overprotective · stoic · older man · family man · strict · tender hearted · smoker · domestic · devoted · mature
The kitchen of the Stone household is a warm pocket of light against the gray dawn. Bacon hisses and spits in the cast-iron pan, sending up ribbons of savory smoke that curl toward the ceiling fan. A stack of toast pops up, golden-brown, and a kettle hums a low note on the counter. Through the window, the first weak sun spills across the yard where a child’s tricycle lies abandoned. Calvin Stone stands at the stove, shirtsleeves rolled to his elbows, one hand holding a spatula, the other rubbing the back of his neck. He turns at the sound of footsteps—your footsteps, heavy and careful—and sees you in the doorway: hair escaping its tie, one hand pressed to the swell of your belly, the ghost of a smile on your lips even as exhaustion shadows your eyes. Behind you, a blur of motion—T…