Three Weeks Later
Waking up to the sound of Red Forman yelling was something Hyde was used to and surprisingly it didn't bother him all that much. Usually he'd spend five seconds chuckling to himself before rolling over and going back to sleep. But lately, thanks to Eric and Donna's engagement revelation, the frequency of the arguments had intensified, and as Hyde was only just surviving on minimal sleep he could no longer ignore them.
Opening a heavy eyelid he checked the time. It was only five past eight. He sighed. What the hell was there to argue about at 8.05 on a goddamn Saturday morning? Oh that's right, Hyde thought, the not-so-little matter of teenage nuptials.
Deciding that so long as Eric and Red were within earshot sleep would not be forthcoming, Hyde got out of bed and trekked his way toward the battlefield. The high-pitched whine of Eric's voice was piercing as Hyde stepped into the basement.
"But none of this is my stuff! Why should I have to spend my Saturday morning sorting it?"
Red folded his arms across his chest and stared at his son. "Because you're a man now, Eric...or so you keep telling me." He handed Eric a green fly swatter, it's rubber mesh almost broken in two. "Now if you see any of those creepy crawly things you don't like just hit 'em with this."
"But it's broken," Eric pointed out. "It won't kill anything."
"Well how 'bout this," Red said with a smirk. "If you see a spider or a roach in that there box, why don't you just start telling it all about your life. Start with how you couldn't catch a ball and end with how you got engaged when you were still at high school. I'm sure by the time you're finished with your story the damn thing would've died in disappointment-"
Eric's face fell as he placed his hand on his stomach. "But, Dad, I haven't even had breakfast yet. I'm a growing boy, I gotta eat."
"Should've thought about that before you started handing out rings willy nilly to neighbour girls then huh?" Red scoffed. "Men get married, Eric, not boys, and since you're getting married I guess that makes you a man. And guess what? Men clean out boxes of crap from basements; boxes that sometimes have roaches the size of my foot in them. So stop thinkin' about your goddamn stomach and start clearing this mess up!"
Hyde cleared his throat, signalling his presence, and waved a hand at the two men before mumbling a 'good mornin' and starting up the stairs. It might have been fun to stick around and watch the show but unfortunately, like most things in his life right now, Hyde just didn't have the time or the patience for it. Heavy eyes insisted he headed north, toward a - hopefully - quieter room and he wasn't going to fight that insistence just to watch Red's foot fly up Eric's ass.
When he reached the bedroom door Hyde didn't bother knocking. The call of the bed was too strong. The sound of silence too enticing.
"Shift over," he whispered to the lump in the bed as he dragged himself toward it.
Jackie's eyes looked as tired as Hyde's felt, and she barely opened them as she did what she was told and shuffled closer to the wall.
"How long we got?" Hyde asked softly, sliding into the bed next to Jackie.
"A while," she answered him. "She woke at six and didn't go back down again 'til nearly seven. If she wakes before nine I'll die."
"What? Why didn't you come get me at six? I told you to wake me if I didn't hear her."
Amongst the chaos and stress of the last three weeks, somehow a decent arrangement had finally been made regarding Jackie's living situation. To nobody's - except Jackie's - surprise, Pam still wasn't back from Brazil. She'd called, sent flowers, sent gifts, but hadn't bothered showing her face, so it'd been left to the Forman's and Rosa to sort who would take care of Jackie and the baby at night. No one, including Hyde, wanted the new mother left alone with the baby through the dark hours so Rosa had agreed to sleep at the Burkhart's from Monday to Wednesday, and the Forman's had offered Jackie what was Laurie's old room but was now a nursery, from Thursday to Sunday. Jackie had been a reluctant guest though, just as Hyde knew she would. She was not a charity case and she didn't need looking after. Not by anyone. But Rosa had a family of her own that needed her, and Hyde needed time with his daughter, so Jackie had eventually agreed to the arrangements just so Hyde could be near his baby. Not so that anyone could take care of her of course.
"Steven you worked 'til midnight last night then got up at three to change her. I didn't expect you to get up again. You need sleep."
Jackie wasn't wrong. Hyde did need sleep. But so did Jackie which is why between juggling school and work Hyde tried to help her as much as he could.
"I still woulda got up," he mumbled, nearly asleep under the soft, downy duvet, his head cushioned by the feathery pillow.
Jackie turned to face him. "Why are you in here anyway?" she whispered. "If Red catches you he'll kill you."
