Peter pulled up into the parking lot as Hercules came walking out to his car. He looked up upon hearing Peter slam the door with a distressed look on his face. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Tink just has stomach problems," he said angrily storming off. Tinker Bell looked offended before smacking his arm. "And she's on her period." Her face practically turned red as she followed him.

Once they got back to their tent, Tinker Bell grabbed Peter's shoulder and forcefully and turned him around. "What the hell was that about?" she signed angrily.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, pulling out of her grip. "I'm so freaking happy about this wonderful news!" he shouted sarcastically.

"Don't act so surprised about this. Considering how often we do it, you should be surprised that it hasn't happened sooner."

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I don't want to be a father?"

"You should've thought about that before doing me without a condom."

"I didn't think this would happen!"

"Well it has, so you have nine months to get your shit together and grow the fuck up!"

"I can't! Look at me! I refuse to grow up! I'm not, nor will I ever be, father material. Come on." He grabbed Tinker Bell's wrist and started pulling on her arm. "We're going to get a coat hanger and get rid of that thing growing inside you before anything else happens."

Tinker Bell pulled out of his grip and hit him against his arm. "No!"

"What? Why not? Don't you want our lives to go back to normal?"

"Honestly, I kind of like the idea of having a kid."

"What?" he shouted in surprise.

"I never wanted to go out of my way to become a mother, but now that it's happening, I kind of like it."

"But I never wanted kids!"

"I didn't either. But think about what it'll be like for us to work together and raise a child. We could train them to become an acrobat like us and turn it into a family act. Besides, think about how tiny and cute it'll be, considering our genetics."

"I don't care how cute it'll be. I came here so I could have the freedom of adult responsibilities. If I wanted to deal with that, I would've never left home in the first place."

"You say that you don't want to grow up, yet you still married me."

"That's different. I love you."

"You never expected to fall in love, did you?"

"Never."

"And look at us now. Before you know it, you'll be saying the same thing about our baby."

Peter sighed and walked away. "I'm sorry Tink. I need to be alone for a while and think about this."

Hercules was making his way back to the grounds after running errands when he heard a scream in the distance. Immediately he changed his route and drove over to the source of the scream. As soon as he couldn't drive any further he got out of his car and made his way over. He could hear two voices, a man and a woman, and as he approached them they became clearer. He peeked through a bush to see a large, bald, shirtless muscular man with a long black beard and long black hair from the back of his neck, and an extremely thin young woman with long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and a purple dress. The man was chasing the woman as she tripped into the lake trying to run from him. "Not so fast sweetheart," he said as he grabbed her and lifted her up over his shoulder.

"I swear Nessus, put me down or I'll…" she shouted as she struggled, punching and kicking him.

"I like them fiery," he said, cutting her off.

Hercules couldn't stand to see women being treated in such a way, so he stomped over to them. "Halt!" The two of them stopped their struggle to look over at him.

Still carrying the girl over his shoulder, Nessus made his way over to Hercules, towering over him, shoving his face into Hercules's. "Step aside, pretty boy."

"Pardon me my good, uh, sir. I'll have to ask you to release that young…"

"Keep moving junior."

"…Lady." He stopped in confusion. "But, you… Aren't you a damsel in distress?"

"I'm a damsel," she struggled out of his grip, "I'm in distress, I can handle this. I have a nice day."

Hercules cleared his throat. "Mam, I'm afraid you're maybe too close to the situation to realize…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Nessus punched him in the face, knocking him down into the lake. As he fell down, Nessus laughed triumphantly. However he was cut off when Hercules got up and punched him in the stomach, causing him to let go of the woman, who fell into the lake. She emerged from the water, soaking wet and coughing, her hair completely covering her face. "Gee miss, I'm really sorry," Hercules said, carrying her and gently placing her down on a giant tree branch just above the ground. "That was dumb."

"Yeah," she responded, parting the hair from her face.

They both looked up to see Nessus returning. "Excuse me," Hercules said as he ran off while the girl squeezed the water from her hair. She watched as Hercules beat up Nessus, knocking his unconscious body head first into the lake. When he looked over at her, she was now standing bent over the lake, still squeezing her hair. He approached her. "Are you alright miss, uh…"

The girl whipped up, splashing his face with her hair. "Megara." She squeezed her shoe to get the water out. "My friends call me Meg, at least they would if I had any friends. So…" she smacked him in the chest with her shoe, handing it to him. "Did they give you a name with all those rippling pectorals?" Hercules tried to answer, but he was awestruck at her radiant beauty. All that came out were incoherent sounds trying to make words. "Are you always this articulate?" she asked as she took her shoe back and walked away.

"Hercules. My…" he cleared his throat, "my name is Hercules."

Meg sat down. "I think I prefer Wonder Boy." She bent down as she put her shoe back on.

"So, how did you get mixed up with the…"

"Drowning pinhead? Well you know how men are, they think 'no' means 'yes' and 'get lost' means 'take me, I'm yours.'" She started to walk away again. "Well, thanks for everything Herc, it's been a real slice." She soluted him before turning around.

