Chapter Text
Alex stirred in his bed, trying to ignore the faint pounding in his head. Everything hurt. He felt several bruises in places where hopefully they wouldn't be seen or notice. Jefferson wasn't anywhere near gentle, but at least he could cover up his tracks. He hadn't exactly intended to have anyone over, but at least Jefferson was gone and he still had some time until Eliza would be over with Philip. Alex rolled over to look at his clock and see when he'd have to get up to get ready…fuck.
Alexander immediately jumped out of bed and scrambled to find something to put on that would cover his neck. After several minutes searching he said "fuck it," and rushed out to get Philip and say hi to his ex-wife. He was greeted with a very different sight than the angry Schuyler that he expected.
"Are you good at basketball?" Alexander's curious five year old asked between forkfuls of pancakes.
Jefferson chuckled, grabbing a bottle of orange juice from the fridge. "Never tried. Why do ask?"
"You're really tall." Philip pointed out. "Do you think I'll be that tall?" He asked, standing on his chair to try and reach the man's head as Jefferson poured a glass of juice.
"If you're anything like your father, probably not." Thomas smiled. "Now sit down and eat. You want the kitchen to look nice when dad wakes up, right?"
"Yeah!" Philip exclaimed, shoving syrup covered pancakes in his mouth. Thomas smiled fondly, starting to eat his own plate of pancakes.
Alex watched the scene, feeling like he had to be dreaming. No, not even his drunkest dreams could create such a surreal experience. He took a step forward and Philip's eyes lit up. He pushed his chair away from the table and ran over to his father.
"Hi daddy!" Philip exclaimed, joyfully. "Good morning!" He reached up to his dad and Alex obliged, lifting him up. This was still too weird for him.
Alex spared another glance towards Thomas before looking at his son. "Hey Pip, how're you?"
"I'm great! Mr. Thomas made me pancakes! And no offense, but they're a lot better than eggos." Philip said in a conspiratorial whisper.
Jefferson was clearly fighting back a shit eating grin, which Alex briefly glared at him for, before forcing a smile for Philip. "You…you don't say?" Alex forced through clenched teeth.
"Yeah! He made you pancakes too!" Philip said, wriggling in Alex's arms until he was put down. "See?" He ran to grab a plate off the counter and show it to his dad. "Don't they look yummy?"
"They do." Alex had to admit, they looked much better than his usual makeshift breakfasts.
"Are you gonna eat or just stand there?" Thomas asked with a smirk.
"Uh yeah…hey Pip, why don't you show…Mr. Thomas your room real quick while I call your mom?" Alex suggested.
Philip's eyes lit up, grabbing Thomas' wrist and pulling him out of his chair.
Alex let out a sigh of relief at no longer being in the same room as Thomas. He pulled out his phone and dialed Eliza's cell phone number, hoping that she wasn't with a patient yet. He bit at his lip as the phone rang and let out a breath when she answered. "Hey 'Liza, I'm so sorry I missed you-"
"Don't worry." Eliza said in her usual cheerful tone. "Your boyfriend explained that you two had a late night and you were sleeping in." Alex could hear the smirk in her voice. Though their marriage was short, the pair were still close friends, which meant Eliza enjoyed teasing Alex about everything.
"My boyfriend?" Alex said, jaw dropping.
"You know I should've known you and Jefferson would have a thing with all the times you talked about him." Eliza teased. "I never knew that whenever you were saying 'fuck him' you meant it literally."
"Okay, I don't need to take this." Alex sighed, moving to hang up.
"No, don't!" Eliza exclaimed. "Look, Alex, I'm really happy you found someone that makes you happy. I'll talk to you later." She said sincerely.
Alex sighed. "Bye."
Philip chose that moment to come barreling back into the room, an amused Jefferson following behind him. "We need to finish breakfast!" Philip exclaimed.
"I guess we do." Alex nodded with a forced smile.
"Hey daddy, what's that on your neck?" Philip asked, sitting in his chair and returning to his pancakes.
"What where?" Alex asked, sitting beside him.
"Right…there." Philip stood on his seat and poked at one of the hickies that Alex hadn't managed to cover up.
Jefferson covered his mouth to hide his laughter, while Alex turned bright red. "It's a um…bruise." He said quickly.
"How'd you get it?" Philip asked through a mouthful of pancakes.
Why was his beautiful son so goddamn curious? Usually Alex loved this about him, but at the moment it was not preferable.
"Erm…well last night, me and Mr. Thomas was play fighting, and I got a little hurt." Alex said slowly. He nodded afterwards.
"Oh, okay." Philip nodded, content with that answer, going back to eating. "Mr. Thomas, you should apologize for hurting my pops."
Thomas raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. "I'm sorry Hamilton." He said to appease the child. Philip nodded, pleased with the response.
After several minutes of awkward silence broken occasionally by the curious five year old, Thomas stood up, grabbing his empty plate and taking it to the dish washer. "I should probably be going." He said with a nod to the door. "Goodbye Philip." Thomas nodded, tussling the boy's hair. "Alexander," Thomas murmured in the man's ear. "I had fun. Let me know if you want to do that again." He straightened back up and smiled at the pair like he had made a comment on the weather. Thomas left and Alex felt like he could finally breathe again.
Until he heard Philip say, "I really like Mr. Thomas!"