Chapter 11

The Knight In White Satin Armor

(special thanks to kashmir1)

        Eric was partially glad to see Hyde go, they were this close into getting into 'yet another argument', which was similar to how his relationship ebbed and flowed with Donna.  Donna was still upstairs going through old yearbooks and old photos and didn't even come downstairs to say goodbye to Hyde and Hunter.  Now he was going to have to do 'the thing' he didn't want to do, but at the same time knowing that it had to be done.  He had to have "Thee Talk About Her Mother" with Megan.  It seemed like the right time considering she complained that her computer was wonky and she had to cut her conversation with Hunter short while she was talking to their ISP's tech support line.  He didn't particularly feel like cooking, but they had to eat and something other than pizza!  He knew Donna was going to be in no mood to cook and he kept his mind on an even keel regarding her doctor's visit tomorrow.  It couldn't be cancer.  Not Donna.  She ate healthy and exercised, women like that don't get cancer.  Eric took a deep breath forgoing the cookies and milk; she was a young woman, yet she was as far as her chronological age, still a child.  He walked down the ramp and found her writing in her school binder.  Was she doodling "I Love Hunter" all over her loose-leaf paper? 

"Hi, Megan." 

She quickly closed her binder.  It was about Hunter all right.

"Hi, Dad."

"Can we talk?"

She knew exactly what this had to be about.  She turned her chair to face her father.  The only man she could say she has loved longer than her fiancée. 

"Do we have to have this conversation?"

"I think we should," There was no stopping Eric from getting a chair, "Now that no one else is here—"

"Dad," Megan wished she had legs that would let her run away, "You know what happened.  Why rehash?"

"I'm only going to ask you one question and I would appreciate an answer, Megan."

No 'lollipop' but an almost stern sounding 'Megan', even though she painfully came to the realization that Eric Forman was not a superhero and was just her father, a flawed human being like everybody else.  She still did not appreciate his tone. 

"Of course, Dad." 

"I would like to know one thing and then I won't ask you anymore questions or pressure you in any way—WHY do you HATE your MOTHER?"

'Why do I hate my Mother? Do you want the lengthy or condensed version?'

Megan thought it was a valid question, but it wasn't something that she really wanted to answer to the man who slept with the woman upstairs.  She nervously played with the charms on her bracelet and thought of Hunter's sweet and loving touch.  Her knight in white satin armor.

"B-because she's a maniacal tyrant who takes pleasure in making people suffer. Dad, you of all people should realize that, from what I know she's played with your head for YEARS."

'And sleeping with Hyde to boot!'

"Megan Lynne Forman," Eric replied in shock, but lost steam when he couldn't find exactly the right words to say.  "I don't know what to say in response to that.  You have the wrong view of your Mother—and what did or did not happen in our marriage—"

'Don't you say it, Daddy, don't you SAY it!'

"Is NONE of your business---"

'No---damn you, Dad.'

"You can't MAKE me love another person."

Eric picked up a pencil out of her white mug with the blue handicapped logo on it and anxiously rolled it between his long fingers.

"No, Megan, I can't make you love anyone.  I'd like to know when this started—"

"Dad! I thought you only wanted to ask me ONE question, that's two."

"No one likes a smart mouth."

'God! Who do I SOUND LIKE?'

"Sorry."

"Was it when we caught you and Hunter on the sofa?"

Megan huffed and puffed, as she really didn't want to have this talk with her father.

"Yes! Around that time."

"Your mother lo---"

"You can't make it present tense, Dad!  And maybe that's why I DON'T LOVE HER anymore! I tried giving her every chance but she's a—well I better not say-"

"You better not is right."  Eric replied softly as he picked up another pencil to roll along side the other one.

Megan sighed, "She treats me like a child.  But apart from that, she called Hunter and Me's engagement—SO CALLED!  Like it wasn't real!  Well, it IS REAL Dad.  And you didn't seem to be doing back flips over it either earlier today when Hunter and I made it official."

"Megan, I won't say your Mom doesn't sometimes yell a little too much and can remind me of your Grandfather Red in the way that she disciplines. But SHE LOV—Well, I have to believe that she still does and is ONLY HURTING and putting up a brave face."

"And aren't you deflecting your support of our engagement?"

"No, I'm not.  I love Hunter; he's a good kid.  I just don't think you two are ready to get married."

"DUH!  I know that, we have to finish school first."

"Megan, I'd stop the smart mouth."

"Why Dad are you going to ground me for a year like SHE would?"

"I can see this is getting us nowhere.  But I can tell you one thing we are all eating supper together like we always do, so come upstairs in a half hour."

