Work Text:
“Yes, I understand. Thank you. Yes. Yes. No, that shouldn’t be a problem. Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow.” George Washington hung up the phone with a frown and a heavy-hearted sigh. He ran his large hands over his bald head, kneading the spots that were developing a headache. Well, he didn’t think they were going to choose his home… He was conflicted. On the one hand, he had opened his home to orphans and other children separated from their parents. It was rewarding and something he and his wife, Martha, found gave them a purpose outside of their work. they wanted to give back the good fortune they had found in life. On the other hand, this youngster was going to need a lot of work…
Jackie Laurens would be on a plane in less then twelve hours. According to his social worker, he hadn’t had much love or comfort in his life. He was volatile and angry. His own social worker said she saw him aging out of the system and turning to the darker side of humanity, although she could just be biased. He got the feeling that the woman didn’t much care for people who were transgendered or non-binary.
He chuckled as he thought the words. Just a little over a year ago, he wouldn’t have even known how to use the terms. But Hercules had educated him extensively on LGBT culture and terminology. He pulled up a google search page and did some of his own research on what the boy coming to his home may need. Male clothing, of course. A binder, whatever that was. And something called a Packer?
At that, he got a little embarrassed and shut the computer down. He muttered to himself, “I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”
“What bridge?” Alexander Hamilton, one of the foster children living in the Washington house leaned on the doorjam to George’s office. “I always considered you more of the type to ford the river instead of building a bridge.”
“I don’t know if that’s a complement or not.” George grimaced, stood and stretched some of the tension from his shoulders.
“Neither am I…” Alex laughed.
“Go get everyone else, I have some news.” George said as he left his office and closed the door.
“Is it bad? Should I be concerned? What’s going on?” Alex began shooting off questions like he was wont to do. Not doing what he was asked, nor giving George the chance to answer one question before launching into the next. “Are you getting fired? Is Martha? Did the Private Investigator find Hercules’ birth parents? Did Laf’s parents remember he exists and want him to move back to France?”
“Alexander!” George had to shout to get Alex’s attention. “None of the above, but just go get your foster brothers A.S.A.P. and I’ll answer any and all questions you have.”
“But…” Alex tried to argue.
“Go.” George commanded, pointing in the direction he wanted Alex to go. Alex went, thankfully. George went in search of his wife, he needed to give her the head’s up before letting the hellions know another would be joining their ranks.
***
Alex sauntered into the Game Room at the top of the stairs and looked for Laf and Herc, hands in his pockets. He saw Hercules at the chalkboard, sketching. Alex came to stand at the other boy’s elbow, he watched for a few moments. He was kind of amazed at how Herc could make a design look like actual fabric with only a few lines.
Alex had absolutely no artistic talent. Totally and completely Left-Brained. Math, Languages, Science, those were where he excelled. It just compounded his appreciation for art and those who had the capacity to create could make things from nothing. He loved how some people could be so expressive without words.
“What do you think?” Herc asked without looking form his design. He was frowning a bit, just a slight crease between his eyebrows. It was a sign that the larger teen wasn’t happy with the design, not completely.
“I like it.” Alex supplied.
“It’s missing something.” Hercules said mostly under his breath. He shrugged and left the design on the board. When he was done and happy with it, he would transfer it to paper and lock it away in his portfolio for later, if he got time or needed something for an assignment at school. Herc turned and finally gave Alex his full attention. “What’s up?”
“George wants us all downstairs. Needs to tell us something.”Alex told Hercules, “Any idea where Lafayette is?”
“Did you check his room?” Herc asked.
“Just came here, hoping you both would be here.” Alex said sheepishly.
“Lazy ass.” Hercules chuckled, reaching out to ruffle Alex’s hair. Like every time Hercules touched either Alex or Laf, he let his hand linger for a moment longer than was friendly. It was the only thing any of them allowed themselves. Especially after George walked in on Herc and Laf making out right after Herc moved in. They had all had a long talk after that. It had been more than embarrassing for the teenage boys, and none of them wanted a repeat.
