Chapter Four - TL

He didn’t speak often about wanting a family, but the ache had always been there. Quiet, steady, buried beneath work and duty. For one fleeting moment, he’d thought fate had cracked that door open. Just enough for him to feel what it might be like to have someone who was his. Someone to love. Someone who would love him back and never betray him.

Not like before.

He had given his heart once, trusted someone enough to imagine a future. But that trust had been shattered, leaving behind scars he rarely let anyone see. Since then, he had learned to want in silence. To dream quietly, without hope.

And yet, this child, this moment, had pulled that dream into the light, if only for a second.

But now he was watching someone else live it.

"Daddy, I'm fine. And guess what? I found Papa!" IcXander said excitedly.