-- 01 --

Reba came home from work and she heard the sound of sobbing coming from the tree house. She checked and found Henry.

"Henry, honey, why are you crying?" Reba climbed in the tree house, and pulled the boy in her arms. Henry cried on her chest, soaking her blouse with his tears.

"I don't know what I did, mommy and daddy were shouting because of me." blubbered Henry.

"Honey..." Reba held the boy, trying to calm him down. "Tell you what, why don't you go in my house, have a cookie and a glass of milk. I'll go to your house and find out why your parents are yelling. Okay?" Henry nodded wiping his tears with the back of his hand. He dragged his school bag along with him as Reba took his hand and led him in the kitchen.

"Reba..." called the boy.

"Yes?" Reba poured him a glass of milk, and put two cookies on his plate. He could use a little treat.

"Is it true that if I wasn't born, daddy would still be with you?" Reba almost dropped the cookie jar. His little innocent question nearly brought Reba into tears.

"No, that's not true! Who told you that?"

"I heard mommy said that because of me, daddy had to leave you," told Henry looking at his cookies. He didn't eat it.

"Baby, your daddy and I had problems long before you were born. It's not your fault."

"Really?"

"Trust me." Reba put a little smile on the boy's face. He grabbed his cookie and dunked it into his glass of milk.

"Reba..."

"Yes?"

"If not because of me, why are you not with daddy?" Reba patted the boy's head. He was of that age now that he wanted to learn the truth and what surrounded him.

"You see, I can make toast, mommy can't. She needs your daddy to help her with that, and I don't." She tried to be vague.

"That's not true, mommy can make toast."

"Can she now?"

"Yes, daddy bought a new toaster, so mommy won't burn the toast. She can make toast." Henry defended his mom, but then he realized, "Now that she can make toast, daddy won't be with her anymore?" Reba really didn't know how to answer this question.

"I don't think so. Daddy loves your mommy very much, he won't leave her." The boy looked unsure. "I'll let you in on a secret, but you have to promise me you won't tell anyone." The boy nodded "Sometimes, I even get jealous how much he cares for your mom. I wished he loved me that much when we were together."

"Really?"

"Really," ensured Reba. "Now, you stay here okay? I'll go find out why they were shouting, but I bet it wasn't your fault." Reba kissed the boy on his cheek. Henry flashed a big gap-toothed smile. Reba made her way three houses down the road, calming herself in the process. How could those two morons shout at each other knowing the kid was in the house?

"Barbra Jean, I'm tired, can we just stop fighting?"

"Answer my question first Brock, why don't you want to move to Little Rock with me? It's a big opportunity for me and you said so yourself as long as I'll have you, you'll go everywhere with me."

"Alright I didn't mean it! I want you to stay here, with us. I can't move to Little Rock and leave my family behind!"

"But 'WE' are family!"

"I have more than one kid, I can't leave them!"

"Cheyenne has her own family now, Kyra is an adult, Jake is a teenager who'd rather spend time with his friends. Who else you have to care for?" Brock didn't answer. "It's Reba, isn't it? Is she the one you can't leave behind?"

"Barbra Jean, how many times do we have to go through this? Is this argument going somewhere because it seems to come back where it started? And I told you over and over that Reba and I have nothing left but memories. She's my friend; she's the mother of my three children. Of course I care for her!"

"Just be honest with me for once Brock, for once I want to hear the truth! You only left her because of Henry!"

"Alright, you want to hear the truth? Listen to it carefully because I'm not going to repeat it! Yes, I left Reba because of Henry! Yes, I still care for her as someone I cherish for nearly thirty years, not just as a friend! Yes, I still love her! And if I could turn back time, that day in the dark x-ray room would never have happened!" Barbra Jean was at a loss for words. Brock poured his heart out, and now he couldn't stop. "You want to know what I talked to my shrink when I had to go on antidepressants. I told her that every time I looked back at the past twenty years I was married to Reba I was happy. And I was depressed because of the choice I made caused me to lose her forever! There! I said it! And as I suspected, you can't handle the truth! But you know, now that it's out in the open, I'm relieved! I've been holding it in since the moment you told me you were pregnant. So thank you for taking it off my chest. Now if you want to go to Little Rock, fine, but Henrys gotta stay here!"

