"Hello?" Reba croaked out, lifting her tired head as she looked at the red blinking alarm clock next to her. It read 2:47, who in the hell needed her at 2:47?!
"Sorry ma'am, my bar is getting ready to close here and this drunken feller says's you're the old woman I need to call in order to get him out of my bar." The man rasped out from the other end of the phone. She took a moment to adjust herself in her king sized bed, the room pitch black around her.
"What?" Reba muttered out in confusion. Was this some kind of prank? Did a fan somehow get a hold of her number?
"Marvel Blackstone claims you're his wife and since he refuses to hand over his card for a cab, the policy is I have to call, okay?" The man explained, clearly growing a bit impatient.
"Blackstock." Could be heard being called out in the background, sounding as if Narvel was correcting the man. The last time Reba remembered Narvel getting this drunk in a bar alone, was back in their tour bus days.
"Which bar? I'm on my way." She muttered quickly. She wasn't sure if she should be flattered that he'd given them her number or angry, she went with both...
"220 Printers Alley."
"Thank you, ma'am." The raspy man thanked. She could tell by his sincerity that he was just tired and ready to go home after a long shift.
"Hey buddy, watch them travelin' hands," Narvel warned, as a heavy biker man, with a leather vest on, tried to hold him upright and lead him to the door of Bourbon Street Blues And Boogie Bar, just as Reba walked through the double doors.
"Hey, look she came!" Narvel yelled out, pointing over in Reba's direction, catching her a little off guard. He was REALLY drunk.
"I'll take him from here," Reba grumbled as she walked over to where the man and Narvel were standing, slipping her black purse on her shoulder, and grabbing his left arm harshly.
"Ouch." Narvel fussed pulling away from her quickly.
"Hush." She hissed back, shaking her head before grabbing his arm again, causing the man, who was still holding onto the other side of Narvel, to laugh softly.
"Well, you sure are full of piss and vinegar." He laughed again in her direction.
"But I can't say I blame you." He added quickly when he saw her arching eyebrows. She understood that this man wanted to go home but she really didn't need his crap too.
"Let me help you at least get him to the door." He instructed as they began to lead him slowly. Narvel swayed a bit but he quickly tried to pull away from the man and lean back over on Reba.
"You think you can walk there big guy?" He questioned Narvel warningly.
"She's tiny and I won't let you crush her with your weight." Nodding his head, in his drunken tough guy state, Narvel gathered whatever strength he had, and began to walk forward without the help of the biker or Reba. The first few steps were shaky but eventually, after gripping the table next to him for a moment, he found his rhythm.
"Thank you," Reba said softly, turning towards the biker, as they watched behind Narvel a moment.
"You take care okay?" He replied softly, rubbing her back a bit before watching her too walk after Narvel.
"Narvel it's this one over here," Reba called out in the dark parking lot in frustration, standing a few feet in front of her dark SUV. Walking towards her a bit before stumbling, he slightly swayed, which then caused her to lurch forward and catch him, the parking lot light to their left, turning on from the motion.
"Sorry." He said in a bit of a haze as he quickly tried to gather himself again. Looking down for the first time that night he caught a glimpse of her black shirt which highlighted her bulging baby belly.
"Woah I thought you already had Shelby." He muttered a bit in confusion before turning to his right and almost walking straight into the SUV's passenger door.
"Yep, you're really drunk." She mumbled aloud in amusement. It was funny to see him like this because for a man who usually carried himself so rigged and poised when he was sober, he really was a stupid drunk.
"You have to open it first." She said sarcastically as she opened the door before giving him a light push inside. Once he had situated himself and she had closed the door behind him she quickly jogged around to the driver's side and hopped in, the night air a bit nippy.
"I'm going to give Brandon a call and drop you off there because I have no idea where your new place is..."
"And you're in no place to direct me." She informed after they had been driving for a while. Looking over she watched as he caught himself falling asleep once again, falling forward and snapping himself awake. Looking over to her with squinting eyes he shook his head.
