Asia giggled, and Marissa shot me a look over her shoulder. How the fuck a mother couldn’t remember one of the things her own child hated was beyond me. Nevertheless, my ex-wife decided to drop it, and I was glad she did. Because usually, she made drama out of the slightest things that inconvenienced her.
“Why don’t you tell Mommy all about what happened, yeah?” Marissa asked.
She turned back to Asia and waited patiently, but I saw my daughter staring over her mother’s shoulder at me.
“It’s okay. Go ahead,” I said.
Marissa shot me a look as she craned her neck back. “No one in this room needs your permission for my daughter to talk to me.”
“Mom, stop,” Asia whispered.
She turned her attention back to our daughter. “Come on. It’s okay. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”
I rolled my eyes at that sentiment. Yeah, anyone could talk to Marissa about anything. If they were ready for an hour lecture on everything, they were doing wrong.
Why did I marry this woman again?
Oh. Right. Because getting her pregnant while not wedded didn’t sit well with her conservative Romanian parents.
As their stunted conversation ensued, I made my way into the corner and sat down. Up until recently, Asia’s asthma had been easy to control. If she felt an attack coming on, one or two pumps from her inhaler kicked it to the curb. But, lately? Her attacks were more frequent.
Which had me worried.
The kicker, though, was the fact that they started getting worse when Marissa left town for this new modeling job. And she wasn’t going to be done with the damn job for at least three weeks. While she was still in the state of Florida, she was up there by the Georgia line snapping pictures for some winter magazine spread she was being featured in, which meant that taking care of Asia fell onto my shoulders until she got back.
And while we had an okay co-parenting relationship, there was a trend with Marissa’s job. The time she spent away from home—and away from Asia—kept getting longer and longer.
I have to find stability for Asia’s life.
I knew that was what caused these attacks, and I knew they wouldn’t stop until Asia got what she needed. Bouncing between my house and my ex-wife’s place whenever she had to go off and do something simply wasn’t cutting it. And with all my might, I wished I could rewind time and take Marissa to court in order to get an on-paper custody agreement.
The two of us had agreed to talk shit out like adults when it came to Asia’s schedule.
But, I didn’t realize it would lead to such disjointed time between the two of us.
Marissa’s cooing pulled me from the recesses of my mind. “Yeah, it’s okay, sweetheart. You just get some rest. Mommy will be right here when you wake up, okay?”
Asia sniffled. “Daddy, too?”
I walked up and sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ll always be here, princess. Okay?”
I took her small hand within mine and watched my daughter’s watery eyes find my gaze. It broke my heart to see her so tired and so confused. But, she was the safest in this hospital. And even if we had to stay another night, it would be worth it, even if it did spark a fight between Marissa and me.
“Can I speak with you for a second, please?” she asked.
I sighed. “Can it wait? I’m really not in the mood to fight.”
She scoffed, “I don’t want to fight with you. I just want to talk about our schedules.” Which was code for “this job is going to take longer than I thought.”
“Sure. Yeah. Let’s step outside,” I said.
Asia gripped my hand. “Come back soon?”
I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I promise.”
Marissa kissed our daughter’s hand. “Me, too. Okay?”
Asia didn’t acknowledge her, and that told me everything I needed to know. As much as I respected Marissa for trying—and as much as I loved her for giving me Asia—she wasn’t cut out to be the stability Asia needed. She wasn’t willing to compromise her career like I’d had to do so many times in order to pick up the slack she had dropped. She wasn’t willing to do what was necessary to change her life to give Asia what she needed.
