History Has Its Eyes On You ~ A Hamilton Fanfiction (Book 1, Act 1)

Introductions (Reprise)

°~Present~°

(Y/N POV)

"So... Where exactly is it that we're going to?" I asked.
"I want to introduce Emily to the gang!" John exclaimed.
"The... gang...?" Emily questioned, hovering close to John.
"Friends... from the war." I answered for her.
"Oh..."

"First up is Hercules." John announced, nearing the tailor's store. "Doesn't your friend work here?"
"Charles?" I questioned. "Yeah. But I don't know if he's in today." To no surprise, Charles had contracted a cold from going out in that storm. We'd allowed him to stay for a few hours, before John and I led him home. He was a shivering wreck, but we did whatever we could to try and keep him warm.

John opened up the door for us, allowing Emily and I to pass by first. Hugh was lumbered behind his counter, whilst Hercules was sat on a stool sewing some pants. "Herc!" John exclaimed, approaching him.
"John!" They patted each other on the back, Hercules instantly catching my attention. "Well if it isn't Charlie Miller!"
"Hey, Herc." Before I could react, he squeezed me into a tight hug.

Quickly realising that I wasn't a man anymore, he forced himself away. "Sorry, I just-"
"It's fine." I dismissed. "I'm still not completely used to this lifestyle either."
Hercules bowed to Emily. "Then you must be Emily Hamilton."
John stepped in. "Yes... We're introducing her to you and Laf."

As the three talked between themselves, I noticed Hugh glaring at me. Sighing, I walked over to greet him behind the counter. "Sir, I... I know that I lied to you about... finding a future husband. And I'm sorry, I just... wanted to-"
"It's none of your fault, dear." he murmured. "You accomplished what most would believe is impossible. You served our country. And..." -he chuckled- "That's far more than a petty old man like me could do."

I checked around the store for any sign of Charles: nothing. "Charles isn't in?" I questioned.
"No. You've probably heard already, but he's very sick. All he needs is some rest and he'll be back on his feet." 
"I hope so..."

"Well, I wouldn't want to be wasting your time." Hercules concluded. I smiled at Hugh, going back over to John and Emily. "It's been great to see you all. Especially you," -Hercules put his hand on my shoulder- "Miss Hamilton."

I bowed my head to him.

"It's been great to see you, too."

~

"Here we are!" John stood proudly at the gates of a house fit for royalty. I hadn't realised Lafayette's wealth until now.
"Wow..." Emily gaped her mouth open, inspecting each and every aspect of the household. Of course, I too was in awe, but I only wanted to meet the rest of Lafayette's family.
"Well don't just stand there staring, let's go!" John laughed.
"We're... allowed in there?"
"Sure!"

Emily gulped, opening the gate. "Don't worry!" I reassured her. "Lafayette's one of the nicest men you'll ever meet!"
"Is he the French guy?"
"Correct." John confirmed. "Just make sure he's speaking English."
"Why?"
"When he's speaking French, that's when you know he's angry. And you don't want to get on his angry side."
"John." I nudged him in the arm, watching Emily shudder at his words.

We climbed onto the porch, John stepping forth to knock at the door. We waited for a patient few seconds, before it began to creak open slightly. Peaking through, I saw that nobody seemed to be there. John, however, seemed to think differently. His head tilted downwards, expressing an innocent smile of gratitude. "Hel-!"
"PAPA!!" Leaning over to get a better look, a small child scuttled off. "PAPAAA!!"

"Qu'est-ce que il, Anastasie?" a tired Lafayette echoed from further into the house.
"L'homme fou est à la porte!!" 'Anastasie' spat as quietly as she could, though it was apparent for us to hear. John and I snickered, though Emily didn't quite understand what was happening.
"Homme fou, hein?" Lafayette questioned.
"OUI!!"

"I- Is he mad...?" Emily stuttered. Lafayette opened the door fully, exposing the full interior of the house. He held Anastasie in one hand, and a baby in the other, sleeping upon his shoulder. He bared sable bags under his eyes, his back arched over. "John..." he slurred, leaving his daughter's grasp to hug John over the shoulder. "Anastasie, réveiller ta mère." Lafayette ordered. Anastasie grunted, trailing off up the stairs.

