How Green Becomes Wood

"No, I think you look fine, so long as you feel comfortable in what you are wearing. And you may find yourself taking off your jacket once you are inside anyway, I typically do once I sit down to dinner." Dark told him, "If you do not like how you are dressed, you have just enough time to change, but I do not think you need to."
 
Xander hesitated but finally nodded. "Alright. I'll keep it."

Alec pointed down. "You might want your socks, though."

Xander swore and hurried back upstairs to get his socks. He came back down, still with his jacket on, and nodded. "Right. Ready."

"Is Ivy ready?" Alec cooed to his little sister. "Is she ready to go?"
 
"Yes, she's ready," Daizi smiled. They had dressed her in the Mothman dress Cooger had given her for her birthday and put matching purple ribbons in her hair, which was (by toddler standards) getting long, although one look at either of her parents made it completely unsurprising.

Dark sighed softly, looking over them all, knowing this was his last chance to back out and also knowing it was much, much too late to back out, "Alright. Yalla." While they all hurried out to the car, Dark stopped in the kitchen to grab a box of desserts picked up from the Arab market because both he and Daizi would be dead before they entered a home without a gift. Daizi had suggested they also bring a bottle of wine, but Dark pointed out there would be so many children there, it would be rather rude to bring something they couldn't all enjoy---but to be honest, they were visiting his ex. Showing up at his ex's house with a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates reminded him way too much of his younger years.
 
The twins hurried into their shoes and hurried out to climb into the car. Alec sat forward, eager and excited to see what was to come. Xander sat back, not particularly thrilled but trying not to be too much of a drag. This was important to Dark however he might feel about it, and that was what mattered. He just hoped he wouldn't have to answer too many of the typical questions adults asked teens.
 
Dark drove to a very simple, normal, house in the suburbs with a nice mowed yard and a mini van in the driveway. The front porch was decorated with pumpkins and chrysanthemums in hanging baskets and autumnal garland on the railings. On the front door was a big wreath with a wooden sign reading Give Thanks and in the yard were four scarecrows, the littlest of which looked homemade, clearly meant to represent the family.

Taking another breath, Dark parked the car in the driveway and stepped out, going around to open the door for Daizi. He grabbed the diaper bag and the box of chocolates while Daizi took Ivy out of the car seat and then after the twins were out of the car and the door was locked, he went up and knocked on the front door. Soon enough, a man who stood at about average height with a build which had just ticked over into 'dad bod' territory opened the door. He had a bright smile, thinning blonde hair, and wore a blue polo-shirt with khakis, "Hello, Dark, Daizi, it is great to see you again! And these must be your boys!"

"Marhaban," Dark replied, trying not to feel stiff and uncomfortable as they were all welcomed inside, "Yes, this is Alec and Xander. And this is---Matt." It still felt weird to not be saying Matthew.

Extending his hand to both twins in their turn, Matt said, "It's great to meet you," while a second man, this one dressed in a simple blue flannel and jeans came around with their own baby, who was dressed in corduroy overalls and had a tragic forehead he'd likely one day grow into, on his hip.

This second man said, "Hi, I'm Sean, and this," he gestured to the baby, "is Avery. Our daughter Charlotte is just in the living room."
 
Alec and Xander followed Dark and Daizi inside, looking around with great caution. They looked over the very normal, well-kept house, the very normal, soccer-dad style pair, and the very normal, corduroyed baby. Then they turned and silently gave Dark identical eyebrow raises.

Then Alec smiled and and gave Avery a wave. "Hello, Avery! Hello, Mr. Matt, Mr. Sean. I love your chrysanthemums. Very bright and autumnal."

Xander said nothing, hanging back behind his politer brother and making notes and comparisons between this house and Sloan's. At least this one, for all its normalcy, actually felt like people lived and loved in it.
 
Quite frankly, Dark refused to acknowledge any look he may or may not have been on the receiving end of. He recalled making it abundantly clear Matt was not like this when they were a couple! "We brought these for you," He said instead, handing Matt the box of sweets.

Immediately, a nostalgic look came into Matt's eyes, "Thank you so much. I haven't had these in a very long time," turning to his husband, Matt said, "I was telling you about these, remember? I couldn't remember what they were called."

"Halawa," Dark told them.

"Yes! I didn't know what to look up. I've missed them, honestly," Matt said, looking at the box for a moment longer before saying, "Well, I'm going to go put these in the kitchen. Dinner is still in the oven, so we can all sit in the living room until it's ready?"

"It's just this way," Sean said, leading them through the very simple, cozy house. In the living room, a little girl who looked to be about four or five with blonde hair was meticulously setting up a row of dinosaurs. "Charlie," Sean said, "Come meet our guests. This is Mr. Dark and Ms. Daizi, their boys Alec and Xander, and their baby Ivy."

The little girl, not looking up and sat with her back to the rest of them shook her head and said, "No Papa. You said no more babies."

Chuckling, Sean said, "No, sweetheart, Ivy is Mr. Dark and Ms. Daizi's baby, she's not staying here. It's like when your friends come to visit. Ivy is Avery's friend."

"Oh."
 
Xander kept a slight distance from the others, hands in pockets, lingering closer to his brother than his parents, but not staying close to anyone. It had been a while since he'd been a guest at someone else's house when it wasn't a teen thing. He was feeling uncomfortable and nervous, but this house was weirdly soothing. Actually, how calm and soothing it was was throwing him off, too.

