How Green Becomes Wood

"Not particularly," Dark replied, checking the cabinets and fridge to remind himself of what they had, even though the whole upheaval only began Wednesday evening, and it was Saturday, "I guess we can have whatever is left of that soup you made, if there is any left, now. I doubt it would have gone bad by now."
 
He turned back towards the fridge and rooted through it until he found the soup, and then he got out a pot and began to reheat it, "We can bring some to Daizi, too. She has never even had a full bowl of it. Although I do not know if she will like it now that it is the last thing she ate before realizing she was in labour."
 
"Probably, yes. Just to be safe. I can probably put together koshari quickly, and that is her favourite. She would be glad to eat something that tastes like home, I think..." He frowned, and grumbled, "If she would ever teach one of us that magical mystical soup she makes, then we could make that for her, and then she would probably feel great immediately, but she keeps that one to herself."
 
"Well, now she has a daughter to teach it to," Alec said with a little smile. "Maybe you can get your daughter to teach it to you."

"Better yet, one of us has to get really sick so she'll make it, then we'll hide some of it away and use a lab to figure out what's in it," Xander suggested. "Once we figure out what's in it, then it's just a matter of experimenting with portions."
 
"If I pulled a stunt like that, she would divorce me," Dark said blandly, "and my daughter is her daughter, so I can only imagine she, too, would hold the secret dearly. But as soon as Ivy is old enough to learn how to make it, then she can make it for her mother, which serves the right purpose."
 
"You are no fun sometimes," Xander sighed. He finished washing the dishes and dried a few before helping himself to a bowl of hot soup.

Alec waited to make certain he wasn't needed before he did the same. They both ignored spoons, drinking the soup straight from the sides of their bowls like large cups.
 
"I never claimed to be fun," Dark replied with a slight smirk, getting his own bowl of soup. When he turned and saw them drinking out of their bowls, he made a face and asked, "Is this how you intend to live when you are home alone until Ivy is discharged? I did not realize Cooger has influenced you so severely."
 
"Oh, we used to do this all the time, long before Cooger," Alec told Dark. "It saves on spoons and is so much easier!"

Xander lifted the bowl like a salute. "I think our mum just got tired of cleaning up the mess we'd make with spoons when we were little, so she taught us this. Now we know how to use spoons like civilized people, but this is so much easier."
 
"I feel like," Dark mused, squinting at the soup on the lips of the bowls, "it is not so hard to clean up spills. But maybe I will change my mind when Ivy learns how to use utensils. But what do you do when it is a thick soup? Or when there are noodles or something in it? And it seems like a baby would be just as likely to spill the entire bowl that way."
 
Alec shrugged. "All I know is it woks for us. We've yet to encounter a soup that's too thick." He finished off his bowl and set it aside neatly.

"Babies will spill anything they want whenever they want no matter what," Xander grunted. "Noodles... just slurp 'em." He drank down his bowl and glanced at Dark. "Shouldn't you be on your way?"
 
Dark finished his soup and rinsed the bowl in the sink, "I should be. I wanted to finish eating first. Will you two help me bring everything to the car? I can stack most of it, but I do not want to risk breaking my vase or damaging her flowers."
 
Alec hopped up immediately. "Sure, we can help!"

"Are you sure we got everything?" Xander asked Alec, following him to the door.

"Pretty sure we packed everything except Enkidu and the Professor," Alec mused, checking over the box.
 
"And I wish we could bring Enkidu," Dark mused, picking up the box after Alec backed up. Then he brought it to the car, asking the twins to bring the vase and the food he had prepared, "but she will be glad to have all of this. I think it will make the room feel a little bit more like home, which is enough. You two are staying here this time right?"
 
The twins both nodded.

"It's nice to be there for her support, but I think it also kind of stressed her with trying to appear strong and all of that," Alec said. "Plus, there just isn't a lot of room. We will definitely come and visit her again tomorrow, though."

"Yeah, we're not abandoning her. Just hoping she can focus on just one worry at a time," Xander agreed.
 
"I think she is still going to want to seem strong for me," he admitted, "you know how she is. Which is probably why it is good to stay out of the room for a little while, so she can have some time to privately feel whatever it is she is feeling. But do not worry, I am keeping a close eye on her to make sure if things get too difficult, emotionally, it can be dealt with... and it has only been a day, she is still catching up with herself about how she feels."
 
"Just let us know if there's anything either - any - of you need," Alec told him brightly. "We'll do whatever is needed."

"As long as it's within our power," Xander said, tucking the flowers in with care so they wouldn't fall.

Alec made certain the box was stable in the backseat. "You are good to go!"
 
"I will," Dark replied, and then paused before saying, "I will try. And I will make sure Daizi tries too. But I know if Ivy needs something, we will not be too proud to ask."

He sighed, then, running his hands over his face, "I feel so old. I aged a decade in under a year." He opened his eyes after a moment of squeezing them shut, "I will pick you up tomorrow at around ten, since your aunt is coming at eleven." Then he squinted again, that sentence not helping him feel any less ancient.
 
"If you're aging that fast, you should get going before you turn to dust here in the driveway," Xander pointed out. "Get going already!"

"See you later!" Alec said with a cheerful wave as he and Xander headed back inside.
 
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