"So who is this Helpful Friend?" Eliza questioned, looking at Peggy through the rear-view mirror.
Peggy, who was sitting in the seat behind Eliza's and holding both John and Lafayette in her arms, leaned forward and whispered something into her sister's ear.
Eliza let out a small laugh and shook her head. "Burr's going to hate you."
"I know." Peggy smirked. Lafayette began to protest from his position pinned between Peggy and the driver's seat, and Peggy swiftly leaned back in her seat, murmuring apologies into his ear.
"So we'll drive over to her house and stop at the store on the way back?" Eliza asked to confirm.
"Yup." Peggy made a funny face at the babies now sitting on her legs and was rewarded with tiny peals of laughter.
After a few minutes, John grew restless. He began to wriggle and wave his arms up and down, and Peggy was the unintentional victim of more than a few kicks.
Setting Lafayette down on the middle seat, Peggy held John close. "Hey, little guy," she crooned. "You feeling ok?"
Eliza heard what was going on. "Everything alright back there?" she asked her sister.
"Yeah," Peggy responded. "John's just a bit fussy, that's all. I'm holding him close to me, but it doesn't seem to be working." Sure enough, another one of John's kicks landed solidly on her arm, and Peggy winced.
"Hmm," Eliza thought for a moment. "There's not much we can do in the car with no supplies, but sometimes a change of scenery helps. You can't leave the car right now, but maybe try holding him up to the window?"
Peggy did as her sister suggested, and John's legs drooped down so he could stand up on Peggy's leg. His hands pressed against the glass of the window, and he watched, fascinated as the world zoomed by. In just a few moments, John was completely settled down.
Lafayette reached out and grabbed the hem of Peggy's shirt, unhappy at the lack of attention. Peggy removed one hand from John so that she was supporting him with an arm snaking around his small body and took hold of Lafayette in the other.
"Don't worry, I didn't forget about you," she told him, giving him a little squeeze. Lafayette snuggled closer to her side. They remained like that for the rest of the ride, John looking out the window, Lafayette sitting on Peggy's lap, Peggy holding onto both of them. If Peggy's legs ever started to hurt, she never mentioned it.
Eliza glanced back at her sister through the rear view mirror with a fond smile on her face. Peggy noticed Eliza watching her and flashed a quick grin before turning her attention back to the babies in her arms.
As the car pulled into the driveway of a house, Peggy got out of the car and set John and Lafayette down on the seat. "I'll be back in a minute," she told them, gently giving each of them a small tug on their ponytails. John fell backwards in a starfish position as soon as she left.
Eliza turned around in her seat and smiled at the babies in the back seat. "Having fun back there?" she asked Lafayette, who was staring her down. Seeing that his stare did not not cause her any discomfort, Lafayette gave it up and cooed happily instead.
Peggy slid back into the car and scooped John up. She held him in one arm and pulled Lafayette close to her with the other. "Store now?" she asked Eliza.
"Store now," Eliza confirmed, backing the car out of the driveway.
Back at the Schuyler house, George was trying not to let Alexander get near Thomas and James.
He had set Hercules down on the ground in order to be more successful in this. Hercules was very happy to have been freed and was now stuck in a cycle of taking a few steps and falling over. It seemed to amuse him, and he wasn't getting hurt or causing trouble, so George let him be. Aaron was in the kitchen with Angelica, discussing the details of their stay.
Alexander kicked and squirmed in George's arms, babbling loudly with a few real words mixed in, the most notable ones being 'no' and 'bye-bye'. Thomas glared at him from his spot next to James.
Just then, Aaron came back into the living room. George, still struggling to hold onto Alexander, looked up at him questioningly.
"We need to talk about the company," Aaron reminded him. George sighed. He didn't want to think about it, but he knew it had to be done.
"Let's talk, then," he reluctantly responded. The two men sat down in the dining room for a little privacy. Aaron knew Angelica, but George didn't, and even though she seemed like a good person, he didn't want to her to hear all about his life just yet. Alexander made small pouting noises to himself.
