Peter fidgeted in the shirt and knickers that felt too tight. He could hardly stand the itchy feel of a collar, and wanted his Neverland clothes back. At least they were comfortable, not like the stiff clothes of EngLand, or whatever Alexis had said this place was called. Alexis, the girl who had found him on the island, had snuck him back to her house. He had slept in one of the shelves of her closet for the rest of the night as a hiding place. It also made him feel more comfortable to be up high at least for a few nights.
But the bath! He had hardly been able to stand that! It turned out that Alexis was on weekend break, so early in the morning after Peter shimmied out the window and down the tree in front she had insisted on dunking him under the water of a nearby river a few times, and an extra scrubbing to get the dirt off of his nose. And she had combed his hair! An honest to goodness combing! Peter couldn't even believe how much of that hair stuff had come out into the water while she was tugging at it with a brush and scissors. (She was hardly keen at scissors, but both were too excited about what was to come to notice how half of Peter's hair was a good two inches shorter than the other half.)
Fidgeting again, Peter wished Tink was here. He missed Tink. Even though she was a jealous spoiled brat he liked her. Tugging on a longer strand of the slicked back hair, Peter stared at the door nervously, waiting for Alexis to return and bring him into this thing called a living room for A Most Formal Presentation, as the two called it, to Alexis' parents and Wendy.
Wendy.
He hadn't seen here in years, though he still hoped that she remembered him. He still remembered her. All the adventures they had, though of course he couldn't remember all of those. There were too many of those to remember decently. Some were expected to go.
And now Peter would have an entirely different Adventure. There would be rules, and that he hated, but still. The awe of seeing the city again! The last few times he had been there was when his Shadow went missing in the Darlings' bedroom, and he had only come back there at night to try to find it. It was so busy and noisy! They had tons of things there, horses, buildings that seemed even taller than the tallest mountain in Neverland. And the dirt, oh the dirt! Once this Most Formal Presentation was over he certainly wouldn't miss out on running around with some of the other boys in that! Even if it did mean another River Bath, there was nothing nobody could do to stop him!
Peter could here Alexis talking with some people downstairs, though he couldn't hear what they were saying. It was too dulled by the walls for him to make out.
If Tink were here she would be eavesdropping perfectly and zipping back to tell me everything they're saying. I bet they're saying horrid things about me. When I finally get down there I shall sock them each, very good and solid, in the nose for saying such nastily things about me that I am sure they are saying.
Finally the waiting became too much for Peter to bear (though in all honesty it had only been about 3 minutes since Alexis had gone downstairs and left Peter sitting on her bed) and he just had to creep out to the top of the stairs to get a look at what they may be doing. Peter found talking to get in the way of everything, unless it was him boasting about one of his millions of adventures in which he was the victor. (though in all honesty he had only been on about 36 adventures in Neverland, give or take 15) His rules stated that if he ever lost, it was never to be spoken about again, therefore making it so it didn't exist. Peter had never lost. (though in all honesty he had gotten lost at least twice in the Neverland forest, and one time got caught in a very simple Indian trap for three whole days in which he was mocked severely)
Creeping to the top of the stairs, Peter leapt off of the top step to hover at the top where they couldn't see him but he could most definitely hear them. Yet, with a crash as he tumbled over the banister he realized his mistake in forgetting that with his decision to leave Neverland for good he had lost his flight powers. Standing up, he tried to look dignified as he met not four or five but six pairs of eyes. Alexis' parents (John and Elizabeth Darling) looked shocked, Wendy Darling (now at the age of 34) was looking at him with a softened look that was hiding her amusement, and Alexis and the Twins were loosing their mirth in a variety of laughter or grunting that was only laughter being banished in the throat.
Wendy. Wendy was there. Peter spent an extra few seconds to stare at her. He didn't realize it before, but she was beautiful. Her sandy brown locks were up in a bun, and while the clothes she wore looked simply awful, uncomfortable, and itchy, they looked like her. Or, at least, her as a real mother, not a Neverland mother where she should look flowery and green, not upright and formal.
Peter was shocked to see two of the Lost Boys there, and shocked to see that they looked younger than Wendy, though they had all been around the same age. (or so Peter had guessed; since he had never known exactly how old any of the Boys were no one else was allowed to know either, though the group did have their secrets) The magic of Neverland that had kept the boys young all those years had slowed the aging process considerably for the Lost Boys so that they were physically only about 26, though the effects were wearing off enough that they would be aging year by year now instead of every two or three years.
"Mates!" Peter yelled to the Twins, desperate to change the focus from a negative view of him to, quite possibly if he could manage, a negative view of the Twins. Just as long as Peter looked good, everything was okay by him.
"You look ridiculous, Peter," said Twin One in a thick Scottish accent, catching Peter by surprise and completely deteriorating his "calm exterior" for his plan.
"Yeah, Peter, what are you wearing and what have you done with your hair?" Twin Two asked in the accent that Peter recognized clearly as from the island, "Gone through a Picasso?"
You see, what Peter did not know is that the Twins had separated, a thought unimaginable to him. There were always Twins, and there were always Two of them. That was what being a twin was about, and it was his rules so that was always what went. While completing this thing called "college" in England ("college" is a very very big scary type of school where there are no parents as Peter would learn later; also with less rules than the other types of schools. Of course, they expect you to "know better", but as can be imagined, Peter never "knows better".) Twin One had dropped out and moved to Scotland while Twin Two had completed his college time and worked in England for a while after. This all took about 12 years.
