Miss Peregrine smiled as she looked out the window overlooking the garden as her wards played below. Olive and Emma sat in the grass, pulling out strands of grass as they laughed, Hugh and Millard kicked a soccer ball across the yard to each other. Enoch sat fiddling with his soldier men while Horace stayed under a tree in the shade reading a classic novel. The twins played among the tree with each other, laughing under their hoods. And finally, Claire and Eveline, a new ward of hers who had only been with them for a month, playing with a small selection of toys.
Eveline had been apart of a loop near by set in the 1950's which was forced to shut down. Anna, the ymbryne in charge of the loop had given her wards, adults living inside of teenage bodies off to other loops, but she trusted her youngest and newest ward to Miss Peregrine. Eveline had spent her short six years in a easy going loop, being the only real child among adults, she got away with almost everything she did.
So far in her time here, Miss Peregrine had seen what Anna had been talking about when it came to the child's temper and attitude.
Alma ran a strict household, and seen that there was no need to sugar coat how she was going to live for the rest of her time. She allowed the child to settle in, but rules were taught as they came up. She understood the child would need time to adjust to the rules of her new home, but she refused to let the girl get away with rude behavior.
"Children! Dinner is ready, please clean up and kindly return to the dining room." Miss Peregrine called out the open window before heading to the sink to wash her own hands. The children came piling in, each slipping to a different sink in the home to wash up. Claire and Eveline came running in, giggling with each old. Although Claire was no longer a real child, her body resembled one and it comforted the newest member of their family to have someone like her.
Toys and books were put away in their designated placement within Miss Peregrine's neat household, and the children came to the table. Eveline was a picky child to say the least, unlike all of the other children in Miss Peregrine's care, so getting her to eat almost anything Miss Peregrine or the older children cooked, was rather difficult.
Eveline pulled herself up into her chair, in between Miss Peregrine and Emma and resisted the urge to groan. Carrots, her worst nightmare, and Miss Peregrines favorite torture food. She got comfortable on her chair and picked up her fork, poking it into the mashed potatoes before taking a bite.
Miss Peregrine watched out of the corner of her eye at her youngest ward as she listened to the children laugh and talk. Eveline had barely touched her meal, which was typical with her, but Miss Peregrine tapped her fork gently against the child's plate who looked up at her with a sour face.
"Eveline, you have been living with us for over a month now, you surely do know my rules. You must eat at least half of your meal, even if you do not like what is on your plate." Eveline took a deep breath and pushed her plate away with a shake of her head. Miss Peregrine raised a perfectly crafted eyebrow at the child before turning in her chair slightly to face the girl better.
"Eveline, I don't take kindly to disrespect here, another rule you have also learned upon coming here, so please take the time to finish at least half of your meal." Eveline shook her head again with a pout, pushing the plate Miss Peregrine had moved closer to her back again.
Miss Peregrine pinched the end of her nose slightly as she took a deep breath. She loved this child as much as she loved each other of her wards, but the attitude of the actual child in her care was unbelievable.
"Miss Eveline, I will give you one last chance to finish your dinner. I do not want to have to punish you, but if you continue to act like this, I will be forced to." Eveline was getting upset. Anna, her former ymbryne hadn't forced her to eat anything she didn't like. She liked living with Miss Peregrine, she liked the other children, and Miss Peregrine was a nice woman, but her rules were crazy, at least in the eyes of a six year old.
"Eveline, please.." Claire spoke softly from across from the girl. If Eveline was punished, they wouldn't be able to play together that night, and the two had plans for their toys that night. Miss Peregrine shushed the other girl before turning back to Eveline.
"Eveline, this is your last chance." Miss Peregrine spoke with a stern tone, pushing the girl's plate to her again. Eveline shook her head quickly before speaking.
"No." That word went all over Miss Peregrine, she didn't take to having children tell her no, no matter how old they were, but what made her blood boil was when Eveline's peculiarity came to life in front of them. Her ability to move things with her mind had only come up once before, moving her glass of milk across the table on one of her first days with them, but in that moment, in Eveline's anger, her plate of barely touched foot went flying across the room, almost smoking Millard in the head.
