THE RIGHT WAY AROUND.
Chapter 10 - Consequences.
A/N: Glad you all enjoyed the last chapter because it made me want to get this out faster. Thanks for the support! BTW, forgive the name of the French restaurant but I thought it would be believable that Point Place would have that huge a lack of class. I was a little creatively challenged with this one.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and after the crap the show spilled out in Season 8, I'm relieved to have nothing to do with the show.
FORMAN BASEMENT
"You're pregnant."
"I'm pregnant."
"You're pregnant."
"Yeah, I think we've been over this part already." Jackie said with a slight laugh. Hyde, however, had an expression a little too close to pure terror for Jackie to feel any confidence in his reaction to her surprise revelation.
Exhaling loudly, Hyde perched himself on the edge of the lawn chair and stared up at her. "You're really pregnant?" he asked in a soft voice.
Giving him a small smile, she slowly nodded and sat on the edge of the couch so that they were close but not fully touching. "Yeah, a couple of weeks." Jackie answered. She noticed Hyde's furrowed brow.
"But we've only been sleeping together for 1 week. I mean, except for the-"
"-date." Jackie finished for him. Hyde nodded. It was true that they hadn't planned on having sex but that night had been so strange for the both of them that it seemed like the only logical thing to do. After that night, and the next morning, they had agreed to hold off until they were feeling more secure with their new arrangement. Or at least until they could go 5 minutes without jumping each other. It looked like Jackie would have a few more things to add to the first date page in their book. Shockingly, Hyde was the first to speak.
"I guess you really shouldn't re-use a condom." Hyde stated with a smirk.
"Ew, Steven!" Jackie said with a grimace. Hyde's faces resumed its serious expression. But this time she could see blatant concern on it.
"And you're OK? I mean, there haven't been any problems?" Jackie was thrown by his line of questioning since she had expected him to scream louder than when she had taken the lavender scented candles from his room. And she couldn't calm him down now the way she had done so that time because that was how they had ended up here. Focus, Jackie! she reprimanded herself.
"Everything's fine. I mean not-"
"Yeah, yeah. I know what you mean." Hyde interrupted.
The pair sat in silence for the next few minutes before the questions bubbling in their minds became too much to hold in.
"What do you want to do?" they asked in unison. They laughed nervously and Hyde signalled for Jackie to go first.
"What do I want to do?" Jackie asked him. He nodded but she had no answer so instead gave him a pause with a nice little sigh thrown in. "I really don't know, Steven." Jackie said finally. Hyde again nodded as if he had been anticipating such an answer. They had never really been able to make any decisions when it came to their relationship. Or at least they had never been able to make any good ones. Up until recently Hyde thought to himself. They were supposed to be doing this the right way around but now… now they were back to being clueless.
"Jackie," Hyde started, "I wish I could tell you something good but I've got nothing." He dropped his head and looked so sorrowful and ashamed that Jackie rushed to reassure him.
"Hey, hey, relax. I didn't say this so you'd get down on one knee. You already did that once this year." She joked. But Hyde's shamed expression did not change. "Look, I know this isn't what you were expecting when you came in but that doesn't mean we can't get through this. We'll just take our time…"
"Take our time? In case you hadn't noticed, Jackie, we're kind of on a clock here." Hyde said, pointing to her stomach. Rubbing his hand over his forehead, he continued, "I-I-I'm sorry. I'm just-"
"Scared?" Jackie queried. His lack of response gave her his answer. Some things never change she thought. "Yeah, me too. Look, I think we should both take some time to ourselves before trying to make any decisions. I have to meet my dad soon anyway, so I'll call you tonight?" she asked softly.
"Your dad…" Hyde said in deep thought. Ding. "Oh yeah, you two are having dinner together or something." Jackie nodded. "OK, um, you should go. We'll talk later." Hyde said forcing a smile. Giving him a short kiss, Jackie said her goodbye and left, figuring it was his turn to wallow.
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AN HOUR LATER
FRENCHIES' RESTAURANT
Jack stared quizzically at his daughter who had spent the last ten minutes swirling spaghetti around her fork and mixing it into her water glass.
"Sweetie, what are you doing?" Jack asked in a kind voice.
