A/N: Thanks for all the reviews you've been sending my way!! I'm glad that people are liking this story, and I hope to take it many places. Happy Memorial Day!!

Disclaimer: I don't own 70S SHOW nor any of the rock and roll references I may be mentioning. I do own Ash, and she's just terrific!

"Okay, so can you just verbally tell me that this Steven guy is my Dad?" Ash asked as she and Jackie walked up the sidewalk to the Hodge's house.

"Yes, Steven Hyde is your Dad."

"Why didn't you ever tell me about him!?" Ash demanded.

"Excuse me, did we NOT just have a conversation yesterday about you not wanting to know who your Dad was?" Jackie hissed, so as not to disturb the neighbors with their sordid tale.

"Well why did you take me seriously?" Ash hissed back. "You should have been like 'your Dad is named Steven Hyde, he owns a record store named Grooves and is apathetic in every way'!"

"Look, how was I supposed to know that you were going to run into him in DINKYTOWN?" Jackie exclaimed. "The last I heard, sixteen years ago, was that he was still in Point Place!"

"People move, Mom," Ash huffed. "Small fuckin' world, huh?"

"Ash! For God's sake, watch your language!" Jackie exclaimed, knocking on the Hodge's door.

"Well it is!"

"Yeah, it's a small fuckin' world," Jackie agreed. "Look, don't tell Debbie and Matt, but I am going to pull Paul aside and tell him what is going on, okay?"

"What if he goes to Dinkytown and beats Steven up?" Ash asked.

"Ash, do you really think your uncle Paul could beat anyone up?" Jackie asked. "I mean, he may LOOK like that 'Twin Peaks' guy, but he ISN'T."

"See, you think he looks like him too, I'm not the only one," Ash said, and the front door opened.

"Welcome!" Debbie said, hugging Jackie and Ash, and kissing them on the cheeks. She was a cheerful woman with impeccable taste, and looked great at sixty seven years old. "I'm so glad you were able to make it tonight, Matthew has a great meal prepared!"

"Hello, Debbie," Jackie said, putting on a very happy face, and Ash smiled too, a little too broadly. "Thanks for inviting us, I brought ice cream." Ash held it out, and grinned some more.

"Oh good, it will go with the streusel," Matt said, walking from the kitchen, an apron around his chest. He hugged both women, and took the ice cream into the kitchen.

"You two sit, make yourselves at home," Debbie said. "I'm going to finish putting things out and once everyone arrives, we'll eat!" She scurried into the dining room, and Jackie and Ash took off the 'everything's okay' faces and sat in the living room.

"Hello girls!" Paul said, entering from the upstairs. "How are you today?"

"Paul, I have some very weird news to tell you," Jackie said, standing up abruptly.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, looking from her to Ash.

"It's not awful, but it's not awesome either," Ash said, leaning back on the couch.

"Paul, Ash's father is working in Dinkytown," Jackie said, lowly.

"….. I'm sorry, what did you say?" Paul asked.

"My Dad," Ash said. "Surprise! He's a Sconnie no more!"

"I mean really, could this day throw any more surprises my way?" Jackie asked, as a tall, blonde man walked into the room with Debbie.

"Jackie, this is Allan Dumbrowski," she said. "He's an orthodontist, and I invited him tonight because I thought you two would get along!" Jackie looked up at the strange man, and smiled as best she could.

"Oh by the way, Mom, Debbie is trying to set you up tonight," Ash said, and smirked.

After dinner and uncomfortable conversation with Allan, Jackie and Paul went onto the back porch to talk about the whole thing. Allan had to leave because of an orthodontic emergency, so Ash was left to help clean up with Matt and Debbie.

"Ash, what is on your mind?" Debbie asked. "You aren't nearly as talkative as usual."

"Oh, it's my workshop," she lied. She was good at embellishing the truth. She was a writer, after all. "The kids in it are pretty ignorant. I mean, come on. Nothing is more contrived than a story about a boy and his dog, am I right?"

"I agree," Matt said. "My students needed to be taught how to write better. There's nothing worse than reading a paper analysis about Hawthorne that can't put together a coherent thought much less an argument."

"Agreed," Ash said. "Yeah. So it's just the workshop." She shot a glance towards her Mom and Uncle on the back porch.

"So he's opened a new record store?" Paul asked, and Jackie nodded, sitting on the railing of the porch. "That is so surreal. How didn't you know it was his if it was the same name?"

