Love by Love – 36
"Sweetheart, what are you looking for?" Brock saw her going through every cabinet in the kitchen and groaned that the kitchen was too big and she couldn't find what she was looking for.
"Syrup."
"It's on the table."
"Not that syrup. I want maple syrup." Reba grit her teeth, still continuing to search.
"It states here that it's 'maple-flavored syrup'. What's the difference?" Brock puzzled.
"It's different! I want maple syrup, not artificial favored syrup!"
"I don't think we have it."
"Then you'll have to go buy it!"
"Now? It's almost 11 o'clock."
"I don't care if it's one o'clock in the morning, I'm hungry!"
"Alright, I'll see if I can get some from the supermarket. If they don't have 'real' maple syrup, will you just take the one we have now? And I'll see if they sell the 'real' one at an organic store."
"Are you mocking me?" Reba marched toward him.
"I'm going!" Brock hurried out of the house before he got hit. Experiences taught him not to argue with his pregnant wife. Luck was on his side; he was able to return home with what she wanted. However, Reba still didn't seem satisfied. She once again was searching through the kitchen cabinets. "What are you looking for now?"
"Peanut butter."
"It's on the counter."
"I want the chunky one."
"You should have told me when I went hunting for the syrup!" Brock groaned grabbing his car keys and went to the store again. Once he returned, he discreetly rolled his eyes when Reba was looking for some bread.
"Ah, here it is!" Reba was happy. Brock too was glad that she was happy with the type of bread they had. She spread chunky peanut butter on one slice and maple syrup on the other. She made herself a sandwich. "Mmm…."
"Well, that's the sound I love to hear." Brock teased mischievously.
Ignoring his suggestiveness, Reba offered, "Want some?"
"I think I'll past." Brock smiled, admiring his wife enjoying her sandwich. She was almost sixteen weeks along and her belly started to show the baby bump. "What are you doing?"
"Scratching, my tummy itches." Her skin around her middle became tight as the baby grew. Plus, eating two sandwiches and a huge glass of milk expanded it a little.
"Don't scratch, you'll have stretch marks. Put some lotion on it."
"Since when did you become an expert on skin care?" Reba snickered.
"Since I turned 40 and my wife still looks like she's in her late 20s," mumbled Brock, grabbing her hand. "Come on, I'll help put some lotion on your tummy."
"Aww, how sweet."
"Yeah well, I like touching your skin." That made two of them, 'cause Reba loved it too when he touched her skin.
Brock made it a habit of rubbing the lotion on her belly. He enjoyed seeing her belly grow, because it meant the baby was growing too. He never got tired of it. "When will we know if we have a son or a daughter?"
"My appointment is in two weeks. So we'll find out in two weeks." She replied, eating her sandwich in bed. "You want a boy or a girl?"
"We already have a boy together, it'd be nice to have a girl together."
"But we already have two girls."
"I know, but one is yours and one is mine, I want one that's ours."
"Please never ever say that in front of the girls, you'll hurt their feelings!" Reba grit through her teeth.
"I know, I know, and I love them both. Let's just say I want a baby girl this time."
"What if we have another boy?"
"Then we'll try for another one."
"Are you kidding me? What am I? A baby-making machine?" Reba piped up.
"No, not once have I ever thought of you as a baby-making machine, although I love making babies with you. I just like having a big family."
"I love making them too, but we're having four. Don't you think we've already exceeded the quota?"
"Tell you what, let's forget about having another baby and let's focus on this one for now, okay?"
"Okay. 'Cause seriously, if we have anymore, people are gonna think we're catholic."
Brock chuckled and kissed her cheek. "So, you say you love making babies?" He smiled mischievously into her eyes.
Reba arched her brow, questioning rhetorically "What you have in mind?" Brock answered her question with a long passionate kiss.
Early in one morning when the couple were sound asleep in each other's arms. Cheyenne woke every one up by a loud scream. Reba shot out of bed, followed by Brock. They grabbed each other's robe in panic. Once they got themselves covered, they ran to Cheyenne's room.
"Cheyenne! Are you all right?" Reba pounded on the bathroom door. Cheyenne opened the door crying.
"I got a huge zit on my forehead!"
"Oh for the love of God! That's it? You screamed like the sky is falling because you have a barely visible zit on your forehead? You almost give me a heart attack!" Reba hollered.
"It's a big deal, mom. I can't go out in the public looking like this!"
Brock sighed heavily, "Can you deal with her? I'm going back to bed."
"Me too!" Kyra followed Brock
"Me three!" Jake left to his room, leaving just Reba dealing with Cheyenne alone.
Glancing at a clock, Reba yawned. "It's six o'clock, what are you doing up so early on a Saturday?"
"My friends in drill team and I are going to the theme park. I got up early to make sure the outfit I picked out last night was still the one. But I can't go now with this gigantic zit on my forehead." Cheyenne cried, literally.
"Honey, it's barely even there!"
"See, you see it too!"
"I wouldn't have noticed it if you didn't constantly point it out." Reba sat down on Cheyenne's bed and let out a heavy sigh.
