Love by Love - 39
Reba nestled the little three week old baby in her arms. Sitting on a rocking chair. Her youngest daughter was peacefully falling back to sleep after she got her stomach full. Reba smiled and pulled the baby away from her chest and buttoned up her nightshirt. She then gently cleaned the baby's mouth with a soft washcloth and put her back in her crib. Still smiling, Reba was thinking back just three weeks ago, they were on their way back from a romantic getaway that Brock so thoughtfully planned. She had contractions. Brock panicked and was anxious to get her to the hospital in time. He drove 100 miles per hour. They got stopped by the police. However when the officer found out, he lead the way for them turning on the siren, making sure to get her to the hospital or she might just give birth in the car. They called her doctor and rushed her to the delivery room. It took her thirteen hours of painful labor before the baby was finally born, since the baby got caught at her pelvis bone. They were going to do a c-section but Reba insisted on a natural birth. When the baby finally came out to the world, Brock shouted from the top of his lungs out of pure joy when the doctor announced 'it's a girl.' Here she was, hers and Brock's little angel, Elizabeth Helene Hart. Reba lightly brushed the back of her fingers against the infant's soft silky red curls mumbling 'good night, my little angel'.
Returning to her bedroom, she maneuvered to the bed without turning on a light since Brock was sleeping. They took turns taking care of Elizabeth at night. If Reba just got up and fed her, Brock would get up next when she cried again to check on her diaper. They were a very good team. Reba sighed contently. She sat on the bed and lay down trying not to disturb her husband. Nevertheless, he felt the warmth of her body so he pulled her close to his. Reba closed her eyes with soft grin still glued on her face falling back to sleep.
Brock woke up with Reba snuggled in his arms. He smiled and kissed her forehead tenderly, getting out of the bed to check on Elizabeth and then prepared breakfast for the older kids. Reba woke up just when the kids were ready to go to school. She accepted hugs and kisses from them shortly before their school bus arrived. Reba crossed her arms and sighed happily. She thanked the Lord every day for the family he gave her.
"I made you some breakfast," said Brock wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her shoulder. With Brock's arms still circled around her, Reba turned around and pecked his lips.
"Breakfast sounds great." The couple sat down at the breakfast table and enjoyed their meal. "I think Elizabeth's hungry too, she's crying." Reba mumbled hearing her infant crying in the distance.
"I'll go check on her, she might just need her diaper changed. You keep eating." Reba sat back down per his gesture. She quickly finished her breakfast. She smiled seeing Brock carrying the baby to the nook. "I changed her diaper, but she's still crying. I guess you're right, she's hungry."
"I'll take her, you can finish your breakfast." Reba took the baby from Brock and sat back down on the chair, getting comfortable.
"After I just changed her diaper? Suddenly I don't feel like having scrambled eggs anymore."
Reba snickered at his comment. She parted her robe and unbuttoned her nightshirt, ready to feed the baby. Brock watched her every move. "She's so gorgeous." Reba mumbled, smiling at her little one.
"So are you." Brock praised and smiled into her eyes when she looked up and met with his gaze. "She's a little redhead, just like you and Kyra."
"I should have known she would be a redhead when she decided that she wasn't ready to come out and held on to my pelvic bone." Reba giggled, "Let's hope she's not too stubborn, or we'll have our job cut out for us."
"Are you trying to tell me that redheads are stubborn? No…" Brock said sarcastically. He laughed when Reba eyed him fiercely. He would have gotten a smack upside his head if she wasn't nursing the newborn. Brock thought she was cute so he leaned over to peck her cheek. Reba gave her attention back to her hungry baby.
"She sure drinks a lot." Reba snickered when Elizabeth opened her eyes and looked at her as if she knew she was being referred to. Reba instinctively held the little baby tighter with all the love.
Baby Elizabeth was much easier to take care of, compared to Jake; Cheyenne had a special bonding with Elizabeth, so she didn't mind taking care of her from time to time. In fact, she loved the girl so much she stole her from Reba.
"Where's Elizabeth?" Reba looked in her playpen and her little six-month old was no longer there.
"Cheyenne was talking to her a minute ago. Apparently they seemed to speak the same language." Kyra mumbled without looking away from her book. Reba nodded in understanding. She went to Cheyenne's room. She smiled when she heard giggles coming out of the room. Cheyenne was playing peak-a-boo with Elizabeth.
"Cheyenne honey, it's time for Elizabeth's lunch."
"Okay, can I feed her, mom?"
Reba nodded with a smile. Cheyenne picked the girl up and carried her to the nook. She gently put her in her high chair. Reba handed her the bowl of cereal she prepared for her baby. Reba let Cheyenne feed her when she snapped a few pictures.
"You love taking her picture, don't you?"
"I do. Babies grow up too fast. Look at Jake, he's six years old now and it was like just yesterday when he screamed from the top of his lungs waking every body up in the middle of the night." Reba murmured petting her daughter's soft red curl. The girl smiled and drooled. She opened her mouth waiting to be fed. Cheyenne fed her another small spoon of cereal. Two spoonfuls later, Elizabeth spit out when Cheyenne tried to feed her some more. Reba decided she had enough to eat and she cleaned her baby up.
