Page 3 of Axel

Sure, Arlo might have craved a Daddy in his life, but the number one most important thing was his independence. It might have seemed like a contradiction, but Arlo truly appreciated the fact that he could live self-sufficiently, and this was in a large part down to his military training.

‘I wish it hadn’t ended like it did…’ Arlo said, applying the finishing touches to his fully loaded backpack. ‘But it wasn’t my fault. And I’ll never,eversay it was either.’

The truth was that when Arlo’s Little side was discovered, most of his fellow soldiers were cool with it. But most didn’t equalall. All it took was a couple of bullies finding out about Arlo’s other side and soon enough his life was being made hell on a daily basis.

What made matters worse was that when Arlo complained to his sergeant, he simply dismissed Arlo’s complaints out of hand. Arlo had been hurt by this, and he knew that if his direct commander didn’t support him then he was fighting an uphill battle.

As the weeks turned into months, Arlo became more and more depressed. The daily jokes, pranks, and outright hostility from a small number of bullies made Arlo lose his outgoing, happy, and determined outlook on life in service.

Soon, Arlo was rebelling against rules, doing his own thing, and finding himself in constant trouble with his superiors. It was a recipe for disaster.

And when it all came to a head, Arlo found himself out of the military with his reputation in tatters. Sure, he was in the process of filing an appeal against the judgement and also a complaint against his bullies and the sergeant, but Arlo knew that the odds were stacked against him.

All in all, it was a chapter of Arlo’s life that had started as the realization of a dream but ended up resembling nothing of the sort.

‘Poop,’ Arlo sighed, frustrated with himself that he had allowed his morning to be soured by thoughts of what had gone wrong in his life. ‘No more stinky thoughts this morning please. What I need is a milkshake with all the toppings and extras a Little could ever ask for. Now come on Eagle Ridge, don’t let me down…’

With that, a reinvigorated Arlo made one final check that his camp was clear and then began the trek into Eagle Ridge.

It was a step into the unknow, but Arlo feared no one or nothing.

But Arlo hadn’t met the Eagle Ridge Daddies yet…

Chapter 2

Axel

The McPherson residence was one of the nicest houses in all of Eagle Ridge. And this wasn’t surprising given that the McPherson family were the town’s richest family with a history dating back well over one hundred years.

As far as Axel was concerned though, no amount of money or historical success was more valuable than the trees that grew out of the Eagle Ridge ground. And it was with this in mind that Axel took a step back from the McPherson’s problematic fir tree and cast his expert eye over it once more.

‘We can save this old gentleman,’ Axel said, putting his hands on his hips and taking in as much of the tree as he could from ground level. ‘It won’t be easy, but it’ll sure as hell be worth it.’

Axel was forty-three years old and loved being a tree surgeon more than anything else in the world. Having grown up with an affinity for nature and the great outdoors, working as a tree surgeon had always been a natural fit for Axel – and to be able to do it in his hometown was the icing on the cake.

With his dark brown eyes and cropped black hair, Axel cut a handsome figure as he continued to survey the tree with his canine companion Laser by his side. Laser was a greyhound husky cross, and as his name suggested was more than capable to tearing across Eagle Ridge’s many green spaces at great speed.

‘We never cut a healthy tree down, ain’t that right?’ Axel chuckled, reaching down and playfully ruffling Laser’s ears. ‘And while this one might need some serious TLC, I know we can keep him standing for at least another fifty years.’

Laser barked in approval and then took himself away to explore the McPherson garden’s westerly quarter.

Alone with his thoughts, Axel set about making a rough plan for what steps he would need to take in order to make sure that the grand old fir tree would be safe and healthy for a new generation of McPherson’s to enjoy.

‘Hey, Axel, what’s the verdict?’ Jackson asked, walking from inside the large, rambling old mansion.

Jackson was the McPherson’s youngest son at thirty-two years old and in the last couple of years had taken a more prominent role in the running of the family business, McPherson Ltd. With his brothers and sisters living in New York, Jackson was more than happy to take charge and show his parents that he was more than capable of being the number one son when it came to ensuring that their business continued to thrive.

‘The verdict…’ Axel said, jotting some measurements down in his notepad. ‘the verdict is that I can keep this wonderful specimen firmly planted in the ground. But we’ll need to make some strategic cuts, and also put in place some stabilizing ties to retrain the growth.’

‘In English,’ Jackson chuckled.

‘We’re good,’ Axel laughed. ‘I can save the tree.’

The two men laughed. Axel and Jackson might not have had much in common, but there was one thing that bonded the two of them. And it was a pretty damn big thing to bond over too.

Both Jackson and Axel were Daddies.

And unfortunately, both of them were single too.

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