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Author's Note: Hi there everyone! I am so very sorry for my tardiness once again. I truly am. I never realized just how much you have to study to get an 'A' on a test. Still haven't gone one highest was an 89 but I'm in the B area in most of my classes so I'm almost there! But anyways I am very very sorry about the long wait but it is a very very long chapter. 9,000+ Holy Moly! So I really hope this makes up for the lateness and that you all like it. I really couldn't break it up because the chapter would be just too short and I didn't want that. I really hope you guys like it1 Couple of notes. Please remember I am not a doctor, though I do have an anatomy midterm this week but we'll see how that goes. Thanks very much for the support, the patience, and of course the reviews. It all means so much to me. And don't forget it never too late to leave a first time review! I'd love to hear from you. Well that's about it I know you all are excited to get to this monstrous chapter, so get a cup of coffee, maybe a doughnut a muffin oo or a brownie and sit back and relax and…oo you may want to use the little boys/girls room before reading, it's 9,000+ words don't know if I could sit that still lol. As always, Enjoy!
It was a little later on in the day and Kitty's video was still in the works. Hyde remained behind the camera, fascinated by the things he was finding out from and about his surrogate mother. Jackie felt the same and she hadn't even been there too long, though from just what she had heard she planned on sticking around to hear more of what Kitty had to say—despite in protest Hyde might have.
"When Laurie was about six and Eric was four we went on our first full family road trip." Kitty shared starting another story from the past, "We went to…"
"Ah jeeze." An annoyed groan interrupted Kitty.
Hyde moved the camera to where the noise had come from and caught footage of Red Forman entering the room from the kitchen.
"Your still doing that video?" he asked, trying to sound annoyed.
Kitty smiled and nodded her head while looking at her husband, "That's right Red. It is just so much fun."
The video camera swung from Kitty and back to Red. He had now moved closer into the room and was standing beside his armchair where Jackie had made herself comfortable.
"Alright Loud One," he said looking down at the young woman, "get out of the chair."
Jackie effortlessly got up from the green chair allowing Red to take a seat in his chair. Once he was comfortable, Jackie decided to speak.
"You know Red, you should do a video too." She repeated an idea Kitty had given him earlier in the day, "Oo and I could do your video the way Steven's doing Mom's…only I'll be infront of the camera too because…well the camera loves me."
Red held back the urge to roll his eyes as he looked around his chair for his paper, "Jackie, I don't want to make a video like that right now."
"Don't worry Red, you do your video with Jackie and it won't be made any time close to right now." Hyde said, staying behind the camera, "She'd probably wanna come up with the questions before and it takes her about an hour to come up with two."
Jackie glared at the camera and the man behind it, "At least I'm not like Steven who…"
"Alright, alright that's enough." Red ordered in his firm, sternly fatherly voice. He had seen Kitty's worried face and the arguments between these two made him want to be back in Korea.
"You two keep fighting and you'll be fighting off my foot as it tries to get in your ass…and believe me you will loose." He informed the duo as he opened up his found newspaper.
The room was silent as the message, well threat really, had been well received.
"How much longer is this video gonna take, Steven?"
Hyde struggled to find his voice again, "Uh I don't know Red. It kinda depends. Either we run outta tape or Mom runs out of things to say."
"My money's on the tape." Red stated, covering his face up by the paper, "You wait for Kitty to run out of things to say and the video would go on for days."
Hyde moved the camera back to Kitty to get her reaction. She only shook her head at Red before looking back at the camera.
She smiled just slightly, "Doesn't he say just the sweetest things?
0o0o0o
Eric woke up the next morning thinking—and hoping—that he'd wake up with a certain brunette snuggled up in his arms. Maybe even her laying her head on his chest, while his arms had found their way around her waist. Well that one was abit of a long shot. Still he hoped it would be the sight to greet him…or maybe the sight of Jackie peacefully sleeping on her side of the bed; she looked beautiful while she slept.
Whatever sight it was that would welcome him in the morning, Eric expected it to have Jackie in it. They had slept in the same bed together the previous night.
So when Eric did wake up he was more than surprised to find the right side of the bed empty.
With a puzzled expression on his face, Eric slowly whirled his head around the bedroom in search of the former cheerleader. But there was no such luck.
Eric threw the covers off his legs and climb out of Jackie's bed. If Jackie wasn't in this room she had to be one of the rooms in the house; she shouldn't be too hard to find. He was ready to race out the bedroom door when he suddenly remembered something from yesterday. Two little something from yesterday.
His jeans and polo shirt, Jackie had left him earlier that day.
With everything that had happened yesterday—him and Jackie kissing several times, getting caught by their friends, that big face-off with everyone, his dad coming home—the clothing had easily been forgotten.
But not today.
Eric swiftly changed out of the clothes he'd been wearing for almost three days straight and into his new attire. Never before had he been so happy to be able to wear a pair of new and clean blue jeans. And the shirt Jackie had gotten him was a nice change from his overly wrinkled shirt he had been wearing. There was also the plus that the black polo did make him look a little mysterious and sexy…he wondered if Jackie had thought about that when she was selecting the articles of clothing.
Maybe he'd bring it to her attention when he found her…of course first he had to find her.
He exited the purple bedroom and entered into the hallway. Each of the other two bedroom doors remained shut, Eric figured it was probably because those on the other side of the door were still asleep. Yesterday had been along day, for everyone, and Eric hoped today would be better. If even it was just a little bit better.
Tip-toeing swiftly through the hall Eric made his way to the staircase. Just as quickly and quietly as he had travel through the hallway, Eric went down the living room staircase. Never once did he look or even think of looking into the living room to where the sofa bed was folded out and when he reach the last step, almost automatically, Eric made left turn into the small den.
