Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Author's Note: Hi there everyone! So sorry for the late update! I broke my USB over the weekend and the story was in it. Luckily it's not completely broken so I managed to get my files out and stuff but with no USB it made it harder for me to work on the story anywhere else but my dinosaur computer. Hopefully I'll be going to the store today to get a new one…though I will miss my old one last me two years and then one morning I dropped my computer while it was still in it and it bent in a way USB's should not bend. Also sorry for the shorter chapter, as compared to the ones I'd previously been posting, but if it were longer there's be no update this week and would probably total to being 16,000 some words. Next week I'm trying my bestest to update as well so keep your fingers crossed. Um please also remember that I am not a doctor nor am I learning to be one…I did buy a ball that is similar to the one House has on the show and it makes me feel alittle like House but that's not really the same thing…Thank you so much for the reviews, I am so glad you guys are still reading and enjoying the story it really means so much! Anywoo I wanna try to take a nap before class so I don't take a nap during class…Enjoy!
"Regrets?" Kitty repeated while looking at the camera.
"Yeah." Hyde nodded, "Do you have any?"
"Yes, I suppose I do have a few…everyone has some sort of regrets Steven."
"What are some of yours?" he asked.
Kitty was silent as she thought over her adoptive son's question and how the right way to answer it would be. After taking a few seconds to ponder, she looked up over at the camera and smiled weakly.
"Well first of all, I regret that I didn't take better care of myself." She shared, "Most of this whole cancer thing could have been avoided if I hadn't smoked or drank so much."
Hyde nodded behind the camera again—not getting her to ease up on those two things was one of his own regrets.
He cleared his throat, "Anything else you wanna share?"
"I regret," Kitty paused to take in a deep breath, "I regret that I won't be around to see you kids grow up, get married, start your families…and most importantly I won't be around to ask you all these questions you've been asking me when your old and sick."
Hyde didn't expected what happened next to happen. One minute he was filming Kitty as she smiled and talked to the camera, the next he was filming her stand up and walking over to him, and in the next second he'd not only lost control of the camera but the camera itself.
The star of the video had now become the director as she stayed behind the camera and now had the lens pointed at Hyde—finally getting a shot of the curly haired rebel.
Less than thrilled at the fact that the camera was now on him—and he wasn't wearing his famous shades—Hyde tried to avoid eye contact with the video camera. However that didn't stop Kitty or cause her to give him back the camera.
"Oh, this is going to be fun." She said from behind the camera before letting out a laugh.
0o0o0o
A good few seconds—that felt more like days—had passed and still those in the Forman kitchen remained in their speechless state.
Three of them just stared at the other. Laurie looked at her brother as he stared back at her—his mouth gaping open. Jackie meanwhile seemed to be only one moving her eyes, though they didn't move a great distance; her gaze went from the little girl to Laurie and then back and forth.
Laurie waited for some sort of reaction—that included actual words—from Eric, but he seemed to be taking too long and it was really starting to annoy her. It wasn't that neither Jackie nor Eric didn't have anything to say to Laurie, their minds were overflowing with questions. The trouble was, with so many questions they seemed to have forgotten how to make out words.
"La…Laurie?" Eric finally managed to make out, still not believing that his vanishing act sister was standing in front of him, with a kid in her arms no less.
The blonde woman smiled back weakly, "Hi, Little Brother."
"Laurie…is that really you?" he asked resisting the urge to wave his hand and see if it ran through her.
"No." she replied, now sounding more like the Laurie he grew up with, "I'm a figment of your imagination."
Slightly thankful to see the old Laurie back, Eric seemed to snap out of his shocked state and was at last able to ask some of the questions he had running through his brain.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, not sure why he'd chosen that one as his first.
"I'm here to see Mom." Laurie answered using her softer voice once more before changing it back to one that sounded more annoyed—more Laurie like, "If you're gonna continue with your twenty questions game, can I at least sit down?"
Shaking himself again as he heard and processed his sisters question, Eric now made himself able to move again.
