Chasing the Shrew

Mine

Dustin was too preoccupied with Amelia and his children to notice that he was being watched.

Chris scowled; what is Dustin doing here? He sidled up to Amelia, “Hi Amelia!”

Amelia turned and saw Chris, her face brightened immediately, “Chris!! You’re here! Don’t you have work today?”

Chris smiled, “Nothing too busy, so I took some time off to hang out with the kids. Anything I can help with?”

Dustin turned to look at Amelia and frowned when he saw Chris. Chris smiled and walked up to him.

“Hello Dustin, long time no see.”

Dustin shook his hand coldly, “I saw you last Christmas.”

Chris smirked and let it go, “So what are you doing here?”

Dustin looked over to Amelia, “I need to speak with my ex-wife.”

Chris’ eyes grew wide in shock, “Amelia is your ex-wife?”

Amelia glared at Dustin, “Something, I don’t like to remember. I am done here. I don’t want to fight with you in front of the children so let’s move inside.”

She turned and walked into the house. Dustin followed immediately. Chris made sure another adult was watching over the children before he moved to follow Dustin.

Amelia walked into the empty kitchen and sat down in a chair closest to the door. Once Dustin walked in, she pointed to a chair further away, “Sit, I don’t like you towering over me.”

Chris stopped outside of the kitchen and leaned up against the wall, out of sight.

Dustin scowled but sat down in the indicated chair.

“I investigated you. You delivered the children a little under seven months after you left me. They were of healthy weight so the likelihood of them being premature bastards is out of the question. You left me when you were pregnant. You stole my children and ran!”

Amelia gripped her trembling hands under the table. She tried to lie but no words would come out.

Dustin scoffed, “What? Do you think I couldn’t figure it out? You vicious b***h! You stole five years of their life from me! Now I am here to tell you I will take them back with or without you. Since you never told me, you can come back as my mistress and live as such for the rest of your life. Or you can give up your children and be free of me.”

His heart squeezed as he spoke, something like a conscious rattling his brains but he ignored it, hoping his words would hurt Amelia. He wanted to drag her through the trenches that he went through when he found out she had abandoned him when she had a chance to hold on. When he found out the children were most likely his, he felt pangs of despair and regret which he thought were just anger for her betrayal.

Amelia’s eyes grew wide and a slow hiss came out, “You want to rip my children out of my arms? You …”

Dustin cut her off like he always did, “No, I gave you a choice. You can come back with them.”

“As a third wheel?! What does that make my children?! Illegitimate bastards? How can you subject your children to that kind of life?”

Dustin roared, “It was you who made that decision! If you told me you were pregnant, then I wouldn’t have divorced you and they would be my legitimate firstborns!”

Amelia stood up, “I left you without telling you because the night you broke up with me, I realized one truth: you never loved me. I was just the obedient f*ck toy that you discarded because I didn’t have a family name to back me. I knew that if my children were born you would someday rip them from me and kick me to the side when Miss Right came along. What would happen to my children? Hm? You aren’t an i***t. You should know that your future wife would have bullied and tormented my children.”

Dustin retorted, “My family would have never allowed for that.”

Amelia laughed, “Your family HATED me. If your wife bore you a child they would be happy to cast mine aside. My babies would live in the shadows, their talents would be stifled, and their existence would be mocked as ‘less than’ for the rest of their lives.”

Dustin shook his head, “That would still be better than what they are doing now. Look how you let them squander their time with these lowlives! You are ruining them!”

Amelia’s eyes widened, “Lowlives? Just because these orphans were abandoned and have no assets to their names? Don’t you see that each child has the potential to be better if they were only given a chance? I let my children help and play here because I want to teach them humility. I want to teach them to be grateful for what they have and to share it freely with others. I was once a “lowlife” myself but I persevered, I graduated, I went to college, I got a decent respectable job and I did well until I met you!”

Dustin sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Fine, I will register them as my children. That way even if I remarry they would not be looked down upon.”

Amelia roared, “Don’t do us any favors! By all means, pretend you never saw us and continue with your life. Why drag us all into misery?”

“Because I am miserable!!”

Amelia paused. Dustin took a deep breath and spoke again with a softer tone, “I saw you all at the villa in the morning the other day. You all looked so happy. I felt that I should have also enjoyed the happiness. I..”

“You were the one who gave me the divorce papers telling me the reason was because I was substandard.”

“You should have told me you were pregnant.”

Amelia’s voice cracked as she spoke, “Tell me, Mr. Roger… for once, try to think about it from my perspective. If someone you love with all your heart comes to you and tells you that you are unfit to be married to them. You are just some hussy who got lucky and was knocked up after a one-night stand, take the alimony and save everyone the trouble… would you have stayed? Would you be able to continue as a family?”

Dustin murmured, “For the sake of the children, you should have tried.”

Amelia laughed as tears poured down her face, “Dustin, do you even hear yourself? This is why I left! You and your family are toxic. I do not want my precious children to take after you heartless lot! If you feel any remorse for what you put me through six years ago, I beg you, let us go.”

Dustin stood up his face grim, “No. The children are mine. YOU are mine!”

He moved closer towards her as if wanting to hug her.

Amelia screamed.