Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Author's Note: Hello everyone! Long time no see huh? I am so so so so soo very very very truly, truly, deeply, deeply sorry for taking so long to update this fic. Things got kinda crazy over here and really busy and then this chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I had planed, once again had to cut the chapter in half and this first part still turned out to be one of my longest chapters ever! Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing, since I know some people aren't big fans of the long chapter but then again some of you though the last one was kinda short so this could make up for that and the long wait between chapters. Though this chapter could kinda be seen as fillerish, I don't think so really…guess it kinda depends on what you think a filler chapter is. Couple of notes before we star with the chapter, though I know you all are anxious to read it….number one, please remember I am not a doctor nor am I studying to be one, I am still watching House MD but don't ask me about my anatomy class or I could burst into stressful tears lol. Number two. Please forgive me for the super long wait once again, I am really going to try my best, now that summer is near to update more often. Number three, I also want to apologize to you all who aren't the big fans of long chapters, I couldn't find any parts that I could bare to cut sorry! I do hope you all will still review though, I worked hard and late on this one, and I hope you like it. And hey you can review even if you're a first time review of the story! Number four thank you so much for all your support and reviews, they mean so much to me, I love them and you all, and really I can't say that enough! Okay I think I've rambled enough for this AN, So sorry for the long wait and the extra long chapter (though I hope it will it make it up to some of you) please review and Enjoy!
A small thinking frown appeared on Kitty's face as she reflected over her adopted son's most recent question. It took her a few more seconds before she looked back up at the camera, ready with her answer.
"Breakfast." She said with a smile and a nod, "Breakfast is probably my favorite meal of the day."
"How come?" Hyde asked from behind the camera.
"Well…" Kitty looked upwards for a few seconds as she thought over a few of her reason, she then looked back at the camera with her smile back in place, "There are many different reasons."
Hyde smirked, "So say them. We've got time."
They did have plenty of time as the day was still in the afternoon. Sure they had already been spending plenty of time on the idea, having started it since this morning; but they had time for whatever Kitty wanted to talk about. Hyde had even made the silent decision that if the day was drawing to a close and there were still things Kitty wanted to talk about or questions he wanted to ask her, he'd extend the filming time into the next day too, and even if need be the next day after that.
Hyde wanted this video to capture Kitty perfectly or close to it anyway, he wanted the future generation to know anything they could about this amazing woman. But those weren't the only reasons he was more than willing to continue making this film for several days. He was enjoying making this video and not just being behind the camera—which he really did like the feel of—but sitting down with his surrogate mother talking with her, learning things about her and her life that he never would have guessed, and just spending more time with her.
"Ok, well one of my reasons if because of course breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Kitty said before giggling happily, but a few seconds later her smile fell and she gave the camera and the man behind it a slight glare while pointing a warning finger, "Now don't you roll your eyes, because it is true."
"Sorry." Hyde mumbled which caused Kitty's grin to reappear before she continued.
"And with breakfast there are so many things you can do for a meal. Sure the same goes for lunch and especially dinner but those are completely different recipes you use to make completely different things. Breakfast is the meal where you can get as creative as you want."
"What do you mean?" He questioned.
"Well…ok when you think of breakfast there are certain food you think of right?"
Hyde nodded, "Right."
"Things like cereal, toast, cinnamon buns, eggs, waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage and all of things along those lines. And you think of those types of foods because those are breakfast foods" Kitty went on, "Now can you imagine if you had those same things every day all cooked the same way as the day before? It would get bland and boring, so you mix things up add some zest into the ordinary breakfast food." She said with a small laugh.
"Some things you can't do too make too much of a difference to like bacon and sausage but eggs…there are so many ways to prepare eggs." She went on, "There's scrambled, over easy, sunny side up, made into an omelet…Oh and pancakes and waffles there are so many things you can add into those. Just about every fruit can be put in there! Bananas, blueberries, strawberries…oh and then there's also those special Swedish pancakes."
"Yeah." Hyde gave a slight chuckle as he thought about the reactions the family usually had when they saw those pancakes, "The infamous Swedish pancakes…haven't seen those in awhile…not sure if it's more of a good or bad thing."
The curly haired young man laughed again and Kitty soon joined in.
"But you know the main reason I love breakfast so much has nothing to do with any of the food made." Kitty shared once the laughter died down, "It's more about the feelings that are there at the breakfast table when all of us are sitting there. And breakfast time really was the one time of the day that I knew the whole family would be sitting down to together, no matter what." Her smile grew a few more inches, "That's another reason I love breakfast."
"Sometimes for lunch Red would be at work or you kids would still be at school. And later on as you all started getting older and started going out on your little dates we would see less and less of you all at the dinner table, which was fine really…especially with Red." She said shaking her head slightly, "And me too only because I knew come morning everyone would all be seated at that round table. Even Laurie would eat breakfast with us whenever she was home."
Kitty paused for a second or two, "When I was still working, sometimes there would be times I had to work the late shifts and that would mean me missing dinner or even coming home in the very early hours in the morning. But I always made sure that I was home with enough time to make the family breakfast and sit down with you all to enjoy it whether it was some quick scrambled eggs or a few chocolate chip pancakes."
"All this talk about breakfast is making me hungry." Hyde shared out loud as he stomach growled to make a point.
0o0o0o
Instead of talking to Jackie right away about his plans with Randy and how they interfered with the plans he'd made with her first, Eric decided to go upstairs and join his family for their breakfast and some for some good old family time. And who knew, maybe someone in his parents room would be able to offer some type of advice to him on how to talk to Jackie about him canceling his date…then again with the way he'd reacted to seeing them kiss in that kitchen that night, Hyde probably wouldn't be the best person to do so, but he was the only person in the room that knew about the budding relationship Eric and Jackie had started…so maybe he wouldn't get advice, but he could still but himself some time to think about it by himself.
As Eric made his through the upstairs hallway he could hear familiar sounds being muffled in by the walls and door, and as he neared his mother and father's room the sound became clearer and louder.
While he couldn't help but grin at the distinctive giggle of his mother, when he heard the other three chuckles, his eyebrows knitted closely together as he became curious about what it was that all of them found so funny.
Pushing open the door, Eric separated his brows to their normal place and wore a small grin on his face, ready to join in in the laughs.
"Hey guys," he greeted cheerfully, "What are we talking about?"
The second Eric made his presence known with his statement, the laughter stopped. There was no slow fading away nor was there a tiny giggle erupting when everyone else's laughs had come to an end. It just stopped.
This made Eric nervous and his face showed it—his grin had vanished without leaving a trace of it ever having been there. And of course the five different pairs of eyes staring back at him did little to nothing on settling his nerves.
Hyde cleared his throat, composing himself in his well know serious manner "Nothing, man."
"Yeah." Laurie agreed in that fake innocent tone she had mastered long ago, "At least nothing we can tell you."
Now Eric was beyond nervous. Laurie and Hyde had teamed up together…this was not going to lead up to anything good at all.
This was on the list of cons for having two siblings, but the again it also worked on the pros side of the paper. After all having two siblings meant that you could team up with one of them and go against the other sibling. Most of the time this had been Hyde and Eric ganging up against Laurie and sometimes the occasional Laurie and Eric going against Hyde on his own. However, just as you could easily team up with one of your siblings they could team up and go against you. Sure it was a rare instance with Laurie and Hyde teaming up but it still happened and when it did it left Eric as the odd man out.
