How Green Becomes Wood

"I will walk with you," Ciara said slowly, not wanting Dark to think she'd just abandoned his wife. She got out to walk with Daizi.

They had just reached the door when Xander's van pulled up and Alec popped out. "Mama! Aunt Ciara! Hi! We're home! Are you leaving?"
 
Daizi jumped when Alec's voice appeared from behind her without warning and turned around trying to pretend like it hadn't startled her, "Hi baby! We just made it home, actually!"
 
"It was very good," Alec assured her.

Xander waited until Alec let go before tapping him with his backpack. "Oi. Doofus. Backpack."

"Sorry," Alec said sheepishly.

Xander glanced at Ciara. "Lemonade?"

"Oh, no, I should be going," Ciara assured him. "I am fine."
 
Xander followed Daizi inside. "It was nice to see you." He headed inside, intent on getting his homework done now so he wouldn't have to think about it later. He hated homework.

Alec hesitated on the doorstep. "Aunt Ciara, can I ask you a question before you go? I can walk you to your car."

"If you would like to," Ciara agreed and turned back toward her car.
 
"You all made it home at the same time," Dark commented, coming up to the door to greet them, "Welcome home.'

"Hey Goose," Daizi replied, nearly going to kiss him on the cheek from habit before catching herself, "Did you enjoy thr quiet?"

"After Ivy went down for her nap, yes, it was quite nice."
 
Alec hesitated as they walked, making sure they were out of easy hearing range of the house before asking, "Aunt Ciara, did you always know you wanted to work with the FBI?"

"Always? No," she replied.

"Then, what did you want to be before then? How did you choose your career?" he asked.

"Oh, it is quite easy," Ciara replied. "I did not have an exact destination in mind so much as a basic trajectory, and in not limiting my options to one or two things, it opened up my willingness to consider other options. Choosing a career path is really quite simple."

"It is?" Alec asked in surprise.

Ciara dipped her head. "Of course. It is nothing more than a multi-variable optimization problem." Seeing his blank look, she clarified, "A min-max problem. What is the maximum result I can get for the minimum loss, effort, or amount of material? In this case, the variables are money, skillset, and satisfaction. Depending on where you are in your life, these variables may look a little different, and when you are starting out, you must be willing to sacrifice some satisfaction and money if it will mean a better outcome in the future, but if you are willing to work and learn when to cut your losses, it is possible to climb to a better position or career placement in time. So, we begin by looking at how much money is needed to survive with some level of comfort. Then, we examine our skillset to see what it is we have to offer, everything from obvious strengths to less obvious talents. Finally, we decide what it is we are willing to do and what we are not willing to do as far as tasks within a job. What can you withstand, and what will bring you some level of satisfaction in a job well-done, and what will do nothing but damage your mental well-being? All jobs have some negative aspect, especially in entry level, but unless it is a temporary job that shall end at a set date, there is no reason to completely suffer in the job. So! Once we have established our three variables, we then find the jobs at the intersections, and thus we begin. Careers are rarely decided from the start. Only trajectories. Example, I knew I wanted a well-paying office job that did not require constant interaction with the tumultuous public, and I began my working life in a library and then working night shifts at other jobs including as a police dispatch officer as I gained experience. I did not mind overtime as I did not have a family, but other people highly disliked it. Thus, I gradually made a name for myself until I was able to learn more about the services I might offer the FBI. Careers are formed later after much trial, error, and hard work." She paused and arched a brow at Alec. "Does this answer your question?"

Alec nodded slowly, feeling a little numb after that rapid-fire lesson. "Yes, I think so. Thank you, Aunt Ciara. I will see you later." He turned and headed for the house, his head spinning.

"Be well, Alec," Ciara replied as she got in her car.
 
The rest of that day and evening were peaceful without much to note. When Zeinab returned home, she was delighted to tell them all about her day trip while asking them every question she could think of. She continued her tyrannical control over all household chores, forcing Dark and Daizi to accept breaks and forbidding them from helping her.

The next day, Daizi actually did come downstairs for breakfast again. If she was honest, she still felt a bit hollow after her argument with her father, but it was better than the day before, and she'd force herself to fill back up again. The warmth she was being shown by all of her loved ones did help, it helped a lot, but she still struggled to not replay that argument in her mind. So much of what he had accused her of...

