"It was never just a story. I would know: a story had swallowed my whole life." {Jacob Portman, pg 371 book 3}
The car jerked to a sudden stop as they blocked the driveway and the driver – who she assumed was Jacob's father shouted, "What the heck is this?"
The horn honked but none of them even flinched, then the driver's window rolled down and he yelled, "Get out of my driveway!"
Miss Peregrine marched to the door of the car carrying an aura that demanded respect. "We most certainly will not. Exit the vehicle please."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Alma LeFay Peregrine, Ymbryne Council leader pro tem and headmistress to these peculiar children. We've met before, though I don't expect you'd remember. Children say hello."
The man's jaw fell open and the woman in the passenger seat- Jake's mother – began to hyperventilate as Emma removed one shoe and hovered, Claire opened her backmouth, Olive lit a flame in her hand and Millard waved, a suit of clothes without a body. Enoch moved forward to where Miss Peregrine stood, Olive was close behind him, her palm still ablaze. If there was anyone among them who enjoyed intimidating people it was Enoch.
"Hello Frank!" he called cheerfully but with an edge that made the man blink repeatedly, "My name's Enoch O'Connor, we're good friends with your son."
"See?" she heard Jacob shout from the backseat, "I told you they were real!"
"Frank get us out of here!" his mother screeched slapping her husband on the shoulder. He laid on the horn and jammed the accelerator as the vehicle lurched forward. Jake shouted and they all jumped out of the way – except Bronwyn. She planted her feet and caught the front of the car in her small hands, the wheels spun uselessly while the adults in the car screamed in terror. The car stalled, the headlights died and the engine went quiet. Their group of peculiar children circled the car as Jake tried to reassure his parents.
"It's okay, they're my friends, they won't hurt you."
"This is nuts, this is nuts, this is totally nuts." His father kept muttering as Jake got out of the car. He and Emma immediately hugged each other.
"What are you – how did you –"
"I got your electrical letter!" she said.
"My e-mail?"
"Yes, whatever you call it! When I didn't hear from you I got worried, and then I remembered the machinated postbox you said you'd made for me. Horace was able to guess your password and –"
"We came as soon as we heard." Miss Peregrine said shaking her head at Jake's parents, "Very disappointing, but not entirely surprising."
"We're here to save you!" Claire shouted joyfully, "Like you saved us!"
"And I'm so glad to see you but don't you have to go? You'll start aging forward!"
"Didn't you read my last few letters? I explained everything." Emma said now confused.
"My parents took them, that's why they freaked out."
"What? That's stealing you know! Anyway, there's nothing to worry about, we made an exciting discovery!"
"You mean I made an exciting discovery." Millard said.
"Ah! A ghost!" Jacob's mother shrieked.
"I beg your pardon!" Aurora snapped at her causing the woman to jump back in her seat in fright afraid Aurora might harm her. Millard wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear.
"Don't worry about it darling." Then he turned back to Jacob, "Anyway, it's all thanks to Perplexus. We were keeping a close eye on him expecting him to age out before we could find his loop in Bentham's convoluted machine but with each day that passed he started to look younger and that's when it hit me. He was aging backward! While he had been in Abaton with us his true age had been reset. When the ymbrynes collapsed the loop it wound back his clock so his body was exactly as old as it looked rather than his actual age of five hundred and seventy one."
"And it wasn't just Perplexus, it was all of us! Everyone who had been in Abaton." Aurora said winding her arm with Millard's.
"Apparently it's a side effect of loop collapse." Miss Peregrine added. "An extremely dangerous Fountain of Youth."
"So this means you won't age forward? Ever?"
"Well, no faster than you!" Emma said cheerfully, "One day at a time."
"That's amazing!" Jacob said overjoyed.
"Can we stay here with you Jacob?" Claire asked tugging on his jacket. "You said we could stay anytime."
"I figured we'd make a holiday out of it." Miss Peregrine said, "the children know almost nothing of the twenty first century and besides this house looks much more comfortable than Bentham's drafty old rat trap. How many bedrooms?"
"Uh, we have five I think."
