The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

past months. All because of you. Each one of you.
    "Baby Ruth, of course, who appeared so mysteriously and soothed my grief." The toddler, recognizing her name, grinned and giggled. "One day, quite soon, a fabulous candy bar will be named for her.
    "Tim." The commander looked at the boy fondly. "What can I say about a fine old-fashioned lad? Of course we all lament the regrettable and mysterious loss of your parents. But in the true spirit of orphanhood you have pulled yourself up by your bootstraps, and—"
    "What are bootstraps, exactly?" whispered Jane loudly.

    "Shhh," Tim told her.
    The commander continued."—and one day in the future, I will send you to law school and you shall become 'of counsel' to Melanoff Industries"
    "A and B?" Commander Melanoff looked benignly at the twins. It was a Tuesday, and Barnaby B was wearing the sweater. The overlong sleeves had made it difficult to move his checkers on the board. But the twins were accustomed to that obstacle. Tomorrow Barnaby A would wear the sweater and the handicap would be reversed.
    "What can I say about these lovely boys? They remind me of—" He sniffed and wiped his eyes. "They are the age that—" He dabbed again with his hanky. "Well. I won't dwell on my own tragedy. I will only say that one day, when you come of age, I will select names for you so that you will no longer be labeled inadequately by letters. I will—"
    "We have names," the twins said, in unison.
    "Shhh," Tim told them.
    "And dear Jane," the commander went on. "Such an adorable, self-assured little girl, who—"
    "I'm hungry," Jane said loudly.
    "Shhh," Tim told her.

    The commander blew Jane a kiss.
    "Finally, dear Nanny." Commander Melanoff fixed his eyes on Nanny with a lovesick gaze. "She has made my house a home. Once it was filthy; now it is clean. Once it was cold; now it is warm. Once it was quiet; now it rejoices. Once—"
    "Commander," said Nanny in her no-nonsense voice, "it's not just chicken. It is chicken breasts cooked in a lemon-and-caper sauce, and it is congealing and will soon be inedible. Could we hurry this speech along?"
    The commander chuckled. "I'm sorry. I do meander, conversationally. And all of this speechmaking was just preliminary to my announcement. We'll go and eat our dinner right away. The announcement was simply that I have decided to do away with The Stack!"
    He gestured dramatically toward the immense pile of unopened letters and telegrams from Switzerland. "After dinner—is there dessert, by the way?"
    Nanny nodded. "Crème caramel," she told him, "if it hasn't burned to a crisp."
    "After dessert," he went on, "we will make a fire in the fireplace and we will burn The Stack, little by little."
    "Shall we open everything first?" asked Tim. "It would take forever."

    "No need," Commander Melanoff said. "It is simply repetitions of terrible news. I stopped opening them after the first year and a half. We will burn them unopened."
    They began to move toward the dining room, where the table was set for dinner. Nanny picked up Baby Ruth and carried her to her mahogany high-chair.
    "He's right," Jane said sweetly from her seat as she unfolded her linen napkin and laid it tidily on the lap of her ruffled frock. "I opened a lot of them. They were very boring."
    "Did you, dear?" Nanny placed the platter of chicken in front of Commander Melanoff. "Were you practicing your reading, like a good girl?"
    Jane nodded. "Yes. But it was just 'when are you coming to get us, when are you coming to get us' over and over."
    "Who was supposed to come get who?"Tim asked. He began to pass the plates, each with its serving of chicken, around.
    " Whom, dear," Nanny reminded him.
    Commander Melanoff drizzled some of the lemon-and-caper sauce on his chicken. He tasted a bit and closed his eyes in delight. "Yummy, Nanny," he said. "As always."

    "Who was supposed to come get whom, Jane?" Tim asked again, grammatically correct this time.
    Jane shrugged. "I don't know. She never said. And