I've gotten a lot of good feedback on this story so far! Woot woot! Also, don't be confused, I promise I'm going somewhere with this story... i know what I'm doing, trust me.

I'll post a new chapter of Only the Beginning too. I'll be posting a new chapter of that every Sunday, yes I realize it's Monday, but I got busy last night.

Um... Enjoy? Not a huge fan of this chapter, but we need it for the next one. Sorry, there has to be crappy chapters every once in a while. :\

REVIEW! :D

Reba woke up to find they had both found their own sides of the bed again. She had her back to him, he had his to hers. This is not how it used to be. She rolled onto her back, rubbed her eyes and yawned, then looked at Brock. She shook his shoulder lightly, but he just let out an 'Mmmmmm…'.

"Come on, your mom's gonna be here in a few hours." She got up and walked into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, walked out, slapped the mattress a few times, then walked to the door. Jake was there when she opened it, she gasped and sighed. "Why're you just standin there?!"

"I was just about to come in." Jake said.

"Alright, you can go lay down with your dad, I'm gonna go call your grandma and see if shes on her way."

"Grammy Liz?!" Reba nodded. "Yes! Presents!" He said, then ran passed her and climbed up on their big bed to lay next to Brock. She shut the door and smirked when she heard Jake talking his ear off already, he would wake up in no time. And she was right. She didn't even call Liz yet and here came Brock with Jake over his shoulder. Reba was standing by the sink, holding her cup of coffee and watching Brock walk in the kitchen and stop to give her a dirty look. She smirked and shrugged.

"What?" She asked. Brock rolled his eyes and shook his head, setting Jake at the table.

"Have you talked to my mom?" Reba shook her head. "She'll wanna cook."

"She ain't cookin!" Reba exclaimed. "It's my house, my kids, and my food." The door bell rang and Brock's face dropped. He knew exactly who it was because it's just like her to do this to Reba on purpose.

"I'll get it." Brock said, quickly exiting the kitchen and opening the front door. Reba rolled her eyes when she heard Liz's voice. "Hi, mom." Reba watched her husband hug his mother through the window in the kitchen/living room, then Reba took Jakes hand and walked out into the living room. Jake let go of Reba's hand and ran to his grandmother to give her a big hug.

"Did you bring me a present?!" Jake asked, excitedly.

"Of course! But just wait a little bit, alright, Jakey?" He nodded. "Reba."

"Grammy Liz." Reba said back.

"Where are the other two?"

"Sleeping, considering it's only 8:30."

"I see I didn't give you enough time to clean up." Reba opened her mouth but stopped when she heard Brock talk.

"Mom, lets not start this already, please? We'd just like to have a nice, drama free Thanksgiving."

"I don't understand, I'm not starting anything." Liz denied. "Reba, why aren't you showered?"

"We just woke up." Reba said through her teeth.

"You should get up early and have a nice breakfast ready, shouldn't you? My son gets up early and goes to work everyday so you can have whatever you want, the least you could do is make his a nice meal."

"Mom. She makes me breakfast every morning. She's up before me every morning. She gets the kids to school every morning."

"And it's Thanksgiving, I didn't want to make breakfast and get everyone full before we eat."

"Well, I suppose I should get cookin then." Liz said, walking to the kitchen.

"What?" Reba asked, following her.

"I should start cookin now, since you starve your family."

"I'm cookin, you just go spend time with everyone."

"No, I'm cookin, I think we can all agree your turkey is a little dry."

"You've never had my turkey!" Reba exclaimed. Liz looked at Brock and Reba followed her glance as Brock put his head down. "Fine… cook. I don't care. I'll find something else to do."

"You could shower." Liz suggested. Reba gave her a dirty look and stomped out of the kitchen, pushing past Brock who was in the doorway.

"Mom, stop. I told you we haven't been good lately and last night was amazing."

"Oh, Brock. Don't discuss that with me!"

"That's not what I mean, we talked and we weren't arguing and we laughed and had a good night. I was hoping today would be like that but you're already ruining it-"

"Oh no. It's not my fault your marriage is falling apart."

"It's not falling apart, we just have to take it one day at a time, and you're not helping so far today, especially by that dry turkey comment. Don't throw me under the bus! And don't stress her out, because guess who she takes it out on. Me."

"Well, that's ridiculous, she shouldn't take it out on you, you've done nothing wrong."

