The Weekend
Chapter Eight
Reba awoke to the rays of the warm sun on her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open as they adjusted to the brightness of the room and she smiled when she felt those familiar strong arms still holding her close by the waist. His breath was heavy which let her know that he was still in a deep sleep. She felt relaxed and rested, not groggy and headache-ridden like usual. If she had known this was the way to get a good night's sleep, maybe she would've tried sex sooner.
That was a joke of course. It never felt right with anyone but Brock. Sure, the sparks flew and the ground shook when she had kissed Jack, but it was nothing more than that. It was Brock who held her heart, no matter how hard she had tried to tear it from his grasp. It was just not meant to be. They were meant for one another, that much was becoming clear. Unfortunately, it was much more complicated than that.
The words he had said before falling asleep the night before, rang through her ears. Maybe we were given this weekend for a reason. Maybe he was right. As she thought about it, it did seem as though some greater force was trying to tell them something. Perhaps instead of feeling guilty, this was her chance to be selfish for once in her life. Maybe they were supposed to forget about their lives, just for the weekend, and be the Brock and Reba they were always supposed to be.
Reba swung her legs to the floor carefully and quietly and sat in a sitting position on the edge of the bed as she searched for any item of clothing within reach. She wasn't one to walk around naked. Of course, Brock's seen it all, but she was older now and everything looked different, especially standing up. She ran a hand over her face at the thought. She spotted a shirt resting on the green carpet, but before she could reach for it, she felt Brock's arms snake around her waist and pull her back underneath the covers.
"Good morning, sexy." He spoke into the crook of her neck as he placed a loving kiss upon her skin. He held her close and the warmth of his body warmed her to the core. It didn't matter how cold it was, he always radiated heat. Something she'd missed over the years, especially at night.
"Good morning."
"Where were you going?" He placed another kiss underneath her ear. He could not remember the last time he woke up feeling this happy and he was holding the reason in his arms.
"I was tryin' to find some clothes, if you must know." She rolled her head to the side, enjoying the feeling of his lips moving against her skin.
"Now, why would you want to do that?" He nibbled on her earlobe before placing another kiss on her neck. Reba knew exactly what he was doing.
"Well, we haven't eaten since lunch yesterday and I'm starving. You hear that?" Her stomach grumbled and Brock smiled against her shoulder.
"You could take a bite out of me?" Reba could feel him grinning against her skin at his comment. She was glad someone found him funny.
"Nope, uh-uh, Brock, don't even think about it. You're not getting' any lovin' out of me until you feed me. We're old now, it takes a toll outta me, y'know?"
He could hear the smile in her voice and turned her around, wanting nothing more than to catch a glimpse of that beautiful sight. The sun had nothing on her. She could light up a room with a flash of her smile.
He quickly rolled on top of her body and kissed her hard on the lips before moving his kiss to her chest. He continued his trail down the remainder of her chest and the soft skin on her stomach. The sheets covered his head and Reba giggled as his hands tickled her sides. He rested his ear against her stomach and listened to the grumbling.
"Fine, let's get my woman fed!" He burst out from underneath the covers and kissed her on the lips before climbing out of bed. Reba laughed at the cuteness of it all and felt her cheeks flush when she realized he had called her his woman. She liked the sound of that.
Reba sat on the bed as she pushed her diamond stud through the hole on her earlobe and fastened it at the back. It felt like she was in another world, another universe. Everything was so perfect and so right; it almost felt weird to her. Her life had been so chaotic for the last seven years, she wasn't used to this calmness.
Brock exited the bathroom with a worried look on his face. Reba's heart began to sink deep down into her chest as she watched him wring is hands before running his fingers through his blonde hair; a telltale sign that something was obviously wrong. Has Barbara Jean found out? Oh, god, but how could she?
She looked intently at Brock, waiting for him to finally speak, say what has him so worried.
"I don't really know how to say this so I'm just going to go for it, okay?" His voice shook as he spoke and Reba hadn't seen him this worried in a very long time.
"Brock, just spit it out. You're worrying me." Reba felt her nerves rising with the anticipation of what he was going to say.
"Is there any chance at all that you're on the pill?" He stopped fumbling with his fingers and stood there still as he looked at her.
"What?" Reba couldn't form the appropriate words in her head, why was he asking her this? He had a vasectomy years ago, they had nothing to worry about?
"Well, remember… I got my vasectomy reversed last year when Barbara Jean and I were having problems?"
"Vasectomy… reversed…" She whispered the words as she began to comprehend what he was getting at. How stupid could she have been to have forgotten about his reversal. "And you didn't think to wear a condom." She stood from the bed, walking as she spoke to herself." "No, of course you didn't. Why would you think to do that? That's the adult thing to do and everyone knows Brock Hart is incapable of doing the responsible thing!" She yelled the last sentenced as rage overtook her entire body.
"Well, you could've – " He began to reply, but was quickly silenced by Reba's anger.
"I could've what, Brock? Do you honestly think I would've voluntarily had unprotected sex with you if I had remembered that little tidbit about your vasectomy? You should've known! You're the one who got it reversed!" Her hands flew around as she yelled at him. For such a tiny woman, she sure was scary.
"I thought… menopause… I don't know what I thought, Reba. It had been six years since we've made love, I wasn't thinking. All I was thinking about was how much I wanted you. You can't blame this all on me." His head was clouded and he scrambled for words. This couldn't be happening, not again.
