How Green Becomes Wood

Daizi never missed a chance to talk about her research, and having been asked, she became fully alive, talking about it with full excitement. She did her best, as she always did, to keep it to the level of someone not as steeped in the information as she was... But failed, at times, but that only gave her a chance to break down her work more.

As conversations always do, eventually it shifted from her research into broader topics, and soon enough she was chatting as if Henry was not on the board and could seriously throw off her life, if he got it in his mind to.

"Thank you, Henry," she said genially, "it was lovely talking with you, too. I'm sure we will, but it may be awhile, unless I'm forgetting some major event within the next three months, and I'm sure I'll fall off all the invitation lists until I'm back in the office." She laughed brightly, "but for now, I hope you enjoy meeting with folk far more interesting than myself."
 
Henry chuckled and shook her hand. "Between you and me," he said, keeping his voice low, "I was delighted to see you primarily because you are the most interesting conversationalist in this room." He winked, forgetting she couldn't see the habitual motion, and said in a more normal tone, "I don't think you are forgetting anything, so I hope you can take what time you have left and enjoy it to the fullest! My congratulations, and I hope the best for you both. Well, all five of you, I suppose." He chuckled and offered his arm to his wife.

"Lovely to see you, ta-ta, now!" Millie said as they sailed away.

Sally kept her smile but sad to Daizi, "I think I would rather go to a thrift store and let your son Alec pick out my clothes than go shopping with that dear, sweet, clueless woman. You, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying yourself."
 
"I'll try to take that as a personal compliment and not use it as part of the war of attrition between the social sciences and STEM," Daizi replied, too appreciative of his compliment to do anything but joke, "and, thank you. We have been waiting a long time. And I'm sure you will, if you read the newsletter they put out, get to see her. They love sharing the Museum Babies in it," which is exactly why she herself rarely read the things.

After they walked away, she said, "I've met Millie a few times, and I think she always wishes she were somewhere else. But I'm sure they balance each other out nicely. I was enjoying myself, though, I always like getting to talk about my research."
 
Sally chuckled. "Me, on the other hand, I love my work, but I am also very happy to leave it at work when I am finished for the day." She glanced around. "Well, I think that is everyone, so if you are ready, we can start slowly making our way toward the exit. Unless you would like any more deserts? Or the food? Or to speak with anyone?"
 
"To be fair, considering much of my work currently is on gender, I think I probably encounter much more out in the world relating to it than you do," she laughed, "so it's probably harder for me to just set it aside for the time being, right?"

Daizi stretched, thinking about the possibilities, and then finally shook her head, "I'm alright if we start heading home. I did promise to be home by 9:30... Although I'm not sure what time it is now. But, as much as I'd love to eat a bit more," she dropped her voice, "I've been having pretty bad heartburn recently, because of, you know," back in her normal tone, "so I think it's for the best if I stick to what I've already had. And to be honest... I've already forgotten the names of almost every person I've met tonight."
 
Sally chuckled and stood, offering Daizi her arm. "It is currently eight on the dot, so you have a bit of time before you must be home or risk turning into a pumpkin. As for names... to be honest, I studied a list so I could remember them. Otherwise, I'd have forgotten, too."

They made their way out without incident and waited for the valet to bring the car around. The valet helped Daizi into the car, and Sally drove them away from the event center. Sally put on some quiet music and took a moment to relax and decompress a little.

"That was not nearly as torturous as I feared it might be," she admitted after a while.
 
"If I turned into a pumpkin, Dark would have some words for you, and I'm told he can be rather frightening when he chooses to be." She laughed, walking out with Sally. In the car, she buckled and then stretched out her legs, releaved to no longer have to worry about seeming ladylike or professional, she was more than able to sit in whatever comfortable way she chose.

Resting her head against the window, Daizi took a few deep breaths to the quiet music, enjoying the peace of the car just like Sally was. After her friend spoke, she turned to her and said, "I had fun. I knew it was going to be nice spending time with you, but some of your coworkers and donors are very interesting, I understand why most of your friends were already in attendance."
 
"I am very glad it was not too torturous for you," Sally sighed. "I worried it would be too much, but I didn't know who else to ask. Still, I owe you a favor. Whatever you want, whenever you want, just name it. And the best part is," she flashed a smile at Daizi, "this offer does not expire." She glanced off to the side as they drove. "Oh, there's a Dairy Queen! Daizi, darling, how do you feel about a nightcap of icecream?"
 