"That's enough, Eveline! Go to your room." Miss Peregrine spoke, not yelling at the girl, but keeping a strong, firm tone that left no room for arguments from the small blonde girl. Eveline held back her tears as she pushed back from the table and ran upstairs, the other children watching her as she stomped upstairs.
Miss Peregrine returned to eating, and encouraged the children to do as well. The rest of dinner was silent, and the children cleaned up the kitchen quickly. Miss Peregrine then returned to her office with the door closed, leaving the children to finish up with their chores and play for the rest of the night until Miss Peregrine announced it was time to get ready for bed, as well as the reset.
"Who's going to check on her?" Oliver asked as they put dishes away. Emma placed a bowl onto the counter for Olive to put away before she moved toward the hallway.
"I will." Emma and Eveline had a special bond, she was an older sister to the little girl and Eveline was quite fond of her. Emma climbed the stairs, her loud shoes moving from step to step, keeping her from floating to the ceiling.
She moved to the end of the hallway to a room looking out over the garden where Eveline's room was. The door was open just a crack, but she knocked softly before pushing open the door. Inside the room. Eveline was curled up on her bed, a special brown kitten stuffed animal hugged against her chest as she hiccuped.
Emma frowned before moving into the room, walking to her bedside and sitting next to her. Eveline moved against her friend, grabbing onto her with another soft cry.
"Shh, Shh.. Eveline, it's okay." The older girl whispered softly as she stroked the small child's soft blonde hair. Eveline shook her head underneath her, tears rolling down her pale cheeks.
"It's not! Miss Peregrine hates me now!" She cried out, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks faster than before.
"No, she could never hate you! She could never hate any of us, she loves us." Emma tried to reassure her, but Eveline continued to shake her head.
"She doesn't love me." Eveline's voice cracked as she turned and laid down against her pillows, crying into them while holding tightly onto her brown kitty. Emma sat next to her, rubbing her hand up and down her back, letting her cry out her frustrations. After a while, Emma suggested that she have a bath, and offered to help her, a job Miss Peregrine often did.
Long after the reset, and long after the children were in bed, Miss Peregrine had turned off her lamp and put her book down. She was just falling asleep when she heard feet moving down the hallway, and soon her door creaked quietly open. She sat up, looking around and her falcon like eyes found the door and whoever had opened her door.
In the dark, her eyes could still see the shape of a small child, little Eveline standing in the door. Miss Peregrine sighed and patted the bed beside her upon hearing the child's soft hiccups.
Eveline quickly climbed into her foster mother's bed, holding onto kitty tightly as Miss Peregrine pulled the blankets back and allowed the child inside. With the chaos of the night, Miss Peregrine hadn't been able to talk to Eveline, and when she returned from the reset, the child had already been asleep.
Having a child in her bed was something she hadn't done in a long time, since Claire had come to them so long ago when she was an actual child. Eveline often had nightmares, and Miss Peregrine had now expected her every night around this time, having the girl in her bed was a comfort for both the little girl, and sometimes, Miss Peregrine.
Eveline's former loop had been invaded by a pack of hollows, although they were killed quickly because of the protection of the loop, it kept coming back to the little girl in forms of terrible nightmares, some of which Horace had intercepted once, and he said it was quite horrific.
"Did you have another nightmare, darling?" Miss Peregrine asked softly, getting a soft nod and a few tears.
Eveline settled down into the bed and curled into her caregiver when she began to speak again.
"I'm sorry." The small child below her whispered. Miss Peregrine could hear the sadness in her voice, she knew she was truly sorry, but her behavior was unacceptable. She reached down and wiped the girl's cheeks gently.
"It's okay, darling. We shall speak about it tomorrow." Miss Peregrine spoke and laid back down into her bed, rubbing a hand down her back. Slowly, both child and mother figure slipped into a peaceful sleep.