The bird had gone into the oven, now Kitty was busy working on the sweet potatoes, the veggies and getting the desserts ready to go in the oven after the turkey came out. Red was in the living room watching the Packers and Eagles do battle in their annual Thanksgiving standoff. The boys were down in the basement watching the Macy's Day Parade.
Jackie came striding through the sliding door into the kitchen. "Hi, Mrs. Forman." Jackie stood next to Kitty who was still hovering over the stove. Kitty still wasn't sure quite what to make of Jackie after all these years. On the one hand, she seemed like a well-intentioned girl who always managed to have a smile on her face. On the other hand, she could definitely be pushy and more than a little arrogant. "I brought my Grandma Burkhart's recipe for Apple Strudel, I thought we could make it."
"Oh, Jackie honey, I don't know." Kitty wore a look of concern. "Ah hahahahaha."
"I brought a bottle Chardonnay, because I know what hard work baking is." Jackie pulled the bottle out from behind her back.
"Oh bless you, dear." Kitty grabbed the Chardonnay out of Jackie's hands. "Get the glasses from the cupboard, I could use all the help I can get."
"Eric said that Mr. Forman looked forward to the desserts at Thanksgiving every year. Since you've been nice enough to invite me into your home the last few years, I just figured I should contribute this year." She wasn't sure where that came from. Sure, she liked to talk but she rarely felt like she had to explain herself.
"That's very sweet dear." Kitty looked at the resume. "Alright, I'm going to need some apples, raisins, the flour and my baking oil."
"This sounds like fun." Jackie clapped quickly. "How can I help?"
"You can get me the apples, the raisins, the flour and my baking oil." Kitty repeated and she watched as the younger woman started digging through the cupboards for the ingredients. Over the years, she'd tried to teach Jackie to cook a few times. When she was dating Steven, she took it as a kind of motherly responsibility. Truth be told, she'd developed an affection for Jackie. Her mother was never around, she didn't really have role models and it felt like she was learning to be a woman from what she saw on television. "Dear, are you sure that you don't want to go downstairs with your friends and watch the Parade?"
"No way, Mrs. Forman. Let's strudel!" Jackie smiled brightly and Kitty couldn't help but encouraged by her positivity. Eric joined them in the kitchen to grab a bag of chips before heading back downstairs.
"Jackie?" Eric seemed to be both confused and worried that Jackie was upstairs hanging out with his mother. "Isn't dinner like hours and hours from now?"
"Jackie decided to come over and help me cook." Kitty answered for both of them in a slightly stern maternal tone that warned Eric off. For her part, Jackie had a look on her face of slight panic. There was a feeling that she'd done something wrong that overcame her quickly. Eric stuck out his lower lip, gave a slight nod and grabbed the bag of chips from the cupboard before disappearing back into the basement.
"Jackie's upstairs cooking with my mom." Eric tossed the chips down in the middle of the assembled group in the basement.
"Yeah, she's probably going to be hanging around more." Hyde refused to lift his eyes from the television. "Now that Sam's gone, she probably thinks things are back to normal?"
"Speaking of normal…"Eric hinted.
"Way ahead of you." Hyde pulled out the lighter, the joint and the incense to mask the smell. He lit the incense as everyone took their typical places in the circle. It felt a little incomplete without Kelso but they'd make do. Hyde took the first toke and passed it over to Forman. "So, Jackie's upstairs cooking with your mom, huh?" He blew a plume of smoke out into the room. "How's she look, man?"
"She looks like Jackie." Eric shrugged, not quite sure how to take the question. "Short, dark hair, you know."
"Mmmmmm, Jackie." Fez moaned. "You know, Hyde, I cannot believe that you did not try and have her and your stripper at the same time."
"You are an evil, evil little man." Hyde began to chuckle. "You know, man? I'm not sure she actually slept with Kelso in Chicago."
"Really? What tipped you off, Columbo?" Eric took the joint again. "Her repeatedly denying it, Kelso repeatedly denying it or the fact that, you know, you're sleeping alone again?"
"Ai…" Fez's voice had a warning tone in it.
"What are you saying, man?" Hyde pointed at Eric.
"I'm saying that you really hurt her, man." Eric got really serious.
"He is also saying that you are only interested in Jackie hanging around because you want nookie." Fez interjected much to Eric and Steven's shock. Once he realized what he'd done an expression of severe worry grew on his face. "Ai…"
"You know what, Forman?" Hyde kept point at Eric. As the tension grew, a smile appeared on Hyde's face. "When did my fingers get so long, man?" He took a hit off the joint.