“Am not.” Alex scoffed.
“Sometimes.” Herc shot back.
“Laziness is a sign of genius.” Alex said with his nose in the air. He swept out of the Game Room and down the hall to Laf’s room.
Laf was there in his room, the music coming out of his computer on his desk loud enough to cover the sound of the other two boys coming to the door. It was some Nikki Minaj song, the girl on the track rapping a mile a minute in a way that Alex was convinced no one on the planet could actually keep up with. Lafayette was bouncing around his room, dancing and singing along with the song proving Alex wrong as he matched the singer word for word. Laf tried a dipping move that would have brought him up and into a seductive pose to finish the song, but he stumbled. He tipped and sat gracelessly on his bed, huffing to himself.
“You know, that move is easier in heels.” Hercules observed.
Laf hadn’t known they were there and jumped and screamed when he heard Hercules. Lafayette instantly went into a tirade in French at both of them, “Shit! What the hell do you think you’re doing? Sneaking around like a thief? You do not announce yourselves, and you just watch me in my private rooms?”
“First of all,” Alex responded in the same language. “We didn’t sneak up on you. You were so focused on your music that you didn’t hear us. Plus the volume was loud enough to cover our laughter, and I assure you we were laughing long before you noticed us. In addition, you door was wide open. We didn’t have to sneak and its not all that private when your door is wide open.”
“Ok, I understood music and something about waffles?” Hercules raised his brows at the other two.
They both chuckled but it was Alex who responded, “Well you were right about the music, he was accusing us of sneaking around like thieves and invading his privacy.”
“His room isn’t all that private with the door open.” Herc said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“That’s what I said.” Alex retorted.
"What do you two need?” Lafayette asked tossing his hair over a shoulder, over his shock enough that he remembered his English lessons. He was able to rearrange himself into a more graceful lounge one his bed. Like a cat that had just tripped and pretended the it was what he meant to do all along.
“George wants us downstairs to tell us something.” Alex relayed his message. Laf shrugged and followed the other two down to the first floor.
Alex heard Hercules behind him telling Lafayette, “I wasn’t lying. That move is a lot easier in heels. A lot of my moms’ friends who preformed drag practiced in heels because some moves are too hard to do on flat feet.”
“Thank you for the advice, Hercules.” Lafayette replied, his nose still in the air indignant that he’d been laughed at. “But I do not believe that I will be preforming in drag anytime soon.”
“Ok.” Herc just shrugged. “Its not like we’d think any less of you if you wanted to.”
“I’d laugh.” Alex said over his shoulder. Which got him a buffet from Hercules.
“Don’t be a dick.” Hercules said. They’d reached the living room on the first floor by then.
Martha was there, she frowned a little at her foster son’s language. “What is Alex doing now?”
“Why do you just assume it’s me?” Alex asked, just as indignant as Lafayette had just been.
“Because it usually is you, Alexander.” Martha deadpanned. “But if this is the 10% chance that it isn’t you I will apologize for assuming.”
“Good.” Alex nodded.
“It is him, though.” Lafayette smiled and stuck his tongue out tauntingly at Alex’s cry of ‘traitor.’
Martha and Hercules chuckled.
“Boys.” George entered the room with a serious look on his face and soon got the room’s attention.
***
Lafayette was very rarely serious. He felt like to be too serious was a waste of precious time, it was better to do what you wanted and not worry about things you couldn’t change. It was a holdover of his parent’s laissez-faire form of parenting. Lafayette just never learned to care about anything that didn’t interest him. But since moving in with the Washingtons when he was fourteen, he’d learned to at least care about what worried those he cared for.
So when George came into the living room with the look on his face that said the illustrious man was concerned about something, his attention was focused.
George took a deep breath and sighed. He rubbed the top of his head, something he did when he had something important to say. “We are going to be fostering another boy.”
George wasn’t one to waste words. It was one of the reasons Lafayette admired the man. He cut to the meat of the situation and tried to guide others to the right decisions.
