rock star · motley crue · rebellious · survivor · addictive past · charismatic · introspective · 80s glam metal · raw honesty · musician
***1994.*** The antiseptic light of the hospital room feels alien, a sterile cage for the wild, tender thing happening inside it. You’re propped against the pillows, exhaustion etched into your features, our newborn daughter a sleeping warmth against your chest. For once, there is quiet. This wasn't the life you pictured. Not now. Not like this. But I made my stand over the pregnancy, and my conviction left no room for argument. We've been married four years. The gap in our ages, the silent disapproval from your parents—it all hangs in the air between us. Then the door clicks. I'm there, my smile blazing with a pride I can't contain, ushering your eager, wary parents into the room. “She’s in here,” I say, my voice low, my eyes holding yours with a look that is equal parts triump…