"Hey losers." Angie came into the basement and took Kelso's usual spot in the circle. "You realize you can smell that incense outside on the lower stairs, right?" She took the joint from Hyde.
"As long as that's all you can smell." Hyde grinned.
"So, what were you talking about?" Angie settled in and passed the joint to Fez.
"They were talking about how Hyde is only now noticing Jackie is alive again because he is no longer married to a stripper." Fez breathed in the smoke.
"Fez, shut up!" Eric almost leapt out of this chair.
"Yeah, man, we were talking about that!" Hyde snapped back into reality. "Forman, man, you don't know Jackie. Sure, she has moments where she seems all short and harmless. But there's a darker side in there, man." Hyde took the joint back. "And it always wants to make out with Kelso!"
"Hey Angie, where's W.B? I thought you guys were showing up together." Eric was desperate to change the conversation.
"Upstairs watching football with your Dad." Angie answered as she took another hit. "Or, as he calls it, getting in touch with whitey." A quick ripple of laughter went through the circle.
The door at the top of the stairs clicked and Kitty's voice rang through the basement. "Kids, dinner's ready!"
Hyde and Eric quickly waved their hands around to force the smoke to disperse before running upstairs for dinner. Angie made it up the stairs first, followed by Fez, Hyde and Eric. The whole group slowly filed into the dining room. As Eric walked in, the scene struck him. At the head of the table was Red, as always. At the other end was his mother. Along the one side, sat Hyde with his extended family. On the other were Fez and Jackie with the last open seat sandwiched between Jackie and Red near the head of the table.
There was no denying that it felt a little weird having Thanksgiving without Laurie. But he could get over that quick. It was Thanksgiving without Kelso begging to stay because his parents had failed to count how many kids they actually had at their dinner table that was harder to get used to. It was Thanksgiving without any of his grandparents. In a strange way, it felt as though they had evolved into a new and different family.
"Are you going to stand there and stare at the table all night or are you going to actually have dinner." Red glared over the bird at Eric and the younger Forman quickly took his seat. "Alright, before I carve this bird, Kitty would you say Grace?"
"Oh, Red." Kitty smiled widely at her husband. It wasn't like Red to be overtly religious. But he did make exceptions. "Everyone join hands." Kitty requested. A few people took her lead. Fez took Jackie's hand and Mrs. Forman's. Angie and W.B linked up on the other side of the table.
"Do it." Red instructed the rest of the table. Hyde took W.B's hand and Mrs. Forman's. Red grabbed Angie and Eric by the hand. The last two were Eric and Jackie. With a tender kind of reticence, Jackie reached for Eric's hand, at first taking him lightly by a couple fingers before he felt comfortable closing his much larger hand over hers.
"Dear Lord, we thank you for bringing us all together in the warmth of this House for another Thanksgiving." Kitty bowed her head and closed her eyes. "Thank you for filling this House with love, for growing our family this year and, even though we might have preferred he not be in danger, for bringing Eric back from Africa to be with us for the holidays." She took a deep breath. "Lord, I'm thankful for each and every person around this table. Amen."
"Amen." The rest of the table chorused back.
"Now, we have turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, cranberry sauce, stuffing and W.B. was nice enough to bring some cornbread made with his mother's recipe." Kitty pointed at the orange plate near the middle of the table.
"I figured this suburban Thanksgiving could use a little soul food." W.B smacked his palms together. "I just wish I could have made my mother's collard greens."
"Nobody could make Grandma's collard greens." Angie chirped in as she spooned out some peas and carrots on to her plate. At the head of the table, Red was carving the turkey with a large knife and serving fork, handing out servings to every plate passed his way.
"Red, can you save a drumstick for me?" W.B was in the process of doling out some of Kitty's stuffing on to his plate and Angie's
"Sure thing." Red grinned to one side of his mouth. Normally he could rely on the second leg for leftovers the day after Thanksgiving. Guess that wasn't going to be the case this year. He passed the other drumstick down to W.B and finished carving up the bird.
"Now, everybody save room for dessert." Kitty instructed. "Jackie and I spent the afternoon baking and it just…well, it turned out super!"
"How many pans did you scorch this time, Jack?" Hyde riffed as he stuck a forkful of mashed potatoes in his mouth. The table shook as Mrs. Forman, Jackie and Angie all tried to kick Steven in the shin at the same time. "Ow!"
