Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Author's Note: Hello everyone! How are you doing? Hope all is well! I am so so very sorry for this late update. I know some of you may be thinking this is an early update compared to your last one but I still feel bad because I wanted to update this story at the beginning of the week not on the weekend. :( I really am sorry about that, things just kept popping up and it's really my fault well my birthdays fault lol See it was on Tuesday and so I had an excuse to not work on it that day but then every day since then almost right when I was gonna sit down to work on the chapter, or when I had just wrote a couple of lines I had a friend call up and say 'Lets go celebrate you turning old' lol I'll try not to let that happen again well until my next birthday rolls around lol I wanted to say thank you so much to all of you who reviewed the last chapter! It was so great seeing some of you readers back! And you new readers made me just as happy! Hugs and birthday cake for each of you! Don't worry its still good! :D lol Just some quick little notes before I get the chapter started. First off, there is a RK scene in this chapter and I wanted to apologize if you all find Red abit too mushy, but I couldn't resist…I mean his wife is dying he's not made of stone! Either way I hope you all find him still in character. And secondly, I still am not a doctor nor am I training to be. Still watching House MD but I actually missed watching the marathon today to work on this chapter, see don't you all feel loved? :) Thank you all so very much for your superb support it really means so very much! If you have the chance to review this chapter it would mean so much! Please forgive my lateness. Hope you like the chapter! And please, Enjoy!
Kitty smiled at the camera as she gave her reply, "Twenty-four years."
"Are you sure?" Hyde asked from behind the recording device; it wasn't that he didn't believe Kitty, he was just hoping that her reply would be longer, more detailed. Give him some more time to think of another question.
She nodded, "Yes, I'm sure. Red and I moved into this house on Tuesday morning October 8, 1957."
"Got the time you moved in too?" Hyde asked jokingly.
"Steven!" Jackie, who was still in the kitchen with them, scolded followed by a hit to the arm before turning back to Kitty, "Don't listen to him, Mom. I think it's so cute that from the start of your marriage with Red this house has been home for the two of you."
Furrowing her brow just slightly Kitty shook her head while looking at the small brunette, "Well no, that's not entirely true. For two reasons." She explained and then faced the video camera once again, figuring it would be a good idea to explain to the future generations watching as well. "Red and I haven't always lived here."
"You haven't?" Hyde questioned—not imaging the couple ever living anywhere else but in this house.
"Nope. When Red and I first got married we lived in an apartment here in Point Place. It was over where…" the elder woman drifted off abit as she tried to recall what was now standing where she and her husbands spent their first years of marriage, "Alright, you know where that pet store is?"
The camcorder moved up and down.
"Well before that was a pet store it was a book store but before it was a book store it was a dress shop. And before it was any of those things it was the apartment building where Red and I lived. Of course it had been torn down years before it turned into any of those other stores." Kitty went on as her adopted children became more and more engrossed with her story, "Oh, that apartment was…well you remember the apartment that Mary Tyler Moore had those first couple of years?"
It took Hyde several seconds to picture the set Kitty was speaking of however Jackie, a loyal viewer of the sitcom, quickly understood and eagerly nodded her head.
"Okay our old apartment was like that. Only smaller."
Jackie's eyes widened "No!"
Closing her eyes, Kitty gave another nod but then stopped when she realized there was another difference between the two apartments, "Well maybe ours was a just a little bit bigger because we at least had a bedroom. Although the only thing we could fit in there was our bed." She added with a laugh.
Hyde and Jackie let out their own lighter laughs as Kitty continued on with her story.
"You know thinking about it, that place was tiny; but back then it had everything we needed. We had a stove and a refrigerator, a table to eat at, a bed to sleep and…relieve our honeymoon in." she giggled one of her girlish giggles, "And we had each other. I didn't even think we realized just how small that apartment was when we were living there. Well except for when our parents would come and point out. Or when Red and I wanted to throw a party there with more than a few friends…"
Right away Hyde's mouth opened, he finally had a new question! However the look his surrogate mother was sending him let him know he wouldn't be able to ask it just yet.
"You can ask that question when we're done with this one."
As Hyde nodded in agreement Jackie took the moment to ask her own question—but keeping things on topic.
"So you guys moved out when you found out you were gonna have Laurie?" she asked curiously.
"No, not exactly." Kitty replied with a small frown, "We lived in that apartment for about…two and a half years before we realized we needed to get out of there. So we started the house hunting and we saw this house and just fell completely in love with it. Red loved the garage and I loved the kitchen…and it was a two story house, something I had always wanted since I was little. It just makes you feel like you're living in a castle."
