I'm sooooo sorry that it took me FOREVER to write this ch. It's just that with two new characters and getting their personalities just right was difficult. I had to incoporate a little bit of Jackie and Hyde into each of their children while still trying to give their children their own identity--if that makes sense. So, here it is. Please leave reviews guys.
NOTE: So, this chapter is longer than any of the other ones. It's divided into two parts. the first one is about Hyde's moments with his three chilren and the second part is about Jackie and her moments with them. One of my most favorite chapters!
CHAPTER 21: "Watching You/Somebody's Hero" by Rodney Atkins/Jamie O'Neil
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(First half--Hyde)
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Brooklyn, New York
October 21, 1993; Thursday
3:36 PM
Outside of Berkeley Carroll School
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Hyde was parked right in front of the school, his youngest son in his arms and Zep at his feet.
Zep looked up at the 15-month-old boy and barked, wagging her tail.
The child giggled and reached out a hand to touch her.
Hyde smiled and from the corner of his eye he saw a whole bunch of kids being let out of the campus. And in the middle of the crowd, he spotted two heads that he knew too well. "Your siblings are out, Jimmy."
Even though he was only a little over a year old, it was as if the young child understood his father perfectly. He turned his head towards the campus again and giggled when he saw a boy and a girl crossing the street towards him and his father.
The boy had light, brown, curly hair and bright blue eyes. He wore a frown upon his face, as usual, and had a smooth walk. If Hyde's friends were there, they would have no doubt in their minds that this boy was a smaller version of Hyde.
The young girl hurried to keep up with her brother. She had long, dark curls and carried eyes that were that of her mother's. One of them was green and the other was blue with a tint of brown. She too carried a frown on her face usually; however, at the sight of her father, her face brightened up. Her walk was more of a glide. Anyone could tell that she was a dancer.
Once his girl reached him, Hyde bent over to give her a hug and a kiss. "How was your day, Locks?" It was a nickname he had given her when she had turned four.
She smiled and handed her dad her backpack. "Good. I have tons of homework." She opened her door and climbed inside.
Hyde turned to his oldest son and ruffled his hair. He knew that his son didn't like hugs. "How was your day, JR?"
Jagur just shrugged and threw his backpack on his seat.
"Got any homework?" Hyde went into the backseat and placed Jimmy on the baby chair.
Jagur shook his head and climbed in.
The young girl reached over and turned on the car. She immediately went to the radio and popped in her favorite cassette, which was Lenny Kravitz's Are We Gonna Go My Way. "He's lying. I saw his homework list in his pocket." She went back to her seat.
At this Jagur turned over and gave his sister a death stare. "Tattle tale."
She gave him an equal death stare. "It's not like Dad didn't know you were lying. You're always lying."
And she had a point. Jagur, just like his mother's old self, was always lying.
"That's the reason why you have no girl friends. You always go snitching on people," Jagur stated.
And he was right. It was one of the similarities she had to her mother. She was the perfect student and always did as she was told in school.
She reached over and punched her brother on the arm. "Jerk!"
Jagur winced and reached over to pinch her.
Soon, the two kids were hitting each other and yelling.
Hyde had had enough. "Stevie and Jagur! Stop! You're gonna scare your brother."
A giggle was made and all three turned to the one-year-old. Jimmy was clapping now and giggling at the sight in front of him.
Stevie arched up an eyebrow and gave her father a look that said: 'you were saying…?'
Hyde rolled his eyes. He turned to the outside of the car and found Zep wiggling her tail at him. "Get in or I'm leaving you."
"No need to yell at her." Jagur leaned over and clapped his hands at the dog. "C'mon, girl." He then slapped his lap, signaling the dog to climb on top of him.
Zep immediately obeyed.
Jagur began to pet her.
Throughout the ride home, Jimmy stared out the window and babbled on and on. Stevie bobbed her head to the music as she sang the lyrics low. And Jagur read a new book that he had just gotten from the library as he continued to pet Zep. Hyde looked over his shoulder for about a second to see what it was that his son was reading this week. The book contained a young boy and girl on the cover and read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. He smiled and his eyes went back on the road. "What are you reading about, Jag?" He knew what the book was about. He had read it in high school, but he always liked to get his son's perspective on some reading. It amazed Hyde how deep Jagur went into the detail and how well he could hit the point of the story right on the nail. Even though he was only 8 years old, he was well beyond his age when it came to literature.
Jagur didn't respond for a moment. Hyde wasn't surprised. His son only answered questions after he was done finishing an entire chapter. He would always answer questions about whatever he read, it would only just take him a while to answer them.
Finally, Jagur put down his book. Once Hyde saw this, he reached over to the radio so that he could lower the volume.
