Ok! Extra long chapter to make up for the long wait!

I'm now officially living on the other side of the planet from my home and it's weird.

Enjoy!

April 30rd, 1983

10:06 pm

Jackie and Hyde's apartment

Jackie snuggled closer to him and Steven tightened his arms around her waist and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "I realized something else today" commented her after a small silence, tracing lines on his chest with her fingertip, her ear resting on the spot right above his heart.

"I'm not buying you any more jewelry, if that's what you're getting at" replied him, and she could hear the low rumble of his silent laughter.

"Well it's just that… we signed the papers, and we changed our names, and we have the rings…" she trailed off, feeling suddenly embarrassed

"But?" he asked, still amused

"But we're still not properly married…" she explained, her face hidden by her hair. "And I know you want to…"

It only took him a second to realize what she meant, and his light mood was gone immediately.

He had given her space even after her gynecologist gave Jackie a clean bill of health, hinting that it was safe for her to resume her sexual life. Jackie was back on the pill and was ever more conscientious about it, taking it every day at exactly the same time, not missing one even in the most chaotic day.

But Steven could feel her hesitate every time things got heated between them. Even the day they got married. He knew it was because she was scared to get pregnant again, and even though it was physiologically impossible for him to understand what she'd been through, he still had a similar fear. Though in his case it was mostly fear of something happening to her, fear of losing her.

Slightly disentangling himself from her, he turned to face her, Jackie mirroring his movements beside him so they could face each other. He took her face on his hand and kissed her lightly on her forehead, her cheeks, and her lips before releasing her and looking into her eyes.

"I do want to, Jackie…" said Steven in a soft voice. "But only if you want it too…"

"I'm scared…" she said then, in a small voice, and a couple of tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't look precisely frightened, on the contrary, it was like the tears were washing away her fears.

"I know, doll" replied Steven, wiping her tears with his thumbs, smiling softly.

"I want it too…" Jackie said, smiling shyly and leaning in to kiss him, soft and deep.

"Are you sure?" asked him when they broke apart. She nodded and kissed him again.

They moved so he was sitting with her straddling him, his hands tugging at the hem of the Led Zeppelin shirt she usually wore as pajamas. Her movements were still hesitant, so he broke the kiss and looked her in the eyes, silently repeating the question.

"I'm sure" she whispered, firmly.

"What should I do?" asked him in turn, feeling more lost than he'd been the night he lost his virginity.

"Just… do what you do best" she replied, with a suggestive smirk, biting her bottom lip. "And help me get there"

With that, he took off her shirt and his, and kissed her again, this time more passionately, but still slow and cautious, one hand on her back, pressing her chest against his; the other cupping the back of her head, tilting her head slightly back to have better access to her mouth.

He was feeling the heat rising inside of him but tried to keep it in check. This was as far as they'd gotten before, and even after her reassurances, he was still prepared to fall back at the first sign of wavering from her.

But then she began to slowly rock her hips against his and the heat and the feeling of their bodies moving together begun to overcome his senses.

11:57 pm

They had made love like never before, slowly and tenderly, but hungrily and with a quiet wildness. After a second round, now they were laying on each other's arms, thoroughly sated and happy, still sweaty and slightly out of breath.

Always conscious about possible urinary tract infection, she slipped off to the bathroom while he straightened the bedclothes, picking up the pillows and their pajamas from every corner of the room. He was fishing for his yellow Rolling Stones t-shirt from under the small dark blue chair near the window when she came back from the bathroom.

"Don't even think about putting that back on" she said, getting under the covers, still completely naked.

He tossed the shirt on the couch and jumped back onto the bed, landing on top of her, nearly crushing her, both of them giggling.

"I don't think I've ever heard you giggle like that" she said, with a big smile.

"Luckily for me now we're properly married, and you can't testify against me" he teased back, sneaking his hand towards her midsection, and making her squeal.

"Oh… but I can gossip" squirming away from him and failing. He resumed the tickling attack and they rolled around the bed laughing and tickling each other until they were both out of breath.

"I am glad you returned that first ring" she said, after a while, taking a deep breath to calm down her giddiness.

"I knew she'd tell you" he chuckled. "I am too" he said kissing her deeply.

"So, you are pretty good friends with her, huh" commented her, nonchalant. He laughed lightly.

"Well, you heard the story" he said. "Don't tell me you're jealous" he added, feigning seriousness.

"Well… not after what just happened" she replied chuckling.

They remained silent for a moment. Jackie was looking at hers and his left hands, fingers interlaced, twin rings shining from the fourth finger on each hand. They had been married for a bit over two months, but now it felt more real. She thought back to Kitty's question and understood the need for a big ceremony and party. But even though she was thrilled to be married to Steven and to finally have the wedding bands, she still didn't feel quite like throwing a big party for it. Their loss was still too fresh, and she felt like it wouldn't be fair to have a big party so soon after that.

"If you returned that ring…" said Jackie, after a while, "when did you buy this other one?"

