Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Author's Note: Hello All! First off I am soo very sorry for not updating at all last month! The days really got away from me there and in my defense February is the shortest month of the year…yeah I know there were still 28 days so that doesn't really help me. But I am truly sorry about the wait. Will try to keep that from happening again at least until finals lol Couple of notes as always. First of, thank you so very much for all of your very lovely reviews. It makes me so happy that you all are enjoying the story even after all this time! I love you all! Seriously 200 + You guys are awesome! I am very thankful! Second note, I know this chapter may seem a bit filler-ish but I had originally had three scenes planned for this chapter but I couldn't add the other two or else it would be way too long—even for me! Good news is, I have the next chapter already started now, so yay! And finally, please once again, remember I am not a doctor nor am I studying to be one. I am still watching House M.D., but am still not up to date…oh and yesterday I made the BIGGEST mistake and caught the last minute of a new episode and they showed a preview for the next episode…oh my gosh I soo wanna see it but I can't! Oops rambled there abit did i? Sorry! And also sorry for the very late update, please forgive me! Hope you enjoy this chapter and will review if you get the chance, Enjoy!
It was several minutes later—minutes that were also caught and recorded onto film—when Hyde and Kitty settled on an agreement involving the number of questions Kitty had left to ask.
They settled on only one more question. The compromise of meeting in the middle was one that had each of the two thinking that they had won the argument and gotten what they wanted in the end. However the second Kitty asked her final question Hyde realized which one of them was the actual winner in this situation.
"Steven," Kitty began, "How do you feel about my cancer?"
Hyde froze on the spot, replaying Kitty's question in his head while staring back at her and into his camera. It was a loaded question and he didn't know what to say…or better yet, he didn't know where to begin.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Um ok Mom. New deal. You can have your two questions but this can't one of them, sound good?"
"Nope." Kitty replied shaking her head, "You said one last question and this is my one last question."
Covering his face with his hand Hyde took a deep breath and then exhaled, trying to come up with away to get his adopted mother to change her mind or at least buy him some time before having to answer this question.
"Don't you wanna take some time to think…"
Again Kitty shook her head, "No. I'm fine with this question, I'd like to hear your answer to this question." She coaxed slightly but the young man infront of the camera remained mute, "Steven, it's okay, you can be honest with me. I won't get upset, I just want to know…"
"I don't like it." Hyde replied looking down.
Kitty raised her eyebrows just slightly at the surprise of getting an answer out of him so quickly—she had really been convinced that he was going to put up a taller, stronger wall in front of himself during this question. And though she appreciated and was happy that he had answered, the reply was abit vague for Kitty Forman.
"Would you like to expand on that?" she suggested, "Maybe how you felt about it at first or now even…"
"No." Hyde was quick to answer, "But I know you would like me too."
His statement caused a smile to appear on Kitty's face behind the camera. It showed her that he knew her just as well as she knew him.
Hyde let out a heavy sigh, "I hate it…I hate the cancer." he answered truthfully as he looked up and over at Kitty only to look away a few seconds later, "I hate everything about it. I hate seeing what it's done to you…made you stay in the hospital for weeks, made you physically weaker, made you go through all those treatments and surgeries that the stupid doctors said would get rid of the damn thing…I hate that this is happening to you. Bad things like this shouldn't happen to good people like you."
"Steven…" Kitty tried to but couldn't get a word in.
"I hate that the cancer…that it might be the thing that steals you away from us when we still need you. I hate that you and Red might not grow old together because it. That because of the damn thing, my kids, if I ever have any, might not be able to get to know you." Hyde continued, feeling a turn in the pit of his stomach just thinking about the things he'd said; and the feeling only got worse when he looked over at his surrogate mother. Still he did his best to forget about the camera and give Kitty his sincere answer to her question.
"When Bud and Edna left…it hurt yeah but I got through it and over it because you were there to help me." He went on trying to ignore the tightness in his throat, "It's really not the same because neither of them hold a candle to you…but if...if we lost you…I…I don't…I don't know…"
Kitty sat silently as she watched her adopted son cover his un-shaded eyes with his palm. Her heart broke and she instantly wished she had taken his offer of two questions instead of this one. It was too late now, and there was no way Kitty could go back in time and change things; she did however know one thing she could do.
Slowly she placed the device on the coffee table—not bothering to stop the recording or give a care to where it was the lens was focused on—and stood up from her seat.
And though the camera was not focused perfectly on the scene—and when it would be played back the image would appear on the far left side of the screen—the camcorder still managed to capture the tender, heartfelt if not heartbreaking moment of a mother comforting and trying to calm down her upset son in her arms.
0o0o0o
The next morning Eric Forman sleepily woke from his slumber and found himself snuggled up in his makeshift bed on the basement floor. He resembled a caterpillar wrapped up in a cocoon as he tried not to let any of the warmth escape the blankets he remained enveloped in. These cold Wisconsin mornings were one of the things he did not miss while in Seattle. Still it was nice to stay in bed a little longer, covered with numerous warm blankets and an even warmer body cuddled up against him, the persons' arm loosely placed over Eric.
