*Disclaimer: I don't own any of this; unfortunately I am not that clever.*

Chapter 1: Fresh Starts

Hatter crept up slowly next to the sleeping lump on the bed and proceeded to pester it:

"Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep-Beep Beep-Beep. Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, BEEEEEEP!"

Alice made half an effort to roll over and swat the direction from which annoying sound was coming from. It was way too early to wake-up.

"Oi! Hey, watch it Miss Early Bird or there'll be no worms for you."

"Hatter," she mumbled and cracked one eye open, "What the hell are you doing up?"

"Well," Hatter explained with a smug look on his face, "You, m'dear, have slept through not one, but two alarms today and they were so god awfully loud that I was forced to wake from my slumber and make you breakfast." For the first time Alice noticed the tray he was holding with a delightful spread of toast, eggs, coffee, and a beautiful yellow rose in a vase in the corner. Yellow roses had become her thing; they symbolized a new beginning, a fresh start and that's what Alice and Hatter were doing now – starting a new life – together. It had been six months since they had saved Wonderland and they were just beginning to settle down.

"Looks lovely." She sat up in bed as Hatter placed the tray in her lap. "Wait a minute," She said waking up now, "two alarms? What time is it?"

"Shockingly enough, it's eight o'clock."

"Eight!" That was shocking! Alice had always been an early riser and she certainly was always up before Hatter. And she definitely never slept past seven during the week. Ever. "Wow, guess I just… just needed the extra sleep."

"Good. Sleep is good for you. That's why I do so much of it." He half-laughed, but he looked straight into Alice's eyes. He worried about her. A lot. It's funny – he never once doubted that she could take care of herself when they were bringing down the Queen. Sure he made sure he was always around – just in case – but he trusted her fully (long before she even considered trusting him), but as soon as she had stepped back through the Looking Glass, he began to worry about her incessantly. It drove him mad for three days until he was forced (by his worrying head and by the desperate pangs in his heart) to march right back to Jack –sorry,His Majesty – who, unlike Alice, he did not trust and begged to be sent into her world.

He thought that the worrying would end when they were together, but it only got worse. He stopped worrying about the big things, and began to focus on the most mundane, little ticks in their life. Instead of worrying about someone going after her or her forgetting all about him, he began to worry about her crossing the street or her sleeping in for an extra two hours. Not that he was totally upset about this, mind you, thinking about Alice was his favorite hobby.

His worrying was interrupted, however, by the sound of the phone ringing. "Who could that be at this time of day," he muttered.

"Eight is not that early to be calling," Alice yelled after him as she, slowly, chewed her breakfast. Hatter was usually a pretty good cook, but he had obviously not mastered the omelet yet. She forced herself to swallow a mouthful as Hatter came back into the room with the phone in his hands.

"Yeah, hold on a moment Carol. Al's right here." You're Mum, he mouthed as he handed her the receiver.

"Hey Mom. What's up?"

"Alice, honey, what time do you want Bill and I over for dinner?" Right. Bill. That was tonight.

Apparently, when Alice decided to move on after her father's death so had Carol. She had gone on numerous blind dates and even joined a matchmaking website since Alice had returned. Luckily none of them had really stuck around long enough for her to meet them. Unluckily, when she was moving out with Hatter two months ago he had made the infamous statement: "Now that the nest is empty, Carol, maybe you can fill it with a big hunk-a Man Lovin'." It stood to reason that these were words Carol had actually taken to heart, as the very next day she went out and met Bill and they had been an item ever since. Until now, Alice had managed to avoid meeting this "hunk-a Man Lovin'" but now the time had come. Whoop-de-freakin-do.

"Well, my class ends at six, but Hat-uh, David, won't be home till six-thirty, so how's seven?" She forced some cheerfulness in her voice to cover up her slipup (calling Hatter by the "normal" name he gave out was never really going to work for her).

"Sounds perfect."

"I assume you and Bill will be arriving together?" Alice asked dryly.

"Probably, considering he still hasn't left from last night," Carol giggled. Giggled? Had she really just indicated that she had her new boyfriend sleep over to her daughter and then giggled about it?

"Mom, I gotta go. I'll see you at seven." Alice hung up abruptly and then stared at a very confused looking Hatter. "My mother just let me know that she has a man in her bed and it is all your fault."

"Me? How?" Hatter exclaimed.

"You encouraged her with all that 'fill the nest' crap! Now we have to meet her Lover tonight! Lover! My Mom has a Lover and it is All. Your. Fault." She shot Hatter a dirty look.

"Come on, "He begged. " Look, it was an off-handed comment I made two months ago! I'm sorry, really. If I knew how much it would come back to bite me in the arse, I wouldn't have said anything. At all. Ever. Never ever again will I ever say anything about your mother's sex life." That got a little smile out of her, thank God. "But," he continued before she could go back to her stony expression, "Don't you think Carol deserves a guy who will make her happy? If this Bill bloke makes her happy, isn't it the least you can do to try and support her?"

Alice sighed. "I guess, it's just-"

"Just what?" Hatter asked gently.

"It's just that…she doesn't even know he died. She doesn't know that he didn't want to leave her – us." Hatter sighed internally. Since neither of them had explained or even dared to explain Wonderland to Carol she had no idea of its existence and because of that, Alice couldn't tell her that she had found Robert there and he had died in her arms after saving her life. This haunted Alice and Hatter didn't know how to help her, which haunted him.

"I know Alice," he said softly as he leaned in closer and put his hand on her cheek. "I promise. As soon as we figure out a way of explaining it all to her, we'll tell her. Ok?"

Alice nodded; it was the best either of them could do for now. "So I guess I just have to suck it up and be nice to Bill, huh?" Alice pouted.

"Oh, come on! It will be like an adventure. You know, the good, quiet kind of adventure. Not those annoying ones where you have to overthrow an evil queen." She laughed at this. He smiled then looked at the clock. "I gotta go," he apologized, "But I'll be back before seven, yeah?"

"Ok," Alice said, content for the time being. "I love you."

"I love you too." Hatter pecked her on the lips before swiping her fork and grabbing a bite of her omelet. "God, I am a Master Chef!" And with that he was on his way.

Yeah ,'Master Chef' my ass, she thought.

First story for ! Please, please R&R. I'm really excited for what's coming next and to get you excited too I'll drop in a little preview:

"Alice, what are you doing here?"

Alice folded her arms over her chest instinctively and tried to read the expression of the former boyfriend standing before her. "Shouldn't I be asking you that Jack?"

"I came for Hatter," He said almost miserably, "I have to ask him a favor."