Sitting on the sofa, the warm blanket covering all three of them eventually made Sophia and Alex peacefully fall asleep on the bed.
By the time Alex woke up, he was already on a soft bed, with someone next to the bedside shaking his shoulder.
"Wakey wakey, mom's back home."
Hearing Mary's voice, Alex finally opened his eyes as he sat back up from the bed, wiping his eyes to have a better look.
"Sophia, wake up. Mommy is back," Mary whispered as she shook her shoulder next.
"Hm?"
As Sophia got up from the bed next, Alex was already out of the bed, trying to find his shoe.
"When did we sleep on the bed? Weren't we sleeping on the sofa?" Sophia murmured as she shook her hair a little to fix it.
"Mary, when did mom come back?" Alex curiously asked as he finally found his shoe.
"Um, I think it was during the morning..."
"You're up that early?" Sophia asked with doubt in her voice as she found her shoe on the side.
"I-I was the only one awake when mom moved us to bed!"
Mary crossed her arms in anger, causing Sophia to bend down to pat her head gently.
"My bad, you did a good job, Mary——"
"Ahem, let's go check on Mom." Alex interrupted the two's moment, not wanting to waste any more time.
"Okay!"
---
When the three left their bedroom and arrived in the living room, both Katherine and Miss Amelia were sitting on the sofa.
Katherine was wearing a black robe that none of them had ever seen, with a pointy hat similar to Miss Amelia's.
Her face had lines of tear marks that were still visible, indicating she had cried recently.
"Mom, are you okay?" Sophia nervously asked as the three walked up to the two people sitting on the sofa.
"Hey Sophia, you guys hungry?" Katherine asked as she leaned down to hug all three of them at once.
The sadness on Katherine's face disappeared within seconds as she smiled back at the three.
"Mom, is Dad not here with us anymore?" Alex straightforwardly asked, wanting an answer to all the things that had happened.
Katherine hesitated for a second, then looked over to Amelia's face, who gave her a look and a nod.
"Yes... Your father is not going to be with us anymore."
Mary looked a little confused, but Sophia suddenly burst into tears as Katherine gently patted her on the back.
"It's okay, Sophia. Just let it all out."
As Sophia continued to cry on her mom's shoulder, Mary still couldn't understand what was happening. But no one had the time to explain it to her.
---
The next day...
Everyone in town was in the house's backyard, standing in silence as a tombstone was erected in its middle.
The tombstone had the name 'Paul' right at the top, with no family name written anywhere near it.
After a short funeral speech by the town's chief, the wooden casket was lowered into the freshly dug hole.
As two knights started filling the hole back up with dirt, tears began falling from the villager's face. Even Mary started tearing up as she finally realized what was happening after Alex explained it to her.
"You don't have to hold it in," a female voice traveled into Alex's ear.
Turning around, he couldn't see anyone talking to him, as everyone around him was still crying in their sorrow.
"I have to be the man... I have to tough it out." Alex thought to himself as he held in the urge to cry.
Deep inside, he had viewed Paul as his father, even though he was usually never home.
Seeing someone so close suddenly die was the first time he had experienced losing a loved one.
---
After who knows how long, the funeral ended.
Everyone began leaving their house and went back to their lives. Life moved on as if nothing had happened.
Despite Katherine's attempt to appear as if she had moved past it, Alex could tell something was always on her mind. But there was nothing he could do.
He had never even had a relationship, let alone comfort someone who had lost their loved one.
After staying for a few days to ensure Katherine wouldn't try something stupid, Miss Amelia had also left the house.
The house was back to the four of them living together, but without a longtime guest who appeared at least once a week.
---
In the bedroom, since Mary was now too big for the crib, the three of them were now all sleeping on the same bed.
"Hey Alex, have you noticed Mom feeling a little different the past few weeks?" Sophia quietly asked.
"Past few weeks? She's been different ever since Dad was gone." Alex replied as he closed his eyes.
"There must be something we can do to help her. Come on, you're the genius in the household."
Sophia suddenly grabbed Alex's arm, shaking it as if it were some sort of genie lamp.
"There's nothing we can do to heal someone who lost their loved one. Only time can heal those traumas."
As Alex turned to the other side of the bed, Mary was now in front of him, sleeping peacefully.
"But Mom looks so alone every day, even when she's with us," Sophia murmured as she closed her eyes.
Alex didn't respond to Sophia's question, but he couldn't fall asleep. He wanted to do something about it.
He really wants to see Katherine to be happy as well. But nothing in his past knowledge could fix this issue for the past few days.
"Mom's birthday is coming up too... I was thinking of——"
Before Sophia finished talking, Alex immediately turned back around to face her directly in the dark.
"When is it Mom's birthday?" Alex urgently asked as he held onto her shoulder.
"Next week... Ouch, let go of my shoulder. It hurts." Sophia complained as she tried to push his hand away.
"You're a genius, Sophia! I think I have an idea now." Alex murmured as he leaned forward to hug Sophia.
"Okay..."
---
Days quickly went by as Alex and Sophia began preparing for their mom's birthday.
Mary eventually caught on to what the two were doing and joined in, serving as the distraction role to get Mom away from the house.
As the day finally arrived, Sophia and Alex both sneaked out of the house to the town's bakery early in the morning.
After paying for the cake they had ordered in advance with the money they had earned from selling their toys, the two quickly ran back home.
Slowly, the two put the cake into their now-emptied toy box, running back out to the kitchen as they get ready to prepare for breakfast.
"H-How do I cook?" Sophia nervously asked, looking a little lost holding the kitchen equipment.
"Move aside. I can do this. Just cut the ingredients... Don't cut your hand."
As Alex lifted the pot with both hands, he quickly moved it to the firepit before dropping it onto the rack.
"Shit, I can't start a fire," Alex murmured, realizing Katherine had always started fire from her fingertip.
"Wait, I can do it."
Sophia pushed Alex back as she put her finger onto the wood, murmuring something as if she was casting a spell.
After a while, a small little spark appeared before disappearing. But it was enough for one of the sticks to catch on fire.
"You know how to use magic?" Alex asked with a hint of jealousy, looking at her in disbelief.
"A little bit... Just a little... Ahem, the fire started."
Alex quickly snapped back to the moment as he positioned the pot right above the fire, letting it heat first.
He instinctively reached over for butter, but he stopped at the last second after realizing he wasn't on Earth anymore.
"Right... There's not even butter or cooking oil in this house." Alex murmured as he ran back outside to grab a bucket of water.
After returning with the water, he poured it straight into the pot, waiting for it to heat up a bit.
"What do we do now?"
Sophia asked curiously as she handed him the chopped meat in small square chunks and vegetables that resembled potatoes.
"Just wait. We'll add the meat after the water isn't freezing, and then we'll take it back out to season after it boils."
"Season? What's that? Is that something that we can eat?"
"It's adding different flavor to the meat. It's what makes boiled meat taste good since we don't have cooking oil or butter to fry it."
Alex patiently explained to Sophia. His face didn't look annoyed by the question in the slightest.
"What's butter and oil?"
"It's something that makes a sizzling sound when you cook meat with it... I'm sure you'll see it in the future."