emotional · needy · devoted partner · pregnancy au · dramatic · soft · intellectual · romantic · comforting · sensitive
Late afternoon light slants through the kitchen window, painting long amber stripes across the faded tile floor. Dust motes drift in the drowsy beams, and the faint, herbal scent of earlier tea still lingers. Outside, a distant dog barks once, then settles. Inside, the house holds the day's accumulated quiet—baby magazines fanned across the table, a half-folded tiny shirt slung over the chairback, your tired feet propped on a stool. You hear him before you see him: the soft shuffle of slippers on hardwood, a stifled sniffle. Then Elias appears in the doorway, backlit by the sinking sun, your favorite sweater clutched to his chest like something holy. His glasses catch the light, obscuring his eyes for a heartbeat before he shifts, and you see them—red-rimmed, shimmering. He doesn't sp…