Charles surprised her on their wedding day. They had just left the church and were sitting in the horse-drawn carriage Mother had insisted on. He looked at her and said:

'You have a kiss! Right there, at the corner of your mouth.' He stretched his hand forwards, as if to touch her, but he didn't. His fingers only hovered. 'It's just like your mother's,' he said.

Wendy smiled. Her mother's kiss had always been a point of pride in the family.

'I can't think how I never noticed it before,' Charles continued. Wendy thought to herself that this was no surprise, but like a true Darling she kept the thought quiet.

Charles watched her for the rest of their journey, his eyes fixed on her mouth.

They lived in a modest home at first. It was small but Wendy thought it terribly grand. It felt as though she were playing a game of grown-ups, rather than actually being one. And during that first year, Charles was forever trying to get at her kiss. He would hide behind the hedgerow and jump out at her but, although she was always surprised, she was never surprised enough to relinquish it. Sometimes he would try a quieter approach, sidling up to her, often with a bouquet of flowers and a whisper on his lips. And then there was the direct approach, where he would simply take her hands and tell her he loved her.

Wendy always smiled and told him:

'You have all of me, Charles.' And this was mostly true.

When Father and Mother died, no. 14 was meant to pass to John. But he had no use for it and neither did Michael, and so it was that Charles and Wendy came to live there.

Of course, they had visited 14 often, while her parents were alive, but walking in on moving day was quite another experience. As Wendy walked through the gate her eye was arrested by the sight of Nana's kennel, long empty. She gave a little sigh and went on into the house.

The nursery was the biggest shock. She stood by the closed window and gazed out, quite bemused by it all.

'Wendy, darling, what are you doing?' Charles asked her.

She jumped at the sound of his voice and looked sheepishly around the room.

'When I was a child this room was my entire world. And now it is so small and empty. I wonder where it all went,' she told him.

Charles smiled at her.

'You are a curious creature, aren't you?' he said, and he walked up to her and leaned in, another attempt to get at her kiss. Wendy laughed.

The house was too big for them and so Charles declared that they must fill it. Nine months later Jane was born. She was a beautiful babe, who rarely cried but always gurgled delightedly at the sight of Wendy. Wendy could stare at her for hours. She did not know why the sight of Jane's little feet made her cry.

At Wendy's insistence they got a nurse; a highly capable girl, but nothing on Nana. The girl took good care of Jane, though she had little patience for Wendy's worries about keeping close watch of the perambulator in Kensington Gardens, or keeping the nursery window closed at night.

'Yes, Ma'am,' the nurse would say, in such a way that it was most clear that what she was really saying was: 'I know my work well enough, thank you very much.'

One night a week the nurse would have off and then it was Wendy's turn to put Jane to bed. These were delightful evenings, where Wendy would tell stories. Sometimes Charles would come in at the sound of his wife and daughter laughing.

'What's so funny?' he would ask with a smile. Jane would always be the one to reply. She would say things like:

'Did you know that Time can fly? Just like Mother used to when she was little!'

Or he would find them both on hands and knees, bent over pieces of paper, with pencils in hand. He would ask:

'What are you doing?' and Jane would answer, solemnly:

'We are drawing maps of the Neverland, but Mother's map is all wrong. She's put the Mermaid's Lagoon where the camp ought to be, and she's pencilled in a place called The Black Castle and that doesn't exist. Although...' said Jane. 'I daresay it might appear one night.'

When Jane was asleep and Wendy came into the drawing room Charles would chide her gently:

'You fill her head with such nonsense, she'll never grow up.'

'And why should she?' Wendy would ask. 'Why can't she stay small forever? She's so delightful as she is.'

Charles always put his arm around her at this point, and he had sense enough to say nothing more on the subject.

One night, when it was Wendy's turn to tuck in Jane, the little girl asked her:

'Mother? Can I have your kiss?'

