One month later
It was a dreary snowy Wisconsin night. Hyde had decided that the roads were too nasty for Jackie to try to drive home by herself. He bundled Kaitlyn up in warm winter clothes and the pink bunny snowsuit that Red and Kitty had gotten her for Christmas a few weeks earlier. It was no small undertaking getting a crying, squirmy one year old ready to go and then having to dig the extra car seat out of their bedroom closet. Hyde had decided it was better than worrying and waiting for Jackie to come home through about 5 inches of fresh snow.
Edna Hyde had just finished her shopping at the Point Place Mall when she found to her shock that it had snowed several inches while she had been bargain rack hunting for the last hour and a half, but she still had to wait for her AA friend Angela to pick her up at 8:45 because she still didn't have the money to fix her old heap ford. So she decided to get something to drink and wait on the benches in front of Halvorson's department store.
From the distance she could see a man carrying a small child, walking towards the entrance doors. To her shock and dismay it was Steven. She was absolutely stunned, that must be her grandchild. She couldn't believe it. She knew from her confrontation with Steven that he was married but for some reason it never occurred to her that he had a child. About ten minutes later he came back out with a young, petite brunette woman who appeared to be pregnant. Not very big, but obviously pregnant. Steven and the woman, who she assumed was his wife, were too engrossed in conversation to notice her sitting on the benches.
"Steven, you didn't need to drag poor Kaitlyn out in this weather." complained Jackie.
"Jackie, I couldn't just leave her at home and the roads are getting too bad for you to drive home by yourself." replied Hyde.
"Then what am I supposed to do with my car?" asked Jackie.
"Dave and I will swing by here tomorrow on our lunch break and drop it off home so you'll have it in time for work. Hopefully by then, they'll have the roads plowed good enough, but if they're not, you're staying home." explained Hyde.
"Steven, Ever since that little fender bender I had last winter, if there is so much as even a snowflake you act like I'm incapable of driving. That accident wasn't even my fault!" asserted Jackie.
Steven rolled his eyes in annoyance. It never failed. Even though they loved each other very, very much, they still had their little petty arguments constantly, although they were forgotten as quickly as they started.
"Jackie, It may have been just a minor accident but it could have been easily much worse and it happened in weather almost exactly like this. Also don't forget that our 2 month old baby was in her car seat in the back." reminded Hyde.
Jackie, knowing Steven the way she did, decided there was no point in arguing this any further. Just then as they started to walk out, Jackie noticed a familiar looking woman sitting on the wooden benches in front of Halvorson's. No, it couldn't be?! But it was. The woman she had only ever known as "Gross Edna" and who was ironically now her mother-in-law. Jackie nudged Hyde. "Steven, Isn't that your mother?"
He turned to look where Jackie was pointing and sure enough it was his mother. Hyde sighed to himself that his luck never ends.
Edna had seen the woman point to her and call Steven's attention to her. Since they had already seen her she decided to go ahead and try to speak to Steven.
"Steven!" shouted Edna.
Hyde looked at Jackie and she whispered back "Go over there and talk to your mother!"
They walked over to where Edna was sitting on the benches. Hyde was the first one to speak.
"Hey Edna, Nice weather we're having isn't it?" Hyde replied somewhat sarcastically.
Edna was already distracted by the beautiful curly dark-haired child in Steven's arms. She was with a doubt the most beautiful little girl Edna had ever seen, but by looking at the child's mother it was no wonder. Her son was no slouch in the looks department either. Edna just shook her head in agreement while never taking her eyes off the child she assumed to be her granddaughter. Edna broke the silence by asking "Steven, Who is that you've got there?"
"This is my daughter, Kaitlyn Marie." answered Hyde softly.
Edna was beyond words but finally whispered "She's so beautiful!"
As much as Jackie hated it, she was actually feeling sorry for the woman who had nearly emotionally crippled her husband. Hyde though wasn't as sympathetic because the news of her first grandchild being born wouldn't be such a shock if she had just done the decent thing and picked up a phone and called her son anytime in the last few years.
Edna finally regained some of her composure and asked "How old is she?"
Jackie answered "14 months."
Edna glanced down as Jackie's expanding waistline and enquired "You're expecting?"
"Yes, I'm due around the middle of June." replied Jackie.
Surprisingly enough to Hyde, Jackie didn't take offense to Edna's noticing she was pregnant. His wife had always been vain but she was especially vain and slightly neurotic about her size and looks when she was pregnant. This drove Hyde crazy because to him she was absolutely beautiful when pregnant. She was also showing a lot earlier with this pregnancy than she had with her last one, but luckily enough her morning sickness had gradually gone away during the last few weeks and she had gotten most of her energy back and was feeling much better.
