Dedicated to LaylaCullen120, jenni10121, jellybean89k, nyegnye and Nicole Billings. Because I didn't want their "Follow Story" to be in vain. :)
CHAPTER 4: A KINGDOM FOR A BRIDE (Jack's POV)
Jack,
I hope all in Wonderland is well. Hatter tells me that your wedding to the Duchess was in the spring. I'm sure it was a lovely ceremony. I wish we could have been there. A visit to Wonderland is actually what I'm writing about. I would like to bring my mother. I have yet to tell her about my "adventures" in your world, and I know that in this situation words alone won't suffice. I'm not sure if you know, but Hatter proposed. I don't want to start our married life keeping secrets from my mom. So, are you up for a visit?
All the best,
Alice
Of course he'd heeded her request. Jack Heart owed much to Alice Hamilton.
He stood in the Looking Glass chamber, waiting to greet his former romantic companion, her new fiancé and the woman who could have been his mother-in-law. Jack's wife had opted not to come, but a certain knight had deemed that he would not miss the Lady Alice's return for anything.
The glass' surface rippled and three figures stepped out: Alice held her mother's right arm and Hatter held the left.
Carol gasped. "That? What was that?"
"The door that connects your world to mine," Hatter answered. "Welcome to Wonderland."
"You're joking," Carol said.
"Mom, we're really not." Alice looked over to him. "Hello, Jack."
Carol followed her daughter's gaze. "Jack?"
He took that as his cue to step forward. "Carol," he said warmly, taking her hand. "So nice to see you again."
As he addressed her mother, Alice noticed the figure waiting behind him.
"Charlie!" She rushed over to greet the aging knight. Hatter followed suit, leaving Carol with Jack for a moment.
"This is just unreal," she said, looking about the room.
"I apologize for the nature of travel. It can be a bit... disconcerting."
"Is someone going to explain to me what is going on or how this is possible?" Carol asked.
Ah, the pragmatic Hamilton women. "I take it they've told you nothing of Wonderland?"
Carol shook her head. She looked over to her daughter and frowned. Alice shrugged and tilted her head at Charlie. It seemed she would be occupied for a moment.
"All they told me was they met under unusual circumstances," Carol began. "Neither one of them would ever explain what, though. It was so strange; she brought you home one night and then has her first serious boyfriend the very next day?"
"Yes, how is Hatter treating your daughter?" Jack asked.
"Oh, he treats her very well. They fight a lot. Bicker, that is. But it's obvious that David thinks Alice hung the moon."
"Good, good," Jack mused. "I was... initially hesitant to let him follow her."
"What do you mean?"
"Hatter came to see me when he learned Alice had refused to be my queen, and he wanted-"
"Wait," Carol interrupted him. "You asked Alice to be your queen? Are you some sort of king?"
It seemed Alice's mother was truly in the dark. "Yes. I am the king of Wonderland."
Carol was dumbfounded.
"Your daughter saved my kingdom," Jack explained. "I owe her a great debt."
"Okay." This was a lot to take in. "So what do you mean, you let him follow her?"
"Hatter once worked for my mother, and I had my doubts about him," Jack admitted. "But I'd learned that there were good people who had made the best of the situation they found themselves in." Jack thought of Duchess. "I wanted to make sure Hatter was that sort before I let him through the Glass."
Jack didn't know what else he was at liberty to say. He didn't want Carol to know all the dangers her daughter had faced in Wonderland. He couldn't tell her about what he'd learned of Hatter's actions in the Great Library or the fallen casino without letting her know Alice had nearly been shot to death more than once.
And he couldn't tell her of the time Hatter had rescued Alice from the tweedles nor of his attempted rescue without mentioning that Alice had been repeatedly captured and held as prisoner. He settled with being vague.
"Before I arranged for him to come to your world, I spoke with several people who bore witness to multiple times that Hatter proved willing to protect Alice with his life."
Carol glanced across the room at her daughter's fiancé. "I had no idea."
At that moment, Alice and Hatter made their way back over. "Sorry," Alice said. "Charlie's a bit..."
"...eccentric? Peculiar? Oblivious to social cues?" Hatter got an elbow to the ribs for his attempt to help her find the right phrase.
"Jack was just telling me that you could have been the queen of Wonderland?" Carol looked at her daughter.
"Um, yeah?" Alice looked at Jack quizzically.
"And you?" Carol turned her attention to Hatter. He straightened.
"You protected Alice and followed her to another world?"
Hatter nodded, apparently somewhat nervous at Carol's line of questioning.
"I'm sorry, I had you wrong," Carol stated. Alice's expression looked alarmed until her mother stepped forward and put her arms around Hatter.
"So?" Alice held up a hand. "We're okay here?"
"Oh, Alice, the only thing I ever had against David was that I knew you two were keeping something from me. Honestly, he seems perfect for you. But to think, that if you would have..." Carol gestured to Jack. "I'm just so glad David's the one for you."
Alice tilted her head, still somewhat puzzled. But Jack understood.
To be his queen, Alice would have to live in Wonderland. Carol would have lost her daughter to the same place that robbed her of her husband. Which was another subject Jack was hesitant to bring up. All in due time, he supposed.
"So let me get this straight," Hatter said. "Alice could have been the queen of an entire realm... or the bride of a shiftless immigrant and... the mother prefers me?" He laughed and Alice smiled. She stepped up on her toes to place a kiss on his cheek.
"I take it there's more to see of you kingdom?" Carol asked Jack.
"It defies imagination," he assured her.
Alice laced her fingers with Hatter's. "Lead the way."
