The Adventures of Nessie and Her Lost Boys Chapter 3: I can fly!, a twilight fanfic

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer still owns the Twilight universe, the characters, phrasing, and images. J.M. Barrie definitely owns the World of Peter and Wendy and their friends. And I am respectfully introducing them to one another…

A/N: Before I get lynched…I do want to say that I recognize that the actual story of "Peter Pan" is far from politically correct. It was written in 1911 that should explain it. There are a lot of culturally insensitive references to Native Americans and the comments about women and wives might not be any better. However, with that said, I just ask the reader to "hang in there" – I'm hoping that you will be pleasantly surprised.

Kudos to miss understood615 who despite a busy schedule made sure everything looked good! Thanks to those who have read the story, and added it to your list of favorites. I still want to encourage reviews….please!

"I can fly!"

"In his absence things are usually quiet on the island. The faeries take an hour longer in the morning, the beasts attend to their young, the redskins feed heavily for six days and six nights, and when pirates and lost boys meet they merely bite their thumbs at each other. But with the coming of Peter, who hates lethargy, they are all under way again: if you put your ear to the ground now, you would hear the whole island seething with life." – J.M. Barrie,The Adventures of Peter Pan, chapter 5 p. 58.

Esme's POV

Over the past week, Jake and his pack had worked steadily on building the stage. There was a comfortable rhythm as they worked together. If I ever thought that I would be missing my own sons during this time, I was slightly mistaken. It was true that I missed each one of them, but the squabbles, sparing, and good-natured ribbing that was standard fare between the wolves filled the recent quiet with a more familiar cacophony.

I had come into the house to ready lunch for the Leah and the boys when the phone rang. I reached for it and pressed the talk button. On the other end of the line, I could hear Edward with Bella in the background.

"Hi Esme, how are you?" chimed in my favorite son and his wife.

"Oh, it is so good to hear from you. How are you? How are things on the island?" Their last visit had resulted in damaged furniture that Edward had repaired and Bella's unexpected pregnancy.

I could hear them both erupt into peals of laughter. I wondered if we were both thinking about the same thing. "We're doing well" Edward managed to squeeze out between laughs. "Is Nessie there? We have missed her so very much and can't wait to hear her voice."

I took the phone over to the door and called out for my granddaughter to come in. When she heard that it was her father and mother, she nearly flew into the house. Her cherubic face was lit up with excitement and her eyes sparkled with anticipation of talking with her parents. I passed the phone to her and watched her bring it to her ear.

"Hi momma and daddy" Nessie sang into the mouthpiece. "We're building a stage."

I couldn't quite make out what Edward said to her but I was certain he was shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose as he wondered what I was currently doing to indulge his daughter.

Nessie chatted for awhile with both her parents. Surprisingly she didn't elaborate on the stage but instead she changed the topic and shared with them the visit she had on Sunday with her Grandpa Charlie and Sue. They had taken her up to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. This wasn't something that Carlisle and I could do with Nessie since animals tended to become agitated and frightened around us. Consequently, I was glad that there was a special activity she could share with Charlie. Though we didn't discuss it, Charlie was certainly aware of Nessie's rapid growth and forays around Forks were limited which necessitated trips out of town. Charlie knew that we would be leaving the area soon and any time that he could spend with Nessie was extremely precious to him.

As I tuned into the one side of the conversation, I observed an animated little girl babble on about the zoomamium which was an indoor play environment that brings to life an African waterhole and also contains a nature exchange. Woodland Park was created to resemble the African safari. The park staff led a variety of activities from informational sessions to storytelling to jewelry making to an African Savanna Safari led by a Maasai interpreter. Charlie and Sue were just as enamored by Nessie as the rest of us and she had managed to get them to squeeze in about everything that the park had to offer in the span of about 8 hours. When Charlie carried her in upon their return, she was sound asleep with an Upapi beaded bracelet circling her wrist.

I picked up the other phone and finally coaxed the three of them off the line ensuring them that they could call one another again. After lingering good-byes and wishing one another fun and much love, I hit the end button.

By the time Nessie was done with her conversation, I had managed to put together a picnic lunch for the pack. Together, we carried out enough sandwiches, chips, and brownies to feed a small country. Quil and Embry took two wooden horses and a sheet of plywood and created an impromptu table. Once the food was placed down, the guys dug in greedily. Leah hung back but surprisingly she took a plate of food to eat. I had noted over the past week with all of the concentrated time she had been at our home that she appeared a tiny bit more comfortable. It may have also been that with all of the others gone she did not feel as threatened by my presence alone. In a matter of time, the pile of food had disappeared. The pack certainly gave new meaning to the term "wolfed down" as they finished off every crumb of food set before them.