"I was wondering when I'd see you again, you know" said Jessica as he walked into the store. "I saw you with her the other day… she's so tiny and cute!" she added, smiling delighted.

They had run into each other several times after he'd returned the engagement ring back in January. Groove's was right around the corner from Jess's jewelry shop, and Point Place was a small town after all. And he'd discovered that she had a very interesting taste in music. She would come by Grooves sometimes looking for an old Jethro Tull record, the latest Led Zeppelin, the most popular one by The Beatles, and a couple of times she'd asked for Chopin and Tchaikovsky.

They had become friendly. He liked her sparky personality, and he thought that she'd get along nicely with his friends. He'd invited her to the basement a couple of times, but she'd already had plans.

"I think I kind of… sort of… proposed… the other night" he said, uncomfortably.

"You think you proposed? How can you "sort of" propose?" asked her, amused.

He told her about their conversation from the night of his birthday. How he'd felt overwhelmed by love when he'd tried the cake. "It was… not terrible" he said, trying to explain to her how funny the situation had been and how terrible were the first cookies that Jackie had made for him on her very first attempt to bake.

"When we first got back together, I couldn't see myself marrying her just yet…" explained Hyde, scratching the back of his head. And they had agreed that it was too soon to be thinking of that.

Of course, things had started to change when Jackie had moved in with him. Back then it was all very new and exciting, and they were still exploring their new relationship. Now, after his birthday, he felt ready to take the next step.

"So now you want a new ring" Jess said. Hyde nodded.

They spent the better part of the next hour looking at engagement rings. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he'd know it when he saw it. Or so he thought.

"Dude, I've shown you all the engagement rings I have right now" she sighed, exasperated. He looked at her slightly disappointed. He didn't want to go to another shop. He hated shopping. At least here he had a friend of sorts to make it easier. "Ok, I'll tell you what… if you tell me what you want, I'll draw a few designs and I can have my…" she paused for just a second "partner… make it for you"

"What? All of these are your designs?" asked him, dumbfounded, looking around the small shop.

"Well… not all of them" replied her, shyly. Most of the items she had were from a couple of big jewelry manufacturers, but she showed him the section of the shop where she kept her designs. It was a small collection, but they were the prettiest rings, necklaces, earrings and other accessories. "Lori is the crafter… she's usually working in the back, but today she's in Chicago buying supplies"

"So, Jess designed this?" asked Jackie, looking at her engagement ring with new eyes

"Yeah…" replied him, shrugging. "Anyway… she sent me back to Groove's saying that she needed peace and quiet to work on the designs" he continued the story. "I was so distracted that day, that I didn't pay much attention when Fez came in with Rachel"

"Hey, buddy" said Fez's voice trying to get his attention. Hyde moved his head slowly and focused his eyes on his friend "Are you ok? It's like your mind is floating on the stratosphere"

"Oh… sorry Fez, I have a lot on my mind" replied Hyde, forcing his mind to pull back from Jess's store and the ring designs. "She seems very nice" he said, looking at Rachel, who was browsing through the records on the other side of the store.

Fez sighed deeply and looked at her with loving eyes. "She's perfect"

Hyde didn't even notice when Fez and Rachel left and eventually Ryan had to send him to his office because he wasn't doing any good sitting at the register, looking into infinity. Leo joined him for a little while and they had a two-person circle. He felt that film was the only thing that would help soothe his mind.

But it hadn't. So, he sat on the pit for the remainder of the afternoon, listening to one record after the other, until it was 7pm, closing time. "You're closing today" he told Ryan, and grabbing his coat, he hurried to the little jewelry store around the corner.

"Hi…" he said, slightly confused to see a girl with short blonde hair, bright blue eyes and wearing a tattered leather apron. "Is Jess around?"

"Oh… you must be Hyde" replied the blond, smiling knowingly. "I'm Lori, Jess's… partner"

At that moment, Jess's voice came from the back room "Hey babe… will you turn the sign on the door?".

Lori looked at Hyde, flustered, and hurried to the door to turn the "CLOSED" side outwards and stayed there, pretending to fix the window display, face flushed. Hyde chuckled. "Soooo… that kind of partner" he commented with a knowing grin when Jess came into the main room of the store.

"Shush…" replied her, also red faced. Even after the whole "sexual revolution" of the 60's, Point Place was still a small and very conservative community.

"Hey, I couldn't care less" said Hyde, honestly. "I only want to see your drawings"

"After I decided on a design, I went back there almost every day, until Lori kicked me out" he said, laughing. They were both losing their patience so they promised him they would go to Groove's as soon as the ring was finished. "It took a while because Lori had to find twelve sapphires as similar as possible, all of the same size, color… it was finished just two days before New Year's"

Done with the mistery of the engagement ring .. aaaaaand if anyone remembers about a small moment many chapters ago, this is why Steven forgot to tell Jackie he'd met Rachel when he did haha

Cheers!