-- 10 --
All of the family members were waiting nervously in Reba's living room. As soon as Brock pulled in to the driveway, everyone who had been sitting on the edge of their seat, all jumped up to their feet when Reba walked in.
Reba was crying, and in her hand was a small piece of paper. It looked like an ultrasound picture. However, Brock was grinning ear to ear.
"Reba, what's going on?" Barbra Jean was nervous the way Reba cried. Kyra and Cheyenne also looked worried.
"How could I gain 10 pounds when the baby's smaller than my hand!" still crying, she exclaimed, "I'm fat!"
"Is the baby ok dad?" Cheyenne asked her dad since her mom seem to be a little too emotional right now.
"Yes, the baby's healthy, and your mom's health is fine too. We could have this baby, but your mom has to keep her stress level to the minimum. But it looked like it was off to the bad start when she began to worry about her appearance" Brock laughed. Reba never worried about her appearance, and she always looked gorgeous no matter what she wore or... not wore. It must be the hormones of pregnancy that changed her.
Every one sighed in relieve after Brock announced the good news. They rushed in to give Reba a group hug. Reba was at the center, Cheyenne and Kyra got the hold of her before Barbra Jean, so Barbra Jean squeezed all three on them before Van joined in the hug.
"Hey, move over, I want to hug mom too!" cried Jake
"Okay, guys, please don't crush my wife!" Brock had to yank them out one by one. "She's mine!" and gave Reba a hug and planted a very big kiss on her! "We're gonna have a baby!!" he shouted with joy and happiness! It was his happiest moment since... well this morning when he woke up in her arms.
Reba still worried about her appearance after the days went by.
"You always look great, sweetheart." Brock was laughing when he saw Reba pout in front of the mirror again.
"You're not the one who's getting fat!"
She lifted her top and looked at her tummy, which started to show a little. He went behind her, pulled her closer to his body and pet her belly gently
"You're not getting fat, sweetie. You're carrying our baby!" He hugged her and kissed her cheek. Reba looked at both of them in the mirror and grinned. She loved having him by her side. "Why are you worried about how you look? You look way too gorgeous for someone in her 40s anyway"
"Honey, the women my age are starting to worry about wrinkles, crow's-feet, age spots and such, and now I'm having a baby too, I just couldn't get my priority straight I guess"
He turned her around to face him.
"Sweetheart, to me, every time I look at you, I see that adorable 19 years old fiery Red Head smiling at me from the stage, that smile still melts my heart everyday" Reba gave him the sweetest smile "Yeah, that's the smile that knocked me off my feet!"
"You really don't mind that I'm old and fat?" Brock laughed,
"Baby, I'm not young and fit myself, you still love me, don't you?" Reba nodded with her smile still spread across her face.
"See... and now let me prove to you how much I love you" he scooped her up and gently lay her down on the nice soft bed.
"Is that your way to prove everything?"
"No, it's just my excuse to get you in bed" Reba laughed at his comment. Thank the Lord life was sweet again!
If Reba thought Brock was taken care of her well when she was pregnant with Cheyenne, she hadn't see the half of it. Brock started by begging her to quit her job, although it became a part time job since they were back together, but Brock didn't want her to travel from house to house. He was afraid that she might fall on the stairs that she wasn't used to. So, Reba quit her job and stayed at home. Every visit to the doctor, to the specialist, to the ultrasound or to any test that Reba had to go to, he never missed a day.
Barbra Jean wasn't so happy at the station, so she quit her job and tried to start having a new family with Danny as well. Barbra Jean took the day shift for looking after Reba, and when Brock came home, he'd take over.
"Time for your vitamins, sweetheart" Brock brought a tray that had different vitamins and a glass of water for her. He made it into his habit of giving her the vitamins as soon as he came home from work.
"Boy, I was hoping that was a code for something" she winked at him before took the glass of water from his hand.
"The amount of vitamins that you have to take per day, if that was code for something I'll be death!" Brock laughed; "Although I'll die happy, but I'd rather help you raise the baby and grow old with you" he kissed her temple before taking the empty glass of water back from her. "How are you feeling today?" he watched her getting comfortable in the bed under the blanket. She had to have plenty of rest according to the doctor; she had to spend most of her time in bed.
"The baby kicked couple of times today. It tickled"
"Aww and I missed that?" he pressed his ear on her belly, listening to the sign of movement "Say hi to Daddy" Brock talked to the baby, he put his hand on her tummy and accidentally rubbed against her belly button, and it caused baby to kick. They both laughed with joy. Looks like Brock just found the way to communicate with the little one.
