How Green Becomes Wood

"It is, with all of the furniture. And I would be afraid of us crashing into each other or falling onto the coffee table." Saying this, he had a mental image of Daizi tripping over one of the twins and falling hard and---Nobody had ever accused him of not catastrophizing.

"Just an appreciation is how it starts," Daizi shook her head, "With Dark it started just with 'Mesopotamia is cool' and 'it is funny we are both from such ancient civilizations.' Now look at him."
 
"We can move the furniture or dance on the coffee table," Alec grinned. "But not your. You might hit your head on the ceiling." He laughed softly at that image. "Don't worry. We won't let anyone trip over the coffee table and get badly hurt."

Xander snorted. "No thanks. It's a cool subject to teach and study like you do, but I don't want to study the past, ancient or recent. I'd rather look at the future and the now."
 
"Our ceiling is not that low," Dark said flatly, "but I do not want footprints on my coffee table." Daizi had never told him about that time she had caught the twins dancing in the living room, which was for the best.

As they approached the ice cream shoppe, a stranger on the street saw them, and with a great smile, she came up, "Oh my goodness, congratulations! When are you due?"

Immediately, Daizi said, "I'm not pregnant."
 
"Fair enough," Alec said glibly. "We can still move the furniture."

At the stranger's question, Alec smiled beatifically at the stranger and let Daizi handle it. Xander sighed quietly and rolled his eyes. It was kind of a personal question, he supposed, but the lady just wanted to celebrate. But he wouldn't really want to share that kind of news. And if Daizi didn't want to, either, why not hide it? Of course, it might just be the fact that Daizi liked to tease. This was all too silly and exhausting to figure out.
 
The stranger's eyes went wide and all she could do was stammer. It took her a few moments before she could say, "I- I'm so sorry."

"I forgive you," Daizi replied cooly, for once not immediately breaking into a grin, "but it's really not a welcome thing to say to someone unprompted."

The woman nodded frantically, apologized some more, and hurried off. Dark took a glance over her shoulder at her and then looked down at Daizi, almost smirking, but not quite, "That was mean," he said.

"Was it?" She replied, opening the door to the icecream shop, "Everyone I've met on the street who ask those questions inevitably try to touch me without permission, that's the best way I've found to prevent it." And, she had been pregnant before, and had been showing before, although never much. Once, only once, after her stillborn, she had been asked questions after the pregnancy had ended, but hadn't flattened yet. Women like that were in her mind, even now when it was going well.
 
Alec and Xander ignored the exchange, already discussing what sort of ice cream to get. As far as they were concerned, as teen boys, embarrassment was the worst possible thing you could do to a person, especially deliberately, but Daizi would do whatever she wanted, and it wasn't their pregnancy, so they ignored it. Ice cream was far more interesting than a pregnant woman's drama.
 
"Are you getting anything, Goose?" Daizi asked, quickly moving past the previous interaction, knowing how careful he was regarding what he ate and when.

"I have not decided," Dark replied. He had been in the shop before, but he always seemed to forget how intensely cheery the place was. The workers all wore red checkered dresses or suits, depending on how they presented, and the women all wore bright red lipstick. Even on a Monday, the shoppe was fairly crowded, and there was enough of a line that they had time to look at the flavours and topping before reaching the counter.

"I think you should, it's a happy day, call it moderation."
 
"I want a cup of chocolate with cherry chunks and a tiny, baby waffle cone sitting on top," Alec said happily, looking over the flavors.

Xander frowned as he studied the range of flavors. "I want the chocolate and peanut butter swirl with cherry chunks in a cone. I like to live dangerously."

"Small size," they agreed simultaneously.

"Which flavor do you want?" Alec asked Daizi. "Would you like for me to read you the flavors?"
 
"You two have very similar tastes," Daizi smiled, "and thank you, but I think I'm okay. I've been here recently enough to know what they offer. But," she paused, after a moment, releasing Dark's arm to take Alec's, "Could you read me the toppings? They are too many for me to remember. I think I'd like the raspberry icecream."

"I might have a single scoop of strawberry with the cheesecake bites," Dark said, staying close behind Daizi, and she grinned, excited he had committed to having some of the icecream.

"Oh, I forgot all about the cheesecake!"
 
"There are a lot of toppings. A lot of them," Alec said seriously. He took a deep breath and started reading off the toppings as clearly as he could, trying not to rush through them but moving down the list at a steady clip. If he took too long, they'd still be here deciding toppings by tomorrow.

"Strawberry and cheesecake are a good combo," Xander agreed with Dark. "Are you a cone guy or a cup fellow?"
 
"A cup. Cones taste better, but I have a beard, and it is too easy to get ice cream in it." Dark admitted, hoping it wasn't dwelled on too much. It was a somewhat embarrassing problem to have.

"Salted caramel doesn't go with raspberry, does it?' Daizi asked, "Oh, no, but salted caramel, raspberry, and mint, that sounds nice, though. Then the white chocolate drizzle, too, and pecans. Oh, babe," She released Alec's arm and tugged on Dark again, "when our blackberries are ripe, we need to make our blackberry caramel tart again."

"What do you mean 'we'?" Dark chuckled, "It's your recipe, you always end up surprising me with it."
 