"Hello, Charlie," Alec greeted her. "That is a fine lot of dinosaurs you have! What are they doing?"
 
Charlie looked up after having set her dinosaurs and then went and picked up a ball and threw it at the dinosaurs, knocking them all down. She didn't know the word for what she was doing but it was clear she had seen enough information about dinosaurs to understand. "That."

Dark raised his eyebrows and looked at Sean, "Your daughter is clever."

"Yeah, she's been big into dinosaurs lately. Every day we watch a lot of Dinosaur Train."

Stepping into the living room, Matt asked, "Can I get any of you something to drink?"
 
"Nice asteroid tactic," Alec nodded. "I don't know much about dinosaurs. Would you like to tell me about yours?"

Xander quietly shook his head, keeping one eye on Alec and Charlie. He wondered what Ivy's version of "Dino Asteroid" would be when she was Charlie's age.
 
"No, I think we're alright, thank you," Daizi answered Matt.

Charlie raised her head again, for the first time actually really looking at the strangers. She looked a long, long way up and her brown eyes went wide and she scurried backwards, "Daddy!"

Nodding in awareness while Matt went over to his daughter, Dark took the initiative to guide Daizi to the couch and sitting down beside her so neither of them were quite as intimidating. "I apologize," Dark said a bit awkwardly.

"Charlie, he's Daddy's friend," Matt promised, "It's okay."

She did her best to whisper but was young and bad at it, "He's scary!"

"No, no, I'm sorry," Sean told them, setting Avery down on the floor and sitting down on the other side of the living room, "She's not normally like this."

"It is not all that uncommon."
 
Xander awkwardly sat on Daizi's other side, and Alec sat on the floor near the dinosaurs. Alec nodded to Charlie. "He is scary," he agreed, "but you know what? He's actually very nice." He picked up one of the dinosaurs. "Like how this dinosaur can look scary but isn't."
 
"Dinosaurs are just amimals!" Charlie exclaimed, holding onto her father's leg.

"Charlie, I know he looks a little different, but it's true, he is very nice," Matt advised her, patting the top of his head, "You're going to hurt his feelings and that's not very nice."

She didn't look convinced, but she trusted her dad, so she said, "...okay..."

"Can you say sorry to Mr. Dark?"

"... I'm sorry..."

"It is okay," Dark promised, "I am sorry to have frightened you."

" 's'okay..."

"I'm sure Alec wants to know all about your dinosaurs," Sean said, and Matt urged her to go over while they sat together on the couch. Meanwhile, Ivy and Avery were just staring at each other.

After a few awkward moments, Matt said, "So, three kids, huh? I'd never have guessed. How old were Alec and Xander when you adopted them?"
 
Xander didn't say anything, leaned up against the arm of the couch so he wouldn't touch Daizi. He was still watching Alec and Charlie, sometimes glancing over at the baby staring contest. Those two certainly looked... friendly? With each other? He hoped Ivy was enjoying herself or would soon. He was too scared of saying the wrong thing to open his mouth. Multiple jokes had popped into his head so far, but he hadn't dared say any of them in case they crossed the line. Accidentally crossing the line with family or friends was one thing, but your dad's ex's family? Nope. And not to mention bizarre.

Alec sat comfortably cross-legged on the floor playing with the one dinosaur he'd picked up and not touching anything else of Charlie's. He asked her gentle questions, showing genuine curiosity in her and her opinions even while keeping one ear on the adult conversation.
 
Daizi opened her mouth to answer but before she could speak, Dark answered, "They were sixteen."

"Oh."

"We adopted them this October."

"Oh."

Daizi leaned over to Xander, being careful not to touch him and whispered, "You are kinder than I am, I would not have been able to resist pretending I didn't know."

On the floor, Charlie gradually began to relax but she still kept one suspicious eye on Mr. Dark. She seemingly hadn't even really noticed Daizi yet. Getting too talk about dinosaurs was much too distracting.
 
Xander cracked a smile and snickered softly. "It's tempting," he mumbled for her ears only. "You could tell them you hung onto us for a long time before adoption and not even as fosters." Daizi was braver and wittier than he was. He trusted she'd turn a far funnier joke with that information.

When Charlie began to relax, Alec carefully began trying to stack the dinos so they were standing one on top of the other in a pyramid. It was precarious work! He managed to make it up three levels before they fell over in a clatter of plastic.
 
Daizi chuckled under her breath and then raised her chin, "Well, to be fair, it's only recently that we've adopted them, but they did live in our house for a long time before then. Dark just saw them on the street, put them in his car, and took them home."

Sean blinked at the pair of them, "What?"

"Oh yes, it was quite some time before we officially began to even foster them."

Dark turned his head to look at his wife, knowing that, technically, she wasn't telling any lies. Matt made a quiet huh sound and then said, "This is her, isn't it?"

"This is who?" Dark asked.

"The woman you talked about basically daily, I didn't put it together because you always called her something else back then."

Daizi couldn't help but grin, "My friends call me Tarot."

"Yes, that was it!" Matt replied and then blinked, looking at the two of them again, "Wow."
 
Alec looked up at Matt. "Once they matured enough and stopped fighting the inevitable, especially Ba, Mama's predictions came true, and they just celebrated 10 years together! It was a truly delightfully autumnal slash Gothic affair," he said cheerfully. "I have some pictures on my phone if you'd like to see. Only a couple because they had a professional photographer, but I got a couple."
 
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