Chapter Five
"Hey Van, hey Jake, Elizabeth asleep?" Brock smiled up at them.
The door shut behind the boys as they walked toward the rest of the family. Finally Van pointed to Brocks arm, which was wrapped tightly around Reba, and said, "Mrs. H, what happened to the no-touch restraining order?"
"Huh...?" Reba frowned, then noticed what was fishy. Looking around guiltily she slapped Brock's hand, whispering, "Play along!"
"What? OH!" Brock quickly jumped a few inches away from Reba. "Sorry, Reba was flirting with a mean sense of humor again and I decided to…pin her arms down." He lied. "Right, Cheyenne?"
"Yes, mm-hmm! That's exactly what happened! Um…here sweetie, I'll take Elizabeth upstairs," Cheyenne stood up and gently took her daughter out of his arms before starting up the stairs.
The moment she was out of ear-and-eyeshot, Van and Jake stood over Reba and Brock, arms folded, starting sternly at them.
"What?" Reba said innocently.
"Oh, don't play dumb with us," Van snarled. "I have eyewitness accounts – who kissed who?"
Both went a bright shade of red and said in unison, "Who kissed who what?"
"Jake, tell them what you saw." Van commanded.
"You…saw…?" Brock asked, horrified. Jake nodded.
"…Craap!" Reba growled.
"Aha! You admit it! So, what have you two to say for yourselves?" Van pressed.
"First of all, Van - me and BJ are through – we're getting a divorce." Brock began. "Second of all, I can kiss Reba and dang time I feel like it."
"Brock!" Reba elbowed him.
"What, Reba? It's not like they don't already know something's going on!" Brock defended himself.
"That doesn't mean we have to admit it!"
"We kinda already did…!"
"Oh, yeah."
"Cut the chit-chat, you two have a lllot of explaining to do. Now, Dadhas said his bit. Mom, I do believe it's your turn," Jake ordered.
"Well…" Reba struggled for words to say, then shrugged helplessly. "Yes, we're kinda-sorta together again, BUT in my defense, he's very hot!"
"Gee, thanks Reba," Brock grinned.
"Okay, Mr. And Mrs. H-h-hot, no flirting in court!" Van ordered. "Jake – huddle."
"What do you think?" he whispered as they turned around.
"I don't know, it's kinda…."Jake stole a glance at his parents. Looking into Van's face, he muttered, "Weird!"
"We can hear!" Reba said loudly.
"Oh really?" Van whispered.
"Really!"
"Jake, kitchen."
A few minutes later, Jake and Van were out of the kitchen. By that time, Cheyenne had come downstairs and Reba and Brock explained what they were doing.
"Mrs. H. Mr. H." Van began. "We, the other males in this family, have decided to accept your new relationship under one condition."
"Okay," Reba nodded, deciding it was better not to point out that they didn't need acceptance. "Go on."
Jake stepped forward. "Please try not to kiss around me anymore!"
Reba and Brock laughed – this whole acceptance things wasn't too difficult. "Maybe you shouldn't be spying," Reba pointed out.
"When a stupid girl whose burying you in the sand tells you that her parents are kissing, you don't think of it as spying. It's an opportunity to stand up." Jake explained.
"So, how you gonna tell Kyra?" Cheyenne asked as her husband sat next to her and brother went out the front door.
"I guess we gotta tell her somehow, we can't just expect her to understand everything." Brock admitted.
"Maybe she could…the little nerd," Cheyenne muttered the last part under her breath.
"Yeah, probably."
Everyone jumped. Kyra was standing in the door to the kitchen, drinking a soda, observing the scene.
"Kyra! How long have you been standing there?" Reba demanded, trying to sound stern but looking too nervous to be taken seriously.
"Since Cheyenne called me a nerd. The rest I could hear through the kitchen. And if you want my opinion…"
Everyone tensed. Kyra had been closest to Barbara Jean and might be even more upset on her part than Cheyenne was on Rebas. So far, her face was passive, nothing suggested she would lash out.
"It's about time, I say. You guys have been flirting nonstop for years. At least we don't have to leave everything - that should have been happening years ago - to the imagination," she rolled her eyes, taking a sip. Everyone was still waiting, and didn't make a sound.
"But I think Barbara Jean has the right to know," Kyra said firmly. "I know she'll probably take it wrong, but…I don't want her out of my life. She's my mom as much as you are," she added to Reba. "She's been one of my best friends and I don't her left out of this family. No matter how screwed up it is," she added humorously.
Reba wasn't sure how she felt about that, but then remembered that Kyra had been living with them for years now. It was understandable and healthy for her to feel that way. And it was probably the easiest way for Kyra to say she loved her. So Reba nodded and smiled.
"She does!" Brock said quickly. "She knows."
"Okay. Well, no objections. You may kiss the bride." With that, Kyra turned and was in the kitchen again.
Reba, Brock and Cheyenne stared after Kyra, jaws slightly dropped. Finally, Brock said, "I'll think I'll take her up on that offer…" and kissed Reba next to the mouth. That seemed to jolt her out of her trance, and she smiled.
"That actually went really, really easy," Reba muttered. She pursed her lips and shook her head. Standing, she added, "Something's wrong with her," and hurried into kitchen.
"Kyra, you sure you're fine with this?" she asked.
Kyra, who was reading a magazine, looked up. "Well it's wacko…but I've gotten used to it. I mean, since when has this family been an image of perfection? No family is. And if you're happy it's cool. After all, you spent years getting along with making sure everyone else was content. It's your turn."
The morning of the next counseling session was a rainy day in the middle of a sunny week. Reba took it as a bad sign as she rolled over and peered out the window by her bed, then rolled onto the floor.
"OUCH, DAMMIT!" she yelled as she landed on her elbow wrong. She lay still for minute, hoping no one had heard her swear so loudly.
Deciding that she was lucky, Reba got dressed (she'd showered the night before), did her hair and makeup the way Brock liked, and went downstairs.
She was unprepared for the glares from Van and Cheyenne.
"What?" she asked, taken aback.
"Must you wake up our child with profanity?" Cheyenne snapped. Reba blushed.
"I'm sorry – I fell out of bed!" Reba apologized. "And I'm nervous, it's bad sign for it to rain the day of our counseling with Barbara Jean."
"Oh, is that today?" Van asked innocently. Reba glared at him as she pulled the toaster out from under the counter.
"As if you haven't been constantly reminding me since Saturday," she snapped. "Please don't forget to remind our boss, though, he always pretends to forget these things, the jack-"
"Mom!" Cheyenne pointed to Elizabeth.
"…Donkey." Reba finished.
Brock picked her up a half an hour later, and Reba could tell he was nervous as well. The drive was silent except for the radio, which Reba softly sang along with. Her angelic voice kept Brock driving, kept him reminded that he wasn't alone.
When they walked in, Brock noticed that Reba was shaking. He stopped her before they entered the office.
"Reba, I want you to know, no matter what she says, no matter what he says, I'm not leaving. Nothing anyone can say will change my mind, okay?"
Reba nodded, hoping the lump in her throat would soothe quicker. "Same here, Brock. I know myself just enough right now to know that."
Smiling reassuringly, Brock kissed his one and only love on the head and turned to open the door…
THE END.
Sike! Sorry…I had to do that! I know I'm gonna get jumped…I just had to! I swear I'll update ASAP…please…don't hurt me..! This is not the end – I repeat – this is NOT the end!
(Thanks for the tip in the review, Katherine 2934!)