"Menopause? How old do you think I am?" She scrunched her nose and yelled. That comment was the icing on the cake.
"Honey, please! Calm down!" Brock walked up to her and tried desperately to wrap his arms around her waist and calm her down, but Reba being Reba, was having none of it.
"Don't you dare touch me. Get your hands off of me! I swear to god, Brock, if you throw this family into more chaos. No, if you break up another marriage because of a baby*… I don't think I could ever forgive you." Her voice shook with her last words and the look in her eyes sent chills down his spine. She was serious and the idea of losing her again, but completely this time, chilled him to the bone.
Before he could say another word, she grabbed her purse and slammed the motel room door. He ran a hand over his face, how could this be happening again?
Reba walked hastily through the sliding glass doors of the Walgreens just two blocks away. She was so angry she didn't even remember her walk over here; all she wanted to do was get in and out as quickly as possible. It felt as if her heart was in her stomach and her entire chest had been replaced with nerves. Her hands were shaking and she gripped the strap of her purse as tight as she possibly could, hoping for some release from the nervousness she was experiencing.
She rounded a corner and the giant light-up letters that read "Pharmacy" came into view. Her chest tightened once again, but she only walked faster. As much as she did not want to do this, she knew she had to.
Reba stood under the sign that read "pick up" and waited for the young male behind the counter to approach her. Her stomach was doing summersaults and she wanted to be anywhere but here.
"Hi, ma'am, what can we do for yah?"
"Hi, um," Her voice changed to a whisper as she fumbled with her fingers. "I need to pick up a Plan B pill." Is that how you addressed it? She had no idea, she'd never had to do anything like this before and she felt completely and utterly embarrassed and out of her element.
She had expected a look of disappointment or disgust from the man behind the counter, but received nothing of the sort. Instead, he nodded and reached over to the shelf behind him.
"Have you ever used this before?" He held the small box in one hand and a pen in the other.
Reba tried to speak, but no words formed in her throat, so she shook her head in response.
"Okay, so you take the first pill within seventy-two hours after the unprotected sex and then you take the second pill twelve hours later. For the most part, there aren't any side effects. Maybe an upset stomach or some light dizziness, but neither will last long."
"Okay, thank you." Reba was thankful no questions were asked and no judgements were made. The man quickly rung through the purchase and Reba was on her way. She held tightly to her purse as she walked out of the building. This was the last thing she thought she'd have to do today.
Reba stopped at the Circle K on her walk back to the motel and grabbed a bottle of water. She might as well get this over with right now, she thought; the sooner, the better.
After paying and exiting the store, she sat on the bench that faced the street in front of her. She opened her purse and popped the little white pill through the foil wrapper that held it. She placed it on her tongue and took a swig of her water.
She couldn't believe how irresponsible they both had been. Sure, she could try and blame it all on Brock, but she knew in her heart that it wasn't entirely his fault. She had known about the vasectomy reversal and she let that information escape her mind. They had been so caught up in their feelings and their memories, they completely forgot about the consequences.
All of this was becoming too much to bare; between her intense feelings for Brock, the idea of the weekend coming to an end, and on top of it all, the idea of being pregnant at forty-six. She could feel the tears forming at the backs of her eyes and knew she had to get back to their room before she burst.
Brock stood up immediately as Reba walked into the motel room. She saw the pain and worry etched into his face and felt her heart break as she remembered how she had treated him just an hour before. He had been just as worried as she, but she had let her anger get the best of her, once again.
She dropped her purse to the floor next to her feet and walked over to Brock, wrapping her arms around his middle. As soon as her head hit his chest, the tears came rolling out. She cried because of her nerves, but she also cried because the idea of giving this weekend up made her heart twist in pain.
Brock held her in silence and let her empty everything onto his chest. Reba didn't break down often, so when she did, he knew how heavy a load she was baring. He kicked himself once again for all of the times he was certain she cried because of him and he wasn't there to hold her.
After a few moments of just standing there, Reba finally spoke.
"I'm sorry." Her voice was a whisper, not the strong, assuring voice she normally wore.
"Oh, honey." He pulled back and looked into her eyes, wiping the leftover tears away with his thumbs. "I'm sorry. This all happened because of me."
"It was both of our faults. I guess we haven't grown out of our childish behaviour." She tried to lighten the mood with a joke and felt satisfied when Brock let out a quiet chuckle. "I went to the pharmacy and took a Plan B. It was the most embarrassing thing I've ever had to do, Brock."
"You shouldn't have had to do that, I would've gone for you." She saw the concern in his eyes and knew he was being genuine.
Reba shook her head and moved away from him as she wiped her face, quickly regaining her composure. She never stayed down long and that was one of the many things he loved about her.
"It doesn't matter. It's done."
"Now, what?" He questioned, unsure of what this sort of situation entails.
It was still too soon for Reba to take a pregnancy test and by the time she would be ready, they would be back home and back into their old lives. In the meantime, all she could do was hope and pray. It felt like a selfish thing to do, to pray for this not to happen when people all over the world were praying for this very thing. But she was in no position to have another baby and she had a feeling, God knew that as well.
"Now, we wait."
*This line was given to me by LittleMissCheerios and I give her full credit for it as it was completely her idea. I would also like to thank her for helping me with this chapter when I found myself stumped. You got my writer juices flowing again and for that, I am appreciative.