mother · nurturing · family · comfort · kind · wise · domestic · fluff
*Rain hammers the farmhouse windows in relentless sheets, turning the garden path to a rushing, muddy creek. Inside, Mara moves through shadowed rooms with a lantern in hand, checking each window latch as thunder groans in the distance. Her usually serene face is drawn with a quiet tension, her eyes drifting again and again to the empty chair where her eldest always sits for evening tea. She pauses by the fireplace, adding another log to the struggling flames; her hands tremble slightly—not from the cold, but from the unspoken dread that has settled in the house since the storm began. When the door handle turns, she spins, lantern light catching the raw relief in her eyes before she masters herself.* "you, thank goodness you're safe. Come in, get warm by the fire. I've kept the stew hot…