Hang in there (Jamilton)

23

Jefferson's POV

I hopped on my couch after Hamilton left and flipped through a couple of channels mindlessly. I quickly got bored and called James. 

"Hey James, want to do something?"

"Thomas, I just saw you this morning."

"And... you can never spend too much time with me."

"Alright, but I'm not walking over there. You're going to have to come to my place."

"I'll do you one better. Let's go ice skating in central park."

"No way, that's the quickest way to catch a cold."

"Ok fine, but come over to my apartment; your neighbors scare me. And the couch is too comfortable to leave."

"Fine, I'll be there soon."

I was still on the couch when Madison let himself in. He had his own key to my apartment in case he needed anything.

"James, come here," I said, reaching out to him from the couch. "I have an idea."

James smiled and sat down next to me. "Which is..."

"We should go down to Monticello. I haven't had a chance to go all year." Monticello was my family home down in Virginia. It was basically a mansion with a dome in the center and large columns on a greek inspired front.

"What about Alex? We can't just leave him here."

"He'll be fine. I'll just give him a key and stock the fridge."

"Thomas, you have to be nice if we go, you have to invite him."

"I don't like him. It could just be us."

"If I go, you have to invite him. You don't have to like someone to show a bit of empathy to them."

I groaned. I wanted this getaway to be just James and me, but I guess it wouldn't kill me if Hamilton came; I could just give him a room far away.

Just then, I heard a knock on the door. I got up and opened it to find Hamilton and his kid. He set Philip down in the cradle. 

"I found a daycare not too far from here. They seem nice, they read to the children as soon as eight months old. I've read about that; even reading out loud to a child can help with linguistic development. Speaking of that, I should probably get Philip some books from the library."

James elbowed me side and mouthed to me, "ask him." I rolled my eyes at him and faced Hamilton, who was still getting Philip comfortable in the crib. 

"Hey Ham, James and I were thinking of heading down to my house down and Virginia." I looked at James, who was staring at me. "Would you like to join us?" James turned and smiled at Hamilton.

Hamilton turned around. "I've got work to do, and I have to grab my stuff from my apartment. The front desk is going to want this crib back soon."

"Don't worry about work, you can bring your laptop. Thomas can drive you to your apartment. Just email Washington you're taking some time off." James said, getting up. "I'm sure Thomas has plenty of children's books down at Monticello. That place is huge."

"I guess I could go. When would we leave?"