"Now, now, there'll be none of that." Kitty castigated him with a sternly pointed finger. "Jackie was a delight in this kitchen today. She even brought over one of her grandmother's recipes."
"Yeah, and Mrs. Forman taught me how to make homemade whipped cream." Jackie grinned in satisfaction having just stuck a piece of turkey in her mouth.
"Isn't that just heavy cream and a whisk?" Angie asked across the table.
"Yeah." Jackie was initially defiant. "But I didn't know that."
"You know, this might be the nicest Thanksgiving I've had since the first one that Kitty and I had after I got back from Korea." Red set the knife and serving fork down and dug into his dinner.
"But Dad, you didn't have kids yet." Eric interjected wearily.
"So?" Red seemed nonchalant. Eric couldn't help but laugh to himself a little. He had to admit, these holidays did feel a little different. Even when he was busting Eric's chops, he seemed to be doing it with a kind of gentle good humour. The Forman family Christmas tree always went up on the Sunday of the first Packers game after Thanksgiving.
"Well, Red, that's not true." Kitty was gentle but firm. "Remember that Thanksgiving that Eric played the Pilgrim in the school play?"
"You mean when he cried after his cap rifle killed the fake turkey?" Red answered back with an amused smile. "Come to think of it, the turkey was really juicy that year."
"Hey Red, how'd the Packers do?" Hyde stabbed at the turkey on his plate.
"They lost." Red seemed annoyed. "They can win when they play home games at Milwaukee County Stadium but not when they go up to Lambeau to play home games. They go out and get Lynn Dickey from Houston. He comes here and he plays like a total dumbass." Red grunted. "Just once, I would like to see the Packers make the playoffs before I die."
"They're in a rough division, Red." W.B stepped in. "They've got to deal with Rashad up in Minnesota and Payton down in Chicago. They'd be even worse if they didn't have Detroit and Tampa to pick on a few times a year."
"Right." Red dragged out the word. "Kitty, these yams are outstanding. Did you do something different this year?"
"I candied them" Kitty smiled and laughed nervously. "Ah hahahahaha!"
"This is excellent, Mrs. Forman. Thanks for having us over." Angie was the first to almost clear her plate, followed by Fez and Eric. It was truly a feast, Eric thought. If they didn't have eight people, it would have taken days to get through all this food. He wondered what the heck they were going to do with the dessert that was still out in the kitchen. Then he remembered that Bottomless Bob Pinciotti would be on his way over shortly to help out with that.
Once everyone had finished, Kitty and Jackie gathered up the plates and brought them into the kitchen. In the Forman home, it was never allowed to eat a holiday meal in front of a television but dessert could be had in the living room in front of the TV. So, everyone moved into the living room with Red taking up his place in his favourite chair and everyone else scattered around the room.
In the kitchen, Kitty and Jackie were putting the finishing touches on their desserts for the night. For Jackie, that meant sprinkling some icing sugar over the top of the strudel and staring at it for a second. "Jackie, honey, don't worry." Kitty came over and gave the younger woman a side along hug by wrapping one arm around her shoulders. "My first thanksgiving with Red's family, I burned the scalloped potatoes I was supposed to bring over twice."
"I don't know why I care so much about this, Mrs. Forman." Jackie sounded frustrated and confused. "It's just an apple strudel. I've lead a cheer team in front of an entire homecoming crowd. Why am I freaking out about a dessert?"
"Because all those people in the crowd at that football game won't see you next Thanksgiving." Kitty answered with a wistful maternal smile.
"And they will?" Jackie pointed at the door to the living room.
"Call it a hunch, dear." Kitty had carved up the pie, gathered up the individual plates and forks and prepared to take them into the living room. Jackie had carved up the strudel into individual portions, grabbed the side dish of whipped cream and followed Mrs. Forman.
"Alright, I've got my special pumpkin pie." Kitty set it down on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "Jackie has her apple strudel. There's whipped cream for both. Now, everyone dig in."
No one could beat Red Forman to Kitty's pumpkin pie. Eric didn't think he'd ever seen his father move that quickly. Red was up, had scooped a piece of pie, dropped some whipped cream on it and was back in his chair before even one commercial was over. The only thing worth watching on the television at this hour was the Dallas-Houston football game, so that's what was on.
Angie, W.B. and Fez all opted for Mrs. Forman's pumpkin pie as well. It was Hyde and Eric who first took a piece of Jackie's apple strudel. After one forkful, Eric's eyes could disguise his shock. "Dad, you've got to try this. It's really good."
