. Now, he was even thinking in circles in the circles. He wasn't even sure, if thinking in circles was a thing, that made sense. "Ai!"
"Alright, that's it. I'm never hitting it with you idiots again," Hyde said. But he could barely get through the sentence, before he started laughing. The other three guys laughed as well. All of them knew, he was lying. Fez handed him the joint, and he took another hit, all thoughts of drunkenly kissing Jackie finally leaving his head.
Donna was pacing, actually pacing up and down her and Eric's bedroom. Jackie leant back against the bedrest. The comforter was a bland green colour, and she wondered what Donna had been thinking, when she'd picked it. Because surely, it had to be Donna. Eric wouldn't set his foot in a furniture store. Jackie watched her friend. She was paler than usual, the fact that her hair was red again, wasn't really helping her complexion either. But seeing as Donna had apparently been sick for a while last night, maybe that wasn't such a big surprise. "You're gonna drill a hole in the floor," Jackie said, gesturing vaguely at Donna.
"Yeah, yeah, Jackie," Donna said absentmindedly, and continued to pace. That one was new. Usually, Donna would at least attempt to fire back with something. Jackie gave her a curious look. Donna had tied her hair back in a bun, but hair was falling out of it. She was wearing a sweater and jogging pants. That was also new, usually Donna was wearing something at least a little bit nicer than that. Jackie's influence had at least rubbed off a little bit.
"Donna, are you alright?" Jackie asked. She should in reality, just be grateful that Donna hadn't asked, how Jackie had gotten home the night before, but she had to admit, she was actually worried about her friend. She leant a little bit forward. Donna gave her a look, that looked nervous more than anything else. She was clearly worried, Jackie just couldn't figure out about what. "You look- Worse than usual."
"Alright, fine, you really wanna know?" Donna asked. Jackie nodded, and Donna flopped down on the bed, spread out like a star fish, like she'd just collapsed. Donna was staring at the ceiling, almost like she didn't want to look Jackie in the eye. Maybe, she did know something about the fact, that she'd walked home with Steven the night before and had that stupid kiss thing happen. Steven could have broken his promise, and told Eric, and if Eric knew anything about anything, Donna would know within 5 minutes. But even, Donna wouldn't freak out that much about that. "Jackie, I think, I'm pregnant," Donna finally said after a long pause, her voice small.
"Donna, that's great! Sure, it's Eric's, which is unfortunate, but that's great," Jackie said. Donna lifted her head, and looked over at Jackie. Jackie knew her well enough to be able to see the panic all over her face. "I mean, you guys still wanna have kids, right?" Jackie continued.
"Yes," Donna said, and rolled onto her side, so she was facing Jackie. Donna made a grimace. "But, I just figured, you know- That we'd wait a couple more years. Get to see more of the world, before our lives were kind of over. And Eric really freaked out."
"Eric freaks out about everything!" Jackie pointed out, making a small smile appear on Donna's face. "I mean sure, you might have to stay home a bit more for a few years, because travelling with babies is kind of annoying. But you can still go, when the baby gets a bit older. Kids like seeing new places. It's at least better than ditching them to go party somewhere."
"So, I'm guessing your mom's not home," Donna interjected. As usual, her friend managed to see through her, better than Jackie necessarily liked.
"She met a rich French guy in Las Vegas, and went to his vacation home in Portugal," Jackie replied. A maybe not so small part of her was grateful, she could think about something that wasn't the can of worms, that was last night. She was happy for her friends, genuinely really happy, but if she had told Donna about what happened last night with Steven, she would have made it out to mean something. Which it very clearly did not. So talking about Donna maybe being pregnant was just easier.
"Why would a French guy have a vacation home in Portugal?" Donna asked, making Jackie smile. Jackie had stopped trying to make sense of her mother's endless strings of boyfriends a long time ago. The French guy was far from the most out there. Before him, she'd dated a Russian oil guy, who had ten cats. Her mom had dumped him, because they didn't get to travel around enough, he was too busy taking care of the cats. Of course, her mom had also dated Donna's dad, which was almost even worse. Jackie had long since stopped putting too much thought into it.
"That's like asking why Michael isn't too bright. No one knows, Donna," Jackie retorted, making Donna mirror her smile. Neither of them said anything for a beat of silence. She swallowed hard before she continued. Out of the two of them, they'd always imagined Jackie would be the one with a family first. Because Jackie had never been as interested in the whole travelling thing, as Donna was. But Jackie wasn't even disappointed or upset about this. She was genuinely happy for Eric and Donna. "Look, do you wanna have a baby with Eric?" she asked, her tone more serious.
"Yes," Donna said quietly, sincerely. She cleared her throat. "And you're right, we'll work it out. We don't have to put our lives on hold, just because we're having a baby. Although, I'm guessing, it's not a good idea to visit the school Eric taught at in Africa in 6 months time, like we planned on doing."
"Probably not," Jackie agreed with a smile, an honest, happy feeling in her chest. If Donna couldn't talk some sense into Eric, Jackie would. Her friends deserved to be happy, and even if Eric was Eric, Donna at least deserved to be happy. "Mrs Forman is going to have a field day with this."
"Oh god, I didn't even think about that," Donna said, clearly picturing it in her head, just like Jackie was. Mrs Forman hadn't dealt well with no longer having kids in the house, and if there was a new baby in the family, she might permanently move into Eric and Donna's shed. "Might have to hold off on telling the Formans for a while, if you can keep your mouth zipped."
"You got it," Jackie replied. She rearranged herself on the bed, as Donna pushed herself up into a sitting position. "So, do you know what you want to name them if it's a boy? What if it's a girl?"
