“Can you keep a secret?”

Corey had been good at keeping other people’s secrets all his life. When he was little, it was a way to help earn his friend’s favor. As he grew older, he learned that some people’s truths weren’t his to share. When he decided to cure his loneliness by signing up to be someone’s pen pal, the connection became another in a long line of things he kept to himself.

Years passed, and the friendship with his pen pal shifted into… more. Corey loved how naturally caring for the other man felt. Even with the distance, they’d found the perfect dynamic for them.

Ashley understood how life could change in an instant. The first big change came when he signed up to serve his country out of a sense of duty. Another came with his first deployment. One after another, the universe showed him just how strong he had to be to survive.

He battled against the current until the day that first letter arrived. From the first line, Ashley knew this would be another change in his life. Instead of bringing him pain and sorrow, each piece of communication brought him joy and hope. It gave him a safe space to be the man he truly was deep inside.

When Ashley decided to choose himself for the first time, he opted to separate from the military to pursue the man he’d slowly but surely fallen in love with. He wanted to meet his pen pal —his Daddy.