19

The meeting with the lawyer had seemed to last an eternity. A short, stout man in a finely tailored brass coloured suit called Wilkins had gone over the details of their case down to the precise minute. It had taken all of Alice's self-control not to fall asleep. Leaving the meeting, which concluded two hours later, had been an absolute relief. Looking around as she and Mirana walk side by side through the winding paths, seeing everyone getting along, she decides to take advantage of this moment of peace before any further preparations for the trial.

"Mirana?"

"Hmmm?"

"What do you like to do for fun?"

Mirana hums a little to herself. "I suppose I like to dance at socials."

Blergh, definitely not. Alice cannot dance to save her life. When she was supposed to be learning ballroom dancing, she'd been learning how to fence and tie knots. "Anything else?" she asks hopefully.

She thinks for a moment. "Well, I haven't had the chance for a while, but I do enjoy baking."

Baking? Alice supposes she can manage that. She hadn't planned on coming home this early, but she doesn't know of any other place with an oven. She's sure her mother won't mind. "Do you want to bake today?"

Mirana starts. "Today? Alice, we have so much to prepare for the trial —"

"You said yourself that you'd rather not think about that. Our next meeting with Wilkins isn't until Wednesday anyway." Alice takes her hand. "Consider it our first date."

Mirana smiles at that. "Well, when you put it that way, I suppose it's alright."

"Great! We'll have to pack for the weekend, of course —"

"Pack?"

Alice laughs. "We don't exactly have an oven here, so I was thinking we'd go back to mine." She grins cheekily. "It'll also be payback for me meeting your parents. You'll get to meet my mum."

If Mirana could get any paler, she would. Alice laughs harder at her expression as they walk back to her dorm to pack for the weekend.

Two hours later Alice and Mirana pull up to the Kingsleigh manor. Alice parks the rental car in the street, helping Mirana out of the passenger side. She opens the trunk and lifts out Mirana's white rolling suitcase, then her much lighter black duffel bag. When she'd asked Mirana what she'd packed that warranted the suitcase, Mirana had simply said her whitening kit, which Alice had taken to mean hair dye and an excessive amount of makeup. She can't help but wonder if Mirana will ever let her hair go back to her natural brown. All those chemicals can't be great for her hair, but then again, who is she to judge? Before they'd left, they'd stopped off at the mall to put some colour into her wardrobe, so at least they're still taking baby steps. Lots of pinks and greens and yellows, with a little bit of blue. She still keeps the white clothing, but they act more as accent pieces than centerpieces now. Mirana had changed into a black skirt before they'd left, relieved to be out of those "confining leg traps" as she'd put it.

She pulls the key out from her pocket, wishing that her mother would just upgrade to an electronic gate already, and unlocks it. They go up to the manor, which hasn't changed much since the last time she'd been here about a month ago. It's a massive Victorian style place with pine green walls and white trim, elegant arched windows and stone pillar accents. The foxgloves and lilies still surround it, but now there's some buttercups added in, popping up in between. She walks up the little stairway leading up to the porch, getting a little more nervous with each step. She'd called her mother as they were packing back in the dorm, so she knows that Alice is coming with Mirana to bake, and she knows that Mirana is her soon-to-be-girlfriend, but she has no idea how she's going to receive Mirana herself, and what she'd put herself through on her account. Technically speaking, she is an alleged kidnapper now. She'll just have to explain that the whole thing was her fault in the first place.

She tries to conceal her nervousness though, for Mirana's sake. However worried she's feeling, she's certain Mirana's worse off, having never met her mother before.

She holds her breath and knocks.

Helen Kingsleigh comes to the door, hair thrown up into a messy bun and an apron around her waist, covering the skirt of her dress. She beams at the sight of them both and pulls Alice into her arms, embracing her youngest daughter tightly. "Oh, Alice, so good of you to come! And Mirana too!" She releases Alice and gives Mirana an equally tight hug. "Hmmm." She looks Mirana up and down. "I don't see what you mean by 'powdered donut', Alice."

Mirana raises an eyebrow at Alice. "Powdered donut?"

"Erm, yeah, about that." Alice says sheepishly, running a hand through her hair. "When Mum asked what my roommate was like a while ago, I said you kind of looked like a powdered donut, with all that white."

Mirana snorts and swats Alice's arm, tension dissolved. "Shame on you."

Helen laughs. "Oh, you're a delight! I'm sure we'll get on splendidly." Her eyes come to rest on Alice, and they widen as if seeing her for the first time. "Oh my goodness, your hair!" She reaches up, patting at her head as if to try and coax it out to its usual length. "What happened to it?"

