Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Author's Note: Hello everyone! Long time no see huh? Especially for this story! I am so sorry that it took me so long to update it. But you know how it goes, real life gets in the way, other stories take up your time, and a discouraging review had hit me pretty hard. But I would like to thank all of you who helped me through that. And also thank all of you who asked me about this story and when it would be updated—it made me remember people DID want to read this story. Thank you to those who have reviewed, even while the story was on hiatus, you reminded me that people are still reading this story. And mostly thank you to all of you who have come back to read this newest chapter! I really hope that you enjoy it! I certainly enjoyed writing it and not only that but it helped me get ready to write more for this story, so they may not be weekly updates but I promise you faster updates than before will be heading your way! I hope you enjoy this chapter and please do review, I'd love to hear your thoughts whether you're a new or loyal reader :) Quick thanks to Marla's Lost for helping me with picking a date of posting again and I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day and Weekend! Thanks again everyone for everything, it really means so much. Please review if you can, hope you like, and as always, Enjoy!
"How would you describe Red?" Jackie asked when Kitty was finished answering Hyde's latest question, but before her question could be answered there was an interruption from the man behind the camera.
"What kind of question is that?" Hyde asked with a frown on his forehead.
"It's a good question." The brunette replied while glaring at the lens of the camera, "A question that I thought of and asked because it's my turn."
That statement along with the threatening look Jackie was sending his way should have been enough to shut Hyde up; but of course it wasn't.
"It's a lame question, Jackie."
Jackie titled her head and smiled slightly, "Well would you like to use one of your vetoes, Steven?"
Hyde wasn't sure what he found stranger Jackie's suggestion or the sweet but not so sweet smile on her lips; however he was sure of what he found the strangest which was how easily Jackie had given up on the question and been ready for him to veto it. Jackie had never been one to give up on anything so easily and the questions she'd come up with before—and fought for—proved that this situation would be not different. But why was she suddenly giving up so easily now?
Maybe it was because she wasn't giving up…maybe she was trying to make him think she was giving up…maybe she was trying to get him to use up his vetoes right away so he wouldn't have any when the questions he really wanted to veto came up.
Hoping the camera covered his suspiciousness, Hyde focused on Jackie, "I don't know…would I?"
"I don't know." She answered back sounding and looking confused, "Would you?"
"You tell me Jackie, would I?"
Her brows knitted closer together, "I don't know, they're your vetoes, Steven."
"Are they?" Hyde suddenly asked making Jackie flashback to the times when he would rant on and question the government, "Or are you trying to make them your vetoes by making me use them up right away on your make believe dumb questions so you can ask your real dumb questions without me vetoing them."
At first Jackie is surprised by such a suggestion but then she started to think it over and with an arched eyebrow she realizes it may not be the worst idea.
Seeing this, Hyde couldn't help his little outburst that followed, "See you were thinking of it."
"Steven I wasn't thinking of anything until you put the idea in my head…"
That was the last understandable line that was heard before it became a jumbled up argument that Kitty could only make out a few words from. Some of these words were not the nicest and were definitely not the kind of words that she wanted any of her future grandbabies or later generations hearing. And besides at this rate, her video would have more footage of these two scrabbling than it would of her answering any questions.
"If the two of you don't stop arguing this instant you'll each be losing a veto that I'll get in return." Kitty threw at them, quickly getting them to end their spat. All three of them knew how valuable those vetoes were. Noting that her adopted children hadn't exactly made up but had at least stopped arguing, Kitty softened her voice as she went on, "Now Steven, do you or do you not want to veto Jackie's question."
"No…I guess not." He muttered behind the camera.
"Okay then. You've got to let Jackie ask her question then, alright?" the camera unhurriedly moved up and down making Kitty grin before she turned to Jackie, "Now Jackie, sweetie, what was your question again?"
Remembering the professional interviewers, Jackie sat up straighter and repeated her question, "How would you describe Red?"
"What do you mean dear?" Kitty questioned with a faint frown.
Hyde was just as puzzled, "Yeah, 'red' as in what? The color?"
"No. Red as in her husband." Jackie glared at him, knowing he was trying to make her question dumber than it was.
"Oh." Hyde said, "Would've been more interesting if you said the color."
"Mom!" Jackie whined with annoyance.
"Steven." Kitty chided lightly
"Come on Mom, you gotta admit it's a stupid question. The kids watching this video are gonna know who Red is, they don't need to hear a description of him." came Hyde's comment from behind the camera.