"Hey Ness, did you tell your parents about the stage?" inquired Jacob swallowing the last bite of a brownie.

Surprisingly Nessie didn't respond right away but played with her lunch. She glanced up shyly at her favorite buddy and quietly admitted that she hadn't. "I-I started to but I changed my mind. I want to surprise them."

"No problem, I think that's a great idea" he assured her. "When they come back, we can show them the stage, the sets, and even the play."

Seth piped in "Now that the stage is almost complete. What will the play be about anyway?"

"Peter Pan, of course!" chorused Jake, Nessie and I. Jake had been around when Bella was reading the story with her daughter and he had also been roped into reading various portions of the tale lending his own interpretation and elaborations to some of the passages.

Leah and Embry looked at one another and rolled their eyes. Leah mumbled something under her breath about the book being insensitive to Native Americans and girls. I made a mental note to try and talk with her. I had a better understanding of what it meant to be a girl in that time period and maybe I could share some of it with her. Quil just gave a thoughtful nod of his head in Jake's direction. He had imprinted on Emily's niece Claire when she was two and over the past year, he had participated in enough tea parties, and dress up games that the thought of acting out Peter Pan didn't faze him.

Before anyone could say anymore, Nessie had darted into the house.

"Ness, where are you going?" shouted Jacob.

"I'm getting my book about Peter Pan."

As my granddaughter ran in to get her book, I took this opportunity to get my drawings from the house. I had etched out several potential sets depending on the scenes that Nessie might decide to re-enact. There was one for the Darling's nursery, another for Neverland, and then ones for the pirates' ship, the mermaids' lagoon, and the home of the "Piccaninny" tribe.

"Here it is" yelled Nessie holding up the worn hardcover book for everyone to see. I had already opened up my portfolio and removed the sketches that I had made. Over the wooden table the various images stared up at us. Seth picked up one of Wendy and the lost boys sitting inside their home underground and studied the details. Nessie plopped the book open in front of everyone. With her tiny hands, she began to carefully flip through the pages in an attempt to decide which of the many tales to retell. As she struggled to select her favorite scene from the book, a small sigh escaped from her lips and she rested her cheek against the palm of her hand.

Jacob suddenly jumped up unable to tolerate her frustration. In an attempt to resolve her indecision, Jake looked around at his pack and said "Maybe we can help you Nessie. What if we share something we like about the story and why we like it?"

Embry admitted that he had never read the book and only had seen the animated version of it. Quil echoed Embry and added that Claire loved the animated version particularly Tinkerbell.

Surprisingly, it was Leah who had read the book. I wasn't astounded by this revelation. Now I could understand where the grumbling had come from.

Nessie flipped open the book contemplating a few more scenes and finally selecting one she began to read in her clear sweet voice.

" The most haunting time at which to see them (mermaids) is at the turn of the moon, when they utter strange wailing cries; but the lagoon is dangerous for mortals then, and until the evening of which we have now to tell, Wendy had never seen the lagoon by moonlight, less from fear, for of course Peter would have accompanied her, than because she had strict rules about every one being in bed by seven. She was often at the lagoon, however, on sunny days after rain, when the mermaids come up in extraordinary numbers to play with their bubbles. The bubbles of many colours made in rainbow water they treat as balls, hitting them gaily from one to another with their tails, and trying to keep them in the rainbow till they burst. The goals are at each end of the rainbow, and the keepers only are allowed to use their hands. Sometimes hundreds of mermaids will be playing in the lagoon at a time, and it is quite a pretty sight." (chapter 8, p. 95)

While she read, the images of the mermaids playing in the lagoon came alive. When she finished reading, her eyes had lit up and a smile tugged at her lips and then she sighed wistfully. "I want to play rainbow ball with the mermaids."