He nodded his head and gestured to the old kitchen table, "Yeah, right sure. Sit…sit down."
Not having to be told again Laurie took a few steps farther in the kitchen before sitting down in the kitchen seat she hadn't sat in or seen since the late 70's. She made sure the little girl in her arms was comfortable before getting comfortable herself. Watching her brother shakily take a seat across from her she resisted the urge to roll her eyes again, he really hadn't changed much since she last saw him.
Eric watched his sister and couldn't help the next wave of shock wash over him. It had been almost ten years since he'd seen or heard from her and now here she was. Sitting with him at the kitchen table like they'd done when they were kids, however this time around they were silent as they sat instead of arguing like cats and dogs, and now she had a kid in her lap!
He struggled for his next question. He wanted to know so many things but just kept going back to the little blonde girl who was resting her head under his sister's neck.
Following where her brother's eyes were, Laurie sighed and gave him another irritated look that she was famous for.
"You're not gonna be able to do anything productive until you find who she is, are you?" she asked gesturing to the small girl.
When Eric didn't say anything or even move his head, Laurie knew she'd gotten her answer.
"Eric, this is Lucy." She introduced carefully moving the child abit so that they could get a better look at each other. After introducing Eric to the little girl, she changed her tone a voice into a sweeter more innocent one—one that Eric thought sounded similar to the one she'd use with their father—as she talked Lucy, "Lucy, sweetie, this is your Uncle Eric."
There it was. She'd just confirmed it herself. This little girl was her daughter. But who was the father?
The little girl kept her brown eyes on the man who her mother said was her Uncle Eric, whom she had heard stories about.
Eric smiled and gently grabbed the small girls hand—even if she was his sister's kid, he had a soft spot for kids, "Hi, Lucy. It's really nice meeting you. You're very pretty."
Feeling very shy Lucy quickly scooted closer to her mother cuddling closer to her and showing Eric how attached she was to his sister who calmly rubbed the girl's back. His sister really was a mom and from the looks of it a really good one too.
"Laurie…" he began not knowing how better to say it than just coming out and asking, "Who's her father?"
"Why don't you ask Kelso's girlfriend over there." Laurie suggested, moving her eyes from Eric to Jackie who remained standing in the same spot since Laurie had first walked in, "She figured it out almost five minutes ago."
Noticing that the blonde's eyes were now on her and after replaying what she had heard been said, Jackie broke away from her trance and opened her mouth to correct Laurie. However she never got the chance to, someone else had stepped in.
"She's not Kelso's girl friend." Eric firmly informed as if defending Jackie from his sister, "They haven't dated in years..."
Surprised and touched by Eric's words and how he'd said them, Jackie sent a smile his way until she realized that Eric had pretty much opened a window for Laurie by telling her how she and Kelso weren't together. Sure, Laurie now had a kid but that didn't prove she still wasn't a man stealing whore and Jackie did not want what happened to her happening to Brooke.
Even though now she was pretty sure Kelso wouldn't fall for Laurie's tricks since he was married and still madly love with his bride. Still she felt the need to protect the little family.
"And he's married now, so don't even think about trying anything." The tiny brunette threatened.
"As if I really would, Jackie." Laurie scoffed, suddenly remembering Jackie's name, "And I know he's married. To that librarian girl…Brooke something. They've got a kid together."
Two scowls appeared on the two faces of Eric and Jackie.
Eric rapidly blinked his eyes, "How…how did you know that?"
"I have my ways." Laurie replied with a shrug.
Jackie shook her head; this was taking to long. She knew Laurie's sudden appearance was a surprise but there were so many questions and Eric was taking forever to come out with them. It was time she took charge of the situation. She walked over to the table and took a seat in the chair on Eric's left.
"Ok, Laurie you said you came here to see your mom." Jackie restated, "But how do you know what's going on? We've been trying to contact you and tell you about the cancer for over five years."
Before his sister could answer, Eric jumped in with his own thoughts.
"Yeah Laurie, what was that about?" he asked referring to how they'd lost contact with her, "Don't they have phones in Canada?"
