Okay, slightly random epilogue but I felt i needed to wrap this up. Hope you enjoyed this.

She was sitting alone on a stone bench, enjoying the sun on her face. A little bit away, she could hear Carmichael, now fourteen, playing some kind of odd game with Mirana's daughter of five years. He loved that little girl as if she was a sister to him, and this was common place. Still, she had to wonder what he would think about a real sibling.

When he turned and their eyes met again, she saw the same acceptance that had been there when Tarrant asked for her hand. Oh, what an interesting six years it had been.

That's when she saw him coming, his hands suspiciously tucked away behind his back. She knew he would be cautious in what he said to her after this morning. She felt so bad about getting angry with him over something so small, but she couldn't take it back. At least he wouldn't leave his hat in the planter by accident again.

She made room for him on the bench as he held out what seemed to be a dozen bright blue flowers. "They're beautiful, Tarrant." She held them carefully, laughed when the burst into what really was a few dozen butterflies. "However did you get them to sit so still?"

"It was the King's idea." He admitted, watched Carmichael throw Izabele into the air. "They're very happy, you know, it's almost as if nothing ever happened."

About three months after Alice and Tarrant had gotten married in the same area of the gardens where he'd proposed, Mirana had gotten a rather odd message and had taken off for a week, scaring everyone. When she came back, she came back with a man seeking redemption and forgiveness. Ha, she didn't blame him. Eleven years in the desert-like outlands with the Red Queen? She'd have gotten on her knees and begged day and night until someone listened. But he'd really meant it. He was a changed man, and it turned out Mirana's heart was much too soft to let him continue to be punished after he'd learned his lesson. A couple weeks later, he'd begun courting her. Three months and they were wed. Since he'd shown up, Ilosovic Stayne had never uttered a single bad comment or forgotten to find some way to show his wife how he felt about her. So Alice was fine with him, burying the hatchet for the happiness of everyone. Tarrant had taken a little more convincing, but soon he too was charmed by the quiet peace the once cruel man possessed.

"Yes, they're good together." She smiled, leaned against his shoulder. "I'm sorry about this morning."

"Ah," He patted her hand before kissing the top of her head, so that was what was truly was on her mind. "We're good together too, love."

She nodded, wondered how he would react. Then took a deep breath and said it. "I can't promise it's not going to happen again, I wasn't completely be myself and I have a feeling we're going to be in at least a few more little spats before ."

"You can't not be yourself, Alice." He looked at her in confusion. "I mean, of course you could pretend to be. You were Um for a day and nobody questioned it. But you can't honestly be a different person. It's not possible, not probable, not likely, impossible..."

"Hatter!"

"... I'm fine." He managed.

"Hatter, I just meant that I was feeling a bit strange and it made me uneasy." She bit the bullet, so to speak, and just said it. "I went to the doctor today, and I was trying to figure out how best to tell you. I've been trying to figure it out all day."

"You didn't go to work today?" He hated to think she was sick, but when she shook her head he pressed his lips to her forehead. An unobtrusive way of seeing if she had a fever. She didn't. "What did the doctor say?"

"I'm pregnant." She watched his face for a reaction. "We're having a baby."

He jumped up, pulling her with him as he swung her around and made her far too dizzy for her own good. "You need to put me down, Hatter. I understand the need to dance and be joyful, but please, dance with yourself for a little while while my head stops spinning."

"Ha, not likely." He grinned, scooped her up and began carrying her off. "You're going to bed and I am too."

She didn't say anything, just rested her head on his shoulder and did her best not to throw up. She doubted he wanted to... no, he'd lay with her until she felt better because that was the kind of person he was.

Izabele was staring at the couple, secretly wondering if she'd have that one day. He was like a prince, but better because he was funny too. "Your parents are weird." She lied.

He grinned, grabbed her to hold her upside down. Her long white braided pigtails brushed the ground as she gazed up at him with her father's eyes. It was an interesting and exotic combination that added a state of curiosity to her. He would protect her when it came to the boys who would harass her in the future, but for now he would do some harassing himself. "So are yours."

"Uh uh." She wrinkled her nose when he started swinging her back and forth like a pendulum.

"Uh huh." He laughed.

"Uh uh." She crossed her arms. "Now, put me down."

"Uh uh." He said in "her voice."

And they laughed together as he looked up and saw his dad in the window of their quarters. With one hand he waved, causing Izabele to shriek with giggles. Tarrant waved back and watched his son play below as his wife slept on the bed a few feet. This, this kind of happiness is what they'd fought for. He couldn't imagine his life any other way. He didn't want to. He saw now that if Alice hadn't left, if neither of them had been forced to be alone for eleven years, Carmichael wouldn't have been a part of their lives. So he figured fate had been right, in the long run, though he'd never allow fate to separate any of them ever again. Ever.

A/N: Don't hate about the Stayne/Mirana thing. I couldn't think of anybody else for the position and if you think about it, eleven years in the outlands with not a word from anyone, chained to the red queen? that would change anyone. Hope you liked it. R&R please