Alex's P.O.V.
"Max." He kept his eyes on the floor,
"I wasn't, okay? I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry." I sighed,
"I will handle this and then we'll call your dads."
"Please don't." He paused, "I'm-I'm not trying to get out of this, I know I messed up. But Maria is their priority now. Just like before. I don't wanna bug them because I'm stupid. Can't you just handle it and leave it at that? Please?"
"Is that why you did this? To try and get their attention?" He nodded a little bit,
"But then I got caught and-and I realized they won't do anything and it'll just stress them out. It won't change anything. They'd lecture me and ground me or something and then go right back to Maria. It was a dumb thing and a dumb idea. I'm just dumb."
"Hey, you're not dumb Max. You made a dumb choice, yes, but you are not dumb. We... don't have to call them this time. But I really want you to tell them."
"Not now. Maybe once the baby is here. They might chill out a little."
"I hope so. It's really fucking you up." He nodded a little,
"Can-Can we just get this over with? I wanna go take a nap." I nodded,
"Yeah. But I don't want you alone right now. You can come back to our apartment to nap."
"Okay but I'm fine."
"You're not."
~~~~
"Why is Max asleep on the couch?", Mia asked coming into the kitchen.
"He had a pretty rough day. I didn't want him alone in his dorm room."
"Oh. Is he okay?"
"His dads kinda went back to ignoring him and prioritizing Maria."
"She's pregnant.", she said before pausing, "Not that it justifies it, but it makes sense."
"Yeah I guess. But there's not much to do right now with her. We have a few months before the baby comes and she's in the pretty boring months of pregnancy. All we can do is back off and make sure she doesn't need anything. This would be their time to give Max all the attention before the baby comes and they aren't. And it's really fucking with him."
"I know. Maria feels really bad too. They barely even talk and it's messing with her too."
"Max probably feels like he can't be mad at their dads so he's mad at her. It'll work out eventually."
"I hope so."
~~~~
The doorbell chimed as Mia and Jake looked to me, clearly confused,
"What was that?", they both asked.
"The doorbell?"
"We have a doorbell?", Mia asked. I chuckled,
"Yes? If you take the stairs from the ninth floor up here, we have a door in the kitchen. It's for emergencies or if someone doesn't have the code. But I don't know who wouldn't have it at this point.", I muttered, going to the kitchen door. I opened it to find a young girl in the hall,
"Hi. Are you Alex James?"
"I am. And you are...?"
"My mama's Allison Elizabeth. But everyone calls me Liza."
"Nice to meet you. What can I do for you?" She hesitated,
"I'm... your daughter." I paused,
"Why don't you come inside? I'm gonna need some elaboration."
"Tayana York.", she said walking inside. The name made me smile a little, my head going back to college,
"What about her?"
"She was my mom."
"Well we- wait, was?" She nodded a little bit,
"She got real sick a few months back died last week." My heart sunk a little but I couldn't help but smile at the southern accent she got from her mom,
"I'm really sorry kid."
"Why are you smilin' then?"
"You just remind me a lot of your mom." She smiled a little as I sighed,
"So how'd you hunt me down?"
"Oh mama talked about you all the time. She said I could come find you when I was eighteen but, y'know, plans change."
"So... how old are you?" I should know that.
"Sixteen." I nodded,
"Yeah. That adds up."
"I'm... sorry I just kinda dropped this on you."
"I'm sorry I haven't been around for sixteen years."
"Call if even?", she asked holding out her hand. I shook it,
"Absolutely not."
"Who are you?", Mia asked coming in.
"I'm Liza.", she said cheerfully.
"Liza this is Mia. Liza is... my daughter.", I explained.
"I'm your daughter.", Mia snapped.
"You are also my daughter, yes."
"I've been here for years.", she seethed towards Liza.
"Mia, chill out. I didn't know about Liza. She's not here to replace you."
"Oh no! Of course not!", Liza said quickly. Mia rolled her eyes,
"Sure."
"Okay, you need to chill out and check the attitude young lady. Go calm down somewhere." She scoffed, grabbing her jacket,
"Have fun with your daughter."
Mia's P.O.V.
I was pissed. That was an understatement.
"Mia.", Zayn sighed, meeting me at the door to his building, "You cannot just fucking run off like that!"
"He's gonna replace me.", My anger quickly turned into sadness as I felt tears line my eyes, "I just know it Zayn. She's already better than me." He pulled me into a tight hug,
"No he won't. And she is not. Baby, my dad has ten kids. None of us are above or below the others. He never makes the rest of us feel left out or unwanted, even oceans away. I understand why you're upset. But running off and acting like that was the wrong reaction. I think you need to chill here for awhile, maybe take a nap, and then I'll take you home and you can talk. I'll stay too if you want." I nodded,
"Please."
~~~~
"Don't ever run off like that again.", dad said, hugging me as we walked in, "You scared the hell out of me."
"Sorry.", I muttered.
"Look, you can be mad all you want but you don't get to treat Liza or me like shit. I know you are mature enough to have an adult conversation about this. I didn't know either. I don't lie or hide things from you. It never gets anyone anywhere and there's no point. Yes, you are absolutely my daughter, but I can have multiple daughters without throwing you away. I could never, ever do that. I love you and I've put way too much damn effort into fixing your ass.", I laughed, sniffling a little as he hugged me again, "I love you. You're my kid, forever and always. Don't ever act like that again."
"I won't. I love you too and I'm sorry."
"It's alright. Dinner's ready, come eat."
~~~~
"So where are you from?", Jake asked at dinner.
"Tennessee.", Liza said softly. I still didn't like her.
"You're from Tennessee?", Zayn asked dad. He laughed,
"No. Tayana was. She probably went back when Liza was born." Liza nodded,
"She wanted to be with her family."
"So why'd you come here? Aren't you living with them now?", I asked.
"They... didn't really want me. Ever. Mama was in her twenties, but they thought she was too young and they were mad she wouldn't tell the father about me. They've always been kinda passive aggressive towards me. That's another reason I came here, I was hoping for at least some extended family."
"Good luck.", Jake and I laughed.
"This is what we like to call, 'The School for Fucked up Rich Kids'.", Zayn said. Jake nodded,
"Built by a fucked up rich kid, for the fucked up rich kids."
"Boys.", Dad scolded, "You're not wrong but watch your mouths."
"Sorry.", they both said. Liza looked to dad,
"So you're not close with your family?"
"Not at all."
"We are with his brother now.", I cut in, "But that's all. We're our own little family."
"And we like adding people.", Jake said. I rolled my eyes,
"Mostly."
"Mia.", dad snapped before looking to Liza, "Where are you staying?" She blinked a little faster,
"At a hotel in the city." He narrowed his eyes a little,
"Allison Elizabeth." She shrunk back a little,
"In my car."
"You'll stay here."
"How'd you know I was lying?"
"Your mother would blink faster when she lied."