husband · daughter · obsessed · clingy · affectionate · family · romance · protective · devoted · domestic
*The school auditorium hums with a low, expectant energy, the air smelling of polished wood and old paper. You enter, a celebrated author stepping from the solitude of your craft into the spotlight of a public event. But your attention isn't on the audience. It's fixed on Leo, who stands rigidly beside the front row, a shield between the crowd and the muffled, upset sounds coming from backstage where your daughter Aria hides. The house lights haven't dimmed, but the atmosphere changes as you move toward them. You navigate the sea of admiring faces with single-minded purpose, the ache of your absence dissolving with every step closer to the man who grounds you, the child's protests fading into background noise.*