The Last Nine Years

Chapter 1

Hearts. Why do people have hearts? Why do we feel such a strong connection to some one? Why is it that by one simple act, our hearts can be ripped from our chest an thrown in the dirt? Katherine had been asking herself these questions for nine years, right now her heart had long cracks spiraling around it like at any moment it would shader into a million pieces. The only thing that had kept her heart from breaking completely was the black haired boy who ran around her apartment every day, this boy, her son, was the best thing that had happened to her in nine years. Peter had always been there for her, from the time she found out she would be expecting a child, to every time she couldn't write a sentence the way it was in her head. She had been horrified when she learned she was pregnant, she still reambered her father shouting at her and how afraid she had been, but the very thought of a child growing inside her calmed her, even when the logical response would have been to freak out. Of course there had been a few moments of panic when she first learned she was with child, she had good reason to. A) She was 17 B) She was pregnant C) The father had decided to take a trip to Santa Fe with no goodbyes or any intentions of coming back, he had simply vanished. Peters father... No, Katherine stopped herself she had taught herself to not think about him, thinking about him hurt and Katherine had had enough hurt for one life time. Try as she may to keep the handsome artistic boy from her thoughts he always ended up finding his way back just as she fell asleep at night.

"Mom?" A small voice called to her as Katherine stared at the back wall in there small apartment. Katherine turned and saw Peter sticking his head out from behind the couch, his black hair hung in his eyes as he peered up at her.

"What's wrong?" She asked sitting foreword, Peter looked down at his hand which was displaying a cracked in half pencil.

"I broke it." He said crawling over to sit by her on the couch. Katherine chuckled at how he was upset by this.

"Your supposed to draw with pencils not break them in half." She said sweeping his hair out from his eyes. Peter tried in vain to stick the two ends together frowning when they dropped back in his lap still broken.

"I was just drawing and they snapped in half!" He exclaimed turning to face his mother. Peter drew every chance he got, if there was a piece of paper and pencil in his reach, he drew, if he found a left over piece of coal in the fire and a corner of a newspaper, he drew. He'd draw anything from random animals to familiar faces. They weren't typical nine-year-old-boy drawings but Peter wasn't a typical boy. Sure his drawings weren't perfect, he was nine for heavens sake! But Katherine loved when he drew it reminded her of Jack... She stopped herself again and shook him from her mind.

"I'll get you another one." Katherine said getting up from the couch, Peter scrambled up with her and skipped to her desk where he knew she kept them. He bounced on the balls of his feet as she pulled open her drawer pulling out a thin yellow pencil and handed it to him smiling.

"Thanks!" He beamed already making a beeline for his small room.

"Work on your letters too!" She called after him know very well that he would not, she had given up years ago trying to force him to practice the alphabet, he was stubborn, just like her. Katherine sat at her desk and stared at her blank type writer she hadn't written an article in a while. After she had had Peter she could no longer go to work every day so (with a little help from her father no doubt) The Sun had her write part time, calling her up when ever they saw a story she could cover. Katherine was happy with this, she could stay and take care of Peter while doing the thing she loved most. Sure it had its draw backs, she didn't write as much as she would have normally but it sure beat all the dirty looks she would have gotten from the men and women who labeled her as "The one who got pregnant before she was married." Stupid people.