“I grew up too,” I lash out. “Without you. We all grew up, Peter. Not just our bodies, but our minds, our hearts. I can’t stay here and pretend. I won’t live in Neverland with you and forget about the other half of us that’s missing this time.”

It’s a reality he hadn’t yet considered, and I see recognition as it finally registers in his mind. There is more than just the two of us. He wasn’t there to raise our daughters. Odds are, he won’t be there to walk with them the rest of the way through life either. But I will be. I won’t leave them behind. Not like he’s always left me behind.

“What are you saying?”

His eyes darken as he stares down at me. My anxiety thickens and my breaths come faster as I try to tell myself, if only for once in our life together, I need to tell him what I want. I need to tell him what I need. Because what happened before was also partly my fault. I never asked. I never told him. For fear that he’d give himself up for me. For a life I knew deep down he never wanted.

“I need you in my life like the air I breathe, Peter,” tears fall from my eyes, and I watch as his stare traces where they fall. “But I can’t stay with you in Neverland.”

“Can’t or won’t?” he lashes out with a sad, hurtful tone and my pulse quickens.

After a moment of staring in his eyes and him waiting for me to respond, with a shaky voice I whisper, “Won’t.”

He releases a heavy sigh and closes his eyes. After taking a few deep breaths, he nods his head, agreeing with something unsaid.

“Love is a two-way street, Wendy.” His eyes open, tenderly lower, just as his thumb brushes gently against my cheek. He shocks me when I see a smile slowly pull across his handsome face. A smile I totally wasn’t excepting. “I won’t have you give up yourself for me.”

Swallowing hard, I blink a few times in shock and ask, “What are you saying?”

Spreading my legs apart with his knee, he rises up and guides himself towards my opening. “Give,” he whispers, and I open up for him as he thrusts forward on a grunt, “and take, Darling,” I cry out as he fills me completely, beautifully stretching me to a painful high.

His hips start to move harshly, and I grab onto his arms, bracing myself, and preparing to take each passionate thrust.

Before I lose my courage, I stare deep into his eyes and whisper, “Come home with me.”

He gathers me into his arms, lifting me up and giving himself the leverage he needs to go deeper. My head falls back, and a small scream escapes my lips.