Chapter 16: The Hatter And His Family
Five years had passed since Lewis and Carroll were born and they were growing like weeds. They had just started Kindergarten and were doing good in school so far. Alice had become a stay-at-home mom to take care of both the kids and take care of their new house. Jervis's hard work at advancing and perfecting his technology had finally paid off. His microchips had been tested on some elderly people in a way to improve their memory as their memory deteriorates at old age. The result was extraordinary as their memory improved greatly. Some of those old people actually had Alzheimer's and the microchips pretty much beat the disease by giving these people more memory. Tetch had in a way cured Alzheimer's and was now being recognized with a Nobel Prize at Wayne Enterprises tonight. In the present, Alice was taking a nap on the couch after cleaning the entire house. She was awoken to the sound of the door opening and closing and her kids coming towards her. "Mommy, we're home!", Carroll said. They went over and saw their mother waking up on the couch. "Hey, you two.", Alice said with a sleepy smile. "Sorry, did we wake you?", Lewis said apologetically. "No, sweetheart. I was waking up already. How was school?", she said. "I got a perfect on my spelling test.", Lewis said. "I made some new friends at recess.", Carroll said. "That's great to hear. I'm proud of you both.", Alice said as she gave both of them a kiss on the head. "Where's Daddy? Is he still working?", Carroll asked. "He should be home any moment.", Alice answered. A minute later, Tetch came in through the door and was immediately rushed by his two children. "Daddy!", Carrol said as she and her brother hugged him. "Hey, guys! Daddy's glad to see his two favorite people.", Tetch said. He saw Alice had a raised eyebrow when he said, so he corrected himself by saying, "I mean three favorite people.". "Are you still getting that award tonight, Dad?", Lewis asked. "Indeed I am, buddy. I should probably start getting ready for that.", Jervis said. "Oh, my! We should get ready for that too. I have outfits picked out for you two. Let's make sure they fit.", Alice said. "Come on, darling. They're kids. I don't know if they would consider a silly award show to be fun.", he said. "Silly? Honey, you're getting the Nobel Prize tonight. You basically cured Alzheimer's which is not something that would be in a silly award show.", Alice said. "You know what I mean. I don't know if they would be interested in going.", he said. "I think they should to see the great contribution their father made to mankind.", Alice said. "We don't mind, Mommy. We want to see Daddy get his award.", Carroll said. "Yeah, we don't mind.", Lewis agreed. "Okay, then go make sure your outfits fit.", Alice said. The kids went away to do what they were told which left just husband and wife in the room. "It's still hard to believe that I of all people cured such an ailment like Alzheimer's.", Jervis said to himself. Alice went over and gave him a big hug. "I'm so proud of you, Jervis. Your technology did a great service to people who were dying from that disease. I knew all your hard work would pay off and you would amount to something great.", Alice said as she smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess so. To think at first, my technology was used in criminal activities and manipulating people's minds, now it was used to cure diseases.", Tetch said. "And that is the best transition of all.", Alice said. They then shared a passionate kiss before gazing into each other's eyes for a second. "Come on, let's get ready Mr. Nobel Prize.", Alice joked. Later that night, the ceremony was being held in the ballroom of Wayne Enterprises. The room was filled Wayne Enterprises employees, Gotham citizens, and people from the Nobel Prize Foundation. Alice and the kids had a front row table to see better. The ceremony began with Bruce Wayne talking at the podium. "Good evening, everyone. Thank you all for coming to this event. You all know me, Gotham's favorite son and playboy and I've been in charge of this company for years. My parents represented the good this city had to offer, so that's why my father started this company as a beacon of hope in this city. And I'm glad to say that we have achieved what people have hoped for. Finally, a cure for Alzheimer's Disease. And we couldn't have had done this without the hard work and brilliance of one man who this evening is all about. Please welcome our head of the neuroscience department and Alzheimer's worst nightmare, Jervis Tetch.", Bruce Wayne said as he made way for Jervis. Everyone applauded as he came up to the podium. Before Jervis was about to speak, he looked at Alice and his children for a boost of confidence. "Hello, everyone. I appreciate greatly that you all coming here for me this evening. I am beyond happy to make such a great contribution to the benefit of everyone. I honestly never thought that either me or my work would ever amount to something so great. Some of you might know me from my troubling past where I did things I'm not too proud of. But I'm glad I made up for all that by giving this great thing back to all the sufferers of Alzheimer's as well