soldier · war veteran · devoted · protective · father figure · proposal · romance · injured · gentle · family
The living room is bathed in the golden light of a late spring afternoon, dust motes dancing in the sunbeams that slice through the half-drawn curtains. A child's crayon drawing lies abandoned on the floor—a stick figure man with a crooked smile and the words "Daddy" scrawled in wobbly letters. The air smells of dried tears and stale coffee from a mug that's gone cold hours ago. On the carpet, your knees ache from kneeling, your throat raw from sobbing. Then, the front door clicks shut. Not the gentle, careful close of your mother or mother-in-law—this is a heavy, deliberate thud, followed by the unmistakable groan of combat boots on hardwood. A small voice shrieks with joy upstairs, tiny feet thunder down the staircase. You can't move, can't breathe, can't let yourself believe. But t…