Daizi turned towards Sally and for a few moments said nothing, but then, extremely earnestly, told her, "Sally, it's not too much. It's just a party. You weren't asking for my kidney. As far as favors go, this is hardly the worst thing I've been asked."

Then she sat back and grinned at this new offer, "I would love to get some icecream with you."
 
Sally laughed so hard her shoulder shook and she clung to the steering wheel. It took her a moment to settle down into giggles. "I don't know, darling, I would say a fair few people I have asked to go with me have acted like I did ask them for a kidney," she giggled heartily. She wiped her eyes and turned into the Arctic Circle.

She pulled into the short line and frowned. "I really want a cone, but that's not a good idea for driving. Oh! I'll ask for them to stick it in a cup with the cone. I think I'll get a chocolate and vanilla twist with the waffle cone. What would you like?"
 
Daizi laughed right along with Sally, "Then, frankly, they're just being dramatic!" After settling down, she said, "I think I'll have the ultimate chocolate brownie blizzard. I normally don't get anything so... intense, but I think it's warranted. After all, according to your friends, we survived something worse than losing an organ."

While they spoke, she pulled up her purse and fished around for her wallet, fully intending to pay for the two of them, "I hope I don't make a mess of your car. It'd be dreadful if you kept is nice for twenty years and I just manage to destroy it with ice cream... Although, you're a mother, so if you managed to keep it safe from when Peter was young, it's unlikely I can do something dreadful."
 
Sally instantly waved Daizi's purse away. "Nevermind paying for yourself. My idea, my treat. You can get the next impulse treat," she teased. "And don't worry about the car. Ice cream wipes clean! And after I caught Peter coloring on my seats with a marker, he wasn't allowed in this car until he was ten," she said dryly. "Oh, our turn to order. I do despise these crackling monitors. One can never hear properly out of them." She leaned out the window and managed to tell the crackling speaker what she and Daizi wanted before pulling forward to wait for the car in front of them.
 
"Sure, but you took me out, so I think it's only fair I pay," Daizi argued, and planned to continue to do so, but also said, "That's one benefit you and Jack have over Dark and I: we only have the one car, so we can't have a mess car and a nice one. All five of us are going to be crammed into Dark's--and you know how he is about mess--and it means I'm going to be crammed into the back seat, because obviously the car seat will go behind the passenger seat, since sometimes Dark will be driving her somewhere without me, but when I'm there too, I need to sit by her, since I can't just check on her at a glance. It's not worth getting a whole new car for, but..." She laughed, "Probably the least of our worries, though. But Dark will cry when those seats are dirtied."

She hesitated then, as Sally ordered, and turned to her as soon as it was over, "I'm sorry. I know I linger on... well, this," she gestured, "too much. It's just really hard not to, after so many years of being told it's impossible."
 
Last edited:
"I insist! Besides, I'm right here by the window, so I have the upper hand," Sally said cheerfully, still refusing Daizi's money.

She listened patiently to Daizi's talk about the baby, smiling to herself. "You will have your boys to help," she said calmly. "And soon, they will be driving, too, unless you already have them enrolled? I know some places start younger than others. Anyway, while there are some things they've said they won't do, they might change their minds, and even if they don't, they will still be helpful in other ways. If you let them. Don't forget to actively ask them for help so they know what you need them to do, and so that you don't get caught up in thinking you need to be super-mom. Dark will have a period of adjustment, but so will you all. It gets... well, some things get easier. In truth, the challenges mostly just change, but it will get easier in that you will be able to learn how to deal with brand-new challenges. Mostly... don't worry about getting it 'right.' Just enjoy your miracle. I don't mind listening at all!"
 
"Yes, but I still owe you from the time you came to my house after we met that man for the first time," Daizi replied, calmly continuing to argue why she should be the one to pay.

