How Green Becomes Wood

The night in the hospital was mostly peaceful, and Dark stood with Ivy, looking out the window at the rising moon. She couldn't see it, but he still pointed out the glow around it, telling her about how she was named for it. There was one scary moment over night where Ivy's blood pressure dropped low enough to make the alarms beep, but luckily they were able to bring it back up before too long.

Other than that, it was quiet, only punctured by Ivy's own feeble little cries. Both Dark and Daizi made sure to eat, although it was weird breakfast without the twins there.

Soon enough, Dark came by to get them, although he stopped upstairs, this time to fetch a few books so that he and Daizi wouldn't be so bored in the moments when Ivy was sleeping but only one of them was awake. Then, of course, he stopped to snuggle up his dog, before driving them back over to the hospital.
 
"Hi, Daizi!" Alec greeted, forcing himself to keep his voice low and not chirp it out like he wanted to. "How was your night? How's Ivy? Did you sleep well?" He walked over to Daizi to give her a hug.

Xander followed in behind Alec and said hello so Daizi would know he was there, but didn't bother trying to talk while Alec babbled. He glanced toward Ivy and then found his corner like the previous day.
 
Daizi stood up to hug him, "Hey sweetheart," she murmured, giving Alec a little squeeze, "Ivy's doing well now. We had a scary moment last night, but it was quickly fixed. And now she's an entire day old, if you can believe that! I had thought she'd vanish at midnight, like in fairytales..." She chuckled, "she keeps us up, though, we don't get to sleep for more than two hours or so at a time, because she needs to eat really frequently. I think you'd get along with her, Xander."
 
Xander snickered. "Nah, that means we're competitors. We'll have to fight it out when she's older since there can't possibly be enough food for us both."

Alec smiled and hugged Daizi back gently. "He's just joking. I'm sorry you can't get much sleep. I'm glad everything's okay otherwise." He stepped back and looked up at her. "When will your aunties get here?"
 
Dark chuckled, "Good luck, Xander, she will be bigger than you some day."

"Well he's just lucky I make her food right now," Daizi replied with a laugh, "I can't imagine her ever being big. They won't be here for a few days yet, unfortunately. They're still trying to get visas, which can take some time, so they're using some favours to get the paperwork expedited. They want to be here by her 7th day alive, I don't know yet if we'll manage it."
 
"I thought premies stayed small," Xander pointed out.

"Small is relative," Alec pointed out. He crept over to the cot and peered at Ivy, not reaching out to her just yet. He waited to see if she was awake or asleep or would even notice him without his touch.

"That must be really awkward trying to keep those kinds of time-sensitive traditions," Xander remarked. "Even if you did live closer."
 
"She was born a week away from being classified as a late-premie, and relative to other babies born at 34 week, her health is good, and she eats well, so probabilistically, her height will not be too greatly diminished by her birthdate, if at all," Dark explained, also going to look into the little incubator, "so she will likely still end up at least six feet tall." Then, as he reached in and stroked her cheek, he rather naturally fell into a light, high-for-him voice and asked, "Right, baby girl? You are going to be tall like your parents?"

Inside her cot, Ivy was awake, and when Dark touched her cheek she turned in the direction of his hand, and then looked up at his face for a moment before continuing to look around and briefly meeting Alec's gaze too (although she looked at him for a shorter amount of time than she looked at her father, since his voice and touch was more familiar to her than Alec's was).

Daizi sighed, "It's really hard here. They had gotten the visas to come in November, when she was supposed to arrive, but that didn't happen, and as it is we'll have to alter some things... And what really sucks is that if they had a different passport, they'd have no issues getting here. If they were English, they could be here today or tomorrow, but they have a weak passport."
 
Alec giggled softly. "Well, genetics are strange. She probably has something like a one in ten chance of being small, and with your strange luck, that's what she'll be. What will you do if she never gets any taller than, say, five foot five?' He grinned at Dark's voice, trying very hard not to laugh. It was sweet, but also so funny to see such a big man talking in such a silly voice!

Xander glanced at Daizi. "Why don't you ask Mrs. Hollis about it?" he suggested. "The Hollis' travel all the time. I bet they have some advice." He rubbed his chin, feeling the very soft, very fine hairs there that were nearly invisible to the naked eye. "Or... Aunt Ciara? She's never actually said what she does, but it seems important. Maybe if there's someone helping on this side, it'll help you family get here more easily."
 
"No, she will be taller than five foot five," Dark replied, scooping up his four-and-a-half pound daughter, "I was underweight for most of my adolescence, and am still this tall. So my genetics probably intended for me to be taller."