Once they were comfortably sitting down, George continued. "I only prepared for two weeks off for the trip. Now with these… complications, we're going to need to extend that. I don't know how long it'll be before the device is fixed, but we're the only ones left who can work. It's going to be hard, especially with the current situation. But we have to try."
Aaron nodded. "I agree. I brought my laptop with me. Maybe the Schuylers can watch the others when we need to work? I'm sure they won't mind."
"Bye-bye," Alexander said softly, suddenly giving up his noises. George and Aaron ignored him.
George hummed. "I'm sure they wouldn't, but I hate to ask. We already owe them a lot for helping us and letting us stay here. But watching the others and working at the same time would be very difficult," he added in defeat. "I guess we'll have to ask them."
"That's settled, then." Aaron paused for a moment. "Does it seem quiet to you?"
George looked down at where Alexander should have been, only to find that he had managed to escape sometime during their conversation. They heard a loud screech from somewhere else in the house. "Oh no," he muttered. He rushed back into the living room, Aaron close behind him.
In the living room, it was a lot less quiet.
Thomas and Alexander were in the middle of a heated, unintelligible argument, and they both looked very angry. Hercules was sitting still for once, watching the debate unfold and cheering Alexander on. James looked disturbed by the noise and, more likely than not, Alexander's presence. George moved to pick Alexander up before the situation could escalate, but he was just a few moments too late. Alexander swung a small fist back and smashed it against Thomas's side. James let out a scream and began to wail.
Aaron sighed. "We need to separate them," he told George. Gesturing toward Thomas and James, he continued. "I've got these two." He sat down on the couch beside them.
George picked up Alexander and Hercules, then walked away from Aaron and the other two babies. Angelica rushed into the room, and upon seeing what George and Aaron were trying to do, she hurried to help.
"Take them into a different room," she advised. "We have a guest room, follow me." George gratefully allowed Angelica to lead him into the next room.
"What do we need to get?" Peggy asked Eliza, holding Lafayette against her hip.
Eliza shifted John in her arms before answering. "They'll need clothes, diapers, food supplies, entertainment–"
"So, basically, a lot of things," Peggy interrupted.
Eliza laughed and echoed her sister. "Yeah. A lot of things."
Lafayette reached up and grabbed Peggy's sunglasses on the top of her head. She stopped walking to take them off and place them on Lafayette's much too small face. Lafayette giggled.
"Can you do a peace sign?" Peggy asked him, showing him with her fingers. Lafayette was able to make a sign that looked vaguely like the one she showed him, and Peggy pulled out her phone and snapped a selfie with him. Eliza, who hadn't noticed that Peggy had stopped, was now walking ahead, and Peggy rushed to catch up.
Eliza had gotten a shopping cart and put John in the seat in the front. Peggy placed Lafayette next to him and gently took her sunglasses back. Lafayette didn't seem to mind; he simply looked around the store with wide eyes as John made incoherent noises at him.
"Let's go this way," Eliza suggested, pointing down an aisle with bags of diapers on a shelf. They turned into the aisle, and Peggy grabbed a few bags and tossed them in the cart.
The aisle turned out to be entirely filled with baby supplies. Eliza put some diaper rash cream and some wipes in the cart before moving past the diaper section.
John grunted with effort as he struggled to turn around in his seat to see what was being placed behind him. As he was trying to do this, something else caught his eye. He reached out toward one of the shelves, kicking and making desperate noises to get what he wanted.
Peggy noticed John's change in behavior and picked him up. "What is it?" she asked, following his gaze to a shelf filled with stuffed animals. "Oh, I see." She turned to Eliza. "John wants a stuffed animal. Is that okay?"
"That's fine," Eliza smiled briefly at Peggy and John before turning back to some baby wash and lotion.
Peggy carried John over to the shelf of stuffed animals. "Choose one," she told John. John reached out and immediately grabbed a turtle that was about half his size. He hugged it tightly and cooed happily up at Peggy.