"You want a divorce?" Although they had been talking divorce so many times, this time, Barbra Jean had a hunch that it would be the last time.

"Look, Barbra Jean, I'm trying to make us work, for Henry's sake! But I'm tired, I'm going to be fifty soon, I just want to relax and have a normal life. If you want to work this out, I'm willing to give it a shot, if not. Give me that paper and I'll sign for it." Brock dropped the last comment before leaving the living room to his kitchen to get a bottle of beer. He stopped dead in his tracks seeing the redhead sitting by the kitchen counter, messing with her nails. "Reba... How long..."

"Long enough to hear more than I care to listen. I was going to leave but not before telling you that Henry is at my house. He cried and told me that you two were yelling at each other about him." Brock saw a wet spot on Reba's blouse from Henry's tears.

"He heard? But he is supposed to be at school."

"Look at the time Brock. The school ended an hour ago." With that Reba was going to leave, but not before Barbra Jean stomped into the kitchen with a pile of his clothes. Barbra Jean didn't expect to see Reba. Reba didn't say anything to her. She just left silently. Barbra Jean threw the pile of clothes at Brock. He gathered them up and put them in a big plastic bag and tossed the bag into the trunk. He drove to Reba's house. He found Reba helping Henry with his homework. Barbra Jean barged into the front door looked a little terrified.

"Oh here you are, Henry. Mommy looked all over for you."

"I went to your house to tell you he's here," explained Reba. Barbra Jean avoided her eyes. "Henry, can you please go play at the tree house for a while, I have to talk to your mommy and daddy." The boy ran outside without question. Reba turned her attention to the two adults. "Look I know this is none of my business, but Henry came here crying. He was upset; he thought he did something wrong because you two were arguing and shouting out his name. Henry's only six. He heard you two call him a mistake. I'm going to ask you for the sake of the little boy. If you two are gonna fight, leave him out of the argument."

"I'm going to Little Rock, Reba" Barbra Jean finally burst out. "I got a better job offer than last time, I want to take it."

"And you expect to just leave your friends and family behind?"

"I'm taking Henry with me. As for Brock, we're..." Barbra Jean swallowed hard. It was easy to talk about the divorce, but when she knew it would happen for real this time, it choked her up. "We're getting a divorce." Reba took a deep breath, trying to control her blood pressure.

"Do you know what Henry just asked me today? He wanted to know if he wasn't born, would Brock and I still be together? I told him that it wasn't his fault Brock and I had problems long before he was born. He also wants to know now that Barbra Jean knows how to make toast, would you leave her? I told him no, because you two were meant for each other. And what the heck is wrong with you two?!" After trying to stay calm, Reba finally snapped.

"It's over, Reba." Brock stated firmly.

"Have you thought about what would happen to Henry?"

"You and I were divorced when Jake was around Henry's age. He seemed to be fine with It."

"That's because you lived just around the corner, if Barbra Jean moves to Little Rock, how often would he see you? And Barbra Jean, we've talked about this, and you changed your mind, why do you want to go there and start your life over when your friends and family are here?"

"My life here is over Reba, my husband doesn't love me, he loves my best friend!"

"Look, Barbra Jean, you two were fighting, you two were angry. And sometimes people say things they didn't mean to when they were angry. Why don't you both chill out and talk without anger?"

Reba's phone rang, she picked up. Brock and Barbra Jean avoided each other's eyes. Reba thought this day could not get worse, but it just did. She looked pale when she hung up the phone.

"What's wrong Reba?" Brock showed his concern. Barbra Jean moved closer to Reba, worried about her best friend.

"Daddy called, he wants to see us. Mama's sick. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She was wondering when we'll be there for Christmas"

"We can go to see her" Brock suggested, "she probably misses her grandkids."

"No Brock, she doesn't remember any of them."