Loving Cassie

Who's That Guy

Not very long, but I wanted to update before I went to bed. There are about 20 chapters I'm planning in total for this story and we're getting close to the end. I have three pre-written and will be updating in the next few days. Let me know what y'all think! 

xxKay

Dalton

Watching Cassie with that redneck had my blood boiling under my skin. I couldn't stand watching him flirt and show her affection, it made me me want to tear him to pieces. But, it wasn't what really got me. What made me want to run him over was the fact that he was touching my son and interacting with him when I should've been. Walker was unresponsive with me. He didn't want to play with anything I brought to him, wouldn't allow me to pick him up -- he screamed bloody murder any time I even got near him half of the time. But if Ward was even in the same vicinity? Walker was babbling softly and crawling toward him, or raising his hands in a silent demand to be picked up.

I knew it was my fault. I hadn't had anything to do with him since he had been born, there was no connection between us and even at just under a year old, he seemed to know this too. It ate at me, but it seemed there was nothing I could do and no matter how much I tried - and failed -  it seemed that nothing was going to change that fact.

And Cassie's family was definitely starting to notice. Her family had never been big on me, but they were usually pretty polite. Until this time. Not a single person was speaking to me, but that didn't bother me. They were also ignoring Carrie and in her hypersensitive state, it was causing her to have a melt down. She refused to leave but wouldn't come out of the damned room long enough to try to speak to anyone again. That did bother me and I knew something needed to be done about it.

My intentions had been to march out to the little man cave that Irvin had set up and confront Dave about his cool dismissal of his youngest daughter, but I got sidetracked.

That is, by the sight of Walker and Ward all chummy and sharing a small cup of homemade vanilla ice cream. I was mesmerized by the way Walker trusted the man holding him, how comfortable he seemed to be. A spike of jealousy drove through my gut.

That should've been me.

Walker was my son, my child. He'd come from a union between Cassie and me, and Ward, her bed buddy, had nothing to do with that. Not a single thing.

Red clouded my vision, or green would've been more appropriate, and I didn't realize I had even moved until the sound of a screaming child broke through the haze.

Walker.

On the ground screaming, a thick hand supporting his neck and head.
The chair they'd been sitting I toppled over along with the remnants of their frozen treat. People were gathered around, faces in different stages of anger and dismay. It was then I realized that Ward was lying under me silently, his arm outstretched to protect my son from harm.

"You're going to get the fuck off of me and pack your shit while I check on Walker. If there is anything wrong with him because of your actions, I will personally aid you in meeting your maker. Understood?"

*
Carrie was silent on the drive home. She hadn't actually spoken a word to me since I'd barged into our shared room and told her we were leaving her Uncle Irv's because I had business at home to attend to. The trip home was a little under three hours and Carrie wasn't the type to stay silent for longer than ten minutes. Radio static danced between us and the tension thickened with every mile that passed by.

"Do you still love her, Dalton?" Carrie asked softly. I glimpsed at her from the corner of my eye but she was facing away from me. I couldn't see her face and her tone gave nothing away. How was I supposed to answer this? Of course I loved Cassie, she was my wife, she had given me my first child, I would likely always love her. But, I had never been in love with her. Getting together in college was more about comfort and saying we had someone than passion. And I hardly ever saw Cassie without Carrie, which led to me taking note of her despite the age gap.

There was something about Carrie that captured attention immediately. Her multi-tone gold hair, the hazel eyes that danced with so much promise, or her plum pink lips that caused a man to double take. She was tall and lithe, endowed well, thanks to the German in her blood and carried herself with an unwavering confidence. Carrie was the flame and I was the moth.

And even now, years later, Carrie was this irresistible beauty, almost ethereal. But, it seemed that's all there was to Carrie. Beauty.

She didn't cook, clean or have any semblance of maternal instincts. She refused to help with anything involving the baby, complained constantly about her weight gain and would purposely skip meals. She didn't care that she could harm our child, wouldn't take her vitamins, and I had to drag her to her last doctors appointment. The doctor informed me that if she kept it up we would likely lose our little boy. We were only at month three and the risk of losing him was highly likely at this point. 

Her selfishness hadn't ceased to amaze me and I found myself wishing that we had never begun our affair in the first place. Cassie never would've done anything to endanger a child. As little as I had been around during her pregnancy, I knew how well she ate, how much she exercised, how she took her vitamins without fuss -- never complained of pains and cramps. She only ever shared her joys of pregnancy. Only told me of his movements, kicks, milestones as he grew weekly. I missed the way Cassie would take care of everything. I never had to worry about bills and food, dinner was always ready, laundry always done, house impeccably clean. Cassie took care of everything and I was honestly starting to miss her. The quirks and all.

"No," I said finally, but I wasn't sure how true that actually was.