Peggy laughed. "Okay." She put him back in the shopping cart and picked up Lafayette. "You can have one, too," she told him, bringing him over to the shelf. After a minute of digging, Lafayette came across a stuffed croissant and put it in his mouth. Peggy cringed and pulled it back out. "Don't do that," she told him. "It's dirty." Lafayette pouted and threw the croissant back at the shelf. He looked as though he was about to cry, and Peggy quickly gave it back to him. "You can have it, just don't put it in your mouth until it's washed," she said, tapping the underside of his chin. Lafayette ignored her and tried to eat the croissant once again. Sighing in defeat, Peggy placed him back in the cart next to John where they contentedly played with their new toys.
Eliza put baby wash, lotion, sippy cups, bottles, and formula into the cart. Catching a glimpse of John and Lafayette, she smiled and turned to Peggy.
"We should get one for each of them," she suggested.
Peggy's eyes lit up. "Yes!" She picked John back up. "Can you help us choose one for Alexander?"
John's face lit up at the familiar name and he rapidly began to babble at Peggy.
Eliza held up a stuffed lion. "What about this one?" she asked him. John grabbed it and looked up at her with wide eyes.
Peggy laughed. "I guess that's a yes."
For Hercules, they ended up choosing a elephant. Eliza wasn't completely sure why, but Peggy seemed to strongly believe that he should get a elephant, so she didn't argue.
Eliza held up a brown bear. "I'm thinking we should go for a classic teddy bear for James," she proposed.
"Yes. I completely agree." Peggy took the bear and tossed it into the cart.
That only left Thomas, and both sisters were stumped. There wasn't one that they just knew he would like, like there were for the others.
Finally, Peggy held up a light magenta rabbit. "Maybe this one?" she asked.
Eliza thought for a moment, then nodded. "The color is similar to the shirt he was wearing. He might like it." The rabbit went in the cart.
"Can they eat regular food?" Peggy asked as Eliza turned to look at jars of baby food.
"They can have a little, depending on their age," Eliza explained. "The younger ones still need mostly formula, but the older ones will be eating more solid food." She placed a few jars in the shopping cart and tugged the croissant back out of Lafayette's mouth. He made a sound of protest and waited until she had turned away, then put it back in.
"Let's get two high chairs," Eliza suggested. "They can share them, and getting six just seems excessive."
Peggy looked at the boxes of high chairs in bewilderment. "How are we going to fit these in the cart?"
Eliza sighed. "Believe me, the Pack 'n Plays will be worse."
She was right. The plan was to use Pack 'n Plays instead of cribs, since the babies would hopefully not be babies for very long, and they were cheaper to get six of. But how they managed to fit two high chairs, six Pack 'n Plays, and all the other supplies was a mystery even to the two sisters.
After they finished that struggle, they moved on to the clothes rack. That was simple enough, and they chose a few onesies and separate clothes for each of them. Socks and bibs were next ("No, Peggy, we are not getting white bibs." "But they look so clean!" "They won't after one use."), followed by pajama onesies.
"Maybe we should get some sweaters," Peggy offered. "In case they get cold."
Eliza agreed it was a good idea, and they chose one sweater for each of them.
Something caught Peggy's eye and she gasped.
"What is it?" Eliza asked.
"Look at these." Peggy excitedly pointed to a few small towels with hoods. "Hooded towels. We need these."
Eliza let out a small laugh at her sister's eagerness. "We can get some."
"Yes!" Peggy cried, startling a few people around them. She grabbed a few off a shelf beside the clothes rack. After putting them in the shopping cart, she held up some double baby slings. "Imagine Burr with one of these," she told Eliza, raising an eyebrow.
Eliza shook her head with a smile, trying to hide her amusement. "Put them in the cart." Peggy did, and Eliza found a baby monitor and nightlight, which she also added to the cart.
"Let's get some more toys for them," Eliza suggested. She pushed the cart over to a section full of baby toys. Lafayette noticed the toys immediately and stretched out his arms toward them, croissant dangling from his mouth. John eyed them curiously as he continued to cuddle his turtle.
Peggy held up some colorful stacking rings. "How about this?"
