Page 141 of The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland
“I do.”
A huge grin was Beatrix’s reward. Minna said, “I could still call you Aunt Bea, but I couldalsocall you Auntie Trix, and that would be even better.”
Beatrix it was, then. She’d explain it to people later, when she was stronger again.
Reno would probably like it.
Not that she was worrying about what Reno thought of her name.
Not really.
Then, one morning, right when she was about to give up hope, Beatrix opened her eyes. She felt warmer and better than she had so far.
Reno was—finally—the one holding her hand.
“I’ve been looking for you,” said Beatrix. She’d done more than that—she’d tried the Push-Me-Pull-You a few days before. It hadn’t worked, maybe because Reno hadn’t been there to physically pull? It had just left her exhausted.
“Here I am,” said Reno.
“Where were you?”
“Close by. I told you. I’d been waiting.”
Her heart rate sped up. Embarrassing, since they could both hear it beeping on the monitor behind them. “For me?”
Reno nodded. “And I almost lost you.” She rubbed her chest. “Wasn’t sure I could trust myself to handle that.”
Beatrix squeezed her hand. “I trust you.”
“I know.”
“Don’t let me go again, then.”
With a duck of her head, Reno said, “I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“Apology accepted. I’m sorry I kept things from you.”
Reno’s acceptance was in her kiss, which was soft and controlled, with the assurance of hard and wild to come. Beatrix, if asked, would have ranked it her best kiss ever, but she wasn’t asked, so she just kept kissing Reno in relief and joy and the promise of something much, much deeper.
And of course, Minna tumbled into the room just as that promise started to heat up.
“Oh, no! Ew!”
Reno pulled her head away but stayed close to the bed, her fingers firmly entangled with Beatrix’s. “You have the worst timing.”
Minna stuck out her tongue. “And you have thebesttiming apparently. Aunt Bea, did you know the paramedics told Reno that her CPR was, like, perfect? I saw on TikTok that ‘About Damn Time’ by Lizzo is 109 beats per minute, which is perfect timing for compressions. Were you thinking of that?”
“I absolutely was not,” said Reno. “But it’s good to know.”
“Auntie, did you know she gave you mouth-to-mouth, too? Shades of Sleeping Beauty, right? Although we might have to chat about enthusiastic consent again.”
Reno dropped a slow wink toward Beatrix. “I will hereby respond only to Prince Charming from here on out.”
Cordelia pushed her way past the hanging curtain into the room. “I fuckinghateDisney.” She smiled at Beatrix and dropped a bag on a chair. “You look bright today.”
Astrid was right on her heels, apparently finishing up a complaint about the smell of bleach in the elevator. “I’ll just take the stairs next time. And I’m going to write the board a letter.”
“Have fun with that,” said Cordelia. “Where’s Dad?”
