Work Text:
“Pops, there is a girl outside!”
“That’s nice, dear,” Alexander replies absently, yawning and checking the time. It’s pitch dark on the street even though the clock has just only struck six in the evening, the weather can scarcely be called anything but a blizzard, and– wait, what did Phillip just say?
“Um, pardon?”
“There’s a girl outside, and she’s crying!” his son frowns, pressing his forehead against the glass frame. “She must be freezing out there!”
Hamilton puts his laptop aside and rushes to the window, squinting to be able to see better. Phillip is, in fact, correct, there is a girl maybe a year or two younger then him standing in the middle of the street and wrapping herself in a purple coat; she wipes tears off her eyes with a thin and soaking wet glove and shivers, continuously looking around. Her hair is covered in snow as she clutches her hands around a plush toy. From the looks of it there are no adults around, and the girl looks completely and utterly lost.
“Holy–”, Alexander whispers, jumping away from the window, picking his own coat up from an armchair and throwing it around his shoulders. “I should probably check on her, she’s going to freeze to death otherwise!”
“Should I get some blankets?” Phillip tilts his head and his father nods, ruffling his hair.
“Yes, unless her house is a few meters away or something, I will probably invite her inside!”
With that he runs out of the door, not even bothering to properly put on his boots and almost tripping on the stairs leading down from the porch because of it. The snow is every bit as cold as it looks, and Hamilton shivers the moment the first snowflake lands on his face. The wind is fast and chilly, it howls while tossing handfuls of snow around, and okay, this is definitely not a weather for a six-year-old to be outside.
“Hey!” Alexander yells to the girl, trying to be louder than the wind, and she immediately turns to him, her eyes wide and her face almost scared. He marches up to her, trying not to trip on at least five inches of snow. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Daddy says I shouldn’t talk to strangers!” she replies, and her voice is barely even a whisper, hoarse and quiet.
“Oh my god, okay, I’m Alex, and you?”
“Theo,” she says, clutching her toy even stronger.
“Great, okay, now we’re not strangers,” Hamilton nods impatiently, “so tell me, where do you live?”
“I don’t know!” she sobs and hides her face in a wet sleeve of her coat. “Somewhere near Hudson, and I–”
“Oh god, Hudson is not even close!” Alexander exclaims, interrupting her. “Listen, how about I invite you to my house and try getting hold of your parents? It’s warmer inside!”
“Are you sure you are not a maniac?” she asks weakly, stuttering on the last word, clearly unfamiliar to her, and Hamilton chuckles.
“Absolutely. Come on in, you’re cold enough already!”
He takes her hand and exhales in surprise when her body goes limp; picks her up and rushes back home, closing the door behind him and trying not to let too much cold air in. Phillip, who has most certainly been watching the exchange from the window, is already in the hall with a bunch of woollen blanket in his hands. Hamilton nods to him gratefully, helping the girl to take her coat off, and then brings her over to the living room, putting her on a sofa near a radiator. She is awake, but breathing heavily and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Phillip passes the blankets to his dad and he covers Theo in them, turning the heat even higher.
“Okay,” nods to himself and then kneels near the girl. “I am going to make you some tea, what kind do you like?”
“Fruit,” she whispers, still trembling visibly. Hamilton nods and stands up.
“Okay, we have that. Phil, watch her. Actually – we should probably take the wet clothes off first, right? Shit, that’s awkward. Do you have some clothes which could at least barely fit her?”
Phillip nods and rushes to his bedroom, going through the drawers.
It takes around fifteen minutes to change the girl, make her a cup of tea which she wraps her hands around immediately trying to warm them up, and finally settle down on the sofa beside her. Phillip sits down on the floor, looking at her interestedly.
“So what’s your name?” he asks. “And how old are you?”
“I’m Theo, five years and six months! And you?” she smiles back, and okay, now she seems at least more energetic then she was. Thank god, Hamilton exhales.
“Phillip, almost seven!” the boy announces proudly and adds: “Hey, do you want to play with me?”
