The Wolf's Daughter

1 - Wren

Fatherhood was never something I'd wanted. I'd done my time raising Joseph and snotty-nosed John when I was a kid myself so I knew early on it wasn't for me. I didn't have the time for it nor the patience.

That's what I thought until Wren was born. The moment her tiny body was cradled in my arms, I knew I had to protect her at all costs. This kind of love was a completely foreign feeling to me. It was hard to describe. I loved Athena with everything I had but this kind of love was completely different. Wren was the best of both of us, wrapped up in one tiny human being. Never had I thought I'd be able to create something as amazing as her. But I had and she was mine. I remember my heart almost stopped when she looked me straight in the face and said her first word. I was sat feeding her with Athena on the floor of the bunker.

'Open up kid.' I grunted as I smooshed the spoon of lukewarm soup against her closed mouth. It stained against her chubby cheeks, painting them a bright orange.

'She's being a real pain today.' Athena griped, brow creasing in annoyance. 'Kept throwing her bottle at breakfast.'

'She gets it from you.' I sighed, dipping the spoon into the bowl again. Wren champed her gooey little mouth and laughed, pointing right into my face.

'Daddy!' She chimed and we both paused.

'Did she just-'

'Daddy!' Before Athena could finish, Wren reached a hand out towards me and giggled loudly.

'Well great, guess you're her favourite then.' Bottom lip pouting, Athena feigned sadness as she leant against the wall. I couldn't stop the gleeful smile that tugged at the corners of my mouth.

'S'cause I'm the fun one.' I jested, elbowing Athena under the ribs.

***

As she grew, Wren became bolshy like myself and stubborn like her mother. She'd bargain her way to victory and I had to admit, most of the time I was impressed.

'I want to read Goodnight Moon!' She stamped her foot angrily as I dragged a palm over my face.

'We've read Goodnight Moon for like three weeks Wren. Pick somethin' else.'

'Carmina gets to read whatever she wants!' She pointed a finger at Nick who was cleaning up toys in the living room. 'Isn't that right Uncle Nick?'

'I ain't gettin' involved with this one little red.' He chuckled softly, bundling a spaceship and a plastic horse into one of the cardboard boxes.

'C'mon Wren, what about...' I fumbled in the box, desperate for something that wasn't about that damn moon in the fucking sky. Tugging a glittery blue book out from the bottom, I squinted. 'The Rainbow Fish?'

'Uggggggggggh.' She groaned, flopping onto the ground. 'The Rainbow Fish is boring.' She started to roll around like a sausage, ginger hair scuffing up against the concrete floor. 'Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Moon!' Wren chanted and I caught sight of Nick's shoulders bouncing as he stifled a laugh.

'Alright alright!' I conceded, tossing The Rainbow Fish back into the box. 'You win.' And with that, she got to her feet and gave me a shit-eating grin. Flouncing past, she thrust the book into my chest and clambered into her bed.

'C'mon daddy. You're so slow and old.' She called and I grimaced.

'Yeah no need to remind me.' Grumbling, I traipsed after her and plonked down on the end of the bed. Wren looked at me expectantly as I opened the binding. 'In the great green room, there was a telephone and a red balloon and-'

'You're going too fast!' Wren's little fingers tugged on my scarred arm. 'Go slower. You're good at that.' She patted me condescendingly and I sucked in my bottom lip. Don't shout at the four year old Jacob. Thankfully as I continued, she started to doze and was soon fast asleep before I could finish the last sentence. Carefully closing the book, I planted a rough kiss to my daughter's head and left her to rest. Entering my own bedroom, I shuffled over to the safe in the corner and started to slowly twist the knob.

'What are you doing?' Athena looked up from under the covers, an eyebrow arched.

'Hiding Goodnight fucking Moon.' The sound of a click filled the space and the safe door swung open. Athena snorted, slamming her head back down into the pillows. 'It doesn't even make any sense. Why the fuck is there a bowl of mush and an old lady whisperin' hush in the kid's bedroom?' Sliding the book inside, I shut the safe door and locked it. No more Goodnight Moon. Ever.

'It's a children's book Jake, it's not meant to be logical.'

'She's too smart for her own good.' Scratching at my beard, I hunkered into the bed next to Athena and wrapped my arms around her waist. 'Why don't you ever have to do bedtime story readin'?'

'Because apparently I don't get the voices right.'

'Jesus. She really is brutal.' I chuckled, reaching for the faint flickering bedside light and turning it off.

***

Things only got more hectic as both her and Carmina got older. The two of them were partners in crime and not in a good way. God forbid I try to take a nap on the sofa because I'd definitely end up with four pairs of hands tugging aggressively on my beard.

'Ow! Knock it off you two!' Swatting at them, a fit of giggles would be followed by thundering footsteps as they ran away. It started to get too much for all of us. Four adults and two kids in an increasingly smaller bunker wasn't cutting it anymore.

'It's been six years. Maybe we should just see what it's like outside?' Kim suggested quietly one evening whilst the girls were distracted playing some sort of hunting game together.

'I dunno. Won't we all just get radiation poisoning and die?' Nick said a little too loudly.

'Jesus Nick! Keep it down!' She scolded, punching him in the arm.

'We could just look? Surely that won't kill us?' Athena suggested and I nodded in agreement. That evening once we'd put Wren and Carmina to bed, the four of us approached the bunker door. Nick stabbed the key in the lock and opened it carefully, peering out.

'Holy shit...' He breathed as we all clamoured to see behind him.

'What? What is it?!' Kim shoved past me and her jaw visibly dropped. 'It's... it's so beautiful.' Beckoning myself and Athena closer, we clambered out into the new world. My blue irises took a moment to adjust to natural lighting but it didn't change how different everything looked. Luminous pink flowers stretched across dusty pastures and auroras danced in the dark night sky. After everything that had happened, Hope County was still alive and kicking.