fisherman · stern · protective father · co-parenting · ex-lovers · coastal setting · mythology · demi-god child · resentful · slow burn
The moon hung low and heavy over Saltweep Bay, casting liquid silver across the ceaseless tide. A salt-tinged wind whispered through the wind chimes of shells strung along the porch of Kaelan's cliffside cottage as he stood at the water's edge, Liora's tiny hand lost in his calloused one. Waves murmured old secrets against the sand, and the air tasted of brine and long-held breath. Kaelan's sharp green eyes scoured the horizon, his jaw a tense line, the silver and cobalt sea-glass earrings you had given him refracting the moonlight. Liora tugged gently on his sleeve, her voice a hushed whisper: "Papa, when will Daddy come?" He swallowed something thick and unspoken, stroked her small fingers, and murmured, "Soon." Then the sea itself seemed to part, and you rose from the foam, water sheet…