Her fingers slowly trace delicate patterns along the baby’s tiny back, her expression a mixture of awe and disbelief. Like she’s still trying to convince herself this is real. That we made it. That our baby is here.
“She’s so small,” Calypso whispers, her voice hoarse from everything her body has just endured. “I thought she’d be bigger. She feels so fragile.”
I press a kiss into her hair, my own breath unsteady. “She’s tougher than she looks.”
A soft huff of laughter escapes Calypso, but her eyes stay locked on the baby. “Yeah,” she sighs. “She has to be, with parents like us.”
I reach out, carefully running the back of my knuckles along our daughter’s tiny cheek. Her skin is impossibly soft, warm, and new, untouched by the ugliness of the world. She doesn’t know anything but this moment.
Her mother’s heartbeat, my voice, the safety of our arms wrapped around her.
Calypso shifts slightly, tilting the baby’s face toward me. “She has your eyes.”
I look closer and realize she’s right. The baby blinks up at me, barely able to keep her gaze steady, but her eyes are the same piercing blue as mine.
Fuck. I thought I was ready for this. I thought I had my emotions locked down, but seeing my eyes staring back at me from the face of my daughter?
I come undone.
“She’s perfect,” I whisper, my throat tight. “Just like her mother.”
Calypso leans into me, but I feel the tremble in her body, the leftover exhaustion pulling at her. She’s too weak to fight it, but she’s still fighting anyway, just to stay awake.
I shift slightly, carefully wrapping my arms around both of them, holding them against me like the precious, irreplaceable pieces of my soul that they are.
“You can rest now, baby,” I breathe, my lips brushing against her forehead. “I got you.”
Calypso breathes out a shaky sigh, her grip on the baby tightening slightly. “I don’t want to sleep. I want to remember this.”
I press another kiss into her hair, smoothing back the damp strands, letting my fingers trail down her arm, grounding her in the same way she’s grounding me.
“You will,” I promise. “Every single second of it.”
Calypso’s eyelids flutter, heavy and struggling, but she doesn’t fight it anymore. She trusts me, trusts that I’ll be here when she wakes up.
I watch as her breathing evens out, the fight finally giving way to peace. Then I look back down at our daughter, still cradled in her arms, her tiny fingers curling and uncurling against Calypso’s chest.
I reach out and carefully slide my finger into her palm. She grips it instantly. Strong, unshakable. My heart lurches violently in my chest.
This little girl, this tiny, fragile, impossibly strong little girl, owns me, and she doesn’t even know it yet, but she just becamethe most powerful force in my world. I smile, blinking hard, trying to burn this moment into my soul.
“Hey, sweetheart,” I whisper, my voice shaking more than I’d like. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
She lets out a soft, contented sigh and snuggles deeper into her mother’s warmth, and just like that, I know.
I’ve fought a lot of battles. I’ve won wars, but this is the only fight I’ll never walk away from because they are mine, and I will kill, burn, and bleed to keep them safe.
EPILOGUE
CALYPSO
The wind whips through my hair as Farris pulls the SUV into the driveway of our home. The word still feels foreign on my tongue, but as I look up at the house in front of me, the weight of it settles deep in my chest. This is real, this is ours. Not just a Clubhouse, not just a safehouse, but our home.
Farris cuts the engine, his hand automatically reaching across the center console, fingers brushing against my thigh, grounding me. He always does that now, like he needs to touch me just to make sure I’m still here. I shift slightly, adjusting the tiny sleeping bundle strapped securely against my chest.
Our daughter, Annabelle Krista Dalton
Anna doesn’t stir, completely oblivious to the world around her as she rests against me, her warm little body curled in the wrap against my heart. Even through the exhaustion, through the aches still lingering in my bones, I can’t stop staring at her. She’s so small. So perfect.
