While Alice tucked the kids in, Hatter flipped through a magazine in their living room. He couldn't decide which was more surreal: that he was no longer in Wonderland or that he'd somehow achieved domestic bliss.
"Hey," Alice said softly and he looked up. "Would you mind reading that in bed?"
He looked down at the magazine. "I didn't want to keep you awake."
"What'll keep me awake is if you aren't in there next to me."
He stood up immediately.
In the bedroom, Alice said, "The light won't bother me. If you want to keep reading?"
He'd had his fill of absorbing a new world. "Think I'd rather just be next to you."
Alice turned off the lamp and they got under the blankets together.
"Tomorrow will be better," she said. "I bet your system just takes longer to metabolize whatever it was they gave you."
"I guess we'll see," he said.
Alice cleared her throat; he thought she was going to say something else. Instead, she rolled over, away from him.
Sleep would not be forthcoming.
He was in bed with Alice. His bed. His Alice.
And he was angry.
What if the memories didn't come back? What if they were gone forever. A whole decade of his life, stolen.
How would he protect them? How could he provide for them? He didn't even know what he did for a living.
Don't think about it. Try not to think about it.
He listened to the sounds of the house. Mechanical hums, muffled street sounds. Like Wonderland, but the rhythms were wrong.
He listened to Alice breathe, deeply and evenly, her back to him. She must be asleep.
He rolled onto his side and shifted closer to her. He wanted to touch her, but he didn't know where he was allowed to put his hand. He laid it lightly on her hip.
The covers moved. Alice reached around and took his hand in hers. She pulled his arm around her and tucked it under her left side. The movement drew his whole body into contact with hers.
He smelled her hair. That he remembered. The sense memory was so strong, his head dropped closer into her without conscious thought. He placed a small kiss on the back of her neck.
"Are you trying to seduce me?" she murmured.
Hatter froze. "Sorry."
She rolled in his arms and peered up at him. "I wasn't telling you to stop."
• X •
Alice realized that she hadn't kissed her husband since he'd woken up in the hospital. Which wouldn't be all that unusual if this were a normal day. But under their current circumstances, it was more like she had never kissed him.
She leaned forward and put her lips to his, softly, giving him the option to return the pressure or not.
He met her without hesitation.
• X •
He was kissing Alice.
His wife, Alice.
He pushed up on an elbow for more leverage and was pleased when she took the opportunity to maneuver beneath him.
She was warm and soft and when his tongue slipped into her mouth, her hand trailed up his side under his shirt. Her skin next to his felt amazing. Nerve endings came alive, and he had to break the kiss to breathe.
He gave a laugh of surprise and leaned his forehead down to hers. "So are you just, um, trying to jog my memory?"
She smiled up at him. "You think that'd work?"
Her hands were on his sides, tracing patterns. He found the movements both comforting and exhilarating.
"I'm willing to experiment if you are," he said.
She leaned up and kissed him again, quickly. Instead of focusing on his lips, she moved to his neck. Kissing a trail along his jaw and then spending more time on his pulse point. It was… effective.
It made him nervous. He didn't know how to touch her.
"You're, ah, quite efficient at that," he said.
"You may not remember, but we've done this lots of times," Alice assured him. Her voice was so affectionate, it gave him the courage to voice his thoughts.
"You have me at a disadvantage," he admitted.
He didn't want to say anymore. It was frustrating enough as it was. But Alice understood anyway.
She laid a hand on his cheek. "Hey, we don't have to."
He nodded.
Alice kissed the side of his face and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "You've had a busy day."
"You don't say."
He remembered her telling him that she trusted him. "Completely." How that had settled him. Yes, the Queen wanted them dead and they were neck-deep in hot water at the moment. But he'd felt — that if he had Alice, it was going to be alright. That was still true.
She let go of him and pointed down. "Hey, this? Is my side of the bed."
Tilting her head to the right, she added "That's yours."
Dutifully, he looked at the empty space.
"Over there?" he asked. "Mmm. Seems pretty far. How do you feel about the middle?"
Alice pretended to think about it. "I'm amenable if I get to be the big spoon."
"Deal," he said.
They re-arranged, and Alice molded herself to his back. Her hand was on his chest, and he pulled it up to kiss her fingers.
Her presence made him feel peaceful, and his mind refused to keep racing. Slumber took him quickly.
• X •
Alice smiled to herself when she heard his breathing change. He was always the first to fall asleep.
She'd tell him that, if she had to. Tell him about the first night they shared a bed. (Well, a couch to be more accurate.) Tell him about the days that the kids were born. Tell him why they decided not to go back to Wonderland anymore.
She'd fill in the gaps. If she had to.
She hoped she wouldn't have to.
Because to try and give those things back to him meant they were gone forever. And Alice was not okay with that.
She tightened her grip. Refusing to let him go.