Chapter 9

She was floating. She was unconscious, but Barbara Jean could feel herself being lifted into the air and flying. Then crash landing into her body with a heart-stopping thud.

Rolling her head from side to side, she realized that she was now conscious…somewhat. But she was so sick to her stomach that she thought it would be better to just rest there for a little while longer…

"So you're saying that Barbara Jean told you some crazy story about her and Reba switching bodies?"

"Yeah, but the crazy thing is that I think I believe her."

"What? Come on, Barbara Jean was probably just joking with you. She does that."

"I thought she was, but, um, she did something…"

"Did what?"

"She…hey, I think Barbara Jean…or Reba, whoever that is…just moved!"

As Barbara Jean listened to the conversation between her husband and Adam, she smiled with her eyes still closed. Reba convinced Adam! She thought, delighted for her friend. I'll have to ask her how it went later…

Because right now, I'm going to hurl.

Feeling her stomach churn, Barbara Jean sat up from where she found herself on the living room couch, startling the two men. "Outta my way!" she cried, running up the stairs towards the bathroom. Slamming the door open, she leaned over the toilet and promptly spilled her guts into it, holding her hair to the side.

Her blonde hair.

And she was puking.

Which meant…

Her eyes widening, she wiped her mouth as she stood over the bowl. "I just threw up!" she exclaimed, happy excitement overcoming her. Keeping her breath steady, she went to the sink and looked in the vanity mirror.

Yes, she was in her body. That was her blonde hair, her manicured hands (at least they were manicured – Reba clearly did not care about nail maintenance), and her pregnant belly…that she was sure was starting to show.

Barbara Jean pumped her fist in the air and shouted, "Oh, yeah, baby! I'm back!"

"Honey, are you okay?"

Startled, Barbara Jean froze when she realized that was her husband's voice coming through the door. "Yeah, fine, Brock. Just a little queasy."

"You are my wife, right? Adam has some crazy idea that you and Reba switched bodies…"

Barbara Jean smiled with amusement. "We did switch bodies, Brock. You really think Reba would kiss you like that?"

"Well, that's what I figured it would take for Reba to…wait, how did you know…oh God!"

Laughing, Barbara Jean felt a little sorry for Brock. It wasn't easy realizing that body switching was actually possible. When there was a long silence she called, "Brock, are you okay?"

"Um, fine…just…w-what, w-when…how?"

"It's a long story, sweetie. I think it would be better if Reba and I explained it to you later. Chances are that where Adam is concerned, she still has a lot of 'splaining to do," Barbara Jean answered, finishing off the last part with her best Ricky Ricardo accent.

"So…that conversation I thought I was having with Reba…that was you right?"

"Yeah. I'm so happy you're okay with this!" Barbara Jean said, excited but still queasy enough to want to stay near the toilet. "When you said 'huh' I got a little worried, but then your face just lit up and… oh, honey, I love you so much!"

"Love you too…but, um, I think we still need to talk."

In her reflection in the mirror, Barbara Jean could see her lips form a frown and the excitement fade from her eyes. In the rush of telling her husband she was pregnant, she forgot about their current marriage problems. "Oh, yeah, sure…just let me clean up in here and I'll be right out."

Two minutes later, they were slumped against either side of the narrow hallway facing each other. "So you want to start?" Brock offered.

"I'm not sure if I know how," Barbara Jean confessed. "Our problem is that we've lost our ability to communicate in a way that enhances our romantic relationship."

Brock raised an eyebrow. "You've been watching daytime talk shows again, haven't you?"

"Maybe," Barbara Jean answered with a sheepish shrug. "But they're right. I think our whole problem started when we just…stopped talking."

A heavy sigh escaping his lips, Brock reasoned, "That's true, but when I get home for work I'm sick of talking. You try keeping up a conversation with someone who has a suction hose in his mouth!"

"But I haven't been doing anything all day!" Barbara Jean reminded him. "The problem is that you don't realize that I have wants and needs too. That's why our brief reconciliation faded so quickly – you lost interest in being together all the time. I'd want to go out on the weekends, or just talk when you got home…but you'd always want to be alone."

Brock gave her an exasperated frown. "I love you, Barbara Jean, I really do. But a man needs his space! Look, I love spending time with you, but there can be too much of a good thing. Everyone needs to spend time with themselves at times."

Considering his argument, Barbara Jean had to admit to herself that he had a point. She knew she had an outgoing and bubbly personality, though that same personality sometimes tended to annoy people. She also knew that sometimes she didn't know when she was annoying someone. But she felt that while that might touch on what Brock meant, he was really referring to her obsessive nature. She just couldn't help it, though. When she loved someone, she held on to them. Tightly. "I'm sorry, but sometimes…you push me away, and all I want to do is hold you closer. I guess that could be annoying but…I worry about you, Brock. I worry if I don't keep my claws in you, you'll get away."

"But I don't want to 'get away'," Brock said, taking her hand in his. "I think our problem has always been that we just can't find a balance. We're either on cloud nine or on the verge of divorce. If we can find that balance…then I think we'll be okay."

Putting her fingers through his for a brief moment, Barbara Jean wiped a tear out of her eye with her free hand. "Yeah, I think we will."

Brock smiled and kissed her on the lips. Then he got up, stretched his legs, and started towards the stairs. It was a few moments before he realized that his wife wasn't following him. Turning around, he raised an eyebrow when he saw that she hadn't moved. "What?"

"I'm pregnant. You expect me to get up from the floor on my own?"

Laughing, Brock kissed her again as he helped her to her feet.

