Jefferson (lookingforgrace) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-02-01 18:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, alice ayres, jefferson (the mad hatter) |
Who: Jefferson, Alice, and a new visitor.
What: Surprise?
When: Thursday afternoon.
Where: Jefferson's house in San Juan Capistrano.
Rating: Family-friendly. G.
Status: Complete!
NB: Grace has been redeemed as an item, given that Jefferson is absolutely incomplete without her, and she has almost no canon of her own.
The little girl stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the house before checking the address she’d printed on her school binder one more time. This was the place, and it was all she could do not to jump up and down. Just the fact that this house existed was enough to prove she hadn’t gone nutso. It was exactly how she dreamed it, with the letters on the mailbox and the overgrown willow tree near the driveway.
Holy crap, though. That meant that the same man probably lived there. Grace swallowed nervously. What did you say to somebody like this? “Hi, I think you’re really my papa because I dreamed about you in the orphanage?”
She walked up to the stairs, taking a breath before knocking. But after a while, nobody seemed to be home. Grace bit her lip moodily. Maybe she could wait? There had to be neighbors. Maybe one of them would see her. So she plunked her butt down on the brick, put her chin in her hands, and waited.
Alice wanted to see Jefferson, so she’d figured she’d surprise him by just showing up. Humming as she parked her car in the drive, she hopped out and smiled. He’d jump three feet when he saw her in his house, she was sure. (She knew where he hid his spare key, if only because she knew him well.)
So when she walked up and saw a little girl sitting on the steps, Alice blinked. “Hi.” She hoped she didn’t look imposing, but figured that wasn’t really possible anyway. She was 5’2” and wearing jeans, a tank top, and flats. Not imposing at all.
Grace blinked, rising. “Um. Hi. Do you live here?” She hoped not. “I was trying to find the person who lives here.”
Alice shook her head. “I don’t, no. But I do know the man who does. I’m friends with him, I was going to surprise him.”
Oh, good. “Is it just the one man who lives here? Like, kinda short and brown haired?” Grace knew she probably was being weird, but she just had to know. It just slipped out. “When I had a dream, it was just him, he didn’t even have a wife.”
“Oh, I’m not married to him.” Alice went beet red. “His name is Jefferson. And you dream him?” Jefferson dreamed he had a daughter sometimes. “Come on, let’s go inside and wait for him. We can make him a cuppa.”
Grace went just as red. “You don’t think I’m nutso?” She knew she shouldn’t trust a stranger so much, but this lady didn’t seem bad. And she knew where the key was to the house. “My name’s Grace. I don’t have any parents.”
“Not at all. He has dreams too, and so do I sometimes. Not of you guys, but of a different time and place.” She reached out for Grace’s hand, walking with her toward the door. She checked under a large rock in the garden, grinning when she was right and found a key.
“Really?” Grace stared, but eventually she managed a shy smile. “I thought I was crazy. I just know I dreamed about living here. And the man who lived here was my papa. But I don’t know about my mama.” It occurred to her that she should ask before she kept blabbing. “What’s your name?”
“My name is Alice.” Alice smiled, unlocking the door and then making sure to lock it behind them, slipping the key into her pocket. “Do you like tea too? I can make you some. Your papa’s a big fan.”
“That’s a pretty name.” Grace decided she was okay, and shook her head. “I’ve never had any tea. I don’t think. The matron always says it’s got more caffeine than soda pop, so she never let us.”
“Some of it does. I’ll make some green tea, it has very little.” Alice smiled sadly. Matron meant that this girl was an orphan. She wondered if the place where Grace was living knew she was gone.
“Okay. Is it really green?” Grace was curious.
Jefferson, meanwhile, was on his way home from work and had just pulled into the drive. He went up to his front door, but stopped dead on hearing voices from inside. Female voices. He listened for a while, but he was only able to breathe when he realized one of them belonged to Alice. How had she gotten inside, though?
He’d risk it - he didn’t hear anything that led him to believe she was afraid or that anything bad was going on. He made noise opening the door, making sure to click the lock loudly. It had been a long day, and he’d had strange dreams the night before, but Alice’s presence would be nice.
“The leaves are! The tea is a little bit, but not much. And we’ll put milk and sugar in yours, so it will be less green.” She hummed as she set the water on to boil, making sure to set out three mugs.
