Daylight was fading as Jackie drove across town, but the dusting of snow that had fallen that day glowed like a silver blanket over the parked cars that lined the streets. Jackie usually loved a white Christmas; the movies told her she should love White Christmases with all their images of cosied up families in front of open fireplaces. But this year a loving family drinking eggnog under the tree hadn't been her reality. This year, thanks to the damn snow, Jackie was creeping through town at a snail's pace wishing like hell her family was one of the ones from the movies.
Christmas Day at the Burkhart's hadn't been much fun at all. Sure Jackie had been spoiled rotten just like always but unlike other years there hadn't been a party or even a steady stream of visitors laden with more gifts. Instead, Jackie's favourite day of the year had consisted of just her and her parents and a whole lot of uneaten food. Presents had been opened early in the morning, like they always were, but instead of spending the day smoking cigars and playing his favourite Christmas records, Jack had immediately retreated to his office and hadn't come out since. Jackie had knocked several times trying to coax her father out with Christmas sweets but each time he had declined claiming Christmas wasn't a holiday for everybody, only those lazy enough to take it.
Pamela, on the other hand, got well and truly into the Christmas spirit...so much so that by lunchtime there weren't many Christmas spirits left. She had taught Jackie how to make Pina Coladas, Fluffy Ducks, Cosmopolitans and White and Black Russians, and while Jackie appreciated the gesture she was pretty sure there were maybe some other, more useful, tips Pam could be sharing right now, like how to change a nappy. By the time Pam had fallen asleep around 2 o'clock Jackie was done. Done with Christmas, done with her parents, done with being alone. So when Donna called telling her that Bob and Red had eaten themselves into a peaceful slumber and Kitty was getting ready for her yearly phone call to her sister, Jackie had gladly accepted her friends' invitation to go over.
Forgetting how much she hated driving in the snow.
It was with much relief then when Jackie finally pulled her father's Lincoln into a spot outside the Forman's house. Opening the door she braced herself for the icy blast she was sure would hit her. She had stupidly put her new mascara on, forgetting how cold winter night's never failed to make her eyes water thus ruining any attempt to pretty herself up for the father of her child. Pulling her thick woolly scarf up under eyes and her warm woolly hat down over her forehead, she got out of the car and carefully walked up the driveway. The snow squeaked under her boots and the wind howled around her but the thought of being in the Forman's cosy, movie-esque home warmed her insides and she quickened her pace.
Reaching the kitchen sliding door, the sight of Kitty perching herself on a stool next to the phone with an empty glass and a bottle of Kahlua made Jackie smile. Some things were just too predictable.
"Jackie!" Kitty cried, leaping off the stool and rushing to meet the brunette at the door. "What are you doing here, honey? It's snowing out there...did you drive here by yourself?"
Jackie unravelled her scarf and removed her hat, letting her curls tumble down over her shoulders. "It's fine, Mrs. Forman, it's just a few flurries, nothing major."
"But still, a girl in your condition shouldn't be out driving in this weather." Kitty took Jackie's winter woollies, hanging them on the hooks by the door. "Do your parents know you're out?"
Kicking her boots off, Jackie tried to hide the disappointment etched across her face. No her parents didn't know she was here. Her mother was passed out drunk and her dad simply didn't care where she was. Apparently Christmas Day at the Burkhart's was just like any other day.
"Yes they know and they're fine with it," she lied. "Dad checked the tyres before I left and he always makes sure the car is snow worthy so they knew I'd be safe."
"Oh, okay then," Kitty said, the lines of concern on her forehead slowly easing. "Well come and let me make you some warm hot chocolate before you go down to that basement. I've barely seen you lately. Steven said you were exhausted last night so we didn't get to see you at our party."
Jackie let Kitty lead her into the kitchen and her thoughts drifted to the previous night. After her splendid takedown of the foreigner, Jackie had hopped into Hyde's car and promptly fallen asleep. The next thing she'd known she was in Hyde's arms being carried up the stairs to her bedroom. She had sleepily pleaded with him to take her to the Formans' but he had refused, telling her she'd had enough excitement for one night. After laying her down on her bed and pulling the blankets up, he'd kissed her cheek, said goodbye, and told her to have sweet dreams...and she'd done just that.