"Oh, you know. Just trying to prepare for the weird cravings I keep hearing about. I swear women just use pregnancy to get away with being fat and ugly." Jackie answered while dousing her soup with marmalade she had pulled out of her purse. Noticing his silence, Jackie looked up to see her father staring at her dumbfounded. "Oops."
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FORMAN BASEMENT
Hyde stood at the bottom of the stairs and fixed his eyes on the smoky room before him. The goods had been lit for a solid 5 minutes yet he could not bring himself to bask in it for fear of hallucinating Kelso and Fez as giant perverted babies. Like that would be a reality stretch Hyde thought with a snicker. Groaning, Hyde looked down to the ground. "Please forgive me for what I am about to do."
Walking over to the source of the smoke, Hyde blew it out and sprayed the area with air freshener. "I'm going to hell for that." Hyde convinced himself.
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GROOVES
Randy packed up the last of his things with a huff and was about to leave when the front door opened and a young blonde walked in with a suitcase. Randy had to manually lift his jaw up. "Uh, may I help you?" he stuttered.
Smiling, she answered, "Maybe. My name is Sam and I'm looking for Hyde. Is that you?" Sam asked him with wide eyes. Randy looked at her confusedly.
"You're looking for someone and you don't know what he looks like?" Randy inquired.
"Well, I met him in Vegas and now I need a place to crash so I figured I'd look him up. Only problem is that I can't remember what he looks like so I have been going door to door until I find him." Sam said, proud at her 'wisdom'.
"Couldn't you have just looked him up in the phone book?" Randy queried, thinking that she and Kelso could form their very own cradle of idiocy. Seeing her puzzled look, Randy answered her original question. "This is Hyde's store so he'll be here eventually. Wait around if you want." Banging the door behind him, Randy stormed off, and out of Point Place.
Sam wandered around and let out a scream when a scruffy looking stoner appeared in front of her. Calming down, she asked, "Are you Hyde?"
"Sure." he answered distractedly.
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30 MINUTES LATER
Yawning, Hyde walked into his store and noticed that it was strangely empty. "Anybody here?" he called out. No answer. Swearing that he needed to start hiring people who knew what closing up meant now that he owned the place, Hyde walked up to the counter and checked that the cash register was locked when he noticed a note scribbled to him in familiar handwriting. Lifting it up, Hyde read aloud,
Hey man. Some chick came in and said we're married so we're going on our honeymoon. Lucky me, huh? She's real smart man and said that she's a candy stripper so she'll pay our way. Thanks for everything and good luck with loud girl. You'll need it 'cos I think she's still in love with me, man. All the chicks love Leo.
Laughing, Hyde tossed the note away since he was convinced he would find Leo curled up on his desk in the morning. Checking the clock, Hyde saw that it was getting close to midnight and that Jackie should be home by now. Picking up the phone, he decided to get this over with.
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BURKHART MANSION
"He doesn't love me anymore!" Jackie wailed into the phone.
Back in her own house. Donna held the phone away from her as the piercing cries of her best friend were too much to bear at this time of the night. "Jackie-"
"I thought he had changed but he's running away like before!"
"Jackie, what are you-"
"I'm gonna have to do this all alone!"
"JACKIE!" Donna yelled to shut her up.
"Yes?" Jackie answered meekly.
"Why would you think that Hyde has left you?" Donna asked calmly.
"Because I told him I would call him tonight but he's not picking up at the house!" Jackie said, beginning to cry again.
"Jackie, what the hell. He's probably at work." Donna replied, amazed at her friend's ability to jump to conclusions. Immediately the sniffling stopped.
"Oh, of course Donna! I knew Steven wouldn't leave me to take care of this baby all by myself. Thank you!" Jackie cheered.
"You're welco- WHAT?" Donna yelled. "You're pregnant? Jackie? Jackie?" Donna stared in shock at the phone as she heard nothing but the dial tone.
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GROOVES
30 SECONDS LATER
"AH!" Hyde screamed when the phone began to ring just as he put his hand on it. Clearing his throat to rid himself of the memory of such a pansy-ass moment, Hyde picked it up and answered,
"Grooves."
"Oh, hey Steven." Jackie answered as nonchalantly as possible.
Sitting down on the stool, Hyde became a lot more focused. "Jackie. I was just about to call you."
"You were?" Jackie squeaked.