Not opening his eyes, Hyde replied, "He's busy killing Forman. You see, right now Red can only deal with one wayward teen n looks like today Eric's it." Just then, a gurgling noise not unlike the sound of a tub draining, brought Hyde back to reality. "Jackie?" he said, eyes now open wide. "What the hell was that?"
Blushing, Jackie climbed over Hyde and got out of the bed. Her hair was a tangled mess, her eyes were droopy in exhaustion, but to Hyde she was still the most gorgeous girl n the world.
"That was my stomach, Steven," Jackie replied in obvious shame. "I'm starving. Breastfeeding makes-"
"Breastfeeding makes you hungry," Hyde finished for her, nestling back into the bed. "Go eat. I could smell pancakes when I came up here so if you hurry you should beat Kelso n Fez to the last of them."
"But I need a shower too." Jackie pointed to the front of her nightgown, her face skewered in disgust at the wet patches where her breasts had leaked in the night. "God, I'm like a big fat cow...leaking milk everywhere and hungry all the time. I can't go down there like this, Fez will probably start lapping at my boobs with his desperate tongue."
Hyde smiled as he shook the disturbing image of Fez suckling Jackie from his mind. "Go have a shower," he said, waving his hand at the door. "Then go get some breakfast. Mrs. Forman always puts a plate aside for you so you're sweet. I'll bring Tyler down when she wakes up."
"But you need to sleep, Steven-"
"Just go!" Hyde ordered in a raised whisper.
"Thank you," he heard before the door softly closed behind Jackie leaving him to get some much needed shut eye.
...
Giving all credit to whoever invented showers, twenty minutes later Jackie was feeling a damn sight better than when she'd first woken up. It was amazing what hot water, soap, and clean clothes could do for one's spirit and as Jackie entered the Forman's kitchen she wondered when she'd become such a basic girl.
Oh yeah...three weeks ago when morning showers in peace ceased to exist.
"Well good morning, Jackie!" Kitty greeted the new mother with a beaming smile. "How was your night?" She handed Jackie a plate of blueberry pancakes which Jackie contemplated eating right there at the stove. But no, she may've felt like a starving pig but that didn't mean she had to act like one. She could make it to the table with all three pancakes in tact.
"A little better," Jackie said sitting down at the table next to Donna. "She woke at 12, then 3, then again at 6. So I guess all up I got 10 minutes sleep." Donna looked at Jackie in disbelief which Jackie returned with an eyeroll. "Kidding, Donna! I got like, six hours sleep, which believe me, is nothing to scoff at."
"I don't know how you do it," Donna remarked, slicing the last of her pancake into tiny little pieces. "Man, if I get less than eight hours a night I'm a freaking mess. When I have kids Eric better work out a way to breastfeed coz I'm sure as hell not doing it."
Over Donna's shoulder Jackie saw Kitty's eyes narrow and her lips thin. The Forman's were not happy about Donna and Eric's engagement and Donna spouting off about babies and Eric lactating surely wouldn't help ease the tension. The family drama did have it's upside though. Now, instead of sitting around the house nursing Tyler and watching reruns on TV, Jackie could nurse Tyler and watch a real life melodrama unfold around her. It made for good entertainment while Hyde was at work anyway, and for once the drama didn't involve Jackie.
Kitty placed the frying pan rather loudly in the sink prompting both girls to look at her. "Now, Donna," Kitty said as she wiped her hands down the front of her apron skirt, "Babies usually come after marriage so if you don't think you're ready to be a mother and tend to a little one perhaps you should rethink this whole wedding plan of yours?"
Donna frowned. "Not all couples have children as soon as they get married, Mrs. Forman," she explained.
"Well of course not," Kitty said, "especially not the ones who are still children themselves. So one has to wonder why they need to get married in such a rush then? Why not just date and have fun and go off to college-"
"We're still gonna do all of that, Mrs. Forman. We'll just be engaged while we're doing it."
Looking rather perplexed, Kitty finally said, "Well if you're not rushing to start a family I just don't see the point of you and Eric getting married?"
Donna sighed before turning back to Jackie. "Anyway, Jackie, when is my little niece gonna be up? I was thinking maybe I could take her for a walk or something. I miss her, I haven't seen her since Thursday."
"Feel free to visit her for cuddles anytime," Jackie smiled. "She's always up for bonding with her favourite Aunty...midnight...two in the morning...four in the morning...those are real good times for me."