"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Forman," Jackie said. "I really wanted to come but just couldn't seem to keep my eyes open. I've been getting like that a lot lately."
"That's pregnancy for you, one minute you're full of beans the next you're zapped and lying on the couch snoring like a sailor." Kitty stirred a saucepan of warm milk on the stove and smiled at Jackie. "I'm sure I slept for three months straight when I was having Eric. It wasn't like that with Laurie...with her I had so much energy I was like a little puppy, wanting to be on the go all the time! Maybe your tiredness means you're having a boy?"
Jackie considered Kitty's theory for a moment. "Mmmmm, maybe," she mused. "But I hope not, I really want a little girl."
"Why? Little boys are so lovely, and they never leave their mother's side. Not like girls. Girls just grow up to be spiteful young women who get themselves pregnant to lovely, innocent boys and then take off and only come back when they need money or somewhere to stay." The milk boiling over the pot interrupted Kitty's sudden outburst and she quickly removed it from the element. "Sorry, dear," she said, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "I just think you should be happy to be pregnant."
Jackie licked her lips, unsure of what to say to the older woman. It was only a few weeks ago that Kitty had discovered she wasn't expecting her miracle baby but was instead going through menopause. Hyde had suggested Jackie steer clear of her for a while, until she'd come to terms with the whole situation, and Jackie had followed his orders. But now she was stuck in the kitchen with an emotional Mrs. Forman, a pot of scolding hot milk, and not a lot to say to the older woman.
"Mrs. Forman," Jackie finally said, keeping her eyes locked on the cup of hot chocolate Kitty was making. "I'm really sorry to hear that you're barren now...I know you wanted another baby and it must be horrible to know you're too old to ever have another one."
Kitty's mouth fell open in shock but Jackie continued. "If it makes you feel any better you can babysit this baby anytime you want. I have a whole lot to get back to once it's out...school, cheerleading, y'know, all the things I'm missing out on while I'm a human incubator. So even though you won't have your own new baby just know that in a couple of months you can borrow mine anytime you want."
Kitty's face had turned an angry shade of red and when she forcefully handed Jackie the hot chocolate the younger girl quickly decided menopause must make women completely bonkers.
"Barren? Why you little-"
"Jackie! You're here!" interrupted Donna. Grabbing Jackie's hand the redhead pulled her out of the kitchen and out of Kitty's firing line. "Everyone's downstairs, come on."
"Wait, Donna!" Jackie said. "I was talking to Mrs. Forman before you rudely interrupted, I should go back in and thank her for the drink."
Donna stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to Jackie. "You weren't talking to her, Jackie, you were upsetting her. You were lucky she didn't throw that hot chocolate all over you."
"I was not upsetting her, I was sympathising with her," Jackie stated. "You see I care about people and their feelings which is why I told Mrs. Forman she could babysit for me anytime she wanted. I'm trying to help."
Donna chuckled. "Oh, right...you're always thinkin' of others aren't you, Jackie? 'Cause allowing Kitty to babysit for you is an honour right? One that you wouldn't benefit tremendously from?"
"Oh, whatever you great big buffoon," Jackie scoffed, pushing past Donna and descending the stairs. "You are so annoying sometimes!" Donna's refusal to see the good in anything Jackie ever did or said annoyed her to no end so it was a great relief to see Hyde and Eric flipping cards in their usual spots in the basement. The feeling of relief though was fleeting when Jackie caught sight of the other boy sitting in the room.
"Ugh, what are you doing here?" she scowled in Fez's direction. "Shouldn't you be handling luggage somewhere far, far away?"
"Why, that sounds like my sweet as a lemon little baby mama!" Hyde declared, turning to look at Jackie. His eyes were uncovered and sparkling, and his face was the most joyous she'd ever seen it. He looked truly happy to see her, so much so that she quickly forgot about Fez.
