WARNING: T rating comes in to play in this chapter - though I've numbed it down as much as possible, there is a mature theme discussed (there's nothing gross or explicit that I've written, but the them of 'sex' is mentioned in this chapter.) If this is not for you, stop reading once you get to Peter saying "What do you know about thimbles?" and resume when you arrive at the paragraph where Hook and Peter shake hands (er, hand and hook, rather).

Chapter Thirty-Four – Getting "The Talk"

Wendy couldn't talk to her father.

Literally…she couldn't.

Ever since they had their fight, he was never home when the children were around. Wendy had to go and fetch her brothers on her own after school and bring them home. Sometimes Fred, Mandy, Ben, or even Ms. Seaworth would join her but for the most part, she was alone. And then, suddenly, Peter appeared. Each day, consecutively for the next two weeks, he would be waiting outside the school for her and make sure she got Jon and Mikey and made their way back home. Sometimes he would come with Ruff, Violet, or Tinker Bell; sometimes he was alone.

On the second week of this arrangement, Mandy, Violet, and Peter were walking with Wendy and her brothers back to the house. Inviting them inside, Wendy patted Nana's head and shut the door. "I really appreciate you all coming with us," Wendy said, heading for the kitchen to make some snacks.

"No problem," Violet grinned, taking a seat at the dinner table. "What are friends for?"

"OMG, Vi, can you believe it?! Wendy still doesn't have a costume!" Mandy declared, making Wendy blush.

'You're not going to the masquerade after Homecoming?" Violet asked, surprised.

"I don't know how Dad will react," Wendy replied weakly. "And I haven't had the time to look for a costume, much less make one."

"You should go, Wendy," Peter said, standing beside her. "Have some fun. It doesn't happen often does it? Homecoming, I mean."

She laughed, pecking his cheek. "I guess I could…but Mikey and Jon-?"

"Wendy, we're not babies!" Mikey pouted, crossing his arms over his chest indignantly.

Jon chuckled, patting his brother's head. "He's right, Wendy. We have Nana. What's one night?" Putting Mikey in a headlock, he grinned impishly and rubbed his brother's head with his fist. "We can have a real brotherly bonding night!"

"HEY!" Mikey yelled, squirming in his brother's grasp.

Peter and the girls laughed at their antics while Nana rolled her eyes and gave a tired "hmph!"

"So, what can we do for a costume?" Mandy asked, tapping her cheek in thought.

"Hmmm…" Violet pursed her lips, one eyebrow raised as she pondered…and then, the snapped her fingers, her eyes lighting up. "I think I have an idea. Wendy, you have lots of great stuff you could use for a costume here!"

"How?" she asked, her brows knitting together in confusion.

Grabbing her friend's hand, Violet began to drag her up the stairs. "C'mon, Mandy. We've got work to do. And as for you-" She pointed at Peter accusingly. "You're not allowed upstairs for now. Keep the boys out of trouble, will you?"

"You're asking me, Peter Pan, to keep these boys out of trouble?" Peter asked, clutching his sides in a fit of laughter.

"Just don't demolish the house while we're gone, ok?" Wendy winked, waving at the group as she let the girls take her away. Nana trailed after them, eager to spend "girl time" with them as well.

Looking to Mikey and Jon, both standing expectantly before him, Peter sauntered over and gave a mischievous smile. "So…where exactly does your sister hide that Rocky Road ice cream?"

Grinning, the boys ran for the freezer. As Jon grabbed the spoon and Mikey tugged the tub of frozen dessert out, they shared a smile which could only mean one thing: "Peter Pan's the best babysitter in the world!"

~NEVER-NEVERLAND~

"A monster?"

"A superhero!"

"What about an animal?"

"A prince!"

"No, an Indian!"

"Ghost!"

Peter made a face at the suggestions he heard. He didn't know much about dressing up, but these ideas sounded like they didn't quite suit his taste. "I dunno, boys."

"C'mon, Peter! Pick one!" Skipper urged him.

"Why can't you just go as yourself?" Ruff suggested.

