Chapter 43

Reba didn't even have time to hear the sex of the baby or to even hold her new baby before she went straight to sleep. Reba had looked briefly to Vic before she had gone to sleep and saw the tears in his eyes as the nurses cleaned up their baby. He came back over and held her hand for a few moments but she was so tired and she welcomed the bliss of the few hours she would have to rest before she would officially welcome her new baby into the world.

Reba awoke later to feeling quite refreshed, even if it was a short nap. She turned to see her husband sitting in the chair next to the window, holding their baby. The sight before her made her weep. He was cooing and rocking the squirming child. It was so cute. Reba smiled and shifted herself up. It was time she had a turn to hold her baby.

Vic's head shot up when heard movement and he smiled when he saw Reba sitting up. "Good afternoon, how did you sleep?"

Reba eyed him. He knew she didn't want small talk. "Vic…the baby…"

"Oh…" he said smiling big. "Right." He got up carefully and walked slowly over to Reba to hand the small child wrapped in a warm white blanket to their mother. "Our baby girl." He said grinning as he handed her over to Reba.

Reba beamed. They had a little girl. "Still believe that curse about the Mariano's only having boys?" Reba asked giggling.

"I told you my great grandmother was a nutcase." He said, half joking. Reba giggled and glanced down at her baby lovingly. "What are we going to name her?" Vic asked, caressing her soft baby cheek.

Reba smiled. "Well, I think we should just cross any name that we did have off the list and go with naming her after your grandmother."

"Are you sure?" he asked curiously. He knows she had her heart set on Victoria.

Reba nodded. "I'm sure. She looks like a Sophia."

Vic looked at her in surprise and nodded. "Sophia Benita Mariano it is then."

Reba couldn't believe this small baby was the one she was fussing over for months. She was a beautiful baby girl but then again everyone thought their baby was beautiful. Baby Sophia had a full head of soft black hair and Reba saw for a brief moment she had her father's beautiful green eyes as well. Reba spent a small amount of time with her before she started to cry and Reba knew she was hungry.

"Anything I can help with?" Vic asked with a smile as he watched Reba feed their baby girl.

Reba rolled her eyes. "I don't think there is anything you can do."

"I could hold…"

"Vic…" Reba said warningly

Vic chuckled. "I was going to say hold the baby but if you need help with you're..."

"Just…shut up." She said shifting Sophia. She tried glaring at Vic but the joy of just having a baby with the man, the fact that she loved him, and his charming smile wasn't helping either, she ended up smiling sweetly at him. Reba turned her smile from her husband to the child that was in her arms. She smiled sweetly when she seen that Sophia was asleep. "Can you bring that crib over." She said pointing the clear plastic roll away crib that sat near the window.

Vic shot up and went to the window to bring over the small crib equipped with diapers, wipes, and every other thing they would need for the baby while they stayed in the hospital. Reba handed the baby over to Vic and he set the baby gently into the small crib to sleep.

Reba sat back against the bed, still exhausted. She scooted the best she could over and patted the spot next to her. "Sit here."

Vic took a step forward but immediately decided against it and took a step back. "I don't think I should."

Reba frowned and patted the spot again. "Sit next to me, please." She said, giving him a sad look.

Vic could never refuse those baby blues and he sat next to her and gathered her into his arms. Reba smiled and snuggled close. Today had been a tiring day and the comfort he was giving her at the moment was exactly what she needed. "You were amazing today." He said kissing her forehead.

Reba smiled and closed her eyes, hoping to rest some more. "You did great too. I know I was rude and…"

"Don't worry about it." He said chuckling. "I know you were in a lot of pain."

Reba smiled and intertwined her fingers with his. "And I did it without any help. I am never making that mistake again." She said chuckling.

Vic's eyes lit up. "Are you thinking of more children with me?"

Reba opened her eyes and smiled sweetly up at him. "Let's cross that bridge when we get there."

"Well…" Vic said trying not to close the subject so quickly. "If what you're saying is true and menopause is right around the corner, I just thought we should talk about it if you're seriously thinking about it."

"We have six weeks to think about it." Reba said with a smile.

Vic looked at her confused. "What do you mean six weeks?"

Reba smiled. She hadn't told this part to Vic yet. Vic wasn't stupid or anything by any means but he wasn't around pregnant woman that much. "Honey I have to recover from the birth."

"So you mean we have to wait six weeks until we can…" Reba nodded. "Oh man." Vic said with a groan.

Reba chuckled and kissed his cheek. "You are so cute but its best for me."

Vic's face softened. "Well, if it's best for you I have no choice but its going to kill me." He said jokingly. Reba smiled and tried snuggling close to his chest only to find him moving away from her.

Reba frowned. "Where are you going?" she questioned as Vic stood up from the bed.

