A/N: Yay, there are still people reading - thanx for the feedback :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 6

Jackie Burkhart-Kennington sighed as she stared out of the plane window, watching the clouds float by. Sometimes she hated business trips, which was weird because high-flying and adored was all she had ever really wanted to be, and now here she was on her way to a meeting where that would happen, and it was the very last thing she wanted to do.

Painting on a smile over the torment inside got harder as she got older. As a young woman, Jackie had been the greatest actress and she knew it. How else would she have gotten out of Point Place so easy, charmed a rich man into marrying her and raising her child as his own. Arthur Kennington was a good man and he hadn't really deserved the trouble she brought him, Jackie knew that. She didn't blame him when he walked out, any more than he could blame her for never loving him enough.

With a sigh, Jackie turned her face away from the window, resting her head back and closing her eyes. In her minds eye she saw a simpler time, days in Point Place when she was happiest. As a kid, meeting Steven Hyde had been an experience she thought she'd easily forget. He was just some scruffy boy that meant next to nothing when it came to a princess like her. Little had Jackie known then that she would find words of truth and love amongst his anti-government crap, honest eyes behind the tinted glass of his shades, and a heart of gold beating beneath the battered Led Zeppelin T-shirt Hyde almost always wore.

"Steven" she whispered as she fell asleep.

It was the perfect day for a wedding. The sky was clear blue, the sun warm, and the breeze light. Every face wore a smile, and every person was someone to be loved. Friends and family all happily gathered to wish Brittany Hyde and John Jefferson a happy marriage.

"I now pronounce you, husband and wife" announced the priest, "You may kiss the bride" he told the smiling groom, who did just that much to the joy and amusement of the crowd all gathered here on the beach.

"Oh!" a cry went up from the front, as Kitty Forman covered her face with both hands and fought the happiest of tears, "I can't believe our little Brittany is all grown up and married" she enthused, as her husband, Red, rolled his eyes at her antics.

"For God sakes, Kitty" he complained, "People are staring"

That wasn't exactly true, since most eyes were focused on the happy couple as they made their way back down the make-shift aisle hand-in-hand to rapturous applause.

Everybody was there to congratulate them - Eric and Donna, Michael and Brooke, Fez and... Mrs Fez, alongside all of the blood relations and other friends made by each family.

"Can you believe it?" said Jackie, the more than proud mother of the bride, "Our little girl" she smiled up at her husband, sure she would have seen tears in his eyes too were his glasses not obscuring her view.

"Yeah, she is" said Steven, as he looked down at his wife, "We did good, doll" he told her with a rare but genuine loving smile.

"We sure did" she gazed up at him with a grin of her own so wide it threatened to split her pretty face in two.

As he leaned down to kiss her lips...

"Oh my goodness!"

Jackie woke with a start as someone yelled too close to her ear.

"What? What's wrong? What?" she gasped, feeling stupid when she realised what had happened.

She had only fallen asleep and been dreaming again, and of all unGodly things, she had fallen asleep on a plane with other people all round probably watching her drool! Jackie felt sick to her stomach as she faced the older woman who was now jabbing her in the shoulder with one pointy index finger, grinning too much and bouncing around like an excited first grader, in spite of the fact she was fifty if she was a day, Jackie was certain of it.

"You're Jackie Kennington" she said breathlessly, "Oh, Ms Kennington, I have been wearing your clothes for so many years, I can't wear anything else!" she enthused, "My daughter, she is just the same, and my sister, we all just love your designs!" she told the little brunette who was usually such a fan of this kind of attention.

Today she had to force a smile on her face and try to be grateful for the appreciation. In reality, all she wanted was to be left alone with her thoughts of a past long gone and a make-believe future that could never be.

"Thank you" she said graciously, nodding in agreement as a fashion magazine with a celebrity wearing one of her designs on the cover was shoved into her hands and an autograph was requested.

The usual squiggles came out of the pen just like they should, just like they had a hundred times before. This time, as with all the others, Jackie winced at the sight of her own name. She'd become a huge success in her ex-husbands name, a foolish move perhaps but he had been her saviour and she wanted to repay him somehow. By the time he left, rebranding would have been suicidal and so she remained the famous Jackie Kennington, forever wishing her styles had been marketed as Burkhart fashions, or better yet, the work of Jackie Hyde.