"But it's a dress-up party!" the Twins protested. "He's gotta dress up!"

"You could always dress as yourself," Violet smirked evilly. "…remember that Disney version of you? I'm sure Wendy would love to see that-"

"Not for all the kisses and thimbles in the world!" Peter declared, cringing at the idea of dressing up as his cartoon incarnation. Floating off of the ground, he heaved a frustrated sigh. "I'm going flying…maybe I can figure this out on my own." Darting through the passages in the tree, he shot out into the forest, his brows furrowed as he struggled to pick a costume idea. Soaring into the air, Peter passed over the amusement rides and Indian Village. Lying on his back, his hands placed behind his head, his let his mind wander, thinking back to a certain "thimble" that had taken place between him and Wendy. He could remember tasting her, how he unconsciously opened his mouth as he tried to 'thimble' her…he vaguely remember Ruff explaining ages ago about different types of kissing, but he had forgotten about it just as quickly. He touched his lips, recalling how she seemed to respond almost eagerly to that new form of kissing. He hadn't lied when he said it frightened him…but the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to try it again.

Was this part of growing up? Or was it part of life? Maybe both? One thing was for sure – he couldn't talk to this about the boys, much less Tink. It was too embarrassing…he needed to discuss this in private with someone who knew about these things, but wouldn't tease him…

"AY! PAN!"

The harsh shout made him blink, turning his head to see he was now flying over the Harbor. There were a group of pirates there, all shouting and waving as he flew overhead. Grinning, he swooped down and floated before them.

"G'day, mates," Peter saluted. "What's new?"

"Listen, Pan, about what happened a few weeks back…" one of the men started, looking shameful.

Peter laughed carelessly, tossing his head back as he placed his fists on his hips. "Forget about it – I already did!"

When they saw that the boy wasn't infuriated with them, they sent up a cheer, one of them going to pour a glass full of ale on his head. Peter swiftly flew backwards, automatically bumping into someone. Lifting his head, his emerald eyes came into contact with a set of glaring forget-me-not blue eyes.

"Boy," Hook sneered.

"Hook," Peter responded, blinking innocently. "…y'know, I remember you being a lot bigger back in the day."

Hook gave a twisted, grim smile, gripping the boy's shoulder. "Trust me, Pan – to a twelve-year-old child, I'm a giant." Spinning the boy around, he glared angrily at Peter. "What's the big idea? Hmm? You crash land in my territory, you nearly bleed to death all over my bed, and then in the morning, you're gone!"

"I thought I left you something in return?" Peter said, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Hook stopped, his eyes softening for the briefest moment. "Aye, you did…" Glancing at the men, he put his arm around Peter and cleared his throat. "Perhaps we can continue this conversation elsewhere…"

Peter shrugged, allowing Hook to lead him into his private cabin. He chuckled when Hook shut the door and bolted it. "What's this, Captain? Want to make sure I don't escape your clutches?" He plopped down into the captain's seat behind the desk, resting his feet on the desk as he leaned back against the chair.

"Believe me, I'm extremely tempted," Hook smirked. Slipping his hand into his inner coat pocket, he pulled out his mother's locket and dangled it in front of the boy. "I believe you left me this last time you were here."

"That's it," Peter nodded, looking down at a set of cigars Hook had placed along the table.

"You said you'd never give it back," Hook whispered, his fingers curling around the trinket.

"I lied," Peter chirped, flying up so that he sat on top of the headrest of the chair.

Hook slipped it back into his coat, the sting of a wounded pride and the swelling of his gratitude mixing. "Thank-"

"Cap'n," Peter cut him off, his brows furrowing. "What do you know about…thimbles?"

Hook raised an eyebrow at the boy. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Y'know, thimbles." When Hook gave him a blank stare, Peter smacked his face in frustration and grumbled. "…kisses?"

Hook blinked, and suddenly the room was filled with roaring laughter. Doubling over and clutching his sides, he guffawed, "You still call kisses 'thimbles'?!" He was snickering now, covering his mouth with his fist in a vain attempt to calm down. "You're dreadfully childish and ignorant."

