Favorable (Jamilton)

30. Hamilton

The entire way back to the house, Thomas was grumbling about his mom choosing the most inconvenient times to try to be a parent. The kids in the back were still complaining about having to leave without a tree, but their fits died down once they realized that screaming wasn't going to work. 

Every minute up to the dinner seemed to fly by, but as soon as it was time to sit down with the Jeffersons, Alex felt like time was slowed down just to torture him.

Alexander sat awkwardly at the table as Thomas argued with his mother. Everyone else was dead quiet, even Anna and Randolph. Alex wished Thomas would stop talking and just eat the food on his plate so it could be done and over with.

"You never talk to me anymore, Tommy. You didn't even say goodbye before you left," his mother hummed.

"I wonder why." Thomas kept his eyes down. 

"Well, I'd say it's time for dessert, right. . . Wha's yer name, cutie? Xavier? Yeah, c'mon, help cut the cake." the woman poked Hamilton's cheek. He shifted away from her uncomfortably, which left him closer to Thomas.

"He's staying right here, thank you very much," Thomas spat. He grabbed Alex's hand under the table and Alex just decided to let it happen.

Jane Sr. shrugged and went into the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, Thomas dove for her glass of water, letting go of Hamilton's hand in the process, the lack of body heat making him hate the cold of the house.

"Thomas, she's been doing fine all day," Mary whispered, glancing into the kitchen. "Maybe we can just leave it." 

"No, since when has she not had some sort of alcohol around her?" Thomas looked at Mary with a challenging look and she backed off.

"She said she stopped," Elizabeth muttered.

"Liz, you saw how she was acting. You really want to say that's sober?"

Jane Sr. came back into the room with a lopsided looking cake barely staying in one hand and a knife in the other. She looked overly happy until she noticed her son holding the glass. Thomas kept direct eye contact with her as he took a small sip. Everyone jumped when he slammed the cup onto the table, sending the liquid sloshing and landing on the table.

"Vodka. Really? Are kidding me right now?!" He shouted.

Anna and Randolph scooted closer to Elizabeth. Mary rubbed a hand over her face for some sort of stress relief and Jane put an arm around her sister's shoulders.

"Tommy, I can explain, it's just been really hard since the Peters--"

"I was five when that happened! You are not about to tell me that you are still lying to your children because of that!"

"Thomas, you need to calm down," Mary whispered as she stood up. She put a supportive hand on her brother's shoulder but he ignored it.

"No! She's got two kids that are still young enough to forget about this shit and she isn't even trying to fix anything!"

Speaking of the twins, they were in tears and huddling against each other. Elizabeth pulled them away from the shouting, trying to play the good big sister role, but she looked like she was going to cry too.

"You will not talk to your mom that way," Jane Sr. said. She tried to sound as stable and intimidating as she could, which was proving ineffective.

"What mom!? All I see is a pathetic alcoholic that can't stop drinking long enough to notice any of her goddamn kids!" Thomas screamed as he motioned to everyone around the room. "How old are the twins, huh? You tell me right now how old they are and I'll sit down and apologize."