Edna was still trying to absorb the fact that she had a granddaughter let alone another grandchild on the way.
Jackie felt somewhat awkward about the whole situation and decided to ask Edna if she would like to hold her granddaughter. "Would you like to hold her?"
Edna, shocked at the offer, shook her head in agreement. Hyde, not quite feeling right about handing his daughter over to his estranged mother, hesitantly did so. Edna took the little girl from her apprehensive father's arms and was surprised that despite being bundled in what appeared to be 5lbs of clothes, was light as a feather.
The little girl just stared at Edna curiously and grabbed a lock of Edna's hair. Edna just smiled, still in disbelief that this child was really her very own granddaughter. Kaitlyn, sensing the tension from her parents and this stranger, began to reach back over for her mother. "Mama, Mama!" gurgled Kaitlyn. Jackie took her daughter in her arms and Kaitlyn was instantly content again.
Hyde anxious to get way from yet another unexpected meeting with his mother, and also remembering the bad weather that lay in wait for them outside said "Well we've got to get going so we can get home and put this little lady to bed, its way past her bedtime."
Edna nodded, grateful that she had gotten just a few minutes with her son and his new family. "It was nice to see you Steven, Kaitlyn, and Jackie, was it?
Hyde, again remembering the bad weather, and against his better judgment said "Look Edna, Do you need a ride somewhere?"
Edna hesitated for a moment, but then answered "Well, my ride was supposed to be here about 20 minutes ago but it looks like she's running late because of the snow."
Hyde thought about this for a minute and then remarked "Edna, the mall closes in 5 minutes and its too cold to wait outside. I can drop you off somewhere. You wait here with Jackie & Katie while I go scrape the snow off the car and I'll pull up here in front."
"Ok Steven, thank you."
Hyde hurriedly ran to his car, got it started, and then began to brush all the snow off the windshield and back and side windows while the car warmed up. A few minutes later he pulled back in front of the mall entrance. Jackie quickly strapped Kaitlyn in her car seat and covered her with a heavy blanket while Edna climbed in the backseat. A few minutes later everybody was strapped in and ready to make their trek home through what seemed like several feet of snow, also the wind-chill was absolutely face numbing. As soon as they got on the open road Hyde inquired "Edna, Where do you want me to drop you off at?"
"724 Lincoln Street" replied Edna.
"Ok, that's about 3 blocks from our place so its not too far out of our way." said Hyde.
After what seemed like an eternity later they finally pulled up to Edna's apartment building. "Well, there ya go Edna." said Hyde.
"Thank you Steven, I really appreciate it!" said Edna gratefully.
"Well, don't make too much of it. I'd give anybody a ride in this weather." said Hyde matter-of-factly.
Edna shook her head sadly and replied "Steven, I just want to let you know that I'm not drinking anymore and I go to AA meeting every week now. I haven't' had a drink in nearly a year."
Hyde stared at his mother, not quite sure of what to say to her in response. "Well Edna, Good luck with that, I'm sure you'll need it."
Jackie glared at her husband and whispered "Steven!"
Edna quickly rushed out the car, upset with herself that she was expecting too many miracles at once.
Once Hyde and Jackie arrived home they immediately put their daughter in her crib and went back in to the living room to watch television.
"Steven, did you need to be so harsh with your mother? You could have at least been civil."
"I thought I was being extremely civil under the circumstances. I just don't know if I'll ever be willing to give her another chance. I mean first of all my childhood was complete shit, then she abandons me and leaves me to fend for myself when I still had 2 years of high school left." Hyde was silent for few moments and then replied "But I did notice she looks a lot better than I can ever remember her looking and she's never been in AA before."
"Steven, maybe you'll never have a good mother/son relationship with her but maybe you can heal some of these old wounds and put some of the bitterness to rest. Maybe you can work on being friends and see where it takes you from there." suggested Jackie softly.
Hyde wrapped his arms around Jackie and buried his head in her hair and whispered "Maybe, I guess we'll just have to take it one day at a time."
Jackie leaned up and kissed Hyde on the lips "Lets go to bed and warm each other up", and gave him a suggestive wink. He smiled back and took her hand and led her back to their bedroom.
After they had "got warmed up" they fell asleep in each other's arms watching the snow falling heavily in the dark Wisconsin night.
