Forgiveness

They sat in the kitchen, Edith telling Hatter about the goings on in the family. His brother Keith was married with two children. Karen had moved to the city and married a doctor, and had just had her first child a few days ago, a little girl. And Katy, was also married with three children.

Alice got the impression that marriage here on the White Side was a big deal. No wonder Edith thought they were married. The fact that Hatter was twenty-eight and still single was probably way outside the norm.

Hatter listened intently as his mother went through each siblings' recent history. After Katy, Edith seemed to be done and started asking Alice questions like where she lived and who her parents were.

Hatter didn't let her finish. "And Kenny, what's he been doing? I take it he's still working with dad?"

Edith bit her bottom lip. "David, would you like a biscuit?" she said, pushing the tin of cookies toward him.

He pushed the cookies back. "Mom, stop avoiding. What's Kenny done?"

"Nothing. I'm proud of all my children."

"I never said you weren't."

"Oh, well..." she said, reaching out and cupping his cheek. "You really should shave dear, you're a bit hairy about the face."

She stifled a laugh, finding it funny how similar mother and son were when it came to avoiding subjects. He looked like he wanted to press Edith further on the subject and she didn't want he and his mother to get off on the wrong foot. She tried to distract him by reaching out and running the back of her hand along his cheek. "I like you a little scruffy. You look too young when you're clean shaved."

The screen door opened and a tall, blonde man entered, his back to them as he shrugged his coat off and kicked his boots aside. "Mom, did that letter come for me today?"

Hatter stood, taking a few steps forward. "You didn't get a letter because I doubt anyone wants to write you."

The man turned, his green eyes focusing on Hatter. "Davey?" He didn't hesitate and rushed over to greet and hug him. "Holy hell! Never thought I'd see you again."

"Na, you don't have that kind of luck, Kenny." Hatter pulled away, leaning back and giving his brother a critical eye.

Kenny was only slightly taller than Hatter. While Hatter looked like his mother, Kenny clearly took after another side of the family. His blonde hair was cut short, a few errant hairs hanging down his forehead and close to his green eyes. His features were more pronounced, with a strong square jaw and higher cheekbones. He wasn't quite as lean as Hatter either, not that he was fat or anything, just bigger all around.

Kenny yanked Hatter's hat off, and ruffed his hair. "Can't say the same for you. You finally grew into those gangly limbs and big ears."

Edith was at the door, looking around outside. "Kenny, where's your father?"

"I'm sure he'll be in shortly so just..." Edith was already out the door before Kenny had a chance to stop her.

"Piss." he cursed, moving over to the door and peeking his head outside. "Dad's started smoking and she's not supposed to know. It's my job to stall her." He held his hands up nonchalantly. "Oops?"

"Great, I'm sure he'll be even happier to see me now that its my fault he's caught."

"Na," Kenny shook his head. "She might not catch him, he can always blame the smell on me. She knows I smoke. And he won't act mad at you even if he is. Things have changes since you've left, Mom has him on a tight leash these days."

Hatter huffed, disbelievingly. "Really? How did that happen?"

"A combination of things. It's one hell of a guilt trip that he's the reason her favorite son ran away." Kenny looked around Hatter's shoulder at Alice. "Are you with him?" he said, jerking a thumb in Hatter's direction.

"Yeah, I'm Alice." she said, holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you."

He took her hand but didn't shake it. Instead, he craned his head, turning his ear to her. "Say that again."

"Say what again?"

"Oh, anything." he said, grinning. "As long as you're saying it in whatever that accent is." When she didn't say anything he turned to Hatter. "Get her to talk, will ya?"

If Hatter wasn't smiling so broadly at his brother, she would have been completely offended by this. Instead she just hesitated and waited for Hatter to save her from whatever Kenny was playing at.

Which, of course he did. "Back off will ya? She's not a parrot, she doesn't have to perform for you."

Kenny rolled his eyes and searched the small side table. "Here, let me see if I can't find you something to read aloud."

"I don't think I have much of an accent. I just speak plain English." She always thought of an accent as a way of talking and since she didn't have a twang or lilt, she never considered she had one. She didn't even have a New York accent.

Obviously that wasn't what Kenny thought. He was smiling and bouncing on his heals a little. "That's bloody brilliant! And you get to hear her every day?"

"Kenny, stop it."

