Chapter 1

Eric Forman Could Not Say No, Mrs. Reagan

(time line continuing after Chapter 15 in "Forbidden Kiss")

     Eric sat in the parked car for what seemed like forever, but in all actuality it was twenty minutes.  He didn't want to go back inside the house.  That wasn't entirely true.  He did want to go inside, he just didn't want to face Donna.  Still, he knew he had to get it over with, so he took a deep breath the way a diver does before jumping into the ocean waters and walked with his head held high as he entered through the kitchen door hoping not to be smothered.  Who was he kidding?  Donna certainly was no Kitty and she never smothered her Husband.  It was then that Eric was relieved that his parents were gone because this would have been a terrible burden to place on them.  It could've driven him back to the reason that he had 'this problem' in the first place.  He opened up the refrigerator and took out a bottled water.  He felt the wind of the kitchen door open on his back.  Eric turned around making sure to say the first words on the matter.

"This is NOT OPEN to discussion, Donna," Eric didn't want the water any more and put it back in the fridge, "Call Jackie later, I want Megan to come home.  And if I'm what you like to call a sexist pig right now, I don't care.  Those are my instructions.  Yeah, instructions.  Deal with it."  Eric swung the door open hard, to make his exit.

Donna could tell he had misplaced anger due to the situation and it was the only reason why he wasn't going to be sleeping on the sofa tonight.  She actually wanted Megan to be home as well, because she didn't even want her to go to Pennsylvania in the first place.  She felt bad for Hunter's condition but her daughter was not Florence Nightingale and she wanted Megan to be back in her regular school.  Hunter was a nice kid, and Donna respected the fact that they were boyfriend and girlfriend but she also did not want them to grow up so damn fast.

She was torn between taking a long hot bath before calling Jackie or to make the matter right?  Because due to Eric's reaction when he came home told her clearly that nothing positive came out of his trip to the gas station.  Should she?

God have mercy on her soul, but Donna figured an argument with Eric later on was price paid for what she felt that she had to do.  She got her jacket off the kitchen chair and took her car keys off the hook.  They weren't in their twenties anymore.  Hell, they weren't even in their forties anymore and he was going to regret it sooner or later, because she knew him and these are the kind of regrets that you don't want to have.  These are the regrets that eat you up until you are soulless.  Then you die an incomplete shell.

"I'm doing this for you, Eric."  Donna whispered as she pulled out of the driveway hoping that she was doing the right thing.

Fifteen Minutes Later

     Donna parked next to the air pumps as she didn't want to leave her car by the gas tanks incase someone needed a fill up.  It was amazing she fainted over this young man before and here she was about to TALK to him.  It's funny how life plays with your emotions and priorities.   There was an older man behind the counter doing a super circle word puzzle with greasy hands and dirty fingernails. 

Donna cleared her throat before she spoke.

"Hello.  Is um, I don't know his name, the young man that works here—did he leave for the day?"  Donna asked uneasily.

"He's in the back," the guy didn't look up from his super circle word, "Go ahead."

Donna thought that was a piss poor way to run a business and very irresponsible in the what color is the security level alert age they been living in for far too long.

She came to the closed painted cracked white door that had a black sticker with golden trim and lettering that said "Private" on it in the center.  She knocked.

"Come in."

Donna opened the door, scared for herself, scared for Eric, Megan, and the young man himself.

"Hello," she said

Donna watched as he jumped back when he realized it was her. 

"What do you want?"  he asked in a mildly defensive tone.

"Um, I feel funny not knowing your name." 

She tried not to be taken in by his familiar features.  That's what made her faint before.

"Mark."

"May I sit down?"

"I don't care, this isn't my property."

"Mark, I'm Donna.  Eric's Wife."

"I know. I just didn't know your name, either."

"You don't have to be defensive with me.  I came here to extend a laurel branch.  Eric doesn't want to discuss what happened here and I didn't come here to pry information out of you, Mark.  I just was hoping maybe, you could see Eric tomorrow?" 

She took out her business card out of her wallet and put it on the old desk. It had their address on it.

"There's nothing to discuss.  I think Eric's made it clear where I stand.  Thank you for coming, Donna, but I'm going to camp out at the bus station tonight, my bus to Indy leaves in the morning."