Daizi rested back, trying to find a comfortable position, "I might ask them, but they come from a strong passport country, too, so I'm not sure how familiar they would be with the reverse. I suppose I can ask Ciara, though. I think my relatives are probably bribing everyone they can," She chuckled, "Do you know when she is coming, babe?"

"Mm, not yet. She said she would tell me, and she is always busy. Within the next few days, I think."
 
"I hope she comes soon!" Alec grinned. "She's missing all the best parts!"

Xander leaned over to look. "The sleeping face?"

Alec nodded. "It's very sweet. And eventually, it'll be creepy to watch her while she sleeps, so I'm taking advantage of it now."

Xander shrugged. "Fair enough."
 
Dark looked down and lightly traced the bridge of Ivy's nose, "It is sweet. But I think we have a few years before it gets creepy." Ivy jerked her arms and seemed like she was going to wake up, but then didn't, "I wonder what she dreams about."

"Does she dream?" Daizi asked, getting up and going over to them.

Dark shrugged, "She has REM sleep."

"I bet she dreams about being warm," Daizi whispered, also reaching out to touch her daughter's face, since she couldn't just look. Then she reached up and felt the shape of Dark's face and grinned, "I think she's going to have your eyebrows."

"Then I am very sorry for her."
 
"At least you have eyebrows," Xander drawled. "Aren't you glad she's gettin' more than just your height?"

"What day is it today?" Alec mused thoughtfully. "Is it... Saturday or Sunday?"

Xander started to answer and then paused. He couldn't remember. Everything had become so rattled and discombobulated by the chaos he had no idea.
 
"She also has my hair," Dark pointed out, "I cannot tell if her skin will be closer to mine or Daizi's. Colouring takes time to settle, but I do not think her hair will lighten. But if she has my eyebrows, that means I have doomed her to a life of waxing so they do not become unruly. I would have a unibrow if I was not careful."

Daizi rested her cheek against Dark's shoulder, "I'd still love you if you had a unibrow."

"Only because you would not be able to see it," Dark replied with an actually visible smile, and Daizi laughed.

"Yeah, probably..." She hummed, "It's Saturday. Ivy was born a little after midnight yesterday, so we went to sleep like we would have had it been Thursday night after, but again at the end of the day on Friday."
 
"Saturday, good," Alec smiled. "That means we have one more free day before we have to go back to school. I'm not looking forward to school."

"You never look forward to school. Neither of us look forward to school," Xander pointed out.

"Yes, but I extra don't look forward to school," Alec sighed. "But... At least it will keep us distracted!"
 
"Oh. School." Dark said, and then passed Ivy to Daizi, "I have to call my boss."

Ivy hiccuped in her sleep and woke herself up because of it, so she cried. Daizi bounced her, "Yes, go call your boss, that's important," she told Dark, and then brought Ivy to her chest, swaying and shushing her until she was finally soothed. For once, Dark didn't linger to help, because for godsakes he needed to call his boss to let them know he would not be in on Monday or any day after that until his paternity leave was over.
 
Alec and Xander glanced at each other and grinned. It was fun to see Dark so extremely excited! It was totally warranted, but strange to see with him. Eventually, he had to calm down. Right? All parents did. And then came the complaining about their kids while somehow also insisting that kids were the best thing ever and everyone should have them. Alec chose to enjoy the happiness while it lasted while Xander hoped to get some blackmail.

"You look like you are feeling a little better," Alec offered to Daizi.
 
She shrugged, "I'm a day postpartum instead of hours postpartum. So I'm a day better, I guess. I think the little bit of sleep I got helped. But I'm still..." She trailed off, not wanting to get too specific about the bleeding or the soreness or how she had a special little thing to sit on. Still rocking Ivy, Daizi said, "but I'm only going to keep getting better over the next few months."
 
"Good!" Alec stated. "I'm glad. Enkidu misses you, and we all look forward to having you home. Both of you."

Xander frowned. "Months? I knew it was rough, but I didn't think it'd be months before you'd be feeling better," he said.
 
"I miss him too," Daizi sighed, carefully going to sit down, "and I wish I was home. I hate it here. Everyone is very nice and accommodating but I really didn't want this." Then she dropped her head, focusing on the baby, and confirmed, "Months. Well. Maybe. A month and a half at least, they say recovery normally takes between six and eight weeks. I'll spare you the details."
 
"Thanks for sparing the details," Xander mumbled. He meant it sincerely, even if it came out awkwardly.

Alec rubbed her arm gently. "No one wanted this, but things can only get better from here on out!"

Meanwhile, on Dark's phone, a new call came through, and Ciara left a brief message asking him to call back at his earliest convenience.
 
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