When Eric entered the kitchen he felt like he was having a deja vu moment.
He had walked into an empty kitchen and looked around the room until he got to the glass doors. There was a sight that was quite similar to one he'd seen on his first morning back home.
The garage door was open, the Vista Cruiser was out in the driveway, the hood was up and someone was deep in there with only their lower half visible.
There were now two people Eric knew who worked on his old car like that. But he had a good feeling about who was working on it now. Jackie wasn't in bed with him this morning, which meant she was already up and moving. The door to his parents' bedroom was still closed upstairs, so he'd figured they were both still asleep or his dad wanted to spend some time with just his mom; he had been gone for almost a week.
It looked liked Eric had found his missing bedfellow.
Sliding the door to the right, Eric stepped outside and over to the figure under the parked vehicle's hood.
"So this is where you snuck off to huh?" he asked the half of the figure that wasn't buried in the inside of the Cruiser. "You know I'm starting to think you're working on this thing just to give out a good view of you're a…Aahh!"
Eric's flirtatious comment was soon put to a halt, the second he saw the figure move allowing a balding head to become evident. Soon after that Red Forman stood up straight and faced his son with a deep aggravated frown, making Eric's face show even more of the horror he felt inside him.
He was so glad he hadn't gone with his first plan of smacking what he thought was Jackie's butt.
"What was that Eric?" his father asked gruffly as he continued to frown.
Though horror was still a major part of what he was feeling, panic too began to come into play for Eric. He didn't know what he should say. He didn't exactly want to tell his father about him and Jackie like this and he wasn't sure if Red was supposed to know about Jackie working on the Vista Cruiser earlier in the week. He didn't have a clue for what to say!
"I…I…you…uh…I…see…" He struggled to put a sentence together that would be able to explain his previous actions. Maybe it would be better to pretend it hadn't happened. Sounded crazy, but was worth the shot.
"Morning Dad!" he greeted with his best fake smile.
Red stared at the young man in front of him; he was getting crazier by the second. The elder Forman shook his head before turning back to the engine and other parts under the hood.
Looking back forth from his annoyed and upset father to the safe and empty kitchen, Eric realized this was the perfect chance to go back into the house. His dad was distracted with trying to fix the Vista Cruiser, Eric could easily slip into the kitchen and not be missed for even a second.
He turned himself in the direction of the patio and even took a step towards it, but then the conversation he had with Jackie the night before entered his mind.
Jackie wanted him to talk to his dad. He said he would. And she agreed to give him another piece of his luggage back if he did. As much as he wanted his Spider-Man underwear—the item Jackie was most likely to give him—that wasn't what was motivating him to go over and have an actual conversation with Red. Instead it was two things. Two women.
His mother and Jackie.
Eric knew that if he talked to his dad, it would make both women very happy. Especially his mother. And he knew making his mother happy in her last few days was very important. Not just to him or his dad but to everyone else who was here too.
Besides if Red did kill him sometime during the conversation at least Eric would know he wouldn't have died in vain.
Taking a deep breath, Eric turned himself in the opposite direction and took a few steps closer to the car and his father.
"So Dad…how's Mom? Is she asleep?" Eric asked causing Red to look up at him; though it wasn't the usual angry, threatening stare Red Forman usually gave out, it still frightened Eric and sent him back to his younger, twitchier days.
"I…I…only asked cause…I didn't really think you'd leave Mom unless she was sleeping or something…" he tried to explained, "Not that I think you left her when you went to the convention…I mean I know you did...but you didn't really…I…Morning Dad!" he repeated, hoping that like before everything that had been previously said would be forgotten.
Red shook his head and sighed, "First of all Eric, I didn't even want to go to the damn convention. She wanted me to go. And if I'd know she was still sick I never would have left." He informed before going to back under the hood, "I'm only out here because the Loud One practically kicked me out, telling me I should get some coffee and something to eat. But there's no coffee and the only edible thing I could find in the kitchen was half a stick of butter and a box crackers."
"Wait, you found crackers? Where?" Eric asked almost excitedly, but the look his father sent his way settled him down and he nervously cleared his throat, "I mean, yeah we need to go get some food from the store. We've mostly been eating take-out stuff and you know taking turns buying."
"Right." Red nodded, he knew how it worked. He, Steven, and Jackie had been in a similar situation like this before, of course Kitty wasn't half as sick then as she was now.
Eric stood uncomfortably next to his father, trying to come up with something else to say. A few more seconds of silence passed between the two men before Red straightened himself out and walked over to his work bench to retrieve a tool he needed. Eric watched his father and then moved his eyes to the complicated insides of his former vehicle.
He wished he knew something about mechanic-ing, like Jackie did. How to fix something, what the names were of the different wires and parts were, heck even how to hold a flashlight would be good. He just wished he could say something related to fixing this dinosaur of a car to his dad and maybe help make things less awkward between the two of them.
"So Eric," Red began, breaking the silence as he walked back to the car, "Jackie told me you stayed with your mother the other night. She said you helped take care of her when she got sick and brought her her medicines."
Eric stared at his father, trying to figure out just where he was going with this. The tone he was using almost made it sound like he was proud of him. And Jackie had told him? No wonder she wasn't in bed this morning she was busy setting this whole thing up.
"Uh…yeah. Yeah. I did. I changed the sheets too when Jackie took Mom into the bathroom."
Red nodded his head and looked at Eric, "I'm sure your mother really appreciated that."
Eric knew what his dad really meant, 'I really appreciate that.' He may not have said those exact words but Eric got the message and he had to try not to let his smile get too big or it could ruin the civil father son moment.
