My Darling Love
Chapter 57 – Mixed Blessings
"If help and salvation are to come, they can only come from the children, for the children are the makers of men"
-Maria Montessori
In the front door raced Wendy Darling, carrying a bundled sodden Jane in her arms followed by her two brothers, Joseph and Edmund. Wendy's expression was panicked, and if Captain Hook could have relieved her arms of the little girl's weight, he would have -- he wanted to. Wendy didn't see the pirate captain gazing down lovingly to Jane cradled in her arms, as she pleaded for her mother's aid, but Jane did. She smiled up to him as he waved to her with a loving expression of adoration and devotion. "Papa, carry me," she whispered, thinking him George, and her sentiment made him lean down and brush his lips every so gently over her forehead.
"Mother, she fell in the lake through the ice, she's freezing, help me! Help me make her better, mother, please! I don't know what to do! We must save her, mother!" Wendy was weeping hard, and she had no idea why. If she'd been irresponsible, and not been watching closely, she would deserve to blurt guilt-filled apologizes, not this worry filled with immeasurable fear.
Mary took Jane, who, even shivering, asked after the tall man with curly dark locks standing before her. "Is papa wearing a wig? He looks funny." Jane giggled but then began coughing, and up came her lunch all over Mary, mixed with more ice water from her lungs. Mary made her way up the stairs to the washroom, and ran a warm bath for both her and Jane.
While they bathed, Captain Hook remained outside the door with Wendy, waiting the entire time. "How did she fall through the ice, Gwendolyn?" Hook asked to her distracted face.
She looked lost in the dread that Jane was to suffer for her mistake. "I don't know how she fell through, we were skating and having such a good time. I looked over and she was gone. There was a hole, a crack straight into the water, she was there, trapped under the ice. I saved her. I pulled her out. I can't lose her, for she is all I have!" It took Wendy a moment or so to realize she was talking to herself. She was sure someone had asked her to explain, but she could not see the other presence beside her.
Peter Pan strolled in the front door and up the stairs to where the chaos was taking place. Harry readied himself to care for Jane in her room, urging Mary to hurry along with the girl. Captain Hook waited with Wendy, who continued to cry. Without asking Peter for an explanation of his whereabouts, Wendy ran into his arms and began pleading for his help, wanting his comfort. Peter held her close to his chest and soothed her with, "It wasn't your fault. It just was an accident. She will be all right Wendy; her mother is taking care of her. She will be fine. I know it."
Captain Hook stared at them. They were in love, which was now clear to him. His normal reaction would have been a grimace and a sigh of annoyance at such a vulgar display of affection, but at that moment, he was envious of Peter. For not only was he allowed to be a man on Earth, he also was allowed to be real.
Peter Pan kept his eyes ahead, and stared at a pirate captain, obvious to the young man's eyesight. "Wendy, I know what will make your parents happy, something to take their minds off of Jane, who I'm sure will just get put to bed with some hot cocoa, and then be better by tomorrow. Tonight, we should ask them for their blessing so we can finally be HUSBAND and wife."
Wendy nodded with a warm smile and a kiss belonging only to Peter Pan.
But it was to be much more than a bit of a chill for Jane. By the time Mary dried her off and put her to bed, she was already running a fever. George came home much later, walking side-by-side with his son John, and together they ascended the stairs to a bedroom full of people caring for the small child who dry-heaved toward a trash bucket on the side of the bed. Harry made his way over to his brother. "She fell in the lake through the ice, George, she's got a wicked cold of some kind. I think she might have been sick already last night, Wendy said she was complaining of being chilly and needed to sleep in bed with her sister to warm up. Mary and I are doing all we can to make her feel better. It is going to be a long night, we must get her fever to break."
George entered the room and took count of all present. Peter stood behind Wendy who was still crying, the boys sat on the floor nearest her. Harry stood in the doorway and John stood beside his father looking on. Mary rested on the bed with Jane to her chest. Captain Hook sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his daughter.
Jane was ashen in color and unresponsive. Her eyes were glazed, and she appeared to be staring at her father, the pirate captain, with a small smile of contentment. George knelt down and spoke softly to her, "Jane, how are you feeling, my baby girl?"
Jane moved her head to him slowly, as if any movement made her ache. The smile became complete, and she informed George in a whimper, "Look, Papa, my guardian angel is here."
