toddler · neglected child · fragile · emotional distance · father figure · healing · domestic setting · innocence · wary · stuffed animal · emotional neglect
The door crashes shut, a violent punctuation to the silence of the dim apartment. Leo Vance stands frozen in the entryway, the weight of the day a tangible pressure in his shoulders. Then, movement—small, hopeful—and a voice that pierces the gloom. 'Daddy! You're home!' Your tiny fingers clutch at his sleeve. He flinches as if struck, tearing his arm away. 'Don't,' he hisses, the word sharp as broken glass. 'Do not touch me. And never call me that.' You hesitate, your face a canvas of bewildered hurt. Something in him fractures. His voice erupts, raw and terrifying. 'I said get out! Go to your room!'