Pan's Never-Neverland

To Rendezvous

Chapter Twenty-Nine – To Rendezvous

Swooping over the sleeping town of Lakeside Landing, Peter glanced over his shoulder once again to see if Tink or Ruff had followed him. So far, so good – he was free. In his arms was a wiggling little bundle, cooing as the wind hit his face. Gip blinked at Peter, wondering what was going on.

"Don't worry," Peter smiled, tickling the baby under his chin. "If they're no good, I won't leave you to them." The baby laughed, his eyes closing in glee as Peter continued to softly scratch the child under his chubby chin.

Diving down to the neighborhood, surrounded in darkness, Peter found Ben's house quickly, looking to the right and seeing what must have been the Berri residence. Sneaking over to a window, he peeked inside. The kitchen was dark, as were most of the first floor rooms. Pouting in frustration, he looked to the second story and was rewarded with a brightly lit window. Traveling on a breeze, he drifted upward, hiding off to the side. He was stunned to find the curtains fluttering in the night air, the window wide open. Cautiously, he stretched over and peeked inside.

It was a simple bedroom, painted a warm yellow color with white trim. A woman sat on the bed, her hand on her now flat stomach. Her golden hair fell into her blank, sad grey eyes, her face stained with tears.

A knock on the door didn't make her even blink. The door slowly opened and in entered a man. He was very handsome, even if he was about ten years older than his wife. His red hair streaked with silver just behind the ears, his brown eyes fell upon his wife and dimmed.

"Margie? Are you hungry? Thirsty?" he asked gently, shutting the door and sitting beside his wife.

She shook her head. "No, thanks," she whispered.

He took her hand in his, his eyes glued to her face. "Listen, it's ok. We can try again soon. Sometimes the doctors are wrong about this sort of thing. We could still have a baby-"

"Jamie, I can't," she said, her voice strained. "I can't have kids…there's something wrong with me…with my body…no matter how much we try, we'll never have our own children!" She was crying now, covering her face as she sobbed. He reached over and embraced her tightly, fighting back his own hurt and disappointment. "There's nothing wrong with you, Margie…there must be a reason this is happening…"

Peter felt his heart break as he watched them. He wondered if this was what Shade might've been like when he was human…He quickly shook off the notion. He pitied the creature, but he was no longer human, no longer his father. Peter Pan didn't need a father or anything of the sort…!

Gip gave a little whine, making Peter snap out of his thoughts. "Shh!" he whispered, hoping they hadn't heard him.

Unfortunately for him, they had.

"Jamie," Margaret asked, blinking in disbelief. "I think I'm going crazy…I thought I heard something…"

"No, I heard it, too," he reassured her, his brows furrowing together. Getting up, he walked to the window, skeptical that anything or anyone would be floating about on the second floor. He looked to his right and found nothing. He looked to the left…

A pair of green eyes were staring back at him, sparkling like magic.

"AAAAAH!" Jamie yelled, tripping over himself as he tried to back away.

"Jamie!" Margaret gasped, her eyes wide as a flying boy came into their bedroom, grabbing her husband's wrist before he could his the floor. "Oh…my…God," she whispered, gawking at the strange child.

Jamie stared in disbelief as the boy floated before him, having helped him to stand on his own two feet. "Wha…what…? Who are you?!"

"I'm Peter," the boy declared, landing lightly and bowing politely to the couple. "Peter Pan."