Hearts Fall Unnexpectedly

Chapter Seven: Mama

Later in the night of their rekindling, Royal and Pan make it to the entrance of the girl's home, and before Pan can even fully step foot through the threshold of the property, she is tackled to the ground by four hyper boys.

"Mama!"

The girl laughs loudly as the boys wrestle each other to hug their mother figure. Ambrose and Orion are cat fighting with each other, both keeping one hand attached to Pan's shirt. Baelfire is trying to squeeze under Ricky, both of which are very obviously sleepy, and therefore going to be the hardest to pry off of her.

Suddenly all four boys stop their movements at the sound of a deep chuckle, and they all look behind their mother. Their eyes widen when they see Royal's tall stature and instinctively hide behind Pan. Henry's mood drops and Pan looks between her lost boys and the prince with a sad face before turning to the younger ones.

"Boys," Pan says, gaining their attention as they all try to crouch behind her, "I promise, he's nice. He's not going to hurt any of us."

"But what if he leaves like Papa and Felix did..?"

Pan sighs as Ricky's soft voice speaks up reminding her that she isn't the last child of Peter Pan left on this island. When Peter up and left, he took only two out of the three of his sons, leaving his youngest child behind as he saw him to be useless. He has soft, brown hair that has a similar style to his father's, and his build is very similar to Ambrose's. He is a shorter boy, barely reaching Pan's waist, and has striking hazel eyes. Ricky is a very sensitive boy, and doesn't like to speak up a lot. He is hyperactive as well, which means he gets in trouble with a lot of the other islanders for his disruptive behavior. He's only 6 years old though, so it should be expected.

When the girl first came back to the island and saw just who her father left behind, all the boys she spends so much time taking care of, she almost felt as though it was a personal attack against her and she can't figure out why.

"Rick," Pan says, crouching down and grabbing the boy's hand, "I promise he won't leave as long as we can give him a place to stay. You know how none of us can see our mommies because they aren't nice?"

All of the boys nod, their sad faces prominent, "He's in the same boat too. He's a lost boy."

The little ones take a moment to register just what Pan is telling them, but when they do, they all send a shock through the girl. Especially Baelfire. The youngest boy breaks apart from his mama and slowly walks over to Royal, thumb in his mouth as always. Royal makes sure not to move, as to not startle the little boy, and what he does next shocks everyone.

Baelfire wraps his arms tightly around the prince's leg, making Pan gasp. She has never seen the 5 year old hug anybody besides herself. Not even Peter or any of the other boys. Royal looks at Pan for guidance on what to do.

'Pick him up.'

As she mouths the words, he looks at her in shock before slowly leaning down to pick the boy up. Once Bae is firmly seated on Royal's hip, all of the other boys run out to go hug him as well, making all of them laugh happily.

Pan laughs as her little ones tackle and play with her best friend, and she wishes that life could always be this simple, but with them living on the Isle, both on the run from their mothers, it never would be. Pan also has to watch out for any of the lost boys' mothers who might try to hurt them. It's only ever happened once or twice in the past, but luckily most of the island thinks Peter either discarded with the younger boys or took them with him. The ones that do know that Pan is the one taking care of them now are either on her side, or not dumb enough to mess with her.

After a while of watching the boys, Pan can't help but feel as though she's being watched. They are being watched. She looks around subtly, but sees no sign of anyone anywhere. Almost as if feeling her nerves, Royal looks over at Pan and when they make eye contact, he nods. She sighs at this silent reassurance that she's not losing her mind, although she much rather be loosing her mind than have someone stalking her.

"Hey boys," Pan calls out, making all the kids turn toward her, "lets head inside, it's getting dark and you know what comes out at night."

"The monsters in the woods!"

As one boy yells this, they all sprint back into the mock up, making both Royal and Pan laugh. Royal walks up to the girl and hesitantly puts his arm around her waist. When she doesn't flinch or pull away, he relaxes.

"You felt it too?" Royal whispers, leaning into the girl, making sure to not make it look suspicious.

Pan nods before turning toward the boy with a smile that would look real to anyone looking in, but he could tell. The way her eyes don't shine gives her away to him.

"Let's go make some supper for the boys."

"Wait," Royal says concerned, "I can't cook!"

Pan laughs loudly and drags him to their makeshift kitchen, ready to teach him everything she knows. They spend the next thirty minutes cooking, flirting, and feeding themselves and the boys.