Once inside, they all snacked on cookies and sipped their tea while they waited for Ethan to wake up. Wyatt got bored and went upstairs to his room. Farrah was about to dismiss herself too but a look from Wendy made her stay.
Ethan groaned a little and Addy reached out to help him.
"Adette? What…where…what is going on?"
"You fell asleep on the way here," she said with a giggle. "Don't you remember?"
"I…I did?" She nodded and Ethan frowned around him. Peter and Nibs watched him with a smirk and Farrah rolled her eyes. Ethan cleared his throat and had the grace to look embarrassed.
"I'm terribly sorry, Miss Adette. I don't know what came over me."
"Tis a long journey, Mr. Cartwright," Wendy said softly. "You did nothing wrong." Ethan jumped to his feet and bowed low.
"Mrs. Pan. Such a pleasure to finally meet you. Adette tells me wonderful things about you." Peter's eyes narrowed as Ethan kissed his wife's hand.
"We've taken your trunk to the guest room around the corner," Peter said, standing beside Wendy. "It's been a long journey for everyone so I think it best to turn in." Addy stood and helped Ethan to his feet.
"Come, I'll show you were you'll be sleeping."
"Right, er…I thank you all for your hospitality. This was a wonderful surprise and I truly appreciate your kindness."
"Not at all, Mr. Cartwright. We are glad you have come to stay with us," Wendy said graciously. Ethan bowed his head and Addy lead him away from the sitting room. Her arm slipped under his and she leaned her head on his shoulder. Wendy turned to Peter and smiled.
"He seems lovely." Peter rolled his eyes.
"Let's go to bed. Nibs, you know where your room is."
"Aye, and bed sounds wonderful. Pleasant dreams everyone." Farrah raced ahead of her parents and closed herself in her bedroom. Peter's arm around Wendy's waist, he lead her to their room and shut the door behind them. She crossed the room to grab a gown from her drawer and Peter watched her as she yanked off her dress and hung it on a chair. He approached her as she was pulling the night gown over her head and he pulled it from her hands. She spun around to face him, her eyes wide with confusion.
"I like it when you sleep like this," he muttered as he leaned in to kiss her neck. His hands came up to cradle her breasts and she moaned as she tilted her head back, giving him even more access to her exquisite skin. He noticed, as he cupped her mounds, how much larger they were and he licked his lips before he took her nipple into his mouth. She let out a little cry and he pulled away, looking concerned.
"I'm alright. Just extra sensitive."
"We can stop if you-"
"Don't you dare," she growled, her fingers wrapping around his curls and bringing him down onto the bed with her. He grinned as she started to take control and he pulled her on top of him, getting lost in her want for him.
The next morning Peter and Wendy rose early to find the house silent. Wendy set to making breakfast and Peter left for a meeting with the Queen of the Fairies about the pirate ships.
Farrah and Wyatt entered the room, wide awake, and asked their mother if they could be excused for various activities around the island. Farrah was going to the Indian Village to help teach Chitsa how to hunt and Wyatt was going to visit the mermaids.
"We really should all remain here until our guest wakes up," Wendy said gently.
"He's Addy's guest, not ours," Wyatt said with a wrinkled nose. Wendy sighed and shook her head as her children flew away.
Addy and Ethan entered the kitchen a little while later and Wendy smiled at both of them.
"Good morning. I hope you're both hungry."
"I know I am," Addy said eagerly as she headed for the table. Ethan was in front of her, pulling a chair out for her and Wendy smiled at the lad. She set down two plates of pancakes with neverberry sauce and a jar of milk.
"You didn't have to go to this trouble, Mrs. Pan," Ethan said graciously.
"It was no trouble at all. I enjoy cooking for my family. I hope you like them. They are my husband's favorite." Ethan took a bite and his eyes widened.
"That's a delicious flavor. What sort of berry is this? I have never tasted anything like it." Wendy bit her lip.
"It's, er, a mixture of raspberry and blackberry."
"Quite delicious," he said without a thought and Wendy let out a sigh of relief.
"What are you children planning to do today?"
"I was hoping Adette would show me around the countryside. I hear it's quite beautiful." Addy and her mother exchanged looks. The island didn't look much like the English countryside and Wendy had no idea how they would convince Ethan that's where he really was. She wished they had planned this out more carefully.
Instead, she nodded.
"That sounds lovely. We are very close to the Cornish Coast so you could take him to the beach, Addy. I'll even fix you some food for a picnic."
"That sounds wonderful, Mrs. Pan. Thank you." She smiled and set to putting together a quaint little picnic for her daughter's date while Ethan and Addy talked over breakfast.
Peter stopped when he reached the Fairy Glade and he frowned when he saw all the activity around him.
"Majesty," he called and the Queen's light radiated around him. He lowered his head respectively.
"Peter. To what do we owe this pleasure of being visited by the King?"
"Your Majesty, is everything alright?" the Queen glanced around her and smiled though Peter could see that it was strained.
"Come with me." She lead him away from the Glade, to an isolated part of their forest and she sighed.
"Now we may speak freely."
"What's going on?"
"Peter, something is disrupting the peace of Neverland. I can't quite sense what it is but I know that it is danger and it is close."
"Could pirates have something to do with it?"
"Pirates? I thought Captain Smee was reformed."
"Oh he is. But he has been seeing strange pirate ships around the island. They're not flying any colors. Smee says he is worried that the island is too easily accessible now and it's dangerous how people can easily reach our shores." Her lips grew thin.
"I was afraid of that. I did not want to have to seal off Neverland but I am afraid we may have to. Or else we might let more danger into the island. But I do not think this new threat is pirates. It is something else."
"Alright, well, maybe we should talk to the other leaders about sealing off the island. Do you have the power to do that?"
"I do but understand, Peter, if we seal the island, no one will ever be able to leave or re-enter Neverland." Peter felt his heart drop. His brothers would no longer be able to visit. The pirates could not go to and from the mortal world. And his children…
His children would have to make a choice. Wyatt and Farrah would stay here, to become rulers once Peter and Wendy stepped down. But Addy felt that she belonged elsewhere.
She would choose London. And he would never see his daughter again.
He looked up at the Queen and he was pale and shaking. The Queen nodded knowingly.
"Now you see why I have hesitated to do this. I would rather search for other alternatives before we take this extreme precaution." He nodded.
"Agreed. Let me talk to the other leaders before we reach a decision."
"In the meantime, ask Captain Smee to sail around the borders and to station look out. I'm sure the mermaids can assist with this too. If you could ask them for help?"
"Of course, Majesty. I'll fly to them now. Thank you for your honesty."
"Good luck, King Peter," she said, bowing her head as Peter leaped into the sky and took off for the shore.
