Driving down the road, Cael reached over, linking his fingers with Regina’s, resting them on her thighs. He noted the slight shaking but was unsure as to the cause. As they pulled into the hospital parking lot, he turned off the engine, but before he opened the door, he turned to her, giving her fingers a squeeze.

Her face, tight and unsmiling, had him giving a slight tug on her hand as he called her name, drawing her attention to his face. “Regina, what’s wrong?”

Licking her dry lips, she shook her head. “I don’t know about this, Cael.” Her right hand absently lifted to her hair, her fingers giving a nervous tug on a short lock.

He shifted in his seat, reaching over to place his hand over hers. “Babe, you’re not getting this, but my family is so grateful to you and Cindy just wants to see you again.” Leaning in to place a soft kiss on her lips, he added, “And, you’re gorgeous but, if it makes you feel better, slip your hat on to keep the chill away.”

Sending a grateful smile his way, she pulled her hand from his and tugged on her knitted hat that matched her scarf. “I’m not self-conscious about my hair, but I just hate for it to be so in-your-face to your family. I truly meant for the wig to be given anonymously. It feels weird for them to know it was from me.”

“I get that, but you need to see with your own eyes how your gift has made such a difference to Cindy. It’s like she’s come alive again. You’ve given her back part of herself that she lost.” Kissing her again, he tugged on her hand, mumbling against her lips. “Come on, baby.”

As he moved around the front of the truck, she sucked in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Assisting her down, he wrapped an arm over her shoulders warming her from the chill wind that swept over the parking lot.

Entering the lobby, he picked up his visitor’s badge and waited for hers to be made. She looked up at his face, smiling down at her, as they entered the elevator. Linking fingers, he led her down the hall to the same room they had visited together before. Washing, they donned the gowns and masks.

Stepping inside, Regina’s eyes were instantly drawn to the flash of color in the bed. The reddish-blond wig on Cindy’s head, combined with her smiling face, caused her feet to stumble. Glad for Cael’s tight hold on her hand, she quickly righted herself, walking closer to the bed.

“Cindy-loo, look who I brought to see you today,” he called out.

Kathy and Tom intercepted them before they could reach Cindy, both pulling her out of Cael’s grip and engulfing her in hugs of their own.

“Oh, my God, you have no idea how much your sacrifice means to us…to Cindy,” Tom said, his eyes filled with tears.

Kathy, having lost the battle to quell her own tears, let them spill down her cheeks as she pulled her close. “Bless you, bless you. Oh, God, I don’t even know your name.”

“Meet Regina Nunzel,” Cael introduced.

Kathy, eyes still watery, lifted her hands up to touch her short hair sticking out of her cap. “Oh, Regina.”

Embarrassed, she refuted, “Please, it was no sacrifice.”

“Mommy, I want to talk to her,” Cindy complained loudly.

Cael gently pulled her away from his sister and led her over to the bed. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she stared at the smiling child with her hair…my hair. Unable to stop herself, she reached out and ran her fingers through the tresses swinging just to Cindy’s shoulders. The feel of her real hair sliding through her fingers felt strangely familiar, even while it was now someone else’s. She shifted her focus from the hair to Cindy’s upturned face, realizing the child was staring at her. She pulled off her cap and let her short hair be seen.

Offering a tremulous smile, battling the emotions threatening to overwhelm her, she softly said, “Hey Cindy.”

Cindy’s wide eyes dropped from her hair to her face. Her voice childlike and full of awe, she whispered, “Do I have your hair now?”

Nodding, she blinked furiously, but was unable to contain the tears welling in her eyes. “Yeah, baby,” she managed to choke out in a shuddering whisper, “you have my hair now.”

“But, how?”

She touched Cindy’s nose, her smile more firmly in place, and replied, “Because that’s what princesses do. They can share special gifts with other princesses. This was my turn to share.”

“Will I be able to share someday?” Cindy asked, her gaze never leaving hers.

Nodding, she said, “Absolutely, sweetheart. But, do you know that you already share…with all of us. Just by being you.” The two of them, bound together by circumstance, smiled at each other as everyone else in the room faded away.

Cael, blinking at the sting in his eyes, watched as the beauty he had fallen for and almost lost forever held his niece’s tiny hand, the two in their own cocoon. Cindy’s eyes were bright and her smile wide, glowing with happiness. A movement from the other side of the room caught his eyes and he observed as Kathy, in tears, fell into Tom’s arms as he pulled his wife in for a hug.

Regina bent forward and kissed Cindy’s forehead, then looked down at the book on her lap and smiled. “I’ll bet you’d like your Uncle Cael to read to you, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes!” Cindy shouted with enthusiasm, her gaze now landing on him. “Please?”

Stepping forward, he placed his large, warm hand on Regina’s shoulder, offering a comforting squeeze and nodded. “Sure, Punkin’, but how about we let Regina sit and read with us?’

“Yes!” Cindy shouted again, waving as her parents nodded their tearful thanks and left the room to get something to eat.

Regina circled the bed and settled her hip on the mattress as he sat in the chair pushed up closely. Taking the book, he looked at the title and his gaze shot back to Cindy. After reading the Velveteen Rabbit the other night, he was hesitant to read another emotional book.

