Wow! Just found my old laptop and saw this was sitting there in the documents! I can't even remember when I wrote it but I've done a quick scan through and think it looks okay enough and finished enough to post. Please let me know if there are any glaringly obvious mistakes and I will fix them up.

A HUGE thank you to those who are still reading, reviewing and favouriting this story - it is always so nice to read your thoughts and after finding this I'm hoping I've found the inspiration to write the last chapter which will tie up the loose ends. Hope you enjoy. Thank you!

Hyde had slept better than he had in months. The baby hadn't woken since he and Jackie had fed and changed her at 11.30 the night before, and he also hadn't tossed and turned for hours worried about a certain brunette. No, Steven Hyde had found the comfort of sleep came easily last night. It was as if all the troubles of the past few weeks had just disappeared.

And for that he was grateful.

Feeling rested, refreshed and reenergized he pushed open the kitchen door. "Don't you two have kitchens at your own homes?" he said, observing Kelso and Fez stuffing their faces at the table.

"Why would they eat at their own homes when they could be eating my famous Eggs a la Eric?" Eric was standing at the stove pushing scrambled eggs around a pot with one hand, and holding a cooing Tyler with his other.

"Eric, stop tryin' to make your eggs a thing, man," Hyde chuckled as he took Tyler from his friend. "The only difference between your eggs and anybody else's is that you always manage to burn them."

"So I take it you don't want any?" Eric frowned.

"Of course I want some." Hyde took a seat at the table and poured himself a juice. "Just leave any majorly incinerated stuff off my plate."

With a plate full of mostly chargrilled eggs in front of him, Hyde listened to his friends chatter about the previous night's prom. Eric and Donna had gotten into a fight - no surprise there. Kelso got laid in the back seat of a mini - no surprise there either - well except the one where the six foot buffoon actually fit inside of a mini. But Hyde wasn't about to ask him how he did that, the less details about Kelso doing it that were shared the better. The only surprise of the night was that Fez had made it to second base with Sharon. Jackie would be horrified at the news.

Speaking of Jackie, Hyde had yet to see her that morning and he was somewhat eager to ask the boys where she was. But he wouldn't, because that'd make him look like a whipped dork. So he planned to just ride it out and wait for her to make her appearance.

"Second base? Good job, Fez," Hyde grinned between mouthfuls of egg.

"Yeah, little buddy, Sharon may have all those pock marks from where she scratched her zits but you still got to touch her boobs so put it right here, dude." Kelso held up his right hand which Fez swiftly smacked proudly.

"I know," the foreign boy smiled. "I'm really coming into my own. I got to prom and second base all in one night. The people in my village would be so proud."

Hyde nodded, he was kinda proud of the little guy too. "And you didn't even get shoved in a locker, that's gotta make it like the best night of your life, huh?"

"Weellll…." Fez's face twisted in disappointment and Eric pat him gently on the shoulder.

"Uh, yeah, Hyde, we were like, not gonna talk about him being stuck in a locker for almost half the night-"

"And yet here you are talking about it! Ai! You say I do not understand the English language but I say you need to take a long, hard look at yourself, Eric!"

The sound of Fez's fork being dropped onto his plate startled Tyler and she began to cry. Hyde rocked her gently and held her a little tighter. She liked that, he'd learnt. She loved to be almost smothered. Hyde knew exactly who his little girl took after in that respect, and it sure as hell wasn't him.

"Ooookaaay," he said trying to diffuse the tension in the room. "So what else happened lastnight? I know who got laid, and who didn't - that being you, Forman - so anything else I gotta know?"

Eric cocked an eyebrow. "Never mind our night, Mr. Hyde, why don't you tell us what you got up to lastnight with a certain reincarnation of satan?"

Hyde put a hand over a now quiet Tyler's ear. "Forman I told you to stop callin' Jackie that in front of the kid. It'll give her issues."

"Eric calling Jackie satan is the least of your worries, Hyde," Kelso piped up. "She's got you as a dad, man. She'll probably be high before she's four and arrested for shoplifting by her 10th birthday. Her futures all mapped out."

