"We have a girl and a boy. My mom's here keeping them. Right. You don't know my mom. Carol. Her name's Carol. The kids are Charlie and–"
Alice would have liked to have more time to prep Hatter, but their front door was already opening.
"They saw you pull in," her mother said over the squeals of her children inside. "I told them they had to ask you before they could have more candy."
Their seven-year-old daughter pushed ahead. "I told her you'd let us have a serving size, and I can read now, so I know that's four pieces, but Nonnie only let us have two…"
Alice held up a hand to halt the onslaught, and their son slipped around her and made a beeline for his father's legs.
"Daddy!"
Hatter let out a little "oof" and patted the boy's head. "Hey, there, Charlie."
Alice winced as her daughter's eyes whipped to her, candy forgotten. Nothing went past the child.
"Daddy's joking," Alice said lightly. "Of course he knows you're Charlie. And yes, you can have two more pieces. Each. Will you help your brother open his?"
As the kids took off back to the kitchen, Carol's face turned to one of concern. "What's wrong?"
"Hatter doesn't remember anything..." Alice dropped her voice "after Wonderland."
"Oh, my." Carol put her hand on her chest. "Did the doctor say if that was unusual?"
"Mom, it's not like we could ask." Alice threw her purse in a chair. "'Oh, by the way, my husband is from the other side of the Looking Glass. Has this happened to Wonderlanders before?'"
"Don't get snippy with me," her mother warned.
• X •
Hatter watched the exchange quietly. He quickly saw where Alice had inherited some of her demeanor.
Alice closed her eyes. "I'm sorry. This has me–" she broke off. "Thank you for keeping the kids."
"Do you want me to stay?" Carol asked.
"No. They'll know something's wrong." Alice twisted the rings on her left hand.
Huh, Hatter thought. I gave those to her. Probably.
He felt so helpless, not knowing. If he looked too closely at the feeling, it would swallow him. So he locked it away and focused on his immediate surroundings.
There was a collection of hats by the door. He took one off a hook and flipped it in the air to see if he remembered how to catch it. The mother-in-law he had no recollection of began to gather her things.
"Well, at least he remembers Wonderland."
Alice didn't find this particularly reassuring. "So you mean at least he knows his name?"
"No, dear," Carol said. "I mean at least he remembers he loves you."
Hatter caught the hat on the tip of his fingers just as Alice looked to him.
• X •
It hadn't occurred to her. When had Hatter fallen in love with her? If it was only after they'd begun dating, and all of those memories were gone…
The question was written on her face, and Hatter answered without being asked.
"I don't think how I feel about you is something I could forget," he said simply.
He put the hat in his hands on his head, and Alice felt the tension inside her snap and break away. There you are.
"We'll be fine," she told her mother. "Go."
