A/N so I meant to mention at the end of the last chapter that, even though some of the medical stuff is just me guessing, some of it is from personal experience, for instance – my brother had a full transfusion in 1980 in California and we had to wait for years to find out if he had contracted aids from the blood because they found out about the whole thing not too long after (he didn't get it). Also the losing too much amniotic fluid and the back labor and Pitocin that happened to me and it hurt like almighty hell! So yeah, other than that I just went with what seemed plausible, anyway please read review and enjoy!

Point Place Wisconsin the Forman's driveway 5 years later.

Hyde pulled the panel truck, with its tacky advertisement of its rates painted on the side, into the familiar driveway and put it in park. He looked around at the back drop of his childhood and let out a deep breath, it was weird being back there, and it was also a little bit sad why he was there with a moving truck and his family pulling in behind it. They were all there, Kick and his longtime girlfriend Sophie, His hair wasn't blue anymore (his work made him want to be taken seriously) but he was still the same ball of energy he'd always been, he was the boy who refused to grow up because, growing up meant you settled for the way things were instead of making them the way you wanted. Sophie was a slender blonde with a streak of pink in her hair and black framed glasses, she was timid around the family but she clearly liked them, and she was even more clearly head over heels for Kick, who almost behaved himself for her.

Max was in the driver's seat of the car, with Kick and Sophie in the back, the rule that Kick was NEVER allowed to drive, ever….in life. There was a plaque stating something to that effect hung in the kitchen of the house they had all once shared, which now was home to King and Connor, although they all still visited constantly. Also in the car with them was Eric and his wife of two years Xiu Lan (which basically translated into charming orchid flower), he'd met her when he and Kick were doing one of their films, the particular one that brought him to Xiu was about second generation Americans, she was the daughter of Chinese immigrants who owned a popular restaurant in san Francisco. After her official interview Eric had asked her a load of questions about Chinese culture….or really just about Kung Fu, which luckily for him Xiu thought was cute and funny. Eric and Kick worked together making documentary films, usually about the situation of children around the world, but they would make anything that helped open the worlds eyes.

In the second car to park in the nostalgic drive, was Jackie in the driver's seat of the minivan. She stepped out of the car and stretched out her back with a look of supreme relief to be out of the car, Jackie still looked like a fashion plate – only now from a different era. She would have given the pin up girls from wwII a run for their money, never did Capri's and polka dot blouses look so good on a woman Hyde thought as he watched his wife stretch, he had to admit the tasteful delicate tattoo's she acquired over the years weren't unattractive either so far as he was concerned. He watched with a small fond smile as Jackie's best friend (apart from him of course) got out of the passenger's side. King looked much the same as she had when he'd first seen her, she was still someone you could spot from a distance and he was starting to figure that would never change. Her hair was less wild then back then, it was now shorter and fell around her face in an a-symmetrical bob that none other than Jackie had given her. She still dressed the same and acted the same, and she could still make a man twice her size back down with nothing but a look, but she was happier now than when he had first met her at the hub back in his drunken son of a bitch days.

Hyde stretched his back out and got to quietly observe as Connor hopped out of the moving truck (he'd been riding with Hyde) and quickly crossed the distance to his wife, who was busy unbuckling 5 year old Maddox from the back seat, Connor leaned down to scoop up his giggling son and kissed King on her temple, they gotten around to getting married about two years after Mad had been born. Connor had been bugging her to do it almost as soon as they'd gotten home with him, but King had legitimately not seen the point? If you're together what difference does making it a legal matter make? Connor, nor anyone else, had had a satisfactory answer for that? So they went along as usual until one day when Hyde and Jackie happened to be there Connor had stormed in with a determined look on his face. He'd rushed up to King, who was giving Mad dinner in his high chair, and told her he had an answer.

She hadn't known what he was talking about so he'd explained that he had a reason to get married even though it was illogical, King had been dubious but let him speak.

'because I want to' he'd said with a shrug, Hyde and Jackie as well as Kick and Max had braced for King to point out how crappy an argument that was, but she'd just shrugged and said 'ok when do ya wanna do it?' she'd later told Jackie that it was all Connor had ever had to say. Hyde still didn't really understand why that was what it took, but they were happy so he figured it didn't matter. Jackie called into the back seat for the last passengers to get out, the door popped open and out climbed a tall (though not as tall as Connor) stone faced young man with a shaggy green Mohawk wearing a battered leather jacket.

"Sweetie, get her out of there will you? She's crabby and she likes you best" Jackie asked the criminal looking teenager with total ease.

"'k mom" he replied in his low soft voice, before stooping back into the van and coming back out with a tiny girl about three years old, cradled carefully in his arms. Hyde couldn't help but grin at his kids, little Ruby was as beautiful as her mother but nowhere near as devious, and she was currently latched onto her favorite person in the whole world – her foster brother Sherlock.

