1984
He was up early, watching the sun peak out over the horizon where the bare trees hugged the pink and orange skies. the house was silent, aside from the sound of Boots, snoring away in his arms. Shelby lay on the floor beside him, head beside his feet, sighing in content.
He had woken up to Jackie in his arms, slipping away quietly to go collect his thoughts about last night. He watched the sun peek over the horizon.
"Uncle Hyde?" A sleepy voice asked from behind him, making him jump. He looked down beside him to see Betsy, with wild hair and pajamas that were just a tad too big.
"Hey, kiddo. Why are you up so early?" He spoke, lifting her to sit on the counter and watch the sun rise with him. It was still pretty early, only six, and the sun only peeked over the horizon, creating a pink and yellow cast from the bottom of the trees. She stayed quiet, seated criss-cross on the counter facing the window, resting her head in her hands on her elbows. She shrugged. "What's buggin' you?" He asked her, crossing his forearms and resting against the cold counter.
"I hope Matty is okay." She spoke, quiet and thoughtful. "Mommy and Daddy say everything is fine, but I know somethin's wrong."
Hyde pursed his lips. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Matty just needs some special care from the doctors, but I promise he's just fine."
"But don't you stay at the doctor if you're sick?" She asked thoughtfully, brows furrowed in worry.
"Not always, sometimes some babies just need to stay there longer. It doesn't always mean there's something wrong." He looked at her, studying her features and noticing how much she'd grown since he'd last seen her. Her features softened at his words and melded into confusion.
"Huh. I never knowed that." She murmured, picking at her fingers.
"Learn something new everyday, Smalls." He told her.
"The sky is so pretty." She told him.
"Heck yeah, it is."
"Are you and Aunt Jackie in love again?" She asked him after a second. He stiffened, raising his eyebrow.
"Damn, kid, you don't skip a beat." He laughed quietly. "I don't know."
"How do you not know?" She sassed. "I love you, and I love Mommy and Daddy, and Matty- You just love people." He pondered at her words. Kids were so simple and they understood things because they never thought to look at the complicated side. Betsy was pure love, untouched and unscathed. He prayed she would stay that way, because now at his age, all the lines were blurred. He remembers when she was born, holding her for the first time, before he was shaken out of his thoughts. "Hello? Earth to Uncle?" She lisped.
"You have a point, but some things are just complicated, kid. You'll understand one day." He shrugged. "The thing you need to master is patience, once you get that down, it only goes up from there."
"Have you mastered patience?" She asked, mispronouncing the word. He laughed, nudging her.
"I'd like to think so." He shrugged. "But, know this, Elizabeth... Patience is something that can never truly be mastered. You just learn to use it when you need it most. Like, right now, with Matty." He told her, bowing jokingly, making her giggle.
"I never thinked about it like that."
"You got lightyears of thinkin' ahead, Smalls." He told her. "You're life only just begun. You're only like..." He held up six fingers. "This many."
"How many are you?"
"About like, five hands many." He smiled as she furrowed her brows, spreading out her fingers and holding them in front of her face.
"Wow, Uncle. That's like fifty many. You're older than Mimi." She told him, snorting.
"How old is Mimi?" He tilted his head.
"Mimi said she's twenty-one." She told him innocently, and he snorted.
"Wanna hear a secret?" He asked, and she nodded excitedly. He looked around as if someone was listening, and leaned in real close, looking her in the eyes with a haunting sense of seriousness. "Mimi's actually fifty-three." He whispered, and fought the urge to laugh when her jaw dropped comically.
"You're both old!" She accused.
"Yeah, but wise beyond my years." He nodded. "And, I'm not old." He pointed, smiling. She giggled, before going silent.
"Santa's coming tonight. I hope he knows where I am." She told him, voice barely above a whisper.
"St Nick is a magic man, he'll find ya. Promise." He assured her.
"Thanks, Uncle Hyde." She embraced him.
"No problem, kiddo."
"I'm gonna go lay in Auntie's bed." She told him, and he helped her off the counter.
He didn't know how long he was alone for, but it was enough time for him to station himself at the table and start flipping through his paperwork that Angela had dropped off yesterday. He was just reading it, waiting for his coffee to finish brewing.
She yawned in the doorway, catching his attention.
"I don't know what you said to Betsy, but she's so calm and content about being here now. I asked if she felt better, and she told me you guys had a nis-cusion , and now she feels comfy." She told him, voice still tired from sleep. She padded to sit beside him.
He looked up at her. "Good morning. She was worried about Matty, I told her he's okay and that sometimes babies just need special care sometimes." He shrugged. "Easier explanation than the whole deal but she's a bit to young at the moment... And it's not my place."
She nodded, smelling the coffee. "Hazelnut?"
"You can tell you lived with Red... Regular on weekdays, hazelnut on weekends or special occasions. It was a military thing-"
"In Korea... Yeah, I've heard quite a few times." She giggled at him. She moved to pour two cups black. The door opened. Steven jumped.