"It was no problem Dad." He said to the back of his father's head, "I really didn't mind taking care of Mom…I kind of liked it. Plus I haven't exactly helped out before this."
"You can say that again." Red muttered to himself but kept his tone loud enough for Eric to make out what had been said.
He knew a comment like this had been coming, it was just a matter of time and Eric was actually surprised at how long it took for Red to actually say it. Having a good feeling that the conversation on the topic of him not being around more was only beginning, Eric held his breath and waited for the outburst.
"You stayed with her the whole time you've been here?" Red questioned much to Eric's surprise.
The young man watched his father continue to work on the vehicle, his mouth gaping open and his eyes showing the mixture of shock and astonishment he was feeling. He didn't know how to respond—he was actually worried that it was all some sort of trap—but in the end he figured a dumb, mixed up response was better than no response at all. Maybe.
Eric shook his head 'no' before explaining, "Uh no…no. I only stayed that one night. The other nights I stayed in Jackie's room."
As soon as he said his second sentence, Eric realized how he really didn't need to give his dad that detail. And if he hadn't realized it then, when Red turned away from the engine to look at him Eric knew he had to set a few things straight.
"Not with Jackie though…no…uh she and Hyde were kinda rotating." He went on, trying to stay calm and give the right information instead of getting nervous and rambling on. So far things were going the way of the latter of the two.
"I mean not rotating….they were but they weren't…they were just kinda taking turns staying with Mom. Yeah!" Eric shouted the last word excitedly, happy to find a clear passage way, "With me in Jackie's room, Jackie would either stay with Mom or Hyde would stay with Mom and then Jackie would go stay in his room."
Once again Red stood up straight and faced his son, "So since I stayed with your mother last night and Jackie slept in her room, where did you sleep?"
It was like one of those big knocked over tree trunks had popped out of no where and now Eric had to find away around it. Only this tree trunk was big, bald, and scary.
"Uh…" Eric struggled, "Basement."
"The basement?" Red repeated, not quite believing Eric's line.
"Yes." Eric nodded and placed both his hands at the side of his hips, hoping it would give him a feeling of authority or at least give him some confidence. "The basement. Hyde was in his room and uh…I stayed on the couch with Fez. Yeah, never doing that again I'll tell ya." He finished with a fake laugh that soon died down when he saw the scowl on his father's forehead.
"As happy as I am to hear that you won't be sleeping with the foreign kid, I know you're lying." Red stated, "You slept in Jackie's room. With Jackie."
Eric's green eyes widened and the seemed to look at anything but his father's matching ones, "Uh….no I didn't." he argued very weakly.
"Eric, I'm your father and you're my son right?" Red asked, walking back to his tools.
Rapidly, Eric nodded his head; biting his tongue to keep from making a smart ass comment about a blood test.
"And that means that over time some things will happen. You might know more things from school than I do…heck you might even beat me at some game. As long as it's not an actual sport." Red continued, his eyes fixated on Eric as he pointed the new tool at him, "But you will never be able to fool me."
Eric nearly gulped out of fright when Red walked away from him and back to the Vista Cruiser.
"Oh yeah and uh…" Red called out straightening his back only seconds after bending down into the car, "next time close the bedroom. You snore louder than a damn jet plane."
Shocked, embarrassed. Shocked or embarrassed. Embarrassed or shocked. Eric wasn't sure which one of the two to feel more of. Shocked because his father knew the truth and hadn't killed him yet. Or embarrassed at how loud he snored and how he had snored that loud in front of Jackie. No wonder she left him alone in bed this morning.
"It's no wonder she practically threw me out of my own room." Red said, confirming Eric's thoughts, "The poor girl wanted to get some of the sleep she couldn't get with that fog horn going off in her room."
While Eric could feel his cheeks heating up just a tad, he actually gave a small chuckle at his father's statement. It surprised him as much as it would have surprised anyone else but Eric had found that he really wasn't bothered by the jab. The truth was he realized that he had actually missed the mocking words aimed at him from Red.
Of course they weren't his favorite things in the world and if given the choice he could do with out them. But what Eric did like about his father's behavior was that it remained the same. Even though it was years later and his wife was on her deathbed, Red Forman would still speak his mind, call you a dumbass, and threaten to stick his foot up your ass. And he could probably do it all in one sentence.
And now Eric found it quite ironic the same words that he had once found so distressing in his teenage years were now words he was glad to hear.
A silence fell over the driveway once again, this time more comfortable and less tense. Red stood polishing a wrench with an old rag while Eric stood next to him, hands in pockets, trying to come up with something else to say.
Though the truth was he really didn't have to do that. He'd talked to Red and Red had talked to him. He'd kept his word to Jackie and now he could go on his merry way to the kitchen and leave his father alone. Only he didn't want to. Another big surprise. Something inside Eric told him that this day was going to be full of surprises.
"Uh Dad." Eric said out loud, getting Red to look up from his task. "I uh…I just wanted to say that the other day I apologized to Mom. For everything I didn't do and everything I did do."
Red looked back down at the tool in his hand, "Bet that took awhile."
"Yeah, yeah it did." He replied nodding his head; he knew if he hadn't broken down the way he did when he was talking to Kitty, he'd still be up there going down the list. "But uh, she said everything was ok and she forgave me and all. And I just wanted to apologize to you now Dad."
Red's brows knitted together, "Eric, I'm not…"
"I know. I know you're not the sick one." Eric interrupted already knowing what his father was going to say, "But just like I hadn't been here for Mom, I wasn't here for you…to help take care of Mom and help you go through all of this, the way Hyde and Jackie have. And I'm sorry for that."
