Chapter Text
Eliza finds herself being able to leave her house, William in her arms, looking much less like death than she used to. The fresh autumn air blows her hair back and she cradles her son, bouncing him slightly as she walks towards town. He is nearly three months old, and he's taken a liking to pulling both her and Alex's hair and laughing loudly. Ponytail holders have become a lot more common in their house recently.
There have been articles written about her family, tabloids with pictures of Alexander plastered across the front that she can't help but notice because they're everywhere. THE HAMILTONS HEADED FOR DIVORCE one said in bold yellow letters, a picture of Alex with awful bags under his eyes underneath the words. She always tries to cover them with other magazines.
There are people who crowded her at first, shouting questions in her face as she tried to get in her car and drive her children to school. Not so much anymore, after Alexander got absolutely livid and filed a complaint to someone important.
Eliza brings William to the coffee shop where she used to meet Angelica, the same one where she found out about the pamphlet. She sits him on her lap and orders a cappuccino, feeds him with the bottle she brought and lets him doze in her lap as she watches people walk by through the big glass window at the front of the cafe. Alex is working at home, and Philip has taken Angie and AJ rollerskating. She'd dropped James and John off at Peggy's after she'd offered to entertain them for a bit. She thought about asking Alex to come with her before she left, but decided that it would be nice to have some time for herself and her baby.
Eventually she finishes her coffee and pays, gently lifting William up and grabbing her bag before leaving the cafe. She promised Johnny earlier that she would make spaghetti for dinner, so she walks towards the local grocery store to pick up a few things she needed.
Eliza shifts Will to her hip as she entered the store, humming along to the song playing overhead. She had just picked up a package of basil when someone knocks into her, sending the basil to the floor and causing William to let out a wail.
"Oh, I'm so-" A woman's voice begins and then stops abruptly, tapering off. Eliza looks up in confusion, but her jaw immediately goes slack at what she sees.
Lips painted crimson. Dark, curly hair. She recognizes her from the photos. Maria Reynolds.
Eliza immediately takes a step back, hugging her crying son closer to her as she stares, unable to speak or even think.
"Mrs. Hamilton, I'm-" Maria starts to speak after several long moments, her eyes still wide. Eliza's eyes fall on the toddler on her hip, looking to be about a year old. He has dark hair and dark brown eyes, a contrast to Maria's light, nearly hazel ones. If Eliza remembers correctly from the internet, James Reynolds' eyes are blue.
Oh. Oh, no.
Eliza looks back at Maria, her mouth opening wordlessly as her heart races. Those are his eyes. She'd bet her life on it.
Maria swallows nervously, unsure of what to say. But before she can do much else, Eliza has turned and run, fled as fast as she can go. She runs all the way home, her chest and legs screaming with the sudden exertion and William continuing to cry loudly. All she can do is run, clutch her baby as tightly as she can. She reaches home and realizes that Philip had come home with Angelica and AJ already, so she tries to quiet William before going inside.
"Hi, Mama, guess what? We-" Angelica begins cheerfully when Eliza enters the house, but Eliza has already gone for the stairs, clutching the banister so tightly she's afraid she might break her own knuckles. "Mama?"
She puts William down in his crib and closes the door, leaning heavily against the wall as she pulls her phone from her back pocket. After a Google search, she pulls up a tabloid picture of Maria, holding the same child as she'd seen in the store.
Eliza opens Alex's office door, startling him and making him turn around in his desk chair. "Eliza? What is it?"
"Please," she says hoarsely, her voice wavering as she slowly holds up the phone so he can see the picture. "Please, tell me I'm wrong."
Her heart sinks to the floor as Alex's face pales, his breathing quickening as he looks at the picture.
"I-" He stutters. "Betsey-"
Eliza has stopped listening. She sinks to the floor, the phone sliding out of her grip as she lets out a wail. Her whole body shakes with sobs, and she digs her fingers into her own shoulders, curling in on herself as she cries, cries harder than she'd ever cried. Her vision blurs with tears as she struggles to breathe, her chest rising and falling erratically.
Alex is watching with wide eyes, completely frozen. He has never seen her like this, not once in the entire duration of their marriage. He has no idea what to do.
He reaches out for her, to touch her arm, but she hits him away and screams, "Don't touch me!". There's a pair of footsteps on the stairs and suddenly Philip is standing in the doorway, watching his mother have an awful breakdown while his father watches, helpless.
"What did you do?" Philip asks Alex, accusingly, fearfully. He kneels down beside Eliza, trying to hug her, trying to get her to stop crying so hard.
"Mom, it's okay," he says under his breath, his voice nervous. He wraps his arms around her, holding on tighter when she hugs him back. "It's Pip, I'm here, Mama, I love you."
"Son," Alex murmurs, his hands shaking as he stares at the floor. "Philip-"
"Just fuck off!" Philip yells, looking up at Alex with disgust before turning his attention back to his mom. Alex chokes back a sob, but he gets up and leaves the room, leaving his son to try and fix what Alex has just shattered into billions and billions of pieces.