"You don't know that. They might not get to meet him at all." Jackie argued, not realizing how morbid her words were until she had said them; she looked over at Kitty with nervous eyes and quickly tried to recover, "Or you know they might want to hear how you would describe him, Mom, since you know you were married to him and all…"
While the words were being said to Kitty, she didn't seem to be paying them much attention and instead was lost in her own thoughts regarding the question, "You know Jackie, you may just be onto something with this question. After all Red can be a bit of a challenge to understand but if anyone knows him best I like to think it would be me." She laughed lightly, "I think if I did give my description of Red it could help future generations understand him a bit better…it might actually help you kids too."
"Exactly!" Jackie grinned brightly.
Though it wasn't caught on film, behind the camera Hyde was shaking his head and giving Jackie a look that said he knew that Kitty's thoughts were not even close to the ones Jackie had for the question. The only way any future viewers would know of such look would be by the glare Jackie was giving back at the camera.
"So, how would you describe Red?" Jackie asked, forgetting about Steven and focusing on Kitty.
The older woman frowned a bit, "Well I think I've actually described him a little bit in a few other questions before so I hope I don't repeat myself…"she ended with a small giggle.
"Okay well what three words would you use to describe him?" Jackie edited the question just a tad.
"Oh that's good!" Kitty praised and Jackie's grin grew while Kitty thought over her response, "Now lets see…three words that describe Red…well I think the first word would have to be strong. I've known he was strong from the moment I met him and he pulled me up to my feet with one strong pull."
Jackie's brows furrowed with her puzzlement—she thought the Formans had met when Red punched out a marine who was bothering Kitty. She looked at Hyde to see if he would explain but he just kept on filming and Kitty kept on talking.
"And he fought in two major wars, coming home from them both with only a few minor injuries. He also suffered that heart attack years ago, remember? But that didn't weaken him either. As soon as he was out of the hospital he was back to disciplining you kids and threatening his foot up people's rear ends. Much to his doctor's and my dismay. Red is also very strong physically." Kitty informed with a giggle that neither Jackie nor Hyde wanted to ask more about, "He just uses that line about his bad back to his benefit. Like not helping Bob move or only bringing down the lighter and less full boxes of holiday decorations."
"Which brings me to the second word which is stubborn. Red can be very stubborn, sometimes it's a good thing but usually it's not. Especially when he's being as stubborn as a bullheaded mule. But even then you can sometimes get him to give in." Kitty explained herself, "You see, Red's stubbornness is mostly because in his mind what he thinks, says, and does he thinks that's the thing that's best for the family, for him, he think it's the right thing. And more often than not it's not. Which is why you need to be a bit stubborn yourself."
She continued on, "And by that I mean being stubborn in the sense that you keep pestering him to do the real right thing. It may take awhile and he me gripe and grumble but he will eventually do the true right thing."
"What would the third way be?" the younger woman asked.
"Wonderful." Kitty answered with a grin stretched onto her lips, "Now I know that's not the most descriptive word but it fits Red. He's a wonderful father. He's wonderful husband. He's a wonderful man. And I can't imagine…I don't even want to try to imagine…what my life would be with out him."
With her smile now in a tighter form and her eyes misty she added, "Red really is a completely and utterly wonderful man." She paused for a split second, "Although I could do with a less stubbornness."
The laugh and smile coming from her surrogate children told Kitty that they were all on the same page.
0o0o0o
After solving the mystery of who called and informed Bob Pinciotti about the current situation, the gang split up. Not because they were looking for more clues—the mystery was solved after all—but because they didn't want to turn into giant popsicles out on the back porch. They didn't think staying in the kitchen with Red was the best idea either. Listening in on the events in the basement suddenly didn't seem so interesting or exciting to any of them, not even Hyde, and going into the kitchen with no intention of eavesdropping or being quiet would only lead to more shushing from Red. Plus he didn't seem like too big of a fan of Bob coming to town so the four decided would probably be best to leave him alone, for their own safety but mostly Eric's.
To get back inside they had to take the longer route of the backyard to get to the front door. Once they were inside Donna smiled at her waiting fiancé before joining him on the sofa. Having no where else to go Hyde followed Donna but instead of the sofa seated himself in Red's chair, arms crossed over his chest. Meanwhile Jackie and Eric took advantage of this drama free moment, or at least this moment filled with less drama, and headed upstairs for some overdue alone time.
