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The next two months were a flurry of activity for Lock and Hyde under the strict scrutiny of a nesting Jackie.

The course of Jackie's pregnancy was normal as far as Sherlock could tell, granted he was basing this off of TV and had no real-world knowledge on the subject, but she smiled more than she cried so he figured that was a good thing?

He still worried about what would happen once there was a baby in the house, would they finally realize he was dangerous to have around? Hyde's calm self-assurance didn't waiver, but still Sherlock worried when he had time, Connor had shown up one day and asked if Sherlock would work some afternoons after school at his gym, he said he'd pay him as well as teach him to box if he wanted.

Sherlock accepted and soon found out that boxing was a good pass time for him, he got out a lot of aggression and anger while at the same time learned things that made him less afraid. He'd always fought, but it had been a wild vicious assault to stay alive, now there was form and slowly developing skill of which he was very proud.

When he got home after training with Connor, he was too tired to feel worried about Jackie and Hyde getting tired of him. He would eat dinner with them, shower and pass out. One day out of the blue, King arrived with her small son held carefully in her arms, Sherlock watched the little boy stagger on chubby legs over to his father, who looked nothing short of amazed, which was when Sherlock knew that this was the first-time Connor had seen Maddox walk.

While Connor was proudly showing off his son to the others at the gym King approached Sherlock where he was trying to focus on his sweeping.

"how's it going?" she asked in a warm voice that still surprised him a bit.

"fine" he answered neutrally

"did you see Mad? He just got up from where we were playing guitar and took three real actual steps" she told him sounding proud and amazed by her tiny person learning something new.

"I saw, that was pretty cool" he told her with a small smile, Sherlock was fond of the little boy, he was more comfortable with Mad than he was with the adults sometimes because Mad just liked to listen to him read stories and didn't give him a knowing look when his face fell into a scowl when the dark thoughts returned.

"just think of how cool it will be when it's your own brother or sister taking their first steps" Kind said with a grin

"I'm not really their kid Kingsley, you of all people should understand that" he said darkly

"I understand that you feel that way, I don't agree but I understand. But the arrival is getting close, and I don't want to see you do something dumb because you think you're not really family, so if you start feeling like that I want you to promise to come tell one of us ok? We really do care Sherlock" King told him seriously

"whatever" he shrugged and left to go tell Mad how good of a job he'd done.

King watched him go and vowed to keep a close eye on him until he accepted that Jackie and Hyde were capable of caring about him even with a new baby. She got not trusting that people cared, hell she still had trouble believing that Connor was really in love with her, but he made sure to remind her how much he did love her often. she was sure that once the baby was actually born the quality she'd witnessed in Sherlock when he dealt with Mad would be doubly as strong with it, all he needed was to stick around long enough to see for himself.

There was a side effect of Jackie being pregnant that Sherlock had no idea he'd need to prepare for, he had asked Kick and Max what it had been like being around King and Connor during Mads incubation so as to get an idea of what he was in for. But their description couldn't hope to prepare him for the inevitable that would soon be there.

Jackie had made it to the 7-month mark (having not announced it until five months) before Hyde dropped the news on Sherlock while he sat at the small table -eating the largest bowl of cereal Hyde had seen since Fez discovered lucky charms.

"hey before you go into some sort of food induced coma, I wanted to let you know that were going to have some company here to help jacks get everything ready for the baby" Hyde told him casually as he took a seat across from the 15-year-old, now eyeing him suspiciously after what he'd said.

"company? What sort of company? The only people I've ever seen you hang around with live less than a block away" Sherlock pointed out flatly

"I know other people besides them! not a lot but – ya know – some others, but that's not the point, the point is - people are coming to stay here so I want you to get used to the idea before they do. I know you don't like being around a lot of people and I can't say that I blame you, but these people are important and I don't want you freaking out and getting off on the wrong foot with them, understand?" he said in a much more serious tone than he generally used with his foster son.

"trying to break the idea gently so I don't have a total freak out fit and bail?" Sherlock summarized curiously, he knew that for all he wished it weren't the truth, Hyde was right, if he didn't have a few days to get used to the idea it was more than likely that that was precisely what would happen.