"Oh you think I actually look at the stores names when I see Ash's bike outside?"

"Well, what did you say?"

"Nothing," she answered. "I ran. I grabbed Ash, his DAUGHTER, and RAN. I feel like such an idiot, but what else was I supposed to say? 'Oh hi, Steven! I see you've met your daughter, Ash. It's been awhile, yes?'?"

"Well it's better than just grabbing Ash and running for the hills," Paul said.

"I've always been one with my flight sense," Jackie said, and Paul chuckled a little bit. "I mean… JEEZE! And Steven is no idiot, he's most likely figured out Ashleigh is his. Who else's would she be?"

"Some guy from here?"

"No, he knows I don't sleep with men that fast, he knows all too well," Jackie said.

"Except that one night," Paul said.

"Well that doesn't count, once I've done it with a man it's touch and go from there on out," she said. "It was like that with Michael, it was like that with Steven.."

"It was like that with Aaron," Paul said.

"It was like that with Aaron."

"Until he cheated on you."

"Until he cheated on me." She sighed a little bit, and he sighed too. "I just can't believe this. What should I do?"

"…. I don't know," he said. "I mean…. Well, do you think he'd want to be in Ash's life?"

"I don't know," Jackie said. "Part of me says yes."

"Would you let him in her life?"

"Of course I would, if she wanted him to be," Jackie said. "I don't know if she would, though. I mean, sure, she doesn't know much about him, but just yesterday she was kind of bitter about him."

"Well…. I guess it's up to her," Paul said. "Can you handle him in your life?"

"….. I don't know," Jackie said. "You know, there were times that I would curse the day that I ever fell in love with Steven Hyde. But then I had Ash. So I guess Steven was the best mistake I ever made."

"That's a very positive way to look at it," Paul said, and put his arm around her shoulder. She smiled, and rested her head on his shoulder.

Ash finished cleaning the dishes, and looked through the window to the porch. Jackie and Paul were done talking, and were just standing now. Ash knocked on the window, and walked through the glass doors. They turned, and she smiled.

"Is everything okay?" she asked. Jackie and Paul turned to her.

"Yes," Jackie said. "Ash, I'm sure that you are very confused right now."

"Yeah, I guess," Ash said.

"And I will understand if you are mad at me," Jackie continued.

"Why would I be mad at you?" Ash asked. "I never asked and I never wanted to know. Just because it kind of fell into my lap doesn't mean it was your fault." Jackie nodded, and hugged her daughter. Ash hugged her back, and sighed.

"So it's your call, honey," Paul said. "What do you want to do?" Ash pulled away, and thought for a second.

"I don't know," she said. "Do I have to decide now?"

"No," Jackie said. "For now we can just go spend time with Matt and Debbie."

"Sounds good to me," Ash stated. "I could use some good old fashioned Matt and Debbie streusel."

Hyde had been on the phone with Eric for an hour, he told him the whole situation and was waiting for advice.

"So what are you going to do?" Eric asked.

"I don't know, man," Hyde said. "She just ran like she'd seen a ghost and took the kid with her. So if she is mine there's obviously no way that I'm getting near her."

"Well do you want to get near her if she's yours?" Eric asked.

"….. No."

"Why not?"

"Because….. I just don't."

"Oh great, is this another of your 'I'm poison to everything I touch and care for' moments?" Eric asked. "Because you're a grown man, you'd think you'd be past those by now."

"Hey, that's harsh."

"Well Hyde, this mentality is why you haven't held on to anyone besides your high school friends," Eric said. "And even that's not completely true since Jackie left."

"Well who knows what she's told this kid about me."

"Come on, Jackie's Yoko Ono and the Devil but she wouldn't bad mouth you to your daughter," Eric said. "Besides, from how you described it, it sounds like the kid had no clue who you were."

"Maybe that's just how it should be," Hyde said.

"Dammit Hyde, can't you just stop with the pity party for one minute and just think?" Eric asked. "She's your DAUGHTER. Yours. You have a kid. Now what are you going to do about it?" Hyde sighed.

"I don't know," Hyde stated.

"I'll tell you what you're going to do. You're going to at least try and get to know her. Because if you don't you're going to regret it," Eric said. "If I was away from my kids I would go insane. Don't do that to yourself."

"…. Thanks man," Hyde said.

