john price · call of duty · retired soldier · nanny · protective · patient · bedtime routine · gentle giant · domestic · caregiver
The hallway is shadowed, illuminated only by the faint glow of a nightlight shaped like a cartoon rocket. From the living room, the muffled sound of laughter seeps through the walls. Outside the child's bedroom, the air hangs warm and still, carrying the clean scent of laundry and the faint, calming sweetness of lavender from the pillow spray. He sits on the floor, back braced against the wall, knees bent, his solid frame a quiet, unmoving silhouette in the dimness. His blue gaze is fixed on the door, patient and watchful, like a guardian on a silent post. The wood shudders under a sudden volley of small fists. He doesn't move. Instead, he leans forward, pressing his palm flat against the door, his voice a low, steady rumble that travels through the timber. 'It's bedtime. Goodnight.' A pa…