Prologue
November 1984
Her morning started off the same as it always did. A whoosh of air left her lungs by force, as a weight dropped on her chest. The weight gripped her face, and grinned. She opened one eye playfully.
"Mama, Mama!" She cried, a smile on her face. "It's tomorrow, look, the sun is up!" She pointed at the window beside her bed, and kissed her mother's forehead.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she yawned, and placed the four year old beside her. "Good morning, Mama." She wrapped her arms around the waist of her mother, who smiled. "Good morning, Little Miss Rose." She kissed her baby on the top of her head, before wincing. Her bladder situation had gone critical. She placed her daughter on the floor, before hurrying to the bathroom, and relieving herself with a sigh. A whimper came from the hallway, and she smiled.
Shelby had the same thoughts as Mama, clearly. Once she was done, she found her standing beside her daughter, both of them looking up with big eyes. One a fuzzy set of brown, and the other blue as sky with depths of an ocean. The small girl crossed her legs, and Jackie winced. "You gotta go, sweetness?" A frantic nod, as she rushed into the bathroom, and a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you first." She soothed, as she pushed her daughter's unruly curls behind her ears.
"'S fine, Mama." She smiled a toothy grin.
She looked just like her father.
Once they finished, and they made their way down the stairs of their sizeable home, she led her daughter to the kitchen, and let their German Shepherd, Shelby, outside to go to the bathroom as well. "Mama, why does Shelby go to the bathroom outside?" She had asked.
"Because she's a doggy, sweetheart. All doggies go to the bathroom outside." She told them. The side door swung open.
"Unca Eric!" She cried happily, running over to greet the man, who smiled warmly at the small girl. "Hey, tater tot!" He knelt down to give the girl a hug, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He wasn't fancy, as it was a Saturday morning. He wore a pair of gray sweatpants and a matching hoodie, and held a gallon of milk in his hand, along with the newspaper. "Where's Aunt Donna?" She looked around.
"Aunt Donna is visiting her Mama in California!" He told her, picking her up, and placing her in her seat at the table. She gasped. "Calanorna?" She asked, mispronouncing the states name. "Yes! She's supposed to call your Mama later, so you can talk to her."
"Eric, what did I tell you about calling my daughter a potato?" She pointed her whisk at him, playfully eyeing him. He rolled his eyes, hugging her from the side. "Relax, Jackie, it's better than what Kelso used to call her." He teased back, making her cringe at the thought. Kelso had tried to call her bug-eyed ty, when she was a baby, because her eyes were so big when she was born. Luckily, she evened out. "And, Tater Tot kind of sounds like Tyler. I still can't believe you, named your daughter Tyler."
"She's just like her Mama, she's different." She nodded triumphantly, pouring the scrambled eggs into a pan that had just been cooking bacon. "Thanksgiving is next week, are you excited about your extra-long weekend?" She smiled. He nodded.
"Extra time with my family, extra time with Donna, I get to see my friends." He nodded, smiling extra wide. He looked at him suspiciously.
Her and Eric hadn't become close until after Hyde left for Vegas, and he was still in Africa. After five years of being one of his best friends, she knew when he was hiding a key piece of information. "What are you hiding, Eric?" She asked, eyes narrowed on him, pouring eggs onto a dish.
"Unca Eric, secrets aren't allowed." Tyler chided from the table, squealing in delight when her mother put smiley face bacon and eggs in front of her, along with some orange juice.
"You, my God-daughter, are going to be the death of me." He booped her nose, and turned to Jackie.
"It wasn't my idea." He warned her, hearing Shelby scratch at the door, and letting her in. She furrowed a brow. "My mom invited him."
Instantly her world went out of focus, and her hands clammed up. She stood at the table, looking at him. "No, he can't be." She shook her head.
"Well, he is, and this time he's stripper free." He told her, mouthing the word stripper, so Tyler wouldn't repeat it at Miss Kitty's Sunshine center. Although, Kitty wasn't Miss Kitty to Tyler, she was Mimi. And Red was Gramps.
"Eric, I don't really care what he is." She told him. It had been two years since she had seen him, and when she did, she had been Tyler free for the night. Shelby sat beside her, and nudged her hand with her head. As if to say Mom, I'm here. It didn't go unnoticed. Shelby was a handful as a puppy, but she was forever grateful that when Eric adopted Sam, he had adopted Shelby as well for her and Tyler.
"Just think of it like, I'm not always here. And you live alone, and the world is getting crazy. And look how cute she is!" He had told her, sitting on the couch with a beer, and smiling as she pet the puppy, sipping on her glass of merlot. "I guess, she is pretty cute. And it's good to have a pet for kids, and since she doesn't have Steven, I-" She cut herself off, a sad look in her eyes.
"I know, Jacks. He's an asshole. But like I said from the beginning. You fill both roles perfectly, and you have all of us to help."
Shelby slept in Tyler's room, since she was a puppy. Loyal to Jackie, sure, but Tyler was her human. She was suddenly back in the kitchen of her three-bedroom, and Tyler was looking up at her. "Mama okay?"
Jackie forced a smile, and kissed Tyler on the forehead. "Yes, sweetheart, Mama's okay. Eat your eggies!" Tyler agreed, munching on her breakfast, and Eric took a long sip of coffee.
"I'm not exactly thrilled about it either, but he's still my brother, so what am I gonna do?" He shrugged, before looking over at Tyler. "You don't have to answer any questions. He left, and he didn't come back. And you did nothing wrong. You couldn't have made contact." He pointed at Jackie with a fork.