Red stared back at his son not sure of how to respond. He was very pleased to find out Eric had apologized to Kitty but to hear his son say 'I'm sorry' to him…he didn't know what to say.
"Yeah well…um..." Red cleared his throat uncomfortably before reaching into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet. "Here."
A frown appeared on Eric's face as he looked at the two twenty dollar bills his father was handing him. Was Red bribing him to stop talking about this emotional kind of stuff he didn't like even thinking about?
Seeing his son's confused expression Red released a sigh before explaining, "You and Jackie said you all were taking turns paying for the take out. So take this money, get the keys to the Toyota from the kitchen and go get something for you and the other Sweat-hogs to eat."
"Um…ok." Eric answered sounding a bit uncertain as he took the money from his father's hands and turned towards the patio.
"And I want my change back." Red called after him.
Eric turned back around and nodded, "Right."
"I'm serious Eric." Red warned, "If I don't get that change I'll stick my foot up your ass to go look for it."
"Yes, sir." Eric nodded again this time letting a smile creep onto his lips.
Red had threatened him with a foot in the ass comment. He was now officially home.
0o0o0o
"Finally!"
"It's about time!"
Were the words that welcomed Eric as he walked into the kitchen with arms full of two brown paper sacks. The phrases had come from both Kelso and Fez as they sat impatiently at the round table. However they weren't the only ones in the room, Betsy was sitting beside them with her doll in her lap while Brooke and Jackie stood over by the coffee maker.
"It is already late in the day!" the foreigner continued to whine.
"Yeah." Kelso agreed with a nod of his head, "This breakfast is like brunch without the 'br' part. That's how late it is!"
Eric looked down at his wrist watch and then back at his friends, "Guys it's only ten in the morning."
The two pairs of eyes widened with shock at their long time friend's words.
"Ten in the morning?" Fez screeched out.
"What am I doing up?" Kelso asked and then got ready to stand up from his chair, "I'm going back to bed."
Fez nodded, "Me too."
The minute the two 'men' stood up from their seats and prepared to exit the kitchen and head back to their beds, Brooke quickly rushed over to them. She didn't want either of them going back to sleep; they were sometimes harder to wake in the mornings than Betsy.
"Oh no you don't." she said as she placed her slim hands on each of their shoulders and gently pushed them down forcing them sit back down, "No one is going back to sleep unless its nap time. Which it's not." She said giving a stern look to her husband who looked about ready to make a comment, "Now come on, lets enjoy this nice breakfast Eric bought us."
Eric smiled at the way Brooke had handled his two child-like friends, but as he placed the bags on the table and started to help Brooke unload the items he heard his foreign friend mumble something to himself.
"A nice late breakfast." He said and Kelso snickered in agreement causing Eric to send a confused frown their way. Hadn't they just said it was too early?
As some light morning chatter filled the avocado colored kitchen and the breakfast items continued to be unpacked and placed on the table, the swinging door pushed open. Carefully and a bit nervously the figure made its way into the room.
"Um hey you guys."
Those in the kitchen turned their heads to the door and saw the tall blonde woman; a few smiles were then sent her way.
"Um this phone has by chance rung has it?" Donna asked as she gestured to the yellow wall phone, "Cause I was sitting in the living room and the phone in there never rung so I thought maybe it wasn't working and that's why it hadn't rung. But just because the phone in there isn't working doesn't mean that the others phones aren't working…and if they are working then they'd be ringing. So has it rung?"
The group looked back at Donna not knowing what quite to say. They weren't use to seeing the independent feminist acting almost vulnerable. Some of her friends in the room looked worried while others, especially two others, looked amused.
Fez raised his hand, "I am sorry Donna. Could you say that again?"
Brooke smacked her husband's best friend's shoulder before turning her attention back to Donna, "No, I'm afraid not Donna. You still haven't heard from Randy?"
"No." Donna groaned and then flopped down onto kitchen chair, her elbows propped onto the table, "I haven't heard from him since last night when called that one time. And all he said was he still needed time to think and that he was staying at a friend's house. But he didn't say what friend so there's no way I can get in touch with him."
A concerned frown made his way onto Eric's face. He didn't know Randy still hadn't come back, he could have sworn he saw him there with Donna on the sofa bed today…then again when he really stopped to think about it he couldn't remember seeing Donna on the sofa sleeper this morning—he'd been so concentrated on finding Jackie.
"Wait so Randy hasn't come back since he left last night?" he asked
Donna turned her head to look at Eric and let him see the angry glare she wore on her face, "No. Unlike you, I slept alone last night."
The harsh tone she used with him nearly sent chills up Eric's spine; however he was too distracted on Donna's actual words to react to her tone. How did she know about him and Jackie sharing a bed last night? Did she see them? Had Red told her? Did Jackie tell her? Was his snoring that loud? Maybe she didn't even know about it and was just saying the words to see if he'd confess.
Eric opened his mouth to respond to the comment but before his word came, Jackie's were heard.
"Eric, could you help me out over here?"
He moved his head away from his ex and over to Jackie. She was standing by an open cabinet, her hand reaching up for a stack of plates and there was a look in her in her eyes that was telling Eric to get over there.
With a quick nod he agreed, "Yeah ok."
Eric causally but still quickly made his way to Jackie's side. Once he was there he reached up and effortlessly grabbed a pile of plates from the top shelf. The shelf wasn't that high, not even for Jackie. If she had only lifted herself on her toes she could have easily gotten the dishes herself. This was just another something that told Eric that she needed to tell him something else.