It was a dreary snowy Wisconsin night. Hyde had decided that the roads were too nasty for Jackie to try to drive home by herself. He bundled Kaitlyn up in warm winter clothes and the pink bunny snowsuit that Red and Kitty had gotten her for Christmas a few weeks earlier. It was no small undertaking getting a crying, squirmy one year old ready to go and then having to dig the extra car seat out of their bedroom closet. Hyde had decided it was better than worrying and waiting for Jackie to come home through about 5 inches of fresh snow.
Edna Hyde had just finished her shopping at the Point Place Mall when she found to her shock that it had snowed several inches while she had been bargain rack hunting for the last hour and a half, but she still had to wait for her AA friend Angela to pick her up at 8:45 because she still didn't have the money to fix her old heap ford. So she decided to get something to drink and wait on the benches in front of Halvorson's department store.
From the distance she could see a man carrying a small child, walking towards the entrance doors. To her shock and dismay it was Steven. She was absolutely stunned, that must be her grandchild. She couldn't believe it. She knew from her confrontation with Steven that he was married but for some reason it never occurred to her that he had a child. About ten minutes later he came back out with a young, petite brunette woman who appeared to be pregnant. Not very big, but obviously pregnant. Steven and the woman, who she assumed was his wife, were too engrossed in conversation to notice her sitting on the benches.
"Steven, you didn't need to drag poor Kaitlyn out in this weather." complained Jackie.
"Jackie, I couldn't just leave her at home and the roads are getting too bad for you to drive home by yourself." replied Hyde.
"Then what am I supposed to do with my car?" asked Jackie.
"Dave and I will swing by here tomorrow on our lunch break and drop it off home so you'll have it in time for work. Hopefully by then, they'll have the roads plowed good enough, but if they're not, you're staying home." explained Hyde.
"Steven, Ever since that little fender bender I had last winter, if there is so much as even a snowflake you act like I'm incapable of driving. That accident wasn't even my fault!" asserted Jackie.
Steven rolled his eyes in annoyance. It never failed. Even though they loved each other very, very much, they still had their little petty arguments constantly, although they were forgotten as quickly as they started.
"Jackie, It may have been just a minor accident but it could have been easily much worse and it happened in weather almost exactly like this. Also don't forget that our 2 month old baby was in her car seat in the back." reminded Hyde.
Jackie, knowing Steven the way she did, decided there was no point in arguing this any further. Just then as they started to walk out, Jackie noticed a familiar looking woman sitting on the wooden benches in front of Halvorson's. No, it couldn't be?! But it was. The woman she had only ever known as "Gross Edna" and who was ironically now her mother-in-law. Jackie nudged Hyde. "Steven, Isn't that your mother?"
He turned to look where Jackie was pointing and sure enough it was his mother. Hyde sighed to himself that his luck never ends.
Edna had seen the woman point to her and call Steven's attention to her. Since they had already seen her she decided to go ahead and try to speak to Steven.
"Steven!" shouted Edna.
Hyde looked at Jackie and she whispered back "Go over there and talk to your mother!"
They walked over to where Edna was sitting on the benches. Hyde was the first one to speak.
"Hey Edna, Nice weather we're having isn't it?" Hyde replied somewhat sarcastically.
Edna was already distracted by the beautiful curly dark-haired child in Steven's arms. She was with a doubt the most beautiful little girl Edna had ever seen, but by looking at the child's mother it was no wonder. Her son was no slouch in the looks department either. Edna just shook her head in agreement while never taking her eyes off the child she assumed to be her granddaughter. Edna broke the silence by asking "Steven, Who is that you've got there?"
"This is my daughter, Kaitlyn Marie." answered Hyde softly.
Edna was beyond words but finally whispered "She's so beautiful!"
As much as Jackie hated it, she was actually feeling sorry for the woman who had nearly emotionally crippled her husband. Hyde though wasn't as sympathetic because the news of her first grandchild being born wouldn't be such a shock if she had just done the decent thing and picked up a phone and called her son anytime in the last few years.
Edna finally regained some of her composure and asked "How old is she?"
Jackie answered "14 months."
Edna glanced down as Jackie's expanding waistline and enquired "You're expecting?"
"Yes, I'm due around the middle of June." replied Jackie.
Surprisingly enough to Hyde, Jackie didn't take offense to Edna's noticing she was pregnant. His wife had always been vain but she was especially vain and slightly neurotic about her size and looks when she was pregnant. This drove Hyde crazy because to him she was absolutely beautiful when pregnant. She was also showing a lot earlier with this pregnancy than she had with her last one, but luckily enough her morning sickness had gradually gone away during the last few weeks and she had gotten most of her energy back and was feeling much better.
