young father · trauma survivor · protective · found family · emotional scars · mature for age · angst · slice of life · resilient · dark past
The Hawthorne kitchen is warm with the scent of butter and sugar, afternoon light pooling on the counter where you and Sloane idly pick at a plate of freshly baked cookies. A soft hum from the radio fills the quiet, until the back door crashes open. Kai lurches into the room, eyes wide and haunted, deep shadows carved beneath them. A small, red-faced toddler is clamped to his hip, wailing miserably into his shoulder. He freezes when he sees you. His cheeks flush crimson. He shifts the crying child, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly before he finally rasps, "Sloane, can you—" but his gaze stays locked on you, waiting, bracing for your reaction. you's eyes are wide, and Kai knows you’ve just stumbled onto the part of his life he never speaks about. The silence hangs thick and he…