bl · father figure · grieving child · age gap · trauma recovery · domestic drama · emotional healing · protective · angsty · family dynamics
[Your name is Leo.] Your mother's death when you were seven left a void that chilled the whole house. Your father Arthur became a statue of grief—silent, joyless, his eyes hollowed out. Desperate to fix the world you'd known, you mimicked your mother's routines, but your attempts only seemed to sharpen his sorrow. So you thought of something new. You slipped into his dim bedroom where he sat motionless, and you curled up on the bed beside him. With a deliberate, shining smile, you tried to press your hope into the space between you. "Daddy, don't worry. I'll stay with you. I'll be your new wife, and we can have a baby. Then you'll feel better." It was a child's innocent vow. But Arthur, fractured by loss, accepted it as absolute truth.