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Raven

The sun hadn’t quite risen when we left the hospital.

The sky was still bruised gray, the air quiet in that strange, still hour between night and morning. Beatrice walked beside me, her steps slow, heavy with everything she’d carried tonight—physically and emotionally.

I didn’t rush her.

I just kept close, her hand in mine, Mandy trailing behind us.

She didn’t say a word until we were in the truck.

“They’re safe now,” she murmured, looking out the passenger window. Her voice was hoarse. “Safe.”

I reached over and laced my fingers through hers. “Yeah, they are. Because of you.”

She turned to me, eyes full of something I couldn’t name—relief, heartbreak, exhaustion. Love.

I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles. “Let’s go home.”

* * *

We didn’t play music. Didn’t talk much. It was a nice, peaceful drive.

Beatrice leaned her head against the window, eyes half-closed. I watched her in the soft morning light—the curve of her cheek, the way her messy braid had all but unraveled, how soot still clung to her skin even after the hospital washroom cleanup.

She looked worn out.

And I’d never seen anyone more beautiful.

When we pulled into the driveway, I turned off the truck but didn’t move right away.

She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. “I don’t want to sleep yet. Not just yet.”

“You don’t have to. Come inside. Just rest.”

She nodded and let me help her out. Mandy trotted ahead, tail swishing tiredly.

I unlocked the door and stepped aside so Beatrice could walk in first. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she stopped. Took a breath.

Then another.

Her shoulders softened.

“This place smells like you,” she whispered, almost to herself. “It smells like home.”

“It is home,” I said gently. “Yours. If you want it.”

She turned, her lips parted slightly.

I crossed to her, set my hands on her waist, and pulled her in. “I’ve been carrying this around with me since the day I left. Every mission. Every moment. It’s always been you, Bea.”

“I missed you so much,” she said, tears forming again. “I didn’t know if it would feel the same when you returned. But it does. It’s better.”

“I told you I’d come back.” I touched her cheek. “And I meant it when I said I’d always return to you.”

She pressed her cheek on my chest, and I could feel how deeply she needed to believe that—how badly she wanted this to be real.

So I gave her something solid.

“I want you here. With me. Permanently.”

She pulled back just enough to look me in the eye.

“You mean—live with you?”

“I mean, unpack your things. Fill this place with your mess. Let Mandy and Mike take over the bed. Let me wake up next to you, every single morning. I mean marry me. I love you.”

Her lips trembled.

“Say yes, Bea,” I whispered. “Say you’re mine.”

A beat of silence.

“Yes.”