"Don't get all riled up." Kenny lifted his eyebrows, rolled his eyes and jerked his head in Hatter's direction, a smirk on his face. He might not look like Hatter, but they shared the same mannerisms. "So where're you from anyways? Umbridge maybe?"

The side door opened again and Edith cheerfully entered the kitchen. She held the door open and allowed an older man to walk in. This was probably Hatter's father, though she didn't see much of a resemblance between the two. Kenny looked like his father. They both shared the same shape of face, eye and hair color. What stood out most about this man was his eyes, they were hard and sharp, and at the moment they were fixed squarely on Hatter.

To her surprise, Kenny stepped in front of her, almost like he was trying to shell her from view. "Dad, what took you so long? I thought you were right behind me."

Those sharp green eyes shifted away from Hatter for a moment, focusing on his oldest son. "I was just taking my time, I'm an old man you know." His words sounded forced, like he really wanted to say something else but knew better than to do so.

Hatter's jaw was clenched and his hands were eerily still at his sides. Normally in uncomfortable situations he fiddled with something. His hat, a piece of paper, his clothes, he liked to keep his hands occupied as a way to center himself. The lack of motion was concerning to her. She wanted to move closer to him but the tension in the room was so thick, she felt like she was rooted to the floor.

The only person who didn't seem effected was Edith. She was still smiling, her eyes clear as she looked between her son and husband. If she was waiting for the same cheerful reunion she and Hatter had shared to happen between father and son, she'd be waiting a long time.

Almost like she could sense Alice's thoughts, Edith broke the silence. "Harold, don't you have something to say to David?"

Harold's jaw clenched and unclenched, like he was fighting the words in his mouth. "Welcome home son. It's good to see you're... looking... well."

Hatter didn't look any more comfortable than his father. In fact she thought she saw him flinch slightly as soon as his father opened his mouth. "It's good to see you too... Dad."

Behind them, Edith cleared her throat.

Hatter hoped his mother didn't intend for them to share anything beyond words. As he watched his father cast a quick glare in his mother's direction, he knew there was no easy way out of this. Honestly it would make him feel better if his father just ignored him all together.

His father stepped toward him and his stomach clenched horribly. He felt like he was a boy again, waiting to be punished for misbehaving. As his father pulled him into a loose hug, his hands remained at his sides.

His fathers hold tightened and he leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Do it. Don't upset your mother."

Reluctantly, he hugged his father back. With a quick pat on the back, Harold released him and turned back to Edith. "May I be excused now?"

His father didn't wait for an answer and quickly pushed past him. His mother followed behind him. "Is that it? Don't you want to know where he's been? What he's been doing all these years?"

"Nope."

Edith pushed past him, blocking his exit from the kitchen. "He's been on the Red Side. He worked with the Resistance there to overthrow the Queen and free everyone from her tyranny. You know how bad things had become over there. He's a hero, Harold."

"Ah, is that what he's told you? Listen to me woman, I can be polite to the boy but I won't buy his lies."

"He's not lying." The sickness he'd been feeling worsened as Alice spoke up to defend him. Alice could do a lot of things, but fighting with his father was something she didn't want to put him through. "He is a hero, even the new king of the Red Side recognizes that."

"And who the hell are you?"

"Oh," Kenny said. "She's Alice from... Umbridge was it?"

His mother stepped between the two. "No, she's an Oldworlder. She's Alice, and I don't doubt anything they've told me."

"Have you gone daft, woman? Will you blindly believe anything you're told?" His father looked at him, not even attempting to hide his anger any longer. "I'm not going to let you fool your mother, boy."

"Look, Dad, I didn't come here to cause problems. I just wanted to see Mom." Kenny elbowed him lightly in the side. "And Kenny. We're just here to say goodbye before we leave."

"Leave?" His mother turned to him, tears already forming in the corners of her eyes. God he hated when she cried.

"Alice can't stay in Wonderland mom, and the Looking Glass is going to be closed soon. We're both leaving Wonderland for good."

"Another lie. The Looking Glass was destroyed along with the Kingdom of the Knights. You're a liar, and there's no way your little tramp is Alice. She's no more Alice of Legend than I am related to the White Queen."

He'd never wanted to hit his father so badly in all his life. His mother was crying, Alice had been insulted, and once again, his father had managed to make him feel worthless. This was his father's way, he used his words like venom to hurt those around him. Despite what his mother said, he hadn't changed one bit. He was the same bitter angry man he had been all those years ago.