as to all of you. I would like to give a shout out to my beautiful wife, Alice, and my son and daughter, Lewis and Carroll sitting right there. As I could not be where I am today if it wasn't for their love and support. I believe they deserve just as much credit as me for this. Thank you three for that and I love you very much.", Jervis said. Alice blushed as he brought the attention to her and the kids for a second and that everyone was applauding them. "Thank you all for this honor and goodnight.", Jervis concluded. Everyone applauded him once he was done. The Nobel Prize guy handed Jervis his award and they shook hands. Later, there was a little reception with food and drinks. Jervis and Alice were having some champagne while the kids were ploughing down on the sweets. "Try not to eat too much, guys. I don't want you to get sick to your stomachs.", Alice told them. "We won't, Mom.", Lewis said. Alice and Jervis did a toast and Alice said, "Cheers to you, Mr. Nobel Prize.", Alice said. "Jervis!", said Bruce Wayne as he walked up to them. "Hello, Bruce. This is such a lovely party. I can't thank you enough for all this.", Jervis said as he shook Tetch's hand. "You deserve it. You did a great thing. You're just the kind of man my father would have wanted working for his company.", Bruce said. "Thanks, and I'm sure he would've been proud of you for carrying on his legacy so well.", Jervis said. "You look lovely, Alice.", Bruce complimented her. "Thank you, Mr. Wayne. You remember our kids, Lewis and Carroll?", Alice said as he gestured Bruce towards the two kids. "Say hi to Mr. Wayne, kids.", Alice told them. "Hi, Mr. Wayne.", both of them said in unison. "Hi, kids. You guys should be really proud of your dad. He did a great thing for many people.", Bruce said. Bruce really never thought that one of his former enemies would accomplish such a great thing and have such a loving family at his side. He then looked to the sky through the glass window and saw the Bat Signal in the sky. This was his cue to switch to his other job. "Well, I'll leave you to it, Jervis. I have to get going. I just remembered I have a late-night doctor's appointment. Enjoy your night.", Bruce said as he left. "Okay. Goodnight, sir.", Jervis said to his boss before he left. The kids saw the signal in the sky and Lewis said, "Look, Dad, it's that signal again.". Jervis saw the signal too and knew that his former enemy would be out tonight. "You said you know him, right?", Lewis asked his father. "Yes. We met a few times.", Jervis said while not going into full detail about his encounters with Batman. "I think that's a signal for us to get home too. It is getting late.", Jervis said. The family then left and went back to their house. Later, Alice was reading Alice in Wonderland to the kids right before bed. "But I don't want to go among mad people, Alice remarked. Oh, you can't help that, said the cat. We're all mad here.", Alice read to them with Jervis to the side listening while silently mouthing the words to himself. "That cat's smile is kinda scary.", Carroll said. "It's just a picture, sweetie. Don't think of it as scary.", Alice said to her daughter. "Why did that baby turn into a pig?", Lewis asked. "You know, it never really was explained in the book, my boy. Then again, nothing is as it should be in Wonderland.", Jervis said. "I like how that girl has the same name as you, Mommy. And that guy on the cover with the hat looks so much like Daddy.", Carroll said. "We've ben told both those things before.", Jervis said. "That guy is the Mad Hatter. We'll get to him tomorrow night. Now, it's time for bed.", Alice said as she set the book down and tucked the kids in. Both parents kissed both their kids goodnight each. "Goodnight, we love you.", Jervis said to them. "We love you too.", they both said back and went to sleep. Jervis sand Alice went back to their room and had some tea before they went to bed. "I still can't believe I'm now a Nobel Prize winner.", Jervis said. "I believe it, you're a genius. And I know you've been one ever since I first met you.", Alice said as she cuddled up to him. "How did I get so lucky to have an angel like you at my side?", Jervis asked. "It's not luck. We were meant to be together. Fate made it so we would find each other again and look how far we've come.", Alice said. "That is true.", he said. They both yawned in exhaustion. "I think it's time to hit the hay.", Alice said. "I second that.", Jervis said as they both finished their tea. They kissed each other goodnight and turned off the lights. They cuddled each other as they were settling down. "I love you, Alice.", he said to her. "I love you too, Jervis. So do our children, and you'll always have us.", Alice said. They then drifted asleep and started to dream that they were raising their children in Wonderland and having an even happier life. Even after all they've been through, Jervis and Alice found both each other and the Wonderland they have always been looking for which was just being together.
I hope you all enjoyed this story. I wrote this because I really wish Jervis and Alice ended up together and this was my own version of what it would be like if they did end up together. Thanks for reading.