3 years later
"Okay, sweetie… I'll be sitting there, don't go far from the sandbox without telling me, okay?" Reba smiled at her three-year-old daughter and kissed the top of her head, sitting down on a bench in the shade.
"Okay, mommy!" The little girl grinned and moved her face up to kiss Reba's lips before running away to play in the sandbox.
Reba smiled lovingly after her, setting her bag next to her and watching Lisa play.
Three years had passed since she left Houston with her older kids, three years since she had found out she was pregnant with her ex-husband's baby. Brock had never come to know about their daughter, she had been good at keeping the secret and the kids were just as good to cover up every time she would be out with the baby when Brock came to visit them, once in a while.
Most of the times, the kids took turns going back to Texas to visit Brock, and every time they came back with news about their father that Reba, even though she kept saying she didn't care about him anymore, was eager to hear.
She could pretend she didn't have feelings for Brock anymore, but nobody would believe her. The kids saw her eyes light up every time his name was mentioned. They saw her eyes sparkle and her face open up in a beautiful smile when they told her he was getting a divorce from Barbra Jean, just before she covered it all up and said how sorry she felt for him.
And then there was the baby, now a beautiful little girl looking exactly like Reba.
'But she has her father's eyes.' Reba often said when someone pointed out how much the little girl looked like her.
Very few people had ever dared to ask where her father was, and Reba had always been smart enough to make up a quick lie to justify his absence. Lisa Mary Hart was the joy of her life and she was trying her best to bring her up the proper way and give her the best she could.
Cheyenne, Van, Kyra and even Jake were helping her, and everybody kept on spoiling both Lisa and Elizabeth, Cheyenne's daughter, only a few months older than Lisa.
They were two little angels for everybody in the family, they had been two unexpected blessings and everybody just loved them to pieces.
Their life was just going the way it was supposed to, Cheyenne and Van were doing good in college, Kyra and Jake were good students too, and Reba had a great job that provided them with a good amount of money.
True, she wouldn't have said it was easy balancing family and work, and she found it really hard, when Lisa was younger, to take care of a baby and teaching college students almost all day. But she made it through, like she always did.
"Hiiii, mommy!" Lisa called to her and grinned as she waved her hand at her.
Reba chuckled and gave her a big smile, waving back.
Yes, she couldn't have been happier or luckier. Her life was good, she had a beautiful family, wonderful kids and an adorable granddaughter, and people around her who loved her.
It didn't matter that she had been a single mom for the last three years, she didn't care. She knew anyway she wouldn't be able to be in a relationship with a man when she was still in love with Brock.
How was she supposed to lay in another man's arms when all she wanted was to be held safely in Brock's arms? How was she supposed to wake up every morning to a face that wasn't Brock's?
No, she was better off alone than with someone who wasn't the one she wanted. She was just going to enjoy her life the way it was, as perfect as it was to her.
It was a sunny summer day, she was with her beloved daughter at the park, watching her laugh and play like only little kids can, she wasn't supposed to work for the next two months. She couldn't imagine anything better than this. Life was good.
---
"Daddy, wanna play." The little blond boy called Henry looked up to the tall, tanned man holding his hand, giving him his best puppy eyes.
Brock chuckled, "You want to play in the sandbox?" He asked, picking him up easily and setting him on his arm.
"Yes. Can I?" Henry smiled and leant closer to his father, kissing his cheek.
"Of course you can, buddy." Brock smiled and kissed his forehead, putting him back down on the ground. "I'll be waiting here." He watched him ran to the sandbox as he sat down in the sun on the grass, next to a tree.
Brock had arrived in Nashville with Henry in the morning, and he was supposed to visit with his older kids, but he hadn't got around calling them yet. There would be time, though, his practice in Houston was closed for the summer break and he had two weeks to spend with Henry. At some point he thought he could treat all his kids to a small vacation somewhere near a water park or something.
He still needed to figure it out, but he wanted to do something special with his kids this time. He felt like he had let them down one too many times in the past, divorcing Reba first to marry Barbra Jean, and then divorcing Barbra Jean because he still couldn't get Reba out of his mind.
He had managed to have a clean and easy divorce with Barbra Jean, though, they were still friends and met ever so often to discuss everything about Henry. Brock figured that must have been because they were never actually in love in the first place. He married Barbra Jean because she was pregnant, but even back then he knew he wouldn't forget Reba and his feelings for her wouldn't subside in time.
Quite the contrary, the feelings he felt for her seemed to grow even stronger when she left, and not seeing her for three years was killing him. But he had to respect her will and stay away.
