How Green Becomes Wood

She reached into her pocket and held up a loose fistful of money, "Dad sent me to the Cafeteria to bring back food for everyone. I said I might get kidnapped, he said nobody gets kidnapped in a hospital, I said they do, and that's why they have a whole code for when babies are stolen, he said, 'well I guess it's a good think you're not a baby, then.'" She squinted at the floor, shoving the money back into her pocket, "I'm not gonna cry all the time when I'm a teenager. I don't care if I'm supposed to. Oh, and somebody brought a cake to our hotel room."
 
"Cake is awesome," Xander said, nodding. "Was the cake for your new baby siblings? And, hey, you wanna grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria together before heading back? As long as we don't take too long, it shouldn't be a problem. You can just say the line was really long or something if your dad gives you a hard time."
 
"No, it was for me. And I think my dad and stepmom are definitely sleep deprived because I don't think it's all that smart to eat a cake if you don't know who sent it, especially when it's not from a bakery or anything, but they didn't even really question it." She looked up at him for a moment or two, "Yeah, we can go to the cafeteria. They let you eat outside so I was planning to go down there anyway instead of sitting in that tiny room that smells weird."
 
"I mean, have you ever been around those people who try to cover not showering with perfume? And everyone knows exactly how bad they smell but they don't? I think it's like that." She kicked her foot against the linoleum, "Is your foster parents' baby any better?"
 
Xander considered that comparison. "Huh. Yeah, it's exactly like that. Hadn't thought of that. Yeah, she's doing a little better every day. Still can't go home for, like, a week and a half or something, but she's getting there. Mostly sleeps and eats right now."
 
"Are there babies who do more than eat and sleep?" Alice asked blandly, "it's good she's a little better. Dylan and Jaxson aren't sick or anything, but I don't know when they get to go home."
 
"I dunno, smile or something?" Xander asked. "Look at things? I have no idea. I knew they didn't do much, and I know she sleeps because life is hard for a premie, but I guess I thought there'd be more personality or something. I'm glad your minis are doing good. I hope they grow up, like, cute and stuff and idolize you."
 
"Yeah, they're kinda boring. But my dad acts like they're everything. When my step mom was still pregnant I tried to read one of her books on, like, baby milestones, and I guess it takes, like, two months for a baby to smile and mean it. And that's pretty weird. I'd probably like Dylan and Jaxson more if they did stuff."

She paused and looked quickly at Xander, "I don't mean I hate them or nothing. I just, you know..."
 
"Trust me, little dude, I get it," Xander assured her. "No worries. I mean, we can all hope we like each other as the minis get bigger, and we can try, but we're all still people in the end, right? Long as we don't go out of our way to be cruel, I think things will work out. Eventually."

They'd reached the cafeteria by now, and Xander took the lead in getting them food and to a decent table. Hospital food wasn't the best, but it wasn't bad. It kind of reminded him of school lunches on a good day.
 
"Are you worried you won't get along with your parents' new baby when she gets big too?" Alice asked, speed walking to keep up with Xander, "I was hoping that since you're older than me you'd be sure it'd be great, the way parents are sure they'll love the baby."

She was grateful Xander was there when they reached the cafeteria: it wasn't extremely crowded, but it was busy, and she had only recently turned 10 and had never been sent to a place like this on her own. The school cafeteria felt very, very different, and even though she didn't know the teenager all that well, she stood a little closer to him as they navigated it.
 
Xander shrugged as they worked their way through the cafeteria, slowing a little so Alice could stick with him. "I'm pretty sure I will. I mean, I get along with her parents pretty well, which is unusual for me, but this kid is a whole new person, you know? Not a guarantee. Love is different because most of love is a choice. Liking is a little harder. That and... I just don't get along well with people. She's probably going to be a great kid, though. Doesn't mean we're guaranteed to love hanging out together, but even if we don't, I'm always going to think she's a cool kid."
 
"We have already pointed out that you're mean," Alice agreed with a nod, but then she stopped and looked up at Xander, "Well. Mean at first. Then you stop being mean. And I don't think anyone would be mean to a baby, so your 'at first' with her is already good. Plus babies don't remember anything, right? So if you slip up and act mean she won't remember anyway."
 