"I think I can handle it, don't sweat it ok, but who are these 'guests' you allude to?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

It was out of character for Hyde to care what anyone thought, so the fact that he wanted Sherlock forewarned and therefore less volatile, made Sherlock wonder what was really going on?

The grin that never failed to make Sherlock glare sprang onto Hyde's face.

"ah Sherlock, the day is almost here where you will experience one of the greatest and yet most exhausting things your young mind could imagine, next week you will meet none other than the Forman's" he said with an almost pitying look for Sherlock, who still looked very much the street kid.

Sherlock stared back with a blank expression.

"who're they?" he asked wishing for once that Hyde would just tell him instead of watching him guess.

But his wish would not be granted that day, because Hyde simply smiled a deeply amused smile and said

"they're my family" with such quiet pride that Sherlock didn't know what to say in response?

He had been under the impression that Hyde – much like Jackie and all of Rockwall – didn't have a family in the traditional sense? But it seemed he was wrong.

"cool" Sherlock said for lack of a better response"

"glad to hear you're optimistic about it, now there are a few things I should mention before they get here" Hyde began thoughtfully, not wanting to miss something important.

"I'm all ears dude" Sherlock said and pushed his bowl away to give Hyde his full attention.

"don't be disrespectful towards Red or Kitty, not only will Red make you regret it but Jackie will too and I won't exactly be impressed, that's the main thing, also, try to take Kitty in stride and not lose your composure, she can be a lot to take at first but she means well and even if affection isn't something you're used to, she really does mean it honestly. Now as for my brother" he was about to go on but the surprise of what he'd just heard made Sherlock interrupt.

"you have a brother?" he almost shouted, Hyde did not seem like someone who'd grown up sharing toys, to put it mildly

"I do yes, Eric, as I was saying – when it comes to him don't let all the dorky things he talks about fool you, there just his way of blowing off steam, he's not a dumb immature kid – far from it actually – but he has a tendency to….ramble about certain things….at length….no matter how much he's threatened with bodily harm, his bravery is actually pretty impressive there now that I think about it" Hyde mused thoughtfully, as if he'd never considered it in that light until he was explaining it to a third party.

"anyway, Eric is a good guy he's been my best friend since we were little kids and I would really appreciate it if you were respectful towards him and our parents, I'm not saying you have to pretend to be something you're not, but just try to take it all in stride and give them and honest chance before you decide how you feel about them" Hyde asked seriously.

"you mentioned him before, right? Red? You said he saved you from your sleazy mom" Sherlock asked, dredging up the memory of his first real conversation with Hyde, the one that showed him a kindred spirit in the older man, that even though Hyde didn't like to talk about it he knew what haunted Sherlock and would help him through it. Neither of them ever alluded to that conversation again, neither of them were big with showing or sharing emotions, but Sherlock always remembered it whenever he began feeling like he was all alone. He wasn't, Hyde – and in a different but similar way Jackie – new what it was like to only have yourself to rely on.

"yeah, he did. Mostly because Kitty and Eric made him, but I figured out a long time ago that he wouldn't have listened to them if he hadn't wanted to, no one makes Red Forman do something he doesn't want to. He's a truly great man Sherlock and if you can make it thought the introductions without getting a foot in your ass you can learn a lot from him about how to be a man" Hyde informed him with his usual smirk, but Sherlock knew he wasn't kidding.

Unfortunately, Hyde's glowing description of his family really, just made Sherlock more nervous to meet them, he had trouble believing they could be as amazing as Hyde described. But if he thought Hyde's description of them was reverent, it was nothing compared to Jackie's.

She flew into the kitchen with an intent expression while they were still at the kitchen table discussing what was left on their 'things that WILL be done before the baby arrives, ok I will personally make you suffer and I mean it!' list from Jackie, that was the honest to god heading at the top of the list that hung on the fridge, Sherlock had laughed when he first saw it until he had seen the look on Hyde's face, then they solemnly read the list together with a shared feeling of doom – she had covered a lot of ground.

