The talk Dark had to have with the principal later that day went much more smoothly than he anticipated: the amount of witnesses to the fight made it abundantly clear who had began the altercation, even without talking to to either twin, so in regards to permanent records, the event was largely forgotten.
Finally, then, with interpersonal high school drama concluded, it seemed lasting peace had finally been achieved. Dark doubted it, he was pretty sure that after the first world war there had been a promise of peace--the war to end all wars--and everytime they felt they could simply breathe some new tsuris seemed to rattle their lives back into disarray.
Upon hearing her husband's concerns, Daizi pointed out how even when they lived alone there was always some new unexpected stressor throwing a spanner in the works, be it a broken down car, a flooded basement, a dog's broken paw, or the dissolution of a long-term friendship. As long as all their new drama was on the level as the Alec and Crystal saga (prior to its escalation into physical violence), then they were all doing just fine. And, at the very least, Enkidu was doing marvelous, so September went without any further incident.
Oh, it was true that Crystal, in a bid to reclaim power, began to tell students nasty things about 'Mr. Dark's wife' to try to hurt the twins, but all that really came of it was one student giving Dark a sympathy card regarding, 'Mrs. Dark's horrible accident.' Later, she was overheard remarking about how hopefully now, after the 'inevitable divorce', he'll think of her, and about if it would be weird for Alec and Xander to have her as a new step mom.
But even these comments died down quickly, and the only other events of note were the arrival of the gifts from Daizi's family and the Halloween decorations being put up. They transformed the already spooky house into the very model of a haunted house, both inside and out, but miraculously, it managed to remain tasteful and sophisticated and not at all like a Spirit Halloween exploded over their home. This was likely in part due to the lack of talking decorations.
All in all, things were good. Dark and Daizi seemed very much in love, a few times falling asleep on the couch together because they stayed up too late talking--which was followed by a very sore day when they woke up, since they were both too old, and Daizi too pregnant, to be comfortably sleeping all night not in their bed. It was evident the calmer environment was good for them.
The Saturday before Daizi's 34th week, which coincided with the high school's fall break, they dragged the twins to an apple orchard and pumpkin patch (two seperate places put together into one day) for fresh apple cider donuts, pumpkins, and ideal spooky vibes. It was a perfect, Autumnal day, and Dark promised they'd carve the pumpkins closer to Halloween itself, so the jack-o-lanterns would be fresh. Daizi slept hard on the car ride home, which was mostly attributed to her pregnancy but also to the her job's conference which was that coming week. She couldn't be there, of course, but she still needed to work for it, and the only shadow over their September/early October was the pressure she felt from her job.
It didn't seem surprising, then, that on Wednesday the 11th, she came home from work a bit earlier than usual--no more than an hour or so--seeming absolutely worn out. What did take Dark by surprise was the way she shuffled into the kitchen (Daizi had never developed a true waddle, likely due to her height. Even at 8 months, she maintained the energy of grace she had when the twins first met her. However, when she was very tired, or not feeling well, she did tend to shuffle instead of walk), put her arms around Dark and, without greeting anyone else, and only briefly petting Enkidu said, before anyone else had a chance to say anything, "I'm not feeling well, I'm going to go lie down, okay?"
