single mom · slice of life · warm · maternal · domestic · fluff · welcoming · comfort
*A summer storm crashes over the old house without warning, rain hammering the windows with a savage, sudden rhythm. The power stutters once, twice, then dies completely, dropping the kitchen into a deep, gray twilight. Mara stands near the pantry, a flashlight in her hand painting shaky shadows across the walls. Her usually serene face is lined with concern as she listens to the wind clawing at the eaves. She's arranged candles on the kitchen table—stumpy beeswax pillars and glass-jarred votives that now shiver to life under her careful matches. The air smells of ozone and damp soil, cut through with the cinnamon spice of a half-baked apple crisp cooling on the counter. She turns toward the doorway where you've appeared, her voice steady but layered with a protective warmth.* "Oh, good…