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Author's Note: Hello everyone! How are you all? Hope you're doing fine and well.. I am so very sorry for not updating this story all last month. Did seriously not realize I had let that whole month pass with no update to this story. Please forgive me. The last month was just a bit crazy with school ending and finals, plus I did also work o and post up quite a few oneshots last month, so hopefully those make up for the lack of updates here. Hopefully too I'll be able to update more times this month! :D Couple of quick notes before the chapter. And I'll try to keep them very quick since I know you're eager to read. First off thank you so very much for all of your wonderful reviews and support each and every one of you are so awesome! Secondly please remember I am not a doctor, still watching House MD but the series did finish—and I'm still in mourning! Thirdly I wanted to give a quick thank you to MistyMountainHop for her suggestion on the video question, thanks Lisa! If you have a video question suggestion please feel free to share! Okay so I think that's about it! So very sorry once again for my lack of updates and Thank you once again to all of you wonderful readers, you make my day! Here's the new chapter! Hope you like, please review and lemme know what you think and as always, Enjoy!
"What's your favorite kind of music?"
Kitty scowled lightly as she pondered over the question before replying, "You know, there are so many different kinds of music I don't think I could choose just one as my favorite. I don't even think I know all the different types of music."
"Okay, well from the music you do know…what's your favorite type to dance to?" Hyde rephrased his question, hoping she would answer it in this form.
"Oh, I think that's even harder." Kitty started to say, "Because…"
Having a feeling he knew where she was going with this, Hyde spoke up finishing her thought for her. "Because there are so many different kinds of dances."
"Exactly." She said with a smile, "There really are all kinds of dances. And sometimes with some dances you have to be listening to a certain kind of music when dancing that kind of dance. After all you can't exactly jitterbug to the kind of music you kids listen to like that...ABCD."
Hyde held in a chuckle when he figured out his adopted mother was mixing up ACDC with the alphabet, still he had to agree, "Yeah. That's true."
"But let's see…there's disco music that you dance disco dances like The Hustle to. As I'm sure you well remember." She added in a Kitty Forman giggle at the end of that statement.
Behind the camera Hyde's face dropped as he quickly recalled the dance lesson he had received from Mrs. Forman years ago. It was a nice memory he had with her, of course, but he didn't want any future generations knowing that he had ever actually danced to any ABBA, Bee Gees, or any other disco crap.
"No I don't." came his unconvincing response.
Shaking her head while holding in another laugh, Kitty continued, "And there's big band and swing music…that's more of where you dance the jitterbug. Country music is always fun to square dance to…"
"Yeah." Hyde agreed with a rather large smirk.
Kitty scowled as she noticed the almost smile on her second son's face, "Steven, you didn't even go with us to the square dance for my birthday, how could you possibly remember that but not when I taught you…"
"Because I still have the image of Forman and Red in their cowboy outfits." Hyde answer, before she could mention the disco part, his amused smile growing, "That's a pretty hard image to get rid of."
Not exactly in favor of his behavior, Kitty shook her head again but did have to smile when she thought back to that birthday. Steven was right about the images being hard to forget but while he seemed to be smiling because he thought the two had looked funny Kitty smiled because of how handsome her too boys had looked and at how sweet they had been to her—even if it was because they felt guilty for forgetting her birthday.
"There's also slow dancing." She suddenly said, getting her mind back on the question, "Red and I always liked putting on a Frank Sinatra record whenever we did any slow dancing."
Hyde's smile softened when he noticed the smile and far off look on Kitty's face.
"Oh and rock and roll is another one of my favorite types of music to listen to."
"You listen to rock and roll music?" Hyde asked with a furrowed brow.
"Of course." She smiled and went on, "Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, and of course The King Elvis Presley, that hunka burning love."
Shaking his head lightly—so as not to move the camera—Hyde couldn't help but smirk at her answer, he really should've known better.
"I think it's safe to say that I enjoy all the different types of music and can have fun dancing to each of them." Kitty went on her smile fading a bit as she threw in, "Well maybe not all the different types. I'm not the biggest fan of music like The Sex Pistols or Judas Priest as someone thought I would be."
This time Hyde had to let out a chuckle as he recalled the little prank he had pulled on her several years back.
"So if you had to," he started to question once he managed to control his laughter, "which type of music, from the kinds you know of, would you say is your favorite?"
Several seconds passed before she finally answered, "Country music."
