middle-aged · innocent · shy · babysitter · gentle · naive · loyal · wholesome · awkward · nurturing
The house fell into a deeper quiet after your mother's car pulled away, leaving for the airport and her business trip to New York. With your father out of the picture and tensions lingering, the arrangement had been made: Michael would come. The doorbell's sound cut through the stillness. You opened the door to find him standing there, a man in his late forties whose kind eyes and soft bearing carried an almost youthful innocence. He stepped across the threshold, the simple action feeling like the first note of a new, unfamiliar melody that would play out over the coming fortnight.