How Green Becomes Wood

"Oh sure sure, only the pizza guy." She smiled coyly, knowing he was lying, and guessing he knew that she knew. But she wasn't going to call him out on it, "We did relax. We actually did. You two didn't actually worry us as much as you might've, you survived relatively well out on the streets in winter, we figured you wouldn't meet your demise in a fully-stocked house in summer. We were more worried about the dog. But mostly..." She hesitated and then smirked, leaning closer to Xander, and in an overly-sweet voice, she very intentionally said, "Oh! But it was just so romantic! We got to sit out under the stars with nobody to disturb us and tell each other all the reasons why we love each other! It was like nobody else existed in all the world!"

Dark pulled away after only a few moments and then fixed his clothes, even though they weren't wrinkled in the first place, "It is good to be back," he said, with detectable warmth in his voice, but then he followed it up with, perfectly in tune with his wife, "Truly, the greatest blessing of the evening was knowing our two boys worked so hard to make sure we could have a special couples' weekend, because they truly value our love!"

Daizi laughed: their relationships hadn't been hurting, but their weekend away did certainly help them to fall back in sync, which was great for them, probably less so for the boys. Although, she did add, "Oh, we brought you back something though!"
 
Xander let out an exaggerated groan. "Oh, will the sap never end? I thought for sure you'd get it out of your systems, and we'd never, ever have to hear about it again. That was the only reason we ever did such a thing. Honest." He couldn't help the faintest of smirks even as he said the words. He was actually really glad they'd so obviously enjoyed themselves, not that he'd ever say it.

Alec, on the other hand, grinned. "Excellent!" he chirped. "That was the whole point. To let you go express yourselves as much as you wanted without any filters. I'm so glad you did exactly that!"

Xander straightened at Daizi's final words. "You brought us something? Like what? Really cool pinecones?"

"Shiny stones?" Alec suggested.
 
"Sap is a renewable resource," Daizi said brightly, and would have kissed the top of his head were it Alec who made the comment and not Xander, "but we did actually find nice stones. Babe, they're in my purse, right?" She asked, turning back towards Dark, and when he agreed they were, she asked him to get them for her, since she didn't feel like getting back up, "Well only one is a stone."

Dark dug around in Daizi's purse until he pulled out what looked like wood, but with strange colours, and and a small quartz stone weathered until it shone by water. He handed the wood to Xander and the stone to Alec, "This is petrified wood," he explained, "not just regular wood."

"The quartz we found, in the little stream by the cabin we were staying at. I really wanted to stand in it, but Dark was convinced I was going to slip and fall and die, but eventually he agreed to wade out first--it was so shallow, the water did not even reach my calves--and then he helped me into it, and we found the little stone. Then I made Dark search for another one, but we couldn't find anything as cool so... The petrified wood we bought in the gift shop, but they assured us it originally came the forest we were in. Dark bought a piece too, but he's going to carve his."

Neither of them said so, but they didn't bring anything back for the baby.
 
"I got it right!" Alec grinned and accepted the small quartz stone. "Oh, this is lovely," he breathed, eyes wide as he studied it. "And it feels nice!" He ran his fingers over the surface, following every curve of the stone. "Thank you."

Xander took the piece of petrified wood and held it up. "Huh. This is really cool," he admitted, turning it over in his hand. "I didn't know you could get petrified wood like this. I thought it was, I dunno, guarded in special swamps or something. Can you carve this? It feels really hard."
 
"I liked it too. I was hoping to find more, there were plenty of smooth stones, but that was the only one I found quite like that, although I might've missed them," Daizi admitted, "Dark was in a hurry to get out of the water, and I don't bend like I used to. But I remember, way back in early March when we all went hiking, how you loved to pick up stones and things. I still have that piece of bark shaped like a dog you found... Our first family outing..." She breathed in, lingering on the memory. That was a good day... She and Dark were terrified, having only recently learned about the new life aching to begin inside of her personal cemetery, but the twins didn't know yet, and it was before she got sick from it. So they were all able to just enjoy that first taste of warm weather.

"You can," Dark confirmed, "it is not easy, and I have to use my dremel tool rather than my usual set of tools, but you can carve it. I checked before I bought myself a piece. I thought I might make something skeletal... I am not sure, with this more than most things I need to really utilize its natural form. It has not spoken to me yet."
 
