How Green Becomes Wood

"It can be hectic, doing a few at once," She agreed, "It gets easier if you plan in advance how you'll time it. I'm sorry if I interrupted your system. And water is fine, I can't recall if we have any juice or sodas that go with what we're having. Do you want me to get Dark?"
 
"Or we could eat outside," Alec suggested cheerfully as he fetched the cups. "Whichever you prefer. Inside, you'll have to fetch him. Outside, you'll have to help me carry some stuff out." There was clear teasing in his voice.

"The whole thing was a mess from start to finish, but at least it smells good," Xander grumbled mostly to himself. Inside, he was actually very pleased with how things had come out looking at least somewhat like the picture, but he knew the true test was if it tasted any good. It could look nasty as long as it tasted amazing.
 
"Would you let me carry anything out?" Daizi asked, teasing. Hopefully he wouldn't take it too seriously, "It's another beautiful day, so I don't mind carrying things out, just let me know what you need carried: I don't know where you've put everything."

She stood, and went to the counters, figuring at the very least she could bring plates, since it wasn't like they would have been moved since she last opened the cabinet, "It smells amazing, Xander. I'm very grateful it is nearly ready, because just walking through the door made me feel like I hadn't eaten all day."
 
"Maybe a few feathers," Alec teased back and then laughed. "How about the plates and I'll follow with the drinks? If you do silverware and napkins, I can help Xander bring out the food. We didn't make desert."

"We didn't need to with that brownie of yours, which has been tormenting us all day," Xander informed Daizi as he checked the internal temperatures of the food. "This needs like two seconds and it'll be ready to go out."

"Then I guess we'd best hurry!" Alec gathered up the glasses of water and headed out, opening the door and leaving it open for Daizi.
 
"I can work with that," She smiled, and after getting out the plates, she fetched the silverware and napkins, which she put ontop of the plates to carry out.

Following behind Alec, she set her bundle down on the outdoor table, and then walked to the shed, knowing it was where her husband was bound to be. At most doors, she knocked before coming in, but his workshed, well, in the past there had been moments where he had been so absorbed in his work that her knocking at the door startled him. Most of the time this only caused a little mistake, a few times it ruined the project, and one very unlucky time, well, he cut his leg open requiring stitches. So she didn't knock anymore.

When she did open the door, though, and began to coo a greeting, Dark quickly whipped around, and cried out, "No, you cannot come in!"

"What, why?" As she did in the kitchen after Xander uttered that word, Daizi froze to the spot.

"It is not ready yet, you cannot see it! Go out, I will come out!"

"Well, babe, it's not like I can... see it? I just won't come near your desk?"
 
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Alec and Xander finished setting up the table, and Alec raced up to their room to grab a big manila envelope. He hurried down and tucked it in an out-of-the-way spot where Dark wouldn't be able to spot it but would be easy to retrieve. They fussed over the table, making certain everything was just right, but not too fancy. They didn't want Dark or Daizi to suspect anything just yet. Once everything was in its proper spot, they sat and waited for their fosters to join them.
 
"I just wanted to tell you that dinner is ready," Daizi said, still standing exactly where she had stopped upon being ordered to.

"Okay, thank you." Dark replied, looking down at the crib rail he was holding in his hand. It was a very rare moment where he was grateful for his wife's disability, because it entirely saved him from having to reveal his project too early. And that would have ruined everything. Did Dark know how to present the fruits of his labor (which, admittedly, was an insensitive way of putting it) to Daizi? No, but he knew her walking in like this was not it.

"Are you coming?"

"In a minute, I have to put things away first. You go---You... should be sitting down, probably, so..." He wanted to put down the piece of wood, but surely she would recognize the size of it by the sound it made.

"You're being weird, Goose," Daizi laughed, and carefully exited the shed, and went back to the twins, "Dark's being weird and secretive in there. Nothing but untold horrors, I'm sure, but he'll be here soon."

Sure enough, in only a few moments, Dark, looking much less frantic than he had only that small time ago, came walking up to greet them. He paused, looking down at the table, and with the faintest smile on his face asked, "Did you make Dolma? And hawawshi?"
 
"Well, you know, secrets are a weird thing when you aren't used to keeping them, even when they are good secrets," Alec told her with a smile.

When Dark came out, Xander nodded to his question. "Yep. Or, at least, something resembling those. I just hope... eh, forget it. Just sit down and help yourself, would you?" he demanded with an edge of belligerence. He was nervous. It was his first time doing something at this scale and this unknown to him. Usually, it was just one thing, often with Dark nearby to save him from disastrous mistakes.

"I think he means, won't you please be seated?" Alec requested politely.
 
Daizi squinted her eyes and sat down, although she couldn't quite hide the grin pulling at the sides of her mouth, "You know something about it, then. I understand things perfectly, then, you're on his side. Interesting."

"Yes sir," Dark replied, quickly taking his seat beside his wife. After a beat he said, "You really do not need to be nervous, Xander. It looks and smells wonderful--Unless you added American cheese then I am certain it will be delicious, and even if you did, it is the thought that counts... And it is really kind of you to help attempted to make our foods."
 
