Chapter 32

She and Vic soon after their sort conversation outside decided it was too chilly and had gone inside to join the three women in the kitchen who were still cleaning up. Marisa, despite knowing Vic was married and having a baby with Reba, still openly flirted with him. Reba held back from ripping the girl's eyes out. She didn't need her blood pressure to soar to new heights. Besides, the ring on her finger showed who Vic wanted in his life.

Reba and Vic stayed over Sophia's house for the night. They spent a little part of the rest of the evening with her, just talking of old times, plans they had for the future, fighting over baby names, the normal family conversation. They would spend a little part of the morning with Sophia and then head back to Rome where they would catch a plane back to Houston. Reba couldn't wait to get home. There was always something about returning home, no matter how long she had been away from it, whether it be just for a day or a whole month. She just loved coming back to the comfort of her home and her family.

Reba had awoken in the beautiful spare bedroom of Sophia's home the next morning alone. She wondered how late she had slept. She hoped she didn't sleep too long and they would miss their plane. She had such a wonderful sleep though. She had such sweet dreams and slept so soundly. It has been so long since she's had such a good sleep. Reba yawned and rolled herself out of the very comfortable warm bed and into the adjoined bathroom. She took a nice warm soothing shower and got out, wrapping a fluffy white towel around her body.

She was standing at the sink, brushing her teeth, when she saw Vic walk into the bathroom. She rinsed her mouth out and smiled. "Good morning." She said as she flashed him a pearly white smile through the mirror.

Vic smiled at her as she picked up her hairbrush. "Good morning." He said flashing his charming smile.

Reba smiled and shook her head. She knew that smile. He always gave her that smile right before something would happen. Sure enough, he approached her slowly, the smile still evident on his face, and ever so slowly he snaked his hands around her waist and pulled her close. "I was hoping…" he said while giving her bare shoulders a small kiss, "You would still be asleep so…" He moved his kisses to her neck which caused Reba to smile, "I could wake you up properly." He smiled, kissing her neck a few more times.

"Vic…" Reba said warningly.

"What?" he asked innocently.

Reba gave him a playful eye roll and smiled. "You know what…we can't."

Vic frowned. "Why not?"

He then smiled and leaned in to a spot on the back of her neck that he knew would drive her to her knees. "Because your grandmother is…hmmm." She said, her knees buckling beneath her when she felt Vic's lips connect to her neck.

Vic chuckled as he held her up. "My grandmother didn't stop you last night." He said, kissing her neck and his hands moving to where her towel was tucked in.

Reba closed her eyes for a mere second until she felt her towel slip from her body and drop to the floor. Her eyes popped open and she moved herself away from Vic quickly before anything more could happen. "We can't. Your grandmother is awake now. She was asleep last night."

Vic shrugged. "So…she may be old but she has ears like a hawk and she is a light sleeper."

Reba's eyes widened. "You told me she is partially deaf." Reba hissed.

Vic chuckled. "So I lied."

Reba gave him a glare and began to smack him against his shoulder. "Ouch…ouch…ouch…"

Reba gave him one last good smack and stepped away. "You big jerk." She tried bending down to get her towel that was still on the floor.

"What?" Vic asked, curious as to why it would make her so nuts. "We are married. My grandmother doesn't care."

Reba, who was still trying to pick up her towel, stood up straight and glared. "I care." She stated. "Now will you pick up my towel for me? I can't." Despite not showing very much it was still quite hard to bend down that far and pick up anything.

Vic smiled and shook his head. "I like seeing you like this." He said looking over her nude body.

Reba knew her face was turning beat red. "Are you determined to make me angry?"

Vic smirked. "I could make you very happy if you would just cooperate."

Reba rolled her eyes and stepped toward the bathroom door. "Fine, it's not like I need the towel."

