Gramma Sheila is everything a grandma should be. Her house smells like sugar cookies and she's always wearing a t-shirt with a cat on it. She has several Disney films on DVD and cooks dinner every night. All the comforts and skills of a mother, times two. As much as Ellen liked Moira, there was something very conventional about Gramma Sheila. She was also a really proud parent of a mutant. Not at first, but by now, over the years, Sheila was like an overenthusiastic mother of a newly outed gay kid. The kind that goes to Pride Day and flies a rainbow flag in the yard. Ellen didn't have to go into details about what happened, thank goodness. But she knows if she did, Gramma would probably been really excited for her.
Ellen had spent the last few days watching the news. In front of the television, Evie at her side, with her laptop and a plate of cookies. They were safe from the riots. They were in a different world, it seemed. Away from superheroes and villains.
So when that morning came, it was especially jarring. It wasn't just waking up in a bed that wasn't yours. When Ellen woke, she didn't even know where to begin. Where was she? Where's Pete? Is the baby-- there isn't a baby. Her dreams were so vivid, so strong, it took her several moments after being fully awake to realize what was real. She missed him more than she ever thought she could miss someone. That in itself made her stomach hurt.
Evie tried to get Ellen out of bed for most of the day. It wasn't until dinnertime that Ellen finally got out of bed. The National Guard was dealing with the criminals, everyone else was dealing with the clean up. Ellen didn't think she'd be going home anytime soon, despite a return to normalcy for everyone else.