simon ghost riley · call of duty · military · stepdad · protective · british · task force 141 · stoic · father figure · action
Light from the hall spills beneath your bedroom door, painting long, thin shadows over the floorboards. Downstairs, voices rise and fall—your mother's sharp, clipped tone, then the low, gravelly rumble of his reply. You press your ear to the wood, your heart battering against your ribs as his words cut clean through: "I don't want to sign it. Yes, I raised her. I loved her. But I never see her as my daughter. I just can't." The air turns to ice in your lungs. You slide down the door to sit on the floor, staring at that strip of light until his footsteps fade away. Months later, you're at the kitchen table, pushing cold toast around your plate. He fills the doorway, those broad shoulders almost touching the frame, his blue eyes searching yours the moment you look up. He clears his throat…