Eliza looked them over. "That seems fine." She dug through the toys and found a walker. "What about this, for Hercules?"
Peggy grinned. "Yes! He would love that." Both items were added to the cart.
Lafayette was not happy that he couldn't reach the toys. He let out a small whine, and Eliza was by his side in a flash.
"You want to choose a toy?" she asked, picking him up. Lafayette reached out toward the toys again, and she brought him closer. "All right, but you have to share it with everyone else."
After knocking over a few toys, Lafayette finally grabbed hold of a music set containing various toy instruments.
"I don't know if that's a good idea," Eliza began carefully.
"Of course it is," Peggy interrupted, waving a bag of Mega Bloks. "D'you think they're old enough to use these?"
Eliza considered Peggy's question. "They should at least enjoy knocking towers over if they're not able to build." Peggy took Lafayette from Eliza and together they put their toys in the cart.
"You can't hit Thomas," George explained to Alexander as he sat down. Alexander remained standing in front of him, grunted, and turned as though he was about to leave. George held him in place and grabbed Hercules's hand, effectively putting an end to his escape plan.
"Do you know why?" George asked.
"No," Alexander stated confidently, shaking his head. At this point, George wasn't sure if the baby really understood the question or if he just liked the word.
"Thomas is your friend, and you can't hit your friends," George explained patiently. Alexander gave him a disbelieving look. Maybe he did understand. "Okay, he's not exactly your friend, but he is someone you need to learn to get along with."
Alexander grumbled and sat down on George's leg. Hercules continued to tug on George's hand in an effort to get him to let go. It didn't work.
George held Alexander against his chest. "I know. But you do need to stop fighting Thomas all the time."
"James, please stop crying," Aaron requested politely. James ignored him.
James had crawled into Thomas's lap and was sobbing while the latter held him. Aaron cleared his throat awkwardly. He was not good at this. That wouldn't stop him from trying.
"May I?" he asked Thomas. The baby gave him a small glare, then looked away. Aaron took that as a 'yes', carefully picked up James, and began to bounce him gently as he wailed into shirt.
"Shh, it's okay," Aaron whispered into his ear. "He's alright. Thomas is fine, see?" He pointed to Thomas, who was still sitting on the couch and watching James and Aaron intently. "He's okay. He didn't get hurt."
Slowly, James began to calm down. Aaron sat down and watched as Thomas crawled into his lap and petted James's head like he was a cat. James sniffled and snuggled closer to Thomas. Aaron couldn't help smiling as he looked down at the two babies.
Maybe he wasn't so bad at this after all.
A few minutes later, the door swung open, and Peggy and Eliza came inside, carrying John, Lafayette, and a few bags.
"Aww," Peggy cooed as she saw Aaron holding Thomas and James. "Look at that, Burr has a heart."
"Shut up, Peggy," Aaron told her, rolling his eyes and failing to keep a smile off his face.
"Where are the others?" Eliza asked, looking around.
"They had a fight," Aaron explained. "We decided to separate them."
"So Angelica showed them to a different room," Peggy finished. She set the bags down, then walked further into the house and yelled, "Marco!"
A faint "Polo!" came as a response from somewhere else. Peggy followed the voice and called out again.
After a few repetitions of this, Peggy yelled from another room, "Found her!" Then, "They're in the guest room!"
Eliza set Lafayette down next to Aaron and picked up the bags Peggy had dropped. "I'm going to get everything organized," she told Peggy when she came back. "You can visit them in the guest room if you want." She headed off toward the kitchen, and Peggy carried John and his turtle on her shoulders into the guest bedroom.
Peggy flung the door open, startling the three occupants. Upon seeing John, Alexander's face lit up and he toddled over to Peggy. John squealed with delight as Peggy put him down. He held the turtle out to Alexander to show it off.
"We have one for you, too," Peggy said, looking between Alexander and Hercules. Hercules let out a cheer and pulled harder on George's hand. George, not expecting the sudden movement, accidentally let go, and Hercules fell to the ground. He pushed himself back up, only for George to scoop him into his arms. Peggy picked Alexander and John up, one in each arm, and took them to the kitchen, followed closely by George with a protesting Hercules.
