A/N: So apparently I only update this story every six months or so.
What happens is, I go through phases. While really into "Reba" when I started, for the most part I don't even watch reruns anymore. But lately I have been watching reruns and laughing my butt off, remembering how much I love this show.
So now I'm coming back to this and finishing with determination. Both for me, just to finish it off, and for you. I feel really bad that I've dragged this out for more than a whole year. And you'll be annoyed to know that I've only been keeping you in suspense for only this chapter and an epilogue.
Thank you to everyone who has been sticking with this series since the first story. You've all been totally awesome and definitely some of the best reviewers I've had.
As for the million-dollar question - will there be another one? Well, I've already mentioned that I have another one all planned out. I've given the idea some thought, as it's a good one IMHO and I'd enjoy writing it. The bottom line here is…maybe. I have other stories to work on, yet with summer vacation coming up in a couple of months I might just do it.
Anyway, since this might be the last story, I just want to make it clear that if anyone wants to use the OC's, concepts, or storylines I have created here, go right ahead. Just please let me know first and put a disclaimer that they're mine.
On that note, please accept this last chapter with my apologies for the delay.
Chapter 9
Reba couldn't believe where she was.
Oh, sure, over the past few years she'd been in some unusual places. The past. The future. In Barbara Jean's body.
But jail? Crap, she never saw this coming.
All of this was total horse poop. They'd really put her in jail just to destroy her company? At the very least, she could take comfort in knowing that they could never convict her of anything. Hello, this whole thing was complete fabrication on their part. They'd have a hard time making up enough evidence to stand up in court.
She had a pretty good idea where this would go. Her family would come back in and write a check for bail. Then, after some time passed and she was humiliated enough, they would drop the charges. Surely, they didn't want to waste money on a trial they knew they would lose. That way, there was no chance they'd be proved to be liars, and she would be branded a white collar criminal for life since she would never get to prove her innocence in court.
"Dang, they're good," Reba muttered to herself.
Next to her on a wooden chair, Barbara Jean perked up and glanced at her, her face filled with sympathy. "Who, Reba?"
"Never mind," Reba answered with an aggravated sigh. "Just thinking about how unfair this all is."
Barbara Jean nodded. "So not fair. The company who did this to you is going to get bad karma for the rest of their lives, that's for sure." Then she paused and lowered her eyes. "Unless, um…" She quickly checked to make sure Mr. Matthews was busy on his phone. "You actually did do it."
"Excuse me?" Reba exclaimed, so loud that Mr. Matthews looked up at them. She gave him an intent glare, and he quickly went back to his phone call. "What the heck are you talking about?" Reba whispered.
Unable to look her in the eye, Barbara Jean explained, "Well, while I know you could never do something like this, Reba 1 is another story. Van and I have talked about how…slightly different your clones are from you, and…based on what we've seen, I think it's a possibility." Then she flinched as she shut her eyes, clearly expecting Reba to reach through the bars and smack her.
Reba groaned. She didn't want to admit it, but she'd entertained that thought too. "Calm down, I'm not going to hit you. I've thought about that, and…I'm scared, Barbara Jean," Reba confessed. "Because if she did, then…oh, Lord, I don't want to think about it."
When she had come back from listening in on the phone call, Lori Ann had assured her that "she was right." But what did that mean, exactly? Maybe the representative had said something unsavory on the phone. There was still the chance, though, that she could be in for some serious Martha Stewart-like jail time. After what she'd seen, she wouldn't put it past her other self to do something like this.
And that scared the crap out of her.
Really, what would her family do without her? She was Cheyenne and Van's number-one babysitter, and Jake still needed her to take care of him. He would probably live at Brock and Barbara Jean's. Even those two constantly needed her as referee for their many, idiotic fights. And Adam would be left alone in the house.
Adam. She knew he would stick by her no matter what. But she'd feel ten times worse in jail knowing that he was out there counting the days until she got out. She knew it'd kill him that she was in trouble like this and there was nothing he could do about it.
