Page 6 of Destiny

I raise an eyebrow. “You sure?”

“Unless you consider going home to a tub of ice cream and The Real Housewives a spectacular night . . . no.”

“Well, okay. As long as you want to stay.”

She smiles. “I do. What are we watching, girls?”

“It’s my turn to pick,” Aurora mentions.

“That’s right. We watched Frozen for the billionth time a few nights ago.” For whatever reason, Alessia has just always loved that movie. I, on the other hand, might blow my brains out if I have to listen to ‘Let It Go’ one more time. I swear, that song plays in my nightmares.

“Why don’t you pick, Bea?” Aurora hands our guest the remote.

“Oh, me?”

“Yeah. I’ll choose next time.”

“Aw. That’s so nice of you.”

She flips through the channels before stopping on The Golden Girls.

“Hey! It’s my namesake,” she yells and points with glee.

The opening credits are still rolling, and Bea Arthur is across the screen.

I chuckle. “I’ve always wondered where your name came from.”

“Really?” she whips her head around, and those piercing blues catch me again.

“Yeah . . . I mean, I can’t say I’ve met a lot of young women named Beatrice.”

She smiles. “I know. That’s what I like about it.”

Me too.

Chapter 3 – Bea

After Marco showed me how to bring up the streaming services he had, I picked The Princess and the Frog, one of my favorites.

“I have to warn you, though. It is a little scary,” I say before pressing play. “Are you guys feeling brave tonight?”

They both nod.

“Okay, here we go.”

Marco brings us some snacks, and before he sits down, I silently pray that he’ll sit beside me. But instead, he goes next to his daughter. So, the two girls are between us.

Of course, he’d sit by them, I tell myself. However, the curiosity about what his muscular, hairy body would feel like against mine does not stop there.

At one point, I was resting my arm across the back of the couch, and he yawned and extended his hand on top of mine, but he immediately pulled away.

“Oh, sorry!”

“It’s okay.” I look away and grin from ear to ear. Although it only lasted a few seconds, it was enough to make me feel tingly all over.

It doesn’t take long after that for his children to fall asleep—one against me and the other on him. So, we turn the movie off and carry them upstairs.

He wakes them up just enough to wash their faces and brush their teeth, but then we tuck them in.

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