Smiling at the fact that they could actually spend a few moments together without a mini-chaperone or any groceries to unload or even worry too much about their exes, Jackie and Eric held hands as they quietly walked past Kitty's room and into Jackie's.
That's where they were now. Sitting on the bed, Indian style, infront of each other.
"I still can't believe that you were the one behind the phone call to Bob Pinciotti." Jackie said, the look on her face backing up her words.
Eric smirked, "Pretty smart idea, huh?"
"We'll see." She said with a shrug of her shoulders.
That small action caused Eric's smug face to quickly depart. Jackie did not seem to have noticed his fallen smile as she examined the material of the purple comforter she sat on top of, she didn't see him nodding his head either, and only looked up when she heard him speak again.
"And it was with that bout of confidence that he knew he was sure he had done the right." He spoke in third person with a clear sarcastic tone.
Jackie tilted her head to the side, rattling it slightly as she stared back and looked at the narrator, "Look Eric, it's not that I don't think it was the right thing to do. It's really sweet that you called your dad's friend to come and help him out. You were thinking with your heart." She smiled at him and he returned it until hers flattened some, "I just don't know where your brain was."
He was a bit stunned by her words, his smile was wiped off his face, but he came back and defended himself the best way he knew how, "Well I usually like to keep it in my head…"
"You invited Bob Pinciotti to stay in your father's house." She interjected his cynical comment with an obvious reminder, "His house that's currently filled with people he didn't invite."
Eric frowned, his brows scrunching closer together as he listened to her words, "Well when you put it that way…Oh God what did I do?" he questioned with a groan while covering his face with his palms; he was finally beginning to see what his friends saw when he told them he was the mastermind behind the call. "Red's really gonna kill me isn't he?"
His answer was a mere shrug that didn't seem to make him feel much better but did give him a bit of a fighting spirit.
"No, no! You know what? He's not gonna kill me. He's not gonna hurt me." He argued with a straight pointing finger, "And if he does get mad, I'll just explain to him that I got the idea, that it might be nice to have Bob here, when I was talking to Randy and he brought up Bob's name."
She tried to follow along with his plan, "So what you're saying is, if your dad gets mad when he find outs, you're gonna blame it all on Randy?"
"That's the plan." He gave an affirmative nod.
Jackie neither agreed nor disagreed with Eric's plan. She only giggled a bit which Eric took to mean, she would probably do the same thing if she were in his place.
"So." She began once she managed to control her giggles, though her grin remained painted on her lips, "You called up your dad's best friend and got him to come up here for a visit. You also made things better between you and your ex-girlfriend and even got her fiancé to come back and put their wedding back on." her smile grew little by little as she went over his accomplishments of the day that by the time she was done her grin had doubled in size. "You're really on a roll today, aren't you?"
He gave a smug smile, "That I am. Think it was that two pieced prize I got this morning." He said referring to the pair of socks he'd found when talking to his sister in this very room hours ago, "Which reminds me. I think my recent good deeds of today should have earned me a prize or three."
"You thought right." Jackie replied slyly.
Eric watched Jackie with a smile. He had been expecting her to get off the bed and head to the secret place where she'd hidden his luggage, he expected her to even try to negotiate what three piece of luggage he would be getting this time; what he hadn't been expecting was Jackie slowly moving closer and closer to him until her lips covered his. However, just because was not expecting the acting didn't mean that he didn't welcome it. He soon cupped the back of her head and returned the soft kiss.
Unhurriedly they pulled out of their kiss but their faces remained only inches apart.
"I was actually thinking more pieces of my luggage." Eric admitted to her, "But this works out much better."
Though he tried to go in for a second kiss, Jackie reached over and placed a hand on his chest to keep him from following her as she moved back to her original spot that was a little bit farther away form him.
"Actually you're still getting your two pieces of luggage." She informed him with a smile, "I just thought you deserved a kiss too. You did good, Eric. So, you get a kiss and two pieces of your stuff."
Eric smiled a flattered smile but soon replaced it with a confused frown, "Wait…two?"
He could have sworn he would be getting three things. He'd done three good things. Called Bob. Talked to Donna. Got Randy to come back. That was three shouldn't he get three prizes too?
"Bob's visiting being a good thing isn't a done deal yet." Jackie was quick to explain.
