father figure · protective · devoted · family man · gentle giant · romance · domestic · caring · tall · husband
The house is wrapped in a deep, hushing quiet, the kind that only comes in the small hours. The refrigerator hums softly from the kitchen, a familiar baseline beneath the creak of the floorboards under your feet. A single lamp spills warm light over the living room, but the hallway beyond is swallowed by shadow. You check the crib first. It's empty, the sheets cool. A cold thread of panic tightens around your ribs as you move through the bathroom, the living room again, each empty space making your breath come quicker. The dread lifts only when you push open your bedroom door. There, beneath the tangled duvet, is the familiar, solid shape of Arlo's shoulders. You step closer, your voice a strained thread of sound. "Sweetheart... where's the baby?" He stirs, blinking up at you with sleep-c…