The only difference between then and now was that this time he wasn't a child and he wasn't afraid of his father anymore. The thought of beating the man who'd bullied him most of his childhood was extremely appealing. The only thing stopping him from doing just that, was Alice's hand clutching his right arm.

She pushed in front of him before he could stop her and stood before his father. "No, you know what, I am Alice of legend. Apparently that makes me pretty damn important. And if it wasn't for your son, I'd be dead right now and so would a lot of other people."

His father advanced on her, closing what space there was between them. "That boy, destroys everything he touches. He has not a lick of sensibility or good judgment in him and there is no amount of time or... Alice of legends that will change that." His father hovered over her, trying to intimidate her. It was a tactic he was familiar with. His father had always looked down on him, both figuratively and literally. "The fact that he has to have a little girl fight his battles is enough proof he's no hero. He's worthless."

Alice was standing as tall and straight as she could, staring his father down like she had the Queen of Hearts. If he didn't stop her, she'd fight with his father until they were both dead from exhaustion. "Alice, drop it. Let's just leave alright?"

"No, please!" His mother rushed to his side and clutched his arm. "Stay, please stay!" She kept a hold of him but turned to look at his father. "Harold, stop this!"

Harold and Alice ignored the pleas to stop. "Prove it." Harold leaned in until he was just inches away from her face. "Prove who you are."

It was a simple statement but one that was impossible. They had no proof of anything that happened on the Red Side and there was no way to prove Alice was anything other than an Oyster. The only proof they did have was her glow but even that could be faked.

Alice was quick thinking, a fact which was both a blessing and a curse. The words she said next ran a chill down his spine. "The Cheshire thinks I'm that Alice. If you want proof, go ask him."

As sickening as that statement made him feel, it had the desired effect. His father backed down and away from his fearless little Oyster. Instead of arguing with Alice, he again turned to Edith. "I don't care who he's become or who he's brought home, they aren't staying here and don't ask them to. They want to go back to the Oldworld, let them. Bad enough we're stuck with Kenny."

"Oi!" Kenny sounded, clearly insulted by his fathers words.

"Don't you even start!" His father jabbed a finger in Kenny's direction. "If you'd done a better job keeping Lettie in line, none of this ever would have happened in the first place."

"Just stop! Everyone stop." His mother grabbed Alice by the arm and pulled her back to stand with the rest of them. "I'm sorry Harold, I didn't think it was too much to ask you be happy to see your own child. I didn't know that you would be so bitter and hurt about this. I thought that even if you weren't honestly happy to see David, at least you would put on a front, for my sake."

"No!" Harold shouted. "You want me to feel poorly for making him leave. If you think for a second I'm going to apologize to him for something that's not my fault, you're wrong."

He turned and walked out of the kitchen, and for a long moment, Edith just stood there staring at the empty doorway.

"Well, that went about as well as expected." Kenny pulled a chair out and slumped into it. "If it makes you feel any better Davey, I still think dad hates me more than he does you."

"Are you really leaving?" His mother looked at him imploringly before she turned to Alice. "Nevermind what Harold said, you and David can stay here as long as you like. The White Side is completely different from the Red. You'll like it here, I swear."

He hadn't thought far enough ahead to consider how leaving was going to hurt his mom. Judging by her pained expression, neither had Alice. "I can't leave my mom. My father's dead and I'm an only child, I'm all she has. If I left her, she'd have no one."

"Cheer up mom. I'm a disappointment, remember? I'll likely live at home till I'm dead." Kenny smiled up at their mother.

She took a deep breath, and for a moment he thought she was calming down. Then she started sobbing again and turned toward him, leaning against his chest. He held her, stroking her hair and trying to think of anything he could say that would help. He looked between Alice and Kenny, hoping one of them would come up with something. Alice was chewing on her bottom lip and fiddling with her fingers. Kenny just shrugged his shoulders and leaned back in the chair.

His mother sniffled and when she spoke, she sounded a little more composed. "How long will you be here?"

"A week at most. We need to deliver a message to the Oracles before we leave, but other than that we can stay here if you like." It was small consolation for them leaving but he hoped it helped a little.

"Well that's great! You wanted to go see Karen anyway right? You three can make a trip of it." Kenny lightly tapped Alice's arm. "Tell her it'll be fun."

Alice quickly agreed. "It would be great if you could come with us. We could... spend the whole week together."

Edith stepped back and wiped her eyes. "That would be nice, I suppose."

