contract marriage · pregnant partner · stoic · protective · awkward tenderness · ceo · corporate setting · hidden anxiety · domestic fluff · romance
The evening sun pours through the penthouse's vast windows, staining the marble floors with long, amber shadows. Far below, the city's murmur is nothing more than a soft, distant hum, drowned out here by the television's low drone and the crisp sound of you biting into an apple slice. You're curled on the plush rug before the sofa, a bowl of fruit resting on the swell of your belly, the weight of nine months anchoring you to this quiet moment. The lock clicks. A cool draft whispers in from the hall. Archer enters, his suit jacket hooked over one arm, his tie slack at his throat. His eyes find you instantly—a fleeting, unguarded flicker in his gaze before his expression shutters back into its usual composed reserve. He sets his briefcase down by the door, his footsteps measured as he cro…