"Wait!" She stopped. "Um, can I give you a ride?"

She paused for a moment before shrugging and giving in. "Sure, why not."

"Great! Um, where to?"

"Home would be nice."

"And where's that?"

"I'll show you the way."

They more or less drove in silence with the exception of Meg giving directions. Never before had Hercules been this scared or tongue-tied to talk to anyone while Meg seemed to be more focused on her surroundings. He cleared his throat. "You know, I'm a circus performer."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. I would love to see you in the audience one night if you want. I can even get you a free ticket."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a strong man."

"Huh, interesting."

"So what do you say?"

"I'll think about it."

She finally had him pull up in front of a dark, shabby, run-down apartment complex. "Well, this is my stop. Thanks for the ride."

"This is your home?" he asked in a mixture of shock and disgust.

"It's hard to afford anything better when you have little to no money."

"Well if you want, you can visit me at my trailer any time. You don't have to see the show to come down there. It really is a nice little area, with rides and a lake and…"

"It's okay. Like I said, I'll think about it."

"At least take this." He pulled out one of the flyers from his glove compartment, handing it to her.

"Thanks." She folded it up and put it in her purse.

"Would you like me to walk you inside?"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be alright. I'm a big, tough girl. I tie my own shoes and everything." Meg smiled coyly, playfully punching him in the face. She got out of the car and walked away, waving at him. "Bye bye Wonder Boy."

"Bye," he waved back, his face smitten with a lovesick look. He drove off. "She's something," he said to himself.

Inside the building, Meg pulled out her key and silently opened the front door to her apartment, sneaking in as quietly as possible. "Oh Meg," came a malicious voice, along with the rustling of a newspaper.

"God damn it," she muttered under her breath.

She looked up to see the source of the voice place down his newspaper, smiling wickedly at her. The man appeared to be in his forties, with a long face and a big build, his hair oily from all the grease in it. He held his hand up, gesturing with his finger for her to approach him. "Meg, my little flower, my little bird, my little nutmeg. So how did our little negotiation with our buddy Nessus go?"

"I gave it my best shot, but he made me an offer I had to refuse."

"Fine, so instead of subtracting two years from your sentence, hey, I'm going to add two on, okay? You had your best shot."

She walked away, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. "Look, it wasn't my fault! It was this wonder boy, Hercules."

The man's eyes widened in shock. He went up to her, placing his hand against the wall. "What was that name again?"

"Hercules. He comes on with this big innocent farm-boy routine, but I could see through that in a minute," she said as she snapped her fingers.

"And what exactly did this Hercules look like? Big? Strong? Muscular with chiseled features and a big goofy look on his face?"

"Yeah. Why? Do you know him?"

He tried to suppress his anger. "Not really, no."

On the contrary, he knew Hercules's father. Hades was the descendent of an extremely wealthy family who owned a massive corporation with multiple businesses. He was also the least liked child, while his brother Zeus was the most liked. When their parents died, as dictated in their will, most of the fortune and company ownership went to Zeus while Hades barely got anything. So once his nephew, Hercules, was born, Hades sent out a couple of his goons to kidnap and kill the baby, reporting to him that the job had been done.

"Tell me everything that happened exactly."

"There's not much to tell. He showed up, beat the shit out of Nessus, and drove me home."

"Did he happen to say anything about himself?"

"Not really. Just that he's a side show act." She pulled out the flyer and handed it to Hades.

He snatched it and skimmed it over. As his eyes glanced over the page, an evil smile spread across his face. Meg knew that look; it was one he made whenever he would get one of his awful ideas. "Oh Meg." His big mouth spread out, exposing his nasty teeth. "You've always wanted to be an actress, right?" She just stared at him silently. "Because I think I just got you a gig."

Everyone was filing in backstage, the show moments away from starting, when Clopin stormed in. "Has anyone seen Peter?" he called out. He was met with silence with the occasional muttering from the crowd. "Someone go check and see if his car is here."

"I'm on it," Ralph volunteered before heading out.

As he exited Tinker Bell walked in. "Have you seen your husband anywhere?" Clopin asked her, to which she shook her head. He let out an exasperated sigh. "Alright, who was the last one here to see Peter since Ms. Bell refuses to speak to me?" She crossed her arms, looking offended, while everyone looked to each other hoping someone would speak up.

"I think I was the last one to see him," Hercules said.

"And when was that?"

"This morning. He and Tinker Bell were coming out of his car and he appeared to be upset about something."

Ralph came back in. "His car isn't here."

"Screw it, we're doing the show without him." He turned towards Tinker Bell. "Can you do your act without him?" She nodded. "Great." He pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "Alright everyone, let's do this!"

Later that night, Peter awoke, his head pounding. As he slowly regained his consciousness, he looked around to find himself in bed with a few prostitutes lying beside him and his hand free of his wedding ring. The night's events were all slowly coming back to him.