In the year following their wedding, Jackie had kept working with the youth shelter where Sherlock sometimes stayed, Jackie with her particular brand of pig headed percervierence, had battered through Sherlock's considerable defenses, until he'd agreed to start going to the music workshop she'd bullied King into teaching once a week for any kid in the area that was interested. It was slow going, but after about a year Jackie got through to Sherlock (who she learned was actually named Sean Holmes, which was really how he got the nickname) when he had eventually told Jackie the truth of why he had run away so young to live on the streets of Berkeley, she had gone home and cried into Stevens chest for hours. She couldn't stand to think her favorite kid in the program had suffered such awful vile things; Hyde wasn't coping with it much better. He knew Sherlock by then, not as well as Jackie but well enough from offering the kids she worked with odd jobs to help them gain experience, and it had taken him about three seconds to decide on what to do.

He'd gotten up, gotten in his car, driven to where he knew Sherlock hung out with his friends Tim and matt, and unceremoniously informed Sherlock that he was coming to live with he and Jackie and Hyde didn't want to hear a word about it! It was only after he'd gone to bed that night after getting Sherlock settled in the guest room – which was his room now – that it dawned on Hyde how similar what he'd done was to when Red had taken him in. the first few months were rough, Sherlock ran off for days at a time and although he looked remorseful when he saw how worried Jackie had been about him, he just couldn't control the urge to bolt sometimes. That all changed the moment Jackie gave birth to Ruby. Ruby Erica Hyde was born at 2 am in the middle of a rain storm, she had not had the dramatic entrance into the world her best friend Maddox had had, but they had the entire extended family waiting outside the door for their arrival in common.

Sherlock had been there at Hyde's request, but he had grown more and more edgy the longer he sat waiting for the baby he was convinced would oust him from the house to arrive, he thought he'd slipped away never to return when a slender arm shot out barring his escape from the hospital. Sherlock had been busted by King and the look on her face clearly told him that she knew exactly what he was planning on doing.

"Doesn't be a coward" she'd told him flatly, he'd tried to argue.

"They're not going to want me around soon anyhow! They're going to have their own kid, not some fucked up lost cause, and I'm just going before they tell me to leave! They're going to look at me and see me as a danger to their baby now and you know it!" he accused King angrily

"what I know is that Jackie cares where most people don't, I know that few people are going to understand what you've been through better than Jackie and Hyde, let alone give a damn what you've suffered. I know that no matter how bad you think you have it there's always going to be someone within arm's reach that's had it worse, and I know that anger is a very common cover for being afraid. So again – don't be a coward" King told him in a dangerous tone.

"I'm not a coward!" Sherlock had screamed furiously at her, his green eyes filling with angry tears.

"What else do you call someone who runs out on their family?" she asked placidly

"They're not my family! My family treated me like trash, so bad that I had to leave and make it on my own! You have no idea what's happened to me – what I've been through!" he cried and shook his head to get rid of the memories of his past.

"Sometimes we get to choose our family, sometimes we can overcome the shit start we have in life, and sometimes we can make up for the bad we've done by protecting others so they never have to know the pain we have. I did, and trust me when I say, that choosing those two as your family won't ever disappoint you" King told him in the oddly compelling way she had.

"You really think they're going to want me around now that they have a defenseless little baby? Do you really think they aren't going to look at me and see me as someone who shouldn't be around their kid?" he asked disbelievingly, but King could tell that he wished it weren't that way.

"I think that this baby IS going to be defenseless, born into a dark scary world where there's so much danger and evil lurking around every corner it'll be a miracle if none ever harms it. I do not think that you are one of those dangers kid, and I know Jackie and Hyde don't think you are either. They're good people who care about you, so trust them and stop acting like a little bitch and go meet your new sister!" King ordered him with a dangerous look in her eye.

Sherlock had glared back at King for a while in a strange battle of wills, but a 16 year old was no match for her and it wasn't long before his head bowed and he broke their locked gaze to look at the floor. King patted him on the back and led him back to the waiting area just in time to hear that they could go in and meet the new baby now. King had looked at Sherlock and raised an expectant eyebrow at him; he'd taken her meaning and slowly entered the room where Jackie and Hyde were waiting with their new baby. Jackie had looked up to see Sherlock and had beamed happily at her foster son and held her arms open for him to come hug her, which he had done after a moment's pause, Hyde came over and wrapped his free arm around Sherlock's shoulders in a quick hug before asking if he wanted to hold his new sister?

"Ruby, this is your brother Sherlock, he's going to help look out for you" Hyde had murmured to his brand new daughter before handing her carefully to the stunned Sherlock.