Though Hyde appeared abit confused by the words Jackie seemed to know exactly what Kitty was talking about.
"So we signed all the papers and the house was ours. And it was actually a few weeks after we had moved in that we found out I was pregnant with Laurie. Everything worked out right on time."
"You said there were two reasons for why what Jackie said was wrong." Hyde pointed out, making sure he was the one to ask the next question, "What's the other reason?"
Kitty scowled as she tried to recall her other point and as soon as she did remember it, the scowl vanished from sight, "Oh right, well the second reason is when we first moved in here it was just Red and me, and the rare—although not rare enough—drop by visit of Red's mother and his friend Frank…"
This time it was Jackie turn to come up with a new question but before she could interrupt, Kitty shot her the same look she'd given Hyde a few minutes ago.
"Another question you can ask later." She informed and Jackie closed her mouth listening to the rest of Kitty's explanation. "Anyways, it was mostly just the two of us. And as much as we loved that time alone together, this house didn't really turn into a home until you kids came along."
A nostalgic smile made its way onto Kitty's lips as she spoke, "The day we brought Laurie home from the hospital, that was the day this house really began to feel like a home. And every time one of you kids came in here this house became more and more of a home."
"Kitty, don't lie to them." a gruff voice commented.
Hyde moved the camcorder's focus from Kitty over to behind her, where Red stood infront of the open fridge grabbing a beer. He must have snuck into the kitchen in time to hear the last part of Kitty's reply.
"This house didn't become more like a home each time one of these dumbasses came over. It became more and more like a homeless shelter."
With that said Red headed right back into the living room never noticing his wife wave her hand in his direction while shaking her head disapprovingly.
"You know, he may gripe about all of you kids being over here so much over and over again." Kitty started to explain to the camera, "But if he really didn't want a house full of kids we would have bought a much smaller one."
0o0o0o
It was ten after two as Steven Hyde paced the kitchen floor. He was aware of the time and even more aware of the fact that the people who said they would be here by now were no where to be seen. Not Jackie or Eric or—the one who concerned him most of all—Angela.
She had said she would be here at two but she wasn't. And she was never late; in her profession Hyde guessed one really couldn't be late. Unless maybe your patient was already so ill there was nothing anyone could do anymore, the way Kitty was now. Perhaps that was why she was late. Or maybe it was because she'd seen him walk into the front door the last time she was here and was still laughing…so much that she didn't think she could keep a straight face around him so she'd gotten another nurse to cover for her.
Hyde rubbed his forehead at those thoughts and his own memory of bumping head first into that door he still swore was left open when he had walked Angie out to her car. His hand suddenly froze as another possibility entered his mind.
Maybe she hadn't said two o'clock. Maybe she had said two thirty or three o'clock. That idea seemed to be the most logical one; it was also the one Hyde was hoping was the real reason behind Angela's absence.
Just as the curly haired young man was about to exit the kitchen and go up to his adopted parents room—see if either of them knew what time Angela said she would stopping by—there was a small but rapid knock at the sliding glass door. With a slight furrow depressed on his forehead, Hyde turned around and saw a slouched figure covered from head to toe in winter clothing.
Not being able to tell who the mysterious figure was, thanks to the hood over their head and the scarf wrapped around their neck but also covering their mouth, Hyde curiously made his way to the side door. Then right before his hand grabbed onto the door's handle, he caught two small flashes of green buried under the pieces of heavy material and instantly recognized who it was.
"Angela?" he greeted as he slid open the door, his surprise sounding less and less real as he continued, "What are you doing here? Was this the time you said you would be here at?"
The young nurse, still standing out on the patio, pulled down her scarf to speak, "Actually no. The time I said I'd be here at was ten minutes ago. Sorry about that. I left over here late and the roads are icy, I didn't wanna drive too fast."
"Don't worry about it." Hyde assured, his Zen still in tact.
"I hope you don't mind me using this door." Angela said as she tried to calm her shivering by hastily rubbing her gloved hands over her arms. "Jackie mentioned before I would probably… get in here faster if I came though this door… since none of you all ever use the front door."
Hyde smirked lightly at the words, "Yeah. I told Red once he should just bolt it closed. He almost did too but Mom stopped him." He let out a small chuckle, "Think she was worried he'd go and to it to the other doors that lead into the house."
Angela joined in the laughter for a few seconds until finally she couldn't take it any longer.
"Can I come inside?" she asked almost desperately.
The unshaded blue eyes widened a bit as Hyde realized he still hadn't invited the freezing woman in! What was it that always made him act Eric-y around her?
