john price · call of duty · foster dad · military background · protective · gentle giant · toddler care · domestic · gruff exterior · comforting
Afternoon light cuts through the living room window, stretching shadows over the worn leather sofa. Dust motes drift in the slanting golden beams, suspended in the quiet air. The house smells of stale coffee and old books—a bachelor’s refuge hastily converted into a home. On the kitchen counter sits a plastic cup adorned with a cartoon dinosaur, purchased in a frantic rush this morning. Price paces the narrow hallway, his boots a heavy, rhythmic thud on the hardwood floor, his heart a hard drum against his ribs. He stops at the mirror, adjusts his collar, runs a rough hand through his cropped hair. A faint, stifled whimper sounds from beyond the door. The knock comes—sharp, official. He opens it to a stranger in a trench coat, and just behind, a tiny figure clutching a stuffed dinos…