"Seriously?" Hyde asked with a frown—it was a little hard for him to believe that this cheerful, always smiling, woman was a fan of the kind of music whose songs consisted of heartbreak, abandonment, drinking, and death.
"That's right." Kitty nodded, seeing the confused expression on Hyde's face she could figure out what he was thinking and so she started to explain, "You know Steven, country music doesn't just have depressing songs. There are different kinds of country songs. Most of them are sad and depressing but they tell a story which is always nice. And there are also some very sweet love songs that are nice to slow dance to. And some of the country music songs are more upbeat and fun to just sing and dance around to."
"Square dance to?" Hyde asked holding in a chuckle.
Kitty glared warningly at the camera, "Another word out of you about square dancing and I will personally put you in a flannel shirt, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat, and take you with me to the nearest square dancing hoedown."
Not wanting to test her threat, Hyde quickly closed up his mouth.
0o0o0o
Laurie Forman was not a coward. It wasn't in her nature, it wasn't in her blood. Her father was a war hero and her mother was never one who took any crap from anyone either, sure there was her brother who could be considered a wimp but even when push came to shove and the things he cared about were at risk he showed his leadership and bravery. 'Cowardly' was never a word Laurie would have used to describe herself but as she stood in the small room below the basement stairs with the father of her child, she couldn't think of a better word for herself.
Remaining in her spot by the closed bedroom door, she watched him march back and forth between the small area of the cot and old armchair. He was silent but the look on his face showed that his mind was filled with words he wanted to tell—or even shout out—at Laurie. A few times he would turn to her open his mouth but then immediately shut it and go back to pacing. She had mixed feelings each of the three or four times he did this.
First she would feel a bit frighten by the crazed look he was staring at her with along with the possible words she imagined him saying to her, then she would feel relieved when saw him shut his mouth, but when she saw him turn back around she would suddenly wish he had said something. She wanted to say something but she didn't want to be the first one to say something—she didn't know what to say; and yet at the same time she wanted Fez to say something, anything, but she also wanted to explain to him everything he needed to know before he said anything.
Finally, she'd had enough and took in a deep breath as she gathered her courage to step away from the closed door and start to talk.
"Fez, before you go all Ricky Ricardo on me again, I just want to say that I…"
"What's her name?" Fez interrupted whatever she was going to say with his question—asked in a tone that let on to how upset he still was.
Slightly confused but more startled by the question Laurie frowned, "What?"
"Our…" he paused, trying to get used to saying these next words, "Our daughter. What's her name?"
"Lucille Jasmine. Lucy." Laurie replied.
The foreigner stared at her with a surprised expression sketched onto his face, "You mean after…"
"Yeah." She nodded before he could finish his question; she then gave a shrug of her shoulders before going on, "I mean, I couldn't remember your last name so her birth certificate says 'Forman' but I did want her to have a piece of you in her name and I remembered you mentioning the name Lucy that night in Kelso's van so…yeah."
"Have you…" Fez started to ask.
She shook her head, "No."
The room became silent as Fez slowly sat himself down on the edge of the aged army cot. Laurie thought about going and sitting bedside him but the realized it might be safer for both of them if she kept her distance a little while longer.
"Why?" he asked, his tone now softer, as he looked up at her.
"That was something you wanted to do. Not me." came her response.
"No," Fez said with a shake of his head as he frowned in return, "why didn't you tell me about her sooner?"
Laurie knew this question was bound to come up but it didn't stop or even slow down the rapid beats her heart began to create when she heard the words being said by the foreign young man. She took a step forward, keeping the space between them but gradually closing in on it, her eyes locked on his as she began the explanation she knew she owed him.
"Fez, I wanted to tell you, when I first found out I was pregnant, really I did." Laurie began to say, trying to make her voice sound as truthful as her words were, "But I couldn't. I didn't have any of your information, I couldn't contact you."
Fez slowly nodded his head, "Oh I see. That is understandable. It is too bad that they have not invented a book that is filled up with people's names and phone numbers and…Oh wait they have! It's called a phonebook!"
Startled by the sudden outburst as Fez's tone changed from sweet and understanding to furious and scary, Laurie erased that step forward she had made by moving back a foot or two. However, her shock didn't last long; she quickly shook off the emotions that were making her feel like a pathetic frightened animal and pulled herself together, becoming—for the most part—the Laurie Forman that Point Place remembered.
