CHAPTER 26
As soon as Mary heard Derek fussing from the bedroom, she rushed in to him. “Mornin’ babe,” she whispered as she walked into the room. “How ya doin’ this mornin’?” Derek was not yet the talker, but his face said that he was comfortable with Mary.
“Meme,” Derek responded, as he attempted to climb from his bed. “Meme!” He had grown accustomed to seeing her when he woke up.
Once Mary was finished cleaning and dressing Derek, she walked him to the kitchen for breakfast. She was glad he was old enough to eat the same foods that everyone else ate. It made her life a little easier, for sure. After making his plate, she sat him in the makeshift baby’s chair that Fred built and she sat near him, watching him eat with his fingers. His appetite was always hefty after a good night’s sleep, and this morning was no different. Even so, Mary was always pleased to see the children eat well.
Later that afternoon as the sun moved to the other side of the house, Mary took Derek out in the back yard for play, just as she did every day. She always took a chair in which to relax while Derek romped throughout the wide-open yard. Sometimes she removed the sun-dried clothes from the clothesline while watching Derek from the corner of her eye; then she’d fold them while sitting on the porch. At other times she sat and picked turnip greens or shelled black-eyed peas from the porch, which always captured Derek’s two-year-old curiosity.
An old wooden fence surrounded the entire back yard; Fred erected it soon after moving into the house many years prior. For sure, the fence had weathered many a storm over the years. However, it still did what Fred intended it to do when he first put it up, which was to keep the children safe while allowing them to play freely. He told Gert on many occasions that, with the fence, there was no need for her to sit and watch the children every second.
Still, Gert never left the back yard whenever the children were outside, and neither did Mary.
Still, Mary knew from the very first day that she couldn’t sit out on that porch all day, even if Derek wanted her to, because there was always work to do. For example, everyday at noontime, she always prepared a hearty lunch for Derek as well as for herself. Once the food was prepared, they sat on the back porch and ate while she talked. Derek ate and made up his own rendition of words in response to her conversation. For sure, they had their own way of socializing with each other.
After lunch, Mary always took Derek back inside while she cleaned the kitchen. Then as soon as she was done, Derek would pull on her dress to go back outside. And as soon as Mary changed his diaper, off they’d go back outside for the afternoon. But before Mary realized it, it was time to go inside again.
“Come on, babe, time fo’ Meme ta make supper,” she said that first afternoon in her new home, realizing two hours had passed. Mary always started supper before the children arrived home from school. She liked having the kitchen to herself when she cooked. But the children always came home while supper was still cooking.
“Them child’n be here soon, an’ yo daddy too,” Mary said as she walked toward Derek, knowing he would put up a fuss. He never wanted to go back inside once he was outside. And whenever she did take him in, she always had to give him something to eat to calm him down. She figured it was worth it if it meant he would not bother her while she cooked.