"You think she has enough to eat?" Cheyenne was concerned.
Chuckling, Reba replied. "I'll feed her later. Her main source of nutrition is still coming from me."
"How long would you breast-feed her?" Cheyenne asked curiously.
"As long as I still can. And since Elizabeth hates formula, I think it'd be a while before I could stop feeding her." That was the first sign of stubbornness Elizabeth showed. Reba tried to feed her with some formula, but the infant refused to drink, no matter how hungry she was. Reba gave up and fed her. She tried a few times when Elizabeth was five months old since Reba had to go to back to work soon. No luck. Elizabeth didn't mind the bottle, as long as it was breast milk she was having.
Just like every day for the past three months since Brock returned to work, he would come home after work and found his wife feeding the baby. "Hi honey," greeted Brock kissing her lightly on her cheek. He sat next to her resting his arm at the back of her shoulder. "This is just remind me of when you were pregnant and you'd eat all the time. So it seems like we know who's the cause." Brock caressed the little girl's redhead. She smiled at her daddy while feeding.
Shaking her head, Reba snickered. "She stopped drinking a while ago, but when I tried to pull out, she would start sucking again. She just won't let me go. Hmm..." Reba playfully joined her brows together and narrowed her eyes, thinking. "Sound familiar."
Laughing, Brock exclaimed, "That's my girl!"
"Where's Jake? Did you forget to pick him up?" Reba questioned looking at the door for her son.
"I did. Well, Barbra Jean did. Jake would have a camp out at Barbra Jean's house tonight. I'll pack his overnight back and drop it off before we go out to dinner."
"We? Go out to dinner? But I already cooked."
"Kyra and Cheyenne still has to eat. C'mon, we haven't been out together since Elizabeth was born. What do you say, we'll ask Cheyenne to babysit. You and I can go to a romantic dinner. And maybe we could catch a late night movie," suggested Brock playing with her hair, twirling it around his finger.
"That's sound good. But I wish you would have told me earlier so I could prepare some bottles for Elizabeth. Now I don't think I have enough milk left to spare." Reba mumbled handing the girl to Brock while she snapped her nursing bra close. Brock laid a soft towel on his shoulder and tried to burp the baby. They both laughed when Elizabeth let out such a loud burp for a tiny little girl. "She really took a lot from you, doesn't she?"
Chuckling he stated. "That's the sound of appreciation for good food, babe." He then turn his attention to his daughter, "Mommy is a good cook, isn't she?"
"mum mum mum ma..." Elizabeth mumbled in reply.
"Aww..." Reba brought her hands to her chest. Her eyes started to mist.
"That goes into her baby book I assume." Brock teased seeing his wife beaming with joy.
"Of course! Wait until she starts saying dada and tell me how you feel." Reba commented taking the girl from Brock. Elizabeth still continued to repeat 'mum mum mum maa' and blowing her saliva.
"So, back to our conversation about dinner."
"I'd love that, but late night movie maybe out of question since I don't have a bottle prepared for Elizabeth. Cheyenne could give her some apple juice later this evening, but Elizabeth would not drink the baby formula, so we have to be back on time for me to feed her before her bedtime." Reba explained wiping the girl's mouth with a face cloth.
"Alright, we'll just go for dinner. We can go see a movie some other time." They asked Cheyenne to take care of the baby when they were gone, Cheyenne gladly accepted the baby sitting job.
Elizabeth grew up from a little infant to now, a two year old toddler and became the center of attention. She loved her big brother Jake, she followed him around almost everywhere. She loved watching Kyra play music. She would clap happily when Kyra sang her little tea pot song. She loved playing dress up with Cheyenne. She would wear what Cheyenne wanted her to wear and walked around the house showing off to everybody. She loved brushing her teeth with Brock. Every morning Brock would sit her on the bathroom vanity and she would imitate Brock brushing his teeth. Once they were done, they would show off their teeth to each other for a clean smile check. And of course, she loved doing every thing Reba does. Whatever Reba was doing, Elizabeth would say 'me help mummy'. She sure was an angel for every one.
"Honey, I'm home!" Brock called across the room to announce his presence like every day. And just like every day, Elizabeth would run to her daddy and pounce on him for a hug and wet his cheeks with her kisses. Today was no exception, Elizabeth yelled 'daddy!' and ran out of Cheyenne's room; They were playing dress up. Elizabeth had a brand new pair of baby pink Hello Kitty slippers that Cheyenne bought for her, and she was eager to show them to daddy. She held the handrail of the stairs and managed her way down slowly, but she was excited when she saw Brock at the end of the staircase. She began to climb down faster. Sadly, an accident was bound to happen. Cheyenne screamed from the top of her lungs while Brock stood there, mortified. Reba hurried out of the kitchen and her heart was shattered in million pieces when she saw that gravity rolled her little two year old down the stairs...