How Green Becomes Wood

"I think you're the only parent who has concerns about their child going into a career like that," Daizi lightly teased, "I want to talk to Alec and Xander more about their after-high school plans. I know they just did some assignment about it, I want to know more about what they wrote. Alec is interested in being a buisness owner."
 
"Really? Alec?" Sally asked in surprise. "I admire his gumption, but... he has never stuck me as being..." She fought to find the best polite word. "Business-minded," she finally decided on. "Xander, on the other hand, seems to be shockingly suited for it."
 
"Honestly, that's what I think too," Daizi admitted, "but I could see Alec being really talented at planning community events at a small buisness like a café or a bookstore. I just don't know if he's got the focus for the numbers side of a buisness, which is fine, because I certainly don't either. Alec would either need help or to really study hard."
 
"I'm certain that's it," Daizi said, "He loves working there and he's really attached to his uncle. And he's someone who kind of picks his future plans based primarily on what he's most interested in at that particular time. I think I've told you before he briefly wanted to be a non-erotic pole dancer."
 
Sally cackled. "Oh, my, I had forgotten about that! He has such an exotic mind. I look forward to seeing what he does end up doing with his life. I would not be surprised if he does not end up going through multiple different jobs."
 
"I'm certain he will," Daizi agreed, "but that's okay if it takes him time to learn what he wants, so long as he's smart about changing careers. It took Dark ages to find himself, and still ended up changing again after thinking he was settled. And he, honestly?" Her features lit up, "He's been so happy lately. It's been a long time since he's seemed this healthy."
 
"Oh, I am so happy for him!" Sally cooed, truly delighted for Dark both for his sake and for Daizi's. I would not have guessed him to be the stay-at-home-father type, but he has such a talent for it."
 
"I engage in so many forms of scrying and fortune telling, and I still never predicted it," Daizi earnestly told Sally, without a hint of a joke in her voice, "If you went back five years, and told us he would choose it, I don't think either one of us would believe you. But at the same time... After how he was brought up, and with everything he's survived, he has this deep, unshakable desire to help children, so wanting to be there with his child every day, instead of sending her to day care, makes sense. And he's lost as many children as I have... But also, truthfully?" She leaned in towards Sally and dropped her voice low, "I think he's just been really enjoying getting to experience a childhood. He never really had one, so now he gets to experience it through her. It's a piece of himself nobody else has ever been able to give him."
 
"That is such a sweet reason! I can fully see it in him," Sally nodded. "I cannot imagine how it must feel for him to be able to watch his child grow up with what he did not have."
 
A deeply loving and slightly sad smile filled Daizi's features as she ran her finger along the edge of her cup, "Sometimes, at night, I lay in bed with him, and he has his arm around me... I can feel his heartbeat under my palm... and he just tells me all the plans he has. The things he wants to show her, the places he wants to bring her and the twins, how he saw breakfasts decorated to look like animals he wants to make for her..." Her voice unexpectedly tightened, and shaking her head she took a second before saying, "I do all of those things too, of course, and I have activities I plan he's not thought of, but hearing him dream like that... He really is the most beautiful man alive. All this pain and trauma he's survived, and it's manifesting by him talking about buying sidewalk chalk and braiding her hair."
 
"I'm sorry," Daizi said, "It's just been so special to witness him learn how to be actually playful. I've always loved him, but I never thought I'd ever experience him being silly. He carries so much pain, but yet..." She waved one hand, and then leaning in to refill her glass asked, "How is Jack?"
 
"It sounds like such a precious thing to experience with your partner. I am so pleased for you," Sally assured her. "And for him. It is wonderful to hear that about him. Jack is doing well. He was featured in a couple of magazines for best photograph a couple of weeks ago, and he's very proud. It's nothing new, he is incredibly talented, and I have a stack of magazines with his pictures."
 
"I'm just really glad he's so healthy. It's been a long time since he's been so... embodied. Our boys have never seen him quite like this." And there were certain benefits to him being in such an overall good mood, and getting enough sleep at night. She took a sip of her tea and said, "You'll have to pass on our congratulations, that's really great news for him, even if it's not the first time it's happened for him."
 
"I am very proud of him and his art," Sally said happily. "I know he sometimes dabbles with the idea of trying to turn it into more than just a hobby, but I told him the performance pressure would kill his joy. It is certainly not like we need the money, but certain drives are difficult to ignore."
 
"I have the opposite experience," Daizi said, "I never pressure Dark into selling, but sometimes he'll be offered a little bit of money, and I think it may not be the end of the world to just accept it. But I know he never will, and I think that's why he still is hesitant about showing his work at the music and arts festival that's coming up. But I guess, for Jack, do you think if he learned he hated trying to do it for money that even after he quit, he'd never reconnect with his love of the art?"
 
"You could tell him that if he sells five pieces, that will fund the materials for the next ten he makes," Sally said cheekily. Then she considered Daizi's question. "I don't know. It would depend on how long he kept trying to push through it. He can be quite stubborn at times. It is possible he would lose all love and never return to it, but I hope he'd be able to refind it."
 
"He couldn't do it. I love him so much, but he's stubborn. I think part of why I love him is because he's stubborn." Then after thinking about it, she asked, "Do you think it would help if he set guidelines in advance? Like he would only try it for a certain length of time, and then reevaluate?"
 
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