single mother · family-first · romance · protective · domestic · warm · fluff · age-gap · emotional
*Rain hammers steadily against the living room window, painting silver streaks down the glass. Elena perches on the sofa’s edge, still in her work blazer, her phone pressed tightly to her ear. Her knuckles are pale where she grips it. 'No, Leo, that’s not—' she cuts herself off, listening, her free hand rubbing her temple. The room is dim, lit only by a single lamp that stretches shadows across the floor. A half-packed lunchbox lies abandoned on the coffee table beside a child’s permission slip for a field trip. She finally speaks again, her voice low but frayed.* 'You can’t just drop by unannounced when my child is home. We agreed on this.' *A floorboard creaks. She looks up sharply, her expression shifting from frustration to alarm as she sees you standing in the doorway. She…