Edna was still trying to absorb the fact that she had a granddaughter let alone another grandchild on the way.
Jackie felt somewhat awkward about the whole situation and decided to ask Edna if she would like to hold her granddaughter. "Would you like to hold her?"
Edna, shocked at the offer, shook her head in agreement. Hyde, not quite feeling right about handing his daughter over to his estranged mother, hesitantly did so. Edna took the little girl from her apprehensive father's arms and was surprised that despite being bundled in what appeared to be 5lbs of clothes, was light as a feather.
The little girl just stared at Edna curiously and grabbed a lock of Edna's hair. Edna just smiled, still in disbelief that this child was really her very own granddaughter. Kaitlyn, sensing the tension from her parents and this stranger, began to reach back over for her mother. "Mama, Mama!" gurgled Kaitlyn. Jackie took her daughter in her arms and Kaitlyn was instantly content again.
Hyde anxious to get way from yet another unexpected meeting with his mother, and also remembering the bad weather that lay in wait for them outside said "Well we've got to get going so we can get home and put this little lady to bed, its way past her bedtime."
Edna nodded, grateful that she had gotten just a few minutes with her son and his new family. "It was nice to see you Steven, Kaitlyn, and Jackie, was it?
Hyde, again remembering the bad weather, and against his better judgment said "Look Edna, Do you need a ride somewhere?"
Edna hesitated for a moment, but then answered "Well, my ride was supposed to be here about 20 minutes ago but it looks like she's running late because of the snow."
Hyde thought about this for a minute and then remarked "Edna, the mall closes in 5 minutes and its too cold to wait outside. I can drop you off somewhere. You wait here with Jackie & Katie while I go scrape the snow off the car and I'll pull up here in front."
"Ok Steven, thank you."
Hyde hurriedly ran to his car, got it started, and then began to brush all the snow off the windshield and back and side windows while the car warmed up. A few minutes later he pulled back in front of the mall entrance. Jackie quickly strapped Kaitlyn in her car seat and covered her with a heavy blanket while Edna climbed in the backseat. A few minutes later everybody was strapped in and ready to make their trek home through what seemed like several feet of snow, also the wind-chill was absolutely face numbing. As soon as they got on the open road Hyde inquired "Edna, Where do you want me to drop you off at?"
"724 Lincoln Street" replied Edna.
"Ok, that's about 3 blocks from our place so its not too far out of our way." said Hyde.
After what seemed like an eternity later they finally pulled up to Edna's apartment building. "Well, there ya go Edna." said Hyde.
"Thank you Steven, I really appreciate it!" said Edna gratefully.
"Well, don't make too much of it. I'd give anybody a ride in this weather." said Hyde matter-of-factly.
Edna shook her head sadly and replied "Steven, I just want to let you know that I'm not drinking anymore and I go to AA meeting every week now. I haven't' had a drink in nearly a year."
Hyde stared at his mother, not quite sure of what to say to her in response. "Well Edna, Good luck with that, I'm sure you'll need it."
Jackie glared at her husband and whispered "Steven!"
Edna quickly rushed out the car, upset with herself that she was expecting too many miracles at once.
Once Hyde and Jackie arrived home they immediately put their daughter in her crib and went back in to the living room to watch television.
"Steven, did you need to be so harsh with your mother? You could have at least been civil."
"I thought I was being extremely civil under the circumstances. I just don't know if I'll ever be willing to give her another chance. I mean first of all my childhood was complete shit, then she abandons me and leaves me to fend for myself when I still had 2 years of high school left." Hyde was silent for few moments and then replied "But I did notice she looks a lot better than I can ever remember her looking and she's never been in AA before."
"Steven, maybe you'll never have a good mother/son relationship with her but maybe you can heal some of these old wounds and put some of the bitterness to rest. Maybe you can work on being friends and see where it takes you from there." suggested Jackie softly.
Hyde wrapped his arms around Jackie and buried his head in her hair and whispered "Maybe, I guess we'll just have to take it one day at a time."
Jackie leaned up and kissed Hyde on the lips "Lets go to bed and warm each other up", and gave him a suggestive wink. He smiled back and took her hand and led her back to their bedroom.
After they had "got warmed up" they fell asleep in each other's arms watching the snow falling heavily in the dark Wisconsin night.