A/N: I know I said I was going to update this story on October 22nd but I got caught up with tons of school work and family life plus I had too many ideas and I couldn't finish any of the stories that I started writing so I'm finally getting around to writing this story. Oh and to clarify Jackie is 23 and Hyde is 25 almost 26, Ben is about 3 days old when they take him home.
The First Week Home
XXX
"Okay, Jackie, the car seat got approved by the nurses, all of our clothes have been packed, and the baby is all bundled up, so I think we're ready to go." Steven said, "Oh and uh, Kitty made us enough food for the next week so now we're really ready to go home."
"Steven do you think Ben's gonna be warm enough? It looks pretty cold outside." Jackie fussed over the baby, who looked completely unbothered by the multiple layers his mother had wrapped him in. only his perky little nose and curly blonde hair peeking beneath his hat. He let out a small yawn, lifting a tiny fist in the air. "See look, Puddin' he's still cold, he's going to freeze to death before he even leaves the hospital" she worried again.
"Oh would you stop? He's going to be fine, we're not even gonna be outside that long."
Jackie stopped looking around the room. "You know Steven today, we get to bring our baby home and get to be a real family!" She finished by going over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Yeah, I guess so baby." He replied. Hyde was being eerily calm about bringing a baby home. The past few days Jackie had noticed he hadn't said much, just holding Ben, making the occasional witty remark to Kelso and Eric when they stopped by to visit, and asking Jackie if she was okay. Jackie had also noticed that he never seemed to take as must interest in how she was feeling as he did now. The past 3 days they had been in the hospital at the end of each night while she was feeding Ben, he would look over atHyde her smooth the few strands of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail and ask her "Do you feel okay?" in the softest voice she had heard him use with her.
It was nice, she decided, having him pay so much attention to her and Ben, but it was so…out of character for him that it sort of creeped her out with how nice Steven was being to her. But the again Jackie knew she would have to hold on to it for however long it lasted because knowing her Steven, it was going to be for very long.
XXX
Day 1.
"Finally, I'm glad to be out of that hospital, all those stuck up doctors, stealing all my money, ya know? What did people do before hospitals when they needed to have babies? They had them at home where there were no money stealing doctors and insurance didn't cost you a arm and a leg." Hyde finished a frown already forming on his face.
"Steven would you set the baby down? You're going to give him motion sickness if you keep swinging him around like that, and he's only 3 days old."
"Oh yeah right. I forgot we had one of these." Steven Ben on their coffee table and dropped all the food Kitty sent home with them in the freezer. He came back to find Jackie standing in the middle of the living room staring down at the tiny human sleeping away without a care in the world. He walked up behind her setting his hands on her shoulders laying a gentle kiss on her crown. "what are you doing?" he inquired. She looked up at him before enfolding herself in his embrace. She looked up at him with the most innocent bewildered expression he had ever seen. Even Hyde to admit that it was pretty cute, her looking up at him with those huge mismatched eyes.
"Uh Steven, what are we supposed to do now?" the young couple looked over at their newest addition to their home. "well we take care of him, hold 'em, feed 'em. Call him a dumb ass, and hope he doesn't turn out to be a criminal." He said
"So basically, we don't want Ben to turn into you?" Jackie finished with a smile.
"Yeah, pretty much."
She smirked at his leaving form, returning to the babe that sat in their living room. "Hi Ben, I'm your momma" Jackie cooed at the baby slipping her finger into his fist letting him test out his grip. "Oh you look just like your daddy, yes you do! You have your daddy's baby blonde curly hair, his cleft chin, and…..and….." she looked down at her newborn son, releasing a deep sigh "and his fondness for frowning." The boy wasn't even a week old and he already frowning in his sleep. Kelso was right Steven's hair was al frizzed out with angry thoughts and now Ben's hair was going to end up like that.
"Hey Jackie, I'm gonna go put this stuff away" he grabbed their duffel bags and the clothes they brought for Ben. "Steven throwing things on the floor and shoving them under the bed is not putting it away."
"Can't hear you, I'm too busy throwing our stuff under the bed."
XXX
Later That Night
They're sitting on the couch, watching tv while their lasagna warms up in the oven. "Are you sure about this Jacks? I don't know if Jangles will be able to control himself around both a baby and you."
"I guess, we can't just leave him the garage until Ben is 18, we might as well let him get used to the baby plus I don't want Ben to be scared of our own dog."
