How Green Becomes Wood

Daizi paused awkwardly, not knowing if it was better to cross her arms or not, "You're probably right," she murmured before hurrying upstairs.

Not much changed over the next two weeks. Ivy was still developing in tiny little ways, but thankfully she had stopped screaming at being set down in bed once Dark and Daizi had begun setting a heating pad in the cradle to warm it up for her (of course, they always removed it before placing her inside), which made things just a bit easier, and they were starting to transition her to an actual sleep schedule. Very slowly. And painfully.

Then, the Monday before the twin's birthday came the time Dark had been dreading: going back to work. He was sitting at the breakfast table when the twins came down and Daizi had made him breakfast, and was working on it for the boys. Instead of eating, Dark was just holding Ivy and talking quietly to her.
 
Alec grinned and slid smoothly into his chair. "Good morning! To everyone! Are we ready for a new week of school?"

"He's not," Xander said, nodding toward Dark as he walked into the kitchen. "He's in withdrawal before he's even left the house. How come all we ever hear about is how much parents can't wait to spend even a few seconds away from their kids no matter how much they love them, but he will need a crowbar to get him out of the house?"
 
"He's never spent a day away from her," Daizi pointed out, setting a plate of food down for Alec before turning to finish up Xander's. She had learned in the mornings to always serve Alec first, since he was the slower eater, "Goose, eat your breakfast."

"She does not developed object permanence yet," he said, looking up at them, "I am trying to get her to understand I am not going away forever, only for a few hours."

"She is not going to learn object permanence through a conversation," Daizi said gently, now finishing Xander's food, "and she sleeps most of the day, everything will be alright."
 
"Thank you, Mama," Alec said happily. "Don't worry. She knows you are going to come back."

Xander snorted as he watched Daizi work. "I wanna know who comes up with these ideas of when babies know what. It's not like they remember what it was like to be a baby. Seems pretty arbitrary to me. Besides, she knows you are going to show up because you always show up. Have since she was born and stuck at the hospital."

"True," Alec agreed, taking a bite. "Whether or not she knows object permanence, she knows Baba comes back because it's been proven."
 
"We know when they develop object permanence because peek-a-boo stops being fun for them," Daizi explained, sitting down to eat her own food and gently nudging Dark underneath the table to redirect him, "You're going to run late, Goose. But that's just one way, I'm not sure of all of the ways we know those things. She also can't recognize herself in mirrors yet, when we show her her own reflection, she thinks it's some other baby."

Dark rocked Ivy back and kissed her forehead, making her squeal, and then hugged her closely and said, "I just really like her. I know she will not be traumatized by my going back to work, but I still enjoy being around her."
 
"I knew a four-year-old in kindergarten that liked peek-a-boo," Xander muttered, still not buying it. But he dove into his breakfast and scarfed it down, more interested in that then in baby development stages. Besides, paying that close attention to them could only lead to worry and panic if she was a little slower off the mark than the "normal." Not that he was going to bring that up, too. In his opinion, Dark was going to be the one traumatized, and possibly Daizi as she wouldn't have that second set of hands to help.

Alec looked up, truly mystified. "How would she recognize herself in a mirror when she's only just started to see, and she doesn't know what she looks like yet?"
 
"Well, if you show a dolphin or a chimpanzee or, like, a magpie their reflection, they can recognize themselves," Daizi said, "there's something in our brains that isn't in the brain of, like, a dog that let's them recognize when they're staring at their reflection rather than at another member of their own species. Scientists will test it by putting a little red dot on their forehead--well, I don't know how they tested that with a dolphin--, if the person or animal tries to get rid of the dot then it shows they recognize the dot is on them, even though they can't see it. And with babies, at a certain age they start fiddling with the dot, but before that point, they don't." She shrugged, eating a little bit of her breakfast, "I'm not that kind of scientist, so I don't know all the facts about it, but from what I've read it's interesting. Studies are really carefully designed, replication crisis aside."

Dark stared down at Ivy's little face, making eye contact with her that made the tiny baby grin and kick her feet, and then he finally made himself eat. He hadn't been avoiding it for reasons like Alec would avoid food, he just wanted to spend as much time with Ivy as possible before leaving for work. But he knew he had to manage both. As he ate, Ivy stared up at him, touching her hands together in a little gesture she had developed which always made her look like she was plotting something. Typically, it happened prior to reaching for something, which she had begun doing, although she still often missed at least half of the time.
 
"Huh. That's interesting," Alec mused and finished off his breakfast. "Babies are even more complicated than I thought."

Xander had already finished his and stood up with his dishes. "Whatever the case, these objects can't stay permanent, so it's time to get a move on!" He took the dishes to the sink and washed them quickly before going to brush his teeth and give his school bag a last check.

Alec smiled and patted Dark's shoulder. "She'll still be here waiting when you get back," he told his foster father. "Everything is going to be okay." Then he stood and followed Xander's lead.
 
