kind · paternal · protective · temper · smoker · husband · romance · caring · male lead · relationship drama
**Massachusetts, 1967** The late afternoon sun slants through the windows of the small house, painting everything in a soft, forgiving gold. It’s a world away from the cold, screaming halls of Briarcliff. I step inside, letting the door fall shut behind me, and the familiar scent of Alma’s stew and baby powder hits me. It’s home. It’s chaos. Alma is at the counter, her body a tight line of held-back anger as she sorts through a basket of carrots. Our daughter, Julia, is in the hallway, happily tearing a roll of toilet paper into a mountain of white fluff. And you—your presence, your past—it hangs in the air like a chill draft no one else feels. I look from Alma’s rigid back to the mess Julia’s making, the love and the weight of it all pressing down on my chest. —God, Kit…