In the kitchen, Eliza and Angelica were sorting through the baby supplies. They looked up when Peggy came in with George, Alexander, John, and Hercules. Peggy set Alexander and John down on the counter before looking through a bag. George, not wanting to be too intrusive, continued to hold Hercules and stood awkwardly to the side.
"We need the stuffed animals," Peggy explained, moving the the next bag.
"Here." Angelica reached into a different bag and tossed them one at a time to Peggy. The first one bounced off her head, and she picked it up off the floor after catching the others.
"Thanks." She set the animals down on the counter across from the babies, held the lion behind her back, then turned back toward Alexander. "Look what we got you!" she cooet at him. "Ta-da!" She pulled the lion out and handed it to Alexander, who immediately grasped it and buried his face in it with a huge grin.
Next, she took the elephant out of the pile and waved it in front of Hercules. "Guess who this one's for," she sing-songed as Hercules reached out for it. "You!" She let Hercules snatch it out of her hands and watched as he waved it around happily.
Peggy picked up the rabbit and bear. "Be back in a minute!" she called, dashing toward the living room.
"Get the children off the counter!" Angelica called after her. Peggy waved her off.
Once she reached the living room, she noticed a slight problem. Thomas was trying to take Lafayette's croissant, and Lafayette was not sharing. Hopefully he'd like his rabbit.
"Hey!" she called, getting the attention of all three babies. "I got something for you guys." She held the bear out to James, and she instantly knew it was a success. James took the bear and snuggled it against his face with a content expression.
Thomas was watching him with a small smile, and Peggy held the rabbit out to him before he could get distracted by the croissant again. Thomas took it with a strange expression on his face and put it down next to him. Peggy's heart plummeted, but she brushed it off and winked at Aaron. He rolled his eyes, and Peggy turned away, but not before noticing Thomas carefully patting the rabbit out of the corner of her eye. She smiled to herself and headed back to the kitchen.
"I'm back!" she announced, scooping Alexander and John off of the counter.
Eliza held up a bag of diapers. "We're going to need to use these," she reminded them.
"I can change them," George offered, immediately regretting it. He didn't want the Schuylers to feel uncomfortable having to do that job, but he realized he didn't particularly want to do it either. "Aaron can help me." There. That was better.
"Here you go, then." Angelica took the diapers from Eliza and tossed them to George, who caught them in the hand that was not occupied by Hercules. "You can use the guest room again, they'll probably sleep in there, too."
"Thank you." George took Hercules back into the guest bedroom and set out on this new task.
Hercules would not lay still.
After a few minutes of wrestling, George managed to get the diaper on him. One down, five to go.
George decided it was safe to let Hercules loose in the living room, where he picked up James for a diaper. He was much better behaved than Hercules, and George was grateful.
Thomas was almost as bad as Hercules, but George finally got him to lay still by handing him the rabbit.
Lafayette wasn't too much of a problem, except that he invented a game where he kept trying to kick George. And he had the audacity to laugh when he landed a hit, too.
He took Lafayette with him as he went back in the kitchen for Alexander, and by the time his diaper was on, George wanted to just be done. He had spent at least the past twenty minutes changing diapers. Luckily there was only one left.
John lay still the whole time, entertaining himself by making noises. He seemed to like doing that.
George brought John back into the kitchen, taking great comfort in the fact that Aaron would have to change the diapers next.
"You know," Angelica said to him. "They won't sort out their issues when they're apart. If you want them to stop fighting, they'll have to be together."
"I know," George sighed, putting John down between Alexander and Lafayette. "I'm not looking forward to it, though."
Eliza thought for a moment. "Maybe if we bring out the toys, they'll learn to play together?" she offered.
"I don't know what they'll do. They were unpredictable as adults, it's probably going to be worse now. It might be worth a try, though." George watched John blow a raspberry, and the three babies dissolved into giggles. "Let's do it."