Reader X Hamilsquad Heels on the battlefield UNDER RECONSTRUCTION

*Chapter 33: Give up*

Y/N's P.O.V

"Red or Blue?" I asked, holding up two dresses in front of me. As I looked in the mirror, inspecting every detail of the dresses, I expected a response but got nothing. "Philip?" I called turning around to face my husband who was reading a book. "Red," He said, not looking up. "And do you want that with the red or white shoes?" I asked, pointing at the shoes beside the mirror. "White," He answered absentmindedly. 

"Philip, I called you here to help me!" I said and threw a pillow at him. He dropped the book in surprise and looked up at me. "And that was an hour ago! You just keep pulling out dresses and asking me what I prefer!" He sighed in exhaustion, plopping down on the bed. 

"You look good in everything," He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "But this dinner is important! I want you to be objective! Stop being a loving husband and look at me like a critic!" I demanded. "I can't! I'll always view you as my wife!" Philip whined. 

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, then I won't come with you to visit your parents," I said, throwing the dresses at him. "Y/N, no, I can't go alone with Johnny!" Philip complained. "You can go alone!" I protested.

In the end, I did end up coming along after he romanced me. 

We had been invited to eat something at the Hamilton household. We brought Johnny with us since he was Alexander's favorite person in the entire world. He loved his grandson dearly and made it known to everyone. When we arrived at 5 o'clock, we knocked on the door and Alexander immediately opened it.

"Hey pop-" Before Philip could even greet his father, Alexander pushed him aside and walked toward me to ask to hold Johnny. "Auch?" Philip said as I handed my son to Alexander. He passed by Philip and quickly said "Hey son," as he stared at Johnny. Then he headed inside without sparing Philip a second glance. 

"Let him be," I told Philip who was on the verge of yeeting an entire carriage at his father. "You've been his favorite for about 27 years. Let our son take the spotlight for a few moments," I said which made him relax a bit. He gave me a quick kiss on the lips before entering. 

"Hello Y/N, glad you could make it!" Eliza said, running up to me and giving me a big hug.  "Oh great, ignoring your son runs in the household," Philip sighed. Eliza quickly gave her son a hug as well. "We're glad you came," She told him. 

When we walked into the living room, we saw Philip's siblings sit on the couch. Unexpected guests. Philip stared at them for a moment and they stared back. "Okay, this little trip was fun. So glad we came. Let's go home," Philip smiled as he turned around and walked away. As he did, he grabbed my arm and pulled me with him. 

"Philip," I scolded with gritted teeth pulling him back in the living room. After the birth of Johnny, Philip and his siblings; Angie, Alex, James, John, and William, had a fallout. What was their fight about? Philip started avoiding Alex after I had told him about the time when he drugged my drink. He avoided Angie when he found out she'd known for a while. As Philip left the house, the other siblings took Alex's side. After that, they began avoiding Philip altogether. Strangely, they never avoided me which made for a few rough familial interactions. 

After a few awkward moments, we all sat down at the dinner table. We sat down and I made sure Philip sat down next to one sibling at least. It was James. Now James didn't like Philip at all. Philip left the house way too early and did not rekindle their relationship when he did. James told me his frustrations once. He genuinely sounded hurt. I sat down next to Philip with Alex on my other side. 

Dinner went smoothly for the first few minutes. Then Philip opened his mouth. "So what have you all be up to?" He asked. At first, I thought this was a fairly common ice breaker. Nothing unusual here. "If you wouldn't have been avoiding us, you would've known," Alex pointed out, picking at his food. "Man, if you didn't become a drug dealer I might've stuck around long enough. But go off, I guess," Philip spat back.

'Ah yes. All of them are as sharp as a meat cleaver' I thought, an annoyed smile spreading across my lips. 

"Philip," I turned to my husband. "Can we have a talk about why you shouldn't accuse people, especially family, at the dinner table?" I asked him, a dark aura looming around me as I kept smiling. "... I don't want to?" Philip tried before I grabbed him by his ear and dragged him into the hall.

"Look, Philip," I began, rubbing my eyes vigorously. "You are the one that's been avoiding everyone. This is what you get. Don't try to act smart," I said. Almost like a whisper in my ear, I got an unwanted response from the wrong person.

"Yeah, Y/N," 

Chills ran down my spine. It sounded as if Philip had said that but when I looked up I saw something behind him. "Maybe you should take your own advice and try to own up to your wrongdoings," John smiled.

I quickly averted my gaze and fixed my eyes onto Philip's. "You're right," Philip admitted, closing his eyes. "I shouldn't have said that," He said.  

"Just try to make conversation with your parents and then try to ooze into other conversations with your siblings," I said to which he nodded. We were about to head back when I heard the sound of Johnny crying. Alexander had put him in a crib since he'd fallen asleep. "Ah, I'll go check on him. You go on ahead," I ushered Philip toward the table before going to check on Johnny. Once in the room, I grabbed him from the crib and started to softly rock him back and forth. 

"Ma," Johnny mumbled. It hadn't been the first time that he said that to me. Of course, his first word had been 'pops'. Not to Philip but to Alexander. "What is it, honey?" I asked, knowing he wouldn't be able to tell me. "Jown," He mumbled reaching forward a bit.

"What?" I asked, slowing down the rocking. I looked in the direction he was reaching toward and low and behold, John. Immediately I pushed Johnny toward my chest and backed up. "What did you do?" I hissed at John who had been rather silent. "I didn't do anything," He told me.

"Quit your lying, Laurens. How can he see you?" I asked. "He always could," John simply answered. While I continued throwing accusations at John, Johnny turned around and started reaching toward John again. When I noticed, I put him back in the crib and turned to John. "You have messed with the wrong woman, Laurens," I said, narrowing my eyes. 

"You're scared aren't you?" 

My heart stopped beating for a single moment. "You're scared because you don't know what the hell is going on," He said, stepping toward me. "You thought all of this was your over-active imagination before Johnny acknowledged me in front of you," He got right up in my face. 

"I'm as real as you are," 

"Y/N dear, who are you talking to?" I heard from outside the door, followed by a few knocks. It was Eliza. I kept my wide eyes on John as I answered: "W-what?" I said. "I heard you talking, is everything okay?" She asked. "I was... shushing John," I said, closing my eyes.

"Oh, I see. I wanted to tell you that your food is getting cold. I can take care of John if-" I opened the door. "Don't worry, he's fast asleep," I said, looking over my shoulder to see my sleepy son in an empty room. "Let's go back," I smiled. She gave me a warm smile. A mother's smile. 

When we came back, the ambiance felt less tense than before. It seemed that Philip was finally getting along with his siblings. With a sigh of relief, I sat down beside him. As I started eating, there was only one question roaming my mind, however. 

What's the connection between Johnny and John?