“What?” Alex almost shouted, immediately. He was standing and pacing. “This is what that phone call was about this afternoon? Do we have the space for another kid? Do you and Martha have time for another one of us? I can tell by the look on your face that this kid is fucked up, just like all of us were. Are you ready to put in all that work again?”
“Alex.” Martha said quietly, warningly.
“I mean, you guys said we were going to be your last. You’re both getting too old to run around after delinquents. And what if this new kid is as bad as Laf was when he got here? Or, god forbid, me when I moved in here…” Alex flopped down onto the couch with his head in his hands. He began muttering more to himself than the rest of the room, “They’ll need help with this kid, how many times can I fail a class at Yorktown High before they expel me? I’ll keep failing until this kid grows up so I can stay here and—“
“Alexander.” George’s sharp voice brought Alex’s attention back to him. “You are not going to intentionally fail classes to stay in school.”
“And we would never throw you out just because you aged out of the system, Alex.” Martha added. “Hercules is still here, even though he’s already eighteen. If you want to, you will always be able to call this house home.”
“Herc is still in school…” Alex sounded less sure about his argument, a sign that he was starting to think instead of just react. Alex mumbled, “And he could be dangerous. I don’t want you two to get hurt…”
“According to his social worker, Laurens, that’s his last name, has never gotten into a fight that wasn’t self defense.” George said.
Alex snorted, “What, he doesn’t have a first name?”
“I think we are going to give him a chance to start fresh here, Alex,” Martha said, laying a calming hand on Alex’s wrist, “And that includes his name. We gave you three the same option when you moved in here. New home, new name.”
“And he’s only going to be here for a few months before he ages out. That is, if he chooses to move out.” George added. “He’s a senior in high school. He just needs a safe place to finish school, can you boys give him that chance? Be nice and not make his life harder?”
Alex snorted again, “What if he’s stupid, or worse, a Republican… I won’t ‘be nice’ to someone who’s an ass hole just because they want to be ignorant just because they had a hard life.”
“What about the rest of his history?” Hercules spoke up for the first time. He had been silent thought Alex’s explosion. He had a crease between his brows and didn’t say any more. Laf thought Hercules could be confused or concerned, he wasn’t that good at judging negative emotions, they all blended together for him.
“Well, all I know is that he got into some fights at school, mostly over LGBT rights. And he is getting emancipated from his father over the incident that brought him to the attention of the system.” George was choosing his words carefully, it was one thing that Laf had learned about the man. When he spoke carefully, he was trying to protect someone. He had spoken the same way when Hercules moved in, of course they had over a week to get used to the idea of another kid in the house. He had done the same thing the first time a storm had rolled in after Laf had moved in and Alex barricaded himself in the attic. George knew something more than he was telling them, but if he was keeping information from them it was for a good reason. That was good enough for Lafayette. It was, however, not good enough for Alexander Hamilton.
“No way. We can’t risk some random kid coming in and fucking all our lives up.” Alex shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “What if he’s an axe murderer? What if he’s crazy? What if he’s one of those religious fanatics?”
“Alexander. We aren’t asking you to like him.” Martha put in. “All we are asking is that you don’t make snap judgements about him and give him a chance to prove what kind of person he is before you decide you don’t like him.”
Alex harrumphed and muttered to himself. George sighed, rubbing his head. “Alexander…”
“Fine! I won’t antagonize him until I find out if he’s a Republican. Ok?” Alex pouted. “Can I go?"
“Yes, it think it’s bed time, boys. Good night.” Martha said, dropping a kiss to the brooding teen’s forehead before he had the chance to jump up and retreat to his room. Alex grimace and wiped the spot with the back of his hand on his way to his room.
“Hopefully we won’t have to stop any fights in this house, eh, George?” Lafayette winked at his foster father as he stood and stretched. He caught Hercules ogling him surreptitiously from the corner of his eye and his smirk widened. Laf may have stretched for a little longer than necessary just to give the other teen a show.
George sighed, kneading his brows. “I just want this boy to be able to finish school.”