"Yes, that'll do. That'll do just fine."
"But what about my parents?"
"Well I believe the cat's out of the bag as they say. They'll have to be watched closely for a time and kept on a short leash. But if any two normals can be brought 'round to our way of seeing things it's the parents of the great Jacob Portman."
"And the son and daughter in law of the great Abraham Portman." Olive added.
"You. . . you knew my father?" Frank asked timidly peeking out of the car window.
"I loved him like a son." Miss Peregrine said, "As I do Jacob."
Frank blinked slowly not seeming to understand.
"They're going to stay with us for a while, okay?" Jake said, though Aurora got the impression that it wasn't a real question.
"You, uh, better ask your mother."
"Mom?"
"Go away. Just go away all of you!"
"Mrs. Portman." Miss Peregrine said leaning down to look through the car window, "Look at me please."
"You aren't really there. I had too much wine at dinner that's all."
"We're quite real I assure you. And this may be hard to believe now but we're all going to be friends."
"Frank change the channel. I don't like this show."
"Are you sure this isn't going to melt their brains?" Jacob asked.
"They'll come around." The Bird replied, "Some take longer than others."
oOo oOo oOo
Jacob explained everything that had happened in the past several months as they all settled in. Bronwyn had moved the wrecked car back into the garage and Miss Peregrine was keeping an eye on the normals to make sure they wouldn't run off screaming. The first few months back Jake said had been fine, he wrote back and forth to Emma regularly and while his parents had been keeping a watchful eye on him things were pretty much the same as before he'd left for Cairnholm. Abe – who had been saved from his hollow attack after they'd killed Barron and changed the timeline of events – had passed away peacefully in his sleep a few weeks after Jacob had told him about their defeat of the wights. As much as they missed their old friend they were glad he didn't suffer and died knowing they'd be okay.
It was after things seemed normal again that Jake's parents became suspicious and started checking the mail. The children were shocked that not only did his parents steal Jacobs's letters but it seemed they were determined to believe their son was out of his mind. They said Jake must have written the letters himself – though how they came up with that when Emma wrote in perfect cursive and Jake's handwriting was barely above chicken scratch Aurora had no clue. They thought he imagined Emma, had made her up in his mind like some kind of imaginary girlfriend. They accused him of using something called photoshop to forge the postmarks on the envelopes. Frank had even believed the photos Emma had included came from Abe's old album. It was absurd how many lies they told themselves especially when Jake had been willing to put everything in the past and move on with his life. Aurora shook her head at the end of his story, some people just couldn't leave well enough alone even when doing so hurt their own child. It was selfish, it was cruel and it was sick. Jacob's parents should have been the one's locked up and sedated for the twisted way they treated their son, wanting to send him away so he could be someone else's problem – disgusting.
Aurora was glad she had Millard, he understood how upset she was and knew how to calm her down even though he had admitted to her that he'd never seen her get quite so worked up before.
"It's like there's fire in your eyes." He said as he sat down next to her on their bed. They had told Miss Peregrine of their engagement when they asked her if they could share a room when she was assigning their new living arrangements. She had been hesitant but in the end decided they'd been patient and mature for seventy years and after everything they'd been through they'd more than earned it.
"It's . . .exciting." Millard said as he leaned over and brushed her hair behind her ear so he could kiss his favorite spot just under her jaw. Aurora couldn't help but let her anger melt away as she tilted her head to give him better access. His kisses started to move up and down her neck as she brought her hand up to cradle his head so he wouldn't pull away.
"Millard." She said softly with a smile before he moved to kiss her. It was long and sweet and took her breath away as she wove her fingers through his hair. When he pulled away she held him close so their foreheads were touching. "Marry me."
She could feel his forehead wrinkle in confusion, "I believe I already asked that love."
"No I mean. . . marry me. . . right now."
