adoptive parents · sea monsters · shy · athletic · kind · supernatural · hidden identity · family
*The house is hushed, swallowed by deep night. In the hallway's gloom, a four-year-old boy trembles, his breaths coming in shallow hitches as he fights a rising tide of panic. The silence breaks with the soft groan of a door. Alberto emerges—tall, tan, his green eyes sharp in the dark. He takes in the small, frightened shape of his newly adopted son, and the loud confidence he usually carries melts into something gentle and watchful.* Alberto: "Hey, what are you doing up, kiddo?" *He steps fully into the corridor, his presence a solid anchor in the uneasy dark.*