Steven clipped the leash on their Alaskan malamute, leading him into the living room. and true to Hyde's word, the puppy immediately started barking and wagging his tail at the sight of his favourite person whom he hadn't seen in three days. Steven had also underestimated the strength of an excited dog and was being pulled towards Jackie as Jangles had his sights set on her. He ran up onto the couch and immediately started licking her and trying to get Jackie to pet him. It seemed like he still hadn't noticed Ben cuddled into her chest. But then all the excitement stopped as he took note of the baby. Jangles started by sniffing his foot, working his way up until he got to his face. He paused like the baby seemed familiar to him yet he wasn't quite sure. And just as the new parents thought everything was going to be fine, Jangles licked Ben's face and the baby scrunched up his face, letting his cheeks get red as he let out the loudest scream they had heard from him since he was born.
"its okay Benny Bear" his mother tried comforting him "its okay, you'll like Jangles, you're both babies." She tried again but the only thing that made him stop crying was the removal of Jangles from the room.
"Jackie, what the hell did you just call my son?" Steven asked incredulously, sometimes he could not believe the nicknames Jackie came up with for them, first Puddin' Pop and now this? He had to stop her before Ben goes through his whole life known as "Benny Bear".
She looked up at him innocently from the couch, "what?"
"you can not call him that, he's a man"
"Benny Bear here is a newborn infant, not a man, Puddin' Pop." She finished emphasizing the p in pop.
He narrowed his eyes at her walking into the kitchen while mumbling under his breath. Jackie grinned at him from her place in the living room, knowing he couldn't argue with her now.
XXX
Day Two
This wasn't at all what every parent at the birthing class had told her newborns were like. Maybe he was taking after his father; he didn't make much noise, only when he needed to be changed, or was hunger. He didn't really move much just sort of laying wherever Jackie and Hyde lay him down but was most content when he was held by one of his parents. Ben still didn't like Jangles not one bit, every time the dog came within 10 feet of him, it was like an alarm set off and the baby started screaming (a trait he inherited from his mother) crying and his face turned bright red as he raised his tiny fist in the air. But the thing that reminded Jackie most of Steven was how both Ben and Steven liked the same music. He didn't particularly care for the loud rock music Steven sometimes enjoyed, but sad country music put the baby out like a light.
So here they were, Jackie sat in the rocking chair that had been built for the baby's room at 3 am with 1 of the 3 country music records they owned playing softly as she breast-feed Ben, who looked up at her with her huge expressive eyes. Ben was the perfect mixture of the two of them. He had Jackie's round cheeks, doe eyes, and small perky nose. But he had Steven's curly hair but it was blonde like his dad's had been 'til he was five, his cleft chin and strong eyebrows. One thing she hadn't been so sure of were his eyes. When he was first born, they were a bright clear blue like Steven's but now that he was almost a week old they were getting awfully dark, almost the same colour as her left one. A deep ocean like blue that contrasted nicely with his pale lamb soft skin.
"You okay baby?" Hyde popped his head into the room. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
She looked up at him a tired smile gracing her face, she took Ben's hand in hers making him wave to Steven. "We're fine, I think he is just extra hungry tonight because he didn't wake up for his lunch today." She paused peeking at what she could see of Steven in the darkness, "what? Did my big strong man miss me?" =Jackie gave him a coy smile.
"pfft, whatever." He scoffed at her, coming farther into the room to sit on the ottoman. "how's he doing?" Hyde let his fingers find themselves into the soft curls that flopped over his sons forehead.
"Ben's fine, just hungry, that's all."
And like he was confirming what she said he released a satisfied grunt, leaning away from her chest, letting her know he was finished.
"Here you want to burp him?" Jackie didn't wait for an answer just button her pajama top back up and pawning off the baby. "Steven he's not a bomb, he's your baby so stop holding him like he's going to burst into flames," she chuckled. Hyde grimaced a little adjusting his hold on Ben so that he was cuddled into his chest. Like magic, Ben let out a big yawn and buried his body further into his dad. He smiled a bit looking down at the baby, Steven looked back up at Jackie like he was showing of his baby holding skills, but his confidence didn't last long when she commented. "As cute as this is, you're not holding him right if he needs to be burped. And he needs it or he's going to get gas bubbles." Hyde frowned at her while shifting Ben up to his shoulder and started patting his back.
"Not that hard, you're going to break his ribs." His frown deepened as he exaggerated the soft blows he lay on his son's back. "See that's better isn't it Ben." Jackie cooed quietly to the sleepy baby. "Now you just need a-" before Jackie could finish her sentence Ben spit up all over Steven's back before moving his head over to the middle of his chest like he was avoiding the mess he made. "-a burp cloth" she finished.
Releasing a deep sigh, Steven looked up at the ceiling. "I got about another year of this don't I?" she couldn't help it, Jackie burst into giggles at the sight of their unperturbed baby and an increasingly annoyed dad. "He didn't even let you burp him for 5 minutes before you threw up on you!"
"I need to take a shower." Steven grumbled. He handed the now sleeping boy back to Jackie and angrily made his way back to their bathroom as he slammed the door shut to drown out Jackie's laughter.