She usually made it easier when she knew he was supposed to visit the kids in Nashville, she would never be home when he went there and she wouldn't come back until he left. He knew their kids were helping her with it, but he couldn't blame them nor Reba.
He screwed it up, he broke their family and he broke her heart, and that was just what he deserved.
As his eyes wandered on the kids playing near Henry, he noticed a little girl with flaming red hair and fair skin, and he smiled as he was immediately reminded of Reba. Her hair used to shine in the sun exactly like that, and he was sure that there were freckles on her nose just like the ones Reba used to cover up with makeup. And he thought that if he had taken a closer look to the little girl he would have seen bright blue eyes looking back at him.
He sighed and smiled a little more as the girl glared at her ball that had gone farther than she expected, almost hitting his foot.
"Hey, little girl…" Brock smiled as he picked up the ball and waited for the girl to come closer. "Is it yours?"
The kid looked up at him suspiciously and nodded, "Yes, sir." She answered in a small voice.
"Oh wow, you're very polite, sweetie." He smiled and handed her the ball, "Here you go. And what's your name?"
"Thank you, sir." The girl beamed and held her ball close to herself, "I am Lisa." She said with a smile.
"Lisa, such a pretty name… How old are you?" Brock smiled and patted the spot next to him, inviting the little girl to sit with him. He didn't know what it was about this kid, but he felt weirdly drawn to her, like he was supposed to know her somehow.
"I'm three." Lisa answered in her small, high voice, showing him three tiny fingers and sitting down next to him.
Brock chuckled softly and smiled at her, "Wow, you're a big girl…" Before he could stop himself, he stroked her hair gently, as if he had known the kid for a long time. "Are you here with your mom?"
"Yes, sir. She's there." Lisa grinned and turned to point at the far side of the park, over the sandbox, where some women where sitting on benches in the shade.
---
Snapping out of her little daydream, Reba looked up and searched with her eyes the small crowd of laughing kids near the sandbox, frowning when she didn't see Lisa's red hair. She looked again, and got up with her heart pounding in her chest as she grabbed her bag and walked over to the sandbox, still not seeing her daughter.
Then, as she turned around once more, her heart jumped right in her throat and she felt her stomach clench as she spotted her little girl sitting next to a man near a tree on the other side of the sandbox, partially hidden by the slides and swings.
"LISA!" She screamed, running as fast as she could and slowing down only when she was close enough to grab her daughter and pick her up in her arms. "What do you think you're-" Her angry question died on her lips as she stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the man before her, lost for words.
"Reba?" Brock's look mirrored hers as he stared at her in shock, his eyes moving to Lisa for a second before flying back to Reba.
"Brock…" The whisper escaped Reba's lips and she swallowed hard, unconsciously holding her daughter tighter.
"Mommy, it hurts…" Lisa whined a little, looking at her mother.
Brock's heart skipped a beat when the little girl called Reba mommy. As soon as he had seen her, all he could think about was that she must have been there with some friend's kid, babysitting for someone. But he knew he was just deceiving himself because there was no doubt that that little girl was Reba's daughter.
'She's three years old… three… years… old…' He thought, his breathing getting shallow as a thought came up to his mind.
"Hi, Brock…" Reba finally managed to say, snapping him out of his thoughts as she forced herself to keep cool and loosen a little her grip on Lisa.
"Hi…"
That was all Brock could breathe out as he stood up, maybe too quickly, looking at her and getting lost into her eyes like he always did.
Reba gave him a small smile, her bottom lip trembling slightly, and she hoped he wouldn't notice, "I didn't know you were supposed to be here today…" She said quietly.
"I came in with the first flight in the morning…" He explained in a low voice, still unable to tear her eyes away from the deep pools of blue looking back at him.
"Daddy, I'm thirsty." Little Henry ran over to him, interrupting their little exchange, and tugged at his father's shirt as he looked at Reba and Lisa curiously.
Reba smiled sweetly at the kid and put Lisa down when she started to wiggle in her arms.
Brock watched her movements out of the corner of his eye as he handed Henry his water bottle.
"Thanks, daddy." Henry smiled and handed the bottle back to him, turning to Lisa, "Wanna play?"
Lisa nodded kind of shyly and looked up at Reba, "Can I, mommy?"
Reba took a deep breath and glanced at Brock for a split second before nodding, "Yeah…stay around here though, don't go far."
Watching the kids run away to play with Lisa's ball, Brock couldn't help but feeling a sting at his heart, telling him there was something he needed to know and that if he had been around long enough before he went and got married to Barbra Jean, he would have known about it a lot earlier.
