Lynette O'Connor |ONGOING|

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Jake opened the door, and we saw that the room had been flooded with decorations and family members, all screaming, 'SURPRISE!!'
'Happy birthday, cousin Jake!' said Jacob's younger twin cousins.

'J-dog, it's great you're coming to spend us summer with us.' said one of his uncles.
'Wait till you see the new boat.' his wife grinned.
Jake forced a smile. 'Can't wait.'
I gently grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards his room. 'Would you excuse us?' I said politely.

He shut door and threw himself onto his bed. I sighed and sat down on the floor next to him.
'You alright?' I asked.
He nodded. 'I don't mean to be ungrateful, Lydia, but I'm really not in a mood for a party.'
'It's because it's your first birthday without Abe, isn't it?'
He exhaled. 'Yep. It's a little hard.'
I put my hand on his shoulder, and was about to say something else when there was a knock at the door, followed by someone saying, 'It's Aunt Susie.'

Jacob sat up as she came over with a small gift in her hands. 'Thought you might wanna open this one. It's from...your grandpa. Found it while I was packing up,' she handed it to him, 'I figured he meant to give it to you some day.'
He turned it around in his hands, before saying, 'Thanks.'
Aunt Susie chuckled, before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

I pulled myself onto the bed and sat cross legged as Jake tore the brown paper off, to reveal a book by Ralph Waldo Emerson. He frowned, and opened the front page. There was a note written by Abe, it said,

To Jake,
and the worlds he has yet to discover
From Grandpa XX

He turned the page again, and I was able to stop myself from gasping. It was a postcard, from Carinholm.
Sweet, angelic little Carinholm.

'Hey Lydia, look at this.' I peered over Jake's shoulder as he held it up for me to see. 'Wales...isn't that where you said Abe grew up?' I said, acting like I was just as shocked as he was. He nodded. 'Yeah, you're right.'
'Turn it over.'

He did so, and there was a message to Abe on it. This time I couldn't stop myself from gasping softly. I'd seen that hand writing one too many times; it belonged to Miss Peregrine.
It read:

My dearest Abe,
I hope this card finds you well. The children and I yearn to hear your news. I do hope you will visit us again soon. We should so love to see you.
With admiration,
Alma Peregrine.

'Only two years ago.' Dr Golan said, turning it in her hands, 'I suppose it's possible she could still be alive.'
'Right.' Jacob said, looking over to his parents. 'I could meet her. Maybe even find out what it was Grandpa wanted me to know.'
'But what if she's dead?' his mother asked. 'Dr Golan, we are very concerned with Jake's state of mind right now. And there's no way I'm putting my life on hold to take you to Wales.'
My eyes trailed to the floor.
'Dad could take me.' His father looked at him.
'And he could look at birds, and work on his book. It means you get a break. As Dr Golan said, maybe I can move on. Like closure.' his dad raised his eyebrows.

'Having an opportunity to see this children's home and separate fantasy from reality, may be helpful. And at the very least, a trip like this provides a chance to...say goodbye.'

His dad sighed. 'Alright Jake, I'll take you.'
'Yes! Uh, thanks dad.'
He shrugged, and looked over at me.
'Lydia, you wanna tag along?' he asked.
'Really? Yeah, sure, it sounds like it could be fun.' I said, trying to hide my happiness and worries.

Happy, because I was going to see my family again.
Worried, because, what would they think of me?

They are gonna head to Carinholm in the next chapter
Btw, OMG, this has over 200 reads!
That may not seem like a lot to you, but it does to me!
Thank you all!
Love you!
-Katelyn x