"I couldn't look you up in the phonebook." She argued and then rolled her eyes, "What was I supposed to look up, 'Fez'?"
"Yes."
Her brows squished closer together as she heard the serious tone he spoke in, "Seriously? You're under 'Fez' in the phonebook?"
"Yes. F-E-Z. 'Fez.'" The foreigner answered, his voice never changing to a joking one, "I am the first one listed."
"How many 'Fezs' are there?" Laurie asked with a scowl, she still couldn't believe he was actually listed in the book as 'Fez' but now she was finding out there was more than one 'Fez?'
He took a second to recall, "Three."
Laurie's frown deepened when she heard the answer, she was tempted to ask if those other 'Fezs' were people or places or what but she decided to save the question for later when (or if) they had settled things.
"Well I didn't think you would have actually listed yourself as 'Fez' in the phonebook, if I had I would have looked you up and called you. But I didn't."
Still puzzled by why Laurie was so surprised that he was listed as 'Fez' in the phonebook—it was his American name and he was still in America, thanks to her—he frowned slightly until another thought floated into his mind making him even more confused.
"What about Kelso?" he suddenly asked. "You could have looked him up and he could have told me."
She shook her head, her blonde strands of hair shifting over her shoulders, "I wanted to tell you not…Taternuts."
"I can not believe almost all of my friends kept this secret from me." Fez said his gaze down at the ground and his voice sounding hurt and sad until suddenly changing when he lifted his head with an angry, determined look on his face, "Heads will roll!"
"They didn't know either, Fez. Nobody knew. The only person in my family who knew about Lucy was my dad's brother. He was the one who helped us out." She shared more of the details of her story.
Fez's face softened when he looked over at the woman still standing in front of him, "So you have not told Red or Miss. Kitty?"
"No. I actually told them yesterday when I first got here." Laurie informed, not catching Fez's eyes widening with panic, "You…and I guess Kelso, were actually the last ones to find out."
The last sentence went unheard by Fez. He was too busy hearing the first sentence over and over in his mind. Red knew…but then why was Fez still alive? Maybe Miss. Kitty's illness was at the top of Red's list and he had to deal with that before he could kill Fez. So Fez was safe…for now. But all that meant was it was only a matter of time before he and Red recreated a scene out of an Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny cartoon—only this time Bugs' chance of survival was very slim.
"Aye no! Mr. Red knows I have interpregnanted you! I'm going to die!" he cried out sounding very afraid, he gulped and scanned his eyes over the room, "I need to hide. Somewhere no one would ever think I would be…. I know! The vegetable aisle at The Piggly Wiggly!"
Watching the foreigner jump out of his seat, Laurie shook her head and tried to keep him from running off by saying, "Relax Fez, he was more mad at me than he was at you."
"Oh." Fez said a wave of relief washing over him—he even managed a smile.
"Yeah." She nodded before adding, "But that passed and we made up so he's probably more mad at you now."
His smile diminished completely, "Oh."
"Yeah." Laurie repeated in a somber tone, realizing her words probably didn't help all that much.
Silence overcame the tiny room; but it wasn't a comfortable, peaceful silence it was the kind of silence where you could actually feel the tension and hurt. Both parties had something to say and they knew how to phrase their words, they were just having trouble finding the guts to actually come out and say what they needed to say.
At last one of them found their bravery and broke though the room's stillness.
"Are you sure she is mine?"
Calm blue eyes became fiery large in size when the question was heard, "Excuse me?"
"No!" Fez shot out in a firm tone and matching scowl, "No excuse you! Excuse me and answer my question!"
"How can you even ask that question?" Laurie questioned, preparing herself to turn on the waterworks if she had to.
"How can I not ask that question?" he fired back going back to acting like Ricky Ricardo, flaring his arms about in anger but luckily keeping his words in the English language. "When you lived here you were the town whore who was passed around like you were a hot potato! How do I know you did not just choose poor innocent Fez to be the father of your baby so I could help support the two of you. Then my hopes of having a family would be raised only to have you crash them all back down and run off with some Chad or Chaz or Bill just like you did when we got married!"
Laurie felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach by Fez's words; of course they were true but that only seemed to have added to the pain. She wanted to argue about how she wasn't like that anymore and how it had been his fault too for having such high hopes when he married her of all people, but that was in the past and she had to think about the future. Their daughter's future.
"Fez, Lucy is your daughter." She stated firmly as she stepped towards him, "She has your eyes."
