"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart." - Winnie the Pooh
The third installment of Welcome Home, the Matthew Lawson/Alice Harvey soulmate au, is here! This follows Promises to Keep, and set post 5.04 but before 5.05 of The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
Enjoy! And thank you for reading!
Jean smiled as Alice opened the door to her flat. Her friend returned the smile and stepped back to let Jean inside.
"It's been so long since I've seen your flat, I almost forgot what the inside of it looks like, Alice."
Alice laughed as she put on the kettle while Jean unloaded her basket of the food she brought for tea (including Alice's favorite: shortbread).
"I know the feeling. I've spent so much time over at your house that I almost drove there after work this week instead of here."
Jean grinned, "Now that would set the gossips ablaze."
"It'd be quite scandalous."
"Mm-hm," Jean nodded and prepared both of their cups as Alice warmed the pot and set the tea to steep. "Enjoying your day off, Alice?"
She nodded, "I'm catching up on reading medical journals and other personal reading in between household chores. It's been a nice, quiet day so far."
"That's good to hear."
Alice smiled, but Jean noticed it didn't quite reach her eyes. Pouring both of them a cup of tea, Jean opened her mouth to say something, but closed it with a faint "hm".
"What is it?"
"Nothing," Jean shook her head, but at Alice's expectant head tilt, she sighed. "It's just… when you were talking about today being nice and quiet, you looked a little sad. I was going to ask if everything was alright, but I didn't want to… overstep."
Alice smiled again, the same sad, wistful one as before. "I'm… I don't know how to put it."
"Take your time." Jean took a sip of her tea and watched the pensive pathologist in front of her. Something was bothering Alice, but she wouldn't push. Pushing Alice only made her clam up and Jean never wanted Alice to feel like she couldn't talk to her.
"It… I suppose it started with the Patricia Neville case. We were doing her autopsy and I told Lucien I have a sister."
Jean nodded, she remembered Alice remarking about her younger sister in the past, but never in much detail.
"I don't know where she is," Alice shrugged. "Lucien looked sad at that and I… it's been so long since I've seen Cora that I don't really know how to feel about it all."
"Do you want to find her?"
Alice shrugged again (Jean noted she'd adopted Matthew's one-shouldered half shrug and smiled). "Mac's looking out for her and Matthew put out a few feelers with his contacts, but if Cora doesn't want to be found, she won't. She's a Harvey."
"Stubbornness runs in the family?" Jean quipped, her smile growing wider at Alice's chuckle. "Were the two of you close?"
"Sort of?" Alice sipped at her tea and snagged a piece of shortbread for herself. "I mean, she never made fun of me for being, well… me, and we teased each other much like Lucien and I do, but Cora was much more outgoing than me. Even at the age of ten, she was very sure of herself. I wanted to take her with me the night I ran from our parents, but that was when she started staying away from home as well."
She traced the rim of her teacup and sighed, "I… I guess I feel like I abandoned her to our father's rages. I'd been his target for years since we clashed a lot, and I protected Cora from the brunt of it. I guess I'm worried that if we meet again, she hates me for leaving."
"She might," Jean nodded, "but she also might understand why you left. You were only twelve, Alice, grown far beyond your years because of what your father did to you. Cora was ten and already staying away, so some part of her knew."
"You think?"
"Mm-hm, I think if you didn't leave when you did, Cora would have been the first to leave. If you two meet again, you'll be able to clear the air."
Alice didn't look like she agreed with everything Jean said, but she nodded slightly. "Did I ever tell you about Temperance?"
Jean blinked at the sudden change of subject. "No, you haven't."
Alice smiled, "I've been thinking about her too."
"Who was she?"
"A… guardian of a sort. I ran from Sydney to Melbourne and had no clue what to do next. Temperance Buchanan found me and took me off the streets. She had a no nonsense attitude and pushed me to be better in my studies. The boarding house she ran in Collingwood wasn't the greatest place to grow up, but I felt safer than I had at my house in Sydney. Her sons were rowdy, but Temperance raised them to respect women. I couldn't say the same for the male boarders in her house, though."
Jean reached out and squeezed Alice's hand as they heard the front door to her flat open. Both of them looked up at Matthew's limping footfalls - slower and heavier than earlier that day - heading in their direction. He peered around the doorway to the kitchen with a sheepish smile.
"Sorry to intrude, ladies."
"Nonsense," Jean answered as Alice stood. "How are you today, Matthew?"
He huffed a sigh, but relaxed under Alice's gentle hand on his arm. "Been better, the leg's hurting more today. I thought I'd take the afternoon and rest. Lucien was muttering about some new experiment for the case when I left, so I figured it'd be quieter here than at yours, Jean."
