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Miss Avocet was feeling blue. She had been feeling blue a lot, since she lost Miss Bunting, but as the holiday drew near her mood only sank further. It was going to be a bitter season, she predicted. Bitter and lonely, not least of all very, very lonely.
She looks around the room. It's bare, only the most necessary furniture in place. No christmas decorations was to be seen although it was already the 23rd of december.
She sighs, and wonders if perhaps she should try to at least cook up some type of Christmas food, if she could not find energy to decorate. The again, Rosemary was always the better cook, and she was certain the food wouldn’t taste right.
She shook her head. No, she would simply get drunk and let the alcohol put her to sleep. It would do.
Just as she finishes thinking it all through, the doorbell rings.
"Esmeralda?" Alma's snappy voice accompanies the ringing, calling for her former mentor.
Miss Avocet reluctantly goes to open the door, wondering what in the bird's name the woman could want with her. She had rebuilt her home on Cairnholm, and they had not seen each other a day since, no matter how lonely and longing Esmeralda had been.
"Surprise!"
The door falls open and instead of Alma alone, there are twelve of them waiting on her front steps. They're grinning, satisfied to have surprised their former teacher.
Esmeralda swallows, shocked yet happy. "What are you all doing here? You should be home with your children!" She snaps, even though she should be telling them something nice, and she soon regret her words.
The Ymbrynes, however, seem unfazed by her behavior and walks on in, throwing her dirty looks for good measure. Only poor Edalyn Kestrel seems genuinely hurt, and Esmeralda grabs her arm.
"I'm sorry. I appreciate you being here. Truly." She tells her lovingly, patting her shoulder before letting go of her so she could join her sisters.
"That was nice of you"
She turns around, and Alma is standing next to her, stoically watching the events unfold. "It wasn't easy to convince all of them to come but…I really wanted to do something nice for you." She regards her face, then quickly adds. "Not that you need it."
Esmeralda nodded. "You always were our best and brightest." She says, trying to pay a compliment and only half succeeding. "Excuse me, I need to make beverages for my unexpected guests."
Before Alma can give an answer, she has already dived head first into the empty kitchen, digging through the pantry for a sufficient drink to serve up to the twelve other Ymbrynes. Sadly, she finds very little that seems sufficiently sweet and appetizing, and for a moment she wonders what to do. She doesn't have any candy or sweet cakes, either.
"For bird's sake Esmeralda, they aren't babies. Just bring out your whiskey and some crackers. They can drink." She tells herself off when she realizes she is still thinking of them as a gaggle of children, but the thought still leaves a sour aftertaste in her mouth.
They aren't children anymore, and it means that they don't owe her anything anymore. Least of all to be here instead of with their children on Christmas eve. They were simply dragging themselves over to see her because they pitied her.
Pity . Never had Miss Avocet associated that word with her own self, but today more than ever she really did. She was lonely and drunken and horribly mean. Noone wanted her, least of all the children she so desperately wished would still be little and loving. She was all alone in a crowded room and it was truly pathetic , someone others would pity.
With trembling hands and a limping gait she makes it out to the living room, putting up a tray of whiskey and dry crackers with a little bit of cheese. It looks pathetic but its all she has, most of her "pantry" being alcohol, not food.
She sighed, and sat down in the chair by the fire. A christmas tree has magically appeared in the corner of the room and they are now decorating it with generous amounts of lights, glitter and colorful bulbs. The fire played off the shiny objects and for a moment, she was swept away in its magic.
Her mind wandered away, to happier days when the girls were small and Rosemary was alive and life simply couldn't get better. She had been at her height, in any and all ways, and now in her loneliness she wished to be back there again.
"Esmeralda? Are you okay?" Alma's Sharp nails touch her skin, her talon-like grip closing around her shoulder.
She opens her eyes, and realizes there are heavy tears rolling down her cheeks, showing her true sorrows.
"Just fine my dear" She dried them off and stood, ready to flee the situation.
"Wait" Alma's grip tightens, holding her in place. "We're making dinner. Won't you come join us?"
Miss Avocet looked at her in surprise, nearly speechless. "Dinner? But how…"
Alma smiled. "We brought our own groceries. We suspected your cupboards might be a bit bare." She frowned. "Not quite this empty, mind you, but we can make it work." She moves her hand from shoulder to arm. "Why was it so empty?"
Esmeralda swallowed. Alma's hawk-like gaze seemed to pin her down, shrinking her to the size of an acorn. "I…I…I don't know." She sighs. "As you very well can tell I wasn't going to celebrate Christmas this year." She gestures around her, at the now warm and light filled house. Every corner showed off tinsel and trinkets with shiny surfaces that reflected the light of the roaring fire.
"And why not, if I may ask?" Alma corners her, making sure she can't escape and can't dodge the question that she's asked.
Esmeralda sighed, rubbing her face hard. "Well, why the fuck would I? What fucking good would it do me, Alma!" It's a bit heavy on the curses, but she can't keep it in.
Alma flinch. "Well you wouldn't be this sad and upset, perhaps." She sighed. "Mum…we never intended to leave you alone on Christmas. We just wanted to surprise you. I just…I didn't think it was this bad."
