Alex rushed over to his laptop in his apartment and came to a skidding halt. "So what happens now?" He asked John, who'd got in slightly before him.

"We wait, I guess." John said.

"I haven't seen my best friend in months and now she's had two babies." Alex said.

"It's her fault for shutting herself off, Alex." John put his phone on the coffee table and sat down. "It's nothing you've done."

"I know." Alex sighed. He parked his wheelchair next to the couch. "I just... I wish I could be there for her."

"I know you do." John looked around and bent down to pick up the remote control from the floor.

As he did so, Alex managed to transfer himself from his wheelchair to the couch. "I don't think I can watch the TV while knowing that Peggy's had her babies early."

"Until we get news, Alex." John corrected. He turned the TV on.

Alex shuffled closer to John, before lunging for the remote.

John held the remote high above Alex's head. "Not so paralysed now, are you?"

"John. This is no time for fun and games." Alex said seriously.

John simply scrolled through the channels until he landed on The X-Files.

"I don't want to watch The X-Files, John. I want to go and be with Peggy."

"Come on." John pointed to the TV. "It's Mulder and Scully! You like The X-Files."

"No." Alex said. He folded his arms. "Stupid David Duchovny is stupid and his character has a stupid name."

"Alex, we can't do anything." John said. "As I told my younger siblings-"

"If you can do something, do it, if you can't, don't worry about it." Alex recited from memory. "But this isn't just 'something'. John, it's Peggy Schuyler." Alex emphasised. "Our dear old friend Peggy. Not..." Alex clenched his hand into a fist and bit his tongue before he opened his hand and gestured towards the TV, still biting his tongue.

"She's eighteen." John said. "Not old."

"You know what I'm saying." Alex said through gritted teeth.

John turned the TV volume down. "Look, Alex, she's probably only going to want Laf and her parents, maybe Angelica and Eliza there right now." He said softly. "As soon as we get the go ahead, we'll pile your Quickie into the car and leave as fast as we can without breaking any speeding laws."

Alex nodded. "Sounds right."

"Alright. Now watch The X-Files." John said.

"Can you do me a favor and leave?" Alex asked, causing John to look affronted. "Only I want to watch X-Files alone."

John sighed and put the remote down. "As long as you don't jack off to Gillian Anderson again."

"Nice to see you joking." Alex said.

"I wasn't." John said with a straight face. "Now I'll just..." He thumbed towards the bedroom door. "Leave."

Alex carried on watching the show. Just as Muler and Scully were about to solve the mystery, John burst from the bedroom.

"Alex! We gotta go! Peggy wants to see us!" John began to push Alex's chair out of the apartment.

"Hey! Not without me in it!" Alex protested.


Alex rushed down the ward, followed by John running behind. It had been six months since Alex had been in this very same hospital, but to Alex, it felt like just yesterday. He stopped outside Peggy's room and knocked. He didn't wait for an answer though, he just burst in.

"Peggy!"

Peggy looked up from her bed. "Alex."

"You look good, considering." Alex moved closer. "How are you feeling?"

"My babies, Alex, they're so tiny." Peggy said. "I'm a-a mom."

"You'll make a great mom." Alex assured. "And we'll always be around to help."

"Hey there, John." Peggy greeted John, who was standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Peggy." John walked in.

"This is it, isn't it?" Peggy asked. "I've screwed my life up."

"No, your life is fine." Alex said. "My life is screwed up. I've got a terminal disease-"

"Neurofibromatosis is not terminal or a disease." John said boredly. "It's a genetic condition."

"That'll kill me one day."

"Not necessarily now stop pitying yourself. This isn't about you, it's about Peggy."

"And I'm paralyzed from the waist down-"

"Again, that doesn't mean your life is ruined."

Peggy looked over at Alex, who was by her side. "You've got a new wheelchair."

"Your dad did." Alex said.

"I still think I'd rather be you than me." Peggy slumped back onto the pillows.

The door to her room opened again and James Madison walked in carrying a bouquet of flowers. He was followed by an awkward looking Thomas Jefferson who had his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, Peggy." James greeted. "I got you some flowers."

