He walked past Vanessa into the bedroom, grabbed his phone, and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" Vanessa demanded.
"To take a shower and change, and then I'm going to meet my daughter. Sebastian, keep the ring or sell it. I don't care, but we're done, Vanessa. We should have been done before we started."
He left before she could respond, taking the stairs instead of the elevator because he needed to move, needed to burn off the adrenaline coursing through his system.
By 9:30, Sebastian had showered, changed into jeans and a simple sweater, and was pacing the hotel lobby like a caged animal. He'd turned off his phone after the 20th call from his mother. Whatever Katherine wanted to say could wait.
At 9:45, he couldn't wait any longer. Room 412 was on the fourth floor facing the ocean. Sebastian stood outside the door for a full minute, his hand raised to knock, his heart hammering against his ribs. This was it. On the other side of this door was a truth he'd run from, a life he'd missed, a daughter he'd never held, a woman he'd never stopped loving, though he'd tried.
Sebastian knocked.
The door opened almost immediately, like Nora had been waiting right there. She looked different in daylight, wearing jeans and an oversized sweater, her hair in a simple ponytail, no makeup. She looked exhausted and beautiful and terrified.
"You came," she said softly.
"Did you think I wouldn't?"
"I wasn't sure." Nora stepped back, opening the door wider. "She's eating breakfast, fair warning. She's enthusiastic about food and life in general."
Sebastian stepped into the room, his pulse roaring in his ears. And then he saw her.
A small child sat in a portable high chair by the window, cheerfully smashing pieces of banana with her tiny hands. She wore pink pajamas covered in elephants, her dark curls wild around her face. When she heard the door close, she looked up. Those eyes—his eyes—dark and curious and devastatingly familiar.
"Mama!" Lily shouted happily, holding up a piece of banana like it was a trophy.
"Yes, baby. That's a banana," Nora said, but her voice shook slightly.
Lily's attention shifted to Sebastian. She studied him with the intense focus only toddlers possessed, her head tilted, assessing this new person in her space. Then she smiled—a huge, dimpled grin that hit Sebastian like a physical blow.
"Hi," Lily said clearly, waving her banana-covered hand.
Sebastian couldn't speak, couldn't move, could barely breathe. This was his daughter. This perfect, messy, joyful little person was his, and he'd missed 17 months of her life.
"Do you..." Nora's voice was barely audible. "Do you want to hold her?"
Sebastian's hands trembled as he reached for his daughter. Nora had cleaned Lily's hands and face, wiping away the banana evidence with practiced efficiency. Now, the little girl looked at Sebastian with open curiosity, her head tilted in that way children had when deciding if someone was friend or foe.
"Hey, sweetheart," Sebastian whispered, his voice rough. "Can I hold you?"
Lily considered this for a long moment. Then, with the fearlessness of someone who'd never known rejection, she lifted her arms up toward him.
Sebastian carefully picked her up, and the weight of her—solid and warm and real—nearly broke him. She was so small. How could a person be this small and this perfect?
Lily studied his face from inches away, her dark eyes serious. Then, she reached out and patted his cheek with one tiny hand.
"Dada?" she said questioningly.
The word shattered something in Sebastian's chest.
"She's been saying that recently," Nora said quietly from behind her. "She sees other kids with their fathers at the park. I think she's been trying to figure out what the word means."
Sebastian couldn't answer. Tears burned behind his eyes as he held his daughter for the first time, feeling her small hand against his face, watching her examine him with the same intense focus he'd seen in the mirror his entire life.
"Hi, Lily," he managed finally. "I'm... yes, I'm your dada."
Lily seemed satisfied with this answer. She settled against his chest, tucking her head under his chin like she'd always belonged there. Sebastian closed his eyes and breathed her in: baby shampoo and something sweet, maybe syrup from breakfast.
"She likes you," Nora observed, and there was something complicated in her tone. Relief, maybe, or sadness.
"She doesn't know me well enough to like me."
Sebastian opened his eyes to find Nora watching them with an expression that made his heart ache. "I've done nothing to deserve this."
"She's 17 months old. She doesn't think about deserving. She just—" Nora's voice caught. "She just knows you're here now."
Lily pulled back to look at Sebastian again, then reached for his watch: a vintage Rolex that cost more than most cars. She grabbed it with both hands, fascinated by the way it caught the light.
"Shiny," she declared.
"Yeah, it is shiny." Sebastian agreed, letting her explore. "You can look at it."
"She'll try to eat it," Nora warned. "She's in an oral phase where everything goes in the mouth."
As if on cue, Lily's mouth opened, the watch approaching rapidly.
"Or maybe not the eating," Sebastian said gently, redirecting her attention to the watch's band instead of the face.