"Now?" he asked and she nodded, "But what about all the planning? Dress shopping? Getting flowers, a cake –"
"I don't need any of that." She said bringing her free hand to rest over his heart, "I only need you. I don't want to wait, I want to marry you now."
oOo oOo oOo
In the end they decided to wait a week. Millard said it was their first compromise as husband and wife but Aurora debated that they weren't married yet so he was incorrect – something she didn't get to say often. He replied that since it was a decision about their wedding it counted anyway, which had made her giggle at his reasoning. They'd gone downstairs the next morning and told everyone their news, there were cheers and smiles all around – except for Jacob's parents who were quietly sipping coffee in the corner still looking shocked at the people who were gathered around their kitchen table. Aurora hoped they would notice how wide Jake was grinning and realize how happy their son was when surrounded by his friends. Hopefully, in time, that would be enough reason for them to accept the peculiars but she wasn't expecting a miracle, nor would she let the normals ruin her mood.
Emma and Olive had immediately pulled Aurora into another room to look through catalogues and plan a time to go dress shopping while the boys stayed in the kitchen congratulating Millard, through the door Aurora could hear Hugh's voice, "It's about time mate."
There was never a week in her life that went by so quickly. Emma and Olive made sure to exhaust Aurora each day with questions about decorations which she gave the best answer she could without sounding rude, but in truth she didn't care, at least not as much as they seemed to. It was true what she'd told Millard, she didn't need a fancy wedding, an expensive dress or any of the glamorous details that brides usually poured over for a year. She only needed him, everyone she'd want to be there was already living in the same house, Miss Peregrine would officiate, and beyond that she didn't need more.
Emma and Olive had found a small consignment shop and practically begged Aurora to go with them to look for dresses. It was odd, not just because it was for her wedding but because dress shopping was something she, Olive and Emma had never done. It was hands down the most normal moment in any of the peculiar girls lives and they loved every minute of it. Emma had gotten a few laughs as she pulled dresses that were so absurd either in their poofyness, their pattern or the overabundance of lace that Aurora could see why someone had gotten rid of them, though she didn't know what would compel someone to buy something like that in the first place. Olive found a pair of light pastel dresses for Claire and Bronwyn to wear and then started digging through dress shirts and ties for the boys, Emma muttered under her breath "Good luck getting Enoch to wear that." which made Aurora smile.
"Maybe we should have brought Horace, aside from the future this is his area of expertise." Aurora said as Emma handed her several white dresses to try on.
"But if we had brought Horace he wouldn't have let you rest until he'd gotten you into a ten thousand dollar designer one of a kind gown." Emma replied and had to hide her amusement at the look of pure terror on Aurora's face at the thought as Olive came over and pushed her into a changing room. They had their say about each dress she tried on as she'd walk out and give them a twirl so they could see it at all angles. It took several hours and several dresses but eventually she came out in one that left both of her friends speechless. Emma's mouth hung open and Olive had an ear to ear grin that she tried to hide behind her gloved hands but couldn't. Even Aurora was glowing as she looked in the mirror. The dress was beautiful in its simplicity, it was a simple sundress, in white of course, that ended at her knee with capped sleeves covering her shoulders and a modest square neckline. It had an A-line cut which made it flair out at the waist just enough to compliment Aurora's figure. Around her middle was a ribbon that tied into a bow at the back and separated the lace embellished top with the plain skirt.
"Do you think he'll like it?" Aurora asked self-consciously.
"Aurora, he'll love it." Olive said dropping her hands back into her lap.
"And besides, you know he'd marry you even if you wore a potato sack." Emma said her eyes twinkling as Aurora blushed.
oOo oOo oOo
The remainder of the week went by so fast it made her head spin, by Saturday morning Emma was already out back with Jacob as he held a rope and she unlatched her shoes so she could string twinkle lights in the willow tree she and Millard would be saying their vows under. When Millard had noticed the tree he insisted they use it as a focal point saying it might be good luck since the last willow tree they found themselves under had brought them so many good memories. Aurora paced the floor of her room watching out the window as the others put the finishing touches on setting up outside. The ceremony wouldn't start until after sunset so Emma's lights and lanterns could cast an enchanting glow over them all. Aurora felt her heartbeat speed up and her breathing started coming quicker as the butterflies in her stomach really took off. She'd heard of wedding day jitters of course but she hadn't been prepared for this level of nervousness.
