Chapter 7.

News of Jeanette's wedding weighed me down, and the conversation I had listened in on lingered around where I sat at the supper table. Nicholas sat across from Jeanette, who sat next to me as I gazed across at Wendy beside Nicholas. Matthew was still in the barn working, so Mother had taken his seat at the head of the table.

"A week?" Mother looked at Jeanette and Nicholas. "So soon? Should you not wait to test if this relationship shall work?"

"I must admit, I had my doubts in the beginning, but after today…" I blushed when Nicholas looked over at me. "…I know nothing shall deter my love and devotion to Jeanette."

"It would be wise to marry now, Mother." Jeanette said. "Nicholas and I have known one another all of our lives. We need no more time to become better acquainted, I assure you."

"He did grow up in this household…" doubt was still etched in Mother's face. "But he was more of Annie's friend."

"Why must you all question our love?" tears filled her eyes as she stood and hit her hands on the table, the hurt escaping into her voice. "I am tired of it! You all talk as if Nicholas should love Margaret. Why can he not love me? Why must you all question and inquire of her when it is I who am getting married?"

"We were only concerned with Annie…"

"Margaret! Margaret!" Jeanette interrupted Wendy, sending her face aghast. "Her name is Margaret Anita Maurice. How do you expect her to grow up when you coddle her so with pet names? It seems I am the only one who knows her name and yet you all treat me as if I know nothing of my own sister!"

"Jeanette?" I opened my door to find her gazing out at Nicholas and Matthew driving the cattle to their stalls.

"Everyday they do the same routine, yet they are content." Jeanette sighed. "This marriage is finally changing this life a bit. No more waking up and bustling about the house as I do now. I'll have my own home with a husband and children someday, perhaps."

"Isn't that what you want?" I asked. "You're always stressing such a lifetime."

"Is there any other choice?" Jeanette laughed coldly. "The difference between you and me is that you do not give into what is expected of you and yet people still love you the more for it."

"No one is asking of you to do everything you do."

"But it is expected from me nonetheless," Jeanette sighed. "I'm afraid if ever I were to change, Nicholas shall not love me, or shall call off the engagement, as short as it may be."

"Nicholas cares for…"

"I've seen how he looks at you!" Jeanette snapped. "Anyone with eyes can plain see he would marry you in an instant if ever you had a hankering for it."

"You know I wouldn't…"

"Do not lie to me, Margaret Anita Maurice!" Jeanette demanded. "I know when someone is lying to me. I saw how crimson you turned when he looked at you! Do not deny it."

"I know," I lowered my head in shame.

"I never thought the day would come when my sister married before I." Jeanette smiled weak and wanly.

"You wouldn't break the engagement!" I gasped, surprised that I had made matters come to this. "You can't, Jeanette! Nicholas would be heartbroken."

"You love one another."

"No! No! No!" I shook my head, startled at how easy the words came. "I could never marry Nicholas. I won't have it! I never want to give in to that and have kids and be called mother. It would drive me insane! Oh Jeanette, you must marry him!"

"I love him…" Jeanette sighed in her melancholy. "But I love you more, Margaret. You must promise me you will be alright with it."

"Oh, I shall be ever so good and give you both a kiss when it is all through!"

Nodding her head, Jeanette walked out, leaving me to realize I had just signed an agreement for a lonely life ahead of me.

"Don't let me go," I said when we had stopped crying and sat atop a branch, our legs dangling and fingers entwined.

"I never plan to… I promised you forever… didn't I?" his caring gaze was all I could see as his hand went to my cheek. "You're beautiful, Annie. I've never felt like this before."

"I've never wanted to, but now that I have, I hope it never leaves."

"The adventures we'll have!" Peter grinned. "Why, together no one could come between us!"

"I once thought I had felt something like this," I leaned my head on his shoulder. "It was only later this day, yet it seems centuries ago. When I heard Nicholas was to marry my sister… it was like watching the two most important people walk away and leave me. But I had let him go. I let them both go. It was ever so hard saying it would be alright to Jeanette and Mother and Wendy and everyone, but I found it was hardest to say to myself. Did you ever love someone like that, Peter?"

"I guess, Wendy." Peter shrugged. "I wanted her to be with me forever, but she wanted to grow up and could not see me wanting to remain in my Neverland. When it came down to it, I knew I could survive on my own without Wendy, but I did not know if I would be as well without Neverland and my lost boys and Tink. Wendy tried to find me once, but she could not find Neverland. How I wanted to go after her and scare her and play, but I knew she had given that up when she had chosen to grow up. There was no going back now. Letting Wendy go was one of the hardest things I had to do."

