A/N: Thank you all for the reviews from the previous chapter! I really appreciate them! Here is chapter nine.

Disclaimer: I only own Charles and Lois.

Silence filled the air. Lois, Aaron and Sean were up out of their chairs, cowering in the corner of the room. Lois wrapped both arms around the boys, trying her best to shield them from their father's rage.

"Charles, why'd you do that for," she demanded to know.

"Your little bitch of a friend just had to be nosey, didn't she," Charles sneered at Aaron, ignoring his wife's question. "She just had to ask questions about what's been going on here and then run and tell her daddy."

"I didn't tell Elle, you hit me! I swear I didn't! Ow!"

Charles violently jerked Aaron out of Lois' grasp, causing him to cry out in pain. Tears filled Aaron's eyes as Charles' grip on his arm, tightened. "stop crying or I gonna give you something to cry about," Charles threatened. "Because of you and that little bitch, my life was threatened by her damn father!"

"I'm sorry, daddy," Aaron fought back tears.

"You're damn right, you're sorry," Charles shoved his son to the floor. "Lois, Sean, get back to the table. We got dinner to eat."

"But what about Aaron," Sean asked as he and Lois sat down at the table.

"Sean," Lois whispered out of fear that Charles would fall into another rage. "leave your father alone."

"No, I want to know why he's so concerned about his brother," Charles glared at his wife. "What about Aaron?"

"Does he get to eat, too," Sean asked.

"Well, what do you think? You think he deserves to eat, after what he did to me," Charles asked his youngest son.

"Yeah," Sean quietly said.

"Speak up! I can't hear you," Charles demanded.

"Yeah," Sean said, more clearly.

"Well, that's just too freaking bad. Because he's not gonna get any of this food," Charles said to his youngest son. "On second thought, I can't be letting him starve. Hey, Aaron, here… you can have this," he laughed as he threw a half eaten fried chicken leg at his oldest son. Most of the meat had been taken off it, already.

Aaron kept his head down as he wiped away a tear. He couldn't believe his own father would expect to eat a chicken bone. Well, actually… he could believe it.

"What's the matter? Aren't you gonna eat it," Charles asked, sneering at Aaron.

"I don't want it," said Aaron.

"You know… A dog would have been grateful to have that."

"But Aaron's not a dog," said Sean. "He's a human."

"You shut your mouth," Charles reached over and slapped the five year old across the face, causing his lip to split open.

"Ow," Sean cried out as he held his face.

"Next time, you'll learn not to backtalk me," Charles warned.

For the remainder of dinner, that evening, the three of them ate in silence. Lois and Sean would occasionally send sympathetic looks towards Aaron. Lois wished she could stand up to her abusive husband, but always feared the consequences. So, she remained silent, hoping that someday, he would change.

Later that evening, while everyone else was fast asleep in their beds, Aaron rose from his spot on the dining room floor; he had been told by his father that he had to stay there, until the next morning. Aaron could feel his stomach grumbling. He was very hungry. It had been several hours, since he last ate. So, as quietly as he could, Aaron tiptoed into the kitchen, opened the fridge and retrieved a handful of grapes from the fruit compartment. Afraid that his father would catch him and punish him even more, he quickly ate the grapes and got a quick drink of water from the faucet. After he was finished, he tiptoed back into the dining room, laid down where his father had shoved him, earlier and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, Aaron awoke to a bucket of ice cold water being poured on him. Shivering, he quickly jumped up and saw his father, standing there with a bucket in his hand and laughing.

"You should have seen the look on your face," Charles made a face, mocking his son. "Just be glad it was cold water and not scalding hot water. I mean, I almost considered using hot water, instead, but I figured, you've been punished enough."

Despite being very cold now, Aaron was grateful he hadn't been hit with scalding hot water. "Thank you, daddy," he said.

"Go change your clothes," Charles demanded. "Your mother's fixing breakfast and I don't want you keeping the rest of us waiting."

Aaron did as he was told. He quickly ran up to his room, changed into a pair of blue jeans and a blue tee-shirt. When he returned to the dining room, Sean and Charles were sitting at the table, while Lois was serving them, their breakfast. Aaron stood in the entryway for a moment.

"Aaron, mommy made boiled eggs and French toast," Sean happily said.

Aaron smiled as Lois turned to see him, in the entryway. "Good morning, sweetheart," Lois said. "Come sit down, your plate's ready."

Aaron sat down at the table and thanked his mother for the meal. For a brief moment, the family of four, ate in silence. The only thing that could be heard, was the sound of rain lightly hitting the window.

Taking a sip of orange juice, Charles looked at his eldest son, for a moment. "So, how'd you like sleeping in here, on the dining room floor, last night," he asked.

Aaron swallowed a piece of French toast and said, "I didn't like it, very much. It was very uncomfortable."

"Well, that's what happens when you go and run your mouth to your friends. I hope you learned your lesson," Charles smirked.

Aaron desperately wanted to tell his father that he never told Elle about the abuse, but chose not to. He knew just how angry his father could get, if you tried arguing with him. "Yes, daddy. I've learned my lesson. I promise it'll never happen, again."

"That's my boy," Charles reached over and ruffled Aaron's hair. Aaron flinched a little and Charles noticed. "What's the matter with you?"

"I'm sorry, daddy. I thought you were going to hit me," said Aaron.

"Why would I do that?"

Aaron shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I thought maybe I said or did something, I wasn't supposed to."

"No, you haven't done anything to make me wanna hit you, today. You're behaving very well, today, isn't he, Lois?"

Lois smiled and agreed with her husband. "He really is."

"Thank you," Aaron said. "When do you think, I can go back to school?"

The room had became silent, again as Charles stared at Aaron. Thinking he had said the wrong thing, Aaron's heart began racing. He just knew his father was about the hit him. Finally, Charles spoke. "The bruising on your face looks like it's fading. So, I'd say in about a day or two, you could go back."

Aaron smiled as he was happy to hear that. Although, he didn't care about seeing his teacher, he couldn't wait to see his friends, again. "Thank you, daddy."

"You're welcome," Charles said, after taking a bite of his boiled egg.

End of chapter nine. Your reviews are greatly welcomed and appreciated. So please don't hesitate to send me some. Chapter ten will be posted, soon!