Being the odd man out when Laurie and Hyde were teamed up was like being a small creature running in the desert with a pair of vultures circling around you. And just like the small critter, Eric knew the best way to get through the situation…play dead.
"Ok so you were laughing at me." Eric said as he nodded and tried to seem unaffected, "Okay that's fine."
Kitty smiled at the pretense act her son was putting on, it may have been fooling her other two children but not her, "Oh honey we weren't laughing at you…"
"No Mom it's fine." He interrupted with his open palm in the air, "You don't have to cover for these vicious vultures."
Both Hyde and Laurie looked at each other, exchanging the confused looks that had formed on their faces after being called 'vicious vultures' and Eric meanwhile continued with his ramblings.
"Really its fine. And you know why it's fine? I'll tell you why it's fine." He said to his entire family not bothering to wait for a response, "Because it isn't true. Whatever it was that they said it is not true."
Hyde couldn't help the smirk that was making his way onto his lips as he watched the twitchiness of his adopted brother come out again. And the guy was pretty much setting himself up, it would really be a crime to move on to another subject just yet especially when there was still so much fun to be had with this one.
"What's not true, Forman?" Hyde questioned in a clues-like tone.
Staring back at Hyde, Eric began to search his brain trying to think of a stupid stunt he'd pulled in the past that would have them laughing now…there were a lot of them. Maybe it wasn't so far in the past maybe it was something recently…there weren't as many but still a handful. Then again he didn't stay in close touch while in Seattle and even when he did call he kept any embarrassing moments in his life to himself.
Maybe Jackie had told them something, told Laurie something since they'd shared a room the night before. Something that she'd found in his suitcase perhaps? But the only thing embarrassing in there was his Spiderman boxers and his family could pretty much expect that from him so that wouldn't have them all laughing this much. It could have been something he'd left in the bag from the last time he used it. Of course the only time he'd used it before was when he went on that camping trip…oh no.
Eric's green eyes went wide as he figured out the most likely motive behind the roaring laughter from before. And he quickly forgot that he was supposed to be playing dead and went into full Nixon mode. Deny, Deny, Deny.
"I wasn't a Troop Leader for a Girl Scouts group for a year!" he declared
As soon as the words were let out into the room Hyde's burst of laughter followed. Laurie's eyes widened with her own surprise before joining in the curly haired young man's laughter and seeing her mother laugh made Lucy smile and giggle too. Kitty meanwhile managed to keep her laughter inside and even cover her growing smile with her hand. And unlike the others who seemed to find such amusement from the declaration (that was actually supposed to be any but) Red wrinkled his forehead into a disbelieving expression while looking up at his son.
The sides of Hyde's stomach were starting to ache but he continued laughing even as he made his next question, "You were…a…a Girl Scout Troup Leader?"
"No! No!" Eric tired again, but his brother's chuckled only strengthened, "I said I wasn't…as in was not. I was not!"
Despite the young teacher's argument his family's action had little to no change at all; and it was then that Eric realized he'd made a big mistake.
"That's…that's not what you guys were laughing about before. Was it?" he asked his eyes traveling from one family member to the other.
"You should've listened to your mother, son." Red stated with a shake of his head before expanding on his words, "These two laughing hyenas over there thought they'd be able to get some new dirt on you without even trying. And they did it." His frown deepened, "You quit Boy Scouts after a month but Girl Scouts you could do for a whole year?"
When Kitty saw her husband shake his head along with the fact that her other two children's laughter had still not quieted down, she decided to at try to help out her son as much as she could.
"No I'm sure Eric has a very good reason for joining The Girl Scouts, don't you Eric?"
"Yes! Thanks Mom, yeah I do." Eric nodded, happy to have someone give him a chance to explain after all it wasn't as if one day he woke up and thought 'Hey I wanna be a Troop Leader for some Girl Scouts!' That would just be creepy like beyond Fez kinda creepy.
"See there were a group of girls in my class last year and they were all in the same Girl Scout Troop and they had been acting really sad and everything for a couple of days. I asked them if everything was okay and they told me that their Troop Leader was moving away and they were either going to have to find a new one or be split up into different troops." He shared his story as the chuckles coming from his siblings started to diminish.
"I knew how close those girls were so I volunteered to help them find someone but they thought I meant me." Eric went on, "Before I knew it I was holding meetings, handing out badges, going on camping trips, and everything else in between. Then right before the school started again in the fall their old Troop Leader moved back and I stepped out."
Kitty smiled, "Oh, see now that was such a sweet thing for you to do Eric, honey."
Eric grinned back at his mother but that smile soon weakened when Hyde spoke up again.
"Yeah." He nodded in agreement but kept his mischievous smirk in place, "Hey Forman you get to wear the uniform too? Bet that miniskirt showed off those chicken legs of yours real nice."
The young blonde mother laughed again before looking over at her baby brother with wide 'innocent eyes.'
"Gee Eric, it's such a shame we didn't know before. Lucy really loves those chocolate cookies, maybe those cookies we would've bought could've helped you get that brand new tricycle." She said finishing her comment in a baby talk tone of voice.
A self-protective index finger was pointed at the laughing duo ad Eric spoke in a serious matter, "Okay it wasn't a tricycle. It was a trip to Disney World and my girls would have totally won if it wasn't for that cheating conniving Troop 257. Their Troop Leader still has butt loads of cookie boxes in her house that haven't been delivered!"
The hilarity of Hyde and Laurie died down once more as they exchanged puzzled expression once more.
Satisfied that the laughter had finally stopped and seemed to be stopped for good, Eric remembered a certain item in his hand that he had made sure to bring up with him. He walked behind Hyde's chair and then outstretched his arm towards his father.
"Uh Dad, I um brought this up for you." He explained, grabbing Red's attention and causing the bald man to turn towards him and see the folded up newspaper; Red frowned just slightly but what could easily be seen in his face was his surprise. Eric shrugged his shoulders, "Just thought you might wanna read it. Now or later. Either way I thought I'd save you the trip of having to go downstairs."
Kitty's smile grew at the kind gesture her son had made for his father and at the reaction it had gotten from Red.
"Eric, honey that was so very thoughtful of you, wasn't it Red?" she asked happily.
"Yeah, real thoughtful." Red mumbled as he took the paper from his son's hand and started to unfolded then suddenly stopped to look back up at Eric, "The sports section better not be missing."
A smirk grew across Eric's lips as he assured his father, "It's not."
"Good." Came Red's reply before he nodded a strong, firm nod in Eric's direction.
This action made Eric's smirk grow even more. He knew that nod was a Silent Red Forman 'Thank You' and that was just a hard to get as an actual said thank you. And Eric had been at the receiving end of this thank you; he felt very proud of himself for being considerate enough—all on his own—to bring up something for his father. Of course that feeling, along with the grin, disappeared the second his sister spoke.
"You can stop being such a kiss-up Eric." She said as she sent any annoyed look his way, "Mom and Dad already have a new favorite."
By the tone that Laurie spoke in Eric could tell she was no longer the favorite, so with a slightly furrowed brow he turned to adopted brother.