"Uh… yeah." Hyde answered, confused by her behaviour. "Are you OK?"
"Swell." Jackie said quickly.
"Swell?" Hyde queried.
"Swell." Jackie stated firmly.
"Good." Hyde replied slowly.
"Good."
The pair remained silent for a moment, trying to think of how to express their emotions in whole sentences.
"I told my dad." Jackie blurted out to end the silence. "That I was pregnant, I mean." she continued. Hyde was a bit taken aback but shrugged it off.
"That would explain the gun poking me in the back." Hyde joked.
"Oh no, mister. Do not think for one second that by me being pregnant, you are going to force me into having some shotgun wedding." Hyde laughed, pleased that they had been able to keep this conversation light so far. However, they needed to talk seriously about this because it was not some trivial thing that could be put off again and again until it blew up in their faces. That was how they had broken up in the first place. Giving in to his newfound sense of maturity, Hyde began,
"How did he take it?"
"Not great. But not awful either. I told him that we hadn't gotten everything figured out but that we were going to stick together so I think he's as satisfied as can be…"
"Jackie…"
"… but it wouldn't hurt for you to stop making jokes about how you will throw me off a cliff with the rest of your crap."
"Jackie…"
"I know, Steven," she reassured him, "I know. We need to talk."
"Yeah, we do, don't we." This is ridiculous Jackie thought. They were getting nowhere. "I want the baby. I mean I want to have it and I want us to keep it." Hyde rambled out, as he knew he wasn't likely to repeat himself. "It may be your body but I don't think that ultimately holds a lot of weight. So what do you think?" he finished.
"What do I think? I think I should kiss you for saying what I wanted to hear and slap you silly for being such a man!" Hyde laughed but, for the sake of his shins, was thankful that they were on opposite sides of the town. Jackie continued, "So what I'm saying is… I'm saying that I want what you want. I want to have this baby." Jackie finished quietly.
Hyde smiled into the phone, relieved that they had overcome the first obstacle intact. "We're gonna totally screw this up, you know?" Hyde stated as reality sat in.
Jackie let out a short laugh. "Well, duh! With our backwards genes, this baby will be the most popular badass, athletic stoner Wisconsin has ever seen!"
"Our very own paradox." Hyde joked.
"Like us!" Jackie said enthusiastically.
"Like us." Hyde said softly. Clearing his throat he continued, "You know Jackie, this whole one word sentence thing is fun and all but we should probably cut it out before we're getting burned by a foetus." he reminded her playfully.
"Mmmm…" Jackie sounded, "I don't think so. I think everyone has had enough of your backward sense of coolness so it's time to give in and just play along with me." They were getting sidetracked but it was an easy for them to do and with what lay ahead of them, one more night of flirty fun was too tempting to pass up.
So Point Place's newest parents-to-be talked into the small hours about anything they could think of as long as it didn't lead to them making any more life-changing decisions.
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FORMAN KITCHEN
Kitty was so busy dancing to her Judas Priest record that she almost had a heart attack when she turned around and saw her 5 surrogate children standing before her, stifling their laughter. Flustered, Kitty fixed her hair and pointed her finger at all of them saying, "Let this be a lesson to you." And with that, she made yet another ambiguous exit.
"You know I think I'm gonna miss seeing Mrs Forman shake her ass more than anything else." Kelso thought aloud, earning him three 'ews' and one pissed off foreigner.
Swallowing, Fez said, "I don't know what hurt more. Hearing that or taking a bite of this plastic pear." Blinking back tears, Fez croaked, "But it still hurt." He stormed off and Donna, upon seeing Hyde and Jackie practically going at it against the fridge, was left with no choice but to chase after him.
Coming out of his daydream, Kelso frowned at the sight of his best friend and ex-girlfriend. "You know, I don't think I'll miss seeing the two of you doing that." Kelso hollered, forcing the pair to break apart and giving him a close-up of Jackie's half-open blouse. "You may have gotten her knocked up, Hyde, but there's no need for that kind of immoral display of public indecency."
"This, from the man moving to work at a Playboy club." Hyde stated. "Speaking of which, when are you moving, Kelso?" Hyde asked while Jackie nibbled at his ear.