"And," Kenny added. "You'll get to see your new grandbaby. You know how happy that makes you."

"Yes, that does make me happy." She gave one final wipe at her eyes and looked back up at him. "No point in crying I guess. I should be grateful you even came back, considering it's my fault you left in the first place."

"Mom..." He really didn't know what more he could say to her.

Kenny got up from the table and wrapped his arm around Alice's shoulder. "How about this, I'll give Alice a tour of the house and the two of you can sit down and sort all this out, yeah?"

Kenny had Alice out of the room before Hatter could even comment. For the first time in fifteen years, he and his mother were alone.

"Mom, I didn't mean the things I wrote in that letter. It's not your fault I ran away."

She sat at the table, her gaze fixed on its wooden surface. "No, you were right. I should have defended you, and Lettie. I did a lousy job of protecting you. I'm sorry."

He sat next to her and took her hand. "It's all right mom, you were just doing what you had to do."

She shook her head. "No, you deserved better, all you kids did. I let your father have so much control over all of us that I never even considered doing things my own way. When you left, I became aware of that. As soon as Lettie's happiness came into question, I should have put a stop to things. And when you were brave enough to stand up and defend her, I should have been right behind you. The whole thing, everything, just got so out of control. All I cared about was keeping things peaceful. That was wrong of me."

"It was selfish of me. I love Lettie, I really do. I wanted her to marry Kenny and become a part of our family. That night when you and your father fought, I admit to being angry with you. I wanted everything to work out so badly. Everything you said made sense and I was trying to deny that. I should have been thinking of Lettie, not my own needs or wants. I wish I had realized that back then."

"I don't blame you for that mom, I wanted Lettie in the family as much as you did." He knew it would have been great to have Lettie as his sister, but that wouldn't have made her happy.

"Well that's the difference between us. You were willing to stand up for her happiness even if it meant less of your own. I was selfish to think only of myself. Lettie and James never should have been forced to choose between love and family. I didn't help matters any and its painful because I know I could have."

She looked so incredibly ashamed of the way she acted. These were feelings she'd been trying to deal with for years and she'd amassed a huge amount of guilt over it. "Mom, if it makes you feel any better, Lettie has been very happy these last few years. She wouldn't trade the time she had with James for anything. She doesn't regret anything she's done and she wouldn't want you to be upset about this."

She turned in her chair and took both of his hands in hers. "It doesn't make what I did right, David. And what I let happen with you, there was no excuse for that."

He knew she was talking about his father and the way he was treated growing up. "Mom, you did your best, you couldn't make Dad act any different then the way he wanted too."

"No but I should have tried. I am so sorry. I was so used to your father and the way he acted, by the time you were born, I didn't see anything wrong with the way he treated you. I knew he was harder on you than the other kids but I always figured it was because he was punishing me. I was the one who decided to have another child after Keith even though he made it clear he wanted no more children. The way he treated you, the things he said, I let that go because they were really meant for me. But you didn't know that did you? It didn't matter how much I loved you because that would never make up for what he wouldn't give you."

That much was true. Looking back, he could clearly see how she had overcompensated. It was something that had made the other kids a little jealous. If any of them ever wanted to tease him or get under his skin, the first thing they'd made fun of was the fact that he was mommy's favorite.

"Mom, please just... I never thought badly of you, ever. You are the best mother I could ever hope for. So please, just forget about everything that's happened. You can't change the past and I forgave you a long time ago." He pulled her into a hug and pressed his face into her hair. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too. Thank you," she whispered. "You have no idea how much hearing that means to me."

She let out a long breath and relaxed and hugged him back. She hadn't asked for forgiveness but he knew that was what she needed. They needed to move past this and just enjoy the time they had left together.

A/n

Forgive all the family drama, it'll pass soon. Originally I debated on having Kenny being as hopeless and bitter as his father. But after much thought and the fact that he simply wouldn't let me write him that way, he's turned into quite the caring older brother. Which is a good thing for Hatter, he needs all the love he can get right?

It was so nice to see some new reviewers for last chapter mixed in with those who've faithfully reviewed this story from the start! And welcome to those who've added this story to their favorites list!

An added note, RHI entertainment posted some behind the scenes photos from Alice on their facebook page. Way cool, so be sure to check it out and comment on how much you love them. Maybe, with enough comments, we can get them to post more! www. /pages/RHI-Entertainment/91579164171 (Remove spacing)