At the feeling of the arm on top of his waist, Eric smiled thinking about the body that was attached to this arm. It was small and petite, but soft and curvy in all the right places. But it wasn't just the physical parts of the body that Eric's mind thought about, it was also what was inside that body, and not the whole anatomy and physiology stuff. It was a body filled with love and compassion, so much strength that Eric never thought possible, and of course lots feistiness. It was Jackie's body. Beautiful Jackie who…
Suddenly all of Eric's thoughts about Jackie stopped as he recalled the events from last night…
Last night they had said 'goodnight' multiple times t the living room stairs…so he hadn't slept in the same bed with Jackie last night. No that had been the night before. Before they had their first date at the mall, before Laurie came back…Last night he hadn't slept in Jackie's room. His mom had told him to sleep in the basement with…Fez!
Eye widened with fear, Eric slowly turned himself onto his back and followed the path of the arm now resting over his stomach. He went from the fingers to the wrist to the forearm…and every new part of the limb that Eric followed seemed to be hairier and manlier. Then finally his eyes traveled upwards the familiar face of his foreign friend, and even though he was still asleep a faint smile could be seen playing on his lips.
"Oh my God." Eric nearly shouted but didn't want to wake his friend, he didn't even want to think about the reason behind Fez's grin. "Oh my God!" he said now letting his voice become a bit more high pitched.
Thinking quickly Eric pushed the foreign man's body away from his own before franticly scampering away from the pile of blankets and onto his feet. Luckily Fez had remained fast asleep the whole time. In an alarmed fashion Eric scanned his eyes around the room to make sure no one had seen anything. There was no one there so as long as Hyde was still catching up on his z's in his own room it would be like none of this had happened.
Feeling confident and not as embarrassed or ashamed, Eric made his way over to the wooden staircase. Only he was so consumed in holding his head up high, he didn't look down and see his sleeping friend on the floor.
"Aye!" a loud scream was heard from under Eric's right foot.
Immediately Eric looked down, "Oh jeeze, sorry Fez!"
However his cuddle buddy did not look up at him, he only muttered a few words in his native language before drifting back to sleep.
Shaking his head and fighting back a smile, Eric climbed up the stairway as fast as he could. Once he reached the top of the stairs and pushed open the basement door into the kitchen he was welcomed into the room by a familiar sound and smell.
Unfortunately, the sounds weren't of his mother happily singing to whatever song was playing on the radio and the smells weren't coming from any of her homemade meals; instead the smells were from the take-out breakfast that had been placed on the kitchen table and the sounds were only the paper bags rustling against each other.
This caused Eric to release a silent sigh. Never before had he missed his mother's cooking so much, not when he had first moved to Seattle and not even when he was in Africa. Now…now he'd do anything to be able to eat another one of his mom's meatloaves, or brownies, heck even just one of her special grilled cheese sandwiches that she always made with extra 'Kitty Love.'
Though despite the fact that he longed for a home cooked meal—after all he rarely had one in Seattle either—he did appreciate the meals that had been eating, the way everyone was pitching in and taking turns buying out. Especially Hyde and Jackie, he appreciated a lot of things those two were doing and had done.
Speaking of, the certain petite brunette was standing in the kitchen at this moment. She was the one who was causing those slight crackling noises from the paper sacks, she was also the only one in the room giving Eric the message that she had been the one who'd bought today's breakfast.
Jackie's back was turned towards him, as she'd yet to notice him, but he continued to watch her. Not being able to contain his grin or stop his eyes from moving downwards…which leaded to result of an even bigger smile. He tried to stop himself, he did…but he couldn't.
"Are you looking at my ass?" a voice asked startling Eric and breaking him from his trance.
A second after the question had been asked, Jackie turned herself around and crossed her arms while looking at Eric, waiting for her answer.
"No!" he was quick to defend himself, trying not to sound as guilty as he looked, "I mean unless you wanted me too…?"
There was no verbal response just the tiniest smile that was abit difficult to see as she shook her head back and forth.
"Ok, well then that's good. Because really I wasn't." Eric went on to expand his story, "No…I was just thinking of…" he drifted off and looked around the room before landing his eyes on the round white tabletop, "How uncomfortable that kitchen table really would be." He explained and gestured towards the furniture.
Jackie still didn't quite believe him. Though she wasn't at all upset by the fact that he had been checking her out, it had made her morning, she just wanted to see him sweat abit. Which he did, but he had also been able to come up with a good excuse in the process.
"Was it really that bad?" she asked.
Eric nodded, "I can honestly say I will never sleep with Fez again!"
Jackie had to hold back her laugh when she heard those words, "Well as the girl you've taken on a first date and have plans to take on a second one, I am glad to hear that." She stated and Eric gave a slightly embarrassed smile as he realized how he'd made his words sound, "Secondly, I thought Fez was sleeping on the couch and you were on the floor."
"You and I both." He replied and then shrugged, "I don't know, he probably ended up down there after one of the times he was sleepwalking."
"Fez sleepwalks?" Jackie asked sounding both curious and confused, as she tried to recall any actual sleepwalking event happening when she shared an apartment with the foreigner…sure there had been the frequent fake sleepwalking that always lead him to the same spot, her bed, but it was never the real deal.
"Oh sleepwalking is just the beginning!" Eric began to explain, "That guy does everything in his sleep. He walks, talks, moans, kicks…I swear at one point during the night I woke up and saw him standing over by the deepfreeze, his eyes closed and eating a popsicle!"