"Wendy still thinks about you…"

"I know… I can feel her call out to me still." a dark shadow passed over Peter's youthful face and I saw him to be nearer in age to Nicholas than Michael, an observation I had never noticed before.

"Wendy still calls for you?"

"Not out loud, but I can feel her." Peter grew tense. "Wendy is a part of me. I felt incomplete when she left. Nothing seemed right and no one could make me feel better. But I don't want to be alone. I don't want to go somewhere that I'm not sure I could come back from."

"Do you think we could come back from where we are?" I smiled at myself, finding security in leaning on his body for support. "I feel quite content sitting here forever."

"Only if you go back with me," Peter tilted his head back. "Suppose I take you to see the mermaids tomorrow? Would you like that?" the childish tone came back to his voice. "They would be awful jealous I brought another girl to play, but I think they would like you. But they might try to drown you. They did that to Wendy once, but she got all serious, even though the girls were just playing around."

"I suppose one has a right to take being drowned seriously, don't you think, Peter?"

"They didn't mean to."

"But they might have hurt Wendy."

"Wendy was just spoiling the fun."

"Really now?" I said smugly. "Would you let them do that to me?"

"I guess I might let them give you a taste of the water, but eventually I'd step in."

"How reassuring Peter!"

"Come now, you know I wouldn't let them…"

"I know," I laughed. "I was only teasing. I know you wouldn't ever purposefully go out to hurt me, Peter. Of course I'll let you introduce me to everyone in Neverland. I have the intention to meet them all anyway. Then you must go with me and meet my family. You shall love Mother. She is the sweetest mother, but I do not know if you would get along with Jeanette. Matthew is pleasant enough, but he's usually too busy with being the man of the house to do much of anything else. There's Nicholas, of course, but you've already met him. That's about it for the family, but I am sure you shall get along splendidly with them all."

"Ah, Annie, you know I can't do that."

"Do what?"

"Leave Neverland," Peter smirked as if what I was requesting was the most ridiculous thing I could ask for.

"Whyever not? You left Neverland to take me there."

"But suppose I go there and they all are really nice and I get attached and won't want to come back?" Peter brought up. "I already said I won't go anywhere I'm sure I won't return from."

"But you must meet my family! However do you expect them to know where I've been? I cannot say I'm going off to live with some fellow they've never met but can never meet. They would never let me come back."

"Why would you want to go back?"

"Why?" I sat up and crossed my arms. "Because they are my family, of course! Do you know of anyone who would leave their family in the middle of the night and never return? Why, it would be dreadful, and completely disrespectful and just not right at all! I was raised better than that."

"Annie, I can't let you leave."

"Why not?" I scoffed. "You cannot expect me to stay in Neverland without ever seeing my family again, now can you?"

"I promised you forever, what else could you want?"

"But they're my family!" I argued. "How can you expect me to go on without ever seeing my family again? Without ever saying goodbye? Why Peter, I cannot leave my home. I would miss them all dreadfully."

"You can't go back."

"Peter, I can't stay here forever."

"Fine!" Peter stood up. "If you want to go home, then go! Just remember that if you leave, there is no going back. You will never come back to Neverland again!"

"Peter!"

I flew after him but my skills as a flier were limited and he was soon loss in the mass of trees. Sighing, I flew to the ground and closed my eyes to gather my thoughts.

I cannot stay and never see my family again. My mother's face filled my mind as I remember how she could look around our tiny, compact home and look as if she had the world at her feet. Could I ever find happiness like that? Would I be able to wake up in Neverland and have that same expression on my face? Could I live knowing I would never change… that I would remain this age forever in an unchanging world of dreams and fantasies where I would never grow up?

"I must go home." I opened my eyes at my decision.

Turning around to get one last look at Neverland, I saw that I was in the woods again, standing before a clearing of dead trees just as the morning sun was beginning to peak through the thick trees, shining a small ray of light right in front of me as if promising a bright future ahead.

AN: Not over yet. Hehehe... just marking a new transition in the story. Hope you all are enjoying it so far, and yeah... sorry if my story isn't the typical Peter Pan chronicle most people look for. Thank you again to my reviewers and all who put some time to read this. It means the world to me. : )