"Hi," she smiled as she sashayed over to Hyde's chair. "You look happy today."
"Of course I'm happy," Hyde said as though he wasn't the most cynical man in Point Place bar Red. "It's Christmas, I have beer, and now I have my baby."
When he reached out and placed both hands on Jackie's stomach she caught a whiff of the beer he had just spoken of.
"Oh yeah, Jackie..." Donna said, flopping herself down on the couch next to Eric. "Your baby daddy is wasted."
Jackie ignored her friend's remark and instead concentrated on the hands and face pressed against her belly. It was obvious Hyde was drunk but she didn't care, in fact, she liked drunk Hyde. Drunk Hyde was sweet, and playful, and affectionate...all the things sober Hyde struggled to be. As he mumbled to their baby through layers of fabric and skin it took all Jackie had not to let her fingers dive into his unruly hair and pull him closer.
The other occupants in the room however, didn't seem to appreciate the father/child moment of bonding.
Clearing his throat, Eric was the first one to speak. "You know we're here right, Hyde? I mean, you know we are all witnessing you talking to a stomach?"
"Hmm," began Fez, his brown eyes entranced at the sight of Hyde groping Jackie, "- while I do think pregnant women are beautiful I must say this does look a little disturbing. It's Jackie and Hyde...they are meant to hate each other."
Jackie's face shot around to look at Fez. He was a traitor, a blabbermouth, and as far as she was concerned he was lucky to even be in the same vicinity as her and the baby. Commenting on anything that remotely related to her was absolutely crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed until after he'd finished his probation.
"Shut up, Fez you big, fat secret teller!" Jackie ordered. "There is nothing disturbing about a father speaking to his child so you can just...just...suck a gumball and shut your mouth!"
A puzzled crease wrinkled Eric's forehead. "Well...I dunno, Jackie," he said dryly. "It kinda is disturbing when the father is Hyde and the kid technically looks like your stomach. Like, all we're seeing is you, no baby, no face, just you. So for those of us not involved in this creepiness it just looks like Hyde is groping you. Which is gross. And as my foreign friend said, disturbing."
Jackie arched her eyebrows but before she could speak she was suddenly pulled down onto Hyde's lap and into teenage heaven. When he wrapped one arm around her back and the other around her stomach she could barely keep from bursting with happiness. What did it matter that he was drunk? He was Hyde and she was sitting on his lap, in the basement, in front of three fourths of their friends.
"How's this for disturbing then, Forman," Hyde asked, clasping his hands together around Jackie's middle. "Enough to make you puke all that ham up?"
Eric blinked slowly and nodded his head. "Ah, yeah, I believe that'll do it."
"That's enough to bring up today's and yesterday's lunch," Donna agreed looking slightly nauseated.
With a surge of confidence, Jackie slid an arm around Hyde's neck and set her eyes on Fez. "What about you, Fez?" she asked. "Do you have anything to add?"
"No comment," Fez replied before shoving a candy cane in his mouth and sucking it hard.
"Sensible boy," Jackie said while her hand softly stroked Hyde's shoulder. It surprised her he hadn't shaken her touch away or come to his macho senses and pushed her off of his lap yet. She wasn't complaining though. It'd been months since she'd felt this wanted or protected by a guy...this guy.
"Anyway, Jackie," Donna said, shifting her eyes from Hyde's hands to Jackie's face. "I'm gonna pretend you're not sitting on Hyde's lap and ask you how your Christmas was? Any fabulous presents we so have to hear about?"
At the mention of presents Jackie promptly sat up straight, enthusiasm oozing from her pores. "Of course there were fabulous presents, I'm rich, aren't there always?" she declared with a proud smile. "Daddy gave me the thing I wanted most - money, but he tried to say it was for me and the baby until I reminded him that the baby isn't even here yet so I shouldn't have to share."
"God forbid you would ever have to share," Eric mocked, rolling his eyes for a dramatic effect that Jackie chose to ignore.