"So…" He started, clearing his throat nervously, "You look gorgeous." He cursed himself mentally for letting it slip, that wasn't what he meant to tell her, but it was what he had thought the moment he saw her and he couldn't hold back.
"Thanks…" Reba blushed slightly and smiled a little more, "You look good too…" She said quietly, trying to stop herself from checking out his well-built, muscular body.
Brock's heart again skipped a beat and he couldn't help but beam like an idiot at her words, while his eyes searched her left hand for an engagement ring or a wedding band.
Seeing no ring on her finger, he experienced a weird mix of emotions. On one side, he was happy she was free, on the other side, knowing she had a three-year-old daughter and was a single mom, made him wonder.
Three years ago they had their last night together and then she left Houston. The kids were all on her side, and he could understand that. But what he remembered vividly was how protective of her they all were. And how he noticed she wasn't feeling well, which was why he was so worried about her leaving.
The last time he saw her, she was pale and tired, but she had gained some weight and wore large clothes she wouldn't usually wear.
A thought struck him again and he took a deep breath, swallowing hard, "So, Lisa is…"
"My daughter, yes." Reba's dry answer took him aback, but he didn't let it get to him and tried to keep his cool, as much as he could in that situation.
"And she is three years old." He pointed out, looking straight into her eyes.
Reba bit her lip, "Yes…" She said in a small voice. She knew where this was leading, and her heart was screaming for her to tell him everything already. "Yes, she's three years old… I guess you know what that means…"
Brock nodded. She decided to play it fair and square and he wasn't going to do any different, "Why didn't you tell me?" He sighed and took a step closer to her.
Reba stepped back, "What difference would it have made? It wouldn't have changed anything, you would have still married Barbra Jean for all I know."
"You can't know for sure. Maybe that would have been the reason for me to stop that madness."
"I don't need a maybe, Brock. And I didn't back then. I needed to know for sure that it would have changed everything, but I didn't, so I chose to leave instead, and keeping my secret."
Brock swallowed hard, he could see her point, "I had the right to know, though."
"Just like I had the right to choose." Reba replied, looking into his eyes, "We weren't married anymore when I found out, Brock. It was my baby to give birth to, my child to raise. Alone."
"I wish you'd have told me." Brock simply said, nodding his head at her words. "I think it would have changed everything."
"What exactly? What would have changed if I had told you?" Reba sighed and shook her head, "I don't think it would have changed anything at all." She started to turn, but Brock grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"It would have changed everything, trust me. Reba, I loved you back then and I still-"
"MOMMY!" Lisa's scream cut him off abruptly, and both Reba and Brock turned to see the little girl on the grassy ground, crying and holding her leg.
"Lisa!" Before they knew it, both Reba and Brock were at her sides, Reba kneeling down next to her and holding her tightly as Brock's fatherly instincts kicked in and he knelt down in front of Lisa, examining the small bleeding cut on her knee with a relieved smile.
"It's nothing, baby girl… it will pass soon." He said, picking her up in his arms and bringing her back to the spot he had previously occupied.
Reba watched carefully as he carried Lisa to the grassy spot next to the tree, a small smile forming on her lips. She held her daughter tightly and whispered soothing words to her as Brock poured some water on the cut and cleaned the wound with a tissue, sticking a band-aid to Lisa's knee.
"See? All done." Brock grinned and kissed Lisa's knee right above the band-aid.
"Does it still hurt, baby?" Reba whispered, kissing the side of Lisa's head.
Lisa nodded slightly, "Yes, mommy. You kiss it too…"
Reba smiled and leant over to place a kiss on the spot Brock had kissed, "Better?"
"Yes, mommy." Lisa smiled a little and hugged her, turning to Brock, "Thank you." She leant over to hug him too and got up, walking away slowly with Henry.
Watching the kids, Reba unconsciously stepped closer to Brock until she was almost leaning against his shoulder, "You were good with her… you were always good with your kids…" She mumbled, looking up at him.
Brock turned to her and smiled, "I try my best with each one of them. But you did a great job on that little girl. She's just adorable."
Reba smiled and turned a little to face him, "She has good genes." She said with a chuckle, "On both sides…" She looked straight into his eyes as their faces were drawn closer together by some kind of invisible force, and she placed her hands on his chest, a trembling sigh escaping her lips as she felt his strong muscles underneath his shirt.
"Reba, I…"
"Shhh…"
Their lips connected in a soft kiss at first, that became passionate as they remembered the taste of each other's lips and the perfect way they fitted together. Their bodies pressed against one another, and Reba wrapped her arms around his neck, holding onto him for dear life as they poured all their love in that one kiss.