"She isn't gonna take it out on you!"

"Why not?"

"Because she was taught respect and she was raised better than that." Liz just shook her head and pretended to be busy, so Brock decided to leave the room. He walked up the stairs and almost ran right into Cheyenne when he turned the corner.

"Mornin, daddy."

"Mornin, sweetheart."

"Sorry If I was rude last night…"

"You're fine. Thank you for caring so much about your mom." Cheyenne smiled sadly. "We're fine, sweetheart… You don't worry about us, okay?" She nodded and Brock hugged her.

"Would it be okay if Van spent Thanksgiving with us?"

"Sure, that's fine."

"Thank you." She pecked his cheek.

"Grammy Liz is downstairs, go say hi." She nodded and walked down the stairs, happily. Brock walked into Kyras room and woke her up. She walked downstairs to greet her grandmother as well and kept her company with Jake and Cheyenne while their parents got ready. Brock walked into their room and heard the shower going. He picked out what he was going to wear and decided to make the bed since he never did it and Reba had to do it everyday. Maybe that would make her happy and they could be on good terms for a little bit. Reba opened the door and walked out in a towel, not even noticing Brock who was laying on the bed. He tucked his lips in and tried staying as quiet as possible, once she had her back towards him while she was in their closet he quietly picked up a book to pretend to read if she saw him. He watched her legs drip water as she stood on her tiptoes to grab her robe off the hook on the closet door. Brock choked on air when she dropped the towel. He covered his mouth, trying to stay as quiet as possible and not cough as he studied her beautiful curves from behind. It had been so long… Too long. And he missed her so much. He'd do anything to just go over there, swoop her up and show her how much he loves her, she needed to see and feel it as well. He only saw her for about three seconds before she had the robe on and it was just her backside, but it was enough to have an affect on him. She took her hair down from the towel and her natural curls were forming. He grabbed one of the small, decorative pillows and set it in his lap before she turned around. She gasped and put her hand on her chest.

"Have you been there?" He cleared his throat and nodded. Her cheeks turned pink and she looked at the floor. "Why didn't you tell me, you mo-ron?!" She asked and she tied her robe tightly. Brock shrugged.

"I didn't think it would matter, it's not like I've never seen you naked…"

"Still! Don't just sneakily watch me, you peeping tom."

"You're my wife!"

"So?"

"I've seen you naked, Reba. A lot. Why does it matter?"

"Because… it just does." She glanced at the pillow and her face turned red again.

"Yeah… I'm still easily affected by you." Reba clenched her robe tightly, shutting it as much as she could, then cleared her throat.

"You should go shower." She said. He put the book down and stood, putting the pillow back in it's place.

"You know you'll always have this affect on me, right?" He asked.

"Brock, go shower."

"You're the only one who has it."

"Okay, Brock… I get it." She desperately wanted out of this awkward conversation. Brock walked a few steps closer and Reba swallowed hard, trying not to make eye contact.

"You'll always be beautiful." He said, quietly.

"Okay, thank you, now go get ready."

"I wish you didn't feel like you have to be so private… You've never been like this."

"Well, clearly I have to." She said, glancing down and instantly looking back up. He looked down and looked back up too, then nodded.

"Okay, maybe when we have stuff to do." She nodded too and chuckled nervously.

"Alright, well, I'm gonna get dressed… alone."

"Okay, I'm gonna go take a freezing shower." She nodded.

"Sorry about that." He shrugged.

"It's my fault."

"Yeah, you're right." She agreed. He awkwardly turned and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. She let out a deep, long breath before doing anything. After a few seconds of gathering her thoughts she walked into their closet and shut the door, just in case he decided to barge in. She wished she knew why she reacted that way, he is her husband… they have been married seventeen, almost eighteen years, they do have three children together. She thought about it some more and realized she was uncomfortable with it, not invaded, not at all. He's, obviously, the first person in the world that she'd want to be in this situation with, but he hasn't touched her or shown her how beautiful she is in months and that got the best of her. Her confidence and self esteem aren't in the best place right now. She tried shaking the whole thing from her thoughts and she went back to picking out her outfit. Nice jeans and a purple blouse will work. She got dressed and waited for him to get out of their bathroom so she could do her make up and hair. Luckily, he took a fast shower today. She walked into the bathroom and he walked out with a towel around his waist. He went straight to the closet and she shut the door behind her once she was in the bathroom. She wiped the foggy mirror off and plugged in the blow dryer. She watched her hair grow as her curls started forming the more she dried it. She debated on what she should do with it, she straightened all of it, then decided to add her own, bigger and looser curls to it, leaving her bangs straight. She rolled her eyes once she was finished and tried putting it in a ponytail. It looked better up than down today, and she always got compliments when she put it up, so she'd go with it.

