Finding Normal . . . Or Something Like That

Chapter Seventeen

I would like to dedicate this chapter to an alumna of my college who, sadly and tragically, was killed during the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Rest in peace, Taylor Anderson, R-MC '08. You will be missed.

Disclaimer: Yep, I don't own this.

So here's chapter seventeen, in which Carol finds out about Wonderland. Now, onward, back to our regularly scheduled Alice and Hatter awesome fluffiness.

For the most part, Hatter had lived by the rule of keeping things as simple as possible. Then again, that had gotten turned completely on its ear when he had met Alice. She, in a matter of days, had changed his life. For that, he knew now that he was extremely grateful.

However, when it had actually come time to tell Carol about Wonderland, an idea that he had been fully supportive of since the beginning of their relationship, Hatter was suddenly very aware of the fact that he and Alice could easily sound like they belonged in a mental hospital. Carol, as much as he liked (even loved) her, was a very realistic kind of a woman. Hatter knew that she would be very skeptical of their tale of Wonderland.

Which is why Alice and he had been very careful about broaching the topic with her.

Dinner, that night, had been very simple and straightforward. They had invited Carol over, under the guise of going over wedding details with her. Alice had been extremely adamant about having her mother involving in the planning of their wedding. Hatter was in total agreement. After seeing her skillful aid in his shop, he knew the abilities of the woman and would take her advice on other similar venues. Despite the fact that they were paying for most of them wedding themselves, Carol's feedback was vital.

It was over after-dinner tea (his idea) that they had finally launched into the very odd details of their initial meeting. Alice had held his hand tightly throughout the entire evening. He needed her support as much as she needed his.

Carol had been very quiet as they told her about how, when Alice had followed Jack through the streets, she had seen him taken back through the Looking Glass by the White Rabbit. A little grin had crossed his face when he talked about when Ratty had brought Alice into his tea shop (in Wonderland). That was still a personal favorite memory for him. But, as he knew, their memories of Wonderland weren't necessarily good. The torture, the terror of the Queen of Hearts, and the loss of Robert were very strong. Even after more than a year, Alice was still very affected by the death of her father. Her tears were honest and Hatter had done all he could to aid her as she told Carol about his sacrifices to ensure her safety.

When Alice had pulled out the letter from Robert to Carol, Hatter had fell quiet, watching his future mother-in-law's face. Carol recognized the handwriting, just as Alice had. As she had read the letter, Hatter had wanted to go over and hug Carol. The emotional shock had been as hard on Carol (if not harder) as it had been for Alice. Alice, at least, had gotten the benefit of holding Robert as he died, had gotten to say goodbye. Carol hadn't.

Alice, like Hatter, had been very tense when her mother had read the letter that Rober had left in Charlie's care. Carol had been quite matter-of-fact as she had finished the letter, folding it carefully, setting it on her lap. She looked to Alice and Hatter.

"I should have known that you and Jack were different," the older woman said, looking at Hatter. "Your manners were strange, at least in the beginning."

He laughed. "Yeah, getting used to this world definitely took some time." Nudging Alice's shoulder, he continued, "But, lucky for me, I had a really good teacher to help me adjust to this world." He looked over to Carol. "As well as someone who was willing to accept the fact that I was . . . well, unique."

Carol did smile. "Unique, yes, but you always seemed to know the kinds of tea that I like, even from the beginning."

Hatter rolled his eyes. "I'm a Hatter. It's kind of what I do. Great-Uncle Madigan would be gravely disappointed in me if I didn't have such a good guess of people's preferences and that's something I couldn't bear."

The older Hamilton looked to her daughter and raised an eyebrow. Alice blushed a bit under her mother's gaze.

"Yes, Mom?"

"You chose a tea-shop owner over a king?"

That one question had caught both of them quite by surprise. Alice looked up at Hatter. He gaped at her, tightening his hold on her. His fiancée looked back to her mother. "Mom, Jack's a nice guy and, yes, he is the new King of Wonderland, but he wasn't the right guy for me. Hatter's my kind of a guy. He's understands me better than Jack ever did. Even after only a few days, he was willing to leave his life and whole world behind to follow me, because he loved me. Jack never would do that. I think that speaks a lot for his character."

