March 1977

Janet woke up that morning to the sound of Chrissy vacuum cleaning, feeling extremely tired and hung over. The party they had thrown for Eleanor the night before had gotten just a bit more out of hand than they had originally planned. She shuddered as she remembered the strip tease she performed for all of those people to see.

"Ugh," she said at the thought as she threw the covers off of herself and managed to force herself out of bed, with no knowledge that just a few feet away from her was a man that was about to just come waltzing-well, tripping-into her and Chrissy's hearts, and leaving such an impact on them that it would soon be difficult for the two of them to imagine their lives without him.

But as soon as Janet laid eyes on him, lying there in the bathtub asleep and soaking wet, yet still appearing as content as a child after his mother had tucked him in, she sensed that she was looking at trouble, and trouble was something that Janet had always made sure to avoid. But this trouble was different, something she didn't necessarily want to turn away from, something she found herself a bit hypnotized by…

And then suddenly this man jumped up faster than she had ever seen Mrs. Roper jump up after Mr. Roper claimed that he was excited (by something about guessing the song on Name That Tune in seven notes, but excited nonetheless).

"He wasn't going to kill them, was he?" Janet thought. "My God, I hope he's hung over enough to think this ladle is actually threatening." She held it in front of her and stared at him in terror, Chrissy cowering behind her, and hoping to God that this beautiful man wasn't a serial killer.

"Uh…good evening," He said, looking confused and just as uncomfortable as someone who was soaking wet could look.

"Good morning," Janet and Chrissy skeptically replied.

"Good Lord, is it morning?"

"Yes, yes it is. And – and if you don't mind a stupid question, who are you?" Janet asked.

"Uh, oh, I'm sorry. I'm Jack. Jack Tripper," he said with an outreached hand, only to trip on the water he had dripped all around him.

"Well, he certainly lives up to his name," Janet thought.

She didn't quite know why, but Jack scared Janet. She could feel herself being drawn to him in a way that she was never drawn to anyone before, like she had known him for years. It was as if this man were some sort of kryptonite to her own strong, shielded self…as if he had come from an entirely different world where people like her weren't allowed to be so strong. She hated it, but at the same time she welcomed it.

And that was that, and there he was, and soon enough she and Chrissy came up with the idea to invite Jack to live with them. After all, he was a great cook, he would be great protection around the house…and he was extremely handsome.

Janet had argued against the idea at first, worrying that some sort of trouble would come of it. Or, was it a jealousy of what appeared to be his interest in Chrissy? Or perhaps a fear of living with someone that she could easily find herself falling in love with?

But regardless of any of that, Janet found herself unable to resist asking Jack to live with her and Chrissy. And he agreed to.

It was later that day that Janet watched Jack as he looked lustfully at Chrissy and felt a tinge of jealousy. She sighed and bit her nail as he placed his hand on Chrissy's knee. "This is certainly going to be an interesting ride," she thought, shaking her head.

But it was then and there that she decided that there was only one way she could live with a man like Jack Tripper, and that was to put her guard up. Nothing would ever be allowed to happen, and that would go for Chrissy as well. It would be the number one house rule, and it would prevent her, and anyone else, from ever getting hurt. Surely that made sense… (she turned again to Jack in time to catch him smiling after a joke Chrissy had told, and decided that he was perhaps one of the most handsome men she had ever seen)… didn't it?