Jackie Hyde: Super Freak

A/N: Back to the chapter format! I feel the need to get at least one more story up before school starts again, so this one is that story. I hope that everyone likes it! It takes place after HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN AND SNOW.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from THAT 70S SHOW nor Rick James' 'Super Freak'.

Jackie Hyde examined herself in the full length mirror. Her stomach was swollen, what you would expect for a woman who was five months pregnant. But she wasn't used to looking like that. She was always a petite person, and now, well… She felt like a whale.

"Great," she sighed. She didn't like any of her maternity clothes either. She didn't care what everyone said, she did NOT look cute in her blue dress, and it WASN'T stylish. The fashion faux pas you go through while pregnant, she thought, and began to brush her hair. She and her husband were expecting company.

"Steven!" she called, looking at her watch. Hyde walked into the bedroom, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Yeah?"

"When are they getting here again?" she asked, continuing to examine herself. "And do I look okay to you?"

"Their flight gets in at one, which means they'll probably get here at two, and you look fine," he said, kissing the top of her head. She wasn't convinced, but continued to brush her hair.

"And is the baby's room ready for Tommy?" she asked.

"Yeah, hopefully the crib will be okay for a two year old," he said.

"And are the sheets on the pullout okay?"

"Jackie, everything is fine," he said. "You look fine, the flight is coming in three hours, the pullout sheets are fine, and you need to calm down." She nodded, and began examining herself again.

"I think I need to change clothes," Jackie said, walking for the closet. Hyde sighed, and shook his head. No matter what he did, he couldn't convince his wife that she was a pretty pregnant woman. Because even though Jackie had changed a lot from her shallow high school days, she still valued her appearance very highly. Probably because it was all she had when she was younger. Neuroses aside, Jackie was thrilled that she was going to have a baby, and Hyde knew it.

"I hate all these clothes!" she exclaimed, moving her hands through the hangers of outfits. Her hand stopped on a cute sweater skirt set. "I miss this outfit!" Hyde sighed, and walked to the telephone in the kitchen of their Manhattan apartment. He dialed a local number, and waited.

"Barry?" he asked. "It's Hyde… I think Jackie needs you here to help her with an outfit… I know you don't know that much about clothes, but you know more than me and the other pregnant woman won't be in town until this afternoon."

Jackie put on a robe, and went into the main room to sulk on the couch. Even though she had watched what she ate and how much exercise she got, she still felt fat.

Hyde walked out from the kitchen area, and sat on the couch next to her.

"Barry is coming over," he said. She chuckled a little.

"Calling in my gayboy?" she asked.

"Think of it as the cavalry," he said, and she smiled. "I know you're nervous about seeing Donna and Eric because of your pregnancy-."

"Eric doesn't matter," Jackie said, holding up her hands. "It's my best friend and best critic I'm worried about."

"Donna has been through the pregnancy thing before, she will understand," Hyde said, hoping that Barry's trek from the Upper West Side to Greenwich would be a quick one. Barry knew Jackie as well as Hyde, but he was just a little bit better at handling her neurotic episodes.

"Did you have breakfast?" he asked. She nodded, and leaned against him. "What did you have?"

"Fruit salad."

"Is that all?"

"It was enough," she said.

"I could make you some pancakes," he said.

"I'm fine."

"Jackie…"

"… Fine," she said, and he nodded. She knew that a fruit salad wasn't enough for two, and pancakes did sound good. Besides, who knew if Barry had eaten breakfast? On the weekends, he tended to sleep in, so Hyde had probably woke the poor guy up. She followed him into the kitchen, and sat at the table.

"Are you excited to see Donna and Eric and Tommy?" he asked, beginning to mix the batter.

"Yeah," she said. "I can't wait to show them around the city. Donna and I are going to go see 'Phantom of the Opera', and we should all go to Staten Island, and I want to have a picnic in Central Park-."

"And what does Donna want to do?" he asked. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he chuckled.