Kelso let out a belly laugh before Hyde shut him the hell up with a cement like punch in the arm.

Like hell any of that crap was gonna happen to his daughter.

"You're lucky I'm holding her, Kelso, or that would've been your face, you moron!" he spat through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, Kelso, that wasn't funny," Eric agreed. "Tyler's off limits for burns, dude."

"I wasn't burning the baby, Eric. I was burning Hyde." Kelso's face fell. "Man, when did everything around here get so serious?"

"Probably around the time I had her," Hyde stated accompanied by a roll of the eyes.

Kelso stood up and tugged on Fez's shirt, forcing Fez to stand up too. "Well, serious Hyde is seriously boring so we're gonna go somewhere that's fun, like the Hart's backyard. They've got a new dog y'know. It's still a puppy so it's ears are still all soft and puppy-like and even though it's a puppy it doesn't care when I burn it coz it gets the joke...not like you, Hyde."

Hyde sighed. "Whatever."

"Hey, um, before you guys go and trespass on other people's property, you wanna give me a hand cleaning this mess up?" Eric gestured to the plates, glasses and cutlery on the table.

"Uuummm, no, not really," Fez replied thoughtfully. "The Hart's new dog sounds like more fun than cleaning your kitchen, Eric. But thanks for the offer."

Before Eric could say another word the kitchen sliding door banged shut leaving him and Hyde alone with a messy kitchen and a sweet little baby.

"Dicks," Eric mumbled, stacking the dirty plates into a pile. "They promised they'd help clean up if I cooked breakfast."

"A year ago Fez also promised you he wouldn't hide in Donna's closet anymore, and I'm pretty sure I saw her chasing him outta her house the other morning. You know those guys don't keep their promises, Eric - so really, you're the dick for believing they would."

"Yeah, I guess." Eric shrugged.

Hyde spent the next ten minutes alternating between making silly faces at his daughter and laughing at his best friend cleaning. But at the back of his mind the whole time was Jackie.

Where the hell was she?

He'd gone out of his way last night with the semi-romantic gestures and it was eating away at him that he might've blown it with her. Had the candles been too much? Did she think he was a sappy moron? Was she regretting the kiss they'd shared before going their separate ways to bed?

God his mind was racing with doubts.

He just needed to see her to know they were okay.

"Seen Jackie this morning, Forman?" he casually asked.

Eric didn't look up, his focus locked on the dirty pot he was scrubbing. "No, I just crept into her room and took her daughter."

Hyde's skin prickled. "What?!"

"I'm kidding," Eric said quickly. "She's gone over to Donna's with Pauline. She mumbled something about rating everyone's prom dresses out of 10. I dunno, serious girl talk I guess. I told her I'd have Tyler."

"Oh, okay." Hyde relaxed. She wasn't avoiding him. She was just hanging out with her friends. That was good...so long as they weren't dissecting the time he and Jackie had spent together the previous night. When girls talked about stuff like that they came up with all sorts of crap and he didn't want those girls filling Jackie's head with wacko ideas. He and Jackie had let too many people come between them in the past but now he wanted to make a serious go of this relationship and he didn't want people messing it up before it had even got off the ground.

"So what's going on with you two anyway?" Eric probed. "Donna told me you asked her to prom. Last I heard you were done with her after the Kelso bullshit."

To discuss or not discuss - that was Hyde's dilemma.

Oh, what the hell...

"I didn't really ask her to prom. I more like said I'd go with her if she wanted to go," he explained, hoping Eric could understand.

"But you'd spent weeks saying no to prom. Why the flip?"

Because saying no in the beginning had been an asshole move.

Because she'd spent hours in hellish pain giving birth to his child so taking her to one dance wasn't really a big deal.

Because she'd lost her parents, most of her friends, and all of the luxuries she'd grown accustomed to in the space of a few months, so he should let her have one night.

