How Green Becomes Wood

"It will help if you ever make Arab friends," Daizi said, although she wanted to say if you ever date an Arab girl, "their family will like you more. But I suppose it is up to you to decide how you identify. A year and a half of living in an Arab household doesn't quite seem like enough to claim it, but I really don't know, because I never had the experience of being adopted into a different culture like you have had. Not in the same way, in any case--moving to a different country is different than living in the same country but starting to live in a home with a different culture."

"And it is complicated because you came to us near the end of your adolescence," Dark commented, "so your relation to it is different than it would be, had you been adopted here as babies."
 
"I'm kind of sad I don't get to belong that way, but at least I get to truly admire and appreciate both the Iraqi and the Egyptian cultures and how they blend while being unique," Alec said with a smile. He did not emphasize "Iraqi," though he was tempted to.

Xander returned to the table a couple of minutes later. He had with him a pencil, a notepad, and his newest 3-d puzzle to solve, just in case. "Mama, I have a question for you," he said, sliding into the chair across from her.
 
"It is really up to you," Daizi said, "the longer you live with us and the more you learn about it and interact with it, the more you feel like it's something to claim about yourself. I really don't know. Dark and I never decided we were comfortable calling ourselves Americans, even though we legally are. It's been hard for me to find information about transracial adoption of a teenager rather than a young child, especially not in our situation. It seems much more common for Americans in America to adopt non-American children than the reverse."

Dark scooped up Ivy and set her on his lap, "It is all too complicated to have a single answer for." With a little sigh, he looked at his daughter's tiny face, suspecting she would, if she were able to, tease him about Iraqian, too. She had that look in her eyes.

"What's your question, habibi?" Daizi asked, turning towards him.
 
Alec smiled and squeezed Daizi's arm. "Then I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

Xander got his pencil ready. "There's a big horse in the barn, a big dude. He's like... I think five and a half feet tall at his shoulder? Something like that? They're looking for a name for him, and the first name they came up with is Goliath. He doesn't seem like a giant soldier to me, he's more like..." He paused and looked at Dark. "He's like you minus the anger. Just real sad." He turned back to Daizi. "So I thought I'd ask you about giant names to see if there was something better for him. He used to work on a farm, if that helps."
 
Dark turned his head to look at Xander, not exactly sure how to take that. He supposed it defended on the nature of the horse. But like you, minus the anger felt like... something, anyway.

"Giant names..." Daizi hummed, visibly pleased he had come to her about this, "I suppose you have all of the Titans from Greek Mythology to choose from, which is a good start: Oceanus, Cronus, Crius... Hyperion... There were twelve originally, not all male, but I don't remember them all off of the top of my head. Cronus ate all of his children until Zeus, though, so he may not be the best choice, but Oceanus is self-explanatory, mostly, Crius was the Titan of constellations, Hyperion was the titan of Heavenly Light and the father of the sun, moon, and dawn. And you have Atlas, who held the sky. Polyphemus was the giant man-eating cyclops and son of Poseidon, blinded by Odysseus. Toell the Great is Estonian, and he was known as kind-hearted but hot-tempered... Gogmagog is British, and was considered the last Giant in Britain. Humbaba is in the Epic of Gilgamesh, who was killed by Gilgamesh... Most giants aren't treated particularly well in legends." She laughed lightly, "You could always name him Paul, in honour of Paul Bunyan."

"It is also possible to name a tall creature something unrelated to being a giant," Dark added with good-natured sarcasm.
 
"I kind of like Toell," Xander said as he wrote down all the names. "I don't think he's hot-tempered, at least right now, but he totally looks like he could be kind-hearted. Alright, what other tall creature names are available?"
 
Daizi exhaled, "If you just want tall, you have most deities and heroes from around the globe. Odysseus, Gilgamesh, Alcyoneus is the King of the Giants, Heracles, Tezcatlipoca and Tsul 'Kalu are both other giants in Aztec and Cherokee lore respectively..." She shrugged, "It is difficult to think up characters who are tall but not giants off of the top of my head. There are also specific horses in various mythologies who are often depicted as stronger or larger than other horses. Dyaus Pita is Proto-Indo-European, as is known as the Sky Father but is often represented as a horse. King Arthur rode Hengroen and Sir Gawain rode Gringolet, Salili is the King of Horses in the Epic of Gilgamesh..." She tried to think for a few more moments, and then with a little smile said, "Do you know that one of Achilles' horses is called Xanthos? It's not quite your name, but it's close."
 
Mythological person represented by a horse is a good idea," Xander agreed, "and Xanthos would be a cool name. I'll suggest that one, too. Naming a horse after another little known horse is an interesting idea."
 
"There are a lot of potentially good names out there when you look in lore," Daizi said, resting her head on her hand, "but searching for that information can be infuriating because there are conspiracy theories you would not believe which arrive in the strangest of moments. Did you know there are people who earnestly believe giants really do exist, but the government is hiding them from us? Well, people who believe that co-opt certain groups mythologies. There was an Egyptian Pharaoh called Sa-Nakht who scientists believe he is the oldest known case of giantism, because we have his remains, but then people decided to run with it and now there are so many theories about Egyptian Pharaohs being a race of giants."

