Disclaimer: You KNOW I don't own them. Come on.

I was sitting at the table doing my homework when my dad came home from work. "Hey, Steph," Dad said, kissing me on the top of my head.

"Hey," I replied, glancing up from my math homework and working the kink out of my wrist. "How was work?"

"Fine," Dad said, shaking his coat and hanging it up. "Busy day today." He smoothed out the sleeves and I rolled my eyes. My dad, always the neat freak.

"Where's Michelle?" he asked, just as she bounded into the room. "Oh, there she is! Hi, Honey."

He bent and gave her a kiss on the head, too.

"Hi, Dad. What's for dinner?" Michelle questioned, tilting her head and looking up at him.

Please don't say it, please don't say it ...

"Pizza!" Dad said cheerfully. "I ordered it on the way, so it should be here soon."

"Again?" Michelle demanded. "Daddy, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm sick of pizza."

"Me too," I chimed in. "Can't we have something ... homecooked?" Normally I'd be ecstatic at the idea of eating something greasy and not very healthy, but when it was something like that everyday, it got a bit much.

Dad sighed loudly. "Girls, I'm sorry, but since I have to work so late, I don't have time to cook anything. Unless you two want to start doing it, it will have to be takeout for a while." He walked away to pick up the phone, and I knew he was going to call DJ. She just started college, and I think she's been taking it hard - being away from everyone, and knowing there's not exactly a home for her to come back to anymore. I mean, of course she can stay at our apartment, on the couch or something. But it's not the same. It's not exactly our home.

It's been exactly two weeks since the fire. We'd been lucky to find a two-bedroom apartment that was available just a couple of days later. It was weird, though. It was just the three of us here. We didn't even have Comet with us - Joey had taken him for the time being, since we were living in an apartment building, and Comet's a pretty big dog. Joey was staying with his parents, and they had a nice big place for Comet to stay - but Michelle missed him dearly. I did, too, even if he was more her dog than mine.

Although I was, of course, upset about the fire, I have to admit that the thought of freedom from the rest of the extended family sounded great - at first. Don't get me wrong - I love Joey, Uncle Jesse, Aunt Becky, the twins, and DJ - but sometimes that house was just way too crowded. Here, it's just me, Dad, and Michelle. I guess I just wanted a kind of vacation. But it's too empty! Sometimes there's no one home, and it feels surreal to actually be by myself at home... not that this is exactly home. I just want this stupid extended vacation from my family to end.

It's a tiny apartment. There's a little kitchen, with a cracked sink and old yellowed stove which Dad has tried to scrub clean with no avail. The bathroom is small, too. The bathtub is one of those old-fashioned, claw-footed ones, and the floor tiles aren't very ... aesthetically appealing, but it will do. Dad was nice and gave us the bigger bedroom, since his isn't much bigger than a closet. No, really! I'm surprised his bed even fits in there! I'd hate to see us with two beds in there.

Our bedroom is a sickly green colour, but it's not too bad. There's nice carpet on the floor. I'm just kind of mad because I was going to move into DJ's room when she left for college, but now I'm still stuck sharing a room with Michelle!

We were lucky, in one way. The house is destroyed, but some of our clothes were salvaged. Dad took us out for a big shopping spree, though, so that was fun!

Dad works until late in the evenings, so I have to stay here right after school everyday and look after Michelle until he gets home. I don't really mind, though - we're not really living too close to where our house was, so it's not like I can exactly hang out with friends anymore outside of school. Technically, I should be going to another school, but Dad said he didn't mind driving across town to bring us to our old school. I was glad about that; if I have to leave my house and half my family, at least I can still keep my friends.

It's been really lonely here. I miss hearing the twins running around. I miss Uncle Jesse playing his guitar, and Joey imitating Popeye. I miss DJ - though I'd be missing her anyway, since she's off to college. Sometimes I got so frustrated with living in that house, but now ... now I miss it badly. I don't know what's going to happen next - if they're going to rebuild the house, or what. I hope they do... because I can't stand the thought of living in this apartment forever.