Laurie frowned slightly, "I was never in Canada."
With a similar confused frown, Jackie looked back at the blonde, "Where were you?"
"Milwaukee."
"Milwaukee, Wisconsin?" Eric and Jackie asked simultaneously.
Laurie nodded as she ran her hand over her daughter's head, "That's the one."
Eric was just about outraged at this new information and Jackie felt so dumb at the fact that for these past years they had been looking for the woman everywhere else imaginable except Wisconsin.
"You were less than three hours away?" Eric loudly asked, "And you never came to visit Mom?"
Tilting her head to the side just slightly, Laurie stared back at her younger brother. She knew that had been wrong but she had her reasons and besides she knew he hadn't been the perfect child during this whole cancer thing either.
"At least I didn't move across the nation to Seattle to keep away from having to deal with any of the cancer stuff."
Eric's brows angrily knitted closer together, "I moved to Seattle before Mom was diagnosed."
"And yet you never moved back or came for too many visits after she was." His sister reminded with a glare.
"You were three hours away!" he practically shouted as he stood up from his chair, "You could have come at least once!"
Jackie watched the scene play out, not knowing what else to do.
"I have a kid to take care of." She shot back, "What do you have in Seattle?"
"A job!"
Laurie's frown deepened, "You don't think I have a job? How do you think I support Lucy and myself?"
"I…" Eric suddenly froze as he realized what his sister had been saying. His upset expression soon diminished and he seemed to instantly calm down as a feeling of confusion took over, "How did you know I'm living in Seattle?"
Again Laurie shrugged, "I have my ways."
Feeling defeated, Eric sank back into his chair. As soon as he did Jackie reached over and grabbed one of his arms running her hand over it soothingly. The gesture did not go unseen by Laurie.
She noticed it the gesture and the expressions on their faces and it made her curious. She's seen a scene similar to this one with her parents. Whenever her father would get mad it wasn't uncommon of her mother to rub her hands over his arm as if trying to calm him. Of course they were married. Did this mean there was something going on between her baby brother and the girl that had once given her a black eye?
"Laurie," Jackie spoke up, this was getting ridiculous at this rate they'd never find out how Laurie had gotten here. "why don't you just tell us whatever you think we should know and if we have any other questions we'll just ask?"
"Fine." Laurie gradually agreed and took a few seconds as she tried to figure out where would be the best place to start her story, "Well the year I left here, right after marrying Fez so he could stay in the country, I went to…"
"Hey Jackie." a new voice called from the basement, "Betsy's talking about pizza and ice cream. How much of my money did you…Holy shit!"
Hyde's train of thought was suddenly lost the second he entered the kitchen and saw the Earth Mother Whore sitting at the kitchen table with Eric, Jackie, and an unknown little girl in her lap.
Laurie turned to the curly haired man, "Hey Orphan Boy, watch you language. My daughter is in the room."
"Your….your…da…daughter?" Hyde staggered with his words as he did the same with his footsteps.
Irritated with Hyde's behavior Laurie rolled her eyes and sighed knowing she better get use to the introductions. There were going to be a lot of them today.
"Hyde, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is your Uncle Hyde."
Hyde stared back at the shy little girl whose brown eyes were looking at him. Brown eyes that looked very similar to…
"Holy sh…oe." He finished his statement weakly, but not taking away any of the surprised feelings he felt as he realized who little girl's father was. Seeing Lucy's frighten expression—that he must have caused—tugged at Hyde's heart abit. He didn't want the little girl to be scared; she had enough to worry about with Laurie as her mother.
"Uh hey…hi kid." He greeted Zenly and then looked at the girl's mother, "Laurie, how'd you…where did you…"
"We were about to find out when you interrupted." Jackie informed in bitter tone.
Laurie nodded in agreement, "Yeah, so sit your butt down because I am not repeating myself again for you orphan boy."
Still shell shocked with the whole situation, Hyde's brain didn't seem to be thinking straight and so he wasn't able to come up with any comeback for any of the two women. Instead he sat himself down in the seat between Eric and Laurie.