She pointed to Captain Hook, who smiled as well, and winked with a nod to George. Jane tugged on George to gain his attention, whispering in his ear, "But don't laugh papa, even though he looks funny dressed like that…" She closed her eyes and comfortably rested back against her mother still softly speaking, "in the gracious light of God, he is beautiful…"
George inhaled and smiled to Mary who wept silent tears, holding Jane tighter to her bosom. George touched her head and felt the heat that engulfed her little body.
"Alright everyone, let's leave mama and papa with Jane for a little bit. Its getting close to bedtime, we best get some food in our bellies," Uncle Harry suggested, ushering everyone from the room.
"I'm tired, Mama, I can't keep my eyes open anymore. Say the prayer and then I can go to sleep." George and Mary recited along with Jane the bedtime prayer said every night by the Darling children. "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. God bless Mama and Papa, Uncle Harry, Uncle John, Aunt Wendy, Edmund and Joseph, Uncle Michael and Grandpa Joe in heaven and my guardian angel…thank you for sending him back to me…"
Jane closed her eyes after Mary and George kissed her on her forehead, and wished her sweet dreams. Jane peered through her eyelashes to Captain Hook who took to his feet from his knees while Jane, Mary and George prayed, "James…" she whispered, "I still have your rosary beads, I'm sorry I didn't return them, I forgot. They're in my dream box…"
Jane pointed her finger to a small jewelry box that sat on the top of her dresser. George went to it and removed the ruby and diamond rosary from within and handed them to Captain Hook, "No, you keep them, Mr. Darling. Consider them a gift from a pirate captain." George took them and clutched them to his heart gazing back at Jane asleep.
Mary watched the little girl fading away before her. "Will she die now? You said she would, but not yet. Why now? Can it not be much later, when she is older, much older? There is so much she has not seen, has not done… Please …" she whispered to Captain Hook who was now standing by Jane's bedroom window looking out.
He paused, and then answered as honestly as possible, "Peter Pan knows I am here, he knows why I am here. I told both you and your husband, the same rules do not apply from this kingdom to the one I am bound to. He knows Jane is mine and he knows neither one of us can survive without the other. She carries within her the part of me that makes me real here in your world. And I carry within myself the part of Jane that allows her heart to keep beating. Peter Pan knows that, and he will not let that to go on. This afternoon was only the beginning; it is to get much worse, Madam. All I can say for sure is you both should stay with Jane tonight while she sleeps. Do not leave her alone or unguarded under any circumstances. When it is time, as the end draws near, you will know. God will tell you."
"Why must Jane die? Not to save us. Not to save me. I will not allow it. The Son of God has already died for my sins." George spoke sternly, grasping Captain Hook by the sleeve.
Captain Hook ominously stared at George, and made the sign of the cross over his chest, to show his own personal absolute respect for the Son of God. With an unfriendly, dare say, dreaded expression the pirate captain replied, "Jane will not give up her life as a sacrifice to save your soul Mr. Darling, so you need not worry over that. Nor will it be by God's hand that she is prematurely called back to heaven."
Hook glanced to Mary, Jane and then the window as he replied; "Angels there are amongst you, out of sight, invisible, figments of your imagination. Unreal." He turned to George, standing face-to-face and eye-to-eye, "But you can see me Mr. Darling." He shifted his head to Mary, "And you can see me Mrs. Darling."
Captain Hook returned his attention to George, "I am real to you both right now. There is a simple explanation for this. You both can see me because of Jane." He pointed to his daughter asleep as he spoke.
"Because she is a real being in this world. And as long as she is alive, a shadow on Earth that is visible to your conscious minds, I will be. It is an abomination, even in the eyes of God, for an archangel, exiled no less, and a fair maiden on Earth to have a child together. It is a forbidden impossibility. Yet, Jane was conceived here, in your world. The love Wendy had for me the night our daughter was created was enough to make Jane real. Now, if her love was enough to make Jane real, her love is enough to make me real also. I assure you with Jane alive, it is only a matter of time before Wendy remembers…everything…as it once was. Peter Pan knows that. Bringing her home has already reopened corridors in her heart long forgotten. Pan cannot allow that to happen, for as much as my salvation lies with your daughter, his does as well. To win his game and claim his victories, he must cut all the ties that bind me here, Jane being the first, the last, and the only that matter in his plight for she is mortal. If he kills her on Earth, I will be banished for eternity in Neverland and I will be the one forgotten, forever. If the heart offends thee, which in that case, it would, I will be forced to cut mine out. That is exactly what he wants. I said Baby Jane would die, but only if you permit it to happen."
