Ruthless (Part II)
‘Ruthless’ Summary Follow Rufio’s story from the day he arrived in Neverland to the day of his death. A story in which, you could say, Peter and Wendy Pan become true parents.
Part II Summary In which baby Rufio grows into a toddler. He takes his first steps and speaks his first word. How will Peter’s affections show? Read on to find out!
Contrary to what Wendy initially thought, Peter did succumb to the new addition’s innocent charms and began to treat Rufio like his own son.
As Rufio started to grow, Wendy became curious as to how the magic Peter had cast some time after the baby boy's arrival actually worked. He explained to his queen how Rufio would continue to age as he would have in his world, but he would stop aging when the boy-king willed it. So, Wendy used her son’s age to measure the flow of time in her world. But, alas, they were in Neverland, so the time seemed to flow much slower than it actually did.
As for the Lost Boys, they adored their little brother. He grew into quite the cute little toddler with dark hair, big round dark eyes and olive skin. Even Father seemed smitten and it made Wendy’s heart soar to see his reaction when Rufio said his first word, when he took his first steps. Although, the boy still slept between his parents at night on the bed, right up until he was able to walk, well, on unstable legs - with trustworthy supervision, of course.
The first time Rufio was set on the jungle floor, on his own two plump little feet, was on a pale yellow morning in the clearing where the camp resided. Wendy, although a little doubtful of the exact time passed since her king had cast that magic on the boy’s baby form, was concerned. Although unsure of the amount of time that had passed, she was almost certain that Rufio should have taken his first steps by now.
However, she had no one to voice her worries to. The boys knew little to none about babies and their growth, and when she spoke to Tink, well...
~
- I’m worried, Tink! Shouldn’t Rufio have started learning to walk by now? Wendy had asked her green fairy friend - her closest friend - that day in the fair-haired fairy’s treehouse.
Tink’s bright green eyes examined the sight before her. Wendy was gently bouncing Rufio on her knee and each time he tried to squirm away from her grasp to crawl onto the two-seater, she pulled him back up. Raising an eyebrow, Tink replied:
- Well, that’s probably because you molly coddle him too much.
Wendy couldn’t help but feel irritated by that remark, watching as green eyes looked her up and down.
This failed attempt at confiding in a dear friend had spurred Wendy to talk to Peter that following evening - although not about the whole worry of when Rufio would take his first steps, but about his own opinion.
- Peter, she started in her cave that night, hand on her king’s chest while propping herself up slightly to meet his eyes.
- Mm... he responded in a groan as he was brought down from his height of bliss, tilting his head down to meet his queen’s eyes. Although, he did raise an eyebrow questioningly.
Ignoring his expression, Wendy continued:
- Do you think I molly coddle Rufio too much?
Whether he was lying or not was beside the point. The girl was killing him, bringing him down from his high to ask something like that! So, he answered so he could close his eyes and imagine he was still in that heavenly state of bliss:
- No, Bird.
His queen smiled with satisfaction, returning her head to his chest, listening to his heartbeat while watching their adopted baby boy sleeping soundly in his cradle at the foot of the bed, which Peter had fashioned for him that morning so that he could spend...quality time with his queen once more.
~ Back to the present time at Camp...~
Wendy was sat on Peter’s throne, Rufio on her knee while he was yet again training the Lost Boys. This time by holding an archery competition. Some of the younger ones - the likes of Tootles, Cubby and the Twins - were crowded round the throne, occasionally making a fuss of their baby brother, opting out of the archery contest since they preferred the blade more. Hence why they rarely went out hunting with Father and the other Lost Boys.
Upon recounting that conversation with Tink and the lie Peter had told her - she’d known him long enough by now to know when he wasn’t being honest with his queen - Wendy decided it was time to prove to them that she did not molly coddle her son. So saying, with the younger boys staring at her in curiosity, Wendy leaned forward to, for once, let Rufio out of her arms, off her knee to explore the jungle floor for a little bit.
But, instead of falling onto his backside like he usually would back in her cave when Wendy would set him down - like his adoptive mother and brothers watching him expected him to - Rufio remained standing. A hopeful gleam shone in Wendy’s big brown eyes as they widened in astonishment, staring intently as he put a foot forward. Then another...then another step...
- Peter! Wendy called with a squeal, barely able to contain her excitement.
The boy-king’s heart pounded. Who had dared enter the glade and attack his queen? However, confusion washed over him when he and the boys spun round sharply, halting the competition. There was no one there!
- What? he responded, slightly irked, looking for answers as to why his queen had called him as if she were in danger - when it was plain to see she wasn’t. Couldn't she see the boys were in the middle of a game?
- Come here, she answered simply, sounding awestruck.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Peter advanced towards his throne, eyebrow cocked, the older Lost Boys following close at his heels. Then, when he reached the throne, standing directly opposite Wendy, his mysterious green eyes widened just as Wendy’s had.
There the little boy was: slowly taking one shaky step at a time forward. He was taking his first steps!
Not a soul in the clearing wasn’t surprised. Even Felix, who had somewhat secluded himself at the edge of the camp, couldn’t take his eyes off the scene before him.
Almost as if relying completely on instinct, Peter lowered himself to a crouch. Rufio started stalking towards him until gradually, he stumbled and fell into the boy-king’s waiting arms.
Straightening himself up, Peter rested the infant against his side, a look of pride in his eyes. A tear sprung to Wendy’s eye before she got to her feet and made her way towards the pair.
- I can’t believe it... she breathed.
Peter had no reply. There were ultra rare moments in which he would be rendered speechless. This would definitely count as one of those moments - precious and held dear to the King of Neverland’s queen’s heart.
She still remembered when the precious babe first spoke the words “Mama” and “Dada”. The look on Peter’s face when he said “Dada” first was that of triumph (he and Wendy had been debating which word the infant would say first), adoration and pride. The look then almost mirrored the look he was wearing at that moment perfectly.
Of course, there had been times when Rufio had done something for the first time and it had just not provoked a reaction out of Peter. For instance, when the boy laughed for the first time, Wendy had been playing with him in her cave just as Peter was getting dressed to take the Lost Boys out on another adventure.
Wendy had clapped her hands, squealed and grinned, turning to face Peter, expecting some kind of reaction when she told him what had got her so excited. He had merely shrugged before taking his leave.
However, his reactions to Rufio’s first steps and first word was enough to make up for times like that.
Author’s Note: Sorry that this chapter was shorter than the last but it was late when I wrote the last bit of it and I don’t want to write too much in one chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one. I should be writing a third part to ‘Ruthless’ very soon.