Chapter 22

The next morning started once more with a lot of sunshine. It was 7 o'clock and everyone was still asleep. Only Miss Peregrine slowly opened her eyes as another ray of sunlight woke her up. She looked around, it was already a bright day. Then she looked at her watch, it was 7 o'clock. Alma sighed, she was a little bit late but finally her circadian rhythm had almost returned. For a moment she stayed in her bed, listening to her body. Even just lying here she felt that she was a lot better, her headache was gone, as was the nausea. Slowly she lifted herself up and sat on the edge of her bed. So far the dizziness hadn't returned either. Relieved she stood up and went into the bathroom. Again she splashed some water into her face which gave her energy for the start into a new day. She watched her reflection in the mirror. Unfortunately she had to notice that she still didn't look herself again. She was still a bit pale and didn't look as well rested as she felt. But all in all it was a lot better than yesterday. Alma began loosening her plait, then she undressed herself and took a shower. It felt so good to be clean again after the last days of sweating. It was like washing off all the memories of her illness. Afterwards she got dressed, put some makeup on and was finally able to put her hair in a bun again. She looked at herself and was pleased. Now she almost looked like her normal self again. In her room she checked her watch again before she went downstairs. It was now half past 7, she would have to hurry again to finish the breakfast before her children came down. But Alma guessed that they would sleep longer today as well. Downstairs she went straight for the kitchen and started preparing everything. After nearly half an hour, she heard the first footsteps on the stairs and didn't have to wait long to see who it was. A couple of seconds later, Emma entered the kitchen, she smiled. " Miss Peregrine, good morning!" she greeted. "I hope you're really feeling better and you're not just sitting here because you think you should." Alma shook her head. "I'm really feeling better, Emma. Thank you so much again for your help during the last 2 days...and nights," she added and winked at Emma. But Emma wasn't satisfied yet. "You're welcome, Miss P. But I thought I had told you, that it's natural that we care for you as well and that we want to help you. For the future I'd like you to tell us when you need help, ok?" Miss Peregrine nodded. "I'll try. Speaking of help: Would you like to help me with the breakfast?" she asked. "Gladly!" Emma replied and went over to the stove to fry some eggs and beacon. "You still look a bit pale though," she pointed out, turning around to face Miss Peregrine who was sitting at the table, cutting some fruit. She nodded. "I know, I'm still feeling a bit worn out, maybe just the after-effects of the dehydration," Alma guessed. Emma turned back towards the stove. "Yeah, maybe," she answered. "Have you checked your temperature again?" she inquired further. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her headmistress shake her head. "Then we will have to do it again later, won't we?" Emma said, giving her headmistress an impish smile. Defeated, Miss Peregrine just nodded and finished the fruit. After they had finished with the porridge and the pancakes as well, they began to set the table. Emma had just placed the last bowl on the table as the other children gradually arrived. "You can sit down, I'm just going back into the kitchen and will be back with Miss P. shortly," Emma explained before heading back into the kitchen where Miss Peregrine was already cleaning up. " The others are all sitting at the table, so we can start eating," Emma explained. But as Miss Peregrine wanted to go past her towards the dining room, Emma stopped her. "Steady on, Miss P.! You didn't think I would forget about that, did you?" Emma asked waving the thermometer at her ymbryne, who groaned in protest. "Slowly, you're getting on my nerves," Miss Peregrine joked while sitting down. Emma handed her the thermometer. "I'm really happy that you're feeling good enough to joke again, but as long as you're febrile, I won't let you do any work around here, understood?" Miss Peregrine nodded and took the thermometer into her mouth. Intently, they waited for the blue liquid to stop rising, then Alma took it before Emma could glance at it. She checked the temperature and smiled. "It's nearly gone, see?" she said, holding it out for Emma to see. "37.7 - It's still subfebrile," Emma declared and grabbed the thermometer to put it back into the bathroom. "And therefore you're going to rest today as well, until the fever is gone completely," she added and left the kitchen. Inevitably, Alma had to smile. Emma was just so much like her in some ways. And she was right, Alma would say the same thing to one of her children if they were sick. Still happy she followed Emma into the dining room. As she entered all of the children cheered. To them seeing her headmistress up again, preparing breakfast for them meant she was back to normal again. Together they ate breakfast and laughed a lot until Miss Peregrine got their attention by making a noise with her spoon on her cup. All of the children stopped talking at once and looked at their ymbryne.

