Inferno Part 2

~42~ Ultimatum

Mason's POV

I'm staring at Sasha, and I'm not sure what to do. Is she actually breaking up with me? She is hands-down, the woman of my dreams. She has made me the happiest I have ever been. I have never loved
anyone as much as I love her.

"Please, Sasha. Please give me another chance. I can fix this." I say, grabbing her hands and making her look at me.

"How?" She asks, biting her lip and looking at the bed.

I don't know.

"I'll fix it" I say again.

She looks at me and shakes her head. "That's not going to work anymore. I don't want blanket statements. I want you to verbally give me your plan on how to fix this. These kids are HORRIBLE. I'm just done, Mason."

I see it on her face. If I don't figure it out right this second, I'm going to lose her. I will have to move out, and only see my son part-time. I've still got a chance, but it's now or never. Shit.

"I don't know" I cry. I don't want to be my dad. I don't want to scare these poor kids worse. They have been scared their whole lives.

"You promised me this wouldn't drive a wedge between us" I sniff.

"You're driving the wedge between us" she snaps.

I just look at her. How could she say that? I've been just as busy as she has. This hasn't been easy for me at all.

"How the hell have I done that?" I ask with more attitude than intended.

"You picked your side. Drew and I are on the other side."

I shake my head. "This is bullshit, Sasha. I've pulled so many all-nighters with you I felt like I was back in school. I've spent countless nights up with Drew so you could have a few hours of sleep. This is bullshit. You're acting like I have let the two of you fend for yourselves." I spit. I'm getting mad. I've worked my ass off too.

She shakes her head. "You've been here physically. You've been great. You're not here mentally or emotionally, though. Your mind is always on the kids. They're not as fragile as you think. Maybe in the very beginning, but not now. They're just using you now, and you're letting them."

I just stare at her. Even though she's 19, she acts older. More mature.

"So what do you suggest I do?" I ask, softening my tone. She's hurting. I'm still not completely convinced that she and I are together. Her eyes were pretty serious. We might very well be broken up.

"I suggest you punish them."

I just look at her.

"I've grounded Dylan several times" I argue softly.

"It's not enough, Mason" she sniffs.

"So, what? You want me to spank them? Tell me if I'm remembering this conversation correctly, but it seems to me that we talked about this when we first got together. I told you that if you needed me to spank our children that I needed to know that then. I told you it was something I was never comfortable with." I'm so irritated, I'm losing my cool again.

She just nods. "Yeah. If this was Drew, we would be here for his entire upbringing. He will have boundaries. We can probably make it work if you're completely against it, but Mason, they're not good. Josie is sweet, yes, but she's manipulative. Dylan is just absolutely horrible. He's mean. They need spanked."

I feel sick. I can't spank these kids.

"And if I won't?" I ask with dread in my stomach.

She looks at me hard. "Then I can't be with you anymore."