Then, by Thursday, she was once more dressing up for a few hours out of her house with a friend. She came down to breakfast, but since she and Sally were getting brunch, she only had tea and a few bites of fruit to appease Zeinab.
 
Alec was quiet the rest of the day and the next after school. He was bright and happy, especially around Daizi, but there was a lot on his mind. He followed Zeinab around a lot, asking her every question under the sun and answering every question she asked him. He tired to be helpful, in his clumsy, distracted way, and mostly succeeded. He liked being around her. She was stability and warmth.

Xander was fairly quiet as well, but Xander was always quiet. He, too, was more than willing to answer Zeinab's questions, though his answers were naturally blunter and less filled-out than Alec's. He still enjoyed the time he spent with her.

On Thursday, Sally arrived five minutes early but assured Daizi she could take as much time as she needed. "I miscalculated how long traffic would take me," she told Dark. "It is odd how much difference leaving at this time versus that time can make on the traffic."
 
Zeinab gladly put Alec to task and answered every question he could ask her. Last year when she was there, both boys spoke so little to her she was left with so many questions, so it was delightful for her to get to actually get to know about them from them. Dark, typically perceptive, continued to keep a close eye on Alec, trying to watch him for more signs.

"It happens." Dark replied while Daizi came downstairs after getting dressed, assuring Sally five minutes was not enough to be stressful.
 
"Are you ready, Darling?" Sally asked brightly. "Time to be off! Don't worry, Master Dark, I'll have her back in no time at all. Hopefully refreshed." She led the way to the car and opened the door for Daizi, letting her get in and settled.

"Do you remember the first time we went out together?" Sally asked as she buckled up. "We had little Ivy along for the ride, and you looked stunning in your dress."
 
"We can only hope," Dark replied with a nod, shutting the door behind them.

"I do remember," Daizi replied, touching her hands to her middle after she had buckled herself in, "I was actually thinking about it when I was in Ciara's car. For some reason it reminded me of how uncomfortable it could be in the car, I don't know why. Her car isn't uncomfortable, it just came into my mind. I never want to be pregnant again, but I miss it."
 
"It is a strange sensation. Almost like having a hole there where you never had one before," Sally mused, pulling the car out and heading down the road. "I am not sure I could even describe it. I have no desire to have anymore children, either, but I do remember missing it. It has been much longer for me, though, so I have had a chance to move on."
 
"It is like there's a hole," Daizi admitted, "Which is weird, because I still have Ivy, but it's not like it used to be. It used to just be the two of us. And I've been pregnant many times, but she always felt different. The night I told Dark about her, I told her I felt her burning inside of me. There's nothing for it, but I wish I had those last six weeks, even though it would have physically wrecked me more than the first 34 weeks already did... I guess, I wonder if I'd have died, had I not had her when I did." She thought about it for a few moments, recalling all of the gentle rolls and painful jabs of Ivy moving inside of her, "Dark loves that red dress."
 
"It is a sobering thought," Sally agreed softly. "As your friend, I am glad that you did not have to find out, but I will not deny the pain that you suffered as it was. Six weeks does not sound like much until you speak in terms of pregnancy and babies." She smiled slightly. "I was so eager to have my baby out. He spent the last two weeks sitting on my bladder. I had to excuse myself so many times in the middle of so many conversations!"
 
"I'm glad I didn't die too," Daizi replied, resting her head against the window, "It would've been worth it so long as she survived, but I think my family wouldn't have survived it. Especially not with how against my homebirth the twins were. Don't get me long, I wouldn't have wanted to die, but when you're high risk like that, you think about it. You have to. I told Dark in no uncertain terms if it came to it and he had to make that call, he had to save her. He didn't like it, but he agreed." She smiled softly, "I'm sure had I made it all the way, near the end I'd be hoping for her to hurry up and get out. As it is, near my end it was really uncomfortable. But I don't know how much of that was my body struggling to maintain it."
 
"My mother was in complete paranoia and telling me all the ways it could go wrong. It was not helpful," Sally said dryly. "But it is something one must consider, even if one is not at high risk. I think we tend to remove ourselves too far from death, and we forget how closely it walks with life. We must take time to pause and reflect now and then in order to truly appreciate the life we have." She turned into the Cafe. "Here we are!"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top