Chapter Three- Reba Gets Some News

"Hey, kids!" Brock greeted Kyra and Jake as he walked into their house with his wife, Barbara Jean and their son, Henry. The kids were sitting on the couch watching T.V. and Reba was sitting in the chair, flipping through a magazine.

"Ready to go to the movie?" Barbra Jean asked in her usual bouncy voice.

"Yes!" Jake said, excitedly. "I love Spiderman!"

Just then Cheyenne came downstairs, carrying Elizabeth. "Hey, Dad. Hey Barbra Jean." She greeted them with a smile.

"Hey, Cheyenne! You and Elizabeth are welcome to come with us to the movie. We're bringing Henry."

"Oh, no thanks. I...uh...have some phone calls to make." She answered, setting Elizabeth down in her playpen.

"Lucky you." Kyra said, the sacrcasm dripping from her voice.

Jake stood up and walked over to his dad. "Can we go now?"

"Yes, Jake. We can go now, come on Kyra!" Brock said, lifting himself from the arm of the chair. "Bye Cheyenne. See ya, Reba."

"Bye." Reba replied, not looking up from her magazine.

Cheyenne closed the door behind them and walked over to the couch and sat down. Reba closed her magazine and set it down on the table, then laid her head back in the chair and stared at the ceiling.

"Mom, will you please tell me what's wrong?" Cheyenne begged again, hoping she would get some kind of answer from her.

Reba just shook her head, squeezed Cheyenne's hand, then stood up and left the room.

"I am going to figure this out." Cheyenne whispered to herself, before picking up Elizabeth and taking her upstairs for a bath.

After drawing Elizabeth her bath, Cheyenne sat on the edge of the tub and watched her daughter play with her bath toys. Elizabeth was splashing up a storm. Suddenly, there was a weak knock at the door.

"Cheyenne?" Reba asked.

"Yeah, Mom?" Cheyenne answered.

"I have to run out for a minute, tell your Dad when he gets back with Jake to wait here. I need to talk to him."

"Sure." Cheyenne agreed, hoping it was her dad she wanted to talk to about what was bothering her.

"Gamma bye, bye?" Elizabeth asked as Cheyenne lifted her out of the tub and began toweling her off.

"Yeah, Grandma is leaving for a minute, but she'll be back." Cheyenne reassured her daughter.

Elizabeth gave her a small smile, then ran into her bedroom after Cheyenne had put her pajamas on. Cheyenne thought about running after her but the phone ringing made her change her plans. She ran downstairs, and picked up the extension in the livingroom.

"Hello?"

"Is this Reba Hart?" The voice on the other end asked.

"No." Cheyenne replied. "This is her daughter, Cheyenne."

"Oh, is your mother there?"

"No, she had to run out for a minute."

"Ok, tell her when she gets home that Dr. Chambers called. I have some news for her."

"Ok. She'll get the message." Cheyenne promised.

"Thank you." Dr. Chambers replied. "Bye."

"Bye." Cheyenne finished the conversation and hung up the phone. She was deep in her thoughts when her father and the rest of the family walked into the house.

"Hey, Cheyenne." Brock greeted.

"Hey guys, how was the movie?"

"Awsome!" Jake answered, then ran up to his bedroom.

"Ok, we have to get Henry home, it's late. See ya, kids."

"Bye."

It was after midnight when Reba came home. The room was completely dark, except for the light from the television. Cheyenne was the only one up, waiting for her mother to come home.

"Mom?"

"Yeah honey, it's me. I just needed to go have a couple drinks, clear my head."

Cheyenne warily nodded and watched as her mother sat down next to her on the couch.

"Dr. Chambers called, he said he has some news for you..." Cheyenne tried to explain but was cut short by the ringing of a telephone.

"Hello?" Reba answered.

"Ms. Hart?"

"Yes."

"This is Dr. Chambers up in Muleshoe."

"Oh hi doctor, how's she doing?" Reba asked, ignoring the looks Cheyenne was giving her.

"Your mother has taken a turn for the worst. We're afraid she's not going to live much longer."

"Ok, thanks doc. I'll be up there as soon as I can." Reba finished her conversation and hung up the receiver.

"Honey, it's about your Grandma..."