"Don't look at me, man." Hyde replied as he leaned against the back of his chair, with his arms crossed over his chest.
With his small scowl remaining in place Eric looked from Hyde and over at Laurie, he was still confused as to who was his parents' new favorite. It couldn't have been him. And it wasn't Hyde or Laurie…suddenly Eric eyes shifted over to the littlest occupant and only candidate left.
"Lucy?" he asked in surprise.
Hearing her name be called, Lucy looked up and smiled over at her uncle while happily waving her right hand. The grin that had appeared as soon as Eric figured out that Hyde and Laurie had lost their precious titles to a little girl, grew even more when he saw that same little girls actions. Eric stepped forward and through the small passage way between the two armchairs so that he could sit on his mother's bed next to his niece.
"Lucy, you knocked down both Uncle Hyde and your Mommy. High five!" he said happily as he lifted up an open palm into the air; it wasn't long before a small hand collided with his making an audible slap.
Eric cheered again, clearly showing that he had no problem at all with the youngest Forman now being the favorite Forman. Lucy giggled at the silliness of her uncle while Kitty let out her own small laugh at the scene in front of her. And though neither Laurie nor Hyde were fans of the new change noticeable and happy smirks appeared on each pair of lips. Even Red let out the slightest of smiles but of course he kept it hidden behind the raised up paper.
"That's what we call a Double Burn." Eric informed as he looked his niece in the eyes and she simply smiled back.
"Oh jeeze…" Red groaned as he moved his paper down and his annoyed frown could be visible by all, "Don't go teaching her the language of the dumbasses. Her not knowing any of those words is one of the top reasons she at number one." He informed with a pointed finger.
"Red, I don't think those are the only words you should be worried about our granddaughter learning." Kitty said in a warning tone.
Eric turned himself around to look at his father for a few seconds, "Yeah Dad and I think she'll be learning the language sooner or later." He paused and looked back at Lucy with a smile, "Probably a lot sooner since a certain someone is pretty excited to meet her."
Laurie watched her brother as she replayed his words in her head and then suddenly it clicked. Her eyes became large showing her anger and hurt but mostly her anger.
"Oh my God, Eric!" she said angrily.
Quickly after jumping in his seat just slightly, Eric turned his head towards his sister with a puzzled expression on his face.
"What?"
Laurie just stared back at him, "I can't believe you!"
"What?" he asked still confused, "What did I do?"
"You know what you did!"
"No I don't, that's kinda why I asked 'what did I do?'" Eric argued but Laurie only rolled her eyes.
The others in the room didn't give too much concern to the squabble; after all they were used to seeing the two Forman children at each other's throats. Red continued to read his paper while he wife closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Hyde watched his two adopted siblings moving his head from side to side, as if watching a tennis game, each time one of the two spoke.
The only person that seemed affected at all was Lucy, who'd noticed the change in her mother's attitude and tone of voice; but even she stayed in place, though her bright smile had faded away.
"What did your brother do now, Laurie?" Red questioned, never moving his head from behind the newspaper, in a bored-like tone. He'd only asked the question in hopes of putting a quick end to the argument.
Laurie looked at her father but gestured her hands towards her brother, "He told Fez about Lucy!"
Different reactions were created once the words had been said. Kitty immediately opened her eyes as Red moved his paper down and onto his lap. Raising his eyebrows Hyde wondered if this had been the topic that was being secretly discussed when he'd walked into the kitchen earlier. And Eric looked more confused than before.
"Oh Eric, honey you didn't." Kitty said with a small indent made onto her forehead. She knew this had to be a misunderstanding or an accident that led Eric to un-purposely let Laurie's secrete slip out.
Eric swung his head to look at his sick mother—he knew if he could get anyone on his side or at least help him be able to explain it would be her—"No Mom I didn't. I just…"
"God, Eric, don't deny it." Laurie cut in, "You admitted all right now!"
"Eric, how could you do something like this?" Red asked as he joined the argument and to no ones surprise went on Team Laurie's side. "You knew your sister had plans of telling Sqanto herself. This was not something for to go around blabbing about."
"Dad, I didn't blab anything…" Eric began to defend himself.
By this time the argument was getting pretty heated as the family members began to talk over each other, some speaking louder and some speaking much louder than the others.
Lucy didn't feel at all comfortable in sitting in the middle of it all and so she scooted closer to the edge of the bed where her Uncle Hyde was seated closer to in his chair. She didn't say a word and instead just looked at him with her big brown doe-like eyes. Hyde tried his best to avoid the innocent eyes and even keep his Zen exterior in place, but after a few seconds of attempting to do so he realized it was pointless. With a deep sigh Hyde scooted in his chair to reach out and grab the small child.
Once the little girl was seat in his lap, he began to speak, "Don't worry Kid, it's not that bad." He paused and smirked slightly, "You'll get use to this. This is pretty much an every day scene in your Uncle Eric's life."
"Laurie. Mom, Dad. I didn't tell Fez anything about Lucy." Eric finally managed to say without having to speak over anyone else, "Me and Jackie just…"
"Oh great so the midget snobby cheerleader is the one who told Fez, that just makes things so much better." Laurie interrupted in a tone leaking with sarcasm.
Kitty turned to her daughter and frowned ever so lightly, "Laurie, you just finished telling us that Jackie wasn't so bad remember?"
"Yeah, but that was before she spilled the beans to Fez about our daughter." Laurie replied.
Not wanting his mother and Laurie to start up their own fight, Eric jumped in and continued with the point he has been trying to make.
"Jackie didn't say anything to Fez…"
"Because you did." Red stated more than questioned, his angry scowl very much visible.
"No!" Eric nearly shouted, now feeling more and more frustrated with the fact that he couldn't finish a sentence without being interrupted. He took a deep breath before trying once more, "Jackie didn't say anything to Fez about Lucy. And I didn't say anything to Fez about Lucy. All we did was give Betsy, Kelso's daughter, a few little hints…and yeah she's got some of Brooke in her but she's fifty percent Kelso so the chances of her not figuring it out is pretty good."
A look of relief was shown in Kitty's face, happy to find out that Eric hadn't done something that Laurie was supposed to do. Red thought over his son's words before realizing he made a good point about Betsy being half a Kelso, they really didn't have too much to worry about. Laurie meanwhile still didn't look very comforted and Eric noticed this.
"Laurie, I know telling Fez about Lucy is something you've been really nervous about but something you've know you'll have to do." He began to say, "I would never let something this important slip out…and I'm sure the same goes for Jackie. The only reason we gave Betsy those hits was because she was saying she was bored here and we said she could be making a new friend soon…"
"Oh the poor dear." Kitty said out loud, feeling guilty because she was the reason for the young girl being here for so long. She then turned to her own daughter, "Laurie, honey, you really do need to tell Fez soon." She reminded once more.
"I know, Mother." Laurie repeated as she heard her mother's statement that she swore she'd heard a hundred times already, "But I am not going to rush into telling him just because Kelso's daughter wants to become Lucy's new friend."
As she heard her name and then the words 'new friend' Lucy's ears perked up and a smile sprang to her face.
"New friend for me?" she asked excitedly as she just about jumped from Hyde's lap and back onto the bed to be closer to her mother. "Mommy, Mommy when? When Mommy? Where new friend Mommy?"
