Alex quickly grabbed a big plate off the cabinet 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 barely 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.
Katherine was constantly cooking the most basic food he had ever eaten: Boiling everything in a giant pot and adding salt near the end.
He still couldn't understand how her cooking hadn't improved at all despite all these years, and how his dad never seemed to complain about it.
"I guess we're broke for a reason..."
As Alex finished seasoning the meat, Sophia was back with a pot filled with fresh water from the well.
"Okay, we're cooking vegetables this time."
---
Twenty minutes later...
"And we're done," Alex announced as he finished the plate with chunks of potatoes on each of the four plates.
Sophia quickly brought it out to the table in the living room, and Alex put the fire out with the water that remained in the bucket.
"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 as a part of the distraction plan.
"Hm?"
As Katherine sat up in bed, she was a little surprised at how early they were up, as the sun had barely come out on the horizon.
"Mom! Happy birthday!" The two of them said excitedly at the same time as she slowly got up from the bed.
"Thank you. Did you two prepare something for me?" Katherine asked curiously, feeling something was off about their energy.
"Aww, Mom, how did you know we prepared breakfast?" Sophia asked in surprise.
"What are you guys talking about?"
Mary finally woke up from the noise, her face barely looking awake as she struggled to sit up in 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.
"Hey! Don't call me a dummy! Ouch!"
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. Every second was causing the food to get worse.
"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 grabbing her casual clothes from the closet, Alex's brain froze.
Something deep inside his mind was being awakened as his eyes were glued to her voluptuous chest and her thick thighs.
Her black bra and panties were hiding her most precious part from him, which was making his heart race faster and faster.
"Hm? Alex, are you okay?" Katherine curiously asked, noticing his eyes staring towards the mirror.
"I-I'm fine."
Alex quickly looked away to the side, feeling a little ashamed as he saw his mother as something else for a second.
Fortunately, Katherine didn't think much of it as they finally headed out to the living room with Mary fully dressed up.
"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?"
As Katherine took a bite of the food with the fork, her eyes widened. She couldn't believe how flavorful it was as she took another bite.
"When I brought the meat, the lady in the market gifted me a pack of pepper," Alex explained.
"I see... You know what, I should let you two cook more since you guys cook so well."
Alex initially wanted to reject Katherine's suggestion, but seeing all three of them happily eating the food, he agreed to it.
---
The morning and evening quickly went by as Katherine suddenly decided to start teaching all three of them how to read and write.
Mary struggled heavily as she looked bored by the minutes, but it was to be expected as she was only five years old.
To Katherine's surprise, however, Alex was learning even faster than his older sister despite Sophia having almost two years' head start.
Alex was even reading the books on her bookshelf alone rather than playing with Sophia and Mary in his free time.
Soon, Nighttime approached.
Katherine was sitting on the sofa, reading a book that she had forbidden Alex from reading despite his multiple requests.
Meanwhile, the three kids were playing with dolls, the only toys that no one in the village wanted to buy from 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, moving her doll next to Alex.
"No! I'm not being the maid again."
Seeing the two fighting over each other, Alex couldn't help but giggle at how childish the two of them were.
Still, he played along with them as there wasn't much entertainment at night. His eyes already felt strained from reading.
"Alex, which one are you picking?" Sophia demanded.
"Me! If you pick Sophia, I'm going to cry," Mary threatened, her face almost looking like she was actually on the verge of crying.
"Hmph! Don't threaten him like that. I'll cry, too!"
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 realized there was only one solution to escape the death trap.
"Mom is going to be my wife," Alex declared out loud.
"What!" Sophia asked in shock.
"That's not possible!" Mary instantly argued.
"Says who?"
Alex instantly bolted away, running over to Katherine's leg to avoid having them dogpiling on him for an answer.
"Okay, enough. None of us can be his wife. You two are his sisters... Ahem, it's time for you guys to sleep."
Katherine quickly took all three of their dolls, carrying them in her arms as the three of them followed her into their bedroom.
When she opened the toy box to put them away, she was a little stunned. It was a whole cake inside with her name written on it.
"Happy birthday, Mom!"
All three of them excitedly said out loud at the same time as they quickly carried the cake out of the toy box and onto the small table.
"You guys... I-I—"
Tears began to fall from Katherine's face, causing both Sophia and Mary to be confused. But Alex could tell it was a tear of joy.
"Mom... Did we do something wrong?" Sophia nervously asked.
"No, you guys are perfect. I'm just too happy seeing this cake. Thank you, guys."
As Katherine wiped the tears off her face, the two girls finally realized she was happy, not sad.
"Mom! 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 with a little flame.
"I wish—"
"Mom! If you say the wish, it's not going to come true!" Alex interrupted.
"Fine, fine, I'll make the wish 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 out 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 as he repeated his message.
"Okay, okay, geez..."
As the room fell into silence, Katherine just couldn't help but grab all three of them together for a group hug.
"You three are the best thing in my life! I love you all!"
"Love you too, Mom!
---
Ever since that birthday, Katherine 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, as they were forced to start reading more and more books in their 'free' time.
Of course, Alex was the only one who didn't really mind the change. He was more than happy to read a book rather than play with dolls.
It soon became apparent to Katherine that Alex was much different than the other two, as she was starting to run out of books for him to read.
At the same time, Katherine also finally took cooking dinner away from Alex after a week, as she began actually learning how to cook with real ingredients.
Although she was still confused about how Alex knew how to cook in the first place, the only excuse he gave was that he had watched the neighbor's cooking outside.
Soon, a familiar person came by to visit their home just as Mary celebrated her sixth birthday.