Jackie could no longer contain her giggles and she now let them fill the air.
"And he punches! Look at this…" Eric drifted off abit before reaching for his shirtsleeve and rolling it up to his shoulder in order to show Jackie the large round forming bruise he had no doubtedly gotten at some point last night.
With a small frown intended on her forehead, Jackie examined the bash on Eric's upper arm, it looked painful and she was almost surprised at how fast it had formed into the black and blue mark. Slowly she reached over and gingerly placed her soft fingers over the bruise.
"Does it hurt?"
"No." Eric lied, not wanting her to remove her hand; he was really enjoying her soft touch on him, "It actually feels a lot better now."
Jackie released a small laugh in response as she placed her other hand on Eric's injured arm. She had plans of pulling the arm closer to her, so she could get a better look, however when her dainty hand grabbed the side of Eric's bicep she froze.
There was muscle there. Eric Forman actually had muscle on his biceps. Of course Jackie had noticed this before and admired the features with her eyes, but this time she was feeling the actual muscle with her hand. It was big, but not the ugly big muscles with the veins popping out, and it was firm and strong…This proved it, Eric Forman was no longer the scrawny twitchy boy she grew up with. Well maybe he was still abit twitchy but he was in no way scrawny anymore.
Feeling a slight heat on her cheeks, Jackie released her grip on Eric's arm, "I should make some coffee."
The smile that had appeared on Eric's face when he realized that she was checking him out, soon fell the minute he heard her words.
"Ugh Jackie, wait!" he called out, following her to the old coffee maker, "I can do that. Let me do that."
Eric then proceeded to slightly push Jackie away from the appliance and then took over. Watching him, Jackie knitted her brows together and crossed her arms defensively.
"I can make a cup of coffee, you know." She stated.
"I know." He nodded and then playfully grinned, "But it's not very good."
Shaking her head, she pointed her index finger in his direction, "Just watch, one of these days I am going to make a fantastic cup of coffee."
"Alright. That's gonna be a really big day." Eric paused in his answer, "I mean you making a good cup of coffee…pigs finally flying."
"Shut up." Jackie ordered wile trying not to let her giggles get the best of her.
She then gave his arm a playful swat that caused Eric's mouth to break out into a bigger grin as he let out a quick chuckle. This playful banter between the two of them was something Eric really enjoyed. It was fun being able to make jokes about the other and when a joke had been made about them, they were able to laugh at themselves. It never felt like Jackie was laughing at him, it was like she was laughing with him.
Plus with Donna…if he'd told her she'd make a good cup of coffee the day pigs flew she would have come up with a quick remark and then stomped out of the room right after telling him that he could make all the coffee from then on.
"I noticed how you didn't ask how my night went with your sister." Jackie commented, bring Eric back to the kitchen, "Even after I asked about your night with Fez."
Eric shrugged his shoulders at the question, "Well I figured since the universe seems to still be in tact and there's no fiery pitholes leading to hell that have opened up, everything went fine and having so much evil in one room really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."
Smiling lightly Jackie replied, "I guess you do have a point there, it really wasn't as bad as it could've been. We talked for a little bit but most of the time she was with Lucy. Laurie's a really good mom." She stopped and scrunched up her face, "Wow that felt weird to say."
Eric laughed in agreement, "Hey I'm still surprised she's got a kid. Usually when I think of Laurie and kids…well those two words are almost never used in the same sentence. Unless you count, Laurie eats kids to steal their youth."
"She's not like that anymore though. At least from what I've seen." Jackie replied, after holding back a laugh at Eric's insult towards his sister, "She's not 'Whorey Laurie' which is really for the best especially since she has Lucy…now she's 'Mommy Laurie.' She's changed…just like all of us have."
Nodding gradually Eric thought over Jackie's last statement and realized just how true it was. They all really had changed in someway or another Hyde had become more responsible and was no longer just some burn-out living in a basement, the guys hadn't even been in a circle for years. Donna, who once believed a woman didn't need a man to make her someone was engaged and constantly looking at the telephone just waiting for a call from her hopefully still fiancé.
Fez and Kelso still had their prevy and childish moments, but they had matured in their own ways. They both had good paying jobs—Kelso was even allowed to handle a gun, that was saying a lot! And Kelso, the one they thought would be the last in their group to settle down, was happily married and had his own little girl. That same little girl who Fez was a doting uncle to, and hopefully he would be that same type of dad to his own daughter when Laurie gave him the news.
Just like their friends, Eric realized, he and Jackie had each changed as well. And it made him wonder if what they had going now would even exist if they were those same people from their teenage years…and what changes exactly played a role in it all. Jackie was no longer the snobby, self-centered cheerleader but was it because she had changed and grown out of the stage or was it that she never really was as snobby and self-centered as Eric remembered and his view of her had now changed?
What ever it was, it had changed…just like everything had changed already and everything would change after. They had all changed in some way or another.
"But why do I have to wake up now? It's soo early!" a familiar voice was heard whining from the living room.
Then again, some things stayed the same.
"We don't have to go to work…Betsy doesn't have school. I could be getting some extra beauty sleep, Brooke…not that I really need it." The voice added, sounding confident for a second or two before going back to the complaining tone from before.