XXX
Day Three
"This is nice, I don't have to go to work and I still get paid because you had my baby." Steven said from his spot on the couch. "yeah lucky you, you get to sit around all day while I try to recover after having your gigantic baby rip my body open while you stood there looking like you were going to pass out." Jackie sassed him. Lately it was like she was still pregnant, with all the sass, random mood swings, and being yelled at all the time. Sure, before they left the hospital the Doctor told them that Jackie still had a little hormone imbalance and would be a little out of whack for a but longer, but to Steven this was even worse than when she was pregnant.
Jackie came into the living room holding Ben against her chest, "Steven will you hold Ben for a while, I need to take a shower." She looked so tired, Ben had been keeping her up all night, barely sleeping just under 3 hours at a time. He looked up at her noting how even when her hair was slightly frizzy, and her face was void of makeup he still thought Jackie was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
"Here hand him over." Hyde reached out for the baby. Up until now, he hadn't really been alone with his son. Not that he didn't want to, he just never had the chance to. Steven cuddled Ben into chest, he pulled the blanket on the arm of the couch over the both of them. "It gets pretty cold here, in Wisconsin buddy" he murmured softly to the baby. Even though he pulled a blanket over them, Hyde pulled the little beanie off Ben's head, letting his fingers run through the soft curls that lay there. He let his cheek replace his hand. Ben whined a little probably at the scratchiness touching his sensitive skin. This is nice. He thought, Steven could never see himself with a child, let alone cuddling with him, yet here he was. Hyde got more comfortable on the couch, laying down, fluffing a pillow to put under his head.
Jackie walked back out the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her waist the other she used to dry her hair. "Steven I think that for dinner we should…" she took in the sight on the couch before her. It was starting to get dark out and the tv had a low hum. There was Ben lying on Steven's chest, just as comfortable as could be, while Steven had his head resting on top of Ben's. She couldn't lie, Jackie was a little nervous that Steven wouldn't take so well to being a new father, but just like all the other times she doubted him, he proved her wrong.
Day Four
The First Visitors
"Surprise!" Kitty yelled when Steven opened the door. He rubbed his eyes, Jackie had started to make him get up too when Ben started crying, it was pure hell. Even though he had been an insomniac when he was younger, getting into his mid-twenties and starting to actually care about doing a good job at work, he needed to start sleeping at night. "Hey Mrs. F, Red, w-why are you here, so early?"
"We just wanted to see our precious little grandson" she exclaimed. "Now where is he?" she asked looking around
"Well, um, Ben and Jackie are still asleep, which is what I'm going to go do now." He said heading for the couch. He pulled the blanket out the basket next to the arm chair and started dosing off.
"Would you just look at, all this…mess, around here." She looked around the kitchen there were dishes everywhere, clothes hadn't been folded, and there were little pieces of trash in little spots all over the house.
"You know what, I think I'm just going to clean up a little bit around here." Kitty sighed already pulling out the rubber gloves from under the cabinet.
XXX
"Look at how beautiful he is! Red he looks just like our little Steven." Grandma Kitty finally had her chance to hold her grandson. "Oh I just love his cute little nose, Oh and these soft cheeks." She practically yelled. Red just rolled his eyes giving a small sigh as he flipped through the newspaper. Jackie sat on Steven's lap while he sat in the recliner.
"Steven we need to have Mrs. Forman over more often, our house has never been cleaner." Jackie commented marveling at the organization and order of everything. All the dishes had been washed, the clothes were washed and folded, the floors had been swept and mopped, and she had gone grocery shopping while waiting for Ben to wake up so they had a fully stocked pantry. Finally Steven had something to cook with other than cereal and ramen noodles with cheese.
"I know, now I'm starting to see why your parents hired help, eve before we had Ben our house was that clean."
"Oh his warm little body, I love him so much!" Kitty interrupted again. She squeezed the baby to her chest, he let out a little grunt. "Oh, Oh, no, grandma Kitty is so sorry, she didn't mean to hurt you." Kitty gently stroked his hair out of his face.
"You guys have just made the most beautiful baby, I have ever seen!"
"What about Eric and Laurie?"
"What about them dear?" Kitty asked quizzically.
"I meant they're your kids, don't you think they're the most beautiful kids you've ever seen?" Jackie explained.
"Oh, um, yes, yes" Kitty replied quietly averting her eyes back to Ben.
Steven and Jackie shared a look. This was going to be an interesting visit.
XXX
Day Five
"Hey Jacks? I need to go to work, I think Leo is trying to hire someone and I'm gonna be really pissed if Leo tries to pay him and we end up getting robbed." Hyde walked to the hall closet grabbing his coat and keys, pulling on his boots. "I'll be back in a few hours, I probably need to do inventory too."