"Relax, it's probably just Eric-" she started, but Brooke entered, looking tired and thinner.
"Oh my God, Brooke, honey, it's so early!" She spoke, shocked.
"We just got discharged like twenty minutes ago... Matty is doing much better, but he's gotta stay for a few weeks at least." She frowned. "Merry Christmas, girlfriend. Merry Christmas, Hyde."
He took her coat, and walked outside to meet Kelso in the driveway, who's face was tired and solemn, but also had an airy feeling to him. "Let us out early." He grinned. It didn't reach his eyes.
Hyde embraced his friend in a hug, and Kelso fell into it, shedding a single tear. "I wanted my little man home for Christmas... Guess it'll need to wait."
"Don't worry Daddy... Uncle Hyde said-" Betsy spoke from the doorway, yawning. "He said sometimes babies just need to stay for a little while. Matty is gonna be just fine."
Kelso smiled. "Hey, baby." He smiled, as his oldest came to meet him in an embrace.
"Merry Christmas, Daddy."
"Merry Christmas, sweetie."
May 1980-
Everything was fuzzy and dim when he opened his eyes, and he felt as if he'd been hit by a truck.
The first thing he noticed were the weird lights hanging on the ceiling, and the second was that he was laying on a hard surface.
It was a bench.
And he was in jail. He moved to sit up and winced when he realized that he was handcuffed to the bench.
"You're awake." The man behind the bars spoke, nervousness tinging his voice. "Catz, your boy's awake!" He shouted.
"Would ya quiet down?" He managed to mumble, resting his head in his hands. He felt like he was upside down. "And can I get some water, please?" His voice was gravelly, but his tone was soft. The man looked taken aback. "Why are you lookin' at me like that? Your eyes are glaring into the depths of my soul, man."
"You don't remember?"
Apparently, allegedly, he'd gone ape-shit last night. Broke into Sam's apartment. Fell down the stairs trying to run from the cops. Gave Edna a run for her damn money with the "drunkometer" test, and bruised his damn ribs. Then he spent whatever waking hours he had left in this cell, going bananas, until they finally handcuffed him to the bench and he'd passed out.
"God damnit." He grumbled, mostly to himself. "Listen, dude, I'm a god damned drunk. I'm sorry if I hurt ya."
The man looked sympathetic, before the secretary walked over with water and a cup with two little white pills. He furrowed his brow.
"Tylenol to help with your headache. You're gonna be here for a while."
"Can I use my phone call?" He asked. They looked at him, sympathetically. "I already used it, didn't I?"
"The person on the other end seemed less than pleased with you."
"Right. Where am I again?"
"Texas." She replied sweetly.
He laughed, before gripping his head. No humor. But of course, he would go on a bender, and wind up in Texas from San Francisco.
"Did you guys find me with a set of keys or anything?"
"You were driving a pretty cool El Camino... Til you wrecked her." She explained. "Part of why you're in here. Brand new drinkin' and drivin' laws in Texas. Course, you also left the scene of an accident, then broke into that girl's house, and-"
"Yeah, I get it, I did a whole bunch of dumb shit, and then I got arrested, then I resisted arrest and apparently made that guy's life hell all night." He motioned to that guy's desk.
"My name is Bert." He responded to him.
"Well, Bert, I apologize."
"You got a funky twang, son. Where are ya from?" He asked him, looking up between his readers. He was an older man, probably around Red's age, but his personality almost made him think of Bob Pinciotti.
"Um, Wisconsin. Some podunk town called Point Place. It's got a population of not very big, but you can find all kinds of kinds." He told him, looking him in the eye for the first time all night. "Wealthy, impoverished, and all the people in between."
"I take it you come from the impoverished side, yes?" He asked. Steven's brow furrowed.
"The hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, you looked devastated when you heard you wrecked your car. And, last night told me you haven't eaten in days, and then when Amy gave you tylenol, you looked at it like she was givin' you rat poison. You ain't got any trust in law enforcement, at all, in fact, your body language tells me you don't trust me at all. You-"
"Okay, yeah. I grew up poor. My mom was a junk box, my father was a dead beat who left, but not after comin' back a second time and leaving me with nothin'." He confessed. "My best friend's family took me in."
"How old are ya, son?"
"Twenty." The man whistled.
"You're just startin' out! Why aren't you relishin' in the life the lord gave you?"
"My girlfriend cheated on me the night I was gonna propose. And I ran away to Vegas, before moving to San Fran with my half sister. Haven't looked back since... That was about a year ago."
"Do they know where you are?"
"They haven't done much looking."
"How would they know that you're in damn Texas?"
He hadn't thought about the answer to that, but he'd almost hoped they'd put his picture on the back of a milk carton. Something, anything. He pursed his lips.
"You should call your family son." He suggested.
"With all due respect, Bert... I'm all set, sir." He told him softly.
"Suit yourself kid. But it's always worth a second try." He pointed at him with a pen. "I get the feelin' that one day you'll wind up back home regrettin' this decision for the rest of your damn life."