WARNING this contains some coarse language not suitable for those under fifteen years old.

DISCLAIMER I do not own any of the original Peter Pan characters or for that matter anything to do with Peter Pan except for this story and my own characters.

Chapter two – Dinner with the Lawrence's

Christmas was near. Amanda could feel it, not just because it was getting colder and snow started to fall lightly, or because the shops were seeling stock like mad, or because Christmas decorations were being put up everywhere, or because the school term was about to end and exams were almost over but because of the way Wendy acted. She always acted different at Christmas time. She knew that she would be going home to England; Wendy didn't consider America her home. She also seemed friendlier (if that is possible) to her mother. Bribery, Amanda always thought was what Wendy was doing but she found out that wasn't the case she was just being nice.

Wendy couldn't wait to get away, get away from her stupid mother, her stupid house, and her stupid, stupid American life. She tried being nice to her mother in the hope that she would let her and her sister leave earlier. But she didn't think that was going to happen. So in the Christmas spirit she just continued to be nice, friendly, to her mother much to the astonishment of her sister. However Wendy just passed off her sister weird glances and went about her business. She had already packed her things to go to London. She also cleaned up her room without anyone asking her to do so. Wendy couldn't wait to get away.

Amelia often considered that this year she would keep her daughters at home for Christmas instead of having their Christmas early. But then again their father would take her to court for God-knows what and she couldn't do that, it would only make Wendy hate her even more. Wendy loved her father dearly and to separate them in one of the only times that they are together would just be cruel. She was also amazed that Wendy was speaking to her again after two months of no communication (only through Amanda). Not only was she speaking to her; but she was being nice. She wanted something Amelia knew it, but what it was she didn't know.

David was looking forward to seeing his daughters again. He had fixed up the house and the old nursery for the girls to sleep in because he knew how much they loved that room. However when he opened the nursery door he got a slight surprise. He hadn't opened the nursery for a while because he never felt the need to go into it. But when he did a rush of cold air blew him back. The window was open. He couldn't remember opening the window. He started to pick up some of the things that were blown over and went over to the window and latched it shut. It was night-time when he went into the room and as he closed the window David thought that he heard the twinkling of angry little bells. But he just shrugged it off and went about changing the sheets of the nursery.

The end of term came too slowly for Wendy's liking. The last day seemed to drag on and on. The school had a Christmas service before they broke up. There was exactly twelve minutes to go till school broke up at one o'clock according to Wendy's watch and she had timed it to the bells so she knew it was right. She sat in the old church next to JJ and Chris (one of her other friends) watching the second hand tick, tick, tick around the clock face. She hadn't listened to a word anyone had said in the service. Being the naughty girl that she was she had brought into the service a small sketchbook and a pencil and eraser. She had spent the entire service sketching the people on stage, the reverend, the set, the people next to her. She had even sketched a picture of her mother but hid it away; no one could see anything to do with her mother. Then suddenly the bells went, the service was over as was the school term. Wendy raced around the hall looking for her sister. The two were going to catch a plane immediately after the service to London, Finally Wendy found them, Amanda was saying her good-byes – hugs and kisses; Wendy rolled her eyes. She hadn't even said goodbye to her friends.

"Come one Min, the plane isn't gonna wait for us," she said tapping her foot impatiently. Amanda laughed.

"Just a sec' Wendy I want to say good-bye to my friends," she said, Wendy rolled her eyes again. This good-bye stuff was all too mushie for her. Finally Amanda turned from her friends to Wendy. "Come on you don't want to be late do you?" she was acting as if it was Wendy who was holding the two up. Wendy groaned and followed her sister out of the hall.

Their mother was already waiting outside the old iron school gates for the twins with their luggage in the trunk. She had a cell phone glued to her ear and didn't even acknowledge her daughters climb into the back seat of the car she just started to drive in the direction of the airport. Twenty minutes into the trip Amelia put the cell down and glanced back at her daughters who both had occupied themselves with something. Amanda was busy messaging her 'new' boyfriend and Wendy was listening to good old Led Zeppelin on her portable CD player whilst looking out the window.

"So girls," said Amelia loudly making the girls look up at the mother from what they were doing. "How was your last day of school?" she said pleased that she had got the twins attention.

"Long," groaned Wendy.

"Depressing," sighed Amanda, she was upset that she wouldn't see any of her friends for two weeks.

"Boring,"

"Full of goodbyes,"

"Pointless,"

"No work,"

"Shit videos,"

"Wendy don't use that language," Amelia growled, Wendy shrugged.

"Over," Amanda said concluding the conversation.

"Well you girls certainly have gotten good at using one or two syllable words to describe your day," Amelia muttered, she was quite disappointed that her children wouldn't give her a full account of their day. But then again she was more jealous of the mobile phone and CD player that were occupying the girls.

"Sorry mother did you say something?" Wendy asked half sarcastically.