Stevie wasn't really paying attention much. Her eyes were focused on the outside and she was singing along to the music as she bobbed her head. "I don't know why we always cry." At that, she heard the volume start to go down. "Hey!"
Hyde got the warning. He raised up the volume.
Stevie went back to bobbing her head to the music and singing along to the music.
Jagur sat back on his seat. "Alright. So there's these two gangs…"
Hyde listened to his son tell the story and analyze what he had just read.
…..
Once they got home, the kids ran out of the car with Zep right behind them. Hyde took Jimmy into his arms, as well as the backpacks, and went inside.
The moment he stepped into the living room, he almost tripped over Jagur's shoes. He grunted and put down Jimmy before he tripped over something else.
Jimmy immediately crawled towards the kitchen, which was where his siblings were.
Hyde started to pick up the shoes and socks and sweaters that had just been thrown all over the floor.
When he finally got into the kitchen, he saw Jagur sitting on the floor and snacking on some chips. Hyde didn't understand his son sometimes. For some reason, Jagur's favorite place to read was right bellow the kitchen window while sitting down on the floor.
Hyde turned and found Stevie on top of the counters and digging through to find something to munch on herself.
Hyde made his way to the refrigerator. "What do you guys wanna eat?"
"Food," Stevie said.
Hyde turned and gave her a look.
She gave him a sweet smile then went towards the boom box and put on Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits cassette. She soon began to sway her legs and body to the music.
"Mac and cheese," Jagur muttered as he continued to read.
Hyde took out a beer and turned to his daughter. "Can you hand me the box, Locks?"
Stevie reached over to open one of the counters and took out a box of macaroni and cheese. She tossed it over to her dad.
Hyde caught it and began to boil the water.
Stevie found a banana instead to munch on and went to her backpack to get her homework out. She wanted to get it done as fast as she could. She always hated doing it late at night. It was another thing she had in common with her mother. She was no procrastinator.
Speaking of which. Stevie turned to her father. "When's Mom getting home?"
"Late. We're gonna meet her at Stevie's dance class," Hyde answered. "She's having a meeting with the producers today."
At this Jagur took his eyes off of his book. "Is she gonna get that raise?"
"I hope so." Hyde took out some veggies and began to make a salad. "Mom really deserves it. She works just as much as her co-workers and it's unfair that she's getting paid less."
"What if she doesn't?" Stevie had a worried look on her face.
Hyde grew a little annoyed at the fact that Jackie may not get that raise she so deserved. "Then I'm gonna have a meeting with those producers." He took a sip of his beer.
"Daddy, why you angry?" asked Stevie.
Hyde frowned and began to stir the noodles on the boiling water. "What? Daddy's not angry."
"Yeah, you are."
"Says who?" He took another sip of his beer.
"That beer on his hand," muttered Jagur as he still kept on reading.
Hyde turned to his son with a frown across his face. "What?"
Jagur let out a sigh and put down his book and turned to his father. "Dad, you only drink when you're either nervous, worried, or pissed…or at least in front of us."
Stevie turned to her brother. "Oh, he drinks plenty when we're not looking."
Hyde shook his head. "No, I don't."
His son and daughter turned to him. "Yes, you do," they said unison.
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do."
He was getting more than irritated. "No, I do not."
Stevie and Jagur rolled their eyes. "Yes, you do."
Hyde grunted. He didn't see the point with continuing to argue. The both of them were just as hard-headed as their mother.
After the kids were done with their meal, Hyde checked Stevie's homework and then Jagur's as they cleaned the kitchen. Once they were done, Hyde began to get everything ready. He checked the clock and saw that it was time to go. He turned to Stevie. "Are you ready?"
Stevie nodded. "Yup." She had her gym bag across her shoulder and popped in her headphones. She bobbed her head to the music and began to move her feet to the beat she was listening to.
Hyde then turned to Jagur. "Ready, buddy?"
Jagur finished off his chapter and nodded. "Are we taking Zep?"
Hyde shook his head. "She can't come. You know that Stevie's dance teacher doesn't like pets."
"Cuz she's a mean old hag." Jagur kissed the dog goodbye and followed his father out of the door.
It didn't take long to get to Stevie's dance class. They were there within ten minutes.
Stevie was the first to get out of the car. Once she stepped out she noticed a small woman standing in front of the building, waiting. Stevie beamed up and began to run towards the woman. "Mommy!"
Jackie's face brightened up as her daughter ran towards her. "There's my locks!" She hugged and kissed her girl. "How was school?"
"Good." Stevie pulled away.