"Steven, did you call them?! Are they coming? When do they get here?!" she asked with a level of excitement that put Sherlock on edge but didn't seem to faze Hyde, Sherlock had a feeling he was used to this level of energy from his tiny wife. Sometimes Sherlock forgot the two had grown up together, he made a mental not to ask about their past at some point.

"chill doll, yes I called them yesterday, yes they're coming, Red and Kitty will be here in three day, Eric the day after, Sherlock and I have somehow managed to work through the bulk of your truly insane list – and I say that with love – so there's nothing for you to worry about ok?" he told her in a calm soothing voice that seemed to work on Jackie, when she visibly relaxed Sherlocks opinion of Hyde raised yet again, he had some truly impressive skills.

"thank you puddin'" Jackie said sweetly and gave Hyde a quick kiss.

"puddin'?" Sherlock asked stifling laughter

"button it kid" Hyde growled

"well I would, but a mental pro and con list I just did tells me that whatever consequences I may endure form pressing for more information on this newly revealed topic, are well worth it" he said with a rare wide smile at the look of embarrassment on the always cool Hyde's face.

Hyde glared at Sherlocks amused and steady gaze, the staring contest would have gone on for a very long time if they hadn't had their concentration broken by Jackie giggling loudly.

"calm down puddin' pop, there are worse nicknames to have, just think of all the ones you gave Kelso" Jackie said through the laughter.

"so, the formal version is puddin' pop? I'll have to remember that so I can use it properly on state occasions" Sherlock said with a serious tone but a barely suppressed grin.

"Sherlock, I love you but I will have no choice but to sell you to gypsies if you ever, EVER let that name cross your lips!" Hyde told him with a dark scowl, he was expecting the usual witty retort from the boy, but none came?

Hyde was about to ask what was wrong, when Jackie shooed him out of the room with a quick gesture and whispered promise to explain later. Hyde was confused but did as Jackie said and decided it was a good opportunity to pick up the rest of the paint they needed for their projects.

Jackie took Hyde's now empty seat, took one look at he stunned look on Sherlocks face and sighed.

"it's true you know, for both of us" she told him flatly

"whatever" Sherlock mumbled uncomfortably.

"you know, it should probably bother me the amount of times someone's response to me saying I love them has been 'whatever', and now that I think about it – it does! You and Steven are so damn similar sometimes I want to scream! You both got the stupid idea that just because your parents suck it means no one could ever love you, well my parents sucked pretty damn hard too and I still manage to believe that I'm loved. You need to listen to me this instant and I mean really listen Sherlock, Steven and I love you, you are ours now, we will never throw you out, we will never leave you behind and we will never give up on you! One of the most important things I learned when I met Kingsley is that, family isn't just who you're born to, it's the people who love you and are there for you whether you've asked or not." Jackie spoke passionately to him, wanting him to really understand once and for all that he was part of their family no matter what happened.

"I want to believe you, but it's hard to" Sherlock murmured staring at his scuffed black boots, unable to face the look of kindness on Jackie's face just then.

"fair enough, it's not really something that can be proven with words anyway, you'll get used to it eventually because it's not going to change, that I can promise" Jackie told him seriously

"when…when did you know for sure that Hyde loved you? From what I've gathered you and he had a rocky start" Sherlock asked curiously, he'd wondered about it for a while but hadn't had an opening to ask until just then.

"when I knew for sure? Hmm" she said pausing to think the question over, it required some thought because there was the moment that she knew Hyde was interested in her, the moment she realized he genuinely liked her, and the moment she first thought he loved her but what Sherlock was asking was for the moment she was 'sure' he loved her, and that was harder to pin point in the sea of memories they shared.