Vic smiled and stepped toward the doors. "Do you want visitors? They wanted to see you once you awoke." Reba immediately sat up and smiled.

Vic took her smile as a yes and he walked quickly out of the room. Reba pulled the crib close to her and smiled at her sleeping baby. She was just too beautiful. Reba sat up straight when Vic came back and her family followed into the room. Reba smiled when she saw Kyra and Jake there as well. The only one missing was Cheyenne and Brock and Barbara Jean of course but they were just down the hall.

"Where is Cheyenne?" Reba asked.

Vic smiled. "I hope you don't mind. She came in shortly after they cleaned her up and had you resting. She had to go back to take care of Elizabeth and Danny. She will be back later to visit but she felt Kyra and Jake should see their new little sister."

Reba motioned Kyra and Jake over to come see their new baby sister. Kyra immediately walked over to her baby sister who was still lying in the crib and smiled but Jake was a little hesitant. Reba smiled and motioned him to come over. "Come see your new baby sister." Reba said sweetly.

Jake shook his head and stuck his hands into his pockets as he awkwardly stood close to the door. "I'm all right." He said shyly while staring at his sneakers.

Kyra being, well, Kyra, rolled her eyes and turned to her little brother. "Quit being a dweeb and come over here."

Reba's head turned sharply towards her daughter. "Kyra be nice."

"I'm sorry but he was so excited earlier." Kyra said glaring at her brother. She then turned to her mother. "Can I hold her?" she asked excitedly.

Reba had to chuckle. She had hardly ever seen Kyra show this much excitement. "Of course." Kyra immediately started to pick baby Sophia up. "Support her head, keep her close, and I want you to sit in that chair." She said pointing to the chair Vic was previously sitting in by the window.

Kyra rolled her eyes. "Mom, I'm not five. I am not going to drop…"

"Sit in the chair." Reba said glaring into the eyes of her stubborn daughter. Luckily Kyra got the hint and moved the two feet to the chair. She carefully sat down. Reba had to smile as her daughter cooed and giggled over her new baby sister who was now fully awake.

"At least we definitely know she is Vic's." Kyra said caressing the baby's dark hair and noticing the piercing green eyes.

Reba glared. "Kyra that's…"

"I was only kidding." Kyra paused and looked back up to her mother. "Have you guys thought of any names yet?"

Reba smiled and nodded. "We decided to name her after Vic's grandmother Sophia Benita."

"Cool name. That's a good strong name." Kyra commented. She then raised her to her brother who was still standing awkwardly by the door. "Will you stop being such a dork and come over here. She isn't going to bite you."

Jake sighed and shuffled immediately over to Kyra only because he was afraid of her. He looked down at Sophia and then smiled big. To him she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. "Can I hold her?" he suddenly said.

Vic was about to say yes but he looked to Reba to see if it was okay. Reba nodded and motioned Kyra to hand Jake over. "Sit down first." Reba said suddenly. She trusted her son but it would just make her feel better if he sat down first. Kyra moved and Jake sat down in the chair.

Kyra gently handed Sophia over to Jake and Jake immediately fell in love. He had held his baby brother Henry before but this was a little different. This was his baby sister. She was the cutest and sweetest little thing he had ever seen and he knew he had to be the big brother and protect her when the time came.

Reba smiled at her son as he fawned over his sister. She could tell he was completely smitten. It seemed to be like that with everyone. The minute anyone held her she had a complete hold on you. Of course with Reba the connection was almost immediate when she found out she was pregnant, after the initial shock wore off.

Reba turned to the door of her room when it squeaked opened. Brock's face appeared around and he smiled. "Hey…you all want three more visitors?"

Reba smiled big. "Yeah, bring her in here."

Brock turned away from the door for a second before wheeling Barbara Jean in. Reba smiled when she saw Barbara Jean holding a bundle in her arms. Barbara Jean grinned at Reba as she was placed next to Reba's bed. "Hello Reba! I want you to meet Adam Michael. Want to hold him?"

Reba nodded. "Of course, hand him over." Brock took Adam from Barbara Jean and handed him over to Reba. "He is so cute." Reba said the minute she looked down at him. She saw wisps of blonde locks on his head and when the baby opened his eyes she saw Barbara Jean's blue eyes staring back at her. He was the cutest thing, besides her baby of course. "He is adorable." Reba then started to laugh.

Brock looked at her like she was crazy and decided maybe he should take the baby from her. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing…" She said handing him back over to Brock. "It's just…" She said wiping the tears from her eyes. "What are you going to do with all those pink clothes you bought?"

Barbara Jean smiled and shrugged. "I don't know. He could still wear them."

Brock immediately shook his head as he handed the baby over to Kyra who wanted to hold him once more. "There is no way my son is wearing girl clothes."

