Chapter Fourteen
What woke Jackie up was the strange sense of emptiness. Not within herself, but as if something that should be there right beside her was gone. Her eyes shot wide open when she suddenly realized that Eric was no longer in the bed next to her.
Sitting up, she looked at the spot where he had been laying, touching it to make sure that what had happened last night had really happened and not something straight out of her imagination. Lifting the sheet, Jackie saw that she was still completely naked, not to mention sore all over as well.
It took Jackie several minutes to make her way off the bed, her body aching in a way it hadn't done so in a very long time. The soreness, while discomforting, also served as a reminder of something else to the tiny woman: what it was to be alive. Jackie had always believed that she knew what that feeling had felt like. She now knew otherwise.
Opening up the wardrobe, she found exactly what it was that she was looking for almost straight away. Pulling the soft robe off the hanger, she slipped it on and tied it up around her waist. Going out into the living area, Jackie found Eric sitting at the dining table in just his jeans and drinking a fresh cup of coffee.
With a smile of love on her face, Jackie walked up behind him, leaned over and wrapped her arms around him before trailing several kisses up his neck. Eric closed his eyes and smiled before leaning his head back and capturing Jackie's lips with his own. They became lost in the moment, not wanting it to ever end. Eventually, however, they pulled apart; Jackie sighing dreamily as she sat down next to the man she loved.
Eric poured coffee from the pot on the table into cup and handed it to her. Taking it, she inhaled the aroma of the hot liquid before taking a sip. "Hey," she said, continuing to smile dreamily at Eric.
"Hey, yourself." The look on Eric's face was filled with love as well as he stared straight back at her.
"So."
"So."
The couple continued to watch each other as the sun rose. Slowly, Jackie's attention turned to watching said sunrise. It reminded her of something that she had once heard about birth and renewal, what it was she couldn't exactly remember, but it was clear to her how she felt: renewed. It was something that she hadn't felt in a very long time.
Eventually, however, Jackie turned her attention back to Eric. "I know that it's been a while for the both of us, Eric, but has it really been that long? I mean: five times!"
Eric grinned. "Over a year, at least," he told her. "After the divorce, there wasn't anyone for just over three years, if memory serves. It was during my research trip for 'Requiem for an Assassin' that the drought was finally broken. That, I do remember, all too well."
"What happened?"
Taking a deep breath before exhaling, Eric remembered what he could of that part of the trip."It was my last night in Scotland before heading back home. After finishing the research part of my trip, I was invited by some locals to join them at an annual festival that was taking place." Eric grinned as he remembered the pomp and gaiety of it all. "It was very colorful, everyone of all ages getting involved and taking part. It reminded me on home in a lot of ways, just a Scottish version."
"Anyway, after the official part of the festival was done and dusted, that's when things really kicked into high gear. The last thing I remember is being dragged away from the bar to go join in dancing with some of the locals around a bonfire. Eighteen hours later, I woke up naked on the floor of a strange house with a throw rug covering me and two equally naked and gorgeous brunettes asleep either side of me."
Jackie's eyes widened in surprise as she tried not to laugh. "You can imagine what was going through my head," Eric continued as he saw the look of glee on Jackie's face. "After I'd spent enough time trying to remember anything about what had happened from the night before, I finally gave up, quickly found my clothes, got dressed and made a very quick and hasty exit before I ran into the Scottish version of Red."
"As it turned out, when I finally found my hosts, I gave them a brief rundown of what had happened and where I had would up. They were very quick to enlighten me that the ladies in question were the only daughter of two very large families with numerous brothers, to boot, and very notorious for stirring up trouble. Needless to say, after making my farewells to the necessary people, the getaway from the town was extremely fast and furious." By this time, Jackie had tears streaming down her face as she struggled to control herself; the image of Eric, in her mind, trying to escape a horde of Scotsmen intent on protecting the honor of their womenfolk, had been too much; causing her to laugh uncontrollably.
Eric waited until she was able to control herself before speaking again. "Over the years since then, there's been the occasional date here and there, but nothing too serious. Nothing ever felt right; until now, that is." Eric watched Jackie's eyes go wide as he swallowed a mouthful of coffee. "What about you? I know that you and Fez dated for about three months before you guys ended things, plus knowing now what Hyde put you through for all those years, I can't help but wonder how long it's been for you."