As Dark hurried to finish up his breakfast, Ivy reached out to try to grab his beard, but she wasn't close enough to reach, so she instead sucked on her fist and continued to watch her Baba. When he finished eating, he again looked down at her and pressed his mouth into a thin line.

"Oh my darling girl," he murmured in Arabic while the twins went upstairs, "I am going to miss you today. Baba loves you, Hummingbird. But I will be home before you know it."

Daizi came and sat beside him, rubbing his back, "I know it's hard, Goose."

"I am going to miss you too."

"Me too. But it'll be okay," She kissed his head and then his face, "I love you. We'll be okay here."

Dark looked at her with sad eyes, but knew there was nothing for it, so he promised to call during his lunch break, and then stood, brushing invisible wrinkles from his clothes, and with great effort handed Ivy over to Daizi before picking up his bag and went into the front hall to await the twins.
 
The twins met Dark in the hall and hurried to pull on their shoes while calling farewells to Daizi and Ivy. Then they tumbled out the door and headed to the car.

"Can I drive?" Xander asked.

"No, you don't have your license yet!" Alec scolded.

"But a licensed driver will be in the car!"

"Not the same thing."

"I'm tip top of the class other than that girl with the glasses who seems to have memorized the manual."

"She doesn't drive, either. She rides a bike to school."

"Her mum can't drive for some reason. She's learning to drive so she can drive her mum."

"And yet, she still rides a bike!"
 
When the door closed, a little bit of the resolve Dark had summoned in himself went out, and he lingered for just a moment on the porch, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. Then he walked towards the car, "You have your permit and I am in the car, so it is legal for you to drive. You may as well, you will need to learn to drive on actual roads eventually." He said, handing Xander the keys.
 
Xander took the keys with his eyes widening. "What, really? Seriously?" His face split into a huge grin, and he ran the last few steps to the driver's side. "Awesome!"

Alec heaved a dramatic sigh and went to his side. He paused, glancing at the house next to them. It still stood vacant and waiting with its sad for sale sign standing in the snowy yard. He hoped someone bought it soon before all the plants died. The old lady had never been that nice, but her yard had always looked good. He got into the car and reminded Dark, "I have drama tonight, so I'll be staying late."
 
"Why not?" Dark asked, getting into the passenger seat, "I only said I do not trust you to drive when Ivy is in the car, and that is less about you and more about the lack of faith I have in other drivers." As they drove away, he looked up not at their neighbor's house but his own. Daizi was standing in the window with Ivy and making Ivy wave her tiny hand goodbye. It made hin smile, slightly, and he waved back, "Do you know what time you are finished? Normally my work day ends at around five, if that is when drama ends I will just take you home with me."
 
Xander focused fully on what he was doing, taking great care to not make Dark regret his choice or think that Xander did not take this responsibility seriously. Traffic was not bad at this time of day, and it was a straightforward drive to the school, if a bit long.

"We haven't been very good at staying on time lately," Alec admitted, leaning forward to speak more easily with Dark. "I think we're supposed to finish by five-thirty, but we've gone as late as six. If I told them my rid was leaving, though, I think they'd understand. We're currently in talks about what play to do next. It kind of depends on whether or not we can get permission for the crowd favorite."
 
"Phantom of the Opera of all things," Alec sighed. "I can see the appeal, truly, but do a bunch of highschoolers really think they can pull off such an epic and grand theatrical gem as that? Not that I particularly want to do something like RENT, either."
 
"I like The Phantom of the Opera..." He murmured, "Daizi says if I could only become comfortable performing on stage, I would make a good Phantom. Not for a High School production, obviously," he did, now, steal a brief glance at Alec, "RENT seems like one you would need to censor a good deal to be allowed to perform here. Have you checked to see how much the rights to Phantom are? And if they even license it out?"
 
Alec shrugged. "Not me, no. The committee is supposed to do that, though... I think the committee is just one person who really enjoys being in charge and pretending they are more than one person. It's worked so far. Anyway, maybe I'll suggest something else. Like...Newsies, maybe?"

"Ugh, no," Xander groaned without taking his eyes off the road. "Not that one again, but it'd be better than Romeo and Juliet. Again."
 
"Newsies requires a lot of talented dancers," Dark commented, looking back at the road, "I enjoy Shakespeare, but I do agree Romeo and Juliet is over performed... I always wish our school would break away from doing exclusively the most famous names. I have worked here for a decade, they do two shows a year, and I have seen them do Grease five times."
 
"I hate R and J because they always act like it's a romance. It's not! It's a great tragedy!" Xander grumbled. He slowed and put on his single before turning. "It's not romantic at all."

Alec glanced at his brother. "Hmm. Look who occasionally pays attention in English class. Anyway, I agree, but maybe it comes down to how easy it is to get permissions.
 
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