Deceived

Chapter Ten

Chapter 10: The funeral

Time: Summer-Fall 2008

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The kiss ended. The timer on her watch went off. "Okay, it's time to take my blood pressure medication. Excuse me." Reba rushed out of the room to take her blood pressure pill. She could feel her blood pressure rising and she couldn't afford to end up in the hospital, especially at a time when her children needed her so badly. But that kiss... She would have to think about that later.

Meanwhile, Brock served Maggie and Kyra with their breakfast before sitting down to eat with them. Kyra approached the subject with Brock, but she knew that communication was not a high priority in this family unless there was yelling involved. "Look, Dad. I get it. Mom is still legally your wife. We're your kids. You want your life back. We have to talk about the situation. Mom needs time to adjust. We all do. Mom is dating someone else. You have to give her some time to come to terms with your return and what it means for her. Jack is part of her life now."

"You're gonna have to see them together and deal with it in a way that doesn't impact her or us in a negative way. I'm sorry. I know how hard this for you. I know that you want a normal life, but this family hasn't been normal in a long time. You need to concentrate on being a father first and a husband second right now. Believe me, Mom will appreciate it. She's very big on doing what's best for us."

"But what's best for you kids is to grow up in a loving home with two loving parents."

"Do you wanna explain to Maggie how you screwed that up the first time? This mess is of your own making. What are you gonna do about it? You've got a lot of work to do if you want Jake to accept you again. The Brock Hart that I remember wouldn't let anything stop him, especially when it came to his kids. He wouldn't let anything get in the way of helping them. Jake is really angry right now. He's gonna need your patience and love right now. The same patience and love that you've shown to Maggie and you've only known her for a little while."

"So, the message that I'm getting is that I have to go back to treating your mother like I did when we were separated and focus on being your dad."

"See, Maggie. I think that Dad's getting the idea. The more time that he spends with us, the happier that it will make Mom. He'll also get to see her more often, if he hangs around here with us."

"Yeah, this one time Jake was in trouble at school and he was really mad at Mom and ..." Maggie wasn't sure what to call her other daddy. She looked at her sister for help.

"Let's try calling him Uncle Alex," Kyra remarked.

"Okay. Jake was mad at Mom and Uncle Alex. Uncle Alex took us out bowling. He got Mom to come with us. It was like a real family. Everyone had a good time. Mom and Jake were laughing and smiling with Uncle Alex. You should try stuff like that, Daddy."

Reba returned to the kitchen. "Hi, Mommy."

"What's everyone talking about?"

"I was just tellin' the kids that I caused a lot of this mess when I left the first time. I'm gonna work hard to fix things. I want things to be better for Cheyenne, Kyra, Maggie, and Jake. I know that it's my fault that Jake is so angry right now."

"Are you actually taking responsibility for somethin'?"

"Jake has every right to be angry with me. He never got the chance to tell me how he really felt about our separation before. And I'm sorry that I reacted like I did last night when I saw you out on the porch with Dr. Morgan."

"I can't believe that I'm hearing this. It turns out that you might just end up bein' a better father to your kids than John D was to you. I'm proud of ya, Brock."