Ashen Heart

Arrival at Mount Vernon

I only need four letters to describe the final stretch of our voyage to Mount Vernon. H. E. L. L. It felt like we were never going to arrive and just die somewhere in the middle of nowhere Virginia but soon enough George began to recognize the terrain which spurred one last bit of energy in all of us. Poor Lafayette was exhausted from having to help Hercules over or around every obstacle we came across but he refused to leave him behind which I had to agree with. The children could go less and less after each break and we were terrified of running out of water even after "stealing" some from the Lobsters but by some miracle it lasted until we had Mount Vernon in our sites. It was still a ways away and almost pitch black outside so we were forced to stop and camp one final night which honestly might have been for the best. No one wanted heartfelt reunions to occur when we could barely stand

The children were the first to pass out, followed quickly behind by both George and Lafayette, leaving just me, Aaron, and Hercules awake. I looked over at the 3 kids to find Phillip sleeping with his teddy bear in his arms right night to Theo with Georges laying horizontally by their heads. It was quite the adorable sight despite the fact that I believe Theo and Phillip were awfully close to each other and by the look on Aaron's face, he felt the same way. "Relax you two, they're just kids'' Hercules said as he glanced up from his knitting (I swear that guy could've made a whole sweater already with the amount of "Stress Knitting" he's done recently-) "This is the first time they've been around people their age, it's not like they're gonna fall in love or anything, they're what, 9 right??" Hercules finished and I huffed "Oh hush Grandma and go back to your knitting I said and Hercules glared at me "My threat still stands Hamilton, I will stab you with my needles''

"Will you two be quiet??" Aaron hissed as he noticed George stirring in his sleep and Hercules and I became content with glaring at each other. "We're all on edge yes, but that doesn't mean we should be at each other's throats" Aaron finished and I rolled my eyes "Since when did you get all philosophical??" I asked and Aaron sighed "That isn't the point, the point is not to kill each other when we're so close to getting out of here. We've come so far and been through so much already, we're still humans after all, not savages like other people" I hated admitting Aaron had a point, and you should probably know that by now, but still, I hated that Aaron was right, we couldn't turn on each other now

"Alright you got me there" Hercules said and huffed as he set aside his knitting and crawled over to where Lafayette was sleeping and laid down next to him. Of course I was happy for the two of them but a part of me was always jealous seeing them so happy together. I didn't have Betsy to be with me anymore, in fact I had no one except for my son but I didn't want to disturb him while he was asleep. "You should get some sleep Hamilton" Aaron said, pulling me from my thoughts "Lord knows you never get enough of it and I'm not tired, I can keep the watch" I pursed my lips and tried to talk Aaron out of it but it appeared his mind was too made up which I could understand. He just wanted a moment alone which I had to respect "Alright fine, just don't get us killed" I grumbled before laying down near my son and promptly passing out and falling into a dreamless sleep

George awoke us at the crack of dawn like always so we could pack everything up and get a move on before the Virginia sun bore strongly overhead and cooked everything alive. It was obvious that there was a sense of anxiety running through the group but also relief. Come to think of it, I think the anxiety was just coming from George and I, for separate yet similar reasons. This would be my first time seeing John since Eliza and I married and George well, this was his family. When we arrived no one was outside, but we could see lights on and someone, or rather multiple someone's passing by the window. There were definitely people inside

I cast a glance over at George who was rather silent and still while everyone else was making a move to head inside. "Everything alright George??" I asked and George shook his head a bit as if to bring him back to the reality of what was about to happen "It's been so long... what if Jack's forgot about me??" He asked and I patted his back in a comforting way "He wouldn't have forgotten you, in fact I'm sure he'll be ecstatic to see his father after all this time" I said and George cracked a smile before taking a deep breath "If you insist" he said before we followed everyone inside Mount Vernon