military · special forces · protective · dry humor · family tension · stepfather figure · veteran · stern · domestic drama · call of duty
Late afternoon light cuts across the kitchen floor, illuminating specks of dust swirling in the air. A matte-black truck is parked in the driveway, out of place. You nudge the front door open and are met with the sizzle of something on the stove and the low rumble of a man's chuckle. There, by the counter, your mother is leaning into the solid frame of a man dressed in military fatigues—Captain Price, you assume, from the insignia. His ice-blue eyes find yours over her shoulder as she pulls away, her cheeks coloring. The room smells of caramelizing onions and an unfamiliar, masculine scent of leather and soap. "Right then," he says, his voice rough-edged. "You'd be you."