Critical (Jamilton)

1. Happy Birthday!

Jefferson

Thomas and Eliza walked down the street, swinging Philip between them in that universal way that parents would swing their child. Philip laughed like a madman any time his feet left the ground and cheered to do it again as soon as he was on the ground. Walking behind them was the rest of the group, Lafayette and Hercules, along with the Jefferson and Schuyler sisters. Together, they looked like a pack of wolves protecting a little pup, but that's basically what it was in human form so none of them cared. 

Since it was getting late, though, most of the group broke off to their cars to go home. 

"Are you staying over with Eliza again?" Mary asked before getting in the car with Jane.

"Yeah, probably. Pip wants to have another sleepover," Thomas said, ruffling the boy's hair. "I'll be home tomorrow, probably." 

"Alright, be safe, little brother!" Mary called. Thomas waved as they drove off, leaving him with the three oldest Schuylers. 

"Jefferson, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you want to marry our dear Eliza," Angelica teased as she caught up with the two. 

"You say that every time I stay the night." Thomas rolled his eyes and laughed, pulling Philip into the air again. 

"And every time it's like it gets truer!" Peggy shouted. "Truer? More true? The truth of it increases every time." 

Thomas only laughed. True, he did get closer to the Schuylers after what happened with Alex, but he never actually moved on from that. Even though it happened six years before, Thomas just couldn't bring himself to fully let go of even the slightest possibility that his college sweetheart was still out there. 

He did try to move on, don't get him wrong, he definitely tried. There were a few nice girls that he dated, maybe a couple guys, but none of it felt exactly right and they didn't last for more than a few months before Thomas decided that it wasn't working like it was supposed to.

After a year of dating around, Thomas realized that nothing was working and Eliza was struggling to take care of Philip in every way possible, so he decided to help out there as much as he could instead. He'd watch the kid while Eliza was working if her sisters were busy with other things. Jefferson decided that he was doing something right since Philip would always ask for a sleepover with his "Uncle Tommy". 

"Well, you two have fun," Angelica stated. Her and Peggy hugged the other two and gave little Pip a hug before turning to go back to their own residencies. 

"Well, why don't we get the birthday boy back home, huh?" Thomas said, scooping Philip up to ride on his shoulders. "It is way past your bedtime." 

"Awe, c'mon! I'm big enough to stay up like a grown up!" Philip groaned.

"Mhm, and how old do you have to be to be a grown-up?" Eliza asked in that motherly 'here comes the wrong but cute answer' voice. 

Philip thought for a second before saying, in the most serious voice possible, "Seventeen's old."

"Hey! How old do you think we are!" 

"Like. . . Like. . . You guys are like twenty. Like super old."

Thomas and Eliza laughed as they finished their walk home. 

That night, Thomas tucked Philip into bed and read him a book while Eliza picked up from the inside part of Philip's birthday party. The inside part was just inviting the boy's best friends over for cake and ice cream before he went around the city with his family but the mess looked like a hundred toddlers ran through with tornado guns.

"Uncle Tommy," Philip said as Jefferson walked to leave the room. 

"What's up?"

"Is it too late to ask for another present?"

"You mean for your birthday? No, I guess not. Why, did you want something?" 

"Yeah! I wanna dad!" 

Thomas choked on his saliva for a second. "I'm sorry what?" 

"A dad! Theo has a dad 'n a mom, and Georgie has two dads, but I just have a mom and you. And you said that little sisters and brothers come from Build-A-Baby, so do they sell dad's there too?" Philip sat up and pulled a notebook off of his side table. He pointed to a scribble drawing of a superhero on the page. "I wan'im to look like that!"

Jefferson looked at the drawing for a second. "You want your dad to be Superman?"

"If you can find 'im, yeah. But I know that fightin' all the bad guys is hard, so he might not have time to play with me a lot. We can find another Superman, though! Those ones'll need a view."

"A view?"

"When you ask a whole bunch of questions to see if you like someone, keep up." Philip sighed dramatically and crossed his arms.

"I think you're spendin' too much time with Aunt Peggy, pun'kin, but I'll see what I can do about a Superdad, alright? You just get some sleep."

"Okay!" Philip stood up to give Thomas a hug and kiss on the cheek before laying back down. "G'night!" 

"Good night, Pip." 

Thomas went down to help Eliza clean up, but she was already done and drinking tea at the counter island. Jefferson went and sat down next her. He put the picture of Philip's newest birthday wish in front of her. 

"He wants Superman to be his dad," he said. He was expecting her to laugh with him, but instead, she sighed and took a long sip of her tea. 

"He wants a dad, in general," she muttered. "I just don't know, Thomas, maybe I should find someone?" 

"Like who?" 

"I don't know who I'd choose, honestly. I just don't want him feeling bad because Theodosia has both parents, and he doesn't know anyone with just a mom other than himself. . . He might think he's weird." 

"Pip's a weird kid, but I think he mostly plays into it at this point," Thomas joked. "I think you're doing fine on your own."

"Thanks," Eliza sighed with a smile.

Thomas patted her on the back. "Maybe you should go to bed, sleep on whatever you're thinking of." 

Eliza nodded and put her cup in the sink before telling Thomas good night and retreating up the stairs. Jefferson sighed and made sure the front and back doors were locked before hopping onto the couch himself to go to sleep. The last thing he remembered thinking about was how much Philip wanted a dad, how Eliza was thinking about moving on, and how maybe it was time for him to move on from Alex. 

It had been six years.

There was no way Alexander was still alive, that organization just hid his body really well. As horrible as it sounded, that's what Thomas was forcing himself to think as he fell asleep. So, instead of dwelling on it anymore, he decided that if Hamilton didn't walk through the door that night, he'd go out and search with Eliza. 

//a.n. 

Bonjour Bitches!
yeah, i got excited so ya get this early! super early. ten days early. i was going to upload this on Christmas hnng
but, y'all don't need much of an A.n. here because it's a sequel! for those of you that are new, i have a different story on my profile called Favorable, which is the first story and you will understand virtually nothing here if ya don't read that!
for those of you that aren't new, here ya go! the moment you've been waiting for! a sequel! whoop whoop! 
yo i am so excite for this you don't even know. okay, let's get this show on the road!