The silence was deafening between the two. It had never been like this. In the years they were together, there was laughter, love, endless talking about everything and anything… but silence? That was never something that occurred between the two. This wasn’t to say their relationship was perfection. No relationship was - they fought, they made up. But this… this was different. Was there fixing this? Fixing what the two had come to? Riker Alexander Taylor had absolutely no idea. After a long time, he heard a simple noise come out of her lips. A simple Oh that meant nothing, and soon they fell into silence once again - the only noise in the room being the sounds of Lexie drinking her milk.
Maybe what he said next was crude… the sentiment about what happens when a child’s mother leaves but what was he supposed to do? He was… hurt… everything hurt. It hurt that they weren’t… what they used to be. Riker still loved her… god he loved Elo with his entire heart. But it was love that was bogged down with all the pain over the last four months. And what frustrated him more was her answer to his statement… ‘yeah’… did see even fcking care? Why was she back if she clearly didn’t want to be? 20 years… 20 years meant… nothing?
“Yeah… she will. Will you be there for that or do you have another… business trip you need to take until she’s old enough to cook for herself?” he questioned, frustration dripping from his voice. But it was her next words that made his falter. Hate her? Riker could never hate Elodie. He just… wasn’t happy with her. But… how was he supposed to respond to that. Looking at her for a second, he didn’t respond. He just gave her an emotionless look as she asked if he wanted their daughter. Did she… did she really not even want to hold their little girl?
That was it… he said no other words when he carefully picked his little girl up - a smile on his lips when he looked at her. “Hello baby girl, how’s your day been? Good? Yeah, I know your momma hasn’t been around much but that’s okay. She still loves you,” Riker started speaking to the girl like Elo was no longer in the room - after all, if she wanted nothing to do with her than what was the point in trying… even if it pained him. After a few more seconds, he watched as she finished the bottle and slowly pulled it away from her. He pulled the baby against his chest and moved softly humming as he tried to bring her to sleep. “I don’t… do you even want to be a part of this family anymore or are you going to leave us too Elodie, because at this point, I rather you make a choice before Lexie grows up so she doesn’t have an absent parent for the rest of her damn life,” he whispered before walking out of the kitchen with his child in his hands.