"Yeah sure, come on in." he said as he stepped back to let Angela step into the house, "Sorry about that."
She shook her head, "It's okay."
Despite her reassurance Hyde continued to feel somewhat guilty and even more like dumbass; so when he saw her begin to unwrap her cream colored scarf from around neck, he made the decision to not have another 'Eric Moment.'
"Here I can take your coat."
Angela smiled, "Thanks." She said before shrugging off her navy tinted coat.
"Man, I didn't even realize it was snowing again." Hyde commented as he took her belongings and noticed the some of small flakes dusted upon them along with the many more wet droplets that had soaked onto the fabric.
"Yeah. It keeps getting colder too. Feels like the temperature's dropping five degrees every hour." Angela shared with Hyde, "And I thought the winters in New York were bad."
Hyde's eyebrows raised up, just a tiny bit, "You've been to New York?"
"I grew up there. In the city." She explained while putting her gloves into her bag.
While a simple nod of his head was all Hyde gave in response, Angela's words had sparked much of an interest inside Hyde. After all, many years ago, Hyde had almost left Point Place for The Big Apple. Which was how things were supposed to, you leave a small town for a big city not the other way around. Besides wanting to know what the city that never sleeps was like Hyde also became quite inquisitive to know why Angela had left New York City for Point Place, Wisconsin. However before he could put a voice to any of the questions forming in his head he noticed Angie continued to try to warm herself up with the rubbing of her palms.
"You want your jacket back? At least until you, you know warm up?" he questioned already offering her back her coat.
"No that's okay. I'm sure I'll warm up right now." Angela politely declined and as Hyde placed the coat back on the orange bar stool she grinned, "How are you Steven?"
Hyde stared back at her. She must have thought it was a simple, small talk question but for Hyde it was an overloaded question. His ex-girlfriend was now the girlfriend of his best friend—the guy he'd always considered a brother. She also seemed to really hate his guts—even more than she ever did. His missing adopted sister had made a return with her own illegitimate daughter whose father was another one of his best friends, but she still hadn't told him and instead was more focused on taking over their mother's kitchen. And to top it all off the woman who he'd considered his mother, long before he moved in with the family, was dying.
He didn't know where to begin or how to put any of that into words so he gave a mere shrug of his shoulders.
"Been better. But I guess I've been worse too." He replied in full Zen, "How about you?"
"I'm good, thanks." Angie smiled a genuine smile that somehow made Hyde feel a smidge bit better about everything, "Where's Mrs. Forman?"
"Uh she's up in her room. She um… she hasn't really been out of there since your last visit." Hyde informed.
"Oh?"
Nodding his head, he scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah. She hasn't really even tried to get out of bed. Except for when she needs to use the bathroom…and…she needing a lot more help with taking those few steps."
"Well that is expected with all the medication she's on. And the last time I was here, we did increase the morphine dosage…" Angela began to say.
"Yeah I know." Hyde interrupted, not wanting to hear a bunch of big medical words or explanations he'd been given time and time again. He understood what was going on with his adopted mother but that didn't mean he hated it any less, "It's just seeing her in that much pain…The bathroom's gotta be only four feet away from the bed but the look on Mom's face makes it feel like we're making her climb up Mount Everest. And I know she's keeping in a lot more of the pain."
Angela nodded, "There are a few things we could do to help her out in that area. We could increase more of her medicines, maybe a wheel chair or walker. It might even be time for a catheter." She went on and Hyde moved his head up and down, though never looking her in the eye, "But I think we should talk about all of this with your mother. Would it be alright if we went up to see her now?"
"Oh yeah." Hyde nodded once more before heading over to the swinging door—being sure to keep an arm outstretched to hold the door open for the young nurse.
Hyde led the way through the living room and up the carpeted stairway. And while Angie followed close behind him she couldn't help but notice how very calm the house seemed to be.
"Things are certainly a lot quieter than they were the last time I was here." She commented with a smile.
"Yeah, it never stays like this for too long though." Hyde replied smirking lightly until he realized the house was really quiet, and knew all the reasons behind the silence, "This time might actually be different though. Jackie's out running some errands, Eric went to visit a friend or something, and everyone else is down in the basement. They'll probably stay down there instead of coming up to Mom's room while you're checking up on her."
"Oh that's good." She said while stepping onto the step second from the top, "I mean having everyone in the room before was a nice idea but I think I work better without an audience."
As he stepped onto the upstairs floor of the house Hyde turned himself around to look at Angie, "Oh yeah…yeah that was actually Jackie's idea. Having everyone in there. But I told her I'd take the blame for it incase you were against the idea."
