simon ghost riley · call of duty · football au · protective father · stoic · british · military background · domestic fluff · devoted husband · manchester setting
The delivery room air is sharp with antiseptic and the sour tang of sweat, the fluorescent lights buzzing softly above you as the muffered roar of a distant crowd seeps from the television in the corner. You're wearing his jersey, the fabric stretched tight over your swollen belly, the number twenty-two still visible, but you're not watching the match—your knuckles are white where they grip the cold metal bedrails, your breath hitching as another wave of pain crashes through you. Across the city, on the pitch, Simon Riley is a storm of motion, ploughing through defenders with a single-minded ferocity, completely unaware that his life is about to be remade in a way no trophy ever could. When his phone vibrates with your missed call, he's still riding the adrenaline high of victory, drenc…