The alarm clock from his phone wouldn't shut up; therefore, Dakota threw it across the room. He pressed the button that made it shut up, yet there it was, blaring its annoying ringtone at him in a repetitive ear-splitting fog horn that made him wish he was in hell.

A knock sounded over the fog horn- one that came from his door. Couldn't he just lay in self-pity and morning anger without being disturbed?

"Papa said it's time to come eat breakfast. He said you need to eat before you leave." 

Papa was a hypocrite, thought Dakota before he groaned loudly and jumped out of his soft bed. He used to be a morning person- back when he slept on the streets a year ago. But now that he had a comforting, warm bed in a warm mansion with breakfast waiting for him downstairs at any time? He'd rather savor his sleep while it lasted.

He got dressed but decided to wait on brushing his teeth until after breakfast. He checked his reflection in the mirror noticing his slowly fading green bangs needed to be dyed again. He sighed. He looked awful.

"DAKOTA!" a voice yelled, and Dakota rolled his eyes. Exiting his room, he walked down a corridor to the giant kitchen- which opened into a giant living room. At the stove was his father- Nick Moore- who was more like a father/mother hybrid.

The television was blaring, and Nick scolded the younger kids to turn it down.

"Hey, Mom," Dakota addressed Nick, who smiled- as he always did when he heard Dakota call him that- "What are you cooking?"

"Eggs. Bacon," he listed, "And for today-" he smiled and paused with suspense- "Muffins!"

Nick loved to bake, particularly sweet things. In fact, if his other father allowed Nick to get a job, he would be an astounding baker. 

"You should convince Xavier to give you a job," Dakota voiced, but his mom rolled his eyes in response, "I'm serious."

"I know," Mom replied, looking up at his son, "But you know your father...and how he is."

"Is he at work already?" Dakota asked, noticing Xavier's absence, "It's seven A.M."

Nick pursed his lips and shook his head, as if he was wondering the same thing. He took the scrambled eggs off the stove and got the oven mitts from a hook next to the oven.

"Your father is a very busy man, I guess," Nick brought out the muffins- which smelled heavenly- "Especially here recently. I hate that he's running himself around so much. You know what he needs? A nice vacation."

"You need it more than, Xavier," Dakota examined the room. The twins- Jason and Jordon- were hitting the terrible twos at the same time, and were always getting up to mischief. Well, at least, Jason was; Jason stole all of Jordon's energy from the womb- which meant Jordon was always lounging around being lazy, while Jason cried and screamed and begged for attention. Currently, Jason was trying to climb up the kitchen counter- when Avil plucked the two-year-old off of the drawer he was climbing. 

Avil was his younger brother, who acted like he was the eldest. He was the first one to ever get adopted by Nick, therefore he knew everything. Avil was only one year younger than him, but he was around the same height as their adopted mother. And he adored the art of makeup, like James Charles except with less 'sisters' and more 'brothers.'

He had a dramatic makeup look today that Dakota couldn't even describe because it was so complex. 

Avil dropped Jason on the floor, and the kid- unphased- ran over to his twin brother to annoy him some more.

"You're right," mumbled Nick, "This house is chaotic." Then he shrugged. "But I love you all no matter what."

He wasn't kidding when he said that, Dakota had learned. Dakota had run away numerous times from the house when he was first adopted; His sister- Maria, who was now eight- was mute; and he was almost sure the two-year-old twins were going to be in some weird subconscious incestual relationship with each other when they were older, by the way they acted now. But Nick still cared for all of them equally.

Dakota often thought of his adopted mom as a superhero for keeping up with six strange kids and the house while his husband was away.

 "Here," he said, handing off a plate to Dakota- kissing him on the forehead, as he always did- "After you're done, get in the car, and I'll drive you and Avil to school."

Ugh, School. Avil and Dakota groaned at the same time. Even though Dakota had only been in high school for one year, he hated it with all of his being. He was not that smart, and he knew he wasn't going anywhere in life.

Suddenly, he heard as Maria gracefully skipped down the hallway. Dakota knew it was Maria because of the sound of her footsteps. Bianca, his other sister, had clumsy fast-paced footsteps, and she usually woke up later in the day. Maria and Bianca were actually blood sisters, just like Jason and Jordon were twins. They both had that beautiful Italian skin with rich black hair. Dakota was jealous of their hair; he had to dye his hair black and only wished it grew naturally. Speaking of which-

"I need my hair dyed again," Dakota told his mom, who nodded in response.

"I've noticed," he smiled, "We'll take you some time soon. How about this evening? Sound good?"

"Perfect," he said.

"No dates with your girlfriend this evening then?" his mom teased, handing him a glass of orange juice. Dakota blushed.

"No," he grumbled into the glass. Maria started signing a succession of signs with her hands. ASL- American Sign Language. Something Dakota only knew a few words in. Nick, however, on adopting Maria, had learned the entire language for her sake.

"That's right, honey!" his mom laughed, then started chanting, "Dakota's got a girlfriend! Dakota's got a girlfriend!"

"Dakota has had a girlfriend for six months," Dakota said grumpily and embarrassed, "Can we move on now?"

"Nope!" Nick cackled, "You're the only kid with a significant other. We are going to make fun of you until Avil gets a boyfriend."