Fez was not convinced, "Lots of other kids have brown eyes."
"She loves candy." Laurie tried in a weak, hopeful voice.
"Oh! Then that means she really must be mine!" He declared with false enthusiasm, "It must also mean that that I have a million other children who also love candy!"
An angry glare appeared on Laurie's face. She was tired of this! Here she was trying to be nice, trying to give him some reasonable answers and he kept shooting them down! Was it really that horrible to find out that he had a daughter with her?
Crossing her arms over her chest, she really wasn't happy about sharing this piece of information, she began to share a piece of evidence that she was sure would stop anymore of his doubt about Lucy not being his, "You were the last man I slept with." She said in a bored and unpersuasive tone.
"Oh Laurie," Fez said while shaking his head with pity, "That is weak. The candy one was more believable."
"I'm serious, Fez. As hard as it is to believe it's true." Laurie elaborated more of the story as she closed up the space between them and took a seat beside him on the folding bed, "When you left after we last slept together, after you told me about my mom's cancer, I kinda fell into this slump. I almost came home but I didn't think I would be able to handle all the hospitals and cancer stuff so I stayed away and to myself." She admitted for the first time out loud.
"Then weeks later when I finally snapped out of it, I found out I was pregnant. And after that…well guys aren't exactly lining up for you when you're walking around looking like you swallowed a basketball." She said halfheartedly before repeating in a stronger voice, "Lucy is your daughter. I'd tell you we could get a blood test but I don't want to put Lucy through that. And if that test is the only thing that will make you believe me, if you actually want to put a four year old through that, then maybe we're better off without you."
Despite the hard words and voice Laurie was speaking in the foreign man found himself grinning as he watched her. She really wasn't the same Laurie he knew all those years ago—though it was nice to see that she still had some of that old Laurie in there—she wasn't her main concern and neither was having sex. She had a new number one concern, her daughter. Their daughter.
Catching the grin on his face made Laurie scowl with disgust.
"Wipe that dumb grin off your face." She ordered
Fez's smile shrank just a few centimeters, "I'm sorry I said those things before, you're not a whore…anymore. But you still are a very, very hot potato. And I bet you looked very sexy with your basketball belly."
Laurie looked at him as she laughed lightly and that same smile stayed in place once her laughter had died down.
"I do still wish you would have told me about Lucy sooner." He added.
She released a sigh, "Fez…"
"So that I could have been there to help you and you wouldn't have had to do it all alone." Fez finished in a most sincere sounding voice.
The smile from before reappeared on Laurie's face as she heard his words. Never had she thought that she would hear that as a reason for Fez wishing he knew about Lucy sooner. She always knew Fez was a lot different than the guys she had dated before but she had forgotten how sweet he was too.
"What's she like?" the question was asked in a small, curious tone.
Knowing exactly who he was asking about, Laurie's smile stretched form ear to ear at the thought for their little girl, "She's amazing, Fez. I mean I know parents always go on and on about how great their kids are but we seriously made one awesome kid." Fez smiled, eager to hear more about Lucy and Laurie wasted no time in sharing, "She's beautiful and smart—which of course she got from me—she's so funny too. And she loves to dance and eat candy, you should see her do both at the same time." She ended with a laugh.
Grinning proudly, Fez nodded his head "Ah just like her old man."
Laurie's grin showed no signs of fading. She was always more than happy to talk and rave on about Lucy but being able to tell Lucy's father about her and hearing him, for the first time, say she was his daughter…she had to keep herself together and not let any happy tears forming in her eyes slip down her face.
"Do you have a picture of her?" he asked, sounding almost nervous, "So I can see her."
"No." Laurie shook her head and when Fez's face dropped in disappointment she quickly went on, "But I do have something even better. Lucy is upstairs in my parents' room with them. Do you wanna go meet her?"
Fez's brown eyes lit up with excitement, "Really?"
"Well yeah." She replied scoffing slightly while rolling her own eyes, "Besides coming to see Mom, you're the reason I came. So Lucy could meet you and you could meet her."
"Okay." He wasted no time in answering with a large grin.
Laurie smiled and nodded, echoing his word, "Okay."
The pair stood up from the old army bed and began their way to the room's exit. They took their steps, staying side by side until they suddenly got a lot closer to the room's door and Laurie began to take the lead—but not by her choice. By the time she noticed that she no longer had Fez next to her she had her hand on the doorknob and he was two or three feet behind her, a look of uncertainty on his face while he nervously played with his fingers.