After he drove off in his rage, he eventually found himself at a brothel called Mermaid Lagoon. He angrily took off his wedding ring, leaving it on the floor of his car, and went inside. While there he spent the rest of the day throwing away his money on whores and alcohol. He looked around at all the unconscious beautiful women around him. I can have as much sex with you as I want and not have to deal with any consequences, he thought. If I get any of you girls pregnant then you're the ones who have to suffer, not me. I can just walk away and never look back.

Ever since Peter was a kid, he never wanted to grow up. He unknowingly would later get his wish, being diagnosed with one of those rare diseases that prevents physical aging. Even though he did get married, he never wanted children, fearing that that would be the beginning of the end of childhood, having to care for another child. He thought about what Tinker Bell had said, but he could never bring himself to change his ways and unconditionally love anyone other than his wife. He was torn about what to do. He couldn't make her abort the baby, and he hates seeing the woman he loves suffer, but the thought of maturing and settling down terrified him more than anything.

Once Peter sobered up enough, he started heading out. He was driving through a residential area when he noticed a man dressed in black sneaking into one of the houses through the window. He didn't know what compelled him to do this, but he pulled over and followed him. Peter peeked through the window to see the shadowy figure start rummaging through the drawers and putting stuff in his bag. As quietly as possible, he climbed through the window and grabbed a knife from the kitchen. He then snuck up behind the perpetrator, before tackling him and knocking him to the ground, as well as a small table with some house decorations on it, pinning him down and holding the knife to his neck. "Aw, what the fuck?" the thief shouted in a whisper.

"Don't think I won't call the cops on you man!" Peter quietly shouted back.

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving." Peter got off him and continued to hold the knife up to him as he backed away, his hands in the air. "But first…" The thief punched Peter in the face, knocking him down. "That's what you get for messing up my heist kid." He then grabbed his bag and headed out.

As Peter sat up and rubbed his face, he saw the lights turn on. "Shit," he muttered to himself. He turned around, and standing before him was a girl who appeared to be around his age, with light brown curls pulled back with a light blue bow and a light blue nightgown the same color as her eyes. "I can explain," Peter said nervously.

"You don't need to, I saw most of it." He couldn't help but feel nervous as she approached him. "Let me take a look at that."

"No, it's okay, that's not necess…" She lightly poked him where the thief had punched him. "Ow!"

"You'll definitely need some ice before it starts bruising. Follow me into the kitchen."

Once they were in the kitchen, the girl turned on the lights. "Please, sit down," she gestured to the chair at the table. He did as he was told, handing her the knife before she put it away and filled up a bag with ice, wrapping a towel around it. "Here you go." She smiled as she handed him the ice. "It might sting a bit."

"Thanks." She sat down beside him as he placed the ice on his face. "You're not going to have me arrested for breaking and entering, are you?"

"Of course not. If you hadn't shown up, who knows what that guy would've done to me or my brothers. It's the least I could do." She put her hand out. "My name's Wendy."

"I'm Peter," he said, shaking her hand.

"It's a good thing that my parents aren't home. Who knows what they would think if they saw me here with a strange boy in the middle of the night. How did you know that we were being robbed? Do you live here in the neighborhood?"

"Not really, no. I was on my way home when I saw him climb into your house, and I couldn't consciously allow myself to keep going without doing something about it."

"You were walking alone at night? Your parents let you out alone this late? Where do you live?"

"It's complicated. I'm sort of new in town."

"Oh, okay. Well I should let you go then. I don't want to keep you here too late." Peter handed Wendy the ice back. He stood up about to head out when she stopped him. "Wait." She came up to him handing him a small piece of paper. "If it's not too much trouble, I would like to see you again."

Peter looked down at the paper, which consisted of Wendy's name, phone number, and address. "Thanks."

Before he had a chance to react, she kissed placed her hand on his shoulder, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Peter could feel his face turn red as she backed away. "Goodnight Peter."

Back in the car, he reflected what had just happened as he drove home. This wasn't the first time this had happened, where young girls thought he was their age and tried to flirt with him. Normally whenever that happened, he would prove his age before anything too serious could happen. But for some reason, he didn't stop her this time. He didn't know why, but no matter how hard he tried to shake the thought away he couldn't stop thinking about this girl. She was still clearly a child, but there was a kindness and motherly maturity to her that made her more sophisticated beyond her years. There was something about the way she smiled and spoke to him that just got to him. I can't! She's just a kid! He thought. Besides I'm already married to the love of my life. He looked down at his hands when he noticed that he hadn't put his ring back on. At the next red light he frantically looked around until he found it on the ground next to his feet. He picked it up, about to put it back on, when something stopped him. As far as she knows, I'm not, he thought. To her I'm just a kid like her. There's nothing wrong about it if she doesn't know the truth, right? He asked himself, trying to justify his reasoning. Even though he knew that on all accounts he shouldn't, he held onto the paper she gave him with the intention of seeing her again.