"Reba?" Barbara Jean asked. She had put her face up close to the bars to examine her best friend's forlorn expression. "Are you okay?"
Startled, Reba stepped back from the bars to avoid a close up of Barbara Jean's eye make up. "Jeez, don't do that!"
"Sorry. It's understandable you'd be a little jumpy," Barbara Jean replied as she backed away a little from the bars. "I would be too if it were me. Who wants an ex-convict weather girl?
The off-hand remark brought Reba's thoughts around from everyone else to her own life with a force that almost made her jump back as well. "Oh my Lord," she finally whispered. "What am I going to do?"
"You're just thinking about that now? What else have you been thinking about?" Barbara Jean half-joked.
Reba didn't have time to answer. The door opened, and Adam entered with his checkbook. Surprised, Reba exclaimed, "What the heck are you doing here? Where's Elisa?"
"She got back earlier than planned. I made up some excuse and came to get you," Adam replied as he ran up to the bars. "And I needed to bring the checkbook to bust you out."
"But I thought Brock brought his check book?" Barbara Jean asked.
Adam shook his head, an amused smile on his lips. "Apparently he was so panicked when he left that he forgot it."
"I'm not surprised," Reba said with a laugh. "When I went into labor with Cheyenne, he forgot his wallet with his drivers' license. So when he sped through the red light to get to the hospital, the cop almost arrested him."
Barbara Jean chuckled. "Why didn't he?"
"Well, I think the cop saw me screamin' and hollerin' next to Brock and felt bad for him," Reba explained. After she shook her head at the memory, she turned to Adam. "What's going on out there?"
"Chaos. Van, Brock and Lori Ann were talking about how to clear your name, but then that prosecutor guy came out, and the four have been arguing ever since," Adam told her. He then began to write out a check on the sheriff's desk. The sheriff himself hadn't been there when Reba was brought in, but his arrival was announced by the furious exclamations of everyone outside.
Soon enough, Reba's bail was paid, and she was freed. Everyone was relieved, but the representative didn't drop the charges, and told Van he could pick up his stuff on Monday. Reba was on autopilot as she was hugged by everyone and brought to Adam's car to be taken home. The train of thought about what she would do if convicted had stuck with her and overcome her mind.
Finally she was alone with Adam in the car on their way home. He kept glancing her way with concern on his face. But she kept silent, too overwhelmed.
What would she do?
The wedding was next week, thank goodness. At least she could get married before she was hauled off to prison.
But her singing career? Her real estate business? Neither could go on without her. She's already put so much effort into her singing career, but if she disappeared for a few months, no one would remember the little-known singer from Texas after a week. She'd have to start from square one.
Her real estate business would crumble as well. Without her there, Southern Village would surely move in for the kill. She had a few good managers under her, but none of them would be able to handle everything she did.
Reba put her head in her hands, tears in her eyes that she refused to let fall.
Terry had granted her this wish to reduce the stress in her life. Well, if both her careers failed, she wouldn't have any stress at all. Another wish granted.
"Oh, honey," Adam exclaimed in surprise. When he spotted a parking spot, he pulled over and took her in his arms. "It's going to be okay."
Finally the tears broke through. "How can you say that?" she demanded. "What if they convict me? My whole life will be ruined! And it won't even be my fault!"
"W-well," Adam replied, somewhat flustered. She could tell it was because he rarely saw her like this. "They won't be able to, because you didn't do it."
Reba pulled away slightly and looked up at him. "How do you know that?"
Adam stared at her for a moment, confused. Then his eyes widened. "No one told you?"
"Told me what?" Reba demanded.
"Lori Ann, Brock and Van overheard Mr. Matthews on the phone. The charges are completely false. This was all to humiliate you and your company, partly in repose to 'your' outburst a few days ago," Adam informed her.
Reba was so relieved that she laughed and fell back into her passenger seat. "Oh, thank the Lord! I didn't do it!" she exclaimed. Her relief turned to anger so fast that Adam did a double-take. "Those butt-heads! How dare they!"
"There's the Reba I know and love," Adam laughed.