Angela grinned, "Well that was very sweet of you."
A smug smile made its way onto Hyde's lips when he heard Angie's words and it stayed in place as they walked away from the staircase and over to where the bedrooms were; however the second they reached the second door on the right that smile vanished without a trace. Hyde knew the sight waiting on the other of the door would not be one to smile at.
"Mom?" he called and then rapped lightly on the door waiting for a response he didn't receive, "Mom? Can I come in?"
He predicted hearing Kitty's voice telling him to come in or a muffled grumble from Red, that he could only guess consisted of at least one 'dumbass,' come from the opposite side of the door. But not one sound was heard. A frown mixed with confusion and worry etched onto Hyde's face as he took hold of the doorknob and turned it to the side before pushing open the door.
"Hey Mom? Angela's here. You…" the movement of his arm was brought to a sudden halt and his sentence cut off midway through when he saw the scene inside his adopted parents room.
It was definitely one he had not been expecting.
Kitty was lying on her side of the bed, the same spot she'd been in when he'd left the room hours before, still lost in a deep sleep. That part Hyde had expected to see. What he hadn't expected was the part with his adopted father. Red was lying right behind his wife, on his own side of the bed, holding her back against his chest with his arms wrapped almost protectively around her waist, his large left hand holding onto hers.
Watching the couple sleep so peacefully—something that was rare for both of them nowadays—Hyde immediately felt guilty for having to wake them, but he couldn't let them sleep especially since Angela was here and waiting to check on Kitty.
"I see Mr. Forman's home." a smiling Angela whispered from behind Hyde.
"Yeah." He nodded and cleared his throat before gradually taking a few steps into the room, "Hey Red…Mom? Angela's here. You gotta wake…"
"Shh!"
Baffled by the sudden interruption, Hyde twisted himself around and saw Angela motioning for him to come out of the room with her waving right hand. A puzzled scowl remained on his forehead as Hyde took one more look at the sleeping married couple before walking out of the room and over to Angie. When Hyde reached her though she still said nothing and instead gestured for him to close the door.
With his confusion only growing more and more, Hyde shut the door, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just didn't want you to wake them." She explained.
Hyde still didn't understand. Why wouldn't she want him to wake them up? She had come to check up on Kitty and he was pretty sure she couldn't do that if Kitty was still sleeping. Or with her sleeping husband holding onto her. It took him a minute or two but then an idea, that helped him understand a little better, entered his mind.
"Hey, don't worry. Red's bark is a lot worse than his bite. He'll probably grumble about it for awhile but when he realizes it's you and you're here to see Mom, he'll get over it."
"That's good to know." Angela said, "But that's not why I didn't want you to wake them. They both looked so peaceful and I bet they could both use some more rest. That's why I didn't want you to disturb them."
"Yeah. I didn't think they'd be asleep. I mean I was up here a few hours ago and Mom had just fallen asleep. Don't know if she's been asleep since then but I wouldn't be surprised. She…she's been sleeping a lot more than before." Hyde informed and let out a barely audible sigh, "Even when she's awake you can tell she's fighting off the sleep. Hasn't been winning much lately either."
Angela nodded understandingly, "I'm afraid that's another one of the side effects from the medication. And when you think about it, it's really for the better."
A small scoff escaped Hyde's lips; but he wasn't mad at Angela he was mad at the stupid cancer.
"I know it may not seem that way. You probably feel like her sleeping so much is taking away time you could be spending with her." She continued to speak, "But with her sleeping you don't have to see her in so much pain. Your last memories of her won't be of her suffering."
The blue orbs shifted downwards, "Guess that's sort of true." He mumbled before looking back up and deciding to change the subject, "So do you think you're gonna be able to check Mom today or have to reschedule?"
"Actually this was my last stop for the day, since it's Sunday." Angela began to explain, "I could probably go home and then come back here in an hour or two to check on Mrs. Forman. They should be up by then, right?"
"Yeah, yeah." Hyde nodded though secretly he didn't want her to leave yet and it was at that thought that Hyde decided he was done acting like Eric around Angela and was going to start acting like Hyde, "Mom and Red will probably wake up pretty soon. Think it'd be pretty pointless to have you leave and then come back in a few minutes. Especially with all the snow and you just started warming up. You could stay here, if you want. It's warmer and I could…"he stopped and let out a light laugh as he realized he had nothing to make, "I could warm up some McDonald's coffee. Sorry, that's pretty much all we have right now. Jackie's out doing some shopping now and…"
Angela smiled, "McDonald's coffee is one of my favorite coffees."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She grinned and nodded, "And I think I will stay here a little bit longer."
