Disclaimer:

I Aslansphoenix declare that I do not own 'Peter Pan', Neverland or anything that you find familiar. Technically some of the characters did come from my head ... but I think they belong to Neverland just as much as any canon characters.

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Author's Note:

Thank-you for your patience in waiting for this update.

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"All Children Grow up Except One"

Everyone Knows about Neverland,
About the home of Peter Pan.

Second to the Right, and Straight on till Morning.
To the place between dreaming and awakening.

There are rules in Neverland
Rules that must be obeyed.

Boys forget much easier than Girls.
"No Girl can resist Peter Pan,
When he uses a specific voice."
One more thing, which is True ...
In Neverland, You learn all about You.

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Chapter Four

Plans never seem to work out the way you expect them to, do they.

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Jane and Taran always took the break to travel around the jungles of the world. This meant that Margaret and Angela spent the summer break with Granny Wendy, which they seemed happy about. And usually Aunt Ruthless took her family to France for the holidays (or Switzerland, or Italy); it was a time that George enjoyed immensely.

This time though, a few unexpected occurrences happened. All three sets of parents went away – George thought it would have been better if it had been to do with Granddad Jack or Grandma Carla, but it wasn't. Each set of parents/aunts and uncles had a different reason – In George's mind most likely the work of Fate or Bad Luck or something.

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A few week before school ended; George's parents explained that they needed to travel to America to visit James's sister, Lillian, and they didn't know if it was worth taking George out of school for the last few weeks, or if the education was more important. George wanting to be around friends, and being closer to Aunt Jane's family than Aunt Lillian's, convinced them to let George stay in England.

`Education was of course very important, Aunt Lillian wasn't in any trouble, and George's parents deserved holiday – especially with their 12th Wedding Anniversary coming up.' The fact that this meant George would get to stay with Jane and Taran, and then with Granny Wendy, didn't have any factor in George's reasoning … and if it did, well George wouldn't tell.

And at first it was fun.

The Jackson family weren't George's favourite extended family members for no reason. Taran allowed George to act on the wild side, Jane always taught such interesting facts (way more interesting than learning at school), and George considered both Margaret and Angela as friends … even if Angela did sometimes make George feel unnerved.

Then the luck turned bad (in George's opinion at least.)

Instead of taking the whole family to France (or Italy, or wherever), they didn't. Apparently, Professor Cyrus (Mitch and Eliza's father, a quiet sort that stayed in his study most days) was invited to attend some prestigious convention in Germany.

And for some reason they couldn't bring their children.

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George and Angela were playing a 'hunting' game where they were trying to sneak up on Taran. He clearly knew they were around, but he was a good sport and let them get close enough to pounce. They were enjoying themselves, when Taran, who was near the window, let out a low breath.

"Ah, the Leopard approaches."

That was another fun thing about Taran, almost everyone got an animal nickname. Except for his wife and children; but their names were always said with utter reverence and love. Some people liked the nick-names (George was proud of being called Bear Cub), others found it irritating – Aunt Ruthless glared whenever the title was used. Maybe that was why Taran used it (no matter how fitting it was).

As a doorbell rang, Taran signaled for silence from George and Angela. As a group, they made their way towards the stairs to eavesdrop on the women. Most adults discouraged listening in, but Taran often made the argument that `it was better to be prepared rather than blindsided, besides the kids would do it anyway, so they might as well have adult supervision.'

Sadly most adults didn't buy that reasoning. But the children enjoyed it. George suspected that Taran just did to avoid dealing with certain people.

Taran's relationship with his sisters was an interesting one. He actually seemed to have stronger sibling bonds with his friends. In George's opinion at least.

He cared for Anne and protected her, but their personalities were just too different. Anne was quiet, controlled and very much a city lady. Taran was wild and more of a jungle man, and though he didn't say a lot of words, he had a very loud presence that drew everyone's attention.

George felt that Taran and Mother were more similar to how George was with the American cousins; cared about each other but in a distant way. With Aunt Ruthless, though – they were both such strong characters that there was always a hint of awkwardness between them. Or maybe it was just George who felt awkward whenever they were in the same room. Either way, out of respect for being family members, Taran and Ruth tended to avoid each other when possible.

Jane … did not.

Jane was intelligent, well-educated, well-traveled, Kind, creative, talkative and very self-assured. She knew exactly who she was and this meant that she didn't put up with other people trying to control her.

Jane and Anne got along very well, they were great friends (It had been Jane to introduce George's parents after all). Jane and Ruth could get on quite well. When they had a common cause, they could combine their strengths to be an unstoppable force … but that didn't mean they liked one another.

