Work Text:
Philip
Eliza finished putting the bow on the box when the apartment door opened. "Eliza," Alexander's voice drifted from the front room to the bedroom. Smiling, Eliza picked up the box that she had wrapped, carrying it to the front room.
"Welcome home," she said as she leaned in to place a soft kiss to his cheek. "How was work?"
Alexander shrugged as he moved to sit in the chair as he turned to her. "It was fine," he hummed. "Were you making dinner or were going to go grab something?"
"I can make dinner," she said softly. "But first, I wanted to give you something."
Alexander blinked and opened his mouth to say something, but it was soon cut short as Eliza slid a box into his lap. "What's this for? It's not our anniversary or anything."
She smiled and nudged his shoulder gently. "Open it, you'll see."
Alexander nodded and looked at the box it his lap. It was white and wrapped nicely with a blue ribbon. He untied the ribbon carefully and took it off, setting it off to the side. He removed the lid and looked into the box, seeing a piece of paper with the words Guess what? written on the piece of paper. He removed the piece of paper, eyebrow raised.
He stopped, blinking as he glanced down seeing a pregnancy test sitting in the box. Blinking, he glanced up at her, stunned. "Seriously…?" He asked her softly.
She nodded. "Yes."
Alexander smiled, leaning in to place a soft kiss on her lips.
Angelica
"Would you like more coffee?" Eliza asked, resting a hand on his shoulder. In her hand, she already had a cup in her hand, getting ready to set it down in front of him.
Alexander shook is head. "I'm fine, dear. Thank you though."
Eliza frowned, setting this one down in front of him anyways. "I insist, Alexander. Have this one last cup of coffee before you go to work."
Blinking, he watched her turn and head into the other room. He stared at the boy in the highchair across from him. "Well, someone slept on the wrong side of the bed, huh, Philip?"
The young boy didn't look up from his food that he was eating, and Alexander shook his head as he sipped on this last cup of coffee. "Might as well finish this section before work."
As he finished off his coffee, the black words etched into the bottom of the mug became more and more visible. An eyebrow rose as he took one last swig of the coffee, emptying what was left of the drink only to be greeted with the bottom of the cup reading 'You're going to be a Dad! Again!'
"Eliza!" Alexander called, taking the cup with him, only to find her coming back down the hall, only to be greeted by a grin on her lips.
"Glad you had time to finish that one last cup of coffee." She commented.
Alexander Jr
"Mama, what's for dinner?" Philip asked from the seat he was in. His legs were swinging back and forth as he sipped on his juice box.
Eliza lifted the tray in her hand as she opened the oven, sliding the tray in. She turned back to Philip, smiling. "What would you like for dinner?"
"Ice cream!" The four-year-old exclaimed excitedly
Eliza laughed, shaking her head. "Mama has something to tell Papa tonight. Would it be okay if you and Angie had cereal tonight?"
Philip blinked, tilting his head before nodding. "Yes, Mama." He paused, finishing off his juice box. "Mama, is this a secret?"
Eliza giggled as she glanced down at Philip, squatting down until she was at his level. Reaching out, she placed a hand on his head, nodding. "It is! It's a secret that I'll tell you after I tell your father."
Philip pouted. "Fine, Mama."
The sound of the front door opening and closing, caused Philip to jump up from his seat. "Papa!" The young boy called as he ran over to the door. "Papa, Mama has a secret!"
"Philip!" Eliza let out a sigh as she lifted Angie into her arms and followed Philip to greet Alexander in the doorway.
"What's this secret?" Alexander asked softly as he leaned in and placed a soft kiss against her cheek.
Eliza shook her head as she turned to put Angie down in the living room where all the kids toys were located. "Nothing," she commented, turning back to the kitchen.
"Eliza, tell me!" Alexander began as he turned to follow her. "Please?"
Eliza glanced back at him, small smile on her lips. "Well, there's a bun in the oven."
Alexander blinked as he stared at her for a long moment. His gaze drifted over to the kitchen oven and back over to her. "The real oven or your metaphorical oven?"
"Both."
James
"Can I have a cookie when you're done, Mom?" Philip asked from the living room where he and Angie were playing with the trains, building tracks, taking them apart and rebuilding them.
"Cookies?" Angie asked as she scrambled to her feet.
"No, they're for your father." Eliza called from the kitchen.
Angie pouted as she sat back down, grabbing her train again. "I wanted a cookie!"
Philip nodded, setting his train down. "Me too! How come Dad needs so many cookies?"
Eliza was frosting he cookies that were finally cool enough to frost. Sighing, the put the knife back into the frosting to get more. "I need them to get my message to your father across?"
"What is it? That Dad needs to get fatter?" Philip asked before he and his sister started giggling.
Finally, she arranged the cookies on the plate. They were everything from onesies to hearts to bottles. "No, why don't the two of you go up stairs and see if Junior is still sleeping. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes, Mama." They both said as they got up and made their way to their brothers' room.
Eliza stood outside the door to Alexander's office, knocking once before opening the door and coming inside to see him busy at work. "Hey, I made cookies for you."
"You did?" He said, stopping to turn and look at her with a small smile. He reached and took the plate from her. He stared down at the shapes before turning up to her with a smile, leaning in to give her a kiss. "You know you're always so creative with these ways you come up with to tell me."
Eliza grinned. "I know."
John
"Papa!" Angie called as she ran into his office, letting the dog in with her.
