Hamilton Oneshots

The Gift of Abandonment (Whamilton)

George stood with Martha, staring down James Hamilton, Alexander's father. He was doing it again, every time he says he'll do something for his son he does the opposite. Martha was the one who finally ended their silent staring contest, "James. If you walk out of Alex's life now, don't you ever come back." With that, she turned and left.

George agreed with her, completely, the two of them had taken Alex in and since then his father had been in and out leaving Alex in a state of confusion and heartbroken. Slowly George crossed his arms, "Sit down." He ordered.

"I ain't got time for no lectures," James responded and grabbed his bag to walk out of the door, something he did too often.

"I said sit down, James," George repeated, walking closer and dropping his arms. James sighed and turned around, dropping his bag and plopping onto the sofa, "You know..." George put his hands on his hips, "Alex was doin' just fine 'till you showed up but now that you're back you have responsibilities to him."

"Look we're still gonna-"

"-Oh bull!" George knew exactly what James was going to say. Every time he sees Alex he plans a trip for them to bond and then drops it, "Bull! Alex is not a coat that you hang in the closet and pick it up when you're ready to wear it." He pointed at the closet for emphasis, "His life goes on! He's not supposed to be here for you; you're supposed to be here for him!"

James jumped up from the sofa in an instant, "You get off my back! You think I wanted this?" He got in George's face, "It just happened! When Alex was a baby I was scared I was-"

"-Cut the crap, alright?!" George wasn't going to let him weasel his way out this time, he always got to do it but not this time, "Cut it! Cuz I've been there!" George also had an unplanned family and what did he do? He stayed with Martha and they raised their accidental daughter Patsy and now they had a teenager named Jack, Patsy was now in college, and he stayed with them. He was there for them! He married Martha, it helped he loved and loves her, but at least he was there! All he was asking James to do was to be there, "But I don't run out on my family. I was there every day for them because that's what a man does."

James threw his hands up, "Fine, George. Y-D-You win. Y-You da man. It-You a better man than me." George sighed in exasperation at the arrogance of this man, "You happy now? Now you gonna tell Alex or not?" He asked.

"I'm not gonna do your dirty work for you," George replied, his hands on his hips again as he stared this deadbeat father down.

James kept eye contact and shrugged, "Fine. Uh I'll call him from my office." He said and again turned to leave.

"Yeah?" George turned away, "Then why don't you do that?" He had given up and was going to go prepare to comfort Alex.

"Yeah, I'll do that," James replied stubbornly and grabbed his bag again, going to the door with a plan obviously deep in his mind.

But then they both froze when they heard a voice belonging to the boy they didn't want to walk in right now, "Dad!" Alex grinned as he walked in with his bags for their trip and his black baseball cap that read 'Write' in golden letters on his head, "What's up?"

James turned around and George could see panic on his face, "Alex." He forced a laugh, "Man I'm glad you're here." He walked back over and George resisted the urge to get in between them, "Um..." He looked to be trying to find the right words to say as Alex set his bags down with a grin, "Some business came up that I gotta handle. So we're gonna have to reschedule or put uh our trip on hold. You understand, right?"

George could see Alex's smile slowly falling off of his face and he nodded, "Yeah-Yeah that's cool. That's cool." He kept adjusting his collar which George knew was him trying to distract himself.

"Just for a couple weeks," James said quickly and Alex nodded though he obviously didn't believe it, "Maybe a little longer." He added, "Look, I'll call you next week and we'll iron out the details. Okay?"

Alex nodded, "Yeah-Yeah." George could see him fighting tears from appearing in his eyes and it made him want to punch James but that was against everything he stood for. Plus Martha would cook him alive for fighting in her house.

James backed up a little, "Look," He kept walking, "It was great seeing you, son." He kept his fake smile on the whole time.

George then saw a small spark in Alex's eyes and he knew he was going to retaliate somehow, "You too...James." He said and watched the smile drop from James's face before he grabbed his bag and left awkwardly.

George sighed when the man was gone, "I'm sorry, Alexander." He said and watched Alex keep his tough guy act up.

Alex turned back to him while trying to convey he didn't care but George could see right through it, "You know, actually, this works out better for me. You know-You know." He kept messing with his collar.

George dropped his arms again, "Alex it's alright to be angry." He said gently, he knew anger was a secondary emotion anyway so he felt he needed to comfort Alex about it.

"Hey-" He shrugged and walked over to George, "Why should I be mad? I mean at least he said goodbye this time." He turned to his bags as anger finally showed in his eyes, "I just wish I hadn't wasted my money buying this stupid present." He ripped a small bust from his bag which he set on the table.

George could see it was of a father sitting with his son in his lap and his heart ached for the young man, "I'm-I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say, it was all he could say. He was going to listen to Alex rant and then try and comfort him, "You know if there was something that I c-"

"-Hey," Alex usually never interrupted him but he did this time and turned to George again, "You know what? You ain't got to do nothing, George. It ain't like I'm still five-years-old, you know? Ain't like I'm gonna be sitting up every night asking my mom 'when's daddy coming home' you know? Who needs him? He wasn't there to teach me how to write my name but I learned didn't I?" He turned partially sideways as he couldn't maintain eye contact with George, "I got pretty damn good at writing too, didn't I?"

George nodded, "Yeah." He remembered all of Alex's essays and short stories, he was a master with a pen, "Yeah you did."

"Got through my first day of school without him," Alex said, his anger was finally bleeding through and George just let him rant, "I learned how to drive, I learned how to shave, I learned how to fight without him. I had TEN great birthdays without him! He never even sent me a damn card until I was eleven!" He then turned away from George and screamed at the door, "TO HELL WITH HIM!" He then turned to George and it was obvious he was about to begin crying, his breathing now erratic and his eyes watering. He fixed his hat and turned back to George, "I don't need him then and I don't need him now."

Alex marched past George as he was about to probably go beat up his wall and pillows but George grabbed his elbow, "Alex..."

"Nah you know what?" George turned around as Alex turned to him while behind him so he could see Alex's face, "I'm gonna get through college without him, I'm gonna get a great job without him, I'm gonna marry me a beautiful spouse, and I'm gonna have me a whole bunch of kids, and I'm gonna be a better father than he ever was. I sure as hell don't need him for that because there ain't a damn thing he could EVER teach me about how to love my kids!" George saw Alex's eyebrows furrow slightly and he finally broke, "How come he don't want me, man?"

In an instant, George pulled Alex to his chest to try and comfort him and hide his own tears. He let Alex ruin his suit with his tears and threw the hat that was getting in his way of holding the back of Alex's head off of him and to the floor. He hated it. No matter what he did the only gift Alex got for Christmas that he actually cared about was abandonment. He couldn't make it better, he could just be here and hope for the best.