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I locked my jaw and called on every bit of control Venom had ever beaten into me.

“Sit forward,” Wren said. “Put your arm here. That’s it. Support her head.”

Then my daughter was in my arms.

I shifted her closer, terrified I was holding her wrong, but she wriggled once and settled into the crook of my elbow as if she’d decided I would do. “Hey, baby girl,” I whispered.

She answered with another burst of babbling and flung one arm across my chest. Her chubby fingers patted my chin, poked my cheek and caught in my hair. I let her do all of it. I couldn’t look away.

The black hair was mine. So were the dark eyes fixed on my face. Then Sparrow smiled, slow and cautious, and one corner of her mouth lifted first. That was all Wren.

I loved her. There was no easing into it. No time needed to get to know her first. She was in my arms, and I loved her so much it hurt to breathe.

Then she grabbed my nose with her whole fist and pulled. A laugh broke out of me before I could stop it. Sparrow stared at me, fascinated by the noise she’d made me produce, and reached for my face again.

Every bit of control I’d called on when Wren introduced me as Sparrow’s daddy deserted me. I couldn’t help it. I cried. I held my daughter and stared at her while the tears ran down my face. Wren said nothing and didn’t take Sparrow from me.

Behind me, through the doorway, I heard Moff put the radio down and walk to the far end of the boathouse. He started doing something else and stayed there.

Sparrow did not care at all. She had my nose, and my hair.

“There you are,” I whispered. “Daddy’s little Bug.”

The words came out without thought. Wren went still. I looked up. She was staring at me. Then I heard what I’d said.

Daddy’s little Bug. The words stitched across the onesie she’d ordered before I destroyed us. The one that arrived at the clubhouse after she was gone.

Fuck. I’d brought that night into the room with us. The video on the big screen. Me shouting at her. Every word I said before I told her to get out.

“Sorry. Do you want her back?”

“No.” Her voice caught on the word. “No,” she said again. “You’re fine.”

Wren sat down again. Sparrow curled her fingers into my shirt and kept them there.

“I missed so much,” I said. “Your pregnancy. Her birth. Her first bath. Her first smile. I missed you, Wren. I missed all of it.”

Her eyes met mine, then dropped to Sparrow. “I can tell you about it,” she said. “Just not today.”

“I understand.”

“I’m not shutting you out.” Her voice softened. “Today, you get to hold your daughter and soak up all that baby goodness. We can talk about the rest another time.”

I looked down at Sparrow. She had found the collar of my shirt and was trying to work it into her mouth.

“Do you want me to take a photo?” Wren asked.

“Yes, please.” I shifted Sparrow against my arm and reached for my phone.

“Stay where you are. I’ll take them and send them to you.”

She took several. The first with me looking at the camera, the next while Sparrow was pulling my collar, and one after she got her hand around my nose again and made me laugh.

My phone pinged a moment later. Three photographs came through from Wren’s number. I already knew the number. Finding it hadn’t been difficult once I knew she was connected to JW. But this was the first time she had chosen to give it to me.

“Can I send one to the club?”

“Sure.”