Esmeralda felt affronted then. The word pity swept around her head like a whirlwind. "Well excuse me! Don't let me interfere with your enjoyment of Christmas at my house !" She said aggressively. It was unnecessary, but she couldn't let go of her appearance.
Miss Peregrine huffed, her hand moving off her shoulder and leaving a noticeable cold behind, even through the clothes. "Right. We're just showing our love and admiration for the woman who raised us…how foolish of me to forget we're here to torture you." Her jaw was tightly closed, her body shivering with anger and upset.
At once, she stalked off, leaving Esmeralda alone in front of the dying fire. Unable to keep it up, her legs folded and she fell to the floor, crying desperately. All she wanted was for Rosemary to come back and the more she thought about it, the more it became painfully obvious that she was never coming back.
She was never coming back, and Esmeralda was losing the only thing she had left with her awful attitude - her children. That realization alone made her cry harder.
The stone floor of the old house was ice cold but she hardly noticed the chill in her bones when she finally ran out of tears and started to drift off, falling asleep where she lay.
"I'm so sad Miss Avocet didn't want to join us for dinner. I really thought she'd like to have us here." Catherine Glasbill said sadly, walking out into the living room with Siobhan Gannett. It was dark and for all intents and purposes it seemed Miss Avocet had gone to bed after arguing with Alma.
"I know, I know. But she's just being stubborn as always" Siobhan soothed gently.
"Yes, I'm sure that's…" Cathy paused, her foot coming down on something soft with a crack in the dark room, making her scream.
The figure on the floor screamed in response, struggling to escape as Cathy lifted her arm, allowing Esmeralda to jump to her feet.
"Miss Avocet!" Cathy was horrified as Roe turned on the lights overhead, revealing Miss Avocet's sore face, cradling her unfortunately trampled arm. "What were you doing on the floor?!"
"Nothing!" She snapped angrily. "Why don't you watch yourself, and I can finally get some peace in my house!" She had tears in her eyes, wincing at her badly smarting arm.
"Miss…you need to see Alice. It could be broken." Siobhan suggested diplomatically, taking her by the shoulders to steer her towards the kitchen. She and Millie had agreed to stay behind and do the dishes. "And I doubt you've had dinner. Won't you let us heat some leftovers?" She asked.
Miss Avocet was so baffled between the pain of her arm and Siobhan's quiet, firm instructions that she simply went along with it.
"O-okay" She said, surrendering to the younger woman.
Siobhan smiled. "Good." She said, showing her into the next room. She was secretly very worried, but knew it would do them no good for her to show it. Esmeralda would pull away and this wild-goose chase would start all over again.
So she kept her worries to herself and gently showed her into the dining room, most of the girls still there as she sat her down.
"We think she might've hurt her arm," Cathy told Florence, showing her to Miss Avocet.
Florence nodd, kneeling before her to inspect the frail limb. "How did this happen?" She asks quietly. "It seems broken." She said softly. "You may need a hospital."
Esmeralda hissed like a cat. "Over my dead body!"
Alma approached then, as Florence turned to her for guidance, hoping she could talk some sense into their old headmistress. Alma, however, wasn't planning on doing what she knew the other Ymbrynes so naively expected of her.
"If you're so adamant to resist us, why don't you just tell us to leave? Our mere presence makes you miserable." She asked calmly. "You know we wouldn't not obey you if you asked."
Miss Avocet swallowed hard, and looked at all of them. They were such familiar faces, yet they were all so different from who they had once been. She wished Rosie was there, to help her find her footing and to gather her thoughts. At the moment, it all sadly seemed so very, very difficult and she hated it.
"I don't want you to leave" Her voice was no more than a harsh whisper. "I…I need you."
A gasp went through the group, each and every Ymbryne showing their shook at the older woman's confession. Never, ever had they expected to hear her say such a thing.
For a while, silence reigned, as they all tried to take in what had come to pass. Then, they all jumped to action. Arms held out they went in and hugged Esmeralda together, completely surrounding the woman with their warm bodies.
"We love you Miss" Cathy Glassbill mummurred, feeling awful that their mentor had been suffering so.
"And we will never leave you" Alma Peregrine agreed stubbornly. "Never."
The other woman nodded in agreement, gathering around her to hold her in their embrace and show their love for Esmeralda.
Esmeralda smiled, then, for the first time as she was enveloped in a tight, comforting hug. For the first time in a long while, she even got a notion that things might just be okay somehow. That she could move on, and live happily, even without Miss Bunting.
The coughed softly. "Thank you all." She said sincerely. "These recent times have been…difficult. And perhaps I have underappreciated the support that is here for me." She admitted, looking at them all lovingly.
Miss Peregrine couldn't resist it. She brought them all back in for a tight, loving hug around their headmisstress, sharing what they all felt with the older woman.
"Merry christmas mum" She said lovingly, hoping the others would not mind her addressing her like that. Miss Avocet was her mother, no matter what anyone would say or think.
"Merry christmas Miss" the others echoed, thinking much the same as Alma but being just a little too proud to actually say it aloud.
Miss Avocet smiled, happily kissing each of their heads in return lovingly, delighted by the warm comraderie. "Merry christmas, all of you, my lovely children."