How Green Becomes Wood

"Really?" Daizi asked, turning slightly in her chair, wondering if perhaps she should have saved it for her date, but it was too late now. Part of her, although she wouldn't say it, wouldn't have been mad to not be allowed out the door, but given the mesh and how upset she had been Monday night, it was nice to know he was reacting to her like that. "I'll have to keep it, then." More openly, so Xander didn't feel weird about their hushed conversations, she expressed how great the dress was for covering up her swimsuit, because they were going to be on a boat, and she wanted to wear something that was pretty while on deck but also something she could easily switch out of to swim in the ocean.

"Because I promise you I am going to be leaping off the boat and diving into the water."
 
"Fantastic!" Alec chirped. He cautiously nudged the box under where Daizi's hand was likely to land the next time she set it down. He wanted her to discover it rather than tell her directly.

"I don't think my suit's dry yet," Xander said, making a face. "That's not going to feel awesome."
 
"Did you wring it out last night before hanging it over the shower?" Daizi asked, having not yet put her hands down because she was holding both of Ivy's, "If not, you can always put it on in the shower, it might feel less horrible that way."

"Then you are just walking around in a wetter suit," Dark pointed out, handing her the cup, "We also have pastries. Let me take Ivy so you can eat."

"I can eat and hold her," She sniffed, fixing her dress strap when Ivy grabbed at it. Then, with one hand free, she set it down against the box and pulled her hand back, surprised something was there, "Oh, what's that?"
 
"It looks like a box," Xander said lightly.

"We know you don't want a bunch of gifts, so I hope you aren't upset, but... It's just a little one for you," Alec explained, nearly feeling shy.
 
"Oh," Daizi murmured, pushing a strand of hair back, "You both are too sweet. No, it's okay, I'm not upset. You're both just too kind, way too kind." Lifting up the box, she asked first for permission to open it now, and then carefully untied the ribbon and lifted off the lid. Touching the bracelet, she moved one knee up to hold Ivy more or less in place so she could touch it with both hands, and carefully felt every single charm individually. Due to her expressive face, nobody needed to guess if she liked it or not, even though she was too busy giving each individual charm its own focus before feeling the next one to speak.

Finally, after what might have felt like an eternity, she said, "I love it. Thank you."
 
Alec watched with excitement mixed with tension as he waited to see if she really did like it, not believing what he could clearly see on her face until she said that she did. He let out a quiet sigh of relief before saying, "There's room for more charms, too. Charms to signify all the best events of your life, past and future! Xander helped me pick it out."

"You mean I trolled through a thousand websites to find exactly what you wanted after you explained to me the whole idea in detail," Xander said dryly. "I just did the leg work. It's all his idea."
 
"I love it." Daizi repeated and then held out her wrist to Alec, handing him "Will you help me put it on? Dark, it's like your bracelet! Only, mine dangles!" She paused, slightly withdrawing her hand and touching the charms again, "They aren't too sharp, are they? They won't scratch Ivy?"

"I do not think so," Dark said, watching how his daughter stared with amazement at the hanging charms, "I am more worried about her trying to rip them off."
 
"She might try, but I think you should wear it for at least a little bit. Then you can put it somewhere safe," Alec suggested, holding out his hands to help her put the bracelet on.

"Unless you're worried about it getting lost in the sand," Xander mentioned. "Or the ocean."
 
"No, I want to wear it. We'll just put the box in Ivy's diaper bag, so if I have to take it off, I know it'll be protected." Daizi said, letting Alex help her.

"Ivy has a birthday present for you too," Dark said, picking up a wrapped box and handing it to Ivy, trying to get her to show it off to her mom. When that failed, Dark helped his wife to find the box and rattled a toy so Ivy wouldn't be upset at losing something she had just been handed. "She would apologize for getting you a present despite what you said, but she certainly has never cared before about doing what is asked of her."

"I don't blame her anymore than I blamed our boys," Daizi said, "Thank you for the present, Ivy!"
 
Once Alec got the bracelet on, he put the box in the diaper bag before they could forget. Then he hurried back to see what "Ivy" had gotten for their mother.

"What is it?" Xander asked curiously, nudging Alec to the side so they could both see the box. "If that's another bracelet, I dunno what we're going to do."

