How Green Becomes Wood

Daizi nodded, "I thought about it. I could probably find work there... But Dark isn't eligible for citizenship. Eventually he could probably earn it, but it'd be a hard process, it would take years, maybe up to a decade... We have money, so life for us wouldn't be much more difficult than it is here, but it's a whole different world there. I love it, but it has a lot of problems. For me, for her... Back in 2017, a study came out finding the majority of Egyptian men still think women should be housewives... and accessibility is different there. So it's not feasible, right now. I helped overthrow a dictator there, but we've got a long way to go." She moved closer to him and ran her fingers through his hair, "And if we had moved there, I wouldn't have you. I wouldn't trade you for sand."
 
Alec blushed deeply but smiled and leaned into her. "I wouldn't trade you for all the flowers in the world," he told her softly. "But I hope you are happy here, with or without us. I really do. I know Da-ark isn't always happy here, and I know you have problems here, too, but I just hope that, overall, you can be happy here, and I can help you be happy."
 
Daizi inhaled the sent of the flowers and then wrapped one arm around Alec, bringing his head against her shoulder, "I am happy here. Happier with you than I was without you. It's not always easy, and sometimes I really, really miss my country, but I love the life I've built here. And I love you, and your brother. And I know Dark isn't always glad to be here, but he's also happier than he's been in a long time. Don't get me wrong, Alec," she inhaled again, "Being just with him and our dog, that was special, and getting to just be with him and nobody but him, and coming home every evening to his loving arms, that is not something I will ever wish away, and it is something, if I can admit this, that I miss sometime. But having a family? Raising one with him? I think we're both better for it. And as long as we're together, all of us... We'll be happy no matter where we are."
 
Alec smiled and closed his eyes, letting himself breathe in and enjoy her scent. It was still as spicy, sweet, and sharp as ever. "I would be happy living anywhere at all as long as we could keep our family together," he said softly. "Maybe someday Xander and I will move out of your house, and eventually your new baby, and let your return to those days of coming home to just being with each other, but for now, I never, ever want it to end. I don't think I've ever been happy like this."
 
Daizi rested her chin ontop of his head, and put her other arm around him, "We will stay together. Even if and when you and Xander move out, we'll still be together. I'm still with my family, even though we're across an ocean. We'll be alright, and it's not for a long time." She kissed his hair, and then fell silent for a little while. Eventually she spoke again, "When you first moved in, I was so afraid you'd stay here just long enough to be emancipated, and then you'd never speak to me again, never let us know how your life was going. I didn't love you yet, back then, but I cared about you."
 
"I was scared to care about you," Alec admitted. "I do now, I love you, but I was scared to. You caring about me first helped me to care about you." He drew back gently and smiled at her. "Thank you for being brave enough to care about us."
 
Daizi sat up somewhat, cocking her head only slightly, "You came to my door shivering and hungry and barely alive. And you had a sprained ankle, so you could barely walk. How was I supposed to not care about you when I spent most of winter nursing you back to health? I cared about you from the moment Dark called me to say he was bringing you home, that's why I made everyone hot chocolate. And speaking of--" She released Alec and picked up her tea, "We don't want this to get cold, after you put so much work into making it," She took a sip, and then smiled, settling back into the bench with her legs folded beneath her. Then, without even realizing the little action, she rested the mug on her baby bump, still holding onto it for balance, but using herself as a little table, "It's good. You got the balance perfect... You know, Alec... Dark and I have both said this before, but this baby is going to care about you and Xander too. She'll be born just waiting to love you," a thought crossed her mind, "Does it bother you when I call her your sister?"
 
Alec picked up his tea and turned it around in his hands slowly. "It feels strange," he admitted cautiously. He took a little sip and nodded to himself. It did taste delicious! "Strange," he continued, "but not bad. It feels like a new pair of shoes that fit just right but need a little wearing to get used to them. It feels like... being even more accepted into a family. A new family."
 
"It's strange for me too," Daizi agreed with a laugh, one hand trailing down her abdomen, "I mean, for Dark and I too, it's this brand new family, and it's weird. It feels right, and it's comfortable, but it's bizarre... But that's why I like using words like brother and sister to describe how you'll be to her. Because she's the only one it won't feel strange for, she'll be born into it, you and Xander will always have been part of her family. From her before her very first day out in the world. Even if we didn't use those words, she'd grow up seeing you that way. A rose by any other name, and all that..." She moved her hand, "Ah, see, she's eavesdropping."
 
Alec cocked his head to the side and grinned. "Can she actually hear us, or does she only hear muffled sounds? If she can actually hear you at work, she is going to be so incredibly smart right off the bat!"
 