In response he gave an understanding nod until a new idea popped into his head, "Okay. Well what happens if I trade in my luggage pieces for a few more kisses. And I don't mean the kind Fez probably has hidden somewhere in the basement." He made sure to add before she got any ideas.
Jackie was surprised to hear him make such a suggestion. She knew how important his luggage was to him and how much he wanted to get it all back, though she had a feeling it wasn't the only thing that was giving him the push to do the good deeds he'd been doing. Still it was his stuff and she was sure he wanted it back—she knew she would if the roles were reversed. But here he was willing to give it all up for another kiss from her…it seemed a little odd but at the time so romantic.
"You'd do that?" Jackie asked in a soft voice.
"Yeah." He nodded, "I mean I've got at least an extra pair of everything now. I'll just wash one outfit while wearing the other and switch them back and forth for as long as I need to."
She laughed, knowing his words were meant to make her laugh and not hurt her, "Nice try, but no."
"Can't help a guy for asking."
Silence. An easy silence but silence nonetheless.
"So…"
"So…" she repeated.
"Are you gonna get the two piece of luggage or is this another scavenger hunt?" he asked once again referencing the socks that he'd had to search for earlier.
Scowling, Jackie shook her head, "I can't give you your clothes now."
"Why not?"
"Because," she started, "then you'll see where it is that I hid your bag."
"So it is in this room?" Eric asked ready to start scoping the place out but replaying her words he realized what she was getting at, "Wait…I… Jackie, don't you trust me?"
He knew it wasn't the best question to ask after his previous statement but he still had to ask it.
"Eric, it's not that. It's just…" Jackie tried to figure out the way to phrase her words, "Showing you where all your stuff is would be like showing Fez where all the Halloween candy is, days before Halloween. It just wouldn't end well." She explained hoping he understood and wasn't hurt; she smiled playfully and went on, "Plus it would ruin my fun of keeping your Spiderman underwear from you."
"Okay, fine." He said, actually sounding quite understanding and reasonable, "But means that in the meantime we get to return to the prize behind curtain number one."
In the next moment Eric had dropped his back onto the mattress, taking Jackie along with him. She smiled at his actions but the smile didn't last very long since her lips were soon caught by his in another sensuous kiss. It took almost all of Jackie's willpower to force herself to pull her mouth away from his.
"Eric, Eric." She called a bit breathlessly as she stayed in his arms and looked in his eyes, "As much as I'm enjoying what's behind curtain number one…this is the first time we've been together alone. Where we don't have to really worry about anyone or any groceries. It's just us. Don't you think we should…talk?"
"Talk?" it sounded like such a foreign word in this moment of wanting nothing more but to kiss the beauty lying beside him. But this was what the beauty wanted, "Um yeah okay, yeah."
With a nod of his head he slowly sat himself up and Jackie propped herself up on her elbows smiling up at him.
He gave her his own smile and cleared his throat, "Hi."
"Hi." She grinned.
"Okay! Good talk!" he declared before dropping back into his previous position with his arms around Jackie's small frame and his lips pressed on her soft lips; this time though Jackie was able to pull away much faster than before.
"Eric!" she called, sounding more frustrated than actually angry.
Her tone was enough to make Eric control himself and forget about the kiss and the embrace. He pushed himself back into the sitting position that he'd originally started with, "Okay, alright. You want a real talk. Okay." He pondered a few seconds before asking, "So uh…did you talk to Hyde yet?"
Of course the topic she didn't want to talk about at the moment would be the one he brought up first. Maybe she could convince him to go back to kiss…like he'd need much convincing! No, no they really did need to take advantage of their alone time and not spend it all kissing…though spending a good portion of it that way wouldn't be so bad. But first the talking part. First work then play.
She bit her lip nervously, "Well…kinda…sorta…"
"Well…kinda…sorta…" Eric repeated, "Translation: No."
At first Jackie sent him a death glare but it softened when she realized he was right, slowly she sat herself up, "We did start to talk earlier and he looked like he was gonna say something to me in the kitchen but then you and Donna walked in."
"Oh man, I'm sorry…" he started to apologize.
He knew how nerve wracking the start of that conversation could be—he'd just gone through it with Donna—and he'd interrupted which not only meant that the whole conversation had gotten dropped but that Jackie and Hyde would have to go through that whole awkwardness again when they finally got the chance to have their own talk.
