Before I Say I Do
Chapter Five: Nothing Is Easy
"So, how'd it go today?" Jackie asked as she sat down opposite from her fiancé.
Hyde took a drink from his soda, then set it down on the table. "Bob showed up," he stated flatly, "God Red pretty teed off."
"I thought you knew he was coming up from Florida to help with the wedding?"
"I did, but Red didn't." He smirked a bit at his statement.
"How did the day after that?"
Hyde didn't really want to tell her that the day was pretty much wasted- but he didn't want to lie to her either. He already made it clear years earlier that he didn't like to lie to her- too many people had done that to her by the time she graduated high school. So while they were together, he made sure to promise her that- no matter how many times she told him it was ok in certain situations- he'd always tell her the absolute truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Was it hard? Sure, especially in this case, cause he knew how excited she was about planning their wedding. But he wouldn't break his promise.
"Well," Hyde began, taking a deep breath in, "To be honest, we got nothing done."
Jackie's eyes widened for a brief moment. "What? Why not?" she asked, shock lacing her tone.
"Mostly cause of Fez and Kelso. They kept seeing things they wanted, and then we'd get stuck in that spot for a little while cause they'd try to figure out a way to try and get one."
She let out a couple giggles. "Why am I not surprised that they did that?"
"Cause they're morons? Whatever, that's nothing new. How'd it go for you all today?"
Jackie didn't want to tell him that they'd also got nothing done, like he said he and the guys did. She also didn't want to tell him that her mother had decided to make an appearance; she knew how all those boys got when Pam was around, so she didn't want them to really know and go back to when they were teenagers, all trying to impress her. But, she was mostly embarrassed by the fact that they got nothing done- and they had a child with them! Not two man-children! And the thing was, in their case, that little Betsy wasn't even the problem!
Well, of course she wouldn't be- she had Jackie as a godmother. She was the best person in the whole world to have as a godmother.
But then again, Betsy was half Michael Kelso. Sure, she was half Brooke, but did that weigh out the Kelso genes?
Either way, the one that had cause the most problem for Jackie was Pam Burkhart. Who did she think she was, taking away the attention from the bride to be, especially when that bride was Jackie Burkhart! No one takes attention away from Jackie Burkhart! If anything, Jackie Burkhart takes away the attention from someone! That's just how it was. It was scientifically proven that this was always the case… well, maybe not scientifically, but who cared about science? She's Jackie Burkhart, and that's just how it goes.
"Honestly," Jackie sighed sadly, "Not too great."
Hyde was shocked by Jackie's answer. He knew how much she loved to talk about wedding and anything involved in weddings, so he expected her to be having a grand old time with all of this. That was part of the reason that had decided to have a wedding at the end of the summer, cause they knew she'd be ready to take it on. They had a whole thing planned- and to both of them, that plan seemed to be going down the toilet.
"Do I wanna know?" Hyde asked.
Jackie let out a heavy sigh. "My mom showed up," she answered, obviously not pleased.
He gave a look of surprise. "Pam's here?"
"Yeah. But she just showed up, literally, out of nowhere!"
Hyde knew how Jackie felt about having her mother around. He knew that they hadn't kept up the best relationship in the world, and he knew that she didn't want her mother around. He couldn't imagine how it must have made her feel when Pam showed up suddenly, especially without telling anyone about her presence. At least with Bob, they knew that he was going to be coming up to Wisconsin for the whole wedding planning process and for the wedding itself, and the same went for Leo and W. B.- but Pam, as far as he knew, no one had been told about her arrival.
"You didn't like that," Hyde stated, more of just a true statement rather than a question.
"Of course I didn't!" Jackie answered, "I didn't want her to come! I think she might have a reason that she came."
"Which is?"
She paused for a moment, thinking. "Well, I still don't know it yet, but I'm gonna find out!"
He nodded slowly. "Just make sure not to get too wrapped up in your mom and why she's here, ok? Just think about the wedding planning. I mean, you love all that stuff, remember? Picking dresses and suits, colors, patterns, flowers, all the stuff. Just think about that, and then deal with your mom and why she's here later on."
Jackie gave him a smile. "Thank you, Steven," she said, obviously eased by his statement.
Hyde leaned over and kissed her temple lovingly, happy that she was feeling better.
-/-/-
"So how'd it go for you guys?" Donna asked her husband eagerly.
Donna and Eric had decided to get married, even while they were still in college. It had been a small wedding, only having their close friends and family present. The major difference with this wedding and the original, was the fact that both the bride and the groom showed up this time! Neither of them had cold feet, and neither one regretted the fact that they'd said, "I do." After they got married, they were shocked to find out that they were not the only married couple at their school in Madison.
"Well," Eric thought aloud, "If we planned on getting them a home cotton candy machine or some sort of gift that Jackie would probably hate- then I'd say it went well."