Xander shrugged a little self-consciously. "Well, you know, most quote-unquote 'American' food is basically messed up versions of other people's foods. Lot of Germanic and British stuff, especially, and then a heap of trying-to-survive-when-wolves-are-gonna-eat-us recipes on top of that. The only thing anyone can really agree on as being a true American food is the hamburger, and this... hawawshi... is kind of like a burger. And no, there's no American cheese."

"I still think American cheese is specially treated plastic," Alec said cheerfully.

Xander waved a hand. "Come on, eat up." He helped himself to a stuffed roasted red bell-pepper and one of the pita pockets. Alec took a swiss chard as he didn't care for the flavor of bell peppers.
 
"I'm fairly certain American Cheese isn't even legally allowed to be called cheese," Daizi said, preparing her plate, "This feels like such a fancy dinner for just a Tuesday. It's very exciting, you both are way too sweet to us."

"It is not surprising," Dark said, waiting until everyone else had their food before getting his own, "You are easy to be sweet to, I would be more shocked if they had been able to resist giving in."

Daizi smiled and leaned towards him, "Goose, it's not my birthday anymore, they're able to fuss about you being affectionate towards me!"

"So? Let them fuss."

"No, they went through all this trouble, we can't gross them out too much."
 
"Thank you, I'm glad someone is on our side," Alec said, grinning. "But don't worry. You are both easy to be kind to, and it certainly helps us be kind to you when you are both always so kind to us. It's just how it is. Right, Xander?"

"I think their sappiness is infecting you," Xander said, pulling a face. "But this wasn't too much trouble. I mean, even if it was, why not? Gotta practice not burning down the house sometime. As it is, I only singed the kitchen a little." He was joking, but he said it with a perfectly straight face.
 
"Is that why you did this, then?" Daizi asked, squeezing Dark's hand so he didn't get squirrely over the possibility of a mildly-singed kitchen. Honesty, she had no idea how he'd handle a baby who was bound to break things and colour on the walls and get into other trouble. But the was a trouble for another day, "Because you wanted to be extra kind to us? It's really not necessary, we're grateful, but, we know. Really."
 
Alec looked at Daizi curiously. "It's really not necessary for you to be extra kind to us, but you are. At least once a week if not every day." He smiled faintly. "We'll stop going the extra bit for you if you stop doing it for us."

"Ah, come on!" Xander complained. "Instead of rehashing the old 'unnecessary kindness' argument again, can't we just eat before it gets cold? Seriously, how many other families argue about kindness toward each other? And not in the negative way."
 
"Oh but you know that's different, I'm an adult, you're still a teenager," Daizi argued, although she was grinning, "And if you use the 'but you're pregnant' argument, I will scream."

Dark glanced at Xander and dryly said, "Most families could only hope to be so lucky," and to appease him, Dark ate some of the dolma, paused for a moment, and then with an appreciate nod and a slight flick of his eyebrows--for him, a very expressive gesture--said, "This is delicious. Thank you."
 
Alec sniffed as if offended. "No, it's because I like to and want to and am merely following the example set by my elders." He took a bite of the hawawshi and smiled. "Mmm, this is delicious!"

A weight fell from Xander's shoulders at Dark's exuberant - for him - acceptance and praise. He'd gotten it right! Alec thought so, too! He'd succeeded! He sighed silently in relief and started eating. Yep, it was as good as it smelled, though he could tell he'd need to tweak the dolma just a bit to get it right.
 
"Well, as long as you want to and it's not out of a sense of obligation," Daizi chuckled, and took some time to just eat her food. As always, she was starving, so she was very pleased with just taking some time to eat before taking the time to say, "This is wonderful. Hawawshi, you know, that's streetfood back home, so it always feels so comforting. Normally we go to Egypt over summer break, for at least a week, even though it's miserably hot then, but obviously, for so many reasons it's not possible this year, and probably won't be next year, either."

"And I have not been able to visit Iraq since I left. I have probably mostly forgotten Iraqi Arabic by now, so... The food, I can still remember it through the food."
 
Alec glanced at Dark curiously. Did he miss Iraq? He'd never rally thought about Dark missing his homeland. His stories were usually colored with hardship and pain, but then again, leaving hadn't been entirely of his own volition. Even if you wanted out of a situation, you wanted to be able to make that choice yourself and come to terms with it mentally. Did Dark really miss it, or was he just missing closure? He thought about asking those questions, but here on such a lovely day with good food just didn't seem like the right time to bring up such a tender topic.

"I guess you could always go over Christmas break next year," Xander suggested. "Christmas break is two weeks long, so that should give you one week to go there and enjoy, and one week to recover from your vacation."

"Not a bad idea," Alec giggled.
 
"Maybe. The baby will be just over a year old, then... It's a long flight though, so I'm not sure how she'll cope with it. Traveling with a baby is generally atrocious, I had thought." Daizi mused, one hand exactly where it nearly always was.

"We have time to figure it out. We also need to figure out what international travel looks like for them," Dark nodded towards the twins, "I do not think we would feel comfortable leaving you like that, with us across an ocean."
 
"Ah, come on. We'll be old men by then, and fully capable of not trashing the house or throwing parties that get the cops called," Xander told him.

"We don't have enough friends to throw a party worthy of cops getting called," Alec reminded him blandly.

"Exactly why we won't be doing that while they're away," Xander said with a nod toward Dark and Daizi.

"Speaking of travel," Alec said slowly.
 
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