It was raining when Drew woke up – just a light rain, almost a mist, really, but enough that everything was soft and faintly glowing. Molly had spent the night at her brother\u2019s house with her part of the wedding party, although Schrodinger had opted to stay with Drew.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m standing with you,<\/em> he\u2019d told Drew, when asked. And all the other guys are with you here, so that\u2019s where I should be.<\/em><\/p>\n Now, Drew turned his head to the side, where Molly normally slept. Schrodinger had claimed her portion of the bed, and he was curled up with her pillow between his paws, his nose buried in the fabric, still asleep. Drew chuckled softly and slipped out of bed, padding down to the kitchen to start a pot of tea brewing.<\/p>\n To his surprise, Pavel was down there, and there was a pot of tea on the stove, steam coming from the spout. \u201cYou\u2019re up early,\u201d Drew said, getting a mug out of the cupboard and pouring himself hot water. \u201cAnd you made tea. You\u2019re almost domesticated, Pavel. We\u2019ll have to find you a wife soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Pavel shuddered. \u201cPerish the thought. I\u2019ll leave that to you, my friend.\u201d He watched Drew make a cup of tea, and then pull out a loaf of freshly baked bread. \u201cYou are better this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d Drew started slicing thick pieces of toast. \u201cI told Molly about Phoebe yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs that what\u2019s been bothering you?\u201d Pavel asked. \u201cPhoebe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s coming to the wedding today,\u201d Drew said. \u201cAnd I never told Molly about my ancestry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you thought Molly might leave you, because you are part faery?\u201d Pavel guessed, and snorted when Drew shrugged. \u201cYou, my friend, are a moron. Of all of us, Molly would not care.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMolly is the one who\u2019s going to have to raise a part faery child, and she might not have realized yet what that means,\u201d Drew said.<\/p>\n She still won\u2019t care,<\/em> said Schrodinger sleepily, coming into the kitchen. That\u2019s just Molly.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cEven Molly has her limits,\u201d Drew said. \u201cAnd it wasn\u2019t fair not to tell her before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWould you have told her if Phoebe wasn\u2019t coming?\u201d Pavel asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI would hope so,\u201d Drew said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n Who\u2019s Phoebe?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMy grandmother,\u201d Drew said. \u201cMy faery grandmother.\u201d<\/p>\n Schrodinger considered that as he sat in his chair opposite Pavel. You will have interesting children, then,<\/em> he said finally. I\u2019m glad I\u2019ll be able to help. Between her genes and yours, who knows what you\u2019ll get.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cA faery kitchen witch,\u201d Pavel said. \u201cThe best of both worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time the carriage showed up to collect them all, the rain had subsided to a silvery-grey mist that softened the edges of the world. Drew could smell the sea and the aromas of flowers twining together in the gentle breeze that touched his cheek, so different from the smells of corn fields and farms that he had grown up with. Sometimes he missed those other smells – the dry dustiness of the wind over the fields in late summer, for example – but he couldn\u2019t imagine not smelling the sea anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t wait to see how this looks in the summer,\u201d Luke said, as they clambered into Pavel\u2019s carriage.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably very similar to winter,\u201d Tom said. \u201cAfter all, it\u2019s still the Snow Queen\u2019s ball room.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think you\u2019re in for a surprise, if you think that,\u201d Jack said, but refused to say more.<\/p>\n The ride to the clearing where the Snow Queen\u2019s ball was held every December was full of good-natured ribbing and laughter. Drew had given out his groomsmen gifts the night before – hand-tooled flasks with his and Molly\u2019s initials on them, and full of a smooth whiskey that Pavel would only tell them was something to be sipped and enjoyed. Drew had reminded them that if they showed up to the wedding with hangovers, Molly had threatened to have Jack howl the entire way into the wedding, just for them. It had been enough to keep the drinking to a minimum.<\/p>\n Once the carriage came to a stop, Pavel pulled out a different flask and passed it to Drew. \u201cThis is your last drink as a single man, my friend,\u201d he said. \u201cIn my hometown, it was the duty of the best man to make sure that the groom was well-hydrated before he walked into the ceremony. So here\u2019s to you, Drew.\u201d<\/p>\n Drew accepted the flask and sipped. The liquid exploded on his tongue, dancing in fiery drops of ice and heat down his throat, spreading warmth edged with a sharp chill through his body. He shuddered and handed the flask back to Pavel. \u201cWhat was that?\u201d he wheezed.<\/p>\n \u201cMom\u2019s homebrew,\u201d Pavel told him. \u201cIs mild, no? She sends her regards.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf that\u2019s what your mother considers mild, remind me never to try anything she thinks is robust.\u201d Drew\u2019s eyes were watering. \u201cI might need help getting down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo worries,\u201d Jack said, taking his arm. \u201cLet\u2019s get you inside.\u201d<\/p>\n Drew was fine by the time they stepped into the main room. The Snow Queen\u2019s ballroom had some small rooms off on the sides, something Drew had never really realized. The smaller room held chairs and a small table, just enough for them to straighten their tuxedos and make sure they were all together. Jack joined them after a few minutes, which told Drew that Molly and her attendants had arrived.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, you two, these are for you,\u201d he said, kneeling down in front of Jack and Schrodinger. Both had bow ties that matched the groomsmen – sapphire, of course. He held out baskets for each of them. In the center of each basket was a sapphire pillow, with a silver ring tied onto it: Molly\u2019s a delicate filigreed circle and his more substantial but still interlaced, both having tiny sapphires on them. They\u2019d commissioned the rings specially. The two ringbearers accepted their charges with gravity.