"Do you think it's a boy or a girl?" they decided not to find out the sex of the baby, they would wait for the surprise
"I think, it's a boy" Reba was pretty confidence "Would you like a boy or a girl? I know you said as long as the baby's healthy. But just out of curiosity, what would you like?" Reba asked him
"Hmm..." he paused to think for a few seconds "Maybe a girl, a pretty red hair and blue eyes girl, beautiful like her mother" Reba laughed
"You mean Kyra?"
"Oh yeah, we already have one just like you" Brock remembered "She's grown to be more like you everyday. The only thing she doesn't have is your accent"
"Hey, I don't have an accent!"
"Sure you don't honey!" he chuckled "How about another boy?"
"I want another boy too. I have two daughters and only son. I want another one. Do you still want a boy named after you? Since Cheyenne won't name her son 'Brock'?" Brock slipped under the blanket next to her. Reba moved closer, putting her arm across his body and rested her head on his chest.
"That's sound like a good idea, and if we have a girl, we can name her after you" Reba laughed at his comment
"Van said that's not a greatest name in the world, you know"
"Who cares what he think, I think it's pretty name" he started to kiss her all over "Everything about you is pretty" His playful hand found his favorite place on her skin under her top.
"Hmm.. Shouldn't you be cooking dinner?"
"Well, can't I have my dessert first?"
"This can't be good for me and the baby you know" said Reba
"Really? The doctor said that?" Brock stopped his action
"I was talking about missing dinner"
"Oh, I'll get the dinner for you right away sweetheart" Brock got up, only to be pulled back down by Reba
"I'm not so hungry, let's have dessert first and dinner later" she pulled him into a very passionate kiss that made them both forget about food.
Although Reba had to spend most of her time in bed, but she never felt lonely, at least one member of the family always took turns to stay with her. Even Judy came to visit her some time. They all wanted her to have a safe pregnancy.
"Are you sure you gonna sing to me? Can't you read to me instead?"
"But the last time I read to you, you made fun of me" whined Barbra Jean
"I promised I won't make fun of you anymore"
"Ok, which book do you want me to read? How about Reba: My Story?" Reba laughed. "Does that book even exist? Here read this" Reba handed her a book
"Comfort from country quilt? Hmm... Sounds like a good book" Barbra Jean started to read to her, page by page, chapter-by-chapter
"Reba where are you going?" Barbra Jean asked when she saw Reba get up from the bed. She was now 7 months pregnant. Moving from place to place wasn't that easy anymore.
"To the bathroom, why do you want to follow me there too?"
"Yep" she got up from her chair and followed Reba
"Barbra Jean, I appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine!"
"Oh no peaches, I promised I'll take care of you, and that's what I'm gonna do!"
"Alright fine! You can stand in front of the bathroom!" But Reba was glad Barbra Jean was there
"BARBRA JEAN!! I'M BLEEDING!" Barbra Jean had never driven 100 miles per hour in her life!
Brock rushed to the hospital to see if Reba and the baby were ok. He saw Barbra Jean waiting impatiently in front of the emergency room
"Brock! Reba was bleeding, I don't know what happened, I was reading to her and she went to the bathroom and she was bleeding" Barbra Jean panicked
"Barbra Jean, calm down! Oh God, it's my wife and my baby! Please don't let anything happen to her Lord, please spare baby and Reba's life, take me instead" Brock prayed. He took a seat nearby and buried his face in the palm of his hand.
"Brock..."
"How could this happen Barbra Jean? How could I put her life in danger? Why wasn't I thinking that having another baby could mean losing the life of the woman I love? Why did I always hurt her, emotionally, physically?"
"Brock..." Barbra Jean, who used to be so talkative, suddenly lost her vocabulary
"She's the love of my life. When I thought I lost her for 7 years was hurt, but back then I could still get to talk to her, get to see her smile. I don't think I can live a day if ..." the thought of losing the woman he loved hurt so much he couldn't even finish the sentence. The door swung open and the doctor came out.
"Is she ok?" asked Barbra Jean, she was so panicked, she almost attacked the doctor
"Are you her family member?"
"I'm her husband, this is her best friend, whatever you have to say, you can tell us" Brock appreciated what Barbra Jean had done for his family, if it wasn't for her...
