The New KISS High School

Ch 26: You're Kidding (Peter)

"Hey Peter! Your father and I are going out for the weekend, will you be able to watch your siblings from tonight to Sunday?" Mom asked. I looked at her in horror, heart sinking. "Are you serious?! The whole weekend?! But I-I had plans!" I protested. "Well I don't want to hire a babysitter when I've got you here. Tell your friends you'll have to reschedule," she said simply, turning and walking out of the room. I let out a groan, flopping back on my bed and staring up at the ceiling. "Dammit," I muttered, before climbing down the ladder and walking into the kitchen.

"Can I get a friend over to help?" I asked, leaning against the counter. Mom frowned. "I don't want to have to pay them," she said. "But what if it was Gene? You know he needs money, so you could just give him like I dunno sixty a day or something, he could just swing by for a few hours, you know he's responsible," I said, practically begging for her to say yes. There was a pause as he frown deepened. "Alright. For three hours a day, that's it," she said. "Alright perfect thanks Mom!" I said, grateful I at least would have someone my age home for a few hours.

Thankfully Gene said he'd be willing to come over so I drove to his place, picking him up before bringing him to my house since he didn't have a car for the weekend anyway. "You've got what, six of them?" he asked, and I nodded, grimacing. "For now. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but also damn can it be a lot. So Lucas is the oldest after me, he's 10, then John is 9, Elizabeth is 8, Lauren is 6, Alyssa is 4, and Zach is almost 2." "Your house isn't that big though, how do you fit seven kids in it?" he asked, and my grimace got deeper. "I share a room with Lucas and John, the three girls share a room, and then Zach is in my parents room," I said with a sigh, pulling into my garage. "Anyway. Might as well reintroduce you to the family," I said, motioning for him to follow me inside.

"Hi Gene!" Mom said, giving him a smile, and he smiled right back. "Hi Mrs. Criscuola, it's nice to see you again," he said. "It's nice to see you as well, it's so nice of you to agree to help out this weekend! Just let us know how many hours you end up staying over and we can settle up when we get back. Peter, we're heading out, we've already said goodbye to your siblings. Take good care of them, I want the house and your siblings intact by the time we come back." "Yeah, yeah, don't worry," I said, giving her a hug goodbye before she walked out front, joining Dad in the car and driving off.

"Alright here come on, we'll make the rounds and get you introduced," I said, leading him to my room where Lucas and John were sitting on the floor, playing legos. "Hey this is Gene, he's my friend he's gonna be hanging out some over the weekend to keep an eye on you guys with me," I said. They both looked up, giving Gene a pair of smiles. "Hi Gene!" John said, giving him a wave. "Hey! Nice to meet you guys. Well, I think we've met at some point before. I dunno, there's a lot of you." "There is," I said with a sigh, before leading him to the girls room. "Liz, Lolo, 'Lyssa, this is Gene. He's gonna be--" I started, before Lauren jumped to her feet, running over and taking Gene's hand.

"Can you join our tea party? We have three princesses an' we need a king and Peter always says he's too busy!" she said, giving him a smile missing both of her front teeth. I could see Gene's heart melt in an instant and patted him on the shoulder. "All yours," I said, before turning to them. "Where's Zach?" "Napping!" Liz said, scooting over so Gene could sit with her on the floor, accepting the small plastic teacup he was handed. "Ah sweet, perfect," I said under my breath. "Alright I'll leave you three in charge of Gene, I'll go play with your brothers, let me know when you get hungry and I'll get started on dinner," I said, walking back to my room.

I joined Lucas and Jo on the floor, helping them build a lego set before Zach began to cry. "I'll get him," I said, walking into my parents' room and lifting him out of his crib. "Alright you, let's get you out of here. Go play," I said, setting him down, and he immediately darted off. I ran a hand through my hair with a sigh. "Thank goodness for Gene," I muttered, before hearing shouting erupt. "Zach no!" "Aw we just finished that you dumb baby!" "Peterrrrr!" I took a deep breath, massaging my temples. "Alright you can do this. You've done this since you were nine years old," I said to myself, walking back into my room.