When they finally broke away, short of breath, Reba's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were sparkling, "Do you want to take Henry to my house for dinner? He and Lisa seem to get along…" She whispered, looking at him.
Brock grinned, "Am I allowed to stay too?" He whispered and chuckled.
"Of course…" Reba giggled and beamed, "You don't want to leave me alone with two three-year-old kids, do you?" She kissed his lips softly and caressed his cheek.
"Never. I never want to leave you alone, baby." Brock whispered against her lips, letting go of her to walk over to the kids, watching her pick up their tired daughter as his heart felt like bursting with joy.
---
"Okay…you know the way, I'll see you at home…" Reba smiled and stood in front of Brock after they put the kids in their seats in the two cars.
"Sounds good to me. See you there…" Brock smiled back at her and leant over to kiss her cheek, before opening the door for her.
Reba grinned as she got into the car and he closed her door, waiting for her to drive off before he got into his car as well.
"Mommy…"
Reba glanced at her daughter in the rearview mirror when she called her, "Yes, baby?"
"I wanna play with Henry again." Lisa smiled a little as she looked down, tracing the butterfly printed on her jeans with her tiny finger.
"You will, sweetie pie. Henry is coming over for dinner with his daddy." Reba smiled and kept on driving as she started to think of what she was going to make for dinner.
"Mommy?"
"Hmm?"
"Henry's daddy is very nice."
Lisa's words almost made Reba want to slam on the brake, and she felt a lump quickly forming in her throat as her hands clenched around the wheel.
"He's really nice. He kiss my knee and make it better." Lisa looked up and grinned, glancing at Reba.
Reba swallowed hard, "His kiss always made everything better…" She whispered to herself, unconsciously licking her lips.
Lisa didn't seem to hear what she said and started to hum a country song, causing Reba to smile and hum along as she allowed her mind to stop thinking for a little while and she drove home.
---
On the way to Reba's house, Brock couldn't wipe a stupid grin off his face, thinking of everything that had happened in the last hour. Not only did he see Reba again, he also found out he had another beautiful daughter, and Reba kissed him and invited him for dinner. All that, he thought, must mean she still loved him just as much as he still loved her.
As he drove past the sign of a store, Brock slowed down and pulled into the store's parking lot. Tonight was going to be special and he wanted everything to be perfect.
"Daddy, where are we?" Henry looked up and out of the window, curiously.
Brock got out of the car and opened his door, taking him out of his seat and picking him up, "We're at a store, we need to buy some stuff." He locked the door and put Henry down, taking his hand as they walked into the store.
"What stuff?" Henry asked, looking up at him.
"We're going to Reba's house for dinner, so I want to bring something nice." Brock explained.
"And I can play with Lisa again?"
"Sure, you can, buddy." Brock smiled and felt his heart melt with tenderness, noting how his kids were getting along.
"Yaaay!" Henry grinned and jumped a little, holding his hand tightly.
Brock chuckled, "Okay now… how about I pick the wine now and then you pick something nice for Lisa and some pretty flowers for Reba?"
"Okay!" Henry grinned even more and followed him to the drinks department, watching Brock smile brightly as he spotted a bottle of Chablis and retrieved it from the shelf.
So many memories related to that particular wine. It was the wine they drank at their wedding reception, the wine they were drinking in the hot tub of the hotel in Houston the night a little miracle called Jake happened. Reba has always loved Chablis, so he knew that was the right choice. Making new memories with her was exactly what he wanted.
"Daddy, hurry…" Henry sighed and pulled at his hand as Brock was still looking at the bottle in his hand, lost in his memories.
"Oh yeah, sorry, buddy." Brock smiled and let Henry drag him away to the toys department. "Okay, we need a present for Lisa. What do you think about that doll?" He pointed at a big, pretty doll, coming in a box with a set of bibs, bottles, diapers and other baby stuff.
Henry shrugged, "Girls like it." He smiled and grabbed the big box, grinning up at his father, "Now flowers."
Brock nodded and took the box from him, chuckling as he watched him run to where the flowers were.
"I want that, daddy." Henry pointed at a bunch of red roses. "Pretty flowers." He grinned and looked at his father to see his reaction.
Brock swallowed hard and nodded, "Yeah, they're pretty." He wasn't sure they were the right choice though. Red roses were the symbol of passion and love, and he sure felt both for Reba, but did she feel the same about him?
Maybe he should put something less passionate in the flowers he was gonna get her.
"How about we get a bunch of red and white roses?" He told Brock with a smile.
Henry nodded, "Like it!"
Brock smiled again as he told the girl working there what he needed and she handed him a bunch of beautiful red and white roses. Reba would definitely love it.