"I absolutely love it," Alec told her sincerely. "I'm going to put it on the windowsill in our bedroom!" He smiled, holding it up again. "It looks and feels equally beautiful."

Xander eyed his piece of wood speculatively. "I think I'm going to leave this one exactly how it is," he decided. "Maybe I'll change my mind later, but you can't exactly put something back the way it was after you change it, but you can change something at any time."

Alec lowered the stone and glanced between Daizi and Dark. "I have something to admit," he confessed. "We did have people over."

Xander fought the urge to roll his eyes. "I'm pretty sure they already guessed that, and it was only for a movie and pizza party with Peter and Sloan, and you didn't even watch one of the movies."

"It was rated R!" Alec protested. "R is for eighteen and older, and last I checked, we are not eighteen."

"It's a guidance system, not a law," Xander huffed. "Sloan seemed excited."

"Then you can watch it with Sloan some other time," Alec said primly.
 
Daizi paused, listening to them, and was about to make fun of how, yes, she absolutely knew they had friends over because parents quickly alerted her, but instead she could only and earnestly say, "It is okay if you want to watch a Rated R film. The world will not end. If one of us went with you, you'd be able to watch it in a theater, and I don't really think our presence beside you will make a massive difference in what you get from the film."

"What movie was it?" Dark asked. Naturally by the time he was 15 he was watching films of that rating, and because of his size, successfully sneaking into theatres to see them without an adult, and in his opinion, watching an R rated film under 18 was probably the least dangerous way a kid could rebel.
 
"Pulp Fiction," Alec told him. "I was not interested."

Xander shrugged. "It's got that Jackson dude in it. He's always awesome. Sloan said I could come watch with her sometime if I wanted to. I'm considering."

"And we did not have a sleepover without an adult present!" Alec assured them. "Or asking permission. Just movies and pizza seemed harmless."

"Judging by how much you guys are freaking out - not - I'd say it was a good call," Xander smirked.
 
"Well I am very glad to know you self report like this, Alec," Daizi chuckled, reaching out to him, "It's okay. I'm glad you had fun, and I'm glad you're close enough friends with them that you wanted to invite them over just to hang out. And if you ever do want to have a sleep over with them, that's okay too."

"Although I would prefer you ask first before you do that," Dark added, "and if you do want to have one here, you should plan it sooner rather than later, because after the baby comes, any sleep in this house will be hard fought for, and I doubt you and your friends will habe any fun if every few hours, one of us is walking around with a screaming baby."

"And I know Blair, Sloan's mom, will absolutely forbid you from ever having a sleepover with her," Daizi shrugged, "but we're not planning anything for you, just letting you know those evenings are not forbidden."
 
"I don't think we'll ever do a sleepover. It just seems... awkward," Alec said with a shrug. "We all like our own beds and spaces too much, I think."

"Weren't you the one that suggested having Peter over for a night once a couple of months back?" Xander asked, frowning at Alec.

"That was a couple of months ago. This is now," Alec said. "Speaking of our own spaces, are you hungry? Or thirsty? Can I get you anything?" It was a long drive." Alec asked Daizi.

Xander glanced at Dark. "And... back to life as normal."
 
Daizi chuckled, "You don't have to have a sleepover if you don't want to. We just want you to know it's an option. And, no," She smiled slightly towards Alec, "I'm okay. I mean, I'm always a bit snacky, but we stopped to eat on the drive. But thank you. I hope you ate too."

Dark shrugged his shoulders, leaning lightly against the wall, "We were only gone two days, we could not have expected a new world order. But I am tired, she got to sleep, I could not. And for once I actually can sleep, so I would hate to waste it."

"Go lay down, darling," Daizi said sweetly, understanding more about his comment than the twins did, "Has Enkidu been walked recently? I can take him out so Dark can go to bed early. I'm not tired, I slept in the car, and she's waking up now so I wouldn't be able to sleep now anyway."
 
"That kid has her clock completely turned around," Xander grumbled as he got up. "I can take Enkidu out. I meant to earlier, but then a voice in my head told me I should vacuum out the couch cushions before the Destroyer of All Things Dirty came home."

