Dedicating Every Day to You

Chapter Five

It's growing darker by the second, but I'm still up in my tree. It's quiet and nice up here, with the cool air ruffling my skirt and lifting my hair. I close my eyes and spread my arms, ready to jump out of the tree for that incredible feeling of flight.

I hear a door swing open, and golden light floods my blue darkness. A woman pokes her head out.
"Are you going to stay out there all night? I can get John to move your bed out here into the tree."

I jump down, arms pinwheeling until I hit the ground running. Then I brush off my dress and walk over towards the door.
The woman who called out to me is beautiful. She looks to be in her mid-twenties, a little younger than Alex. She is tall and willowy, with long brown hair and wide brown eyes. She has the sort of face that seems always to be smiling, and she's clad simply, in a long blue dress.

"I'm Kathryn," I say, smiling. I extend my hand to shake, but she pulls me in for a hug.
"I know who you are! I'm Eliza Schuyler." She lets go of me and holds me at arm's length to study me. "You're very pretty. I like your hair."
"Thank you," I say, shaking my head full of curls.
"Now come on inside before everyone explodes with excitement."

Eliza leads me through the door and into a living room. There are two women inside, one who looks to be about Alex's age and one who looks not a day over nineteen. They're arguing loudly.
"Angelica, don't tell me what I can and can't do! I'm eighteen now. You're not in charge of me anymore." The younger one looks exasperated.
"I can tell you what's in your best interest," the older one replies. "And Peggy, you're making some really bad decisions. I'm trying to protect you and keep you from getting hurt."
"But I don't need your help!"

We proceed through the dining room, where three men are talking loudly about politics. One of the men has a purple velvet jacket and an Afro-puff of hair to rival my own. He's arguing vociferously with an older black man who I recognize as George Washington, leader of our country. The president is in their kitchen!
The third man seems to cower behind the man in purple. He keeps coughing and eventually pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket.

On into the kitchen. Alex is in here, flour powdering his suit and hair. He looks very old now, since the flour has turned his hair grey. He keeps trying to snatch something off of a tray.
"Alexander Hamilton, if you don't stop eating the garlic bread, we won't have any left for dinner."
There's a second man in the kitchen, slightly shorter than Alex and a bit younger-looking. He has a natural tan and freckles, and a curly ponytail. He's wearing a t-shirt and jeans, with an apron strapped on top.

"It's so good," Alex whines, making puppy-dog eyes at the man. "Please, John?"
"Last piece," 'John' says, hands on hips.
"You're the best," Alex says through a mouthful of garlic bread. "I love you so much."
"You always say that," John grumbles, then- to my surprise- gives Alex a kiss.

I walk a little further in. "Hi," I chirp nervously. When I'm worried, my voice reaches unattainable pitches. Note to self- sing Defying Gravity next time I'm stressed.
John turns to me and smiles. "You must be Kathryn. I'm John Laurens." He shakes my hand politely. "I'm Alex's husband."

"Nice to meet you," I say, grinning. "Please, call me Kat. Everyone does." My idea of the perfect forever family has already changed. Already, I'm recalculating my ideal to include a second dad instead of a mom.

"Stand on the table," Alex says, and helps me hop up onto the dining room table. I feel extremely awkward, like I'm being presented an award that I've never heard of.
John cups his hands around his mouth. "Hey everyone, get in here!"

The girls from the living room come in, and then a back door opens.
"WHAT TIME IS IT?" A deep male voice calls, startling me into almost falling.
"SHOWTIME!" John crows, then hugs the two men who have just entered the kitchen.

"Okay, now that everyone's here, we can do this properly." Alex has jumped onto the table with me.
"Hamilton, sit down!" The man in purple and Alex are having a staredown.

"So, John and I got married four years ago. He makes me amazingly happy. Only one problem- we couldn't have kids, for obvious reasons. We were planning to adopt, but we didn't have time for years.

"About six months ago, we decided to give it another shot. We still didn't have time for a baby or a toddler, but if we could get a teenager, we'd be set. We were looking everywhere, and we were about to give up when we found a profile we liked."

John is on the table now too, and I'm a little worried that it's going to break and we'll all end up on the floor. "She was cheerful and adventurous, and she liked dancing and singing and performing. We contacted her social worker, and were in talks about adopting her for three months."

Alex grins. "And now, we are proud to be the first to introduce you to our daughter Kathryn!"
I wave at everyone, feeling a little shy, even though we're just in the dining room, standing on an old table.

"Kat, these are all of our friends. This is Angelica Schuyler, and her sisters Eliza and Peggy." Angelica waves cheerfully, Eliza gives me a hug, and Peggy nods, still sulking.
"That's President George Washington, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison." Alex lowers his voice. "Washington is like everyone's dad, but Jefferson hates me and James does whatever he says."
"Don't poison her against people she doesn't know, Zander," John says, grinning. "Those two who walked in shouting at us are Hercules Mulligan, he's a style consultant."

"And I," says a voice with a heavy French accent, "am Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, the Marquis de Lafayette, French diplomat." The voice belongs to a tall, lanky man with a curly bun and a flag of France tattooed on his upper arm.

"Enchante, Monseuir Marquis," I say, smiling. "Comme-ça vas?"
"You speak French, ma cherie?" The marquis seems impressed.
"My best friend is from France," I say. "She's been giving me lessons."
"Well, that is extremely, how you say? Cool. Yes, that is very cool. Call me Uncle Lafayette."

"It's so nice to meet all of you. I can't wait to get to know you better." I smile brightly. "And now, I'm exhausted. Can someone show me to my room?"
Alex looks a little worried. "Are you agoraphobic?"
"Agora-what now? Nah, just tired. I was up at four this morning, and I just want to sleep."

John leads me upstairs to a room. I don't even bother to turn the lights on, just collapse on what I think is the bed and fall asleep.