Surprise!

Chapter sixteen

Reba was super nervous about having her's and Narvel's side of the family over for dinner at their new place. This was the very first time that they were responsible for the food and the hospitality.

"So, what would you like to eat tonight?" Narvel asked as he and Reba walked around to tidy up. "Shouldn't we be asking our guests that question?" Reba replied as she struggled to stand after bending over to pick up something. "Well, you're the pregnant woman," Narvel shrugged, "you get what you want." Reba just shook her head "I'm not that bitchy." She defended. "No, but then again you're not that far along yet." Narvel pointed at her stomach, which she protectively put her hand over. "Daddy's being mean!" She told the baby. He laughed and she just glared at him. "Oh come on honey-look just pick somethin you like and I'm sure everyone else won't complain." She sighed, still not sure what to do. "But what if they don't like what I pick?" She worried, tempted to call her mama for options- but then again, her options for her cooking knowledge were very limited. "Okay-do you remember when we were kids, and our parents would always say that if you didn't eat what was put on the table then you weren't eating. That's how it's gonna be." She giggled a bit before answering to his proposition. "Well then chicken strips and ramen noodles will just have to do." Reba joked. "Ahhhhh man. Uh... Haha mama don't like those noodles.." He said nervously. "Narvel, calm down. You go out and have fun, I've got things under control!" Reba pinched his cheek as if he were a child. "But what if-"
"Don't you dare say the baby's ready to come you've been watching WAY too many movies and I am not that far along yet. Okay?" He sighed then laughed, "Okay-I'll take your word for it."
She giggled, "you better."

Narvel kissed her on top of her head and patted her belly "Little man, don't let mommy do something crazy. You know how she gets." He whispered the last part to his unborn child. Knowing that Reba would get all gushy and giggly when he talked to them. "Hey now! How exactly do I get?" He shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh nothin...."
"Narvel!" She yelled playfully. He hopped off the porch and jogged to the car. "Gotta go honey-see you later!" He waved with his back turned to her."Get back here right now!" She slightly waddled after him, she wished that she didn't have to sacrifice her speed with pregnancy. "Sorry!" He hopped in his car then pulled off. She sighed. Not exactly sure what to do. She'd already cleaned the entire house hours before. She walked back inside and set the table a little early, then got the chicken out to unfreeze.

Afterwards, she just kinda sat on the couch unsure what to do, she didn't realize how much Narvel entertained her. Reba felt so lonely without him there with his big brown eyes and that goofy grin he always gave her.

She decided that if she didn't wanna sit around and mope about his absence she picked up the phone ordered a pizza and turned on the tv. After the pizza arrived she tried to watch some tv but nothing could really keep her attention for more than five minutes. So she stood up and decided to try and read the paper like her daddy always did in the mornings. But oh no, she could NOT do that-and after reading one column she was completely bored. She walked through the hallway and a sudden eerie silence took over and she couldn't take it. She grabbed her coat, turned out the light, and slammed the door on her way out.
The crisp early autumn air put a sting on her skin before she finally pulled her jacket on and zipped it up. She decided to go for a walk it was cold but not terribly freezing.

