February 1980- Seattle, Washington
He breathed out a huff of air, looking at the office before him. His old man had given him a second chance to prove himself.
"Work for me, do your best. If you have a minute that's fine. So long as you keep a good head on your shoulders, I got your back, son." He told him.
That was a month ago. Now that he had a month total of sobriety under his belt, he was confident that going to work for the office was ideal. No bar scenes, no drugs entering one of his stores. He could work safely behind a desk with no booze and under the watchful eye of his father.
Well that was all fine and dandy.
Then he realized he knew absolutely nothing about how he was supposed to function. This was supposed to be the easy part. Working and leading a normal life was something that he had watched Red and Kitty do from fifteen and on.
His thoughts drifted to his pseudo parents. He should probably call them and tell them he is okay, but anxiety of the thought of explaining himself made his skin crawl. He was still staring at the doors of this stupid building.
"Are you okay?" A voice asked. He turned to the side to see a small girl, around Jackie's height. She had curly brown hair, and wore a beret. Her clothes were anything but professional, as she wore jeans and a pair of combat boots. He shifted in his slacks.
"Fine, just-" He sighed, adjusting his shades. "First day jitters."
"Oh, the Barnetts are so nice. I'm Julianna." She stuck her hand out. He took it, smiling at her.
"Steven. But, everyone calls me Hyde." He smiled at her.
December 1984-
He struggled his way up the basement stairs with a tree base. Behind him, he dragged the bin full of ornaments behind him, and out of breath stopped at the top of the stairs.
"Love-Bug, you didn't tell me we needed to buy a tree." He pursed his lips.
"Mommy and I usually cut it down at Frugers Farm!" Her lisp was evident, but his giggle that he had to suppress was the thought of Jackie Burkhart cutting down a tree.
"Where is Frugers?"
"Kenosha!" She beamed. He sighed.
"Kiddo, I don't think we can get to Kenosha right now. So we should decorate everything else, and go get a tree tomorrow." He convinced her.
The two hung up stockings, and the little girl frowned when Steven's didn't have a name on it. He assured her that Santa knew exactly who he was. As the time wore by, and they sang Christmas tunes, he looked at the clock.
"Wow, kid, it's well past your bed time."
"I'm not even tired." She whined, but it finished with a yawn, and she grinned.
"How about, we camp out in the living room and watch a Christmas movie?" He asked, eyeballing Jackie's movie shelf and spotting The Grinch on tape. She nodded enthusiastically, rushing up the stairs. "I go get blankies!" She called.
"Don't run, you'll fall." He scolded, moving to grab the movie and set up Jackie's tape player. Two pillows with blankets shoved in the cases flew down the stairs one by one, followed by Shelby's bed, then Shelby, and lastly Tyler, who carefully took her steps.
He watched in awe as she dragged her items over. He almost got up to help her, but he just watched as she figured out how to effectively move her belongings, throwing the two blanket-stuffed pillows on the bed and dragging it over to them. She set up the pillows on the couch for Steven to lay awkwardly, and her to lay with her back against him tucked between him and the couch. He propped his socked feet onto the coffee table, and gave in to helping his daughter, who struggled to tuck herself in.
He had to turn the lights off anyway. And snap out of the awe that was twinkling in his eyes as to just how smart she was.
She may have looked like him and shared his taste in music and food. She may act like him because she was hyper and semi-disorganized. There were many traits he saw in her that made him know instantly that she was his.
But the longer he hung out with her, the more traits were starting to appear that were Jackies. For one, she had mismatched eyes. One green and one blue, like her mother. Not noticeable to anyone at first, but when you stared into her eyes you could see the slight contrast.
Her mother always hated her mismatched eyes, and he always told her how cool they were.
The next thing he noticed was her emotions. Hyde was a bottler. He supposed that was nurture, but he was good at doing it from a young age, and it was part of the reason why he was an addict. His emotions were meant to be released, and his way of expressing himself was not healthy. Tyler expressed her feelings often. She sang when she was happy, she hummed, was verbal, and even danced. She loved laughing and smiling, and when she was upset she rained stormy. Her mother was like that when she was expressive too. He gazed at her, looking patiently at him.
"I'm sorry." He told her.
"Why?" He asked.
"I got lost one day, and I missed out on a lot." He explained, carefully sitting beside her, and resuming the earlier position. She relaxed into him.
"It's okay, 'Teven." She told him. He nodded.
The movie started, and she watched, her tired eyes engrossed. She sang along to the music, and clapped when The Grinch became nice. A yawn broke from her as the credits rolled, and Boris Karloff's sang about the Grinch. He glanced down at her, and noticed she was beginning to fall asleep.
Shelby jumped up beside him, and he chuckled, looking at the dog bed pushed aside. She rested her head in his lap, and looked up at him, sighing.
"Good night, kiddo."
"G'night 'Teven."
He didn't realize he had fallen asleep until he woke up to a camera flashing in his face. He jumped, hitting his head on the wall behind him, making Donna giggle.
"Wow, guys, it looks super fancy in here." She noted. "Nice job, Hyde." She commented on the decor.
"Thanks." The two of them spoke simultaneously. Tyler rubbed her eyes, before whimpering, and running down the hall, rushing into the bathroom.
Suddenly he became aware of something. His leg was wet, and there was a stain on the couch. He looked up. "I've been peed on." He stated, looking down at himself. "She peed on me." Eric was laughing with Donna.
"Join the club, Hyde." Eric stated. "She's peed on all of us except for Brooke, Fez, and Kelso."
"Welcome to being Daddio." Donna teased. He flushed, but shrugged.
"Has a nice ring to it. Dad." He stood, tossing the blanket, and looking at the stain on the couch. "What won't have a nice ring to it is Jackie when she yells at me about the stain on her couch. How do I fix that?" He asked panicked.
Donna only seemed to laugh harder. He glared. "Yeah. Real funny."
Kitty wound up coming to the rescue, and while she got to work on the couch, he helped Tyler get ready. She dressed in jeans, a black long sleeve, and a bright pink bow in her unruly curls. He attempted to tame them, but wound up putting them in a ponytail. He had the rest of his life to learn how to take care of her hair. Once they looked presentable, he put on jeans and a long sleeve dark blue shirt. He chose to forgo his shades, and slid his eyeball ring over his finger. He stared at his tattoos, before Tyler tugged on his pant leg.
"'Teven, where we goin'?" She looked up at him, holding twinkle toes close, and her sneakers in another hand. He guided her downstairs and sat her on the chair to help her fasten her shoes. He tied them for her, and set her on the ground. "Hello?" She urged.
There it was. The Jackie in her.
"We're going to see your Mama." He told her.
She gasped in delight. "And then, we're getting-"
"A tree!" She bounced, squealing.
He laughed, nodding, and kissing Kitty on the cheek, who just finished removing the stain.
"Bye, Steven, bye Sweetpea."
"Bye Mimi!"