When she heard footsteps, she poked her head out into the hall and grinned. “Welcome home, buster!”
“How on earth did you g -” Jefferson was about to (gently) scold her for basically breaking into his house, but then he laid eyes on the little girl. He could feel all the color drain from his face.
Grace only had eyes for the man, who looked blown away by just seeing her. She got up from her seat, looking down. “Um. Hi. My name is Grace. I dreamed about you.”
Jefferson felt himself smile. “You dreamed about me?” He echoed, kneeling down to her level. “Well, Alice might have told you that I’ve dreamed about you, too.” He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “In fact,” he told her, “I dreamed about you just last night. Just as you are, right now.”
Alice figured he’d understand why the B&E happened when he saw Grace. She bit her lip and tended to the tea instead.
“Really?” Grace’s eyes lit up. “You don’t think I’m crazy? Cause I don’t have any parents, and I dreamed about my papa, and it was you.” She wanted to hug him, really bad, but she ground her hands into fists. Miss Alice looked weird, like she was sad. “Is it okay to - ”
Jefferson hesitantly hugged her before she could react, trying to make sure his eyes didn’t well up. “You’re just like I dreamed,” he told her. “Just as pretty.”
Sniffling a little, Alice couldn’t help but smile. “Gracie? May I talk to your papa in private for a moment? Nothing bad, promise.” She had to tell Jefferson that this girl was living in an orphanage.
As soon as she said the word ‘papa’ it was even harder not to tear up, but he managed to control himself. “You can look around the house, if you want. As long as you’re careful.”
Grace wanted to act like an adult, but she couldn’t help crying. She nodded, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “As long as it’s not bad,” she said, looking up at Alice with a wobbly smile.
“Promise it’s not.” Alice smiled, moving to hug the little girl too. When she knew Grace was out of earshot, she bit her lip and smiled at Jefferson. “You okay? You know she’s ... she’s an orphan, Jefferson.”
Jefferson blinked. “... Really? How do you know?” He sighed, a tremulous thing. “I’m all right, just … when I say I dreamed about her, I mean it exactly. The face, the hair, even the way she smiles. In my dreams, my wife and I had a daughter we named Grace. It’s that girl.”
“She told me.” Alice bit her lower lip. “Jefferson. We have to help her. I can adopt her, and maybe she can stay here? I don’t know, something - “ She wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “You need each other and you love each other. It’s really obvious.”
Jefferson shook his head. “Alice. You have enough to worry about with Oliver, let alone a little girl.” The answer seemed obvious, though it scared him to say it aloud. “I don’t know if … I have no idea how to be a parent, but if anyone should adopt her, I should.” It was scary, yes, but less than he’d thought. He did already care for the girl. She was already his.
“I can help you. I mean, I like her already. I’m not her mom, but I can be her friend.” Alice smiled a little, blushing pinkly. “You’re not alone, Jefferson.”
“I don’t even know if they’ll let me. I mean, I’m unmarried, and in therapy.” Who knew. Jefferson bit his lip. “I mean, I suppose she’d be in school while I work. And she’s at least an age where I wouldn’t need a nanny or something.”
“Exactly. And I’ll help out as much as I can. And Lulu and I would both vouch for your character.” Alice hugged him, an impromptu thing that was tight and joyful. “I just - this is fate.”
Jefferson hugged her back, wrapping his arms around her as tightly as he’d ever dared before. “Where did you find her?” He murmured, liking the scent of her hair.
“Sitting on your front porch.” Alice closed her eyes, trying very hard not to daydream of a future where Grace would get equal time with her and Jefferson both, where Alice lived with her boyfriend and made him cups of tea more often.
“She came here? I know she said she dreamed about this, but she came on her own?” Jefferson sighed, not letting her go quite yet.
“Mmhmm. She’s smart and resourceful. Takes after her daddy.” Alice couldn’t help looking up at him, tiptoeing to give him a kiss on the chin.
Jefferson blushed, letting go a bit, but still not entirely. “I just can’t believe this is happening. Things are mad at the shop. I may have to start working more hours, or working at home.” Just, he couldn’t let that girl go. Not anymore. She was quite literally his dream girl. In a different way than Alice.
