Hyde sat on the pattio alone with W.B.- his father. It still seemed so alien to him...

"That's quite a feisty little girl you've got there, Steven." W.B. said, breaking the silence.

Hyde grit his teeth, tensing in the dark. "She's... special." he said carefully.

"Yeah, and would fight for you in a heartbeat."

Hyde looked over at him curiously.

"When you got angry at me for offering you 'filthy lucre' and stomped out, she jumped my ass, boy!" W.B. chuckled.

Hyde smirked. "Oh?"

"Yes," he nodded. "She told me I was rude, and couldn't be more wrong about you, and that she could not be friends with me. It was cute, actually. Made me feel like a heel."

"Yeah, she has a way of doing that." Hyde nodded. "Give ya the doe eyes while she calls you out on your shit. Rip your heart out and stomp on it, man..."

W.B. nodded. "Well, she certainly loves you."

Hyde smiled. "You think so?"

"Yeah, I do. She speaks about you like you're some perfect noble prince."

Hyde snorted. "That would fall under the category of 'delusion'."

"Oh, I don't know- but, then, I don't know you that well." W.B. said lightly. "I'd like to change that, however..."

Hyde shrugged noncommittally. "We'll see how it goes, man."

W.B. nodded. "You've been burned before, I know..."

"No, actually, you don't know." Hyde said, starting to get slightly agitated. "My father- well, the jerkwad who Edna tricked into signing the birth certificate anyway- didn't just walk out on me once. He walked out on me three times."

W.B. winced.

"Edna twice." Hyde continued, starting to pace, gesturing with his hands erratically. "But, Jackie... and the Foremans? Couldn't get rid of them if I tried." he said, calming slightly, his mouth twitching a bit. "Not that I want to."

"They're good people, the Foremans." W.B. agreed. "And, Jackie... she'd marry you today, prob-"

But, Hyde rushed over, putting a hand over his mouth. "Shut up, man! She's in the den with Mrs. F., and she has hearing like a freaking bat!"

W.B. smirked, and Hyde moved his hand.

"She's a good girl, Steven- but good girls grow into good women, who don't wait around forever."

Hyde fidgeted uncomfortably. "Marriage... wrecks things."

"Not always... I might not be the best example, because I have four ex-wives and obviously an illegitimate offspring, but sometimes that's just the hazards of being loaded." he shrugged. "Women marrying you for money. You don't have that worry, because Jackie wants you anyway."

"Yes, but she does want me to start making some." Hyde smirked.

"Right, well... too soon for me to be giving you advice."

"Damn right it is..." Hyde nodded.

"But, you can't let fear of being rejected later rule every decision you make in your life, Steven, or you'll never grow into a complete man. You'll be a boy forever."

Hyde nodded, looking at the ground, and W.B. took his cue to leave. He gave his new son an impulsive squeeze on the shoulder and walked away, towards his car. Hyde pulled a cigarette out of his pocket- he halfway wanted to toke up, but he wasn't going to do that out in the open where Red could come out any second- and lit up. Jackie came out, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind, laying her head on his shoulder blades.

Hyde smiled, stroking her hands gently. "Hey, babydoll." he said softly.

"Things go okay?" she asked in an almost-whisper.

"Yeah, fine... seems like an okay dude, I guess."

"Well, good." Jackie said brightly, and let go, coming in front of him to take the cigarette out of his hand and stomp it under her heel.

"Hey..."

"Steven, those things stink." she reminded. "With no payoff except to make you sound like my Aunt Annabeth."

Hyde laughed. He had met this aunt once- and she had a voice like a trucker, but it was coming from a tiny woman in a Prada Business Suit.

"Cigars at least don't smell as bad, and... the other... well, there's at least relaxing mello-ness..." she said with a suggestive smile. "Besides, I think I have a better way to relax you..."

Hyde quirked an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Jackie nodded, kissing him quickly before sliding down him in an almost stripper-like move, her delicate fingers leaving him quaking in anticipation as she reached for the zipper of his pants, and maneuvered his penis out, laying a gentle kiss on it before putting it completely into her mouth, slowly... and then sliding off of it and leaning back up to whisper huskily in his ear, "What do you want, Puddin' Pop?"

"Ohhhh..." Hyde muttered under his breath, moving her quickly to the corner of the house that was completely in shadow, where they were hidden by bushes and fenceline, and gently moved her head back down towards his crotch.

Jackie smiled up at him in the dark, and he could just barely see her in the moonlight as she moved her head back and forth, until he was finally ready, and he tapped her shoulder in a warning for her to take her mouth off. As he came to release, she kissed his jawline, and he blurted, "Oh, shit, marry me..."

Her eyes popped, and she looked at him. "What did you say?"

"Uh... nothing..." he said, deer in the headlights voice.

"Steven..." Jackie said warningly.

Hyde zipped up, and started walking back towards the house. "We should go in- and you have leaves in your hair."

"Oh!" Jackie said, frantically swatting at the non-existent leaves that would mar her appearance.

Hyde shook his head... too close...