How Green Becomes Wood

Dark cut a tiny piece and handed it to Ivy, whose face scrunched for a moment, looking at the bread. After a moment, she grinned, food still in her mouth, held out the half bit piece to her father, and happily went back to eating it.

"I suppose if she likes it, that is what matters," Dark said, having a bite of his own slice, "It is many flavours at once."
 
"I can't wait for Mama to try this," Alec said, studying the bread with interest. "It's pretty wild."

Xander picked out a cranberry. "I don't love the cranberries. I like the chocolate and walnuts."
 
"I do enjoy the walnuts," Dark said, slowly eating his piece, "I was pleased she chose them. I think any combination of the two would be fine, it is just when it is all three..." He looked down at Ivy's pleased face, "It is very experimental, Tifla, maybe we just haven't acquired the taste yet."
 
Alec managed to finish his piece, though it was difficult for more than one reason. "It is interesting!" he agreed, getting some water. "And she had a lot of fun."

"So did you, I bet," Xander said, picking out more cranberries.
 
"I do believe I should probably cook dinner without her influence," Dark said, leaning forwards to kiss the top of her head, smiling in his way when she chirped and snuggled against him. She was undeniably getting crumbs all over his arm, but that was okay because she was so sweet.
 
"If you could," Dark said, "She napped for a really long time today, which is great, because I was able to get so much cleaning done, but now," He lifted the arm she was laying on and she rolled over onto her back, kicking her legs out, "She is going to try to be up very late."
 
"Good, she needs it," Dark replied, tickling Ivy with his spare hand. Over the sounds of her bright laughter, he said, "When she is older and more independent, a lot in my life will be simpler, but I will miss how small and cute she is now."
 
"If I do not need to pack a diaper bag, manage nap schedules, and finding half-eaten food in the couch, my life will be simpler," Dark pointed out, handing Ivy over, "There will be other troubles, but it is objectively simpler to not need to micromanage every aspect of her day."
 
"Sure thing!" Alec said brightly, choosing not to comment on the fact that some nuts Dark had pulled out of the couch the other day had been Alec's, not Ivy's. "We'll be out back." He slung Ivy over his shoulder and headed for the back.

Xander whistled for Enkidu and headed out after Ivy.
 
Dark shook his head, suspecting his sons didn't fully believe him, but he knew there was a reason why parents bemoaned having two under two and also he was tired of change diapers. Then, after cleaning up Ivy's crumbs and wrapping up the banana bread, he got started on dinner.

By the time he was nearly finished with it, Daizi came home from work, and he quickly and quietly warned her the twins had something serious they needed to talk with them about.
 
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The twins kept Ivy distracted outside, either running around and playing with Enkidu, or exploring bugs. Xander even found an old cup and showed her how to put the bugs in the cup. That would hopefully quell her desire to put them in her pockets. He didn't know if it would work, but maybe it would help.

They brought Ivy inside to get cleaned up before dinner and let her tell her mother hello after work.
 
The moment Ivy saw her mother, she became loud and excitable, not quieting down until Daizi was holding her close. After talking with her sons for a little while, Daizi went to the living room to give her baby one-on-one time before dinner was served. She had been adjusting okay to being back at work, it wasn't even making her cry anymore, but it was definitely still much harder on Ivy. That was the part which still made her heart squeeze in her chest, it was hard to come home to find Ivy missing her so desperately.

Soon dinner was on the table, and Ivy was settled enough to allow herself into the high chair, and Daizi could speak with her husband and sons more in depth, which she wanted to do. Of course, the mystery of what had happened at school was still unexplained.
 
The twins didn't talk about school except for the good parts all through dinner. There was not much good stuff to talk about, so the conversation was fairly sparse. Xander described a couple of new bugs Ivy had found for something interesting to talk about. That was about it. Alec asked Daizi a lot about her day while making himself eat a proper amount.

After dinner, Alec finally asked if they could talk, without Ivy if at all possible. Then, knot in his stomach, he gripped Xander's hand tightly.

"I think... no, I'm positive... a teacher is racist," he said meekly. "Maybe xenophobic."
 
Since they wanted to talk without Ivy present, Daizi suggested they wait until she went to sleep. Thankfully, despite her long nap, the time she spent playing with her brothers was enough that it didn't take too long and soon enough she and Dark were sat downstairs together.

It may have been surprising, but after Alec admitted what had happened, neither Dark or Daizi seemed particularly shocked. Concerned, sure, but that was all.

Still, they were silent for a few moments before Dark asked, "Which teacher?"
 
"The history teacher," Alec admitted.

"Here's my project," Xander said, handing it over first. "The grade and the notes are still attached."

Alec gave Dark a moment to look at Xander's and then pulled out the project folder he'd fetched earlier, hesitated a moment, and then handed it to his father. "This is my project, and the grade I got for it." He waited for Dark to flip through it and take in the subject matter, squeezing Xander's hand.

[I can't remember what Xander's project was, but it was something generic but lesser known.]
 
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