"Aren't you coming?" she questioned, her hand still holding onto the handle on the door.
"Yes. No. I mean…" the anxious man stumbled over his words, "What if you bring Lucy in here instead. That way it is more private and there is no big audience. So she won't be scared."
The blonde titled her head and crossed her arms over her chest, "You're still scared of Daddy, aren't you?"
Part of Fez wanted to argue and deny it while another part of him wanted to admit that it was the truth but all that came out was a small whimper that made Laurie laugh lightly.
"Okay." She agreed with a smile, "I'll be right back."
Nodding his head Fez watched as she opened the door and began to leave the room. Then suddenly a thought crossed his mind and he knew he couldn't let her leave without finding out the answer to the new question that had formed in his brain.
"Laurie, wait!" he called out, "I just have one more very important question to ask you."
She spun herself around so that she could be facing him.
"What's Lucy's favorite kind of candy?"
0o0o0o
"I don't know how we ended up with six different boxes of cereal." Jackie said frowning slightly, while holding a box of Trix cereal in her left hand and a box of Froot-Loops in her right with her eyes staring into the brown paper sack filled with four other sugar breakfast cereals.
Eric chuckled from his spot next to her, "Hey you took a Kelso with you, you should be happy you didn't come home with the whole cereal aisle."
"That's true." She agreed while nodding her head and placing the two boxes on the kitchen table with the rest of the groceries.
The surface of the round white table was covered with newly purchased items, some still in the paper bag some already loose and scattered on the table top. Jackie stared at the items…there couldn't have been this many things before, they hadn't filled up the cart and they'd only left with four filled paper sacks…although thinking back to the ending price on the receipt it actually made more sense. Glancing over at Eric, she noticed that he looked just as lost as she felt. There were just so many items and not a marked starting pointing!
All of a sudden the petite brunette got an idea.
"Here." She said pulling Eric out of his thoughts by actually pulling on his arm, "Help me spilt up the groceries by what goes in the fridge and what doesn't. And then you put away the things that go in the fridge and the deep freeze in the basement and I'll take care of the shelves and cabinets.
It sounded like a good plan and so Eric gave a nod and shrugged his shoulder, "Okay."
With that said the pair went to work and began splitting up the groceries into two different groups so it would be easier to put them in their respective areas. They worked in a comfortable silence as Eric grabbed a block of cheese and Jackie grabbed a box of cereal, then Eric grabbed the carton of milk and Jackie grabbed another box of cereal, Eric took hold of the box of butter and Jackie took another box of cereal. Everything was going smoothly until the last bag was unpacked and Eric reached for the jar of peanut butter.
"What are you doing?" Jackie immediately asked when she caught his actions.
Feeling a bit startled by being ask the question, Eric spoke in a cautious tone as he answered, "Helping you put away groceries…"
"But you're putting away the things that go in the fridge." She said as if she were reminding him.
Eric was even more confused "Yeeaahh….and?"
She scowled, "And you took the peanut butter. Why?" she asked her eyes demanding an answer.
"Because peanut butter goes in the fridge." He replied as if it were obvious—he still didn't understand why she had stopped him and started asking all these weird questions.
Jackie shook her head, "Uh no, it doesn't."
"Uh yeah, it does."
"Eric, nobody puts peanut butter in the fridge." She argued.
His eyes widened a bit and he lifted an open palm to his chest, "I do!"
"Which further proves my point." She said and Eric could swear he saw a smile on her face.
"Okay, okay, Little Miss. Know It All," he began to say as he picked up the jar from the table, "if it doesn't go in the refrigerator, where does the peanut butter go?"
"In the cupboards with the rest of the canned food." Jackie replied, arms crossed over her chest and her chin lifted high in an almighty fashion.
"Ah, you have just proved yourself wrong." Eric commented with a waving index finger; that only appeared to confuse Jackie even more and so he began to enlighten her, "You said canned food and peanut butter as you can see is not in a can."
Rolling her eyes at the jar Eric had lifted up to her face, Jackie frowned with annoyance, "So it's in a jar. It's the same thing."
Eric smirked, clearly enjoying this little squabble between the two of them. It wasn't a heated argument—and he doubted it would turn into one—it was a lighthearted kind of argument and teasing, like they used to do in high school. She was keeping him on his toes and he was doing the same to her. And it was a lot of fun.
