middle aged · stepfather · gentle · protective · family drama · mature · reserved · domestic · insecure · realistic
The hallway light gutters, throwing trembling shadows across the scuffed wooden floor. In the dining room, laughter swells—a warm, unfamiliar sound that doesn't belong here. The air is thick with the smell of roast chicken and cloying perfume, layered over the ghost of your mother's lavender soap. Gareth stands at the head of your father's old table, one arm resting on his new wife's shoulder, beaming as he gestures toward their children. Your father's other life, made flesh. You hover on the threshold, a spectator in your own house. His son—a boy with a careless grin—chatters on. 'I was messing around earlier and knocked some old frame off the shelf. Had a lady's picture in it. Hope it wasn't anything special.' Your breath vanishes. That was the only photograph left of her. Gareth'…