Hi everyone! This is my new idea. I will write little stories about the everyday life of Miss Peregrine and her children in America. In my story, Fiona is still alive.

For now, my plan is to write several little, completed stories. If they are longer, I will probably split them into multiple chapters. This first chapter is just the introduction and explains what has happened since they arrived and what I think is their normal daily routine.

Chapter 1

6.00 ,Miss Peregrine awakes to the sound of her alarm clock. It's still dark outside, since it's only February. So the first thing she does is switching on the light on her night stand. Reluctantly, Alma gets up. She didn't sleep well and is still tired but as always her children have to come first. She walks over to a small lavatory, she has in her room. After washing herself and brushing her teeth, she takes care of her hair. Touching it still feels strange, her hair is so much softer than before, probably because of the hair products they have in the year 2017. She still puts her hair in a bun though, some things never change. Then she puts on some make up, before she goes to her dresser and puts on a long dark dress with long sleeves. It is still quite cold in the morning hours.

As quietly as possible she makes her way through the living room into the kitchen to prepare the breakfast for her children. She still feels uncomfortable, living in the house of others.

The first few weeks were strange for them all. Jake's parents needed some time to comprehend what was happening and to get used to the new situation. In the end it took them 2 weeks until they first spoke to one of them. For the children it seemed to be easier, they loved exploring the new world and with Jake, as an older brother of sorts, showing them everything, they had so much fun that they nearly forgot that they weren't in their own house anymore. From time to time Alma had to remind them that they were only guests and had to behave that way. But all in all she had let her discipline slide during their first month. After all they had been through she wanted her children to just feel happy and loved again.

After 4 weeks Mrs. and Mr. Portman seemed to have come to terms with them staying here. Mrs. Portman started to have conversations with Miss Peregrine and sometimes they talked for hours about their lives and raising children. Mr. Portman had built two soccer goals in their garden and played with the children from time to time.

But then, after 2 month they decided they needed some time out and thought they could take advantage of the opportunity that there was another adult in the house to look after their son. In the time after Abe's death they had argued a lot. About Jake, about Mrs. Portman never being there for her family or Mr. Portman not having a sensible job. And as Jake was gone, their fear brought them closer together again. After seeing that Jake was well and in good hands, they decided they had to take care of their own relationship as well. Mrs. Portman quitted her job, at least temporary, and they started a world trip, something they had dreamed of before Jake was born. Jake's uncles had to promise to keep an eye on him, his parents still didn't trust Miss Peregrine completely. Since Jake's parents left, Jake's uncles have been to visit once or twice but preferred to keep their distance, the new family members were rather suspect to them. But at least they had offered to pay for the house in the meantime, even if that was probably just to silence their bad conscience.

Miss Peregrine got along well with Jake's parents but to be honest, she was quite relieved as they left. She had always preferred to live the life she wanted and set her own rules. Therefore she didn't like adapting herself to the lives of Mrs. and Mr. Portman.

As Miss Peregrine enters the kitchen she first turns on the coffee machine. The first thing, she got really used to in 2017, was a cup of coffee in the morning. Now she couldn't imagine a day without it.

Then she starts getting the ingredients for breakfast. It's not like it used to be. Because the children go to school here, they don't have as much time in the mornings as before. Therefore it's mostly toast or pancakes for breakfast and only on the weekends Miss Peregrine would serve all the things they ate for breakfast in their old home.

Their old home...it feels strange to think about it like that.

For Miss Peregrine it isn't as easy to start a new life in America as for her children. Often she feels homesick even if she knows that this is her new home now. She had lost everything in Great Britain and it reminds her of her failure. She wasn't able to protect her children like she should have and it were her brothers that had let her children suffer, something she could have prevented if she had treated them differently as a child. These are the things she dreams about, the dreams she wakes up from covered in sweat. That's the reason she doesn't sleep much, she can't bear to see her brothers in her dreams. Either they torture her or her precious children or they tell her that it's all her fault, that she had made them the way they were.

Alma sits at the small kitchen table until the coffee is ready. She needs to drink a cup before she has the energy to prepare the meal. It's already half past 6 when she finishes the batter. Then she goes to wake up the older children, they need the time to get ready. Normally they need half of the time only to argue who uses the shower first.

In general, the house with its 5 bedrooms is big enough to accommodate them all. They had to turn the storeroom into a bedroom for Miss Peregrine and the children had to share the other rooms, but it worked quite well. Enoch had moved in with Jake; Emma, Olive and Fiona were sharing a room, as well as Horace, Millard and Hugh; and the twins, Claire and Bronwyn. The only problem was the bathroom, it just wasn't enough especially in the mornings.