"God forbid all right," Jackie nodded. "I'm already sharing my body with the kid, I shouldn't have to share my Christmas presents as well. Lucky my mom has a clue and bought a whole lot of stuff just for me. I got a gorgeous new suede coat with a fur trim, and some great new boots, and so much make-up...enough to make even you look you pretty, Donna -"
"Great," Donna sighed. "I can hardly wait for the makeover."
"Well I'm pleased someone got loads of presents this year," whined Eric, pulling at a loose piece of cotton on the arm of the couch. "'Cause I sure didn't."
"C'mon, Forman, you got a nice new raincoat," Hyde grinned. "That's like a fur trimmed suede coat...only it's ugly."
"And made out of polyester and nylon, ewww," Jackie shuddered.
"Well if you hadn't been such a dillhole last night you might've been given another present, Eric. But seeing as you were, you didn't," Donna announced, folding her arms.
Eric sighed in response to his girlfriend before turning to Hyde.
"Oh, Hyde," he smirked. "Seeing you in your new raincoat the next time it rains will be gift enough for me. Which reminds me, I must make sure the camera has plenty of film in it to capture that moment."
Hyde leaned back in his chair, pulling Jackie flush against his chest, before saying, "Not happening, man, so save that film for the moment Red finds out you two are gettin' hitched."
Donna abruptly sat forward waving a warning finger at Hyde. "Sssh, Hyde!" she quietly ordered. "My dad's up there too y'know? The last thing we want is our parents finding out on Christmas Day! You gotta remember how Eric's report card ruined Thanksgiving...imagine the damage engagement news would do?"
"Aww, Donna, you really are delusional," Jackie said. "As long as big mouth over there knows your secret it's only a matter of time before the whole town does."
Before Fez could open his mouth in protest Jackie silenced him by narrowing her eyes in his direction forcing him to slump further into his chair and suck harder on his candy cane.
"He wouldn't dare," Donna slowly said, turning to look at her foreign friend. "Because if he did, last night would look like a damn picnic compared to what I'd do to him. Got it, Fez?"
Fez nodded, slowly pulling the sweet treat out of his mouth. "Got it, Donna," he assured her. "My lips are seals."
Jackie felt the rumble of Hyde's chuckle radiate through her back and she smiled. She still couldn't believe she was perched on his lap like a girlfriend. It was a Christmas miracle.
"Fez, man," Hyde said, pointing a wobbly hand at Fez. "How the hell are your lips seals? What the hell are you even talkin' about -"
"I am saying that I will not tell anyb -"
"Actually-" Hyde held a silencing hand up, "-I really don't give a crap." When he pat Jackie's thigh a couple of times she took it as her cue to stand up. The rush of cold that washed over her when her body separated from his felt worse than the icy air she'd braved to get there that evening and she desperately wanted to sit back down and keep him there forever. He was her Christmas movie. He was her Christmas miracle.
Even if he was an inebriated one.
"Right," he said, standing up and straightening out his t-shirt. "I got some stuff to sort in my room, so I'll catch you guys up in a bit." When he turned his back and started heading to his bedroom the butterflies that had filled Jackie's stomach fluttered off with him. Maybe he wasn't her miracle? Just a drunk guy who wanted to chat to a stomach. Utterly disheartened, Jackie barely heard him say, "You comin', Jackie?"
"Huh?" she mumbled, sitting back down in his warm chair.
"I said, are you comin'?" Hyde repeated.
"Um, EW!" cried Eric, swiftly standing up. "I cannot, I repeat, cannot be down here for this-"
Hyde shook his head in annoyance. "It's nothin' like that ya big girl. I just gotta sort somethin' with Jackie." Turning to her, he said yet again, "you comin'?"
"Yeah, of course." Rushing to Hyde's room Jackie didn't dare chance at look at Donna. She knew her friend would be sporting a look of disapproval and she wasn't about to let her ruin the moment. Hyde was her baby's father and Jackie would do just about anything to bring them closer.
Once inside Hyde's shabby excuse of a room, Jackie took a seat on his cot and straightened her peasant top. "So, what's up?" she asked.