Nessie turned over the book to me and I flipped through the story deciding on which part I would read. As I looked through various sections, I paused over the end where Wendy and her brothers return home. Mrs. Darling's pain over the disappearance of her children and her initial disbelief at their return tugged in strange ways at my heart. Instead, I choose to share with them a different scene. I opened up to the beginning of Chapter 17 and read aloud:

"I hope you want to know what became of the other boys. They were waiting below to give Wendy time to explain about them; and when they counted five hundred they went up. They went up by the stair, because they thought this would make a better impression. They stood in a row in front of Mrs. Darling, with their hats off, and wishing they were not wearing their pirates clothes. They said nothing but their eyes asked her to have them. They ought to have looked at Mr. Darling also, but they forgot him. Of course Mrs. Darling said at once that she would have them; but Mr. Darling was curiously depressed, and they saw that he considered six a rather large number. 'I must say,' he said to Wendy, 'that you don't do things by halves,' a grudging remark which the twins thought was pointed at them." (chapter 17, p. 192)

I looked around at the faces of the boys sitting around me. I couldn't help but imagine the same scene in the book transposed with the faces of Jacob, Seth, Quil and Embry. Jacob shook me out of my reverie by asking for the book that lay open in my hands. He quickly found the place in the book that he wanted. In his deep voice, he read out:

"'Fling the girl overboard,' cried Hook; and they made a rush at the figure in the cloak.

'There's none can save you now, missy,' Mullins hissed jeeringly.

'There's one,' replied the figure.

'Who's that?'

'Peter Pan the avenger!' came the terrible answer; and as he spoke Peter flung off his cloak. Then they all knew who 'twas that had been undoing them in the cabin, and twice Hook essayed to speak and twice he failed. In that frightful moment I think his fierce heart broke.

At last he cried, 'Cleave him to the brisket,' but without conviction.'" (chapter 15, p. 174)

When Jake finished reading his passage, the group erupted with guffaws of laughter and slaps on his back.

Since Seth, Embry and Quil had not read the book, they each shared scenes from the classic Peter Pan video. "I like how they could fly" stated Seth. He scooped up Nessie from Jacob's lap and started to fly her around the yard. Everyone started laughing again and Nessie squealed "I can fly! I can fly!" between giggles.

Once Embry was able to catch his breath from laughing so hard, he suggested the scene where Peter and the boys fight Captain Hook in the movie. Quil high-fived him and seconded it. This was no surprise given their penchant for a good fight.

Leah, by this time, appeared to be having a change of heart over the story and was slowly flipping back and forth between two chapters in the book. She finally decided on one of them though I somehow guessed it was not her first choice. She cleared her throat and began to read:

"Around the brave Tiger Lily were a dozen of her stoutest warriors, and they suddenly saw the perfidious pirates bearing down upon them." (chapter 12, p. 139)

Closing the book, she gave a nod of her head and reveled in the fact that it was a girl who led the Piccaninny Tribe into battle against the pirates.

With the exceptional vision of both vampires and the wolves, none of us had particularly noticed how long we had been outside and that the sun was beginning to set. Our enthusiasm for the discussion had carried us late into the afternoon and into the early evening. All of a sudden, I noticed the Mercedes' approaching the house. The others had picked up on the sound of the car and recognized that Carlisle was returning from work. We could hear him park his car and the door shut behind him. In a moment, the love of my life was coming around the house carrying a package wrapped in brown postal wrap.

"Hi Grandpa" trilled Nessie jumping up into Carlisle's arms and throwing her small arms around his neck in an enthusiastic embrace. He adjusted the package he was holding as he returned her affection.

"Hi Doc" Jacob called out and was followed by various greetings from the others. Carlisle returned their words as he made his way over to me. He gently returned Nessie to the ground and turned towards me.

"Hello Love, How was your day?" I said as I gave him a quick squeeze and slipped my hand into his.

"Good." He replied as he returned my hug. "We had a fairly quiet day at the hospital."

"What's in the package, Grandpa?" inquired our darling angel as she danced around us.

"I brought you a little something that might help you with your summer project. It just arrived today from England. I have a friend who knew Mr. Barrie when the play about Peter Pan first debuted in London in 1904. Amazingly he still had an autographed copy of one of the original manuscripts. Of course, the original was too fragile to loan out. So instead, he had a special copy made for you." Wrapped within the brown packaging was the rare document of J.M. Barrie's original play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Would Never Grow Up.

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A/N: I had planned to post one chapter of this story each week until it is done. However, I have a special piece from Carlisle's POV that I want to post next week in honor of Father's Day and I am afraid that I won't be able to finish Chapter 4 of this story, the Carlisle piece, and close out the school year all in the same week. So I expect to postpone the next chapter of this to the week after Father's Day. Please, consider putting me on author alert if you are interested in checking out that piece. For those who read my Esme story "Children of Her Heart", the new piece will be kind of a bookend to that story.

Here's a challenge...if I can get 10 reviews on this chapter...I'll work to post chapter 4 of this in addition to the Father's Day piece next week. Let me know what scene you think they should act out from Peter Pan or any other feedback that you care to share! :-)