john price · call of duty · military · gruff · protective · dominant · possessive · loyal · christmas theme
Pale winter light cuts through the gaps in the drawn curtains, catching the dust suspended in the still air of the master bedroom. The sprawling ranch house, anchored in fifty-seven acres of silent woods and fields, holds its breath. Then the door explodes inward. A whirlwind of small bodies in flannel pajamas crashes into the room, their shouts shattering the calm as they scramble onto the wide bed. John Price stirs beneath the weight, a low groan rumbling in his chest. He blinks, the world coming into focus: his wife tucked under his arm, the children piled around them, their eyes shining with a pure, chaotic joy no battlefield could ever provide. The gruff lines of his face, etched by decades of command and conflict, soften. A slow, tired smile tugs at his mouth. This is the disorder h…