"There not even any of the good, violent cartoons on yet." Kelso reminded as he pushed open the swinging door for him and his family, "I mean… alright McDonalds!"
Seeing the paper bags that he knew were filled with different variations of breakfast foods, Kelso sprinted his way to the table and began to rummage through the sacks. Meanwhile behind him stood his family, as they entered the kitchen. Betsy smiled and giggled at her father's actions and Brooke shook her head while fighting back her own smile. Soon noticing the duo standing the room, she looked over and smiled before giving a morning greeting and then turning towards her husband.
"Say 'good morning' Michael."
Without looking up from the bags, Kelso did as he was told, "Good morning Michael."
Betsy's giggles grew louder and the carefree sounds caused Eric's own smile to grow and Jackie's soon followed.
"Betsy, honey." Brooke began to say, placing her hands on her daughter shoulders, "Would you make up for your daddy's manners and say good morning to you aunt and uncle?"
The young girl looked up at her mother and nodded before looking over at the couple who had bought her toys yesterday, she put a large grin on her face.
"Good morning Aunt Jackie. Good morning Uncle Eric."
Together Eric and Jackie gave their own 'good mornings' to the littlest Kelso.
"Do you want me to make you some chocolate milk, sweetie?" Jackie asked with smile.
Betsy smiled and eagerly nodded her head earning her a laugh from Jackie; however her mother did not want her taking after her father in the manners department and proceeded to give her a slight nudge.
"What do we say, Betsy?" she asked, once again.
Quickly remembering her manners, Betsy put them to use, "Yes, please Aunt Jackie."
While her godmother poured the chocolate syrup into the cup of milk and her mother and uncle made small morning talk, Betsy was ready to ask her first question of the day.
"Aunt Jackie," she called out, grabbing Jackie's attention instantly, "Can we go back to the toy store today?"
"Oh no honey, I'm afraid not." Jackie answered hoping not to crush the little girl's heart.
Eric noticed Jackie's cautiousness and stepped in to help, "Yeah, we've gotta stay here to take care of Grandma Kitty since she's sick."
"That's right." Jackie nodded, "And her nurse is coming later on today." She added, informing not just the little girl but the adults in the room as well.
Betsy's disappointment showed in her face and a pout was added for extra effect, "But it's boring here…"
And while neither Jackie nor Eric reacted much to the words that had been spoken, Brooke's eyes nearly budged out of her head as she looked over at her daughter. Quickly and with an apologetic look, she turned to Eric.
"Eric, I am so sorry. I'm sure she didn't mean it." She began, "Betsy's apologize to your Uncle Eric…"
Eric lifted his palms to cut Brooke off, "It's ok, Brooke.' He assured and then looked at the mini-Brooke in front of him "It's ok, Betsy."
The young teacher then bent down on one knee to be at Betsy's level, "I know you wanna get out of this house and you think it's boring being here. I do too." He admitted, meaning the first part. He wished he could get out of the house for just a little while not just because it ensured some alone time with Jackie but it allowed them to get away from the drama and forget just for a small while about his mother's suffering.
"And you're a kid, you've gotta be extra bored." He continued and Betsy nodded her head, "The only people you have to play with is us boring grown ups and your Uncle Fez."
"Uncle Fez is a sore loser." Betsy informed.
Eric chuckled, "I know." He agreed, after playing many board games with Fez over the years, Eric knew this very well.
"But what if I were to tell you that things around here may get a lot more fun for you?" he asked with a smile. Of course he was thinking about his niece who was still in hiding with her mother upstairs, but they couldn't stay up there forever and Eric had a good feeling the two girls would hit it off right away. After all they each had a part of their father's in them and those two were inseparable, "You might even find another player for Hungry Hungry Hippos."
The little girl's face lit up, "Really?"
Looking on at the scene, Jackie smiled knowing just what Eric was up to. Wanting to join in on the spreading some cheer to her goddaughter, Jackie stepped over with the chocolate milk in her hand as Eric nodded his head.
"I'm with your Uncle Eric, Bets." Jackie began, "I think you'll be making a new friend really soon."
"When? When? When?" she asked, practically bouncing in place.
Jackie smiled, "Soon, sweetie."
"But you have to wait." Eric added, "And while you're waiting you don't wanna go to the store…you could miss your new friend getting here, right?"
"Right…"
"So you'll stay here today and we'll save shopping for maybe another day?" Jackie questioned, handing over the flavored milk.
Betsy was silent for a few seconds as she thought about what she was being told. She couldn't go shopping again which meant no more new toys, but Uncle Eric was saying she could get a new friend…That was better than ten new toys!
"Ok." She quickly agreed and then grabbed her beverage.
Brooke meanwhile didn't seem to notice her daughter's absent manners, and if she had they were the last things on her mind. What had the librarian's attention was the words Jackie and Eric had said to her daughter. A new friend? Who? Were they being truthful or just trying to get out of taking Betsy out…it was a clever plan…but they didn't seem like the type of people to fool a little kid. So that meant they had to be telling the truth…what did they know that no one else knew?
Opening her mouth Brooke looked over at Jackie but before she could get a word in Fez entered the room.
"Good morning, everyone!" he greeted happily with a smile that quickly fell and turned into a scowl as he looked over at Eric, "Except you. I hope you have a terrible morning."
"What?" Eric instantly asked, now up off his knee, "Why?"
