Finding Normal, or Something Like That
Chapter Ten
Disclaimer: Yeah, I still don't own anything. I'm still only playing this sandbox.
Here's chapter ten, in which Hatter experiences his first Christmas with the Hamiltons, finally regains his sense of family, and has a talk with Carol. This is a nice long chapter for all of you, to make up for the shortness of the last one. Now go. Enjoy! And don't forget to review.
He shivered in his jacket as he walked down the sidewalk, heading into the Hamilton's apartment building. As of yet, he still hadn't bought a car. Given that he was still perfected how to drive a car, that was a good thing. Besides, he needed to save some money before he made an investment like that. Jack's money was only getting him so far.
Looking up at the building for a brief moment, studying its facade, Hatter smiled. It was Christmas Day and he was lucky enough to be able to have dinner with his love and her mother.
Alice had spent the night with him the night before, after she had dragged him to a family get-together, where he had met a lot of her aunts, uncles, and cousins. He had even met her mother's parents and her father's mother, though he was sad that he didn't get to meet her father's father. The elderly man had unfortunately passed away the year before. But, as they were leaving the party, Carol had told him that he had passed the family test. A good deal of Alice's cousins, especially the younger ones, had liked him. Most of Alice's aunts and uncles had, at least, been kind to him. That, he counted in the win column.
Now, being that it was Christmas Day, he was spending the evening with just Carol and Alice. Although he had closed the shop the night before and today, he had been quite busy, wrapping and re-wrapping his presents for Alice and Carol, after Alice had left to go back home to help her mother prepare dinner.
He had kept the presents hidden well out of sight. It was a good thing that he was an ex-con man. It meant that he was very good at hiding things.
As he walked through the lobby, heading to what he now, to Alice and Carol's endless amusement, called the "creaky, old box of doom," the elevator, he casually waved and called "Happy Christmas," to the elderly doorman, who was sitting with his wife, having a little Christmas dinner. Jeremy, the doorman, waved back and returned his well-wishes.
Jeremy had been the doorman and handyman of this apartment building for nearly fifty years. He knew the Hamilton family very well and felt a sort-of grandfatherly affection to young Alice, especially after the disappearance of her father, all those years ago. Over the past several months, he had seen Hatter come in and out, usually accompanying Alice and had, as such, formed an opinion of the man. It was a good one. He felt that Hatter was a better man for Alice (and in general) than that no-good Jack Heart.
"Now there goes a fine young man," he commented to his wife, Frances.
"Oh hush," she replied, with an agreeing smile. "You always say that."
Now Hatter, as he entered the elevator, was not privy to Jeremy's opinion of him, nor had he over-heard the soft conversation between the husband and wife, bounced eagerly from foot to foot.
Finally, after several minutes, as the creaky old thing reached Alice's floor, he got off.
Under normal circumstances, he would have merely rung the bell and waited for either Alice or Carol to let him in. However, since he felt festive since it was the holidays, he shifted the packages and knocked on the door, alternating between long and short knocks.
A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal Alice standing there, a huge smile on her face, a laugh on her lips.
"Merry Christmas, Hatter," she said, stepping out into the hall, wrapping her arms around his neck, and leaning up to kiss him on the lips.
He slipped his free hand around her waist pulling her close, deepening the kiss just a little bit. Seconds later, she pulled back. Hatter pouted at her, though he knew that, unfortunately, they could not continue in that fashion out in the hall. It just wouldn't be decent.
"Merry Christmas, Alice."
She took his hand and pulled him into the apartment.
Moments later, as Carol came bustling in from the kitchen, where the smell of dinner was wafting in, tempting him, he was hanging up his coat and taking off his hat. It was Christmas, so he did dress nicely, if only to go with the idea that you were supposed to look nice on the holidays.
Carol grinned at him, wishing him a good holiday, kissing him on the cheek.
After returning the greeting, he lifted the presents that he had brought and asked, "So Carol, can you show me were to put these?" He looked, a bit wide-eyed and pleading, at her, hoping she would get his message.
Apparently she did, because she promptly responded, saying, "Of course. Alice, dear, would you go in and check on the food. I think it's almost ready. I'll handle David."
Alice made a big show of rolling her eyes in protest but Hatter saw the small grin on her lips. Something in his gut told him that she had a feeling as to where the conversation would go as soon as she walked out of the room.
Walking into the living room, Hatter smiled at the sight of the tree in the corner, covered in lights and ornaments. He had helped pick out the tree, set it up, and decorate it. Of all of the ornaments on the tree, only three belonged to him. One, a gray and black cat with a wide, comical smile that reminded him of the Cheshire Cat, he had bought. Carol and Alice had given him the other two. The mug, he had been presented by Carol at the opening of his tea shop. The brown fedora ornament, on the other hand, had been given to him the week before by Alice.
He bent down and added his presents to the pile of packages already under the tree, taking special care to make sure that his were front and center, so that Alice would be able to find them as soon as she walked into the room.
When he stood up, Carol had a knowing look on her face.
"Why do I get the feeling you're going to be asking me a very important question about my daughter in the very near future, David," she said, point blank.
Drawing a deep breath, he nodded. "Yes. Carol, I know that Alice and I have only been seeing each other for a few months, but it took me only a few days to realize that I love Alice with everything that I am. But I know that she is very important to you, just like you are very important to her. I wouldn't dare do anything to break the two of you up. However, it would mean so much to me if you were supportive of us. I want to have a family and a life with Alice. Please, Carol, I would do anything and everything for her."
Carol grinned. "David, you don't have to say anything else. I can't wait to have you in the family. Just promise me you won't do anything important until summer."
