How Green Becomes Wood

"Thank you," Dark murmured, helping to pass things over. Even though he was still barely sleeping, just knowing he was now home, and home permanently, had done a lot to make him seem much, much more rested. And he was visibly happy to be there. Beside him, Daizi was beaming, doing her utmost best not to cry from how thrilled she was to be home, and how thrilled she was her daughter wasn't in that place anymore.

"I know!" She squealed, allowing Dark to take Ivy from her so that she could hug Alec. Out by the back door, Enkidu was pawing at the glass and switching between whining and barking.

Dark nodded to Xander, "We thought about not alerting you and just letting you come home to find us all here."
 
Alec stepped into the hug and squeezed Daizi tight. "We have food! And drinks! And a few decorations, so things are a bit different, but we put them where you wouldn't trip. We tried not to have any where you'd easily put your hand on them by accident, but we might have misjudged a couple of things."

The house was, indeed, decorated, though most people would have thought it was for a Halloween party, not a homecoming for a baby. Black crepe paper hung around in the corners and doorways, a few bats and skulls lurked on shelves, and Xander had brought out a few of the other decorations he'd found in storage. They'd left most of the big items, choosing to stick with the small, likely-unbreakable ones since that meant a change in a blind person's environment. There was a skeleton tucked away in a corner to watch them, but other than that, nothing touched the floor.

"That would have been cruel," Xander told Dark and started lugging things to the bedrooms. "Let me know if you want me to let Enkidu in."
 
"It'll be perfect," Daizi murmured, pressing her face into Alec's hair as she squeezed him. Briefly, she kissed the top of his head, "Did you see? We were able to dress her and everything!" They had chosen a black onesie decorated with a little raised moth. Ivy was still small, but between the extra half a pound she had gained since birth and actually being able to wear clothes, she now only looked fragile, and not impossibly so.

Dark glanced at Enkidu, who was wiggling, "We can let him in after we've safely put Ivy into her cradle. I do not want him to leap on her in his excitement."
 
"She looks beautiful," Alec assured her. He took her hand and started leading her into the house. "Do you want to sit down? We have snacks! Teas and juice, too."

"Got it." Xander deposited the odds and ends they'd brought home in the appropriate rooms and left them off to the side before coming back downstairs. "So, did we keep the place clean enough?"
 
"I'd love to sit," Daizi said, allowing herself to be led back into her kitchen. Just being in that space made her feel so much more at ease. It still smelled the same, and she trusted nothing had moved far from when she had left it.

Dark took a look around the house, a real look, now that he wasn't rushing off anywhere. In his estimation, it could be tidied somewhat--the baseboards, the light fixtures, but... Ivy squirmed in his arms, "It looks wonderful. Right, Hummingbird? It is a really nice home, right? Much better than that awful hospital." He looked again at Xander, and more seriously and sincerely said, "Thank you for taking care of it for me."
 
Alec guided her into a seat and told her all of the options he had for her. Well, Xander had. Alec had mostly plated and arranged things. And he could make tea!

Xander shuffled awkwardly, still not used to sincere compliments from people, but nodded and said, "You're welcome. It was an honor."
 
"Was it really?" Dark asked, sitting back down in what had always been his usual seat. Occasionally while they were in the hospital, he had sat there when visiting home, but Daizi sitting back where she belonged made it better.

"Ivy," Daizi cooed, leaning over, "Did you hear all the really nice things your brothers did? Because now, all five of us get to be a family together, for real, instead of all that back and forth, right baby?"
 
Xander shrugged and sat in his usual seat, stretching out his lank legs. He was on the tall side of average now, though still definitely average, but still incredibly thin and gangly. The martial arts lessons were giving him some muscle definition otherwise he would have been a walking stick. "Well, you know, it needed done and you trusted us to do it. So... yeah."

Alec's smile wobbled briefly, but he shook it aside quickly. Now wasn't the time! Instead, he focused on Daizi and Ivy. "That is going to be so nice! We can all finally stop smelling like a hospital. And there's Halloween. Even if it's not big and fancy, we're here, so that's something, right?"
 
"We barely made it home in time for Halloween," Daizi said, rubbing her finger against Ivy's cheek one last time before enjoying some of the food the twins set out.

"That means we have, what? Four days to try to get everything ready?" Dark asked, pushing his hair back, "We might have to cut our losses and wear an old one."

"I gave birth two weeks ago, I can't fit into any of my old ones," Daizi said blandly. It wasn't exactly a sore point, but she did miss her body feeling like it was hers, and she knew it was going to be some time before it did.

"Right," Dark nodded, knowing better than to suggest there was one that was probably lose enough, 'We will figure something out, then. Alec loves a thrift store. And we can probably alter that red dress of yours into something."

"I'm just glad I'm not having her on Halloween. Although if I had, then there'd have been no hospital stay," Daizi chuckled. Neither her nor Dark seemed to be, in that moment, recalling what fell on the day immediately following Halloween.
 
"We'll figure out Halloween stuff tomorrow. If nothing else, we can always do a family of zombies. That's easy! Just shred some clothes and do a bit of makeup," Alec said brightly.

"I could do zombies, I guess," Xander mumbled as he picked up one of the tiny cupcakes he'd made and popped it into his mouth. "But... whatcha going to do for the holiday right after?"