"Now you do realize that I am going to be obligated to tell Donna about this," Eric said.

"Yeah."

"Alright then," Eric said. "I'm going to let you go, I have to get my kids from tee ball and pee wee soccer."

"Eric, I don't know if I can do this."

"Well, maybe you won't have to," Eric said. "Let me know, okay?"

"Yeah." They hung up, and Hyde rubbed his eyes.

Paul said that he would tell his parents what happened, and Jackie and Ash drove home after dinner. Ash was still quiet, and Jackie didn't feel like talking either.

"Good streusel," was all Jackie said.

"Like you ate any."

"I had a small slice!"

"You mean you had a small sliver."

"…It's synonymous." Ash grinned genuinely at her mom.

"Pathetic."

"Am not."

They pulled up to the house, and got out of the car to a surprise. Hyde was sitting on the front porch. Ash and Jackie exchanged glances, and Jackie's first instinct was to get back into the car and drive off. But she did that once already today, and if she did it again she'd look like a complete lunatic.

"He's just sitting there," Ash whispered. Jackie didn't want to look totally nuts. So instead, she took Ash by the hand, and walked to the porch.

"Hello, Steven," she said. He nodded, and looked at Ash. His throat tightened, he could just look at the girl and he knew. She was his. She had his neutral zen face down pat and didn't even know she was making it.

"Hi, Jackie," he said. "I…. Can we….? I don't…"

"Ash, you can go inside if you want," Jackie said, and Ash nodded slowly. She walked past Hyde, whose eyes trailed her slowly. She looked at him, and he looked away quickly. Ash glanced at her Mom, and then walked into the house. As soon as the door closed, Hyde put his hands to his forehead.

"How did you find my house?" Jackie asked.

"There are only two Jackie B Burkharts in the phone book, and I never thought you'd live willingly in the Seward Neighborhood," he stated.

"Oh," she said.

"And you like lakes, and Lake Nokomis is what, ten blocks that way?" he asked.

"Yeah, it is," she said. "Steven, we have a lot to talk about, and-."

"Is she mine?" he asked, flat out. Jackie sighed, and hugged herself. She nodded, slowly. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?!"

"Please don't yell, I have neighbors," she shushed.

"Well what else am I supposed to do?" he demanded. "You skip out of town, I don't see you for sixteen years, and then I find out that I have a daughter?!"

"Steven, stop it," she snapped. "I didn't even know I was pregnant until I'd settled in here, and I didn't know what I was going to tell you! 'Hi Steven, it's Jackie. Just calling to tell you I'm pregnant. How's THAT news for a commitment phobe?'" He sighed angrily, and she sat on the porch swing. "I had cut you out of my life and I didn't want to turn back. I know it was selfish and stupid, but cut me some slack, okay? I was twenty years old, and scared to stupidity." He nodded, and leaned against the porch pillar.

"Besides, I thought you wouldn't want the responsibility of a baby," Jackie continued, sitting on the swing. "You didn't want the responsibility of a relationship."

"Wow, you really hold grudges don't you?" he asked. "It's great how I'm the one who's been wronged here and YOU managed to make me the bad guy!"

"I'm not making you the bad guy, Steven!" she exclaimed. "Look, I know I should have told you about Ash. I know, and-."

"Yeah, Ash," he said, softly. She looked up at him. "I like that name…." She smiled a little bit.

"I figured that you would," she said. "I sort of thought of you when I named her. It's short for Ashleigh. Ashleigh Lorelei Burkhart." He smiled a little too, and looked at Jackie.

"Do you know how weird today has been?" was all he could manage. She laughed a little bit, and nodded.

"I have an idea," she said.

Ash watched through the drapes. Her parents were talking but they weren't yelling or clawing each other. She wondered how two people who could be so civil could hurt each other so much that she would leave and never look back.

"So can I see her?" Hyde asked.

"It's up to her," Jackie said. "Honestly, I have no problem with it, I really don't. But she has to make that decision."

"Yeah, I suppose so," he said. He sat on the swing next to her. "What's she like?" Jackie smiled at her ex.

"Well, she's been on the A honor roll since middle school," Jackie said. "So she's smart. She's very kind, and empathetic, but she does have a tendency to lean towards elitism. She loves to write, and to read, and she loves music and animals. She has a few good friends, kind of like we did. And Steven, she hates the Man." Hyde burst out laughing, and leaned forward, clasping his hands together.