Then she smiled a bit more and said, "I know that they'd help on the car rides if we asked them to... But I do need to sit back by her. Could you imagine driving somewhere with your baby in the backseat and not being able to look back and see them? Her car seat will be right behind mine, I won't be able to reach out and touch her, and there aren't enough mirrors in the world to let me see her reflection. So the boys can help out in other ways, I just don't know what they are yet. They've already offered to take over pet care, and I'm sure Alec at least will be willing to rock her if Dark and I both need a break," She began to laugh through her next sentence, "I'm not convinced Xander won't be creeped out by her, I think it's going to go from there's a baby inside of you with me, to you used to be inside of Daizi with her. Maybe by the time she's five he'll have adjusted..." She sat up straighter, then exhaled as she changed positions as best she could in the car, "She is a miracle. The twins really like calling her a rainbow baby, and Dark and I like it too, but we're very careful about not leaning into it too much. She's our hummingbird before she's anything else... Her entire identity shouldn't be defined by all of the pain that predates her, I think. And Dark agrees. But, you know, that day I told him I was pregnant--it wasn't fun, I'm so jealous of women who get to make fun announcements, mine always have to be really solemn, and this one especially, because we knew probabilistically how it would end... But even then I felt her just burning inside of me. She's always been adamant to live, it just felt different from the beginning, and I don't think it's all in my head, because I've been pregnant a lot of times."
 
"That is hardly something I would hold as a debt to be paid. Unlike asking a pregnant woman to stay out late and talk to people instead of putting her feet up. Oh look, here we are at the window, and I have the money in my hand," Sally said brightly. She leaned out and paid before moving on to the next window to pay.

"I think it is a wise thing to not want her to be defined like that, and much healthier for you both," Sally told Daizi. "I understand - well, as well as one can understand without actually going through such an ordeal - how it would be... painful. More painful than anything I have likely ever lived through. But this time is different. This time is its own."
 
Daizi huffed indignantly when Sally paid, "I'm not going to forget that, you know. Next time we are somewhere, I'm going to go there in advance to leave my money there. You will not pay for me again."

But then she couldn't help but break into a grin, "It is different. She's different, I don't know, she's just... Aligned. And," she shifted again, "she kicks so hard." Daizi chuckled, and then asked, as the ice cream was passed to her, "But, tell me... Is it hard to have Jack so far away? Or are you a bit glad for the extra space?"
 
Sally took a few unladylike licks from the ice cream in her bowl before tucking the papery dish into the cup holder. "Hmm, I suppose it's different each time," she admitted, pulling out of the drive-thru and aiming toward Daizi's home. "Usually, I am happy for the first day or two, especially if Peter is in school or at camp or something, because then I can do things like walk around our apartment naked if I want to, and it is such a freeing, lovely sensation, or I can watch things they don't like, listen to music without bothering them, things like that. But then, after a while, even if Peter is home, it does get lonely, and I look forward to having him home. It does not suit everyone, but I think these breaks are good for us. We work in the same field, usually have smaller apartments, and we don't have a lot of time for separate hobbies even when we do try. For two strong-willed people like us, it is good to get away for a little while. It helps us remember that we do love each other and cannot wait to see one another again!"

She smiled and admitted, "This particular time, I was too busy being annoyed at the timing of this departure to enjoy my time alone. I'll have to start this evening by taking a ridiculously long bubble bath while listening to opera. Peter hates opera. In that regard, I have failed him as a parent." She laughed as she said it, making it clear it was a joke.
 
Daizi nodded while Sally spoke, chuckling or sighing occasionally at the talk of freedom and what can be done without anyone around, "I always wonder what it's like on the other side... Because, you know, I've had to travel for my work, once I was away for months, and it's often Dark can't come with me. I know it's not the same for him, since the two of you are such different people, but I wonder... I miss him terribly when I'm away, but I'm kept so busy. Of course we ask each other how we're coping, but Dark's so supportive I'm never quite sure if he's honest, because we both know if he said he was finding it incredibly difficult I'd fly home that day, which he wouldn't want me to do..." She trailed off, thinking about something for a moment while she ate, and then focused back in, "I bet those first few days are wonderful, though. On the rare occasion Dark is roped into one of those overnight field trips I've gotten to be home alone, but for the most part?"

Then she laughed along with Sally and said, "A bubble bath and opera music sounds wonderful, I envy you. I love baths, but they're so disappointing when you can't have the water nice and hot. It is absolutely tragic Peter hates it though, I suppose you'll have to borrow Alec if you ever want to go to a performance. He loves all music, he'd be absolutely thrilled to go to the Opera I'm sure."
 
"Perhaps after the little butterfly has come and you've settled down into a nice routine, you can come over to my place when I'm alone, and we can have a girl's night together," Sally told her. "It could be a lot of fun! And I haven't had a sleepover in years. I will certainly have to keep Alec in mind should the opportunity arise for me to go to a performance! And I imagine Xander would be as against the idea as Peter. Those two boys are so different! It is hard to imagine they are twins until they are standing next to each other, and then you can see it."
 
Back
Top