Fez walked over to the table where his best friend was struggling to stay awake, "Because you snore." He looked back at Eric, "Like an elephant in heat."
Furrowing his brow Eric stared at the foreigner, "An elephant in heat?"
"Yes, that is what you sound like." Fez replied with a nod before going on to recreate Eric's loud snores in a very over the top and exaggerated dramatization.
The girls in the room broke out into laughter at Fez's antics. Kelso snapped his head up, waking from his light slumber, and looking around the room for the source of the noise. And Eric scowled at his friend. He knew he snored, his father had told him just yesterday, but there was no way he sounded like that!
"I snore? I snore?" Eric questioned but didn't wait for a reply, instead he lifted his index finger towards his friend, "Well you do everything else in your sleep. And I mean everything!"
Fez gave a sleepish grin and shrugged his shoulders as both Jackie and Brooke grimaced in the background.
"And look…look at this." Eric continued with his point as he walked closer to the table, while rolling up his sleeve to show Fez the bruise he'd show Jackie earlier, "You punched me!"
Looking at the blue and black bash, Fez's brown eyes widened, "I did that?"
"Yeah."
A grin then broke out onto the foreign man's face, "Those five pound weights are really paying off!" he said proudly as he lifted his right arm in a flexing position to examine his muscles.
"Fez!" Eric exclaimed in shock.
"What?"
"Aren't you going to apologize?"
"No." Fez answered quickly as if the reason were obvious, "I have made us both look very tough and macho!"
Eric continued to frown, "No Fez, you didn't okay? You just made me look like I have a bruise. I do have a bruise. From you! And it hurts!"
"Oh Eric…" Fez said as he shook his head and smiled, "You are not mad at me for punching you. You are mad because you bruise like an orange."
Confusion soon filled the room thanks to three of its occupants. The other two were busy either thinking about their new friend or trying to keep their head up and not fall back to sleep.
"Bruise like an orange, Fez?" Jackie repeated, thinking maybe her friend would realize what he'd said wrong, but he only nodded.
Brooke gave it her own shot, "Don't you mean bruise like a peach?"
Taking a few seconds to ponder over the suggestion Fez realized the tall brunette was correct, "Oh right. Bruise like a peach. I knew it was something that was orange."
This statement puzzled the trio even more than the first one. However before any questions or statement could be made another member of the group pushed open the swinging kitchen door and walked inside.
"Morning you guys." The tall blonde greeted in a normal tone of voice.
"Good morning."
"Hey Donna."
"Morning Donna."
And other welcomes soon followed.
It was a nice calm, carefree morning scene that had that family feeling to it…that is until Donna sat her self down at the table and look at the label on the paper sacks.
"McDonalds?" she asked with a frown in place, "Didn't we just eat this stuff last night?"
"Uh I don't think so, Donna. McDonalds usually stops selling breakfast after eleven, so…"
"You know what I mean, Eric." Donna interrupted in a firm tone of voice as she looked at her ex-boyfriend now having a good idea of who had bought the day's breakfast, "Hyde picked up McDonalds for all of us last night for dinner and now we're here eating from McDonalds again. I thought there weren't supposed to be repeats one after another?"
The blonde kept her green eyes on Eric, waiting and expecting him to answer her. And so it came as quite a surprise when she finally heard words but never saw Eric's mouth move; and the tone used was much more feminine. Immediately Donna turned towards the sound.
"I know, Donna. It was my fault not Eric's." Jackie began to explain.
Donna scowled at the young woman who days ago she had asked to be her maid of honor. Now she wasn't sure she should have done that and it wasn't just because of the fact that she still didn't know if her wedding was still on. Her scowl seemed to deepen the longer she looked at the former cheerleader even though it wasn't her she was really upset with at the moment nor was she as upset about the repeat of McDonalds. Donna was now even more upset with the fact that Eric had been defending and trying to cover for her…he wasn't supposed to be covering for her or defending her. That's not what he did, at least not for Jackie; he was supposed to hate her not 'be in love' with her.
"You got the food, Jackie?"
"Yeah." The brunette nodded, "It was my turn to get breakfast and I overslept a little bit this morning…I knew you all were going to be up soon and McDonalds is the closest place to the house. I'll make sure we don't have McDonald's for a couple of meals." Jackie continued, not exactly sure why she was explain and apologizing to Donna.
Donna shrugged, "Yeah, sure. But you know this whole thing is getting pretty ridiculous."
The kitchen fell into a frozen silence, no one dared to move or speak. They only looked at one another exchanging silent words with their eyes, Eric with Jackie, Brooke with both Fez and Kelso. None of them looking at Donna until…
"What do you mean, Donna?" Eric questioned, already preparing himself for an argument—it reminded him of the days when they were dating.
"I mean this whole eating out thing, Eric." She began to explain gesturing towards the take out food on the table, "I mean it's not terrible or anything, it's just…we're each spending more than forty dollars everyday to pay for everyone's meals, when it would be a lot cheaper if we all just chipped in some money and went to the grocery store to buy stuff to cook into a meal."
Jackie stared at her friend, having mixed feelings about the points she'd just made. It made sense, they had been spending a lot and they probably would save a few bucks if they pinched in for groceries…but it would be them saving money not her saving money. Donna hadn't bought a meal for them since the night before Randy left.