This was another action that caught Laurie attention. Since when did Hyde willingly sit next to her? And wasn't he stuck like glue to the brunette midget the last time she was here?
Yeah, she had missed out on a lot.
"So like I was saying, the year I left here I went to New York and met up with one of my friends from college. Emma Dunphey." Laurie began her story, "We shared an apartment for a year or two but then I met Brad. I moved in with him but things ended up not working out…"
"He go back to his wife?" Hyde couldn't help but ask.
"No." Laurie snarled, "She came back to him."
Hyde shook his head feeling like he had stepped back into time. Well almost…
"So when Brad got back with his wife I was pretty much on my own. Emma had already moved out of our apartment so I couldn't go back there. That's when I decided to come back to Wisconsin." Laurie went onto explain, her audience captivated by her story, "But I didn't wanna come back to this hole. New York had gotten me used to the busy, bright city life. So instead of coming back to Point Place I went to Milwaukee."
"Milwaukee?" Hyde asked loudly—this was the first time he'd heard about it and he was just as surprised as the couple had been when they'd first found out.
"Yeah, yeah she's been there this whole time, big surprise." Jackie said quickly with a dismissing wave of her hand—she wanted to hear the rest of the city. "Now…Shh!"
Eric nodded, "And yes, Milwaukee is the New York City of Wisconsin."
"As I was saying." Laurie went on but not before send a glare Eric's way, "I moved to Milwaukee in '81 I think…I managed to find my own place and a job that would help me pay the rent…"
Hyde smirked smugly, "As a…" his burn was suddenly cut short when his eyes landed on the innocent little girl in Laurie's lap; he could say the things he was going to say in front of her. He sighed heavily, "dancer?"
"No." Laurie shook her head, glaring slightly—he didn't have to say it but she knew what Hyde really wanted to say, "And my job isn't even important to the story." She added before clearing her throat and picking up where she'd left off.
"It was right after New Years of '82 when I ran into Fez…"
"And that's when you guys got together!" Jackie almost shouted as she jumped out of her seat, confident that she was correct.
Laurie stared at the younger woman, an unamused look on her face, "Do you wanna tell the story?"
Jackie was silent. Those words alone were able to tell her that she'd guessed correctly but she didn't say anything or clap with excitement like she would have done at any other time. Laurie had a story to tell and she was the only one who could tell it, Jackie knew this. She also knew that she wanted to hear it and so she carefully sat back in her seat.
Meanwhile as Jackie took her seat beside him Eric hadn't even noticed she'd noticed she'd gotten up. He'd stopped listening and watching when he heard Jackie say that his sister and Fez had hooked up…back in '82…the little girl looked to be around four years old…and she had brown eyes, just like…
"Oh my God!" Eric suddenly shouted at last putting the pieces together, "Fez is Lucy's father?"
With a roll of her eyes Laurie stared at her oblivious brother, Jackie and Hyde also found themselves looking at Eric—a frown on each of their foreheads.
"You seriously just figured that out, Forman?"
Eric swung his head over to his adopted brother, his eyes wider than they'd ever been, "You knew too? Why didn't you tell me?"
"We thought you had figured it out too." Jackie replied, "At least I did. You never know with Steven…"
Both men scowled at Jackie. Eric because she'd know the detail and hadn't said something before and Hyde because of the last statement she'd made about him. Each of them opened their mouth ready to argue but were quickly cut off by the impatient blonde sitting at the table.
"Do you people wanna hear the story or not?" she questioned sounding even more aggravated than before. After waiting a few seconds and receiving nothing but silence she went on.
"When I ran into Fez we started talking about things and he pretty much filled me in on all of your pathetic lives."
"How you'd gone to Africa for some teaching thing and come back home only to move to Seattle to teach." Laurie shared as she looked at her brother.
"Something about you and your own…little dancer." She said pointing at Hyde.