Jackie smiled and made her way towards her youngest son. "Hey, buddy." She kissed and hugged him. "What book are you reading today?" She knew there was no point in asking how his day had gone. His answer was always the same: "ok." However, she had noticed that whenever a question was asked about the books he read, his answers were much longer. Jackie loved that her son had that in common with her husband.
Jagur began to talk nonstop, filling in his mother of every detail he had read about the book. As he talked, Jackie took Jimmy from Hyde's arms and gave her husband a peck.
Several minutes later, after Jagur was done with his analyzes, Stevie began to tug at her mother's blouse. "Mom! Come on! I'm gonna be late."
"I'm going, Stefani." Jackie was the only one to call her daughter that name. If it had been another person, Stevie would have demanded that they call her by Stevie. However, it never seemed to bother her that her mother called her that.
Jackie leaned in and gave her husband a quick peck. "I'll see you at home."
"Hey, how did the meeting go?" Hyde asked before they parted ways.
Jackie's smile appeared. "They gave."
"Really?"
"Steven, c'mon. This is me. I can persuade people to do anything I want them to." She gave him her 'duh' expression and gave Jagur another hug and kiss.
Hyde grinned. He took Jimmy into his arms and gave him a kiss. Then, he leaned over and gave his daughter a peck on the forehead. "Have fun."
"I will, Daddy." She turned to her mother and began to pull at the blouse again. "Mom!"
After Jagur managed to pull away, he and Hyde began to walk off.
"Have fun at the game!" Jackie said over her shoulder as she took Jimmy and Stevie into the building.
Hyde opened the car door for his son. "Ready to see the Nicks?"
Jagur grinned. He nodded.
Hyde had known that the Nicks tickets he had won from the radio station about a week ago was going to make Jagur's whole year. No one loved sports more than Jagur did.
"Then lets hurry." Hyde climbed into the car and drove off.
…
Father and son were having a good time so far. They ate some junk food as they watched the game. The beginning was pretty good and they cheered their team on. However; as the fourth quarter came about, the Nicks were really starting to sink. It was as if they had lost the touch pretty quickly. Now, instead of being excited about the game they were witnessing, they were starting to feel annoyed by it.
Hyde and Jagur were up from their seats and yelling stuff at the players out on the court. The Nicks were losing by ten points and father and son were beyond furious at the damn team.
"What the hell's the matter with you?!" Jagur looked as red as a tomato.
At that Hyde's head snapped over towards him. He was shocked. Jagur wasn't one for cussing. "Jagur…"
Jagur didn't keep his eyes off from the court. "What?" A bad pass was made; this only angered him more. "You fucking moron!"
The rest of the crowd gave some 'boos' and moans.
However, Hyde hadn't heard the crowd. "Jagur!" Hyde was furious as well now…only his reasons were completely different from his son's.
Jagur caught the tone and turned to his father. He looked a little worried once he saw Hyde's facial expression. "What?"
Hyde looked straight into his son's eyes. "Where did those words come from?"
Jagur frowned. "What words?"
Hyde gave him a look.
Jagur rolled his eyes. "Dad…everyone says them."
"Not my 8 year-old-son."
"Dad--"
"No, Jagur. I don't want you using those words again, you hear me?" Hyde was dead serious.
A little bit of annoyance grew inside of Jagur. "Why? You say it all the time while you think Stevie and I aren't around."
"I'm an adult, Jagur," he said it with a tone as if that was the correct answer.
"But I'm not a kid, Dad."
Hyde observed his son a little closely. "Jag, yes you are."
"No, I'm not. I'm smarter than half of my school."
"I never said you were. I simply said you're a kid."
Fury started to overtake Jagur. "No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are."
"No!"
"Yes!" Hyde took a step towards Jagur. "Listen to me, Jagur. You are a kid. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's good that you're a kid because later on in life you're gonna have moments where you wish you were back to your youth. You don't have to grow up so soon and so fast. You don't have to have a book glued to your face all the time."
Jagur saddened a little and mumbled, "But you read all the time too."
Something tugged at Hyde's heart when he heard that from his son. A small smile spread across his face. "You read because I read?"
Jagur gave a small nod.
"Why?" Hyde asked with great curiousness and amazement.
Jagur kind of looked down. "Because you're real smart. And…I wanna get that smart."
Hyde stared at his son for a while. Observed his son's unruly, curly head and bright blue eyes. And he couldn't stop himself from reaching over and kissing him on top of his head.
Jagur wrapped both arms around his dad.
Hyde ruffled Jagur's hair. "Just don't say bad words again, got it?"
Jagur grinned. "Got it."
Hyde smiled and didn't stop watching him for that entire night.