He turned from George and addressed Mary, "You must continue the charade with Peter, and he must not know you are aware of him as anything more than he pretends to be." Without another word he left by way of the night sky. George and Mary looked at Jane; she slept comfortably, not the slumber of imminent death, but one of peace.
Mary did as Captain Hook advised and stayed with Baby Jane, George went downstairs to the kitchen, where everyone was gathered. Wendy was trying desperately to busy herself, attempting to prepare a light meal for her family. "Mother is with Jane while she rests…" Was all George could manage before he choked on his tears and took the chair John offered as he entered the room.
Only a short time later, after everyone ate, more so, pretended to eat, Harry and George engaged in an intimate conversation in the hallway, "I didn't want to say this in front of Wendy, but I asked Jane why she skated on the thinned ice while I was treating her. I've taken her and the boys skating myself many times and she knows of such dangers. Well George, I don't know how to tell you this, but she told me…" George held up his hand, interrupting. "I know what Jane said…Mary told me…" George spoke quietly while shaking his head, doing his best to control the emotions that poured from his heart. Frankly, George didn't need his brother to reiterate what a higher authority had already warned him of.
Wendy now sat at the table and cried, there was no consoling her. Peter sat across from her and stared, lost in this world and the bewildered by the idea that an irrelevant little girl could bring such agony to his Wendy. "I don't get it, Wendy, I thought you would be happy with her gone…" Peter gave his weak-minded opinion on the matter of her sister's -- rather daughter's -- condition.
"Why would I be happy, Peter? I love her. She's just a baby," Wendy replied, dumbfounded at his cruelty to even suggest this was a cheerful event for Wendy
"I don't know, Wendy, I thought you always liked being the only girl." Wendy watched as he continuously tilted on the back chair legs, rocking in his seat. Peter had a happy thought, and so he chuckled to himself quietly, "Jane's as gullible as Hook … I'm not surprised …"
Soon midnight approached, and with nothing else left to do but pray, John took the boys home to the flat. To give his sister-in-law rest before the long night ahead, Harry stayed with Jane while she slept. "Allow no one but George or myself to enter into this room Harold. Do you understand? NO ONE." Mary reiterated several times before leaving her daughter's bedside.
Peter and Wendy sat with George and Mary in the parlor without speaking. Wendy was still sobbing quietly, as she had since she'd yanked Jane from the lake, and Peter still held his quizzical but bizarre smile toward her from the other end of the sofa.
George and Mary had lost a child before, but this time, there would be none to replace her, so their grief consumed them. They sat with one another on the love seat holding hands, George held his arm about his wife for support. It was the sound of his heartbeat that urged hers onward, and it was her breathing that reminded him to. They were truly one heart and soul living in two separate people bound by love. Harry calmly stepped from Jane's room upstairs and called out for Mary, who in turn took to the stairs in an instant. Only a moment later Harry quickly made his own way down the stairs and out the front door into the night, holding a handkerchief to his face to hide the downpour of tears.
Peter Pan jerked his head up to the door as it slammed shut and over to George, who now sat forward with his elbows to his knees, holding his head in his hands.
"Mr. Darling, me and Wendy--" Peter chirped before Wendy corrected, rudely interrupting her fiancé's train of thought with, "Wendy and I."
"Okay, Wendy and I have been wanting to ask you something for a very long time." George lifted his head slightly, turning his attention to Peter, who was sitting across from him with a disturbingly chipper smile, as though any news -- even if it were the best news in the world -- could transport everyone present into celebration. "We've been wanting to ask your blessing."
"Blessing? I don't understand…" George answered, as confused as he was irritated that now, of all times, this would have to be the one that Peter would choose to ask it of him. To show his displeasure, he snarled at his daughter who shifted her stare to her father as Pan jabbered on.
"We, Wendy and I, want your, Mr. and Mrs. Darling's, blessing for our marriage."
It never surprised Wendy how stupid and down right thoughtless Peter could be. But it amazed every body else, George included. "Let me got this straight, my baby daughter is upstairs on her deathbed," that sentiment alone made Wendy cry harder, and viciously punch her intended in his arm, "and you want me to give you my blessing for your marriage? Young man, have you lost your mind?"
