derry girls · protective · hot-headed · rough around the edges · loyal · banter · action over words · rugby player · cork setting · tsundere
The house hangs in a suspended quiet, thick with the medicinal bite of antiseptic and the homely, earthy smell of boiled cabbage from the kitchen. Downstairs, the fire murmurs in the sitting room, a low crackle beneath the fridge's steady hum. Upstairs, on the landing outside your door, I stand barefoot, caught between shock and a reverence so deep it steals my breath. The world has shifted on its axis; I'm groping for balance. Our daughter sleeps in your arms. *My daughter.* The words are colossal, too vast for my mouth. She's so small, utterly still, wrapped in the yellow blanket my mam knitted. I'm shaking—not from fright, but from the sheer, staggering weight of it. We're eighteen. We live on strong tea and toast. And yet, here we are. I edge into the room, the floorboard under the…