"Anyways," She changed the subject, noticing Tyler's confusion, and forced a smile onto her cheeks. "How are the students?"
Eric, now twenty four, was a history teacher at a school in Miluakee. They still lived in Point Place, him and Donna living next door, and he figured it isn't that far, and he had experience with troubled kids from the work he did after Africa. Most of Eric's college experience was working with troubled youth and traveling to places like New York, and sometimes even Chicago. She had to admit, she had never seen herself getting as close with him as she did.
"They're okay. Most of them have shitty families, so I taught them about how Thanksgiving is a scam anyways. The Pilgrims were murderers, and turkey tastes like paper towels." He told her, and she laughed. "Of course you did. I'm just glad I can give Ty good holidays."
"Tyler, kiddo, what are you most excited about on Thanksgiving?" He asked.
"Mimi makes Banana Cream Pie, and we take two home." She told him excitedly, holding up a number two. Jackie grinned, a wave of sadness washing over her. Her father had an insatiable love for Kitty's banana cream pie. Eric laughed at the girl's antics.
"Some things never change." He told Jackie. "Okay, Jacks, it is Saturday. Which means-"
"Park, Unca Eric take me to the park!" Tyler screached, excitedly, jumping out of her seat.
"Tyler Rose!" Jackie warned, sternly. Tyler deflated. "Inside voice, Mama?" She questioned. Jackie smiled, and reached her hand out for a high five.
"Good job, baby! Are you full?" She asked. Tyler nodded. "Okay, well next time, we ask to be excused from the table okay? It's not nice to just get up and leave." She told her. Tyler nodded her head. "I'm sorry Mama." She told her mother. Jackie smiled.
"It's okay to make mistakes, but now, what do we know?" She questioned, poking her daughter's sides, and making her giggle. "For next time!" Tyler cheers, softer.
"Thank you, sweetheart. After Mommy and Uncle Eric finish breakfast, we can get you dressed and he will take you to the park." She told her, setting her down.
"Mama, I be excused?" She smiled.
"Yes baby, good asking!"
Eric stared at her, a far away smile on his face. "What are you lookin' at, Foreman?" She playfully asked, acting tough.
"Nothing, you're just a fantastic Mom. I'm glad to call you my best friend."
August, 1979
She dialed the familiar number, like she had been doing for what felt like an eternity. She got the dial tone, and asked for him by name, like she had been doing all this time. Donna had finally gone back to school at UW in Madison, after leaving Randy, and she was busy. Kelso and Fez were her friends, sure, but Fez was busy with beauty school, and Kelso was juggling being a father, a cop, and his new found relationship with Brooke, who was finally giving him a chance. One day, she was there when he called home, and they just started talking. "Eric Foreman, please." She had said.
Silence took over the line, before a clicking noise. "Hello?" He practically sang into the receiver, and she smiled. "It's me." She answered. He was no longer surprised when she called, and even called her own line at her mother's house now.
"How's Africa?" She started casually, cradling the phone to her ear as she tried to follow a cookbook, before giving up, and pressing the speaker phone button. A new feature on the fancy new telephone her mother insisted on buying.
"It's actually really cool. I learned how to filter water today, and we did more English lessons." He went into a rant about the highs and lows of his day, and the last few that she couldn't talk to him. She carefully diced her tomato as the cook book instructed. "What about you?"
"Well, I still miss Steven. Like a lot." She huffed. "And I miss Donna like crazy, but I'm glad she finally went back to school, and dumped that Randy guy. Honestly, I don't know how she expected it to work. He was awesome, but it was like having a rip-off version of you." She hummed thoughtfully, tossing olive oil in the pan, and turning the stove on.
"Are you cooking?" He asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, figured I gotta learn anyways. Basic life skills." She told him, and he laughed. "Anyway, Kelso shot himself in the foot yesterday." She gossiped with him, and told him about how she hadn't been feeling well, and suspected it had been stress-related. She confided in Kitty, who had been suspiciously nervous, and urged her to make a doctors appointment. Eric urged her to listen to his mother, who was a medical professional.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." She tossed her spaghetti in the cream sauce she had made, before plating it for herself, and sitting at the counter to eat. She didn't bother going into the dining room anymore, it was too lonely. "I go with Michael, Betsey, Brooke, and Fez once or twice a week for dinner. Sometimes Donna comes, but she's at school in Madison so the hour drive isn't so convenient."
"I'll be home soon." He reassured.
Silence took over the line. "Eric, I really don't feel good." She confessed finally. "And it's making me nervous."
"I know." He reassured. "If you go to the doctor, I'm sure you'll be okay."
She sniffled, suddenly overcome with emotion. "I'm only telling you this because I trust you, and I don't want you to tell anyone."
"Jackie, I already know that your favorite color is army green." He chided, not knowing how to deal with her tears. Their friendship was weird.
"No. Before-before Steven left..." She huffed. "We didn't use protection because it was rushed, and then I went and messed everything up, and now I'm in the kitchen-"
"Jackie, slow down, you make absolutely zero sense." He soothed, his voice dropping an octave and turning into a nurturing one. He almost sounded like Red in his rare moments of softness. "What is it? I already told you you can tell me anything."
"I haven't even told Donna. You can't tell anyone." She sniffled, shoving spaghetti into her mouth.
"Yes?" He urged.
"I think I'm pregnant." She got out, but it was jumbled, and he couldn't understand her because of the spaghetti. But he got the gist.
"Come again?" He spluttered.
"Eric, I think I'm gonna be a Mom." She confessed.