"And just who did you plan on having cook these meals?" Eric had to ask, "Because as I recall the last time you cooked for me was when you tried to make a club sandwich, and you didn't get past making the toast. And even that managed to get stuck in the toaster."
Donna glared an angry glare at her ex-boyfriend as the others around her laughed or tried to hold in their laughs and keep them to themselves.
Kelso was one of the ones who laughed right out loud not even trying to hide it as he asked his question, "Did you try and get it out with a fork too?"
Too? Each of his friends seemed to repeat in their heads as they each displayed their own puzzled and perplexed frowns. Was Kelso really that dumb to put a metal utensil into a plugged in toaster…actually now that they thought about it and all of his previous kettlehead moments, it wasn't too hard to believe. And it explained a lot.
Shaking her head, Donna brought the conversation back on track, "Look, I don't care who makes the meals as long as it's not Ronald McDonald."
"Actually, Ronald McDonald doesn't make any of the food." Eric stated in a matter-of-fact tone as he lifted his index finger, "That's why we never see him in the commercials cooking in the kitchen. He's more of the creepy clown spokesman of McDonalds."
Donna continued to stare at Eric, her angry expression changing slightly and into a more annoyed one. Her expression clearly asking Eric a sarcastic, 'Seriously?' However Eric's reaction to the look was not his normal reaction and he didn't back away or drop his small smirk; instead he kept his eyes on his girlfriend and let his smirk turn into a smile.
"You know, if you guys want I could do it." Brooke said out loud, hoping to break the tension building up in the room and being serious and sincere about her offer, "I can make a few meals, and I don't want to brag but I am pretty good in the kitchen."
"Pretty good?" Kelso asked, in a shocked tone as he looked over at his wife, "Babe, you're awesome in the kitchen."
Her husband's words made her smile and she placed a loving kiss on his cheek, "Thank you, honey."
Kelso grinned largely, happy from the kiss he received, and nodded before looking at his friends, "Yeah, outside our bedroom that's our second favorite place to do it."
"Michael!" Brooke exclaimed with wide eyes as she smacked him on his shoulder.
"Ow!" he cried in pain as he held onto his arm, "What? It's not like I told them our number one favorite place was the living room couch!"
"Michael!"
"I think it's sexy." Fez shared out loud with an approving grin.
"See Fez appreciates it!" Kelso almost shouted, as if it were a good thing, he turned to Fez and place his hand on his buddy's shoulder, "Thanks, man."
Fez returned the smile, "Not a problem."
Grinning still, Kelso nodded towards Fez and then looked over at his wife, "I'm going back to sleep."
However instead of getting up and going back to the room where he had been sleeping in, as any other person would do, Kelso merely propped his elbow on the table and placed his head in his hand before proceeding to close his eyes. Brooke buried her own head in her hands, but she was not doing it to get a few more minutes of shuteye as her husband was.
Jackie watched Brooke with a sympathetic look; she knew how embarrassing it could be when you were involved with Michael Kelso. And Brooke was married to him, the poor girl; it was a good thing she loved the big lug so much. As she continued to watch Brooke, Jackie thought about the suggestion she'd made only seconds ago. It was a very generous offer and a homemade meal sounded so much better than another greasy burger and pack of fries. Still there was that little part of Jackie that knew she could/shouldn't take Brooke up on her offer.
"Brooke, thanks for the offer. It really is sweet of you, but I just don't think Mom would like the idea." The petite brunette began to explain, "She says that guests should be the ones taken care of, not the ones taking care of things."
Nodding along with what Jackie said—and grateful for the change in subject—Brooke understood what she was talking about. After all this wasn't the first time she and her family had stayed in the Forman Home, and each time they did, Kitty had reminded her of that same thing along with another statement that never failed to make Brooke smile.
"That's true." The young mother agreed and then slowly let a smile creep onto her lips, "But Mrs. Forman also always says that we're family. And family takes care of each other in any way that they can, in both good and bad times."
Brooke smiled over at Jackie and Eric, who remained standing beside her, and soon the couple had their own smiles in place. Jackie smiled because she realized a very good point had been made and she wondered how know one else had seemed to catch it before, and then there was the fact that the chances of having a home cooked meal at least once were looking pretty good. Eric smiled because those things did sound like things his mother would say, plus he hadn't had a non-take out, non-frozen meal in weeks.
With his smile still in place, Eric eager nodded his head, "Very, very true. So Brooke, what are you thinking for tonight?" he asked for his growling stomach.
While Brooke let out a small laugh, Jackie placed her hand on Eric's shoulder as if trying to hold him back.
"Hold on, not so fast. I really like the idea, but I still think we should run it by Mom." Jackie shared with the two, "Maybe I could talk to Red first and see what he thinks about it."
"Who thinks about what?" a new voice asked as they entered the kitchen from the living room.
Eric turned to see his adopted brother walk in, he figured Hyde would probably have an onion as well so he began to inform him of their discussion, "See what Red thinks about…"
"Something." Jackie quickly said as she cut Eric off.
