Plot: Sequel to Blood is Thicker than Water and takes place 6 months after it. Jack realizes he has feelings for Karen, but what he will do about them is the most difficult decision he will face.
Author's Note #1: I based Katherine and Karen's dresses off real dresses, if you'd like to see them, go to: http://www.cybernetplaza.com/page.asp?style=c2200 (this is Karen's dress, keep in mind it's supposed to be a blue color) and http://www.dressesonline.com/images/R1432.jpg (this one is Katherine's and it's supposed to be dark green)
Author's Note #2: Click here to leave me a review!
Disclaimer: I do not own "Will & Grace" or it's characters.

Part 3: Shopping Trip

Later that night, Katherine met Jack and Karen at a restaurant called 'Lincolnshire Pub' for a quick dinner before they went to Barney's.

"Hullo guys," Katherine said as Jack and Karen sat down across from her in the booth she was at. "Glad you made it here all right."

"Kath, what kind of food do they serve here?" Karen asked.

"English and Irish food," Katherine answered. She flagged down a waitress and said, "I have been feeling a bit homesick."

"How come?" Jack asked.

Before Katherine could answer, the waitress arrived at their table and said, "Good evening, what can I get you three to drink?"

"Three pints of Guinness please," Katherine said quickly. "And we'll all have the Irish stew."

The waitress wrote down something on her pad of paper and then said, "I'll be right back with your drinks."

"Since when do you drink liquor?" Karen asked, surprised.

"Guinness doesn't really count Kare," Katherine said as the waitress came over and set down three glasses with a thick brown liquid in them. Katherine picked up her glass and held it up to the other two. "A toast for good luck on this shopping trip," she said, looking directly at Karen.

"Yes, I agree," Karen said quickly, picking up a glass.

"Do the English have a special word for when you make a toast?" Jack asked, picking up the last glass.

"No, but the Irish do," Katherine said. "You say slàinte. Slàinte"

"Slàinte," Karen and Jack repeated slowly, touching their glasses with Katherine's.

"What did you order for us to eat Kat?" Jack asked when he finished sipping the beer.

"Irish stew," Katherine said. "It's probably the only thing that you'll like here. It has meat, potatoes, carrots, that kind of stuff." She looked at the expressions on Karen and Jack's faces and said, "You'll like it, trust me."

An hour later, the three finished their meal and left the restaurant.

"That was good soup," Jack said as they walked over to where the limo was parked.

"You mean stew Jackie," Katherine said, correcting him. "Did you like it Kare?"

"It was awful," Karen answered.

"Just because I wouldn't let you have that second pint of Guinness," Katherine said laughingly as they got into the limo.

Karen didn't say anything to her, but yelled to the driver, "Barney's, Driver!"

Once inside Barney's, Karen led them over to the evening dresses section.

"How fancy do we need to dress for this Kare?" Katherine asked, eyeing the dresses.

"Just leave it to me honey," Karen said. "I went to this party for the last million years; I know what you'll need to wear."

Katherine nodded and then looked at the price tag of a shiny pink dress that was near her. "Oh, uh Kare," she whispered. "I don't know about you, but if I bought one of these dresses, I'll likely be in debt for the rest of my life."

"Don't worry Kath," Karen said, looking through a bunch of black dresses. "I'll buy your dress."

"You don't need to do that," Katherine said immediately. "I can just go get a dress someplace less expense-"

"Just let her buy it Kat," Jack said, putting a hand on her arm. "She'll be too stubborn to change her mind. Now come with me and we'll look for her dress."

"Watch out for what she picks for me Jackie," Karen said as they went to the other side of the section.

"Maybe you should have gone with Karen," Katherine said as they looked at some blue dresses.

"How come?" Jack said, absentmindedly.

"Because you two are cu- never mind Jack," Katherine said, turning her attention to the dresses.

An hour later, Jack and Katherine walked over to where Karen was, Katherine was holding a dress.

"Only one?" Karen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We had some heavy discussions on what you would wear and what would look good on you," Katherine said. "And in the end, only one met both our requirements."

"Well I've only got one for you too," Karen said, motioning to the dress slung over arm. "Let's go and try them on. Wait for us out here poodle."

Jack sat in an armchair that was put just outside the dressing rooms and waited for Karen and Katherine to come back out with the dresses on.

Katherine came out first. The dress was dark green and had a slit on the left side, showing a white underskirt. There was some embroidery right above the slit that was done in silver thread. The dress had thin straps and fit Katherine perfectly.

Jack whistled low and said, "Now that is perfect on you Kat. You look like a real British lady."

Katherine smiled and said, "Thank you very much Jackie-boy. But wait until you see Kare's dress."

Karen walked out then, a skeptical look on her face. Her dress was blue and seemed to shimmer in the light. There was a bead design on the bodice and going down to the skirt, but it wasn't too gaudy since the beads were the same blue as the dress. There were no straps on this gown and it fit very well.

"I just don't know Kath," Karen said doubtfully. "I don't think this blue looks too good on me."

Jack meanwhile, was trying his hardest not to stare at Karen. He thought that she looked amazing in the dress. As he watched Karen look over Katherine's dress, he had a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he wrenched his gaze over to Katherine.

"I think that dress looks fine," Katherine said. "What do you think Jack?"

Forcing a smile on his face, Jack said, "Kare you'll make them all drop dead in that dress!"

"Thank you poodle," Karen said, smiling. She looked over at the full length mirror next to the armchair Jack was sitting in and turned around slowly. "Yes, I guess I'll get this one. What about you Kath?"

"I like this one," Katherine said, glancing over at Jack, who was gazing at Karen. "I'm definitely going to have you buy this."

"Great, now let's go and get so we can get some coffee," Karen said, taking Katherine's arm.

"Sure thing," Katherine said as she was dragged back into the dressing room. She managed to look at Jack and saw that he was still looking at Karen, a half confused, half wistful look on his face.

Jack settled back in the chair and tried to figure out what these feelings he was having for Karen were. Sure he knew she was an attractive woman, and he thought she was beautiful. But he was starting to feel as if he was attracted to her in a romantic way, not as friends as he had always been. He was still worrying over this when Katherine came out of the dressing room.

"Jackie," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You may want to look over at the green dresses."

"What are you..." Jack began to say, but then he saw what Katherine was getting at.

Standing next to an old woman, obviously his mother, was a tall man with wavy black hair.

Jack smiled when he felt the familiar click going on in his head. 'Yes, I am a gay man,' he said to himself as the man and his mother left the dresses section. He stood up and was about to go and try to talk with the man when Karen came out of the dressing room.

"Okay, we can go pay now," Karen said. "You ready Jackie?"

"Yep, let's get out of here," Jack said, forcing a smile on his face once again. He had wanted to ask the black haired man out, but when Karen had come, the strange feeling in his stomach returned and he lost the urge to go after the man.

Katherine, who was watching Jack, sighed softly and then followed him as he followed Karen to the cash register. "You're both blind as bats," she whispered gently. And she stood behind them as they chatted while waiting for the person in front of them to finish paying. She knew what both of them were going through, and she hoped that they would eventually own up to the fact that they were attracted to each other romantically.

'Well, mayhap I can talk to Jack and make him confront is feelings,' she thought to herself. 'Because I know Karen is too stubborn to try and convince.' She decided that the night of the party would be the best time to do it. Then, with a smile on her face, she caught up to Jack and Karen as they walked out of Barney's.

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