"Playing it safe, I see," Xander said with a nod. "I suppose that's smart. I prefer teasing fate."

"Blackberry caramel tart sounds amazing!" Alec groaned. "Absolutely delicious! I can hardly wait for the blackberries to be ripe. I'll help pick them! Oh, I think it's time to order." He looked up at Dark, who had the most commanding voice in the group.
 
"Testing fate was easier before I had to shampoo my face," His tone was as jovial as it ever got, but there was an intense earnestness to his statement, but it disappeared into a more teasing tone when he said, "Nothing you will need to worry about, I am sure."

"Not everybody can be a descendant of wolfman," Daizi mocked her husband to get some of the focus off of Xander, "Thank you for offering to help, Alec. The blackberries ripen in early August, and I'll be nearing the end of my second trimester, so I'm not sure how easy crouching near the bushes will be for me."

"August is only a month away," Dark commented.

"Yeah babe," She replied, "I'm 23 weeks. I'm five weeks from that final third. By the time the blackberries ripen I'll probably only be two weeks away from that date."

Dark paled slightly at how soon it seemed, when put in those words. He mumbled something in Arabic, and Daizi squeezed his hand and then ordered for the four of them, since he was a bit unsettled.
 
Xander grumbled softly and rubbed his face questioningly. He'd been shaving lately, they both had, but it had been more of a habit because that's what you did than a real need. What would happen if he stopped shaving? Would he get a beard? A fluffy red beard? That would be an interesting look. He could e a Viking! Thankfully, his distraction meant he didn't squirm too much when Daizi talked about how far along she was.

Alec gently took Dark's arm and patted it lightly. "You'll be ready," he whispered. "As ready as you can possibly be! Just take some deep breaths."

"Thanks," Xander said to Daizi after she'd ordered. "Appreciate it."
 
"Well somebody's got to," Daizi replied with a coy grin, "Men are too emotional," But still, she held Dark's hand a bit tighter, because she did feel his anxieties with a similar intensity, although not in that particular moment, "Let's sit outside, it's too lovely a day to stay inside."

Dark gave Alec an appreciative nod, and did take a breath as advised, "It is funny. We have far more warning with her than we did with you two, but it does not feel like it. I blinked and now she is almost here."
 
"You delt with us landing on your doorstep a lot easier, too," Xander remarked, holding the door open for them.

"Yes, but we were not quite so delicate and vulnerable. Indeed, we likely had them to the point of exasperation so much they couldn't even think to be concerned about how we got there, just what to do with us now that we were there," Alec chirped.

"Good point," Xander admitted. He pointed toward one of the tables. "That one is the cleanest. Let's sit there."
 
"We also already had furniture and you both had clothes," Daizi added, "and we didn't need to pick out names for you. Or have to plan what school you would go to and decide your vaccine schedule. Or buy carseats." She giggled to belie her nerves while Dark guided her to the table Xander had picked out.

"Although we did need to find you both doctors and dentists. We don't need a dentist for her yet, but we're still looking for a pediatrician." Dark said with a heavy sigh. The modern world was full of modern conveniences, including children living past the age of seven, but he couldn't help but long for the days of needing some fabric, a cradle, and maybe a toy for the baby.

"And not to mention..." Daizi began, but ultimately decided not to mention the fact they also needed to worry about how the baby would actually arrive. She needed to worry about that in particular. They didn't need to come up with a plan for the twins making their arrival involving what to do in an emergency while they were moving in, "You two can tell us what you need. You don't, most of the time, but you could."
 
"Sorry," Alec admitted, flushing a little. "It took a while to get used to someone even wanting to hear what we wanted, and we worried we'd ask too much. We know we can, but old habits are like annoyingly stubborn weeds that refuse to die until you've dug out the entire root system."

"Babies sound really, really complicated and frustrating to deal with," Xander said. He slurped a few drips before they could fall. "Remind me why people say they are such a blessing and everyone should have one?"
 
Dark gave a brief, understanding smile to Alec, "You can take as long as you need," he said, and then turned slightly to watch all the people walk down the city street.

"Well..." Daizi began with a slight frown, trying to think of a good response to Xander's quandary. When sitting, the size of her belly felt really impressive, and her legs were slightly parted to it had somewhere to go, since her lap was being so quickly conquered. She had ordered a cone, so she could both eat her icecream and touch how round she had become. The baby had hiccups, they had begun while they waited in line to order, "because babies are a little him," she said at last in a far-away voice, "and a little me. And we get to bring them up together... And one day they'll be an adult and do really special stuff..." She shrugged lightly. It was difficult, she didn't really know why she and Dark wanted so badly to be parents, "but not everyone should have one... but it's good people who don't intend to have babies still have babies, because then people who can't have babies get to take in babies, even if they've stopped being babies when they need new people."
 
Xander considered Daizi's answer. It wasn't quite an answer - at least, not how he was expecting an answer - but it was a lot more than he'd heard most people give. He still wasn't sure what the appeal was, but maybe he'd get it when he was older or something. "Alright," he said out loud. "I guess it's good somebody wants the helpless little poop factories or else the human race would die out."

"I think they're cute as long as I'm not asked to hold them or look after them," Alec said. He broke his cone apart into pieces and used those pieces as little spoons to get the ice cream up to his mouth. Dessert before dinner was amazing!
 
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