WARNING: Swearing
DISCLAIMER: The musical belongs to Lin-Manuel Miranda.

She was feeling her heart beating fast against her chest, a sensation of angst taking over her as the unforeseen was about to occur. She closed her brown eyes tightly and bowed her head to be better hidden. A series of soft footsteps could be heard getting closer of her hiding spot and she looked frantically at both sides, seeing just the back part of the couch and the cream wall. The sound of heels stopped abruptly, and she waited expectantly.

The little one jumped in spot when two hands took her by the sides and lifted her up from the floor. She glared right in front of a pair of light brown eyes that looked back at her with a funny gleam in them. The wrinkles around them just showing how happy she was for having found her; or having her in her arms.

The woman laughed whole-heartedly at the irritated expression of the baby, holding her tight in an embrace.

"You inherited your father's incompetence for hide and seek, little one!" she said, holding her with one arm and tapping her nose playfully. The little girl inflated her cheeks and slapped her hand away, in a bad mood.

"She also inherited being a sore loser for her mother" a male voice added from the doorframe.

Thomas made his way to his older sister and baby daughter. The girl softened her expression one in her father's arms and allowed her head to rest against his chest. Jen smiled tenderly at the sight.

"Aw, look at this, my little brother, being a devoted father!"

Thomas huffed at the praise. "Not at all. That's more Martha's job"

Jen frowned at the response. "Shut up. You're a devoted father and that's it"

"Well, I'm better than you" he teased, walking to the kitchen with the baby and being followed by his sister. "Playing with a one-year-old to hide and seek…"

"She's growing, she needs to exercise her brain" Jen defended her decision. "I thought you knew as you called me to babysit" she added, taking a seat at the table.

"I didn't call you" answered Thomas, taking the bottle he'd made for the baby. As soon as Patsy took a hold of it, she started drink eagerly. "You just have a habit of showing up at my house, with no invitation"

"You love it" she drawled, making use of her southern accent.

"I fear it" countered Thomas, sitting across from her, with a cocked eyebrow. "So, what is it this time?"

Jen raised her chin and avoided his glare notably. "I don't know what you're talking about"

"Jen"

"I'm just visiting my baby brother" she repeated, pouting.

"You're not a child anymore, that trick doesn't work" he said, smirking smugly.

She curved her lips and threw a sideways look. "You're sounding like Mum"

Thomas squinted his eyes. "Jane, don't insult me in front of my daughter"

"Hm…"

"Jane Jefferson" he said, sternly.

She grimaced. "Don't use my full name" she complained.

"What is it?" he asked again, ignoring her request.

Jen tapped her foot nervously. "Well, now that you brought Mum up…"

"I did not…"

"She is throwing a Christmas party" she continued, not minding his words at all. "And, well… I was thinking…"

"No" interrupted Thomas, frowning.

"Tommy…"

"I said no"

"You haven't talked to any of us in three years" she threw in his face, matching his furious expression. "Apart from me. And because I come here"

"I talk to you on the phone…"

"The fucking phone can't hug me" complained the woman, rolling her eyes.

"I'm busy with my work and the baby" he excused himself, raising one eyebrow.

"You work as a counsellor for your father-in-law" she said, as if he didn't know, as if it didn't sting in his pride. "Are you really telling me Patty and you can't take a few days, during Christmastime, to come to Virginia and spend the holidays with the family?"

"We were already planning on spending time with the family"

"But…"

"That woman…" spat Thomas, venomously, as the image of their mother came to the front of his mind. "That woman kicked me out for marrying someone she didn't approve. She hasn't contacted me, you told me countless times she doesn't even want to name me in there and you know what she did when Dad…"

The words died in his throat. Jen winced in empathy and kept her silence as well, waiting until her brother decided to talk again. Thomas fixated his glare to the tiled floor of the kitchen, which was now sunk in complete tension, coming back to the real world when his daughter finished her bottle. She looked at both sides, her wide eyes and babbles calming Thomas a tiny bit.

Thomas sighed as he helped Patsy to belch and then went to put the bottle on the sink, planning on washing it later. He looked over his shoulder, seeing Jen looking directly at him, expecting him to keep going.

"I'm not interested on seeing her. And she doesn't, either" he declared, returning to his levelled voice.

"Our siblings do" she insisted, gently.

Thomas laughed dryly. "Which one? Lucy, who celebrated my leaving because now she'll inherit our parents' law firm and everything else? Anna, whom I barely talked with when we lived together? Or Randolph, whose most successful relationship has been with that flask he thinks nobody knows he keeps under the couch and his mattress?"

"Well, you're being quite cruel there…" began Jen, scrunching up her nose in disagreement.

"None of my siblings miss me, Jen" he cut her off, sharply. "And, to be honest, I don't care. If they can't accept Martha, or worse, any children I might have with her, then it's like they don't accept me"

"Mum wants to meet the baby" she revealed, with a foreign quiet voice.

"Pardon?"

"I might've… told her about Patsy and… Well…"

"When did you tell her?" he asked, suspicious.

"Well, a couple of months later she was born?" she tried to remember, feeling littler and litter the more her brother looked at her. "I can't recall…"

"But it wasn't yesterday, was it?"

Jen looked up, eyes wide. "Thomas…"

"Who's going to that Christmas party? All of her friends?" he finger-quoted with his free hand.

