Pieces of Nine

1. Good Morning

“Sang sweetie, wake up.” A soft stroke of a finger across my cheek

“Sang... Sa-ang!”

 “Come on Peanut, time to get up.” Nathan nudged my arm as he whispered gently in my ear.

 My head was still fuzzy. I rolled onto my stomach, trying to ignore all the early bird testosterone in the room. With all that had happened over the past few days, I had needed last night’s sleep, and badly. I knew my boys were eager to start their day, but at the moment all I could worry about was more sleep. “Mmmpff. Go ‘way.”

 All I heard in response were giggles, belonging to more than one person. Didn’t they ever sleep? I knew the answer to that was no. Not my academy boys. They were awake with the sun. Maybe even before that.

 “Oy! Trouble! Roll that cute ass up outta bed.” All of a sudden I felt the air shift, followed by a resounding thwack. Seconds later a slight stinging from my behind let me know that Gabriel meant business.

 “Hey! You better fucking watch yourself, Gabe! Don’t touch her like that.” North. I rolled further away from Nathan’s strong arms and onto to my back, grumbling over the sounds of the others’ protests to my latest morning alarm system. They were obviously not pleased with Gabriel’s spanking. It didn’t hurt, not really. I huffed loudly in display of my objection of the early hour. Stumbling out of bed, I found my way to the bathroom.

 Feeling more awake after my bath and brushing my teeth, I quickly changed into a pair of jean cutoffs and a pink tank top and made my way toward the kitchen. I secretly crossed my fingers that we were going to be taking it easy today. I just didn’t know if I could handle another day of playing cops and robbers. It was time for a break. I just prayed I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

 I looked up as I rounded the corner and froze. All the boys were there and all eyes were focused on me. My finger hovered over my lip. Why were they looking at me like that? Did I do my hair wrong? Was my shirt on backwards? Self-consciously, I looked down to quickly scan my outfit. Everything looked ok. I glanced back up to see them all smiling. “What’s wrong? Why are you all looking at me like that?

 “Miss Sorenson,” Although I’d caught a glimpse of him moments ago, Mr. Blackbourne’s smooth voice still took me by surprise. “It’s come to our attention that you’ve asked for time with each of us alone for your birthday.” He turned his sharp gaze on the rest of my family. “Unfortunately, this birthday request of yours has caused quite the stirring. Each of the boys wants to take you out, and each of them feels he should be first.” I snuck a glance at the boys and several of their cheeks tinged a slight pink at Mr. Blackbourne’s revelation. Was this true? Were they fighting over who got to take me out first for my birthday? I didn’t want them fighting. Not over me. Not over anything. I swallowed my nerves. I had to say something

 “What is it you want me to do?” I could feel the fire ignite under my skin as soon as the words left my lips. This was so very awkward. What could I possibly do to fix this?

 Mr. Blackbourne cleared his throat and tugged at the knot at his tie. It did look a little tight. “Well, we were thinking… that is to say…-” Mr Blackbourne was nervous? What was going on?

 “Who do you want to go out with first, Trouble?” Gabriel looked up at me from his seat. Apparently he was a little impatient with Mr. Blackbourne’s attempt at subtlety.

My mouth popped open in surprise. “You mean… you want me to pick?” My finger immediately found my bottom lip. How was I going to pick? It was going to be impossible! “I can’t do that. I mean… it’s not… how?” I was at a loss.