As the frantic fan finally left her alone, Jackie peered out of the plane window and fought back tears. It was far too late for her and Steven now. Even if this PI that Britt had hired could find the guy, everything would be so different by now. He could have a wife of his own, other kids, a whole life so very far away from their odd little romance as teenagers in Point Place. It was like a lifetime ago, it was literally Brittany's lifetime ago, and Jackie only had herself to blame to letting it all slip away. That was perhaps the hardest part of this to bear.

It ought to be a perfect night. With her mother away on her business trip, Brittany Kennington had the house to herself, and had immediately invited her fiance over for a romantic night in. Today was also special because it was the anniversary of their first date, and John and Brittany had celebrated with a beautiful candle lit meal for two, a slow dance to their own special song, and now they were on the couch, slowly making their way around all the bases.

On his part, John was getting ready to move this situation to the bedroom. Unfortunately, Brittany didn't seem quite as enthused as she usually would, and that kind of worried him. He had no doubt she loved him, but with the wedding coming up and trying to figure out her family issues, he knew a lot of pressure was sitting on those beautiful shoulders of hers. Something or other was definitely distracting her, and he planned to find out what.

"Britt, sweetheart" he said pulling out of the kiss she didn't seem to be much of an active participant in, "Are you not into this right now or...?"

"I'm sorry" she apologised immediately, feeling lousy for ruining their special night as John sat up straight on the couch and pulled her up with him, "I was just thinking" she said, pushing her mussed up hair out of her face, "About my Dad" she admitted, making her fiance look at her oddly.

"Okay" he nodded once, "Little weird"

"No, not like that" she waved his reaction away fast, "and also eew!" she added, sure he had been joking but still not finding the idea very funny, "It's just, I so want our wedding day to be perfect" she told him, as if he didn't already know it, "and I need my Dad there, my real Dad, to walk me down the aisle" she told him, looking down at the carpet as her hands clasped together and unclasped again, "Do you think I'm crazy?" she asked, glancing up then and meeting her lovers eyes.

"I think" he said, putting a hand to her cheek, "that you are sweet, and beautiful, and smart, and everything I could ever want in a woman" he promised her, planting a brief kiss on her lips, "and yeah, maybe a little crazy" he teased her a moment later, glad to see her smile then at least, "but I totally get why you would want to meet your real Dad and why you want him to be at our wedding" he assured her.

"Thank you" said Brittany softly, as she leaned in and kissed him softly, "It means a lot to me that you understand"

"Of course" he smiled back at her, a little disappointed that their moment seemed to be gone for tonight, but also glad he was helping her to feel happier about things, as they sat back against the couch cushions with their arms around each other still, "Y'know, I'll bet your Dad is really cool" he said thoughtfully, "He'd have to be, I mean look how great you are. It's gotta be in the DNA, right?" he said, kissing the top of her head as he held her close.

"I don't know" sighed Brittany, "I mean, everybody says how much I look like my Mom, and I know that's true, plus we have a lot of the same tastes, and really similar laughs and stuff" she said as she thought on it, "but I keep wondering, what do I have that's like him? That's like Steven Hyde?"

"Well, from the picture you showed me, I'm glad it's not the hair" joked John, glad to hear Brittaney laugh lightly against his chest.

"Me too" she admitted with a chuckle, "but I keep wondering, do we like the same music or the same movies? Do we have a whole lot in common? Will he... Would he even like me?" she asked, apparently serious and needing an answer to at least that last part as she looked expectantly up at her fiance.

John looked down on the sweet and innocent face of his darling fiancee and sighed. As if anyone could not like her. It astounded him that every person in the world didn't love her just like he did. Honestly, he couldn't imagine a more perfect woman for him.

"Brittany Kennington" he said softly, as he gazed down at her, "Steven Hyde would be the world's stupidest man if he doesn't love you from the very second he meets you" he told her honestly.

It was moments like these when Britt forgot all her worries about anything and everything, that was the power John Jefferson's love had over her. As he leaned down to kiss her then, she responded in equal measure. All thoughts of her parents, the wedding plans, the PI she was paying, everything flew clean out of her head as she got lost in the moment that existed between herself and her future-husband. This time she wasn't going to let anything else distract her, and that suited the both of them just fine.

To Be Continued...