Baby

Dean:

I forced myself to stay calm and collected as I looked at my ex, the woman that I have hurt more. than anyone in the globe, looking like she was having the mental battle of her life.

It was one that I knew I forced her into. It was one that she never thought that she would end up dealing with, and yet, here she was, fighting to catch her breath as to explain to me whatever she had in mind.

Her eyes wouldn’t meet mine, reminding me of the night that I broke up with her as I filed for the first divorce paper. It was one that she refused to sign, and this was one year and a half into our marriage. The night that I first told her about Marina despite her knowing and not confronting me about it.

Flashback:

“I have another woman in my life, Iris, what is hard for you to understand in that? I don’t fucking want you in my life anymore.” I said, snapping at her. She stayed quiet and collected, obviously not surprised before she pulled her phone out to show me a picture.

“I always knew that you had Mariana in your life, Dean. But fucks sake, if she managed to somehow seduce you to get in your pants, then snap the fuck out of it. I am your wife, and you are my husband. If she is a mistress, then it would stay that way.” She said, taking me off guard. I had to admit, it wasn’t the response that I expected at all, if anything, I expected her to be furious; however, she seemed to be calm and collected, and I had to admit, that fact bothered me more

than ever.

“You and I are going to be getting a divorce. At this point, I don’t give a fuck about what you say.” I said, snapping at her. She stayed quiet for a few seconds before shaking her head.

“And what are you going to tell the jury? That I want to file a divorce because I am cheating on her? Because I am having an affair? Fucks sake be logical, Dean. The two of us are the ‘perfect‘ couple that everyone wants to associate with, do you really want to risk your career for a woman like Mariana?” She asked, snapping at me. I glared at her before taking a step toward her, forcing her to step back as I pinned her against the closet’s door which was behind her. I put my hand on the door behind her, glaring daggers at her as I did and she raised an eyebrow. “What? Are the facts bothering you?”

“You are going to regret this, Iris,” I said, and she shook her head. “I will be sure that you regret choosing to make this harder for yourself. I give you my fucking word.”

“If I regret anything in this world, it won’t be not giving up to a mistress. My apologies, but the last thing that I would do is regret not giving my home and marriage to an idiot who has seduced my husband for fucking sex and his money.” She snapped back before putting her hand on my chest. I watched as she pushed me back before walking toward the door past me. “Get ready, your parents are coming over and I doubt that you would want them to know about this.”

T

End of Flashback.

I hated admitting it now, but she was right about every word that she said. She wasn’t a person that I could claim was wrong about what she said or claimed. If anything, she was very right. It just sickened me that despite her fighting me for three years, wanting to explain the concept to me, maybe thinking that Mariana and I’s fling would die down, that I didn’t understand until it was far too late to revert from it.

Mariana was with me for the money and only the money. That fact alone was painful for me to admit after all the time spent defending her before she was my wife and after I chose to elope with

her.

“You know that the two of us are going to have to do something for Lillian, and it will have to be something that we both agree on.” I said, and she frowned in confusion. “Surely you don’t expect me to give up on my daughter now that I know that she exists. I may not want to take her custody, but you know that I want to take part in her life.”

“Dean, it is not that simple, you do know that, right? She doesn’t even know who you are and I doubt that it would be easy for her to understand that you are her father and yet we are keeping it from her. Yes, she may just be a child, but I did not raise her to…”

“Then we go to a psychiatrist and they tell us how to handle this situation.” I said, stopping her my voice coming out louder than I expected it to be. She looked down at her cup for a few seconds, taking a deep breath as she processed the fact that I was fighting her over this; however, this was not something that I was asking her for. “I understand that the two of us broke up, but the girl has nothing to do with it.”

“The two of us broke up for me to be able to protect my daughter. I doubt that you would have wanted to take part in her life before, and I don’t think that you would want to do it now; therefore, I don’t think that you have any right to suddenly claim that you want what is best for her when you knew nothing about her a week ago.” She snapped, glaring at me. I froze, not knowing what to say as she fought to keep her tone collected despite her anger. I could tell that she was in pain, and that was something that forced me to step back as I looked at her, studying her expression. “I understand that you now want to be in her life, but that would be based on what I say, and based on how she accepts it. I am sorry, but you made the choice to play me for four years, simply choosing to be with me when you knew that you wanted to annoy your mistress. While I am well aware that I do not have the right to judge, I apologize, but the last thing that I would want for my child is for her to be around a mistress that broke her parents‘ home.”

My heart raced against my chest and I fisted my palm, glaring at the woman who sat in front of me. Her eyes were fixed on mine, and it hurt me to say that I saw her pain in her eyes. It was one that i never expected to see, but was also one that annoyed me more than anything. Mostly because I knew that her pain was due to her feeling helpless. She knew that she was making a mistake, and she knew that she was being stubborn because she was angry with me, and though I couldn’t theoretically blame her, I wasn’t the best person for her to trust around herself or her daughter, I still didn’t like the way that she was acting.

“You know for fact that you are making a mistake, Iris, and that mistake is going to fire back at you in ways that you will not be able to handle.”

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“Is that a threat?” She asked, frowning in confusion. The way she asked told me that she was now no longer frightened, but was ready to act on impulse, and that was something that I couldn’t help but find my heart aching for. “You know for fucking fact that you have no power over my child, and one call to the cops would have you behind bars. And believe me, I will not hesitate to protect my

child if I need to.”

The woman knew for fact that I hated when she was stubborn, and I knew that she hated when I pressed on her, but this time, she wasn’t even giving me the chance to think that I could be the better man for our daughter. She wasn’t the only one who made her, and had I known of her, I knew that I would have taken care of her. I knew that even Iris knew of it, at least, deep down. I wasn’t sure about the woman who sat in front of me right now.

“You can consider it as a warning.” I said, keeping my eyes on the woman who shook her head at me. I knew that she would be more than willing to fight for Lillian, but I was the girl’s father, and if I was deprived of her, it was because I was not aware of her existence. “And by the way, I may have not wanted you in my life, and thank you for giving me the reminder of why I didn’t want you as a wife.”

She froze, not saying a word before a pained smile replaced her frown. She pulled her purse out and put a fifty dollar bill on the table before getting up and heading toward the play room. I closed my eyes before wrapping my hand around her wrist, stopping her from moving. “I am sorry, Iris, I didn’t mean to…”

“Do your best, Dean.” She said, stopping me. “You are not going to take my daughter away from me. I give you my fucking word to fight to my last breath to ensure that she is safe…”