Alex grins as he rushes to the shelves on the left side of the room, getting out some toys and board games to show her. Then he, however, is forced to return to other matters because her parents must be worried sick right now and he should find a way to return her home or at least get in touch with them.
“Do you know your address?” he asks. Theo shakes her head apologetically, sipping the tea. Well, of course it wasn’t going to be this easy. “Okay, fine, then what are your parents’ names? I could probably find them on Facebook or something…”
Last sentence he mutters to himself, and the girl looks down.
“Well, my mum is not here,” she shrugs. Phillip turns around and opens his mouth almost like he wants to say something, but Alexander shakes his head. “My dad is called Aaron though!”
“Oka– wait, what’s your surname?” he squints, tilting his head, because no way.
“Burr!” she smiles. Hamilton can barely contain his laughter.
Okay, what did he say of this not being easy? Because in all honesty it probably is – after all, he most definitely has Aaron Burr’s phone number. He also most definitely works with him and has multiple time heard of his daughter – but has never until now had a chance to meet her.
“I know your father then!” he shoots a smile back, getting out his phone. “We work together, actually. Alexander Hamilton, although he probably wouldn’t mention me to his daughter, now that I think about it, because he actually tends not to talk about work outside working hours, which–”
“Oh I know!” Theo interrupts, this time grinning. “You are the guy who talks a lot!”
Phillip laughs loudly from the other side of the room at how taken aback his father looks by this comment, and Alexander shakes his head after a few seconds of hesitation.
“Out of all the things to say about me, that is what he chooses,” he sighs.
“He also says you don’t smile often,” Theo shrugs, one of the blanket falling off her shoulders. She doesn’t seem to notice. “He says your smile is nice, but you don’t smile often, so you should probably smile more!”
And okay, if Hamilton wasn’t confused before, he is definitely confused now, because is she sure she is talking about the right person? Because no way Aaron Burr would say something like that about me!, but before he gets a chance to interrogate her further, Phillip comes back to the sofa, dropping a few of his toys on the floor and demonstrating her a remote to a radio controlled car.
“Hey, wanna race when you finish your tea?” he asks, and Theo’s eyes immediately light up with excitement as she nods enthusiastically.
Oh yes, Alexander remembers. He is, in fact, meant to be calling Burr.
The man picks up after only one dial, but instead of answering with a polite “Hello!” as Alex has expected him to and as he has always done, he almost yells, his voice trembling:
“Hamilton, I don’t have time for you right now, okay? Whatever you need, ask me tomorrow at work!”
“Woah!” Alexander can’t help but exclaim defensively, and then immediately shakes his head although Aaron obviously can’t see him. “No, no, sir, it’s not about work, I–”
“Well then fuck off!” Burr hisses, and he sounds almost hysterical. Before he has time to drop the call though, Alex, whose ability to speak quickly is all but legendary, manages to gibber:
“Your daughter, for god’s sake!”
“What?” Aaron manages after a brief pause, and now his voice is barely louder than a whisper. “What did you say?”
“I said I have your daughter,” Hamilton sighs. “And– no, shit, that wasn’t meant to sound like a threat, that’s not what I intended. She was just outside my house in the blizzard, and I didn’t know it was her, of course, and so I have invited her in, and she told me that you were her father and–”
“Oh my God.”
Burr actually sounds like he’s on a verge of crying, and Alexander can, of course, understand it perfectly – if Phillip has disappeared like this he would’ve turned the whole city upside down to find him, –– but hearing this man expressing his emotions so openly is actually quite… unusual. Most of the time he hates demonstrating his feelings, to Hamilton especially.
“Yeah, so if you want to pick her up you know my address, or I can bring her to work tomorrow, that’d be alright too if–”
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Burr interrupts, his voice still shaking, and drops the call immediately after. Alexander raises his eyebrows and shrugs. Well, that went well.
“Your dad will be here soon,” he announces to Theo and she claps her hands happily, having set her tea cup aside and accepted a car remote from Phillip, who is now teaching her to operate it. “Let’s just hope he is careful with driving in a blizzard.”
