I didn't realize I was crying until a tear fell on the photograph.

"Mommy!" I heard Pearl cry from the patio. I turned to see her running toward me, Beau coming along behind her. "They looked at me! Pierre and Jean! They both looked at me and they smiled!"

I quickly wiped any remaining tears from my cheeks and stuffed the picture and the note between the pages of my book.

"They did," Beau vouched. "I saw it myself."

"I'm glad, darling. Your brothers will love you forever and ever."

"Come on, Mommy. Let's go see them. Come on," she urged, pulling on my hand.

"I will, honey. In a moment."

Beau stared at me. "Are you all right?" he asked. "Yes." I smiled. "I am."

"I'll take her back. Let's go, princess. Give Mommy a little more rest, okay? And then she'll come."

"Will you, Mommy?"

"I will, honey. I promise."

Beau mouthed I love you and carried Pearl back to the house.

I sat back in the distance a cloud shaped like a pirogue drifted across the blue sky and I thought I heard Grandmère Catherine whispering in the breeze again, filling me with hope.