Cooper has been on the phone for twenty-five minutes, and the last twenty of them have been an exercise in torture.
"You need to make sure you're considering his feelings, too, you know. Not just hers," his mother tells him tartly, and Cooper drops his head back with a sigh and slumps down further on the couch in his office. It's the end of the day, and he figured he'd cap it off with a phone call to his parents - a decision he's now thoroughly regretting.
"I know, mom," he tells her. "We are. Mason's been coming around a little. I think he's gonna be okay with all this."
"Two weeks ago you were worried he'd never adjust," she reminds, and he doesn't need the mention to recall the weeks of anxiety they've lived through. When they first found out, Cooper had been thrilled at how excited Mason seemed to be, and then - bam. Shut down. But lately, it hasn't been so bad...
"Well, that was two weeks ago. A lot can change in two weeks of a pregnancy. Speaking of..." Maybe he shouldn't go here, but his mother's tone about this whole thing is just rubbing him the wrong way, and he can't resist. "Charlotte's fine, too, by the way," he mutters, pointedly. "She's doing great, aside from the migraines, but even those are better. And the baby is good - strong heartbeat, growing like a weed."
"Cooper," his mother chides - clearly she doesn't appreciate his tone, but he's frustrated. It's been twenty minutes of her fretting over how this pregnancy is going to affect Mason, and Cooper, but without a lick of excitement about the baby or a drop of concern for Charlotte.
"She's my wife, mom."
"I'm well aware." And none too pleased, as she never misses an opportunity to let him know. Her voice is dripping with it tonight - a mix of contempt, irritation, disappointment. "But she's a grown-up, and the symptoms of her pregnancy are quite frankly none of my concern."
"Our pregnancy!" he blurts. "It's my baby, too. It's not just hers, it's mine, and you'd think you could show just a ilttle bit of excitement over the fact that I'm having another child, that you're getting a new grandkid, but no." He props his feet on the coffee table in front of him, shuts his eyes and squeezes the bridge of his nose lightly. "Do you really hate Charlotte so much that you can't even be happy for us?"
"We are happy for you-"
"No, you're not."
"It's just that now you're tied to her, Cooper. Forever. There's no untangling yourself from that woman once you have a child together."
His head hurts. Literally, there's a throbbing ache starting up over his temples, a physical manifestation of the frustration, and hurt, and anger that he feels every time this conversation rolls around.
"I'm married to her, mom," he reminds, again. "We're already tied together."
"Half of all couples these days get divorced," his mother dismisses. "Marriage doesn't have to be permanent - just ask Charlotte."
"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence," he mutters grimly, entirely unappreciative of that particular barb.
"But a baby-"
"It's done!" he cuts her off, because this is a useless argument to be having. "She's already pregnant, mom. You can hate it all you want, but the baby has already happened, so just... God, just let it go. And like you said, we're all stuck together forever, so just... Just give her another chance."
"You've already given her enough for all of us," his mother counters, and Cooper has the overwhelming urge to throw things, but he keeps it in check.
"Yeah," he sighs. "I have. And she's amazing. And our marriage is amazing, and our family is amazing. So if you guys want to act like this, then... God, fine. Whatever. You can be mad about the whole thing, but all it's going to do is put distance between you, and her, and me, and your grandchildren." He's exhausted now, and he needs to head home, so he tells her, "I have to go."
"Cooper-"
"No, mom, I have to get home to my wife and my son. Bye."
He hangs up on her - a rare occurrence in their relationship, but he's so angry right now, he doesn't even know what to do with himself. He forces himself to count down from ten to try to quell his ire - and when that doesn't work, he adds ten more, and then another ten, and finally he's calmed down enough to head home.
When he gets there, Charlotte is in the kitchen, making mac and cheese while Mason tells her all about the book he's supposed to be reading this summer. Cooper puts his conversation with his mother out of his mind, and joins them. His parents can approve or not, it makes no difference tonight.