~ Mine ~

Runaway Heart

"What were you doing in my bag?" Reba snapped back at him, her anger rising quickly. Keep calm. The doctor had been very persistent about her remaining calm. Any sign of stress was not only bad for the baby and herself but it also had a tendency to trigger her nausea.

"Don't do that!" He retaliated, now equally as angry. He wasn't a five-year-old caught with one of his early hidden Christmas presents; this time she had explaining to do.

"You had no right." She continued, ignoring him, advancing in his direction, ready to take the sonogram from his hands. So much for remaining calm.

"Mom." Shelby cried out a little more desperately than he had intended. She couldn't be serious right now.

"Is this really what I think it is?"

"Are you?..." He asked again, causing her to stop in front of him, tears now brimming her eyes.

"Unh-uh."

"You don't get to cry yourself out of this one." He said sounding more hurt than angry.

"Oh is that so, Narvel?" She inquired defensively, with no remorse for calling him his father's name. Why was she attacking him? It wasn't like he was wrong. Stepping back a bit, as if she'd physically struck him, Shelby's face riddled with hurt. He hadn't meant to sound like his father, to hurt her like that. All he desperately wanted were answers. He was so sick and tired of the secrets.

"I'm sorry." He muttered remorsefully, his head low. He quickly stuck his hand out, the one that firmly gripped the sonogram, as a peace offering. Maybe he had been out of line after all.

"No." Reba breathed, ignoring the sonogram for the moment.

"I am." She continued, causing him to look back up at her.

"I shouldn't have said that."

"I shouldn't have lied." She choked out miserably as she began to sob, the pain of keeping her secret, unknowingly, bubbling up to the surface. She hadn't realized how much harm she'd actually been causing herself by keeping it all bottled up.

"I should have told you sooner, I just didn't know how." She confessed, whipping her arm across her now puffy face. Shelby didn't say a word. Instead, he pulled his mother towards him, in an almost possessive hug. Holding her close, he held her as she cried. He knew his mom, probably better than anyone else in this world, now thanks to his father. He knew how badly she just needed to cry this one out. When she finally did pull away, a weary and yet thankful smile graced her lips.

"I hope you're not angry." She said referring to the fact that she was indeed pregnant.

"At you?"

"About that?"

"Not in the slightest." He said truthfully.

"Try confused." He admitted, once again holding up the sonogram. Chuckling a bit at the awkwardness of the situation, he shook his head.

"How ma?"

"Why and when?" He questioned, giving his hands a slight wave as he did so.

"Shelby." She coughed awkwardly.

"Do we really need to have another when the bird meets the bee talk?" Reba said crossing her arms and slightly raising her eyebrows.

"Okay one, it's the birds and the bees talk, and two, you know what I mean." He replied, rolling his eyes and stifling a laugh. Only his mother.

"Ohhh." She muttered in understanding as he continued to look at her.

"Like I get the part where you two just divorced but like you said you were separated for a few weeks beforehand and that was like months ago..." He continued, his tone changing back to a quite serious one. Taking a ragged breath, she gave her son a half pained smile.

"Feelings don't just dissipate in a divorce, Shelby. Separation even, whatever. Even adults who think they've made up their minds let their feelings get in the way." She explained as best as she could.

"I guess I get it."

"I think..." He mumbled. I guess when you love someone like that, the way they had, the way she had; feelings don't just change overnight. Although it seemed as if their relationship had, not that right now was a good time to point that out.

"Well now that the cats out of the bag when are you going to tell the other kids?" Shelby questioned with the raise of his eyebrows, causing Reba to cough in slight shock.

"Right, the older kids?" She half laughed squinting a bit.

"Yeah, you know the three other ones that you have." Shelby retorted, not quite understanding why she was squinting at him like that.

"Boy, I could really go for some Jack Daniels right about now." She mumbled, looking up at the ceiling. Having to tell Shelby had been exhausting enough that she'd completely forgotten about the fact that she had other kids to tell. That and the rest of her family...