How Green Becomes Wood

"They thought it'd be easier for me. I didn't want to give him up. I don't remember what happened next." Daizi said, sighing heavily and picking herself up to continue getting ready for bed, "I don't think I would have had him cremated, either. That was Dark's call, since I couldn't. But I don't really blame him, he wasn't ready to have to make any call, he said he just agreed to the first option they presented."
 
"That would be such a difficult thing to face alone," Sally said. She felt she knew that if Daizi hadn't been forced to hand over the child, she likely would have held on for far too long, but she also knew she hadn't been there. Likely it would have been the same no matter when they pulled the baby away. That wasn't the kind of thing she could accurately say. Maybe holding on longer would have helped. Whatever the case, there was no changing anything now.
 
"There was an orca whale," Daizi said, inhaling softly, "Her baby died less than an hour after birth. She carried her for two weeks. She traveled a thousand miles, carrying her. At first she didn't stop to eat at all, eventually the other whales in the pod would carry the calf instead while she rested and ate. I wonder if it helped."
 
"Well, she did it more than once while also having healthy calves in between her losses, but I do not know for certain," Sally admitted. "Biologists have been trying to understand her for some time, especially after she did it the second time. Yet it does not seem to be something that was common among orcas or whales."
 
"I know about the second time, too." Daizi said softly, "and the healthy ones. It's not just her, though. There was a dolphin by New Zealand who did the same. I wish I had that freedom, instead of it being decided for me. I don't know what I would have helped, only what hurt."
 
"There are many things we might wish to change, many paths we might wish to trod, but there is only so long we can dwell upon the past before it begins to damage our present. By the same token, we cannot ignore the past, either," Sally said.
 
Daizi was quiet, not wanting to tell Sally she didn't understand what it was like, not wanting to lash out and risk upsetting her. "Anyway, today was a good day, and I'm really glad to be able to celebrate it. Gladder than I think most mothers know to be. I couldn't possibly have dreamt of a better baby than her. I hope you enjoyed yourself?"
 
Sally sighed quietly away from the phone, knowing she hadn't said what Daizi wanted to hear. It was a delicate balance, especially for someone not accustomed to dealing with these sorts of intimate problems. She wanted Daizi to be able to heal, to move on from the pain of the past, or at least be able to remember her babies without as much sorrow, but she had no idea how to help, and right now she was utterly drained from the party. So, perhaps it was selfish, but she gladly accepted Daizi's change of topic.

"It was so lovely! You have so many charming family members. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and loving little Ivy. How could they not? I quite enjoyed myself, as well."
 
"I think most of them were on their best behavior too," Daizi said, brushing out her hair, "I haven't heard anything about them yet. That's always something worth celebrating, so I'd be delighted even if my daughter wasn't officially a year old."
 
Sally smiled and shook out her hair before she began brushing it, not realizing she was following Daizi's routine. "Your boys seemed to be getting along with their cousins, too, which is a wonderful thing to see. When do you plan to take Ivy and the boys to Egypt?"
 
"That delighted me. You really never know if they'll get along, they grew up so differently. That parade they gave Ivy in the wagon, I just kept thinking I wish she could remember it when she's older." Daizi began to laugh, "And my poor husband! Oh, I think he broke for a moment there when Ivy said his name!"
 
"I guess they will have to make the parade a yearly tradition until she is old enough," Sally chuckled, and then she gushed, "Oh, my goodness, yes! When sweet Dark heard his name! While being covered in frosting! I must tell you, I could not decide between crying from happiness or laughing. I am so glad your Cooger did most of the laughing for me."
 
"I don't think there's a better way for it to have gone for him, honestly," Daizi said, almost beginning to braid her hair but then deciding to leave it loose so she could force her husband to do it for her, "It's so memorable, and I'll always value the way he laughed when his brain restarted. It's such a rare sound."
 
"Well, I, it was not the," Sally stammered, suddenly flustered. She stopped and took a deep breath to calm herself. "It was a bit more than just the tattoos, though the tattoos are quite beautiful, like a work of art," she said a bit stiffly.
 
"Yeah I guessed as much, he only wears one of his shirts without something under it if he's planning to have it unbuttoned," She chuckled slightly, waving one hand, "That man, if it's hot out, he has his shirts unbuttoned almost to the navel."​
 
"Good heavens," Sally mumbled to herself, pausing to pinch the bridge of her nose. "What is even the point of wearing a shirt at all, then? Is that not something teenagers are supposed to do so their parents and grandparents can tut at them?"
 
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