Alexander looked up from his work, seeing her come in with the dog. "Everything okay?"
Angie nodded as she stood on her toes and looked around the room. "Just wanted to see what you were doing," she said as she stood there for one more moment before turning to run out, as the dog curled up by his feet.
He shook his head and bent down to give the dog a pat, feeling a piece of paper in her collar. He removed it, looking it over to see what it said. Instead of words, it was a sonogram image.
"Eliza," Alexander called as he soon made his way into the main room of the house. She was in the living room, helping Junior putting some toys away.
"Yeah?" She called, looking over his shoulder to see him.
Alexander held up the sonogram that was attached to the dog. "Is this to sonogram for when you were pregnant with James?"
Eliza blinked before shaking her head. "No, Alexander, that's my newest one."
"What?"
She smiled as she placed another couple of toys in the basket. "I told Angie to tell you, but I suppose this was her way of doing so, but we're having another baby." She said, standing up and leaning in to give him another kiss. "Now, can you help me clean up?"
William
Harlem
Alexander sat at the table in the kitchen, staring at the phone on the table for a long moment. Each time he felt he should pick it up and call Eliza, he set it back down, talked himself out of it. If she wanted to hear from him, she would let him know.
He sipped at his coffee, gaze drifting over to the microwave clock that flashed the time, he could never fix it after the last time the power went out.
His phone vibrated, signaling a text. He read it over, it was from Eliza.
'I'm pregnant. Again' It had the attached photos of two different pregnancy tests.
He sat there in the silence of their empty home for a moment. She was pregnant and it could be the very last child the two of them have together. He stared at the phone for what seemed like hours before he finally sent her a text back. 'Call me later tonight? So we can at least talk?'
Albany
Eliza sat on the couch in her parents living room. It was a nice enough morning and her kids were out playing in the back with her father. She had just sent Alexander a text telling him that she was pregnant. Again.
It wasn't that she didn't want to be pregnant. She had always enjoyed being pregnant and finding cute ways to tell him that she was pregnant. This time, after everything that was happening, she didn't have it in her to find a cute way.
She hugged the pillow to her chest, picking up her phone as she got a new next from him asking for her to call.
A small sigh escaped her lips, setting the phone back down on the table in front of her.
She didn't have the energy to talk to him.
Not yet.
Eliza
Eliza was seated in front of the mirror at the vanity in their room, finishing brushing her hair. "Alexander?" She called to her husband. She could see him behind her, getting ready. He had a work event and she was going with him, luckily Peggy had come over to babysit for the evening so that she could join him. She was excited to go as it was the first time in a year or so since they had patched things up that she had agreed to go.
"Yeah?" He asked as he fixed his jacket, looking at her.
"Do you know my jewelry boxes in the bathroom?" She had a stack of boxes and rings that she kept in a corner in case she needed to get ready quickly for anything they needed.
He blinked. "Yeah, why?"
She finished putting on the earrings she had decided that would go best with her dress. "Can you get the necklace out of the one that's on the top for me, please?"
Alexander blinked and nodded as he went into the bathroom and looked at the stack of boxes. He reached for the one that was on top and opened it up. He was greeted with a note in the lid part of the box. "Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains." Matthew 17:20
In the spot that he would have expected to find the necklace was another note that said, 'This is the size of our baby!" And below it rested a small seed of sorts.
He set down the box and headed back into their bedroom. "Eliza?" He began as he saw her putting on a necklace.
"Oh, I decided this one went better." She said as she stared at him for a long moment before she let out a small laugh.
"Very creative," he said as he came over and placed a soft kiss to the top of her head.
"I feel bad," she admitted as she stood up, straightening her dress on her. "Telling you about William wasn't as creative as his brothers or sister, but I do love coming up with these ways to tell you."
William had come at a time where it didn't seem things were going to work. Alexander grabbed her hand, giving it a small squeeze. "I know and thank you, each one is special, and I will always remember. Even William's, I know it wasn't the most idea way. Thank you all you do."
She smiled, leaning in to give him a small kiss.
Philip II
"Who wants ice cream?" Alexander called out into the living room. Some of the kids were playing, some watching TV. Some of the older kids were probably in their room trying to get any homework that could be done while the chaos was all contained in one room.
"Me! I do!" Four-year-old William called as he bounced his way into the kitchen, dragging a nineteen-year-old Philip in behind him.
Ice cream was a rare treat after all, and Eliza said tonight called for it since Philip was there visiting that weekend from college. He could have lived there but opted to live on campus where he could have gotten more work done without the distraction of his younger siblings. He came home once a month, and this was his visit for October.
"Can I help?" He asked as he went over to where the bowls were and brought some over to the table where the younger kids were, going back and forth.
"Is this mine?" Alexander asked, pointing at the bowl with a spoon that seemed a little bit different than everyone else's.
"Yes," Eliza nodded as she finally dished hers up, giving him a smile. "Yours is special."
Alexander gave her a look before, taking a small spoonful of his ice cream and eating it. He pulled the spoon from his mouth a moment later and read what it said. "We're expecting!" He moved a bit closer to where Eliza was, leaning against the counter and leaning in and placing a soft kiss to her forehead.
She smiled, leaning against him as they stood there eating their ice cream. He didn't know what to say but she didn't expect him to say anything. He ate the rest of his ice cream in silence looking at each of their kids who were talking amongst themselves or just finishing their ice cream.
At times it could be chaotic but it was their family and they wouldn't change it.