"No, Eric, don't apologize." Jackie cut him off before he could add anymore; she placed a hand on his thigh as a bit of reassurance, "If anything I should be thanking you. I didn't know what Steven was going to say and I really didn't know what I was gonna say either." She drew in a shaky breath, "Eric, I did something."
"What did you do?" he asked, his tone sounding of a mix of confusion and concern.
Jackie stared at him appearing quiet nervous, "I messed up."
Eric couldn't help the grin that popped out on his lips as he repeated his question in a much more amused voice, "What did you do?"
"I told Angela about Sam." She came right out and said it.
"Oh Jackie…No!"
"I know, I know." Jackie repeated over and over again as she covered her face with her hands and then removed them again to look at the shocked looking young man next to her, "I haven't talked about her in almost three years and when I finally do it's to the girl that Steven actually likes. He might have even have had a chance with her until I bought up the bimbo whore."
Perplexed, Eric focused on one thing, "Three years?"
She nodded and then began her explanation, "Yeah. Me and Steven and your parents too, we don't talk about 1979. Especially since your mom got sick and Steven and I started to spend more time together so we could be here for your mom. 1979 has too many bad memories and everything was weird, everyone was acting so strange. Michael was actually being responsible, your parents were thinking about selling the house. You were off riding elephants in Africa, Steven was married to a stripper, and I was dating Fez. The only normal one was Donna and that's only because she's still doing what made her strange in 1979 so it's become normal—which is dating Randy."
This time it was Eric's turn to nod as he watched Jackie lift her hand up to her head run her fingers through her dark hair in a frustrated manner.
"Ugh, I didn't even mean to say it. I was just venting about Steven and it just came out." She tried to explain and let out a sigh that Eric couldn't tell if it was caused by stress or sadness, "Steven's gonna hate me even more now."
"Hey, hey, he's not gonna hate you." He said in a soft tone as he moved an comforting arm around her shoulder and gave her a tiny smirk, "You're Jackie Burkhart. No one can hate you."
Jackie was quick to respond to this statement as she moved her head up and down, "That's true. Even the people who say that they hate me are really just jealous. And if they really did hate me, they'd love to hate me which still means they love me." She concluded with a small shoulder shrug.
He loved her confidence and was a bit envious of it too.
"See. Besides, this is Hyde we're talking about. The only emotions he knows are anger and zen." Eric pointed out making the corners of Jackie's mouth twitch, "So first he'll probably be angry at you but then change over to being zen towards you and you can totally out-zen him."
Her eyes lit up, "Really?"
"No." he said with one shake of his head, "But see that's the kind of confidence boost I was talking about before."
Letting out a small laugh Jackie swatted his index finger that was pointing at her and Eric continued on.
"But seriously, I really do think that your talk with Hyde will go fine." He said in a tone that was filled with sincerity squeezing her a bit closer to him with his arm that was still around her, "Things'll work out."
"I know." She answered with a nod.
Eric's eyebrow hooked upwards, "You do?"
"Mm hmm." The brunette nodded and her grin grew, "Things will work out because I'm Jackie Burkhart."
"There you go!" Eric cheered her on, not knowing that she wasn't quite finished.
"And because I'm making you talk to Steven for me." Jackie went on to say sounding even prouder than when she said her previous statement.
Confusion was quick to make its way onto Eric's already appalled looking face, "Wait what?" he swiftly shook his head, pulling out of their embrace and scooting inches away from her, "No. No, you…you can't do that. You've gotta talk to him. I didn't make you talk to Donna for me, so why would I talk to Hyde for you?"
"Because when a pretty girl asks a boy to do something for her, he does it." She explained, releasing her little pout for backup.
Eric remained unfazed, "I'm gonna need more convincing than that."
"Eric, everyone knew that you and Donna would eventually patch things up. With me and Steven…you never know what's gonna happen." Jackie's words made Eric frown but instead of saying anything about it, she continued, "Please Eric."
"No, Jackie. I can't...there'd be no reason for me to." He said, hoping she'd understand, "You can talk to Hyde yourself. I know you can. I believe in you." He reached over and squeezed her hand and Jackie smiled, realizing this was just like when she would tell him that she believed that he could go through with his own important confrontation during this visit. "And if you do, I'll be sure to give you a very special reward missy."
Jackie had never been on this side of the reward door but it made her smile grow with interest, "Really?"
"Yup." He said popping his 'p', "I'm talking about my Spiderman underwear."