"I have to find some way to bust them," Reba vowed. But she let out some deep breaths to level her anger, her thoughts returning to her previous thoughts. While there had been nothing she could do about her singing career, her real estate business would have collapsed because she didn't trust enough people to do her job. "But I think I finally get it. Finally."
Startled, Adam replied, "Get what?"
"What everyone's been saying," Reba explained. Overwhelmed by the revelation, she kept her back against the seat and her blank stare trained on the car in front of her. "That I need to slow down. For the briefest second I thought about what would happen if I had to go to jail. Adam, I was terrified. So many people count on me that all I could think about was not being able to keep it all going for once. It's too much, and I think I can finally see that."
There was a long pause, then Adam hugged her before returning to his seat and reaching for the keys still in the ignition. "So what are you going to do about this?"
"I don't know. But I have to figure out something, or else I don't know how long it'll be before I break down," Reba answered, determination in her words.
On Monday morning, Van went into the Southern Village office building for what he knew would be the last time. He didn't regret his impulsive decision to quit. After what he put his mother-in-law, who he viewed as his real mother, he would never be able to work for them again.
He had a good, long talk when he got home and explained what happened to Cheyenne. She was upset at first when he told her that he quit. There were the usual Cheyenne-like concerns – she'd slapped him upside the head and demanded, "you idiot, what'd you do that for?" But, as he rubbed his head, he explained what had happened at the police station. She was still plenty mad that he'd turned down the salary he was making, but she understood that he had to do it for her mother. And she'd been a little better when he confessed that he had been considering a competing offer from former employer, Steve Norris, who could finally afford to pay him the same as Southern Village.
Meanwhile, everyone was coming down off the shock and outrage of the situation. All were plenty furious at the major corporation's nerve to do all this just to ruin Reba's career. But they were also baffled. Was it really worth it?
But Van knew it was. He'd seen it at the office. Everyone was worried that Reba's growing real estate company would control the Texas market. While Southern Village was a major network, Van thought that one of their flaws was that they refused to let go of any possible profit.
As he rode up his floor in the elevator, Van let out a few deep, calming breaths. While he knew the reason behind it, he was still angry at his former employer for what they did. It would be tough controlling his temper enough to clean out his cubicle.
But while he was angry with them, he was also mad at himself. How could he not have seen this? If only he'd caught wind of this plot they had and…and…well, he wasn't sure how it could've helped, but he was sure it could've in some way. Van tried to reassure himself that his co-workers had been hiding the scheme from him the whole time so he wouldn't tell Reba.
The elevator doors opened, and he entered the floor. To control his anger, Van focused on his ulterior motive for being there.
He was on a mission. After everyone cooled down a little, they had gathered at Reba's house to figure out an attack plan. When they realized that Van would be going back to the office that Monday, they'd ordered him to snoop as much as possible for evidence. Van had been a little reluctant, since he wasn't good at being sneaky, he promised he would try his best.
Lost in thought and nervous about being discovered, he almost jumped out of his skin when a co-worker came up and gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. "Oh, jeez!" Van exclaimed as he jumped about three feet in the air.
The co-worker, a chubby man named Joe, chuckled and shook his head. "I'm gonna miss you, Van. The boss told everyone a little while ago. It's a shame you decided to quit."
"Thanks, Joe," Van replied as his heart beat returned to its normal pace. "I'll, uh, miss you too. Hey…what'd they tell you about what happened?"
Joe shrugged. "Just that you had another job offer and decided to take it."
"I did not! How did they even know about Steve Norris anyway?" Van demanded. At Joe's surprised expression, Van realized too late that his boss had probably made up the whole thing without realizing the partial truth. "I mean, uh, I…I guess it doesn't matter if they know since I'm leaving now, right?" At the awkward moment that followed, Van clapped Joe on the back and began to walk away. "Well, it was nice knowing you."
Van continued on to his cubicle and spotted the empty box on his chair, provided for him to pack up. With a deep sigh, Van glanced around at his cubicle. It was covered in pictures of him and his family, mostly of just Cheyenne or Elizabeth. He began the process of cleaning up, ignoring the curious stares of his other co-workers.