…
The next morning, Hyde was running late in getting the kids ready. He checked the clock and saw that Jagur and Stevie needed to be in school in twenty minutes. He looked around him to see if any of the kids were around him before he silently let out a cuss word.
He rushed out of the kitchen with two lunch bags and a dipper bag. "Is everyone ready to go?" he asked as he entered the living room.
Then, he smelled something funny.
And just before he asked about the smell, Jagur walked over to him with a worried look on his face. "Dad…"
Hyde frowned. "What?"
"Um…Stevie just threw up." Jagur pointed towards the hall where his sister was sitting.
Hyde dropped everything and rushed over to her.
Stevie was trying hard not to cry. She had throw up all over her and felt like she was going to let out another one.
"It's ok, Locks." Hyde soothed her hair and immediately took her into his arms, trying hard not to make a bigger mess. He turned to Jagur. "JR, can you call Mommy and let her know what happened to Stevie?"
Jagur rushed over to the phone and dialed his mother's phone number.
"Do you feel like you want to throw up again, baby?" Hyde started to clean off her face.
Stevie held back a sob and gave a small nod. Then all of a sudden she began to gag.
Hyde hurried her up to the toilet and allowed her to throw up.
After a couple of minutes, she finally finished.
Hyde hugged her tight as she still held back tears.
"I wanna go to school," Stevie said, knowing what her father was thinking at this moment.
"Baby, I don't think that's going to be possible." Hyde started the water in the bath and started to take off her clothes.
"But I have my homework to turn in." A silent tear finally came down.
"I'll give them to Jagur. He'll take them to your teacher."
"What about my notes?"
"I'll talk to your teacher about that and ask for a copy." He finally finished undressing her and put her in the warm water. "Now, stay in here for a while as I clean off the hallway.
She gave a sad nod.
Hyde met Jagur in the hall. His son handed him the phone. "Mom wants to talk to you."
Hyde took the phone. "JR, can you get some clean underwear and pajamas for your sister?"
Jagur nodded and hurried.
Hyde picked up the phone as he started to clean up the hall. "Hey, Jacks."
"Is she really bad?" Jackie cut right to the chase.
"Yeah. She threw up a lot. And I can tell by the look in her face that she's in pain. She's trying to hide it, though."
"Aw! My baby girl. She's gonna have to stay home with you."
"Well, I'm gonna have to take her to the studio with me actually."
"Why? Are you recording today?"
"Yeah. I told you this on Monday."
"Oh, that's right. You're working with the new band you signed up, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, it's a good thing that today Jimmy has daycare."
"I know. Well, let me let you go. I just finished cleaning here in the hall. I have to get Stevie ready."
"Alright, honey. Just make sure to give her the medicine every eight hours. And take some blankets with you as well; a book and her home work books--I just bought her some new ones the other day that I know she'll like."
"Alright." He threw away the rag he had been using to clean up the hall.
"Ok. I'll call the school and let them know that Jagur might be late and tell them about Stevie."
"Thanks."
"Give her to me so I can talk to her."
Hyde rushed over to the bathroom and gave his daughter the phone. "Mommy wants to talk to you."
His sad daughter took it. "Mommy."
Hyde began to quickly bathe her as Jackie spoke softly to her daughter.
After she was done, Stevie gave her dad the phone.
Hyde rinsed her and let go of the daughter. "Done?"
Stevie nodded and Hyde let go of the water before taking the phone.
Jagur came in with Jimmy in his arms. "Dad, I'll go ahead and put everything in the car.
"Thanks, buddy." Hyde loved the way his eldest son stepped up and helped out without being told to.
Jagur hurried out.
It took several minutes to get Stevie and everything ready. Hyde hauled ass to get to the school. Right when they got to the front of the school, the bell rang.
Hyde was glad that they were late.
Stevie handed Jagur her homework and a note she had written to her teacher.
Jagur took them and gave his sister a quick peck on the forehead. He grabbed his bag quick and began to rush out of the car.
Hyde reached over and pulled his son before he left. He gave the boy a quick hug and kiss. "Mommy will be the one picking you up today, alright?"
Jagur nodded and hurried off.
After Hyde dropped off his youngest son, he went over to the studio, which was only twenty minutes away from both the house and the school.
Hyde took his daughter and her bag and went in.
He was so glad that he decided to make the kids a small room there inside the studio. It really came in handy whenever he had to watch the kids and work at the same time. He would always leave them inside the room; where they had toys to play with, books to read, homework sheets to work with, and two beds to take their naps in.
Once he entered the studio room, he saw the band and two of his songwriters there waiting for him.
"Hey. Sorry about this, guys but my daughter got sick and Jackie can't take care of her since she's at the station working."
They all gave shrugs and didn't mind at all.
