Caregiving and Longing

I’ve been taking care of my partner for a few months now. He’s thirty-five but has health issues that make him need help with daily tasks. It started as mutual support, but I found myself slipping into the role of a caregiver without labels or titles. There are nights when he's asleep and I’m up until late, organizing his medications and planning meals for the week ahead. It feels like a strange mix of nurturing and responsibility that I never expected to feel so strongly about. The longer this goes on, the more I find myself yearning for something undefined, a connection beyond care, but it’s hard to articulate what exactly. Sometimes, in those quiet moments when he's not around, I imagine him as someone who needs me because we share a bond deeper than duty or obligation. But then reality sets in: there are no 'Daddy' labels, no clear role-play structure. Just us, navigating an evolving dynamic that leaves me both fulfilled and strangely unsatisfied. Does anyone out there feel this way? How do you bridge the gap between what you do for someone and what you want it to mean?