young, scrappy and hungry | a hamilton story | √

Chapter 43

Kasey stepped into Lin's dressing room about two minutes later. Lin was on his phone, but he spotted Kasey as she walked in. He held up a finger for her to wait.

She stood awkwardly in the door until he wrapped up his call.

"Thank you for coming, Kasey," he said. 

"Thank you for considering this. I know it's a lot to ask- you didn't even know my foster parents, and it is a child we're talking about. It's not a decision you need to make," Kasey said instantly.

Lin held up a hand. 

"Vanessa and I talked about it for a long time. That's why we didn't get back to you. But, we've agreed that we'll give it a shot. Keep in mind, it would be foster parenting until we would make a final decision. And we would expect you to play a significant role in this," Lin told her. Seeing her expression, he continued hastily. "I don't mean financially. You're young and you have so much potential, Kasey. We would just want you to be involved. She was going to be a part of your family. We expect you to treat her like you would have if the process had gone through."

"Of course," Kasey agreed instantly. 

"I'm not asking you to be her mother," Lin continued. "I just want you to be an important figure in her life. You need to be there for her. You can't just dump this responsibility on someone else's shoulders and then walk away."

"That was never my intention," Kasey said.

"I know it wasn't. But this girl will need a lot of emotional support. You know what it's like, I know that. I'm trusting you, Kasey. This is a huge step for everyone. I want you to be involved. We've wanted another kid, but we didn't expect this. We wanted time, and we're just giving it a shot."

Kasey nodded. "Thank you, Lin, this means more than you can ever know."

Lin looked seriously at her. "I know you've lost many people in your life, Kasey, and I've seen how much you've been motivated by that. You are such a strong person, and you've sacrificed so much to be this far away from home without a family. I can see that you're sad and lonely, despite having an amazing friend like Carleigh. Vanessa noticed it, too. We both want to help you, and let you know that you may have lost your family and your foster parents, but you still have the Hamilton family behind you. Always."

Kasey blinked away tears that were starting to form in her eyes.

"Thank you, Lin," she said, hugging him.

"Of course," Lin told her. "Now, I was wondering if you'd like to fly to London and bring Alaina over here. I don't want her to fly alone, and I know you haven't been to London in a long time."

Kasey almost said yes, and then she remembered that she couldn't leave the country until she found out if she'd gained dual citizenship. 

"I've been meaning to talk to you," she admitted.

"What?" Lin asked suspiciously.

"I don't want this getting out to the cast. It's meant to be a surprise if I get it, but I'm taking the dual citizenship test in two days. I can't leave the country until I find out."

Lin jumped up excitedly. "That is fantastic, Kasey! I'm so happy for you! And of course, I understand. We thought we'd offer, but maybe Vanessa can fly out to get Alaina. I don't want you to miss out on your dual citizenship opportunity."

"Thank you, Lin."

"Do you want to call out of the show tomorrow and the next day?"

"That would be... amazing," Kasey admitted. "It's hard to focus on multiple things at once."

"Of course. I completely understand. I'll talk to the swings. I won't say why, don't worry."

Kasey owed so much to Lin Manuel-Miranda.