Jackie smiled sadly as she shook her head. "No, not really. The occasional date and one night stand over the years, but after everything that happened with Steven, I decided to focus all my energy on myself. Since W.B. had him committed, it's been a weight off my mind knowing that he's somewhere where he can get the help that he needs. I can only hope that he'll get better one day, but I accepted a long time that, as much I will always love him, he and I would never have worked out in the end; no matter what either of us thought when we were teenagers. We just wanted different things from life."
"But, these last six months have opened my eyes to something that I never imagined possible. Running into you at that convention, us reconnecting; I've felt things that I haven't felt in a very long time, Eric. But, this isn't just what you feel as a teenager. This is how I feel as an adult and I want to see where this takes us, together, as a couple."
Reaching over, Eric laid his hand on Jackie's cheek. Closing her eyes, Jackie embraced the sensual softness of his skin on hers. The act itself told Jackie how much Eric really and truly about her, but it was the other emotions that it also elicited. Never had Jackie felt such electricity between herself and another man before; not even Steven Hyde had evoked such a feeling. What it caused Jackie to feel was Hope, Trust and Faith. Hope for the future and that everything would work out in the end. Trust in the sense that, for the first time in a long time, she was able to trust someone with her heart. And finally, Faith that, unlike so many others before, it wouldn't be broken and shattered into a million pieces.
"Jackie." Her eyes opened at her name being spoken. "Believe me when I say that I fully and completely understand how you feel. I do, truly. But, one of the things that I promised myself when I learnt about everything that had been happening was that I would put the past behind me and move on with my life by making not just new memories, but better ones as well. And, while I certainly wasn't expecting what's happened between us to happen, I do think that one way that we can move forward is by helping each other to do so."
"As what, Eric?" Jackie wanted to hear Eric say the words once more.
Eric grinned as he realized what she was doing. "As my girlfriend, Jacqueline Burkhart. I know what I said and I meant it then and I mean it now. You are my girlfriend and I am your boyfriend. Let's put the past behind us by making those new and better memories, starting today, and move forward into the future."
With the look of love on her face, Jackie took Eric's hand in hers as she got up and sat on his lap. Softly pressing her lips to his, the couple relaxed as they let themselves fall into the moment, Eric wrapping his arms around Jackie while Jackie wrapped her arms around Eric. Eventually, they broke apart, gazing at each other lovingly. Brushing a stray strand of hair out of the way, Eric grinned. "Well, we have some time before we have to be downstairs for breakfast. Care to join me in the shower before we make our debut?"
Jackie nodded with a similar grin on her face, standing up as she took Eric by the hand and led the way for the couple to once more experience that greatest of heavenly delights known to the human soul: nirvana.
Despite having been up since dawn, Jackie and Eric were still late to breakfast; the last ones to arrive, in fact. When the couple finally arrived, Red was the first one to comment. "About time, you two! And here I thought you'd outgrown being dumbasses!"
Jackie giggled while Eric simply smiled as he shook his head. "Good morning to you too, Dad." Kissing Kitty on the cheek, Eric pulled out a chair for Jackie. As she sat down, the small gesture was mostly ignored by the guys, but Brooke, Rhonda and Kitty all took notice straight away; their womanly intuition telling them that something momentous had taken place.
Sitting on the other side of Jackie, Eric struck up a conversation with Kelso and Fez while 8waiting for the waiter to come over and take their order. Red took his own place next to Kitty as she and the girls started their own discussion. As he looked around the table, Red felt a sense of peace that he hadn't felt in a long time.
With Eric's return, Red saw that his family was whole again. He may have complained, moaned and groaned about his son's circle of friends over the years, but, truth be told, he wouldn't have had it any other way. While he was sad about the fact that they or anyone hadn't heard from Laurie in over ten years, Jackie, Brooke and even Rhonda had stepped in during that time to help fill that particular void. Young Betsy Kelso had acted as a surrogate grandchild over the years, Kitty spoiling her endlessly whenever the Kelsoes had visited, though Red knew it still wasn't the same thing as actually being their grandchild.
As he sat there and watched his son and the Loud One hold court with their friends, Red smiled as he realized that the past no longer mattered now and that the future held something wonderful in store for all involved.
The rest of the weekend proved to be the perfect start to the new couple's goal of putting the past behind them by making new and better memories. For the rest of the day, after breakfast, the entire group returned to their respective rooms before joining Eric and Jackie in their suite.
"What the hell, man?" Kelso exclaimed when he saw where they were staying. "I mean, our room is awesome, but, dude, I mean, come on!" He was about to moan and complain even further when Brooke whacked her husband across the back of the head.
"Michael, I swear to God, if you say one more thing, I will let Red put his foot in your ass!" That particular threat immediately putting an end to any more complaints from Kelso, his hurt feelings quickly gave way to the joy of watching whatever he wanted on the massive television until Red and Kitty had turned up.