The lanky teenager had gingerly taken the incredibly tiny baby from Hyde; he couldn't believe how light she was! He looked down at her squashed face and her black curls poking out from under the ridiculous that the hospital had put on her. She was fragile and totally defenseless, Sherlock thought of all that had happened to him and felt sick at the thought of even a speck of that horror ever touching Ruby!

"Hey Ruby" Sherlock whispered to her, maybe it was a coincidence, but her eyes opened and stared up at Sherlock. "I'm your brother…I'm here to protect you" he told her so softly Jackie and Hyde couldn't hear what he'd said, but Ruby made a soft gurgling sound that he took to be acceptance of his role.

Never was there more safe children then Maddox and Ruby, Sherlock never griped about babysitting either of them and he was more suspicious of strangers then even their parents. When new people moved into the neighborhood and came over to introduce themselves, their first shock was Jackie and Hyde, their second was Sherlock. Something about the image of a barely reformed street kid tending to a tiny girl in pink ruffled pajamas seemed to confuse a lot of people, but Sherlock didn't give a damn. He'd chosen to do what King had spoken of at the hospital, he'd chosen to protect his adopted sister from anything the world threw at them and ensure that she never ever went through what he had.

Ruby adored him, and when he unbuckled her from her car seat after the long car ride, her crabbiness fell away as he swept her up into his strong arms, and Ruby threw her little arms around his neck and gave him a very serious look straight in the eyes.

"no mor' car Lock" she declared adamantly

"I know Ruby, it sucked, do ya wanna go see grandma and grandpa?" he asked her seriously, Sherlock almost never talked to her like she was a little kid which had had some curious effects on her speech.

She nodded a stringent yes to seeing her grandparents, and without a word Sherlock headed towards the glass door, scooping Maddox up in his other arm on his way. Kitty's delighted cries could be heard from across the street when she saw her two grandkids, as was the argument that ensued shortly after when Red demanded to get a turn holding his granddaughter and namesake. Hyde couldn't help but laugh softly while he listened to the old couple bicker over who got to hold each of the children for how long, but he lost it when his son made his escape from the war in the kitchen with a frightened look on his face.

Over the years Red and Kitty had always come to California to visit their kids, this marked the first trip back to Wisconsin since he, Eric and Jackie had left years before. They were all so different now, Hyde was a successful music producer, and he was a respected name among both main stream and underground music. As the years went by he kept his short hair and added more than a few tattoo's that Kitty gave him a hard time about, they covered most of one arm and the majority of his shoulders now and were on display in the black undershirt he wore, summer in Wisconsin wasn't as hot as California but it wasn't cool either.

After getting their grandkid fix, Red and Kitty came out to greet the rest of their kids, Hyde was lucky enough to overhear Reds approving comments on Kicks less crazy hair, and smirked at how quickly he went to Jackie and asked how the new van had held up on the trip. At first they had all worried that Red wouldn't approve of Eric marrying xui, but to their surprise the two had bonded over a mutual hate of communism – Xui hated it more than Red after what her parents had gone through, and they had many long discussions on the subject which Kick joined often.

"you look happy" a voice he knew better than most said from behind him while he watched his son follow along behind his toddling daughter as she explored the area's Lock deemed safe.

"That's because I am" he told his mom with a shrug, his life had ended up better than he ever could have imagined back in the basement while he wasted his life away.

"that makes me feel better, the last few months since we found out have been rough, seeing all of you and the kids has really helped" she said with a sad smile

"I'm sorry about Laurie" he told Kitty honestly "she wasn't my favorite person and I won't try to say otherwise, but I never wished that on her" he said gravely.

"Thank you Steven, I've come to the conclusion that there wasn't anything anyone could have done for her. At least now we know" she said with a sigh.

A few months previously Red and Kitty had been contacted by the police in Austen Texas, Laurie Forman, who'd disappeared years before, had died in a car accident. She'd been drunk and had run her car into the Colorado River, she'd had more drugs in her system then the police cared to tell them and as far as they knew, she had been involved in some unsavory things. Sad as it was, unexpected it was not. They knew now, finally they knew what had become of her and to everyone's shock; Red had put the house up for sale the next day. They didn't have to wait for Laurie to come home now, after the funeral in point place they all went to the Forman house to pack up the place and move Red and Kitty to a nice little house near the beach in san Pablo, which was close to them all – but not too close, which was a stipulation Red had had.

They had most of the boxes loaded into the truck when brook and Betsy came up the drive waving and smiling. Jackie had kept in touch with brook and her God daughter over the years and she'd insisted on coming from Chicago to see them while they were in town. They took a break from packing to chat with brook and Betsy, and were listening to Betsy tell a very articulate story about the spelling bee at school, when loud barking caught their attention from the back yard. They all recognized the sound of chewy's defensive bark right away, and followed red around to the back yard to see what had upset the burly pit bull?