Hearing Laurie's words caused Hyde to look down at his hands on the table. He didn't want to even catch a glimpse of the glare Jackie must have been giving. He knew she was still hurt about that and it still hurt him knowing how much he'd hurt her.
Laurie turned to Jackie, "He said you dated him for about a week, but I really didn't believe him."
Jackie didn't say anything. Of course it was true, she had dated Fez for an entire week but the whole thing was really an insane idea. The two of them were so much better off as just friends.
"He told me about Kelso being married and having his own daughter…Betsy. That's how I knew about that." She informed, "And he also told me about Mom…I guess it had been a couple of months after she'd first been diagnosed. He told me about the surgeries and treatment she was planning on going through…pretty much just anything he knew about it."
"When Fez told me about Mom, I got pretty upset and he was there to help comfort me and then…"she drifted off thinking of the best way to put this, "Well what Jackie said."
Eric grimaced at the thought of Fez… 'comforting' his sister and tried his best not to think about it. Still the brain could be an evil thing, it always made you think of things you didn't want to think of no matter how hard you tried to keep the thoughts out. From the look on Hyde's face, he was dealing with a situation much like Eric's. Jackie smiled proudly letting the fact that she had been right fill her mind instead of the thoughts of Fez and Laurie actually together.
Slowly—much too slowly for him—Eric managed to get rid of the disturbing and replace them with a new concern.
"Laurie, why didn't you tell anyone?" he asked with a small confused frown indented on his forehead, "Why didn't you call Mom and Dad?"
"I couldn't." his sister replied softly, "I knew they were already going through enough with Mom's cancer…the last thing they needed was their pregnant, unwed daughter living with them. And I couldn't tell Fez either, I didn't have any of his information."
"You went through your whole pregnancy alone?" Jackie asked, surprised by the fact that she was starting to feel bad for Laurie Forman.
Laurie shook her head and continued her story, "When I found out I was pregnant I went to see Uncle Marty who was living in Milwaukee at the time…he was the only family member I could think of that was close by. Sure there was Aunt Paula but I knew she'd blab to Mom a second after I told her." She explained, "I pretty much told Uncle Marty everything, me being pregnant and about Mom."
"He insisted that I move in with him while I was pregnant. He said something about it being better for me and the baby and how we were family and that Dad would do the same thing with Penny…who guess is his daughter." Laurie added with a wave of her add, she really didn't pay too close attention to details in her extended family, "I don't think Dad would do it either way, Mom would probably force him into it."
There was a short moment of silence as the trio nodded in agreement as they thought about their sick mother.
"Anyway, I agreed but made him promise not to say anything to Mom or Dad and that I'd do it on my own time. He agreed but still made calls over here to find out how Mom was doing."
"Lucy's birthday is November 11th." Laurie informed looking down at smiling at her little girl, "I thought about calling home that day…I picked up the phone and everything. But I didn't know how Mom and Dad were gonna react. I knew they'd be angry and I didn't want anything to ruin that day for me."
Laurie looked back over to her audience, "So me and Lucy lived with Uncle Marty until she was about two, then he moved to Rhode Island for some job thing and left us the apartment. Of course I still have to pay rent, so I got a job." Catching Hyde's jaw start to move, Laurie sent a pointed look his way, "At a salon."
Eric's puzzled scowl made a reappearance, "Wait a salon? Can you do that? Don't you have to be licensed or something like that?"
"Yeah, I've got it." Laurie causally answered despite the shocked reactions she received, "I went to beauty school over in New York and just took the test to be licensed here."
"You actually went back to beauty school?" Eric asked surprised.
Hyde was just as stunned, "You actually finished beauty school?"
Laurie could only snarl at her brothers before Jackie spoke up asking a question that still hadn't been answer after Laurie's long story.
"Ok that explains everything from before, but what about now?" she asked the blonde, "How did you find out about what's going on with your mom? How were you able to tell Marty about everything when you called him?"
Hyde shook his head not believing what he'd heard, "Wait Laurie, you're the one who called Marty?"