Hyde smirked, "Cool."
The young nurse let out a tiny laugh before following Hyde down the same set of stairs they had climbed up minutes ago.
Meanwhile back in the Forman's bedroom, a pair of eyes suddenly flew open and they scanned over the room as if looking for something. A second or two passed before the awake person stopped their search and instead stared over at their sleeping spouse.
"They're gone, Kitty."
"Shh!" Kitty hissed back, staying in position—eyes closed and all—"They're still out in the hallway. They could still come back in here. Go back to pretending to be asleep."
Red let out a groan of annoyance as he called her name, "Kitty…"
"Shh!" she cut off his complaining before it could even begin. Then after waiting several soundless seconds Kitty fluttered her eyes open and gave a small smile, "Okay, they're going down the stairs, we're safe now."
"Are you sure?" Red asked, though didn't seem all too concerned.
As Kitty carefully rolled onto her back, she nodded her head and began her clarification, "I heard the creak of the third step at the tops of the stairs. It's so light though you can't hear it unless you know it's there."
It was obvious Red had never heard any creak by the expression he wore on his face when he looked down at his wife. It was a look that silently asked her 'How the heck did you know that?' and a face she couldn't help but giggle at.
"Oh honey, I've been up in this room for too long." she answered with a faint smile.
He gave a somber nod and though he wasn't exactly in favor of the idea he was about to bring up to Kitty, there was the chance that it would make her happy and her happiness was something he supported and valued. Years and years ago, when he had proposed to her, he'd made a promise to do whatever it took to make her happy and keep her smiling and laughing each and every of their life together. Red was sure there had been more than a handful of days when he had broken that promise in their thirty one years of marriage but these last days with her were not going to be added to that list.
"You wanna go downstairs?" he asked.
Kitty looked up at her husband and could clearly see the worry written in his green eyes. As she saw Red's apprehension she felt two things; her mouth tug upwards into a smile and her heart breaking into tiny pieces. It was sweet seeing how much he was concerned for her but at the same time she hated it. She hated being the one who people were concerned and worried about. She was the mother, she was his wife, she should have been the one worrying and taking care of her family, not the other way around.
And of course she wanted to go down to the living room, to the basement, to her kitchen. She would go even if it was just to visit with everyone for five minutes.
But she couldn't.
"Maybe later." She replied still smiling as if to cover up the little lie—there would be no later. However as she snuggled up closer to Red she looked up at him with a true grin, "Besides I like laying here like this. Don't you?"
Red smirked, "Yeah."
A girlish giggled escaped Kitty's lips as she felt her husband kiss her forehead.
"And it's fun too." She commented.
Confused Red asked, "What is?"
Kitty smiled up at him and as if her answer was obvious replied, "Giving Steven this little push."
"Oh right." Came Red's dry response before a scowl appeared on his face, "Remind me again why I'm helping you give Steven this 'little push' when anytime I tried to push any of our kids you wouldn't let me near them?"
"Because you would have tried to push them right out of our house." Kitty answered and the smug smirk etched onto Red's mouth proved how right she was, "And I'm trying to push Steven into happiness. He really does deserve some. And Angela is such a sweet girl who likes Steven just as much as he likes her. In the end this will all work out for everyone."
"You sure sound confident about all of that." Red stated aloud.
"Well of course I do. Because I am." She declared still smiling as she spoke, "You'll see this plan will work perfectly because it's a Kitty Forman Plan and my plans never fail."
Red held in a laugh as he gave an unconvincing, "Right."
"It's true. Each of the plans I have come up with have always been a success." Kitty argued, though clearly not in the same feisty manner she usually fought back with, "I can't think of one that didn't work out the way I'd planned it to. Can you?"
Just as Red opened his mouth to speak Kitty interjected with a quick side note.
"But remember Red, I'm a dying woman and whatever you say to me could be the last words I ever hear." She said pointing her index finger right at him and wearing a playful smile on her lips.
Staring down at her, Red couldn't believe his ears. Was she really using her cancer, playing the dying woman card on him to win an argument? He had to let out a chuckle. And the smile she was giving him only made the corners of his mouth tug up even higher.
"You're one girl in a million, Kitty." He said shaking his balding head.
Kitty blinked, her lighthearted grin still in place, "And aren't you glad you found me?"
Red shifted himself abit to make sure he was looking her straight in the eyes as he spoke to her, "More than you'll ever know."
0o0o0o
"So you're not mad at Eric for canceling your grocery shopping date?" Brooke curiously asked as she pushed the shopping cart.
