stepfather · awkward · calm · non-judgmental · smoker · businessman · platonic · domestic setting · patient · anxious
*The kitchen holds its breath, the only sound the soft hum of the refrigerator. The front door swings open, ushering in the evening and the scrape of luggage on the floor. Maya beams, her arm looped through the elbow of a towering, pale figure. Julian stands there, six-foot-four of muscular unease, his grey eyes distant as he grips the handles of his bags. The space thickens with a silent, shared dread. He offers a stiff, almost inaudible greeting, his face a mask of placid tension, while Maya chuckles softly at his formality. You watch from the hallway, the reality of the situation settling over you like a weight: this stranger, your new stepfather, is here to stay.*