"Here you go." He said handing her the stack, "I thought we were using paper plates?"
Jackie took the plates from his hands, "We ran out."
"Wow…we really need to go to the store."
"You can say that again." She replied with a small laugh.
He leaned himself back against the counter top and looked at the raven beauty, "So what else did you want to tell me?"
"I wanted…"she began to explain until she realized what she had been asked, a puzzled expression appeared on her face, "How did you know I wanted to tell you something else?"
"Just had a feeling." Eric replied with a shrug, "Plus you kinda had this look on your face that said it."
Jackie's confused look turned to one of surprise and a smile was fighting it's way onto her lips. No one had ever been able to pick up on the messages she would send out using her facial expressions. Especially not her other boyfriends. Steven was always too Zen to notice any expression that wasn't Zen. And Michael…well there were only a few things Michael Kelso noticed about girls and their facial expressions were not one of them.
"You…you caught that?" she asked still surprised.
"Yeah." Eric answered, not knowing why exactly she seemed so surprised.
He had always tried to read the expressions Donna would give him and after a few years he got the hang of it. Of course it wasn't too difficult when the messages behind the looks were either anger or occasional happiness.
"Sooo?" he asked the now smiling brunette.
"Oh right." Jackie said as she shook herself out of her daze, "I just wanted to warn you about Donna. She's still pretty pissed about last night."
Eric nodded and took another quick look at the frowning blonde sitting at the table with the others, he then turned back to Jackie. "I noticed….I had no idea that Randy hadn't come back yet."
"Neither did I." she informed, "And I think that's another thing that's got her so upset. Just be careful about what you say to her, I said good morning to her earlier and she probably would have tackled me to the floor if I hadn't come in here as soon as I heard Brooke call me."
The last thing Eric had heard was 'and she probably would have tackled me to the floor' and then his mind drifted off into its own world. A world where the two women did actually create a hot and messy and steamy cat fight.
He nervously cleared his throat, "You know maybe you should go try and say good morning to her again. Maybe this time she'll be nicer and if not…you think we could find some mud outside even though it's snowing?"
Jackie shook her head and slightly pushed his shoulder, trying to not smile, "You're such a guy."
"Last time I checked." He replied with a smirk.
Again Jackie shook her head but it was too late to fight back her grin, "Just remember what I said ok? Because I really don't think you wanna have that 'Talk with Donna' with Donna and in front of everyone."
"Right." Eric nodded his head becoming serious again, "Have you talked to Hyde yet?"
"Um…yeah. Yeah I did. Earlier this morning." She answered not sounding very believable, "I sad 'good morning' and he said 'morning.'"
Eric titled his head slightly to the left, "I'm sorry…I believe someone once said that that doesn't count as talking." He said and Jackie opened her mouth to speak but never got a word in, "And neither does talking to a Zen Hyde."
"Ok that is not fair!" Jackie protested pointing her index finger at him, "Steven being Zen is a normal as Steven can be. It's impossible to talk to a Un-Zen Steven."
"It's not impossible, Jackie. If I can talk to Red, have an actual, decent conversation with him, you can talk to a non-Zen Hyde."
The smile on Jackie's lips came into sight again, "You talked to your dad?"
"Oh don't act so surprised, missy." Eric gently warned, "I know you set it up. You did everything but stand there in the driveway with us showing us cue-cards."
"Even if I did do that, five bucks says neither one of you would have followed them." She teased and the two shared a quick laugh, "So really, how did it go?"
For a few seconds Eric played the scene in the driveway in head and then nodded and smiled ever so lightly.
"It went pretty good." He said honestly, "I think we had a really good talk."
Jackie's smile grew, she knew he was telling the truth and that he and Red really did have a nice father-son talk; and it was all thanks to her.
"And the most important part of that is…" Eric continued in a joyful tone of voice that interrupted Jackie from her thoughts, "I get another piece of my luggage back."
"Oh that's right. Hmm what will it be this time?" Jackie agreed and placed her finger to her cheek—pretending to think—"Oh I know…your precious Spider-Man underwear."
A smug smirk appeared on his face, "I'll be sure to wear them on our third date." He growled.
The words and tone of voice quickly sent Jackie into a fit of giggles that Eric couldn't help but join in on. Luckily the others in the room seemed occupied by other things and only one person seemed to notice the couple hiding in the corner.
"Hey, you two lovebirds." Brooke called out as she stepped closer to them so that the others—Donna especially—wouldn't hear, "I could use some help over here."
Keeping the smiles on their faces, both Jackie and Eric nodded in agreement and then walked over to the table to help with breakfast. The room quickly filled with small talk as piles of food were packed onto actual dishes; then suddenly everything became quite as a familiar voice was heard—sounding not to far away.
"Steven I told you, you could let them stay here but you were going to be the one in charge of them. There's no reason for me to come down here…"
Fez dropped his fork onto his plate creating a loud clicking sound, his eyes and mouth opened wide and the expression on his man-pretty friend's face wasn't so far off either.
"That's…that's Red." Kelso stuttered out
Fez could already feel his heart rate quickening, "He's coming in here."
"And we're sitting way too close to the door!" Kelso practically shouted as he noticed that he and Fez were sitting on the left side of the white table.
"Ayyeee!" was all Fez could say.
Eric watched his friends' anxious behavior; Kelso was scanning the room with worried eyes and Fez couldn't seem to be trembling in his seat. Eric could relate to how they were feeling—it was how he felt before the talk in the driveway. And while could have let them carry on with their panic attack, it was pretty funny to watch, he decided it would be better if he instead helped to ease their nerves.