Alec gave him a confused look. "Thanksgiving?"

"Nah, the one before that," Xander said, waving a hand. "Seriously? I'm the one that remembers?"
 
Dark squinted as the pair of them while he and Daizi sat tired and confused, trying to think of the Holiday that came between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

He got it first, and swore under his breath.

"What?" Daizi asked, somehow not getting it yet.

"Spider," He said, turning slowly to look at her, "Our anniversary."

Now it was Daizi's turn to swear, but she quickly began to laugh and just flopped against Dark's shoulder, "We're bad spouses."

"I know," He agreed, shaking his head, finding it amusing and tragic.

"I do still love you."

"I love you too."

Daizi tried to just move on, but then she laughed again, feeling sort of pained inside, "I can't believe we both forgot! How did we forget?!"
 
"Gee, I have no idea. Maybe because you have been so busy you barely know what month it is, let alone day of the week, let alone the exact date?" Xander drawled.

Alec chuckled and shook his head. "Don't worry. You didn't completely forget. Maybe you can order in a fancy dinner and relax for an hour or so while Ivy sleeps, and we'll go somewhere else."
 
"Yeah, but we knew when Halloween was," Daizi sighed, leaving her head on Dark's shoulder, "We forgot our anniversary is less than a week away. I didn't even get him a present."

Dark looked down at the baby in his arms, "I... Spider..."

"You can't always use her to get out of me buying you things!" Daizi exclaimed, but laughed again.

"I can," Dark replied, kissing Daizi's head, "But I think ordering in food will be nice. It is a little something."
 
Alec chuckled. "I think he'll be pulling that for a while. But, of course, that means you can tell him that he owes you every single time you want something."

Xander snickered and helped himself to cookies. "What a way to go."
 
"I don't want to weaponize my daughter," Daizi laughed, leaning over to take her from Dark, "She hated being in the car seat, she cried most of the way home. Poor girl isn't used to it, being all buckled in and nobody picking her up when she's upset."

"At least she tired herself out, this is the deepest I have seen her sleep," Dark said, pleased to note his reaction to stress didn't seem like it had been passed onto her.

"And it'll be two weeks before she needs to go back into the car," Daizi sighed, "You should bring the swan cradle downstairs and we can bring the simple store one to our bedroom. Since we'll spend most of our time down here."
 
"After you three rest and just enjoy being home for a few minutes," Alec pointed out. "Then furniture can move around. And she still needs a tour of the house, unless you are going to wait until later to do that."

"She's asleep, dingus. Why would they give her a tour while she's asleep?" Xander pointed out. He didn't see the point of giving her a tour at all, especially since she couldn't see anything, but he skipped that bit. He was starting to embrace the idea that even if he didn't understand the reason or need, those two still needed to do the things. Like riding in the back seat of the car, giving her a house tour, or having a bassinet thingy shaped like a swan. He chalked it up to either sentimentality or something he'd understand when he was older. Or maybe it was like how some people liked a certain soda and others despised it with every fiber of their being. Some things couldn't be explained. They just were.

"Oh," Alec said with a frown. "Then I guess you two are open for napping, eating, showering, or playing with Enkidu until she wakes up.
 
"That's why I want to move the furniture," Daizi said, "We have to lay her down so we can sleep and shower and play with our dog, but if we're laying her down to sleep for the first time, it needs to be in the cradle Dark made for her, and she needs to be on the same floor we are, for safety."

Dark thought about it, "If we go upstairs and try to sleep and shower now, then we can put her in the cradle before we move everything."

"Yeah," Daizi agreed, "But I have to meet my dog before any of that. I've not pet him since I went into labour."

"Okay... But, if you want her to be in the cradle, and I go upstairs, then she can be there." Dark suggested.

"But if you're sleeping and I'm awake..."

"Spider," Dark said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "You know as well as I do that it is unlikely I will actually manage to sleep. We can put her in her cradle and then you can go be with Enkidu."
 
Alec and Xander glanced at each other. This was going to be a loooooong infancy. Why hadn't they just left her in the carrier since she was- no, never mind. Hell would likely freeze over before that happened.

"Alright," Xander said, standing up. "I will go and get the swan thing and bring it down. While I am doing that, one of you figure out where I am putting it."

"No matter who is sleeping on awake, I would lay actual real-life money on both of you hearing her," Alec said calmly. "If, by some strange happenstance neither of you hear her, Xander and I will both be wide awake. We can alert you to the situation."
 
"You can put it in the living room, and it's got wheels so we can move it around after that if we need to," Daizi murmured, feeling both a bit silly and like there were no other options, "Thank you. It's just her first day home, I want it to be perfect. Because even if she won't remember it in a week, it'll matter to her tomorrow."

Dark half smiled, understanding that fear perfectly, "She looks pretty content right now,"
 
Xander went upstairs to fetch the crib, growling and swearing at it as he tried it get it down the stairs without bumping it or scratching the wall paint. He checked often to make certain he hadn't dinged the crib before cautiously moving it farther. Even if he didn't get it, he wasn't going to be the one to put the first scratch on this stupid piece of furniture!

"I think it's perfect already," Alec assured them. "She'll love it for the rest of her life, she really will. Tea?"
 
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