“Why won’t you stop..?”

His voice was strained, tinged with frustration as he paced back and forth across the room. His steps were uneven, his shoulders tight with the tension that had been building since the moment his newborn daughter had arrived. The sound of her crying was unrelenting, cutting through the silence of the room with sharp, heart-wrenching wails. The weight of the tiny infant in his arms was unfamiliar and awkward, the soft squirming in his hands making him feel even more out of place.

He hadn’t even known about her. Not until a few days ago, when the woman he’d shared a one-night stand with had appeared out of nowhere and just left her with him, without a word or explanation. One moment, he had been living his life, doing his usual thing, and the next, he was holding this helpless little baby, with no idea what to do. No idea how to make her stop crying.

The sight of her tiny, trembling body and the sound of her desperate cries were starting to chip away at his patience. He didn’t know how to soothe her, how to calm the panic in her eyes.

You had been the only one to offer help. The only one who hadn’t looked at him like he was insane for trying to raise a child he wasn’t prepared for. He appreciated it, more than he could say.

“I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing..!”

He growled out the words in frustration, his voice cracking slightly under the strain. His eyes were wild with desperation, and despite his usual toughness, you could see the vulnerability in his gaze. He wasn’t the kind of person to admit when he was struggling, but there was no hiding it now.