Jane was too interested in wildlife for Aunt Ruthless, and Ruth cared a little too much about societal regulations for Jane. They were polite to each other, and at times the respected each other, but George didn't think they would ever like one another.

The doorbell rang.

Angela and George copied Taran's actions and hunched down silently on the staircase to listen in on the conversation.

"Jane, dear."

"Ruth. What an unexpected surprise. Do come in. How have you been? Would you care for a cup of tea?"

"No thank-you, I can't stay long, I have a meeting to attend in half an hour. But I need to speak with you about something important."

"Is everything alright?"

"Splendid. Cyrus has been asked to present his latest findings in Germany, after which, we then have been invited to dinner some of the most important dignitaries."

"Congratulations, you must be so proud of your husband. And those dignitary dinners are always more enjoyable than what would be imagined. I remember when Daddy got invited to one in Austria, I went along expecting to be bored out of my mind, but I actually had a rather good time. The food was exquisite."

"… Yes. Well, the one downside is that we will be unable to take our regular holiday in France. And Anne has chosen the most inconvenient time to leave the country."

"She and James are visiting America for; both an anniversary present, or rather, holiday, and for Lillian's birthday. I'm sure you were told this."

"Yes, Anne mentioned something about her sister-in-law. Most inconvenient, as I said. I was hoping she would be able to care for my darling children while we are away. As it is, you and Taran will have to, Jane dear."

The listening in George's nose scrunched up at the thought, and a glance sideways showed Taran and Angela with twin expressions of intense, worried expressions. George could hear Jane's displeasure at being ordered around in her next statement, even as polite as it was worded.

"Unfortunately for you Ruth, dear, Taran and I will be leaving in less than a week for our own annual journey into the wilderness."

"Are you not looking after Georgina? Is it not sensible for you to be cancelling your silly little trip."

"No."

Ruth was not used to being told `no', and for a moment; George could see the snarling leopard she was nick-named for.

"What do you mean `no'?"

"I mean `no'. Our tickets have already been paid for, this is always a great learning experience, it allows Taran to see his old friends, and if all goes well we should be able to make steps in helping the preservation and protection of endangered species. George is staying with us, and when Taran and I leave, the children will be staying with my Mother for the rest of the Summer."

"Your mother! Well who is supposed to take care of my children?"

Jane stood u and started cleaning her now empty cup, George strained and her Jane mutter "You could always take a break and look after them yourself."

Ruth gave an audible sniff of distaste and started listing all the logical reasons why that could not be done. George watched with trepidation as Jane took a deep breath then turned back to face her ranting sister-in-law.

"There is of course another option. As I said; when Taran and I leave the country, the children will be going to stay with my mother, I'm sure she would willingly take in Mitchell and Eliza. I'm sure it would do them a world of good."

The last part was muttered, and George didn't think that Aunt Ruthless heard it. She seemed to be trying not to breathe fire (something that George was half-convinced she could actually do). It was a common fact that Ruth did not approve of Granny Wendy; no one could quite ever figure out why.

"Allow … my children to stay with … your mother?"

"Why would that be a problem?"

"I'm sure that your mother is … capable. But well, she's not exactly my family; is she."

"My mother is the most capable person I know. And she is very good at caring for all children, regardless of if they are blood relatives.

Besides I'm not sure if you have much choice; you could of course stay with your children while Cyrus goes to the meeting himself, but as you have already stated you have planned too many meetings to cancel. You could take them to Germany with you and if you were willing to pay, hire a caregiver. Or you could trust a well-known lady who has already proven that she is able to look after children. Oh, would you look at the time, you did say you had a meeting to get to didn't you?"

Ruth rose from her seat with elegance and poise, her face was calm … though her eyes were shooting daggers. They exchanged `pleasant' farewells and once Aunt Ruthless had stalked off to find easier pray, Jane turned around with her hands on her hips.

"All right you three, come on out."

George exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Angela and Taran. After a moment of deliberation Taran murmured "run."

He went down to distract his wife. With a shrug that turned into a grin, the children let out a couple of war cries and ran through the house. They passed Taran who was mock holding an exasperated (though hopefully amused) Jane, and avoided crashing into Margaret; who was just returning from visiting one of her friends.

Later George would scowl and think – impolite thoughts about the possibility of Mitch being around. For the time being though, it was more fun to run around like crazy.

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End of Chapter Four.

Author's Note:

Here this chapter ends.

I'll be honest there was going to be more to this chapter, but I really like the last paragraph, it's a good chapter ending. I know the story-line is currently slow, but it is building.

Thanks to Ghost Wolf 114.

Hopefully this story is not too horrible.

If you have read this, then thank-you.

I will update whenever I update.

Wednesday 28th March 2018.