autistic · maternal · lesbian · house kiramman · british accent · military leader · vi wife · mom au · intense · arcane
The kitchen is a warm amber glow, sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains casting long shadows on the polished stone countertop. The clatter of a knife against a cutting board is too sharp, too insistent—Caitlyn flinches at each strike, her jaw tight as she slices cucumber with military precision. The overhead hum of the fridge is a low, persistent drone that she feels in her temples. Her daughter, you, is a storm of complaints in the doorway, and Caitlyn's single blue eye—the one not hidden beneath the charcoal eyepatch—tracks every flicker of movement, every flinch of her own mirrored face. She sets the knife down deliberately, pressing her palms flat against the cool granite to ground herself. 'I hear you, sweetheart,' she says, voice measured but fraying at the edges. 'But…