"Brock…"

He shook his head. "No, we will just have to go shopping again. My son is not wearing and never will wear a ballerina outfit."

Barbara Jean frowned. "Then what will we do with the baby clothes we already bought and we already painted the walls pink."

Brock shrugged. "We will just have to repaint. We will keep the baby with us in our room until it's dry. The clothes, well, Reba can use them, right Reba?"

Reba shrugged and nodded. "I could but I always planned on buying more than what I have already bought."

"No need." Brock said with a smile. "We have four whole drawers full of clothes. You can have them."

Barbara Jean frowned. "What if we have a girl next time?"

Brock chuckled nervously. "Honey…we will talk about this later but Reba could use the clothes."

Barbara Jean frown turned into a smile and shrugged. "Okay."

"You want to hold Sophia?" Reba asked.

Barbara Jean nodded. Vic took the baby from Jake and handed it gently over to Barbara Jean who beamed. "She is so cute." She then giggled. "At least we know she's Vic's." she kidded as she looked over the baby's black hair and green eyes.

Reba rolled her eyes. Vic laughed. "I don't believe this. He is the one who had over twenty girlfriends before he met me. I didn't."

Vic smirked. "If you had twenty girlfriends before you married me, we need to have a serious talk."

Everyone laughed and Reba just sulked. Barbara Jean turned her attention back to the baby in her arms and she frowned. "I can't believe you had the baby girl I wanted." She said sadly. She then looked up to Reba, her eyes sparkling. "Hey Reba, want to trade babies?"

Reba's eyes widened and her arms reached out to Barbara Jean. "Give me my child back."

Barbara Jean and Reba stayed overnight and were able to return home the next morning. Reba immediately took her new baby girl up to her new room. Vic had watched in amusement as Reba had shown Sophia every aspect of her room and then she put her down for a nap and then immediately took a nap herself. She was still tired and could use a good rest.

Vic was really cute when they first brought her home. He didn't want to let go of her. He wanted to help with everything he could. He even continued with offering to help with the feeding and he even didn't mean to imply anything either. He just really wanted to help. Reba thought it was so sweet of him and it still made her giggle when she helped him change his first diaper.

"I didn't know a baby could make such a mess." He said as he cleaned Sophia up.

Reba giggled. "They get worse as they get older."

"Okay, now which end is up?" he asked curiously.

"I hope he's talking about the diaper and not the baby." Kyra commented as she walked by the room.

Vic glared but Reba just chuckled. "He's talking about the bottle of baby wipes." She turned back to Vic who had a pile of baby wipes in the corner of the changing table, ready to be thrown away. Reba picked up the bottle and lifted the lid. She shook her head and threw the bottle away. He had used all of the wipes and that was a brand new bottle.

He smiled when he put the diaper on and held her up. "See, perfect." Reba burst into laughter when she saw the diaper slip to the floor and then Reba collapsed onto the floor holding her sides as she laughed harder when Sophia peed on him. Vic sulked.

The rest of the family was so excited to have a new baby in the house. Cheyenne came over in the morning to visit with her mother and new sister for a while before she had to return home herself. Everyone was happy to help Reba in anyway for Sophia. Reba was so grateful for that. She felt things would be easy this time around but boy was she wrong when the first night came with Sophia.

Reba groaned when she heard Sophia's loud cry through the baby monitor. "Didn't you just feed her?" Vic asked as he sat up.

Reba moved herself out of bed for what seemed the thousandth time that night. "That was three hours ago. She is probably hungry again and probably will need a changing." She stumbled out of the room with Vic walking slowly behind her. Reba saw this and stopped him. "You go back to bed. I can do this on my own."

Vic shook his head and continued to follow her to the baby's room. Reba yawned as she picked up the crying baby and sat down in the rocking chair to feed her. Reba looked up through tired eyes as she saw Vic enter the room. "Vic, go to bed, please."

He shook his head. "I need to help you." He said yawning at the same time.

Reba chuckled. "As sweet as that is, there is nothing you can do. You have to go to work in the morning. Just go to bed. I can handle this."

Vic frowned. He didn't really want to leave her but he did have to work in the morning and he was completely tired. "Are you sure?" he asked, just double checking before he left the room for the sweet soft bed in the next room.

Reba nodded and smiled. "Yes, I can handle this. You go to bed." Vic nodded and reluctantly left to go back to bed. Reba sighed and looked down at her daughter who continued on eating. "He really is a very sweet man. He wants what is best for you and for me. I think he is going to be the best daddy anyone could ask for. He will probably be a little much when you start growing up but that only means he cares." Reba smiled lovingly as she watched her daughter's eyes droop heavily. "I have to tell you that I love you so much already Sophia and I will never let you forget it." Reba immediately went into singing Angels Lullaby to her child and smiled when her daughter almost immediately went to sleep.