Jean rolled her eyes fondly at the mention of her husband and his antics. She smiled at Matthew, "I'm not your mother, Matthew, you don't have to explain to me why you prefer Alice's flat to my house."
"And here I was thinking I'd offend your morals."
"My morals have more backbone than you'd think, Matthew Lawson." Jean wagged her finger at him while Alice laughed.
He smiled at his friend and bowed his head in jest. "You've defeated me, Jean Blake. I should probably go while I still have some pride left in me."
Jean's soft laugh was her only response.
"Go lay down," Alice cupped his cheek with her hand, her voice soft as he leaned into the caress. "I'll bring you some tea and painkillers."
Matthew looked over at Jean (who quickly found the bottom of her teacup vastly more interesting than the two of them) and leaned in to softly kiss Alice. "Thank you, sweetheart."
Alice smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek as he left the kitchen for her bedroom. She quickly prepared a cup of tea for him and blushed when she saw Jean's knowing smile. "I'll, uh…"
"Go, go, I'll wait here," Jean shooed her out of the kitchen.
A few minutes passed before Alice came back from her bedroom sans the tea she'd made for Matthew, but Jean noted her lipstick was smudged and hid a smile behind the rim of her cup. She evidently hadn't hidden it well enough as she watched Alice's cheeks turn pink in the quiet of her friend's kitchen. Gently clearing her throat, Jean put her cup down on the saucer before her.
"You don't have to hide in front of me, Alice. I'm happy for you and Matthew."
Alice sighed, "I know you are, Jean. It's still an adjustment for us to be so… open around others. Old habits, I guess."
Jean just smiled and patted Alice's hand. "You were telling me about Collingwood and this Temperance Buchanan who you lived with?"
"I want to find her too, Temperance, I mean," Alice clarified at Jean's raised eyebrows. "I'm sure she's still around Collingwood; I just haven't gone back to look."
"I think you should. Make a long weekend out of it and see if your mentor or Miss Fisher would help you look."
Alice hummed as she refilled their cups, "Mmm, maybe. I'll think on it. Let's talk of something else, Jean. What new craft are you thinking of forcing upon me this week?"
Jean laughed, "I force you to do nothing, Alice, you freely choose to try them. I was thinking we'd start on more complicated embroidery stitches since you've got the basics well in hand by now."
"Are they fun?"
"Definitely." Jean grinned as Alice smiled and got up to retrieve the sewing kit Jean had helped assemble. A year ago, she wouldn't have pictured Alice to be someone excited about sewing, but a year ago she wouldn't have pictured herself friends with Alice in the first place.
Life had a strange way of working out for the best, even if you didn't see it right away. Life, and fate, had brought Lucien to Jean, reconciliation with her past and independent sons, and a warm home with a warmer family in the form of Matthew, Charlie, Mattie, Rose, and Alice. Jean cherished the friendship she had with Alice; it was the one friendship where she felt she could be herself, be free of judgement. Alice never judged, she questioned, but never judged Jean for her past and views. It was refreshingly honest and Jean often walked away from their visits with a new perspective (something she knew Alice experienced too), and she thanked the higher powers that they brought them together.
Alice had blossomed since settling in Ballarat and Jean looked forward to seeing her bloom even more.
"Have a good time with Jean?" Matthew asked drowsily as she sat on the bed to check on him.
"I was trying to be quiet."
He smiled and pulled her down for a kiss, "You were, I was just dozing."
"Good." Alice pressed a kiss to his forehead and smiled. "I did have a good time with Jean. We had a long talk about Cora and Temperance, where she helped me figure out some of my thoughts on looking for both of them before she taught me some new embroidery stitches."
"Sounds like fun."
Alice nodded, her smile widening as he snaked an arm around her waist. She very much wanted to join him in bed - to have a lazy rest of the afternoon - and judging by his actions, Matthew did as well. A part of her argued that she had things to do around her flat beyond what she did this morning and she couldn't spend the afternoon in bed with Matthew, but the disheveled superintendent wrapped up in her covers looked incredibly inviting.
The sly grin spreading across Matthew's sleepy face told her that he knew exactly what she was thinking.
"Are you going to join me?"
She felt her cheeks grow warm and ducked her head when his grin grew wider. "I might…"
"If?"
"If it's worth it."
"If it's wor-!" He gaped at her, the shock turning to exasperation when Alice started giggling. "That hurts, sweetheart."
"You walked right into it, dearest."