It had been almost two hours since she and her daughter and of course Jackie had walked into The Piggly Wiggly and they'd only gotten half the items on their list. It wasn't that they needed to get so many things—although that play a pretty big part—it was more having a hungry six year old with them who was trying to sneak in as much junk food as she could into the cart. There was also the fact that they'd come on a weekend and so many of Point Place's citizens were doing their own shopping before the work week started, making the large grocery store seem smaller than it was.
However, despite the crowds the three girls seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were out of the house, Betsy had gotten a few okays on some of the junk food she's asked for, and Brooke and Jackie were able to do some of the chatting they'd planned to do at lunch—mostly because at the rate they were going they wouldn't have the time to stop and eat at a restaurant today—while they browsed through the aisles.
The current aisle they were in being every child's favorite; the cereal aisle.
"No. I mean it's just grocery shopping." Jackie replied and then grinned, "And besides if he hadn't cancelled then I wouldn't have been able to spend time shopping with you and my precious goddaughter. Right Betsy?"
The former cheerleader then went on to hugging the young Kelso girl close to her.
Little Betsy looked up at her godmother with a bright smile, "Right Aunt Jackie." she nodded and then 'magically' pulled out a box of Trix cereal from out of nowhere, "Can I get these?"
"Sure sweetie." Jackie answered.
As soon as the words were said the cereal box with the white cartoon rabbit drawn on the front was tossed into the basket and Betsy scampered over to the section of the aisle with all the tasty, sugary, prize inside, cereals. Neither Brooke nor Jackie noticed the little girl wander off as the topic of the previous conversation was brought back up.
"You're really not mad at all?" Brooke pestered slightly.
"I'm really not mad at all, Brooke." Jackie answered, holding back the urge to roll her eyes; that urge suddenly faded though when she realized that while she wasn't mad about the canceling of their date she wasn't happy about it either…and Brooke was probably the only person she could talk to about this. She heaved out a sigh, "I'm just kind of… disappointed."
Brooke stopped pushing the basket, to make sure her full attention was on what Jackie had to say.
Jackie shook her head, feeling guilty about saying those words, "But at the same time I understand. And I think Eric's doing a really nice thing for Randy and Donna. And Steven too I guess….I guess he's trying to fix things so everything will be better for everyone. His heart's in the right place."
"It sounds like his heart is after yours." The young mother said teasingly.
"To tell you the truth," Jackie said in a sly tone, "it's pretty much his already."
"Really?"
"Yeah…I guess that's another part of why I'm not mad at him for canceling." She shared and Brooke smiled a smile that gave a silent 'aww' "Plus it would be nice if the next date we went to on wasn't to somewhere that has shopping carts."
Confusion crossed Brookes' face, "What do you mean?"
"Well our first date was to the toy store and…" Jackie started to explain before getting interrupted.
"Wait, you mean when you took Betsy to the toy store? That's when you had your first date?" Brooke questioned, "My daughter was there for yours as Eric's first date?"
Jackie nodded, "Yeah, she was our little chaperone. Don't worry we kept things G rated. Right Bets?"
"Uh huh." Betsy nodded while approaching the two ladies, obviously hiding something behind her back, "Mommy?"
Turning her head, Brooke looked at her daughter but was still very curious to find out more about this covert first date, "Yes honey?"
"Can I have some of these?" she asked holding up another cereal box this one being with decorated with a sketched toucan with a very colorful beak.
"That's fine Betsy, just put it in the basket." The little girl's mother said and then went back to talking with Jackie, paying no attention to the second cereal box being added into the cart. "You two…or should I say three…have already had your first date?"
Again Jackie moved her head up and the down, "Yeah but it was just to a toy store at the mall. It was nothing special." She stopped, not being able to contain her smile, "Okay that's a lie. It was pretty special. I mean I didn't think it would be some great, memorable first date—we had just set it up as a first date because we were both out of the house at the same time—but it was really nice."
"And Eric was so sweet. Holding doors open and letting me talk about things I wanted to talk about, he's great with Betsy too. Oh and you know how guys usually get you candy or flowers on a date? Well Eric bought me a doll!" she squeal as she gushed on and on about her 'not so special toy store date' "It's a doll I had wanted ever since I was a little girl and somehow he bought without me knowing. And…What?" she unexpectedly stopped her story and asked the grinning librarian.
"Nothing." She insisted with a shake of her head, "I just can't believe you and Eric would keep all of that a secret. Especially since it sounds like you two had such a good time together."
Looking down at the almost full shopping basket, Jackie shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah well…with everything that's going on with Mom and the drama with Donna and Randy. And Steven's a whole other case. We can't exactly go around flaunting our happiness…and secret romances are pretty sexy and…secretive."