"Once that I'm assured that my godchild is being left in good hands. I ain't leaving it with two people who would do it on a fridge." Kelso reprimanded, standing up to get a drink from the now accessible fridge.
"Once again, coming from a man who got a girl knocked up in the bathroom of a Molly Hatchet concert." Hyde said, smirking.
"Yeah, Michael. We haven't even discussed who are going to be the baby's godparents so you might wanna slow down there." Jackie told him.
Kelso's eyes narrowed and Jackie backed up a step. "Do you mean to tell me that the two of you are even considering the notion of having anybody other than me to be the godfather of your baby?" Jackie let out a nervous laugh.
"Michael, relax. We're not saying we won't pick you, but if we pick you then we might feel obligated to pick Brooke as godmother like you did with me and Steven when you made us Betsy's godparents." Jackie reminded him.
"We're Betsy's godparents?" Hyde asked. Jackie slapped his arm. "I never even see that kid."
"OK, first off, screw Brooke. Hell, I did and I got a baby out of it so who knows what you will get." Kelso said seriously but Hyde was still half-considering the option earning him yet another slap from Jackie. "Secondly, I didn't pick either one of you because I felt obligated. I picked you because you were the best for Betsy"
"Oh, Michael!" Jackie cooed.
"Thanks, man." Hyde smiled.
"I mean, I couldn't let her have two hot godparents. Sorry, Hyde." Kelso said, giving Hyde a pitying smile but instead received a punch and a slap from each side. "Wow, double frog." Kelso said in awe. "I'm gonna miss you guys so much!" Kelso threw himself onto the both of them and swallowed them in a giant bear hug.
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FORMAN DRIVEWAY
Everybody had since cleared out and Hyde was thankful for the peace and quiet. Turning to Jackie who sat napping on one of the seats, he leaned down and picked her up causing her to stir briefly before snuggling in closer to him. Hyde smiled at this and couldn't stop the word 'endearing' from flying into his mind. He decided there and then that he didn't have it in him anymore to be cool 24/7 so his friends would just have to learn to accept him becoming mildly tolerable to everybody he met.
Carrying her through to the living room, he saw Red sitting at the piano bench and from the expression on his face; he gathered that Red wanted to talk to him. Nodding, Hyde carried Jackie up the stairs and took her into Laurie's old room where he lay her down somewhat forcefully since she was refusing to remove her arms from his neck, even in her unconscious state. Returning to the living room, Hyde sat down on the couch and shifted nervously under Red's gaze. He knew what this was about and knew that Red deserved to hear Hyde explain himself. However, Hyde didn't know what to say and had been half-hoping Red would be the one to start asking questions. No such luck.
They were both silent for so long that Hyde could have sworn the cobwebs were growing cobwebs.
"You won't bail on her again?" Red finally asked.
"Never." Hyde answered immediately.
"Then we're done." Red stated before walking out of the room and into the den, leaving Hyde confused.
"No more questions?" Hyde called out.
"I trust you." echoed through the room.
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LAURIE'S ROOM
"Jackie."
Was that someone calling me? Can't a girl get some sleep!
"Jackie."
Wait, I know that voice. Crap, that means I have to get up.
"Jackie." Her eyes snapped open and she gazed up into a very familiar face.
"I thought it was you." she answered groggily. "Missing me already?" Jackie joked. Hyde smiled at her tussled appearance and he felt lucky to catch her in one of her rare moments of carelessness. Though, he wasn't about to comment on how she looked. Kelso had made that mistake when he screamed at the mere sight of Jackie when she had been struck down ill.
"Come on, it's time to go home." Hyde whispered to her.
Jackie groaned and decided that seduction was the only way to keep her from getting up. Putting on the act, she fingered the hem of his shirt and gave him a look that told him all that he needed to know. "Here?" Hyde questioned. She nodded. "Now?" he asked. She nodded again. Hyde smirked and leaned in to kiss her when suddenly his head snapped back and his face contorted in horror. "I don't think I can. I-I-I don't want to have sex with you!" he yelled.
"OK, say it louder!" Jackie told him. Hyde stood up and paced around the foot of the bed in confusion whereas Jackie was left feeling pretty much humiliated. Then something clicked. "Wait." Jackie said in a short tone causing Hyde to look up. "Is this one of those things where the guy stops finding the girl attractive just because she's putting on weight? Because if so, I'll tie you to that bed right now and we'll keep going until I burn off the extra weight, mister!" Jackie felt herself becoming more and more awake by the second.