"You just figured that out, Hyde?" Eric asked with a smirk, happy to have known something Hyde hadn't.
"I just found out everything on Monday." Laurie started to say, "I ran into Casey Kelso and he told me he was sorry to hear about Mom and how Kelso and his family were coming over here…apparently they had planned on going to visit him the weekend they got your call. He told me everything he knew and that's when I called Uncle Marty. I filled him on everything asked him to call here and get more details so he could tell me. Guess sometime between then and now he called Aunt Paula."
"After I found out just how sick Mom really is right now, I knew I had to come over. Not just so Lucy could meet her but so that Mom could meet Lucy…so she could at least see her."
Laurie's tone of voice went soft again, making her actually sound vulnerable, "I've put this off for so long and I'm still really really nervous about how they're gonna react. To everything. I had my car packed since Tuesday but it was only a couple of hours ago that I finally got myself to actually drive here."
There was an eerie silence that filled the room. These past few minutes had been filled with so many things. They were a lot to take in. Laurie's story, Laurie being home, Laurie having a kid, Fez's kid, seeing Laurie in such a weak and afraid like state, and none of the three were use to feeling any sympathy towards the blonde but yet that seemed to be the only thing they felt besides the hint of anger Hyde felt. However seeing Little Lucy's face helped reduce that anger.
"Uh Laurie," Jackie began to say, finding it a little hard to believe that she was actually having a decent conversation with the blonde, "I've know your parents for a long time. I kinda think of them as my own…and yeah I'm sure they will be upset but it won't last very long. You're your dad's favorite…well right after me of course."
Laurie scoffed slightly at the last part of Jackie's statement, "Yeah, ok."
"Actually I think Jackie's got a point Laurie." Hyde said, not sure which surprised him more that he was agreeing with Jackie or that he was being nice to Laurie, "And you've really got nothing to worry about with Mom. I mean she's just gonna, for some weird reason, be happy to see you. And when she's sees Lucy…" he gave a smile thinking about the possible reaction, it was indescribable, "She's always talked about having grandkids."
As Laurie sent a tiny smile Hyde's way Eric sat quietly. He was surprised by Jackie's words, he was even more surprised by what Hyde had said, but what really surprised him was what he was about to say.
"Laurie, I'm not just saying this because these two have already said thing about Mom and Dad but," he paused and smiled as he looked at his shy niece, "you've really got nothing to worry about with Fez. The guy's a big kid himself, he and Lucy'll get along great and you should see him with Betsy. He'd make a great dad."
Laurie's smile grew at her brother's words. "You know I don't really know why you guys are being so nice and supportive now after everything we...well I've done, but I really appreciate it."
This caused a smile and two smirks to appear.
"Where're Mom and Dad?" she finally asked after taking a deep breath.
"Up in their room." Eric answered.
Laurie nodded, "And Fez?"
"In the basement." Hyde informed.
Taking another deep breath Laurie stood up from her seat and held the quiet child closer to her, "Guess it's time. Come on Baby, there's some important people you need to meet."
Eric, Jackie, and Hyde watched as Laurie made her way across the kitchen before pushing through the swinging door. Once she was gone and they replayed the last few minutes in the room…it was all so surreal.
"Wow." Eric managed to breathe out.
"Yeah." Both Hyde and Jackie agreed.
However having answered the same thing and at the same time, did not sit well with neither Hyde nor Jackie. They frowned and one another before Hyde stood up and walked away from the table.
"I'm going down to the basement." He announced.
At first Jackie had been relieved at his message but then she remembered who else was down there, "Steven…"
"Relax Jackie." he said Zenly, already knowing what his ex-girlfriend was going to say, "I'm not gonna say anything to Fez. I'm just gonna get a good seat before the show starts." He said jokingly before leaving the room.
Jackie shook her head as he left and couldn't help but notice how that little interaction between herself and Hyde right now almost felt like the kind they had a few days before. This was good in the fact that she realized maybe the talk she needed to have with him wouldn't be so bad. It was still bad though because she still wanted to be mad at him a little longer for saying he wanted to control her life.
