"You okay?" Brandon questioned hesitantly as he slowly rose from his kneeling poison, next to Reba, to retrieve the wet washcloth on the edge of the sink.
"I th-" Reba began before leaning right back over the toilet once more. Brandon quickly knelt back down, pulling some of her stray hair out of her face, and calmly rubbing her back for support. He watched intently as she dry-heaved a moment longer before she collapsed on the rim of the toilet seat, exhausted. She'd been back and forth from the bathroom for at least three hours before Brandon had arrived, and that was an hour ago...
"You're good at this." She mumbled softly as she shifted into a siting poison, leaning up against the side of the sink.
"Taking care of tired and sick pregnant women?" Brandon questioned with a laugh. He'd helped two different women through four different pregnancies, he was sure he'd seen it all.
"I have too much practice." He said jokingly, causing her to laugh softly in response. He could tell how exhausted she was as he watched her try to control her heavy breathing.
"Are you sure you don't want me to just call Doctor Slater and tell her you won't be making it in today?" Brandon inquired softly, handing her the damp wash cloth, in which she accepted graciously.
"Last one before the holidays, got to squeeze in all the screen time I can with the little one." She replied sweetly before running the wash cloth over her face. She normally would have just considered postponing the appointment for a day or two but with Christmas just around the corner, literally, she couldn't afford to skip out.
"Alrighty then let's get going," Brandon said as she grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet, setting the wash cloth down. Holding onto Brandon's left arm, she allowed him to steadily lead her to the door.
"How about Anthem?" Reba wondered aloud, as she looked out the window of Brandon's Ford F-150, on their way back from the Doctor's office.
"No," Brandon said sternly, not even bothering to look over his shoulder or away from the road.
"They'll call him Ant." He added a moment later. Not even bothering to retaliate, Reba looked on, thinking silently to herself.
"Avalon?" She asked after a few moments had passed.
"Hell no." Brandon immediately answered, causing Kelly to laugh from the seat next to him. She'd scheduled a lunch date with Ashley Arrison, the wife of her band member Aben and a fellow friend. Once they had finished she'd asked Ashley to drop her off at the hospital just before Reba's appointment had ended.
"And why not?!" Reba argued back. She actually liked that one.
"No brother of mine will be called Ava." He said shaking his head as if she were crazy.
"What makes you so sure it's a boy?" Reba inquired back, causing him to pause a moment. He'd been so used to referring to the unborn baby as a boy because of his expecting wife.
"Then she's not dating until she's forty," Brandon answered honestly, looking over to a smiling Kelly, who was quite amused by her husband and mother in-law's bickering.
"And I'm still not letting you name her Avalon." He continued. You couldn't tell unless you really knew him but Brandon was quite protective when it came to his family, behind that tough and gruff exterior of course.
"How about Ranger?" Kelly questioned softly. She and Brandon had probably gone through six or seven baby books before agreeing upon a middle name for Remington and she remembered circling Ranger as a possibility.
"Or Ryder."
"Or even Wrangler."
"Remington Wrangler?" Reba questioned with a laugh.
"That one was Brandon's idea." Kelly laughed back.
"But I liked Regulus." Kelly continued, looking back at Reba who was intently listening to Kelly's suggestions.
"I also kind of like West," Reba said with a shrug.
"We are not the Kardashians!" Brandon intervened quickly.
"That's North, not West." Reba corrected, still laughing at how quick he was to object.
"Randy Houser's son is named West."
"We aren't the Houser's either, even if he oddly does look a lot like dad." Brandon uttered.
"If it's on a compass, it ain't happening." He added firmly while peering at Reba's reflection in the review mirror.
"Fair enough..."
"I guess." Reba, she mumbled with a slightly amused scoff. She had really just been pulling his chain on that one.
"Any little girl suggestions?" Reba asked once more as Brandon began to turn onto the road that led to his driveway.
"I'm still partial to Brooklyn." He said cheekily, referring to when he and Kelly were first looking at boy and girl names.
"Of course you are," Kelly said with an eye roll. It was no secret that Brandon had the hots for the actress Brooklyn Decker. Kelly always made fun of him when they watched Grace and Frankie. She was even sure that he'd seen the movie Just Go With It at least a dozen times.
"Can I answer for you?" Kelly questioned a nodding Reba with an evil grin.
"No!" She said, giving her husband a light slap on his arm, causing him to laugh teasingly before she opened the passenger door and exited the vehicle.
"Wait a second."
"Hold on the front door."
"Are you being serious right now?"
"Stop addin' to the tab, it's full," Reba stressed as Brandon continuingly questioned her in bewilderment.
"He dropped you from your own company?" Kelly asked in place of her husband, as she too looked at Reba in disbelief.
"I still co-own the company; he just wants RBI to manage me," Reba explained calmly. She wasn't trying to get them worked up and angry with Narvel, she just wanted them to hear about the sudden adjustment from her first.
"I'm not complaining I just wanted you to hear it from me first." She said softly, trying to end the conversation as quickly as she'd started it.
"Can he even do that?" Brandon wondered aloud, completely ignoring Reba's comment, clearly very bothered by the recent news. Shrugging in response to his question, Kelly just looked back at Reba.
"I hope you're not ang-"
"Angry with you?"
"Again, why would we be?" Brandon asked quickly, cutting Reba off, slightly frustrated. Why was she always so worried about them being mad at her?
"Never Reba," Kelly answered back sincerely, resting her hand on Reba's shoulder.
"Right before Christmas?" Brandon mumbled once more, still not quite able to believe what his dad had done.
"It's just one bit of bad news after the other." Reba continued to answer Kelly, as she rested her own hand on top of hers lovingly.
"It comes with the territory I guess," Brandon said referring to the divorce. He'd already witnessed a divorce once before, amazingly uglier than this one; he knew what to expect all too well.
"Excuse me a moment, I need to use the restroom," Reba mumbled a moment later after everyone had fallen quiet from Brandon's comment. She didn't really want to go back into the whole divorce talk; even she was getting tired of it.
"Certainly," Kelly said removing her hand and watching Reba head towards the bathroom, off to the left of the kitchen. Once Kelly was sure Reba had gone far enough down the hall she turned harshly towards her husband.
"If I get that deal with Atlantic Records, I want your name on the papers."
"If he wants to drop her, he can scratch my name off as well." She continued in an angry whisper.
"There's nothing that would make me happier right now," Brandon replied. Kelly looked back at him defensively as if she expected him to object; instead, he brought her into a soft protective hug.