His joke was obviously successful as a laugh left Jackie's lips and caused her to lean her body closer to his; the sight made Eric smile as he let his own chuckle mix with the sound of her little giggles. When their laughter finally died down, Jackie was the first to speak.
"So this is what it's like to be Eric Forman." She mused playfully.
"Oh this isn't official until Red calls you a dumbass." Eric informed as he played along; his pointer finger rose up it give a helpful hint, "Although I would recommend that you try to stay clear of any dogs or cats. Especially if you're in a car."
0o0o0o
"I'll be right back." Eric assured his raven haired companion as he stepped out of the bedroom that she was still sitting in.
Seated on the bed Jackie smiled as she waved him off and Eric returned both gestures and then softly shut the door close, turning on his heel to face the upstairs hallway. It had been almost an hour since he and Jackie had come upstairs to her room and while they were enjoying this time together they were starting to get a little hungry and knowing that the kitchen had newly stocked groceries had their tummies rumbling even louder.
Being a gentleman, Eric volunteered to go down and get them a snack. He knew there was chance that Hyde would be back in the kitchen and if Jackie went it might lead to more trouble. He meant what he said about believing that she could talk to him on her own—she was Jackie Burkhart, she could talk to anyone whether they wanted to listen to her or not—but he didn't want to rush her if she didn't feel comfortable just yet, she had to be ready to do this. And he also had a feeling that if he let Jackie retrieve a snack for them it would be a healthy, fat free, yuck flavored snack.
Eric's initial plan was to go down into the kitchen and rummage for tasty looking treat for him and Jackie to share; a quick think back to the items they'd put away and he was sure that he'd be returning upstairs with two bowls of a some kind of sugary cereal—courtesy of Miss. Betsy Kelso. However, there was a sudden pause in his plan when he began to walk down the hallway and reached the door to his parents' bedroom.
The door was shut and there were no sounds coming from the other side so Eric figured his mother was resting and most probably asleep. The last he'd seen his father or Hyde they had been downstairs. Red in the kitchen listening in on the conversation going on in the basement with Laurie and Fez and the introduction of little Lucy. Hyde had been in the living room but Eric was sure he'd rejoined Red in snooping in on what was going on in the lower level of the house. Eric did wonder himself how that was going but was wise enough to stay away from the eavesdropping; he knew if Laurie found them—all three of them—he'd be the one to receive her wrath and not Hyde and especially not their father. And while Eric was sure neither one of the two men would have left his mother's side unless they thought it would be okay to do so—or if she'd told them to—he still didn't like the idea of her being there by herself. What if she suddenly started feeling ill and needed someone's help? Or what if she just got lonely and wanted someone to talk to?
Maybe he could just take a peak to check in on her real quick and make sure she didn't need anything. He was going downstairs anyway, he could get his dad or Hyde or anything else she might need.
He glanced over at the door that led to the room his sister had grown up in; he knew Jackie was waiting for him to return with food but he was sure she wouldn't mind if he took a quick detour, especially if that detour included a visit with his sick mother.
His mind was made up.
Without even knocking, Eric took a hold of the doorknob and then began to slowly and very carefully push the door open, not wanting to disrupt his mom if she was sleeping. He took two steps into the bedroom but not one step more, for on the second step he looked up and realized he should have stayed with his plan of cereal fetching.
Inside the room was Kitty, her eyes closed as she laid in bed lost in a deep sleep. That was a sight that Eric had assumed he would see but the one next to his mother's sleeping form was definitely not one he had been prepared for. Sitting at his mom's beside was his father. It wasn't where Red was sitting that was so unexpected, it was what he was doing while he was sitting in the arm chair that caused a mix of emotions to fill Eric as he stood there and watched him.
Both of Red's large hands were clasped around Kitty's frail right hand, he wasn't looking at her and instead had his eyes shut and his head bowed—he looked almost like he was praying. Eric had never seen his father pray, expect when they were in church and there it was pretty much a requirement.
Eric swallowed hard; he felt horrible for walking in on such a private moment and yet he couldn't bring himself to leave the room or even turn away. Red hadn't seemed to notice him though which made Eric's mind tell him to leave and quietly sneak out before he was caught but none of his other body parts were having any of it. It felt like the carpeted ground was actually made of magnets, holding him in his spot infront of the door, and his eyes felt like they had been super glued to image of his parents.
"Did you need something, Eric?"
The booming voice shook Eric from his daze and he noticed that his father's position remained in tact, eyes still closed and everything.