<\/p>\n We won\u2019t lose them,<\/em> Jack assured Drew.<\/p>\n Not at all!<\/em> Schrodinger agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cI know you won\u2019t. You two will escort Lily and Zoey down – just like we practiced yesterday.\u201d Drew stood back up and squared his shoulders. \u201cEveryone ready?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m supposed to ask that,\u201d Father Christopher said, chuckling, as he stuck his head in the door. \u201cWe\u2019re ready for you.\u201d<\/p>\n When they entered the main ballroom, they all stopped short in awe. The ballroom was normally all in white, with icy white flowers and vines twining up the pillars, and the ceiling was full of stars. But today, the vines held sapphire flowers, the white ice floors had transformed into a grassy lawn, and the sky above was silvery-grey. Birds sang from hidden alcoves, and there were chairs set out.<\/p>\n Father Christopher waited for them at a small dais that normally held the Snow Queen\u2019s throne. Today, it held a small table, covered in a white tablecloth sprinkled with sapphire snowflakes, on top of which was the unity candle that Molly and Drew had picked out. In the center of the dais was a large crystal vase.<\/p>\n Drew took his place next to Father Christopher, and Pavel stood behind him. Jack and Schrodinger had gone off with their baskets to the room where Molly was, and the groomsmen were escorting guests to their chairs. It was happening. Finally.<\/p>\n And then he saw her. She glided into the room, one hand lightly on Jack\u2019s arm (probably a good thing, since Jack would be immune to her touch), laughing at something he said. His grandmother was dressed in a long, flowing dress of warm gold, as if she were sheathed in sunshine, and Drew could smell her perfume reaching out to envelop him. He looked at Father Christopher, who nodded, then hurried over to her.<\/p>\n \u201cDrew, darling boy,\u201d Phoebe said, letting go of Jack and enfolding Drew in a warm hug. \u201cI\u2019ve missed you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve missed you too, Grandmother,\u201d he said, returning her hug. For a moment, he was a child again, looking for her comfort in the dark night. She had been his sun for so long, and it felt right to step back into her light.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you happy here, Drew?\u201d she asked him, stepping back and looking at him. \u201cTruly happy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am, Phoebe,\u201d he said, and knew it was true. \u201cThis is where I need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEven though it\u2019s far from your roots?\u201d she pressed. \u201cFar from me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d Drew said. \u201cIt\u2019s not that far, via the Roads. And it\u2019s time for me to put down new roots, Grandmother. Marionville isn\u2019t home anymore.\u201d He looked around the room, at all the people filling in, and felt his heart overflow. \u201cThis is my home now. With Molly. With the Cove.\u201d<\/p>\n Phoebe searched his face, her golden eyes intent, and then she smiled and hugged him again. \u201cYes, I see that. I\u2019m so happy for you, Drew. May you and Molly have the same kind of love that your mother and father shared.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Grandmother.\u201d He kissed her cheek and then went back to stand behind Pavel.<\/p>\n The instant the last guests were seated and the groomsmen joined Drew and Pavel, the birds stopped singing. Then, a single flute began at the back of the room, and the large doors opened. As the music continued to grow, Lai and Noemi stepped through the doors, wearing sapphire blue dresses that left one shoulder bare and carrying a single white rose in their hands. They walked slowly up to the dais, put their roses in the vase, and stepped to their places opposite Drew and his attendants.<\/p>\n Once they were in place, Corrine and Jade came down and placed their roses as well. As they passed by him, Drew realized the dresses had silver snowflakes all over them, and he grinned. Jade winked at him.<\/p>\n The music changed, and Sue came down the aisle, carrying a single white rose as well. Luke sighed as she walked past him, and Drew wondered how much longer it would be before there was another wedding.<\/p>\n Then a chorus of \u201caawwww\u201d filled the room. Lily and Zoey, each wearing sapphire dresses and the coronets that Molly had given them, carrying baskets full of white rose petals, flanked Jack and Schrodinger, who were carrying their own baskets. Rose petals floated down through the air as they danced down to the dais, where Schrodinger and Jack set their baskets down in front of the vase, and went to flank Drew.<\/p>\n The music changed one last time, and Molly appeared on her father\u2019s arm. Drew nearly forgot to breathe as he watched her come down the aisle.<\/p>\n Her gown was white, a pale silvery white like moonlight, and it too left one shoulder bare. The other one held a waterfall of crystal snowflake beads that fell from her shoulder across the front of the dress to her opposite hip and continued down to the train that swept out behind her. Her coronet was silvery snowflakes and held her veil in place across her face, resting on top of her hair, which was pulled up in an intricate braid. In her left hand, Molly held a single white rose, just like her attendants.<\/p>\n Mr. Barrett escorted her to the dais, and then lifted her veil. He turned to Drew and said, \u201cWelcome to the family, son.\u201d Then he stepped back and sat down next to Mrs. Barrett, who was already crying.<\/p>\n Molly put her flower in the vase, and looked up at Drew, smiling. \u201cAre you ready?\u201d she asked quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been ready for this forever,\u201d he said, taking her hand. They turned to Father Christopher, who smiled down at them.<\/p>\n \u201cDearly beloved, we are gathered here today\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n THE END<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was raining when Drew woke up – just a light rain, almost a mist, really, but enough that everything was soft and faintly glowing. Molly had spent the night at her brother\u2019s house with her part of the wedding party, although Schrodinger had opted to stay with Drew. I\u2019m standing with you, he\u2019d told …<\/p>\n