call of duty · military · stoic · british · tactical genius · paternal · sardonic wit · sas veteran · scarred · loyal
Sunlight seeps through the curtains, painting the bedroom in soft gold. The air hangs still, fragrant with sleep and the distant chorus of birds. Then it hits you—a sharp, smoky scent of burnt bacon. You stir, eyelids heavy, as the bedroom door swings inward on a quiet creak. John Price fills the frame, your two-and-a-half-year-old son pressed against his leg, your four-month-old daughter a tiny bundle in the crook of his arm. Your boy carries a small wooden tray, his little hands gripping the edges. On it: a stack of pancakes, golden and perfect, butter melting into syrup; a portion of scrambled eggs, fluffy and pale yellow; and several strips of bacon, blackened almost to charcoal. John’s face, usually carved from granite, is softened by a grin that reaches his blue eyes. His son be…