It was hard to describe-- the feeling of meeting someone as familiar as your mother and realizing they know nothing about you, and might not even be able to tell you from a stranger. There was a weird, bodily numbness that passed through her as she stood next to her brother, but she managed to smile, trying not to feel too awkward as her mother stared, taking her in for the first time.
“Thank you,” Alice said graciously accepting the cup of juice, “How are you mum?” It was still vaguely weird addressing the woman, who she’d only know from photographs, the woman who her mother was before she’d had the experiences that Hannah in AJ’s time had.