Hyde closed the door and walked over to the lounger, picking up a flat parcel. "Hey, ah, look I know I said I wasn't gonna get you anything for Christmas-"
"Yeah, you said you're saving all your money for the baby."
"Yeah." Hyde cleared his throat, his hands fidgeting almost nervously with the parcel. "But I wanted to give you something...actually, it's more for the baby-"
"You got me something?" Jackie didn't bother trying to hide her excitement. She had received numerous presents that day but one from Hyde meant more to her than all of the other ones put together.
"I said it's more for the baby."
Jackie shrugged, a sweet smile curving her lips. "Still a present."
"Weren't you just sayin' you didn't wanna share your presents with the kid?" Hyde smirked, losing his balance a little as he sat down on the lounger. "Maybe I should just hang on to this until it's here."
No way was Jackie waiting three months to see what Hyde had clumsily wrapped up for her and their baby. She was having it tonight.
"I was only kidding before," she said, sticking her hand out. "What's mine is our baby's. Pass it to me."
Hyde raised an eyebrow. "Pass it to me?"
"Pass it to me please," Jackie said impatiently.
When the thin, square parcel was put in her hands Jackie could tell it was an album. What she couldn't guess though, was what album it was. She wondered what song would make Hyde think of her and the baby so much that he would buy it and wrap it up as a gift. Giddy with memories of them making out to the Stones and Zeppelin, Jackie figured it had to be something from their summer soundtrack. It had to be something that he regarded as 'their song'.
Tearing open the brown paper, her heart dropped when she spotted dreary Bob Dylan and the equally dreary Suze Rotolo.
"A Bob Dylan album...and it's used," she said, doing little to conceal her disappointment. Bob Dylan meant nothing to her and she had no recollection of ever listening to him with Hyde either.
"Yeah, The Freewheelin' album, I want you to play it for the baby."
Jackie frowned, staring down at the half unwrapped present she didn't particularly want. "Um, why?" she asked.
"My mom used to play it a lot when I was a kid n I figure it was kinda like the steppin' stone - the basis - for my impeccable taste in music today." Hyde pointed at the record, raising an authoritative eyebrow. "That's the original album by the way, the one thing that was worth anything when she hightailed it outta here, so look after it. Don't go throwin' it on the ground or leavin' it in the sun. Put it in the sleeve when you're done."
Put it back in the sleeve when she was done? Done using it as a flat surface to paint her nails on, or done using it as a makeshift Frisbee? 'Cause she sure as hell wasn't playing it. Hyde had just given the mother of his child the most unromantic present in the world - something that reminded him of Edna freaking Hyde.
"So you're saying I have to play it?"
"Yeah," Hyde nodded. "The other day you said the kid can hear everythin' going on out here n I don't want him thinkin' The Captain and Tennille are cool or acceptable."
"Oh but a communist lesbian and a hippy are?" Jackie argued.
Hyde ran a hand through his curly hair, exhaling loudly. "Suze Rotolo is not a lesbian, Jackie. She dated Bob Dylan for years n she's married now...to a guy. And anyway, she doesn't even sing, she's just on the cover."
"She's way to into politics to be straight, Steven," Jackie shrugged, tossing the album next to her on the cot. "And what straight woman would choose that ensemble to wear on an album cover? It's so blah."
"Look, I don't give a crap about Suze Rotolo and what she's wearin', man," Hyde said, standing up to pick up the album. "Just promise me you'll look after it and at least play it a couple times a week to counteract the effect of all the disco shit I bet you're playin'."
Jackie watched as Hyde tore the last of the paper off the record before running his hand across the cover. His angry eyes, blue as the summer skies, softened as he looked at the hippy and the lesbian and Jackie finally realised just how much the present meant to him. It was all he had from his childhood. There were no silver Christening cups or spoons to pass on to their child, there were no favourite teddy bears, there were no photos from birthday parties. There was just an old record from the sixties and he was giving it to her.
"Does it have Blowin' in the Wind on it?" Jackie asked even though she already knew the answer.
Hyde nodded, still regarding the piece of his childhood in his hands.