She knew that Narvel would flip about her being out in the cold "I don't want you to get sick so take my jacket as well" he would say and drape his jacket on top of hers. Reba kept running a cold hand across her stomach, she wanted to feel them, the doctor said it could be any day, but that was weeks ago. Maybe, just maybe the cold would 'wake' them up.She hoped it would. She also hoped he wouldn't come driving past her which he technically could any minute now. She took a deep breath-needing a bit more breath than she had in her, she slowed her pace-stuffing her hands in her pockets. It wasn't terribly dark but it wasn't exactly day light either and it was getting colder. 'Maybe I should head back..' Her thoughts were interrupted by a low rumble of an engine coming up from behind her. She stopped and turned to look and squinted at the headlights getting closer to her. She stepped back from the road on the other side of the ditch-just for safety and kept walking. The car slowed to her pace "Reba?!" Narvel rolled down the window and looked out at her "Baby why are you out in the cold? Get in." He quickly jumped out to help her back across the ditch to the warm car. Once she sat down in the car she realized just how cold it must've been outside.
Once Narvel got himself back in the car he turned towards her and spoke. "What were you thinking?" She sighed, knowing he'd make this out into more than it was. "I decided to go for a walk-it's not that big a deal." She answered, slightly irritated. "Not a big deal? Reba you can't afford to get sick. That baby needs to stay perfectly healthy just like you." He scolded, feeling very nervous about her body temperature- he reached over and turned the heat on high. "It's getting dark, what if you got lost and something happened?!" She huffed. "Narvel. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't do anything! Why are you constantly on me about this stuff-I'm not dumb!" He sighed-knowing she was already irritated. "I know. You're not dumb... But Reba.. You're pregnant-" he was cut off.
"You don't think I know that!" She spat "Apparently not! You're out here in the cold at nightfall!" He snapped back. She just glared at him. "I was perfectly fine. And you know what? I'm gonna finish my walk." She opened the door, as they still hadn't moved yet, and got out. "Hey! Get back in here!" He rolled down the window once more and called after her "No! I'm not a child anymore and you're not the boss of me!" She yelled then turned around and continued walking. Narvel cursed under his breath before hopping out of the car after her. He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up "You're not finishing your walk, it's dark now and we're going home to cook for our company which should be at our house by now." He protested and placed her in the passenger seat. "Hey! Knock it off!" She tried to get out but he locked her in then got into the drivers side and started to drive. "I can't believe you just did that!" She said glaring straight ahead with her arms crossed. He finally lost his cool completely. "I'm looking out for you! AND OUR BABY! Something you don't seem to care about!" She just stared at him speechless-her mouth agape, with tears forming in her eyes. She said nothing back and the silence caused him to turn his head to look at her. His heart broke at the look in her eyes. He'd obviously crossed a line. They pulled into the driveway of their house and luckily no one had arrived yet. She jumped out and ran inside. He sighed then ran after her. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean that! You know it!" He tried to catch up to her, but she seemed too quick for him as she reached their bedroom door and slammed it in his face. "Baby! Please!" He begged, knocking loudly on the door."Go away!" She locked the door then ran over and collapsed on their bed in a heap of tears. He could hear her through the door and felt his heart truly break in two-how could he have said that to her? He suddenly knew what he had to do. He ran out of the house and put a ladder up near their bedroom window. He carefully made his way up the ladder and shoved the window open. He climbed through the window as quietly as he could. Of course she was crying so loudly that she probably couldn't of heard him either way. He sat in front of her and pulled her into his arms which she didn't even try to fight. All she could do was cry. "Shh.. Honey I'm sorry. I was way out of line, I'm an idiot-"
"No" she stopped her crying to cut him off. "You're not. You were right. I was being stupid-I was putting my baby's life in danger and I didn't care! What is wrong with me! I'm gonna be a terrible mother! I already am!" He couldn't stand for that. "No. Reba, you can't talk like that! You're gonna be a great mother! So tonight you made a mistake-I was WRONG to say you didn't care. And I'm so very sorry honey-I really am." She sobbed into his chest "What are we gonna do?! I don't like fighting with you Narvel! I don't like being without you! Putting our baby made me realize that I'm not mature enough to be a mother yet..." Reba trailed off "I wasn't even thinking of the consequences." She whimpered. "Woah-woah-woah. Reba of course we're not mature enough to be parents, we're teenagers! But baby we got this we can make it work. And you're not alone honey-I'm gonna be right here the whole way through. You don't gotta be scared." She just shook her head. "I can't help it-I am. I'm still only a kid Narvel... And now I'm about to have one of my own? What happened? What have we done?" "Nothing happened, this wasn't a mistake. Reba the baby came into our lives for a reason." Narvel rubbed her back and wiped Reba's tears with his hand. "I'm not saying I regret this. That night we spent together. What we created. I love this baby and I love you. But I just feel like we could've waited you know? I'm really nervous about this and it's driving me crazy." "There's nothing to be scared of. I'm calling off dinner tonight and me and you are just gonna lay here and do nothing okay?" Narvel held her hands in his. "Oh no honey-everyone's supposed to come over and they're supposed to be here any minute we can't let em down." "We don't even have anything ready. I'll just tell them that I'm not feeling well and that I couldn't help you with anything." Narvel kissed her nose and stood up. She just nodded, slightly feeling bad that her little walk earlier had caused such a huge mess.