"Oh how incorrect you are Miss. Burkhart." He said, his smirk stretching into a smile, "A can once opened can not be closed again so there's no point in keeping it, you throw it away. A jar on the other, you can open up, use, and when you're doing using it you can close it up, so instead of throwing it out—like you do a can—you can save and store it somewhere where its contents will remain fresh. Like the fridge."
Despite the speech he'd given Jackie still looked incredulous, and even yanked the jar out of Eric's hands and into her own before speaking, "Eric, forget it. I'm not letting you ruin a perfectly good jar of peanut butter by putting it in the fridge." She headed towards the cabinet to put the item away, "What moron made you think it belonged in there anyways? Michael or Fez?"
"Neither." came Eric's soft response, "It was my mom."
Jackie turned herself around, away from the cabinets and towards Eric the second she heard his words. He was still standing there with the back of his head to her, so he couldn't see that the smile she wore previously had diminished.
"She would always keep the peanut butter in the fridge…for as long as I can remember." He continued, lowering his head gravely, "I just thought with so many other things changing…it would be nice if we left some things, in Mom's kitchen at least, the same."
"Oh Eric," she started to say sounding sympathetic for those first two words before swiftly changing it with a roll of her eyes, "Please. I've been living with your parents for almost two years now and your mom has never put the peanut butter in the refrigerator."
Still looking ahead and not at the woman behind him, Eric felt his face fall. How could he have forgotten about her living with his folks? Darn it! And he almost had her too, he was sure of it!
He spun himself around, accepting his defeat, "Okay, fine. But if you didn't live here and you didn't know that, you would have fallen for it right?"—well he accepted most of his defeat.
Instead of answering his question with her words, Jackie shot him a look that told him how pathetic she thought he was being. That same look made Eric's small grin shrink even more when he realized he was being pathetic…using the dying mom card? That was pretty bad. It had him feeling bad afterwards too, but he remained determined to get the jar of peanut butter in the fridge.
"Come on Jackie, just let me put the peanut butter in the fridge, it's not gonna hurt it." Eric said, using a mock assuring tone when saying the last part of his statement, "I put the peanut butter in the fridge at my place in Seattle."
Taking a step towards him, peanut butter in one hand, "Well this isn't rainy, coffee filled, refrigerated peanut butter Seattle. And this isn't your place."
"Well it isn't your place either." He shot back.
As soon as Eric said the words he regretted them. They weren't really true because if you thought about it this house was more of her place than his since she'd been living there for the past two years. But then again he had lived there a total of eighteen years before Jackie had even thought of moving in. So technically the house could be thought of as both their places…though technically it was neither of theirs and was his parents. Either way you looked at it, Eric was still surprised when Jackie fired back at him instead of taking the comment to heart and being hurt or offended by it.
"But I was the one who went to the store and bought it."
"Because I asked you to get it so that I could make you one of my spectacular peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." reminded Eric.
"Yeah," she said tilting her head a bit, "I'm beginning to wonder just how spectacular that sandwich of yours really is if you use cold peanut butter to make it. Next you're gonna tell me to put the bread in the fridge too."
Eric frowned at the brunette, "Come on, Jackie, that's just crazy. I mean maybe the freezer, if we didn't plan on using it right away."
An unamused Jackie stared back at Eric, "You're just saying that to get me mad aren't you?"
"If I say yes, can we stick the peanut butter in the fridge?" he asked in a hopeful tone of voice.
"Okay look," she began to say, getting ready to make him an offer, "if you can give me one good—and I mean good—reason to keep the peanut butter in the fridge then I'll think about saying 'yes.'" She ended her offer with a smile, knowing that if he could resist the offer he won't be able to resist her smile.
Eagerly nodding his head, Eric agreed—this was easy, he could do this!
"Okay, okay…" he paused, maybe it was tad bit hard, suddenly getting an idea he clapped his hands together before speaking, "Okay, well, if you keep the peanut butter in the fridge it helps keep it fresh."
Jackie resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she spoke, "I said a good reason not a dumb one."
"Wha…what? That's totally a good reason! It keeps the peanut butter fresh, right there a perfectly good reason!" Eric protested sounding outraged.
"No, it's not." She shook her head, "Peanut butter doesn't need to be kept fresh, it's peanut butter."
"Well my sandwiches call for fresh, refrigerated peanut butter…" he started to say before getting interrupted.