"You make a good point," Xander agreed with a short chuckle. "Hopefully, she'll only remember nice me. Eventually." He indicated the board. "So, what do ya wanna eat?"

After they'd gotten their food and sat down, Xander stretched out his legs and enjoyed the relatively decent seat. His legs were getting tired of standing in the hospital room.
 
Alice sat down with her food and for a little while was quiet as she looked around the room of tired doctors, tired nurses, tired patients, and tired visitors. Everyone was tired. "Those doctor shows make it seem a lot more exciting than it is," she said at last, pushing her food around on her plate a little bit.
 
"Television is fantasy and glamour," Xander said with a shrug. "People watch it because they don't want to think about reality, even when they're watching so-called reality shows. It's an escape. Except documentaries, I guess, and nature shows, but then you escape somewhere else. People get enough tired, grumpy, annoying things in real life. They only way they want to see it on television is if the good guy gets to win somehow."
 
"Yeah, I know. Things don't work out like the books and things say they will. That's why my mom and dad got divorced..." She paused, furrowing her brow, "Actually I don't really understand why they got divorced. I just know we had to go to court for a long time and that was less exciting than what was on TV too." She scratched her arm, "but you've got foster parents, so I probably had it real easy compared to you."
 
"Not easier," Xander corrected before he could stop himself, "just different. I mean, it wasn't great, but I wouldn't say it was easier." He hesitated and shifted a little, toying with his fork. "My brother is a big reader," he said slowly. "I try, but... it's harder for me to concentrate. Anyway, one of the things he read one time, it stuck with me. One of the characters in the story said that fairytales about dragons tell the truth not because they're telling us that dragons are real, but that dragons can be defeated. That the dragons in the stories are our troubles here in the real world, like trying to figure out a foster family or watching your parents get divorced. It's big, it's scary, but it's beatable. Sometimes just not the way we expect, like the story of the tailor."
 
Alice nodded, scuffing her shoe again, like she did often, "I guess you got a new whole family. I just got pieces, and if I wasn't there, my mom and dad would just have two different pictures. Have you ever seen those pictures where they take broken glass and stone and make the picture out of them? That's what I guess yours is probably like." She quickly looked away in case that was the wrong thing to say, but after a few moments she dared to look back up at him and asked, "What tailor?"
 
"Well, a long time ago, there was this tailor," Xander explained, frantically digging in his patchy memory for the details. "He made himself a treat of bread and jam or something, and the flies were attracted to the smell and kept trying to land on his bread. So he chased them around until he finally held still, and when they landed next to the bread, he swatted them with a cloth and killed seven of them with one snap. He was so excited that he boasted on the street about killing ten in one blow. Well, the ruler of the city was trying to figure out a giant problem and was looking for warriors, so when the soldiers heard the tailor boasting, they grabbed the tailor and hauled him off to talk to the ruler. Well, the tailor was a little stupid and thought when the ruler questioned him, he knew what he was talking about - or maybe the tailor knew and was just boasting, I can't remember - so the tailor told him about killing seven in one blow and was very proud. The ruler got excited and told him, 'great, then you're off to kill the giant! If you killed ten, one should be easy!' If the tailor told the truth then, he'd get killed for lying, so off he went. He picked up some stuff along the way, and he got to the giant, he tricked the giant into a series of tests. Could he squeeze blood from a stone? 'Course it can't be done, but the tailor had an orange in his pocket that he pretended was a stone and squeezed that. Which could throw a stone farther? The tailor tosses a bird instead, which flew away. There were a couple of others that I can't remember, but in the end, the giant lets the tailor sleep in his house. Well, the bed was too big, so the tailor slept in a corner. Good thing, too, because the giant tried to kill him during the night by crushing the bed. The next morning, when the giant sees the tailor walking around and perfectly fine, he ran away, never to be seen again. So the tailor went back to his city, and they thought he had killed the giant, and he didn't try to correct them at all. He did a bunch of other stuff, too, like tricking a bunch of ogres to attack each other instead of him, and catching a unicorn and stuff, but basically, he won all of his battles by being tricky and thinking smart."
 
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