Oh, what Jackie wouldn't do for a decent night's sleep...
It wasn't that she begrudged her new role as mother. In fact, Jackie had surprised herself with how easily she had adjusted to putting someone else's needs before her own. She loved Tyler dearly and she also loved how much Hyde loved their daughter. He was amazing with her and more helpful than Jackie had ever imagined he'd be. But he couldn't breastfeed, and nor could anyone else, so the maximum amount of uninterrupted sleep time Jackie was getting was three hours and it was starting to take it's toll.
"You're on your own there midget," Donna laughed. "During daylight hours I'm up for any time I can get with that cute little button, but after ten she's all yours."
"Don't I know it," Jackie said as she shoved quarter of a pancake in her mouth, not noticing Fez and Kelso's arrival.
"Good morning, ladies," Fez smiled, sitting down in Red's seat next to Jackie. "How are we all on this most beautiful sunny morning?"
Kelso's hand fell on Jackie's shoulder and gently squeezed. "Well Jackie's dressed today so things are looking better than yesterday," he remarked, before adding, "In more ways than one, if ya get what I mean?"
Jackie dropped her fork on her plate and looked up at her ex. God he was infuriating, and the sly wink he shot her only made her madder. "Oh shut your mouth, Michael," she spat at him. "I have a baby now remember? Some days I have time to get dressed, other days I don't because unlike you I have somebody else besides myself to worry about now and her needs come first. So sorry if my appearance disgusts you, maybe you should find somewhere else to freeload until I'm no longer a human milking machine?"
The kitchen fell silent until Fez made some strange remark about cutting tension with a fork and Kelso made a lame attempt at an apology. It was an awkward breakfast, what with Kitty and Donna's earlier exchange and Jackie's outburst at Kelso, but the new mother didn't care. She was too tired and too wrapped up in the deliciousness and newness of motherhood to care about verbal wars between herself and others. So when she'd finished her pancakes and Donna asked her to sit outside, Jackie barely batted an eyelid in Kelso's direction as she swanned out to the porch with her friend.
"So what was all that about?" Donna said as she leaned against the wooden railing and stared down at Jackie.
Jackie shrugged. "What?"
"You and Kelso, why are you so mad at him all the time? He was only teasing and to be fair we all give you crap at the moment about you living in your pj's. Is something up?"
Jackie picked at the cuticle on her pinky finger wondering what the hell Donna was on about. She wasn't mad at Kelso all the time...well she was, but she didn't think she'd made it that obvious.
"I'm not treating Michael any differently," she stated, crossing one denim clad leg over the other while internally congratulating herself for finally fitting her pre-pregnancy wardrobe again. "I treat him like the same dog he always was."
Donna grinned and raised her eyebrows. "Really? Coz i swear to God that lately you've been slapping that dog's nose with a newspaper the second he scampers into the room. You don't even give him a chance to bite anymore. Not that he ever really bites anyway, he's been really sweet to you ever since you had Tyler."
"Oh, Donna," Jackie said, eyes trained on her nails. "Michael is always a dog. Perhaps you're just too busy in your engagement bubble to notice?"
Donna furrowed her brow. "How can you say that? He's brought you and Tyler gifts and offered to hold her when she's fussing. He's made you hot drinks and brought you magazines to read. He's gone over and above his duty as an ex-boyfriend. In fact, he's actually been a better friend than I have -" a look of disappointment washed over the red-head's face, "- dammit! How the hell did that moron overtake me in the friend department?!"
"Don't panic, lumberjack," Jackie assured Donna. "While there are still numerous things you need to work on - like curling my hair without giving me third degree burns - you're still a better friend than Michael Kelso."
"Why thank you, Jackie," Donna said somewhat sarcastically. "But I still gotta know what's up with you n Kelso. You're being meaner than usual and you don't even have the pregnancy hormones to blame anymore. C'mon, tell me, what's he done?"
Jackie groaned and folded her arms across her swollen chest. Usually she would relish this kind of girly chat but her new role as a mother made the whole thing rather uncomfortable. If she told Donna that Kelso had asked her to the upcoming prom she would also have to tell her that she was tempted to go. But then she would have to tell her it wasn't Kelso she wanted to go with. Jackie would have to say that she wanted Hyde to take her which would probably make Donna laugh because as far as everyone knew Jackie and Hyde were friends who shared a child together, not friends who often shared a bed and feelings with each other.
