How Green Becomes Wood

"It is a beautiful design," Sally confirmed and then quickly backed up.

Jack nodded. "That's a good one." He glanced at Sally mischievously. "Maybe I should get one."

"Nice ink, Mr. Dark," Peter approved cheerfully.

"Well! It was a lovely party, truly wonderful, but we should be getting along now," Sally said hurriedly and once again started moving her family toward the door.
 
"I'll show you out," Daizi smiled, lightly touching Dark's back as she walked them to the door.

In the dining room, Cooger tossed Dark his shirt back, "Get dressed before you give another woman a heart attack, you damn exhibitionist."
 
Once everyone had their shoes on and their things gather, Sally hustled them out the door, giving Jack a discreet smack on the arm once they were out. "Sleep well, Daizi, Darling! Thank you for inviting us!" Sally called as they filed out to their car.

"He's not as bad as those memes about that one werewolf character from that movie a while back," Xander pointed out.

"I love the new tattoo, Ba," Alec told him. "It's beautiful!"
 
"Thank you for coming!" Daizi called back, "Call me when you get home!"

"Not anymore," Cooger replied, "Be glad you didn't see him when he was still dating."

Dark nodded to Alec, pulling on his shirt but leaving it unbuttoned, "Thank you. I am quite proud of it. Although," He looked down at his wrist tattoo he got for the twins, "It makes me want to add to this one. I am not sure what."
 
Xander shuddered. "That sounds like the worst thing ever to live with. I'm amazed you still have eyes."

"Hmm." Alec reached out and traced some lines around the A and X. "That's a hard one. I feel something plant-related would really fit with the tapestry."
 
"He is pretending like he didn't also walk around showing off," Dark replied, resting his hands on his hips again. "Plants could work. I am not sure which ones. I like vines, but I want to capture you."

"Cooger had to maintain eyes because if he lost his, it'd just be unfair for Dark to be the only sighted one amongst us," Daizi said mildly.
 
"I don't know who's weirder. Guys or girls," Xander said, rolling his eyes.

Alec wandered over to Daizi and flopped against her for a big hug. "You did it, Mama!" he crowed tiredly. "You pulled off a great first birthday! You have... arrived, I guess. It's wonderful."

"Yeah." Xander looked at Dark and nodded. "It was real good."
 
Daizi squeezed him in tightly, "Thank you, baby. I don't think there's a single thing about it I'd have changed." Her throat tightened slightly and she pressed her face against Alec's hair for a moment, "I'm so happy. I can't tell you how it feels after so many years waiting and hoping."

"It went as I had hoped. I think Ivy enjoyed herself." Dark said, nodding back to Xander and touching Daizi lightly on her back.
 
Alec squeezed her gently. "I'm so very happy for you! And... I'm sorry, too, about the pain. It's such a wonderful, complicated day."

"She looked to be having a blast, and she loved that horse," Xander agreed.
 
Running her fingers through Alec's hair, it wasn't lost on Daizi how he was only a few years older than her eldest child would have been, had her first pregnancy been successful. Hassan, Saif, and that unnamed life all would have been born around the same time. "It's such a beautiful thing to celebrate," she murmured.

"I hope she enjoys it. I worry a little bit for her toes, if she tries to pull up on it, but surely they would not be so popular if they regularly broke children's toes." Dark replied, glancing over at the horse, "I am proud of it. The weight limit should be rather heigh, since it is so solid."
 
Alec closed his eyes and leaned against Daizi, utterly exhausted. It had been a long day.

"Then I guess she doesn't get unsupervised access until she's old enough to not do that," Xander remarked. "She's going to love the thing."
 
Daizi held firm to him, stroking his hair and swaying, letting herself feel immense joy as well as quieter grief.

"She does not get unsupervised access to anything," Dark replied, putting his tie in his pocket and going upstairs to free Enkidu so they could feed him his dinner and give him a walk. Cooger hung out just long enough to go on the walk with Dark, then finally he also said goodbye and drove home.

When Daizi released Alec, she went upstairs to change into her pajamas and called Sally to make sure she had gotten home safely.
 
"Hello, Daizi, Darling. We got home just a few minutes ago," Sally greeted her. She put the phone on speaker and set it on her vanity while she started removing her makeup. "How are you feeling?"
 
"I'm okay," Daizi answered after thinking about it for a few moments. "It's weird, because I'm so happy, and I don't want anyone to think I'm not absolutely over the moon about Ivy's birthday, because I am. But it's like I'm so ecstatic it hurts."
 
"Ah, yes. I understand that," Sally agreed, wiping her face gently. "This birthday... there was a lot of meaning behind it, a lot of, um, how do you say it, baggage? It carries a lot of baggage, and it was a long time coming. Any first birthday is a massive milestone, but Ivy's? So much more so."
 
"There's such... grief, I guess." Daizi sighed as she began to take down her hairstyle, "For Dark, too, but it's different. There's a lot I wish were different about those days. A lot of choices I'd not have made, had I been in a position too, and people hadn't made them for me to help."
 
"Hmm. There is a lot there to unpack for certain," Sally agreed. She paused long enough to dig out a jar of moisturizer and started patting it on her face. "What sorts of choices do you wish you could have made?"
 
Daizi fell silent for a long time at that question, dropping her hands to her side. A few times it sounded like she almost spoke but stopped herself. Finally, she said, "I wish I had held my son for longer. I wish they had let me."
 
Sally paused in the middle of her moisturizing. "I am sorry," she said softly. She sat for a bit in silence and then continued with her routine. "I am sorry for that loss of self you suffered. That you were not allowed more choice in what happened, whether or not it would have made a difference. You still should have been the one to make those calls."
 
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