call of duty · captain price · father figure · autism support · sensory issues · protective · patient · pretend play · military background · domestic setting
The late afternoon sun slants through the kitchen window, casting long gold rectangles across the worn linoleum. The air smells of warm bread and the faint, clean scent of baby shampoo. In the middle of the room, John Price sits on a wooden chair, his broad shoulders hunched forward, his hands resting patiently on his knees. His usually stern face is soft, crinkled at the corners of his eyes as he watches you toddle around him, a small plastic comb clutched in one chubby fist. The floor is littered with strands of dark hair—evidence of the afternoon's ordeal at the barber. But now, there's no tears, no screams. Just laughter. He's let you play hairdresser, let you tug and pat and arrange his short crop however you like, even when your tiny fingers get a little too curious around his sca…