She started by covering the bags under her eyes, then went to fixing all the other flaws she thought she had. A little bronzer to give her face a slight glow and a teeny bit of blush to make her cheekbones stand out a little more. Light brown smoky eye look, not a lot of eyeshadow, very light, but just enough to make her eyes pop even more, eyeliner and mascara and a little lip gloss, not making her lips super shiny, just giving them a little shine. She heard a soft knock on the door and yelled for them to come in from the bathroom.

"Hey, Mrs. H."

"Hey, Van. What're you doin here?" She asked, walking out of the bathroom, sitting on the bed and putting her shoes on.

"Oh, Cheyenne said it was cool I came over today. My parents aren't doing anything, Dads at the bar and I haven't seen my mom all day." He explained.

"Oh… I'm sorry, darlin. Yes, you're welcome to stay with us for Thankgiving, but no touchy-feely, especially with Brocks mom in town. It's just another thing for her to criticize me for." Reba put her shoes on as she talked, then stood.

"Are you alright?" He asked. She looked up and saw concern in his eyes, then nodded.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" He shrugged.

"You just seem kinda flustered."

"I'm fine, Van. C'mon, lets go." She motioned for him to leave, then walked behind him, shutting the door to her bedroom behind her. They walked down the stairs to find no kids, just Liz in the kitchen. "Where is everyone?"

"Getting ready." Van said, sitting on the couch and watching football. Just as he answered she heard little footsteps come down the first set of stairs, then stop at the top. Reba turned around and smiled at her sun who was in a suit with a cute, little, blue tie.

"Well, don't you look handsome!" He walked down the rest of the stairs and Reba kissed his forehead before he jumped down the last few and ran over to sit on the couch next to Van. Brock started coming down the stairs and she looked up to see what he was wearing. Just jeans and a nice, button up shirt.

"He wanted to wear it." Brock explained as he walked down and sat on the couch as well. Reba went and stood behind the couch, trying to get into the game, but she didn't even know who was playing or who to root for. She sighed and walked around, trying to find things to do while her mother-in-law was in the kitchen doing her job.

"Brock."

"Hm?" He responded, not bothering to look away from the TV.

"Can you talk to your mom?"

"Oh come on! They have to flag that! That's ridiculous!" He said loudly, jumping up from the couch.

"Brock!" Reba said, more stern this time.

"What?" he asked, annoyed.

"Could you listen this time?"

"Did you see that?!" He asked, motioning toward the TV.

"No, I didn't, because I don't care. It's thanksgiving and I'm goin crazy because I don't know what to do with myself."

"Just relax, sit down, watch some football, hang out with us. You don't always have to be doin somethin Reba."

"Can you just go talk to your mom and see if there's anything I can do?"

"She won't let you, just sit down." He sat back down and picked up the football off the coffee table. She watched him pass it from one of his hands to the other, absentmindedly while turning his attention back to the game.

"Lets play." She blurted out, watching the football still. He stopped passing it back and forth and turned to look at her.

"Huh?"

"Lets play while your mom's cookin. It'll give us all somethin to do." She suggested.

"Really?" Brock asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be with you and we'll go against Van and Cheyenne."

"Mrs. H… that wont be very fair, I mean, a high school cornerback against two old people…" Van said, just trying to be fair.

"Well, Brock coaches, besides… you have Cheyenne." Reba said, smiling big as fear washed over Vans face.

"I want Mrs. H!" Van said loudly.

"Excuse me?" Cheyenne said at the top of the stairs.

"No way, I married her, she's mine." Brock said, tugging on Rebas arm to pull her closer to him. Reba chuckled.

"We're doin this in couples, guys." Reba said. Brock sighed, relieved and Van tried hiding his disappointment from his girlfriend who was already glaring at him.

"What about me and Kyra?" Jake asked.