Just then Emma walked in to do her hair, Aurora did a double take out the window since she swore she'd just seen Emma outside but the trees were all set up with their lights and the sun hung lower in the sky – she must have been lost in her thoughts longer than she'd thought. In Emma's hands were small white wildflowers that she was going to braid into Aurora's hair. The two girls exchanged a smile as Emma took a seat behind Aurora on the bed, she pulled the strands of hair that were hanging in her face back and began to braid the tiny flowers into it. Aurora tried to calm her breathing as Emma worked pulling the two braids together at the back of her head then pulling a few smaller strands of hair from the braids to frame Aurora's face delicately. She then went on to curl the hair she'd left down around Aurora's shoulders.
"Nervous?" she asked as she curled.
"Extremely." Aurora admitted, "Emma what if I trip? What if I throw up? What if I forget the words!"
Emma giggled, "You only have two words to say."
"Still, what if I – "
"Aurora." Emma said sternly stopping what she was doing and putting down the curling iron. Aurora turned to look at her over her shoulder, "Close your eyes." Aurora did as Emma told her, "Now think of Millard."
A small smile crept onto Aurora's face just at the mention of his name, "Think about how you met. Your first kiss, every moment you've had together." Emma kept instructing, "Now open your eyes. If you can look me in the eye and tell me honestly that you don't want to spend every day of the rest of your life with that boy then I'll march down there and call the whole thing off."
"No!" Aurora said her eyes going wide and Emma smiled.
"If this feels right in your heart, if you can't wait to wake up next to him every morning and fall asleep with him every night, if you're certain he's the one for you, then you have nothing to worry about."
Aurora's smile grew as she felt her nerves melt away and she leaned in and gave Emma a hug, when they pulled away the blonde asked, "Are you ready to go meet your groom?"
oOo oOo oOo
The whole thing went by in a blur. She knew people said that once they saw their groom waiting for them at the altar it was like everything else vanished, it was a bit too cliché and Aurora found the statement false. She still felt everyone's eyes on her, the butterflies in her stomach flapping like mad. But when she reached Millard and he took her hands in his she could feel him trembling slightly too and couldn't help but smile. They were both victims to nervousness and anxiety but that was one of the things that was so great about their relationship, they made each other strong enough to overcome it.
Before she knew it Miss Peregrine was halfway done with the vows and was tying their hands together with ribbon – they'd decided against rings since Millard had a tendency to walk around with nothing on and was likely to lose it. When the Bird untied their hands Aurora didn't even think, the words 'I do' just fell from her lips automatically and Millard didn't hesitate to say the same thing back to her. Then his hands gripped her waist and pulled her close as they kissed for the first time as man and wife, the others cheered, some whistled and when Millard pulled back and rested his forehead on hers Aurora couldn't think of a more perfect moment.
They ate and drank and danced long into the night, Aurora abandoning her heeled shoes very early into the evening and dancing barefoot with Millard. He never once stopped touching her either holding her hand or keeping his arm around her waist and she loved it, the warmth radiating off him as he held her close filled her heart with joy and her face hurt from all the smiling she was doing. When they started to get tired their dancing turned into simple swaying back and forth as she rested her head on his shoulder hearing him mutter the lyrics to the song they were dancing to under his breath. Even Olive and Emma had been able to convince Enoch and Jacob to slow dance with them, though neither one was as good at it as Millard was.
"We should probably get going soon." He whispered in her ear reminding her of the short trip they still had to take. Jacob's parents were part of a timeshare program and Jake had offered Millard and Aurora their suite at a hotel on the shore not far from the house.
"Not yet." Aurora murmured into his shoulder as she tightened her grip on Millard. She heard him chuckle softly as they continued to sway into the next song.
oOo oOo oOo
When they got to their suite Aurora went to the balcony and looked out over the ocean watching the crashing waves twinkling under the stars. Millard came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist before kissing her shoulder.