"I cannot wait to die so that in a few thousand years, people excavate me and start a conspiracy theory," Dark sighed.

"If we mummify you the right way, it will preserve your tattoos," Daizi replied, bumping her shoulder against his. "The future will presume you were a priest and/or a magician."
 
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"That'll be interesting, that's for sure," Xander said, scribbling a couple more notes before setting his pencil aside. "I'll look into a couple more and present them to Pam. She might like one or two of them and present them to the others for consideration."
 
"You'll have to let us know what she says," Daizi said brightly, "It would be nice if I helped to name a horse there. I think names like that are fascinating, but most of them are a little too out there to name anyone except for an animal, as wonderful as they are."
 
"Maybe they'll let you meet him," Xander suggested. "Not immediately, but they encourage family members to come look around their facilities. You could come meet the gentle giant and whatever horse I end up riding."
 
Daizi grinned, sitting up right, "I would love that. How could I pass up on meeting a horse that's like a sad version of Dark? Although maybe I shouldn't, I might be tempted to kidnap him." She chuckled, "Purely from affection. But really, I just hope you like it there and it helps you."
 
Xander nodded. "They haven't really gotten to the therapy side of things yet. Mostly just talking and learning about me and stuff, but it's horses. Horses mak everything better." He stood and picked up his things. "I'm going to head upstairs. My arms ache from shoveling manure."
 
"I don't envy you," Daizi said, taking Ivy from her husband when she started getting particularly vocal.

Then, after Ivy went to bed, she and Dark decided to slip out to the garden, with the baby monitor, to take some time alone under the clear night sky, and they sat on their bench swing while Dark braided the night-blooming jasmine for her.
 
Once Xander got upstairs, he texted Milo a picture with no context. He wasn't much of a picture taker, nor had he had much time for pictures, but he had snapped a shot of the group of therapy horses in action. There were six horses in all walking in a circle inside a round pen, each of them with an adult leading them and a child on their back. The children all look to be within a couple of years of each other in age, around ten, and all of them fell under the Autism umbrella. Milo probably wouldn't be able to tell the Autism part as all of their faces were in shadow or faced away. They held onto the horses' saddles but there was no fear in their body language. Only delight.

Alec came up after a while, qnd he and Xander hung out talking horse names with each other, and Xander asked to hear all about his Cyr wheel lesson. It was a nice evening of just being.

The next day, Xander had Judo, but he invited Alec to come with him. Alec eagerly agreed to go. It made the idea of Xander leaving yet again the next day more tolerable. As it happened, though, on Thursday, one of the people from the ranch called before Xander left to tell him not to come. The roofers for the quarantine barn had finally arrived, but they were making a noisy mess. The ranch would be mostly closed for the day because of it.
 
Milo didn't totally understand the reason behind the photograph he was sent, but he reacted to it with the heart emoji and set his phone down. Even if he didn't understand the point, he could recognize that this was the sort of photo he would take, and he appreciated it.

In the middle of the week, Daizi told the rest of them that she was planning to have a night out with Spencer and Mittz on Saturday, so she would leave in the evening and not be back until late, seeming absolutely thrilled for whatever plan they had. And come Saturday, she did leave the house exactly like she had said, but she didn't go where she had told them--although her friends did join her.

By the time she returned home, it was closer to Sunday than Saturday, if the clock hadn't already passed over, and after letting Dark know she was home, she changed and went to bed, more than excited to give her husband the Father's Day he deserved.
 
Alec was up late that Saturday making certain the gift he had for Dark was just right. Xander had already finished his and was determined not to think about it, though he totally was.

The next morning, the twins rose early, determined to beat Dark to the kitchen and make breakfast for him. Today was a special day, after all! They tried to make a breakfast like how Dark might make for himself and then cleaned everything spotless.
 
Daizi came downstairs before Dark did, wanting to set the wrapped present from Ivy where it belonged, bringing Ivy with her on her hip, so that when Dark came downstairs, she was already dressed and happy. For the occasion, she had put her in a little black onesie that read, "Happy 1st Father's Day Baba!" and, yes, it felt a bit like the embarrassing onesie Xander and Daizi had dressed her in for their prank, but sometimes it was okay to do something like that.

People always said women became mothers when they learned they're pregnant and men became fathers when they first see their child. Daizi wasn't sure that was true for Dark, but this year did feel more important than last year regardless, Mother's Day had to.

"Good morning," She said quietly, even though she knew when Dark was sleeping soundly, almost nothing could wake him, "Is everything ready on your end?"
 
Alec nodded excitedly. "It is on my end!" He hesitated and then asked, "May he open mine first? Mine is more humor-focused and less emotionally impactful than yours."

"I'll go second, I guess, or last. Whatever," Xander shrugged.

"Ivy's gift should be last," Alec agreed. "Oh! Unless you got him something?"
 
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