As Miss Peregrine returns to the kitchen and heats the pan for the pancakes she already hears Emma and Olive racing towards the bathroom door. It seems that Olive won and Emma stomps back towards their room, obviously angry about her shoes slowing her down. Miss Peregrine has to smile, she loves all her children and even if she doesn't like them arguing, she has to admit that it's quite amusing sometimes.

After she has finished preparing everything and setting the table she goes into the room where her little children are sleeping. Gently she wakes them up gets their clothes out of the dresser and places them on the edge of their beds. Before she leaves again she reminds them of washing and brushing their teeth before breakfast.

Then she starts preparing all the lunchboxes for school while eating something herself in between. She has never eaten very much but since they arrived in America it has gotten even less. She just doesn't find the time in the mornings and for lunch or dinner she doesn't feel hungry. She knows that she has already lost weight and that it's probably the reason she usually feels weak, along with the lack of sleep, but she worries so much about her children that she usually forgets about her own problems. Probably it's just easier to forget and not think about it.

While she serves the pancakes and toast, the older children and then the younger ones come trudging into the living room, sitting down at the big table. They haven't gotten used to getting up for school either. They have never had to get up this early before.

Normally no one talks during breakfast. The children, who have finished ,pick up their lunchbox from Miss Peregrine and go to get their things for school.

At 7.20 the older children leave to get the bus to school. They are all going to a normal school, except for Claire and the twins who attend an inclusive elementary school.

Miss Peregrine had managed to convince the teacher that the twins were born with a rare genetic defect which had severe consequences on the development of their faces which forces them to wear their masks and results in their muteness as well. To make them less noticeable, they are now wearing normal clothes and their masks were made more realistic compared to a human face. Claire had to learn to control her backmouth, that no one would notice it and just to be on the save side Miss Peregrine puts her hair in a tight plait that conceals it well and makes it impossible to open on its own.

Bronwyn, Fiona and Hugh attend a middle school, while Millard, Horace, Enoch, Olive and Emma go to the same High school as Jake does. All of Miss Peregrine's children have been sorted in higher classes than their age would indicate, because of their excellent homeschooling. Miss Peregrine would have loved to keep teaching them but she had to admit that she wouldn't be able to impart the knowledge to them that they need in this time. Besides, going to a real school would help them to integrate into this new world and to find friends.

It wasn't easy though. While most of the children can hide their peculiarities quite easily, others have big problems. Emma and Olive just have to wear their boots or gloves. But Hugh had to learn to control his bees or to live without them for a short time, like during school hours. They had built a bee hive for them in their garden, where Hugh could leave them. At first it was really hard for him and he couldn't be without them for longer than half an hour or they would follow him and not stay in the beehive. But with time it got better and after 5 weeks Miss Peregrine allowed him to go to school with the others.

For Millard, it is even harder to conceal his peculiarity. In the beginning he thought he would never be allowed to go to school or would have to go naked and never get a degree. But then Jake came up with the idea, that he could wear a white overall that would cover his whole skin, especially his face and hands. With the help of Mrs. Portman, Miss Peregrine sewed one which fits perfectly. Most of the children were able to see Millard's facial characteristics for the first time. Of course, Millard doesn't like wearing it, he always says that it's too hot or itchy. But then he remembers that he wants to have a high school diploma and wants to go to university one day, so he pulls himself together and wears it in school. His teachers think that he has got a skin disease and therefore needs to protect his skin from outside influences like sunshine.

Both, the high school and elementary school are very understanding. As Millard is an excellent student, they were more than willing to accept him into their school. And the teachers of the twins were really friendly and sympathetic, impressed by how Miss Peregrine manages to care for so many children, some of them even with special needs.

When the children have finished their breakfast and have packed their school bags, Miss Peregrine does Claire's hair and walks them to their school. On their way to the elementary school they pass the bus stop where Fiona, Hugh and Bronwyn take their bus to their Middle school. After Miss Peregrine has brought the twins and Claire to their school, she walks back home.

There's usually a lot to do until her children return. Either she cleans the house, does the washing or goes to the supermarket. If there's still time she works in the garden. Yes, Fiona can grow all the plants, but Miss Peregrine still needs to pull up weeds or mow the lawn. Then there's also the desk work or the cooking she has to do. One of the things Miss Peregrine hates the most about the new time is the desk work, all this bureaucracy like paying the bills, administering the grants she gets for some of her children and filling out new application forms from time to time.

