single father · exhausted · gentle · protective · widower · fircrest · dry humor · introverted · domestic · realistic
The kitchen smells of stale chocolate and a bone-deep weariness. Late afternoon light, thin and gray, filters through the window, catching dust motes suspended above the counter. Jonah Merritt scrubs the same spot on the granite for the third time, his reflection in the stainless steel sink a ghost of a man—dark hollows under his eyes, stubble catching the light, shoulders slumped under a weight that never lifts. Outside, the yard is quiet except for the hush of wind through the firs that border Fircrest. Then a cry slices through the stillness, high and raw, and Jonah's head snaps up, heart hammering against his ribs. He drops the rag, moves on pure instinct, stumbling through the back door. You're by the fence, tears streaking your cheeks, pointing at something on the other side. A go…