Chapter 7
"Look at that grin! Come to Grandma Kitty!" Mrs Foreman squealed in delight. Mr. Foreman happily handed the squirming infant to his wife and bolted out of the living room before he could be assigned anymore work to do. The garage had become his sanctuary, a place to be that didn't involve babies, bottles or foul smelling diapers. "Oh don't you mind him!" Mrs Foreman said snuggling the cooing bundle. "He doesn't know what he's missing," she added giving a kiss to each of the baby's tiny fingers.
"He's going to be one spoiled little boy, eh Mrs. Foreman?" Jackie said walking out of the Foreman's kitchen with a pensive grin. " Can I talk to you for a minute?' Jackie said sitting down beside her on the couch.
"You're going back to Chicago aren't you?" Mrs. Foreman said taking a deep breath. She had known that eventually this day would come but it broke her heart all the same. She had grown so accustomed to having Jackie, Hyde and their son in the house; that the thought of them leaving again left a bleak and heavy feeling in her heart. Jackie looked down at the floor and nodded. The Foreman's were the last people she wanted to hurt. In the three months that she'd been in the Foreman home they'd cared for her more than her own family had her entire life. Besides, it was getting harder and harder not to let on that her and Hyde were not a happily married couple. The strain of the constant pretense was wearing on her not to mention the commute to Chicago was both irksome and expensive. "Well, its not like I didn't see this coming," Mrs Foreman said trying not to cry. "I know that you are all a family now and need to go out on your own. I understand," she added patting Jackie's hand. "Why do my babies want to leave me?!" she said breaking down in tears as Jackie gave her a hug.
Hyde's knuckles were white as they gripped the steering wheel. After they had pulled out of the Foreman's driveway and out of sight Jackie had given a sigh of relief and had been pretty much ignoring him ever since. She hadn't even complained when he'd turned the radio to one of his favorite stations instead of listening to her ABBA tape. He'd hoped that living at the Foreman house would eventually cause Jackie to soften up to him. That had not been the case, at least not reliably. If she did loosen up or tease him like she used to it appeared almost like it was on accident. It was almost as if she had some mantra that she was saying to herself over and over to keep herself distant. He had a feeling that once they were back in Chicago, Jackie would remind him of his part of the bargain and then even the sham of their marriage would be over. For the first time since getting married, he had to reluctantly accept the possibility of defeat. He only wished that he had someone that he could talk to about his situation. He had almost talked to Mr. Foreman about it but he hadn't for the same reason that Jackie hadn't. He didn't want to hurt them either, in every way that mattered they were his parents. The idea of causing them distress was almost unthinkable.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Jackie said softly still looking out the passenger window. She didn't want to face him. She glanced at the sleeping infant in the back seat, in a moment of motherly concern but otherwise her eyes didn't stray from the passing scenery outside.
"Just wondering what we're going to do," Hyde said simply trying to appear zen. He didn't like having to guess Jackie's thoughts or feelings. As much as he complained about how she went on and on about things, he secretly loved that about her. It took all the guess work out of their relationship, he always knew exactly where he stood with her. It seemed like forever ago since they'd laughed together or even held hands. He found himself missing it more not less as time went on. He guessed Fez was right when he told Hyde that being close to her but not being able to touch her would be awful. Point one for the creepy foreign kid, Hyde thought without amusement.
"I've been thinking about that too," Jackie confessed with a sigh. "How long do you think we should wait before we tell them?" she asked in a monotone. For some reason she didn't understand her heart felt like it was breaking. How a heart that was already broken could break again, she didn't know but that's what she was feeling. She'd burn in Hell before she let Steven Hyde see her cry for him again, that was a promise she'd made herself months ago. A promise she was intent on keeping.
"Tell them what?" Hyde asked deciding the best course of action would be to play dumb and make her actually vocalize her thoughts.
"That we're divorcing," Jackie replied flatly. "We should sit down and work out all the details beforehand, don't you think?" she added in a forcefully chipper tone. " You haven't had a date in months. You must be about to explode," she made herself tease him. "I'll tell you what in honor of the first night back in Chicago, I'll watch Ethan while daddy goes out to play," Jackie offered deciding to offer him an olive branch.
"I'm not going out to cruise chicks, Jackie;" Hyde said through clenched teeth. The very idea of her offer upset him. As long as she was jealous and possessive he had a chance now she was offering to let him go out and sleep with other women with her blessing. It hurt him and he wondered if that might have been the point.
"There's no need for you to play the monk, Hyde. You're not even thirty; I realize you have wild oats yet to sew. Just go out and have a good time, you deserve it;" she said finally turning to look at him. "You really do," she said sincerely. She may not think that they stood a chance in Hell of being together but she did want him happy. She still loved him, she just wasn't about to let him know that. If he knew that it gave him the power to hurt her, and he'd proven in the past that he'd do just that. Despite all that, she found she still wanted only good things for him. I'm totally pathetic, she chastised herself. When would she learn to stop loving people that would never love her? If experience had taught her anything it was that much was true. Her mother, her father, Micheal Kelso and Steven Hyde were only a few examples of that.
"We're married, Jackie. I'm not gonna screw around," he stated flatly. Jackie simply shrugged and turned once more to look out the window. "If you're that worried about me exploding....."he began suggestively.
"I'll give you a magazine and plenty of alone time in the bathroom," she said firmly. "We're not married in any way except on paper, Hyde. We agreed remember?" she reminded him.
"What if I've changed my mind?" he countered. "People are allowed to change their minds, Jackie. What then?"
"It still doesn't matter. A deal's a deal. There's no take backs on this, Hyde. Don't you want a real marriage someday? With someone special to you? You won't get that as long as we're trapped together. If we divorce when he's young, Ethan won't know anything's wrong. Our being apart won't hurt him at all it'll be normal for him," Jackie said solemnly. "He'll be okay," she assured him.
"What if I don't want a divorce? What if I want to work it out?" Hyde challenged. There was no way that he was going to let her call all the shots.
"Work what out? There's no us to work out," Jackie said exasperated. "Just because you get a divorce doesn't mean you're like Edna," she said trying to be reassuring. "You weren't really married to Sam so your marriage didn't fail there, and we aren't married except technically so no fault there. You're a different person than her a better person. You'll be fine and you'll get to see Ethan whenever you want. I won't try to get in the way of that I promise," she said trying to figure out all his possible objections.
"How the hell did Edna get in this conversation?" Hyde demanded in confusion. He had no idea what Jackie was thinking but he was pretty sure her logic was screwed up.
"I'm just trying to see what you're objection to accepting the inevitable is," she explained mystified. "How about we just cut to the chase? Lets's talk about exactly what your problem is and we'll figure out a way around it," she suggested.
"Nevermind," Hyde said harshly and sped up the car. He suddenly didn't feel like talking anymore.