"Fight over which she gets to keep?" Alec suggested.
 
"I have two wrists!" Daizi exclaimed, aghast at the joke of her only getting to wear one, "and I love stacking bracelets anyway. So if darling Ivy-Qadira gave me a bracelet, I will proudly wear them both."

Unwrapping the paper, she opened another box and lifted up a palm-sized piece of obsidian, carved like a moth and a skull. "Oh, wow," Daizi said, feeling the shape of it, "It's very memento mori, I love it! Thank you, Ivy," She kissed the top of Ivy's forehead, "Thank you, Goose."

"Do not thank me, Ivy picked it out and bought it all on her own." Dark insisted, pleased to see how much she liked it.

"I'm sure she did," Daizi carefully let Ivy hold onto the moth, making sure she didn't try to eat it, "I know exactly what shelf I am going to put it on."
 
"Wow, that's pretty cool," Xander admitted, surprised by how elegant and gothic the rock looked.

Alec didn't see the skull at first. "Oh, that's a beautiful moth! That's really- Oh, there's a skull. Huh. Well, not really a surprise there."
 
"Of course there's a skull, it's memento mori," Daizi said, extremely pleased. "It'll go on a downstairs shelf, it's too nice to hide away. I really like it, Ivy! I'll put it in my suitcase right after breakfast so I know we won't forget it."

"I have a birthday gift for you too," Dark said slowly.

"Oh, Goose, you didn't," She said, exasperated, turning towards him, "I told you not to!"

He blinked, looking at the bracelet and the moth, and at all of the people in the room, "You allowed their gifts!"

"Because they're my children!"

"Luckily for you, then, it is at home, because I did not want something to happen to it," He sniffed, "So it is not a birthday gift anymore, it is a random July gift."
 
"Random gifts are the best," Alec said, trying to stifle a giggle.

"Yep, gifts is cool and all, but the pastries are growing stale," Xander pointed out, eying the breakfast table hungrily, having refrained from eating anything except a couple of berries.

Alec allowed himself to laugh. "I think we should feed him before he eats the table."
 
"They forbid you from eating!?" Daizi exclaimed, getting up.

"Not explicitly! I never told them they could not!"

"Oh my god, yes, eat, Xander!" She laughed with the absurdity, "We go on vacation for three days and we lose all sense of propriety!"
 
Xander descended on the food like a locust, eating hungrily. "Mmm, good stuff!" he mumbled through a mouthful.

"We were waiting for you to see your expressly forbidden gifts," Alec giggled before snagging some treats for himself. "This is really good, Baba!"
 
Daizi tried not to laugh as she ate a pastry, "They're growing boys, Goose, you can't make them wait!"

"I did not make them wait, they wanted to give you your gifts first," He leaned in to give her a quick peck on the lips, lingering only at the way she grinned at him.

"Did you forget how you were?" She teased, feeding him a pain au chocolat before telling the twins, "When he was a teenager, I swear he could've won any eating contest, because he was trying to grow from, like, 5'10 when I met him to 6'8. He was literally always hungry."
 
"Wow, that's a lot of growing to fit in," Alec said. He stretched himself up thoughtfully. "I wonder how tall we are? I can't remember the last time we were properly measured, and we slouch a lot."

"Taller'n Peter, shorter'n Milo," Xander mumbled around another bite.

Alec gave him a dry look. "You realize Europeans already make fun of how 'Americans will measure with literally anything but the metric system?' You aren't exactly proving them wrong."
 
"I have stretchmarks down my back from it," He admitted to the twins as he picked Ivy up, worrying what his genetics would make her go through. "They are tattooed over, now, but I remember waking up just because it hurt."

Rubbing his shoulder, she said, "It wasn't a full foot."

"I got those first two inches when it was just me and Cooger," He said sardonically, "I do not have a measuring tape with me, so failing us encountering one of those cheesy height scales they set up to encourage families to take their kids each year to the same place, I can measure you when we get home, if you are curious."
 
"When we get home sounds good," Alec agreed. He scowled at Xander. "Not another word until your mouth is empty! Talk about forgetting propriety."

Xander scowled at him and then opened his mouth wide just long enough for Alec to squeal.
 
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