Hyde shrugged. "Just figured that if she wanted to go that bad I'd take her. Turns out she didn't really wanna go after all so I guess I got lucky."

"You really did," Eric nodded in agreement. "The band didn't even play Lynyrd Skynyrd like they said they would. Wish I could ask for a refund."

"Oh geez, now I wish I'd gone just to watch you cry like a baby over Skynyrd."

"I didn't cry, Hyde." Eric folded the wet dishcloth and placed it on the counter. "I more like wept on the inside."

"Whatever." Hyde smirked.

"Annywaaay, back to you and Jackie..." Eric sat down on his chair at the table and folded his arms, all the while eyeing Hyde suspiciously. It was making Hyde nervous. "Are you guys like a thing now? Cause it kinda seems like you are. Don't think I hadn't noticed you two sneaking off for little walks last week-"

"I'd hardly call it 'sneaking off', Eric. We said 'we're takin' Tyler for a walk, catch you guys later' when we left. You didn't need to be a detective to work out what we were doing."

"Fair call," said Eric, "but what about the evening snuggle on the basement couch on Thursday night. Don't think I didn't see that - cause I did."

"Good for you, you saw me n Jackie watching TV on the couch, whoop dee."

"So you're not denying cozying up to her then?"

No, Hyde wasn't going to deny it. He'd finally had enough of the secrets and lies. He and Jackie had a child together and if they wanted to be together he didn't give a shit what anyone had to say about it. Sneaking around had only produced problems - namely tall problems named Kelso - and the only way that guy was going to back off was if he knew Jackie was with Hyde.

Hyde just hoped she actually wanted to be with him.

It kinda seemed like she did.

It'd taken the incident at Simon's party to wake Hyde up to the fact he really wanted to be with Jackie. It wasn't just that he'd needed a sober driver that night that made him spin out like he had - he could've walked home easily enough. He had freaked that night because he didn't know where Jackie was...or who she was with...or whether or not she was safe. He didn't want to ever feel like that again. He wanted to prove to Jackie that he could be there for her. That he could protect her.

He just needed a proper shot with her to do that.

He sighed and looked at Eric. "No, Eric, I'm not denying I've been hangin' out with Jackie a lot. She's the mother of my kid, man, and right now she's living in the same house as me."

"But do I detect a hint of attraction between the two of you? Maybe something a bit more than friendship or co-parents?" Eric pried.

"I dunno, you tell me?"

Eric chuckled knowingly at Hyde. Of course he knew his friend wasn't going to spill the beans easily, he was the king of Zen after all.

It took a moment before Eric finally said, "I think you like her more than a friend. I think you really, really like her. She's used her devilish powers to get under your skin and now she's got you hooked, man, whether you like it or not."

Hyde laughed on the inside and prepared to test the waters. "And what if I do, y'know, like her. S'pose you've got some warnings for me? Gonna read me the bro code like I haven't heard it a million times before? Gonna tell me she's gonna go back to Kelso like she always does?"

It felt like forever waiting for his best friends reply and Hyde's stomach twisted into knots, anxious to hear what was coming. What if Eric said everything Hyde had just listed? What if he really did think Jackie and Hyde the couple was really a stupid idea?

But as quickly as those knots and thoughts appeared, they soon dissipated. Hyde's shoulders relaxed and his breathing regulated.

He didn't give a crap what Eric, or anyone else for that matter, thought.

He was going for it with Jackie.

"Actually, Eric, hold that thought," Hyde said as Eric opened his mouth to speak. "Yeah, I do like Jackie and I wanna be with her. I know we've had our differences lately - actually, we've had differences forever - but I want to make a go of it with her. So all the crap you were gonna just say doesn't matter, 'cause I don't care what any of you idiots think, okay?"

"Oh, okay," said Eric, momentarily taken aback. He stared at Hyde for a second before a small smile found his lips. "All I was going to say was - if you do like her just hurry up and admit it to her and to yourself, dude. You two are good together and when you're with her you even seem a little happy. But I don't need to say any of that now 'cause it looks like you've already woken up and seen sense. Congrats, man."