“We’ll keep control of Alexandre, oui Hercules?” Lafayette said, wandering towards the foyer and upstairs.
“Uh, yah, man. Nothing to worry about.” Hercules said, a little roughly.
“Just try to get along?” George requested to their backs as the two teens followed Alex up the stairs.
“Anything you say, George.” Herc said.
“Oui, général.” Laf said with a mock salute at the second floor landing before sauntering off towards his room.
***
Hercules was worried. George’s meeting hadn’t gone well… The new boy would be coming tomorrow and Alex already hated just the idea of him. Alex, to be fair, didn’t deal well with change and his first reaction was to fight it.
Actually, Alex didn’t do well with change he didn’t incite.
Laf had told him the the two of them had constantly gotten into screaming matches in French when the French teen had moved in when he was 14 and Alex 13. The screaming usually devolved into fights…
Hercules hoped he wouldn’t have to do too much deflecting to keep his high strung friend from knocking out the new kid. Even though he was small, Alex still had a lot of skill when it came to knowing exactly where to aim in a fight. Herc had watched the smaller teen egg on ass holes at school while letting them think they were getting the better of the argument so he could push them into a fight. Then his seemingly wild, but actually well- aimed blows would lay the usually larger teen out leaving Alex the victor. It was rare when Alex fully let his temper get the better of him. He was always in control in some way, shape, or form.
Laf was another matter entirely. If he disliked a person, he would smile sweetly in their face but remain vigilant for the moment he could exploit whatever weakness he found. Where Alex was fiery passion, Laf was cool calculation.
Hercules had only seen Laf’s true anger once when his parents had visited for a day last summer. The other teen had been formal and cold to his parents, who had treated the child similarly. But when the elder Lafyettes had left… Lafayette had raged, tearing apart his own room and injuring himself. He’d actually scared Hercules. George and Martha had had to buy Laf all new furniture.
Maybe the new kid (Hercules really needed to learn his real name…) would be nice. Someone all three of the teens could get along with. Hercules hoped that this Laurens kid would be smart enough to give Alex a run for his money. Even if he disagreed with a person, if they were intelligent Alex would have some respect for them. Herc hoped that Laurens would be cool and be able to understand Lafayette’s need to be the center of attention because he’d been ignored most of his life. Hopefully Laurens wouldn’t try to compete with Laf for the spotlight.
Honestly, Hercules Mulligan just hoped that the new kid wouldn’t be as much work as his current housemates. Even though Hercules cared for both Alex and Laf, the two were a lot to handle. Sometimes it was like herding cats. Hercules’ blood pressure was at a constant elevated state since meeting the two contrary teens.
Herc would even settle for ‘not as prone to starting fights.’ He’d been in more fights trying to protect Alex and Laf in the past year and a half than he had been in his life. For the easygoing, cheerful teen, it was a little much. But Alex was so small and would start fights with more than one person at a time… and Laf would just give Herc this look, asking for his help but not believing that he would get it… The two were infuriating.
But Hercules had already fallen for them…
And that was in itself a can of worms. Alex’s impish smile and the way he needed to be taken care of when he was in the middle of one of his ‘projects’ and Laf’s need to control what others thought of him, but really just needing to be liked… If they weren’t living in the same house, Herc would have asked at least one of them on a date. Herc shook his head. He couldn’t let himself to dwell on what couldn’t be.
Herc shook himself in his bed. Get off that line of thinking, Mulligan. You just need to make it to graduation, then we all get an apartment and… Well, the three hadn’t planned on much more than that at the moment. Graduation had seemed like such a daunting task a year ago, when Alex had brought up the apartment instead of living int he college’s dorms thing. And the fact that they had all just assumed that they’d go to the same college. Now graduation was almost on them. Just five months left…
And now this new element….
Hopefully the new kid would the kind of person wouldn’t want to get into fights. Maybe they would all get along? Maybe Laurens would be easygoing, funny, and smart? Maybe he would be someone that Hercules wasn’t attracted to?
Herc could only hope.