After he was about half done, his head boss came out of his office nearby. David Harper came out of his office, a bunch of papers in his hand. He had those pre-big meeting jitters Van knew well. On his way past Van's desk, David paused as he spotted Van, and came over. Much to Van's annoyance, David put his elbow on the wall of the cubicle and smirked. "Hello, Van. So sorry to see you packing up."
"So sorry to see you…you…" Van trailed off as he realized he didn't have a snappy comeback. With as much dignity he could muster, he finished, "…going to a meeting."
David laughed at Van's blunder. "Yes, I do have a meeting, Van. And I believe it's with one of your mother-in-law's former clients. How is that little business of hers doing?"
"Great! Fantastic! Really…good," Van insisted.
Again, David chuckled as he shuffled the papers in his hand. "Well, it was nice having you here, Van. You were a good worker. Don't hesitate to list me as a reference."
Once David was out of earshot, Van retorted, "W-well, I would hesitate because you're pure evil! Hah!" But the only good that did was earn him strange looks from workers close by.
After he calmed down from the encounter, Van looked around…and noticed that David had left the door to his office open. Hello! Van thought with a smug smile to himself. He quickly checked to make sure no one was looking, he snuck over to the door, and ducked behind some other cubicles on the way. Thankfully, David didn't have an assistant, so Van was able to get in. What idiot leaves his office door open? Van thought with a smirk. "And people think I'm stupid," he muttered to himself.
With another quick check in the office space outside, Van went back in and lightly closed the door. He went over to the computer to check, but it was password protected. Van paused. He knew this password. David had trusted Van with it once when he needed Van to email some files to David's personal laptop.
It took some thought, but Van managed to remember and typed in WoodsFan24. Van rolled his eyes. Why does every businessman play golf? It's so boring!
He scanned the recent emails, but didn't find anything relating to his mother-in-law. But then a folder on the sidebar caught his eye – "Hart." That must be it! Excited, Van clicked it open. The very first email was from David to Chris Matthews, the representative who had been at the police station.
Chris –
Do you have a back-up of Walker's client file? She was one of the ones I told you to back-up before we sent out the virus.
-David
Van put his fist in his mouth to keep himself from shouting with happiness. Then he bit his knuckle. "Ouch!" he exclaimed. He winced, expecting someone to hear him. When no one came after a minute, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Thrilled, Van went down the list of about thirty emails. Each and every one was about the scandal they had created. Van wondered why his boss would save all of them, but then remembered that David was a fanatic about keeping records on all the businesspeople he dealt with. And Van wouldn't put it past his boss to keep the emails as an ego-boost, proof that his little evil scheme had actually worked.
Van might not be the smartest guy in the world, but thanks to his job, he knew his way around an email account. He checked David's to-do list, which was programmed in the email account, and saw that David wouldn't be back for another half-hour. Van had about thirty minutes to forward thirty emails to his email address. No problem.
His hand shaking on the mouse from excitement, Van managed to calm himself enough to forward all the emails with about ten minutes left to spare. Then, in a stroke of brilliance, he went to the "Sent" folder and deleted all of the forwarded emails listed, so that David wouldn't know anything had been touched.
Finally, he was done. Van logged out of the computer and did a small victory dance on his way out of the office.
Terry breathed a giant sigh of relief as he appeared in Reba's kitchen, hopefully for what would be the last time for a while. This whole ordeal would be over soon, and he can recuperate from the challenges of cleaning up this wish. Maybe he'd take Reba's advice for once and not meddle in her life anymore…at least, not in a way that was so obvious.
But he couldn't help himself. Part of the reason he was so…present, was that he missed her. As her ex-boyfriend, he constantly questioned the choice to make him her guardian angel. While the…human emotions of romantic love and desire had disappeared once he became a guardian angel, he still missed her like humans miss an old friend.
The first time he interfered it was all inside her mind. He couldn't resist letting her know he was watching over her, since it wouldn't be against the rules too much.
