Cathy, Ilse'sPurple Summer, jadeMK11 and DragonBby: Thank you all and I agree with all of you. Enough is enough when it comes to Cooper.
...
James made love to Mindy that night as hard and as many times as he could until he wore her down and got her to fall asleep. As much as he appreciated her not wanting to leave him, there was no way he was going to let her face off with Caroline. Not if he could help it. He didn't want anything happening to her or his unborn child and honestly, this was something he needed to do alone. Mindy's love and support gave him a spine that he had lacked as a kid and just knowing that she would be there waiting for him once he was done made him all the more eager to just get it over with already. He gave her one last kiss before carefully getting out of bed. He moved the covers up more over her so she wouldn't get cold and then checked on Vanessa to make sure she was still asleep in her bassinet. Taylor and Natalya were keeping the rest of the kids together and to try to take the load off of them, he had taken Vanessa with him and Mindy. Aiden and Elizabeth were more likely to wake Mindy up and he didn't want that. Not tonight.
He slipped on a plain black t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants before creeping downstairs, practically feeling his way down since everyone else was in bed and all the lights were off. He got himself to the staircase and gripped the railing as he went down, trying his hardest not to fall and break his neck. Once he was downstairs he made his way into his office. He flipped the light on as he went in and closed and locked the door behind him. His skin crawled as a chill went through him and he shook his head. "Don't even fuck with me Caroline. Just come on out."
"Well look at you..." Caroline's voice drawled out as she appeared before him. She had her hands behind her back which meant that she most likely was holding something. He didn't find himself particularly caring what it was. He just glared at her as she chuckled dryly at him. "Someone's feeling brave."
"Was killing the puppy actually necessary?" he asked.
"It was ALIVE wasn't it?" she laughed coldly though he was far from amused.
"Is this really how you have to get your rocks off these days? Because I gotta say, it's kind of pathetic."
Caroline raised her eyebrows. "Pathetic huh?"
"Oh yeah."
"That's the pot calling the kettle black boy."
"Oh but I've clearly learned from the best." He stepped up to Caroline, getting right into her face and taking her by surprise. He had never really done that back when she was alive. She had completely intimidated him when he was growing up. He had let her run right over him quite frankly. He had been a kid all he had known was her terrifying law. Now though, he almost found himself wishing she was alive just so he could actually knock her in the face. "I mean, haunting someone whom you've claimed to hate with every fiber of your being?" He snorted and laughed in disbelief. "That's not just pathetic, that's just stupid."
Caroline scowled. "Excuse me?"
"Oh you heard me." What was she gonna do? Hit him with another hammer? If she was going to she would have done it already. That was the way she always had been: hit first and then ask the questions. "My whole life all you ever did was yell about how much you hated me and wished I wasn't born. Yet did you ever actually try to kill me beyond the original attempt with the wire hanger? Hmmm? Why didn't you try it? Why didn't you just throw me out instead of dealing with me if I was such a burden? Or better yet, why have you kept coming back despite being DEAD?"
"YOU don't let me rest, " Caroline snapped.
"BULLSHIT!" He slapped a palm down on to the back of his chair which was right by him and shook his head. "You fucking came back and terrorized me and my family because Baby Doll told me to FORGIVE you and put you behind me. And now you're back because….what? I'm not dwelling over you? I don't need you?" He pointed his finger at her and got even more in her face. "I'm fucking done with this shit."
"Oh look at you Mr. fucking tough guy now-"
"And were YOU so tough beating me up when I couldn't DEFEND myself?" he shot right back. "No. You weren't. I used to think you were fucking terrifying but you're nothing but a bully who spouts the same bullshit over and over and over again and it's an act you can take somewhere else. I don't care if it's hell or if you go fuck with some other family. I don't even care. Just fucking stay away from me and my family."
"You're REALLY going to talk to your mother like that boy?"
"I never had a mother," he replied. "Nothing you did besides give birth to me qualified you to be a mother. And guess what? That's fine. I never needed you like I thought I did. What I need is right here in this house."
"Oh right, your precious Baby Doll." Caroline laughed, her form fading more and more by the second. "The woman you'd sell your kids down the river for-"
"I don't recall ASKING for your opinion," he snapped. "My wife and my kids are NONE of your concern. They're not targets for you to spew your fucking shit at. That's the real reason you kept me around wasn't it? You're nothing it you have nobody to terrorize." He leaned forward so his face was barely an inch from hers. "I don't feel like playing that game anymore Caroline. I don't. I'm done. Now get out of my FUCKING house."
Caroline's eyes narrowed and they both just stared at each other. Caroline was fading right before his eyes. Whether she wanted to or not, she was fading away. She growled and took her hands from behind her back, going for his throat with a wire hanger that he hadn't known that she had. He snatched it right out of her hand rather easily and without even thinking he dragged it across his own throat for her. It could be seen as an act of defiance he supposed; showing her he wasn't scared and that trick wasn't going to work. It just felt kind of dumb though once the pain set in and the blood started to flow. It worked though. Caroline disappeared without so much as a whimper and he threw the wire down and pressed his hand over his bleeding throat as he immediately went to the bathroom so he could clean himself up. If Mindy saw what he did she was going to raise an absolute fit.