How Green Becomes Wood

"If you could handle dinner that would be great," Daizi sniffed, but then shook her head and moved her hair out of her face, "Wait, no, you have finals, you should focus on that. We can order something in."

Dark shut his eyes again, resting his head on the back of the couch, "It occurs to me that this is the most painful thing she has ever experienced. What other pains has she felt? Vaccinations? I do not know if birth hurts."

"It does."

"No, for the baby."
 
Xander and Alec glanced at each other, and Xander quickly moved the topic forward. "Right, well, we'll handle dinner. I'll see if there's something fast to put together, and if not, we'll order in." He beat a hasty retreat to the kitchen.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" Alec asked again. "For yourselves or Ivy."
 
"I'm okay," Daizi said, reaching out to Alec, "It's just hard to hear her cry like that. It's like my brain was scrambled, and it felt like there was nothing I could do. Dark says there's a little white spot in her mouth so we think her first little tooth is going to poke through today or tomorrow, and then she won't hurt so much."
 
Alec came to sit on the couch and hugged Daizi gently. "It's okay. Millions and millions of babies have to deal with this, and so do millions of mothers. I bet every single mother felt exactly the same way as you, but the good news is that the babies all made it out okay to have lovely white chompers! She'll be alright, and so will you. And in just a few days, you'll have constant backup!"
 
"Thank god for that," She sighed, resting her head against his.

"I think," Dark mused, "I must not have cried like that when I was a baby, because I think if I had, my parents..." He trailed off, not wanting Alec to hear the rest of that thought.
 
"I have a hard time imagining you crying like that, but I'm sure you did," Alec said, not following the rest of Dark's thought and more focused on Daizi. "Try not to worry. It'll get better."

Xander walked in. "Right. We have a few random leftovers - why do we never have leftovers in this house?"

"You eat too much or we take them as lunches for school," Alec pointed out, reaching up to lightly brush Daizi's hair the way she did to him.

"Oh. Right. Anyway, we have a few leftovers and some stuff to make an American-style dinner of nonsense, or we can order something in. Who wants what?"

"I wouldn't mind ordering in," Alec voted.
 
"Most people find it difficult to imagine I was ever a child." Dark said simply, stretching a bit too far for his rib to handle, but he tried to play it off.

"It is hard to have leftovers in a house with two teenage boys and a 6'8 and works out for two hours a day." Daizi said, squeezing Alec once and then sliding back up beside her husband, "I don't really care what we eat, honestly. I think I might take a shower and my own nap."

"You should," Dark said, running his hand through her hair, "You worked hard today."

"We battled today. Cooger told us to just rub whiskey on her gums."
 
"Sounds nasty, but if it works, loads of meds aren't any worse," Xander shrugged, turning away. "Come on, let's go pick out food."

Alec readily followed him into the kitchen to argue over which takeout to get. It took them a bit to decide, but they finally settled on pizza. It was easy to customize, and if they got enough, it kept well. Good for multiple leftovers!
 
When they went to figure out dinner, Daizi got up to shower and change. Since Ivy had fallen asleep, she was already feeling better, because she was able to think thoughts again, but it was a type of exhaustion she was unprepared for, even having experienced it when Ivy was new. But she thought that part was over, and she let her guard down. That was a joke, but it felt real.

By the time her shower was over, Ivy was awake, and Dark gave her a bit more pain medication, but thankfully although she was still unhappy, and her cheeks were all red, she wasn't screaming like she was for most of the day, instead she just absolutely demanded cuddles.
 
Alec didn't even ask for Ivy that evening, figuring that Dark and Daizi - especially Dark - would want to cuddle their sad, aching little infant. He wouldn't have minded holding her, not at all, but he wasn't going to ask. He knew it was hard enough for Dark to hand her over when she was feeling good. He knew Dark tried to hide it, but Alec could practically feel Dark's eyes on him everywhere he went with Ivy. It kind of put a damper on things, but he tried to ignore it. Dark was certainly entitled to those feelings all things considered. Right now, though? There was no way Alec was going to get between them.

