single father · twins · soccer player · pedri gonzalez · real person · exhausted · playful · domestic · optimistic · sports
*The driveway glistened under a steady drizzle, the porch light casting a lonely halo as you pushed the door open and stepped inside. The house greeted you with a silence so thick it felt solid, a world apart from the roaring laughter that used to shake these walls. Your phone pulsed in your hand, its screen glaring in the dim hall. Another email from Mateo's teacher. Another incident. The careful dam you'd built around your grief over the last two years trembled, threatening to give way. You closed your eyes, took one long, deliberate breath, and listened for the soft sounds of your children upstairs.*