Seldom does she find time for herself. If there's really nothing else to do, she sits down and reads or goes for a walk. Very rarely does she change into her bird form and goes for a flight. If she has been really stressed she would fly as far away as she can and would only return when she is so exhausted that she can't even flap her wings anymore. Staying in the air for so long has always been relaxing for her in a strange way, she enjoys being on her own and only seeing the sky and the clouds around her. Unfortunately even this changed here in 2017. The sky is nearly as crowded and dangerous as the streets. A couple of times, Alma has barely avoided hitting flying objects like miniature airplanes or drones. And walking isn't much safer either. How many times has she nearly been hit by a car. No, Alma doesn't like this time very much. She thinks it's too dangerous and too loud. And that's the reason why she doesn't like her children being out there alone. But they don't mind, they're getting used to this new world far more quickly than she does. I guess it's good like that. They have still their whole life to live here.

At 12.00 Miss Peregrine picks up her little ones from school. Usually she walks there or takes the bus. Mrs. Portman had offered to show her how to drive a car so that she could get a driver license but Alma didn't want to. The traffic was still too difficult for her and she rather spends more time walking than endangering her children while driving a car. Shortly after they had returned, Jake finished his driving course and is now able to drive wherever they needed to go. Something that proved really useful once his parents had left. He sometimes uses it to drive to school when their first lessons are cancelled as well.

Shortly after Miss Peregrine, Claire and the twins arrive at home, Fiona, Hugh and Bronwyn return as well. Usually they aren't really hungry, so Miss Peregrine prepares only small things, mostly sandwiches or sometimes a soup or a salad. At 1 o'clock Millard and Horace would come back from school and join them for lunch. Afterwards she sends her children to their rooms to do their homework, which she helps them with if they want to. But no one is allowed to play until Miss Peregrine has checked the homework. Then they would practice playing their musical instruments. Alma may have passed the teaching on to the schools but the music lessons ,she would still do on her own. She had always enjoyed hearing her children play music together. All of them had learned an instrument during their time with her. Until now, the little ones were only playing the recorder, but the older ones had changed to another instrument. They have their own little orchestra: Fiona and Bronwyn play the violin, Emma and Olive the flute, Horace the piano, Millard the clarinet and Enoch the cello. Hugh had really wanted to play the trumpet but since it didn't work with his bees, Miss Peregrine had convinced him to learn to play the cello instead, like Enoch does. While the younger children had to practice every day, the older ones weren't so enthusiastic anymore. But every Saturday they would all have to play together.

During the afternoon all the children are playing in the house or the garden, if the weather is good enough. At the moment it's usually raining but soon it will be summer and they can spend a lot of time outside. The winter had been really long and cold this year, but especially the younger children had enjoyed the little bit of snow they had for a few days. Some of them had never seen it before, only on photographs. They spent all of their free time in the garden, having snowball fights, building all kinds of snow sculptures or sledding. Even the older children had a lot of fun outside. Unfortunately Alma couldn't go and play with them, she had been lying in bed the whole week with a high fever. Because all of them weren't used to cold temperatures, they had all been sick during the winter, one after another. But by now their immune system has gotten used to the new environment, and no one has been sick in weeks. Mrs. Portman had warned Miss Peregrine that she should let her children get vaccinated because they weren't used to all the germs around here, but so far they had all been so busy getting used to everything that Miss Peregrine had forgotten to find a GP for them.

While they were all playing, Emma, Enoch, Olive and Jake would return from school as well. They have already eaten at school and therefore don't eat anything until dinner.

Jake had taken back his Smart Aid job and had managed to talk his uncles around, so Emma, Enoch and Olive also got a part time job. Miss Peregrine thought it a sensible idea, they should learn to have a job as early as possible now that they're going to live outside a loop. Besides, they needed the money. The other children at school are always going to the cinema to something else that costs money.

So when they are working they wouldn't return until half past 4. Because they shared one job only two of them would work at the same day.

At home they sometimes still need to do their homework or would play with their younger siblings or help Miss Peregrine preparing dinner. Fiona had laid out a vegetable garden again, so they are growing their own food, which had been quite difficult during the cold winter months but was now getting better every day.

At half past 6 they would all eat dinner before cleaning up together and meeting in the living room for a movie. They had decided to watch real movies instead of Horace's dreams for a change. There were so many new movies, they had never heard of. Miss Peregrine agreed, there would be a lot to learn from the movies as well.

Afterwards Miss Peregrine would tuck in the smaller children and the older ones could still spend some time in their rooms until 10 o'clock when Miss Peregrine would come and check if they are in bed and switch off the light. Then she would go to bed as well. The days are long and she has to get up early. Every evening she just hopes that she can sleep and won't have any nightmares, so she can rest before a new day starts again.