Narvel left the room and made a couple calls and told everyone that dinner was off.

Once he came back he found Reba in her pajamas under the covers of the bed shivering.

"Baby, what's wrong? Are you cold? Sick?" He sat beside her and placed his hand to get fore head to check for fever. "I don't know... I just changed to get more comfy and I got this freezing cold feeling. What if I am sick? Do you think a cold could hurt the baby? Oh no-Narvel it would be my fault if it got hurt!" She was beginning to panic now so he knew he couldn't freak out-of he did that make her panic even more. "I'm gonna go get you a hot bath ready, just keep wrapped up tight." He walked over to the dresser and pulled out socks then put them on her feet "Don't take these off." He warned. "Narvel. Don't leave me-" she got cut off
"I'm gettin you a bath started I'll be right back." She didn't wanna be alone but she also knew he was just trying to help. He turned the water on and checked the temperature as quickly as he could, he didn't want to leave her either so he carried her into the bathroom while the tub was filling up. "I'll get in with you." He told her. She wasn't really sure about that-considering she was a little more self conscious of her body now. But knew it would probably help. "I.. Okay." He kissed her cheek and grabbed the bottom of her shirt "Arms up." He instructed. She complied and soon stepped into the tub slowly. The water was really hot she winced a little at exactly how much. "Crap, sorry, I checked it, but I might have not been done heating up." He made her step back out and ran some cold water into the tub to balance out the temperature. "Thanks"
She said slipping back into the now perfect water. "Of course-now just relax. I'll be right back." He ran out and came back with a couple towels from the closet in the hallway. Just so that she wouldn't be cold too long after they got out. He also grabbed his bathrobe the would swallow her whole, but he figured it would help either way.

Narvel undressed and slipped in behind her, pulling her back against his chest "Better?" He asked. "Yeah"
"I'm sorry you're feeling so bad" she shook her head. "Don't be. It's my fault. I shoulda listened to you earlier. Heck! I shoulda just stayed home!" She said getting more and more frustrated."I shouldn't have left you like that, I'm sorry for not looking after you. You're gonna need me whether we think so or not." He kissed the side of her head and wrapped his arms around her from behind, Narvel's chin resting on her shoulder. "Narvel. You had to go. And there's gonna be times when we can't be together. This was NOT your fault." She sighed.  He kissed her shoulder and sighed after her before he spoke "I love you." "I love you too. I'm sorry I'm so stubborn sometimes.."
"Sometimes?" She elbowed him for that one. "Ow! Hey! Now no need to get violent!" He exclaimed playfully. She laughed. "I'll show you violent if you don't hush up" He squeezed her tight and started covering her shoulder, cheek, and neck in kisses. "Hmm.. honey as much as I love you.. I'm not really feeling up to anything right now.." She tried to explain gently. "And I wasn't trying to get anything, just wanted to kiss you." He replied. She immediately felt bad. "I'm sorry. I just.... I don't know.... I'm tired and I don't feel good-"
"Relax. It's already been forgotten okay?" She smiled up at him appreciatively. "Thank you"
He was about to say something when all of the sudden she jumped. "Woah." She said, quickly putting both hands on her stomach. "What?! What's wrong?"
He asked worriedly. She just laughed excitedly. "They're  kicking!!" She said placing his hands near her own on her stomach. Narvel waited, literally holding his breath in anticipation. "Maybe it was just gas?" Narvel suggested after they waited a minute and felt no kick "I'm sure it wasn't has Narvel! They kicked!" She whined and looked down at her stomach "Come on, help me prove that mummy's not crazy." She pleaded to the baby, finally Narvel and Reba felt a small flutter under their hands.