When Lou nodded and rose to her feet, Melisandre abandoned me instantly, darting to her mother’s side. Lou didn’t hesitate to scoop her up and cuddle her against her chest. “And how is my darling honeybee? So fetching.” She nodded appreciatively to Célie, who’d woven a miniature version of Lou’s flower crown for the cat. Melisandre purred under Lou’s praise, craning her neck, exorbitantly pleased with herself.

Snorting, Coco helped Célie unlace the wedding gown. “You know Reid is currently plotting her demise.”

Madame Labelle rose to join them with a chuckle. “It was his own fault. Vanity, thy name is cat, after all.”

Even Manon—who’d hovered silently in the corner, unsure of her place among these people—inched forward tentatively, clutching the handfasting ribbons. When Lou winked at her, she smiled. It was a small, unsure sort of smile, but a smile nonetheless. I recognized it well. I’d worn it many times. Pushing to my own feet, I strode to stand beside her.

She would find her new place here. They all would.

“He’d insulted her!” Lou pressed a kiss to Melisandre’s scarred nose, undeterred. “Besides, the piss washed right out of his pillow. No harm done.” To Melisandre, she crooned, “He won’t mock your singing again, will he, honeybee? No, he won’t.”

Melisandre yowled in answer, rubbing her head against Lou’s chin.

I looked away as they helped her into her gown.

Though heat still suffused my cheeks, it was no longer embarrassment but . . . pride. I nearly burst with it. For too long had Lou deserved this moment—all of these moments, the large ones and the small ones and the ones in between. She’d suffered more than most, more than any one person ever should. I could only hope that she’d delight in just as much from this day forward.

Hope.

It wasn’t the sickness.

God, she’d done so beautifully. They all had.

Reid would cherish her, I knew. He would do everything in his power to ensure her happiness, and she would return his efforts tenfold. Though I’d known little of life when I’d walked beside them, even then, I’d recognized theirs was a love that would change everything. A love that would break the world. A love that would make it new.

Their love had been the cure.

“What do you think?” Lou’s low murmur brought pressure to my eyes. “Will it do?”

I waited to hear Madame Labelle’s and Célie’s exclamations, Violette’s and Gabrielle’s laughter, Coco’s sniffle, even Manon’s soft inhalation before turning to look at my dearest friend.