That joy ended fifteen minutes later with the elder couple's arrival. Almost immediately, after greeting his son and making a comment about how great the view was, Red quickly noticed the tv and headed straight over to it. Grabbing the remote from Kelso, Red sat himself down in one of the recliners that were there and changed the channel over to the Packers game.
It wasn't long after that Fez and Rhonda turned up. Not before long, everyone had split off into groups; the guys sitting down to watch the game while the women sat at the dining table with a bottle of wine with a glass for each of them. With the guys distracted, her two friends took to grilling Jackie for details about the night before with a slightly uncomfortable Kitty listening.
Jackie just smiled as she imparted details one piece at a time under the intense questioning. Kitty quickly disappeared from the conversation when she decided that a call of nature was needed after Jackie began detailing very graphically about how much stamina Eric had had the night before and that very morning.
The answers had Brooke and Rhonda all flustered, Brooke fanning herself as she became turned on by very naughty and erotic thoughts going through her head while Rhonda drank down
two very large glasses of wine in quick succession to try and disguise her own arousal. Jackie saw the wheels turning in both their heads, wondering if their own men were up to such a task.
Trying not to giggle as she watched the expressions on her friends' face, Kitty chose that moment to return and make an appearance. "Eric? Honey? When's lunch?" she called out to her son, the wine having had more of an effect than Jackie had realized.
Eric grinned as he looked at his dad and called back, "Ask my girlfriend, Mom. It's Jackie's choice." Red and Jackie grinned as the rest of the group went completely silent. While it had been assumed by all that Jackie and Eric were together in every sense of the word, this was the first time that either one of them had officially acknowledged that very fact.
Taking the moment and confirmation in stride, Kitty looked over at Jackie. "Any thoughts, sweetie?" she asked the young woman.
Jackie smiled as she looked at her future mother-in-law. "Whatever you want, Mrs Forman. Just call down whenever you're ready and they'll send up whatever you decide to order." Kitty preened at being given the opportunity to take charge and it wasn't before long that a sprawling spread was on its way up for everyone to dine on.
After everyone had sat down and feasted on the fare provided, Eric, with some encouragement from Jackie, had proceeded to regale his parents and the rest of the gang with stories of his travels from the last five years. While some were ones that had been heard before by most of the group, others were ones that he had never told anyone. Jackie, Brooke Kelso and the others all sat there enthralled for several hours; each of them imagining what it would have been like if they had been there instead of Eric.
Eventually, however, time was called when Red decided that he needed to rest for a couple of hours before he and Kitty got ready for dinner. This was taken as a universal sign by all that it was time to wind down before getting dressed and going to dinner later on in the evening.
After everyone had left and the hotel staff had cleared the remains of lunch away, Jackie and Eric spent the time relaxing by simply sitting on the couch and talking while having a drink with the television playing on in the background. For the young couple, it was this part of the relationship that they had always yearned for but had never been able to find until now.
They passed the hours like this until Eric noticed the time. "Well, the moment has come arrived, Jackie, for us to get ready and head once more into the lion's den." Looking at Jackie with a grin wicked grin as he stood up, he held out his hand. "Care to join me?"
Once again, despite their best efforts, the couple were almost twenty minutes late to dinner. By the time that Eric and Jackie finally arrived, everyone else had sat down and ordered drinks while waiting. Red's usual comments were absent this time due to Elena distracting him, Kelso and Fez with stories about Italy while Kitty, Rhonda and Brooke were deep in conversation with Gio about about the finer points of the culinary arts.
After greeting his friends and taking their seats, Jackie noticed that Eric was looking over at the entrance as if he was expecting someone. It was then that she noticed two extra settings at the table. Calling over the maitre'd, Eric whispered something to the man and slipped him what Jackie noticed to be a one hundred dollar bill. Noticing the look from his other half, Eric smiled and said nothing, leaving Jackie to wonder what it was that he was up to.
The mystery was solved about twenty minutes later. After drinks and entrees had been ordered, the group had settled in as Gio told the story to everyone who didn't know of how he, Elena and Eric had first met. As it was a story that Jackie already knew, she was only half listening to Gio as she sipped at her wine while waiting for the food to arrive and not really paying much attention when Eric made an excuse to disappear for a moment.
Five minutes later, to her shock and surprise, she and everyone else watched as ten year old Betsy Kelso suddenly ran in with Eric and her grandmother bringing up the rear not too far behind. Seeing their daughter, Brooke and Kelso immediately got up and were greeted with hugs and kisses from their daughter.