Then he crossed the line by interfering in her reality. He wasn't sure what came over him…he thought of something he could do to fix the situation, and he did it. It was part of his nature to be impulsive. After the first time, he knew he was on the wrong side of angelic law every time he granted a wish. But he couldn't argue with success. He knew that every single time, his tactics were what fixed different areas of Reba's life.
And that success was what saved his wings every single time.
But he didn't know how much longer he would be able to get away with these surreal twists in Reba's reality. Yes, he would definitely be more inconspicuous from then on.
He let out another deep breath and ran a hand through his hair to steady himself before he made his presence known. It was the day after Van discovered the incriminating emails in his boss' office. The entire Hart family was celebrating in Reba's living room, with the usual glow of victory after a troubling time. Adam had taken his mother out for the day at her insistence, so Reba's doubles were over as well. Both of Reba's doubles had calmed down with the knowledge that Reba's wish had been fulfilled. Reba made it very clear to her copies, and her family, that she understood that she had to lighten her load.
Along with the wish fulfillment, they were also celebrating that the false charges against Reba had been dropped. Van had printed out the emails and given Reba copies, who then went to Southern Village representatives and threatened to sue for libel. Baffled as to how she had obtained the emails, the company agreed to not only back off her company, but leave the Houston area to avoid humiliation. Ironically, Reba's company had ended up better off than before the legal mess.
Terry was thrilled that everything had worked out this time. He had come dangerously close to messing it all up beyond repair, so he considered himself the luckiest angel alive…well, in existence.
About to enter the living room, Terry paused. He was always a little hesitant walking into this kind of situation, it was like he was intruding on Reba's family life. A point proven the last time Reba's wish was fulfilled, after the body-switch incident. There had also been this point last time when the Hart family was celebrating Reba's engagement, and Reba had to force him to come to the party.
As if on cue, Reba walked into the kitchen. She paused when she saw him, but gave him a warm smile. Before she could say anything, Terry greeted, somewhat lamely, "We have got to stop meeting like this."
Reba laughed at the reference to the repeat of events, and surprised him by giving him a quick hug. "I don't see anything wrong with it," she replied as she leaned on the kitchen island next to him. "How are you holding up?"
"Good…why, should I be worried?" He answered, only half-joking. He couldn't tell if she was furious at him or not.
His tension obvious, Reba put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. Somehow you keep managing to avoid that."
"Except for when you smacked my head," Terry reminded her.
"Well, you'd just told me I might be stuck with my clones forever. You deserved it," Reba explained with a laugh. "But, once again, I seem to owe you another thank you."
Terry paused. There was something he'd been wanting to tell her, but hadn't been able to in all the chaos. This seemed like the appropriate time. "Look, Reba, I…I didn't do all this just to get you to manage your schedule better."
"Oh?" Reba asked, an eyebrow raised.
"I…I did it because I was scared," Terry confessed. At her confusion, he explained, "Reba, when you went back in time and came back, you remember how I healed your high blood pressure, right?"
Reba hesitated as she took the information in. Then she gasped in horror. "Y-you mean…if you hadn't…I would have…"
"I'm not certain you would have…would have," he answered, both of them unable to say the "D" word. "But I know your high blood pressure would've come back with a vengeance. There's only so long I can hold something like that back. I…I just thought you should know. Not to make me look like a hero, or save my skin. But because I know that you would want to know."
Scared, Reba hugged him again, this time a little longer. "Thank you," she whispered.
"Any time," Terry assured her as he hugged her back.
The moment passed, and Reba stood up. "Well, I, uh, came in to put on a pot of coffee."
Terry took a brief moment and concentrated. Within seconds, the coffeemaker on the counter was percolating away. "There you go."
"Show off," Reba laughed. She gave him a light smack on her way back to the living room. "You coming?"
"Yup. Gotta get rid of those copies of yours," Terry replied, much to her relief.
"Thank the Lord! They're leaving!" Reba exclaimed while she opened the door for them. "I gotta tell you, I've had more than enough of me for a long time."
