Chapter 16
"Casey…..this isn't a good time, man," Eric began as Casey pushed his way into the house. "Is something wrong?" he asked when he saw the enraged look on Casey Kelso's face.
"Yeah, Foreskin. There is," Casey all but snarled. "Where is that jackass that you call a brother?" Casey demanded casting a look around the living room. "Never mind, he'd be hiding out in the basement like he usually does," he snapped stalking off with a determined look on his face.
"Hyde! Incoming," Eric shouted hurrying after Casey. He wasn't sure what was going on but he was sure that blood would soon be spilt unless he acted fast.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Hyde said leaping from his seat in surprise as Casey Kelso's fist connected with his jaw.
"Dad!" Eric screamed hurrying over to break up the fight. "Casey, look Hyde had a good reason for the whole wedding fiasco..." Eric began getting in between the two men.
"You think I'm here because he dumped Jackie at the altar?" Casey snarled as Mr. Foreman hurried down the stairs to help. "I went over to Jackie's earlier and she told me everything. You son of a …" Casey began trying to launch himself at Hyde as Mr. Foreman held him back.
"You better calm down, son," Mr. Foreman warned with a grunt. He was getting too old for this and Eric was too weak to hold Hyde back for long.
"You're okay with this?" Casey said incredulously pointing at Hyde. "He knocks Jackie up and you're just fine with it?" he said with a scowl.
"That's not possible," Hyde said shaking his head. "Jackie can't have children," he quietly explained before turning to look at Casey with a sneer on his face. "That was a pretty lame attempt at a burn," Hyde said in mock sympathy.
"You idiot!" Casey shrieked loudly enough to startle Mr. Foreman. "Jackie shouldn't have children. There's a pretty big difference," he added watching the shock play across everyone's face. "Why do you think she wanted to marry you so quickly?" Casey argued.
"Wait a minute, we're missing something," Eric said exchanging a nervous look with his father. "What's going on here exactly?" Eric asked letting go of Hyde.
"Sit down," Mr. Foreman said pushing Casey onto the basement sofa as Hyde sat down in his usual chair. "Now, why shouldn't the Loud One have kids? Besides the obvious," Mr. Foreman asked with a sigh.
"Because it might kill her," Casey said speaking as if he were talking to a group of really dim people. "People with Jackie's medical history should never even think about getting pregnant. Her heart won't be able to handle the extra work," he explained shooting Hyde a murderous look. "I went over to her apartment to make sure she was alright but thanks to that Jackass; she won't be for long. What the hell were you thinking, man?" Casey asked in disgust.
"Jackie never said anything about that. She just said she couldn't have kids. I didn't ask anymore questions. I thought she had problems with her lady parts or something," Hyde said swallowing the hard lump in his throat, fighting a wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him. "I didn't know she was pregnant man. Honest," Hyde protested when Casey shot him a skeptical look.
"Well, she is," Casey said shaking his head in disgust. "I hope you're happy with yourself. You know I may have cheated on her but even I wasn't this dumb," he said getting up and marching out of the basement in the stunned silence.
"Jackie! Open up!" Hyde said pounding on her door with all his might. "I need to talk to you. I swear to god, I'll break this door down if I have to," he threatened loudly. After a few moments he heard a soft sigh and the door opened to reveal a very exasperated Jackie Burkhart.
"I see that Casey can't keep his big mouth shut," she said in an annoyed voice. "Come in, Steven the neighbors don't need to hear this," she added grabbing his sleeve and pulling him inside.
"Is it true?" Hyde demanded as soon as she had shut the door. "What Casey said, is it true?" he asked pacing around her apartment.
"That you knocked me up?" Jackie questioned crossing her arms and looking at him in exasperated amusement. "Yes. I have a letter from the doctor confirming it if you want to see it," she said gesturing to her desk.
"You told me you couldn't have kids," he accused facing her, scowling.
"I wasn't supposed to," she said with a half shrug. "Relax, I didn't do it on purpose," she said in an annoyed voice. "My birth control failed, its rare but it does happen you know," she added with a sigh. "I'm not having an abortion," Jackie declared defiantly. "If that's what you're getting at, you might as well leave now," she said gesturing to her door.
