Dearest, Theodosia

Chapter XVIII:

Chapter XVIII:

Father-Father Bonding

Both Philip and Theo had knew that this had a very large possibility of going very badly, but the two teenagers figured it was worth a try. If each father really loved their child, they would try for them, right? The father's would put their personal differences aside to make their children happy. Theo and Philip had planned a whole day for themselves and their fathers. It took a lot of convincing, but Aaron and Alexander agreed to come along. After all, Alexander liked Theo a lot. Aaron liked Philip too, just not as his only child and daughter's boyfriend.

   "I'm proud of you, Daddy." Theo told her father that morning over breakfast. "You're putting your personal issues aside for me. Thank you. I can't begin to explain how much it means to me." Aaron handed his daughter a bowl of oatmeal and also placed his own bowl on the table. "Just, think before you speak, please." Theo said, remembering the most horrendous dinner she had ever been too.

   Aaron nodded, taking a bite of his breakfast. "I will, Theodosia." Aaron had learned from his mistakes. He hated having his daughter angry with him. He wouldn't let his dearest Theodosia down again. "I promise, I'll be civil." Theo nodded, taking a few bites from her breakfast.

"They'll be here in an hour. I should probably get ready." Theo stood up from the table, leaving her bowl at the table and rushing towards the staircase.

"Theo, you haven't finished your breakfast!" Aaron hollered from the kitchen, looking at the half empty bowl. Theo hadn't heard him, she was busy deciding on what to wear. She picked a light pastel pink dress with long sleeves, due to the fall chill. For shoes, she decided on boots because the group would be doing quite a bit of walking. Theo put half of her curls up in a clip and left the rest of them down, leaving a few stray ones to frame her face. After spending twenty minutes getting ready, she went back downstairs to finish breakfast.

"Ugh, this is cold." She told her father, placing the spoon down in the bowl.

"Maybe because you let it sit out for twenty minutes." Aaron said playfully, getting a small smile from his daughter. "I'm going to get ready. Clean up your breakfast if you're not going to eat more." Theo nodded and did as she was told. For the next forty minutes, she switched back and forth between playing the piano and nervously questioning the whole day. As her father came back down the stairs, the Burrs heard a knock on the door. Aaron went to go and get it, but Theo grabbed his arm gently.

"I think maybe I should be the one to answer the door." Aaron nodded in agreement and let his daughter turn the doorknob. On the other side of the door, Alexander and Philip Hamilton stood before them. Philip smiled at the girl and nudged his father in the side, gesturing for him to do the same, which he did. Aaron appeared in Alexander's view.

"Mr. Burr, sir." Alexander said as politely as he possibly could. He was doing this for his son. "Good to see you."

"Mr. Hamilton, it's a pleasure." Aaron replied. Theo and Philip stared at each other, almost as if they were waiting for one of their father's to explode.

"We should probably be off now, Theo and I have planned a lot of things to do today." Philip said, directing the father's attention from each other to himself. Theo quickly nodded at stepped out onto the porch. Aaron followed, shutting the door behind himself. Instinctively, Theo and Philip linked arms and stepped down off the porch, leaving the men behind them.

Theo turned her head back, making sure that both the fathers were following, which they were. "If I may ask, what do you two have planned for today?"

"Daddy, it's a day full of surprises. You'll just have to be patient and find out." Aaron was patient. Alexander was not. Theo and Philip made small talk, occasionally laughing at something the other one had said. Aaron and Alexander lingered behind them in silence. Alexander recognized the park that Philip always spoke of. Aaron did too.

Every year until her mother got sick, Theo and her parents would come to the park and look at the foliage. Philip had been the one to suggest it. "We can make it out tradition too." He told her.

Theo turned back to the men. "Isn't it beautiful? I've always been fond of foliage." Theo told them. Aaron smiled, remembering all of the times when he and his wife built large leave piles for their daughter to jump into. They stayed there for a bit before going off to their next location. Philip had brought them all to his school, which Alexander enjoyed. They walked around the campus, hearing stories about both Philip and Alexander's time as students at King's College, which fascinated Theo. By that time, it was time for lunch.

They found a small restaurant up the road and ate there for lunch. Philip and Theo were shocked at how friendly Aaron and Alexander were being towards each other. The couple enjoyed it, wondering how long it would last for. It was only noon and Philip and Theo were succeeding in their plan. The only bickering was over who was going to pay the bill. Alexander and Aaron each decided to pay for the other family's meals.

At Alexander suggestions, they were now headed off to a library. Theo was thrilled that she knew someone who loved books as much as she did. Philip and Aaron were just kind of along for the ride. Once they got there, Philip and Theo had the chance to talk without being around their fathers. "I can't believe how well this is working out." Philip said.

Theo picked yet another book off from the shelf and held it in her arms. "I know, it's like they're completely different people." Philip took the stack of books from the girl, holding them for her.

"Do you really need to read all of these?" He asked, shifting the weight of the books. Philip wasn't a huge reader, he preferred writing.

"You know how hard it is for me to find books in this library that I haven't read yet." She told him, finding yet another on the shelf. Philip groaned as she pulled it out. Theo taken half of her pile from Philip, balancing them on her own.

"Someday, I'll write you a book." Philip said, walking with Theo to the check out counter.

"What about?" She slid her books onto the counter, causing the librarian to let out a small groan at the amount of them.

"You." He told her. "You can be the main character, the hero of the story." Theo smiled softly at the boy as their fathers came over.

"Theo, goodness. I thought you said you were checking out a few books." Aaron said.

"Daddy, this is a few." Alexander laughed with the girl, even helping grab the books. The two teenagers thought they had done something groundbreaking. They thought they had rekindled a friendship, and they had. At least, for the time being.

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Theo is definitely me when I go to any bookstore! I hope you all have a wonderful day. Thank you for reading this chapter! I love you all!

Also, THANK YOU ALL FOR 500 READS! This is unbelievable! Thank you all so much for your dedication! You guys are the greatest!