He had to say it all the same. “Caroline would have adored her.”
Alice smiled brightly. “Is it me, or does she have her eyes?” She wasn’t upset or sad whenever Jefferson mentioned Caroline; it was understood he’d always love her. She got that.
“She absolutely does.” Jefferson had to smile. “I have these huge googly eyes. Caroline’s were more proportional.” He shook his head. “Did I show you a picture of her? Or do you just mean that she doesn’t look like me?” He couldn’t recall.
“You showed me a photo once. She was beautiful.” Alice heard the kettle whistle and moved to take it in hand and pour them cups. “Do you want to go get her then? So you can tell her what’s going to happen?”
Jefferson smiled nervously. “Why don’t we both.” He beckoned her out of the room, heading up the stairs toward the bedroom, where he could hear noises.
Grace was in the bedroom, looking through the books on the shelf, lying on her back staring at the ceiling. When she heard footsteps she bolted up, sitting with her legs swinging off the mattress.
Alice smiled, leaning against the doorframe. “Hey, you. Our tea’s steeping, but Jefferson and I wanted to tell you something.”
“Really?” Grace wasn’t sure what to expect. “You said it wasn’t bad.”
“It’s not.” Jefferson still looked nervous, he knew, but he did his best. “How would you feel about staying here with me?”
Grace hadn’t quite expected to hear that right away, and she laughed, running over and throwing herself at Papa. Because he was her papa. She couldn’t help but sob, though, and soon she was crying again, but she was in Papa’s arms.
Alice couldn’t help but cry too, laughing and wiping her eyes happily. “You two should be together.” She sniffled a little, entirely pleased to see the happy looks on both Grace and Jefferson’s faces.
Jefferson held her tightly. He wasn’t sure how he was going to do this, but it helped knowing Alice was there. “I don’t even know what to do,” he murmured. “Where to start. But I’m going to try it, okay, Grace?”
Grace just nodded, still sobbing. It had been such a gamble coming here, but it had totally paid off.
Moving to hug them both, Alice couldn’t help sniffling either. “Jefferson, you two should sit and talk. I’m going to go online and figure out some things about how to get all of this started.”
“Thank you,” Jefferson murmured. “I appreciate it.” He smiled fondly at Alice. “She’s one of my best friends,” he said to Grace, “so you can trust her.”
Grace nodded, wiping her eyes. “Thank you.” She smiled. “Will you help me stay here, Miss Alice?”
“I’d do anything I could to make sure you can stay here, Gracie. In fact, one thing I’m going to do is also make a list of all the things you need. That means we get to go shopping.” She smiled and squeezed Grace tight.
As much as he hated to do it, though, Jefferson had to speak up. “You probably do need to call the matron, though. They need to know where you are. I don’t know if they’ll make you go back there just temporarily, but if you just run away, bad things happen.”
Grace knew he was right, but she still sulked. Her lip jutted out just a little. “I hate it there,” she said quietly. “I don’t want to go back.” Not now, that she’d found Papa. What if he changed his mind?
Alice looked up at Jefferson. “Let’s take her back, you and me. We can talk to the matron and get the ball rolling.” If one person knew about how to adopt a child, it would be the matron. “If anything, you could foster her until you can adopt her.”
He knew immediately that that little lip pout would be trouble. “That’s a very good idea,” Jefferson said to Alice. “On both counts. Grace, did you have a coat or anything?”
“Yeah. It’s downstairs.” Grace tried to be less scared. Miss Alice was smart, and hopefully she wouldn’t let Papa change his mind.
“Will you go get it, please? We’ll be right down, I promise.” Jefferson smiled at her. As the girl left, he moved toward Alice once more and hugged her again. It had been a long time since this much human contact, but between fear and exhilaration, he needed it. “You’re a genius,” he murmured against her shoulder.
“Well, I’m glad you noticed that,” Alice teased. “It’s about bloody time.” She hugged him right back, giggling into his shoulder. “I’m glad she found you.” There was a light in his eyes, a bloom in his cheeks - he looked more alive than Alice had ever seen him.
“As silly as it sounds, I never used to believe in fate.” Jefferson smiled. Now he wasn’t honestly so sure. His life had taken so many odd turns in the last six months or so. He missed Caroline, but the pain was lessening.