Sasha woke me in the middle of the night with her crying.
Andre woke up as well, frightened, and I stroked his hair so he would lie back down. His sister only needed a bottle and a diaper change. It took some effort to convince the boy that he didn’t need to help, but when I finally managed it, I tucked him in well before getting up and left the lamp on, just in case.
When I went down to the kitchen with the furious Sasha in my arms, I found the living room empty and the fire in the fireplace dying out. Everything was silent and half-dark. Alexander was nowhere to be seen. I understood what was going on when I turned on the kitchen lights and saw that his clothes were neatly folded in an orderly pile near the back door, on the floor; he was already outside, keeping watch. I changed the b
