Because here came the fight. Now, she regretted calling him.
There was no doubt this would piss him off. It was always about the same thing when they had a fight. She’d been burdened with them when they were here, and she had to focus on her job. It wasn’t easy being a single parent as Director of the FBI. She sometimes had conference calls early, and even with a nanny, it was difficult.
Duke taking care of them was the best for them.
“I like seeing them. I call every night, Duke. I’m just not the hands-on parent you are. You like couches with cartoons, and sharing crackers with the girls. I’m more a go out and work kind of a person to bring home the paycheck. I like paying for dance classes, and pretty dresses.”
Oh, boy.
That didn’t sound good at all.
“So you want me to take all of the responsibility, and keep them here with me so you don’t have to be bothered with motherhood?” he asked, saying it just like that for a reason.
That’s how she made it sound.
At his question, Axelle didn’t mince words.
“Basically. I didn’t want kids, Duke. You did. We had this conversation many times before we got pregnant. I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep the baby. Remember? Hell! I’ve told everyone over the last thirty years that I wasn’t into being a mom. You knew that when you tied yourself to me as a wife. I’m not maternal, and what I feel for them isn’t what you feel for them,” she admitted, laying her cards on the table.
At her words, Duke was surprised.
He.
Was.
Appalled.
“So, you had a child with me, when you didn’t want to have one.”
She was honest.
“You took Abby in when your half-brother was killed, and we already had one, so at that point, I was screwed. It made you happy, and I like seeing you happy. You seem to not like to see me happy, and that’s where we’re having issues.”
What?
The?
Fuck?
Now, this really did sound like someone was getting ready to bail. God knew he’d had issues when his first wife, Salem, had put work before their marriage and having a family.
“And our kids don’t make you happy?” he asked. “Because they make me damn happy. They’re the best thing in my life.”
She was annoyed.
Maybe it was the earlier issue with Elizabeth, or that she was all pissy, but she went there.
“I used to be the best thing in your life. Now, I’ve been replaced. How do you think that makes me feel, and why wouldn’t I dislike that?”
Ouch.
That was cold.
And it pissed him off.
He grew up with a mom who made him the center of her world. She didn’t date because she wanted him to feel like he was her everything.
Duke was that kind of parent.
