How Green Becomes Wood

"Not going to let Dark test his theory then?" Daizi asked, amused, stepping aside to let him help get dinner put out, "but you're going to hurt his ego."

"Spider, I would watch if I say if I were you, I can lift you up by the ankles just as easily as I can Alec." Dark replied.

"Don't threaten me with a good time, darling." She said, but in Arabic, and turned to him with a sly grin.
 
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"I am unbothered either way," Dark responded, setting his daughter back in his lap and holding her so she was cuddled against him, "I just know I am physically capable of it."
 
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"When the mood strikes him?" Daizi asked, raising an eyebrow, "That's a very dangerous proposition, you're essentially giving him free reign to surprise you. You've set him on the prowl."


Dark raised his head, but said nothing concerning it, "You should go get your brother and let him know dinner is ready."
 
Alec nodded and trotted out the back door. "Xander!" he called as he approached the shed. "Xander, it's time for dinner!" He tapped on the door before opening it. "Food time."

Xander finished attaching a small silver object to the piece of leather he was working on and set it aside. "Alright. I'm coming."

"What are you working on?" Alec asked, walking with him back toward the house.

"Nothing much. Just an experiment," Xander shrugged it off.

"I hope I can see it later," Alec said before opening the door for them both.
 
Inside, Dark and Daizi were suddenly left to decide what to do with Ivy while they ate dinner. Normally, she was asleep while they ate, or she was nursing, but her schedule had been thrown off from Cooger's visit, and she was awake at an uncommon hour.

After discussing if they should invest in a baby swing for the future, or if they should buy a high chair now, instead of waiting for when she was on solids, or a number of other options, Daizi said, "Just let me hold her in my lap, like I do when I'm eating and nursing."

To which Dark replied, handing Ivy over, "I do not understand why that was not our first instinct."

"Because it is awkward. And she makes us dumb."
 
"Who makes you dumb?" Alec frowned as he walked inside, only catching the tail end of the conversation.

"I doubt we're supposed to know," Xander said, following him.
 
"Ivy," Daizi said, bending her head to kiss the top of hers, "We spend too much time overthinking about her and we end up stupid."

"I do not really think we were stupid for trying to find a solution about where to put her that is not, 'just hold her in our lap during dinner,'" Dark responded, frowning, "And if we had, we would have escaped the 'they never set her down' accusations."
 
"Why not make her a pillow chair?" Alec suggested as Xander got everyone something to drink. "Something soft but supportive. Or put her carseat on a chair and put her in that?"
 
"No, you cannot put a carseat on a chair," Dark said, sounding genuinely serious, "and I am saying this with genuine intensity in case you babysit someday. You cannot put a car seat on an elevated surface because it is very easy for her to rock herself off of it and take a very serious, very heavy fall."

"And now that she's starting to roll over, I'd be afraid she'd roll from back to belly for the first time and not be able to lift her face up from the soft material and suffocate, but I don't know if that's irrational or not," Daizi added, smoothing Ivy's hair, "But we'll probably move her cradle upstairs and her bigger pack-and-play down here going forwards."
 
"Then I guess you're stuck holding her," Alec shrugged. "Not that either of you ever seem to mind that horrible proposition." He smiled, teasing them, and looked around to make sure everything was ready before sitting down.

Xander took his seat, slumping a little with one knee bouncing lightly.
 
"I'm not sure anyone has ever been on their deathbed and wished they had held their babies less." Daizi pointed out, tucking her hair down the back of her shirt to keep it from Ivy.

Dark's gaze settled on Xander, but didn't say anything. He knew he wouldn't want to be put on the spot about how he was feeling during dinner in front of everybody. Instead, he made brief eye contact and gave him his best reassuring nod.
 
"Maybe some extreme helicopter parents that refused to let their kids actually learn for themselves and grow," Alec mused. "Other than that, I doubt it. Mmm, dinner smells good!"

Xander caught Dark's nod, but he looked away rather than return it, choosing instead to stare intently at his plate. He didn't eat much at dinner, mostly picking at his food. He still ate, but nothing like his usual ravenous self.
 
It wasn't until after dinner that Dark did any more to acknowledge how Xander appeared to be feeling, but when he did, he attempted to catch Xander alone. There was enough of a gap after dinner that Daizi had been able to share with him that she hadn't been able to talk to him, and he already knew Alec hadn't either, so he guessed about how it was going to go, but he couldn't reconcile it with himseld to not at least try to reach out, so, catching him unattended, he asked, "What were you working on in your shed?"
 
"Just a thing," Xander said with a half-shrug. "Dunno if it'll even work. Just fiddling. Bored of making clothing stuff for people playing dress-up, so I thought I'd try something else. It'll probably fail." He still wasn't fully looking at Dark.
 
"I never needed anything from you. I only wanted to spend time with you. I am making a puzzle box, and it is proving more difficult than anticipated, and I do not know what to put into it when it is completed." Dark said, turning to look out the window so not only was he was not looking at Xander, he wasn't putting pressure on Xander to look back at him. "I thought you might like it."
 
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