Finding that she could open her eyes, Reba awoke to find herself on the living room couch. She wiped her eyes as she sat up and got her bearings. Let's see…she thought, trying to remember what happened before she passed out. I was in the kitchen, and…oh, Lord, Adam!

Reba looked around, but her boyfriend was gone. With a sigh she leaned on the back of the couch and put her head in her hands. She couldn't blame him for leaving her, she supposed. What she'd managed to tell him had made her sound like an idiotic crazy person. But she could've sworn she'd gotten him to believe her before…

Gasping, she did a quick hair check and looked in the TV's reflection. It'd taken her a minute to realize it, but…she was definitely herself again. But knowing that the switch hadn't worked just made her more depressed. I don't get it, she thought with frustration, I thought the wish had to come true in order to…

She whirled around when she heard a movement behind her. Her face brightened. "Adam!"

"Hey, you're up!" Adam said, smiling as he walked in from the kitchen. He was carrying a tall glass of water and two aspirin in his hand. "I wasn't sure what effects body switching would have, but I thought you might be able to use these."

"Oh yeah," Reba replied, downing both pills with one large gulp of water.

Adam stared at her, as if studying her behavior. "That's…you in there, right? I figured you were switching back since both you and Barbara Jean fainted, but…"

"Yeah, it's me, thank the Lord," Reba said, sighing. "Being Barbara Jean was not fun." She froze, realizing that not only had her boyfriend stayed with her, but he wasn't regarding her as mentally insane. "How…how are you doing with all of this?"

Hesitating, Adam answered, "I gotta admit, I'm a little freaked out. But as long as nothing else…strange…happens for a while I think I'll be fine."

"Well, I can't promise you that," Reba joked. Then she became somewhat serious when she noted his discomfort. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't be joking about this. It's actually pretty serious stuff that puts me through hell before it's over."

Adam raised an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?"

Looking at his concerned face, Reba figured it would be best for both of them if she just started from the beginning…and didn't stop until she reached the end. "Okay, let's see, where did I leave off before I passed out…"

Ten minutes later, Reba was pacing the area in front of Adam, recounting the story to the best of her ability…and leaving out a detail or two to spare her poor, shocked boyfriend. She'd just about finished with her brief trip to the past as Brock and Barbara Jean came down the stairs. "…and the next thing I know, I'm waking up in a hospital bed and Barbara Jean is squeezing me to death…" She trailed off when she noted the couple coming down the stairs. "Barbara Jean, Brock…you two okay?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine," Brock said, his arm around his wife's shoulder's. "We're going to head out to eat and have a long talk. Reba…what was that story you were telling?"

Barbara Jean traded looks with Reba, both having a silent conversation that decided they'd sit Brock down another time. Tugging her husband's arm, Barbara Jean pulled him towards the door. "Come on, Brock, she'll tell you later."

"Alright…" Brock replied, giving the two in the living room a sideways look as he went out the door.

Chuckling, Reba said, "So, where was I –"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up," Adam interrupted. "Brock doesn't know about this?"

Reba gave him a sheepish grin. "Well…"

"That guy is too much," Adam sighed.

Confused, Reba asked, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Adam assured her, shaking his head. "So, between the coma and the body switching thing, anything else?"

Reba shrugged. "Maybe…look, as much fun as this is, I think it would be better for both of us if we took a little break from this storytelling thing. You've got enough to process, and I'm exhausted. Apparently, switching bodies takes a lot out of you." With that, she fell into the couch next to Adam.

"Okay, but you're telling me the rest of that story later," Adam said, smiling at her.

Feeling like crying with relief, Reba simply grinned. "So…there's going to be a 'later'?"

"I'm pretty sure," Adam replied. Then he got down on one knee.

Reba gasped, the fear that she knew what was coming growing in her heart. "What the heck are you doin' down there?"

"Yeah, it's a little traditional, but I got the feeling that you were a woman who appreciated tradition," Adam said with a grin as he pulled a small box out of his pants' pocket. He opened it to reveal a simple yet beautiful diamond ring that had Reba letting out a small gasp. "I know you're tired – you have every right to be after the ordeal you went through – so I'll keep this brief. I'm not going to go on a long, tedious rant about how beautiful and wonderful you are, because you and I both know you're the most amazing person I've ever met."

Unable to stop smiling, Reba fought to keep her heart beating at a normal pace for the sake of her blood pressure. I can't believe this is happening to me, she thought. Adam was proposing…and she was going to say 'yes.' She couldn't lie – she knew that if he'd done this before the switch, she'd have so many doubts, the sweet proposal would be ruined, with the possibility of irreparable damage. Now…now she knew. But she still had to ask him something. "Are you sure you want to do this?" You do realize you're asking to be tied to chaos and total insanity for the rest of your life."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Adam said. Taking her hand in his free one, he held out the ring. "Reba, will you marry me?"

"Yes," Reba answered, pulling Adam into a deep kiss about a millisecond after he put the ring on her finger.

A/N: Last chapter, finally! I can't believe this story took me months to finish. On a side note...I think I fell a little flat on this chapter. I wasn't sure how to handle the proposal at the end (finish with a joke or not? expand the scene?). It was basically an inner battle, but I liked the way it came out. Still, sorry if it felt like it wasn't one of my best chapters.

Thank you to all you wonderful reviewers, and I'm glad that you all enjoyed the story. Like I said last chapter (or the one before it, not really sure) I'm thinking of adding a fourth story to the series. But nothing's definite, and if I do add a story it probably won't be for a while.

Anyway, thanks again, and the epilogue should be posted soon!