"Come on you guys, it's ok. Seeing Red isn't gonna be so bad…"
"Eric's right. Seeing Red isn't gonna be so bad." Kelso agreed surprising everyone in the room, "As long as we're sitting as far away from him as possible!"
The others nodded their heads, that last statement sounded more like Kelso. Meanwhile Kelso and Fez jumped out of their chairs and scurried to the two empty green kitchen chairs on the right.
A relieved smile appeared on Fez's face as he relaxed, "Ah, now we are safe."
"I am anyways." Kelso said out loud with a large grin before pointing his finger at the foreigner, "You're sitting in Red's chair!"
Carefully and very, very slowly, Fez looked down at the chair he was sitting in. It looked just like the other kitchen chairs. He then looked around the table and counted and noticed each place of the other seats. It was at that moment when he realized he was in fact in Red Forman's regular kitchen chair. Fez gasped and then popped up and off the chair causing Kelso to laugh a good hearty laugh.
Fez glared down at his friend, "Oh you think that is so funny don't you?" he questioned and Kelso vigorously nodded his head, "Well you my friend are sitting in the chair next to Red's chair!"
Right away the laughter stopped and Kelso took only five seconds to process the message before leaping out of his seat.
"It's just for a couple of minutes Red, and then you can go back upstairs with Mom." Hyde could be heard saying, his voice sounding louder which only meant one thing…
"He's getting closer!" Kelso shouted.
Fez nervously played with his fingers as he practically jumped in place, "What do we do?"
"I don't know!"
Kelso and Fez continued to twitch nervously as they tried to figure out a plan and Eric couldn't help but wonder if he looked as funny when he got 'twitchy.' He and Jackie along with Brooke, Donna, and Betsy were watching the humorous scene performed by the two men until suddenly the performers both froze on the spot causing the others to turn their heads to the swinging door.
In the doorway stood a frowning Red and a Zen-looking Hyde standing behind him. Neither Fez nor Kelso knew what to do. They stood like a pair of deer caught in the headlights. Frozen, eyes wide with shock, and frightened for their life.
Finally Fez managed to get the feeling back in his legs and he jumped behind Kelso, in plans of using the man-pretty doofus as a shield. It didn't take long for Kelso to figure out what his foreign friend had planned and so just as quickly he came up with his own idea. Swiftly he lifted his daughter out of her chair and held her small form in front of himself.
Red closed his eyes and sighed, he could already feel his head starting to throb—it was too early in the morning to deal with these two idiots.
"Put the kid down." He instructed and Kelso quickly put his giggling daughter back in her seat, "And both of you Gilligan and Tattoo, sit you're a…butts down." Red ordered changing his word choice at the reminder that there were pure ears in the room.
"Gilligan and Tattoo?" Fez asked quietly to Kelso, "Who is who?"
Kelso shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. Those guys didn't even come out in the same show!"
Fez nodded in agreement and then joined Kelso in a good chuckle. A chuckle that they thought only they could hear but in reality was a chuckle that filled the room.
"I said sit." Red repeated sounding much like an army sergeant.
Instantly the laughter stopped and Fez and Kelso both dropped themselves into a kitchen chair. The only problem was they dropped themselves into the same chair, sending each other to the floor. It took several seconds before the two managed to stop falling and fighting over the seat—the seat had turned out to be Red's and so both men stayed away and sat in the places on either side of Red's chair.
Red shook his head as he rolled his eyes. The young adults could all sense his annoyance but just one of them did anything to try to calm him down. That one was Jackie as she brought over a cup of coffee.
"Here you go, Red." She said as she handed over the green mug.
As Red took the beverage and mumbled a 'thank you' to the petite young woman, Eric suddenly remembered he also had something for his father. He reached into his pocket and brought out a few bill and a couple of coins.
"Oh and here's your change, Dad." He announced as he delivered the money, "It all there. You can check."
But he didn't. A few years ago Red Forman would have taken his son's words as a challenge and actually counted to make sure he was telling the truth and the exact amount of change was in his hands; today however, all he did was take the money and put it in his won pocket.
Hyde watched the scene from the sidelines, along with everyone else, but he seemed to be the only one to notice the oddity of the sight. Why were both Jackie and Eric giving Red things? One right after another? They must have been trying to get on the older man's good side and make Hyde seem like the bad guy…
"Uh Red, why don't you get something to eat?" Hyde suggested, remembering that he hadn't come down for dinner last night.
"I'm not hungry." He replied in his gruff tone of voice.
Couldn't any of these kids see he didn't want to be down here? He didn't want to have breakfast. He didn't want coffee. Heck he probably wouldn't have even cared if Eric hadn't given him the change so soon. He just wanted to be upstairs with his wife.
Eric could see his adopted brother's worry and decided to step in and attempt to help.
"Sure you are, Dad." Eric started to say, "I got it from Phillies, you know how much you love Phillies."
Red was silent as he thought back to the many, many times he and Kitty had visited that older diner. When they'd take the kids, when it was just the two of them…he pulled himself out of the memories and shook his head.
"I said I'm not hungry." He repeated firmly, "Now I've got some coffee, so there no other reason for me to stay down here. I'm going back…"
"Come on, Red." Hyde interrupted as Red turned back around to exit through the swinging door that was now blocked by the young man he considered a second son. "You don't need to rush and skip eating. Mom said she was fine."
A frustrated sigh escaped from Red before he spoke, "Just because she said she was fine doesn't mean she fine." He reminded and headed towards the exit once more.
"Red, wait." Jackie called out. "We wanted to talk to you…about some things that happened while you were gone…things you should know about."