Peter felt his face go red as he glared angrily at the pirate. Biting the inside of his cheek, he gave a haughty "Hmph!" and began to fly towards the window.

"Hold it, boy," Hook said at last, calming down long enough to start wondering why on earth Peter would ask him about such things. "What's all this about?"

"Nothing," Peter snapped. "It's not important!" He grabbed the shutters only to feel Hook grab onto him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the pirate raising an eyebrow at him.

"Come, Pan…what's all this about kisses and thimbles?" he asked gently, motioning for Peter to sit. Peter refrained, sitting cross-legged in the air as he crossed his arms and refused to look at the grown-up. "What is it? Trouble with your Wendy?"

Peter shook his head, Wendy's face filling his mind. "…I…I kissed her."

"Yes, that doesn't surprise me," Hook rolled his eyes, sitting down behind his desk again. "What about it?"

"I…I opened my mouth…I wanted to kiss her different…but I don't understand."

Hook stared at him, his eyes huge. "Oh…dear." He gave a dramatic sigh. "You're doomed, Pan."

"Huh?" Peter scowled at him. "What're you talking about-?"

"Let me guess," Hook cut him off, holding up his hook as a sign for Peter to listen to him. "You press your lips to hers and you get this warm, fuzzy feeling inside. You hold her to your chest and can feel her heartbeat. It feels sickening and wonderful all at once…and then, you want to taste her. Your mouth opens and eventually, so does hers, and you become immersed in yourself and you feel as though you're going to burst…" He raised his brows at the boy. "Tell me if I'm wrong."

"Well…I only opened mine a little…we didn't do anything else," Peter mumbled, blushing.

Chuckling, Hook got up and went to the flying teenager. "Pan…perhaps when you were smaller, younger, you didn't care for this sort of thing…but you're older now." Peter winced. Hook placed his arm around the boy and said, "There, there, there. It's not all that terrible."

"I'm not supposed to want this," Peter argued, frowning.

"But this is who you are now, Peter," Hook replied, taking the boy by the shoulders and looking him in the eye. "I daresay, it was bound to happen to you eventually, too. You're a young man, Peter, and Wendy is a lovely young lady, it's only natural to feel like that…did you not like k-…thimbling her?"

Peter kept his eyes downcast, guilty. He shook his head. "…no…I…I liked it…I just…didn't know what to do…or why I was doing it. I thought she wouldn't want me to."

"She'll want to, believe me," Hook smirked.

Looking up at the man, Peter gave him a funny look. "Hook…have you thimbled Christine?"

"Many times by now," Hook chuckled. "That's how you'll feel when you kiss Wendy…but remember to control yourself," he scolded Peter. "Don't lose your head and go overboard."

"Huh?" Peter asked, completely lost. "What do you mean?"

Hook gawked at him, grimacing. "Don't tell me your father-?"

"Shade," Peter corrected him with a frown.

"Shade didn't tell you about…the birds and the bees?"

"What do birds and bees have anything to do with this?" Peter asked, giving Hook a look that said, "you're nuts."

Smacking his forehead, Hook sighed and grimaced at the realization of Peter's innocence. He realized it would be a great blow if he were the one to shatter it…but Peter was no longer a child, and if he wished to no longer be "ignorant," Hook would have to burst his bubble. "Here, Peter," he said, placing an arm around the boy. Peter landed and cocked his head at him. "Come...have a seat." Peter sat on the desk while Hook took his chair, stroking his moustache. "This is…a rather delicate subject, Pan…boys need to know this to avoid trouble in the future…and to understand about life."

"Ok," Peter shrugged, sitting Indian style and leaning in with interest.

Frowning, Hook pondered a while until he came up with an idea. "Peter…you know where fairies come from, don't you?"

"Is this a joke?" Peter snickered. "Of course I know! When babies have their first laugh, the laugh becomes a fairy!"

"Well…answer me this: do you know where babies come from?"

