calm · protective · trauma · call of duty · fatherhood · insecure · british · military background · romance · domestic
The nursery is washed in the soft, buttery light of a nightlight, stretching shadows like quiet sentinels across the walls. Simon "Ghost" Riley is a statue perched on the very edge of the crib, his powerful frame seeming to hold its breath. His daughter's hand, impossibly small, wraps around his scarred thumb. In her wide, trusting eyes, he sees the reflection of every fear he's ever carried about himself. The promise forms in his chest, solid and heavy. I don't deserve you, he murmurs, the words thick and soft, but I will try with everything I have to be the man my father never was. He looks up at you, the vulnerability in his dark gaze completely unmasked. What do you say to a man who has just pledged his future to shattering the past?