Peggy raised an eyebrow. "So I see."

Jefferson mumbled "congratulations" and went to go and stand in the corner, not making eye contact with anyone.

"Guy's weird." Alex said. "Just ignore him."

"Have you named them yet?" James asked.

"No." Peggy said emotionlessly. "Laf's with them now. In the NICU."

"They just left you?" John asked.

"I wanted them to." Peggy replied. "I couldn't stand-Alex, you know."

"I know." Alex nodded. "Don't you think it's about time you told them?"

"I can't now." Peggy said. "The babies..."

"Tell Lafayette what?" John asked.

"It's nothing, John." Alex shook his head. "Nothing important."

"The babies might not be Laf's." Peggy said. "I had sex with my cousin and then sex with Laf on the same night and I got pregnant."

"What the hell?" John frowned deeply. "That shit's the most disturbing thing I've ever heard. You gotta tell them."

"I wanna run a DNA test."

"So do it. You don't have to go on Jerry Springer." Alex said.

"I can't get close enough to the babies. I haven't seen them since the birth. I don't want to either."

"You're their mom. You shouldn't reject them-"

"I'm not rejecting them."

"Then name them." James shrugged.

"No."

"You know, Peggy," John began, "The X-Files is on-"

"I'm not naming them Dana and Fox. That's only going to set them up for lifelong teasing."

"Well, the boy." Alex muttered.

"No."

"You could always name him John." John suggested.

"When you have your own kid, you can name him John."

"I almost had a kid, but Martha Manning had an abortion." John shrugged.

"That's not what I heard from William." James whispered in John's ear.

John stiffened. "So in... In non baby news, my article and accompanying diagrams on soft shell turtles made it into a scientific journal."

"Which one?" Peggy asked, showing her first hint of emotion since Alex arrived.

"Nature." John said.

"Oh wow. That's... That's a big honour, John. It's so prestigious. How in the hell did you do it?"

"I study turtles. They're my favourite animal." John said.

"That's great. I'll look out for it." Peggy said. "What's your paper called?"

"Where We're Going, We Don't Need Roads: A Study of the Aquatic and Land Based Needs of the Softshell Turtle." John recited.

"Is that a Back to the Future reference?" James asked.

"Yes it is." John said proudly.


The next day, Alex awoke to John rolling over in bed next to him.

"Good morning." Alex said stiffly.

John sat up in bed. "What's happened?"

"What date is it? June eighth?" Alex asked. "Then, um, Britain's having their election today."

"That's happening." John said. "What's happened?"

"Nothing." Alex put his phone down and pulled himself up on the pillows.

John reached over for Alex's phone and picked it up. He blinked emotionlessly. "What is this?" He asked. "Are you... Texting buddies with James Madison?!"

"I'm not texting buddies with him, John, I'm buddies with him." Alex said. "You know I am. He's in the group chat."

"So? Group chat isn't texting." John tossed Alex's phone to him.

"Look, it's not like it's Jefferson-who's also in the group chat." Alex pointed out.

"Jesus Christ, Alexander Hamilton." John slid out of bed. He was naked. Completely naked.

"Are you jealous, John?" Alex asked with a smirk on his face.

"No." John snorted.

"You know he's not a bad guy, right? I mean, sure he can be a dick, but he cares about BLM and human rights-"

"Like Magneto in the X-Men." John said.

"Been reading the X-Men again, John?" Alex asked. He gently lowered himself into his wheelchair from his bed-also stark naked.

"What's it to you if I like the X-Men?" John shrugged.

"Anyway, it's not like I'm hanging out with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Ramos." Alex shrugged.

"I'll bet it was Mister Sinister who cloned us and-"

"John!" Alex barked.

"Okay. Okay." John walked into the bathroom.

Alex wheeled himself over to his clothes drawers.

"By the way, Alex," John called out. "That was some great sex last night."

"I didn't need to hear that!" Ned shouted from the front room. "Any of it!"

Alex smiled and bit his lip, desperately trying to stop himself from laughing.

In the bathroom, John was doing the same thing.


Later on, the three of them sat down for breakfast, Alex, John and Ned. There was an awkward silence between Ned and everyone else, but John and Alex were talking with each other freely.

