Page 401 of Wicked Brutal

His eyes drop to Piper. “Yeah.”

Just one word. Becca stands carefully, and Danny takes Piper from her — and he knows exactly how. One hand beneath her head. One supporting her body. No hesitation. He researched it. He learned. For a baby he never got to hold. My throat closes. Becca sees it too, and her face folds.

Danny looks down at Piper, his jaw tightening. “Hi.”

Piper stretches against him. Becca presses herself into his side, and his arm shifts to make room for her without taking his eyes off my daughter. Becca’s hand rests against Piper’s blanket, her butterfly bracelet catching the morning light. Danny kisses Becca’s hair. And for a minute they just stand there, holding our baby, missing theirs, loving ours anyway.

Becca finally looks over. “We brought her something.”

“You flew across the country with a present?”

“We’ve had it for months.”

Danny smiles faintly. “She found it.”

“He found part of it.” Becca takes Piper back so Danny can get the bag, and he brings it over, white tissue paper sticking out of the top. Becca looks at Ally. “I thought I could do this without crying.”

Danny sits beside her. “You’ve cried since baggage claim.”

“So have you.”

“I know.” Her face softens. He kisses her forehead. “You want me to do it?”

Becca shakes her head. “No.” She looks at Ally. “You open it.”

Ally reaches into the bag and pulls the tissue paper aside, then stops. I see the blanket before she gets it completely out — butterflies, soft watercolor ones scattered across pale fabric, and little rainbows between them.

Ally looks at Becca, whose eyes fill. “I saw the butterflies first.” Her thumb moves unconsciously over the bracelet at her wrist. “The forget-me-nots and baby’s breath on this are for ours. But I wanted Piper to have butterflies that weren’t sad.”

Danny’s hand closes around the back of her neck. “I wanted her to have happy ones.” Ally presses the blanket against her chest. “And then Danny found the one with rainbows.”

Danny shrugs, his eyes red. “I liked it.”

“He said the group baby needed both,” Becca says.

I look down at Piper. “The group baby?”

Danny looks at me like I’m stupid. “Obviously.”

A laugh breaks out of Ally.

Becca smiles through her tears. “She’s the first.”

Then her smile wavers. There it is. The other truth. Their baby should have been the first. Danny’s hand slides from her neck to her shoulder, and Becca looks at him. He doesn’t look away.

“We can be happy about this,” he says quietly.

“I know.”

“And still miss ours.”

Her eyes close. “I know.”

He kisses her forehead. When she opens them again, she looks at Piper. “I do. I am so fucking happy you’re here.”

From the other side of the room: “One dollar.”

Becca starts laughing through her tears. Tobias holds out his hand, and Becca digs into her pocket, but Danny stops her. “I’ve got it.”