The Forgotten Hamilton | The Story of His Twin

~1~

Charlotte's POV

I wake up to the same old, falling apart house that I was born into.
I sit up and look next to me to see my mother and brother asleep with a warm forehead. Then I suddenly start coughing.
I then hear rustling next to me and assume that it's probably my brother waking up from my coughing fit. "..Charlotte? You okay?" Alexander asks. I nod not wanting him to worry about me. "I-I'm fine...just woke up coughing. The normal thing to wake up to nowadays. What about you?" I ask. He just shrugs and says; "I woke up to hearing you coughing. I got worried is all."
I smile and hug him. "Don't worry about me, Alex. Worry more about yourself and mother." I assure him. He has tears in his eyes. "Its just that...It's been a year since father left us in debt...And I just worry about you and mother..Cause you both don't deserve to live this way." He says trembling.

We both hug each other. I also start crying. I release from the embrace and cup his face and wipe his tears away. "Listen Alex, you will do great things someday. You don't need me. I'll stay home with mother while you make the best out of life. Okay?" I tell him. He nodds. "You will to, Charlotte. You're as smart as me. I hope someday that the three of us will be able to move far from here. So that we get to live the life we deserve..." He gets teary eyed again.

I smile and give him a tight hug. You see, my brother is someone who likes to think. He has since we were both little kids. Our father although tried to make him just think about what to during only one moment and not about the next day or the next week. So, I started doing that. I only think about what happens during one moment at a time. But he never got to Alexander.
Alex always proved my father wrong and whenever he would hurt me or our mother, Alex would comfort us first and then attack our father. Mother always told Alex that he was too smart for his own good. He would then make a smart remark and make mother laugh.

And then...we got sick.
It started with coughs and sneezes. And it stopped me and Alex from being able to buy stuff for mother. And our mother lost her job as a cleaner and since our father left, we have been stuck in debt.
Alex has been trying to get a job and he hasn't had much luck finding it. And mother lost her job of house sitting when the owners left. And with father gone, we don't have any money at the moment. So, we practically are in a pool of dept right now.

When father left, it was the most hardest times of mine and Alex's lives. He just left without saying a word and it just left us downright depressed. Especially me and mother. We had been forced to follow his orders and we basically held onto him for support. Alexander hated it. Once father left, he basically became the man of the house. And that's how it's been for us for awhile now.

All of a sudden, we hear our mother coughing. We both turn towards her and rush to her side. "M-mom?? Are you okay!?" I whisper yelled. She looked at me and smiled weakly and cups my cheek, that was by now tear stained. "I'll be fine, Charlie...go into town and get some rags from Mrs. Row..." She told me.
I nodded and put on my over coat and go towards the door. "Alexander, look after mother while I'm gone. Make sure to keep her awake to alright??" I ask him. He nodds and looks back at mother, while I then rush to Mrs. Row's shop.

~ Time skip ~

"Mrs. Row?! Are you in here??" I yell in the shop once I entered. Mrs. Row walks out while carrying a stack of cloth in her arms. She was a kind old scottish women who took care of mother since she was 15.
"Oh, Charlotte! Hello dear!" She says with a warm smile, while sitting the stack of cloth on her wooden table. "What may I do of service for you?" "W-well, mother woke up and had a burning fever. And has been coughing up a lot of blood recently. She asked me to get a cloth rag for me to dip in cold water." I told her. She had a look of worry on her warm face. "Oh deary me. Well, let me see here." She said while turning to her basket full of excess bits of cloth. "I may have a few good sized rags that you may take with you...here." She says while handing me about three rags.
I dig through my pocket and find a few coins and hand them to Mrs. Row. "Here you are, Mrs. Row. You've been of so much help."
But she pushes away my hands filled with a few extra coins. "I don't take money from me family. You and your Mother and brother are family in my eyes. Keep them." She tells me.
I nod. "Thank you, Mrs. Row!" I state and run out

~ Back at the house ~

I open the door quickly and rush inside. "Alexander! Mother! I'm back." I yell.
I get into the first room and see mother holding Alex. I gasp and run to them. They were both laying down and shivering. Tears slip down my face. "M-mom...?? Are you okay...?" I ask bending down to her level. She looks at me with fading eyes, but she still manages to smile that smile of hers. "I'll be fine..." She says with a horse voice.
I bend down and dampen th rag on the water bucket and put one on mother and Alexander's foreheads.
Alex looks at me. "Charlotte...are we gonna die..?" He asks me while chocking back tears, but tears still mange to escape his eyes. Me eyes began to get watery, too. "Don't worry, Alex...y-you and mother are going to be alright." I reassure him. He nodds weakly and closes his eyes.

I then lay down in between mother and Alexander and hugged Alex's arm. He hugged me back and soon, the both of us fell asleep in each others arms.

~ Early in the next morning ~

I wake up to hear Alex crying and muttering words that I couldn't understand. And I was also not sick anymore.
I get up and look at Alex, who was holding mother in his arms. "A-Alex? What's wrong with mother...?" I ask, my voice breaking every now and then. He looks up at me with pink puffy eyes and a tear stained face. "....." He didn't say anything. Just whimpering. I walk towards him and put my hand on his shoulder. "Alexander, wh-whats wrong with mother...?" I ask again.

"SHE'S DEAD, CHARLOTTE!"

My heart shattered at that moment. I broke down and hugged mothers limp body and cried out loud. Wishing I could hear her voice, telling me that it's gonna be alright...But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hear her...