"It's a very long story." Alice admits.

"Well, come on in and tell me all about it!" she says. "You can tell me over lunch, because you are most certainly not going to fill up on cookie dough before you've had a proper meal." She pushes the both of them through the doorway. "Come on, then. You'll have to be careful of this one," she says to Mirana with a grin. "She'll eat it all before it's baked if you don't watch her."

Alice groans. "Muuuuum."

Mirana giggles. "I'll make sure she doesn't have too much."

They go inside and seat themselves at the table, which has already been set. There are three plates with prawn and mayonnaise sandwiches cut in half, the way Alice used to have everyday before she'd started going to boarding schools. The food at Underland Academy isn't half bad, but it pales in comparison to the simple things her mother makes. Alice seats herself and is about to start eating when her mother holds her hands out for them to take. She suppresses her groan and takes one. True, her relationship with God isn't as ruined as it was before, but that doesn't mean she's ready to get back into this bit quite yet.

"Bless us our Lord and these thy gifts, for which we are about to receive," her mother says, eyes closed and head bowed. "From thy bounty through Christ, Our Lord, amen."

"Amen." Alice responds with Mirana. As soon as her hand is released, she digs in. Mmmm. Just as delicious as she remembers, the creamy mayonnaise complementing the prawns perfectly.

"So, Alice, what happened to your hair?" her mother asks again. "You've never had it that short before."

Alice nearly chokes on her sandwich. She'd hoped to finish at least half of her sandwich before getting into that. She forces herself to swallow the rest before turning to Mirana. "From the beginning?"

Mirana nods. "You'd better, or it won't make any sense."

And so Alice recounts, from the beginning, everything they've been through, from her confession to breaking Mirana out of the asylum all the way up to her fight with James Martin. Her mother listens quietly, nodding along and even gasping at some parts. Mirana fills in bits she misses, like her time in her asylum. When they finish, Helen simply purses her lips, thinking. Alice holds her breath, ready to jump to Mirana's defense if need be.

"Well," her mother finally says. "While I don't approve of the means you went about doing these things, I must say that I am very proud of you Alice. I know going back to Rutledge must not have been easy for you. You've been very brave. Mirana must be very important to you for you to go so far for her."

Alice nods, relieved that her mother doesn't seem to resent Mirana for anything. "She is." She locks eyes with Mirana across the table and smiles. "She's everything to me."

"I'm glad. Now, about Bumby," Helen's wrinkled hands clench into fists. "You let me know what I can do to help with your case. That man doesn't deserve to get away with anything he's done. He should be rotting in prison."

"With all due respect, Mrs. Kingsleigh," Mirana says. "Let's not talk of that now."

"Oh, please dear, call me Mum." Helen says, clasping Mirana's hand in hers warmly. "And you're right. The last thing you two must want is to think of something so awful. Why don't you tell me about yourself, Mirana, since Alice hasn't said much since her first day?"

Alice ignores the blatant dig at her lack of details and opts to finish her sandwich. This is going remarkably well. She was worried for nothing.

"Hmmm." Mirana hums to herself. "Well, my parents are the founders of the Academy, so I've always had the best education. I enjoy learning, but beyond that I like to dance. Alice has gotten me into painting a bit as well." she says, smiling at Alice fondly.

"Can you teach her how to dance, then?" Helen asks, cutting her sandwich into smaller sections still. "I've been trying for years, but she refuses every time."

"And I'll still refuse." Alice says pointedly, wiping her face with her arm. "I can't dance, Mum. I'm a lost cause."

"That sounds like a challenge." Mirana says with a grin.

Alice groans. "Now you've gone and given her ideas."

"You must learn the foxtrot." Mirana continues. "It's my favourite."

Helen perks up at this. "Mine too!"

Alice grabs her plate and takes it to the sink to wash. "Now you've done it. I thought we were baking today, not forcing me to become coordinated."

"Oh, yes, of course." Helen says, but she's still beaming at Mirana. "Another time then. You'll have to bring her to our Christmas ball, Alice."

"Mmhmm." Alice rinses off her plate and sets it in the empty dish rack to dry. Hopefully by then they'll both have forgotten about it. It's bad enough that she has to dance with the men visiting. The last thing she wants is to spend the evening stepping on Mirana's toes.

"I'll leave you to it, then." Helen rises, taking her plate with her. "All the baking things are still in the same spot, center cupboard above the stove as well as the cabinets directly below. Do try not to make too much of a mess." She looks fondly at Mirana. "Lovely to meet you, dear. I hope to be seeing more of you in the future."

"Of course."