"No, no Jackie. That's not- Actually that's not a bad idea." Hyde smirked allowing the true man in him to come out. But true men did not receive a marathon sex session. True men fended off a barrel of slaps from their temperamental pregnant girlfriends. "Jackie, I was kidding! Jackie- OW! Jackie!-OW! OW!!"
After a solid five minutes of bitch slapping between apologies, Jackie let her boyfriend fall to the floor and sat down on the bed and hugged a small pillow to her, allowing the feeling of being undesirable to hit her full force. "I'm fat, aren't I?" Jackie stated glumly.
Hesitantly approaching her, Hyde told her softly, "Baby, no. You are a frickin goddess." Jackie looked up at him surprised. "Don't expect to hear it again." he joked. Hyde sat down beside her and put his arm around her, drawing her into his shoulder. "All I was trying to say was that it feels weird for us to do that now that you're…" Hyde trailed off, pointing his hand to her stomach.
"What? Do you think you'll break me or something?" Jackie asked him with a slight laugh.
"Well…" Hyde started, ducking his head. "You know… how we can get a bit…" Hyde was fully blushing by this point and Jackie was loving every moment of it.
"Carried away?" Jackie finished with a huge smile covering her face. Throwing her leg over his, Jackie continued, "Steven, it won't hurt the baby by us having sex. I'm not saying we should go for 'best time ever' but we need to keep doing this because you cannot cut me off. I am still trying to dispel images of tying you to this bed!" Jackie exclaimed.
"That makes two of us." Hyde smirked. "OK, so we'll keep doing this. But not here. God knows what creatures Laurie brought onto this thing." Jackie laughed at this comment, picturing the endless sexual encounters that Laurie had experiences on this bed.
The pair sat there silently for a few minutes before Jackie lifted her head. "You know, Mrs. Forman put on new sheets this morning." Jackie suggested.
"And Forman performed daily exorcisms for fear of the ghosts of horniness past coming to visit." Hyde added, jumping on her train of thought.
And suddenly it was the summer of 1978 all over again. Two kids, horny, and unsupervised.
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THE NEXT MORNING
FORMAN DRIVEWAY
"Shh!" Jackie hissed after Hyde tripped over the lawnmower. "I think you made enough noise last night!"
"I'm surprised you heard over the banshee screams that were coming out of your mouth." Hyde bit back. "Now, come on. Let's get moving."
Leading her to the El Camino, they were about to climb in when a Porsche pulled up, blocking them in.
"Laurie's home." they sang in unison.
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10 MINUTES LATER
Everybody was gathered in the driveway and even Kitty had to comment. "Not that I have ever minded before, but what in heavens are you all doing here at this time?"
"I'm here for the candy."
"I'm here to see Laurie's giant boobs!"
"I'm here because I'm nothing but a big blonde baby who cries about Eric. WAH!"
"Jackie, cut it out." Hyde hissed. Jackie smiled innocently at Donna who was glaring furiously at her.
"You can't touch a pregnant lady, Donna." Jackie reminded her. Donna silently swore that she would get her revenge.
Laurie stepped forward and grasped one of Kitty's and Red's hands in each of hers. "Mommy, Daddy, this is Trevor. I'm pregnant with his baby and we're getting married!"
Oh crap Hyde thought.
"WHAT?" Jackie yelled. "I am not sharing my pregnancy with a 25 year old mattress!"
Opening her mouth in offence, Laurie bit back, "For your information, Trevor and I are in love."
"Now girls calm down." Kitty interrupted. Speaking calmly, she continued, "Laurie, why don't you tell us how you two even fell in love?"
"My guess is he bought her dinner." Eric interjected.
"ERIC!!!" came the yells of 8 stunned people.
"Yeah, I'm back." Eric stated happily. Kelso strode forward and exclaimed,
"Now, hold on! First Hyde and Jackie get back together. Then she gets pregnant. Then I tell you guys that I'm moving to Chicago. Then Laurie comes back and says she is engaged and having a kid as well. And now Eric is back? Who's stealing whose thunder here?"