"I am sure that Donna will agree with most of what I want to do," she said. He nodded. "What are you and Eric going to do?" He shrugged.

"We don't plan these things out," he said. She nodded, and rested her hands on her stomach. She rubbed it, and smiled a little to herself.

"Haven't you seen Phantom about ten times?" he asked. She looked up, and shot him a look.

"And if I have?"

"Just curious."

Just as the pancakes were being served, there was a knocking on the door. Jackie tied her robe on, and walked to it. She opened the door, and Barry was standing there.

"Good morning!" she said, hugging him.

"Arg, pregnant women scare me," he said, and she hit him on the shoulder. "I'm kidding. Do I smell pancakes?"

They all sat down, ate breakfast, and then Barry and Jackie went to the closet to find her a decent outfit.

"Okay, yes, there are a lot of lousy clothes in here," Barry said. "But what do you expect for maternity?"

"I know! I just want something that makes me look cute!"

"Oh loves, you're always cute!"

"Well thank you, but me and Donna have always been competitive, and if I look like a frumpy WHALE-."

"You're hardly a whale," he said.

"Well I certainly feel like one."

"But who knows how she looks as a pregnant woman?"

"Who are you kidding? She's a sexy redhead!"

"This is true, she's fabulous."

"How about the black sweater and this blue skirt?"

Hyde could hear them talking, and hoped that Barry could convince her that she had good outfits to wear. He was also excited that a couple of his oldest friends were coming to his new home, his new life with his wife and baby on the way.

And he could use the pep talk that every father to be needed.

Jackie finally settled on the black and blue outfit, and Barry, his services finished but unwilling to leave just yet, had retreated to the den to watch TV. Jackie was double checking the baby's room, and felt her stomach again. Hyde leaned in the doorframe, and smiled at her. She smiled too, and curtsied.

"I found an outfit," she said. "Sorry for having a conniption."

"It happens once a week at least, I'm used to it," he said. "You're just lucky Barry is a subway ride away." She hugged him, and smiled.

"How about Monica if it's a girl?" she asked.

"How about not?"

"Well I'm still waiting on a suggestion from you, you know," she said.

"I'm still a fan of Samantha."

"NOT FUNNY," she said, and he laughed. She walked out of the nursery, and looked at the clock. "Barry, do you want to go to dinner with all of us?"

"Sorry, I got a date," he said.

"Since when do you have a boyfriend?" she asked.

"It's not a boyfriend, it's a date," Barry said. "And you know Johnny from NYU."

"Johnny?" she asked, hopping a little bit. "Oh my God! I haven't talked to him in forever! How could I forget your crush from freshman, and sophomore, and junior year?"

"You're such a girl," Barry said, watching the TV intently. She sat next to him, and he pat her stomach. "He's been in Massachusetts for the past five years, and he's back in the city as a lawyer now. Private practice."

"My Barry has his sights set on a lawyer, has he?" she asked, and he nodded. "I'm so excited for you!"

"Yes yes yes," he said, as she hugged him, and he pat her back. "So I can't go out with you guys tonight, but I will make sure to make time for all of you." She leaned back on the couch, and Hyde walked into the room.

"Bad news, Jackie, I have to go into the store for a little bit," he said. She sat up, a sulk on her face.

"Why?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Jake called and said that some inventory wasn't accounted for, I need to go straighten it all out," he said, throwing on his shoes. "But I won't be long, I don't think."

"…. Fine," she said. "But yeah, don't be long. Coooompanyyy."

"I knoooow," he said, kissing her quickly. "I won't be long." He left, and Jackie shook her head.

"I hope that this stupid inventory doesn't take too long," she muttered.

---------------------------------------

Hyde whistled as he walked into the store. Jake, an NYU student, was behind the counter, talking with a customer.

"Okay, let's look at the records, shall we?" Hyde asked, walking behind the counter. "Where's the problem? And I need to get home by two, we have visitors coming over."

"Oh my God. Hyde?" the voice asked. Hyde looked up, and almost dropped the record book.

"Sam," he said.

TBC