"I suppose that's true." Brooke agreed though wasn't ready to drop the subject quite yet, "But you know there are other people in the house that you could at least inform about your happiness."
Jackie let out a slight giggle when she heard Brooke's statement—already knowing what she was hinting at, Brooke really had been spending too much time with Kelso and Fez, they were starting to rub off on her, "Okay Brooke, the next time Eric and I go out on a date I'll give you all the details the next morning."
Brooke returned the smile, "That's all I'm asking."
The two women shared a laugh before starting to move through the aisle once again; though being sure to walk at a slower pace so that Betsy, who was a few feet behind still scanning over the kids cereal, could catch up to them.
"So are there any other secrets you and Eric are hiding?" Brooke asked jokingly though at the same time being a bit curious.
"No Brooke, Eric and I aren't hiding anything else. You now know everything…" her thoughts were suddenly cut off when a box on the shelf caught her eye, "Oh my God! Are those Cocoa Puffs? I haven't had these in forever. And it's so weird but ever since we started eating all that take-out breakfast stuff I've had such a craving for a bowl of this stuff. We're taking this."
As another box of cereal was tossed into the basket Brooke smiled at her friend. It was sort of funny seeing her get excited about a box of kids cereal…it's was actually kind of weird and random, that went for the craving itself too. She couldn't remember having such a random craving since she was pregnant with Betsy…and hadn't Jackie and Eric mentioned to Betsy this morning something about her soon having a new friend to play with? Brooke brown hazel eyes became wider and wider as she put more of the pieces together.
"I used to love these when I was little." Jackie shared with Betsy who was now standing beside the cart, "I remember every Saturday morning when I was six or seven I would make a bowl for me and Daddy and…"
"Oh my God!" Brooke abruptly exclaimed
Knitting her brows together Jackie looked over at Brooke, "Is it really that surprising that I can actually make a bowl of cereal?"
Brooke rapidly shook her head still trying to remain calm, "No it's…it's not that. Jackie are you…enceinte?"
"Encei-what?" Jackie asked puzzled by the whispered word.
"Are you," the taller woman looked around to make sure no one else would hear, "pregnant?"
"What?" the raven haired woman practically screeched out—her eyes matching the size of her friend's.
Betsy watched the exchange between her mother and godmother and saw it as a perfect opportunity to sneak in another box of sugar filled cereal.
"Aunt Jackie," she called, "Look at this cereal, can we buy this one too?"
"Yeah, yeah Betsy." Jackie quickly said overlooking the box of Frosted Flakes being placed in the filling shopping cart and instead focusing on Betsy's mother, "Why would you think I was pregnant?" she asked whispering the last word as well, before speaking in her normal—but filled with more shock—tone of voice, "Oh my God am I getting fat?"
Quickly moving her head from left to right Brooke tried to calm Jackie down, "No, no. I just thought…you said you had a craving. And then with you and Eric keeping secrets from everyone else I don't know I thought…"
"That I was fat." Jackie interjected.
"Jackie, you're not fat." Brooke tried to reassure.
The corners of Jackie's mouth twitched, "Well that's always nice hear." Brooke held back a her own smile as Jackie continued, "I'm sorry I got so excited its just…Eric and I haven't done…anything."
"Really?"
"Really. I mean not everyone conceives their daughter on their first date." Jackie shot back teasingly.
Relieved that her daughter was back looking at the cereals packed with sugar and missed the comment, Brooke shook her head, hiding the smile on her face, "I'm sorry too for jumping to conclusions like that. I really…wait a minute. If you're not pregnant then what did you and Eric mean when you two told Betsy about having a new friend to play with?"
'Uh-o' Jackie thought as her mind flashbacked to this morning at breakfast when Betsy had complained about being bored and she and Eric had tried to make her feel better. They had said she could be making a new friend soon and have a new player for Hungry, Hungry Hippos but they weren't talking about a baby—definitely not a baby of theirs—they had been talking about Lucy. And though explaining to Brooke about Lucy may have been easy, though very long, Jackie didn't think that would be the brightest ideas. It looked like she was going to have to take one for the team.
"Um…you know what Brooke…you're you're right!" she smiled, hoping her performance was believable, even though there was a chance of it creating more chaos, "I am pregnant. I'm enceinte….got a bun in the oven. You would make a great Nancy Drew! And I'm thinking if it's a girl 'Katie' and if it's a boy…"
Brooke wasn't fooled, "Jackie, what's going on? What are you and Eric really hiding?"