Peter opened his mouth to retort when he stopped short, realizing he had absolutely no clue. "Um…well…mothers!" he cried. "They come from their mothers!"

"And how do the mothers get the babies?" Hook asked, amused.

Peter squirmed in his seat, making a face. He hated not knowing something someone else already knew. He didn't understand what all this had to do with kisses and thimbles but he was already in this deep. "…I…I don't know."

Taking a deep breath, Hook took the plunge. "When a man loves a woman, he marries her, and they want to have a family, correct?" Peter nodded, suspicious. "Well, eventually they have children…do you know how they get their children? How your parents had you?"

Peter cast his eyes off to a wall, frowning at the idea of Shade hovering over him like a father, but he knew he couldn't deny it. "…no," he said firmly, looking back into Hook's eyes. "I don't."

Chewing his lip, Hook struggled with the next part. "Peter…to create a baby, you need two vital ingredients…well, actually it's three. The first is a woman, or a mother. She holds an egg."

"Like a chicken?" Peter asked, amused at the idea of a woman popping eggs out the way a chicken would. "Babies come from eggs? Like sparrows and swallows?"

"Well…not quite," Hook shook his head, feeling absolutely ridiculous. "They have the egg inside of themselves. It's very tiny, you can't even see it."

Peter nodded, remembering learning about cells and bacteria when he was trapped with Shade in the room so many years ago. He imagined that the "egg" would be as small as one of those. "Ok…what's the other ingredient?"

"That would be the man, or father," Hook answered, trying to be as careful as possible. "We have something different…we have seeds, Peter."

"Seeds?" Peter frowned. "Like a sunflower seed?"

"It's extremely tiny and alive, and I assure you it looks nothing like a sunflower seed," Hook growled. "Please, Peter, don't fool around so much, I'm trying not to kill your innocence in one felled swoop."

"Rather generous of you, Captain," Peter chuckled. "Go on, then."

"The man gives the woman a seed, and the seed is sometimes planted in the egg. When the two connect and mesh together, they become one, and create the beginnings of a child."

Peter's eyes lit up as he realized he finally knew a secret – one just as precious, if not more so, than knowing how fairies were born. "So…the baby grows inside the mother…" Something clicked in the back of his mind. "Gip," he whispered.

"What?" Hook asked, puzzled.

"That baby in our group – you remember? Gip," Peter clarified. "When we met Gip's mother and promised to take him away, she explained that Gip's father wanted to kill Gip, even when he was inside her tummy and still growing."

"Aye, some people do that," Hook nodded.

Peter gnashed his teeth in fury. "How could they-?!"

"That's why you need the third ingredient for the baby to grow and be born," Hook interrupted him, seeing how anger the young man was.

Turning to Hook, Peter asked, "What's that, Hook?"

With a wry smile, he answered, "Love. The parents have to love the child, protect it, if they want it to survive and live and most importantly, be born."

Peter grinned, resting his chin in his hand. "That's a great story-"

"It's not a story, boy, it's the truth about life," Hook shook his head. "And it all begins with a kiss…erm, thimble. When a man kisses a woman, they are filled with a wonderful feeling, especially if they care for one another. I'm sure your body felt warm and you felt odd inside…control yourself, because kissing leads to touching, and that leads to wanting each other completely."

Peter stared at him, his brows furrowed together, until suddenly, his eyes lit up, understanding showing in his face. "OH! That's what all that meant!" He exclaimed, floating off that ground. "I completely forgot!"

"Forgot what?" Hook asked, suddenly panicked.

"When Shade had me trapped in that room, I read a book…it had something to do with something called 're-pro-duc-tion'?" Peter repeated, tapping his cheek in thought. "I started reading through it but he took it away and got all embarrassed, saying it wasn't time yet. A lot of what you said now…I remember reading it, but it was so confusing, I couldn't understand. OH! And that reminds me-!" He started laughing, falling back and nearly tumbling off the desk. "Y-You know what…a movie is…right?!" he howled in amusement, clutching his stomach as tears rolled down his cheeks.