"Oh, come on, you're always thinking badly about everyone…" she complained, exhaustedly.

"About people who demonstrated me they can't do something for the sole reason of it" retorted Thomas, rubbing the baby's back as Patsy looked for the better position to fall asleep.

"Mum's stubborn" argued Jen. "Just as somebody else I know…"

Thomas huffed as she gave him an up and down look.

"And Patsy's still her granddaughter" she continued, getting up and walking to him. "As well as our siblings' niece"

"If they cared so much, they'd have contacted me by now" kept insisting Thomas, stubbornly.

"Look, none of them are my favourite people to be around" she finally admitted. "I know Mum's been unfair to you, on levels that makes my blood to boil just by remembering. And I know Lucy is not the ideal sister, and that the twins and you've never shared a model siblinghood, but it's never too late to start from zero.

"Besides" she kept going, when she received only silence from the man. "I've got someone I want you to meet"

"Oh, well, if my charming family wasn't enough to make me go to a party with people I don't give a shit about wasn't tempting enough…" commented Thomas, sarcastically.

"Tommy, I know you're a hermit, so when I want to introduce you to one of my friends, it's because I know his personality can match yours"

"If you say so…" he drawled, in disbelief.

"Trust me. He's also allergic to social interaction" she said, giggling at a joke only she seemed to get.

"Who is it?" he asked, not wanting to show interest.

"He's Mum's new accountant. Sorta" she explained, clumsily. "He had a nervous breakdown during college and had to drop out…" she began to explain, and Thomas couldn't help but flinch, sympathising with a man he didn't know. "His family and ours knew a bit, and Mum decided to give the man a chance to start working while he recovers before going back to college. And so, he has some experience when he goes to look for a job once he's finished with his studies"

"See how she's a cold planner?" he asked, smirking at the new information.

"Oh, drop it" complained the woman. "We're not talking about Mum anymore. We're talking about her accountant"

"I don't trust somebody that has something to do with her" he admitted, having a million doubts per second in his mind.

"Consuelo and I do and you like us" responded Jen, right away. "Or so I hope" she teased.

Thomas rolled his eyes. "You know I do"

"It wouldn't kill you to tell us more often"

"How is she?" he asked, hesitant.

"Who?"

"Consuelo"

Jen smiled gently at his question. Thomas kept his mind busy by rocking an already sleepy Patsy and ignoring the bitter taste in his mouth. He held the Latin American woman in great esteem, and guilt was born in his stomach, making knot after knot at the thought of how he'd been ignoring the woman as she'd done some wrong to him, when, in reality, she'd been his most important pillar, along with Jen and his father.

For a split second, he thought the housekeeper would be too mad at him for leaving without saying goodbye or for his lack of phone calls. He could tolerate his mother and rest of siblings not talking to him ever again, to have nothing to do with them and not having any news of any of them for the rest of his days. But that wasn't the case with Consuelo. Especially when he knew how his mother seemed to despise her when his youngest siblings were born, for reasons Jen and Thomas never knew and didn't have enough courage to ask.

Jen patted him on the arm, reassuringly. "She misses you too much" she answered. "Just as I do" Her brother returned her smile, unconsciously. "And she also wants to meet a certain little one"

Thomas sighed, in defeat. "I'll talk it out with Martha"

Jen jumped from happiness. "Yay! Knew you'd come around eventually"

"Really, why didn't you study to be a lawyer? You'd have aced it"

"Boo, too boring. I'm an artistic soul, I need to be somewhere else that isn't a dull office with boring people" She casted him a rapid glare. "No offense"

"Full taken…"

"Well, as long as you still come…"

"Yes, you walking pain…" he nodded.

"All right, then" she winked one eye, as she made her way to the front door. "Tell Martha I said 'hi'!"

"She'll already know you've been here. Don't think I'm not hearing the bag of cookies inside your purse…"

"Everyone is innocent until proven guilty!" was the last thing she said before closing the door at her backs.

Thomas shook his head with affection at his sister's mannerisms. He felt a bit of anxiety at imagining himself meeting someone new (the fact that he could put up with his mother when he didn't have to, just so their families could create a bond based on business solely didn't convince him much) and at a party, again with the same people he knew since he was young, and that now would be surely judging him for his life choices.

It surely wasn't appealing.

Patsy made a noise, as she looked up at him, and then rested her head on his shoulder again. He smiled down to her, feeling a lot more relaxed, and made his way to his shared bedroom, where Patsy's crib was.

He thought about what Jen told him before. Though it was true his family wasn't idyllic, he didn't think making Patsy pay for it would be a right choice, especially if he was given an opportunity to start from scratch and try to maintain a civil relationship with his family. He wouldn't be better than his mother if he turned the offer down.

Thomas placed Patsy on her crib, tucked her in and patted her head. He'd sworn to never be his mother to any children he might have in the future. Well, the future was present already, and Jen was giving him a one in million chance. Even if he and his mother would never come to terms (Thomas still didn't trust her completely) he could fix the relationship with his siblings. It wouldn't hurt Patsy to have more than one aunt or uncle to be around, or some cousin to play.

He decided to give it a shot. Martha would support him and he had the assurance that she and Jen would be there for him if things didn't go well. Thomas could do anything if he had them by his side.

Sursum corda!