"She sounds great."

"She is." He nodded, and stood up.

"When will I know?" he asked. "When will I know if she wants me in her life or not?"

"She knows where your store is," Jackie said. "Honestly I don't know how long it's going to take her. She was pretty confused today." He nodded, and crossed his arms.

"…. Okay," he said. "I'm gonna go."

"Steven, if you want to talk some more…"

"Maybe later," he said. "I just…. I gotta go."

Ash watched him get up and leave, and she rushed up the stairs since her Mom was going to come back into the house. She didn't want her to know she'd been spying.

Jackie watched Hyde leave, and walked into the house. The phone was ringing, and she grabbed it.

"Hello?"

"It's Paul."

"Of course it is," Jackie said. "You will NEVER guess what happened."

"Do I want to know?"

"He was on my doorstep when we got home."

"Are you serious? Like a stalker or something?"

"No, not like a stalker," Jackie said. "He just wanted to talk, and it was civil, and he got a little angry but it was Steven angry, so it wasn't scary angry."

"I'll take your word for it," Paul said. "How is Ash doing?"

"I don't know, I think she went upstairs," Jackie said.

"And how are you doing?"

"…. I don't know that either," Jackie said, and Ash tromped down the steps. "Hey, I'm going to go though, I think I need to talk some things over with my daughter."

"Ugh, more talking?" Ash asked. She walked into the kitchen, and sat at the table. Jackie said her goodbyes to Paul, and then walked into the kitchen as well. "So what is there to talk about?"

"Uh, I guess…. A lot!" Jackie declared, sitting across from her. "Your Dad has said that he wants to get to know you, but I told him it was up to you."

"Up to me?" Ash asked.

"Yeah," Jackie said. "I mean, I have no problem with it, so it's really up to you. Do you want to get to know your father?" Ash thought for a good two minutes. She wasn't sure. For one thing, she had gone 15 years without a father, and she turned out fine. She never felt the need to find her father and get to know him. But now that he was no longer just a concept, it made things a little more complicated, which she hated."You need to tell me everything he did," Ash said. "I can't make a decision unless I know all the facts. I'm trying to make logic out of an illogical situation."

"Ash, you need to know that what your father and I had was a very-."

"Mom," Ash said, firmly. "I just… I need to know. You know that." Jackie sighed, and nodded.

"Would you like something to drink?" Jackie asked. "Because it's a long story, and I don't condone underage drinking, but you're going to bed, so maybe some wine to 'take the edge off'?"

"Uhhh…. I'll just stick to orange juice," Ash said, and Jackie grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass for herself. "Are you going to drink all of-?"

"I've digging up old feelings and regrets, I think I deserve some wine," Jackie stated bitterly, and Ash nodded, somewhat wide eyed. "Well, then we'll start at the beginning. I met your father when I was your age. I was dating one of his friends at the time…"

Ash listened to the story in it's entirety, and as it went on she did ask her Mom for a small glass of wine due to the intensity. The more her mother said, the more Ash felt her stomach tie up, knot upon knot. When Jackie laughed, Ash smiled. When Jackie got angry, Ash felt a pin prick of resentment. And when Jackie cried, Ash held her tears in. Eventually the mother and daughter felt like their souls had been pummeled with a baseball bat, and when Jackie finished the story it was almost twelve thirty in the morning. Ash wasn't a girl to cry about this kind of thing. She hated crying because to her that meant that she was letting her emotions control her. She liked being in control. Red eyed and tired, Jackie corked the wine bottle that had a two thirds of a bottle left.

"So there you have it," Jackie said, rubbing her eyes. "The story of your father and I. Was it what you expected?" Ash sat motionless in her chair.

"I think I want to go to bed," she said, her voice low.

"Heh, me too," Jackie said. "So I know that gives you a lot to think about, but you deserved to hear it all."

"Yeah," Ash said, standing up slowly. "…. Yeah."

"What are you thinking?" Jackie asked. Ash put a hand to her forehead, and took in a deep breath.

"I'm thinking 'I always pictured my father as a guy who basically did the right thing but couldn't find a way to make things work'. But now that I know who he is, and what he's done, I'm thinking 'why did I have to share half my DNA with such a jackass?'" she said, and walked out of the kitchen. Jackie moaned a little, and put her hands to her face. She considered uncorking the bottle, but decided against it, and cleaned up before going to bed.