"Eric and I aren't hiding anything." Jackie replied with a sigh, figuring the truth would all come out eventually and it would be better this way then having to put on some charade, "At least it's not just me and Eric that are hiding this. It's Steven, Red, and Mom too."
"What is it?"
Jackie took in a deep breath, "Last night we had a visit…"
"From the stork?" Brooke asked sarcastically, Jackie was telling the story way too slowly for her. There was a big piece of gossip that Jackie was holding and Brooke wanted to hear it. She remembered how quickly Jackie had reacted to the pregnancy talk and so Brook thought it was worth another try.
"No." Jackie shook her head, "From Laurie."
"Laurie? Laurie Forman? Eric's sister?" Brooke questioned still confused, surely Laurie was not the new friend Eric and Jackie had in mind for Betsy.
"Yeah that Laurie. And she didn't come alone." The younger of the two shared, "She brought her daughter Lucy. Her daughter that none of us knew about."
Brooke's face showed her surprise before a smile crept onto her face, "Mrs. Forman is a grandma? She and Red must be thrilled."
"Well Mom was. Red took a little longer to get used to it but he's warmed up to the idea especially since Laurie brought Lucy to meet Kitty before the worst happens." Jackie informed Brooke of the short version of the events from last night.
"Mommy can I get some Count Chocula cereal?" Betsy asked just as Brooke was about to ask Jackie her own question.
"Sure, honey put whatever you want in the basket." Brooke replied, not realizing what she'd done nor did she catch the look of excitement on Betsy's face before threw the new box in the cart and then ran back to the other cereals; she turned back to Jackie getting back on topic, "I didn't even know Laurie was married."
Jackie went on, "She's not. That's another reason Laurie and Lucy are here. She's planning on telling Lucy's father about her."
"He's here in Point Place?"
"He'd not just in Point Place," Jackie began, "he's in the Forman's house."
A look of puzzlement appeared on Brookes face when she heard Jackie's comment. And as she started to figure out who Jackie was referring to, she suddenly remembered some of the stories she had heard about Laurie Forman—specifically the ones that involved her own husband.
"Um Jackie," Brooke started, clearing her throat trying to conceal the feelings of jealousy and anger that were starting to build up inside her, "Laurie's daughter is younger than Betsy, right?"
A laugh escaped Jackie's lips before she placed a assuring had on Brooke's arm, "Believe me Brooke, Michael is not Lucy's father. If he was, Red would have already killed him."
"Yeah and I would have helped." Brooke stated.
Jackie released another laugh before turning back to a much more serious state, "It's not Michael who's the father, it's Fez."
"Noo!" Brooke said in complete shock—eyes wider than they'd been all day.
"Yes."
Brooke still couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Fez is a father?"
"Yes, now shh!" Jackie warned, moving closer to Brooke to prove a point, "I know you haven't lived in Point Place for awhile but word travels even quicker nowadays."
"Right." Brooke said with another nod, "When is Laurie gonna tell Fez?"
Jackie shrugged, "I don't know. We tried to get her to do it last night but after having to introduce Lucy to the whole family, I think she's afraid of stressing her out. And she's also really worried that Fez is gonna be angry at both her and Lucy."
"That won't happen Fez is a good guy. And even if he does get angry, it won't last that long. Laurie just has to make sure she takes some type of candy bar with her when she breaks the news to him." Brooke put in her two cents that Jackie found herself supporting.
"We told her that too. But she's still really nervous. She and Lucy have been hiding out in my room since they got here."
Brooke slowly shook her head disbelief, "Wow. Fez is a father…I can't believe it."
"I know." Jackie agreed, "And Laurie's the kid's mother. Pretty scary huh?"
"Well I've never actually met Laurie, but from the stories I've heard…Yeah, a little bit." She said with a sad nod.
Author's Note: And that would be Chapter 42 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked! Please review if you can…it could be like a little belated birthday gift lol
Will Kitty ever go back downstairs? How will Hyde and Angela's McDonalds coffee date go? Will this be another successful Kitty Forman Plan? Has there ever been a successful Kitty Forman Plan? Will Brooke be able to keep Laurie's secret? How is Eric's talk with Randy going? And will Betsy be getting all of those cereals she put into the shopping cart? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"!
BTW I'm curious which day would you all like me to post new chapters for this story? What day works best for you? I'll take the day with majority vote and try my best to start posting my chapters on that day. Sunday through Saturday! You tell me! In a review in a PM which ever you like! And a special thanks to MomentOfZen who long ago suggested the bit with Brooke thinking Jackie was pregnant. Thank you and i hope your still enjoying the story :D
Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, see you next time, take care, and have a nice day!