Alexandra Hamilton

That Would Be Enough (Part 2)

Elijah's POV

I sit out in the garden, trying to distract myself from my anxiety by studying the leaves and flowers. Not a day goes by where I don't think about Alexandra. When I see her coming down the street, my heart leaps. I race towards her and take her in my arms. Thank God!

"Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now. Look around, look around." I sing. Everything is okay now.

My eyes fixate on her stomach. She's barely showing, but I know she's carrying my child.

She pulls away from me in shock and horror. "How long have you known?" She asks quietly.

"A month or so." I confess.

"Elijah, I never told you."

"The General wrote to me a month ago." I explain. I still have the letter on the table inside.

"No." There's a small crack in her voice. I don't know why she's so afraid. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep it a secret for long.

"I begged him to send you home." I'm still a bit offended that I had to hear it from Washington first. "You should have told me."

"I'm not sorry." She says defensively, her face slowly turning red.

I take her hands in mine and say what's on my mind. "I knew you'd fight until the war was won,"

"The war's not done." She interrupts.

"But we deserve a chance to meet our son." I insist. She begins to weep. I pull her towards the bench in the garden and we sit together. "Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now."

"Will you relish having a termagent wife, unable to provide for your life?" She asks, refusing to look at me. I'm taken aback by her question. That's what she's worried about? Whether or not I'm satisfied?

"I relish you as my wife." I state with no doubt in my voice. I don't care that she's stubborn. She's unlike anyone I've ever met. I love her-- all of her-- and I'm proud to call her mine.
"Look around, look around." I hold her close and stroke her back while playing with her hair.

"Look at where you are. Look at where you started. The fact that you're alive is a miracle." She's come so far. And she's got so far to go. But right here, right now, I'm grateful to have her here with me.

"Just stay alive. That would be enough. And if this child shares a fraction of your smile, or a fragment of your mind, look out world. That would be enough." I can picture it now. We'll teach our child to read, write and play piano. I know Alexandra will be an extraordinary mother.

I cup her chin in my hand and gaze into her tired eyes. "I don't pretend to know the challenges you're facing," I wish I did though. Oh, to take a glimpse into that beautiful mind of hers. "the worlds you keep erasing and creating in your mind." She's a dreamer. And dreamers are the ones who make the changes.

"But I'm not afraid. I know whom I married." I made a promise when I said, 'I do'. I promised to support her in everything she does. "So long as you come home at the end of the day, that would be enough."

I start to break and a tear escapes my eye. "We don't need a legacy. We don't need money. If I could grant you peace of mind, if you could let me inside your heart." I'm not clueless. I know she still has some walls up. But I'm determined to break them down.

"Oh, let me be a part of the narrative in the story they will write someday." I know that she'll change the world. The world's gonna know her name someday. And I want to be with her when she succeeds. "Let this moment be the first chapter where you decide to stay. And I could be enough. And we could be enough. That would be enough."

A smile breaks Alexandra's face and I know I've gotten through to her. We sit and cry together for a while longer. I don't know about her, but I'm blessed with visions of the life we're going to make together.