A/N: Thanks for the reviews for the previous chapter! I really appreciate it. Just a little warning here, in the chapter, you are about to read, there are a some scenes, that are considered more serious, and not so funny. Without further ado, here is the eighth chapter.
Disclaimer: I only own Charles and Lois Hotchner. All other characters in this chapter, do not belong to me.
Aaron was busy playing with his four year old little brother, Sean, while their parents, Charles and Lois Hotchner were setting up decorations for his eighth birthday party. All of Aaron's friends would be arriving very soon.
"I'm gonna getcha," Aaron playfully said to the blonde haired, blue eyed four year old.
Giggling, Sean turned to run, but ended up falling and hitting his forehead on the living room coffee table. "Ouch," he placed a hand on his forehead and began crying.
Aaron sat down next to his little brother and held him. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "Are you okay?"
Hearing her youngest child crying, Lois came walking into the living room. She saw both her sons sitting on the floor. Sean had his face buried in Aaron's neck, as he sobbed.
She knelt down to her children's level. "What happened," she asked in a sympathetic tone.
"We were playing and Sean fell and hit his forehead, on the coffee table," explained Aaron.
"Can I see," Lois asked. With a tear stained face, Sean turned to face her. After inspecting his forehead, Lois smiled at him and said, "It's just a very tiny bump. It'll be gone in no time. You want some ice for it?"
Sean nodded his head in a yes motion.
Lois was about to leave for the kitchen, when Charles walked in. There was a serious no non sense look on his face. "What's going on in here," he asked. "Why was he crying?"
Lois looked over to Aaron and saw him cower away, slightly. She felt very sympathetic towards him. "The boys were playing and Sean accidentally fell and hit his head on the coffee table," she explained. "It's only a small bump. It isn't that bad."
Ignoring the last words, his wife had just said to him, Charles marched over to Aaron and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him to his feet, and knocking Sean out of his lap, in the process. Aaron was very fearful of his father.
In public, Charles Hotchner was a fun loving family man, but in the privacy of their own home, it was a different story. A story that Lois nor the children dare speak of to anyone.
"How many times have I told you not to rough house with your little brother," Charles' grip on Aaron's arm began to tighten.
Aaron struggled to break free, but the more he moved, the more pain it caused him. "Ow! You're hurting my arm," tears were beginning to form in his eyes. "Please let go."
"How would you like it, if I knocked you into the coffee table, like you did to your brother," Charles ignored his eldest son's pleas, as his grip on the boy's arm grew more tighter.
"But I didn't knock him into the coffee table. He fell into it," Aaron tried explaining. "It was an accident."
Charles' hand connected with Aaron's right ear, causing him to scream in pain. "Don't you back talk me," he snapped. "I'm not raising you to be like one of those bratty kids," he was about to strike Aaron again, until Lois intervened.
"Charles, please. It's his birthday. Please don't do this to him," she pleaded. "Not today. And it really was an accident, about Sean and the coffee table."
With a scowl of a look, Charles released Aaron's arm and shoved him to the floor. "Go put on a sweater. I don't want any of your damn friends to see the bruises on you and start talking to their parents about what goes on here," he demanded.
Tears staining his face, Aaron picked himself off the floor and ran upstairs to his bedroom, in search of a sweater. He felt completely defeated and broken hearted. In his eyes, his father hated him.
After putting on a red sweater, Aaron was stopped by Lois, who was standing outside his bedroom door. Sean was standing at her side.
"You okay," Sean wrapped his arms around Aaron's waist, in an attempt to comfort him. "I sorry daddy got mad at you."
Although his face was still stained with tears, Aaron gave his best smile and wrapped his arms around his little brother. "Yeah, I'm okay," he said. "And it's not your fault, that daddy got mad at me."
"Why don't you go wash your face, sweetheart, okay," Lois softly caressed her son's cheek. "We don't want your friends to see you sad on your birthday, do we?"
"Okay, mommy," Aaron agreed.
It wasn't long until all of Aaron's friends began arriving. Each one of them carrying a gift, either wrapped with gift paper or in a gift bag. As if nothing had happened moments earlier, Charles stood at the entrance of the front door, with Aaron standing next to him. Both wearing forced smiles on their faces. Charles welcomed Aaron's friends into his home, saying things like, "Welcome to the party. You all are gonna have so much fun today," he wanted to make himself look like the perfect parent. And he had everyone fooled into believing him.
"He seems creepy," Clyde whispered to Luke.
"Mmhm," Luke agreed.
"What was that," asked Charles.
"Oh, um… We was just wondering if you got any cheese," said Luke.
"Of course we have cheese," said Charles. "Lois, I think these children would like some cheese. Could you go into the kitchen and get some for them," he asked his wife.
