Perekoo One-shots

Bedtime Story

Slight spoiler for the Museum of wonders!

I woke up to a sharp knocking on the door. Who could it be, at such a late hour? I carefully untangled my hands from around Alma's sleeping form and walked over to the door of our shared room. I opened the door to see little Claire standing on the doorstep with a book in her hands.

Alma's told me about this before. The second mouth situated under the girl's golden locks tends to sometimes wake up at night and speak. Claire's a heavy sleeper so she usually dreams the long Latin monologues of her second mouth through. But there are times when she wakes up. She has difficulty falling asleep on her own so before bedtime she has Bronwyn read her a bedtime story. One time Alma's found them huddled over a book early in the morning. She was touched by the tenderness of the scene, however, she demanded Bronwyn goes to sleep, as the girl seemed shattered and in a need of a good night's sleep. From that day, Alma took over Bronwyn's role and it became a habit for Claire to go up to Miss Peregrine when she was unable to sleep.

There were days when I woke up to the place beside me empty as Alma accidentally fell asleep in the kid's room. At times I've caught her sneaking back into our bed, trying to be as quiet as possible to not wake me. When I asked if she wasn't exhausted after such nightly endeavours she said it didn't matter to her as she loved being the mother to her children that she sometimes, in her opinion, failed to be. I understood where she was coming from, of course, I too wanted to do the best in whatever new role I found myself in, but I also knew that once in a while this lifestyle puts a significant strain on one's well-being. I've tried my best to help my darling whenever she felt too tired, but I couldn't help but wonder if perhaps there isn't a better way of solving this problem.

Claire looked up and nervously smiled. "So sorry. I didn't mean to wake you, Miss," she uttered.

"Don't worry, dear. I presume you're here to talk to Miss Peregrine?"

"Yes, I was wondering if she'd read to me again," she said sweetly. I turned my head around and looked at Alma soundly sleeping with her dark hair spread across the pillow and a blanket fully wrapped around her body to keep her warm at night. It was the third night in a row that Claire came knocking on the bedroom door and I realised I didn't have it in me to wake Alma up again. There has to be a different way.

"Does it have to be Miss Peregrine, who reads to you?" I asked. Claire furrowed her eyebrows together and scrunched up her nose in thought. Then she looked down at the book in her hands carefully weighing her options. She looked up. "Do you know who to different voices?"

And that's how I ended up sitting on the floor beside Claire's bed in my nightwear with the little girl leaning over my shoulder to see the illustrations in the book we were reading together.

"I believe we can all live in harmony," I said in a low voice. "Witches and giants are not enemies, but beings speaking different languages. We shouldn't burn old bridges but rather build new ones and connect within our unique society, said the wise giant."

"Let's put down our weapons, said the young witch as he slowly put down his wand as a gesture of peace. The battlefield quiets and both sides, each not wanting to attack the other. The bravery of the young witch and the giant changed the village forever."

My eyes were already slowly closing on their own.

"Do you think we'll ever live together in peace with the normals, Miss Cuckoo?" This question caught me off guard and I turned around to look at her. The hopefulness in Claire's voice pained me. Will we ever live in peace with the normals? I questioned myself.

"Maybe, I'd like to believe so," I said truthfully. Claire paused for a moment. "I think we will," she replied. Then she moved to lie down on her bed and snuggle into her blanket. "What makes you say that?" I asked, suddenly full of curiosity. She paused for a moment before she spoke. "It's always easier to love than hate," she stated matter-of-factly, "isn't it?" My eyes watered and I swiftly looked away to not break out in tears.

"You are an incredibly kind and bright girl, Claire. If only were more people like you," I said with a smile. She simply shrugged her shoulders and blushed.

"Good night, Claire. Sleep tight," I whispered as I stroked her hair. "Good night," she mumbled. When I was certain she's fallen asleep I quietly tiptoed out of her room and closed the door.

"You have a wonderful voice, Isabel," said a voice right beside me.

"Birds! Alma, you frightened me."

"Apologies," she said with mock regret and a smile on her face. "It's just that I heard a certain ymbryne give a speech on peace and world politics in the middle of the night to one of my youngest children and I couldn't help but wonder what the occasion was," she chuckled.

"In my defence, at least I gave a great performance. I believe I should have become an actress," I declared with both hands in the air in a dramatic gesture. That made Alma laugh.

"Thank you for reading to Claire," Alma said as she took my hand in hers. "I don't think I could've managed a third night in a row. It means a lot to me, my darling." I could feel the blood rising into my cheeks at the endearment. "It- It was nothing. You're awake anyway so..." Alma reached out and stroked my cheek. "I'm grateful nevertheless, Izzy, but let's go to bed now," she whispered and pulled me with her as we both headed toward our room.