Hey! In case you didn't know, this story is a sequel! If you haven't read the first one, In New York, you can find that on my profile. If you have read it, then please, continue!
Alexander hated hospitals. The constant white-painted walls hurt his eyes after staring at them too long, the whole building was filled with that foul, too-sterile smell, and he was forced to stay there for the day. On the other hand, Alexander loved the hospital, because everything about it was currently helping his child be born.
Well, not currently. Eliza's water had broken earlier that day, but she wasn't set to give birth just yet. Also, the baby was technically not his child, but Eliza was his and John's surrogate, so the boy would still be his. All of it was incredibly complicated to Alex and even more so to John.
"What if something goes wrong, though?" John wondered aloud, pacing the room.
"John," Alex sighed, "that's the eighth time you've asked me that. Today."
"But, what if something does go wrong?"
"Nine."
"I'm sorry if I'm worried."
"Shouldn't I be the worried one?" Eliza asked from her place on the bed. John laughed a bit.
"Yeah, sorry."
"It's alright."
"Why don't you sit down, Honey," Alex suggested. John exhaled deeply and sat down in the chair next to Alex.
"Are you sure it'll be okay?" Alex took hold of his husband's hand, gently running his thumb over his wedding ring.
"Everything will be fine."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"Everything will be fine," Gil said.
"Easy for you to say," John rolled his eyes, "you're married already."
"And everything went fine." Gil smiled and stepped back to admire his work. He had just finished tying John's hair in a tight bun, leaving two curls neatly hanging down on the sides of his face.
"I'm pretty sure that's just a lie to make me feel better."
"It is," Hercules said as he adjusted John's suit jacket. "Gil was basically screaming the whole week before the wedding." Gil glared at his husband.
"Every bride is stressed before their wedding," Gil defended.
"You weren't a bride."
"I wore a dress."
"You wore a suit with a train. Even if you were wearing a dress, you still wouldn't be a bride."
"But, if I was wearing a dress, I would look absolutely fabulous."
"You'd look more than fabulous, Gil."
"Okay, this is cute and all," John interrupted, "but it isn't helping me calm down." Just then, Peggy walked in, wearing a lovely dress and makeup, and casually eating out of a bag of chips.
"Oh, dang. Are you freaking out, too?" The girl wondered.
"I can only assume Alex is also freaking out?" Gil guessed.
"Bingo."
"Is he okay?" John asked, the worry in his voice intensifying. Peggy shrugged, dumping chip crumbs into her mouth.
"He'll be fine."
Meanwhile:
"Alex, calm down!"
"Seriously, dude."
"What are you even doing?"
These words were uttered by Eliza, Maria, and Angelica as they watched Alexander pace the room and begin to rewrite his wedding vows for the fourth time.
"It has to be perfect," Alex mumbled.
"Not this again..." Angelica groaned. "Alex, the random shit you say when you're drunk and vomiting is more beautifully worded than anything we could ever hope to accomplish. You'll be fine."
"No." Alex's voice could barely be heard over the sound of his pencil scratching on the paper in front of him. "It can be better. I can do better. It has to be better."
"He's shaking," Eliza stated.
"Yup," Angelica confirmed.
"Again."
"Yup."
"Alright, buddy." Maria stepped up to Alex, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. She stanched the paper and pencil from Alex's hands, crumpling the former, snapping the latter in half, and throwing both across the room.
"What the hell?" Alex yelled.
"You need to stop. Everything will be fine."
"I don't believe you."
"Believe me anyway."
"Just take a deep breath, Alex," Eliza said. He did just that, closing his eyes and making to run a hand through his hair.
"I swear to God, if you mess up your hair again, I will let you get married looking like trash." Alex lowered his hand at Maria's threat.
That was when the music began to play.
"Oh, no..." John gasped.
"What's wrong?" Gil asked him.
"I can't do this," Alexander whispered.
"You already said yes," Maria mentioned.
"I'm going to throw up."
"Don't do that," Eliza begged. "You'll ruin your suit."
