Breton - be proud of yourself...it sounds like you did a beautiful job in handling the conversation. It sounds like you kept your cool, your humor and your DBing. Good for you!
I understand where you are coming from with regard to custody. My H has never said that he wants custody and, in fact, has said that the girls are better off with me.
But MLC is a strange thing....I can't ignore that he didn't mean it, or he changed his mind or whatever. It is the one thing that I want/need and causes me the most stress....
You are doing the right thing in getting legal counsel on this issue.
Honestly, he is probably just like my H and will want his freedom, but you need to be prepared for anything.....