Chapter 9

'Not feeling so good'


Two weeks had passed since Lebonnie's first ride on The Temptress; which was the first of may rides. Her Father, Mark, had allowed her to exercise the mare and take her to a few county rodeos in the future; until he could sell her that is.

Lebonnie was happier than she had been in a long time. College was over, Luke and Helen were officially, 'together,' and she had maintained all B's on her college report card; which made her Mother a little more chipper than she had been in awhile.

In addition, summer had come, making the small Arkansas town, even more warm and beautiful. The family was also happy because Hunter decided it was time to come home. He wouldn't tell anyone where he and his buddies went for three weeks, but said he was just relieved to be back at the ranch.

Lebonnie was so thrilled at the thought of being back in the rodeo world, she even let Dixie Lou eat pancakes for dinner about five nights in a row. Even the three-year-old was in a good mood. It had finally seemed as if Lebonnie's struggles, had all fallen into the right place.


It was a beautiful Friday morning. 'Fridays are the best day of the week.' Lebonnie always thought. Neither Chase nor her had to work, and it was always a 'romantic day' for the two of them as the neighbors usually watched Dixie.

But this morning, Lebonnie felt as if she wanted to roll over and die. She had an immense urge to vomit, and her head had been pounding as if she had an enormous hangover.

She got up, ran to the bathroom, and threw up. She was determined not to look at what had just come out of her mouth for fear she'd vomit again.

She stood up and wiped her mouth on some toilet paper. 'What did I eat?' she thought. 'Nothing unusual.'

Chase was outside chatting with his buddies about how he should have gotten his promotion by now, when Lebonnie lost her balance and fell over, nearly hitting her head on the bathtub's rim.

After regaining consciousness, she crawled to the living room where she heaved herself up on the couch, and closed her eyes to think. 'Something's up.' she figured.

'I didn't drink nothin.' She thought, clutching her stomach. 'What the hell is wrong with me?'

Then suddenly, Lebonnie gasped, sat up bolt right; her heart pounding hard against her chest. She ran to the bathroom, and slammed the door.

She was three days late now.

She bit her fist in fear of screaming. 'What if I'm...p...pregnant?' she thought nearly passing out again.

It was possible. It was definitely possible. She'd been off the pill for a couple months now, as she couldn't afford birth control anymore. Of course she didn't tell Chase, he would have been furious. Not because he had anything against kids at all, he loved Dixie Lou with every part of his heart, but more that he was scared for the life of his wife.

You see, when Lebonnie got pregnant with Dixie her senior year of High school, everything changed. Not just the fact she was going to be a young Mother and a young wife, but more of the fact that she nearly died.

Lebonnie had been sicker than a dog those few months of pregnancy. She missed prom, her senior trip, and nearly missed half of school as she was at home vomiting. Lebonnie wouldn't have even graduated if it weren't for her mother driving to school everyday to pick up the mounds of homework the teachers had assigned.

To make things worse, Lebonnie would pass out at random times do to her uneven pulse rate. She was horribly underweight, and Dixie Lou was not doing very well either.

The Doctor decided he had to perform a cesection at about thirty weeks. Dixie came out as a stillborn, at one pound, eight ounces, and thirteen inches long.

After a minute, the tiny baby began breathing again. The doctors had higher hopes for the child and sent her off to Florida's special hospital for premature babies.

Lebonnie Grace on the other hand, was not doing as well.

Chase never left his young fiancé's side. It had eaten a part of him everyday to see her suffer like this. He prayed all night, that if God would spare her life, and the life of his daughter, he would never treat her wrong again.

And obviously, the Lord answered the mans desperate prayer. Lebonnie had recovered within a week, and their baby girl was sent home to them two months later. Small, but alive.

As soon as Little Dixie made it into their arms, he made Lebonnie promise that they would never, never go through this again. She had promised. She had promised him and her family, that she would not ever put them through such a scare again.

Lebonnie jerked on a pair of jeans, grabbed her purse, and ran out the door.

"Hi Mommy!" Dixie yelled from her neighbor's pitiful front yard.

"Baby, where ya goin?" Chase asked as Lebonnie ignored both her husband and daughter and climbed into her brown Chevy truck.

She pulled out of the driveway, and sped off.

"What the hell's goin' on?" DJ, a friend of Chases,' asked, opening a can of beer.

"No idea." Chase replied watching the truck turn of onto the main road.


"Hi Mrs. Gellar. Is Helen home?" Lebonnie asked in a hurry.

"Oh yeah honey." Jill replied still in her nightgown."Anything wrong?"

"Uh..." Lebonnie began as Helen trotted down the stairs. "I don't know yet."

"What's goin' on?" Helen asked blankly as she reached the floor.

"Come on Hel." Lebonnie rushed. "Thank you Mrs. Gellar."

Lebonnie yanked Helen by the arm as they hurried to the truck. "Git in."

Helen obeyed and hopped in the passenger seat. "What is going on Bunny?" She demanded.

Lebonnie started the engine and pulled out of the long, fancy driveway. There was a long, uncomfortable silence until they reached town.

"We need to go to the store." Lebonnie finally said.

"What for?"

Lebonnie took a deep breath. "Hel, I think I'm pregnant."

"What?" Helen asked as her jaw dropped. "No...you couldn't..."

"Well, we're 'bout to find out." Lebonnie said as she pulled in front of the 'Roseburg Drug Store.' "Come in with me?" She asked nervously.

Helen gave a weak smile. "Well, I came in with ya the first time, right?"


"Has it been ten minutes yet?" Lebonnie asked shakingly. She had been pacing Helens room for about eight minutes now.

Helen who was holding the E.P.T sighed. "Nope, not yet."

Lebonnie collapsed into the bean-bag chair. 'This can't be happening.' she thought to herself. 'This CANNOT be happening!'

It seemed to be the longest two minutes of Lebonnies life when Helen finally screamed and jumped off her bed.

She looked into her best friends terrified eyes. It was hard to get the words to come out of her mouth. So she threw the pregnancy test in Lebonnie's lap for her to read for herself.

"Positive."