"We'll walk down to the park and y'all can play, how's that sound?" Reba asked. Jake grinned and nodded. "Kyra! C'mon, honey, we're leavin!" Reba yelled upstairs. Kyra came down the stairs and looked at her family confused. They told her what was going on, then all left. Brock stopped and ran back in to tell him mother what they were doing then met up with everyone else down the road. They got to the park and Reba walked the two younger kids to the playground.

"Why cant we play, mama?" Jake asked as Reba helped him onto a 'big boy' swing that he was so proud to sit on instead of having to swing in the baby swing.

"You think you can catch that big ol' football if your dad or Van throws it at you?" He nodded.

"Yeah, they aren't that strong." Reba scuffed and pushed him a little.

"Pump your legs so you can get higher all by yourself." He tried pumping his little legs, but he wasn't really getting the hang of it.

"Reba, c'mon!"

"Kyra, could you help him if he needs help, please?" Kyra sighed, but nodded and Reba smiled, then turned and walked over to the rest of her family. The 'teams' split up to talk about plays, in other words, the guys were telling the girls what to do and when to do it, Reba and Cheyenne just went along with it. They did a few plays, the guys throwing the football, relying on the girls to catch. Cheyenne got scared of the ball most of the time, so Brock and Reba easily took the lead. Cheyenne and Van switched spots that way Cheyenne was the one throwing while Van ran and caught her girly throw, him being a 16 year old athlete, obviously he's going to be a little faster than the adults. The scores were neck and neck, if Reba caught this one in the end zone they would win. Brock threw the ball, him getting a little too excited, he forgot Reba wasn't on the football team and that she was a lot smaller than the high schoolers. He threw it a little too high and it went just over her head. Van ran quickly behind her catching it and running as fast as he could.

Brock didn't even try catching him, he just looked at Reba, shaking his head.

"What?! I think you forgot I'm not a 6'4 200 pound guy!" Reba said as she walked over to him. Van picked Cheyenne up over his shoulder and ran around with her excitedly.

"Van, you'd get flagged for that." Brock warned.

"I know, but I don't care! We won!" Van continued to do circles around Brock and Reba for a few more seconds, then put Cheyenne down.

"I think the losers should have to do something." Cheyenne said, smiling.

"Dealin with you two ain't enough punishment?" Reba asked.

"I say you do everyone's chores for.. A week!" Van said. The three looked at him like he was stupid.

"Van, I'm the only one who has chores anyway." Reba said.

"I don't think I should be punished, she's the one who didn't catch it." Brock said.

"You threw it high!" Reba argued.

"Jump!" She glared at him.

"No fighting." Cheyenne said. "Absolutely no fighting for a week. That's your punishment and if you guys do then… it gets worse." Brock and Reba looked at each other for while before they both agreed.

"Lets go eat!" Van said excitedly. The six of them walked back to the house that was about five minutes away. "Everybody, get ready to breathe in the smells of heaven." Van said as Reba was about to open the door. Everyone crowded around her and prepared to inhale. She opened the door and everybody tried squeezing through the door at once, Van almost plowed Reba over but she turned and glared at him before he got any closer.

"Ahhhh…." They all said at the same time.

"Is it ready, ma?" Brock asked, walking to the kitchen with Van right on his heels.

"It sure is. I always have food ready by noon on Thanksgiving." She boasted.

"It smells amazing!" Cheyenne said as she entered the kitchen.

"Well, I set up plates and everything at the table over in the dining room, so everyone go grab a plate, then come get in line for food." Liz said. Van and Brock were the first to grab their plates and rush into the kitchen. Reba grabbed two plates off the table and walked into the kitchen, glaring at Brock. She handed him a plate and he looked at it confused.

"I already have a plate." He said.

"For one of your children…" She reminded him.

"Oh, right." He helped Jake make his plate as Reba helped Kyra so Kyra didn't take too much or spill. Brock took both Kyra and Jakes plates to the table and they sat there with Van, patiently, while the rest of the family got their plates. Reba and Liz were last to make plates, leaving them alone in the kitchen.

"Thank you for doin all this, Liz. It was kinda nice to actually get to spend time with them instead of cookin."

"I was just doin everybody a favor." Liz said, scooping some stuffing onto her plate. Reba rolled her eyes but decided not to reply to the comment. "How're you and my son doin, Reba?" Reba looked up from the food in front of her to see Liz was still refusing to make any kind of eye contact, which Reba was thankful for. She looked back down and shrugged, feeling a little uncomfortable discussing this subject with her judgmental mother-in-law.