"What?" Eric asked still trying to figure out how Red even knew he was there, "Um, no. No. I didn't know you were in here, Dad."
With his eyes now open, Red looked over at his son, "Well now you do."
Eric couldn't think of a better response so he just moved his head up and down, hoping it looked like a nod of his head. Red continued to watch his son, waiting for him to do or say something else—of course, Eric did not know this and Red's gaze, though neither hard nor soft, made him nervous. He was frozen on the spot despite his urge to pull a play out of the Michael Kelso playbook and run out of the room.
Red had to hold in a frustrated sigh, "Are you coming in or going out?"
"I…I honestly don't know." He answered, still feeling that magnetic pull beneath his feet.
"Get in here." Red ordered, not angrily but being sure to make his tone sound as gruff as he could at the moment.
His son quickly nodded his head, "Yes, sir."
Then just like that the magnetic pull released Eric—it must have been afraid of Red too—and Eric hurried his way to where Red was sitting.
"And shut the door." Red barked, but still didn't sound as gruff as he usually did; partly to make sure that he didn't wake Kitty.
Eric took a jump back before turning back around to close the bedroom door, giving them back a bit of their privacy (at least until another visitor walked in, the house was full of them), and he nodded his head and gave a quick response of, "Right, sir."
Once the door had been shut, Eric walked closer to his parents. He stood right next to Red but wasn't quite sure of what to do next.
Having now let go of his wife's hand now and with his back leaned back in the arm chair he looked up his son, "Are you gonna take a seat or are you gonna stay standing the whole time you're in here."
"I think I'll go ahead and take the seat." Eric replied and then dropped into the empty chair beside Red's.
As the two men stared at the woman sleeping in front of them the room fell into a deep silence. It lasted several semi-awkward seconds before one of them spoke up.
"So um how's she doing?" the younger of the two asked, now looking over at the elder.
Red's gaze stayed focused on Kitty, "She's doing as good as she can be."
"Right, right." Eric said nodding his head, he should have realized it was dumb question, or at least it was phrased in a dumb way; he tired again, "I just meant, how's she doing since she wasn't feeling so great earlier. The last time I saw her was in the morning. I meant to see her after that but then I got busy with other stuff." He tried to explain until he realized that the explanation might actually make things worse so he quickly added, "Not that that other stuff was more important than Mom. I just meant…"
"Eric, just shut it." Red interrupted and Eric did just that, "Look, you don't have to explain to me what you were doing."
Eric's brows furrowed, "I don't."
"No." he replied, "Because first of all, I don't care."
Hearing this response Eric nodded and had to smirk a tiny bit, he should have expected an answer like that. It was nice to see some normalcy from his dad, especially now.
Red continued, "Secondly, I know sitting here and watching your mother go through all of this, knowing there isn't a damn thing you can do to make it stop, isn't the easiest thing to do." Eric gave a mere head nod and Red had to clear his throat before he could speak again—this time making sure his son's eyes met with his, "I'm just glad that you made it back home to be here for her."
"Yeah, yeah, of course." Eric nodded, he knew now was not the time to admit that he almost hadn't come home at all; he wasn't sure if he'd ever share that information with him. "And you know Dad, I'm…I'm not just here for Mom. I'm here for you too."
A small smile formed on Red's lips as he heard his son's words and he nodded while placing his palm on top Eric's knee, "Thanks, son."
"You're welcome, Dad." Eric replied with his own smile and nod.
He wasn't used to being thanked by his father but he liked it. While Red turned his head back to watch Kitty, Eric kept his eyes on Red. They'd just shared a moment, a nice moment and it felt nice, really nice. As the room fell into another state of silence, Eric worried that it might turn things awkward again and the nice feeling would be gone, the father son moment would be gone, and it be back to Red calling him a 'dumbass' so he did what he thought would be best. He broke through the quietness before it could really set in.
"So…how about them Packers, huh?" he asked and when Red scowled at him lightly the only thing Eric could think of doing was to smile back at him.
Author's Note: And there you go, Chapter 51 of "Two Weeks" At last! Hope you liked!
Will Hyde hate Jackie the way she thinks he will? Will Jackie be able to have her talk with Hyde without Eric's help? Was telling Bob about Kitty really a good idea? How are things going downstairs with everyone else? Will Eric ever get his cereal snack for him and Jackie? And how about them Packers? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"
Until then thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!