"Seriously, man," Hercules said. "You're wearing white."
"I'm so scared," John muttered.
"Don't be."
"But-"
"No."
"What if he says no?" The boys only got glares in response.
John, Hercules, and Gil met up with the girls just in time to get in line and walk (well, John was basically shoved) into the chapel. John took his place at the front, his friends sitting in the closest chairs.
It was a small event, not many people having been invited. A couple of Herc's and Maria's family members were already sitting there, along with Martha Washington, the Schuylers, and four plus-ones in the back wearing coats. Alex didn't have anyone to invite besides the Washingtons, who had become parental figures to him. Although, John made him invite Aaron and Theodosia, who had recently gotten married, and, after some convincing, Thomas and James, who had recently gotten engaged. John was unable to get in contact with his siblings, which tore him up everyday up to the wedding, but he would have to go on without them.
John's thoughts were halted when the music changed to a wedding march. (Enter me not knowing how weddings work and being too lazy to figure it out.)
Alex began walking down the aisle, butterflies in his stomach and a wide smile on his face. His arm was linked with Mr. Washington's, keeping the tradition of walking down the aisle with his father alive. His hair had been combed and tied back in a tight ponytail, in an effort to not look like a mess. Alexander's tuxedo was mostly black, while John's was mostly white. Both suits displayed accents of turquoise, because "You have to match somehow!" Hercules had said when he was designing them.
In short, both Alexander and John thought their about-to-be spouse looked absolutely stunning.
Alexander was afraid he would trip and fall while walking down the aisle, but he didn't. He was afraid he would stutter, messing up his vows, but he didn't (he wasn't actually expecting to; he was the best speaker he knew, after all). When "If anyone believes these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace," was said, Alex was afraid someone would have something to say. His fear was partially realized when someone shouted, "Just kiss already!" Alexander laughed with the crowd as John flushed red.
Finally, the "I do's" came to an end. The priest said, "You may kiss the...groom."
There was a brief moment of tension that couldn't have lasted longer than a half a second, yet it felt like an hour. In this moment, John looked at Alexander and Alexander looked at John and it seemed like they were the only people in this now-silent world. A smile was shared between the fiancées, then John leaned forward and captured Alex's lips in a passionate kiss, and they suddenly weren't fiancées anymore.
They heard cheers from their friends, but the sound barely registered in their minds. When their lips separated, they gazed lovingly at each other, joyous tears in their eyes.
John kissed Alex again.
"Whoo!" Peggy yelled. "Get it, son!"
\/\/
The reception began with everyone congratulating the newlyweds. Two strange things happened during this time. The first was Thomas giving Alex a genuinely kind hug. The second was the small child that jumped on John's back.
"What the-"
"Mary!"
"Mary?!" John spun around, meeting the faces of Martha, Henry, and James, his three oldest siblings. The youngest (the girl on John's back) dropped down and smiled at him.
"Heya, Johnny," Martha greeted with a smirk. She hugged her brother, her siblings following suit.
"How are you here?" John asked.
"Well, one of your friends managed to get in contact with me," Martha explained. "Angelica, I think. I told Dad I was taking the kids to see my college for 'education purposes', so he let me have them for the week. Then, we hid in big coats to surprise you."
"Where are you going to school?"
"Well...after the situation with you, Dad stopped taking chances. I'm far enough away to live in a dorm, but I'm still stuck in South Carolina."
"How's college going?"
"I'm always exhausted."
"Want some advice? Staying awake for 72 hours straight and living solely off of coffee will not help with anything." Alexander, who had been talking to Lafayette, turned to glare at his husband.
"Hey, those are perfectly respectable tactics that cause essays to be written faster," Alex defended.
"Don't listen to him," John said. "You'll do fine without destroying yourself."
"Yeah," Martha laughed. "Who knows? Maybe my college life will be better than yours. Maybe I'll meet the girl of my dreams." John's smile fell abruptly.
"Wait...girl?"
