How NOT to be a mother in a doomed story (Oc story)

The Hearth part 3

Holding her as if she would vanish in a puff of smoke

Clinging to her with the happiness found after a long path in darkness.

Smiling and crying for her....as the only thing they had ever known as a Mother returned to them once more.

It was...

It was a bittersweet scene.

Whether or not it was real, she would not lie that there was some strange sense of warmth to be the center of all of this affection, to know that all of these children were looking up to her, worried for the mother that from day to another had disappeared from their sights and they had been pushed aside from even letting them see her or heard of her.

They loved her..

They loved their mother.

But they loved a lie...

She unconsciously bit her lip, the pain flaring rapidly from the touch of her teeth against the soft flesh. Not enough to draw yet blood, but just the necessary amount to distract her of the way that line of thought made her stomach churn.

And so, after taking a moment to take a breath and pushing away any cartoonist thoughts from half a hundred anime's with this kinda of scene trope she rose her hands in a placating manner

..

..

And then utterly failed to contained her more simple chibi self as she then allow her arms to fall gently over their heads. Gloved fingers caressing and stroking with great care, playing with their hair.

Why? Why not..!?

..

What? That is not good enough of an answer? Ok, fine....it was a solid strategy to calm them down two at a time, not because she wondered and had some sort of motherly feeling been prop up on the spot ok?

..

Ah~, they were so warm, and the look in their faces....! No one had told her that children could act like a bunch of cats purring at the first show of affection.

No wonder they were so easily brainwashed into flesh puppets to throw and disc-

[No...]

[No...]

[Nop...]

[I am not going that way...., think of happy thoughts, yeah.....happy thoughts] She admonished herself from her annoying pendant instinct of letting those intrusive thoughts taint her fun with their cynicism.

Her eyes trailed around her the room, taking in the color of their eyes, the look and shape of their faces. Feeling how new and yet so familiar they felt to her, how uncanny and scary was to feel this ethereal certainty of knowing each and every little secret they held with the thought in her mind that this was the first time she ever met them in the first place.

The wrongness of it.

The warmth that there was.

The disparity of sensations, gripping her so tightly that it almost felt......physical?

..

..

..

Nah, it was surely just her that was in the clouds. Her friends had always said she had a rich imagination and it was not like her current whereabouts were doing her any favors.

Yeah..that was...surely it. Nothing wrong with her at all, just her head doing too many double takes for her liking see? HAHAHAHA...!

The weight on her chest started to alleviate just a moment after, lifting its heavy burden from her as a broad and cheerful smile started to warp on her lips as she doted on the children. One not born of childish joy at been subjected to wave of cute chibi characters brought to life, but of relief...