She sighed, "Whatever you feel comfortable with.  Maybe, you can see him before your bus leaves tomorrow just a thought.  He works at home.  Well, that's all I came to say."

She stood up.

"Goodbye, Donna.  I wish we could've met under better circumstances."

"Bye, Mark, and don't be a stranger."  She felt the need to shake hands with him, and was surprised that he recipicated it.  He had a solid handshake.

He waited for Donna to leave before putting his denim jacket on, getting his worn duffle bag off the floor, told Sal that it was "nice knowing him and goodbye" and walked to the Point Place Greyhound station with Donna's last words echoing in his mind, "Don't be a stranger."

But that's exactly what Mark McAdam was to Eric Forman, a stranger.

     Morning of Megan's arrival back home

       Eric was happy that Donna surprisingly didn't bring up the subject against his wishes. Wow.  Maybe, she was beginning to take hints after all these years? Eric was glad to have the boring routine back; Donna was pouring the orange juice, as he had to read the stock market section of the newspaper.  Bor-ing.  But he was glad to have that boredom.  However, he was joyful that his lollipop was coming back home today.  Donna was going to pick her up at the airport because he had to have an instant messenger meeting with a client who didn't know how to invest their inheritance.

How can you not know how to invest your money?  But Eric couldn't complain it paid the bills.  But he felt his career was oh-so-stereotypically-boring and not exciting like being a record producer like his best friend was.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast?"  Eric asked, not really interested in his bagel.

"I'm not hungry, besides, I thought I'd take Megan out after I pick her up."

"Maybe, I should take the day off and go with you?"  Eric looked up from his newspaper. 

Donna had to keep her cool, because she wasn't entirely sure if Mark was going to actually show up or not.  But she did nervously drop a butter knife on the floor.

"No.  That's not a good idea, Eric.  Don't you have that internet meeting with a client?"

"Yeah, but I was hoping to get out of it."

"Nice try," she kissed him on the cheek, "Well, I better get ready, airports are NOT fun." 

"Okay.  Tell Megan I said 'hi'.  I miss her." 

"I will, and she'll be home soon enough.  Five bucks says, first thing she does is either IM or phone Hunter."

Eric smiled, "And are you going to begrudge her that? Sorry, Donna, no bet, because I know she's going to do that, too."

He couldn't wait to see his sweet little (okay, she wasn't so little anymore) girl again.

"Bye, Eric."  Donna took her teacup with her as she exited the kitchen.

Hoping for the best.

       Megan could NOT believe her Mother. First she makes her come home early, second she drove like a maniac on the highway, almost hitting a semi wheeler, and thirdly she seemed to be in a hurry at the family restaurant she chose to stop at.

"Mom, are you in a rush or something?"

"No, I'm fine, Megan.  Eat your pancakes."  Donna replied as she stirred her tea

"You've stirred your tea like ten thousand times, Mother!  And actually, I'm the one that is in a rush, I told Hunter I'd email him as soon as I got home."

"Sorry," Donna didn't realize she was even stirring the tea, "And only thirty minutes on the computer."

"Yes, master.  I suppose I have to go to school tomorrow?"

"Since when is school an option, Megan?  Yeah, you're going."  Donna replied thinking that if she knew Megan was going to have to come home so soon she never would have hired that tutor. 

Megan was surprised that Donna wasn't making her go to school right now for a half day.

"Do you take pleasure in yelling at me, Mom?  I'm a woman you know."

"No, I don't enjoy yelling at you, which I am not doing right now, and correction you are ONLY a young woman."

"Jackie talks to Hannah differently." 

"I am not Jackie."

"You're telling me.  Can we go home now?  I want to see Dad and email Hunter for my thirty minutes of online time."

Between her and her daughter being strained, and god only knows what's going on between Eric and Mark (if anything was even going on), Donna was not hungry, it hurt her to see Megan push her plate away as if she were the Amazonian lumberjack version of Mommie Dearest.

      Eric was only using part of his brain to deal with his instant messenger client meeting, it was very easy to go on automatic pilot with this job while the other half of his brain thought about a happier time.

