"Knock-knock!"

"Who's here?"

"You-know-who!"

"That depends; there are you-know-whos and You-Know-Whos"

"Mark, open the door already, it's freezing outside!"

"Is it the Alice that I hear behind the doors?"

"Yes, and if you don't open immediately, I'll be sure to take my Vorpal Sword in hand! Molly, do tell him to stop kidding!"

"Okay, okay, my lady- and my lord,too- do come in!"

...If twenty years ago someone told Alice Pleasance that she was going to break off her previous engagement, marry the notorious Jervis Tetch less than a year after his release from Arkham (without any microchip business being involved),and living happily ever after since, she would think that person to be completely bonkers.

But, then , most people she came to be friends with,were, in one way or another, so she didn't really mind nowadays. Especially as she grew up to be a rather strong-minded woman, so nobody (in their right mind or not) could think of her brain as being 'badly influenced' by anyone at all.

She was Alice, the Champion of Wonderland now, not some typical blonde damsel in distress.

..."So, Jervis", Molly continued, while passing a full plate to her friend, "do tell us all about it: are you really leaving the States for good, now that you inherited a title? We are glad for you ,for sure, but it would be sad to communicate only via internet..."

Jervis Tetch, who hadn't changed much through the years, except for his hair going from blond to grey, and his career in the R&D department of the Wayne Industries surprisingly going upwards after his reformation, smiled timidly at the mistress of the house in his own endearing manner.

"No, Molly, of course we're not leaving for good...but not for bad either, I hope."

"We hope so too, guys, it would be a pity letting you go so far away and breaking our jolly little set", Mark nodded, "as it would only leave me and Nygma here to entertain the others, and that would be gross", he smirked at his readheaded pal ,who was , for once, busy eating, and , therefore, not puzzling them with his usual antics.

"I heard that!" Eddie replied from his corner of the table.

"Jervis is still uneasy about all this inheritance business, you know", Alice explained, "You see, none of those relatives ever tried to contact Jervis earlier, when he really needed some support..."

"Sure, but however, better late, than never", observed Eddie, while trying to move the salad bowl closer to his own plate.

"In fact, Jervis didn't even know he had a good uncle, let alone a great one", Alice continued, moving the salad bowl back closer to her husband's place, with a teasing wink at Eddie.

"Lord Henry was technically my father's second cousin, my dear, not a brother", Jervis added.

"Whatever, but does it matter now? I mean , you , Uncle Jerry, are going to live in a mansion with Aunt Alice – isn't it cool?", Edgar interfered .

"Edgar Irving Rosenthal! What did I say about talking slang in our company?" Mark scolded.

"You see, Edgar, it's most likely that before settling into that mansion, it would be a rather difficult task to make it fit for living, and that needs much time...", Alice explained. "And I still need to find somebody to do my job at the library...", she frowned a little.

"...But now, that we aren't on bad terms with Time anymore, I do hope all will be well", her husband reassured her. "At least Mr. Wayne told me not to worry about my own working schedule. But we have still a problem of finding a person to take care of our rabbits while we are away..", Jervis now looked concerned either.

"Rabbits? As in plural? But, Uncle Jerry, I always thought you only had a single rabbit!", Annabel was intrigued.

"Well you see, my dear, some colleagues from my department , for some reason, thought it to be a great idea to give me a rabbit in a top hat for a birthday present...", Jervis now looked slightly confused. "But it turned out to be a she, and our Nivens got quite fond of her, so..."

"...so the birth control got somewhat out of control – sorry, guys! – and now we're stuck with a bunch of rabbits, whom , without proper certificates, we cannot actually take on board ", Alice finished.

"It's alright, don't worry, I'm sure one of us or another will be able to drop by at your place to take care of your pets", Molly offered.

"And I even happen to know a right person here for the job", Mark added, looking meaningfully at Nygma.

"By no means!", Eddie nearly choked on his food. "Me and pets are not even to be used in the same sentence!

"Wow, imagine you admitting you're not good at something – that would be a first!", Mark whistled.

"Really, Uncle Ed, you only say so because you have never had any pets of your own, " Annabel gently rebuked. "No matter how hard my brother and me tried to offer you any...by the way, Gary and me thought it 'd be a great idea for you to have one of our Minnie's pups, now when they grew up a little", she proposed, sharing a long look with her sibling.

"Not funny!", was Eddie's indignant reply. He even forgot about his dish for a while. "And don't give me that look,kids! A pet is a huge responsibility! That's why I never even owned a potted plant, let alone an animal! Do I look like a responsible and reliable person to you?", he exclaimed with a somewhat frantic gesture.

"Actually, Uncle Ed, you do. I don't know about potted plants...", began Edgar, to the ex-Riddler's dismay.

"Yeah, that would be more Aunt Pamela's domain, I'd say, but as for pets...Well , you did help our parents a lot to raise us, didn't you? And you did a great job of it, if you want my opinion. If not for you, and Uncle Jerry, and Aunt Alice here..."

"...We would never turn out as good as we're now, see, Uncle Ed? And bringing up kids is much harder than taking care of pups, so...here you are!" The youngest Rosenthal rushed to another room and returned before Nygma could say "Riddle me this", with a Wolfspitz puppy in his arms, and all but dropped it onto the flabbergasted Eddie's lap.

"Well, now, that all is settled, and everyone got someone to care for, let's drink to this, friends", Mark Rosenthal raised his glass.

"Yes, let's. For our everlasting fight against loneliness and indifference!", Molly saluted with her own glass.

For some time aftewards everyone was silent, enjoying food and drinks. Even Edward Nygma was speechless, for once, overwhelmed.

(No wonder, as the man's greatest fear had always been that of being ignored and rejected. And only now he fully realized, how lucky he was to forget about this fear,years ago, having become a member of this "jolly old set", as they put it).

"Well, ladies and gents,", said Mark after the pause, "I do hope our dear Professor arrives soon. I thought he should be here by now, at least the flights schedule says so". He looked at his watch.

"Yes, we also hope Jonathan won't be late for this very important date," Jervis shared a worried look with his wife.

"Well," Molly got up from the table, "while the kids look up some information about probable changes in the schedule – won't you dears?", she reached the piano which stood on the opposite side of the room, "I'll meanwhile play something for you."

As a person who could play Bach since she was eight, Molly played really great (she also chose Bach, the celebrate composer's being her favourite), and for some time no one spoke, only listened to music , lost in thoughts.

Even Eddie no longer objected to the puppy, who was now fast asleep on his lap.

So carried away were they all, that when Molly finished the piece, at first no one noticed a tall lanky man with an old suitcase, standing at the door,speechless, having a far-away look in his eyes.

"Das ist wundershon", the man whispered with awe, as if to himself. "Unglaublich!"