Hatter laughed softly. "No promises."
"David," she warned, threateningly.
Immediately, he threw his hands up, in an attempt to appease her. "Don't worry. I wasn't planning on doing anything tonight. I just wanted to talk to you."
She warmly laughed. "Good." Then, Carol wrapped her arms around him and enveloped Hatter in a tight hug. He hugged her back.
"You don't know how much that means to me," he quietly told her.
It had been a long time since his dear old mum had passed on. But now, he felt like he had another mother figure in his life and it seemed only fitting that it was his love's mother. Without even knowing it, Carol had seemed to sense his anxieties and the pain he felt about losing his own mum and had readily opened herself to the possibilities of having him in her family. For that, he was grateful.
Upon drawing away from her, he hastily tried to wipe away the tears that he hadn't known had crept out of the corners of his eyes. But Carol saw them.
"David, are you alright?" she asked, worry in her voice.
He only nodded, speechless now.
Footsteps came up behind him. Hatter glanced over to see Alice stopping beside him. The happy look on her face suddenly changed to match the worry that was on her mother's face as she looked at him. She looked over at Carol, who nodded emphatically to her.
Alice wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him tight. "It's going to be okay, David."
He nodded. "Yeah, but there are times I miss my mum."
She kissed him chastely on the cheek. "No worries, Hatter. At least not today. It's Christmas, and dinner's ready."
"Good, I'm famished," he said, putting on a happy front. Both Hamilton women saw through that front, he knew. They saw the vulnerable part of him, the raw part that wasn't quite healed yet.
Minutes later, they were sitting around the dining room table. Hatter could hardly believe the feast in front of him. His stomach was practically eating itself at the sight of all that food. It all looked and smelled so good.
As they ate, Hatter realized that this was his new family. While Carol could never replace his mum or Uncle Madigan, she was doing her best. And it was working. She saw the part of him that still grieved over the loss of his mother. By the way she asked about his previous Christmas, he could tell that she was trying to cheer him up.
He did managed to recover from his momentary break-down and began regaling them with tales of Christmas pasts, including a rather memorable night when Uncle Madigan and he had decided to brew every kind of tea they had in the house and sample all of them in turn. His mother had run around trying to handle the numerous steaming kettles while he and his great-Granduncle sat at the table, analyzing the teas, often affected fake, pretentious accents for their own amusements. It had been a tea party and a Christmas that was especially dear to him.
Both Carol and Alice had laughed when he got to the part where Uncle Madigan had caused what he could only describe as a waterfall of tea upon leaning up and knocking over the extra card table of teapots when he had thought of what turned out to be a terrible blend of tea.
Finally, after stuffing themselves and managing to clear the table, the three made their way back into the living room.
Alice pulled him onto the couch, snuggling up beside him, while Carol divided up the presents. Hatter was quite surprised to find that he had several presents, mostly from Alice and Carol, though he was sure that he saw an envelope from Carol's parents and a small present from Alice's paternal grandmother. Alice accepted the present he had brought for her from her mother. She put it on her lap.
"I'll save this for last," she said, looking up at him with a sweet smile.
Then, one by one, in a tradition that Alice explained went back to her childhood, they opened their presents.
Hatter was pleasantly surprised by what he received from Alice and Carol. They had been extraordinary generous. He had received a new winter hat from Alice, with a matching scarf and glove set from Carol, along with a few sweaters, two new books, and a large mug, filled with different teas. He had received a card and check from Carol's parents. Grandmother Hamilton had gifted him a set of jars for tea leaves, surprising him entirely.
Carol looked at the set. "I told Theresa that you owned your own tea shop and she said that any tea connoisseur needed that."
"Remind me to thank her, and your parents as well, Carol. They were all generous." He looked between the two. "And thank you both. You were too kind."
"You're just being modest!" Alice exclaimed. She smiled as she lifted the one present she had yet to open in her hands – his.
Hatter looked over and saw that, like her daughter, Carol hadn't opened his present yet either.
Alice nodded to her mother. Carol carefully opened the present, mindful of the wrapping job that he had spent so much time working on. He allowed himself a small smile as she gasped as she withdrew her present.
For Carol, Hatter had commissioned a silver and gold picture frame to be engraved with her name, Robert's name, and their wedding date. With Alice's help, he had gotten a wedding picture, had the picture professionally matted, and put in the frame.
Carol, moved, rose and hugged him tightly. "David, this is beautiful. Thank you."
"Only the best for you."
After Carol had sat back down, still cradling the picture in her hands, Alice took her turn opening her present from him. He watched her carefully.
The look on her face was wonderful.
She pulled out the charm bracelet first, her fingers traveling over the few charms that he had put on there – the hat, the mirror, and the book. There was still plenty of space for her to add charms. Then, when she pulled out the piece that he was most proud of, he felt a leap in his stomach. He had spent weeks trying to find the right hat for Alice and finally, he did. Alice grinned broadly as she inspected the hat. It was a black cloche hat with a light blue ribbon and bow on it. She then set it proudly on her head.
Hatter leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "You look beautiful, love."
"Now I feel like you," she said, giggling, hugging him. "Thank you, Hatter."
Carol only smiled as she looked at her daughter. Hatter could only wonder what she was thinking, but, judging on her look, it was good things.
Yes, he decided, this had been a good first Christmas in Alice's world.
A cloche hat, by the way, was popularized in the 1920's, by the flappers. It has a narrowed brim and a round crown. "Cloche" means "bell" in French. I felt that it would be a good hat for Hatter to give to Alice for Christmas.
Well, that's that. I hoped you liked this chapter. It was a nice long one. Now, go and review. I like reviews. They make me happy!