Peter was baffled, so much so he whispered to Wendy, "I don't think your father likes me, maybe I would be better off asking your mother first."
Wendy gazed upon his naïve expression, and with as much fury as she was able to muster, she answered by ruthlessly pinching his arm, "If you bother my mother with anything tonight, I will kill you."
Neither Wendy's threat or George's nasty tone thwarted Peter Pan, for he blathered on with, "Once me and Wendy -- sorry Mr. Darling, I mean Wendy and I are married, I'd like you do all the investing with my money. I'm quite wealthy, you know, and Wendy has bragged that you are the smartest man alive when it comes to stocks and bonds and all that financial stuff." George watched Peter as he spoke and then turned his gaze on Wendy, who shrugged her shoulders, tears raining down her cheeks in her own self-made misery, attempting to act blameless to Peter's insensitivity. "So, you can look after my money and me and Wendy can go off and be married and happy."
Once more, for good measure and as it was the only punishment Wendy could think of at the moment, she punched Peter in the arm and screamed her grammar correction of, "It is 'WENDY AND I!' and 'ME and WENDY!'"
Before Peter could reply another voice spoke up from the entranceway.
"And what of children? Will you not give my daughter children?" Mary said coolly. She entered the room and stood directly in front of Wendy, holding her eyes to her daughter's intended. Mary's comment surprised Peter, as he had not expected her opinions on the matter.
"We don't want to have any children, we don't like children," he sneered back to his future mother-in-law.
"Oh really, I was under the impression Wendy was very fond of children."
Peter shook his head dismissively, "Wendy never wanted children as a child, why would she want them now?"
Captain Hook stalked in behind Mary and hissed into her ear, "Liar he is!" He kept his lips to her ear and harshly scolded, "Madam, lest I remind you again, do not leave my baby Jane alone…"
Mary paid him no mind, and took her seat next to her husband, a silent participant in the little game about to be played. "George, Jane wants you to sit with her for awhile." Mary spoke first and now it was George's turn to run up the stairs.
Mary watched George go and when she was sure he was out of sight, and earshot, she offered to Wendy not only her undivided attention, but also her declaration that was not to be questioned by anyone in the house. "So you and your fiancé want our blessing. I don't know, Wendy, your father and I will want to discuss it and now is certainly not the time. When Jane recovers, remind us again, won't you."
Peter saw Captain Hook standing centered in the room, and waved to him with a bright smile, showing his mouth full of white teeth. Even in the body of a young man, he appeared like a little boy, sitting up straight, and overjoyed that he once again had the opportunity to taunt the pirate. He had not heard one word Mary had spoken, his mind obviously elsewhere.
Mary moved her gaze over to where Captain Hook stood; she could see him but acted as if she were blind to his presence. "Who are you waving at young man?" Mary looked back to Peter, raising her brow.
Peter Pan snapped back to himself when he realized Wendy was also looking in Hook's direction; unfortunately she was truly blind to Pirate Captain's attendance. "No one, I mean I was waving to Mr. Darling as he was leaving the room." Pan gave Mary the same childish smile he gave Captain Hook and waved at her also.
Captain Hook came into the parlor and sprawled out on the loveseat next to Mrs. George Darling, as if he owned the place. He put his boots up on the coffee table and stretched his arm over Mary and began blowing in her ear. Peter watched it all transpire, growing rather uncomfortable as Mary received a slight chill from his touch and shivered asking, "Is it cold in here, or is it just me?"
Wendy turned her attention to her mother, "No, it's actually warm, Mother," she mumbled unwrapping her sweater and tossing it to Peter. "Give it to my mother, Peter." Peter slowly rose and Wendy had to nearly kick him over to the other side of the room to hand it to Mary. Peter extended his arm without looking and began waving the sweater in Mary's face. "PETER! That's rude! Hand my mother my sweater like a gentleman." Wendy shouted, seeing Mary move half her body over on the sofa to make Wendy take notice of her fiancé's bizarre behavior.
Peter, thinking of his own game, walked right up to Mary. "Here's Wendy's sweater for you, Mrs. George Darling!" The formality was mockery toward Hook who only mildly grinned, holding his adoring eyes towards Mary. This was not at all the reaction Peter had anticipated.
Mary took the garment and smiled politely, "Thank you, Peter."