Xander tried to stay out of the way and focus on homework. He still had some make-up work he had to get finished before the end of the school year, and it was a lot to try to concentrate on.
 
Dark didn't say much, he just sat on the couch holding his daughter who clung tightly to him, occasionally murmuring down at her rubbing her little cheek. The tylenol resolved her low fever, which helped a lot, and she just wanted her parents. When the pizza was delivered, though, Dark brought her up to the kitchen and presented her with a frozen washcloth to chew on, which she accepted willingly, and after some time spent with it in her mouth, she brightened up enough to babble a little.

"Are you telling your brothers about the day you've had?" Daizi asked soflty, kissing the top of Ivy's head, "It was really hard, wasn't it baby girl?"
 
"It sounds like she had quite the day," Alec said, taking it seriously. "Poor little thing. Oh! Popsicle! Can she have some kind of popsicle to eat and chew on? Then she'll get flavor as well as soothing cool."
 
"I... don't know, actually," Daizi said, after thinking about it for a moment, "I don't think we have any, but even if we did, she's not supposed to have sugar yet. I suppose we can make some for her. But I don't know, she hasn't tried any solids yet."

Dark thought about this issue for a few moments, "We could freeze your breast milk, I would think."
 
Xander felt a little lurch in his stomach at the suggestion but fought valiantly to keep it from showing. This was more important than his own squeamishness.

"That's a good idea," Alec agreed. "I think she might like it, too. Hopefully." He nibbled on his pizza happily. He'd made a suggestion that could maybe, possibly work!
 
Dark took out his phone to look up the logistics of that and made a face, "These search results are horrible. But it is recommended."

"What does it say?"

He glanced at Xander, "I will tell you later. But I hate it. I am going to ask Cooger if he can pick up baby popsicle molds so it's something she's able to hold for herself."

Daizi agreed it was a good idea and then said, "I hope your days were better than ours."
 
"No drama to speak of. Just lots of tests and fretting," Alec sighed, not wanting to think of school. "One poor girl broke down crying due to her test anxiety, and one of the jocks looked like he wanted to do the same, but, you know, reputation."

Xander groaned. "My brain just wants to go blank by the second one. I'm not sure if it'd make any difference if I just guessed. I'm not. Usually. But it feels like it."
 
Daizi sighed, "I don't miss those days. High school finals were rough, but at least you both are only finishing up Sophomore year. It's the standardized tests that are really crushing. Personally, I still have stress dreams about defending my PhD dissertation. I carried it around with me everywhere I went for months. At least once you're finished, you're finished, right? Dark has to rush to grade everything."
 
"Good point," Alec sighed. "Teaching is a noble profession, but it's not one I want to pursue. Ever. Too much stress! I don't think I even want to go to college. At least, not right away. I need a break from school stress. I'll try to get a job and volunteer or something to gain life experience, instead."

"Life experience is worth way more than what's on paper, anyway," Xander said.

"Tell that to a mathematician in a million different fields," Alec shot back.
 
"College isn't for everyone and it isn't the end-all of intelligence, but it is not invaluable either," Daizi told mostly Xander, "I think people make the mistake of believing the point of college is to train you for your career, but it's not vocational school. College is about learning and becoming more aware. I don't regret it at all."

While they chatted, Dark's expression slowly changed. His eyes didn't quite 'glaze over' but, like when he put the groceries away the day before mother's day, they dimmed, and he felt distant, despite sitting right there, and still seeming like he was probably following the conversation.
 
"Isn't your career kind of dependent upon your college knowledge?' Alec asked uncertainly. "I mean yours in specific, not the generic you. I figure a lot of people like, um, maybe plumbers or other tradesmen don't need it? I kind of want to go, but I haven't decided for sure yet. Probably not since Xander's not going."

"Oh, come on. You can go to a local college, and we'll still be together," Xander assured him.
 
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