"I know, it's going to be good." Alex said. "I should probably call him back or something."

"Anyway, you gonna see Hercules later?" John asked.

"Yeah, he said that he and Sally have something important to tell me, so I pretty much have to go"

"Wedding related?" John asked with a mouthful of toast.

"Probably, yeah." Alex nodded.

John violently swallowed the toast. "I'm an usher."

"Yeah, Laf's a groomsperson too." Alex said. "Who else is involved?"

"Eliza, Angelica, Peggy, Maria and Theo are bridesmaids." John said.

"Groomspeople, I mean." Alex clarified.

"Oh, yeah, I'm an usher, so is Aaron." John said. "James is a groomsperson, Laf is and so is Martha."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Wayles?"

John nodded. "Yeah."

"What about Hugh?"

"Not going."

"Who's Hugh?" Ned asked.

"Herc's brother." Alex replied as he buttered his toast.

"Basically all us friends are in the wedding party except Dolley and you, Ned." John said.

"Is that what Herc wants to see me about? Because it's the last rehearsal for Pirates of Penzance before we go into the production period." Alex said. He bit into the toast and narrows his eyes slightly as he chewed.

"Rumor has it that Herc's looking for a best man." John said with a slight smirk.

"I can't be the best man!" Alex blurted out. "Best men can't be in wheelchairs!"

"Where's the rule about that, Alex?" John said. "Where's the rule?"

Alex blinked. "I-I just assumed..."

"I'm going to see Peggy and Laf later." John said.

"Send them my love." Alex put the rest of the toast in his mouth and moved from the table carefully.

"Yeah, I will do-where are you off to?" John asked.

Alex took the toast from his mouth. "I'm the Major General." He said. "The disabled Major General." He took another bite of the toast.

John smiled to himself as he watched Alex eat his breakfast and grab all his things together as he wheeled himself around the apartment with ease. It had been four months now and Alex was here more than anywhere else. But with three grown men and one in a wheelchair, John also knew they had to look for a bigger apartment because Ned was constantly having to sleep on the couch and hear them have sex. Maybe an apartment that allowed pets. He knew Alex would love a new dog after what happened to Philip. It had been a year, after all, it wasn't like they were going to replace the little dog.

"I'll see you later, John." Alex said. He was in the doorway about to shut the door.

"Yeah, see you later, Alex." John said.

"Bye, Ned." Alex shut the door behind him.

Ned turned to John. "I don't want to have to hear that ever again."

"What?" John asked innocently.

"You know." Ned said. "The 'ooh John, touch me! No not there, my nips' and 'oh my god Alex, your legs don't work, but your dick sure does!' And the screaming 'oh god! Oh god!' From both of you."

"You know-"

"That Alex has sensitive nipples, yes, I do." Ned groaned. "I'd like to not know that fact from my old best friend, but alas, I do. Please stop before I learn something else I don't want to."

"You haven't heard Alex and Eliza go at it-"

"And I don't want to." Ned said loudly over John.

"Okay." John nodded. "Okay, I get it. I'll look for uh, a new apartment. A bigger one. Today."

"Thank you." Ned left the table quickly and left John sitting alone.


Alex knocked on Hercules' door. He figured he'd stop off there before he went to rehearsal.

Hercules answered. "Alex!"

"You wanted to see me?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, yeah, come in, man." Hercules opened the door to allow Alex in.

Alex entered and looked around. "Sally not here?"

"Coding exam." Hercules said casually. "And it's a good thing too. You have impeccable timing."

"When do I not?" Alex asked. "Okay. So why do you wanna see me?"

"You know how Sally and I are getting married, right?" Hercules asked.

"Yes."

"Well... How would you like to be involved?"

"You want me to be your best man, don't you?"

"I-uh-I-what? How did you-?" Hercules spluttered.

"Know?" Alex asked. "John told me."

"Well, would you?" Hercules asked. "Like to be my best man?"

Alex paused. "Yes. It'd be my honor."

What had Alex got himself into?


A/N: Hey! I'm back! Updates will be a bit slow from now on. But they will happen. I promise!