“Are you sure about this one?” he asked.

“I watched the movie and it was so pretty. They talk a lot about magic. I like that…thinking that there’s magic all around,” Cindy exclaimed. “Mommy says when I get better, we can visit a secret garden too.”

Nodding, he said, “Okay, bug. Lay down and we’ll start.” Sucking in a deep breath, he began the abridged version of The Secret Garden.

“‘Of course there must be lots of Magic in the world,’ he said wisely one day, ‘but people don't know what it is like or how to make it. Perhaps the beginning is just to say nice things are going to happen until you make them happen.’”

Cindy’s eyes, still open after thirty minutes of reading, were lit with excitement. Her smile beamed and he reached out, placing his large hand on her thin leg, seeing her hand being held by Regina’s.

“Sometimes since I've been in the garden I've looked up through the trees at the sky and I have had a strange feeling of being happy as if something was pushing and drawing in my chest and making me breathe fast. Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden - in all the places.” 

“I hope to go to a garden like that someday,” Cindy whispered, the awe evident in her voice.

“You know,” Regina said, “your uncle and I went to a lovely park, filled with trees and flowers. And there was a small lake as well, with ducks paddling all around. When you get out of the hospital, how about we take you there?”

“Oh, yes!” she cried. “And we can find some magic?”

Regina nodded and he continued to read.

“I am sure there is Magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it and make it do things.” 

As the story continued with Colin, the little boy who thought himself ill—who was befriended by Mary and Dickon—he began to learn that magic was everywhere and had the ability to make him well.

“‘I shall live forever and ever and ever ' he cried grandly. 'I shall find out thousands and thousands of things. I shall find out about people and creatures and everything that grows - like Dickon - and I shall never stop making Magic. I'm well I'm well.’” 

“Uncle Cael?” Cindy’s small voice sounded. He looked up from the page into her eyes.

“Yeah baby?”

“Will that be me? Will I live forever and ever?”

His breath caught in his throat, as it did so often in Cindy’s presence, and he faltered, his gaze shooting to Regina’s. She offered a small smile, nodding encouragingly.

“Well, uh…none of us will live forever, sweet pea. But, we’ll all live just as long as we’re supposed to.”

Cindy’s eyes held his for a long time before she relaxed her head back to the pillow. “Then, I’ll hope for the magic.”

“‘That is the Magic. Being alive is the Magic—being strong is the Magic. The Magic is in me—the Magic is in me.’ 

“He had made himself believe that he was going to get well, which was really more than half the battle.” 

As he finished the story, Cindy’s eyes closed and her breathing slowed as sleep claimed her. He closed the book and lay it on the table near her bed, which was stacked with a number of other books. Leaning over her slumbering body, he kissed her head through the mask. Hearing a hitched breath, he looked up, twisting his head to see Regina’s ravaged expression.

Standing quickly, he rounded the bed and took her hand, pulling her up, surrounding her body with his arms. She buried her face in his chest, her tears soaking his shirt. He held her with calming strokes up and down her back, soft shushing noises murmured against her hair.

“Baby, she’s gonna get better,” he promised. “And you’ve already given her the magic when you gave her your hair. She believes that she’ll get well…and remember, that’s more than half the battle.”

She nodded, her head moving against his chest, while staying buried underneath his chin. After a moment, she lifted her head, and reached for a tissue to wipe her tears. Blowing out a big breath, she turned her wobbly smile up toward him.

Reaching up, she cupped his jaw in her hand. “You’re such a good uncle. Well, actually, you’re such a good man.”

His face softened, “Oh, Red, if I was such a good man, why was I such a dick with you—”

She stilled his words with her fingers on his lips. “No, Cael. No going back. We both started out with an idea of wanting to keep things simple, not realizing that we were right for each other. So, no going back. We can just go on from here.”

Cael’s eyes closed as he dropped his chin to his chest, the sweet smile on his face searing into Regina’s heart. She prayed her words were true. Go on from here. Please God, don’t let me be making a mistake. I just want normal…a life with him. Please don’t let me destroy this man.

She closed her eyes as well, her heart aching with longing. Feeling his forehead touch hers, she opened her eyes, her sight filled with all that was him. Her Titan. With his massive arms around her, she felt his strength seep deep inside and she lifted on her toes, kissing the underside of his jaw.

Hearing a noise at the door, they moved back as Kathy and Tom re-entered the room, both seemingly relaxed and smiling.

As they said goodbyes and walked out of the hospital, Cael felt Regina shiver and pulled her body closer after checking to make sure her cap was pulled securely over her hair. “Let’s get you home, babe,” he said, hustling her into the truck where he turned up the heat.

Once there, he walked in with her and they stood awkwardly for a moment at the kitchen counter. “Do you have to go?” she asked, uncertainty lacing her voice.

Shaking his head, he said, “Nah. Done with one job and won’t start on my own till next week. I got some welcome time off.” He shrugged, adding, “I’ll work some on my house, but…for tonight…I got nowhere I’d rather be.”

Her smile relieved his worries and as he opened his arms, she stepped into his embrace. Leaning her head way back, she whispered, “Then take me upstairs. Let’s go to bed.”

He bent and, scooping her into his arms, kissed her lightly. “Just show me the way, Red.”