"What about the whole heart issue? Is that true?" Hyde demanded sternly. "I've got a right to know," he pointed out.
"Yes. I was advised against having children," Jackie said with a frown. "It's happened and I can either be upset and that will have no effect or I can be happy and that will have no effect either but at least my stress level will go down," she added. "Well, now you know so we might as well have our little talk now," she said gesturing to her couch.
"What is going on in that mind of yours? You never told anybody you had heart trouble. Hell, you were even a loud, bossy, blabbermouth cheerleader," Hyde said raking his fingers through his hair as he sat down with a sigh.
"My parents bribed the coach to look the other way," Jackie said with a shrug. "Steven, I need you to think long and hard about this. I need to plan for the worst case scenario. Do you want this baby? If you don't I won't get mad but I will need to make other plans," she said gently touching his arm. "Just think about it for a couple days," she suggested.
"Could it kill you?" Hyde asked quietly unable to meet her gaze.
"Its possible but people with heart trouble have healthy babies all the time," Jackie said with a smile. "There's risk involved but that's true for anybody. Just because something could happen doesn't mean it necessarily will," she said thoughtfully. "So why worry until you have to?" she joked.
"You're set on doing this," Hyde said sensing defeat. "Is that why you wanted to marry me?" he asked trying his best not to sound hurt.
"If I say that had a lot to do with it would you get mad?" she asked. "If something goes wrong I just don't want my kid ending up with my mother or in foster care," she said wistfully.
"I'm in," Hyde said slowly unable to believe they were having this conversation. It seemed surreal to him. He wouldn't want that for his kid either. "I would never ditch out on my kid," he promised her holding her hand. "You've learned to out zen me," he observed sadly.
"I've had a lot of practice," she said softly. "If it makes you feel any better. I'm kind of scared too," she said burying her face in his chest.
"Me too," Hyde said too softly for her to hear.
"So what's the plan?" Donna said as the gang assembled in the basement. "I mean what's going on? Are you guys a couple or not?" she asked in confusion. Jackie and Hyde exchanged meaningful looks before Hyde sat down in his chair and pulled Jackie onto his lap. "Okay, I guess that answers that question," Donna said dryly as Jackie shot her a very smug look. "What about the other thing?" Donna asked with a wince.
"I'm moving in with Jackie," Hyde announced with a grin. "Jackie's gonna quit her job. She's obviously broken up about it," he said in amusement catching Jackie's happy expression out of the corner of his eye. "We've got a meeting with her doctor tomorrow to discuss damage control. We've decided not to get married," he said as Donna nodded thoughtfully. "Yet," he added shooting Jackie a grin.
"Jackie, how could you not say anything to anyone about this? You talk about mindless crap all the time. This is something we would actually want to know!" Eric said in exasperation.
"Why? So you could tip-toe around me? Tell me all the things I shouldn't be doing? Please, I'm Jackie Burkhart some pitiful cripple," Jackie said dismissively. "Besides, you didn't need to know so there," she added sticking out her tongue childishly.
"We dated for years and you never told me!" Kelso protested looking confused and hurt. "How come Casey got to know?" he pouted.
"He was at the hospital visiting your grandfather. You weren't. When he saw me coming out of the cardiology department with a patient bracelet on it wasn't hard to figure out," Jackie said rolling her eyes. "Random stress test," she assured Hyde noticing the way he tensed up. "Come on you guys," she whined. "Stop looking at me like that," she scolded them with a frown. "See this is why I didn't tell you," she said gesturing around with a pout. "Those looks," she added pointing at each of them. "Can't you pretend that everything's fine? I'm still the same girl you've known for years," she reminded them.
"Who's kept a huge secret from us," Donna said irritated. "You still should have told us," she said with a frown.
"Well, you know now. Come on, I've kept secrets before. Like remember when Steven told everybody about my mom not being back from her trip? I keep stuff like this to myself just like you keep buying those horrible sweaters. Its just part of who we are we might as well accept it," Jackie said a reasonable tone of voice. "What?" she demanded looking at Hyde who was trying his best not to laugh at the expression on Donna's face.