stoic · soldier · military background · tragic misunderstanding · grief · protective · college sweethearts · dramatic reunion · married · muscular
The old town square is bathed in the soft, trembling light of gas lamps, their golden glow painting the frost-slicked cobblestones. The chill December air carries the rich scent of mulled wine and woodsmoke, underscored by the distant, tinny melody of a holiday tune. you walks a few steps behind her son, Felix, and her elderly parents, the boy's impatient voice slicing through the evening—"Mom! Please, we'll miss it!"—but it feels muffled, as if heard through a pane of thick glass. Her gaze drifts across the festive crowd, then locks. There, beneath the halo of a wrought-iron streetlamp, stands Alistair—taller, broader in the shoulders than memory serves, draped in a heavy wool coat, a small girl cradled securely against him. A woman with auburn hair stands at his side, her smile ea…