"we grew up in Wisconsin – don't give me that look! Wisconsin is lovely – anyway, it snows a lot there and there isn't a whole lot to do where we lived so our group of…. we'll use the term friends to save time, liked to go to the old water tower and just…. fucking stand up there looking out at the trees! I thought it was stupid then and I think it's stupid now! But I digress, the moment I knew for sure that Steven loved me and I could really trust him was one day when they'd all decided to go get their fill of the stupid ass tree tops! We HAD been in the basement watching TV when our resident moron came up with the brilliant plan to go climb a metal ladder in subzero temperatures to get some quality tree viewing in, I didn't want to go – I don't know if you've ever noticed it, but I don't carry a whole lot of body weight normally and I get cold very easily, as soon as I said I didn't want to go my useless bastard boyfriend at that time started whining – honest to god whining like a two year old! – that I was no fun, and my only female friend at the time made fun of me for being a wimp, just because she was draught and famine resistant meant I was a wimp for getting cold in a blizzard!" Jackie snapped angrily as the memory formed in her mind.

"you're digressing again Jackie, as much as your friends back then sound like a bunch of dicks that's not the story your telling right now" Sherlock gently pushed her back to the original point.

"right, right, you're right I'm sorry" she said with a slightly embarrassed look for her wide veer of point

"so, they're all bitching like me not wanting to trudge through the snow is the most selfish thing I'd ever done, and let me be very clear on this point – I could be way more selfish than that! When Steven finally spoke up, he dropped his boots to the ground off the coffee table so hard the noise got their attention, when they looked over he gave them a look that would have made most people run for cover and he said:

'I'm with the wimp, its fucking freezing out there and you're all fucking stupid if that sounds like a good time to you! Me and the wimp are going to go to the Hub and eat warm food and drink hot chocolate on her dime while you dumbasses freeze your dumb asses off…dumbasses! Come on wimp lets go be wimpy and warm instead of cool and cold'

"then he tossed me my coat and dragged me out of there before they could say anything back, and we went to the Hub and had a really fun afternoon without them, and the moment I knew for sure that I fell into the category of people that Steven Hyde actually loved was when he stopped me before we left the Hub and buttoned the top button of my coat id missed and wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck and muttered gruffly that he didn't want me to get sick. He's different now then he was back then, but trust me that it was a very rare thing for him to show care in any way for someone, it was still a long, long time before I knew he was in love with me too, but that was the moment that I knew he loved me and I could rely on him to be there for me" Jackie said with unshed tears in her eyes,

The mixture of pregnancy hormones with her precious memories of her and Stevens beginnings made her emotional.

"that was a really anti-climactic story dude, I'm not saying I don't get it, I just figured knowing Hyde it would be something like he beat the shit out of someone to defend your honor or something" Sherlock admitted with a shrug

"let me tell you a story about the greatest holiday of our great country – veterans day" Jackie said with a happy gleam in her eyes.

"isn't that just a bank holiday?" Sherlock asked dryly

"shush! Do not dismiss the most romantic holiday in existence!" she cried dramatically

Sherlock was about to point out that romance had literally nothing to do with veteran's day, when he thought better of it and stayed silent as Jackie recounted a tale of Hyde as a white knight on a horse?

The man in question got back not long after the story was over and Sherlock was in the process of asking his follow up questions.

"so, out of nowhere he changes his mind and asks you on a date? How the hell did he get there from punching some David Cassidy wannabe?" Sherlock asked Jackie while unaware that Hyde was leaning in the doorway listening to them dissect his actions from so long ago.

"Mrs. Forman threatened me at gun point" Hyde said from behind Sherlock making him jump and earning a glare form his wife.

"she did not!" Jackie snapped

"honest to god jacks" he swore with an amused smirk

"you two are really weird, you know that, right?" Sherlock asked dryly

"it has come to our attention once or twice over the years that we are not the garden variety couple yes" Hyde acquiesced to the claim.

"as long as you're aware" Sherlock drawled with a flat expression, he would die before letting it show how much he liked the stories about them finding each other, in fact his nimble mind was already searching for a neutral question that would spark more information.

Luckily Jackie had outgrown many things over the years, but not her love of talking, and was already giving Sherlock what he'd hoped for.

"back when we first started dating, our group - that you referred to as dicks"

Here Sherlock interjected "I've since amended that to 'bag of dicks' they sound like a big bag of dicks as far as I can tell"

Jackie was about to comment on his language when Hyde spoke first "he's not wrong doll, it sums it up pretty well"

"fair enough" Jackie allowed the analogy "as I was saying, when we first started dating they used to constantly bitch and moan that we were creep and unnatural, and actually told us to break up on several occasions" she told Sherlock with a laugh, but he could sense real pain with the memory. Bag of dicks apparently wasn't strong enough for this lot, he'd have to put some thought into that.

