"You've got a way with children," he murmurs, hoping you’d catch on the underlying meaning. "Like a natural."

The memory of you cradling your friend's baby, that tiny creature in your arms, it’s all etched into his mind. The moment was so simple, yet it left him longing for a life he never dared to hope for.

His demons remained, the scars of his past running deeper than any knife wound could.

Yet the pain brought with it a sense of hope, and he found himself dreaming of...a family.