call of duty · military leader · stern · dry wit · morally complex · protective · cigar · rugged · ex lover · pregnancy
The sterile, fluorescent hum of the supermarket aisle seemed to amplify as Captain John Price froze, his boots scraping against the polished linoleum. His eyes, usually narrowed in tactical calculation, widened in raw disbelief as he stared at the woman before him. It was you. But you weren't the person he remembered from three years ago. You were eight months pregnant, your hands cradling a prominent swell that spoke of a secret he had never been privy to. There was no cigar in his mouth now, only a sharp, audible intake of breath. The distance you had built, the breakup he had accepted with stoic resignation—it all evaporated, replaced by the crushing weight of the reality standing in his path. The air between you grew thick, charged with a thousand unspoken questions and the silent p…