"We're alright. It's been kinda bumpy these past few months, but every marriage has their problems. We'll be fine."

"Are you talkin or are you two tryin to avoid somethin that needs help?" Reba took a deep breath. She didn't know whether to talk about it, or ask Liz to drop it. She decided to talk since it was rare for Liz to talk serious with Reba or even act concerned at all, then again, it was involving her son too.

"You want the honest answer?"

"Of course, what else would I want?"

"We avoid it. We talked a little last night and I actually enjoyed his company, but it was the first time we actually talked about serious things in a long time."

"How long?" Reba shrugged again.

"I dunno… a few months." Liz shook her head and for the first time since they started talking, Liz looked at Reba. Reba figured she'd better return the gesture so Liz knew she had Reba's full attention.

"Look, Reba. We don't have the best relationship and I'll take full responsibility for that. I don't like you, plain and simple. Not that I ever really gave you a chance, but I didn't want to. Now, I know how much you love my son and I guess I couldn't ask for more than that in a daughter-in-law other than being a good mother to my grandbabies. You've done a great job at both so far. And Brock…" She cleared her throat. "he loves you more than anything in this world. I know, not only because he's been telling me the past twenty years, but because I can see it. He's my son, I know him better than anybody… except you I suppose, and I don't want you two to lose each other. I don't want him to lose you because I know it'd kill him. And I'd hate to have to kill you if you hurt him." She paused for a second a let Reba think about it. "Don't give up on each other. If I knew you guys weren't meant for each other I would've said something at the wedding. The next time I call or get a phone call I want to hear good news from him, okay? I cant stand hearing my son sound so sad. And I know it's not all you either… but he wants to try and make things better, I just want to make sure you do too." Reba was in awe. It took her a while to comprehend what was just said to her, but she nodded.

"Of course, I do, but he ain't the easiest thing in the world to be married to!" Reba said with laughter in her voice.

"Well, it don't seem like you are either, honey." Liz snapped back and Reba shook her head.

"I can't argue with that one.."

"We're starvin in here!" Brock yelled from the dining room. Liz motioned toward the dining room with her head and Reba followed her. Liz sat next to Brock who was sitting at one end of the table, and Cheyenne. Cheyenne sat next to Van who sat next to Reba who was at the other end. Reba was next to Jake and Jake was next to Kyra, across from her sister. There was once empty seat next to Brock and across from Liz and that was it.

Everybody bowed there head as Reba said grace, then they dug in.

"Woowee! You're gonna have to come back next year, mom." Brock said, patting his stomach once his plate was empty. Reba shot him a dirty look from across the table and he instantly regretted his words. "Not that you're a bad cook, just… I had fun playin football." He tried with a charming smile, one that made butterflies form in Reba's stomach. Always has, always will, she was sure of it.

"That's not fair." She mumbled, looking down at her food.

"What?" He asked, innocently, still smiling.

"You know what, you butt!" he chuckled and everybody looked around the table confused as to what they were talking about.

"Mom! You should keep going with the story!" Cheyenne said, excitedly.

"It's not a story, Cheyenne, its my life… and no. Not on Thanksgiving, we're all spending time together."

"Well, nobody else is talkin, and I'm very interested in where you're at in our 'story'." Brock said, sitting forward and putting his chin in his hand.

"Am I in it?!" Jake asked.

"No honey, none of you are." Reba said.

"Aw man! Why not?"

"Mr. H didn't get any-" Reba stomped on Vans foot. She smiled and shook her head at her confused son.

"Ignore Van. You're not in it because daddy and I weren't together yet. Didn't even like each other, actually."

"I liked you!" Brock said.

"You did not!"

"Yes, I did. Why do you think I always picked on you? And who made the first move? Who asked who out? Who got denied the first three hundred times?" They both chuckled.

"Alright, maybe he liked me. But I certainly wasn't a fan of him." Jake frowned.

"You didn't like daddy?"

"Well, I do now. That's all that matters, right? Because we got a pretty awesome son out of it." She smiled at him and he smiled back, nodding.

"Mom? Please? We all want to hear." Cheyenne pleaded. Reba looked at Liz and Liz nodded then Reba let out a long sigh.

"Fine…"