Stunned beyond belief with tears in their eyes, Brooke and Kelso looked over at Eric, who simply smiled. "I thought, seeing as how that this was a weekend where I was able to bring together all my family and friends, that it wasn't right that you didn't have yours here with you. So I made a call." As the Kelso family sat down at the table, Eric turned to Brooke's mother. "I appreciate you taking my call and agreeing to this, Mrs Rockwell. Just to let you know, I've booked a room for you and Betsy for tonight and tomorrow night so that you can all spend some time together, but you also have a place to take a break from everything if needed during your stay."
The older woman smiled and nodded. "Thank you, young man. I know that I'm not the easiest of people to get along with, especially when it come to my daughter and granddaughter. Michael does have a tendency to bring out the worst in me sometimes, but knowing that he has friends like you in his life, it does makes feel more secure about the future." After patting Eric's cheek and giving him a kiss there as well, Brooke's mother joined the rest of the table; sitting between her daughter and Kitty.
After Eric took his own seat again, Jackie leaned over. "That was a very beautiful thing that you did, Eric," she whispered, kissing him on the cheek. The gesture had moved all of the women and Fez nearly to tears. With the evening now as he had intended, Eric smiled as he draped his arm around the woman he loved and pulled her close to him; placing a gentle kiss against her temple. Placing a hand on his chest, Jackie felt the love emanating from her man as she also saw what Eric saw and felt contentment for the first time in a very long time.
The rest of the evening went as Eric had hoped it would. After dinner, the gathering was more fully relaxed as Eric, Gio and Elena told stories of the places they'd traveled to and the people that they'd met over the years. Everyone sat there, their full attention on the trio as Eric spoke about the time he surfed in Hawaii while on holiday and ended up getting lessons from Garrett McNamara. Gio spoke of the places he had traveled to in his search to perfect many of the recipes that he used at his restaurants. Elena told of her life and experiences as a teen model prior to meeting Gio and leaving that part of her life behind. The one thing that they did agree on was that their chance meeting in Italy five years before was something that they would all treasure as one of their favorite moments.
Following dessert, that was the moment when Mrs Rockwell decided that it was time for her and Betsy to make an exit head for their hotel room to get some sleep. After their departure, the rest of the group spent several more hours in the dining room, telling stories and getting drunk as they did so. Eventually, as all good things must do, the evening came to an end around midnight with all the couples, including Gio and Elena, heading to their respective rooms after many farewells and promises for the next day and the future.
Upon returning to their suite, Eric and Jackie immediately stripped off and headed for the shower. Their lovemaking was slow and sensuous, the couple taking their time to explore every part of one another as opposed to the previous night when their base desires completely had overtaken them to the point of oblivion.
It was again some time before Eric and Jackie finally saw sleep. But, as they lay there with their naked bodies entwined together, slumber for the couple was the most peaceful that they had experienced in what seemed to be an eternity.
Eric's last day in Wisconsin before beginning his trip was, for intents and purposes, a lazy one. While everyone else was up and about doing things, reinvigorated by the reunion, the new couple chose to spend most of the morning in bed, only surfacing when a call came through from Elena asking what their lunch plans were.
A couple of hours later, it was a mini-basement reunion lunch in the penthouse suite with Gio and Elena finally being able to see what Eric had talked about for years about what he had missed the most about home. And, while they weren't there physically, the spirits of who Donna and used to be were also there as well; the stories of growing up in 1970s Wisconsin really giving the Italian couple a true picture of who Eric truly was.
Lunch was a very laid back affair as opposed to yesterday, with food spread all over the lounge area; a veritable smorgasbord laid out on the oversized coffee table before them as they picked at what was on offer. Seating arrangements were also very laid back; Elena sitting next to Rhonda and Fez while Gio sat next Brooke and Kelso. Eric sat in one of the recliners, Jackie sitting on his lap her arms wrapped around him as if she was never going to let him.
After bringing his foreign friend up to speed on what he'd been doing over the last few years, Eric finally learnt what Fez had been up to since they had last seen one another. Despite having dated in high school and being at totally polar opposite ends of what they each did for a living, Rhonda and Fez had the relationship that the rest of the gang had always been looking for, but could never quite find.
With him owning a growing chain of hair salons throughout Wisconsin and her being a very successful investor in all manner of things, it came as no surprise to Eric that she would help Fez out when he had gone looking for investors to help expand his business even further. With Rhonda's help, Fez was able to steer clear of having to rely on a bank for help and she was able to help him nurture his growing empire along with a modicum of restraint; something that Fez often lacked when it came to making decisions.