She shook her head getting rid of her thoughts and looked at Eric who remained still.
"So how do you think your dad's gonna react?" she asked.
"I don't know." He replied with a shake of his head, "He had a heart attack when she told him she married Fez to stay in the country, this time she's pretty much got proof that they did it."
Jackie nodded understandingly, "I'm gonna punch in the nine and the one that way we only have one number to dial."
"Good idea." Eric nodded as he stood up and followed Jackie to the phone.
0o0o0o
Upstairs in the Forman's bedroom, the couple laid in quietly in their bed. Kitty had her eyes closed as she rested her head on her husband's shoulder, relaxed in the moment. The same could not be said for Red. His eyes were opened as he watched Kitty—relaxed wouldn't be the word he'd use to describe himself at the moment.
"Kitty?" he called out making his softer, "Do you need another blanket."
A faint smile appeared on Kitty's lips as she kept her eyes closed and replied, "No honey, I'm fine."
Red nodded but only a second later he asked another question, "How's the pain? You still feeling nauseous?"
"No, Red." Kitty answered holding back a bigger smile as her husband continued with his questions.
"Are you sure you don't want me to bring up any medications from downstairs?" Red asked, her comfort being the top item on his list, "You want the TV on, maybe there's a good."
"Red." Kitty interjected, at last opening her eyes and looking up at him, "Honey, I'm okay. Really. I don't need anything, I don't want anything. Except to just lye here with you for a few minutes, and it be just you and me."
A smirk made it's way to Red's lips and his moved his right arm that was around Kitty, giving her a small squeeze.
"Ok." He nodded before kissing the top of her head, "Ok."
Kitty's wish must have come true for a good two minutes, the two of them laid in their bed together just enjoying having the other close, before a soft knock was made on their bedroom door.
"Geeze…"Red groaned as he pulled away from his wife just slightly, "I'm gonna have to get one of those signs to put up on the door."
"A 'Do Not Disturb' sign?" Kitty asked with a slight frown.
"More of a 'Disturb and I'll Stick My Foot Up Your Ass' sign."
Shaking her head and holding in a laugh, Kitty carefully sat up and looked at the closed bedroom door.
"Come in." she called out.
There were a few seconds that passed before the doorknob turned and the door was at last pushed open just a tiny bit. Through that tiny bit, Laurie stuck out her head while leaving her body and daughter hidden by the door.
"Mommy, Daddy." She said in her innocent voice, "I'm home."
The familiar words and the voice that said them came as a shock to both Red and Kitty; together with large eyes they looked to the door and were greeted with the sight of their absent daughter.
Red stared at his daughter not sure if he should believe his eyes or not, he was running low on sleep maybe it was a hallucination. He slowly sat up,"Laurie?"
"Oh honey, is that really you?" Kitty asked for her husband.
The young woman carefully nodded 'yes,' and smiled slightly "Yeah, it's me."
Red's uncertain and confused look soon disappeared and a smirk that came very close to a smile came onto his face. His wife's reaction was quite similar as she looked at their daughter after all these years, happy to see that she was alright.
"Oh come in sweetie, come in." her mother welcomed her, sounding close to tears.
Laurie nodded and realized it was now or never and she didn't want it to be never. Very slowly, she pushed the bedroom door farther open inch by inch, cautiously revealing Lucy to her parents.
At the sight of the little girl two thing immediately happened. A large scowl appeared on Red's face and Kitty's hand flew to her mouth after a gasp was made.
"Laurie…" Red struggled for his words, "who…"
"Mommy, Daddy, this is Lucille Jasmine Forman." Laurie began the introductions again, "Your granddaughter."
Red's eyes widened while at the same time his brows moved closer together; meanwhile the tears in Kitty's eyes began to fall.
"You mean…I'm a grandma?" she asked a mix of excitement and tears in her voice.
Laurie smiled and nodded rapidly.
"Oh…" Kitty said happily still fighting back tears as she looked at her daughter and granddaughter, "Oh Laurie she is just so beautiful."