Reba carefully picked her daughter up and put her back into the crib, making sure she was comfortable before turning off the small lamp on a table and stepping out into the hall. Reba walked back to her room and collapsed onto the bed, cuddling up to Vic for warmth.

Reba awoke early morning to another cry coming from the baby monitor. She groaned and looked at the clock, it reading six am. Reba got up and chuckled when she saw Vic snoring loudly. Reba shook her head and walked to her daughter's room. She tried feeding her but she seemed not to want to eat. Reba then felt her diaper and confirmed she needed a change.

Reba took the cute yellow baby onesie apart and then slipped off her diaper. "Whoa." Reba said stepping back a bit. "That is a lot. I am guessing you are going to be more like your father than me, huh." Reba said with a smile.

"Mom?"

Reba turned, holding the baby wipes, to see her son Jake standing in the doorway. "What are you doing up so early?"

He yawned and pointed to Sophia. "I heard her cry."

Reba frowned. "I'm sorry honey. Go back to bed."

Jake shook his head and stepped forward. "That's okay, what are you doing?"

"Changing her diaper." She said taking a baby wipe from the box.

Jake stepped forward and his eyes widened. "Whoa, that smell came from her?" Reba giggled and nodded as she wiped cleaned her baby up. Jake stood awkwardly as he watched his mother pick up some powder. "Can I change her diaper?"

Reba stopped and turned in shock to her son. Everyone was happy to help with calming her down but they didn't help with the diaper changing or the feeding, obviously. "You want to change her diaper?" He nodded shyly. Reba smiled and motioned him forward. "You would actually be a great help right now." She handed the powder and fresh diaper over to him and stepped away. "Sprinkle just a little bit of the powder onto her behind and then put the fresh diaper on. I need to go use the bathroom real quick."

Jake's eyes widened as his mother stepped away. "You're going to leave me here, all alone with the baby?"

Reba nodded as she stood in the doorway. "I trust you." She said smiling and she stepped out of the baby's room and headed straight for the bathroom. Reba walked out of the bathroom five minutes later, yawning. She was so tired. She turned to see her other baby girl walking out of her room. "What are you doing up?" Reba asked as her daughter walked up to her.

"I could hear the baby crying, talking, toilet flushing, too much commotion." She groaned as she leaned against Reba.

Reba patted her daughter's head that was on her shoulders. "It will be all right. We will get used to this soon. Let's go see if Jake did a good job of changing her diaper."

Kyra's eyes widened. "You left Jake alone with Sophia?"

Reba nodded. "I trust him." She said as they walked toward the room. They immediately stopped in the doorway. Reba smiled and looked at her daughter who had her eyes closed. She pushed her daughter off her shoulder and nodded toward Jake. "Look at this." She whispered as softly as she could. Kyra looked at her brother and shook her head with a smile.

He was sitting in the rocking chair holding his baby sister in his arms. Sophia seemed to be quite content at who she was with. Reba smiled and was about to walk in when she heard him talking. "…And you're not allowed to have any boyfriends until your thirty. Boys are dumb and they have germs. I heard dad talking to Kyra once that boys only one want thing. Granted I have a pretty good idea of what that one thing is but I am not going to tell you that. I'm only telling you to be cautious and to tell you that I have your back, whenever you need me." Jake paused for a moment and smiled. "I have to warn you, this is one crazy family God picked to place you in. You are going to grow up to hear some strange stories. You will definitely question your own sanity many times through out your life but…this family…loves you very much. Mom may seem a bit controlling at times…" Reba frowned and Kyra laughed silently. "But she only loves you and wants what is best for you. I have to tell you though. You were a surprise to this family but a good surprise and I can only suspect that only good things are going to come from you."

"Awwww." Reba said but she said it a little too loudly and Jake snapped his head up.

"Mom…" He said nervously. "How long have you been standing there?"

Reba sniffed and walked over, hugging her son. "Long enough, you are the sweetest little boy."

"Too much love mom." He said cringing.

Reba chuckled and took her baby from Jake. "You are going to make a terrific father someday…not soon but someday." She said with a smile. "You will definitely lead your children in the right direction."

Kyra smirked. "Or corrupt them."

Reba turned to glare at her daughter. "Must you always be so sarcastic?"

Kyra nodded. "Yes." She simply said.

Reba rolled her eyes and Sophia began to cry again. "Uh, oh…I think she's hungry again."

Kyra smiled and motioned Jake out of the room. "Come one Jake, you don't want to see this." Jake followed his sister out and Kyra shut the door behind her.

Reba shook her head and sat down in the rocking chair to feed Sophia once again. "This family is crazy." She said smiling down at her baby. "But we do love you and you know…" Reba said shaking her head at the closed door. "You have one surprisingly terrific big brother."

End of Chapter