Vic's eyes widened when he saw her walk toward the door. "I wouldn't…"

Reba ignored him and walked straight back into the room they were staying in. She walked to her suitcase and it wasn't until she heard a voice did she realize that Vic left the bedroom door open. "Vic! Dude. Whe…" Reba's eyes widened when she saw Rico, Vic's friend, in the doorway. She quickly grabbed the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around herself. Rico actually blushed and quickly turned to retreat. "Sorry." He mumbled and he shut the door behind him.

Reba turned to see Vic standing in the doorway of the bathroom. She glared at him. "You forgot to shut the door." She said through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry."

Reba rolled her eyes and kept the blanket wrapped around her as she searched for the clothes she would wear home. "Go downstairs." She said in a dry emotionless voice. "I know we have to leave soon. I will be downstairs all ready in a minute." Vic sighed and decided it would be better to just listen to her.

Reba dressed as fast as she could once Vic left. She didn't need a repeat of someone walking in on her again. She couldn't believe Vic had forgotten to shut the door. You would think his intentions for even coming up there would remind him the door would need to be shut.

Reba quickly did her hair and make-up and then walked downstairs in comfortable stretchy jeans and a white long sleeve turtle neck sweater. There wasn't anyone in the living room and so she walked into the kitchen. She was greeted by the sight of Sophia and Vic talking by the stove, Angelina and Marisa sitting at the table, and Rico was the one who was by the kitchen entrance. Reba blushed immediately when they came face to face.

Rico blushed as well, running his fingers through his hair nervously and he wouldn't look her in the eye. "I'm really sorry Reba."

Reba gave him a strained smile and shook her head. "It's okay. I didn't know the door was open."

They left it at that and Reba took a couple of steps away from him. Sophia had turned and smiled when she had seen Reba. "Good morning." She said in a cheerful voice. "Come sit." Sophia ushered Marisa out of her seat and to the back of the table. She set Reba in her seat. "I have a fruit salad prepared for you because I know you can't have any of this." She said, motioning to the Italian bread, chocolate sauce, biscotti, and coffee.

Reba smiled. "Thank you." Sophia set the fruit in front of her and Reba immediately dug in.

"When are you two heading home?" Angelina asked sweetly.

Vic spoke up. "We have a twelve o'clock flight so we will be leaving within in the hour."

Reba saw Sophia frown. "So soon?" she asked sadly.

Vic nodded and placed his hand on Reba's shoulder. Reba tensed up a bit; she was still mad at him. Reba noticed Marisa smiled brightly when she saw Reba tense up. "Reba wants to get home to her family and we have a doctor's appointment coming up. Plus we have to get back to work. Our boss only gave us a week off."

Sophia nodded in understanding. "I am happy you were able to visit this time around."

Vic smiled and sat next to Reba. "Next time we visit we will have a kid with us."

Sophia chuckled. "Hopefully I will be around."

Vic shook his head. "Don't talk like that. You'll be around for a very long time."

Sophia gave Vic a pat on the shoulder and pointed to the chocolate sauce. "Hand me that would you."

Vic nodded and picked it up, having to pass it by Reba and the next thing Reba knew she had see Marisa stand up abruptly, knocking into Vic and "accidentally" spilling the chocolate sauce all over Reba's beautiful white sweater. Reba's mouth dropped and she slowly picked up the jar from her lap and set it on the table.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Marisa said, trying to hold back a smirk.

Reba held back tears. Today was just not her day. "Excuse me." Reba said. She jumped up and ran upstairs. She shut the bedroom door and let the tears fall. It didn't seem like a real significant thing to cry over but the way her day had been going, combined with her hormones, it was a wonder she didn't burst into tears the moment the first drop of chocolate hit her beautiful new sweater. Reba sniffed and wiped a few tears away but they still kept coming. She shed her sweater and took it into the bathroom, hoping to get most of the chocolate off before any stain could set in.