Smiling Laurie walked closer to her parents so that her mother could see Lucy up closer. Even though Red looked just about ready to murder someone, her mother's reaction told Laurie that she made the right choice in making the trip.
Red watched his wife welcome Laurie back home with a big hug, but he just couldn't being himself to do that just yet. He still couldn't process any of this. He hadn't seen his daughter or even heard from her in years and now she was suddenly here with her own child. She left this house and she was just his little girl and now she had her own little girl?
"She's got such cute little blonde curls, just like you had when you were a baby." Kitty rambled on, "Oh and what pretty brown eyes. They look a lot like…Oh my."
Mother and daughter shared a look that Red was able to pick up on.
"What?" He asked he scowl deepening, "Who's eyes do they look like? Kitty?"
Neither of the women said anything, leaving Red to try to come up with answer on his own.
It had to be someone he didn't care for and probably hated, otherwise Kitty or Laurie would have told hi already. However the list of people Red disliked was very long so he decided to narrow it out a bit by thinking of people closer to his daughter's age. Still a long list but a bit shorter. And they had to have brown eyes...that would have helped slim down the list too, but Red Forman wasn't exactly the type to remember people's eye color.
His mind went to the dumbasses in the basement first. He knew it couldn't have been Hyde because he and Laurie were like siblings. It wasn't the kettle head either, he was a dumbass and known to do very stupid things like gluing his hand to his face, but wouldn't do something as stupid as cheating on his wife. Then there was the foreigner…
Red's thoughts ended there and he looked back at his apparent granddaughter looking at her eyes.
"Oh crap." He muttered as he put it all together.
"Red!" Kitty scolded at him for cursing in front of their granddaughter even if Laurie covered one of her ears with her hand while the other was pressed against her chest.
Red shook his head as he stood up off the bed, his anger building up more and more.
"Don't 'Red' me, Kitty." He said and then turned to his daughter, "Laurie it's been over five years since we've heard from you…you couldn't have picked up a phone called in, checked on your mother, told us we had a granddaughter?"
Laurie sat silently listening to what her father had to say. She knew he was upset with her, very upset. He very rarely ever yelled at her but now he was and she knew she deserved his anger. Holding Lucy closer to her, shielding her ears and hopefully some of the scene from her, Laurie fixed her eyes on the coral colored lamp on the nightstand. She could take Red's scolding, but she couldn't look him n the eyes.
"Red…" Kitty called out softly, as she saw Laurie's state.
But Red ignored Kitty's voice and continued with what he had to say.
"And now you just waltz on right back in here and casually introduce us to your daughter? The foreigner's daughter? I…I.." he drifted off as he looked at Laurie. The way she looked ashamed, the way she held her child…she looked just like she did when she was a little girl but at the same time so grown up. As he watched his daughter he caught the eyes of Lucy and his heart nearly melted...but he wasn't ready for that.
"Damn it!" he nearly shouted after looking away from the little girl, "I'm going to the garage!"
Laurie waited until she heard her father's stomps start to fade as he exited the bedroom and went down the hallway, before she uncovered her daughter's ears and finally looked back at Kitty.
"Mommy, are you ok?" she asked softly, she could the tears in her ill mother's eyes and wanted to know the reason behind them,
"Well Laurie, I am surprised to see you and I'm still a bit disappointed that you didn't stay in touch with us." Kitty shared before smiling at the mother and daughter, "But I just found out I'm a grandma. I'm more than ok."
Laurie smiled back glad that at least her mother was happy and welcoming towards Lucy. She scooted closer to her mother so that Kitty and Lucy could get to know each other…which was really her whole reason for coming.
Author's Note: There it is Chapter 32 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!
Kudos to Marla for guessing Fez in her last review!
How will Fez react to find out he's a father? Will Red ever come around and talk to Laurie? What will he do to Fez? Is Eric ever going to get that goodnight kiss? When will Jackie and Hyde have their talk? And will Red get the Vista Cruiser running this time around? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!
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!