George's 26th birthday!

While George and Baldur were busy chatting, Albrecht motioned wearily towards Magee and said.

" Its his birthday today. Luckily, we found some canned goods, oil, flour and so much to mention. Huh! but where are we going to cook all of these?" Albrecht's distressing question.

"Albrecht, we found the house mentioned in Sr. Sibal's journal. Its up there, inside the serene granite mountain, though the house was almost complete with embellishments but it has no furnace and its a closed-type house. But I wonder it stored pot and pan. And Albrecht, you'll love the granite bowls and plates." She smiled whilst focusing the flashlight on her face.

" Mag, are you not kidding? How can this place have another house? You're not used to funny things so stop kidding at me, anyway, I'm serious, its George's birthday." He pulled back the sack on his back with a bounty of food.

" Haha! no, I'm serious. Come!" She pulled his hand and they both ran going up while George was worried to Magee's wound as they both followed with Baldur.

" Wow! amazing! Beautiful! I can't believe on what I see." Albrecht was in a flabbergast and touched all the granite smoothened surfaces he just have seen in his entire life.

" See, I wasn't kidding." She smiled.

" But its impossible that it has no furnace. The charcoal below is the proof. The furnace here might be a double purpose. Wait!" Albrecht touched all the walls near the kitchen and at last!

" Here! haha!" then he pushed the granite wall sideward and they both found a semi cave-like furnace with a stove.

" Wow! amazing!" Magee was stunned and right away told him to go back and pull a sack of charcoal. Then he quickly returned underneath. On his way he met George and Baldur carrying some sacks going up.

" Ow! why are you going back?" Baldur asked.

" I'll get a sack of charcoal."

" But we don't have any furnace nor stove in the house."

" We have just found one." Albrecht laughed.

" Really? well that's good news!" Then George immediately went up with Baldur.

When they were already upstairs George opened the granite door and Baldur smiled.

"This is great! what a work of art! so elegant and refined, wow! then Baldur hurriedly ran to pick a bottle of wine but George signaled him not to touch any from the bottles."

" Why?" Baldur asked.

" Magee doesn't like me to drink. I wasn't under parole. She told me I could drink only after the war." He whispered to him.

" What?" Baldur almost yelled with a gaping mouth.

" Haha! Yes. I mustn't be hard-headed, you know. Its a sporting chance rather than be kicked out pointlessly." He smiled.

" So this is abuse of power, brother." Baldur criticized.

But when George shared to him about Magee's sentiments during Guida and Edmund's wedding - Baldur only sighed.

" Huh! its reasonably sound and wise. Sometimes women are good thinkers when it comes to tobacco and liquor, haha. You know my wife, she's also doing this to me. Accordingly, she prevented people to see me sleeping anywhere, spit or vomit and turns me out like a dumb, though real men like us only expresses our manhood through drinking but we always drink too much, haha." Baldur laughed.

"That's why...hmm...Let's help Albrecht, he's almost at the door now." George said.

Albrecht carried two sacks of charcoal so George took the other one and forwarded it to the kitchen He found Magee's preparing on the table with pasta and some cream, sauce pouches and canned milk beside her.

"Whoah? What are these food for, wow! where have you two found all of these? you even have garlic, onions and tomato sauce in pouches. Pork, beef all's in can. Hmm...all the Presidents around the globe would summon you both from having all of these. It should be "a fair share for all of us," remember that tagline in world war II rationing. But speaking of the furnace, hah! I'm speechless. Commendable." He smiled.

" But I found a letter beside the stove. It made me smile but true." Magee extended the paper to George while Albrecht read it too.

" No cooking at daytime when in the absence of fogs to preserve the secrecy of our chimney pots covered with granite above. There's no restriction after the war. Time of cooking schedule must fall within 1700-1800 hrs down to 0600 hrs.

- Dads -

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" So we can't cook now. Its prohibited, huh. Mag, how is it? Albrecht looked at her.

" Its okay. Let's just prepare everything here and start it at 4 o'clock.

George moved closer to Magee and handed to her some biscuits and chocolates.

" Mag, eat these for breakfast and reserve some for lunch."

Magee smiled to George and received all that he has given.

"Where's for us George? where?" Albrecht stamped his feet on the floor and funnily doing tantrum.

Magee and George then laughed to Albrecht's expression then they all enjoyed a sack of biscuits that George gave them.

" Tonight, I'll gonna cook the best food for all of us. For now, let's just pick crunchy biscuits and sticky chocolates." Albrecht smiled.