Peter took a second before he smiled back; in that second, Captain Hook leaned over Mary and whispered, " It does not matter to me that she is Mrs. George Darling, Pan. Just look at my lovely Mary, and her husband so much in my likeness. It is as if God placed him on Earth just for me to live through. You know, Pan, at times I do." His finished his sentiment by placing an affectionate kiss upon her cheek, neck and lips as she turned to see the clock on the wall, Mary encouraging the pirate captain on with her mocking grin.
Captain Hook leaned into Mary's ear as she purposely shifted her neck to scratch the back of her head, and Mary perked up and offered, "Come here Peter, let me look at you."
Peter was trapped there, gazing at the two of them in horror, as Mary turned her full attention to Peter with that same mocking smile, Captain Hook pressing his head into Mary's staring back at Peter. It wasn't long, but long enough for the red fire to roll within the pirate captain's eyes. Peter tried to jerk away from Hook as he bent in further and closer to the boy who'd refused to grow up, that now finally had, but Mary held his hands. "Peter, what a handsome young man you are. I never really looked at you before."
Mary held out his arms to look him over, and Hook mimicked slashing him with his hook. "It won't work here dummy," Peter Pan scoffed to show he was unafraid of Captain Hook or his hook.
"What did you say young man?" Mary asked, as Wendy was already on her feet to her mother's side. "He's just tired mother, he didn't mean to call you a dummy. RIGHT PETER?" she hissed into Peter's ear and poked his side.
"Uh, sure, Mrs. Darling, I'm just sleepy. I meant to say, Mummy. It won't work here Mummy, you know like Mommy but Mummy, because that is what I will call you when me and Wendy get married."
"Wendy and I," Mary corrected and added, "I am not your mother, Peter." She threw his hands away from her. Wendy, desiring to alleviate the unfriendly mood in the room, sat next to her mother on the loveseat, in the lap of Captain Hook, who was rather pleased, his expression overjoyed as she sank further into him.
Although she could not feel it, Captain Hook squeezed Wendy about her middle with all his might and rested his head lovingly on her shoulder brushing his face to her neck. "NO WENDY! Don't sit there!" Peter shouted, grabbing Wendy by her arm to pull her up.
"Let go of me, Peter!" she slugged him back, "I'll sit by my mother if I want. What's gotten into you tonight?" Captain Hook smirked to Peter Pan, still caressing Wendy while she embraced Mary.
"There is still room on the loveseat, Pan -- why not sit on my lovely Mary's lap? You know, if George and I are one in the same and you marry Wendy, you'll be my son-in-law." Captain Hook mockingly imitated George's sternest expression, then ran his tongue from Wendy's neck to her ear, sending a shockwave of passion up her spine and back down again. She grasped her neck and moaned in delight.
Peter was outraged, standing mouth agape. Mary just handed Wendy back her sweater, "See, it is chilly in here. Look, Wendy, you are covered from head to toe in goose bumps."
"That's vulgar, because that would make Wendy your daughter!" Peter blasted standing before the lot with his arms proudly crossed. Captain Hook rested all the way back on the sofa and watched as both Mary and Wendy glared at him, confused by his comment.
"Young man, Wendy IS my daughter," Mary gave voice, only to be hushed by Captain Hook who pulled Wendy back against her will into his chest with such force she yelped. "Flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood, bone of my bone? I don't think so Pan. George Darling is her father. But I guess you could say I could be her … stepfather."
Suddenly and without warning, Wendy acted if she was goosed on her behind and then fell to floor as Captain Hook stood and shoved her from his lap. "You know, Pan, she still calls out for me while she sleeps. Why is that? God only knows what a woman with her experience in bed dreams about. Next time she moans for me, tell her you are her love," Hook sneered into Peter's ear before turning from the room. Peter Pan was so enraged he tried unsuccessfully to kick and scratch at Captain Hook as he strolled from the parlor back to the hall, "Eh-eh-eh," Captain Hook shook his finger in the air, "I'm not real, but you are!"
Mary stayed on the love seat alone with Wendy on the floor. Only poor Wendy seemed troubled that Peter was fighting with an imaginary foe. As she turned to see her mother's reaction, Mary pretended she had something in her eyes and had missed the display. Captain Hook motioned to Mary with his finger to come to him when he took rest leaning against the doorway, but she still showed no awareness that he was there, casting her glance over to Peter Pan who was watching her. "Was that for you or for me?" Peter asked Mary, then to Wendy, "Or for you, Wendy? Can you see him?"
