“She is in a daze,” Tiger says. “Let’s get Dad to drive us to school.”
“No.” I stand up. “I will drive you to school.” It’s my responsibility, isn’t it? “Have you had breakfast yet?”
Both stare at me as if I am an alien.
“Did I say something wrong?” I say.
“You never make us breakfast,” Lily says.
“Oh.” I rub my chin. “That was a bad mum. Not from now on.”
Tiger and Lily burst out laughing.
“Dad won’t believe this.” Lily says.
And then Dad calls. He sounds like he is down in the foyer or something. My room is on the second floor. And he says, “Baby, are you awake yet?”
Suddenly, and upon hearing his voice, I realize I don’t want to see him.
Chapter 10
The man calling me baby isn’t Jack. That’s not his voice. I’ve never heard it before. No, I can’t meet him. That’s like a big spoiler for the movie of my life. I don’t want to know the man I am going to marry. I don’t mind my children. They are the blood that runs in my veins. I don’t mind meeting them now. But not the boy who will become a man I will fall in love with. I will have a boring love life this way when I get back.
“Listen.” I kneel down. “How about we make it a surprise to Dad, the fact that I am making you breakfast? Let’s not see him now.”
“What do you want us to do?” Tiger says.
“Let’s leave through the back stairs. Get into my car. I have a car, right?”
“If you call your fancy rabbit-looking vehicle a car.” Tiger rolls his eyes.
“Okay.” I nod. “I will drive you to school, buy breakfast on the way, and then I’ll come back and meet Dad. Then I will cook you the best dinner you can gorge on when you come back.”
“I want marshmallow tarts,” Lily says.
“I can do that.” I have no idea what that is.
“Laughing Jelly Sticks, too?” Lily adds.
“Of course.”
“You’re the best, Mum.” She hugs me again.
“You want something special, Tiger?” I say.
“I just want to see you cook, for real,” he says. “That’d make my day.”
“Awesome.”
“Awesome?” Tiger squints, as if he’s starting to suspect I’m not his mother. “Who says awesome anymore?”
“What should I say?”
“Frabjous,” Lily squeaks.
“Ah.” I forgot we won the Wonderland War. “Frabjous. Now any idea how we could sneak out without Dad seeing us?”
“You’re the boss, Mum,” he says. “That’s your problem.”
“Of course,” I say, unsure what my next move will be.
There is a man who calls me baby climbing up the stairs. My eyes veer toward the window again. Then to the bedsheets. Then back to my children. “How about we climb out the window?”
“Wow!” Tiger says. “You’re seriously the coolest mum in the Great Republic of Wonderland.”
Chapter 11
I roll the sheets into a rope and dangle it down the window. Lily climbs on my back and wraps her tiny arms around my neck. Tiger holds me from the front, head on my bosom, arms wrapped around my back. We climb down, and I am surprised at my athletic physique. I must have trained well throughout the war. Chubby but strong.
Midway, the rope starts waving left and right, like a pendulum.
“Like Tarzan!” Tiger chirps.
“No, like Rapunzel,” Lily insists.
“Like the worst mother ever,” I say.
Finally, we hit the ground. My husband’s voice is calling for me upstairs. He must be in my room now. And soon he’ll see the dangling rope.
I let my children guide me to my car. It’s around the corner from the fabulous garden. I still can’t believe I’m living luxuriously in this future. Did someone compensate me that well for killing monsters and saving lives?
Tiger points at what looks like a vehicle, draped in a large white cover. It’s parked in a garage full of pink roses, covered with a pergola of green leaves.
Surreal.
I uncover it, and there is one funny-looking car underneath it. It looks like a modified Corvette, redesigned into the shape of a rabbit. The front is the rabbit’s nose, mouth, and chin, stretched out to serve as a car, a convertible with custom-made backseats. The back is the rabbit’s ass.
“Is this my car?”
“Come on, Mum.” Lily pulls me by the hand. “We’ve wanted you to take us for a ride in it since forever.”
“Okay.” I shake my shoulders. “Jump in.”
They do. I get into the driver’s seat. There are no keys. There is a button that says ‘Push Me.’
I push and the car stirs into existence. My kids cheer behind me, ready for a ride.
“Mrs. Alice!”
I hear someone call me. Not my husband. Another voice. Familiar.
“It’s Mr. Jittery. Our neighbor!” Lily says. “He designed the garden.”
I turn and watch the March Hare stepping toward me. He is in his pajamas, and wears a nightcap on his head. He looks much older now.
The kids greet him and play with him for a moment. This is the first of my friends that I’ve seen in this fabulous future. I have so many questions for him.