Eric chuckled at his niece's actions as she bounced up and down and repeated her questions over and over again each time with more excitement than the last. "Looks like you've got this one, sis."
Laurie snarled at her brother for a second or two before trying to settle Lucy down a bit. Seeing that the argument was over and done with, Red shook his head in attempt to hide the tiny smile his granddaughter had place on his lips and lifted the opened newspaper back up. While Hyde stayed comfortable in his seat as he watched the scene in front of him, the corners of Kitty's mouth had shifted upwards at the same sight of her daughter and granddaughter.
All of these actions were caught by Eric but it was his mother's that caught his eye and he scooted himself up to the head of the bed beside her.
"Hey Mom." He greeted with a smile, "How're you doing today?"
Kitty gave her own smile, "I'm doing okay, honey. A little tired and feeling abit weaker." She said before grabbing his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze while her smile grew, "But having you kids here, make me feel so much more wonderful."
"I'm glad." He said honestly, "Did you eat anything yet?"
"I had a bite of a hash brown but that's really all my stomach can handle right now." Kitty explained.
Eric nodded while avoiding looking his mother in the eyes, afraid that the look in his eyes would give away how much those words tugged at his heart. Then suddenly he looked up at her when a new thought entered his mind.
"But maybe you'll eat something later on?"
Not wanting to disappoint her son—especially when he was looking at her with such a hopeful face—Kitty nodded, "Maybe."
"Hey Forman," Hyde, who had been over listening on the conversation, called out, "don't forget it's your turn to pick up dinner tonight."
It was at the same moment that Hyde gave his reminder to Eric that Laurie managed to quiet down her daughter, causing the blonde to hear the complete statement and become confused. She looked over at her brother and saw him nod and instead of getting some clarity she became even more befuddled.
"Pick up dinner?" she decided to ask.
Hyde nodded, "Yeah. What? You didn't think you were the only thing that every got picked up every night in Point Placer, did you?"
"That's not what I meant, Orphan." Laurie responded with a snarl, "I meant why are you picking up dinner? Didn't you just pick up breakfast?"
Eric decided to take the lead on this one, "Yeah but we usually all do our own thing for lunch and there's no other meal between the two." He paused for only a little bit, "Well unless you count brunch and linner."
As her annoyance with her brothers grew Laurie rolled her eyes and looked over at her parents for better explanations. Though Red stayed behind his paper Kitty looked back at her daughter and began her explanation.
"Laurie, it's just, no one staying in the house right now has exactly mastered the art of cooking…or at least come too close to it, besides Brooke and myself." She started, "And I've got a few watchdogs who will remain nameless and who won't let me out of bed unless it's to use the restroom."
"Because you're supposed to be resting." One of Kitty's watchdogs stated from the other side of his paper.
Shaking her head lightly, Kitty continued, "And you know how I feel about people cooking when they're the guests in the house. Take out food is just the best solution right now."
The blonde nodded understandingly before an idea popped into her head causing her face to light up, "I could do it! And I use to live here so technically I'm not a guest. I could cook!" she exclaimed happily.
Meanwhile the expressions on her family members—excluding her young daughter—did not match her tone of voice. Instead uneasy looks and looks of worry and even fear were given out; still they didn't seem to affect Laurie's current bubbly attitude.
Finally one of them managed to make out a few words.
"Laurie honey, that really is so sweet of you to offer." Kitty began to say, "But don't you already have enough to worry about? With telling Fez about Lucy and all?"
"Your mother's right. Besides Kitten, the take out food really isn't that bad." Red added in a fib at the end.
Ever since Kitty had gotten sick and started with her stays in the hospital, Jackie, Hyde and himself had become quite familiar with all of Point Place's fast food restaurants. They'd have to have gone through the entire menu of one take out place at least once or twice since then. Before the cancer, a picture of a big greasy Fatso Burger would have his stomach growling, now the mere thought of one made it turn. But eating take out food, Red knew, was something he was going to have to get use to.
Eric nodded carrying on the conversation, "Yeah, plus I don't think anyone would look forward to a trip to the hospital."
"Except maybe Kelso." Hyde added and Eric nodded in agreement.
"I can cook. I cook for me and Lucy all the time in Milwaukee." Laurie shared out loud while glaring at her younger brothers, he face softened though when she turned to their mother, "I can do this, Mommy. I want to do this. I wanna help you and Daddy out too."
Eric watched the two female members of the family and the expression on their faces. Laurie was staring back at their mother with a sincere and almost pleading look in her eyes, she really did want to do this for them. A tiny smile moved up on Eric's face when he saw his mother's face, she was obviously thinking and considering the offer. This made Eric happy to see because it made him feel better about the possible outcome that could happen when him and Jackie went grocery shopping and when Brooke starting cooking as well.
A small sigh was released before Kitty spoke, "Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt if you cooked a few meals here and there if you really wanted to."
"Yay!" Laurie cheered and the gleefully clapped her hands together getting Lucy to quickly join in and making Eric' grin grow even more.
One of the children in the room, however, didn't look all too happy.
"Wait a minute, seriously Mom?" Hyde asked with a frown set in the forehead, "You're seriously gonna let Laurie cook in your kitchen."
Laurie turned to her adopted brother with her own frown in place, "I can cook." She repeated her argument.
"Giving people breath mints is not cooking."
"You could use a breath mint." The blonde retorted as she pulled her daughter closer to her.
When he saw hat both his siblings were now distracted Eric decided that this would be the best time to change the subject. While he was glad that his mother was considering letting someone else do the cooking, Hyde was still obviously having a hard time. However seeing that Hyde was still being difficult with the subject Eric realized that when the time came to tell Kitty or even Red about the plans of grocery shopping and Brooke cooking came up, they would make sure Hyde wasn't in the room.
Remaining silent Eric began to try and think of a new conversation starter that would move away from food and any type of cooking; but before he could say a word his mother beat him to the punch.
"How about you honey?" she asked looking over at him, "How's your morning been?"
A small scowl appeared on Eric's forehead as he tried his best to come up with a word that would best describe the way his morning had been. It had been a pretty crazy and eventful one, but he couldn't tell his mother that or she'd ask for details and there were certain details—like him checking out Jackie, the plans about Brooke cooking, and the phone call from Randy—he didn't want to share with her just yet.
"It's been…interesting." He finally said and Kitty smiled in response, "Yeah, there's been a lot of interesting stuff happening since I woke up next to Fez earlier in the morning…"
When Hyde heard the last part of Eric's statement, he just could resist. He turned his head to his surrogated father and smirked, "Hey Red, did you hear that? Now both your kids have slept with Fez?"
Laurie sent the curly haired man an evil looking snarl while Eric's eyes went wide while he still frowned a look that said, 'What the hell man?' but these actions only caused Hyde's smirk to grow with amusement.
"Terrific." Red replied dryly, never looking up from the sports page that he held in his hands.
Eric continued to send over the same expression to his grinning like the cat that ate the canary brother, until his felt a light pat on his leg and looked to his left to find his mother smiling at him.
"What about everyone else?" she asked. While she loved having her family in the room with her, she wished she could be out of bed and in her kitchen spending time just talking and cooking up a big breakfast for her family and other basement babies. "What are they up to?"