"I wanted to say 'Thank you'," she started. "You've been wonderful the last 2 days. I'm so proud of you!" Alma had to concentrate hard not to cry because she was so touched. "Especially Emma, Enoch and Olive: You took on so much responsibility and I'm so grateful. And you younger ones as well, you helped a lot by being good children like I've always taught you to be. I know you're not always so obedient but these last days showed me that you can be when it matters." Miss Peregrine stopped to wipe away a tear that had fallen down her cheek. Now it had happened, she couldn't help it. She looked at her children, they were all smiling at her. It didn't matter to them that she had lost her composure, they returned her loving look. Maybe she didn't have to be so distanced after all.

Alma smiled and continued: "It meant a lot to me to know that you can take care of each other when I can't be there for you. It made me realize that you can do so much more than what I always let you do. I could have never imagined someone else shooting the hollow but with a bit of practice and my timetable you did brilliantly, Enoch." The second tear made her way down Alma's cheek, but this time she didn't bother to remove it. "Maybe you're right and I should let you take on more responsibility." Miss Peregrine paused for a moment. "It's just against everything I learned at the Academy for ymbrynes and the current situation of peculiardom doesn't encourage me to give you more liberties either." She sighed before continuing. "But I will try to," she promised as her voice eventually broke completely. Emma stood up and went towards her to embrace her ymbryne in a tight hug. The other children followed her and soon they were all standing next to the table in a big group hug. Some of the children were starting to cry as well because they weren't used to so many emotions from their ymbryne. Finally Miss Peregrine broke free and tried to smile again. She patted some of her children's heads with her hands.

"And because you were so brave, you deserve a treat!" she declared. All the children lifted their heads and looked at her excitingly. "What treat?" some of them asked. "Something you've been begging me for months." Alma paused again and took in all the little excited faces. Some of them began to smile and Alma could see that they already guessed what she would say next.

"Tomorrow we're going to the mainland to spend the day at the big beach." Miss Peregrine had nearly finished her sentence as the crowd burst into jubilation once more. They hugged her again. "To the one with the big slides?" Claire asked, nearly jumping out of pure joy. "And the diving platform?" Millard added. "Exactly!" Miss Peregrine answered. Now the children were cheering even louder. "Can we have a picnic there as well?" Bronwyn begged. "We will, with everything you ask for" Miss Peregrine said and hugged her."But what are we going to do with Peanut?" Fiona asked concerned.

"We'll take him with us, of course. Olive can heat some water for his meal there as well," Miss Peregrine winked at Fiona.

It took some time until Miss Peregrine had enough room to move again but her children were still forming a circle around her. She saw them all smiling at her, even the older ones, then Emma approached her. "Are you sure you're already up to it. If you need more rest we can always go another day," Emma suggested and all the smiles on the other children's faces faded.

"I'm sure I can manage, Emma. And what's so exhausting about lying on the beach the whole day anyway?" Miss Peregrine laughed and put her arm around Emma's shoulder. "Now that I know you can take care of yourself, I don't have to do anything. And besides, the weather forecast for tomorrow predicted perfect beach weather."

"But it's perfect beach weather every day, Miss P.," Claire wanted to explain, she looked confused. "I know, sweetheart," Miss Peregrine answered laughing, lifting Claire up to hold her. All of the other children began to laugh as Miss Peregrine gave her smiling Claire a kiss.

-the end-

So, that's it! My first completed story. I hope you liked it as much as I did. Thank you so much for reading and staying with me till the end and of course for all the great reviews. I had a lot of fun writing this and I'm thinking to write another story, but it's still just a plan.