"No Wendy dear, it doesn't matter," Amelia forced, she still had the wound in her heart where Wendy stabbed her with words. And that was the end of all conversation between the three. Amelia soon received another phone call from a work collegue, Amanda messaged her boyfriend a couple of times then decided it would be better to call him, and Wendy just sat and watched the world go by whilst listening to Led Zeppelin's greatest hits. She loved to drift away into the melodic lines of Stairway to Heaven; the introduction soothed her when she was angry. Right now she wasn't angry though, she was almost at the airport soon she would be in London, her home; the place where she belonged. She had already decided what she would do first. The plane was due to arrive at two o'clock in the afternoon she it would leave her plenty of time to do thing in the day. She was going to go back to the house and drop off her things then make a trip to Kensington gardens. She would probably spend a couple of hours there, it always amazed Amanda the time she could spend doing the same thing. Amanda was one of those girls who had to try new things – Wendy was always just comforted by the same thing.

That was one of the main reasons that she didn't want to move to America, it would change everything and she didn't want that to happen. She had gotten used to her life though and as much as it pained her she never ran away – even though she had thought about. More so especially in the past couple of months after she and her mother had the fight. On one occasion she even packed her bags and took them to the top of her stairs but saw her happy sister and decided that perhaps running away was not the best idea. She couldn't leave her sister alone. At the thought of that time she almost ran away Wendy looked over to her sister. She was beautiful. She never wore any make up (besides the occasional eyeliner and concealer as well as lip gloss) and now was no exception. That was perhaps why all the boys at school liked her, she wasn't a fake. She had her long tresses pulled into a loose plait and pinned with bobby pins that had little fairies on the side. She wore a simple pair of jeans that were tucked into her black boots and a woven turtleneck that was pink. Wendy smiled as she saw her sister happily chatting away on the phone – if only her life was like that.

She turned out the window and looked at the grey day, the world was flying by. Car upon car sped beside them and soon she found herself not looking at the scenery of the city but the freeway and coming up close was the airport. She couldn't wait to get onto the plane, most people in her family hated flying but she loved it. The feeling of being above the earth gave her such a thrill. Soon Wendy found herself dozing off and on again. What a boring car ride. Sometimes she tried to imagine what would happen if her mother crashed the car because she was too busy talking on the phone or what would happen if the girls boarded the wrong plane because their mother got them to the airport too late and they ended up going to Portugal instead of Heathrow. The sudden stop of a car and the slamming of doors interrupted her daydreaming of unfortunate events; finally they had arrived at the airport. Wendy jumped out her seat and slung her backpack over her shoulder and in the motion everything fell out of it. Rolling her eyes Wendy bent down to retrieve everything from the ground Amanda stood over the top of her tapping her foot.

"Please Wendy hurry up, the plane is not going to wait for us," she said chuckling to herself. Wendy rolled her eyes again and grabbed her roll along bag.

The procedure was simple, check your bags in, go through the security check in, grab some chow, find your gate, hand in the tickets and board the plane then fly away. But Amelia always made some event out of it like she lost her cell phone or her lipstick or one of the girl's bags was crushed by the other. Wendy became impatient with her mothers rants sometimes. But today they didn't come; maybe Amelia had finally grown up. Wendy shrugged off the thought as she and her sister boarded the plane.

'Slow dancing at the boulevard, and the quite moments while the cities still dark…in the quiet spaces when you can still hear her name," Wendy hummed as she put up the volume on her Discman to find that it didn't go up anymore. Amanda smiled, her sister seemed at peace when she listened to music or was painting.

"Happy to be going home," Amanda said leaning closer to her sister, her small carry-on bag trailing behind her. Wendy nodded.

The plane ride moved casually, Amanda slept most of the way; Wendy listened to music or drew made the time fly pretty quickly. When they arrived in London their father was there to meet them, arms wide and smiling face. David Lawrence was a cheerful man with a round face, trances of wrinkles around his eyes and mouth from where he smiled, sparkling blue eyes, a small man with greying hairs and stubble but he had a hearty laugh and a sparkling humour. He was also very artistic; Wendy always found that she related to him better than to her mother. Wendy ran off the plane and into her father's arms, she felt safe there. Similar to the feeling she had when she was in JJ's arms, she needed a man to protect her.

"Hey Mush, Mush, let Minny have a turn," he said looking down at his daughters face with his childlike eyes. Amanda rushed to her father in turn and felt safe too. She seemed to have forgotten the boyfriend that she left behind. David Lawrence always had strange names that he called is daughters.

"Oh Pa, it is so good to be home," said Wendy embracing her father, she felt like she was going to cry. Hot tears welled in her tear ducts and a lump of ice formed in her throat.

"Good to have you home Mush, you too Minny girl," he said hugging his daughters again. Each time that the girls got off the plane they went through the same routine, hugging kissing, Wendy almost crying. This was really where the girls belonged. "So what have you two lovely little girls been up too recently?" David asked as they picked up the suitcases.

"Not much-" Amanda said.

"We just finished school," Wendy added.

"But mum's got a new job,"

"Means she goes away a lot and gets lost of money- yes!" Wendy said linking arms with her sister.

"Now Wendy that is no way to talk about your mother," scowled David playing as they hopped in the car.

"But it is true," Wendy muttered. David ignored it and the car ride back to the house was pleasant enough.