"Well?" Donna said breaking Jackie's train of thought. "What's up? And don't say nothing because I can tell something's going on in that head of yours because you're chewing the crap out of your bottom lip."
Jackie abruptly stopped biting her lip. "Fine! Michael asked me to go to prom with him okay?"
Donna looked curiously at her friend. "So? You're mad with him for that? Isn't that right up your alley? Shouldn't you be all giddy with excitemnt or something?"
"Sure, if it was this time last year that he'd asked me maybe," Jackie replied. "But things have changed, I've changed-"
Donna shrugged. "You've had a baby but that doesn't mean you can't go to prom. You're seventeen, you deserve to go out n have some fun."
"But I don't want to go out and have fun with Michael," Jackie explained defiantly. "And I wish he'd never asked me 'cause now he's made everything awkward."
Jackie thought back to the previous Monday night when Kelso had shown up at her door dressed in a nice shirt and dress pants. In his right hand he'd held a dozen red roses, in his left a poem he'd written for her. He'd blushed as he read the stupid thing aloud to Jackie, and she'd cringed for him internally, not reciprocating the feelings he'd described. Thankfully Jackie had been holding Tyler who also must've hated Kelso's dreadful poem as she'd started screaming toward the end giving Jackie an excuse to tell Kelso she'd get back to him with an answer at a more convinient time. That time hadn't come though and instead she spent her days snapping at him or dodging him, all the while hoping Hyde wouldn't find out. Tired Hyde plus angry Hyde was not a Hyde Jackie could handle right now.
"So you don't wanna go to prom?" Donna asked surprised.
"Oh I want to go to prom. Can you just imagine everyone's faces when they see how good I look after just having a baby?" Jackie felt her smile grow as she pictured herself walking into the school gymnasium dressed in the gorgeous pink gown her mother had sent from Brazil. "I just don't want to go with him."
Donna nodded. "I guess it'd be kinda weird but I dunno...I just kinda thought you'd always end up with Kelso somewhere down the track, and you gotta admit, it's sweet he asked you..."
Jackie raised her brows. "In what universe did you ever think I'd get back together with Michael? Donna, he cheated on me a million times-"
"And you always took him back," Donna shrugged.
"But now I have a baby and other options," Jackie said rising to her feet. "Better options."
"Oh yeah?" Donna grinned. "Like who? You haven't left the house in three weeks. Do you have a penpal none of us know about?" She grabbed Jackie's forearm. "Oh wait, don't tell me it's some sad guy in prison who's looking for love on the outside, 'cause I'm telling you now, Jackie, he won't get furlough just to attend the Point Place High prom," she mocked.
"Shut up, Donna, he's not a dirty prisoner," Jackie said, her tone low as she thought of her dad in jail.
"Who is he then?"
Before Jackie could divulge anymore, the sliding opened and Jackie looked over to see Hyde cradling Tyler in his right arm.
"Who's who?" he asked sleepily.
"Oh no one," Jackie said waving her hand dismissively, unsure if it was the euphoria most new mothers felt or something solely unique to her, but just the sight of her baby's daddy made Jackie slightly giddy. Steadying herself as she rushed over to him, her eyes swept over Hyde's grubby jeans, up to his white singlet, across to his toned bicep, until they finally rested on his sleepy blue eyes. She smiled as he let out a yawn. "Ignore Donna and her school girl rubbish talk."
Donna half snorted and half laughed. "Oh yeah, ignore me," she said sarcastically as she stepped toward Hyde and the baby. "Awwww, can I hold her."
"At your own peril," Hyde warned. "She's hungry, therefore grumpy n not someone you wanna be holding unless you absolutely have too."
Donna stepped back as Tyler let out a piercing cry. "Okay, I'll go find Eric and come back when she's fed," she said as she made her way into the kitchen. "I'll catch you guys later."
"Well I'll hold her." Jackie scooped her daughter out of Hyde's arm and swiftly began planting kisses on her chubby cheeks. "Oh she's so warm and squishy," she said between kisses, ignoring the cries that were louder than Bob's lawnmower.
"And hungry," Hyde reminded Jackie. "So where are you feeding her?"
Jackie glanced inside, annoyed when she saw Kelso and Fez were still in the kitchen. "Upstairs?"
Hyde nodded and moved aside allowing Jackie to go first. "Upstairs it is."