"Hey, so what food do you have here?" Martha wondered, speaking quickly and hurrying away.
"Wait!" John called out, following his sister. "What do you mean, 'girl'?"
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Eliza gasped in pain. Alex looked up at her, while John stood and rushed to her side.
"Is everything okay?" John worried. "Should I get a doctor?" Eliza managed to form a small smile.
"No, I'm fine," Eliza said, taking a few calming breaths. "It's just a contraction."
"Nothing big?"
"Not yet."
"Okay." John sat back down, beginning to nervously pick at is fingernails. "I'm sorry about this, Eliza."
"About what?"
"All of this."
"Why are you sorry?"
"'Cause you have to go through all this pain and shit for us."
"I don't have to do this. I want to. You didn't make me do anything. I agreed to this, after all."
"I know...but, still...I wanted this so bad that I-"
"John."
"Yeah?"
"Stop freaking out."
"Okay." John continued to fidget while Alex quietly laughed at him.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
When Alexander returned to his apartment, he caught John talking on the phone. They had been married for two years now, but Alex still recalled the first time this happened. It was during the first year that they dated, a week before John's father visited. Thankfully, the phone call John was having now seemed to be significantly less unfortunate.
"Gil, you've told me to do that, like, four times already," John said, his voice floating out from the kitchen. Alex listened to him talk as he went to put his school bag in his bedroom. "It's not just a question, though. It's our lives." John grew quieter as Alex got farther away, and the last thing he heard for a few minutes was "Yeah, but I want to..."
Want to what?
As Alex left his room, John could be heard again, saying, "Okay, I'll ask. I just...ugh, I'm so nervous...Okay, okay, I'll do it...Yeah, I'll let you know...Bye." Alexander silently walked into the kitchen just in time to watch John put his phone in his pocket.
"Is everything okay?" Alex asked, surprising his husband.
"Oh, hey, yeah, everything's fine." John cleared his throat and leaned against the counter, pretending to be casual. "You're back early."
"Um...I'm back late."
"Oh...huh."
"So, what were you doing?"
"Uh...I was just...getting some advice from Gil."
"With what?"
"With asking you a question."
"What question?" John blushed deeply, his freckles standing out on his pink skin.
"Well...I...I, uh..."
"Come on, Johnny," Alex teased, poking his husband in the stomach. "Spit it out."
"I...I want to...I wanted to ask if...if you want to..."
"Oh, my gosh, John," Alex giggled. "What is it? Do you want to try something new in bed or-"
"Alex!" If it was possible for John's face to get redder, it did. "No, I..." He took a deep breath that did nothing to help calm his fear. "I..."
"John. How hard is it to ask me a-"
"I want a kid!" John blurted. He sighed once the words left his mouth. Alexander, however, froze in shock.
"Uh..."
"It's okay if you don't want to have one right now," John hurried to say, seeing Alex's surprise. "I mean, I have work, and you have work and school, so I get if you don't think we'll have time, but-"
"Okay," Alexander whispered.
"Wh-What?"
"Okay." Alex smiled, taking John's hand. "We can do that."
"Really?" John's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Yeah. We can ask Gil and Herc how to go about adopting and-"
"Alex," John bit his lip, mumbling, "I kinda don't want to adopt."
"Well, how else would we...oh. You...you want a surrogate."
"If possible."
"Alright. If we can find someone willing, then sure." Alex leaned forward to kiss John, smirking into his lips. He gently tugged on John's shirt, then pulled away to whisper, "I know it's considered impossible, but we should at least try to make a baby ourselves."
"Holy shit, Alex."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Eliza cried out again. For a moment, her eyes were screwed shut, and her breathing was in shallow hisses.
"Are you sure nothing's wrong?" John inquired.
"John," Eliza muttered as she attempted to slow her breathing. "Shut up. Right now."
"O-Okay."
While Eliza recovered from the burst of "minor" pain, Alexander turned to John and said, "You really need to calm down, John."
