Finding Normal, or Something Like That

Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own. Oh, think of what I could do if I did own this. It would be lovely.

Here's chapter eight, in which it is the night before the tea shop opens and Hatter gets a very special present.

Quiet literally hung in the air as he surveyed the shop.

It was the night before he was set to open and he was incredibly nervous and excited. He could hardly believe that it was finally here. All those months of planning and preparing, scrimping and saving, and here he was, on the brink of establishing himself. And David Hatter – former con man of Wonderland, now content Oyster of Alice's world – was the happiest he had been in a very long time.

Everything was in place. All of the teas had been delivered. The food was already made – or would be fresh made, come morning. He had a skeleton staff to work already. The place was decorated, though he hadn't been able to put a patch of grass in the back by his office. Carol wouldn't hear of it, but they had managed to compromise by adding in several potted plants around the area of the office and around the shop.

It wasn't a total recreation of his tea shop in Wonderland. No, instead it was a colorful, Oyster reinterpretation of what he thought was a classic.

"What're you thinking about, Hatter?" Alice's quiet voice asked.

He turned slightly, seeing her behind him, observing him. A slow smile slid across his face as the memories of some very happy nights from the past two weeks invaded his mind.

"Oh, you know, the usual – life, tea, this shop, you."

Alice pretended to be offended, but he knew that it was, for the most part, an act. She knew, as he had told her many times over, that she was the most important thing in his life, though this shop came in a sound second.

For a moment, she looked around the shop. "Don't worry about tomorrow, Hatter. Everything will be perfect."

He barely suppressed a groan. "Now you've jinxed me, Alice."

"I did not!" she replied, indignantly.

He shook his head at her. "So, Alice Hamilton, what do you think of my humble tea establishment? Does it suit your high standards."

Now he had her laughing, which was a good thing, considering the fact that she was the only person in this world who remembered seeing his old tea shop. While her memories of the Wonderland Insanity, as he had come to term that period of time, Alice did remember, for the most part, the design aesthetic that best suited him.

Tapping the side of her nose lightly, she sighed. "Well, there's something missing."

"What?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it, but it seems like there needs to be something here, something very important, and it's missing."

He gulped heavily, silently cursing to himself and running through the quick mental checklist that had been present ever since he began thinking about and planning for the shop. Great, now Alice had him extremely nervous. This was not good. The shop was due to open in the morning. He couldn't handle having something go wrong!

Alice must have seen the worry on his face because she started giggling. Hatter gaped at her, extremely confused.

"What?" he asked.

The door to the shop opened. Together, they turned.

Both of Hatter's eyebrows shot way up when he saw Carol pulling a rather large piece of furniture that any fool – and a Hatter – would recognize in an instant. His confusion only grew and his interest piqued.

Carol stopped once she got the object firmly planted inside. She looked between her daughter and him. A small smile was on her lips.

"Surprise!" Alice whispered into his ear.

For once, Hatter didn't have words. With wide eyes, he slowly walked towards the hat rack, inspecting it. Gingerly, he reached out and brushed his fingers over the wood. It was cool to the touch but ever so familiar. If he didn't know any better, he would say that this was the hat rack that he had in his office in the tea shop back in Wonderland, the one that Great-Uncle Madigan and his Mum had given him when he opened the tea shop in Wonderland. Why, it even had the little ding in the base from where Dormie had knocked it over, years ago, doing enough damage to it that he couldn't have it fixed or fix it himself. Memories flooded through his mind and there was only one question that he could possibly ask, as he turned to look back at Alice.

"How?"

It was Carol who answered, to his even greater surprise. "Alice and I were out antiquing a few weeks ago and I found this sitting in the back corner of a store. It had been in terrible shape. For whatever reason, it seemed like something that you would like. Alice agreed with me. The owner of the store told me that, when it was dropped off, the man who delivered it said that it was perfect for a tea shop. I couldn't let that go, so I bought it and fixed it up for you, though I couldn't quite get that gouge out from the base–"

He cut her off with a tight hug. Tears stung at the corner of his eyes and he didn't bother to try and hide them. This was all too much.

"Thank you."

Carol saw the tears when he pulled back, though his eyes were down-cast. She didn't say anything but he knew that she realized the importance of the hat rack, even if she didn't know the whole story behind it.

Alice came up beside him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He put an around her, leaning his cheek against the top of her head. His hat slipped from the top of his head, falling to the floor.

Carol caught it before it hit the ground. With a smile and a wink, she put it on the hat rack, at the very top, in a place of honor. Hatter felt his heart leap with pride. Suddenly, he was not worried one bit about the shop. Everything would be okay. He had another very concrete piece of Wonderland with him, a piece of his old shop, and that was good.

"Tim and Meg have arranged a little pre-opening dinner for you. I was sent to come and get you.," the elder Hamilton said. At his look, she chuckled. "Don't worry, you can come back here to get the last few things ready for tomorrow morning."

"Sounds good to me, Mom," Alice replied. She shifted beside him. "How about you, Hatter?"

The fact that she used that name was comforting. It meant that she knew the significance of the hat rack now, though he could guess that she might have thought it familiar before.

"Yeah."

With that, they left the shop, him taking his hat from the rack as he passed. Hatter was the last one out the door. But, before he closed and locked it, he took one last back at the old piece of furniture. It was extremely out of place in the middle of the shop. He would have to move it when they came back tonight, but he was content to leave it where it was for now.

He could only wonder at who brought it over from Wonderland. Jack? Maybe, but Hatter thought that it was a bit of a long shot. The king and he weren't precisely friends and the other man didn't know how important the hat rack was to him. Dormie? Nah, that was an even longer shot than Jack. But, to Dormie's credit¸ he did know what it meant to Hatter. Charlie? Well, Hatter supposed that the crazy old knight might have had a hand in it. The man, while positively nuts, was unusually perceptive and he definitely had his ways at getting things like this done.

Outside, Alice took his hand and, when her mother wasn't paying attention, quietly said, "You'll explain, when you're ready, right?"

"Yeah, later."

There you go, chapter eight. I wanted Hatter to get a hat rack for his tea shop (since what would Hatter's tea shop be without a hat rack?). And then this struck. I hope you liked it and, if you did, go press the button that says 'review.'

Remember, this author likes feedback.