" ...and hope we can taste a little wine too." Baldur suggested.

Magee was just silent.

"So, what made you two came up going to the cave. Did the traitors obviously reveal themselves these days?" George asked.

"Gador and Elias may have a grandeur plan. So its safe to hide Magee in this place. Baldur mumbled.

" We have to avoid their angst and have focus on the real enemies. The initial plan is to go south as gateway for the attack. But minutes before departure, I'll declare that we'll head west (former station two) with you as my team. Though, we will be heading to station one, towards east.

" Okay sure, that's a good point. That's good for ghosts who have ghost enemies, Albrecht laughed.

" Okay, let's all sleep and put our back to rest this noon time before me and Albrecht will go back to the cave." Baldur said while napping at the receiving area.

" I'd rather stay." Albrecht insisted.

" But we still have to continue checking the supplies below and bring some to the wooden house too." Baldur said

" It can wait. We'll do that tomorrow." Albrecht irrevocably stretched his feet while on the granite couch.

" Now I've finally heard the eldest brother who is finally talking firm." George smiled while sleeping on the floor.

" Ow! why you're there? Mag! Mag!"

" Yes." Magee replied while slicing some spices.

" George is sleeping on the floor! his lungs might be detonated by the cold floor, see that Baldur! Poor George!" Albrecht dramatically sounded.

" What do you think of his lungs, a grenade because it will detonate, haha! Okay George, just go to bed anyway I'm starting to prepare the spices now here in the kitchen."

Then there was silence.

Hours after, Magee awakened Albrecht. " Kuya, wake up! let's now start cooking." She whispered.

" Ah, okay. What time is it now?"

" Its 4:30 pm, the fogs now are beginning to infiltrate the grounds below and on mountain caps. Come on!" Magee pulled his hand.

Albrecht got a problem with a solo pan and pot so he just one by one boiled the pasta and mixed it with sauce directly on the granite bowl to have a bucatini-like recipe with butter - roasted tomato sauce and some desserts. Since they don't have eggs so Albrecht made some eggless pancakes.

After they have prepared the table. Magee took a bottle of wine from the rack and put it in the center. At eight in the evening, Albrecht led the thanksgiving prayer for George's 26th birthday and they sang a birthday song. George was indeed honored since his birthday was given such a cozy celebration despite the war.

No one from the men took a glass of wine so Magee served it to them on the three glasses she found at the bar counter.

"I'm very sorry for restricting you all to drink those liquors but here's a bottle for a taste and for my husband's birthday - a gin. I hope not everyone shall become drunk tonight, so for our safety.

"Thanks for this, Mag." George said.

While the men were casually drinking as they chitchat, Magee exited and went to the bar counter.

" Hmm...here's the lady's drink I guess." When she was about to get it, George called her.

"Mag! where are you?"

Magee turned her head towards the kitchen.

" For a while, I'll bring there the lady's drink." But she never knew that the bottle she had grabbed was the whiskey, instead of a lady's drink.

" There was never any glass, ah, I'll drink it through its bottle. Besides, I thirst, I forgot to drink water this afternoon. Anyway, George said that it won't even make my head dizzy. So here, with a glassless first time tasting." She smiled.

Glug! glug! glug! "The taste is terrible but I still thirst." Finally, she consumed half a bottle of whiskey. After seconds, she felt she's gone crossed eyed, her esophagus wants to throw, her ears were warming, nerves trembling and blood rising.

" George! George!" Then she fell on the floor leaving the bottle of whiskey at the counter.

He came after she called then shouted to Albrecht for another flashlight and checked the dilation of her eyes.

" Great heavens! Magee! its whiskey my sister, its whiskey!" Albrecht was laughing.

" I thought... its the lady's... drink. There's no ... glass and...." She'd collapsed.

George carried her on bed and fanned her using a square piece from the box of flour.

" Did she use the bottle in drinking the whiskey?" Baldur asked.

" Yes. Maybe because there were only three glasses so she had it like drinking some water, huh." George sighed and lighted a nightlong candle.

The brothers returned to the table and continued their chitchat.

"She's sweating too much. Her body reacted dramatically to the liquor. So he placed a small towel at the back of her neck. Subsequently, she moved a little then vomit and complained her wound hurts then back to being unconscious again.

George grabbed the medicine kit and checked her wound with a little problem on it.

" Oh, that's too much." Albrecht commented.

On his phenomenal 26th birthday, George mopped the vomit of her wife due to whiskey intoxication and nursing the infected swollen wound.