Wendy took a deep breath in as she walked through the nursery door. A flood of memories came back, so many wonderful days of playing in the summer and stories by the fire at winter. It smelt like home, a familiar smell that she had so sorely missed for so long. She flung herself down onto the white, four-posted bed that was situated next to the open window. She snuggled into the soft feathery pillow and closed her eyes. Amanda soon entered the room too and sat gracefully on her bed and looked over at her happy sister. She leaned back onto the bed and closed her eyes as her head hit the pillow.

David peeked into the room and looked at his two little girls – he painted a picture in his mind of his two little ones as children when he and Amelia were together. They looked like angels in his mind and with the smiles on their faces at that moment he thought they looked like them too. He walked away from the door and went down the staircase and into the kitchen. It was a quaint kitchen with a small table in the middle, a stove, oven and washing up sink. There were cupboards and a pantry but nothing was very big. He started to cook as he always did when the girls came home on their first day – a roast, their favourite.

Wendy rolled over and looked up at the ceiling. It was a scene of clouds and blue sky. She stayed there looking at it for a few moments then placed her feet softly on the ground as to not disturb her sister. She went over to her suitcase and pulled out a change of clothing as soft as she could and change into a pair of relatively tight jeans and a long white collared shirt. On top she put a plain navy t-shirt and crept down the stairs. She had left her backpack down there and picked it up as well as her big winter coat as she walked out of the house. She also picked up her English mobile which was on the dresser next to the front door. David already knew where she was going.

Fitting her headphones cosy over her ears she walked down the grey street of London heading in the direction of Kensington Gardens. The old house was actually very much in the inner part of London, which was strange, and as a result it did not take her that long to get to the gardens. She also knew many short cuts that were in many case trespassing but she had never been caught before and this time was no different. She strolled up to the park gates and walked along the paved path looking around at the people in the park.

There was mother nattering away with each other whilst pushing coloured perambulators to and fro trying to calm their crying children. Little boys and girls running around whilst their nannies bought ice cream from the stall. Old men sitting at different tables playing speed chess – which wasn't very speedy. Artist trying to sell their works, men walking briskly through the park with brief cases swinging from side to side. Couples sitting on checked picnic rugs toasting to their 'happy' lives, teenagers sitting at the park coffee shop sipping on their cappuccino's reading out their text messages to show of popular they want and those men and women striving to become fit, slim and healthy walking around in bright colours. And the soft grey haze of winter, hanging around the scene. Everyone clothed in their winters.

Wendy smiled as a group of exercisers walked past her talking very loudly about nothing really in particular. She soon found herself at a familiar place, beside the statue of the boy who never grew up. She settled herself down on a bench beside the statue and closed her eyes for a moment. She could see a little glow come in through her eye-lids, a golden sparkle but as soon as she opened her eyes all she could see was the grey twilight – no golden sparkles.

She pulled a large hard cover book out of her bag and started to read. Wendy didn't keep count of how many hours she spent there but she looked up and realized that the light was growing dim around her – parts of the night sky were already showing through the grey clouds. Wendy closed the book and placed it back in her bag. Next she looked at her phone and noticed that there was a missed call and a new message. Of course it was from her sister telling her that dinner would be cold by the time she got home if she didn't hurry. Wendy smiled at her sister's playfulness.

She looked up at the statue of Peter Pan and something about it had changed – of course statues cannot change but she thought something was different. The soft face of the boy blowing into the pipe looked older. Wendy shook her head and turned in the direction home. She was oblivious to the faint tinkling that was following her.

When Wendy arrived home she was met with the familiar smell of roast lamb – her favourite. She walked into the kitchen and saw her father carefully setting all the food out onto plates humming along to the radio. She walked over and gave him a kiss on his warm wrinkled cheek then walked into the dinning room where her sister was setting the table. Amanda was dressed in a green turtle neck and long black pants; attire that she would never have usually worn back in America.

"Hey Min," Wendy said as she put her bag on the floor and took her coat off. She sat her self down on one of the side chairs where Amanda had placed cutlery. "Did you do anything interesting this afternoon?"

"Not really, just slept for a while. Mum called, looking for you," she said not looking up at Wendy. Wendy sat back in her chair and crossed her legs.

"Oh really, what have I done this time?" Wendy said smiling.

"I don't know but she did seem distressed, she spoke to Dad about it so maybe ask him," she looked up at Wendy, "Can you think of anything that you have possibly done to hurt mum in anyway? Anything bad that you have done?" she said crossing her arms and look at Wendy.

"I breathe…that offends her," she said darkly.

"Oh, shut up. I am trying to be serious," just then their father walked into the room balancing three plates on his arms. He waltzed in so gracefully.

"Dinner is served. Did you know that I used to work as a cook, and then became a waiter and then…" he said sitting down putting his napkin over his legs and picking up his knife and fork.

"You owned your own restaurant," said Wendy looking at her father.

"We know the story dad," said Amanda taking a sip of her water.

"Oh ok then," he said looking down at his food. The girls laughed and David joined in. Dinner with the Lawrence's was always pleasant.

EEEK! Sorry it took soooo bloody long to get the chapter up! I promise that is will be better in writing I have just been very extremely busy! Well enjoy and I will get the next one up soon! Ciao for now! T