That was it?

That was all Eric had to say on the matter? Congrats?

After the weeks of hell Hyde had been through after everyone had found out Jackie was pregnant he really wasn't expecting this sort of reaction. But he would take it. Because he was sick of the drama that had consumed the past year.

So instead of discussing the matter with his friend any further he said, "Thanks, man," before taking Tyler down to the basement to wait for Jackie.

It was another half hour before Jackie breezed into the basement, giddy with excitement from her bitch session with Pauline and Donna.

"Oh my god, Steven!" she exclaimed as she raced down the stairs as quick as her little feet could take her. "You won't believe what I found ou-" She stopped mid sentence when she reached the couch and frowned. "What did I tell you about laying her down on that manky couch?"

"Relax, man. She has a blanket under her," Hyde said, fingering the corner of a soft pink blanket upon which his daughter lay while she blew raspberries.

Jackie continued to frown. "That blanket isn't thick enough to protect her from the squillions of germs that have manifested in that couch over the years, Steven. She shouldn't be on there."

"I've seen you laying bare assed on it, numerous times if I recall correctly, and you're still alive."

"Don't be gross, Steven." Jackie huffed loudly and reached down to pick up her daughter. "Especially not in front of our daughter."

Hyde chuckled and moved the blanket aside as Jackie sat down next to him. She was pretending to be annoyed with him but he could tell she wasn't by the way she snuggled into his side. His hand that was draped across the back of the couch quickly found her hair and softly stroked the locks that fell loosly down her left shoulder.

"So who's a pretty girl then? Huh, Tyler? Who's the prettiest girl in the whole town?" Jackie babbled to the baby who was bouncing on her knees. The little girl laughed and as she did drool rolled from her mouth onto Jackie's jeans. Not that Jackie noticed. It impressed Hyde how casual Jackie was about things like that; things he thought would've bugged the hell out of her. Gross baby stuff just didn't bother her. Tyler's happiness was her only concern.

"Well?" he started while Jackie continued to make goofy faces to Tyler. "What did you find out?"

But Jackie was too preoccupied now with her daughter. "Huh?" she mumbled, between poking her tongue out and scrunching up her nose. The whole performance making Tyler squeal in delight.

"You said you - " Hyde began again, "actually, nevermind." What could she have to tell him that would top this? Why interrupt this moment for a piece of gossip that he didn't give a crap about anyway? He had Jackie right next to him being an amazing mother. Both his girls were happy.

And so was he.

So they sat like that for the next little while. Playing with Tyler, marvelling at how smart and cute and special she was, before she eventually fell asleep on her father's chest, just the way he liked it. Her little breaths warmed his skin through his t-shirt and he gently kissed the top her her head.

"Don't get too comfortable, mister," Jackie warned, stroking Tyler's chubby cheek with her fingertip. "I need to move her to her bed soon."

"No you don't," Hyde whispered. "I like it when she sleeps on me. I hardly ever get a day off and get to do this, just leave her."

Jackie's eyes flicked up to meet Hyde's and she looked at him sympathetically. "I know you don't, and it's nice and all, but she has to get used to sleeping alone or else I'm the one carrying her around the whole day."

"Just this one nap?" Hyde bargained. "Next one she's on her own."

Jackie appeared pained, biting on her bottom lip. Hyde knew she had worked really hard to find a good routine that worked for her and the baby but he figured one nap in his arms wasn't going to blow the whole thing. Well he hoped it wasn't...

"Oh fine," she said in regisignation as she swung her feet up onto the wagon wheel and settled herself back into Hyde's side. "But you know, if you think you're missing out on time with Tyler now, what do you think it's gonna be like if you go to college? You'll hardly ever get to see her then."

Hyde shook his head slowly. Did she really still think he was up and leaving after graduation?

"Jackie, I'm not going to college - well not now anyway," he told her, his fingertips twirling about the ends of her hair.

