[Wedding Part 2]
It had only been six months since Hal and Alice said 'I do' and he was already tired of her Northside life. It was the same routine everyday; wake up, make breakfast, ride together to work, make dinner, sleep. It was exhausting being the Stepford wife of Hal Cooper's dreams. She'd let a snarky comment slip here or there which would only lead to her and Hal fighting and Alice most likely throwing something angrily in his direction.
It was hard keeping a smile on her face, especially when her new wardrobe was extremely uncomfortable. She missed her worn out jeans and crop tops, now she dressed like a model from J. Crew.
The weekends felt like her only escape, Hal usually would be gone on Saturdays playing golf with his buddies. Those were the days she felt like she could breathe, staying in her pajamas and keeping her hair in a messy ponytail.
She was lying on her couch in her usual Saturday attire when she heard a knock on her red front door. She groaned, hoping it wasn't a neighbor inviting her over for a barbecue or that damn Mrs. Woods bringing over another casserole dish. Her neighbors were beyond pushy, trying to get her to join their book clubs and neighborhood cookouts, she wasn't interested unless there was wine involved.
She opened the door and to her surprise, it wasn't her neighbor.
"FP? What are you doing here?"
"I was helping Fred and Mary move into their new house and thought I'd stop by", he looked at her up and down. "Did you just wake up?"
She rolled her eyes and pulled him into the house, "You realize you stick out like a sore thumb in that Serpent jacket, right?"
"Alice Smith suddenly cares what people think?", he raised an eyebrow and looked around the house.
"Cooper, It's Alice Cooper, FP", she sighed and watched him look around her house, "You're cutting into my relaxation time."
FP turned to look at her, "I just wanted to check on you, I know it's not my place or my business but regardless, I still care about you."
Alice looked at him, she hadn't really been able to vent to anyone about her new Northside life, maybe FP could be someone she could unload everything to. She sat down on the couch, "The Northside is tiring FP, it's like I'm working two jobs."
FP sat down beside her, "I bet your face fucking hurts from all that fake smiling, I don't know how you do it Alice", he shook his head with a laugh.
"That's not even the worst of it! I have to actually pretend to care that their kids are taking violin lessons and that little Eloise is on the road to become our next President, what the hell does that even mean?? She's four!", Alice shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Jesus Christ these Northsiders, what the hell did you get yourself into Al?", he chuckled.
And that's how it began. Every Saturday when Hal was off with his buddies, Alice and FP were lounging on her couch ranting and venting about their lives to each other. Alice complained about her neighbors and their ridiculous lives. FP would complain about work at the construction company and how he was gearing up to be the next Serpent King, something he wasn't too sure about.
They laughed until they cried, FP even convincing Alice to join the book club on her street so they could find out more information about her neighbors and talk shit about them. It was nice for Alice to have that break from her life to let out her feelings and not feel like she has to be perfect all the time. She never expected to find a friendship with FP, but she loved it. Did she miss their steamy relationship from high school? Absolutely. But she was a married woman now and even though she talked about hating the Northside, this was her home and this is where she belonged now.
Another Saturday came and Alice immediately opened the front door when he knocked, she smiled widely.
"Hey, we're switching up, hop in my truck", FP gave her a soft smile.
"FP I'm not dressed to go anywhere, this is our relaxation time remember?", she gave him a confused expression.
"We're not getting out anywhere just come on", he started walking towards the truck.
"What the hell does that mean? FP, what are you up to?", she was beyond confused as she quickly walked out of her house and into his truck.
"Alice, just relax okay?", he smiled and started driving.
"I'm not relaxing until you tell me where you're taking me Forsythe", Alice was far from relaxed, she hated not knowing things.
He sighed, "I found our son", he glanced at her.
"You what?", Alice didn't know if she heard him correctly, he found Charles?
"Tom Keller owed me a favor and you know he's a police officer now so he can get records and things like that", FP was nervous, not knowing exactly how Alice was going to react to all of this.
"Wait wait, so what are we doing exactly?", Alice felt like she couldn't breathe, he found their son, was he taking her to their son??
"Through some digging, we were able to find out that Charles' preschool class goes to the playground every Saturday", FP passed a sign saying they were entering Centerville. "Was this a bad idea? I mean I haven't been able to stop thinking about him since I found out we had a son, Alice."
Alice shook her head, "I'm just...in shock, I never thought I would see him again."
Alice stayed quiet most of the car ride to the playground, mentally preparing herself.
They reached the playground and parked in front, 20 minutes rolled by and they didn't see maybe two or three kids, none of them even remotely resembling Alice or FP.
"Maybe this was a ba-", Alice began to say before FP interrupted.
"Alice, he's right there", pointing to a small boy with golden blonde hair who was running to the swings with another little boy.
Alice didn't even question it when she saw the little boy smiling with his friend, that was her son. Their son. She put her hand over her mouth and tears streamed down her face.
"He looks happy Al, that's all we can ever ask for", he couldn't stop looking at him, their son was right in front of them giggling and running around. He looked over at Alice and put his hand on her leg gently, not wanting to overstep boundaries.
She felt his hand touch her leg and she looked at him with tear filled eyes, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "That's our son, FP", she said quietly.
FP rubbed her back soothingly as he felt a tear escape his eye. "He's perfect just like you."