"were they really that jealous that you two fell in love and didn't need them anymore?" Sherlock asked curiously, it sounded immensely petty to him and it was hard to imagine.

Jackie and Hyde were both staring wide eyed at him with matching expressions of shock.

"that never occurred to me" Jackie murmured

"me either" Hyde concurred

Sherlock looked at his foster parents with a look of disbelief

"it really never occurred to either of you that your 'bag of dicks loser basement friends' had such a problem with you being together because there's such an obvious difference between pseudo teenager love, and what you two clearly had that it made them feel like you'd matured past them and they had to try and knock you both down to save their pride?" he asked skeptical that two smart people had never put together what seemed so glaringly obvious to him.

"who exactly are you calling a bag of dicks scary looking kid I don't know? Is it like the basement was the bag and all those inside were dicks? Or were we each an individual self-contained bag of dicks?" a new voice asked from the same doorway Hyde had startled him from.

Sherlock was getting a little tired of people sneaking up on him and whirled to see who this new person dissecting his terminology was?!

It was hard to get a clear line of sight on the guy as he was already being engulfed in a joyous group hug by Jackie and Hyde who looked surprised but delighted to see him. When they finally moved aside enough for Sherlock to see the man, he saw a skinny tanned guy with a kind face and an easy smile

"you're here early" Hyde said happily as he leaned on the kitchen counter and crossed his arms.

"I am yes, I decided to lie about when I could make it here to surprise you two, for no other reason than I thought it would be amusing – and it is" the new arrival stated with a smug expression.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Jackie sobbed confusingly and held the man in a tight hug which he shrugged and accepted after a moment and wrapped one long arm around Jackie's shaking body.

Finally noticing Sherlocks confusion Hyde spoke up "Sherlock this is my brother Eric, who thinks it's funny to make my pregnant wife cry for his personal amusement, Forman this is our son Sherlock we told you about" Hyde made the introductions with without much fanfare.

"so, you're Sherlock huh? Nice to meet you, feel free to call me uncle Eric" he said with a misty expression

"that sounds unlikely" Sherlock replied flatly

"you say that now, but something tells me you'll warm to it soon enough" Eric said with a sure smile

"I wouldn't bet on it dude" Sherlock told him with a blank stare

"wow, he's just as unfriendly as you Hyde, are you sure he's not your biological son?" Eric asked flippantly

"fairly sure I didn't produce any offspring in 2nd grade, but then again my memory's crap" Hyde mused thoughtfully

"the similarities are because I attract a certain kind of wounded soul that can only be healed by my unique understanding and love" Jackie supplied pompously but with a joking twinkle in her eye.

"still as humble as ever devil, it's comforting to know there are some constants in the universe, even if their your towering ego" Eric teased her

"watch it string bean or I'll make you feel the baby kick" Jackie threatened with narrowed eyes

Sherlock nearly laughed when the color drained out of Eric's tanned face and his eyes went wide with panic.

"Jackie! You know that totally freaks me out, it's like an alien is trying to break free!" Eric said in a high panicked voice.

"and this is where she attacks" Hyde muttered with a smile, just as Jackie went after Eric with an oven mitt shaped like a cat for comparing her baby to an alien.

Hyde and Sherlock watched her chase Eric out of the kitchen with impressive speed for her 7-month pregnant body, and laughed at the cries of remorse from the man being assaulted with an oven mitt.

"so, that's your brother?" Sherlock said conversationally

Hyde nodded slowly "yep, that's my brother" he confirmed with a laugh before going to the living room to save Eric from Jackie's wrath.

A/N I hope that was enjoyable for all, in the next chapter if all goes as planned Red and Kitty will be there too, so until next time!

Also, feel free to review as I'm worried that these chapters leading up to the baby may be too dull and it'd be nice to know whether they're liked or a waste of time, if they're a waste ill just skip ahead in time somehow. Thank you all.