Eric cleared his throat as he leaned back against the head board making himself comfortable, "Well…the last I saw them, Kelso was asleep and creating a pool of drool on the kitchen table…"
"Oh jeeze…" Red groaned in annoyance, still behind his paper, while Kitty let out a tiny giggle.
"Jackie and Brooke were talking about some stuff…" he said not wanting to revile that the stuff the girls were talking about was grocery related, "Fez went down to the basement to play Hungry Hungry Hippos with Betsy…"
Laurie couldn't help but smile at that part of Eric's summary; it gave her hope for when she'd tell him about Lucy.
"And Donna was down there too watching TV I think." Added Eric.
Kitty nodded along and smiled until to realized someone had been left out in Eric's summing up. A small frown appeared on his face as she waited to see if more would be added by her son, but there was nothing but silence—causing her frown to increase.
"What about Randy?" she finally asked.
Eric's face dropped as he remembered that his mother didn't know about Randy not being here. She didn't know about why he had left. She didn't know about the big showdown in the living room the night Red had returned. She didn't know about him and Jackie getting caught kissing in the kitchen. She didn't know about him and Jackie.
The young teacher turned to the record store owner in hopes of getting some help, but only saw the other man's straight and serious expression on his face. Eric wasn't sure if this was his Zen, covering how he too was panicking on the inside or if it was his Zen look that was telling Eric that he was the one who caused the mess so he was going to have to explain it.
With her own frown of confusion Laurie looked at the two young men, "Who's Randy?"
"He uh…he came with Donna." Eric quickly explained to his sister, while still thinking about the best thing to tell his mother about Randy with out getting her upset or giving too much away.
"He didn't just come with Donna." Kitty said looking at her son suspiciously before turning to Laurie, "He's her fiancé."
Laurie merely nodded her head, her puzzled look never leaving her face. Sure, she now knew who this Randy guy was but why didn't Eric say Donna's fiancé? Did he still have feelings for her? And if he did then what was with him spending so much time with the yapping cheerleader. She may have been gone for several years, but when she was home she couldn't recall the two ever spending time together with just the two of them.
"He's a good guy." Hyde said out loud breaking Laurie from her thoughts, "He's pretty funny, kinda dorky though, tall and has really girly hair."
"Sounds like a really bad combination of Eric and Kelso." Laurie remarked.
Hyde let out a chuckle, "Yeah."
Meanwhile Eric hadn't exactly heard his sister's comment—as he was too busy concentrating on other things—and so he had no response. Her son's silence was very unusual, especially after his sister said anything about him; now Kitty knew something was going on.
"Eric, honey," she began, "What happened?"
"Nothing!" Eric quickly replied, almost too quickly and in his high pitched nervous voice. He cleared his throat before talking again, "Nothing really. Randy he's…he's around. I've actually got plans with him today, yeah."
Kitty smiled, "Oh that's good."
Over in one of the arm chairs, Hyde didn't look at all convinced. He remained quiet but did raise his right eyebrow while he eyed his adopted brother skeptically as he wondered what he was up to.
Sensing someone's eyes upon him, Eric turned his head to see the look Hyde was sending him. Not warning to get into the Randy explanation now, Eric avoided eye contact with the frizzy haired man by looking around the bedroom and decided to once more change the topic of conversation.
"Uh…hey Mom where's that photo album we were looking at the other night?" he questioned, while still looking around the room.
"I think it's over on the night stand, right there." She answered while pointing at the nigh table on her right where sure enough the scrapbook rested, "Why?"
Eric reached over and grabbed the book while he gave his explanation, "We didn't get to finish looking at it, remember? And I promised you we would."
"Oh sweetie." Kitty said while smiling at her son as soon as he sat himself back down beside her, "We don't have to do that now."
"I know, but I want to. And I know you do too." Eric replied causing his mother's smile to grow a little more, "Plus I think I remember you telling me…and I quote, 'Even if I was feeling the sickest I've ever felt, I can't think of anything else I'd like to do more than look at old photos of my babies with one of my babies.' Well now you've got three of your babies here and a grandbaby!"
Kitty smiled one of her bright smiles as she realized she couldn't fight back her excitement to look at the old photos with her children, "Well okay then!"
"Great." Eric said returning the smile while he opened up the photo album and looked over at Laurie and Hyde, "Come on you guys…"
"No thanks, I'm not really in the mood to look at old dusty photos." Laurie said, sounding once again like the old Laurie.
"Yeah, as hard as it is to believe I'm with Laurie." Hyde commented, "Think I'll sit this one out, Mom."
The young mother titled her head slightly while staring at Hyde, "What's the matter, Hyde? Are you afraid you won't be any of the pictures?" she asked using her baby talk voice again, "Cuz I know you are. You're in as many pictures as the family dog…wait we never had a family dog….that's right." She said as if suddenly remembering, "That wasn't a dog in those pictures it was you."
Ready for another round with Laurie, Hyde leaned back in his seat, "You know Laurie I'm surprised you even in any of the photos. I thought no form of evil could be caught on film."
Laurie frowned and pursed her lips together, "That's vampires. And if anyone has any similarities to a vampire it's you, considering how much you suck."
"Hey I may suck but it's not nearly as much as you do." Hyde said with his lips curling into another smirk, "Then again I'm sure sucking isn't the only thing you do…"
"Alright that's enough." Red firmly ordered, bringing the paper down to glare and sternly point his finger at the pair, "Both of you get over there and look at the damn photo album with your mother."
Before Laurie or Hyde could reply or make any moment, Kitty spoke up.
"Oh Red, don't force them to do it." She said, sending a slight frown in her husband's direction. "It's alright if they don't want to look at the pictures, I've got Eric here…Oh and Lucy!" she said smiling and then turned to her granddaughter, "Lucy honey, do you want to look at some old pictures with me and your Uncle Eric?"
The little blonde girl's face lit up with a smile, "Okay!"
Lucy then scrambled from her mother's lap and sat her self next to her grandmother, opposite of the side of where her uncle was seated. Seeing the young girl's excitement caused both Kitty and Eric to laugh.
"Lucy you're gonna be able to see some pictures of your mom when she was little." Eric began to explain to his niece, "But you might have to close your eyes for some of them. Don't want you having nightmares."
Although his sister was sending him a murderous look, Eric paid it no attention as he continued to flip through the photo album trying to find the page that he had left off on last time.
As soon as the page had been rediscovered Lucy scooted herself closer to the book while placing her finger over a picture she had her eyes locked upon.
"That me Grandma?" she asked looking up at the sick older woman.
Kitty smiled down at Lucy before moving her eyes two the photo, she knew of course the photo could not be of her but still Kitty was interested in just what picture it was that Lucy thought saw herself in. When Kitty saw what picture it was that had caught the small girl's attention her smile grew.
It was a photo of, of course Lucy's mother back when was a little girl. The young Laurie in the picture was sitting outside on the back porch in one of the red plastic patio chairs that the family had before the flower printed ones that were now outside, she held an ice cream cone in her left hand while she used her right hand to wave at the camera, with strawberry ice-cream smears covering her smiling face. She couldn't have been more than five or six when the picture had been taken and with blonde bouncing curls and bright smile, it was easily understood why Lucy thought it was a photo of herself.