"It just doesn't make any sense." Began Jackie's interjection, "If you keep the peanut butter in the fridge then when you need to use it, it'll be too hard to spread out on the bread."
Blinking his eyes several times at Jackie, he replied, "Jackie, it's peanut butter not ice cream." There was a quick pause as he realized what point she had been trying to make; it was a good one but he had an even better one, "I mean…yeah, it'll probably get a little stiff but you just need to wait a minute or two before you use it."
"Eric, if I take out the peanut butter it's because I want to make a sandwich at that moment." She argued back, "Not in a minute or two."
"But you can still get started on your sandwich while you wait for the peanut butter to thaw out." Eric explained to her though it looked like Jackie was having none of it, "You could start with the jelly side of your sandwich…"
"No you can't." Jackie said before Eric could finish his thought.
Perplexed he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why not?"
"Because," she said, her tone already sounding like this piece of information was a very well known fact, "you have to spread out the peanut butter before you can spread out the jelly."
Eric scowled, "Oh. You're one of those people." He practically spat out.
"Yes I am." She nodded before letting her brows knit into her own despising scowl "And I bet you're one of those weird freaks that spread out the jelly before the peanut butter, aren't you?"
"As a matter of fact, I am." He answered a little too proudly.
With both perfectly shaped eyebrows raised up an inch or two, Jackie stared at Eric for several seconds before shaking her head, "Well that's it."
"That's it?" Eric repeated in question form, "As in, 'that's it,' you give up and the peanut butter can go in the fridge?"
"No." she wasted little time in answering, "That's it as is 'that's it,' I'm never trying one of your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."
"What? Why not?" he asked in an outburst.
She crossed her arms over her chest—still holding the peanut butter jar in her right hand—before explaining, "Because you obviously don't know how to make one. You're not even making one yet and already you're doing it all wrong!"
"Says the woman who refused to touch an egg because it came out of a chicken's butt." Eric was swift to remind.
"I know how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Jackie declared with a slight glare, "And none of the ingredients used to make one comes out of anything's butt."
Eric nodded, "Okay then."
"Okay then?" Jackie repeated—and much like Eric made the words sound like a question, "Okay then, as in 'okay then' you give up and I win?" she asked almost sounding sad and disappointed.
Of course Eric noticed her tone of voice but didn't make any comment on it because his mind was set on something else. Proving Jackie Burkhart wrong.
"No. Okay then as in 'okay then,' I'm going to show you that I can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And not just a regular peanut butter and jelly sandwich but one heck of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."
After making his statement Eric began to ransack the pile of items in search of the needed ingredients for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, completely ignoring the strange, baffled looks he was getting from Jackie. First he found the loaf of bread and then the new jar of grape jelly. He took both items with him to the counter space near the stove and put them down before opening the drawer and pulling out a single butter knife. His green eyes scanned over his work space and he quickly recognized he was missing a very important piece!
Eric turned himself towards Jackie, who was still appeared confused, and reached out for the jar in her hand.
"Excuse me, I need this for a moment." He said but waited of no reply and instead snatched the container right out of Jackie's grasp.
Shaking herself out of her daze, she scowled and asked "Eric, what are you doing? We're supposed to be unpacking the groceries and putting them away, not unpacking them and eating them!"
"We'll put them away in a minute," he said, looking concentrated on creating his masterwork, "Hold on a second."
Jackie watched as Eric unscrewed the lid to the jar of jelly and broke the seal, he was going to start with the jelly side of the sandwich first! Her eyes widened and she reached over trying to stop him.
"Eric wait! That's not the way…at least…" she tried to say while at the same time trying to grab the knife and jar away from Eric.
But it was too late and Eric had already dipped the utensil in the jelly, but this didn't stop Jackie Burkhart and she only tried harder to get the knife and now the slice of bread in Eric's hands out of his grasp.
"Ah ah!" he declared while stepping farther away from her, he then moved the jelly covered knife over the first slice of bread "Aww!" he said as if spreading out the jelly before the peanut butter was the greatest feeling in the world.
"You just ruined what could have been a perfectly good sandwich." Jackie informed.
Keeping his attention on his sandwich making, Eric retorted with, "No, I think you mean I kept a perfect sandwich from becoming a ruined one."