Hyde opened up the door for Stevie. "Alright, Locks. Just go in there and sleep. And if you start feeling like you want to throw up, just call out for me or there's that trashcan you can use. Ok, baby?"
She nodded. "K."
"Are you hungry?"
Stevie gave him a gross look and shook her head.
He smiled. "Alright." He took out her medicine.
Stevie immediately got sad. She hated medicine.
"Baby, I know. But you have to get better. Don't you want to go to school tomorrow?" He knew that would get her to take her medicine.
Stevie gave in.
After she had taken her medicine, she hopped into her bed and went straight to sleep.
For the next few hours, Hyde worked and kept an ear out for his daughter. It was hard to do with seven men in the room and music blasting.
"That note is completely off, Tam," said one of Hyde's songwriters, Slam. He looked more than irritated with the lead singer of the band. "You need to make it smoother. It sounds too rough."
Tam, who was inside the booth with headphones on, looked furious with himself. "I can't do it, Slam."
"Yes, you can," Slam reassured him. "You just have to let go of that note."
"I've been trying, and I can't do it."
Slam shook his head and turned over to Hyde. "We can't waste so much time on that one note."
Hyde turned over to Tam and gave him a look.
Tam wasn't about to deny it. Hyde scared the shit out of him and the look he carried on his face showed it.
Hyde leaned over and looked at the kid straight in the eye. "Tam, are you telling me that you can't do this son?"
"No," Tam said. "It's just--"
"It's either you can or you can't," Hyde said with a tone. "So, which is it?"
Tam let out a breath. He didn't know what to say. He knew that if he said he could then he was going to be expected to hit that note soon and if he said he couldn't then he was giving in to his insecurity. And everyone who knew Hyde knew that what bugged him most were people that were insecure. Once he found out that one of artists were very insecure, he gave them one last shot before he kicked them out of his label.
"Just try to make it breathy," came a small little voice from Hyde's left.
Hyde turned and found his daughter standing there next to him. Her hair was a mess and she was wearing her pajamas. She still looked pale, but not like before.
Stevie was looking at Tam. "Your voice is rough, and it sounds awesome. All the tracks that they've made for you have been in complimentary to what your voice is used to. But you gotta break out of your element. Your voice is capable of so much more if you just let it."
Everyone in the room was looking at her with astonishment.
Tam was too. But he, unlike everyone else, said something. "But how do I that?"
"Make your voice sound breathy. Like, talk and breathe out at the same time--if that makes any sense. It should sound like this: Because you're here for me."
Everyone just stared at her for a moment there, amazed by the note she had just hit.
Then, finally, Tam gave a nod. "I think I know what you mean." He turned to Slam. "Can you replay?"
Slam nodded and got back to work. He rolled the tape again and began recording.
Sure enough, when it came to the note, Tam hit it.
Everyone in the room clapped, proud that Tam had finally got it.
Hyde turned over to his daughter, wondering about her.
Stevie frowned. "What?"
"How'd you know to hit that note?"
Stevie frowned. "Stevie Nicks has hit it before. I've heard her."
Hyde smiled.
Stevie went to her bag and looked through it. "Daddy? Did you bring my tape player by any chance?"
Hyde got up and looked for it with her. When he found it, she gladly took it and played one of her tapes.
And as she listened to her music, that's when he noticed it. Her voice did not sound at all bad. She was only 6 years old, yet she managed to hit most of the notes pretty well.
For the rest of the day, Hyde gave his daughter a small tour of the studio equipment. Stevie had always been in the studio, but she knew nothing of it. She didn't know which buttons did what and Hyde figured that she would enjoy getting to know it all.
…
By the time that Hyde got home, it was 4PM. Jagur was in the kitchen, reading a book. As soon as Stevie came into view, he dropped his book and walked over to her. "I brought you your notes." He handed them to her.
Her face slightly brightened up.
As Jagur told Stevie what her teacher told him to tell her, Jackie walked over to Hyde with Jimmy on her arms. "Honey, did you bring the food?"
Hyde nodded. He handed her the grocery bag.
She leaned over and gave him a quick peck. "Thank you. I'll hurry up and get Stevie's soup ready."
"How long, Mommy?" Stevie asked.
"Give me 40 minutes, baby girl." Jackie gave Hyde Jimmy and hurried over to the stove. "Your mom called and gave me a good soup recipe for Stevie."
Jimmy made noises to his dad. He gave a giggle when Hyde made a face.
Hyde smiled. "I'm gonna take the little guy to the park."
Jackie turned to him immediately. "Oh, that would be great, honey. He hasn't been out much today."
Hyde grabbed a sweater for his son and started heading for the door with the stroller. "Zep, you wanna go with us?"