Wendy got up off the floor with a little help from her mother and shook her entire body, tears pouring down her face. "See who, Peter? There is no one there! What are you talking about? Mother can you see anyone?" Wendy turned to face her mother with her arms raised, her suffering was painful to watch, especially for Mary being her mother.
Mary shrugged her shoulders, "I see your father, Wendy."
George stood in the doorway waiting. Captain Hook was gone. "What is going on in here?"
"Wendy, why don't you and Peter go to bed? It is to be a very long night I am sure. You both need your rest. Margaret's funeral will be the day after tomorrow, and…" She broke off and gazed to the stairs keeping her eyes to her husband reading his face, "and Jane is not resting easy. Hopefully you will find comfort in your sleep."
Wendy took her mother's advice and, with a completely dazed and confused Peter, went to the nursery. With them out of earshot, Captain Hook re-emerged from behind George and demanded, "We have to get Pan back to Neverland tonight. And why is my Jane alone yet again? Did I not tell you both at least a hundred time only tonight, she is defenseless in this world!"
George watched Mary, who closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "If I knew how to get Peter Pan to return to Neverland, don't you think he would be there and gone already? If you have any ideas, I'm most willing to hear them," George responded, keeping the pirate captain in the corner of his eye. "Mary, Jane wants you." George walked down the hall and to the kitchen out of sight. Captain Hook finally laying his claim to a child George had raised and loved like his own daughter was painful to his ears and his heart.
Captain Hook bowed to Mary as she passed him making her way up the stairs. "Thank you, Madam," he said to her as she went by.
"For what?"
He touched her hand and gazed into her eyes, "For loving her."
Mary patted his hand on hers and responded, "I am her mother, that is what mothers do." She kissed his forehead and left him alone at the bottom of the stairs. "Please check in on Martine won't you? I'm sure she is still worried about her mother."
Captain Hook bowed again at her words, and followed her with his eyes until she was behind Jane's door before taking his leave.
George entered Jane's room with a cup of tea for each of them, and found Mary sitting on the chair beside the bed. "She's sleeping finally," he whispered, and offered to trade her the chair for his lap.
Mary felt silly sitting on him like she was a child, so she settled for a cushion on the floor by his feet instead, "You can sit, George." Every so often Mary would rewet the cloth that she kept over Jane's head to help lower her temperature, and every so often when not praying for their youngest daughter's health, George and Mary would chat with one another.
"He asked for our blessing, Mary. Wendy seems to feel very strongly that he is the man she should wed," George offered first in a whisper.
"I don't think she loves him, George, and I will not give my blessing or any other until I have a chance to speak with her alone and in great detail on the matter," Mary responded, thinking for now that would be the end of the discussion.
"Why don't you like him? Aside from what Captain Hook has told you. Really Mary, he could be lying. I'm not stupid, you know, Mary; I know the two of you talk alone all the time. You never, not once, told me anything he has confided in you, and I'm your husband," George muttered, showing his jealousy of their intimate and private relationship.
Mary started to say, "You never told me what you and your mistress spent your lunches and evenings discussing…" but thought better of it when George wrenched his head toward her with a shocked look of disbelief.
"You are never going to let that go, will you? Not even now?" George asked, moving his attention back to Jane. "If it bothers you that much, Mary, we discussed my fear that my only daughter Wendy will die a spinster!"
"I told him nothing George that you are not already aware of. I shared with him nothing that is secret between you and I." Mary replied softly. "We did have our own plans of revenge I did not involve you in…for fear it would cause your delicate soul harm and for that I am sorry…although it does not matter now."
"I talked with 'her', he sneered the word, "about things that went on at the bank, and with my brother. I told her about you and the children, nothing of importance, nothing secret, and nothing that everyone else in the world is unaware of. I told her how you and I met and married, the life we had together and the life I wished we had because I love you more than I love myself." To lighten the serious mood as best he could, George added, "And on occasion I told her I was afraid my only daughter Wendy would die a spinster who wrote a scandalous novel about her parents' love affair."
Mary nestled into his leg, and wrapped her arms around it in a hug. "Wendy will not die a spinster, George, and so what if she did? Even if everything Captain Hook told us is a complete and utter falsehood, I still think it better for our daughter Wendy to die an unmarried author of trashy romance novels than married to a man she doesn't love. Really, George, we love each other tremendously, and at times throughout our lives, being married to you has been unbearable, and I mean that with no offense, dearest. My point is, how difficult it can be when two people love and care for one another, imagine how horrid it can get when they don't! Revenge is never a good argument for marriage and neither is money."
