Chapter 9
Peeta
I really enjoy spending time with Katniss. This second time we started over seems to be going better for me. I think she likes me now. She has to if she kisses me as much as so does when we're together. We're boyfriend and girlfriend now. That's what I've dreamed for since high school, but I never thought it could be real. She always seemed to be so far from my reach, that she could never like me. Because what do I have to offer her? I'm only a bakers son who is going to take over a bakery after his father. But somehow she still chose to give me chances I never thought she would give me.
"What are you smiling at?" I hear my brothers voice.
"Huh?" I ask looking up at my middle brother Damian.
"You're smiling like a goof", he says.
We're at the bakery and I'm behind the counter at the moment. My other brother, the oldest one, Adam comes out of the kitchen, carrying a cake I baked earlier today. "So I see you've stopped dreaming now", he laughs as he walks up to the window and puts the cake there.
"Yeah now he's awake", Damian says.
"Shut up jerks", I hiss.
Adam is twenty five. He's married to Victoria and has a two year old daughter named Tiara. Damian is twenty three and engaged with Katie who is pregnant in the fifth month. They're getting married next week.
My brothers... What can I say about them? They're blonde with blue eyes like me. They're older than me. I'm their baby brother and they never let me forget it. They love to tease me and when I say love it, that's an understatement. It's their life to tease me. But when it really counts, I know I can count on them. They're always there for me when I need them.
"How's it going with that alien?" Damian asks.
"What?" I hiss looking at him as I close the cashier.
"Yeah I mean it has to be an alien if she like you", Damian says teasingly.
Did he just call Katniss an alien?
"Take that back!" I say angrily. "Katniss is not an alien, she's a beautiful angel!"
"So when can we meet this beautiful angel of yours?" Adam asks teasingly and makes a kiss face.
"I don't know, I'm afraid to let you two fools meet her", I say.
"Whaaaaaat?" Damian says and puts his hand to his heart and looks fake offended. "That hurt me Peeta, that hurt me deeply".
"Yeah go and cry me a river will yah", I mutter.
Right then the kitchen door opens and our witch comes out. She's holding her rolling pin in her hand. Okay she's our mother but she might as well could be a witch. She's the most awful human being on planet earth.
"What makes you think you can stand here and talk you useless piece of shit?" She yells at me and throws a punch in my face with the rolling pin.
The pain is blinding me for a second but I'm used to it. This is the story of my life. I get abused by my mother daily.
"Mom!" Adam says.
"Get away from him!" Damian says and runs up to stand between our witch and I.
"Don't you dare get in the middle of this", mom says and slaps Damien across his cheek.
Note hand and not rolling pin. Our mother don't usually hit Adam and Damien because she doesn't hate them as she hates me. She doesn't hate them at all actually, she just gets mad when they try to stop her from abusing me with that rolling pin or spoons and god knows what else.
"Enough!" Our father comes out of the kitchen.
"Ursula! Home! Now!" He says.
"How dare you..."
"Or else I will call the police you hear?" He says.
But he won't do that. It's just a threat. He has threatened with it before, but he has never actually done it. Only my mother don't want to take the risk. She gives our father the evil eye before she storms out of the bakery, still with her apron on and rolling pin in her hand.
I put three fingers on my jaw. It feels like it's broken. One time it actually did break, but it hasn't now. I feel a difference. But oh it hurts so much.
"Peeta how..." Adam starts.
"Just don't", I say. "I'm used to it, you are used to it, don't say anything about it".
We are all used to this. I've grown up with my mother abusing me. Dad is trying to stop her but it's just impossible. She's a monster and won't ever stop. She says I took away all her joy in life. I've tried not to listen to her. It's easier now, not easy but easier, then when I was younger. The only thing keeping me sane was my father and brothers. If I hadn't had them, I would be dead by now. Mom would have killed me for sure.
They all look at me. The door opens and Tiara comes running in with her mother coming after her. "Pweeta!" Tiara shouts and throw her onto my legs.
Victoria walks up to Adam and he kisses her quickly, he's heart not really into it at the moment.
I pick up Tiara in my arms. I can see at Victoria that she senses that something is wrong.
"What's wro... Oh", she says as she sees the bruise that is starting to show on my jaw.
"Victoria can you help me to cover it with makeup?" I ask.
Damian raises one eyebrow and I can see that he really has a hard time to not mock what I just said.
"I'm meeting Katniss later and no I haven't told her about our witch, and I'm not planning to do that today!" I hiss at him.
I haven't told Katniss too much about my family. About the Mellark's. I only told her that I have two brothers. That's about it. I haven't told her that my father is my lifeline, or that I'm abused or about anything else. I don't know why. I'm not ashamed about anything but my mother. But if feels like if I tell her something, just anything, she will figure everything out. And I don't want that.
"Of course Peeta", Victoria says.
I look at Tiara who is smiling at me. The only thing she got from Adam was the blonde hair. Everything else has she gotten from Victoria. The green eyes, her chubby face. Some freckles. Tiara is so cute, and I love her so much. She's my favorite little niece. Well she's my only niece, but you get what I mean.
I love my family. I want Katniss to be a part of our family. And I don't mean I'm going to propose to her tomorrow, I mean that I want her to get along with my family, that she can like them, accept them. But that won't happen if I don't tell her about them and let her meet them.
I just don't know what to do...
