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It was a reasonable arrangement, giving Robin and me time to adjust. In the spirit of peaceful negotiations, I agreed.
"Okay. We have dinner every Tuesday, Thursday, and the weekends."
"How about dinner on Wednesday, and you can get half of Saturday?" she countered.
I thought about it and nodded. "For a start."
"I am going to guess and say you have never even done babysitting a day in your life," she said with a raised brow. "Do you even know how to take care of a six-year-old?"
"If he's potty trained and can eat himself, it shouldn't be a problem."
"My son is not a trained pet."
"Ourson," I corrected her again. "And I know that. I just meant that I'd figure it out. You had to learn, too, right? And you had the most difficult years."
"Sometimes it feels like changing diapers and fixing bottles was easier than keeping up with someone who can do everything himself. So if you think it will be easy, I wish you luck."
"You think very little of me," I said, feeling my hackles rising. I ran a multi-billion dollar business and had been running it for a decade. Very little in this world scared me anymore, and I was ready for this new chapter in my life.
"I think you are approaching fatherhood like a puzzle that can be solved or figured out. I am just preparing you, that's all," Jade shrugged and picked up her fork. Her nonchalance aggravated me.
"I'm sure you'll be there to tell me everything I am doing wrong."
She sighed and put her fork down. "You think I want you to fail? How is that going to help me? All I want is for Robin to be happy, and as much as I want to strangle you, we are turning over a new leaf now."
I nodded, and we ate in silence for a little while. The silence wasn't good for my thoughts, however, as I imagined all sorts of things that all ended with Jade on the table and her legs up in the air.
"So, how is he doing in school? I trust you put him in a good one?" I asked, steering my thoughts away from dangerous territory.
She looked at me with a glare. "If this will work, you can't do that."
I raised an eyebrow and lifted my glass of wine. "Do what?"
"Police my parenting."
Oh. That. "Now that I'm here, I can help you make better decisions."
One thing she would soon learn about me was that Ipolicedeverything, as she called it. It would no doubt get on her nerves, but I wasn't going to apply a hands-off approach to my son.
"First of all, screw you. Secondly,youare on probation. No important decisions until you stop being a jerk."
"How is Robin in school?" I repeated.
She gave me another look and sighed. "You'll be happy to know that your son will probably never struggle in school."
"Can't say I'm surprised. I graduated early myself."
"Well done, daddy," she replied sarcastically, twirling her fork in the air.
I was about to ask her something else when her phone vibrated. She placed it on the table, so the vibration got our attention. She took the phone, and something changed in her expression.
"Excuse me for a second."
She walked to the far side of the room to take her call, and I watched her as her entire face lit up. I felt suddenly curious to know who it was who had made her smile like that. I was not too fond of the other feeling her smile woke inside me, a feeling that I didn't have a name for yet. I reminded myself that I didn't care what Jade did with her life or whom she did it with. I tried to remind myself that all I cared about was Robin, and it just happened that Jade was a part of that deal as well. Other than that, we were going to be two people co-parenting. No other feelings whatsoever. It didn't matter that she was laughing and placing her hand on her chest like she was flirting with someone. It didn't matter that the last time I had seen her entire face lit up like that had been when she was talking to me for the first time.
I told myself it didn't matter, but a voice in my head called me a liar.
17
