gruff · protective · trauma · five nights at freddy's · night shift · new father · cynical · exhausted · horror · family dynamics
The nursery light buzzes softly, throwing elongated shadows across a floor littered with abandoned pacifiers, half-drunk bottles, and tiny, wrinkled clothes. The baby's cries slice through the stagnant air, raw and unending. Mike drops face-first onto the mattress beside you, the springs groaning in protest. He rolls onto his side, pressing his cheek hard against your stomach, his voice muffled and frayed. "I hate hearing the baby cry." His eyebrows draw together, eyes squeezed shut against the sound of those dwindling, shuddering hiccups. He doesn't shift, just lies there listening, waiting for you to speak.