"I'm NOT talking to her."

Eric replied in the only way that he could, "I'm not going to make you talk to your mother or vice versa."   He put her pencils back in her mug.

The conversation felt flat and Eric hoped that it would have went differently where they would have shared some tears and she would have realized that Donna was NOT a bad person but a mother who loved her daughter.

"Good, because I'm not going to."   Megan replied as she wheeled herself back to her desk and to continue her 'I Love Hunter' writings.

"I love you, Megan."  Eric would have felt guilty if he left the room without saying that and kissed her on the head.

"I love you, too, Dad." 

'but not as much as I LOVE Hunter, my fiancée.'

"Remember dinner will be ready in a half hour."

"I know." She replied, not looking up from her papers until she knew that he couldn't see her anymore then she watched her father silently walk back up the rest of the ramp.

     LATER

     When Eric walked into his and Donna's bedroom all of their yearbooks and photo albums were still sprawled on their bed and their bathroom door was closed.  He softly knocked on the door. 

"Come in, Eric."  Donna replied

Eric opened the door to see Donna putting on her silk tan colored blouse.

"Dinner's ready." 

Donna turned to face her Husband, she wasn't about to tell him she was searching for more lumps on her breasts and feeling her life slip away.

"Button my blouse."

Eric walked over and felt the soft fabric against his rough hands.

"Donna," Eric started to say

"I'm not talking about Megan."

'F***'

"Fine, but we are not stopping having dinner together as a family."

Eric was certain that Donna would do this for him, just as Megan would.  He was hoping that maybe they'd just start talking again if they continued to have dinner every night if he made an effort to keep the family dinner hour.

"You cooked?"  Donna made a slight smirk.

"I got a recipe off the internet."

Donna put her arms around Eric's waist and pulled him closer.  She loved the mix of his soap, cologne, and natural scent.

"You're sweet," 

She kissed him passionately on the lips and when she closed her eyes she felt like she was young again, when they were a happy couple, before they broke up over the promise ring.  When they used to lie on the hood of the Vista Cruiser, their whole future world ahead of them.

        If having their dinner together was important then where in the Hell was her father?  Megan thought, as she had to be the one to take the casserole out of the oven.  It smelled all right and she knew her father was trying to keep things level.  She put the casserole dish on top of the stove. 

"Thanks, Megan."  Enter Eric with his shirt a little more wrinkled and unkempt then when she last saw him.

'Eww! Why would you want to f*** her? When you can get a divorce instead.'

"You're welcome, Dad."  She went to the refrigerator to get her iced tea.

Eric held the door open for Megan, although he didn't need to as she wheeled herself to her space at the table.  He followed a few seconds later with the casserole dish that he placed on the wooden cooling rack in the center of the table.

"What would you like to drink, Donna?"  asked Eric, watching the two most important women in his life, pretend that the other one was not in the room.

 'A whole bottle of wine'. "Water's fine, Eric."  She knew he was trying and she loved him for it.

He didn't want to fill the room with conversation just for the sake of it.  Megan ate with her head down and sometimes Donna would go on about domestic staleness that one of them had to do like run to the bank or the cable company.

"Dad," Megan looked up only to face her father, "Tomorrow will you take me after school so I can fill out some job applications?"

He looked at Donna, who seemed to have astral projected herself out of the room, "Sure, sweetie."

'Why did you look at HER, Dad?  I didn't ask HER for the ride, I asked YOU!'

The telephone rang and Megan knew her mother was going to get up and answer it because that was just the kind of ass her mom was.  She couldn't wait to leave the table and talk to Hunter on the computer.

"Hello?  Yes, he is.  I'm sorry for what I said earlier.  Thanks.  Hold on a second," Donna walked over to Eric and handed him the phone, "It's Mark."

Eric walked into the kitchen and he hoped that it didn't make him a bad person to let a faint smile fall upon his face.

"Hello, Mark—what's up?"  Eric asked as he sat at the kitchen table.

Mark took a drag from his cigarette before answering, "I have an extra ticket for the classic car show in Chicago in two weeks on Saturday—do you want to go?"

"Sure," Eric got up and grabbed a marker that was on top of the microwave to circle the date on the calendar, "How are you?"

"Fine, I'm working late at the garage tonight because Luigi's is closed, the owner went on vacation.  I'll talk to you later, Eric?"

Eric hid his disappointment that their call was short, but at the same time he realized that his son DID call him and DID want to invite him somewhere.  It more progress for them.

"Anytime."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later."

And with that their short call was over. 

Eric walked back into the dining room with the telephone; he set it on the table.

