Axel shrugged. “Why would we want to do that? We did nothing wrong. They should be the ones staying somewhere else.”
“I don’t want to complicate things for Madison and Zane. They deserve a perfect wedding day. And we have the baby to think about.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think about that. I’ll do whatever you want to do.”
I smiled. “Did she tell you she wants us to walk Makenna down the aisle?”
Axel found that hilarious. “That should make your step-monster’s head blow off.”
“Maybe. But it’s kinda cool that she only wants her siblings standing up with her. I think Zane is going to have his dad and brothers.”
He nodded, but his expression changed. “I want to confront her with you, Mason.”
My stomach immediately started to churn. “We can’t make a scene at Madison’s wedding.”
Axel clenched his jaw. “I don’t intend to do anything that will disrupt or cause our sister any anxiety. But I do intend to have a conversation and let her know exactly how I feel about her.”
“Oh god,” I said, my breakfast threatening to return.
“Hey.” My eyes moved from the floor to the screen. “I will never do anything to intentionally cause you any suffering. All I’m saying is I need to do it for me. Her behavior affected me, too. And she needs to know it.”
Axel was right. He had every right to tell Melinda how he felt. I just hoped he could control his temper. Not that I had on our father. “Okay. But can we talk it out before then? You know, take some of the edge off?”
He smiled. “Of course. Whatever you need.”
We talked a while and were making plans to see each other when Thomas came through the front door after walking the dogs. His eyes went wide when I turned the phone around for him to see Axel. “Hey, hockey guy.”
Axel laughed. “Hey G-man. How’s it going?”
“Can’t complain,” Thomas said, coming over to kiss me. It was our first PDA in front of my brother. “I’m going to take a shower.” I recognized the suggestion, then nodded as he glanced at the phone. “Good to see ya, Axel.”
“You too, Thomas.” I could hear the smirk in his tone, and when I looked at the screen, it was on his face too. “Well, that didn’t take long, now did it?”
I ran a hand over my mouth, trying to hide my smile. “No.”
Axel smiled. “I’m happy for you.”
A call alert came through on the screen. “Hey, the PR lady is calling me. I need to take it.”
“Do what you need to do, Mason. I’m down for anything that causes a stir for our sperm donor.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know. I’ll call you later.”
“Love you, little brother.”
I grinned. “Love you too.”
Ending our call, I accepted hers right before she hung up. “Oh, there you are,” Laura said. “Am I catching you at a bad time?”
“No. I was just talking to my brother.”
She gave an uncharacteristic squeal in my ear. “I’m sorry. That was unprofessional, but I’m so happy for you. I can’t believe he’s your twin. And you didn’t know?”
I chuckled. “No. It was concealed from both of us.” I told her the story of how it all happened, listening to her go through every emotion. “I’m sorry I haven’t called to tell you about it. It’s been crazy.”
“It’s okay, Mason. You don’t owe your personal business to anyone. Not even me. With that said, a couple of contacts from the networks have reached out to me to request an interview. Is that something you’re interested in doing?”
“No, but I also understand it won’t go away.”