"It's like that loop we visited on the shore of the Caspian Sea." He said quietly his voice almost being carried away by the wind. She turned in his arms and cupped his jaw in her hands as she leaned in and kissed him deeply. He moaned in protest when she pulled away but kept his arms around her.
"I'm going to go freshen up." She whispered before slipping out of his grip and heading to the bathroom with one of her traveling bags. Millard lingered on the balcony, glad he was high up enough to not be seen by pedestrians below, as he took in a deep breath of salty sea air. He wouldn't deny that he was nervous but he tried to distract himself from lingering on the feeling by turning down the bed. He kept brushing at the sheets trying to smooth out all the wrinkles while his anxious thoughts knocked on his brain trying to break into his stream of conscious thought. He ran a hand through his hair as he heard the door to the bathroom unlock and turned to see Aurora step out. His breath caught in his throat just looking at her, she wasn't wearing anything extraordinary just what looked like a navy, silk nightgown under a simple light blue thin cotton robe. She was nervously playing with the end of the tie around her waist and kept looking at the floor shyly – it was cute.
"I wasn't going to get anything special but Emma and Olive insisted." She said quietly as her bare feet padded along the floor as she made her way to him. "I told them not to get anything too. . . " she trailed off trying to find the right word.
"You're perfect." Millard said in awe as he closed the space between them. "Ever since the day I met you you've always been perfect." He said taking her in his arms.
"Millard the day we met I had a sprained ankle and was sitting in a mud puddle in the rain."
He chuckled, "Perfection even then love." Then he leaned in and kissed her. He tightened his grip on her as he fell back onto the bed now sitting on the edge of the mattress with Aurora in his lap, their kiss deepened as he felt heat rise within him. He felt her muscles relax as their kiss carried on and he gently tugged at her robe until it fell down her shoulders. He kissed his way down her neck now able to get a better look at her nightgown, it was navy blue and had a V neckline held up by thin straps, the top and bottom hemline were both decorated with lace and the fabric was smooth under his hands.
"I've spent seventy years calling you my girlfriend." He muttered against her skin, "I can't wait to spend the next seventy calling you my wife."
She smiled and with her fingers in his hair pulled him back up so they were face to face as he kissed her again. When he flipped them so her back was against the sheets he felt her sudden fear, he pulled away from her lips and rested his forehead on hers.
"Aurora, you're trembling." He whispered.
"I'm fine," She replied in a small voice, "just. . . "
"Nervous?" he guessed as his own stomach began to do cartwheels.
"Mm-hmm." She said shyly nodding and biting her lip, "You?"
"Terrified." He admitted then gave her a small peck, "But we'll figure it out together okay?"
Her lips turned up in a smile again, "Together." She repeated as he leaned down to kiss her again.
oOo oOo oOo
The next day Millard woke up and swore he never felt better. Many men would likely argue with him that there was nothing that felt better than sex, but this was. Waking up with Aurora next to him, nestled in his arms under the comforter of their warm and cozy bed, the sunlight just peeking through the curtains – not harsh enough to be disturbing but giving just enough light so you'd be able to walk about the room if you wanted. It was undoubtedly the best feeling in the world. Aurora shifted in his arms starting to wake but not yet wanting to give up the land of dreams, he held her tighter as her face nestled into the space between his shoulder and his neck, their bare bodies feeling like they were one they were so close. She gave a small sigh and drifted back to sleep and Millard smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair. He was content just holding her while she rested, after all, when she woke it would be the start of their forever.
THE END
.
.
.
.
. . . .for now
AN: I've read the summary for the fourth Miss Peregrine's book and couldn't find a way around killing Abe, I gave him the most peaceful death I could, at the very least it's much better than getting killed by a hollow.
I also left the wedding details very open to interpretation since everyone has a different idea of the 'perfect wedding' this way Millard and Aurora's wedding can be what each reader wants it to be.
Possibly the worst part of this was as I was writing the second half of this chapter and I knew I was close to the end – as exciting as that was – I couldn't help but think "I don't want to say goodbye to Aurora and Millard yet!" Luckily R. Riggs has another book coming soon to help us!