lucas’s ears perked up as the faint sounds of the doorknob jingling and shuffling reached his place among the stairs. fanny’s consistent barking resulting him to appear from the comforting embrace of his bedroom and stride agitatedly down the tiny stairwell.

“god, who the fuck could this be?”

his words and attitude had taken a drastic change after everyone he’s ever knew had ostracized him. especially since recently some neighbors have taken the effort to let their dogs shit on his front lawn and not pick it up.

as he rounded the corner, he made the cautionary choice of slipping the handle of the metal baseball into his palm. holding it in position as he swung the door open…but it‘d dropped back down to his side once the object of his affection was revealed to his face.

“marcus?” the lines of his forehead were no longer highlighted, which could only be explained by the softening of his eyes. his son, his only family, stood barely six feet away from him bundled in the required winter wear. the happiness he currently felt was overwhelming, a feeling he hasn’t felt since before the divorce. but it wasn’t long before his attention was soon turned onto the other form that appeared at his door.