Before I Say I Do
Chapter Four: "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"
The group of men walked through the large department store, all feeling a bit strange as they did so. They were quite a sight to see for those around them in the store, that was for sure. Two middle aged men, along with four other men in their twenties, all walking through the bathroom décor part of the store. And the bedroom décor. And the kitchen décor. And the living room décor. Not to mention the facial expression each men wore; two of the men looked slightly eager, one seemed neutral, one looked curious, one looked a bit confused, and the last looked annoyed by the situation as a whole.
You probably already known which is which.
"Hey, look at this," Fez said happily and ran over to a shelf, "A home cotton candy machine! You and Jackie should get this, Hyde."
Kelso got excited at the mentioned device. "Me and Brooke should get this!" he said excitedly as he went over to the device with his friend.
"For Betsy?" Eric tried, even though he already knew the idea behind it.
Kelso looked over at his friend a bit hesitantly. "Uh… yeah, for Betsy."
"I don't know, Fez," Hyde said hesitantly, "I don't think Jackie would like a cotton candy machine."
Fez looked offended. "Who would not love a cotton candy machine?"
"Jackie, most likely."
Kelso still looked mesmerized by the machine. "I bet Brooke would love this… for Betsy."
Red rolled his eyes. "Can we just hurry up and get the hell out of here?" he requested in a rough voice.
The group of men all walked away from the cotton candy machine- two of the men a bit disappointed. The group all continued through the store, trying not to pay attention to anyone who looked at them. They knew it was strange to see the group of them, but- for some strange reason- they all still went together. They kind of had no choice, especially when the one who sent them all together was Kitty Forman- and no one wanted to go against her words.
Eric nudged his friend and brother on the arm. "How do you think the girls are doing?" he asked curiously.
"Well," Hyde thought aloud, "Jackie's probably loving it, I know that's for sure."
-/-/-
"I am so not loving this," Jackie complained to those she was with.
"Jackie, stop," Kitty scolded.
"But this was supposed to be fun, Mrs. Forman. I had everything planned out- then she decided to join us."
"Jackie, she's your mother."
The young bride rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air. "Why does everyone keep using that excuse?"
It was no secret that Jackie didn't want her mother there. She complained about it enough when the woman wasn't there, or had just disappeared into another part of the store they were in. The young bride-to-be's mother was definitely a surprise- not a very good one in the young woman's opinion, but still a surprise. It wasn't the kind of surprise that Jackie Burkhart was used to, and definitely not the kind that she would want. This was the kind of surprise that she did not want, and would never want. Ever.
Especially not when it involved her wedding.
Everyone kept telling Jackie to give the woman a chance. They all kept telling her that she should give her a chance, just because Pam was her mother. What difference should that make? She thought, It's not like she was a good mother. She at least wasn't in the young woman's opinion, based off of everything that had happened in her teenage years. Based off of the mother-daughter relationship that they had in the late seventies, it was understandable why the younger woman didn't believe her mother was a very good one
"But, Jackie, she's your-" Brooke tried.
"I know, I know!" Jackie interrupted, "She's my mom, I know! You've all said it enough times!"
"Then what's so complicated and difficult about this?" Donna asked in a confused tone.
Jackie rolled her eyes. "When my dad went to jail, where was my mom? Down in Mexico and who knows where else. When I needed her most, she wasn't there for me. She only cared about herself and her life, not mine."
That comment made the other three women present stay quiet. Kitty and Brooke had never been in a situation even close to that; Donna had somewhat of an idea, but only cause her mom had left. While Midge had left her husband and her daughter, she still kept in contact with the redhead. Even with that, none of them had a mother who stayed out of state and out of country and drank and partied while he husband was thrown in jail. And along with that, leaving their only child alone in a house to take care of herself before she reached adulthood.
"See my point?" Jackie questioned.
As the other women all agreed sullenly with her, the woman in question reproached the group. "I'm back everyone," Pam said in a sing-song voice.
Jackie gave a fake smile. "Great."
All Kitty could think of to do was to let out one of her signature, nervous laughs.
-/-/-
By the end of the afternoon, the group of men were leaving the department store they'd spent their day in.
To say that the day had been a waste of time would be the understatement of the year. As the men had traveled through the store, they constantly stopped to look at random items through the building. Along with the cotton candy machine, many other items like it caused a delay of some kind. Each man had stopped to point an item out to the group at least once- even Red and Hyde. At the end of the day, the two min tried to figure out the most ridiculous thing that they stopped for, and agreed that it was when Bob- somehow- had found a banjo in the store.
They were walking through the house decorating part of the store, and there was the banjo. Five of the six men found it very random, while a certain Bob Pinciotti grew as excited about it as little Betsy Kelso would get about a new toy. He picked up the banjo, played around with it, and almost bought it to take it back home with him to Florida. The only reason he walked away from it was because Red had threatened to stick that very same banjo up his behind.
"Well," Hyde began as he cleared his throat, "Today went well."
"Yes, I believe it did," Fez smiled genuinely, not catching the sarcasm in his friend's voice.
Eric looked over at their foreign friend, a blank stare on his face. "Fez, I think he was being sarcastic, buddy," he suggested in a monotone voice.
Fez gave a look mixed with confusion and disappointment. "Oh, right."
"It was a waste of time for me," Kelso beamed, "I figured out what I'm getting Betsy for Christmas!"
Red rolled his eyes at the young father, but remained silent.
"Kelso, man," Hyde began, "Christmas isn't for another seven months."
Kelso smirked a bit. "Christmas in July, Hyde. Duh."
Red and Bob looked at each other, both with a strange look on their faces. They both rolled their eyes and let out an annoyed sigh of their own at the young father's words as they all retreated from the store and to their cars parked in the store parking lot.
"Yeah," Hyde breathed out quietly as he got into the driver's seat of his old El Camino, "Christmas in July."
Greetings humanoids. How'd you like this chapter? What'd you think of all the antics going on in this chapter? Next chapter is mostly just a regrouping of everything from this chapter and the characters. Also a cute scene (at least I think so) at the end of it with Jackie and Hyde. Then the chapter after that, the two of them make a hard decision…
Real quick- I don't usually promote my other stories too much anymore, but maybe check out a small story I'm doing for fun here on fanfiction. Net? It's called "Back In My Arms Again". It's in the Buckaroo Banzai fandom under movies, and you don't have to see the movie, read the book version or read any of the comics to understand anything going on. It's a family, friendship, romance, adventure and even crime-fighting story, so if you're into that, maybe check it out? I get it if you don't want to, the Buckaroo Banzai fandom is a very small one, but just figured I'd throw it out there since I never really advertise my other stories anymore.
Anyway, hope you guys liked this chapter. Next one should be out in two to four weeks, no more no less. Peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=