"Okay honey, don't be gone too long Ben's gonna miss you." Jackie kissed him, she pulled away grabbing Ben's hand. "Wave bye to Daddy." Daddy. That was a title Steven never though he wanted but as he looked at Jackie holding his baby in his arms, it made him wonder what the hell he was thinking when he told Jackie he never wanted kids.
Jackie watched as Steven walked out the door, he turned back and waved at them once he got to his car, she blew him a kiss and watched as he rolled his eyes and backed out the drive way.
"It looks like it's just the two of us today Ben." She held him up over her head, he just looked at her trying to say he didn't really care if he was feed and held. "What to do, What to do" Jackie thought out loud.
"I know we can go shopping!" she set Ben in his bouncer swing while she went to put on decent clothes ad clean up her appearance. Jackie was already half way finished putting on her clothes before she realized she couldn't take Ben out yet, he hadn't had his shots. Plus she didn't really know how she would handle being out with a newborn all day without Steven.
"Maybe we can try knitting you a blanket" she tried. Jackie stood over the baby like she was bouncing ideas off him, like she didn't know he couldn't talk back to her. "Yeah, I knew that sounded lame, I'm just really bored here and I'm not like Daddy, I can't just watch a football game on the couch and fall asleep after a few beers."
"What if we looked in the new Macy's catalog, you are already outgrowing the newborn clothes I bought you." Yep, this was Steven's baby alright as she was talking he started dozing off until a light snore filled the living space.
XXX
Later that night
When Hyde walked in he noticed that most of the lights were off and there was a 20$ laying on the table. He knew this meant she couldn't wait 'til he came home to cook her dinner, she had ordered pizza or what she referred to as "fat girl food." He had never see her eat as much 'fat girl food' as she had when she was pregnant. Maybe it was the truckload of hormones that were still racing through her body that made her still crave this.
"Jacks" he called out, hoping that she hadn't fallen asleep already. It had been almost a week since he had just sat with her without the baby crying or taking up all their attention. Of course he knew that's what newborns did but all he wanted to do was come home and kiss Jackie for longer than one second before getting interrupted again.
"We're in here!" she called back, Hyde followed her voice to their bedroom and was met with Jackie sitting in his favourite blue sweatshirt and a pair of white socks on her feet. She had Ben propped up on her knees. Ben letting his head loll around while he grasped her finger, he occasionally made one of those little baby noises or gurgled but mostly he stayed quiet, as if he was trying to absorb every word his mother read to him. Jackie pointed out all the pictures in Goodnight Moon like Ben would recognize all of them or respond back.
"Hey" he finally spoke up after watching the scene unfold before him.
"Hey, did Leo try to hire someone?" Jackie inquired giving him a hello smile after he pressed his lips to her temple.
"Uh no, he was just trying to find someone to make him a sandwich because he ran out of ingredients." Hyde shook his head and settled onto his side of the bed letting his eyes bounce back and forth between Ben and Jackie and the TV.
All three of them were quiet just letting Family Feud captivate them for a moment. Steven looked over at Jackie again, he loved watching her when she wasn't paying attention. He moved a strand of hair behind her ear. She turned to look at him and brought her lips forward to meet his. When she pulled back, she let her nose touch his "I love you" she whispered so softly he almost didn't hear it. "I love you too angel eyes." He murmured. Jackie rubbed her nose against his, giving him an eskimo kiss. He would never admit but he loved when she did that, it was some how more intimate than a kiss yet more playful. It made him feel close to her in way he normally couldn't reach, maybe it was because she only did it when she needed to feel close to him too. Steven gave her a soft sleepy grin, ready to go in for another kiss.
That was until Ben decided he had enough of his parents not paying him any attention and give them a little shriek. "Hi my sweet boy, are you getting bored with us?" Jackie asked in a baby voice. Lifting him up and gently tossing him a little above her head.
Steven listened on as Jackie cooed to the baby once more. He decided this was an interruption he didn't mind anymore.
XXX
A/N: Ahh I just love how cute these three are. Yeah Steven and Jackie are a little out of character but I think that getting older and finally starting a family would make them finally stop being dumbasses. Also unlike the last story this one only took me five days to write, sorry for any grammatical errors. I know it says the first week home but tbh I started running out of ideas that wouldn't have run into other stories I want to write, so here's five days. I noticed that a few people wanted more of Daddy Hyde, so here it is. Im thinking of starting a mini-series within this one called just the two of us that explores each relationship between these three and possibly other members of the gang. Let me know what you think. I love reviews and pms so keep them coming. Another thing: if anyone is looking to collab, ask me questions, or just give me advice on my upcoming stories, my messages are always open. Happy reading! -n.p.
