บท 5: Birthday, Education, and Happiness
Alex quickly grabbed the plate and poured all the meat into the pot, letting the water slowly reach boiling temperature.
With steam coming out of the pot, he waited for the fat, blood, and bubbles to form before getting ready to use a spatula.
Tilting the pot to the side, Alex carefully scooped up the meat onto another plate, leaving all the unnecessary stuff in the water.
"Okay, can you go pour this water out? Just dump it in the backyard and clean it with water."
Sophia nodded, leaving the room with the pot full of water as Alex started seasoning the meat with salt and a special seasoning he had brought.
"How did I endure eating the food she cooked for so long?" Alex murmured as he thought back to all the food he had eaten since birth.
All the food that Katherine cooked was the most basic food he had ever eaten, just boiling everything in a giant pot and putting some salt in it.
"I guess we're broke for a reason."
As Alex finished seasoning the meat, Sophia was back with a pot filled with water.
"Okay, we're cooking vegetables this time..."
Twenty minutes later.
"And we're done," Alex announced as he finished the plate with chucks of potatoes on each of the four plates.
Sophia quickly brought it out to the table in the living room, with Alex putting the fire out.
"Let's go!"
The two quickly ran towards Katherine's room, waking both Mary and Katherine, who had been sleeping together for the past few days.
"Hm?"
As Katherine sat up from the bed, she was a little surprised at how early they were up when the sun had barely come out.
"Mom! Happy birthday!" The two of them excitedly said out loud.
"Thank you. Did you two prepare something for me?" Katherine asked, feeling something was off about their energy.
"Aww, Mom, how did you know we prepare breakfast?" Sophia asked in surprise as Mary finally woke up from the sound.
"What are you guys talking about?" Mary asked, barely looking awake as she sat up from the bed.
"It's Mom's birthday, you dummy." Sophia reminded her as she ran over to the other side of the bed to knock on her head.
Seeing the two fighting each other with Sophia holding back, Katherine couldn't help but smile before intervening.
"Okay, okay. No more fighting. You two are sisters, okay?"
"Hmph!"
As the two looked away from each other, Alex was starting to get a little impatient.
"The food is going to be cold." Alex hurried as he helped Mary change into her casual clothes.
"It's fine... Whatever you guys cook, I'll eat it."
As Katherine began taking off her pajamas and switching to her casual clothes, Alex's brain froze for a second.
Something was awakening in his head as his eyes were glued to her chest and her thighs.
Seeing her black bra and panties hiding her most precious part was making his heart race faster and faster.
"Hm? Alex, are you okay?" Katherine curiously asked, noticing Alex's weird eye movement.
"I-I'm fine."
Alex quickly looked away to the side, feeling a little ashamed as he saw his own mother as something else for a second.
But Katherine didn't think much of it as she finished changing and headed to the living room with the three of them.
"Oh my, who cooked this? It looks so tasty," Katherine asked curiously, looking a little shocked by how good the food looked.
"Alex——"
"We both cooked it together." Alex interrupted Sophia before she could finish, sharing the credit with her.
"Aww, that's so nice of you two... Hmm! This tastes so good! What did you guys add to it?"
Katherine's eyes were wide open. She was surprised by the flavor of the meat, expecting it to be only salted meat.
"When I brought the meat, the lady in the market gifted me a pack of pepper," Alex explained as the three of them also started eating the food.
"I see... You know what, I should let you two cook more since you guys cook so well."
Alex wanted to reject it at first, but seeing Sophia nod in agreement like crazy, he accepted it.
---
The morning and evening quickly went past as Katherine taught the three how to read and write.
Mary was struggling a little, but it was to be expected as she was only five years old.
To Katherine's surprise, Alex was learning even faster than Sophia despite her having almost two years of headstarts.
He was even reading the books on her shelf alone rather than playing with Sophia and Mary in their free time.
But soon, nighttime approached.
Katherine was sitting on the sofa, reading a book that she forbade Alex from reading.
Meanwhile, the three kids were playing with dolls, the only three toys that remained in the house as nobody brought them.
"I want to be Alex's wife this time!" Mary demanded.
"No, I'm Alex's wife. You can be the maid." Sophia argued as she shoved Mary's doll aside.
"No! I'm not being the maid again."
Seeing the two fighting over each other, Alex just couldn't help but laugh at how childish it was.
But still, he played along with the two as there wasn't much entertainment at night.
"Alex, which one are you picking?" Sophia demanded an answer.
"Me! If you pick Sophia, I'm going to cry," Mary threatened, her face almost looking like she was about actually to cry.
"Hmph! Don't threaten him like that. I'll cry, too, if that's how you want to do it."
With a difficult decision before him, Alex fell into silence as both choices were a death sentence for the rest of the night.
But hearing a chuckle coming from Katherine, he immediately knew what to pick to be free from the fight.
"Mom is going to be my wife." Alex quickly pointed out.
"What!"
"That's not possible!"
"Says who?" Alex argued as he quickly jumped up to the sofa, hugging Katherine's arm as the two on the floor looked a little disappointed.
"Okay, enough. None of us can be his wife, you silly goose. It's time for you guys to sleep."
Katherine grabbed all three dolls, carrying them in her arms as she headed to their bedroom.
But after she put all three of them down on the bed, she was a little stunned when she went to put away the three dolls.
"Happy birthday, Mom!"
All three of them excitedly said out loud at the same time as they jumped back down from the bed and carried the cake to the small table.
"You guys..."
As Katherine burst into tears, both Sophia and Mary were confused. But Alex could tell it was a tear of joy coming out.
"Mom... Did we do something wrong?" Sophia nervously asked.
"No, you guys are perfect. I'm just too happy seeing this cake."
As Katherine calmed back down and wiped the tears off her face, the two finally realized she was happy, not sad.
"Mom! Make a wish!"
Alex quickly pulled out the small candle he had prepared from his bag and attached it to the cake before Sophia lit it up with a little flame.
"I wish——"
"Mom! If you say the wish, it's not going to come true!" Alex interrupted Katherine from continuing.
"Fine, fine, I'll wish it in my head."
As Katherine closed her eyes and put her hands together, she began making her wish.
After a few seconds, she leaned forward to blow the candle.
"Mom, what did you wish for——"
"Mary! You can't ask that. If you say the wish, it doesn't come true." Alex interrupted again before letting go of his hand.
"Okay, geez..."
As the room fell into silence, Katherine just couldn't help but grab all three of them together for a hug.
"You three are the best thing in my life! I love you all!"
"Love you too, Mom!
---
Ever since the day after Katherine's birthday, she finally seemed to move on from the tragedy, as she looked much more motivated than before.
She didn't just idly sit on the sofa alone anymore. Instead, she started spending much more time teaching and taking care of the three of them.
Sophia and Mary soon regretted it a little doing that birthday, as they were forced to start reading books like Alex.
He was the only one who didn't really mind the change, as it meant he had more time to read.
It soon became apparent to Katherine that Alex was not like the other two kids, as she eventually started buying harder books for him to read.
Besides learning, Katherine finally began learning how to cook and buy all kinds of ingredients and food.
The three were finally free from the poverty of food they had been eating for years, albeit with a lot of disaster food as she went in blind.
Soon, a familiar person came by to visit their home just as Mary finally reaches six years old.
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