"You can't Kelly's scheduled to give birth to her gun tomorrow."
"I mean baby gun."
"Or the gun that's named after the baby." He kept correcting, while he waved his hands and squinted once more at the blinding lights from the passing cars.
"Shit."
"That's right," Reba mumbled in frustration causing Narvel to straighten a bit. Even in his annoying drunken state he wasn't used to Reba cussing.
"How about Starstruck?" She questioned as she quickly turned on her blinker, getting into the left lane and taking the exit back towards the other direction, away from Brandon's.
"Don't have my key." He said with a bit of a grunt as he rested his head back again, beginning to doze off.
"Neither do I." She thought aloud in annoyance, looking over a moment to watch as he slipped off into a light sleep. Sighing a bit, she closed her eyes and let out a large pained breath. That left one option; Laura's place.
"Does she sleep through thunderstorms?" Reba mumbled as she aggressively knocked once again on the dark wood door, her legs shaking from the cold. Narvel "stood" next to her as she gripped his arm lightly, still drunk and now only half awake.
"What the he-" Laura abruptly began to question, her door jolting open, Reba's presence catching her off guard momentarily.
"I couldn't bring him to Brandon's and I had no idea where his new place was." Reba struggled to explain when Laura remained speechless.
"We had a fight." She retorted bitterly, crossing her bare arms as she stood in front of them in just a tank top and short pajama shorts.
"Well, then I'm sure the bar he was at loved hearing about it but it's late and closed now," Reba said with a fake half smile, struggling to keep Narvel on his feet as he began to lean heavily on her once again. Motioning for Laura to take him she slightly pushed him in her direction and when Laura did nothing to grab him she grunted back in frustration.
"It was a bad fight." She added in an ill-disposed manner.
"So what?"
"Let him spend the night on the streets?" Reba questioned incredulously. It was nearly four in the morning. Was she really being serious?
"I mean..." She mumbled quietly, avoiding Reba's eye contact.
"Whatever, I have a couch that will have to do." Reba caved turning to leave. She wasn't going to try and reason with Laura all night.
"Wait!" Laura called out quickly.
"I mean I have one too." She said trying to correct herself.
"That's what I thought," Reba mumbled back in agitation.
"Thank you," Laura said trying to sound sincere once she had a stern grip on Narvel's arm, signaling to Reba that she could let go.
"Do you me a favor; delete my number from his phone."
"You know as a real thank you." She said with a nod as she quickly turned to walk down the dark brick path, wanting to be out of there as quickly as she had arrived.
Later that next day Reba was leaning loosely on her kitchen counter, still very exhausted, texting with Shawna as they talked about Kelly prepping for the birth of Remy when her doorbell rang. Pushing off the counter, she yawned again, causing her to rub her tired eyes before she headed straight for the front door.
"Narvel?" She stated a bit shocked when she opened the door, finding a very timid Narvel behind it.
"Can I come in for a moment?" He questioned lightly, obviously here to apologize for last night's behavior.
"Come on in." She said as she stepped a bit to the side and motioned with her hand, for him to enter.
"Coffee?" She questioned awkwardly as she led him through her house to the kitchen that had once been theirs.
"No thank you." He declined softly stopping in front of the island and watching as she walked to the other side, directly facing him.
"I just wanted to-"
"Stop." She interrupted, holding her hand up in the air.
"I already know." She said finishing for him. She really didn't need to hear any more of his excuses.
"Oh." He said quietly as he looked down, his hands subconsciously fidgeting with his brown jacket. Standing there in silence for a moment Reba just waited as he stood their uncomfortably trying to avoid eye contact.
"Look I promise not to cry or anything but can I ask you something?" Reba questioned timidly, causing him to slowly look up and sigh. He could already tell that this would be a conversation he really didn't want to have but after last night he kind of owed it to her.
"Reba." He whined a bit, before sighing again and shrugging his shoulders in agreement.
"I just have to know Narvel, for my own piece of mind." She choked out, holding back the tears that were already making it to her throat.
