Break In My Heart

3. Secret Relationships

My dads were weird.

"Ciao, Papa. Padre," Azzy said, her eyes never leaving her phone as she walked toward the pantry.

"Ciao," I said.

They looked up. "Morning. You two need to hurry before you miss the subway," Padre said as he ran his fingers through Papa's hair.

"Blame Addy. He decided to have a full concert in the shower for like twenty minutes," Azzy said, causing me to groan.

"Azalea! Why'd you expose me like that?"

"You exposes yourself when you tried to hit that high note in Love on Top." She walked over to Emerson and Adryan and kissed their foreheads. "Good morning."

Papa laughed and I frowned. "Dad, you're supposed to be on my side."

He put his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I am on nobody's side. I just laugh at whoever's the butt of the joke."

"Hahaha," I drily stated as I walked to grab an apple and a couple of granola bars for later.

"I'm on your side, Addy!" Adryan cheerfully said as he got up and hugged me around my waist. I smiled and picked him up. "That's why your my little man," I said as I held up my fist which he eagerly punched before I kissed his forehead and ruffled his hair. He smiled and looked up at me with his adorable eyes that were still filled with child-like wonder, the same wonder I'd had before I saw the world for what it really was.

"Wait, I'm on your side too, Addy!" Emerson cried as she ran to me as I set Adryan down.

I smiled and placed my hand on her head. "Thank you, Emmy," I said before I stuck my tongue out at Azalea, causing both of the little ones to do the same.

Azalea playfully pouted. "Dad! Addy and the babies are bullying me."

"It's alright, il mio bambina (my baby)," Papa said as he climbed off of Padre's laps and hugged Azzy. "I'm on your side."

"Hey! I thought there weren't any sides!" I pouted, causing Papa to playfully grin as Padre got up and approached the escalating situation.

"Madison, babe, let up on the kid," Padre said as he leaned against the table and scooped a handful of cereal out of Emerson's bowl.

"Dad-!"

"Come on, we need to get them to daycare and you two need to get to school."

I narrowed my eyes at Azzy and she sneakily stuck her tongue out as Papa kissed her forehead as a goodbye. "Addio, Azalea. Ti amo (Goodbye Azalea. I love you)."

She kissed his cheek. "Ti amo, Papa."

We all said our goodbyes before Azzy and I headed out while our dads finished getting the little ones dressed. The cool New York air quickly filled my lungs as we walked down the fairly calm streets of the city that never slept- or as calm as a tourist city could be. We walked along side men and women dressed in their business attire and people who called the streets we walked on their home, all of us in mutual agreement to stay out of each other's way and move as one, all without muttering a single word.

It didn't take long for us to submerge ourselves into the other world known as the subway systems. Between people playing music and bumping into people, we made our usual route to our school, New Visions High, a performing arts school in every sense of the word. They were prepping us for the best of the best: NYU, UCLA, USC. It was amazing. The only downside was that it was 5-12th grade, meaning that Azalea went to school with me even though she was two years younger than me, meaning that she studied film and audio production right down the hall from where I studied writing. But it was also a plus too because even though she annoyed the life out of me, she was one of my best friends.