Alice laughed as Matthew pouted; it was fun to tease him. Leaning down to press a kiss to his pout, Alice hummed as he wrapped his arms around her. At the swipe of his tongue across her lips, she drew back.
"I thought your leg was hurting today, Matthew."
"It was," he smoothed his hands up and down her back, "you make it better."
She giggled against his mouth, "Matthew."
"What? It's the truth."
"You're silly," she kissed him and sat up. "Let me clean up and I'll come back."
"So you are going to join me?"
Alice smiled and shrugged, "I did take the day off."
He smiled and she could feel his eyes on her back as she left the bedroom. An afternoon in bed with Matthew might just be what Alice needed.
Lucien looked up from his work, finally realizing that his companion was quieter than the dead body in between them. That wasn't like Alice.
She had her pen poised over the clipboard in her hands, but her eyes were notably distant - staring unseeing at the chart in front of her.
That wasn't like Alice at all.
He cleared his throat gently, biting down the fond smile when Alice jumped at the sound.
"Everything alright, Dr. Harvey?"
'I apologize, Dr. Blake. You were saying?" She straightened and readied the pen for his comments.
"I was saying that there looks to be curiously shaped bruising on the man's throat, but I now I want to know if everything's alright with yo-"
"I'm fine," Alice answered brusquely before he even finished his sentence.
"It doesn't sound fine."
"Dr. Blake," she narrowed her eyes at him over the body.
"Alice," Lucien looked back at her with raised eyebrows. "Is it something with Matthew?"
"What? No." Alice shook her head. "Can we get back to work, please? It's disrespectful to Mr. Dunn."
Holding up his hands in defeat, Lucien nodded. Maybe after the autopsy was finished, he'd get an answer from Alice. She'd opened up to him more since she arrived in Ballarat and he never liked pushing her. Alice would share when she felt comfortable, and not a moment before.
He expertly stitched up Mr. Dunn while Alice labeled the samples for toxicology and finished up the preliminary paperwork. Mr. Dunn seemed to be the unfortunate victim of a crime of passion, judging by the bruising on his throat - Matthew would be looking for their results soon enough, and Lucien had a few theories churning in his brain that he wanted to bounce off his friend.
"Lucien, I'm sorry about before."
Alice's voice made him pause in his stitches and he looked up to see her avoiding his gaze.
"I've had… there's been a lot on my mind lately and I've been preoccupied about it all. That doesn't excuse my behavior, but… I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize, Alice, everyone has those kinds of days," Lucien smiled.
She smiled back, "It's… I talked with Jean and Matthew about it, but I want to know what you think."
Lucien put aside his tools and gave her his full attention. "Alright."
Alice took a deep breath and told him everything. She told him of her sister, of her worries should they ever reunite. She told him of her childhood in Collingwood in Temperance's bustling boarding house, of Temperance's rambunctious - but kind - sons, of the lurking men who'd eyed her a little too closely. She told him how she wanted to see if Temperance was still there in Melbourne.
"I reconnected with Mac after all these years," Alice shrugged, "maybe I can find Temperance too."
"I don't see why not, Alice."
"You think I should look for her?"
Lucien nodded, "If that's what you want to do, then I say do it. I… I know what it's like to want to reconnect with a loved one after years apart."
Alice gave him a sad smile, knowing he spoke of his daughter, Li. His heart clenched at the thought of his grown daughter, but ever since his marriage to Jean, their letters were more frequent. He might not ever be as close to his daughter as they were before the war, but at least she kept him updated on her life and the wellbeing of her child.
"So if I take a long weekend soon, you'd manage here in the morgue?"
"Of course," Lucien answered with a grin.
"And stay out of trouble?"
"I always stay out of trouble," he grinned at Alice's fond scoff.
"I wouldn't say that around your wife, Lucien."
"Just let me know when you'd like to go to Melbourne and I'll coordinate with Matthew. Maybe he can get Charlie to assist me on autopsies."
"Or maybe Hobart, that'd be a sight to see."
Lucien laughed at Alice's quip and went back to stitching up Mr. Dunn's body. He could feel Alice watching him, but after working with her for so long, he was used to it.
"Lucien?"
He didn't look up from his work, "Hm?"
"Thank you."
The soft, relieved tone in Alice's voice made him pause again and he looked up to see a small smile on her face.
He smiled back, "Of course, Alice."
With a nod - more to herself than to him - Alice turned back to the paperwork and he returned his attention to Mr. Dunn. Lucien hoped Alice would find this Temperance Buchanan, and he hoped the reunion was a happy one. Whatever the outcome, he'd be there for his friend.