When they got there they saw Sherlock with Ruby held tight to his chest and Maddox shielded protectively behind his legs while the owner of the adjoining yard yelled at them for trespassing on their property.

"Don't think that because you have kids with you I won't call the cops!" the neighbor yelled at Sherlock who'd gone pale and tight lipped at the woman freaking out on him and his charges. "How do you even have kids with you? Did you kidnap them? You better stay right where you are until the police get here!" the woman shouted at him.

Jackie ran to her children's aid in a flash and King wasn't far behind, although it was a coin toss who was more dangerous in this situation but it sure as hell wasn't the bitchy neighbor.

"You do not threaten my children! I am sorry if they went in your yard without permission but that is not grounds to call the police on two small children and a teenager" Jackie scolded the woman furiously, she was so incensed that this woman would over react so much that she didn't even notice how familiar the woman was – but Hyde did.

"they walked onto my property without a care to the no trespassing sign, maybe you should pay better attention to you kids instead of letting a scuzzy teenager do your job for you" the woman told Jackie snottily

"Fuck you lady! Don't you ever talk to my mom that way!" Sherlock yelled taking a threatening step towards the woman who'd dared insult his adopted mother!

Hyde hadn't wanted to get involved until then, he had faith that Jackie could handle things until Sherlock's rarely seen – but well known – temper made an appearance, now that that had happened he knew he needed to put a stop to all of it before the cops really did show up, that just wasn't how he wanted to spend his day. The cops in point place hadn't been too fond of him when he'd looked normal, he could only imagine their reaction now. Squaring his shoulders Hyde strode forward to stand between his wife and the pissed of neighbor.

"back the hell off donna" he said loud and clear, he saw the recognition dawn on Jackie and Kings faces, but donna still looked confused as to who he was?

"Do I know you?" she asked irritably, judging by the way she looked now she couldn't seem to imagine knowing anyone that looked like Hyde.

"Sure do big red" he said with a smirk she did recognize

Donna's eyes bugged out when she realized who it was standing before her "Hyde? Is that you really you? Wow, you really realized all that potential you had didn't you?" she smirked snidely at him; the contempt in her voice was hard to miss.

"Yeah man, life's good" he said in an easy tone "oh, you were being sarcastic! You're implying that I'm a lowlife right? Man, it's a good thing your opinion doesn't mean shit to me huh?" he asked bitingly, making Donna take an involuntary step back.

"that's enough puddin'" Jackie told him softly, she just wanted to get out of there now, donna obviously hadn't put together who she was yet and even though she wasn't sure if she was relieved or offended by that, she sure didn't want to hang around and catch up with the red head.

"There's still the matter of your kids trespassing on my property" Donna said to Hyde, she had grown a lot more uptight over the years it seemed.

Hyde was about to respond to that but didn't have a chance to, just as he was about to tell donna where she could stick her no trespassing sign, brook strode forward into donna's line of sight and all of them saw the color drain out of donna's face when she saw the tall brunette.

"b-b-brook!" Donna stuttered shakily

"d-d-donna" brook imitated with a cold expression towards the other woman.

"Uh…hi, how've you been?" Donna said awkwardly

"Me? I'm great, I have a fulfilling career where I'm respected, and I have a wonderful daughter that I get to raise all alone because her father is a moronic coward who can't keep it in his pants, oh but you already know that don't you?" brook asked with dangerous sweetness.

Donna didn't respond, but for reasons they could only guess at she looked extremely uncomfortable in the other woman's presence?

"So you were saying you were going to call the cops? I think that's a great idea! In fact, I think you should insist they send Michael; it could be like a little reunion! We can all catch up with what we've done over the last few years" brook said like a steel trap springing closed.

Intuitive as ever Jackie's face went flat, "lock honey, take Ruby and Mad into the house and get them lunch please" she said without taking her eyes off her once friend.

"Ok, but if this bitch starts any shit with you mom you better call me" Lock said seriously, no one – not even a woman – threatened his family.

"Mom? How could that be your son?" Donna asked momentarily forgetting the situation in her confusion.

"Adoption" Jackie said flatly, not bothering to look Donna full in the face, but Donna was now peering closely at the petite woman and although the dark glasses made it harder, she finally recognized Jackie.

"Wow, you are Jackie aren't you? I never would have though you and Hyde would still be together, who's the father?" she asked with an insulting smirk.

"Clever as ever I see donna, that six months before you dropped out of collage really paid off I see" Jackie shot back calmly.

TO BE CONTINUED….

A/N Im sorry, I know it's a jerk move to leave off there, but I need to think on what happens next, help is appreciated!