Jackie did her best to be demure. But there was something about Eric's expression that wasn't just simple surprise. She saw surprise on Steven's face, too. And she enjoyed it. In addition to dessert, Steven was eating crow over all the burned cookware jokes he'd made. On Eric's face there was something else though. Having powered through a slice of Kitty's pumpkin pie – and not totally trusting his son's judgment – Red cut off a small slice of strudel and shifted it on to his plate.
When he carved a piece off with his fork, he almost sniffed it on its way to his lips. After sliding it between his teeth, Red ended up wearing the same look at his son. "Jackie, this is great!" Red pointed at the plate with his fork. "Kitty, we've got to add this to our Thanksgiving menu."
Subtly, Kitty gave Jackie a reassuring wink and then grabbed a slice of her pie. "Just wait until Bob gets here." Hyde joked as he took a seat behind the bar in the corner.
"Somebody say my name?" Bob Pinciotti burst into the living room. "You know that I wouldn't miss our annual dessert at the Forman house, Kitty."
"I know, Bob." Kitty pushed the corners of her mouth into a smile. "Help yourself. I guess I should start the cleanup in the kitchen."
"No, mom." Eric had finished his dessert. "You've been cooking all day. Let me take care of cleaning up."
"Yeah, Mrs. Forman, you should rest for a while." Jackie jumped in quickly. "I'll help Eric with the dishes." The two of them disappeared into kitchen to almost no one's surprise except Hyde's. After all, since when did Jackie ever volunteer for chores.
"So, Bob, is Donna not coming over for dessert tonight?" Kitty inquired as she took a seat on the couch.
"We were over at my brother Donny's for dinner and she got some cranberry sauce on her shirt." Bob explained. "So, she wanted to change before she came over."
In the kitchen, Jackie and Eric were confronted by a mountain of dishes, silverware and cookware to clean. "I think we might be in over our heads here." Eric nervously laughed as he stared at the pile. "Let's start with the easy to clean stuff. The dishes and the silverware. I'll wash, you dry. Then we'll deal with the pots and pans."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Jackie nodded and the two of them headed for the sink.
For a couple minutes, they scrubbed the dishes in relatively companionable silence. After she couldn't take it anymore, Jackie decided to speak up. "Eric, I just wanted to thank you for inviting me. This is the first time I've really felt like I had a family in a while."
"Don't mention it." Eric smiled. He wasn't sure how to answer. "You definitely helped make this a good Thanksgiving."
"Yeah, your mom seemed to think so, too." Jackie was going to test him here a little just to see if he could decrypt what Kitty had said earlier. "She said that the reason I was so nervous about my dessert is because I'd be back here for Thanksgiving next year. What do you think she meant by that?"
Eric felt a quick burst of panic run up and down his spine. "I don't know." He furrowed his brow to make it look like he was thinking. "She must have been talking about Hyde. My mom never liked Sam, she must think the two of your will get back together or something.
For a second, Jackie was crestfallen. She'd actually enjoyed spending the afternoon with Mrs. Forman. And maybe in her own way, she thought Eric's mother had been talking about something else.
"Can you believe we have to start work tomorrow?" Eric tactfully shifted subjects.
"I still can't quite picture you as Santa Claus." Jackie gave a small laugh that ended with a slightly playful lilt.
"Oh, well then let me remove all doubt." Eric cocked one eyebrow playfully and put his head down toward the sink.
Out in the driveway, Donna was coming over after having changed shirts at her house. Since her Mom left, they tried to do holidays with the extended family so that the table would seem a little less empty. But she still looked forward to dessert at the Forman's.
As she crossed the old driveway, she wondered how things might turn out. Tomorrow, her and Vanessa from the radio station would be broadcasting from Grooves. Max had actually given her the afternoon and Vanessa the morning shift in addition to their usual shows so that only Jerry Thunder wouldn't be at Grooves tomorrow. But he'd still throw to them for promos a few times during his broadcast. She'd see Randy, spend the day with Hyde and maybe, whatever chaos she was feeling right now would start to resolve itself.
She looked up into the Forman's kitchen through the sliding door to see Eric and Jackie standing at the sink. Eric had a beard of dish soap bubbles hanging from his chin and Jackie was obviously trying not to roar with laughter. Jackie's hand was in front of her lips but the fire in her eyes and the glint off her teeth was unmistakable.
With that same hand she reached up to caress Eric's cheek, pull some of the bubbles off and flick them at him. Eric started to laugh heartily.
Donna got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach before she even touched the door.