General Washington,

Eliza paused, tapping her pen against her chin. She needed to get this right. Alex's life, their future together, their child's future, would be determined by this letter.

She needed to get this right, but she was running out of time. The longer she took writing this letter, the longer it would take for her husband to come back home.

She refused to think about him not returning.

She started the letter over.

Your Excellency,

Yes, that was better.

Your Excellency,

First, let me say how proud I am to see such progress in our country. It is truly wonderful, and I know I'm lucky to be alive right now, to see these groundbreaking changes in the world. I also hope you are having luck in your endeavours and are staying as safe as you possibly can. I've heard of your past successes and I'm sure you're doing everything you can for your men as well as our country.

But now to the reason I am writing this letter. I haven't received a reply to the last letter I sent to my husband. I understand that, on the battlefield, mail is hardly your first priority, and that as your aide-de-camp, Alexander is extremely busy. I understand this many seem trivial, but I am not just asking for myself.

I haven't told Alexander yet, but I just discovered I'm pregnant. I do not wish to overstep my boundaries, but I implore you to at least consider giving Alexander leave, and send him home, even it is only briefly.

I know from his past letters he would rather be in command of a battalion. I'm sure you know that too, and I trust your decision to keep him off the battlefield – I too know how good a wordsmith he is.

I am grateful for his safety, but I know as well as you that war is deadly even on the sidelines, and now more than ever, I need him to come home.

If you think you could manage without him for even a few days, I beg you to at least consider my request.

I believe we both have a mutual desire for him to stay alive.

Sincerely,
Eliza Hamilton

"How are you feeling?" asked Peggy, softly opening the door and sliding into her sister's bedroom. She sat down next to Eliza on the bed and grasped her hand.

Eliza smiled wanly, "I've been better," she answered. "But I'm okay."

"Are you scared?"

Eliza sighed as she turned to her sister. "I'm terrified," she admittedly softly.

She couldn't deny her fear about the pain. Helping her mother through her pregnancies, she knew childbirth would be beyond uncomfortable. But that was nothing compared to what she would feel after the child was born.

She hadn't even thought about it, but her motherly instinct seemed to have kicked in already. Every night, every time she went to church, she prayed that nothing would happen to her child, before or after they were born; she already loved them so much.

Peggy smiled and grasped her hand tighter.

"I feel uncomfortable just watching you go through this," Peggy continued. "I don't know how Mama's done it twelve times before."

Her sister was right. Eliza knew the reward would be wonderful, and that as soon as her child was placed in her arms, she would forget everything, but right now she wasn't able to look that far into the future. Especially not while her husband was away.

"Neither do I," she laughed.

As it turned out, a week after the doctor's visit, her mother found out she'd fallen pregnant again. She didn't need to call for the doctor; Eliza may have needed to get outside confirmation, but her mother knew every possible symptom inside and out. This was her thirteenth pregnancy.

Eliza's feelings on the knowledge that her youngest sibling would be the same age as her child were somewhat mixed; but she knew that she would love them both all the same. And if nothing else, they could be playmates.

She didn't really know anyone around her age who had children of their own, though she supposed that was what came from living at home after your wedding.

And if Alexander was going to be away as much as he was, it would be nice for her daughter or son to have someone their own age to play with. When there was over twenty years between her and her new sibling, would it really matter if they were uncle and niece or nephew and aunt? Relationships all blurred into one in her family. Alex had, in a sense, been adopted into the Schuyler family when he proposed to her. She was still living at home after several months of marriage. Angelica was old enough to be Cornelia's mother.

And nobody noticed any of it.

Why should they notice this?

"It must be very small," giggled Cornelia.

Eliza smiled at her youngest sister, whose hands were, once again, on her stomach. They were sitting out in the garden; she still felt terrible much of the time, but she was no longer spending all her time in bed, and things seemed to be getting better.

Some things anyway. She didn't notice her state of dress much; the relief of not having to wear a corset every day was cancelled out by the discomfort of her ever expanding stomach – discomfort that would only get worse in the coming months. Corsets, uncomfortable as they were, remained the same.

But there were times – like right now – when she didn't notice any of it.

Cornelia had always made Eliza smile. She couldn't confide in her the way she could with Peggy and Angelica, but she was able to have fun with Cornelia in a way that she simply unable to with her older sisters.

The five year old had been thrilled about finding out her sister was going to have a baby, and was constantly asking Eliza if she could feel her stomach.

Eliza was only too happy to oblige.

It made her wonder if this was what would happen should she have more than one child. For a moment she could imagine her child resting his or her hands on her belly, wondering about their younger sibling.

She could vaguely remember when she was around four years old, being fascinated during one of her mother's pregnancies. She couldn't wait to meet her new brother or sister, but sadly, both of the twins had died before they could turn one.

She was glad her siblings were so excited about the baby, and, in addition to praying for her child, she also prayed for her siblings; she didn't want her brothers and sisters to go through the loss she and Angelica and Peggy had gone through with the twins that never made it.

But then there was the matter of her husband.

If anyone deserved to meet their son or daughter, it was Alexander. She had never met anyone so inspirational. He was ambitious, determined, resilient, and though he didn't show it often, cared deeply for those he loved. For all his flaws, Eliza knew there could be no better role model for a child who would come of age in this young nation.

But you couldn't be a role model when you were so far away.