"No honey, that's a picture of your mommy when she was little. You look just like her." Kitty explained in a soft voice and then turned to Laurie, "I knew she looked just like you but seeing this photo, the resemblance is just uncanny…well except for the brown eyes."
Eric nodded in agreement, "And Lucy doesn't look like the devil in a really bad disguise."
Snarling at her baby brother, Laurie scooted closer to her mother and daughter. She didn't exactly want to look at the old photos but knew she'd have to be close by or else who knew what Eric would tell her daughter; besides maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
"Yeah, well I'd rather look like the devil than look like a geek." Laurie said to her brother before pointing her finger at another picture eon the next page, "Look at your Uncle Eric, sweetie."
Doing the same as Lucy, Eric looked at the picture his sister was talking about. It was of the two of them riding around on one of the horse carousels from the carnival when they were little. Laurie was smiling and waving while Eric sat on another horse crying and clinging on to the golden pole for dear life.
A child-like giggle was released into the air, "You look funny."
Turning towards his niece, ready to respond, Eric suddenly stopped in his tracks when he felt something push slightly against his left side. He looked over and was only slightly surprised to see his adopted brother trying to get comfortable on the bed beside him.
"Scoot over, Forman." Hyde ordered, "I can't see."
Eric did as he was told, moving in closer to his mother to make room for Hyde, all the while fighting back a smile.
Having both Laurie and Steven join in on the trip down memory lane made Kitty even happier than she was before, she didn't even bother to try and hide her happiness. Once she could tell that her three children and her granddaughter were comfortable, she grabbed a hold of the left page of the book and turned it over; immediately one picture on the next page caught her attention.
This picture had the same three children that were surrounding her now in it, only much smaller and younger. They were sitting in the backyard sitting at a picnic table that had been covered in newspaper, and in front of each of them was a jack-o-lantern they had obviously just finished carving.
"Oh look at those three cute little pumpkins." Kitty gushed, "Oh and the jack-o-lanterns too." She added with a giggle.
Laurie smiled a ditzy smile as she too fixated her eyes on the photo, "I always loved Halloween."
Hearing their daughter's words caused Red and Kitty to look over at the other and share a small smile as they both silently recalled a Halloween many, many years ago that had changed their lives. Hyde and Eric also smiled at Laurie's statement, but their smiles were more like snickering ones rather then genuine ones.
"This one's too easy." Eric commented with a wide smile.
"Yeah." Hyde nodded in agreement, "You wanna go first?"
The other man shook his head, "Nah… I got her last, you go ahead."
"Thanks man." Hyde said with a smirk before looking over at Laurie, "Of course you love Halloween, Laurie, it's the day of devil worship…you must get like a billion presents."
Laurie glared at Hyde along her laughing brother next to him then opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Eric who'd somehow managed to control his fit of laughter to say a few words.
"Yeah and plus you always did when the award for scariest costume." He reminded, "Even when you weren't wearing a costume."
This time both Hyde and Eric fell into a fit of laughter together, causing Laurie to glare daggers at both of them while she mentally debated over who she should get back this time. She finally decided on Eric, since she hadn't seen her brother in awhile, and she'd already spent most of the past few hours burning Hyde.
"Yeah, well at least I could wear a scary costume. Every time you wore one you'd look in the mirror and start crying."
Hyde laughed even harder while Eric's laughs instantly stopped and he sent a frown towards his older sister.
"You make it sound like a cried through out my childhood." He stated, "And I didn't."
Laurie just stared back at her brother, "You cried for most of it." She paused before making another point, "Besides your just still jealous about me winning all of those contest because they made me more of a winner and you more of a loser, Loser."
Confused by his sister's statement, Eric knitted his brows together as he replayed the sentence in his head and tried to understand it this time around. However he stopped his failing attempt when Laurie reached over and turned the page of the scrapbook.
"Speaking of losers." She said when a picture caught her eye, "Look at these five."
The four other heads that surrounded the album leaned in to get a glance of the picture that Laurie now had her index finger over. Kitty's smile grew when she saw it while Eric and Hyde seemed to be having some mixed emotions about it.
It was a picture of the gang—minus Fez, because he was probably still in…where he was from—at a much younger age (probably sometime during elementary school years). They were sitting on the Vista Cruiser, smiling at the camera without a care in the world.
A young Kelso was seated on the far right of the photo, grinning a big dopey grin and had blurs surrounding his face where his waving hands were supposed to be. Little Jackie was seated next to Kelso flashing a beautiful Burkhart smile, while in the middle of the five was Eric who smiled a large smile as well at the person behind the camera—most probably Kitty. On the left side of Eric was Donna, with her red hair pulled back in a ponytail and her mouth curved into a smile. A younger Hyde was seated next to Donna, his shades over his eyes and a faint smirk on his lips.
"Wow…" Eric staggered a bit, "Wow…I can't believe it."
"Oh sweetie, it's a cute picture." Kitty told him.
Eric shook his head, "no it's not that, Mom. It's just…"he paused, "That car is like…super old."
"Gotta be as old as dirt." Hyde added, showing that he agreed with Eric.
Laurie also found herself nodding as she looked closer at the old family car and then up at Eric, "I can't believe you still drive that thing."
"Oh um…" he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I don't. I mean, I left it here with Mom and Dad when I moved to Seattle."
"Oh." Was all Laurie could say; this was something she would have been aware of too if she'd come home sooner…she suddenly stopped her mind from wandering in that direction, now was not the time for that. She shrugged her shoulder, as if brushing off the thoughts, and continued the conversation, "I guess I should've figured, didn't think it could make it always from Seattle to here. Does it even work anymore?"
Kitty scowled lightly as she thought back over the family car and her husband's now current project, "Well it's turned on a couple of times of the years but never for more than a minute or two. It's been parked in the driveway for the past three years."
"Yeah, that car's coffin only has a few more nails left to put in." Hyde added.
Hearing his wife and adopted son talk about the Vista Cruiser and its fate in a negative light grabbed Red's attention. He pushed down his paper once more to allow his family to see the stern and serious look on his face as he made his statement.
"That car is working just fine." He declared but then realized that wasn't the exact truth, "Well maybe not now but it will be soon. I almost had it the other day but I had to come back inside…I'll have that car working again in no time."
While Laurie seemed abit puzzled by her father's word and why he was talking so seriously about the old vehicle, the other's had more understanding expressions. They knew the reasons behind Red's motivation to fix and get the Vista Cruiser running again. Kitty and Hyde had seen it first hand, the way he'd spend hours and late nights in the garage, and thanks to Jackie Eric also understood the situation a little more.
"Alright, Red." Hyde said sincerely before reaching over and turning the page to change the subject. Not long after that a photograph on the new page grabbed Hyde's attention.
"Hey I remember this." He said pointing to a picture on the far left of the right page of the photo album.
Unlike the pervious pictures before this one hadn't been taken at the Forman house, instead it seemed to be out on a camping ground, as there were two tents set up in the background some where in the woods. Standing infront of the camp site were Red, Laurie, Hyde, and Eric with fishing poles in one hand a line holding the fish they'd each caught in the other. Red and Laurie were smiling proudly and Hyde's own smirk showed his pride while Eric didn't look all too happy with the fish he'd caught. It was much, much smaller than the other three.
