“Oh, no, Ms. Giggle Pants, I want to know.”
 
 “This place is so happy.”
 
 “Yes?”
 
 “You are not so happy.”
 
 He threw his head back and laughed. “Fair point, baby.”
 
 I loved when he called me baby.
 
 “What’s your favorite pizza?” he asked as he paid and then took out plates and utensils from the self-serve rack.
 
 “The chocolate one.”
 
 “Chocolate pizza?”
 
 “Yes?
 
 “That sounds disgusting.”
 
 “You’re disgusting,” I argued.
 
 He bent low and whispered in my ear, “You didn’t think I was disgusting when I had my mouth on that sweet little pussy of yours.”
 
 I looked at my feet and dug the toe of my shoe on my good foot into a groove in the tile. “Axel,” I whined.
 
 He kissed me on the cheek before straightening and leading me through the line. I pointed out each piece I wanted and he would add it to my plate. When we got to the chocolate pizza, I asked for two pieces.
 
 “That is just a giant cookie.”
 
 “Nu, is a chocolate pizza.”
 
 “I should have known when you asked to come here it was because they had giant slices of a cookie.”
 
 “Nu, is a pizza. Is a circle.” There was no way he could fault my logic.
 
 He added a small piece to my plate. “A cookie is a circle too, baby.”
 
 “Two,” I demanded, nodding my head toward my plate.
 
 “Absolutely not.”
 
 “Two,” I demanded again. I was angry that he denied my request and maybe just a tiny bit curious to see if he would stick to his guns.
 
 “No. End of discussion, Paisley.”
 
 “Two,” I said, banging my crutch on the floor.
 
 “None,” he answered. To my horror, he snatched the cookie from my plate and moved it to his. I realized I’d gravely miscalculated.
 
 “My pizza!” I cried.
 
 “Now it’s my pizza.”
 
 “That’s not nice!” I spat. I hadn’t expected him to take all my chocolate pizza away.
 
 “No, I have been very nice. You are the one who was unkind with your actions.” Axel’s voice was hard, but not in a mean way. He sounded… like Onyx when Paisley was pushing limits, or like Pike when Dallas was breaking rules . He sounded like a Daddy. The realization both excited and terrified me.