"How? My son is about to be born, one of my best friends is giving birth to him, so much can go wrong, and-"
"Shut up!" Eliza yelled.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"Yes!"
"Wait, seriously?"
"Of course! I'd be honored to be your surrogate." Eliza smiled in the way she did when she told the truth (Alex and John could barely remember what she looked like when she lied, because she hardly ever did).
"Are you sure?" John asked. "This is kind of a big thing."
"Yeah, but you want a kid, and I'm willing to help."
"Well, then," Alex breathed, "that was fairly easy."
\/\/
"This is the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life," Eliza groaned as she tried to walk up the stairs. Emphasis on "tried". It had been about six and a half months since she became pregnant, and her stomach was roughly the size of a large balloon.
The boys' apartment was only on the second floor of the building, so Eliza made the decision to take stairs. She thought it would be easy to walk up one flight of stairs.
She thought wrong.
When she arrived at Alex and John's apartment, Eliza had to take a moment to catch her breath. She knocked on the door, heard footsteps on the other side, then the door opened to reveal John.
"Hey, Eliza," John greeted with a warm smile. "Come on in." Eliza stepped inside as Alexander walked in from the other room.
"Hey, how are you?" Alex wondered.
"I need to sit down," Eliza stated, already moving towards the couch. John snickered from behind her as she plopped onto the chair. "Don't laugh at me! I just walked up the stairs, which has become extremely difficult because of your child."
"We could've visited you instead," Alex said. "We don't want you to hurt yourself."
"I'm a woman. I can deal with a little pain."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
This was not "a little pain". No, most definitely not. This fact was made clear when Eliza screamed, "FUCK!"
Both John and Alex shot up, and Alex said, "That's new."
"You-ah-you think, Sherlock?"
"Is it-"
"Yes, dumbass!" Alexander ran to the hall to get the doctor, while John stood at Eliza's side. She grabbed his hand, squeezing it tight. "I'm sorry," Eliza said between ragged breaths, "if I hurt you or your feelings."
"I thought I was the worried one," John halfway laughed as Alex returned with the doctors behind him. He stood on the other side of Eliza, taking her other hand. "Here we go."
For hours-several agonizing hours-Eliza screamed nearly nonstop as she gave birth. John and Alex gave her words of confidence and let her basically crush their hands all the while.
John hated when children cried. The sound brought horrible memories to his mind. When he heard a child crying, all he would want to do is stop and help them. In short, a crying child was essentially the bane of John's existence.
Except for right now. Right now, those little baby wails made John gasp in excitement and smile wider than he ever had in his life. He looked up at Alexander, whose eyes were filled with tears of joy.
"Oh, my God..." Alex muttered. He swiftly gave the exhausted Eliza a hug and a kiss on the head. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Eliza just smiled weakly.
"Holy shit..." John sighed. "That was the scariest thing I've ever been through."
"Shut up, will you?" Eliza croaked, making Alex laugh again. A nurse walked in then, a small bundle of blanket in her arms.
"Would the mother like to hold him first?" The woman asked. Alex and John glanced at each other before nodding and taking a step back. She gently placed the bundle in Eliza's outstretched arms. Eliza pushed part of the cloth to the side, better revealing the infant's face.
"He's beautiful." He was. The baby's skin was smooth, soft, and light and his eyes sparkled with curious youth. His fingers were tiny and weakly curled around the top of Eliza's hospital gown. He yawned, and the three friends around him swooned from the cuteness.
"He's so adorable," Alex commented with a smile.
"God, I love him already," John said.
"What's his name?" The nurse asked.
"Philip."
Hey, hey, hey! I'm back biches!
So, what do you think? Cool cool.
Sooo, sorry this took so long to upload hehe...oops. This might have fairly slow updates, but I'm going to try to make it interesting. Both the parents and kids are going to have their own issues and POVs, so everyone from the first story will still be involved. If you have read my other story, They Don't Teach You Love, then you already know the children included. ;)
Also, could you tell I had no clue what to title this?
Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy this!