"Oh, don't pester him," said Wendy softly to the Twins as she moved forward to kneel next to Peter, "Peter, dear, don't listen to a word those two say. They're still two good for nothing bums, and what else could you expect from a zookeeper?"
This last part was said with a dirty look to Twin One, who laughed and shook his head, raising his hands up in defense, "Wendy, please, we can't all be scholars. Who would look after the koalas if we were?"
Wendy was surprised, though, as Peter suddenly engulfed her in a large hug, trying desperately hard to hold back tears. He didn't much care now that the Twins were being awful to him, or that he had no idea what Twin Two was talking about when he was saying things about "Picasso", he had Wendy back. And he didn't much care about anything else.
"Wendy... why did you go?" Peter asked in a small whisper, his voice betraying his fright.
"Peter, I told you... I had to," Wendy whispered back, hugging him all the same and struggling with her voice as well, "I needed a Mother and a Father... a real Mother and Father... it was, it is... the right way to grow up. The right way to grow up and see what the rest of the world can give you. To see what the rest of the world is, and that it's bigger than any of us ever thought."
"But you left me behind. You left Tink behind." Peter clung to her, crying a little now, scared that she might leave him behind again.
"Oh Peter," she said, releasing the hug and taking a handkerchief out of a pocked to wipe Peter's tears away, "We gave you the choice to come with us. We wanted to leave, but we wanted you, too... You were so stubborn."
"I changed my mind now, Wendy." Peter said, trying to be brave and smile, "I want to be with you all. Tink died. and Tiger Lily started hating me. There was no one left at all there."
"No new boys?" Wendy asked, and Peter shook his head.
"Oh, but it will be wonderful, having him here!" Alexis exclaimed to uncomfortable looks her parents exchanged that remained unseen by her. John had been sure to inform Elizabeth all about Peter and their time when Alexis had started asking about him, and both agreed that they would not like him in their house. Alexis charged forward and grabbed both Wendy's and Peter's hands.
"He can help with the cooking and get us treasures from the street, and then when he rips his clothes I can mend them, and I can make sure he gets his bath every day..."
At this point John interrupted, "But Alexis, darling, he will have to go to school, just as you will, if he stays here. And with all the extra schooling he'll need to catch up to other boys his age, I'm afraid he won't be able to be the Peter you think he is."
Peter shot him a dirty look which John decided to overlook ("He'll learn social rules soon enough") as Alexis kept on her struggle to keep Peter at her house.
"Yes, but... then after all that is done, we shall have so much fun! And what with Rainie," (here Wendy whispered in Peter's ear "one of Nana's puppies. I told you about Nana."), "feeling restless, he can help take her for walks so she doesn't pace and ruin the wood floors so much! Because Rainie will be exhausted after she's through with the both of us!"
"You sound so proud of that..." Peter muttered, realizing that he had been thinking a moment earlier about how much fun a dog could be and was contradicting himself just now.
"Oh, don't worry about it, John, Wendy," Twin One stood up and went over to Peter to ruffle his hair. Peter pushed his hand away, "He can stay with Roger and I in our flat. No worry to you."
Peter wondered briefly who in the world Roger was, and then realized that he was talking about Twin Two. They must have taken names since they left Neverland for their... learning thingie. The whiny crybabies, they broke the rules, they weren't allowed to have names.
"Oh don't be stupid, Leo," Wendy said, giving "Leo" an annoyed look and standing back up to her full height, "He can't stay with you two, you can barely take care of yourselves."
"I could stay with you, Wendy. You could be my real mother this time." Peter looked hopeful.
"Oh no Peter..." Wendy said, and hurried to explain after seeing Peter's crestfallen look, "That is... We've only got one child at home, my husband and I, a newborn only a few months old, and we're still trying to learn how to be real parents. Anyway, I'm sure Alexis would love having you around."
Wendy shot John an apologetic look as she said this, knowing that he had been unsteady about taking Peter in when he heard the news. Alexis laughed and clapped her hands with happiness.
"No, that's all right, I guess," Peter said sadly, looking at the floor. Alexis, slowly realizing what he had said, shed her happiness and looked at him, now confused, "No one wants me. And now I can't go back to Neverland because I can't fly any more. I guess I'll have to live in an orphanage after all."
He shuddered at the thought of this, but Elizabeth cut in for the first time since Peter had come downstairs.
"Oh John, he's only one boy. We can afford to take in one more child, and he will be a good companion for Alexis and Rainie as the children say. It will be work, but oh, why can't we?" She now took Wendy's place as Wendy stepped back, kneeling next to Peter as if to size him up.
"We will need to fix this hair up, you tried to cut his hair, didn't you Alexis?" Alexis nodded, looking proud, "Well we never could keep her away from salons and the such, she idolizes them... and we'll have to find some clothes that fit..."
"And don't itch." Peter piped up, determined that if he were to actually behave in Wendy's world he would make it very clear to them that if he were to do so he could not have itchy clothes.
Elizabeth smiled, "Yes, of course. No itchy clothes."
Peter smiled crookedly back, realizing that even though he wouldn't have a Wendy mother, he could still see her and be in her Family, and the mother he would be getting wouldn't be so bad after all, even if it wasn't Wendy.
"So... when can I have a cookie, mama?" Peter asked, almost a little too hastily.
"You're already underfeeding the boy, Elizabeth. He'll stay scrawny forever that way." Twin Two said.