Donna gave a questioning look. "A cotton candy machine?" she asked, trying to figure out if she had heard him right.
"Yes, Donna. A cotton candy machine."
"Should I ask?" She let out a light chuckle as she asked her question.
"Let's just say, Kelso might be getting a home cotton candy machine for Betsy, and Fez might be getting one for… Fez."
Donna didn't know any other reaction to Eric's answer other than laughter. She knew how her friends were and how they'd always been like children, even once they all got into their adult years. Thought, to be fair, while they were all still a bit immature in certain areas, they all were also mature at the same time- if that made any sense.
Donna began to look back on the past seven years of her life, as well as her friend's lives. A lot had changed for them all, and when she was thinking "a lot", she meant a lot. Friendships, graduations, children, relationships, marriages, careers, and parents- you named it, and somehow, they had all seemed to make it through it all. It made her smile, knowing that they had all stuck together through it all and stood by each other.
So it actually made her a bit happy to hear the two most childlike of their group were still as childlike as ever.
"So," Eric began, gaining back her attention, "Did Jackie say anything about your clothes?"
Donna thought for a moment. "You know, now that I think about it," she began, "I don't think she did. Unless you count her suggesting getting new clothes for me if we had the time."
"I think that's like when she gives those passive-aggressive insults at your wardrobe."
"It's alright. I'm pretty much immune to most of her comments at this point. Besides, her mind was pretty much somewhere else all day."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Pam showed up-"
"Pam's back in Wisconsin?" His eyes widened in shock.
Donna nodded. "Yeah, I know. I do have one question though."
"Yeah?"
She tried to hold in her laughter. "Are you gonna put your suit on again?"
-/-/-
Jackie sat alone at the small kitchen table in her and her fiancé's apartment. Spread out over the surface of the dinette table were magazines she'd gotten in the mail and at the store for those who were planning for a wedding. The bride-to-be's arms were crossed over an open magazine, and her head was cradled in her folded arms. Her eyes were shut and her mouth was slightly ajar as she slept, gentle sounds of her breathing escaping from her lips.
Hyde leaned against the doorway of the room, looking over his sleeping fiancé. He didn't want to wake her from her peaceful sleep, especially after hearing about her mother being back, but he didn't want to leave her asleep on the table all night. If this was one of his friends, he'd pour cold water on them to wake them up and to kinda screw them over- or if it were Kelso, he'd probably punch him in the arm. But this was his fiancé.
If he tried anything he'd try to wake one of his friends up on her, she's turn into Red Forman and stick her tiny foot up his ass.
Hyde moved to the other chair at the table so he could sit next to Jackie. He placed one of his hands gently on her back, the other on her upper arm and began to shake her gently. "Come on, Jackie," he tried as she began to stir awake, "Time to get up."
"What time is it?" Jackie groaned out tiredly, her head still on the table.
"After two in the morning, Doll," Hyde answered gently, "I thought that you might be more comfortable sleeping in a bed instead of the table."
She sat up and looked down sadly, her eyes still showing how tired she was. "Steven, can I ask you a question?"
He smirked playfully, trying to lighten her mood. "You just did."
She rolled her eyes. "Steven, I'm serious!"
"Alright, I'm sorry. Go ahead."
"Do you think we'll have everything ready in time?"
"I think so," Hyde answered honestly, then shrugged, "And if we don't, you and me drive to Las Vegas, find a chapel, and have an Elvis impersonator marry us."
All Jackie did was shook her head at him, but still gave an amused smile as she let out a laugh. Hyde couldn't help but smile at her.
I think that this was a cute chapter. The part where Hyde and Jackie are talking about Pam, that was just added in now- in the notebook I write the original draft of it in, and usually keep it the same way, I had it that Jackie doesn't tell him what happened just yet and that she'll tell him in the nearby future. I didn't like it when I was typing this, so I had it that she tells him and he tries to comfort her. This was partly from an idea from a review from nannygirl (thank you, girlie!), as well as a few things I have coming up to go along with a few other ideas I already had.
Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. I really hate asking for other reads, but I'm going to for two stories I have. My story here on fanfiction. Net, "Expect the Unexpected" (originally titled "Back In My Arms Again"), if you would check it out? Mostly cause I would like a bit of feedback on it. You don't have to, just suggesting :) also, if you have the Episode Interactive app on your mobile device (Samsung, Ipad, phone, etc.), maybe check out my contest entry "Mysterious: Mona Lisa Smile". It's for their April 2017 writing contest, where you had to write a mystery story. Again, you don't have to- just suggesting if you wanna.
Again, hope you liked the chapter. Next update should be in two to four weeks. By the way, this was the last time I'll mention other stories of mine XD peace from all the hippies of the world =^-^=