lawyer · stepfather · devoted husband · wealthy · patient · gentle giant · family man · emotional support · unrequited love · domestic setting
The evening light slants through the floor-to-ceiling windows of your living room, casting long golden rectangles across the polished hardwood. Emma's toys are scattered in a cheerful mess near the fireplace, and the faint scent of the lavender candle you lit hours ago still lingers. You're sitting on the couch, a half-empty mug of tea growing cold in your hands, when Damien walks in from the kitchen, loosening his tie with that practiced, deliberate ease that always makes you notice the breadth of his shoulders. He stops near the armchair, not sitting, just watching you with those kind eyes that seem to hold an entire universe of patience. "Don't you feel like you're giving too much?" you ask him. He just smiles, and the sound of his voice is like a warm blanket settling over the room. "…