My Guardian Angel//Lams//Post Laurens Death

Chapter Ten

Philip Hamilton
"I'm getting married!" I shriek. "I'm getting married John! I really am!"

"Yes, you've been telling me about it for the past two days," John Laurens pokes his head out from the bathroom of Aaron Burr's estate. "And now you're finally here, meeting her father."

I shift on my feet. I'm seventeen, almost eighteen, so I know it's appropriate, but I can't shake the feeling of my father and Theodosia's dad's rivalry. It's political and everything, so it shouldn't matter when I'm romantically involved with Burr's daughter...

"I just hope he doesn't judge me because of my father," I voice my concerns to John.

John stops. "Yeah. Me too."

I wonder why he's been so closed off with my father lately. The spirit is always with me, pretty much never with his old friend. I know it's a touchy subject nowadays, so I don't press my luck.

"So, why do you keep checking the washrooms again?" I ask.

"Okay, look," John begins, "I have been in many houses in my lifetime, and ever since I came across a rat in a bathroom and it bit me, I've been very cautious. Don't want you to get rabies."

I don't really hear what he says; I'm too busy still trying to brush my curls. I groan in frustration and flop down on the guest bed. John laughs.

"I feel you," he says, blowing a piece of his own curly hair out of his face.

"My hair is so...so...!" I search for the right word.

"Kinky." John finishes, opening his palm to me. "Brush."

I sit up and give him the wooden brush. He's been mastering holding objects, so he takes it with ease. John sits behind me and starts to brush through my tangles.

"Remind me why you're obsessing over this?" John asks.

"I'm meeting Theo's parents!" I explain for maybe the fourteenth time today. "That's huge, she's my fiancée!"

"Eh." John replies.

"Haven't you ever been in love?" I ask. John pauses in brushing my hair.

"I was," he replies, resuming. "A long time ago. It's complicated."

"What about your wife?" I say. "Father says you have one."

"Had, Philip," John corrects. "Martha is a widow now. I wonder how Frances is doing. Have you sent her a letter recently?"

"Yeah, a few days ago," I reply. "Apparently her granddad is sick."

"Which side?" John asks.

I hesitate. I can tell he's becoming distressed. "Your father, I think."

"Lord," John sighs. "Pray for him, okay?"

I nod. "Of course."

John finally gets the brush through my hair and lets the object fall through his hand.

"There. Piece of pumpkin pie."

"The expression is 'piece of cake', John," I restrain my laugh.

"Eh, I like pumpkin pie better." John says. "Oh, look. Your bae is coming."

My face heats up. "Since when do you see through walls?"

John smiles and makes himself comfortable. A gentle knock comes from the guest bedroom door. Theodosia Burr pokes her head in and I wave, a little awkwardly.

"Hi," I say.

"Hello," Theo smiles softly. "May I...?"

"Of course," I agree.