"We have informed her specialist, he'll be here shortly to have a throughout exam, but it looks like your wife is having a premature pregnancy, we have to keep her in the hospital to monitor her for couple of days, maybe up to a week. If we have to, we may have to perform an operation in order to save the baby, and the mother"
"How could this happen? She strictly followed doctor's order, since the kids found out about her being pregnant; she hadn't raised her voice once. She kept her blood pressure at a healthy level, she even took the vitamins that the specialist prescribed to her everyday" Brock couldn't believe how could this happen to the love of his live
"Mr. Hart, there are reasons we call it 'high-risk pregnancy', you could do everything right, but it's still a high-risk. Don't blame yourself. Now you can go in and see her, I'll let you know when the specialist gets here" Barbra Jean disappeared into the room as soon as the doctor allowed them to, Brock followed her immediately.
"Brock, I'm scared!" He ran over to her bed, and held her close
"I'm here now sweetheart. I'm here" Brock held his own tears and fear, he had to be strong for the one he loved
"Reba..." Barbra Jean held her hand tears running down her face
"Thank you Barbra Jean, you've always been there for me, you're the best 'best friend' one could wish for" Reba let go of Brock and accepted the hug from her best friend. "And yes you can write about this in your Reba Journal, your blog, your mySpace, and " Reba tried to cheer Barbra Jean up. It wasn't easy. Just then the specialist came and asked them to leave as he examined Reba.
"The baby's fine, but we have to keep monitoring for a couple of days, then she can go home. She may develop an early contraction, she'll be attached to a syringe which can be carry with her, but you will have to keep her flat on her back, all the time. And we must have more visits from her" the specialist gave Brock the list of what to do and what not to do. Brock followed that list seriously, heck; he'll even sell his own soul to save her!
"Darlin" Reba called him from her bed, Brock rushed over at the speed of light "please don't worry about me, I'll be fine"
"I know you'll be, sweetheart" Brock kissed the back of her hand "But, I can't help it, I don't like seeing you in pain"
"And I don't like seeing you frown either, it's been a week now, ever since I came back home. You hardly smile. I missed your crooked smile when you look at me and you want something... wonderful" Brock laughed for the first time in a week!
"The word you were looking for it's 'leering' and you said it was creepy" Reba laughed, "Of course it's creepy, it made my heart pound, made me short of breath and my knees weak. I lost all my control."
"You seem to have a good control when you told Elizabeth that I should stay at Kyra's room" and they both laugh at the recent memory that they shared, the night that brought them back together
"I told Elizabeth that, but I couldn't tell you that, you see. My heart was screaming 'you mo-ron!, I was just kidding!' when you asked me if I really meant it if I want you to stay in Kyra's room" Brock spread a smile across his face, she hadn't call him 'mo-ron' a while, he sort of miss that. He was glad now she was her own self again.
"I love you Reba" he told her before planted a kiss on her lips
"I love you too, Darlin'. Now, for the list that doctor gave you, did it say anything about you holding me all night?"
"Reba...Honey..." sadly it was on the list of not to do!
"I said 'holding'! But I like the way you think"
Brock laughed, she finally got back at him now! Reba sent him off to work couple of days later. He told Judy to cancel all appointments until future notice, and he hadn't let her out of sight since the day she went to the hospital. He couldn't afford to miss work everyday until she gave birth, but he accepted less patients so he could spent more time with her. Until the day finally arrived, Brock drove like a maniac to take her to the hospital after her water broke!
When they got there, the baby wasn't ready to come out, but Brock, in spite of the fact that she almost broke his hand every time she had a contraction, was by her side at all time!
"It's a boy!" Brock announced to the family, after the long hours of painful labor. Tears of joy ran down the cheek of every member of the family, including Brock!
Reba held the baby boy, Kevin Brock Hart, in her arms with tears when she sang Angel's lullaby to her own newborn.
"Midnight
moonlight shining through the curtain lace And you'll never know how much I
love you
Paints a perfect
picture on your perfect face
One sweet angel sleeping in my arms
You are the promise I knew God would keep
You are the gift
that makes my world complete
But I'll keep on telling you my whole life through
Now
I believe in miracles, and you're the reason why
So dream on
while I sing you my angel's lullaby"
Reba kissed the boy gently while Brock was holding her tight.
"Sweet dreams, our little miracle"
-- END --
Thanks for reading, reviews are greatly appreciated'