"She hears warbled noises, sort of like you hear when if you swim underwater when people nearby are talking... I read by now they can hear at about half volume. Loud noises startle her, she jumps everytime Enkidu barks if I'm in the room with him. But she's learning to identify voices, she knows mine, because it was one of the first sounds she ever heard, along with my heartbeat... Dark talks to her often, I think eventually she'll recognize his voice, because he gets close to do it... I don't know if she'll be able to recognize you and Xander, you're around a lot but at a distance..." She shrugged, "By the third trimester, so actually not too long from now, I guess, apparently she'll start really listening for me, and being more alert when I speak. And when she's born she'll have a preference for my voice, since she'll know it so well. And she's learning Arabic and English already.... I play music for her, too. It feels really silly, but..." Daizi hummed, "Next week, I guess, she'll start being able to react to when I touch my belly. And when others do, I guess. I still can't believe I've made it this far with her."
 
Alec chuckled and shook his head. "I don't think I ever really doubted you would. I doubted you'd want us around after she came, but even if that were true, it would be the best reason ever to get kicked out. It really would."

Xander appeared with Enkidu, still panting and a little sweaty. "What's a best reason?" he asked, using a kitchen towel to wipe his face. "It's so hot out!"
 
"Well I'm glad one of us felt confident. I didn't start really believing it until about a month ago. I loved her, and I cared deeply about every day, savored every movement... But I kept expecting..." She stopped and took a breath, not willing to say aloud what she had been expecting. Especially not to one of her boys.

Daizi turned towards Xander, still resting her mug on the gentle swell of her middle, "The baby," she explained, "Alec was saying if we had kicked you out on her account, it would've been... But it never would have happened. Dark and I can't comprehend people who rehome their pets just because they have a baby, we would never have kicked out a person. Especially since by the time she's born, you'll both have lived here for a few weeks short of a year. And it's cooling off, the sun has set. It won't be hot for much longer."
 
"Some pets might make sense if they actually pose a threat, but, nah, I never got it either. Grandfather clauses and all that," Xander said, sauntering over to plop himself on a nearby seat. He did not bother to mention that he had totally expected to get kicked out. He eyed Daizi speculatively for a moment. "Is it common to use bits of yourself as a table?"

"That's rude," Alec sniffed.

"What? I'm genuinely wondering if that's a thing," Xander protested.
 
"Oh," Daizi remarked, noticing for the first time what she was doing, "Well, I..." She couldn't help but laugh, "I suppose if it's there, you may as well use it. And it's easier than reaching down to the dumb low coffee table. I bet you'd do it too, if you could." Then she turned her head to hide the slight blush that had crept over her face and hushed herself to not accidentally say something that would gross out Xander and make him go inside.
 
Xander looked over at the coffee table. "Yeah, I guess it makes sense," he agreed after a moment. "They are kind of low. What if you have a hurt back or something? You couldn't lean over to reach anything."

"But then if it is too high, it gets in the way," Alec pointed out. "Low is better for something to keep things down and out of the way."

"I wonder if they make tables with adjustable heights like office chairs?" Xander mused.
 
"It never used to bother me before, and Dark is taller than I am, but wasn't bothered either. But my ability to bend is... Somewhat inhibited. So now I'm mad about it. But I think if one of us hurt our back, we'd probably just sit on one of the many other spaces with a higher table. Or, if we lie down, this table is the perfect--mmhm," She shifted, slightly scrunching her face, "height. So it's really not a big deal, I'm not too worried about it."
 
Alec noticed the face scrunching and frowned worriedly, but he didn't say anything. Xander was handling a conversation that skirted awfully close to his major phobia rather decently. Alec didn't want to ruin that by fussing pointlessly. Daizi had told him over and over that if she needed something, she'd say it.

"Guess we could always put this table up on a couple of blacks for the next couple of months," Xander agreed.

"Can you believe soon it will be our one-year anniversary?" Alec blurted happily.

Xander eyed him oddly. "Isn't it like a quarter of the year away right now?"
 
"It is still a quarter of a year away," Daizi confirmed, "but it's still closer to being one year together than not. You came in December, it's August, that's nine months. And if that's gone by quickly, what's four more? It'll be here before we know it." She spoke casually, but she hadn't fully recognized how close they were to it until it was pointed out, "We should do something for it. I'm not sure what, but we need to, you know... Celebrate. It's a big milestone."
 
"Maybe we should take a walk through the snow wearing nothing but rags," Xander grinned.

"I think I would really rather not," Alec said dryly. "Why not something a little more helpful? Like giving money to someone else who might be in a similar position? Or we could help out at a soup kitchen."

"The soup kitchen thing isn't the worst idea you have ever come up with," Xander said slowly, "but it's not exactly the most family-friendly event. Why not something like doing one of those virtual walks or whatever to raise funds?"

"That's an even better idea," Alec nodded. Then he frowned. "I think you just convinced me to walk in the snow."

Xander chortled at that. "You don't have to wear rags, and you could technically do it on a treadmill."
 
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