It's been a little over three years since Alice and Hatter were married. After a big family gathering involving Carol, Alice's Aunt Nancy and her cousins with their young kids for Christmas last year, Hatter and Alice decided they wanted to start a family. Alice had seen how amazing Hatter was with her cousins' children and it warmed her heart. After that Christmas, they had tried for two months. Today, Alice had an appointment and came home knowing she was pregnant.
Hatter was still at work and she spent all day figuring out how she would surprise him with the news. Deciding to stick with something simple, Alice began cooking dinner. She lost track of the time as she cooked her homemade lasagna. After taking the dish out of the oven, Alice turned to see Hatter walking through the door.
"That smells delicious, love," Hatter told her as she placed the lasagna on a cooling rack.
"Thank you, honey," she replied brightly, giving him a quick kiss. "So, I have a new riddle for you."
"Oh, is that so," Hatter asked, amused.
"Mhm! In what situation does one plus one equal three," Alice asked him with anticipation.
"Alice, are you sure you haven't gone mad," Hatter joked. "One and one is always two unless…" Hatter trailed off with realization. "Are you telling me what I think you're telling me?"
"Yep," Alice confirmed, popping the last letter, "I'm pregnant!" Hatter was overwhelmed with emotions. He kissed her firmly and Alice brought his hand to her belly, smiling through the kiss.
"I'm gonna be a father," Hatter stated, still wrapping his mind around the news.
"You're going to be an amazing father," Alice told him sweetly, kissing him on the cheek.
"You'll be an even more wonderful mother," Hatter remarked, moving a strand of hair behind her ears. They discussed their excitement with each other over dinner, including how they're gonna tell her mom.
Alice and Hatter made it a point to arrive at Carol's early for dinner before she came home. They were having a family night together. When she did finally come home, she was surprised to see Alice and Hatter there so early.
"Well this is a surprise," Carol commented. Alice stifled a laugh thinking how the real surprise hasn't even been revealed. "I'm gonna get started on dinner and Alice maybe you can find scrabble or something for us to play later." Alice went to dig out their old scrabble game when her mom was about to check the oven before pre-heating it.
"She's opening the oven," Alice whispered excitedly to Hatter who grinned as wide as the cheshire.
"Now, why is there a bun in the oven," Carol asked out loud to no one in particular. Alice and Hatter started laughing and suddenly Carol understood. "Sweetie, you're expecting!?" With a nod from both of them, Carol laughed and gave them hugs, congratulating them. They spent the night celebrating the growth of their family.
Eighteen weeks passed and Alice had a doctor's appointment. She and Hatter found out the gender of their little bundle of joy. It wasn't until they invited Carol, Julia and Liam over for dinner that they revealed it. Alice brought out the cake for dessert, allowing her mom to be the one to cut into it. Everyone watched as Carol cut through the cake, revealing the color pink.
"Oh my goodness, you're having a girl," Carol exclaimed. Julia shrieked with excitement, hugging Alice and Hatter. Seeing the joy on everyone's faces warmed their hearts.
"Alright, don't hold back on us. What's her name," Julia asked with anticipation. Alice laughed at her excitement.
"Charlotte Rose Hatter is her name," Alice revealed with a smile.
"That's beautiful, sweetie, how'd you two come up with it," Carol asked curiously. Hatter answered.
"We named her Charlotte after ol' Charlie. Rose is a shortening of me own mum's name, Rosemary," he explained. Alice wrapped her arm around his waist and kissed his cheek.
After everyone went home, Hatter insisted on cleaning up. Alice was on the couch, flipping through the channels to find something decent to watch. When he was finished with the dishes, Hatter went to sit next to his wife. Alice had turned on a music channel and was singing along. She turned to him sitting next to her and made a show of singing to him as she laced her fingers through his.
"Be my forever, be my forever," Alice sang along to Hatter, showering him with little kisses.
"I'll love you forever," Hatter sang back to her. Alice brought his hands to her belly.
"She's kicking like crazy. Do you feel that," she asked him, smiling brightly. Hatter felt their daughter kick lightly, overjoyed.
"You have the most amazing mother, little Charlotte. I can't wait to meet you," Hatter crooned, sweetly. He kissed Alice's belly gently and another flutter of kicks began. Alice knew Hatter would be a great daddy to their little girl. In this moment, she felt so complete to have found a love so rare.
Hatter has been super over protective lately. Alice was now thirty eight weeks pregnant and any time she attempted to cook dinner or even clean a plate off the table, Hatter always insisted that he'd take care of it. She didn't mind his protectiveness. If it put his mind at ease, she'd let him do what he felt necessary, finding it sweet how much he cared. Their baby girl would be along any day now and Hatter did his best to make sure they were prepared.
During the last few months, they successfully turned the spare room into a nursery resembling Disney's Wonderland vision. Carol had bought a white rabbit plush for the baby, joking that the daughter of Alice and the Mad Hatter should have one, causing Hatter to roll his eyes jokingly. Alice had playfully smacked him in the arm telling him to lighten up.
Currently, Alice was reading her book when Hatter came home from the shop. He walked over to kiss her lightly.
"How was your day, honey," Alice asked happily.
"It was very busy but the day passed quickly," Hatter answered. "It is nice to come home to my beautiful wife though." Alice gave him an affectionate, lingering kiss, taking his porkpie hat off his head and placing it on her own and ran her fingers through his thick, unruly hair. They whispered I love you's to each other in between kisses. Parting, Alice groaned from the pain in her abdomen.
"Alice, are you alright, love," Hatter asked, clearly concerned for his wife. Two minutes passed as Hatter held on to her and another contraction came.
"I think this is it," Alice gasped. Hatter quickly gathered the overnight bag and they safely made it to the hospital.
Eight hours later, Alice and Hatter's daughter was born. He had given Alice his strong right hand to hold through labor. No matter how strong his right hand was, Alice managed to nearly break it from her grip. There they were, Alice holding their baby girl in her arms, fawning over her.
"Welcome to the world Charlotte Rose," Hatter whispered to their daughter. He kissed the top of Alice's head. He loved his little family.
Author's Note: A big thanks to PrimevalRenji and JillJones123 for their kind reviews! I loved writing this chapter! There's not many Halice fics with this particular situation so I really wanted to see them start a family! I hope y'all loved this chapter as much as I do!