She didn't look at him, instead her gaze was trained on the muted TV. "But you re-took the SAT's. Why do that if you weren't trying to get into a decent school?"

"I'm not trying to get into a school now. But I want options for the future. Who knows, maybe next year when you're done with school we might both decide to go somewhere together?"

Hyde swallowed hard, nervous that he'd put a semi-together-future out there on the table for Jackie to either gobble up or dismiss. She turned in her spot so her body was facing him, her eyes wide and searching.

"So...you'd consider coming with me to college if I want to go?"

"Isn't that what I just said?" So now he was playing it cool? He confused even himself sometimes.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Yes, but, like, what you're saying is that you aren't going anywhere until I've finished school?"

"Yup."

"So, like, you're technically waiting for me?" Jackie was positively beaming now, hand on her heart and all. He'd let her have it.

"Yes, Jackie, I'm waiting for you and Tyler. How did you think I wouldn't."

"Um, I dunno, maybe because we're actually only on speaking terms for two weeks out of every month? What's a girl to think when the father of her child is secretive and broody and wants her then doesn't want her..."

A smile tugged on Hyde's lips. He couldn't disagree with Jackie, he knew himself that he'd be a hard guy to read.

"Just know, that 99.9 percent of the time I want you," Hyde told her, cocking an eyebrow.

Jackie brought her knees up under herself and leaned closer to him. "That's good to know," she whispered onto his lips.

Zen? She was using Zen on him?

Jackie was coming along nicely.

He cleared his throat. "So, you think you can handle having me around for another year?" he asked her as she lightly scratched his sideburns. He was getting turned on dammit but the sleeping baby on his chest was helping keep his urges at bay. Why had he insisted on leaving Tyler there again?

Nodding, Jackie replied, "I think I can, so long as I know where i stand with you." Her lips gently touched his before she pulled her head back and studied his face closely. She wanted to know what was happening with the two of them. And so did he.

But without booze and the heady post-orgasmic euphoria, these talks were so not Hyde's forte. He had to make it work though. He had to get off the Jackie and Hyde merry-go-round and land with two feet on the ground.

"Jackie," He said, looking into her eyes despite not wanting to. "You know I've wanted a proper shot with you since that summer -"

Shock overcame Jackie's face. "You have?!" she said quickly, "Since summer? But I thought - I thought - you said it was just a fling. Something to fill the time between getting drunk and working at the Fotohut?"

Hyde's chest tightened, pained at his own honesty. Of course he'd told her all those things, knowing full well she'd go back to Kelso once he returned from California. But things hadn't panned out that way. Not by a long shot.

"Yeah, well, I lied," Hyde admitted. "But anyway, we're not talking about back then, we're talking about now. You wanna make a go of things with me or not?"

Jackie smirked and flicked his ear with her finger. "God, you're so romantic sometimes," she said sarcastically, before her voice and expression softened, "Of course I want to make a go of things with you. I want you to be my boyfriend." She kissed Tyler's forehead, her action unnoticed by the sleeping baby. "We're a family...and I want us to be a proper family."

The room felt a little lighter. Or maybe that was just Hyde's body. Whatever it was, it felt good. Like the weight of the world or an unseen darkness had been lifted away.

He smiled and pulled Jackie closer. "I want that too."

"But I also want to talk about the feelings you had for me that summer. Was it like a 'keeping you awake all night thinking about me' type crush, or a 'you couldn't even eat because your whole being was consumed by the thoughts of me' type thing?" Jackie giggled as she wrapped her arm across both Hyde and Tyler.

"Shut your pie hole, Jackie," Hyde warned trying hard not to laugh himself. "If you're gonna be my girlfriend you gotta learn to keep your trap shut." He kissed the top of her head, secretly loving the fact she was now his girlfriend. It felt surprisingly good to say it. Not that he'd ever admit that.

"You just called me your girlfriend..." Jackie was beaming.

So was Hyde, just not on the outside.

"I guess I just did..." he agreed before dropping another kiss on his girlfriend's head.