Jo was in frustrated tears as Lucas tried to hold Zach back from the ruined lego set. "Hey now Zach you need to play nice. You're not allowed to break things that your brothers are playing with," I said gently. In response, he leaned forward and bit Lucas on the arm. "Ow!" he cried, and I scooped Zach up in my arms, which he was none too happy about seeing as how he immediately burst into tears, screaming as I carried him out of the room. Gene stepped into the hall, giving me a look. "Everything good?" he asked. "Just the terrible twos is all. Now get back to your tea party, your majesty," I teased, holding a squirming Zach in my arms.

"Hey, they gave me a crown, it'd be rude not to wear it," he said with a grin, adjusting the plastic crown before returning to my sisters' room. I carried Zach into the kitchen, buckling him in his high chair. "Alright bud, you're gonna sit in here until you calm down," I said. He didn't like that too much though, seeing as how he just screamed in my face. "Mhm. That's what I thought," I said, doing my best to tune him out and just focusing on making dinner. Eventually he had calmed down enough that I let him sit on the counter as I cooked, chewing on a wooden spoon as he babbled at me.

"Alright you guys! Dinner!" I called eventually, setting down the last plates before picking up Zach and setting him in his high chair. Lucas and Jo ran into the kitchen with the other four close behind, Gene managing to carry both Lauren and Alyssa at the same time. Eventually all eight of us were around the table. Gene picked up his fork, about to eat, but Alyssa slapped it out of his hand. "Grace first!" she cried. I bit back a smile at his started look, his face going red. "Sorry, we say grace first. Catholic household and all," I said. After rushing through grace which Gene very awkwardly did his best to mumble along to, we began to eat.

Thankfully they were pretty quiet throughout the meal, meaning they liked it. They cleared their plates at various speeds, thanking me for dinner and running off from the table until eventually only Gene and I were left with Zach. "Gosh, you come into my home, disrespect my religious traditions," I teased, and he went red. "Shut up! I was not informed," he grumbled. "I'm just teasing," I said, ruffling his hair. "Now are you gonna head home or what?" "I'll do the dishes while you get them ready for bed if you'd like," he said with a shrug. I gave him a grateful smile, lifting Zach out of his high chair. "Thanks a lot man, I really appreciate that," I said. They were all pretty worn out from the day and went to bed earlier than they usually would, with even Zach dropping off to sleep without issue.

I walked into the living room where Gene was sitting on his phone, dropping onto the couch with a sigh. "You're an absolute lifesaver, you know that?" "Hey, you've got six siblings, I'd feel guilty leaving you on your own. Besides, it's fun for me, I don't have siblings of my own. Your sisters are really sweet kids." "Ah don't let that deceive you. They can be a pain in the ass when they want to. I mean can you blame me for using coke? There's no way I'd have the energy to deal with all them without it," I said with a grin. "You're welcome to head home any time you want, by the way." "Oh, it's alright. I'm happy to stay longer, your parents don't have to pay me or anything," he said. "Damn, feels like you're more excited to be helping out than I am to have you over," I said.

To my surprise, his face went red. "Well I-I mean...it gets lonely, you know? I don't have any siblings, and my mom's at work a ton of the time, so it's just...rare for me to be able to like have a family meal, for example," he said sheepishly. I gave him a soft smile, brushing my hair out of my eyes. "Hey, any time you want to come over, just stop by. My sisters wouldn't stop talking about how much they loved you and how fun you were to play with when I was putting them to bed." He went even redder, shrugging. "Well they're sweet kids," he mumbled. "And you're a big softie," I teased.

There was a pause before I looked at him. "You wanna just spend the night?" I asked, and his face absolutely lit up. "Oh yeah sure! Seriously, your parents don't have to pay me. I won't accept it." "Hey, I'd be willing to pay you if that's what it took to keep someone who wasn't a decade younger than me home for the weekend," I said with a laugh.