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“Amie, dear,” I said, ignoring my ex-wife’s assholery. “Can you go make sure I closed my office door? We don’t want Buttons getting in there and doing a doodie on Daddy’s desk again.” For some reason, the cat she picked out for her last birthday liked to leave 'presents' in my office. Right on my desk. Nowhere else. Just the desk.
“But I want to speak to Mommy. I miss her!” Her lower lip trembled as her eyes bounced from me to the phone and back. I blinked and Amie rushed for my phone again, this time grabbing it. “Hi, Mommy! I miss you! Do you miss me? I love my new school and my teachers are great! Daddy got me a kitty! His name is Buttons and he’s a tuxedo and I really want you to come and meet him—” she gushed excitedly, but a quick, vicious snarl silenced her, effectively killing her joy.
“Go to bed, you spoiled, selfish brat!” Tami shouted. I looked up to see the dancing light fade from my daughter’s eyes and all-too familiar tears well at their corners.
“Amie, can you please go find Buttons? I really think he needs you to sing him his goodnight song,” I said gently, needing to soothe the kind of pain no child should ever know.
“Okay.” Dejected, her little shoulders slumped as she left the room, but not before I heard her sniff. That one little sniff turned me into a fire-breathing dragon ready to roast Tami to ashes.
“Don’t youevertalk to her like that again!” I roared. I was furious that she’d called and had once again, broken my sweet little girl’s heart.
“She’s my kid too and she needs to learn to obey me when I tell her to do something.” I could hear Tami’s eye roll. The woman who’d claimed to be so happy when she discovered she was pregnant turned out to be a soulless, uncaring beast.
“You gave up all right to parent her when you walked away without looking back.” I happily reminded her. “You didn’t give enough of a shit about her to stay, let alone put her in a decent daycare. So, you will keep your mouth shut when it comes tomydaughter. Understand me?” The angry words spewed from my mouth. I instantly regretted letting her get to me, but I couldn’t help it. It pissed me off that Tami had abandoned our child, claiming that the only reason why she got pregnant was because she didn’t want to lose her meal ticket. At first, it hurt because I had willfully ignored the rumors about Tami being a gold-digger and had convinced myself that everyone had been wrong. I assured everyone that they didn’t know her as I did. They didn’t know the fun, playful woman I fell head over heels for. Turns out, I was the clueless one. So clueless that I jumped when she’d convinced me to run off to Vegas as soon as school ended. Tami claimed she didn’t want me to go to spring training without us committing to one another. I had no idea that it was the multi-million dollar contract I’d signed that she was really after.
When we divorced, she’d gotten half of everything. Stupid me was so blinded by what I thought was love, that I’d agreed that there was no need for a prenup. We loved each other and that meant we trusted one another. Or, at least I trusted her and I really, really shouldn’t have.
“Are you listening to me?” Tami’s shrill tone pierced my ear again, causing it to ring. I flinched back so I wouldn’t go temporarily deaf. When angry, Tami could outrival a banshee.
“I don’t think it’s me who’s ever had that problem,” I snapped back. I was barely keeping the last string of my patience from snapping. Once it snapped, there’s no telling what I would say.
“Whatever.” Tami scoffed before blowing a hard breath out her nose. “I need to speak to you in person. It's not the type of conversation that can happen over the phone.”
“Okay,” I said. “When do you want to meet? Tomorrow? Sunday?”
“Right now,” she demanded. I stared at my phone as if she’d lost her bloody mind.
“That’s not going to happen. I’m in for the night with Amie.”
“Um, yes it is.” Tami fought back. “I need to speak to you and it’s going to happen right the fuck now.”
“No, it isn’t. If I didn’t make myself clear a second ago, I'm home with Amie tonight. Doing that thing called spending ‘quality time’ with my child. Something you know absolutely nothing about.”
“Oh, boo fucking hoo. I don’t give a shit. Just find a way to meet me. You’re going to want to hear what I have to say.”
Tami hung up. I remained sitting on the floor of my daughter’s bedroom, staring at the darkened screen. What the hell was I going to do? Did I cave into Tami’s demands, leaving Amie here with someone while I went to go see what in the hell my ex-wife wanted? Or should I text her back and demand that tonight wasn’t going to happen. Knowing Tami, she’d make my life a living hell if I dared to ask her to work with me. Tami was the most selfish, narcissistic person I’d ever met. She’d also throw the biggest stink if I didn’t give into her demands and that fallout would land squarely on Amie’s little shoulders.
Amie's happy laughter rang out as she chased Buttons out of my office. Her sweet, melodic laughter filled the air as she called out for her cat. I didn’t have time to appreciate its sweetness because my phone chimed in my hand with a text from my ex, giving me the address of where she wanted me to meet her at. Seeing that I had no choice, not if I wanted anything negative to fall back onto my child, I answered, letting my ex-wife know that I’d be there as soon as the sitter got here.
“JUST GET HERE,” she replied coldly in all caps.
“Daddy?” Amie appeared a few seconds later, Buttons trailing behind her. “Daddy, does Mommy no love me no more?” Her soft, angelic voice held a slight quiver while she did her best to put on a brave face. Holding out my open arms, Amie rushed into them and snuggled herself against me.
“No, baby,” I reassured softly. “Your mommydidn’tstop loving you. She’s always going to love you. It’s just . . . Mommy is just dealing with a lot of stuff right now and doesn’t know how to fix it.” I felt bad lying to my child, but there was no way I was going to tell her the truth right now. At her age, she wouldn’t understand that her mother had never wanted her. That she most likely didn’t love her, and that when that selfish bitch walked away for good, she did so willingly.
“Can I help her with her stuff? I’m a good fixer! Miss Jennie, my teacher, even said so!” My sweet, considerate girl said proudly.
“I wish you could, but only Mommy can fix what’s broken. The best thing we can do is just be happy and live good lives. Show her how to set a good example like how MeeMee and Pop Pop tell us to do. Do you think you can do that?”
Amie nodded and gave me a giant squeeze. “I can do that, Daddy. I will be so happy that it will help Mommy. Ooh! Maybe she can come home soon.”
That’s not going to happen, little one, I thought, but didn’t say. Tonight was not the night for that conversation. Besides, I still needed to find someone to watch her while I went and dealt with the one person I most wanted to avoid.
“Do you think you could stay here and play with your dolls? Daddy’s got to make a phone call.” Amie nodded enthusiastically and announced that she was going to dress her dolls up to get them ready to play what she called Fashion Show. Leaving my daughter to her fun, I grabbed my phone and headed downstairs. The quiet, peaceful night I’d pictured had suddenly taken a sharp detour straight into the danger zone. However much I wanted to, I couldn’t avoid my child’s mother. Not while she was still in possession of her rights. Part of me hoped that tonight she’d tell me that she was giving up all custody. I felt like a complete asshole for thinking that way, knowing how it would affect my little girl, but even Tami’s parents said it was for the best. They agreed that their daughter was toxic and a negative influence on their only grandchild. They also agreed that it was best if Amie didn’t have that influence in her life.
Once I reached our kitchen, I sat down at the island and dialed my sitter, hoping she’d be available on such notice. I had no idea that finding someone to stay with Amie would prove to be just as difficult as dealing with my ex.
ten
