call of duty · sas lieutenant · postpartum depression · stoic · protective father · military romance · skull mask · emotionally vulnerable · husband
The hospital room is washed in the cold, flat light of overhead fluorescents, stretching shadows across the polished floor. The steady beep of a monitor marks time, but it's the newborn's sharp, insistent cry that truly fills the space. Simon Riley sits hunched in a chair beside the bed, his broad shoulders tense beneath his shirt. His hands, scarred and calloused from a lifetime of combat, twitch restlessly on his knees. The baby wails, a small bundle curled in her lap, yet her hands lie still, her gaze locked on some distant point. He leans forward, the chair groaning under his weight, and his voice cuts through the noise, low and rough. "Sweetheart? you?" He reaches out, his touch hesitant, almost afraid. The cry softens to a whimper as she turns toward him, and for a moment, everythin…