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Family Issues - A short story

The door swings open quickly, my mother's smiling face a reflection of her mood; pure joy.

"Alexander! Fashionably late, as always," She says brightly, ushering me inside. I step into the tiny house, the familiar smells of my childhood wafting over me. My mother wraps me in a tight hug, and I bite my lip, struggling to keep from flinching away from her, my ribs protesting at the sudden tightness around them. But she couldn't know about my secret life, neither could my father. This is one thing my brother and I agree on; our parents can never know. It would break their hearts to hear what either of us is doing, let alone to each other.  "Harrison arrived thirty minutes ago, so now we can start." Of course Harrison had to beat me here.

Ever the "good brother".

That's rich considering what he did to me last night. I'm just glad he didn't mark up my face. That would be hard to explain to the parents. The building smells of my mother's famous roast, and my mouth starts to water.

Harrison and I live a few cities away from our parents, so we don't get to visit them at the same time very much. My father's birthday is one of the exceptions. Turning the corner, I spot my father and Harrison standing by the stove, talking.

"Ah, Alexander! How kind of you to show up!" Harrison snickers, I glare at him, turning toward my father, who gives me a tight smile.

"How's Peak City these days?" He asks curtly, looking me over. My father never thought I would do, or be, much in life. Always so proud of Harrison, so confident that Harrison would support them in their old age. It drives me insane sometimes.

"Fine, fine. I'm sure Harrison told you all about it," I say, subtly glancing over at him. He grins. A flash of anger surges through me, and for a moment, I can see the sleek black mask that usually covered the top half of his face, and the long, flowing cape. The way I usually see him.

I can tell that he is thinking the same thing, picturing me in my suit as well. This is the one place on Earth that we can call common ground, where we aren't bent on foiling the other's plans. For the sake of our parents, at least, we were peaceful.

"Come now, Alex, don't leave our father hanging," He teases, playfully jabbing me in the ribs. A spike of pain shoots up my chest and I grin murderously at him. He smiles; he knows where he hurt me.

"Of course," I growl, then turn to my father, who is watching us, amused. To him, we're just two brothers that didn't get along. He had no idea the extent of our adversity towards each other. "I just recently got... a job, yes, a new job," I lie. My parents are so ignorant of news and media, I could easily make up a story about a new job. Harrison raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Where?"

"The police department actually," I reply, sending a mischievous look to my brother, who shows no sign of annoyance. Yet. "Yeah, I was waiting until I got the job to tell you guys, but I've been through the Police Academy, and I'm an officer now." My mother squeals, running over to me, and wrapping me in a tight hug.

"Oh Alex, we're so proud of you! Aren't we, Bart?" She says pointedly at my father, who snorts.

"At least you'll do something productive for once," He mutters, and my mother waves him off.

"Oh, ignore your father, he's just hungry. I think we all are! Let's eat," She says, jogging over to the table, already laden with enough food to feed an army. Or two super powered sons. We all make our way to the table. Harrison sits down loudly, steepling his fingers intelligently.

"Tell me, brother, when did you decide to become an officer? I don't remember you telling me of your goals before now," He asks. Both my parents turn and look at me expectantly. I take a breath.