She knew if Hyde knew what they were talking about he'd have a very strong and negative opinion. He didn't like seeing anyone but Kitty cooking in this kitchen, once when Kitty had been sick before Jackie had put a frozen pizza in the oven, Hyde had caught her and they had one of their biggest fights since Chicago. That wasn't, however, the only reason Jackie had for keeping Hyde in the dark. She really didn't see any reason to involve Hyde, he'd only take over and try to put everything under his control. Just like he tried to do with her.
Hyde shifted his eyes from Eric to Hyde, part of his wanted to respond to her interruption but the other part told him it was too early in the morning to start up a fight.
"Fine, whatever." He said with a shrug and then headed to where everyone else was seated.
Eric was still a bit confused with Jackie's actions but only silently questioned them, for now; he watched Hyde for a few seconds before realizing where Hyde had come from, the living room. That meant he'd left his room. Which meant he could have seen…Oh no.
"Uh Hyde…" Eric began, trying not to sound nervous, "Did you just come down from upstairs?"
"No man, I came down from downstairs." Hyde replied, deep in sarcasm.
"Right, right." Eric nodded and then became silent, waiting for the many burns Hyde had stored in his mind since seeing him and Fez on the floor.
But not a burn was said. Nothing at all was said.
Instead Hyde made his way to one of the cabinets and pulled out an old breakfast tray, he then went to get a few cups of coffee and once he was done with that he grabbed one of the empty paper bags and began to fill it up with enough food to last him all day today and part of tomorrow. The others watched him, grabbing handfuls of the syrup packages, a several hash browns, and at least four of the individual Styrofoam pancake packages. It didn't take long for Eric and Jackie to figure out he was taking food up to not only Red, Kitty, and himself but also to the two secret houseguests; the remaining member of the group were now starting to think he'd been lying about giving up circles and was having a really bad case of the munchies.
"Santy Clause, why? Why are you taking our food? Why?" Fez asked, in a childlike voice as he looked at his curly-haired friend with puppy dog eyes.
Hyde stared back at the foreigner, not a trace of a smile in his expression, "Fez, Christmas was a month ago. Get rid of the gay apparel and get over it."
Fez looked back with a hurt expression written in his face, he then turned to his half awake, half asleep friend, "Kelso does this clothes make me look gay?"
Kelso slightly shook himself awake when he heard his friend's question; he then looked Fez over and shrugged his shoulders.
"Not more than usual." He answered and then went back to his journey to la la land.
These words made Fez happy and his somber expression soon changed into a more happier and delighted one, he quickly forgot about the Grinch packing away their breakfast in his sacks. But there was still someone who was still curious about Hyde's actions.
"Seriously Hyde, what's with all the food?" Donna questioned.
"Uh I'm gonna eat upstairs with Mom and Red." Hyde stared to explain, which was partly true, "And I'm taking some food up for them too."
Brooke smiled, almost hopefully, at the growing amount of food for just three people. "Is Mrs. Forman eating more now?"
Hyde's Zen face dropped, he couldn't lie about that, "Uh…uh no she's not."
"But she might!" Eric quickly jumped in as he noticed the sadden expression now worn on most of the individuals in the room and the struggle his brother seemed to be having, "So Hyde's taking up some extra food just in case, right Hyde?"
Hyde nodded, "Right."
"And the four cups of coffee are because…" Donna waited for her answer.
Together Hyde and Eric looked down at the tray that held four of the yellow coffee mugs, each of them filled with the hot, caffeine filled liquid; and then they looked back at each other waiting for the other to say something.
"Uh it's for Red." Hyde at last managed to come up with, "The guys been staying up late with Mom and hasn't slept much so I'm taking up an extra cup for him…you know keep him up and awake."
Fez frowned just slightly at the explanation, "Why don't you just come back down when Mr. Red finishes with his first cup of coffee?"
Up until Fez spoke, Hyde thought this excuse was perfect, but as soon as Fez asked his question Hyde realized it wasn't as flawless as he'd thought. Fortunately he knew a way to quickly get out of it.
"Shut up and drink your syrup, Fez." He practically ordered.
Thinking it was a good idea anyway, Fez shrugged his shoulders before grabbing a small plastic packaging containing the maple syrup, he lifted it up as a quick cheers and then took a sip from it as if it were a type of beverage.
And luckily, by telling Fez to do this it not only stopped his questions but Donna's as well. The blonde seemed to completely forget about the extra food as she looked at the foreigner in disbelief.
"Hey Forman, man." Hyde called out, grabbing Eric's attention right away, "Why don't you come up and…join the family for breakfast?"
Eric gave a smile at Hyde's suggestion, he knew it was Hyde's way of saying thanks for helping him out with the covering, "Yeah, sure." He nodded, "Think I'll eat real quick down here and then meet with guys upstairs in a few."
"Cool." Hyde replied giving his own nod before grabbing the tray full of the various breakfast items and heading to the swinging door, "See you guys later."
Everyone returned Hyde's goodbye with their own 'Bye,' 'Later', 'Okay' and so on, everyone but Jackie.
The only one who noticed the tiny brunette's silence, however, was Eric. He knew she was still upset and bothered by the things Hyde had said the other night, as was he just not to her extent. Another reason Eric found himself not as upset as Jackie was because he realized that now with everything going on with his mom their mom, it was not the time to be fighting and pushing away each other.
