Ex with Benefits (sequel to Roommates with Benefits)

Sick and Tired

CHAPTER 1

TARA'S POV

"Did you hear me?!" He barked for the third time. Of course she didn't hear him, she never hears him ... 

I sighed, exasperated. "Lukas ..." I tried to mend, but of course, he was in for the kill, as he always is when it comes to her. I wonder, how can't he see the similarities? She's his carbon copy, for Pete's sakes. I wouldn't have been here with them, I wasn't supposed to be, but I knew they would fight and, as the counselor says, the more we are able to avoid conflict, the better. As mother, I'm obviously supposed to be the referee between them, try to tone down the conflict, but I gotta be honest, it's getting harder and harder day by day.

"Nicole!" He barked, my poor eardrums suffering it all. Glancing in the rearview mirror, predictably, I saw my daughter unscathed, still intent on listening to her music, which I could hear, too, given how loud it was. Good thing I dropped off Gloria and Zach before drama took place.

I don't blame my husband for being angry, this is the third school she changes in a matter of months, next step is going to be Catholic college, I'm afraid, he's determined, and I'm not that much against it either, if I gotta be honest. 

I'm so tired of coming back home to their fights, they can never be in the same room without waging war. Ugh, it was so easy when she was a child ... daddy here, daddy there, now she hates even the sight of him. Sometimes I do, too, but that's different. I mean, I'm his wife, after all the crap throughout the years, I have every right to hate his guts.

"What?!" Nicky groaned when he slipped off her headphones, which obviously had a brutally cold stare contest follow. Eyes in slits, jaws clenching, teeth gritting ... the storm was about to hit us. Again.

Hence, I sighed, rolling my eyes as I turned to the backseat. "Nicky, grab your things and go to class." I ordered, trying to balance sweetness with authority. I'd never thought I'd be the good cop in parenting, but, well, I guess that when you marry a former bad boy, it's obvious you sign up for that role. My daughter is the result of two stubborn bulls like me and her father, so it's no surprise that she didn't budge. "Nicky ... you'll be late. Come on, go. We'll talk later."

Three never-ending minutes of unbearable tension later, my 16-years-old daughter finally decided to listen for once. She grabbed her backpack and, scowling, she stepped off the car, obviously ignoring her father as he yelled they weren't over yet.

"Why the hell did you let her leave?!" Lukas barked against me. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I gripped the wheel tighter. I wasn't in the mood to fight, not again, I'm so damn tired of all this, so freaking tired. Ignoring his rant about how am I supposed to stick by his side, back him up when he faces our daughter's tantrums, that if I keep on spoiling her, she's gonna wind up on a bad route – worse than she's already been, that is –, and blah, blah, blah.

It's my fault. According to my husband, it's absolutely and undoubtedly my fault if our daughter is so undisciplined, I spoiled her, I stuck by her side, stood up for her every time he scolded her, so it's my fault, I made of her the rotten, ungrateful smart ass she is.

I drove off, trying hard to tune my husband out, because, really, I wasn't at all in the mood for another fight, my job is killing me, I have two children to raise while the third one puts me through hell on a regular basis, and to top it all off, my husband is a jerk for crying out loud. No, I don't have the patience for this.

When 18 years ago I accepted to form a family together, I really didn't imagine it would be so hard. Yes, I did consider there would be ups and downs, but I thought we could overcome them, when we met up for the high school reunion 12 years ago, I thought we could survive through everything, because we'd already had our crises ... I never fathomed this.