She reached out a tiny hand and gently touched the corner of Wendy's mouth. Wendy smiled and placed her hand over Jane's.

'The kiss belongs to whoever can take it.'

Jane tried to close her fingers around it then, but it slipped sideways and eluded her and after several attempts she gave up. She pouted at Wendy for a moment and then softened.

'It's so pretty. I wish I had one just like it.'

Wendy tucked the covers around her and kissed her on the head.

'Sleep well, my girl,' she said.

Jane, with characteristic ease, slipped into nod, unaware that her mother remained in the nursery, setting it to rights so that it would be ready for tomorrow's adventures.

When order was restored, Wendy sat down next to the fire, and set about some embroidery on Jane's newest dress. The task was so mundane that she performed it thoughtlessly until she pricked her thumb with her needle. A bead of blood welled up and her thumb began to throb. She watched the bead grow and then begin to pulse, before she thought to find a handkerchief. As she routed through a drawer a hollow clunk sounded and something small rolled out of the linen and into view.

'A thimble,' Wendy said and dread began to knot in her stomach. She felt a draught and the fire flickered. Wendy looked up. The window had blown open. 'Oh,' she said and she put her hand to her heart and braced herself.

He stepped into the room quite happily, and looked about. She made herself as small as she could and when he saw her it seemed to have worked, for he didn't seem to notice any change in her and all he said was:

'Hullo, Wendy.'

'Hullo, Peter,' she whispered.

It couldn't last. She was long since a woman grown. When he realised he cried out:

'You promised not to!' and all Wendy could say in reply was that she couldn't help it, but she felt her heart breaking and she wanted to say: 'You forgot me. You never came back for Spring Cleaning!' Only that wasn't fair. She had been growing even the last time they had seen each other, her dress of skeleton leaves too short.

'I have a child now,' she told him instead, and that was when he saw Jane.

Wendy saw the tears dry on his face, the confidence return, and he smiled with all his first teeth. He had forgotten her again, and with her standing right before him! The shock was cold and Wendy retreated from it, ran from the room, rushed into the drawing room where Charles was sitting quietly with his book.

'Whatever's the matter?' Charles asked her. But Wendy couldn't answer. She sat beside him and shook her head. 'Oh, my curious creature,' he said and he wrapped his arms around her.

When Wendy returned to the nursery, Jane was flying around the room in solemn ecstasy.

'She is my mother,' Peter said to Wendy.

'He does so need a mother,' Jane added.

'Yes, I know,' Wendy said. 'No one knows it so well as I.'

Wendy could not stop them any more than Mrs Darling could have stopped her, all those years ago. She watched as Jane flew out of the window and thought: 'how heartless.' She remembered then, how Peter had taken Mrs Darling's kiss with all the ease in the world. She touched her own mouth. 'You shan't have it,' she whispered. But it was too late. Her kiss was gone. And when she returned to the drawing room Charles saw its absence. He hugged her all the same and told her he loved her. Wendy said:

'You have all of me, Charles,' and this time it was all true.

'Wendy? Darling? What are you dreaming of over there?' asked Mrs Darling. Wendy turned from the nursery window and smiled at her mother.

'I was just thinking of what it shall be like when I grow up.'

'Ah, I see,' said Mrs Darling and she came over to the window and took Wendy's hand. 'I hope you don't plan to rush into it too fast.'

Wendy laughed.

'Oh no, I shan't. I don't want to grow up, just now.'

Nana looked up from where she was making the bed and she snorted. Mrs Darling worried she had made a blunder.

'That isn't to say you shouldn't grow up,' she said. 'It isn't anything to be afraid of.'

Wendy grew solemn at this.

'I'm not afraid,' she said. 'I'm just not ready to give up my kiss. See,' she said, pointing to the corner of her mouth. 'I have one. Just like yours.'

'So you do!' said Mrs Darling in surprise. 'No. You shouldn't give that up. Keep your kiss, darling.'