The smile on Kitty's face grew, "Oh that's one of the times we took you kids camping during the last week of summer that one year and Red took you all camping."
"Look!" Laurie nearly shouted while pointing at a part of the photo, "Eric's crying again!"
Eric frowned, "I wasn't crying then!"
"Eric's right Laurie, he didn't cry then." Hyde said and Eric grinned happy to have his brother back on his side, "He cried after the picture was taken and then all the way, just because you caught a big fish and he caught Tiny Tim the Tuna."
While his family shared a good chuckle at the memory, Eric's smile fell again but he quickly tried to defend himself.
"No, I wasn't crying because Laurie caught a bigger fish than I did, it was because Laurie cheated and caught a bigger fish than I did!" he stated loudly why pointing an accusing finger at his sister, as if she would get in trouble now, "Laurie's hook had two worms and Dad said to only use one!"
Laurie smirked a mischievous smirk as she looked at her brother, "Who do you think put the worms on in first place?"
"Dad!" Eric shouted in shock at the elder Forman who'd gone back to reading the newspaper.
Red lowered the paper just abit, "She's my daughter Eric, I had to help her out."
The words from their father caused two different expressions on the Forman children's faces. Laurie sat herself up straight while smiling smugly while Eric continued to look shock and surprised. He didn't understand how his father's claim was supposed to make things better, sure Laurie was his daughter he was his son!
"Haha!" Hyde's laughter broke Eric out of his thoughts and brought him to reality in time to see Hyde pointing his index finger at him, "That's the same look he had when he reeled in Tiny Tim."
Again the bedroom filled with laughter, laughter created at Eric's expense. So while his family let out a few good chuckles, Eric sat and waited for it all to subside, just like the last time…only this time he didn't have plans to try and defend himself, mostly because someone else already seemed to be doing so.
"Oh don't listen to them, sweetie." Kitty soothed while placing her hand on Eric's arm, "You know when I was cleaning those fish, yours was my favorite one to clean because it too the least amount of time."
Eric stared back at his mother; he knew she was trying to help, but by the laughs that continued to escape the other bodies in the room he knew the statement had done more harm than good.
"Thanks Mom…thanks." He said not really sure of what else to say; he wanted to switch to a new topic and the best way to do so would be to turn the page of the photo album.
And so that's exactly what he did. He grabbed the edge of the right page of the scrapbook and turned it to the next pair of pages that just like ones before, were covered in old photographs. Eric scanned his eyes over each of them trying to find one that would be worth talking about and one that would most importantly help them forget about the previous photo. It didn't take long for him to find that photograph.
"Woah." He said as he looked at a photo he was sure head never seen before, "Woah…Mom is that you?"
Kitty looked down at the album and followed her son's finger to the picture he was pointing at. When her eyes landed on it she gave a small smile at the image of her younger self that had been taken during days that were more carefree, days that had been happier, days when she had been happier.
It was another photo that had been taken away from the Forman house, but instead of a campsite as the background setting this picture had a striking scenery of one of the nearby lakes with the sun going down and the sky no longer in it's blue color but different shades of orange and red. The main focus of the picture and thing that had drawn Eric's attention to it was the image of Kitty in the photograph—she was usually the one behind the camera and so was rarely seen in any of the family photographs.
Seeing this photo of her now really made Eric wonder why she had most of the time stayed the photographer instead of joining in and being a part of the actual photo. In this picture that she was actually in, Kitty was sitting in one of the low beach-like chairs farther away from the lake; her sunglasses were pushed up onto of her head and though she was turned sideways, and her whole face could not be seen, you could still see the glitter and happiness in her eyes and smile as she looked out into the body of water.
"Oh that was your father's doing." Kitty began to explain, "He had gotten a hold of one his father's old cameras and thought that since his father was a bit of a photographer that he too had some photography in his blood…of course from this photo you can see how wrong he was." She teased her husband lightly.
Laurie continued to look at the photo of the moment, noticing that this had to be taken when she had Eric were kids, she looked up at her mother, "You look so pretty here, Mommy? Doesn't she, Lucy?"
The little girl moved her eyes to where her mother was pointing at and while she still was a bit confused about who the woman was in the picture she did think she looked as pretty as a Barbie doll; she nodded 'yes' with her head and Kitty smiled.
"You do Mom." Hyde agreed and then turned to the person who'd take the photo, "That's pretty good picture, Red."
Laurie nodded, "It's beautiful, Daddy."
While Hyde and Laurie were busy complimenting both of the elder Formans Eric could seemed to tear his eyes of the photo of his smiling mother; not even when Hyde moved the album slightly close to his side so that Red could get a look at the photograph.
Moving the newspaper down again, but keeping it in his hands, Red leaned over to take a glance at the scrapbook. As soon as his eyes landed on the photograph of his wife a smile appeared on his face and he made no attempt to try and hide it.
"You know," he started to say, "they say it isn't the photographer that makes a picture so breathtaking, it's the subject. And the subject in this photo was breathtakingly beautiful." He paused as he looked over at his life and locked eyes with her before letting his smile grow, "Still is."
Kitty tilted her head to the side and smiled while trying to fight back the tears she felt in her throat, "Oh Red."
"Mom, I can't believe this picture is just in this album….and not even in one of the first pages!" Eric went ton still gazing at the photo.
"Honey, the only reason that this picture is in the album and wasn't just tossed into one of the boxes up in the attic was because of this over here." Kitty explained and then moved her own finger to a part in the picture her children hadn't seem to have noticed yet.
The scene that Kitty was pointing at was closer to the water and therefore looked smaller in size but the subjects could still easily be identified.
There were three small children running up ahead, two girls and one boy—one of the little girl's red hair was flying around in the wind and the other little girl with raven colored hair was clutching onto a small beach bag while the young boy held a shovel and pail. Behind those three was a younger Steven Hyde—still wearing those aviator glasses—holding a plastic yellow shovel like a sword and pointing it towards another little boy who was chasing them all the while wearing a green bucket over his head; the little boy could only be Michael Kelso. And a little farther away from that scene, but still in Kitty's view, was a younger Laurie talking to some other younger boy whose face hadn't been caught on film.
"Man, this picture just got even awesomer." Hyde stated and the other two agreed with him.
All three of them could see the different things that made this photo so unique and so special, and how it had quickly become one of their favorites. It had their mother in it, as she smiled one of her famous Kitty Forman smiles. It showed them as little kids, joyfully running around and acting like little kids. It had their mother watching over them while they played…something that hit home in their hearts with the current situation.
Eric at last looked away from the picture, "Mom, you've seriously got to have this one framed."
"Eric, sweetie, if you like that picture so much you can have it." His mother replied with a smile.
"Really?" he asked excitedly and Kitty nodded, "Thanks Mom."
Just as Eric was about to reach in to give his mother a hug, Hyde spoke up and stopped Eric in his tracks.
"Uh Forman, man why don't you uh lemme take the picture to this guy I know." He began to explain, "He does the photo copies and stuff and this way you can take the original with you but we'll still have a copy over here."
Eric nodded his head, understanding that Hyde took wanted a copy of the photo, "Sure thing."
"Hey Orphan Boy, see if you can get me a copy too." Laurie added, "I think I've got room for another picture on the mantel back in Milwaukee."