Hook gave an irritated frown. "I know what a film is, you overgrown rooster."

"Shade…brought in a movie one night…we got to a point…where the guy and girl were…kissing-!" Peter coughed, catching his breath as he wiped his face clean. Chuckling, he shook his head as he sat down again in front of Hook. "They started taking off their clothes and that's when he shut it off and told me to forget about it." Smirking, Peter knew he finally had all the pieces of this mysterious, taboo grown-up puzzle put together. "They 'lost control' and 'gave each other up completely', right, Cap'n?" He crossed his arms over his chest, smug.

Hook gawked at him disbelief. "…how…?"

"Back on Neverland, sometimes I would catch sight of animals going off and acting funny," Peter confessed, shaking his head as he gave a rueful smile. "One time, I visited the Indians and had the bad luck of noticing two of them getting…intimate, let's say." He gave a dark chuckle. "Of course, there were other things that caught my attention, and I soon forgot about it completely. But now I understand." Hopping off of the table, he said, "You're warning me not to let my body take over my head, aren't you?"

Hook gave a weak sigh, leaning back in chair and massaging his temples. "Yes, Pan, that's precisely it," he admitted, giving a tired smile. "It's fine that you feel that way about Wendy…just don't do anything you'll regret. And you certainly don't want to hurt her. You two are much too young for that sort of thing."

"I'll be careful," Peter grinned. Offering his hand to Hook, he smiled and said, "Thanks, Cap'n."

Hook was stunned once again, amazed by Peter's fearlessness as he offered his hand. As he moved his arm, the notion of slicing off one or two of the boys' fingers tickled his brain. Instead, he let Peter's fingers curl around the curved iron and shake the metal appendage. His lips stretched into a smile. "You're very welcome, Peter. You never cease to amaze me, you know."

"Really?" Peter chuckled.

"Aye, your surprises come in all sorts of disguises," nodded Hook, emitting a chuckle of his own.

Once more, Peter's eyes widened as he remembered something. "OH!" Looking to the man, he rubbed his chin in thought. "Say, Hook, if you were going to a costume party, what would you dress up as?"

"Whatever for?" Hook asked, raising his eyebrow at the boy's question.

"There's a costume party at Wendy's school tomorrow night," Peter responded. "I'm going to show up and surprise her, but I don't know what to dress up as."

Hook's lips twitched into a wicked smirk. Getting up, he placed his arm around Peter again, purring, "I have the perfect idea…but on one condition."

"I knew there'd be a catch," Peter pouted. "What is it? Killing me is not an option."

"I wasn't thinking of that at the moment, but don't give me ideas," Hook sniffed. "If you go, I go."

"Aaahh, you want to see Christine," Peter stated, grinning impishly. "If that's all, then you're welcome to join us."

"Us?" the captain repeated, perplexed.

"Ruff, Vi, and Conch are coming with me," Peter replied. "Of course, Tink, Falls, and Flameburst will probably tag along just to keep an eye on us."

"I see you've already got on entourage," Hook noted. "Very well, but don't call me your chaperon or I shall gut you."

"Me? Call you our chaperon?" Peter could scarcely breathe, biting back giggles at the idea. "Never! So, what's your idea?"

"You're looking at it," Hook said proudly, standing tall as he stroked his hook.

Peter tilted his head to one side, confused. "…you want me to dress up as you?"

Hook's brow twitched in annoyance. "Not exactly. Though it wouldn't be a bad idea…think about it, lad – you could dress up as a pirate!" He leaned down and smirked, asking, "Have you never dreamed of becoming a pirate, me hearty?"

"Never," Peter said without batting an eyelash. Hook looked crestfallen, his mouth sagging into a sad frown. "Well…" Peter pursed his lips, thought a moment, and shrugged. "Maybe once…" Raising an eyebrow at the man, he asked, "You really think that could work?"

Giving a hearty laugh, Hook directed Peter to his sleeping chambers and opened up his wardrobe. "Trust me, Pan, if there's thing I know, it's this – women can't resist a devilish rogue, especially a pirate."