Meanwhile downstairs Vic was helping his grandmother clean up the chocolate while Angelina kept glaring at her daughter. Everyone had seen that Marisa had done it on purpose. Vic helped his grandmother clean up the spilled chocolate that managed to miss Reba's sweater and land on the floor while Angelina shook her head at her daughter.

Angelina glared at Marisa. "Lei hanno quaranta anni. Lei deve agire la sua età." (You are forty years old. You need to act your age.) Marisa just shrugged and went on eating. Not even acting like she was sorry.

Vic sighed and threw the chocolate stained towel in the sink. He turned toward Marisa. "I stand by what I said to you before I even met Reba. We are only friends Marisa and we will continue staying that way. Now I need to go check on my wife." Vic said, putting emphasis on the word wife.

Reba was scrubbing her sweater, hoping to remove as much chocolate as she could. It was then she heard the bedroom door open and a few second later she saw Vic standing in the bathroom doorway. "My day is just turning out so well." She explained.

Vic smiled and approached her. He then saw the tears. He held back a chuckle because he knew that would just make her even crazier. "Honey…" Vic said sympathetically. He pulled her into his arms and she didn't object, even though she was angry with him earlier. Reba let the tears flow down her cheeks and Vic wiped them away. "I'll blame those on the baby."

Reba smiled through her tears and wiped them away. "I'm sorry. I must look like a right mess."

Vic smiled and shook his head. "No, you look gorgeous."

"I'm still a little mad about the door." Reba said shyly.

Vic sighed. "I understand but if it helps…" Vic started to smirk. "Rico told me, when I came downstairs, that I was one lucky son of b****." Reba blushed and giggled and Vic swallowed her giggle with a kiss.

Reba accepted the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her. They stood there for a few moments, connected at the lips before Reba had to pull away. "We need to get going. Our plane leaves at noon." She said walking towards the door.

Vic groaned. He didn't want to stop but he knew they had to if they wanted to make their plane. "Just so you know…" he said following Reba back into the bedroom. "I told Marisa that we are just friends. I told her this before I even met you."

Reba just waved it off. "It's okay. We will soon leave and be back home, forgetting about this small incident." She said holding up her stained sweater. Reba smiled and glanced at it. "I think it's ruined forever."

Vic looked it over and shook his head. "Just put it in a separate place in your suitcase, away from the other clothes so they don't get wet or get any chocolate on them. I will get the stain out when we get home."

Reba glanced at him and raised an amused eyebrow. "You know how to do laundry?"

Vic nodded. "Yeah, who do you think did my laundry when I lived alone?"

Reba shrugged and looked through her suitcase for another blouse. "I thought you had a maid do it or something. I mean I know you could afford to hire one."

Vic chuckled. "Yeah I could but I didn't. It's weird, the thought of someone other than me washing my own underwear."

Reba shook her head and smirked. "Yet you let me wash your underwear."

"Well…" Vic said shyly. "You're my wife. It's different."

Reba just rolled her eyes and slipped on her deep purple silk blouse she had bought with Barbara Jean a while back. "Let's just get ready." Vic nodded and began to pack any clothes they had just left around the room.

They were ready to go within a few minutes and were saying goodbye to Sophia at the door. Sophia kept a firm hug on Reba. She didn't want to let go. "I am going to miss you so much. I only wish you could stay longer."

Reba smiled at Sophia when she finally let go. "I am going to miss you too and I will be sending pictures when the baby finally arrives."

Sophia grinned. "You better." She said. "I look forward to your next visit. Tell your daughter Cheyenne I am sending something for her baby girl, Elizabeth. She was telling me while I was visiting how much she felt left out since Daniel has been born. I thought a nice gift would cheer her up."

Reba smiled. "That would be lovely and I will call you tonight, tomorrow morning your time." She said smiling.

"Good." Sophia gave her one last hug and Reba moved so Vic could say goodbye.