"Do you want to go sit in the garden?" Alec suggested. "It smells really nice out there, and I could maybe make you tea, if you want."

"Night, sleep tight," Xander told Dark as he went looking for Enkidu's leash.
 
"I know, it's terrible," Daizi grumbled along with him, "Apparently it's because during the day time since I'm walking around, I end up rocking her to sleep, but at night I'm not moving, so she stays awake. For once Dark is sleeping and I'm not."

"Now you know how awful it is," Dark said cautiously, hoping this comment would not be taken the wrong way, and when he saw it hadn't been, he gave her a brief kiss and said, "Don't stay up too late."

"I'll try not to, Goose. I love you, sleep well." She murmured, giving him one more kiss before sending him off to bed. Dark, of course, made all the natural polite goodnights before heading upstairs. Daizi waited until his footsteps had faded, then she turned and said, "I'll sit out there if you join me. And it's smart, Xander, you chose to vacuum the couch. Dark would have simply expired."
 
Alec brightened. I'd love to sit out there with you!" he agreed eagerly. Then he paused, going back in his head. "Did you say if you wanted tea? I don't remember."

"I thought as much." Xander held up the dog leash even though only one of them could see it. "I'll be back right after Enkidu burns some energy. Come on, you fluffy beast. Let's get some walking in, yeah? Come on!" He leashed the dog, grabbed his shoes, and headed outside.
 
"Sleepy time tea with honey would be wonderful," Daizi said, rising carefully to her feet. Dearly she missed the days of just springing up, but she had been getting dizzy again when she stood up too quickly, so she tried to be careful, "Are you going to have some too? Have a nice walk, baby boy! Be safe, Xander. I can help you carry everything out, Alec, if you need it."
 
"I think I can get it all, but I'll tell you if I need help," Alec promised. "I think I will have some tea, too. It sounds lovely. I'll meet you out back in just a minute or two." He hurried into the kitchen and fetched their mugs for tea, careful to put in the tea bags first and a little honey before heating up the water. He'd learned the hard way to prep first and then get the water going. Otherwise, he tended to get distracted, and the water was ready before he was. Burnt water did not taste good.
 
"Alright," She sighed peacefully and ran one hand through Alec's hair, "I'll meet you out there. You know where I'll be, sweetheart. Just call if you need me."

Then she made her way outside and sat down in her favourite place, near to her roses. They were in full bloom, and she inhaled deeply to fill her lungs with their scent, only exhaling after holding them inside of her for a few moments. Then, Daizi whispered, "Never make me plant something for you, Hummingbird. You stay exactly where you are and live, I don't care if you keep me awake."
 
It felt like Daizi was using more terms of endearment lately. Alec didn't mind it, but he did notice it, and then he questioned himself if she really was using more and what that might mean, or if he just hadn't been noticing it. Either way, he felt a little glow of pride that he was someone worth using such terms for. He finished putting together the tea, made certain he hadn't forgotten anything, and then took it out to Daizi.

"Tea!" he chirped happily. "It's quite hot." He set the cups down with great care to not spill and then sat down near Daizi. "Maybe, if I end up doing nothing else, I'll work in a plant place. You know, those buildings that sell just plants and plant supplies," he remarked to her. "It is so lovely to spend time with the plants."
 
"Oh thank you," She said, avoiding picking up the cup since she had been warned already, "I love them too. That's one thing Cairo doesn't have enough of for me. I love Egypt, and I miss Egypt, and I wish it had all the opportunities that America does so I could live there and thrive, but I can't have a garden like this there. There are some plants I can grow, don't get me wrong, but not like this, and I don't want to worsen droughts by trying to grow green grass in the Sahara." She quieted for a moment, thinking, with her head tipped back towards the stars, "I love the summer, even now I love the hot mornings and cool nights. I hate the snow..." She raised her head again, "The word you're looking for is a nursery. I think you'd do well working there, you do well in my garden."
 
"Nursery," Alec mumbled. He tucked his bare feet under himself and looked out over the garden. "Did you ever consider moving back? To Egypt? Finding a job there and living near your family? Surely there must be some kind of work for an anthropologist in a land as rich in history as Egypt."
 
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