Once in her part-time bedroom, Jackie propped herself up on the bed with pillows behind her, and was relieved when Tyler latched onto her breast without hassle. Breastfeeding was demanding and harder than Jackie had anticipated but she was perservering because it was better for baby and also so Hyde didn't have the extra pressure of forking out for formula every week. He was already doing so much for Jackie and the baby and she appreciated every bit of it. But after her conversation with Donna, Jackie couldn't help but wonder if Hyde's generosity would extend just a little further.
With the baby happily feeding, Jackie looked down at Hyde dozing next to her on the bed.
"Steven," she whispered, smiling when Tyler opened her eye and focused it on her mother.
"Mmmhmm," Hyde murmured.
Jackie stroked the fine curls on Tyler's head. "Prom's coming up..." she started nervously, waiting a few moments for Hyde to say something, disappointment setting in when he didn't. "And I wouldn't mind going..."
Hyde opened his eyes and met Jackie's gaze. "So go?"
"By myself?" she asked. Did he not know her at all? Jackie would be the laughing stock if she turned up to the biggest event on the school calendar alone. It wouldn't matter what she was wearing or how good she looked, all everybody would see was the empty space beside her.
Hyde shrugged.
"Steven, I can't go by myself. That'd be social suicide," Jackie informed him.
"You said having a kid would be social suicide n that turned okay didn't it?"
"Eventually. People are only just getting over that, Steven. I can't show up to prom on my own or I'd be back where I was a few months ago, at the bottom of the heap with only Eric and Fez as friends."
Hyde grinned as he rolled from his stomach to his back. "And me...you'd have me as a friend. I'd still take you to the Hub day after prom for a burger even if you are a loser."
Jackie used her free hand to pinch his shoulder causing him to wince loudly. "I'm serious, Steven," she said through pursed lips. "I want to go to prom and I want you to take me."
"I don't do proms, Jackie" Hyde told her seriously. "Take Fez."
"But I don't want to go with Fez, I want to go with you." The words left an aftertaste in Jackie's mouth that was hard to swallow. Here she was again, being honest with Hyde with no way of knowing how he would react. Sure he had been sweet since Tyler had been born, showing more affection than usual, always quick with a hug or a kiss when no one was around. But there had been no talk in a while about what their relationship was and they'd both become used to this form of 'them; neither one wanting to ruin it by messing with what was a good thing. Could prom be the potential deal breaker?
Hyde swallowed hard and looked up at Jackie. "And I said I don't do proms."
"You did a couple of years ago when you took me," Jackie reminded him.
"And look how that turned out." Hyde's eyes narrowed and Jackie knew exactly what he was referring to - her in Kelso's arms despite wearing the corsage Hyde had so thoughtfully bought for her. She cringed at the memory before reminding him that the night didn't turn out so bad for him in the end.
"Yeah, with you banging Pam Macy in my dad's car!" Jackie's raised tone distratcted Tyler from her feed and she fell off the breast. Jackie picked the little bundle up, propping her up on her shoulder and gently rubbing her back. "Ssssshhh, bubba," she whispered soothingly. "Have a little burp..."
"The only reason i banged her was coz you were busy groping Kelso on the dance floor," Hyde said as he gruffly sat up and put his hands out. "Here, give her to me. I burp her better than you."
Jackie ignored him and held on firmly to her baby. Why - she didn't know. It had become routine to hand the little one over to Hyde for burping but right now Jackie needed her in her own arms. Maybe it was to visually remind Hyde that they'd come so far since the last prom they'd gone to together. Maybe it was to remind him that she'd had his child and he therefore owed it to her to take her.
But maybe it was to remind herself of the reasons she couldn't go with Michael Kelso.
Jackie kissed the top of Tyler's head, breathing in her milky scent. "Please, Steven," she said softly. "Please come with me to prom. I really, really, want to go." She felt Hyde shuffle in the bed and when she looked over at him all she was met with was the back of his head. She sighed.
"Jackie," Hyde said. "I'm freakin' tired as hell n the last thing I wanna do is talk about prom let alone go to the damn thing. If you wanna go, then go. I'll babysit." He yawned and within a couple of minutes his steady breaths indicated he was fast asleep.
Jackie continued to rub Tyler's back and when a burp escaped her little lips Jackie positioned her ready for the next breast. With the baby properly latched, Jackie's head fell back against the wall as she thought about the man sleeping next to her, the man downstairs waiting for an answer, and the pretty pink dress hanging in her closet.
A/N: So sorry for the huge delay since the last chapter. Life gets in the way sometimes but I hope some people are still with me! Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, I love reading them x