Reba gave Angelina a hug and Rico a small smile, it was still quite awkward. She stood in front of Marisa smiling. "It was lovely to meet you." Reba said in a sweet voice. There was no reason she needed to be completely rude to the woman. Reba could rise above it and show Marisa that it didn't affect her at all.

"Yeah, like wise." She said, giving Reba a strained smile.

Reba smiled and took her luggage as she followed Vic to the car. They had a long ride back to Rome. Reba was glad she had that book. She didn't know if she would be able to sleep the whole way like she did on the way up to Sulmona. Reba sat back and relaxed a bit once they started down the road. She was happy he took her to meet his family and friends. It was a wonderful surprise. She enjoyed the whole trip, except for when Rico saw her naked and Marisa spilled the chocolate all over her brand new sweater but those were just minor things she will probably forget about in a few days anyway.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Vic asked breaking the silence.

Reba turned to him and smiled. "I did. It was a wonderful surprise and I loved meeting your family and friends but I just can't wait to get home."

Vic chuckled and took her hand into his. "I was happy to bring you here. I was a little nervous I have to admit. I know you've met my grandmother but it was my aunt that I was worried for."

Reba chuckled with a confused look on her face. "Why? She was nice."

Vic nodded. "Yeah but she was never nice to my other girlfriends I brought home."

"But I'm your wife. It's a little different." She said smiling.

Vic nodded. "True and the fact that most of the girlfriends I used to bring with me were gold digging tramps." He said laughing.

Reba smiled slightly. "I thank you for not putting into that category."

Vic chuckled and let go of her hand so he could turn. "Don't worry, I never thought of you as a gold digger."

Reba nodded and then turned to him. "So, I'm just a tramp?"

Vic's eyes widened. "No, you're not. I could have picked a better choice of words but…"

Reba chuckled and patted his knee. "I know what you meant." She paused for a moment and raised a curious eyebrow. "How many girlfriends did you use to bring here? Did that include Candy? The other woman you married when you got drunk?"

Vic chuckled nervously. This was not something he really wanted to share with his wife. "Well, at some point in the relationship I did bring the girl here but that's only if we dated longer than three months, only two relationships lasted that long."

"I want to hear about this girl Candy." Reba said with a smirk, enjoying the nervous look on Vic's face.

"Well, we have a plane to catch." He said, hoping to get out of it.

Reba smiled. "We also have about two more hours to kill before we arrive at the airport so talk away."

Reba listened intently as Vic described to her the whole story, with detail, of his first night in Houston. She learned that him and his friend Mike just had a little too much to drink and ended the night with them going to the bed and breakfast Vic and Reba were married at and Mike marrying Candy's twin sister Cookie.

"But I didn't marry Candy." Vic said as they were shown their seats on the plane. "I was drunk but not that drunk."

Reba smiled and just nodded. She didn't expect the story to take the whole car ride to the airport but it did. It was quite boring really. She didn't even really care. She just liked making Vic nervous. The fact that she knew she had him now didn't worry her one bit. So his relationships in the past weren't that great. He has shown to Reba that she and the baby were the number one thing in his life at that moment and she couldn't ask for anything more.

"So…" Vic smirked once their plane was in the air and they could relax. "About what you said on the way down here." Reba gave him a confused look. "That if I was a good boy…"

Reba smiled, finally getting it. "What makes you think you were good?"

Vic shrugged. "I don't know. I thought I was a very good boy." He said with a smirk. His hand went straight for her thigh and he kissed the spot on her neck that always made her go crazy.

Reba fought him off and pushed his hand away. "I don't think it's a good idea. There are so many people here and…hmmm…please don't do that." She whispered as he continued to kiss her sensitive neck spot. "Vic…hmm…please…all right, just stop so the stewardess doesn't see." Reba sighed and unhooked her seat belt. "I can't believe I am doing this." She mumbled. Vic grinned like an idiot as she got up and went straight for the back bathroom. Vic tried to look casual as he waited a few minutes before he joined Reba.

End of Chapter