"Touché," George said, nodding his head, "although I think the story of our love would have books flying off the shelves!" Mary agreed to that and interjected, "Lets us hope our daughter has enough good sense to change our names in the torrid tale. Can you imagine George? What would the neighbors think?" On that note, they both smiled to the other and went back to praying.
Captain Hook returned to his cabin, sitting down at his desk and resting his head in his hands. After long moments without moving, he shifted a handkerchief from a little jar and stared at the contents within. A young woman no larger than a real sewing thimble was sitting on a rum cork crying. She stood when she noticed him watching and began jumping around trying to communicate with a tiny squeaky voice. Stuck in the middle of childhood and fairyhood, she had already begun to age into a mutated adulthood. Captain Hook sighed in sadness, as in her effort to make him understand what couldn't be understood, she tripped and fell over her makeshift seat. Martine Darling gave up as she got up and moved her rum cork back into position, retaking her seat upon it. Captain Hook picked up the jar for a closer look, and she watched him for some kind of comfort, offering a weak smile.
"I got you something for Christmas, my lady, I think you are going to like it." Captain Hook carried the jar over to a table in the center of the room and gently lifted the young girl out. She did not fight him, raising her arms to catch his hand as he placed it carefully inside. The first time he picked her up from where she was hidden in moss growing in an ocean cave near where her mother lay, she bit him. Now she was peaceful, and impatiently brushed away his curls from her face when he turned, as Mr. Smee knocked on the door. "Oh sorry, dearest heart," he replied, seeing her struggle. He yanked his long locks over his shoulder with his hook, closing her softly in his palm, and shouted, "ENTER!" as Mr. Smee was anxiously rapping on the cabin entranceway.
"Just like you wanted, Captain, all put together, complete with a tea set." Mr. Smee smiled to Martine as Captain Hook placed her on his shoulder and directed her to, "Hold on". She grabbed, as much hair as she could, and Captain Hook walked through his door into the hall outside his room. "Very good, wonderful, bring it in, Smee."
Three pirates rolled in the grandest of all dollhouses into Captain Hook's cabin. It had every luxury of a genuine castle, complete with a throne, a main entrance, washroom, kitchen, numerous bedrooms, nursery, dining room, parlor, an office fit for a king, a sitting room filled with windows with a chaise lounge fit for a queen, a winding staircases, attic and high towers hoisting a skull and cross-bone flag. The walls were painted in the prettiest colors and patterns, and each room had a miniature rug, soft and cozy on the floor. "Now close your eyes," Captain Hook commanded, as Martine couldn't see anything through his thick mane. She did, as well as Mr. Smee and the three other pirates, causing Hook to sigh in utter annoyance.
He scooped Martine up and placed her down inside on the first floor, and whispered, "Now open them, your royal highness." Martine gazed around, wide-eyed in wonder. After Captain Hook attired her in a tiny little jeweled crown, she entered the kitchen and opened the cabinets, all filled with tiny plates and silverware. She bolted up the stairs into each bedroom and threw herself down on the tiny bed. Martine investigated every single room, closet and cupboard from top to bottom. In the master bedroom, as she pulled tiny dresses and regal gowns out of the wardrobe, she caught sight of her aged appearance in the mirror. She fell to her knees and began to cry. "I'm sorry, your majesty, there is to be no more childhood for you," Captain Hook offered.
Martine took rest, finally dozing off, stretched out in the miniature bathtub in the washroom. Captain Hook plucked a dove's feather from one of his hats and covered her where she lay, but not before moving a little pillow from a bed on the third floor and resting it behind her head.
"Sweet dreams, Queen Martine," Captain Hook said as he leaned his head around and saw Mr. Smee and the three pirates still standing in their places with their eyes closed. "You can leave now," he declared stalking back to his desk and retaking his position, head in hand. Mr. Smee and the pirates bumped into one another and then the wall walking from his cabin with their eyes closed. Captain Hook looked up only to shake his head and then lower it again. In his hands he held his rosary beads, these crafted from pearls of the sea, and in his heart he too began to pray.
As he asked God for aid in his own private plights, the tiny castle fit for a queen, with Martine still inside, dissipated into thin air.