Her words got everyone's attention—even those who had been silent since the elder Forman came into the room. They each turned to look at Jackie curious to find out what exactly she was going to inform Red on. Was she going to tell him about her and Eric? From the look on Eric's face, it looked like only Jackie knew; he looked just as lost as the others.
Red turned around to face his favorite of the group, "Jackie, my wife is upstairs…" he drifted off having a hard time just saying the word; he couldn't say the word, "What else is there for me to know about?"
The brunette didn't know what to say. She hadn't planned on telling the man she consider a father that something—she wasn't sure what but it was something good—was going on between her and his son. Though she had a feeling that's what everyone was expecting her to do. Still no matter what she said now it would seem less important just like Red said.
"Um… the things the doctors and nurses have said about Mom." She replied in a small voice.
"Yeah." A voice, Jackie hadn't expected to agree with her, said "There's some stuff Angie's said when she's come to check on her."
Red couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his adopted son's words, "So now it's Angie huh?"
Hyde's face feel and Jackie had to smile.
"Yup." She nodded, "But he still has yet to ask her out."
Red shook his head, "Dumbass." He muttered just loud enough that he hoped Jackie and not Little Betsy had heard.
"Alright so what happened when Angela came over this last time?" he asked and then took a sip from his coffee.
Eric had taken notice that the conversation seemed to be happening on only one side of the kitchen with him, Jackie, Hyde, and his dad. Jackie and Hyde had been most of the talking lately so he decided to jump in with what he had to say.
"Well Angela came over yesterday morning and saw Mom in the kitchen…"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Red interrupted lifting his hand up, to stop his son from continuing, and his frown deepened "What was Kitty doing down here in the kitchen yesterday?"
The kitchen became still as Red waited to see if any of the cowards would answer him. He let mere seconds before asking another question in a much angrier tone of voice.
"Are you telling me that you all had her down here slaving over a hot stove make you breakfast because none of you six morons could figure out how to make one damn piece of toast?"
Again the room was silent and no one said anything…at least for a few more seconds.
"I am appalled!" Fez declared trying to sound angry and surprised, and in the process earned him eight frowning faces. "What? Was that not the right word?"
Red quickly dismissed the foreigners words and moved his attention back to his sons, "Well what have you got say for yourselves?"
"Look man, it's not like that." Hyde tired to argue, "We didn't force her to come down here. She did it by herself…Mom wanted to be down here."
"It doesn't matter if she wanted to be down here." Red interjected, sounding more and more upset, "Steven, I told you to take care of her."
"I have Red. And I tried to get her back upstairs, I did. But she didn't wanna go." Hyde went on.
Eric watched the scene play out infront of him and couldn't help but feel a little guilty. After all he'd been the one staying with his Mom when Kelso and Fez had helped her go downstairs. And he and Hyde did have similar reactions to seeing her in the kitchen and they'd both agreed to let her stay. He'd even helped convince Hyde!
"Hyde's right, Dad." Eric nodded, "He did try to get Mom to go back up to her room and I did too…but then I stopped and…Dad, you should've seen her down here. She looked so much better than she did up in bed. She looked healthier and a lot happier."
Hyde was surprised to hear his friend defend him like that, but didn't say anything on it. "You also said it was important for her to be happy." He reminded his surrogate father.
Now a little calmer than before, but still upset, Red cleared his throat, "What did Angela have to say when she saw that?"
"She um…she said it was good that Mom was doing things that she enjoyed and that we were spending time with her." Hyde started to explain, "But she agreed that it wasn't the greatest idea to have Mom out of bed, so she suggested this shifts idea…"
"Wait a minute, Mr. Forman." Donna called out, suddenly joining the conversation with her index finger in the pointing position, "I just wanna say that Randy came up with that same idea a few days before and Hyde just totally shot him down."
Red furrowed his brow at the former 'neighbor girl' "Alright Donna." He said not knowing what it was he was supposed to say and then looked back at the trio, "So what is this shifts idea?"
Jackie decided to take this one, "Well it pretty much like if Mom was in the hospital and we all took turns coming in to visit with her. We already set it up with us being in groups and getting two hours or so to spend with her. It would be Donna and Randy, Brooke and Kelso, Steven with Fez, and then me and Eric. We figured with Betsy, she could just go in with whoever she wanted. And now with you home we thought…"
"You would leave everything the way it is." Red finished for her.
Eric nodded in agreement, "Right…wait what?" he asked as he realized what had actually been said.
"You'll leave everything the way you have it." His father repeated.
Hyde still wasn't quite sure he'd heard right, "Are you sure, Red?"
"I'm sure." The older man replied with a nod before explaining, "Look, you all want to spend time with Kitty and she wants to spend time with you all…for what ever reason. I don't have a problem with that." There was a short pause before he continued.
"But I am not following any 'shift plan.' I am going to be with Kitty whenever and however long I want." He announced to those in the room, "And I can also kick you out of the room whenever I want, got it?"
With most of them feeling a wave a fear wash over them, the group nodded their heads understandingly.
"Good." Red nodded, "Now I'm going back upstairs with your mother. And I want all of you to fix whatever it is that caused this room to have a feeling that made me wish I was in Korea. Dumbasses."
Seeing the young mother's eyes widen and her hands fly to the young girl's ears, Red realized his wrong choice of words.
"Oh um I mean…" he struggled for only a few seconds before he realized it was really pointless, "Oh forget it Brooke, who are we kidding they're dumbasses!"
And with that said Red Forman left the room.
There was another long silence as most of the group wondered how the father-figure of the group had picked up on the tension that they were trying their best to hide.
A smile broke out on Kelso's face, "I missed Red."
Grinning in agreement Fez nodded his head.