"The Hamiltons..." He seriously looked as though he were about to drop down dead. He exhaustively kissed my hand, along with Emily's. "Come inside, come..."
"Lafayette, are you alright?" I asked out of concern, seeing as nobody else had.
"Do I look alright, mon ami?" he questioned sarcastically.
"No." John and I answered in unison.

We began to take our coats off, closing the door to keep out the cold. A painting of Lafayette was framed upon the wall, with a fire crackling close by. "My apologies, let me rephrase that." He gently took the baby from his shoulders, holding them in front of us. "I have the Devil of a son."
"I'm sure he's not that bad!" John exclaimed, grinning as he continued to sleep.

"HA! HAHA!" Lafayette rested his son back upon his shoulder, kindly taking our coats from us. "He's a little shit..."
"Shouldn't be swearing around the kids, Laf!" I teased as he allowed us to sit down.
"What? He's a Frenchman! A pure-blooded Lafayette! Therefore, he must learn to act like his father!"

Suddenly, his son began to wriggle about. He let out quiet whines, slipping out of Lafayette's hand. "Here we go again..." he sighed. His son bolted his head up, flickering his eyes open. He studied Lafayette, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. "Hello, Georges..." Lafayette murmured, prepping himself for what was to come.

Instantly, Georges erupted into sobs, trying to push Lafayette away from him. "I don't understand, what do you want?" He continued to cry. Emily flinched as Lafayette grabbed him underneath his armpits, holding him into the air. "Do you want to go on the floor?" Georges, of course, didn't reply. "Okay you are going on the floor now, goodbye." Lafayette sat his son on the floorboards, to which he immediately regretted doing so.

"Dada!" Georges cried, using the side of the couch to pull himself up. He gripped Lafayette's knee to keep himself on his feet.
"You see?" Lafayette proved.
"He's just... going through early stages of development, I'm sure he'll be fine." John encouraged. Just as he'd said that, Georges began violently chomping on Lafayette's knee. He was prepared to pull him away, but noticing how content he'd become, he left him to it.

Anastasie came skipping in, hugging Lafayette's other leg. He ruffled her hair, too tired to say any more. Adrienne followed by, sitting on a lone chair. Georges became distracted by her presence, crawling into his knees towards her. "Mamamamama!" he chanted excitedly. Adrienne scooped him up, kissing him upon the forehead.
"Here, mon amour." Lafayette offered his space on the couch to her in exchange for the chair.
"Non, I'm quite comfortable here. Besides, you're exhausted." she persuaded.

"And so we have guests?" Adrienne continued.
"Yes. I believe you haven't yet been acquainted with Miss Emily Hamilton here." Lafayette gestured to her.
"Uhm..." Emily got to her feet, curtsying for her. "It's great to meet you." 
"And you. I hope my husband doesn't scare you, he's rather intimidating." Adrienne joked.
"Pfft!" Lafayette sat Anastasie on his lap. She played with his hair, giggling at how puffy it was.

"Well, we'll be going out for lunch, if you three would like to come along?" Lafayette proposed.
"That'd be great! We can... all get to know each other better." John quickly glanced at Emily, pretending to have looked at me. "Do you have the time for that, Sophie?"
"...Yeah, we have time." He seemed... desperate. As though he needed this. The way he'd kept looking at Emily all day was in a way that I'd never seen him express before. I'd insisted that he'd go to spend more time with Martha and Frances, and he did. But the moment he did, he came running straight back to Emily.

To introduce her to the others.

"Then we're settled." Lafayette concluded.

"The seven of us shall dine together."

~~~~~~~~~~

We're on the road to 10K, people... That's insane that I get to say that... Thank you all so damn much, you're all too awesome and my emotions can't hAnDlE iT-

Also I realised yesterday how perfectly the song Señorita fits with the reader and Charles... 😂