With that, Helen leaves with plate in hand, probably going to finish her meal in the study.

Alice goes to the cupboard and starts taking down ingredients. Among them is a neatly written out recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Alice sends a silent thank you to her mother for coming to her rescue on that front, because honestly this whole thing was done on impulse and she hadn't really planned far ahead. Mirana goes into the cabinets after glancing at the recipe and takes out two bowls and a thick wooden spoon. They settle into a sort of comfortable silence, measuring things out and setting them aside, communicating with simple looks, wordlessly, cleaning as they go. After the events of the past few months, quiet is exactly what they need right now.

The dough is soon ready, thick and pleasantly aromatic. As expected, Alice swipes a few bites before Mirana swiftly swipes the bowl from her, rolls it all into balls faster than anyone Alice had ever seen before, and sticks the tray into the oven. She giggles at Alice's pout.

"You'll have them when they're done." she says.

"But they're better raw." Alice whines.

"Your stomach will thank me later." Mirana pokes her belly playfully. "You should show me your room."

Alice grins. "Well, Miss Underland, that's a little forward of you, don't you think?"

"Do you ever stop?"

"Never."

Mirana fixes her with a look, which only makes Alice laugh. "Alright, since you want to see it so bad, we'll go to my room."

"Thank you."

Alice takes Mirana's hand in hers and leads her upstairs. Her bedroom is the second to last one down the hall, and also happens to be the smallest bedroom in the entire house. Her sister Margaret had insisted on having the larger room since she had more things, but since she's moved out with Lowell that room is noticeably bare. Alice sometimes wonders how she'd managed to fit everything into that little studio space they share, though visiting them has never been on her top list of priorities. She pulls open the door to her room and lets Mirana enter first.

Her room is exactly the same as she'd left it when she'd last been here. One set of walls is painted navy blue striped through with light wooden boards while the other set acts as accent walls painted bright orange. There's an orange K hanging above her desk, which is covered in sketches and random pens and pencils with the occasional marker in the mix. All her painting supplies sit underneath her wall shelves, her paint-splattered easel folded up and bearing most of the weight of canvases and jars of paint. The brushes sit in a cup by themselves, mostly clean. The accent walls house most of her paintings and drawings, one wall hollowed out to act as her bed space. Her bed is a simple mattress wrapped in blue plaid sheets and topped off with two navy pillows. The recessed part of the wall is essentially a mural full of wildly whimsical patterns and a rainbow of abstract animals. Alice has been working on that mural for three years, and she still doesn't consider it done.

Alice makes something of an effort to make her room look a little more presentable, though. She starts clearing off her desk, sorting aimlessly. "I'm not sure what you were expecting, but it's pretty simple. Nothing fantastic."

Mirana walks around her room, eyes sweeping the space. "No, it's anything but. It's complicated, but beautiful." She smiles at Alice. "Like you."

Alice flushes and busies herself even more with her sketches. "You are free to believe what you'd like."

She feels Mirana's arms wrap around her from behind, her cheek pressing against hers. "You know, as cocky as you are, you are terribly insecure."

"Mmmph." Alice huffs.

"You know, one day I'm going to get you to see yourself the way I see you."

Alice puts her pile aside, turning in her arms. "Now you're starting to sound like me."

Mirana giggles. "Good." She lets go of Alice and does a little twirl, sitting herself on Alice's bed. "Come over here."

Alice raises an eyebrow but does as she asks, standing in front of Mirana.

Mirana smirks. "Not there." She pats her lap. "Here."

Alice frowns. This is very unlike Mirana. "What are you playing at?" she asks.

"Humour me."

"Alright."

Alice sits on Mirana's lap, albeit hesitantly. She may act taller, but Mirana has a good few inches on her, and this only reminds her of that fact. Mirana shifts her so Alice is facing her now, pinning Mirana's legs between her thighs. She fingers Alice's shirt, seeming to be considering what to do with it. Alice swallows hard. She may be on top, but it's clear who's in charge right now.

"Er, Mirana, what are you doing?" Alice asks nervously. What has gotten into her?

Mirana's eyes are much darker than usual as she reaches up to pull Alice's face down closer. "I think I'm ready to go a bit further than we have been." she says. "I don't want Bumby's touch to be the last." She kisses Alice hard, nipping her lower lip before pulling away. "Make me forget him." she whispers against her lips.

It is suddenly far too hot in this room. Alice isn't sure how she's still breathing at this point. "Are you sure?" she asks.

Mirana leans back, lying down fully now, and pulling Alice down with her. "Don't make me ask again." she breathes.

That's all Alice needs to hear.