Alice glanced up from her cup of tea as she felt the table lean. She was sitting in her dear friend's, otherwise known as Reginald Theophilus III's, backyard at another mad tea party with March, Dormouse, and the Mad Hatter himself. She looked to the base of the leaning table, only to find Reggie standing on the table, a common occurrence, holding a slip of tea stained parchment and a orange and green polka dotted teacup.
"Now, I shall read a haiku. It is an oriental poem, made of syllables. My dear friend... Well, not so dear friend, Shang, told me about them when he came in looking for a new hat. Here it is:
"Cup of tea, sugared,
The only thing that compares
Is our dear Alice."
March and Dormouse clapped politely at the "delicious un-rhyme" and laughed at Alice's blushing face. Reginald had gotten down from the table and began to walk around it, stopping occasionally for more tea here or a cookie there. He got to Alice and began fishing around in his oversized orange overcoat's pocket looking for something. He found it, hid it in his hand, and sat on the yin and yang pouf to her left.
"I have another poem," his voice was shaking like the leaves on the surrounding trees.
Alice looked up from her slice of cake, "May I hear it?"
The Hatter leaned forward and cupped his hand by his mouth, motioning for Alice to come closer as if to hear a secret.
"Alice, Alice, look at me,
and tell me, what do you see?
I am a madman, tea obsessed,
And by love I am possessed.
"You are the queen of my heart,
You never fail to make my morning tea.
So in these three parts,
My feelings you'll see.
"I cannot give you a palace,
Or go through days normally.
But I have to ask, my dear sweet Alice,
Will you marry me?"
Alice dropped her forkful of cake as Reginald pulled out a small ring of silver and diamonds and held it out under the table to her. She had seen his glances and heard frantic whispers between the hatter and hare. She had done the same thing with Belle, sighing as Reginald walked by the bookshop's window. She had gotten over her utter annoyance months ago, learning to deal with it quietly and reciprocate later on that evening at tea or dinner. Reginald had been one of her best friends for the last year or two, and she had slowly fallen in love with his skewed idea of life and teatime. Alice Liddell had fallen in love with the way his freckles were spattered across his face, and how his hair, if one looked closely enough, had small amounts of red strands. She loved the way he came over every morning at eight thirty-four sharp for her peppermint tea. She was infatuated with the way his smile made his nose scrunch and his bucked teeth show. She adored the way he would dance with her at work by haphazardly skidding across whatever dance floor they had in frenzied motions. She remembered when Belle moved further away to be with Prince Adam, and how Reginald just held her as she cried and made her laugh when she stopped. She thought about all of these fine examples and mustered up an answer for the about-to-cry-from-rejection hatter.
"Yes... Haha, yes! Oh my goodness, yes!" In an uncharacteristic display of happiness, she flung herself at her newly acquired fiancé, thus knocking them both off the pouf. Reginald held her close and began to laugh hysterically a few seconds after he hit the ground with his beloved cricket on top of him. Tears began to stream down Alice's face at the intensity of her giggles.
"Thank Merlin, I thought you would never answer!"
"Reggie! Alice! What the devil happened?!" March's face hovered over the pair.
"We're engaged! Oh... I'm engaged! Cricket said yes!"
March stared blankly and began to join in the laughter, "Good luck, Alice. He's madder than ever!"
"Why do you think I'm crying?!"