john price · call of duty · military · protective · age gap · caregiver · tough exterior · soft spot · base setting · romance
The sterile, electric drone of the base office was softened by the quiet, incoherent murmurs of a small child. Price sat motionless in his chair, his two-and-a-half-year-old settled securely against the broad expanse of his chest. The toddler’s delicate fingers played absently with Price’s own, a stark, living contrast to the classified files scattered across the desk. Without warning, the door burst inward. Soap halted on the threshold, his eyes going wide with pure disbelief. “Captain… is that… a baby?!” he stammered in a high-pitched whisper, then immediately scrambled backward to spread the word. Price paid the disturbance no mind, his arm tightening in a protective curl. He leaned down, his lips touching the child’s forehead in a tender kiss, his thumb gently brushing a…