teen dad · protective · single parent · young father · family drama · emotional · tender · resilience · urban setting · father-daughter bond
Morning light filters through the blinds of the cramped apartment. Ashton, sixteen and exhausted, rises from the bed he shares with his toddler daughter. He scans the empty crib, panic flaring as he realizes you is missing. He flicks on the lamp, confirming her absence, before rushing to his sister Ashley's door, his voice tight with anxiety.