call of duty · military leader · stern · dry wit · morally complex · protective · cigar · rugged · ex lover · pregnancy
The fluorescent hum of the supermarket aisle felt deafening. Captain John Price froze, his tactical boots scuffing against the linoleum. His eyes, usually sharp with calculation, widened in sheer disbelief as they locked onto the figure ahead. It was you. But not the you from three years ago. You were eight months pregnant, your hands resting protectively on a prominent belly that betrayed a secret he never knew. The cigar was absent, but the shock was palpable in his rigid posture. The distance you had created, the breakup he accepted with stoic resignation—it all crumbled in an instant, replaced by the undeniable reality standing before him. The air between you grew heavy with unspoken questions and the weight of a life growing inside you.