While Hyde merely nodded and didn't say one comeback word to Laurie, Eric turned his attention back to his mother.
"Is it okay if I get the picture now?" he asked, getting ready to take the photograph out of its place in the album.
Kitty heard her son's question but it took her a few seconds to respond. She had started to feel a mild pain on her side a picture or two ago butut had ignored it, now the pain was getting worse and she felt another not so good but familiar feeling inside.
"Sure honey." She answered quickly and then turned to her daughter, "Laurie sweetie, um…why don't you and Lucy go back into Jackie's room for a little bit?"
The young blonde furrowed her brow at her mother's suggestion, "But we were looking at the pictures."
"I know, honey…" Kitty started to say
By this time the men in the room had caught on to the difference in Kitty's tone of voice. Red was the first to catch the distressing look in Kitty face, that she was trying so hard to hide, and realized why she wanted Lucy and Laurie out of the room.
Crumbling the paper off to the side, Red stood up from his seat and cleared his throat, "Laurie do as you mother said."
"Ok…okay Daddy." Laurie said in a small voice before standing up from the bed and gathering her daughter in her arms. She heard the seriousness in her father's voice and didn't like it one bit, especially since she had a good idea of the reason behind it.
"Come on Laurie." An unexpected voice said and Laurie turned to see Hyde walk her to the bedroom door, "I'll make sure the coast is clear for you and Lucy."
Not knowing what to say, Laurie gave a small smile to the curly haired man as she followed behind him and held her Lucy in a tighter embrace.
While Hyde stuck his head out into the hallway to make sure things were safe for Laurie and Lucy to make their exit, Kitty's level of discomfort seemed to have increased. Luckily the other two men in the room quickly fell into action. Without having to be told, Eric reached down and pulled up the trash bin he remembered had been used before, and Red rushed into the bathroom to get a glass of water he knew his wife would need.
After quickly filling the glass, Red decided to wet down a washcloth just incase. As the water dampened the small towel Red caught his reflection in the mirror and noticed how much he had seemed to age in these past few days alone. A sudden wrenching noise coming form his wife in the next room broke Red from his thoughts and he quickly turned the facet to the right to turn the water off. He took one last look in the mirror before closing his eyes and releasing a deep breath as he prayed to God for the same thing he prayed for nearly everyday since Kitty was first diagnosed, the strength to help him get himself, Kitty, and their family through this all.
When Red reentered the bedroom he was slightly surprised but very proud to see his son sitting next to Kitty, who was hunched over the trash can, with a comforting hand over her back. But this wasn't the time to say anything about it.
"Steven," Red called out to his adopted son who'd just finished making sure Laurie and Lucy were safe in Jackie's room, "Go down to the kitchen and get Kitty's medication." Hyde nodded and sprinted towards the exit while Red turned over to his sin, "Eric, get that morphine dispenser button for your mother."
Eric nodded, trying his hardest to keep his nerves in line as he searched for the button he'd days earlier had helped his mother with. It didn't take him very long to find the item and when he did he hurriedly but at the same time gently placed his mother's hand around it.
"Mom, here's the button for the morphine." He explained.
Kitty nodded but kept her eyes closed, "Thank you." She managed to whisper without sounding in too much pain.
Eric nodded in return before moving off the bed to make room for his father. He saw that Red was now kneeling beside Kitty and figured the position wouldn't be very good for his father's knees, besides he could always go on the other side of the bed to be at his mother's side again.
It was a good thing he had moved when he did, Eric realized once he was standing over at the foot of his mother's bed, because just a few seconds later Kitty began to call out for her husband.
"Red?"
Quickly Red climbed into the bed beside Kitty and place a comforting around her weak shoulders, "I'm right here, Kitty."
"I hate this, Red." She started to cry as she squeezed her eyes, still in pain, and buried her head into Red's chest, "I hate this."
"I know, Kitty. I know." He whispered back as he tightened his grip just a bit and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
Eric watched his parents and was torn on what to do next. Part of him wanted to step in and see what else he could do to help his mom and the other part of him didn't want to interrupt the moment. Lucky for him though, his adopted brother came rushing back into the room to help make that decision.
"I got Mom's pills, Red." Hyde announced holding up the three different bottles.
The bald man looked up but never let go of his wife, "You wanna open them." He ordered rather than suggested.
"Oh right, yeah." Hyde nodded and then rushed over the dresser so that he'd have a flat surface to put the pills and their bottles as he retrieved the,
He wasn't quite sure why he seemed so jittery and nervous this time around; after all it wasn't like he hadn't helped Kitty before. And this certainly wasn't the first time she'd gotten sick so unexpectedly. Maybe it was because he now knew that an episode like this one could easily be what Kitty's last moments on earth could be like; he'd always felt some form of nervousness or panic when Kitty got sick before but now it was getting so bad that his Zen could barley hide it all.
"Here I'll help you Hyde.' Eric was quick to volunteer before rushing to his brother's side.
After Hyde nodded a silent thank you the two boys stood in silence while Eric opened the orange medicine bottles that of course had the pesky childproof tops on them and Hyde dropped out the needed amount of pills Kitty would need from each container.
"Hey Forman," Hyde said in a soft voice and Eric looked toward shim, "Jackie said to tell you she left something in her room for you."
A scowl soon made it's way to Eric's face, "She did?"
Hyde nodded, "Yeah. I don't know if it's important or not, but figured you might wanna go check it out right now."
The scowl on Eric's forehead deepened. Was Hyde giving him a ticket out of here? Was this some kind of a trick? As these questions and others like them filled Eric's mind he looked behind him and caught the sight of his parents. His mother remained buried into his father while gripping on tightly to his right hand. And Red kept his left arm around her while whispering words that only the two them knew were about, into Kitty's ear causing her to nod along.
The scene tugged at his heart and he shook his head then looked back at Hyde, "No it's okay Hyde. I can…" he paused a rather long pause as he realized the truth of what he was going to say, "I can't handle this. I mean I do want to, I'm trying to but it's hard and…"
"Forman, man, it's okay. Seriously. They'll understand if you leave the room, I'll understand if you leave. Believe me I'll understand. I know it's hard and this is probably nothing like what you saw any of time before with Mom." Hyde said keeping his voice calm, soft, and sincere, "Just go to Jackie's room. Find out whatever it was she left for you and go make sure Laurie's okay, she looked kinda shaken up.
Normally Eric would have argued back and tried to stay but when Hyde mentioned Laurie, he realized that that could be helping his parents out just as much as staying here now could. And if anyone understood what it was like seeing their mother in a way they never had and knowing what thoughts must have been going through his sister's head, it was Eric. Plus he was slightly curious as to what Jackie had left in her room for him and why she had told Hyde to tell him.
"Thanks Hyde." Eric said before patting his brother's back and then headed over to the bedroom door, "I owe you one."
Author's Note: There you go! Chapter 38 of "Two Weeks" (Finally!) Hope you liked!
What did Jackie leave for Eric in her room? Will Laurie start doing the cooking in the house? What will happen when Jackie talks to Red about grocery shopping and Brooke cooking? What will happen when Hyde finds out? And when will Eric tell Jackie about his plans with Randy? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"
Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, sorry for the long wait, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!