"May I be excused?"  Megan asked her father, she couldn't stand the sight of that red (slightly graying) headed, poor excuse for a mother, freak any longer.

"Okay, Megan, but don't stay on the computer too long."

"Yes."

'If you turn into HER, I will slit my throat.'

Megan left because she really had no interest in the moment to hear how her father's illegitimate son was doing.

"How's Mark?"  Donna asked, relieved that Megan was back in her room.

'Help me! I can't stand the sight of MY own daughter anymore!'

Eric started to clear the table, "He's fine.  He invited me to go with to see a classic car show in Chicago in two weeks."

Donna got up and kissed Eric on the cheek as she helped him with the rest of the dishes.

"That's great, honey."

"I know, Donna—at first I wasn't sure though.  Then I thought he did call and he did invite me someplace—so, I think after all that it did go quite well."

"Let's not use the dishwasher, Eric, how about I wash and you dry?"  She threw a dishtowel at him.

She just wanted to prolong the night with her Husband.   She didn't want to think about her doctor's appointment tomorrow morning.

"Sure, you say I leave spots whenever I wash the dishes."  Eric pretended to pout.

"You do."

"Donna---"

"Eric, it's over between Megan and I, so please don't attempt to offer any words of wisdom on the subject."

'How can it be over with YOUR own daughter, Donna?  You named her.'

"I just wish that the BOTH of you would realize what you're throwing away."  Eric replied as Donna put the water on in the sink to fill the little blue plastic dish tub.

"She made the choice,"

'But Donna she's JUST A KID!'

She squeezed the green apple dishwashing liquid in the tub and put her hands in the warm soapy water.

"Now she's going to have to live with it." 

"But—" Eric started to say in response as Donna handed him the big serving spoon to dry.

"The topic is closed."

Didn't her Husband realize that this wasn't something that she wanted to do? It was only something that she felt she had to do.

     White Knights

     Megan could not wait to talk to Hunter and instant messaging was not going to cut it, she needed to hear his wonderful soft on the verge of a British accent voice.  She had his number on speed dial.  She hoped that he answered and not Jackie, Hyde, or Hannah.

"Hello?"  'Damn'

"Hi, Hyde.  It's Megan, may I speak to Hunter please?"

"Okay. Hold on, he went outside."

Megan nervously tapped her fingers on the table as she waited for Hunter to come to the telephone.   She wished they were of legal marrying age (although there were some places where they probably could tie the knot.) and she could be OUT of this house and she would NEVER have to see that poor excuse of a mother ever again.

"Hello, Megan?  Sorry it took me so long," Well it wasn't that long of a wait, it just felt like it was, "I was setting up my telescope for later."

"No problem, Hunter."

"What's the matter, sweetie?  You sound upset?"

"I HATE MY MOTHER!  She's a total BITCH and I CANNOT STAND HER!"   She cried into the telephone.

Megan had a comfort in knowing that her knight in white satin armor would ALWAYS be there for her.

 11:00PM

     Eric had the news on mute as not to disturb Donna who was back to reading her paperback in bed.  He figured to Hell with the television and he pointed the remote at it and turned the power off as he let the remote fall on the floor.  'Ah screw it, let it stay on the floor!'  He snuggled into the covers and faced his Wife, the ONLY woman he has ever loved on the face of this Earth. 

"Donna, do you want me to come with you tomorrow?"

"No," she put down her book on her end table and cuddled into the covers to face Eric, "I would prefer it if you didn't.  Besides, I'm fine."

"And you're a doctor all of a sudden?"  Eric asked

"No, I've just come to the conclusion that just because I found a lump it doesn't mean it contains cancer."

"Let the doctor tell you that."

She cuddled into Eric's chest, after all these years his body really stayed the same with no major changes to speak of.  It was familiar and she needed that.

"I love you," She put her hands inside his old St. Louis Rams t-shirt, "I'm in the mood."

Was she really in the mood or did she just want to run away from what they were discussing?

"I love you too, Donna," Eric kissed her on the lips, gently at first, and then picked up speed based upon on the signals of his Wife, "Hey!  I'm not eighteen anymore!"

"Neither am I," she needed to feel every part of his body on her, "You're my knight."

And Donna was never one for the fairy tales where all it takes for the princess to be happy and fulfilled was to find her prince.  But in this case she needed Eric to be her savior.   She needed the fabled happy ending.  After everything she's been through in her life, she felt that she deserved that most of all.

Donna thought if there was cancer in her body that maybe Eric could f*** it out of her system.

They spent the rest of night making love to each other and when it was over cradling each other in their arms.   Knowing that whatever was around the corner they would be facing it together.   Like Always.