"Oh great! I love that song!" Jackie lied. "It's like, the only Dylan song that doesn't bore me to tears, so I guess that's one track I can play for baby."
Shifting his eyes from the album to Jackie, a corner of Hyde's mouth turned upwards. "So you're gonna play it?"
Jackie stood up and grabbed her Christmas present, hugging it tight to her chest. "Yes, I'm gonna play it," she said, looking up at him. "I love it, Steven, thank you."
Standing on her tippy toes, Jackie pursed her lips to kiss Hyde on the cheek and very near collapsed when Hyde closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers. The force of his touch was so overwhelming, she involuntarily dropped his gift to the floor and urgently wrapped her arms around his neck. As his tongue parted her lips, Jackie's toes curled in her shoes as her heart thumped in her chest.
This was the moment she'd been waiting for.
Hyde had finally realised they were meant to be together.
Her eyes closed as his hand caressed her back, their baby the only thing in between them. Jackie wanted to savour this moment, just the three of them, together on Christmas Day. But the logical part of her brain, the annoying part that reminded her of Donna, wouldn't let her. Slowly pulling her lips away from his, she sighed.
"Steven, what are we doing?" she softly asked.
Cupping the back of her neck and pressing his forehead against hers, Hyde whispered, "Isn't it obvious?"
Jackie smiled, Hyde's trademark smirk was having that effect on her recently. "But only two days ago you were practically kicking me off your bed, and now we're...we're..." She paused, not quite sure what they were doing or going to do.
"And that was a stupid thing for me to do." Hyde kissed the corner of her mouth before placing a kiss just under her ear. Goosebumps covered Jackie's flesh, even under her warm winter clothes, and a low groan escaped her lips at his touch. "I want you, Jackie," he murmured against her neck.
"But you're drunk, maybe you just want me coz you're drunk," Jackie whispered, wondering why the hell she was being so sensible when every bit of her just wanted to throw him down on the bed and strip him down.
Hyde held her gaze, his mouth turning up into a small smile. "I'm not that drunk."
Jackie raised her eyebrows in disagreement. The guy was practically swaying and hadn't worn his sunglasses all night...he was drunk.
Hyde shrugged and pulled her closer. "Okay, so I'm drunk, big deal. We've screwed plenty of times when we've both been wasted...what does it matter?"
Blinking slowly, Jackie cleared her throat. "Screwed plenty of times? Screwed? Really, Steven? Is that what we're gonna tell our child about his or her conception? That we screwed?"
"Had sex, did it, bang -"
"Made love?" Jackie asked, knowing she was pushing it.
"You're pushin' it," Hyde grinned.
Jackie giggled and rolled her eyes, absentmindedly sliding her arms around Hyde's neck again. "Knew I was."
Tilting her head in anticipation, she waited for Hyde's lips to touch hers again. To hell with waiting for him to be sober. To hell with worrying about their friends in the next room. She was taking this moment and running with it. When Hyde suddenly released his hold on her and stepped away, Jackie almost fell in a heap on the ground. This couldn't be happening again? He had been perfect tonight, what with the present and the public display of affection and the 'I want you, Jackie'. She would not be content to leave it like this. This would not be the end.
"Steven..." Jackie tried to speak as Hyde stepped around her and moved toward the door, but her mouth was suddenly dry.
Clearly sensing Jackie's concern, Hyde turned around. "Don't panic, baby," he smirked. "Don't want any interruptions, y'know?" When he locked the bedroom door Jackie breathed an audible sigh of relief. He wasn't doing a runner.
He was staying right there with her.
It was a Christmas miracle.
A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger! I promise the next chapter won't be so long in coming and then you'll get to read Hyde's take on the whole scenario. Thank you so much for your reviews...every time I read a new one it really does give me a little kick toward my computer!
Special thanks to nannygirl for her suggestions for the story and for reading over my Kitty scene. She really is the Queen of Red & Kitty fanfics so I really appreciate her support.
New chapter will be up within the week! (Oh, and as I was so eager to post this I haven't properly checked it over so feel free to let me know about any spelling or grammatical errors)