For a moment, Hatter was worried that Carol would suddenly change her mind to be in favor of Jack, even though both he and Alice had told her that Jack was married to Duchess now (and they wouldn't change that for the world). He must have been extremely tense because Alice leaned back against him and took his hands in hers, rubbing her thumbs over his palms, easing some of the tension.

But then Carol grinned. "I don't think I could have dealt with being the mother-in-law to a King, even if he was the King of Wonderland. Being the mother-in-law of a teashop owner, even if he really is the Mad Hatter, is so much easier to deal with."

Hatter started laughing boisterously. "The Mad Hatter was my Great-Uncle Madigan, Carol."

The woman raised her eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yep." He really couldn't resist the pop this time.

Carol laughed. "I bet you have a lot of great stories about your childhood." She sobered, a moment later, remember the emotional moment of Christmas. "Before he died, that is."

He appreciated the fact that Carol was very sensitive of his emotions. She really was a great woman and he was sorry that she and Alice had to be so wrapped up in the adventures of the now-former Queen of Hearts.

"Lewis Carroll got a fair amount of Wonderland right but, as Alice will attest, there was a good amount that got left out his stories." He looked down at his lovely Alice, settled so comfortably in his arms. "Like the March Hare of the stories was turned into a merciless assassin, a far cry from the one who traded riddles with the Mad Hatter."

Alice laughed a bit. "Or how the White Rabbit is really a police force that was used by the Queen of Hearts?" She looked up at Hatter. "What do you suppose Jack is using them for nowadays?"

Hatter shrugged. "I suppose he's completely changed that part of Wonderland. I never thought to ask him about that."

Carol laughed some. "This is going to take some getting used to, you know."

Both Hatter and Alice looked at her. Hatter raised an eyebrow.

"That your future son-in-law is the great-grandnephew of the Mad Hatter of the stories?" Alice asked, in all sincerity. There was a vague hint of remorse in her voice that only Hatter really caught as she continued, "Or that Dad got turned into the Carpenter?"

"Or that Alice is the new Alice of Legend." Alice winced visibly at that comment and realization dawned on Carol's face.

"Now I get it!"

"What, Mom?"

"When you were in the hospital last year, after you . . . came back through the Looking Glass, David – Hatter spent almost all night in the hospital, waiting to hear about your well-being. He made a comment about you being 'legendary.' I didn't think anything of it then, but now it makes so much sense!"
He could hear Alice's groan and it was all he could do to keep from laughing loudly. As Carol mentioned that interaction, he flashed back to those stressful few hours, when he was so worried about Alice's well-being, even more than if she had remembered her adventures with him.

"Yeah, Hatter likes to point out that history likes to repeat itself, especially with us," Alice said, a bit reluctantly.

The grin on his face didn't dim. "Damn straight, Alice."

"Language!" The simultaneous reprimand of the two Hamilton women made him grin even wider.

Shaking his head, he continued, "What I mean is, you're special and you didn't have to sell yourself short."

Her elbow in his rib was enough to silence the discussion, if only for the moment and Hatter looked to Carol. The little smile on her face, even as she held Robert's letter again in her hands, was sign enough that she had accepted their outlandish tale.

"So, you see, Mom, Hatter's not your ordinary teashop owner whose last name happens to be Hatter," Alice summed up. "He's related to the original Mad Hatter."
Carol rolled her eyes. "Well, at least you didn't fall in love with the Dormouse."

Their simultaneous gag reflex sent Carol into fits of laughter.

That's chapter seventeen. I hope you liked it. Given that I wrote this chapter while . . . well, let's just say I was not drinking tea while writing this chapter. But still, I was trying to think of how Carol would react when Alice and Hatter told her their tale. Regardless, you know what to do. Review and let me know what you think.

P.S. Guess what chapter's next?