Is Cole DeBoer a concerned stepfather who should be applauded for how much he truly cares?
Or did Chelsea Houska’s husband cross a line on the most recent episode of Teen Mom 2?
This is the question fans of the MTV reality staple are surprisingly being forced to debate this week.
Tuesday, viewers watched as Cole took offense when Chelsea’s ex, Adam Lind, send daughter Aubreee a text message that read as follows:
“Hey, baby girl, it’s your dad.”
This, of course, is biologically true.
The 11-year old came into the world back when Houska and Lind were an item, but their relationship has since disintegrated to such a point that Chelsea is thinking of filing for full custody.
Lind has been in trouble with the law on numerous occasions and isn’t considered a positive influence on Aubree.
Or society. At all.
On the most recent run of Teen Mom 2 episodes, Houska’s storyline has centered on her oldest child having just received a cell phone, and this week, on how she labeled Lind as “Dad” in the Contacts section.
Again, this is 100 percent true.
But nevertheless, it sorta stung for the guy who has been acting, for all intents and purposes, as dad.
“I was looking to be that contact, but we’ll get there,” Cole, who really has helped raise Aubree as his own, told Chelsea.
This has been viewed as an understandable remark. DeBoer sees her as his daughter and obviously loves her like one.
But then he took his frustrations a lot farther.
“It makes me want to vomit,” he said of Lind trying to be close with Aubree.
“I don’t like it when she gets that kind of stuff forced on her. If she wanted it, she would have asked for it,” he added of Lind even being given his daughter’s cell phone number.
“If she wanted to talk to him, she could talk to him! This is frustrating.”
Cole, again, much to his credit, has long been considered a loyal husband and very, very loyal step-father.
Late this summer, he expressed glee over the possibility of adopting Aubree as his legal child for good.
Still, some fans can’t help but point out that he isn’t actually Aubree’s dad. And he needs to understand his role.
“Cole seems really threatened by Adam and his parents, it’s getting weird,” wrote one critic on Reddit, for example.
Another added: “Aubree has a relationship with her bio dad who she wants to call Dad.”
Even if Dad is Adam Lind … can you blame her?
“Until she changes her mind on that, Chelsea and Cole need to shut the f–k up and respect Aubree’s decisions on something as small as a phone contact,” wrote this irate Teen Mom fan.
And then a third chimed in as follows:
“No one thinks that about Adam but Aubree is the only one who gets to decide who she calls ‘dad’ and Chelsea and Cole need to deal with it.”
Basically, the fan advises that they “put their own feelings aside and let Aubree make these realizations at her own pace.”
Cole and Chelsea got married in 2018, and Aubree proceeded to take on a joint surname with dad Adam and Cole.
It’s a complicated and awkward situation.
Lind has been awarded supervised visits with Aubree at her school for lunch after spending a decade rarely in her life.
We hope he turns things around, but he has not been a good dude up to this point, there’s no other way to say it.
Houska and DeBoer, meanwhile, are currently expecting their third child together - and her fourth overall.
We send them our best wishes on a happy and healthy pregnancy, and a happy family life, challenging as it is.
For the kids. Do it for the kids.