Roxy felt a dull flash of anger at the first thing he said -- it was always that excuse, wasn’t it? For a man who acted like he thought so much of himself so often, Caden was quick to say he couldn’t do it or he wasn’t good at it when it came to work on himself. That wasn’t a fair reaction though, and she knew it. Roxy was just frustrated, because he was partly right. Neither of them could know who he could turn into, and it very well could be that Caden currently didn’t have the capacity to change. Maybe she was being impatient, but they’d been together so long already ... “I know you’re trying, I do see that,” she murmured softly. “And things have definitely been better.” She sighed as the familiar weight of guilt pressed down on her chest. She was asking too much, rushing him too much, needing too much. Roxy tried to be everything Caden needed, but she had to wait for him to either improve or not at his own unassisted pace. It didn’t seem fair. But maybe that was just her lot in life as a woman. “You’re wrong though, I do love you. I don’t always love your behavior, but I don’t always love my own either. I just want better for you, I want you to be happier and healthier, and not just for my own sake. That’s how I love.”
"I'm trying." And he was. He just wasn't sure his "progress" would be enough. Caden knew what it was she wanted but it felt like an insanely steep hill to climb for him. Obviously he knew the right thing to do would be to end things and let her go to find someone who could give her what she wanted, but he felt like he was too inherently selfish to do that. At least at the moment. Caden just wasn't sure he could be what she wanted him to be. "But... you just have to understand that I don't want... kids. I don't. I'm sorry, Roxy. I have my niece and... Aaron's baby." It was too difficult to mention Jasper, so he didn't. "For me, that's enough right now. Maybe I'll get to a better place, but I don't know that it'll ever change for me."
Roxy took note that Caden called Amelia ‘my niece’ and not ‘our niece’ and there was that sense of alienation again, that she wasn’t really part of this family. She was sure he hadn’t meant it like that, but that didn’t matter. Even if it was subconscious, the separation was there. Caden didn’t really want to marry her and he didn’t want kids with her and that was that -- her needs didn’t matter here. All she could feel at the moment was sad. Sad and tired, and she didn’t want to talk anymore. Gazing down at the dog’s head, Roxy gave a slow nod. “I understand,” she murmured. What it meant for them long-term, she had no idea. The burden of the decision felt like it rested fully on her shoulders, because Caden was obviously content with the way things were. She just couldn’t say anything definite yet. This wasn’t the time or place anyway. Roxy thumbed away a couple of stray tears from under her eyes. “Sorry to ... drag you into this today.”
Caden didn't exactly know what this conversation meant, or what it would lead to, but he knew he needed to try harder, if he wanted to keep her. Maybe, eventually, she would decide the kids thing would be a deal breaker, but that was a decision she was going to have to make on her own. "You didn't drag me into anything," Caden said. He stood up and walked over, bending down enough to kiss the top of her head. "Let's just... try... both of us, okay? You want me to leave you alone in here for a while?"