Eric also knew that those feelings of resentment that Jackie seemed to have for Hyde right now and the one he for her were most probably the biggest reason that Jackie kept putting off her talk with Hyde. But Eric hoped that soon the duo would talk and be able to work things out; they'd managed to get over the whole stripper thing—granted it was mostly because of his mother's cancer—they had to get over this too, right? Or did someone else close to them all have to be diagnosed with a terminal illness first?
Things between him and Jackie were going really great and the truth was he hoped they continued to, but there's was part of him that worried that if things didn't get fixed with Hyde and Jackie, Hyde would disconnect himself from them. Eric was already loosing his mother. He didn't want to loose anyone else. He wanted to keep all of these people who were in this kitchen with him in his life. Including Donna, and even Randy…if the guy ever returned.
"Eric?" Jackie called out in a soft voice, "You ok?"
Shaking his head, Eric cleared his thoughts from his mind, "Yeah, sorry. Was just thinking."
Jackie smiled and nodded before lacing her arm through his, "Why don't we eat so you can go up and spend some time with your family?"
"Alright." Eric quickly agreed.
The two walked closer to the kitchen table, arm in arm. Once they were close enough Eric pulled his arm away from hers and pulled out the empty seat next to Brooke, Jackie smiled but something on the table caught her eye and kept her from sitting down.
"Ugh!" She groaned with annoyance and rolled her eyes, "Steven took the last of the butter packets."
"I think there's still that half a stick of butter in the fridge." Eric stated.
"Oh that's right." Jackie replied as she too quickly remembered the item, "I'll get it, you sit down."
Eric smiled as he watched Jackie turn back around and then make her way to the brown refrigerator, he then too turn around and faced the table ready to take a seat in the last available seat—next to his ex-girlfriend. Cautiously he sat himself down in the seat, trying not to draw any attention from the blonde. Unfortunately that didn't last very long and soon Donna's eyes were watching him and there was no smile in sight on her face. Nervously Eric grinned at her hoping she'd return the smile; she didn't.
"Oh my God." He heard Jackie mutter and quickly took that as he cue to leave the table and rush to her side.
"What? What? What happened?" he asked still feeling his nervousness from sitting beside the angry woman.
Jackie turned towards Eric, surprised to see him there but only for a second or two, "Someone at the stick of butter! Who eats butter, just like that?" she asked as she showed Eric the empty butter holder.
Eric looked over at the table and kept his eyes on the two men. One was asleep with his head propped up in his hand an dthe other was trying to get the last drop of syrup into his mouth. He looked back at Jackie.
"I'd say it's a coin toss between Fred and Barney over there." He replied.
Smiling slightly Jackie took a few seconds to collect her thoughts, "You know, maybe Donna's right."
A frown instantly appeared on Eric's forehead and he then proceeded to place his finger in his ear and move it around, "I'm sorry, I don't think I've ever heard that…well unless you count the times Donna said it and in that case it was more 'I'm right."
"I'm serious." Jackie argued despite her giggles, "Maybe we should go to the grocery store and pick up a few things. Even before talking to Mom or even Red. We could just go and pick up a few snacks and necessities."
Eric nodded, "Yeah we could do that…wait we as in we?" he asked moving his index finger between the two of them.
"Yes, I mean we." She said mocking his gesture and then letting her lips breakout into a playful smirk, "I figured we had our first date at the mall why not have the second one in the grocery store…it'll also bring us closer to that third date."
"This…this would be our second date?" he asked with a slight gulp.
Jackie nodded this time, and fought back the urge to giggle. "Yeah, I know you kinda had your heart set on going shoe shopping with me but we could always leave that as our third date or even further down the road…that is if you don't mind."
"Yes!" he almost answered to quickly and too loudly, he didn't know what he was more excited for the fact that he was going to spend some more time alone with Jackie or that he wasn't going to have to go shoe shopping to do it, "I mean no. I mean…yes I would like to go grocery shopping with you as our second date and no, no I don't mind at all."
"Great. Say at about 1:30?" Jackie suggested with a grin and Eric nodded, "Plus I figured you could also be able to help me figure out what to buy. I mean you live on your own, you've gotta know a couple of things we should get to make a few easy meals."
Uncertainty showed in Eric's expression, "Yeah… I don't really think I'm the guy for that." He started to explain, "But I can tell you all the answers to the puzzles on the backs on various cereal boxes."
Jackie laughed and shook her head as Eric continued.
"Oh and I do make one heck of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."
Titling her head to the side and smiling slyly, Jackie looked at Eric, "I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."
"I'll keep that in mind." Eric said with a nod as he took a mental note.
The couple stayed in the back of the kitchen a little longer, simply smiling at staring into the others eyes; one would think they were about to share a very loving kiss, and they probably would have if a loud bang hadn't been heard.
Startled by the sudden sound, Eric and Jackie turned to the kitchen table where everyone else's eyes were glued on a now sitting up straight Michael Kelso.
"I'm awake!" he declared lifting up one hand in the air while the other rubbed his injured forehead.
Author's Note: And that my friends would be Chapter 36 of "Two Weeks" Hope You Liked!
Will Hyde and Jackie ever get back to being friends? How will Eric and Jackie's date at the grocery store go? What will Kitty say when she finds out about the plan for homemade meals? When will Betsy meet Lucy? When will Fez meet Lucy? And where the heck is Randy? 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, see you next time, have a nice day, and take care!