DR. ROGERS: A Steve Rogers Story

FOUR

"Mommyyyyyyy!!" I heard. I turned to see Ashton racing into my apartment.

I grabbed him and hugged him tight. "Oh my goodness! Hi buddy!"

He giggled as I kissed his warm cheek. He was so cute.

Colton came in. I smiled.

"Hi." I said.

"Hey." He whispered.

I would always have love for Colton, being that he was the father of my kid. We got pregnant by accident, and he married me three months later. But I would always love him for being such a good dad and husband.

I set Ashton down and moved to Colton. He pulled me into a hug.

"You doing okay?" He asked. I nodded.

"I'm fine." I whispered. He kissed my cheek.

"Mommy and daddy! You two love each other still?" Ashton asked. "Daddy is kissing Lola's mommy Sarah."

I pulled away and picked Ashton up again. "Daddy's just greeting me." I whispered. I kissed his temple.

Cole sucked air between his teeth. "Shit." He whispered. I sighed, looking at Ashton again. He was watching how frustrated Colton got.

"You need to tell me all about kindergarten. Cole you're staying in the guest room on the right if you wanna get settled in. And Ash I have a room decorated just for you."

"I wanna see!" He said.

"Okay. Let's go look."

———

Colton and I sat on the couch. Ashton was in bed.

"Look I'm sorry about what happened. It's just habit."

"I know. But if you're dating someone, you need to get out of that habit. It's hard enough that his parents are divorced and he's watching his dad kissing another girl in his house."

"Don't fucking say it like that. God that pisses me off."

"What? That I don't want our kid seeing that?"

"You barely have any rights to our kid, so why does that matter?"

I stayed silent. I couldn't even fathom what he just said to me.

"Okay. I'm gonna head to bed." I whispered, holding back tears.

"Wait. Noa I didn't mean it like that.."

"Like what? Like I'm a fuck up parent? No. I get it. I understand. But I am just as much of a parent as you. Your job lasted two fucking minutes. I carried that kid. I nursed him. I stayed up all night and then went to work the next day like it was nothing for him. I did so much that you didn't fucking see. And you're gonna put it back on me like always about the job and how I had the easy way out. Whatever."

I went to the sink, angrily washing dishes. I was trying to hold myself together.

"Noa."

"Please Colton. Just stop...you kicked me out of the house. The house that I still pay mortgage on for you. You stripped me of every right from my child like I was a fuck up parent that walked out. You turned everything on me and yet, I still loved you. I still love you. I tried so hard to forgive everything about it. And now, you've completely moved on. Was our relationship nothing to you at all?"

"It meant everything to me. And you gave me nothing in return. I barely even saw you. I slept in an empty bed most nights. You were always distant and crabby. So yeah, once I found someone I jumped on it so that I could make up for lost time of someone caring about me."

I nodded, gripping onto the counter. "You know I was so excited to see you this weekend. To reconnect again. And now there's this."

"What, did you think I was gonna fuck you and ask if I could move here and we could live our boring life again?"

I didn't say anything. I just burst into tears on the spot, setting my head on the counter.

"Here we go again."

I realized that he was even more pissed. I wiped my tears, walking to my room.

I closed my door, going to my bed. My empty bed.

Fuck this.

———

I woke up to a body cuddling into mine. I glanced down, seeing Ashton. I smiled, kissing his head and moving to rest him on my chest. I rubbed his little back.

"Good morning mama."

"Good morning sweetheart." I whispered.

I heard Colton walk down the hall. The door was wide open. He saw me, giving me sad eyes, but a little smile. I sat up a bit, holding my son and giving him a dark stare. His smile faded.

He continued with his sorry eyes. I mouthed the words 'fuck you' to him, making him leave.

After a few minutes, my baby pulled away.

"Go get breakfast from dad while I get ready, okay?"

"Daddy said there's no food in the house."

I sighed. "Okay. Then we will go out and get pancakes. How about that?"

He nodded eagerly and ran out. I went to the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth, quickly brush through my curls from the day before, and then go out and get ready.

I put a simple outfit on before walking out of my room. Colton and Ashton were ready. I took Ash by the hand and walked out of the apartment with my purse and phone. Colton followed behind.

"Noa. Wait-"

I continued walking until Ashton pulled on my arm.

"Wait for daddy."

I sighed. Colton caught up with me. Ashton ran down to the elevator.

"You do not have to be this much of a bitch."

I took a deep breath. "Do not talk to me. Do not text me at all unless it is about Ashton. I don't want anything to do with this."

"Hey. Look. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. We just got caught up and I was angry and-"

"I can't fucking stand to hear you talk about it anymore. Stop. Please."

"Whatever."

I just wanted him to go home and I wanted Ashton to stay here. I couldn't stand this.