 Elder Quad
Finnegan chuckled lightly at his wife's wit then kissed her hand. "Of course." He gently picked up the bundle of blankets without waking the sleeping child inside them. Kissing his son's forehead, the young man walked around the kitchen with him until Chloe came up behind him and whispered something in his ear. Nodding once, Finn gently kissed Eli on the cheek then gave her a fleeting glance as he walked outside.
Taking Axel by the hand, Chloe brought him outside and sat him on a chair near the pool as Finn walked around with Ashton. He stared at her for some time before the young woman finally spoke. "How the hell are ya gonna tell Benji 'bout you an' Ems without him killin' ya?" she demanded.
Frowning and not meeting his cousin's gaze, Axel answered her with a grunt, followed by a 'humph' that came from Chloe. "I dunno!" he finally said, clutching his hair which was becoming more and more disheveled. "He's gonna kill me. And...I can't live with what I did. That was horrible." By this time, he was up and pacing in front of his two family members as they watched with worry in their eyes.
"I...I can't be in the room with him. I mean...he's alive and he has no idea that Emmy is..." he didn't need to finish that because they knew exactly what he was going to say. "Why does everything have to happen to me? I mean, I finally find happiness and it'll probably just go away as easily as it came," he mused.
Finn scowled as he rocked Ashton back and forth. "Axel. Ben is not gonna kill ya. Yeah, he'll be mad, but afta' a while he'll unda'stand. I always thought on some level he knew how much in love with her ya always were," he said sincerely. He placed a comforting hand on Ax's shoulder and squeezed. "No matta' wha' 'appens, we're 'ere for ya. You know tha', right?" And he was completely honest. Family always had to stick together, not matter what happened.
Chloe nodded in agreement with her little brother as she too stood up. Her honey colored eyes locked with Axel's sea green ones; she then gave him a tight hug and didn't release until he wanted to. He held on for quite a few minutes then finally let go. "Finn's righ'. He won't kill ya, but he'll fer sure be mad," she said quietly. There was no doubt about it. Benji would be furious, but he had to find out sometime, right?
Axel nodded as he let one tear escape his eye and land on Chloe's shirt. "I guess I just have to tell him then...I dunno though, maybe Emmy has some way that she wants to do it instead." True, she might have had some other way of telling him without breaking it to him too roughly. This was difficult though. How was this supposed to come off as a small problem? "Thanks Finn, CJ. You've helped me more than you know. And not just now, over the years as well."
CJ smiled warmly and saw back down on her chair, looking up at her brother. "We'll always be 'ere for ya Ax. Ya can count on tha'," she said with a wink. "Now, gimme my nephew. He needs to get acquainted with his aunt Chloe!" she said excitedly, taking the little boy from Finn.
Finn only laughed as he handed over the bundle of joy to his big sister. "'Ave at it. In no time you'll be his favorite aunt. Probably close with Hannah if she turns out to be exactly like ya," he chuckled.
Axel smiled at the two as they laughed and joked, while his heart seemed to swell a few sizes, but his stomach was still plummeting as that thought never left the back of his mind. |