"I'm going down to the basement to watch some TV." Hyde announced as he scratched the back of his neck and then exited to the underground room.
The others watched him leave until one of them spoke up.
"Yeah." Donna said, "I'm gonna go see if the phone down there is working."
Once Donna made her way down to the basement those sitting at the table continued on with their breakfast while the couple that remained standing exchanged looks.
"Well I guess we should go down there." Eric stated out loud.
"Right." Jackie nodded and then paused, "They are alone now."
"Right." Eric agreed, nodding and pausing shortly, "Although technically they're not alone."
"Right." She quickly agreed, "Even though they are away from everyone else that doesn't need to hear the conversations, they are with each other."
"Right." He nodded, "Meaning, they are not alone."
Jackie nodded her head, "Right. So we can't talk to them."
It was Eric's turn now, "Right. Because if we did we could just start up another argument with the four of us all talking gin the same room."
"Right. And who wants that?" she asked.
"Not me!"
Jackie smiled, relieved at the fact that the talks had been put off till later. She really had no idea what she was going to say to Steven, but she knew she was going to have to be careful with what she said and with the way she reacted to what he said. Especially now that Red was back home.
"You know what I do want though?" she asked him.
"Hmm…" Eric said pretending to think as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I think I can guess."
"Eric, come on." Jackie said with a smile, trying to break the embrace, "I'm starving."
Eric smirked, "So am I."
As the duo giggled in the background, Fez and the Kelsos went on enjoying their breakfast quietly. Until Betsy spoke up.
"Mommy?" she asked looking to her mother, "What's a dumbass?"
Brooke's eyes became large and Fez could be heard snickering behind his hand. Luckily Kelso came to the rescue and he patted his wife's hand.
"I got this one, Babe." He said and then look to his little girl, "Well Bets, a dumbass is…your Uncle Fez."
"Burn!" both father and daughter shouted and Fez's laughter stopped as he saw the two high-five each other.
0o0o0o
An hour or two had passed since breakfast. Red was still upstairs with Kitty. Hyde and Donna remained down in the basement, though Kelso and Brooke had joined them as well. No word from Randy had been received yet. Eric and Fez had retired to the living room and Jackie and Betsy, well they were in the kitchen.
Jackie was helping zip the tiny girl into her winter jacket. After breakfast Jackie had realized she had some free time and still hadn't gotten Betsy the present she said she would, so after asking Brooke and Kelso she decided to take her goddaughter out on a little shopping spree.
"Aunt Jackie?" Betsy called out, "Will you buy me a new Barbie?"
Jackie smiled as she pulled the zipper all the way to the top of the pink and blue jacket. "Sure."
"A new Barbie needs new clothes." The young girl reminded and Jackie had to laugh.
"Yes, she does." She nodded as she stood up, "I guess we should buy her some new clothes too huh?"
Betsy's eyes brightened with excitement, "And a new Ken doll too?" she asked hopeful, "For Barbie."
Jackie's smile grew and she placed her well manicure hand on the top of the child's head, "Sweetie, I have your Uncle Hyde's credit card, I'll buy you the whole Barbie aisle!"
"Yay!" Betsy exclaimed happily causing Jackie to laugh.
However just as the joyful moment was taking place, footsteps were heard as someone entered the room.
"And where are you two pretty ladies going?" the masculine voice questioned.
Jackie turned herself around and found herself right in front of Eric Forman. She hadn't expected to see him before leaving to go shopping with Betsy. She had really hoped she wouldn't. Not because she didn't want to see him, but because she was afraid that he would accuse her of trying to get out of talking to Hyde…which she was sort of doing. But not really. After all she had promised her goddaughter she'd take her shopping.
"Um, no…"
"Shopping!" Kelso's daughter shouted happily before Jackie could finish.
Eric smiled, "Really? Can I come?"
"Sorry Eric, this is a girl thing." Jackie replied, "We're going shopping so I can buy Betsy her present. It's a godmother, goddaughter thing. Right Betsy?"
"Right." Betsy nodded, her ponytail moving slightly.
Doing his best sad face Eric looked down at his shoes, "Oh ok. But you know Betsy, I haven't gotten you a present either. I thought maybe if I went with you guys I could get it then and…"
He didn't need to say more.
"You can come!" Betsy quickly agreed.
Jackie rapidly blinked her eyes at the scene she'd just witnessed. Eric saw her action and gave a little smirk her way.
"What can I say, I'm good with kids." He said with a shrug and then turned to the little girl, "Come on Betsy, I'll race you to the car!"
Going as fast as her little legs could take her, while also being cautious of the slipper snow and ice—a trait she'd gotten from Brooke's side of the family—Betsy ran out to driveway.
Eric quickly put on his own winter jacket turned back to look at Jackie who seemed to have recovered from her slight shock.
"Come on Jackie," he said, "Last one there's…"
"A rotten egg. I know, I know." Jackie finished for him as she slowly grabbed the keys off the counter.
Another smirk played on Eric, lips, "Nooo. Last on there's middle name's Beulah!"
Jackie's jaw dropped and she frowned at the same time. But before Jackie could respond with words Eric had sprinted out the sliding door. Knowing there's was nothing else to do Jackie made a dash for it—thankful she'd worn her winter boots and not heels—and joined in on the race.
Author's Note: And that would be Chapter 30 of "Two Weeks" (Finally!) Hope you liked!
When will we hear from Randy? When will Eric and Jackie talk to Donna and Hyde? Why do they suddenly seem so nervous about it? How will shopping with Betsy go? What kind of presents will she return home with? And who will win the race to the car? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"
Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care and have a nice day!