Zep immediately ran over towards Hyde and Jimmy.
Hyde put her on a leash and headed out of the door.
It didn't take long to reach the park. Once they got there, Hyde let Zep out of the leash and let her run wild. He then put down a small blanket so he and Jimmy could sit down on it.
For the next half an hour, father and son just watched the scenery. It was nice to have silence for a while. Even though Jimmy loved to babble, he seemed to stay pretty quiet out in the outdoors. It was something he had in common with his father. Both loved the outdoors and enjoyed the silence it offered.
When Zep was tired of running around, she too came to join them.
Hyde turned to his kid and saw that Jimmy was now looking up at the sky in amazement. Hyde followed suit. He laid flat on his back and looked up.
A nice breeze came in and blew across their faces. It was chilly, but wonderful at the same time.
Hyde thought he heard Jimmy give a sigh of pleassure.
…
(second half--Jackie)
...
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Brooklyn, New York
February 5, 1994; Saturday
9:02 AM
The Hyde Home
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Jackie finally was able to get her kids to wake up from their long slumber. It had taken her a long time to get them out of bed, which did not come as a surprise. Every weekend morning was a battle for her.
She usually let them get up until 10, but since she had the weekend off and had them all to herself--Hyde was out of town in a business meeting--she wanted to treasure every moment of it.
She had already set out a plan. As the kids ate breakfast and played a little, she would clean the house so that by the time they were finished, all was done so they could go out for the day.
She had already cleaned up Stevie and Jimmy's bedrooms. All that was left was Jagur's. And his was the room that took the longest to clean up.
As she was finishing up, she picked up one of his notebooks and a piece of paper fell out. She bent over to pick it up. And as she picked it up, she saw the title of the paper: 'A Meaning'. She frowned upon it and opened it up to read it:
You taught me how to spread my wings
Showed me how love could be
Then took away all the weak in me
You gave me a life meaning
And now I am who I am because of you
I hold no fake, no worries, no self-esteem issues
Your love is unconditional, not a strife
Don't know who I would be if you weren't in my life
It was only four simple lines. And she was amazed by the beauty in them. She headed to the kitchen, wondering where Jagur copied it from.
Once she reached the kitchen she handed the paper over to her son. "Sweetie, where did you find this piece? It's beautiful."
Jagur glanced at it, frowned, and went back to his book. "What do you mean?"
"What book did you read it from?"
"I didn't read if off any book."
"Ok…then, what magazine."
Jagur looked up at her in disbelief. "Mom, I don't read magazines." He rolled his eyes and went back to his book.
"Well, then where did you read it from?" This was one of the qualities that Jackie hated about her son. He never answered the question straight up. He had to be a little of a smart ass whenever he answered…much like his father.
"I didn't read it off anywhere." Jagur went back to his book.
Jackie was ready to strangle her son.
Stevie frowned and looked over her mother's shoulder to take a peek at the piece of paper she was holding. "Isn't that what you were writing in the car on the way home from school yesterday, Jag?"
Jagur gave a small nod.
Jackie's eyes lit up and she gave out a small gasp. She looked down at the writing and read the small poem again. "Jagur, you wrote this?"
He didn't answer. He was too intrigued with his book at this moment.
Stevie finished off her cereal and picked up her headphones. "Yeah, he did. I was there. He's written a lot more in that one notebook he has. They're real nice."
Jackie turned to her daughter. "The red one?"
Stevie nodded. She turned back to her tape player and blasted the music. Soon, she began to move her feet to the sound and sing along to the lyrics.
Jackie looked down at her son in amazement. Never could she have imagined that someone at his age would ever write anything so beautiful.
She leaned closer to him and stroked his hair. "Sweetheart, do you mind if I take a look through your notebook? The one with all your writings?"
Jagur finished off the chapter and turned to his mother. "Sure."
She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you." She was about to leave the room when something suddenly made her stop and wonder. She went back to her son. "Sweetheart?"
"Hmm?" His eyes were back on the book.
She looked at him. "Who did you write this about?"
He didn't give an answer quickly. He knew that his mother wouldn't stop bugging him about it if he didn't answer right away. However, he wanted to finish the paragraph at least. When the last sentence in the paragraph was finally read--and to Jackie that took hours!--Jagur looked up at her and gave her the simple--and obvious--answer. "You."
Jackie's heart squeezed at this.
Jagur didn't notice how emotional his mother was being right now. He quickly went back to his book.
A knot on her throat soon began to form and before she knew it, tears were falling down her face. She let out a small breath and tried to control herself. She reached over and gave her boy the biggest of all hugs and a million kisses.
