Tinker, Pirate, Princess, Pan - Epilogue
Epilogue
The story was done and the children were making their way to their beds when the Storyteller went to gather his things. Nestled against the side of his chair where he had left his satchel, he found the little girl who had asked for faerie stories curled up upon a pillow beside his armchair. Reaching down he gathered the little one into his arms and looked for Ward Sister Tyrell, who had her arms full in a similar fashion. After she guided him back to their ward and he put the little one to bed, he reached inside his satchel and pulled out a much beloved teddy bear and placed it at her side. Leaning down to kiss her forehead, he whispered for her to have sweet dreams before going to join Tyrell at the door.
“It’s sad really,” she said with a sigh as she led him back to the front of the hospital to collect his things. “She arrived a few weeks ago. Both of her parents were killed in a train accident, and she has no one else.”
“What will happen to her?” he asked worried for the girl.
“Orphanage I suppose,” Tyrell answered. “Unless someone adopts her or takes her in beforehand,” she added hopefully.
The Storyteller stopped. “Are you asking me to take her in?” he asked in surprise. “You do know I am a bachelor don’t you? Isn’t that frowned upon?”
Tyrell smiled. “The Darling family has been supporters of this hospital for years, and anyone who questions your ability with children need only see you tell them stories to know the truth of it. I can’t imagine little Kathy would find anyone better than you to be her father.”
“Can I think about it?” he asked her.
“Certainly. Kathy will be here through the end of the week before she has to be moved,” she answered.
He nodded as he knotted his scarf back into place and bid her goodnight before stepping back out into the cold.
As he made his way home, he passed through the garden at Queen’s Square and heard a familiar trill of pan pipes.
“Hello Andy,” greeted Jack as he and Ianto flitted down to land on a nearby branch. “You tell stories even better than your sister,” he said with a smile.
“He’s just saying that as he gets to be the hero,” said Ianto rolling his eyes, and Andy chuckled.
“Not that I’m not glad to see you,” Andy replied sitting down on a nearby bench, “but why have you come back? Why now?”
“Kathy is a special little girl,” Ianto answered as he swooped down to land atop a frozen birdbath with ease. “So many children forget to dream nowadays. Even adults like you who dream are a rare thing indeed.”
Andy nodded. Ianto was right. Gwen had married Rhys and had children of her own. She wrote stories now, but they were all about criminal cases and intrigue. Her children still loved to hear Uncle Andy tell them tales of Neverland, but she herself had long forgotten how to dream. Owen had become a doctor, and moved to America to help out with Native American tribes and an initiative to improve medical treatment in remote areas. He had married a lovely Cheyenne woman who had a distinctly Asian tilt to her eyes who had arrived outside a clinic one day to help him and never left his side. Andy had always wondered if Owen's Tosh and the fair Princess Toshiko were one in the same, but he had never asked. The other Lost Boys had done well for themselves. Mickey had his own business, Eugene was jeweler, Tommy was in the war department…it seemed that only he still clung to the dreams of youth, telling and writing children’s books as new adventures unfolded in his mind’s eye.
“That’s why we came,” Jack said as he settled down beside Andy. “We want you to be little Kathy’s father,” he said looking serious. “After all, we can’t do it,” he added with a grin.
“Still refusing to grow up then?” Andy asked with a smile.
“Of course!” Jack replied with a wink.
“But you won’t have to do it alone,” said Ianto with a smile as he whistled and a Saint Bernard wearing a kerchief emerged from the trees beside the garden path. “You’ll have Janet here to help you.”
Andy laughed in spite of himself. “You’ve thought of everything haven’t you?”
“Almost,” Ianto said with a smirk, tossing down a marble pouch, one that Andy had not seen since he left Neverland all those years ago. “I think those are yours,” he added as Andy caught it and looked inside.
As a child, he had never noticed that the “marbles” he had been playing with in Neverland were really precious pearls and gemstones, each rounded into a perfect sphere. As he lifted an emerald up to the against the streetlamp, he watched the light dance across the facets of the gems with wonder.
“Being a father would be an awfully big adventure,” Andy conceded, as he lowered his hand to place it back into the bag.
Jack smiled.
“Well that’s settled then,” he said as he flew up into the sky. “Come on Ianto, time to go rouse the latest batch of Lost Boys and see if we can find Captain Bane’s treasure before breakfast.
Ianto grinned and after bowing in Andy’s direction, joined him.
“Take care of yourselves chaps,” Andy said raising his hand in farewell. “Feel free to come see me anytime.”
“As long as you tell your stories we are sure to come,” Jack replied with a wink and a grin as they rose out of sight.
Andy crouched down and pet the ruff at the back of Janet’s neck. “Well girl, shall we head home then?” he asked, receiving a woof of agreement in response.
Andy whistled to himself as they walked the moonlit streets of snowy London towards his flat.
He could do it, he decided. Being a father was something he had always wanted, and with Janet at his side, and Kathy to hear his stories, he would never be lonely. He would still tell stories to the children at the hospital, but the idea of coming home to one of his own to tuck into bed at night did hold its appeal.
“It’s decided then,” he said aloud. He opened his door. “I’ll call on Ward Sister Tyrell in the morning and sign the papers to adopt young Kathy.”
Janet woofed her approval and trotted in beside him. By the time Andy had hung up his coat, Janet was sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace with his slippers at her feet and his dressing gown on the arm of his favourite armchair.
“Thank you Janet,” Andy praised as he lit the fire. Once it was lit, he poured himself a small dram of whiskey and raised it to the hand drawn map of Neverland he had made as a child that was now framed over the fireplace.
“To my own big adventure,” he said raising his glass to the map with a smile before turning to the window where the second star to the right winked back at him. “And to Pan and his Tinker,” he said fondly. “May their adventures together be mighty indeed.”
Janet woofed a ‘hear, hear’ and Andy smiled.
The End
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