Break In My Heart

8. Sunday's Best

"Adryan, Emerson, hurry up! Dobbiamo andare in chiesa e hai ancora bisogno di fare colazione! (We have to go to church and you still need to have breakfast!)" Papa yelled from deeper in the house as I finished up breakfast while Azalea stood at the sink and cleaned the dishes I was done with. The familiar aroma of Sunday breakfast filled the air as I killed the fire under the last omelet I was making. Every other Sunday Azalea and I made breakfast, and when we didn't, our dads and little siblings would.

I glanced at the clock. We still had an hour until we had to be at service, and though an hour seemed like more than enough time to eat breakfast and make it to service, there was no such thing as more than enough time when you lived in New York City in the heart of the chaos, especially when the streets were extra congested on weekends. Having to squeeze between tour buses, an abundance of little yellow ant-like taxis that swarmed around the city, and pedestrians that constantly liked risking their lives by playing Frogger between dense traffic, we'd be lucky if we were less than ten minutes late.

"Alright, I'm done," I announced as I wiped my hands off on a towel, resisting the urge to run them along my pants like I usually did.

"Ok, I'll finish washing when we get back," Azalea said to herself as she washed her hands. She was wearing a simple thick dress that was loose and conservative, along with a light cardigan to help combat the dropping temperature. Today, her hair was styled in a slicked-back bun with a few of her native curls popping out here and there. I was dressed the way I usually was: in slacks, a dress shirt, and dress pants with a little bit of gel to add some semblance of structure to my wild hair.

My shoes squeaked against the floor as I followed my sister's lead. "How much money you want to put on them taking forever or spilling food on their clothes right before we're supposed to leave? Or all of the above?" Azalea playfully challenged.

"That's not fair, you cast your net too wide. They've done all of the above in one day. Multiple times."

She laughed. "Man, I could've made a lot of money."

I playfully shoved her just as Papa walked in with Emerson and Adryan under each arm, him making monster noises as they squirmed to get out of his grip. "Ehi (hey), be careful you two. You could knock something over!" Padre said, causing them to instantly stop.

"You're not fun, Padre," Emerson said with a pout as Papa put them down.

"Yeah," Adryan agreed as he folded his arms.

Papa ruffled their hair. "Behave. We need to eat breakfast and get going!"

At the mention of food, they both seemingly forgot their resentment they were holding and rushed over to me and Azalea so we could make their plates since they were too young to make their own without spilling everything. "Ah, ah, ah, Em, Adryan, what do you say first?"

"Grazie (thank you) Addy and Azzy," Adryan adorably said.

"Per favore (please)," Emerson whined at the same time.

Azzy and I grinned at each other. No matter how many times those two made me want to pull my hair out or got me in trouble, they were as adorable as Tasmanian devils. Destructive like one too.

"Good enough for me," I decided as I picked Adryan up and balanced him on my hip. It was crazy that he was almost five, it felt like he was born just yesterday. "What do you want, buddy?"

We all fixed our plates and made our way to the table in the kitchen. I studied Papa as we ate. We used to watch sermons online, but once we found a physical church home that accepted our family as we were, he'd been hiding a rainbow somewhere in his church attire, whether it was a tie, shoelaces, or anything in between. This time, a rainbow peeked out of his breast pocket, a subtle but welcomed sight. I also respected Papa a lot because though he wasn't as religious as Padre, he still went and partook in every religious event our church held solely because Padre did and he wanted to do whatever made Padre happy. I also respected Padre a lot because he didn't care about their slight differences in religious beliefs, and neither of them pushed us too hard one way or another. Yes, we were expected to go to church, but they allowed us to form our own religious opinions and relationships with God.

Padre monitored Adryan and Emerson, constantly readjusting their "security blankets" so that there was absolutely no chance that their Sunday's best would be ruined. "You two did amazing, as always," Papa said with a proud grin. "I'm glad that I taught you so well."

"Hey, I helped!" Padre chimed in, causing Papa to roll his eyes before he leaned close to Azalea's ear since he was sitting next to her and not-so-quietly-whispered "I taught him everything anyways. He didn't even know how to make pizza dough! What kind of second-to-third-generation Italian doesn't know how to make pizza dough?"

Azalea tried to suppress laughter by shoving some pancakes into her mouth.

"Keep it up, Madison, see what happens," Padre warned, causing Papa to wink at him.

"You'll have to catch me first, Noah, and we both know you're not as nimble as you were when you played soccer."

Now it was time for Padre to roll his eyes.

"Well, thank you, Papa," Azalea said as she rested her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead. She was such a Papa's girl.

"No problem, la mia bambina (my baby)."

We quickly finished up breakfast before we piled our dishes into the sink for later and made our way out the door. As soon as we opened the doors to the outside world, the symphony of car horns, footsteps, and people chatting on their phones filled the air. The theme song of New York. Padre was tugging on Adryan's coat while I carried Emerson in my arms, her head resting on my shoulder and her little eyes fluttering closed the way they always did after we got done with a big meal.

I kissed her forehead before I settled her into the car, delicately maneuvering her so that I could strap her in without interrupting her descent into bliss. After the children were strapped in, we all climbed in and pulled into the congested streets. As we traveled, my fathers fell into their own conversations while Azalea rapidly typed on her phone, her dimples showing as she grinned every so often before she typed again, likely texting Josh. The two little ones were officially knocked out, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I looked at the window as we passed double-decker buses, huge billboards, and people dressed up as off-brand celebrities and characters for a quick buck. I watched as the huge building loomed over us, something that made some people feel trapped but made me feel safe as if they were leaning in to protect me from everything and everyone on the outside.

I leaned my head against the cold glass window and allowed myself to get absorbed in my thoughts, and, for the first time in a long time, my thoughts didn't wander to Tyler.

***

Hey y'all, this was a bit of a shorter chapter because I haven't had a lot of time to write (because I don't want to burn myself out), but I also wanted to get something out for you guys, so I hope this suffices! I just wanted to touch on a religion thing in this chapter kind of tying back to the religion problem Noah and Madison faced back in the first book (read "Tear In My Heart" if you want. It's not required but it'll help you understand some of the references I make in this book). So yeah, I hope you guys are staying safe and at home. I know this is a boring yet scary and uncertain time, but trust me, you staying at home is literally the best thing you can do, and it helps the crisis. Random note: I decided to slit my eyebrow today and it turned out pretty well. If you're bored, try changing things up a bit. Go on a walk around your neighborhood (but maintain distance) or workout. I've been doing those things and they make me feel so much better. Alright, I'll stop jabbering.

Love y'all- Jordan