Page 57 of Vex

Nothing but big smiles from each of the girls, but Axel’s determined.

“Say Axel! Uncle Axel! Come on, sweethearts, you can say it. Axel!” he continues.

“Mac,” says the twin on the right, followed closely by the other with “Mac.”

Clear as day, their first word that I know of is Mac. That’s definitely going to put a few feathers up Axel’s ass. I snort out a laugh at the look on his face, and Taja follows suit when Mac mimics the girls giggle.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Axel exclaims loudly. “Axel! Say Uncle Axel. Axel! Axel!”

“Mac,” the twins say together.

“Both of you take that back! No, no, no, no! Axel! Axel! It’s easy to say! Spit it out girls—Axel!”

“Asssssssss,” says the twin on the left.

“Asssssssss,” says the other twin immediately after.

“Got that right!” Mac bellows while Taja and I lose our shit at Axel’s dismay with his nieces.

“Fuck me sideways. Mac’s brainwashed my nieces!” Axel whines.

“Wuck me. Wuck me,” right twin spouts loudly.

“Stop right now! No! Don’t say that ever again!” Axel shouts.

“Wuck me. Wuck me. Wuck meeeeeeee,” left twin giggles while pointing her tiny, chubby little finger at Axel.

“Mom’s gonna kill you,” Mac says in a gleeful voice.

He’s loving this. He may not need his cashews after all when Ava finds out what words Axel taught her daughters. I want to be around for that showdown.

“Just say Mac. It’s okay. Stick with Mac,” Axel implores the girls.

“Wuck meeeeee!”

“No! Stop that right now! Say Mac! Hell, say daddy! I don’t care what you say just don’t say that again! Please girls, save your uncle!” Axel says in a desperate voice.

Taja and I are definitely enjoying the shit show that Axel got rolling. Watching him panic gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. He hands out so much shit to the rest of us, and it’s nice watching him get some back.

“Wuck me!” hollers right twin again.

“Axel! My office, right now!” roars Gunner.

Axel’s head drops, chin to chest, in resignation of what’s about to happen. He heaves a big sigh before he stands slowly and removes little Alex from her sling and kisses her forehead. He carefully hands her over to Taja then removes the sling to set on the table. Turning to each of the twins, he gives them a kiss on the head before turning to me.

“Please tell my daughter how much I loved her while I was on this earth. Bailey too. Take care of them for me and make sure I live on in their memories,” Axel requests in a quiet tone before trudging slowly toward Gunner and the office.

“Last words?” Mac squawks.

“Yeah. Wuck me,” Axel replies.

Taja and I hang with the little ones while waiting to find out Axel’s fate. I know my grin’s a little evil when I hear Gunner’s voice at a booming level. I’m positive the walls have shaken a few times. I do kind of feel bad for Axel, but I’m also getting enjoyment out of this too.

Watching Taja, I know she’s going to be a great mom. She’s good with the twins and hasn’t stopped cuddling Alex since she got her. She’s also saying the word “daddy” and “dada” over and over again probably hoping that might calm the beast if his little angels were to say that to him.

Mac has positioned himself near the office and is clearly trying to overhear what’s going on in there. Occasionally, Mac chuckles and lets out a loud “Muuuaaahhaaaaa” so I know things aren’t going in Axel’s favor. If he doesn’t survive Gunner’s wrath, I’m nominating Pooh for the VP position. He’d be awesome at it, but I would miss Axel and his antics.

Toes walks into the room, glances our direction and hurries behind the bar. Within a minute, he has a beer sitting in front of me and a Coke in front of Taja. I give him a chin lift and reach for my beer. When Toes walks away, I notice Taja grinning at me.

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