~Eric's flashback~

~2005~

     "Bye, Donna!"  Sometimes nothing made Eric happier than when Donna left the house to drop off her writing assignments and/or to meet with various editors because that meant he had his sweet baby girl all to himself.

Megan was sitting on the floor in the master bedroom all-adorable and cute like colorful rainbows and soft bunnies in her denim overalls, which Donna always bought one size up to give her more comfort since she was paralyzed from the waist down, and a little pink shirt with thread swirls though the round neckline and cuffs.  Eric bought her, her R2-D2 socks and white sneakers from the BabyGap store.

"How's my lollipop?"  he smiled as he sat down on the floor across from her

"Da!"  She reached out with her hands to him.

She was four years old, but her speech wasn't developed like Hannah and Hunter's was, she was going to start her speech therapy when she started Pre School in a few months.

"Do you want a hug from your Daddy?" 

There was a never an embrace more special than that of a Daddy hugging his cute baby girl.

"La, Da!"

"Daddy loves Megan, too!"  He carried her downstairs to give her snack of juice and cookies. 

And not the organic healthy cookies that no one liked, but Donna seemed to buy anyway, but the awesome double stuff Oreos.  If she had to drink 100% fruit juice then double stuff Oreos were the only way to go.  She couldn't have much milk as it irritated her stomach.

He made sure she was in her booster seat, which had to be ordered special from a company in Chicago that dealt with products and accessories for handicapped children.   Eric snapped together her tray and connected it to the table.

"You are too cute!  Can I have your nose?"  he "took" it and she laughed.

He went to the refrigerator to take out two juice boxes.  He put the little straw in the box and placed it on his daughter's tray.

"Now the cookies!"  He tried to do is best Cookie Monster voice, but all of his imitations sounded the same, but to Megan, her Father was the greatest.

Eric got the Mickey Mouse (a gift from Jackie) cookie jar from on top the refrigerator and brought it to Megan so she could take her cookies.  It was easy for Megan to grab the jar seeing as it was made out of plastic and it broke from Eric's hands causing her to get about ten cookies on her tray.

"Hey!  Whoa!  I think that's too many, lollipop."

"No!"

He looked at her smile and didn't want her to throw a tantrum if she didn't get to eat her ten double stuff Oreos. 

"Okay, well consider yourself lucky, Megan."  

Eric put the cookie jar back in its place and put the straw in his juice box.

She waved a cookie in the air, "Da!"

"Is this for me?"

"Y-ea."

"Aw, you are such a sweetie pie!"  Eric took the cookie and kissed her on the head.

The phone rang and Eric waved to Megan as he went to answer it.

"Hello?  Oh, hi, Donna—it's your Mommy, Megan---she's waving.  Yeah. Just cookies and juice.  How many cookies did I give her?  Just two.  I love you, too.  Bye, Donna.  Your Mother doesn't have to know that you conned me out of ten Oreos, well only nine, since you shared!" 

Eric went to the sink to wet a washcloth so he could wipe the crumbs off her face; she only ate two and a half Oreos so technically he didn't exactly lie to Donna as to how many cookies he gave her.

"Do you want to play your peg game?"

"Ok."  She did a bounce with her upper half of her body.

This was on the suggestion on one of the many books Donna read on special needs children.  It's not that Eric didn't want to read the literature, he just felt, you learned by doing, not from reading a book by some of the people who just have PhD's and might have observed a few handicapped children for research studies but having a 'special needs' child and just writing about one, no matter how many fancy diplomas you have hanging in your office, were two different things to him.   It was a wooden box about the size of a small toaster with three shapes cut out, a triangle, square, and circle.  They were outlined in the colors of the pegs-the triangle was blue, the square red, and the circle green.  Megan had trouble with the game.  Eric sat on the floor with Megan in the living room and put the game in front of her.  Instructing her in his gentle way.  He thought Donna was too heavy handed, she would never learn that way. 

"Okay watch Daddy, Megan," Eric picked up the blue triangle, "This is a triangle and it is blue." 

He put her hands on the triangle so she could feel the shape, then he guided her fingers to the triangular shaped hole to trace it.  Eric smiled as he put the triangle in the proper hole. 

"Da!"

