Joseph continued doing his zigzag walk until he entered the house to wash his hands. Faith followed him to wash her hands as well.
Faith is the daughter of Shane and Felecia from the first branch. She is the only female child in the whole family since old aunt Mrs Hopeson and her husband's generation.
The whole family adores her, but not to the point of spoiling her. She likes to follow Joseph around. She is seven years old.
After washing their hands, they went to play together with baby Asher. They played until they were beyond recognition.
...
On this side, after Mrs Willis finished the laundry, she went to change her clothes. She then went for Baby Asher.
When she reached old Mrs Hopeson's home, she saw the trio: Joseph, Faith, and Asher—coming back from "work" in descending order. Baby Asher was crawling at the back slowly.
When baby Asher saw his mommy, he crawled happily to her— while making bubbly sounds.
"Aww, my baby is a big boy now. Did you enjoy yourself playing today?" Mrs Willis asked teasingly, bending down to pick him up.
After she lifted him, she placed him on the left side of her waist, securing him with her left hand to hold him in place.
As if he could understand his mother's words, baby Asher started making happy bubbly sounds.
"Let's go home to eat now, Bubbly mouth." Mrs Willis said. Pinching his little mouth with a gentle smile in her eyes."
Mrs Willis then said to Old Mrs Hopeson,
"Auntie, we will be going home now. I left my food on steam and I also need to feed him."
Author notes: Here in Liberia," I left my food on the steam" means the food is on low heat.
"Hmm, okay. Joseph and Faith will follow you to bring Asher back so they all can eat together." Old Aunt Hopeson replied.
Mrs Willis nodded. Then, with baby Asher in her arms, she went home, along with Joseph and Faith following her.
After she arrived home, Mrs Willis first checked the food she had left on the stove. Then she wiped her son's face, hands and feet with a wet towel. Afterwards, she sat down to breastfeed him.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp-ah." Baby Asher suckles, making powerful gulping sounds.
After sometimes, he was full. Now full and satisfied, he begins playing with his mommy's breast. In the process, he mistakenly bit her.
Gasp! Mrs Willis gasped sharply through her nose from the pain. The pain was so sharp and intense that her toes curled in an attempt to withstand it. Carefully, trying not to startle her son, she sat him on the floor.
"Okay, you're full now." She said. Promptly, she called Joseph and Faith, who were playing in the front yard, to carry baby Asher back.
After the trio went back to Old Mrs Hopeson's house, Mrs Willis then checked her bre*st for any cuts. There was a little cut on the upper layer of her nipple, with a little blood. She cleaned the blood and left her chest open for some time, for the air to heal it.
"This kind of pain is really hard to get used to." She whispered.
Then she went into the kitchen to portion the food: One portion for her and her husband, and the other for her cousins-in-law on the farm.
.....
While Mrs Willis was delivering lunch to the farm,
The trio: Joseph, Faith, and baby Asher. Were battling a big bowl of rice filled almost to the brim. They surrounded it from all sides. Battling vigorously over who will touch the bottom of the bowl first.
Baby Asher took the challenge seriously. With the red oil and rice grains having party around his mouth, not forgetting to extend the celebration to the front of his clothes and under his little bum.
After Baby Asher's little hand entered the bowl, he started battling the rice in the bowl, and then finally he won with five to six "war prisoners" in his hand, with three or four joining the party on both his tummy and around his mouth, and the rest finally, finally, entering his mouth. Hurray!
After the battle.
The results were.... Joseph and Faith tied, and baby Asher is...
Ahhhhhh, I can't decide.
Author notes: I can use my Liberian English if you want me to. ❤️💙💜