Avil snorted. "Which is never going to happen," he said, pouting. Nick walked over and patted his hand comfortingly.

"It'll happen, darling. Just you wait!" he smiled to lift Avil's spirits, "There are a million people in this state- you'll find one of them to spend your time with, trust me." Then he turned to Dakota suspiciously. "And why haven't you been going out with your girlfriend recently? She would bound to feel neglected by now."

"You don't want to know," he grumbled. Just thinking about his girlfriend made him uncomfortable. Usually, she did all of the hard work in their relationship, but now she was slowly giving up. They were both falling out. 

Nick came over and swallowed Dakota into a hug- something Dakota always enjoyed secretly. His mom's broad shoulders were perfect to snuggle into, and his signature stubble scratched his forehead in a good way.

"Well, whatever is going on, just know that I'm here for you, okay?" He kissed the top of Dakota's head, gave him one last squeeze, and let go. They gave each other smiles. 

Dakota loved his mom.

"Papa, how do you get guys to like you?" Avil asked curiously.

"You don't," Nick replied, "You can only be yourself, and hope that some guy comes along and finds you interesting. At least, that's what I did to score your father." They had heard the story of how Nick had grown up on the streets- stealing for food, begging for shelter, and working hard for a job- when Xavier, a rich and privileged man, fell in love with him and took him in.

In that story, Xavier sounded like a hero, and Dakota was almost sure it was just Nick's bias toward Xavier leaking through. Xavier was no hero nor was he a father. He was just a CEO. A businessman with no emotions. Dakota could never see how his mom fell in love with that brick wall.

After that conversation, Bianca woke up, and the house turned from a tornado to a hurricane. Nick rushed to pack lunches for school and get the younger ones dressed. He and Bianca had an argument on whether or not it was school appropriate to wear a tutu to school and only a tutu. She loved tutus and hated every other article of clothing, so Nick had to wrestle her into a decent outfit. Maria dressed like a hobo. Avil dressed in a crop-top with some booty shorts- until Nick told him to put on some shorts that at least covered his whole butt.

"How am I supposed to get guys, if I don't show off the goods?!" Avil argued.

"Well, your father does not want to see his son's buttcheeks hanging out for all the perverts to see," Nick rolled his eyes, "You can wear short shorts, but I want to see no trace of naked butt-cheek, understand?"

"Fine!" huffed Avil, and he grumpily stomped back into the room.

Dakota dressed simply in his black ripped jeans, black converse, black- well, black everything. He grabbed his phone from across the room, brushed his teeth, and tried to tame his god-awful-washed-out hair.

"LOAD-UP TIME!" Nick called, which meant it was time for the kids to get in the car. All six kids piled up into Nick's mom-van, lunches and backpacks in hand- except for the two-year-olds, because they didn't have school.

"Mom, couldn't you just hire someone to drive us to school?" Dakota complained. He would rather arrive in two separate cars than packed like sardines in his mom's van.

"And miss out on my babies going to school?" his mom huffed, "Absolutely not."

They dropped the younger kids off first, since their school was closer.

"I should have made you drive, Kota," Nick said as the younger ones were getting out, "You have to learn at some point."

Dakota had just received his learner's permit to drive, and he was not willing to get behind the wheel. He was scared he would wreck the car- or worse, hurt whoever was in the car with him. Avil, who would receive his learners soon, didn't like driving for a different reason. Avil always expressed his dream of a "daddy driving him around with only one hand" to anyone that would listen.

"BYE, MY BABIES! HAVE A GOOD DAY AT SCHOOL!" Nick screamed out the window, sticking his head through and waving. Bianca waved back joyously, while Maria blushed as if she was embarrassed. 

When Nick stuck his head back in, he sighed. "They are growing up so fast," he said, before putting the car in gear, and driving off to the high school. "Bianca is being defiant. Maria is embarrassed because of me. They are so cute! And I can't believe how old they're getting! I...I can't believe how old I'm getting. Sh*t. I mean-" He looked at the two-year-olds in the rearview mirror- "Don't repeat that!"

"Sh*t?" Jordon said, as if that was a viable question, "Sh*t!"

Nick winced every time he repeated it.

"I'm a horrible father," he sighed, looking defeated.

"No," said Avil, "You're the best father." Nick pursed his lips as if he didn't believe it, but nodded in agreement. Dakota had a feeling that one of those gestures was fake.

"You are," Dakota agreed to lift his mom's spirits. He had been with multiple families before. This one was more chaotic than most, but it was one he never wanted to leave.

"Thank you both," Nick smiled, "What would I ever do without you two?"

For the rest of the car ride, they sat peacefully in silence- unless Jordon or Jason started hitting each other and crying. Then, it was a full scolding fest from Nick threatening to turn the car around.

At last, they arrived at the high school, and neither Dakota nor Avil was willing to leave. Dakota silently wished that Jordon and Jason would cause his mom to turn the car around one day. He didn't want to indulge in seven hours of pure boring hell.

After a lot of negotiating, Avil and Dakota reluctantly slid out of the car. Avil, rushed away from Dakota because, despite being siblings, Avil was teased a lot and the feminine boy didn't want Dakota to be looped with him. Dakota had always said that it was okay if he got teased too, but his brother thought otherwise. And so, Dakota was left to enter the school by himself.

Here goes nothing.