Lois, who had been standing in the back ground with Sean at her side, smiled and said, "Yes of course. Aaron, why don't you and your friends go play, until everything is ready. Come with me, Sean, you can help me in the kitchen," she tried to get her youngest son to go with her, but he insisted on staying with Aaron and his friends.
"No, I play too," said Sean.
"Awe! He's so cute," all the girls said in unison.
"I think your brother would want to spend time with his friends," Lois explained to Sean. "You'd only be getting in the way."
Tears began forming in Sean's eyes. "But I wanna play too," he cried. "I play too, Aaron," he pleaded with his older brother. "Please."
Not only the girls, but even the boys felt very sympathetic towards the younger child. "Aaron, have a heart and let him play too," A tear had fallen from Kevin's eye. He didn't care if anyone saw him crying or not.
Aaron couldn't help but smile. "Can Sean please play with us, mommy," he asked Lois. "He won't be getting in the way."
Lois smiled back at her son. "If it's alright with you, then I guess it's alright with me," she said.
Emily quickly wiped away a tear and David noticed. "Awe! You're crying too," he teased.
"Shut up," Emily hissed. "I have allergies."
"I'll be right back with a plate of cheese for you all," said Lois, as she exited into the kitchen.
"Good, now that she's gone, we can start our spy mission," said Emily. "Come on, Agent Adorable Fuzzy Penguin. You can help us," she said as she picked up Sean.
"We're going on a spy mission?! On my birthday," Aaron was very excited. "This is so cool! What's the mission, this time?!"
"Well, don't tell your parents, but…" Emily began. "I may or may not have seen a bandit sneaking into the garage, when my mommy dropped me off, here."
"What did you just say," Charles sounded very alarmed. "Did you just say you saw someone breaking into the garage?"
"Oops, I forgot the old guy was still here," Emily whispered to Stephen. She then turned her attention to Charles. "No, I did not say I saw someone one breaking into the garage. I said I may or may not have seen a bandit sneaking into the garage," she corrected him.
"What did he look like," asked Charles.
"Well," said Emily. "he was very short and very fat. Wait, let's use the word fluffy, instead of fat. Fat just seems rude," she paused for a moment to think of how the bandit looked like. "Oh and he was gray, and he was wearing a black eye mask."
"It sounds to me, like you're describing a raccoon," said Charles.
"You call it a raccoon, but I call it a spinach and lemon cookie," said Emily, who earned a confused look from Charles. "but the important thing is that everyone in this house, knows how to swim," she said. "You know, just case we get hit by a tornado."
"Ha ha! You're funny," Sean giggled.
Emily gave Sean a serious look. "I'm not being funny. I'm trying to be serious here," she told him. "Elle, stop being a bad influence on him."
Elle gasped. "Me?! How am I being a bad influence on him," she asked. "I just met him!"
"Uh… Is it Jason's fault that your name was the first to pop up in my mind," Emily asked. "If you're looking for an answer, then yes. Yes it is his fault," Emily then gave Jason a quick pat on the back and whispered to him, "Don't worry, I forgive you."
Jason was very confused. "I don't understand how this is my fault," he said. "I mean, it's not like I told you to…"
"The cheese is here," Clyde interrupted Jason, as Lois walked in with a plate of cheese. All the children, except Luke, ran to the plate of cheese and helped themselves. All the cheese was gone, before Lois could even set the plate down.
"Wow, you children must love cheese," Lois was amazed at how fast the cheese had gone.
"Not me," said Luke. "I hate cheese. I think it's disgusting."
"Wasn't you the one who asked for the cheese, in the first place," asked Charles.
"Yeah… I was asking for a friend," answered Luke.
A little while later, the children were all sitting outside at the picnic table, each of them enjoying a slice of cake and a scoop of strawberry ice cream. The cake was in the shape of a dragon. The flavor of the cake was red velvet and the icing was green. Written in blue icing on the cake, were the words, "Happy Birthday, Aaron."
After they had finished their cake and ice cream and watching Aaron open his presents, all the children, deciding to play in piles of leaves. But not before Charles' pulled Aaron to the side and out of earshot and said to him, "Don't embarrass me in front of your damn friends."
"I won't. I promise," there was fear in Aaron's voice.
Putting the fear behind him, Aaron raced to where his friends and little brother were waiting for him. The fun soon began as they all started jumping and playing in the piles of colorful autumn leaves. The sound of laughter filled the backyard.
End of chapter eight. As you all have realized, I wrote it to where Aaron's father is an abusive jerk. I'd like to point out that the abuse won't be mentioned anymore in this fic, but once I get to my Third Grade fic, there will be a major storyline about it. I just thought I'd give you all a heads up, on that. Anyway, I'd really appreciate it if you could all leave me some reviews. Good or bad, I'll accept both. Just don't be too cruel if you hated it. Chapter nine will be posted as soon as possible.