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THAT AFTERNOON
DOCTOR'S OFFICE
"I mean, what was Eric thinking coming back like that!" Jackie exclaimed as the nurse tried to check her vitals. "If you went off to some distant place and I didn't know when you were coming back only for you to pop-up one day and be a jerk about it, I'd slap the hell out of you!"
"I did, and you did." Hyde said glancing at her. Jackie mouthed an 'oh' before giving Hyde a sweet smile.
"Mr. and Mrs. Hyde? Doctor Harris asked as he entered the room.
"That's us." Hyde answered. They had agreed for appearance sake to pretend they were married since they would probably be locked up if a doctor heard about the complexity of their relationship.
"It's good to see you both. Now Jackie, have you been feeling any more nauseous or light-headed since your last check-up?" Dr. Harris asked.
"Your last check-up?" Hyde asked confused.
"Well yeah, how do you think I found out for sure?" Jackie replied. Now it was Hyde's turn to mouth an 'oh'. "I've been a lot better, doctor. The morning sickness hasn't been too bad and I haven't had any more dizzy spells thankfully."
"Sounds like you're one of the lucky ones. Most women suffer from being nauseous throughout their pregnancies." Dr. Harris told them.
"Yeah, well Jackie has the baby under strict orders not to make her reapply her makeup or else she will play Andy Gibb full blast for the rest of the pregnancy." Hyde grimaced.
"Oh Steven, you were listening!" Jackie cooed.
"Well, to be fair, it was right after you had beaten me to the ground and told me you wouldn't remove your heel from my neck until I repeated it." Hyde told her. Upon the doctor's reaction, Hyde added, "a metaphorical heel."
Dr. Harris disregarded it. "So, are you ready to see the baby?" he asked.
"Yes!" Jackie answered before he finished the sentence. Hyde just shook his head smiling but gave the doctor a nod.
"OK, I just need to make sure your cervix hasn't-"
"Excuse me." Hyde stated grabbing the doctor's arm which was mere inches from Jackie. "Do you seriously expect me to just sit here and watch you stick that in there and give her a good twirl?" Hyde asked with his voice raising.
"I assure you Mr. Hyde that this is a medical examination and I will be completely professional." Dr. Harris squeaked as he felt Hyde's grip on his arm tighten.
"Steven, just let him get it over with." Jackie groaned.
"Look, doc. I don't care how many letters come after your name. I am not letting you touch her… stuff." Hyde said, a little flustered.
"My stuff?" Jackie asked, bemused. "Oh, for God's sake. Doctor, would it be at all possible for a female doctor to do this part of the examination?"
"Now you're talking." Hyde smirked.
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20 MINUTES (AND MANY OUTBURSTS) LATER
Jackie was now having the jell smeared over her lower abdomen while Hyde sat at her side, trying to release the death grip Jackie had on his hand.
"Babe, it's alright if you're scared, but-"
"No, I'm not scared, Steven. I just don't want to have to worry about you pushing another doctor off of his chair the next time he ASKS ME TO PUT MY LEGS IN STIRRUPS!" Jackie yelled.
"Well, that's what you get when you watch every one of Fez's movie collection." Hyde snapped. "I still can't get that picture out of my head." Hyde said with a grimace.
"You know, Steven. You really need to- AHH!" Jackie's alarmed expression was not the only one. Hyde looked freaked when a sound started filling the room. A loud swishing, a thumping, a… a heartbeat. That was their baby's heartbeat.
That ought to shut them up Dr. Harris thought.
Neither Hyde nor Jackie had any words at that moment. Sometimes even those who have something to say at any given moment need to spend just one moment where it's just about what they are feeling. And Jackie Burkhart and Steven Hyde were definitely feeling something at this moment.
Dr. Harris looked at the pair and smiled. They had done nothing but bicker since they arrived and seemed to have absolutely no way of communicating. But now, when the focus was off them and onto something bigger, he saw the truth in what they had. He saw that they loved each other and didn't need to show the world that they did.
They'll be OK he thought.
A/N: So another chapter bites the dust and there is only one left. I might take a week or so to get it out because I want to do it when I have nothing like school on my mind. I haven't left Eric or Laurie or the consequences they bring in the lurch. They just weren't my priority here. Hope you liked. Review please!
Stay safe.