The cathedral was peaceful, silent except for his calm breaths and the steady drip-drip-drip of liquid into the cauldron as he refilled the holy water on each side of the statue and memorial of his Santa Pearla.

Hearing a distance shout that steadily got closer as its volume and intensity increased, Sausage smiled to himself, turning to face the doors and head towards them as his beautiful baby boy, Hermes, blasted in, full of energy and glee and childish joy with a comically large sunflower clutched in his cute chubby fists.

"PAPI!" Hermes shrieked, running towards him and promptly burst into giggles as Sausage picked him up and swooped him around in the air, setting him back down after another spin with a chuckle as his son wobbled, dizzy.

"Hey there mi amor, what do you have there?" Sausage asked Hermes, gently running a finger along one of the bright yellow petals of the sunflower. Hermes perked up, eyes brightening.

"SO SO SO- I was with Daddy, and he was bringing me home here, and we were FLYING, and then I saw the flowers, and I know you like these so I told Daddy to get me one, and now I have a flower for you! And Daddy said he sends his love and also that he needs more big, hard wood to go inside his project!"

Sausage choked with laughter at the last sentence, already formulating an even dirtier reply to Joel's innuendo. "That's lovely, mijo! Here, come with me so I can tell you a story."

"STORY!" Hermes yelled excitedly, following Sausage as he led his son to the front of the cathedral, guiding him to place the sunflower down in the small round disk on the ground, hollowed in to act as a place for worshipers to place their offerings to the Madre de Girasoles.

"Once, a long time ago, there was a queen. Her people knew her as the Farmer Queen, for she would farm alongside her people and rule them as an equal, fair and just to all."

Hermes watched him with bright eyes, absorbing every word of the story. Sausage chuckled. "You look just like your daddy, you know? So curious about everything." Hermes grinned, and Sausage continued the story.

"The Farmer Queen had many allies, the King of Mythland prime amongst them. But he fell to a great darkness, and the Farmer Queen took it on alone, defeating it soundly and freeing her friend, earning herself the legend of being the greatest fighter in the world!

"But she couldn't fight everything, and soon another evil struck, this one consuming the very land in flame and ash."

Hermes gasped, dismay coloring his tone as he asked, "But she was okay, right Papa?"

Sausage sighed. "No, she wasn't. The evil burned her land, and the Farmer Queen was one with her land, and with it, she burned too."

Sausage pulled his son into a hug, comforting him as he continued.

"Her best friend, the King of Mythland, spent many years trying to find a way to save her, to bring her back. But, unknown to him, she was perfectly okay all along."

Hermes looked up at his father, hope shining in his soft smile. Sausage couldn't help smiling back at his sweet son, so perfect in every way.

"She was such a great person in her life that after she died, she became a goddess! And after the King of Mythland died too, she made him her angel, forever together in the heavens."

Hermes clapped, bouncing happily. Sausage patted his head gently. "Good story, mi niño?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "The Farmer Queen is Santa Pearla, si?"

Sausage beamed at him. "Very good, Hermes! That's right, after the Farmer Queen died, she was reincarnated as our own Saint Pearl!"

Hermes gazed at the sunflower that lay in the offerings dish, the petals glowing faintly in the early morning sun slanting in through the many windows. "She liked sunflowers, right? She liked them a lot, and that's why you love them too?"

Sausage nodded absently. "It's said that the Farmer Queen's empire was full of the flowers, and so when she became Santa Pearla, she asked for the title of Madre de Girasoles, to forever be tied to her home and its memory."

Hermes twisted around to hug Sausage, burying his tiny head in Sausage's chest.

"I love you, Papi."

"I love you too, Hermes."