By the time when a car stops outside the house’s gates, Theo is already running around the room laughing, while Phillip is trying to tag her. Hamilton watches them in amusement, sometimes being distracted by an article he is typing, and so naturally does not notice the visitor until he hears a frantic ringing of the doorbell.
“Oh! That must be your dad,” he smiles, and Theo cheers happily as she runs to the hall. Phillip follows her and Alexander opens the door, letting the man and a few handfuls of snowflakes inside.
“Where is she?” Burr hisses immediately after he steps over the porch. The girl squeals as she runs up to him, hugging his legs, and he looks over at her, his hands anything but shaking. Hamilton closes the door behind him.
“Hi daddy!” Theo smiles. “Sorry I got lost, I forgot Jenny on the bench in the park and I had to go get her, and then you weren’t there, so I tried looking for you, but instead– um, dad?”
Burr suddenly collapses on his knees, hugging her, not even bothering to get the snow of his coat, and she laughs, trying to push him away:
“You’re cold!”
“Theodosia, oh my god, Theo,” he whispers, and Hamilton can almost swear that he is crying, although it is hard to tell for sure as he is hiding his face on her shoulder. Alexander politely looks away, telling Phillip to go clean up the mess they’ve made in the living room, and then Aaron finally gets up, coming up to him.
“God, Hamilton, I– thank you,” he whispers, his eyes shut. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to her, thank you so much, you don’t even understand how much this means to me.”
“No worries, of course I would help!” Alex smiles. “Oh, and we had to let her borrow some of Phillip’s clothing, because her own were – still are, probably – soaking wet, and I also made her some tea, so she shouldn’t be too cold. Didn’t give her any food though, didn’t know what she’d want and if she has allergies to anything, so–”
“Thank you,” Burr interrupts him, clutching his fists tightly. “I really didn’t expect you would be so kind, I–”
“Okay, what?!” This time Alexander is the one interrupting, his face clearly confused. “How bad do you think I am, Burr?! Of course I would help a child, I’m a father myself, you know!”
“Yes, but we aren’t on the best terms, and you could’ve–”
“I am honestly offended right now!” Hamilton frowns. “I don’t know what did I ever to do make you think I could not help a freezing child just because she was a daughter of someone who doesn’t like me, but like – I’m not that horrible, Burr!”
“Yes,” he whispers. “Yes, of course, sorry. I’m sorry, I’m just really nervous, she got lost more than three hours ago, and I was so terrified, I– Sorry, okay?”
“No worries,” Alexander sighs. “I’d probably be the same if something has happened to Phillip. And – oh, do you want to come in? It’s still a literal snow storm outside, so–”
“I don’t want to intrude, really,” Burr shakes his head. Hamilton snorts.
“Bullshit. Driving in this weather is beyond dangerous, and I realise we aren’t the best of friends, but you shouldn’t put yourself and Theo in danger just because you don’t want to stay at my house for a while.”
“It’s not that!” Aaron frowns. “Really, it’s not that I wouldn’t want to, I’d just hate to disturb you, and–”
“Bull-shit,” Alexander repeats again, separating the syllables, and steps away from the doorframe, letting Burr into the living room. “Take off your coat and come in, it is warmer in there.”
It takes around half an hour for Hamilton to make a decent dinner for the four of them, and during that time Phillip and Theo continue running around the house, playing board games, jumping on the sofas and basically being kids.
“Seems like they’re getting along well, huh,” Burr, who has volunteered to help Alex with dinner, chuckles. Hamilton nods.
“Yeah, Phillip has always wanted a younger sibling. Preferably a brother, of course, but he seems to like her as well.”
“That’s good,” Aaron nods. “We should meet up like that more often. I mean, since the kids get along so well, and–”
“That’d actually be wonderful!” Alexander grins and picks up a bunch of plates, setting them on the table. “Sorry, by the way, the kitchen is not too big, but we should all be able to fit!”
“Yeah,” Burr agrees absently and if he is, in fact, blushing, it is definitely only because of the warmth inside the house.
(He does not fail to notice though that Alexander somehow seems to smile more. Huh.)