Jagur frowned at the odd behavior and tried to squirm away. "Mom," he whined.
Jackie didn't care, she still held on tight. "I love you, my little bear."
Jagur rolled his eyes and continued to squirm away. "I love you too," he said back, mainly because he just wanted her to let her go.
Jackie gave him one last kiss and let him be.
He shook his head and straightened himself up before going back to his reading.
Jackie wiped away her tears and calmed herself down. She rushed over to his room and picked up the notebook, dying to know what were on his other writings.
--
Later that afternoon, Jackie dropped off Stevie in her dancing class as she took Jagur to get his haircut. After that, she headed to the grocery store and bought a few things to make for dinner.
By the time she was done with her shopping, she noticed that Stevie's dancing class had already ended about ten minutes ago. She bit her lip, trying to hold back a curse.
She quickly swerved to the right, almost missing the exit.
"Mom!" Jagur's book almost flew out of the window.
Zep let out a bark and immediately turned to Jimmy to make sure he was ok.
Jimmy gave a giggle.
Jackie took a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure her kids were ok. "Oh, sorry, babies. It's just that I don't want to be too late to pick up Stevie."
"Doesn't mean you gotta drive all crazy, Mom." Jagur shook his head and tried to go back to his book.
Jimmy then went back to watching the outdoors.
It took Jackie about fifteen minutes for her to get to the class. She hurried out of there and took both her children and dog out and hurried inside of the building. "Your sister is not going to be happy with us."
Jagur frowned up at his mother and gave her a look. "Us?"
She looked down at her son and gave him a look as well. "We're a family, Jagur. It's us. There's no 'you' or 'I' in family."
Jagur rolled his eyes and didn't say a thing. There were many times that there was just no arguing with this woman.
Right when they reached the building, Stevie's dancing teacher came out and started to lock the door.
Jackie frowned. "Hello, Miss George."
Miss George turned to her. "Oh, hello, Mrs. Hyde. Are you looking for Stevie?"
Jackie nodded. "Yes, I am. Where is she?"
"She's over around the back with one of my assistants. He's teaching her and some of the other students some new dance moves."
"Oh. Is it Stix that she's with?" Jackie had heard all about Stix from Stevie. She figured that her daughter had a major crush on the young man.
Miss George nodded. "Yeah. He's real good with Stevie. And she really likes his style of dancing. He incardinates a lot of Hip Hop and break dancing into his routines and amazingly Stevie picks up pretty fast."
Jackie let out a smile. "Well, she definitely takes after her mother. I always could pick up quick in any kind of dancing when I was her age as well."
Miss George smiled and finished closing the door. "Well, see you next week, Mrs. Hyde."
"Bye." Jackie took her sons and dog over around the back.
She heard the music get louder and louder as she approached. And once she had a clear view, she saw that there were half a dozen kids and an older looking teenager dancing to the beat of the music.
The older teenager, who Jackie assumed to be Stix, was break dancing in the middle of the kids. The kids were excited and were bobbing along to the music.
Jackie just watched her daughter's facial expressions as she saw Stix moving his feet to the rhythm. Jackie noticed how Stevie was starting to move her feet as well, doing her best to imitate what Stix was doing.
Stix also caught this and grinned. He scooted back from the middle of the crowd and kept his eyes on her. "Stevie, show 'em how it's done. Go on, girl."
Stevie grinned and immediately rushed to the center of the crowd. She moved her feet like Stix had and then got right on her stomach on the floor. Soon, she began to wiggle and move in motions.
Stix let out an exciting yell. "Stevie's mastered the Worm!"
The other students clapped.
Stevie got back to her feet and started to do some moves with her feet and hands on the ground. She was shuffling her feet and hands. After some seconds of dancing on the ground, she was finally out of breath and stopped.
Everyone around started to clap and cheer her up. Stix ran up to her and swung her around in his arms. "That was amazing! Way to go!"
He finally put her down and that's when Stevie noticed her mother and brothers there. She hurried over to her mother, estatic. "Mommy! Did you see me?!"
Jackie nodded and smiled. "Yeah! That was amazing!"
"That was pretty cool," said Jagur.
Stix walked over to Jackie and extended his hand to her. "Hello, Mrs. Hyde. My name is Stix. I'm assistant to Miss George's dance class."
Jackie shook his hand. "I know. Stevie's been talking about you a lot."
Stix smiled. "She's a great kid, and an amazing, natural dancer."
Jackie looked down at her daughter and smiled. "That she is."
Stix took a deep breath and started to look a little nervous. "I'm actually glad that I got to meet you finally, Mrs. Hyde. I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Oh, yeah. What's that?"