Peter fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow, and now he was snoring rather loudly. It echoed throughout the nursery and kept Wendy from her own sleep. She got up from her bed and sat on the ledge by the window. It was a cloudy night, and the houses across the street hid the moon. She needed to see it, so she did the only thing she could think of. She crept from her room and silently tiptoed to the attic door. Uncle Harry was not here, and his room, her old room, was empty. She checked in on her parents and Jane, and found them all sleeping as well. Seeing she was alone, she climbed the stairs, and gazed about at all the changes.
The only proof that it had ever once been her room at all was the writing desk still against the wall by the attic window, which was oddly open. It was the end of December and cold outside, but the wind that blew in was warm and reassuring. Now in her pajamas, she sat at her old desk, enjoying the soothing breeze. "Wendy, darling, what's wrong?" George, her father asked from behind her.
"Nothing, father, I was just wishing …" Wendy began, but the words escaped her.
"You were just wishing? Wishing you could be young again?" Wendy had turned to see her father as he approached, but now she returned her gaze again to the moon. "You don't love him do you?" George asked, taking a seat across from his daughter.
"No, I do," she responded a little too quickly to be believable, "I do, I just feel like something in my life is missing. You don't like him though, neither does Mother." Wendy sighed leaning her head against the window frame, sad, even on such a glorious night.
"How could your mother and I not like someone who would give you a necklace as grand as this?" George pulled from his pocket the necklace of the fair maiden Gwendolyn.
"This is not mine, Father, wherever did you find it?" Wendy asked, looking curiously down at it, afraid to touch the priceless piece of someone else's heart held in George's hand.
"No, it's yours. Your mother and I found it in your dream drawer before I redid your room for your Uncle Harry. As a matter of fact, I found a drawing there with it. Really Wendy, sometimes I cannot figure out if you have a more imaginative mind for writing or drawing. Although I must say I have yet to read one of your stories. But the artist in you is truly blessed." George stood as he talked, and went to the dream drawer in Wendy's desk, removing the drawing of Captain Hook and Gwendolyn, offering to Wendy as they both glanced down at it.
"I wondered what you thinking when you drew this, your mother thinks he is a handsome man. Not as handsome as myself of course …" George said to Wendy embracing her, "You should pursue the gifts God has blessed you with. There is no greater sin than to waste the talents the Lord has bestowed you with." George kissed her forehead and patted her shoulder before heading towards the stairs.
"Wendy," George said, turning again, "Your mother says if you wish to have our blessing, we should give it to you and Peter Pan on your wedding. Have him ask us again in the morning." George smiled to Wendy's blank expression, and strolled slowly down the stairs.
Peter Pan peered up to the attic from the doorway that George had left open on his way back to Jane's room. He grinned from ear to ear, his plan in place, but he did not hear the most important part of George's message that Wendy did.
"Peter Pan?" she whispered to herself, looking back to the picture of Captain Hook and his one true love that she held in her hand. Louder than she should have, with her wicked fiancé taking slowly to the stairs, sure of his victory, Wendy shouted "James!" and ran out the window in one quick step, dropping the two stories toward the pavement below.
There in Neverland, Captain Hook paced the deck, staring off at the same moon Wendy had beheld. "I see the moon, the moon sees, the moon sees someone I want to see, blessed moon …" He spoke as Wendy landed directly on top of him, having just fallen from the sky.
"James!" she shouted still on top of him, showering his face with kisses, "James, I love you, I love you, I love you!"
Peter Pan hit the landing just as Wendy leapt forward out the window. He shouted, and Mary and George, sitting quietly in Jane's room with her still fast asleep, looked toward the ceiling. "It has begun then," Mary said to George, who nodded his head. "Well done, George, now what? We both can't go. One of us will have to stay with Jane here, and the other will have to go to Neverland and protect Wendy. I'll go."
"No, Mary you should not go, you are not as strong as I am. This is my battle for you and for our children. I must go." George swallowed the knot in his throat and stood with his hands in his pockets.
"Kiss me, George," Mary requested, looking up to him, so proud of her husband. George bent down and touched her cheek, brushing his lips gently over hers. All at once, she stood and they embraced in a devoutly impassioned kiss, a kiss Mary took from him, a kiss as if it were to be the last kiss of his she would ever receive.
"Remember George…" Mary's last word of advice went unheard, Jane sat up and bed and shrieked in agony, clutching her heart, moaning in despair. "I'm going now, Mary, before it is too late."