Terry laughed as they entered the living room. When he came into view, everyone turned to him at once, including the copies. "Hey everyone," he said, then gave them a weak smile. He wasn't sure if all of them were as forgiving as Reba was.
"Please please please tell me you aren't just here to party," Kyra asked with a discreet nod to the copies.
"Yeah," Cheyenne agreed, Little Brock on her lap. "Don't you have some…I don't know…business to take care of?"
Reba 1 rolled her eyes. "Do ya'll think we're stupid? Come on, Terry, do your thing before I change my mind."
"Yeah, I'm with her," Reba 2 agreed as she got up from her seat.
Brock gave a loud sigh. "Thank goodness this is over. I think everyone will be relieved when there is once again only one Reba Hart."
Insulted, Reba 2 slapped Brock upside the head. Then she high-fived Lori Ann, who'd laughed and stretched out her hand.
As they stood together before the group, Reba1 and Reba 2 glanced at the original. "Well, get up here," Reba 1 ordered.
"What for?" Reba asked as she turned to Terry, surprised.
Scared, Barbara Jean asked, "Reba's not going anywhere, right?"
"No, she's not, just get up there," Terry assured Reba. He knew she presumes that the copies would simply go back into the mirror. But taking different personalities out of a person was somewhat different than putting them back in.
Still a little apprehensive, Reba walked over and stood by her copies. The maternal copy stepped up. "Take care of yourself, okay?" she insisted.
Then she stepped into Reba and disappeared.
Too stunned to ask questions, Reba was quiet as the career copy stepped forward as well. "Or we'll be back," she warned. Then she followed suit and vanished.
"Well, I'm pretty sure that's the strangest thing I've ever seen," Van remarked.
Kyra…along with Barbara Jean and Lori Ann, scoffed and retorted at virtually the same time – "Consider yourself lucky."
After she laughed, Reba went back into the living room and sat on the arm of the club chair, which was where Kyra happened to be sitting. "Well, they're finally gone," she said with relief.
"Good riddance," Brock remarked. This time, Lori Ann took the liberty of smacking him on his shoulder. "Ouch! Lori Ann! Come on, you've got to admit that you're glad they're gone too."
Lori Ann shook her head. "Hey, I'm just glad that Reba 1 the Evil Twin didn't land our Reba in jail. I was worried there."
"Yeah! I mean what would we do without Reba?" Barbara Jean asked.
"Actually," Cheyenne began, "Van and I thought about that too. Honey, you want to tell her?"
Much to Reba's confusion, Van agreed and stood up from his spot on the couch. "Mrs. H, in the interest of helping out, Cheyenne and I decided to get a babysitter, for when Cheyenne has class or when we go out to dinner."
"What? No!" Reba objected. "I can do it! You two can't afford it! Van just quit his job, for cryin' out loud!"
Terry glanced at her. "I can see your attitude towards life really has changed," he remarked with sarcasm.
"This is different," Reba insisted.
"Mrs. H, if I may interrupt," Van said. When Reba quieted down, he continued, "Yes, I have quit my job…but I have a new one! Well, my old one, but it's still a new one. Steve Norris has been offering me a competing salary to come back, and I'm going to take it."
"Oh, that's great!" Reba exclaimed as she went to hug Van. The rest congratulated him as well.
"Congratulations, Van," Terry said as he stepped forward. Leaving is always the hardest, Terry thought. But he knew it would be best for Reba and with himself. "Now, I have to be going."
Disappointed, Reba went back to his side and asked, "You can stay and hang out if you want, Terry. I was just about to get out dessert…wait, do angels…"
"Yes we do, and I would love to," Terry replied with a laugh. He'd wanted to leave as soon as possible to get the heartache over it, but he supposed he could stick it out for dessert. "Thanks, Reba."
As Lori Ann and Barbara Jean got up to go help Reba with dessert, Reba pulled Terry over to the side. "Look, um, I don't know if I made it clear before. But thank you. For everything. You know I don't always agree with your methods, but…"
"I know," Terry replied, and slung her arm around her shoulders while they went into the kitchen. "Like I said. Any time."