"Well…Stevie has really taking a liking to this style of dancing--"
"Oh, yeah. What was that that she was doing, by the way? The shuffling?"
"That was a 6 step. I just taught her that today. She's quick in learning. And…I think she'd do well in a class I'm getting together." He held his breath, waiting for Jackie's answer.
Jackie didn't know what to say.
Stevie, however, was jumping up and down. "Oh! Mommy, please! I want to! Please! I wanna learn how to do pop and lock."
Jackie frowned. "Huh?"
Stix chuckled. "It's another type of dance move. I'm pretty sure that with time, Stevie will master it."
Jackie took a deep breath. "But, isn't it dangerous?"
"There are moves that are quite a bit dangerous, but believe me that I will never have her do any moves that she won't be able to handle. I'll start her off completely slow and have her do moves that won't hurt her in any kind of way." His eyes were pleading her. "I would really enjoy to have Stevie in my class. She has a natural born talent and I can only imagine how far she can go if she were to practice it."
"What would be the schedule?"
"The same times as Miss George's."
Jackie looked down at her daughter, who was pleading, and then back to Stix. "I'll have to talk to my husband."
Stix nodded. "Of course."
Jackie extended her hand. "Nice meeting you, Stix."
Stix shook her hand. "You as well, Mrs. Hyde." He bent over and hugged Stevie goodbye.
All the way home, Stevie could not stop pleading her mom to say yes to Stix. Jackie could tell that her daughter really wanted this, but there was no way she was making this decision alone.
…
--
It was already the late afternoon and Hyde was still not home yet. The kids were doing their homework and Jackie was playing with Zep and Jimmy.
She heard the pot go off and ran off to turn it off.
Jimmy immediately crawled after her.
Thankfully, Jackie caught this and picked him up before he entered the kitchen. She always was careful with Jimmy because he tended to be wild in the kitchen. He would open drawers and stick his hand by the stove when she wasn't looking. It drove her insane. She usually entertained him so that he wouldn't enter the kitchen, but right now she really needed to cook.
Then, a light hit her. She rushed to the kid's cupboards and took out some crayons and papers out. She placed her son in the middle of the living room and gave him the crayons and papers. "Here, baby. Entertain yourself as Mommy gets dinner ready."
He immediately took the crayons and started to scribble away. Zep watched him closely.
Jackie took that as a good sign and went to the kitchen to finish off the dinner.
About fifteen minutes later, Hyde finally stepped into the house.
Jackie grinned from ear to ear and reached over to him. "Hi, honey. How was your day?"
"Good. We got a lot done today." He took off his coat and hung it on the coat hanger. "How was yours?"
Jackie started talking a million miles a minute. She told him everything that had happened that day. Everything from her finding Jagur's notebook to Stix wanting Stevie to join his break dancing classes and then to a new discovery on how to make sure Jimmy didn't come into the kitchen.
They had a talk about Stevie joining Stix's class and listed off the pros and cons of each decision they could make. It took them about half an hour to finally come to a conclusion.
"Stevie's gonna be ecstatic," Jackie said.
"Was she real good?" Hyde helped Jackie serve the plates.
Jackie nodded. "I have no idea where she got that rhythm from. I know that I was a dancer, but that was ballerina. Her body doesn't move like mine. It was as if she was being possessed by a black girl or something."
Hyde gave a small shrug. "She is ¼ black. Guess she actually took on that gene."
Jackie smiled. "Yeah. The rhythm and the voice. Because we both know that neither one of us can sing."
"Hey, at least I can carry a note and have an ear. You…you're just tone deaf."
She let out a chuckle and turned to the living room. "Dinner's ready!"
Jagur ran inside with Jimmy on his arms.
Stevie was right behind him while playing with Zep.
The kids all greeted their father and sat around the kitchen table.
Jackie loved Saturday nights. It was the only night was a must for all the family to sit down and have dinner together. Jackie and Hyde had made sure that every Saturday night was a guarantee for all five of them to sit down and enjoy each other.
She turned to Hyde and smiled at him. It was thanks to him that she finally had a family. It was thanks to him that she finally had somewhere to call home.
He turned to her and saw the look she was giving him.
She sent him a kiss.
He just rolled his eyes and went back to chatting with his children. Women could be so emotional.
However, that didn't stop him from reaching over and holding her hand.
So, I hope you noticed how much alike the kids are to their parents, but how different they are from them as well. I just think that's the truth about everybody. Everyone has at least one characteristic of each parent, but still have their own identity.
So, coming up next...the very LAST chapter of this story. I gets VERY sad!
TITLED: "Bring it on Home" by Little Big Town
PREVIEW: the family must cling to each other as they get some horrible news. (this chapter will be much shorter)