Page 71 of Maximum
“No, of course not.”
Putting her hand on the four-month-old boy, Fleur made a low cooing sound and the little boy blinked his eyes at her before he stopped crying. It was like a small miracle and Lumi quickly asked: “You want to hold him?”
Fleur nodded eagerly and when Lumi placed her son carefully in Fleur’s arms, the expression on my girlfriend’s face was as peaceful as when I’d seen her communicate with animals. Moving closer, I took my nephew’s little hand and smiled at the way he lay calmly in her arms staring up at Fleur’s face.
“I know how you feel, little fella,” I said in a soft whisper. “I felt the same way the first time I saw her.”
Fleur smiled but didn’t take her eyes off the boy.
“He’s got good taste in women. Look at how he can’t stop staring at you,” I teased.
“He’s adorable.”
“So are you.” After kissing my nephew on the top of his hair, I whispered into Fleur’s ear. “One day you’ll be holdingourbaby.”
She kept smiling but didn’t reply. We were still using condoms and our talk about children had stopped after South Africa. I assumed she still longed for children, but that she didn’t want to bring it up again until she felt certain that she wanted them with me. I was in no hurry, but at the same time I worried that my warning about my tainted DNA was the reason she had dropped the subject.
Seeing Jolene walk inside and pull out toys from a small backpack with a cartoon figure on it, I followed her.
“You want the crayons?” Jolene laid out a coloring book on the sofa table for Rose to draw in before she sank down on her knees and grabbed a crayon herself.
“Oh hey, Max,” she said as I took a seat in the comfy chair next to them. “I wanted to thank you for visiting with Anthony Rochester. He agreed to an interview with me and was very forthcoming, answering all my questions.”
“That’s great, but listen, there’s something I want to ask you.”
“Sure, what is it?” With the red crayon in her hand, she turned all her attention on me.
“Did you ever consider not having children with Atlas because of him being the son of a psychopath?”
Jolene frowned. “Where is this coming from?”
Scratching my neck, I reframed my question. “I mean, did you ever worry that your own children would become mentally sick as well?”
Jolene took time before she answered. “Are you worried about having kids for that reason?”
“Fleur wants children and I want to understand the risks.”
“Okay.” Jolene caressed Rose’s brown hair. “Well, the obvious question is, are you a psychopath?”
I jerked my head back, not liking that question.
“Do you feel empathy, remorse, guilt, and shame?”
“Yes.”
“So does Atlas, which gives us the answer that despite being sons of a psychopath you both turned out fine.” Jolene angled her head. “Well, maybe fine isn’t the right word but you know what I mean.”
“But could our father’s rotten genes skip a generation?”
“Some studies suggest that there is a genetic component to antisocial personality disorder, but I read an interesting study from 2011 done on adopted children. It revealed that having a biological criminal father was related to psychopathic personality traits for male adoptees, but not for female adoptees.”
I frowned and nodded to my niece. “Does that mean Rose is safe?”
“Well, in general, there are fewer females with antisocial personality disorder, but I don’t think anyone can ever give you a guarantee if that’s what you’re looking for.”
I looked at the coloring book where Rose was making something resembling abstract art.
“Max, worrying isn’t going to help anything. Conor was a menace, but it’s hard to know if he was truly a psychopath or a sociopath. Liv met him and she’s convinced he was in the worst category, but that’s based on his actions and not on any psychiatric evaluation, so I’m finding it hard to diagnose him. Could be that most of his wicked personality was a product of his upbringing.”
