This is a future fic from Hyde's POV
I sat on the couch flipping through station after station. I looked at the clock to see it was nearing eleven o'clock. I was tired but couldn't go to bed yet. This happens about every night. I get restless from everyday stresses and all, and I need to wind down before I can sleep. I smile to myself remembering what me and my friends used to do to relax. But I haven't done that in a long time, after all times have changed. I've changed.
So I get up and go over to the computer. I haven't checked my mail in a while I remember. So I log on even though I'm still unsure and nervous with this whole internet deal. It's another way for the government to keep tabs on us I'm sure. I see I have a message...it's from Eric. He says he and Donna are good, and so are the kids. I smile, glad that they are still going strong after all these years. God I miss them sometimes I miss all my old buddies. We get in touch from time to time but still, it's not the same.
Sometimes I wish I was back there in the basement, young and carefree, but the thoughts are always fleeting. I like how my life is now. I think how I have to get around to visiting him this year. That would be great. I feel my eyelids begin to hurt from the fuzzy screen and plan to reply tomorrow. So I get up and begin to pace around the house, something my daughter says I do when I'm in one of my moods. The thought makes me laugh. God, my daughter is just like me. Orny , opinionated, sharp tongued...
I walk upstairs to her bedroom to spy on her. There she is, sleeping soundly, a tiny slip of a thing buried in a pink comforter. She is cuddled up next to her favorite stuffed toy, a tattered old unicorn that was her mothers'. I creep up next to her bed. Poking out of the covers I see her tiny porcelain face bathed in the soft glow of the nightlight. She looks like an angel. She looks like her mother. Tiny delicate features, but with my hair. Yeah, cursed with an unruly mop-top that as she says "has a mind of it's own" I stroke this mop-top and bend down to kiss her forehead. She smells sweet. She smells of innocence.
I slowly creep back out and make my way down the black corridor, entering yet another room, my sons'. I open the door and see him sprawled haphazardly across his bed, his chemistry book on his stomach gaping open. His room is a mess. He reminds me of myself at his age. I navigate myself through the maze of junk scattered on his floor making my way to his bed. I bend down and place a small peck on head of black hair. He stirs and blinks his eyes open. His face staring back up at me was like looking in a mirror...some twenty odd years ago that is.
"Hey...whaddaya want dad?" he grumbles.
"Nothing..I just wanted to say night. I love you." I say and close his book and turn off the light.
He groans like most sons do when their dad's get paternal and turns over. Yeah, I know, I've gotten mushy. But fatherhood changes you. It makes you, well, softer. I walk to the bathroom and turn on the light. I see myself in the mirror ."My attitude isn't the only thing that seems to have gotten softer" I joke to myself touching my slightly protruding belly. As I brush my teeth I catch a glimpse of yet another grey hair. Man how time flies. By this time I am thoroughly tired and having completed my nightly ritual am ready to forget the day and go to sleep. I turn out the light and amble down the hallway to my room.
Making sure to be extra quiet I pull back the sheets and slip into bed. I reach over and throw my arm around a warm mound of blanket. "Mmmm" it says and my wife rolls over and wraps her arms around me. "Hi sweetie" she says half asleep. "It's about time you made it to bed". She looks up at me with a sexy half-smile, her raven hair disheveled. God she is beautiful. God, I love her. I begin to feel mushy again. Married life will do that to you. I lean in and place a small kiss on her lips.
"Yeah sweetie, I love you. Goodnight" I say squeezing her tight.
"I love you too sweetie." She says, now pulling me in even tighter. Soon we are a tangled ball of arms and legs cuddling close and I couldn't be happier. As I drift off to sleep I think of how happy I am and how I wouldn't change a single thing in my life. Many nights I fall asleep to the same thoughts. I, Steven Hyde, am a lucky man.
THE END!!