"What is it?" He asked intently, his voice softening.
"Why?" She breathed out, her voice straining at the end.
"Reba we've already gone over this..."
"You were tired of tending to everyone's needs, burnt out, I know."
"That's not what I'm asking." She said finishing his sentence for him. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she closed her eyes before looking back up at him.
"I need to know why though, why did things change?" She questioned, biting her lip as she begged herself not to choke up again, watching as he took moment to look off to the side before making eye contact once more.
"I guess it started in London."
"I was in a bar late and it was one of the last night's we were there."
"There was this young brunette, she was pretty, and she had these really striking green eyes."
"Nothing happened." He quickly assured, noticing her widening eyes.
"If it was that you found someone else attractive..."
"I mean people have crushes all the time..."
"Our marriage survived my love for George Clooney." She joked, clearly growing frustrated, trying to understand what he was trying to say.
"It wasn't her physical appearance Reba."
"We were flirting and there was just something about her infectious behavior, the way she made me feel like I was someone worth getting to know."
"I realized then that things were different, that I was doing something I hadn't done in God, the last twenty-six years." He tried to explain. He could tell by the helpless look on her face though that she was still fighting to understand what he was getting at.
"I wasn't making you feel important?" She questioned softly trying to draw a conclusion. She didn't understand that at all, in fact during the last two years of her marriage she thought she had made him feel the exact opposite.
"It wasn't that, it was the fact that you'd lost so much faith in yourself."
"I was always constantly having to build you up, remind you that you were still important, and somewhere along the way it just wasn't enough." He continued with a sad sigh, looking down at his feet.
"Even when I told you that you would record again, you told me I was nuts."
"It was like there was nothing I could do to convince you."
"And so instead of coming to me?..."
"I came to myself, I made conclusions by myself, I let myself pull away." He interrupted finishing her question.
"Instead of trying to work it out with you, I let it bottle up, I let my feelings change."
"And she makes you feel needed again?"
"She makes you feel important?" She questioned softly, uncomfortably picking at the edge of the island as it was her turn to avoid eye contact.
"Yeah." He mumbled lightly.
"I guess she does."
"You know that wasn't it at all." She added sadly a moment later as a few tears that she had been holding back began to fall.
"If you'd just have come and talked to me." She continued on, her tears beginning to flow freely at this point.
"You said you wouldn't cry." He reminded, ignoring her comments, while he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from breaking down himself.
"I lied."
"But I guess that makes two of us." She commented back bitterly.
"I remember when we promised each other that we wouldn't let this be like our first marriages, that no matter what it took we would make us last."
"Reba."
"Save it." She said, holding up her hand to keep him from finishing. Both of their phones began to flash at the same time, a text from Brandon signaling that Remington had been born.
"Kelly had Remington I guess." He muttered out, not really sure what else to say at this point.
"I know I've been texting Shawna all morning." She said her eyes still fixated on the counter.
"I planned to stop by today." He said clearing his throat.
"Then I guess I'll stop by tomorrow."
"Oh my goodness, he was so cute." Reba squealed out as she walked arm and arm with her daughter Shawna down the steps just outside the hospital.
"Those big newborn eyes."
"He was so responsive."
"Almost makes me want another." Shawna chuckled in response, smiling over at Reba.
"Almost," Reba repeated with a laugh.
"So I heard you gave Laura and dad your blessing," Shawna said a moment later, her voice suddenly getting serious.
"I figured it was time to move on and she makes him happy so," Reba responded with a shrug. After her "heart to heart" with the Narvel the day before she had decided to tell Laura that she was officially not bothered by their relationship.
"Well, that's a load of bullshit," Shawna said with a snort. Laughing a bit Reba nodded in agreement.
"You know it sounded more believable in my head I guess." She confessed with an honest chuckle.
"I don't know it's time to move on, he says he's happy." She explained further.
"And what if he isn't?"
"It's no longer my responsibility baby."
"Now it's my turn to just accept it and believe that he's telling me the truth."