"Okay, Megan," Eric took out the triangle piece from the compartment in the bottom, and put the game in front of her, "take your time."

At first Megan seemed more interested to suck on the triangle piece then to play the game.

"Don't eat that."

Megan put the triangle in the circular hole and she tried forcing it so it would fit.

"No, no—try again." 

Eric had waited a month for her to get one of these shapes in their correct spots.

"Da!"  she replied frustrated

"You can do it, baby.  Meg-an, Meg-an."  He did a little cheer for her.  Jackie would have found that cute.

Megan grabbed the square and put it in the circle compartment, she let out a cry and threw the piece almost hitting Eric in the eye as it landed next to him.

"Okay, baby, we don't have to play anymore." 

He picked her up and they went to the sofa where he held her.  "I love you, lollipop.  You are the best daughter ever.  And you'll get the hang of that game someday.  I know it."

Eric kissed her on the forehead and decided to put her down for her nap right on the sofa, he had work to do on the computer, so she'd be closer to him than if he put her down in her bedroom.  He took off her glasses and rubbed cheeks with her so she wouldn't be scared.  He covered her with a light blanket and kissed her on the forehead once more.

"Do you want a story, Megan?"

"O-k." she yawned

He grabbed a long soft cover book off the coffee table it was called  "Getting To Know Your Shapes and Colors"

"I love you, sweetie, don't you ever give up on yourself, because I'm NEVER going to give up on you.  Use the force like Luke Skywalker did!"  He said to his sleeping daughter when he finished the book.

When Megan woke up she actually WANTED to play the peg game and although it took three tries, she finally got one! She got the triangle.  It was one of the happiest moments of Eric's life.

"You did it, Megan! You DID use the force!"  He picked her up and swirled her around the room with a big hug and kiss.  He couldn't wait to tell Donna about her accomplishment today.

"Da!"  But all she wanted was another hug from her Daddy.

~End flashback~

     Megan was angry that Donna switched the radio stations when it got to a song that she liked, but rather than a verbal sparring match with her Mother, which could easily cause her to lose her internet privileges for about a year, she just stewed quietly, and opened up her notebook to look at the Romeo and Juliet drawing that Hunter did.  He drew them as if they were authentic Shakespearean characters.  She thought she looked beautiful standing erect.  Being in a wheelchair DID suck.  Just because one was used to it, didn't mean that they liked it.  She was proud of Hunter for handling his temporary disability well, once the shock of being in the wheelchair wore off.   She kissed the picture and put it back in her carryon bag as they were almost home.

"Sh**."  Donna said as she turned off the radio.

Megan looked up to see her Father outside having a tense conversation with some young person around Tiffany's age group.

"Mom—Who is Dad fight---" Then Megan caught a look of the man's face and almost did a double take.

By the time Donna got Megan out of the van the man sprinted past her with

His thin and semi muscular build.

"I should've known that you COULDN'T RESPECT my wishes for once, Donna."  Eric said in an angry voice. not looking at his Wife.

"Daddy—are you okay?"  Megan asked concerned

"Yes, Megan.  I'm fine.  I missed you, lollipop."  He kissed her on the cheek and hugged her.

Eric helped Donna with Megan's suitcases as neither one of them said a word to each other.  Megan was not going to go through dealing with them fighting again.  When they were inside the house she wheeled herself by the sofa and spoke.

"Are you two fighting again?!"

Donna did not want to lie to her daughter, "No, were having a discussion. I'm sorry, Eric, but I didn't want you to have any regrets later on."

"That WAS NOT for you to decide."

Megan realized her Mother was lying to her, this WAS a fight, you don't apologize to your Husband when you are having a 'discussion'.  Megan knew this fight had everything to do with the man that her Father was arguing with on the porch.  That wasn't a discussion, either.

"Dad, WHO was that young man that you were fighting with on the front porch?"

Eric let down his guard for a brief moment, he didn't know how Hyde was able to make a career out of keeping it all inside, it was very difficult to close your being off.    He sat on the coffee table and held his daughter's hands.  He loved her SO MUCH and knew he was probably the world's biggest hypocrite for turning Mark away.  But it HAD to be done.

"His name is Mark McAdam," Eric replied with a bit of nervousness in his voice, "And he's my son."