"What am I gonna do, ma, it's embarrassing." Cheyenne wrapped her arms around Reba's waist and buried her face in her chest.
"Tell you what, why don't we go to the pharmacy. We'll get one of those zit-zappers and concealer. No big deal. You are half Lori-Ann, you'll find away to cover it up. Trust me."
Cheyenne nodded. "Okay, but you're gonna shower first right? 'Cause you smell like dad."
Rolling her eyes, Reba quipped, "Of course I smell like your dad. I slept with him, who do you expect me to smell like, Mel Gibson?"
"Eww..." Cheyenne made face hearing Reba's blunt remark.
Reba went to her room and took a shower before taking Cheyenne out to a pharmacy. They were gone for hour and ended up coming back home with a handful of stuff.
"Well, I'm off to pretty up!" Cheyenne giddily skipped to her room happy with the things she bought.
"I thought you just went for some ointment for Cheyenne." Brock commented seeing his daughter carrying bags.
"Bad idea taking Cheyenne to the make up section. She wants lip gloss, then she can't pick which color to buy. Then she wants eyeshadow for every color that matches her outfit. I thought we would never leave."
"I think I changed my mind about wanting another girl, that's a big expense on make-up" Brock remarked.
"Like boys don't have expenses. Hair care products ain't cheap either." Reba pointed out.
Later one afternoon, Brock took Reba to her bi-weekly check up and they also went to the ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on their side.
"Please..." Pleaded Brock opening the front door for his wife, returning home after the appointment.
"No!" Reba stated firmly walking straight to the kitchen to make herself a syrup and peanut butter sandwich.
"What are you guys arguing about?" Cheyenne asked after listening to 'please' and 'no' for a while. "Didn't you just come back from the doctor? How is it? Are we having a baby brother or sister?"
"We don't know yet." Reba answered shortly and started eating her sandwich. Cheyenne looked at her dad, silently asking for more information.
"The ultrasound technician tried to move around, but the baby didn't want to open its legs. So we didn't get to see if it's a boy or a girl."
"We'll find out eventually." Reba said nonchalantly. She finished her sandwich and put the dirty dish in the sink.
"Come on, Reba. Can we go again?"
"No"
"Please..."
"Is that gonna continue for another fifteen minutes? I have my homework to finish you know." Cheyenne complained when her parents started that again.
"You? Do your homework without being told?" Reba was surprised. She was teasingly looking out the window. "Did I just see a pig fly?"
"Okay, I'm gonna go do my homework in Kyra's room." Cheyenne grumbled taking her stuff and walking up the stairs. Brock still stared at her with puppy dog eyes.
"Don't give me that look. I'm not gonna go check again, so you'll have to wait until he or she's born."
"Why not?" Brock frowned
"You know how often I have to go to the bathroom when I'm pregnant? And to hold my bladder full until the ultrasound was over is torture!" Reba hissed.
"You really don't want to know what we're having?"
"I only want to know what we're having for dinner," stated Reba.
"After you just finished your sandwich? And you also have two bars of ice cream on the ride back home."
"And your point being?" Reba fiercely glared at him.
"Nothing, dear." Brock backed off a little.
"Look honey. I'm as curious as you are about our baby, but if we don't know the sex of our baby, big deal? What difference will it make if we know now or later? We already have everything we need for when we had Jake: the crib, the change table, the car seat. Not like we'll buy everything new according to the sex of the baby."
"It will make the difference when I paint the room."
"Go with canary yellow, or light green. Chose a neutral color and not pink." Reba mustered.
Brock face lit up, "Not pink? Are we having a boy?"
"I don't know. We went to see doctor together, didn't we?"
"I thought you have some type of intuition that you can tell if you're carrying a boy or a girl."
"Well, I don't know. I just don't want pink. That's all." Reba then smiled mischievously. "But do you know what I want?" She ran her finger along his shirt collar, brushing against his skin just a little.
Brock grinned, he knew that smile and that seductive manner, he knew exactly what she wanted. This pregnancy had driven her so emotional and needing for attention. "We've done it four times this week and it's only Tuesday. Are we trying for some type of record?" He teased.
"Blame it on your baby. This baby's been driving me crazy, hungry and... well..." Reba whined rubbing her belly.
"No, no. I'm not blaming anyone nor I was complaining." Brock chuckled pulling Reba into a hug. "But Kyra would come back from her practice soon and I think we should go pick up Jake from Barbra Jean's. And later tonight, I can take care of you."
"Okay," said Reba pulling him down by his shirt collar and kissing him passionately.
"Hmm..." Brock forced himself to brake the kiss. "Didn't we just agree to wait till tonight?"
Groaning in dissatisfaction, Reba replied "Fine! After I gave birth, it'd be my turn to say no!"
"I didn't say no, I said not yet." Brock immediately corrected his wife.
"Six of one, half a dozen of the other. C'mon, let's go pick up Jake and make dinner. I'm starving." Brock decided it was better for him not to remind his wife how much she had eaten today. After all, he didn't want to be cut off dinner too!