It hadn't been long after that they had started dating on and off for nearly two years. While they had always worked together well as a couple, trust issues had abound on both sides for numerous reasons. But, as Rhonda had told him and Brooke had confirmed, what had changed Fez was the passing of Bob Pinciotti.
The loss of Bob had hit Fez hard. Having counted the older man as a friend, that friendship had extended past the Seventies and for most of the Eighties. Bob's death from a heart attack had caused Fez to re-evaluate what he wanted out of life going forward and what was important to him. It hadn't been long after the funeral that Rhonda had noticed some subtle changes as they had headed towards the end of the decade with surprising speed. The biggest one of all had been when, six months after the funeral, Rhonda had come home to a candlelit dinner and an engagement ring waiting for her.
To say that it was unexpected was an understatement. But, when Rhonda had seen how serious Fez was when he had asked the question and the love and hope in his eyes that she would say yes, it was the only answer that she gave.
They had married six months later with all their family and friends in attendance. Eric hadn't been able to make it due to some research he had been involved with at the time in Europe as part of some of the background for 'The Long Road Home'. Having felt bad about being unable to make it back in time, Eric had wired some money to his parents with a message to buy something for the newlyweds as he knew that Kitty, at the very least, would be invited along to both the ceremony and reception. He'd been very surprised to learn that Red had gone with her, but he'd grinned when his dad had later confided in him that he'd only went as so to make sure that it was a done deal and that he was finally someone else's problem from there on out.
Eric was glad to that his friend was finally happy and doing well, no longer the misunderstood foreign exchange student that he had grown up with as a teenager. Now, as he watched his friends, old and new, talking and making plans, Eric simply sat back and smiled, relaxing with the woman he loved sitting on his lap as he held her.
It was just after midnight when Eric got up. The rest of the day had gone as he had hoped, more memories made in his quest for a better decade than the last. Dinner had been a full affair once again, everyone dining in the penthouse suite before departing shortly after as the next day was the start of another working week.
Kitty and Red had lingered once everyone else had gone. Upset that her baby boy was leaving once more, Eric had simply grinned as his mother had wrapped her arms around him in a very futile attempt to stop him from going. Red had simply rolled his eyes and told his son that if he failed to come home this time, his ass wouldn't need a foot in it as he would be tracked down and buried for no one to find.
Jackie had giggled at the gruff display from her future father-in-law before giving Red a hug and a kiss on the cheek. The older man had simply smiled as he returned the hug and kissed her on the forehead. Eric had responded his father's comment by shaking his hand and tell him that he had many reasons to come home, the most important of all standing right next to him.
Once again, Red's eyes had rolled as Kitty's had become teary while Jackie had blushed furiously. After his parents had said their final goodbyes and gone back to their room, the young couple had turned in almost straight away; the expiration date on their time together fast approaching and neither of them wanting it to end.
Feeling Eric get up, Jackie woke up. "Is it that time already?"
Eric nodded. "Yeah. Stay here where it's warm, okay? No need for the both of us get cold."
Throwing him one of those looks as she threw back the covers, Jackie rose from the warm bed. Eric grinned as he watched the grace and style with which she started getting herself sorted out before realizing he was supposed to be doing the same as well.
Once they were dressed and Eric had everything that he needed to take with him for his trip, the couple boarded the elevator and rode the entire way down quietly, holding on to one another and what few precious moments that they had left for as long as they could. Eventually, they reached the ground floor and reality intruded once more.
Walking the short distance from the elevator to the front entrance, they stopped just short of going outside. Putting his bag down on the floor, Eric wrapped his arms around the short brunette that he had fallen hard for. "I promise to call as often as I can. I know that it's only six weeks, but I -"
"I love you, Eric."
The moment stunned them both. Jackie because expressing her feelings into words, while easier when she was a teenager, hadn't been as much due to the events of the last few years and the emotional damage sustained as a result. Eric because he had been wanting to say it, but didn't know what would happen if he did.
Eric smiled with all the love that he felt for Jackie. "I love you, Jackie." Capturing her mouth with his, they shared a soul searing kiss that promised so much more in the days ahead. Slowly releasing each other, they held each other for one long moment; Eric's head resting on top of hers as they made the moment last for as long as they could. Finally, they pulled apart. Grabbing his bag, Eric gave Jackie one last kiss to remember before he once more left her life and vanished into the diaspora as if he had never been there at all.