For several few seconds Jackie stood there watching Eric prepare the sandwich in front of her; her scowl getting deeper and deeper the longer she watched him. She had tried a handful of times to get him to make the sandwich her way—the 'correct' way—but just as the last time she was unsuccessful. Finally, Eric finished spreading the peanut butter on the second slice of bread and put the dirty knife to the side on a folded paper towel before taking hold of the jelly covered bread slice and putting it on top of the peanut butter one. He grinned pompously at this masterpiece.
"Here you are." He said lifting the sandwich up to Jackie.
The brunette's face squished up in disgust, "I'm not eating that."
"What?" questioned Eric before a thought dawned on him, "Wait a minute. Don't tell me you're one of those weird freaks" he copied her words from earlier, "who have to have the peanut butter slice on top."
Catching onto his mocking Jackie decided that two could play the game and she proudly replied, "As a matter of fact, I am."
He let out a small, quick, frustrated sigh and then flipped the sandwich over so that the peanut butter side was up on top.
"Okay, now try it."
She shook her head again, "No. I already had lunch with Brooke and Betsy, thank you very much."
"Fine then this will be a snack." Eric said determined to get her to take at least one bite of his sandwich, "Here, I'll even share it with you."
Jackie watched as Eric grabbed the knife and split the sandwich in half making into two triangular shapes. He then moved one of the prices closer towards her as if she were a small child that he was trying to make eat their vegetables.
"I'm still not eating that." She declared, moving her head back and away from her half of the sandwich.
However, he wasn't giving up and continued to press on, "Come on, Jackie."
"No."
"Jackie."
This time Jackie didn't respond with her words and instead shut her mouth close and pressed her lips tightly together, giving Eric the message that she wouldn't be taking even the tiniest bite of his sandwich. Her actions stumped Eric at first, until he was struck with a sudden idea he knew was sure to work.
"You know Jackie," he started to say, his eyes shifting downwards to her feet, "those shoes really don't go with that outfit."
"Ah!" Jackie exclaimed dropping her jaw and giving Eric the perfect opportunity to stick the other half of the sandwich in her mouth.
It was an opportunity he did not let pass by. Hurriedly he stuffed the sandwich into Jackie's open mouth, half expecting her to spit it back at him, but she didn't. Her face showed her surprise and shock but just as she got ready to do a sandwich spit take she got a taste of the wrongly made food in her mouth—the first homemade thing she'd had in days—and realized it wasn't that wrong! It actually tasted right and really, really good.
Carefully she brought her hand up to grab the sandwich as she took a bite and began to chew and flavor the dish.
"So?" Eric asked eagerly, "What do you think?"
Jackie shrugged her shoulders and swallowed, "It's not bad."
"I told you!" he happily reminded with a large grin.
"I didn't say it was good either." She muttered though her actions of taking a second bite contradicted with her words. Eric's grin grew as he watched her, waiting for her to finish with her second bite so she could continue, "It is pretty good though. But I still think it would taste better if it was made the right way. Don't worry though, I'll show you the right way by making a sandwich my way and that way you can tell the difference."
A worried expression crossed Eric face, "Um Jackie, I…I think I'll take your word on that." He began, "After all I already got food poisoning once from Chicken Pinciotti, don't wanna get it again from a Burkhart PB and J."
"Whatever." Jackie replied going back to Zen for a split second before a smile split onto her lips, "You know, this really is one heck of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich Eric, just like you said."
He smiled and nodded, "Thanks."
"And you know what the best part is?" she asked.
"What?"
"The peanut butter wasn't refrigerated so that means its gets to stay out of the fridge. I win!" Jackie exclaimed happily before grabbing the jar of peanut butter and triumphantly striding over to the cabinets to put it in its rightful place.
Author's Note: And that would be Chapter 45 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!
Who did Laurie name Lucy after? How will Fez and Lucy's meeting go? Is Donna and Randy's wedding still on? Are Red and Kitty still fake sleeping? Will we ever find out who Donna saw at the Gas-N-Go? And what will they do with all those boxes of cereal? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"
Quick message! Sorry fi the chapter wasn't the greatest. The first half was written just days after the House finale and I was still crying all over the place, and then the second half of the chapter was added in for mostly laughs. Next chapter we will get the Donna and Randy scene but Laurie and Fez got just a few more votes so I decided to do theirs first and I was going to do the second half with Donna and Randy but I thought you all might be missing some JE interaction and may want a fun Jackie and Eric scene. Hopefully I was right :D
Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!