I walked out of the closet and into the living room with the couches and fireplace. There was a big, glorious window where light was streaming in. I walked up to it and put my hands flat on the glass and looked down. All the words that rumble about in my head about life, dissat and ’trosh and sienty, they all flew out. I didn’t have words for this. The glass was cold, but from where I was standing I saw a big chest full of warm woolen blankets. We’d be able to stay warm, whether we could light a fire in that fireplace or not. My grandmother and the boy were sitting on the big white couch now. I took a blanket and wrapped them both in it.

“You stay here and get warm,” I said.

My grandmother scowled at me. “You think I’m some kind of invalid? I’ll damn well walk around and see what’s in this place, too.”

That was my grandmother. Crying one minute and cursing me out the next. I was happy to see that the time she’d spent in her dark apartment after the storm, alone and maybe afraid, hadn’t changed her much.

She stood up, shrugging the blanket off, and I wrapped more of it around the boy.

“We’ll get you some food. And we’ll find you a bed. I think there are three or four bedrooms in this place. You’ll have a nice one.”

When the boy looked like he felt safe and secure, I moved onto the next room. It was a dining room, all set up with an oval table made of mahogany and chairs that matched it. There was a candle holder in the middle with a long white candle sticking up from it. The candle was burned halfway down. Each place around the table was set with a place mat that looked like it had been handmade in some faraway country. Off to the side of the room was a tall cabinet with glass doors and shelves. On those shelves were bowls and plates that look like bone china. There were bright-colored iridescent glass goblets and plates that were clearly collector’s items. Whatever goodbreeds had lived here obviously liked to sit down to fancy dinners. Well, I wouldn’t mind taking their place while they were gone.

I thought back to the fancy apartment in Jaden’s building and how I had wanted to smash and break everything. Here I didn’t. This was mine, ours. We were home.